Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Sex and BG3

I didn't think that the game was great to begin with, but also if sex were de-emphasized I still would have bought it. I'd be disappointed if there were fewer romance ompanions, I'd have been disappointed if there was no romance at all. I like romancein my rpgs, they're fun and engaging in them with my character is a good, compelling time for me. Larian didn't do the best job of it, but they didn't do a bad job in my opinion.

I don't understand the answer possibilities .... I bought the game and think the romance / sex is NOT enough. There should be more ..... What must I choose, please?

LOL, well that does bring about the inherit issue with this poll, as well as few other criteria.


1 - Forums in general are usually seen as the place where individuals may be the most critical and negative. This is often due to a few reasons.

a - Those that wish to talk positively about a game don't like when there's negativity all over the place, it ruins the mood when someone shares the exact opposite feeling of your excitement (aka forums are usually seen as "Debbie downers.")

b - It's more common for folks who view a game more positively to spend more time playing the game than frequent a forum to talk about it. I mean if you look at the thread topics and posts here, you'd assume BG3 was a mid game at best. Not a game of the year winner along with best community (the community aspect I placed towards the twitch audience, when seems to be incredibly supportive.)


2 - There is no way this thread is going to be used as a consideration for Larian's approach to sex moving forward, just because the number of people here alone are literally miniscule. To put it in comparison, Devora Wilde (the VA behind Laezel) has a regular viewership count of 1-3k people, which isn't even considering youtube. Jennifer English, Neil, Samantha and more all hit around or larger numbers. They are frequently visited by Larian personal (as the VA's regularly shout them out on stream) and both the VA's and Chat regularly championed Larian's display of sex and representation. The fact that Larian has received such positive reinforcement from fellow peers and fans in the community, there's no way they're going in reverse in their next game. Unless somehow it wasn't a RPG.

I've rarely read as much negative stuff as I do here, but the positive far outweighs the negative stuff.

This is not a meaningful pole. It is poorly constructed and (whether consciously or not) designed in a way that can only give the desired answer no matter what or how people vote.

Let's look:

Option 1) Would you still think BG3 was great, and would you have bought it, if the sex was toned down?
Response: Yes, I would, and yes I would have!
Survey-reading Take Away: "This person things BG3 is a great game and wouldn't think less of it if the sex had been toned down; obviously we're doing the right thing and everything is glorious in our choices!"

Option 2) Would you still think BG3 was great, and would you have bought it, if the sex was toned down?
Response: No, I wouldn't, but yes I still would have!
Survey-reading Take Away: "This person things BG3 is a great game, and especially likes the amount of sex we put into it - they'd think less of it if there was less sex, but they still think it's great and would buy it regardless! Obviously we're doing the right thing and everything is glorious in our choices!"

Option 3) Would you still think BG3 was great, and would you have bought it, if the sex was toned down?
Response: I would not have bought it, no!
Survey-reading Take Away: "This person things BG3 is a great game and especially appreciates the amount of focus on sex we put into it, to the point that they would even have passed on it if it had lass sex focus! Obviously we're doing the right thing and everything is glorious in our choices!"

Option 4) Would you still think BG3 was great, and would you have bought it, if the sex was toned down?
Response: I would no longer think it were great, if you did that!
Survey-reading Take Away: "This person things BG3 is a great game and loves the focus and attention on sex - They'd actively think the game was less great if there was less sex in it... obviously we're doing the right thing and everything is glorious in our choices!"

Option 5) Would you still think BG3 was great, and would you have bought it, if the sex was toned down?
Response: I wouldn't care either way!
Survey-reading Take Away: "This person things BG3 is a great game and will continue to think so even if there is a bit more, or a bit less sex! Obviously we're doing the right thing and everything is glorious in our choices!"

Final vote take-away regardless of the polling votes delivered: "Obviously everyone loves the game as is, but some people would be unhappy if there was less focus on sex, so clearly our next game should mirror this pattern, with at least as much focus on sex, but possibly more!"


If you ever want an example of how to construct a public survey that is designed to provide you with the answers and results you've already decided you're going to take away from it (or designing a survey with the intent of making it support the conclusion you've already drawn), this is a pretty good illustration of that.

There's no space to say that the amount of sex, or the way it was handled, decreased you opinion of the game, or if you'd think the game would be better if it had less focus on sex; the survey is incapable of providing that segment of opinions, and presents itself as though it is not a possibility. It can, in fact, only give ONE answer to the survey-readers, regardless of what option people vote for - That the game is great, and the amount of sex in it, and the focus on sex that it has, is also great. It is incapable of delivering any other answer.

Would I have bought the game, if it had less sex (and romance)? Yes, the addictive part for me is combat and the character interactions.

Would I have bought the game, if it had even more sex, nudity and romance options? Yes, I don't mind the stuff, can add a lot to the overall atmosphere, it is a game for grown-ups and there is nothing wrong with nudity or a casual fling.

Would I have bought the game, if I had known, that literally everything wants to hump me within 5 minutes after seeing me? Including a bear disguising as an elf and a tentacle monster? Maybe on sale... They toned it down and some stuff was probably due to bugs, but I got so many unconmortable scenes that I didn't want to talk with people about this. Ahhhhh, you pervert are playing this bear sex game, thanks Larian! I also would have had second thoughts if I had known about some act 3 stuff, I don't like crude and plump political messaging, I play games for escapism.

This again????????????????????????????

I wanted to reply to this because it makes no sense. The two characters (and I guess Minthara) who propose you for sex very early on, make it quite clear that they are in it for the entertainment alone. Why should they feel especially betrayed or why should the sex add an extra layer of danger to the already perilous situation of sleeping around a campfire with a bunch of strangers? The dangers of which are illustrated through a whole bunch of late night encounters. In a few of them, the Durge-PC is even the aggressor - the Act 2 Durge scene is exactly what you were asking for, a lover turning on the other or you turning on your lover.

I am way more interested in how the relationships are treated and portrayed in general and in this regard, I am perfectly fine with Astarion, Gale and Lae'zel, but absolutely not with Karlach, Shart and Wyll. Astarion is trying to manipulate the PC at the start, but the game is very open about the manipulation. You get to make a perception check and Astarion uses a completely different voice when he is in performance mode than when he is sincere. The situation is a bit iffy and the game clearly tells you that it is. Gale is a sweetheart who first asks you if you are generally interested in "other forms of stimulation", then sets up a date and if you are not interested in his visions of the Weave, he'll switch to the magical four poster in the woods - like someone might who care's about the other person's feelings.

Karlach, Shart and Wyll on the other hand have a very fixed perception of what sort of romance they want and you better play your designated part in it. You can't just have a bottle of wine as friends with Shart or dance for the fun of it with Wyll, they will be disappointed if you don't treat these encounters as romantic interactions - and Karlach, well she is open about wanting to "suck face" with someone and you are just the person to work on her romantic bucket list with. I don't think these aren exactly great examples of relationships, yet the game treats them as perfectly normal and romantic. And if I should complain at all (I mean a lot of people seem to like these romances) my issues would be with this and not with in which Act someone wants to do the deed.

Viva La Dirt League has nice videos about weird inclusion of sex into video games:

Honestly the first and last choices on the poll look like the same thing.

So, I don't believe romances are necessary for any RPG and I don't think they're necessary for this game.

However, when they're added to these games and they tie into understanding characters on a different level, I think it adds much needed flavor to the development and progression and connection we can have with characters.

Once of the best examples I can think of is Solas from DA:I.
When I first played that game, I thought Solas was the most indignant elitist son of a bitch I'd ever seen. His elfy "I'm the best" attitude rubbed me in the complete wrong way.
But then I got curious as I do with Bioware companions and decided to romance him. And DAMN.
His story was expanded, my view on him changed completely, and it opened my eyes to avenues I never thought I'd get with a character. He is now one of my most beloved and cherished characters from that game to-date.

I believe a lot of the romances in BG3 do that for the characters as well. There's so much vulnerability on display with Astarion's, Minthara's, and Lae'zel's romances that my eyes are opened to them on a whole new level. The romances added so much context as to how they act and why they do what they do that wouldn't have been there otherwise.

I still would've bought the game without the romances. I still would've thought it was a great game. But the romances are such a wonderful part of the whole picture that I wouldn't have loved this game nearly as much as I do without them.

EDIT: I also wanted to comment on the whole "waiting until Act 3 for sex scenes" idea. I get completely that most people thrive in healthy relationships by waiting to have sex and that, often times, it's viewed as necessary to get to the know the person.
But reality doesn't speak to that all the time.
Most people connect sexually in the first few dates and I know that I, personally, have a thriving, going-on-11 years together relationship and we had sex on the 2nd date.
Sex means a lot of things to different people and I don't know that it would add much depth to a character's romance to wait; especially if that's the rule for every companion. Astarion is the most stark example of this given that most of his story has to do with him using sex as a defense mechanism and you breaking down those walls. Having sex with him as quickly as you do adds to his character and the romance and I don't believe it would've been very good for people to have to wait forever; it would wreck the character progression.

Just my 2 cents though.

I would definitely have bought the game without the sexual content, because Larian earned my trust with Divinity 2 and Divinity Original sin, but I would have missed the hard choices I grew to love in dragon commander.

But it would not have been the best game i played in the past two decades.

Some background: I’ve been sketching the best moment of the last day almost every day for a year, and the past 3 months Baldurs Gate 3 absolutely dominated those sketches. But look at the sketches yourself and see which scenes more and more took over as the most impactful.


That is some spectacular storytelling, and it would not have worked without the sex. Because that sex is not mere fan-service. It is part of the plot, part of the bonding of the characters that makes them stand against most brutal odds and take hard choices (like ).

A bit weird questions, not telling you much, Niara analysed it well. I choose "Who Cares" for this reason, although I care in a certain way. I think the game would be still great without sex options, but not as good as it is now. I would have bought it anyway but that is not an important information.

Differently from the sex/romance options I see the available companions. I'm glad that there is at least one companion I really like (Shadowheart) and I have to confess that I did a lot to please her (and I still cannot believe that one of the two times I got a 20 in dialog roles was the one to save Shadowheart from Shar). It is a matter of the visual appearance, independent of actual romancing, as you always have fancy. I would probably not have bought the game if there were only companions available like Karlach or Halsin.

I probably would have enjoyed the game more if Larian's approach to romances was different. I've bought the game in EA because the original BG games are one of my favs. I really enjoy the open world exploration in BG3 and turn based combat, but the storytelling was not so good.

I think my first playthrough would have been better if not for some of the companions (Astarion and Gale). I know later Larian posted an explanation that all of the companions being very interested in Tav was a bug, but it made for some unpleasant conversations in the game. Contrary to what many players claimed, it was not always enough to simply refuse once to stop the romantic "advances". Which surprised me, because I do not recall having such issues with any other crpg I've played.

I have later replayed the game as Gale and it was better, so perhaps it was indeed a bug. But it definitely made me enjoy the game less.

I bought the game because I'm a longtime DnD player, and honestly, it's the least horny DnD experience I had so far.

I think the sex is fine. We have the nudity filter and we have slow-burn romances too.

I don't see the issue with the sex.

I've 'bought' it (honestly - a friend gifted it) because I've already played BG1 and BG2 back in the days when they came out. If they would be no sex or romance in the game, I would play it too. But I also enjoy the romance and sex stuff in that game. This game is nearly perfect for me and I'm just happy.