Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Grauken]

Honestly, I've never seen a well done evil path in any cRPG, at best a well-written cartonish evil path

There are very, very, very few people that want an actual evil path. Most people want a dark, edgy and sexy path where they don't butcher children, animals, 'good' people or severely fuck up the world not for the better of anyone else.

Butchering children or animals usually is the edgy path, that's not evil just moronic. There has to be a reason. Say a deadly disease breaks out in a children's hospital and you have to either burn it down with everyone in it or let the disease run wild and claim even more victims. A true evil path shouldn't feel like an "evil" path, it should just be a path with many seemingly rational choices that leads you down an increasingly dark road until you lose all sense of good and evil

I get what you are saying and I agree that that works.

But there should be real evil playthroughs as well, these would be bandit power hungry types of paths. Like real life narcos or russian criminals during the nineties, people that saw if limbs of competing criminals and her cute nicknames for it.

Also a evil path should be evil cleric paladin, like an ISIS path.

Depends on the game. In a more sandbox game, this approach makes more sense (Fallout actually comes to mind, where you could try to take over as a brutal warlord unifying the settlements) but in something like Baldur's Gate, it has to be tailored to fit the rest of the story. I think they had the right idea with Dark Urge, just the execution lacks the quality to make it convincing or really interesting

 

[NecroLord]

I have a question:
Why is Viconia so fucking ugly and looking like a used up whore (which, technically, she already was)?
Jaheira is also fugly as all hell.
Seriously, the new trend of making game characters ugly as fuck (presumably in an effort to make them more "realistic" or some shit) needs to stop.

 

[darkpatriot]

Btw. is there a point to saving Nere since I likely end up killing him anyway or just letting him die under the rubble? Does it break any quests (like the mushroom quest) if I just let him suffocate?

Talk to the gnomes and they will let you know that some gnome slaves were trapped there as well. So it depends on whether you also are trying to save the gnomes or not.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

There's no BDSM priest either. Loviatar's teaching aren't sexual in nature, they're about physical pain leading to spiritualty.

And what is the spiritual message here besides some faggot with a whip spouting "yes, Loviatar really likes this!" before staring at you creepily at the end and saying he personally enjoyed it?

This is bad writing and fetish fan service.

There's no goblin foot kissing scene that is in any way sexual.

Oh please. Tarantino is less obvious with his foot fetish bait. You refuse to kiss a goblin's foot, beat him up and then your companions' first idea is to have the goblin put his diseased lips on your foot?

It seems to me like you're projecting

Here we go again. You're putting up the lowest IQ argument I've ever seen itt.

"No, you!" Is all you're saying over and over.

As for the companions, it is weird that all of them are bi, and it's certainly ruining immersion a bit. But since it's such a small part of the game

It's a huge part of the game, nigger. How many hours of voice acting went into them?

But we've already moved on from them because you have no defense for them. How about the blood fetish Drow, who gets off on the idea of having her blood drunk by a vampire? First thing she says when she meets a stranger is "here's my sexual fetish! I'll pay you if you get me off."

so maybe I simply missed that dialogue option

I think we've established that you purposely ignore a lot of content in the game, and argue dismissively, pointing the finger at me rather than put up any real argument. The page of strawman arguments you've written by now are proof enough of that.

They have nothing to do with the game, only the games creators

All of it has to do with the game's creators. Because the game's creators are openly weird perverts, just like every other character you meet in the game.

 

[Takamori]

I have a question:
Why is Viconia so fucking ugly and looking like a used up whore (which, technically, she already was)?
Jaheira is also fugly as all hell.
Seriously, the new trend of making game characters ugly as fuck (presumably in an effort to make them more "realistic" or some shit) needs to stop.

Jaheira getting old is understandable but the retards confused Drow lifespan with Half Elf lifespan. Viconia should be brimming with youth and vitality fuckers endure 1000 years.

 

[MerchantKing]

I have a question:
Why is Viconia so fucking ugly and looking like a used up whore (which, technically, she already was)?
Jaheira is also fugly as all hell.
Seriously, the new trend of making game characters ugly as fuck (presumably in an effort to make them more "realistic" or some shit) needs to stop.

Gotta keep those ESG scores up. It's a good thing they didn't bring up Jan Jansen (PBUH) because Larian and WotC would ruin him even harder than they ruined the two elves. They probably would've just found some shitty voice actor to do the voices like they did with Minsc and Viconia too. Besides, I don't think you really want to be around Jaheira at her age (should she really even still be alive?). There was already enough of Keldorn soiling his diapers daily and stinking up the entire campsite. I'm sure Jaheira is much worse at that point being a half-elf. Yeah sure, elves keep their arses clean but a half-elf DRUID who probably has some tree-hugging nonsense ideas about not showering to save water isn't going to be bathing for weeks and probably hasn't changed her diaper that long either.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

I have a question:
Why is Viconia so fucking ugly and looking like a used up whore (which, technically, she already was)?
Jaheira is also fugly as all hell.
Seriously, the new trend of making game characters ugly as fuck (presumably in an effort to make them more "realistic" or some shit) needs to stop.

The game take places almost 150 years after bg2
She is also
"Viconia DeVir is over 600 years old, having lived since the late 15th century DR." drow live up to 750 years normally.

 

[darkpatriot]

Enemies do try and push you into chasms if they can, it would be more noticeable if battles lasted longer.

They also shove their allies to wake them up form sleep for example. Makes sleep less of a free CC early game if you do it close to another enemy that takes a turn right after.

Sleep's 5e 24 hp limit makes it worthless. I selected it as one of the spells for my Warlock thinking it would be my workhorse in the early game, but I never used it once. There were barely any fights where there were enough enemies in that HP range anyway, and when I considered that my duel wielding warlock/fighter could do between 10-20 damage a turn (+ some bonus damage if I used hellish rebuke for my spells as a reaction) I found that just doing 24 damage within 1 to 2 turns was more helpful at reducing the number of enemies than 24 hp worth of sleep was.

It seems like it would be a pretty strong lvl 1 spell, where you could sleep 3 or maybe even 4 different enemies. But that was pretty much just the tutorial ship.

And playing on tactician with the enemy HP boost made it even less viable.

 

[Takamori]

There's no BDSM priest either. Loviatar's teaching aren't sexual in nature, they're about physical pain leading to spiritualty.

And what is the spiritual message here besides some faggot with a whip spouting "yes, Loviatar really likes this!" before staring at you creepily at the end and saying he personally enjoyed it?

Yeah this part would be much better if the guy behaved like a fanatical flagellant instead of BDSM creep guy. I see this as a problem with Larian writing they wanted to make the scene funny instead of following the source of Loviatar.

 

[Vic]

Larian trying to make anything funny is a mistake

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

There's no BDSM priest either. Loviatar's teaching aren't sexual in nature, they're about physical pain leading to spiritualty.

And what is the spiritual message here besides some faggot with a whip spouting "yes, Loviatar really likes this!" before staring at you creepily at the end and saying he personally enjoyed it?

Yeah this part would be much better if the guy behaved like a fanatical flagellant instead of BDSM creep guy. I see this as a problem with Larian writing they wanted to make the scene funny instead of following the source of Loviatar.

Loviatar followers consider pain the max expression of communion with the Goddess. So makes a lot of sense he acts like that. Is very much well written as a Loviatar follower. That is actually very Lore accurate. They are also often Sado Masochists.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Loviatar

"Loviatans often engaged in self-flagellation, often in the morning when praying for spells. They celebrated each season with the Rite of Pain and Purity, a ritual that involved followers dancing on glass, thorns, or barbed-wire while being whipped by higher-level Loviatans. A smaller ritual occurring every twelve days involved followers passing their bodies through the flames of candles."

 

[Desiderius]

rip white Wyll

Wyll’s already huWhite.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Loviatar followers consider pain the max expression of communion with the Goddess.

No shit. But there's nothing spiritual here. Convince the reader that it's spiritual.

Nope. The game just gives you fetish bait. (Granted, the lore reason for her being in FR is probably fetish bait too at its core, but a good writer can rise above their material.)

That bit at the end where he says he enjoyed it is what I wanted to focus on though.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

Loviatar followers consider pain the max expression of communion with the Goddess.

No shit. But there's nothing spiritual here. Convince the reader that it's spiritual.

Nope. The game just gives you fetish bait. (Granted, the lore reason for her being in FR is probably fetish bait too at its core.)

You don't know even the setting and yet you talk. Is not spiritual pain. Between Loviatar followers they flaggellate themself and delight on the pain is how Loviatar follower are. At least do some research before posting.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I've mentioned this before, but hearing about Jaheira dying easily later in the game...

The people complaining about Jaheira dying easily seem to have left her under AI control for the Moonrise Tower assault in which case her actions are subject to the whims of a deficient AI and perhaps she'll run into a passel of enemies (although even that can't happen if you more or less cleared the tower out beforehand). The game allows the player to keep Jaheira under player control as a follower of the protagonist for that assault, anyway, and as a companion she has the strengths and weaknesses of a druid that can cast many useful spells and can transform into an owlbear or a dinosaur with 3 attacks per round (there's also a unique armor obtainable early in Act III that provides HP and AC boosts while in animal form).

 

[Takamori]

There's no BDSM priest either. Loviatar's teaching aren't sexual in nature, they're about physical pain leading to spiritualty.

And what is the spiritual message here besides some faggot with a whip spouting "yes, Loviatar really likes this!" before staring at you creepily at the end and saying he personally enjoyed it?

Yeah this part would be much better if the guy behaved like a fanatical flagellant instead of BDSM creep guy. I see this as a problem with Larian writing they wanted to make the scene funny instead of following the source of Loviatar.

Loviatar followers consider pain the max expression of communion with the Goddess. So makes a lot of sense he acts like that. Is very much well written as a Loviatar follower. That is actually very Lore accurate.

You don't see a priest jerking off while he preach in the mass. They see pain as a key for purity and be more close to their goddess, not in the sexual connotation as the whole scene brings out and even Shadowheart comments with Astarion saying: Hey did you sign up for this?

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

There's no BDSM priest either. Loviatar's teaching aren't sexual in nature, they're about physical pain leading to spiritualty.

And what is the spiritual message here besides some faggot with a whip spouting "yes, Loviatar really likes this!" before staring at you creepily at the end and saying he personally enjoyed it?

Yeah this part would be much better if the guy behaved like a fanatical flagellant instead of BDSM creep guy. I see this as a problem with Larian writing they wanted to make the scene funny instead of following the source of Loviatar.

Loviatar followers consider pain the max expression of communion with the Goddess. So makes a lot of sense he acts like that. Is very much well written as a Loviatar follower. That is actually very Lore accurate.

You don't see a priest jerking off while he preach in the mass. They see pain as a key for purity and be more close to their goddess, not in the sexual connotation as the whole scene brings out and even Shadowheart comments with Astarion saying: Hey did you sign up for this?

Again read Faith and Pantheon or any other manual. For them Pain is sacred having it and giving it. They delight and revel on pain because is in the Goddess teachings.

"Be wary of your mortal limitations. While it is tempting to allow pain's ecstasies to sweep you away, particularly during a delicious bout of self-flagellation, broken bones hinder worship of Our Maiden of Pain. Instead, when the body is spent, focus on whipping, or perhaps nail removal (pliers or blade is recommended) to ensure Loviatar may forever revel in your agony—as is her right."

The only thing Loviatar dislike is permanent mutilations. Aka preserve your body.

 

[darkpatriot]

Loviatar followers consider pain the max expression of communion with the Goddess.

No shit. But there's nothing spiritual here. Convince the reader that it's spiritual.

Nope. The game just gives you fetish bait. (Granted, the lore reason for her being in FR is probably fetish bait too at its core.)

You don't know even the setting and yet you talk. Is not spiritual pain. Between Loviatar followers they flaggellate themself and delight on the pain is how Loviatar follower are. At least do some research before posting.

Forgotten Realms is pretty dumb so there is no need to argue about a stupid S&M fetish god. There is nothing about it that can be redeemed as they have the goddess dress in bondage gear. Larian should have just left her out of the game (or at least left her worshipers out) and never mentioned her like the many other gods they never mention. That they chose to add in her worshipers like this tells you what you need to know.

I got my Loviatar bonus in my playthrough though. It is pretty minor, but I didn't expect it to be permanent. That was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Hagashager]

Alright, time to have a bunch of "Retard" and "Butthurt" and whatever that stone-face one is reactions.

About 15 hours in now and I've not once been propositioned by any male party members, including Gale, the supposed problem child. This is at almost full approval. Moreover, I've not seen nearly as much gay shit as the grognards here keep screeching about. I can only recall one gay interaction thus far.

You know what I have seen a lot of though? Really heavy-handed commentary on refugees, immigration and migrants fleeing hardship. Larian is a Belgian company and boy-howdy do I know their stance on the EU refugee crisis. They definitely have a stance on that.

But what the fuck is this shit about there supposedly being no White people? 90% of every NPC that isn't a Tiefling has been some overtly European, pale skinned humanoid.

Yeah, I get it, there's a dirth of White *humans* but from what I can tell, there's a dirth of humans period. The vast majority of NPCs have all been some race of shorty, surprisingly.

I'm finding the actual gameworld to be pretty standard, boiler-plate, shit-tier average Forgotten Realms.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

You don't know even the setting and yet you talk.

You're such a retard. I've played D&D games for decades and you think I don't know who Loviatar is.

Is not spiritual pain.

Wtf are you talking about? Spiritual, in this context is synonymous with religious. You shouldn't be on an English forum.

Yes, clearly there is physical pain going on. The whip was a clue.

This isn't a religious experience. This is just fetish bait.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

Alright, time to have a bunch of "Retard" and "Butthurt" and whatever that stone-face one is reactions.

About 15 hours in now and I've not once been propositioned by any male party members, including Gale, the supposed problem child. This is at almost full approval. Moreover, I've not seen nearly as much gay shit as the grognards here keep screeching about. I can only recall one gay interaction thus far.

You know what I have seen a lot of though? Really heavy-handed commentary on refugees, immigration and migrants fleeing hardship. Larian is a Belgian company and boy-howdy do I know their stance on the EU refugee crisis. They definitely have a stance on that.

But what the fuck is this shit about there supposedly being no White people? 90% of every NPC that isn't a Tiefling has been some overtly European, pale skinned humanoid.

Yeah, I get it, there's a dirth of White *humans* but from what I can tell, there's a dirth of humans period. The vast majority of NPCs have all being some race of shorty, surprisingly.

I'm finding the actual gameworld to be pretty standard, boiler-plate, shit-tier average Forgotten Realms.

THe immigrant thing is not a Larian invention like i mentioned before BG3 take place shortly after the Descent on Avernus module. You are having former citizen of Elturel to attempt to immigrate on the gate.

 

[perfectslumbers]

About 15 hours in now and I've not once been propositioned by any male party members, including Gale, the supposed problem child. This is at almost full approval. Moreover, I've not seen nearly as much gay shit as the grognards here keep screeching about. I can only recall one gay interaction thus far.

It will come friend, BG3 is a long game. Be patient.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

You don't know even the setting and yet you talk.

You're such a retard. I've played D&D games for decades and you think I don't know who Loviatar is.

Is not spiritual pain.

Wtf are you talking about? Spiritual, in this context is synonymous with religious. You shouldn't be on an English forum.

Yes, clearly there is physical pain going on. The whip was a clue.

This isn't a religious experience. This is just fetish bait.

If you played D&D games for decades then you lack understanding. Again you are ciriticizing on the basis of personal bias and not on the basis of context. That Loviatar priest does exactly what a priest of Loviatar would do. Flagellation and bring the ecstasy of pain for followers of Loviatar is of core importance more the feel pain or cause it more their Goddess revel on it. Is the cult that is like that your criticism is totally out of context.

 

[Late Bloomer]

All I see is two guys having a good time. Not gay at all.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Forgotten Realms is pretty dumb so there is no need to argue about a stupid S&M fetish god. There is nothing about it that can be redeemed as they have the goddess dress in bondage gear.

You can make some effort. You can at least not end the scene with a leering faggot in leather saying how much he personally got off on it.

Larian should have just left her out of the game (or at least left her worshipers out) and never mentioned her like the many other gods they never mention. That they chose to add in her worshipers like this tells you what you need to know.

5E that apparently made her some kind of major deity instead of just a lesser one. There must be some kind of popularity there.

But you had a much better torture opportunity with the prisoner in the next room, but instead there's this weirdo is sitting on his ass, waiting for the player to walk in to pull this creepy fetish routine.