Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Would you participate in an EA release again?

I have done much the same, only I cut way short of 100 hours, closer to 50, specifically so I don't become burnt out by the early game content. This is only the second EA I've participated in, well, I'm not sure if the beta testing for Aion counts or not, but I was there for the second closed beta on, and here since launch, and if I was able, I'd do it again for a game that gets my attention.

Yes but not day one. If their next game has EA I'll join a few months before release.

It depends. In general I do find early access participation to result in lesser enjoyment of 1.0. From player perspective I think it is always better to wait, but if something pops up that I am particularly interested in, I am likely to jump in.

"Would you participate in an EA release again?"
Knowing what I know today about the game, Larian and their priorities? No.

Can probably give a better answer to this a month or two from now. A lot of this will depend on how much I enjoy the final product of BG3 and how much it seems like they listened to the feedback from this EA.

I really enjoyed DOS2, which is why I was willing to hop into BG3 so early on.

If I end up not enjoying BG3 nearly as much I'd probably wait.

Never participated in BG3's EA. I do so with PE, and it was a big mistake. First off, devs don't really listen, and second, I think it taints a full playthriugh of he final released games. I've been reasonably spoiled about BG3, but way less so than if I had played the EA.

Yes, I would do it again.

It was very interesting to see the game taking shape, to see the small or bigger changes made to it. And it was clearly stated in advance that there might still be bugs, so I didn't mind them that much (the only thing that really annoyed me was not being able to climb certain ladders and having to resort to workarounds to get where I wanted to go).

Even after over 900 hours in early access (I also spent a lot of time in character creation), it never got boring.

I would have liked to give much more feedback, but unfortunately, I didn't always have enough time.
Maybe some kind of more detailed, interactive form could be helpful to make it more easy for players to report bugs, instead of writing a text.

I think the player feedback could have been more focused if some maybe more fundamental things (for example number of companions/origins, possibility of multiclassing, reactions etc.) would have been communicated a bit earlier - if possible, that is. I know that a lot of things change during the development of a game, and if I were a developer, I would also be careful not to announce something that might not make it into the released game.

Overall, the communication could have been a bit better, although I really enjoyed the Panels from Hell.

I know, I haven't even played the complete Baldur's Gate 3 yet, but if the game lives up to my expectations, I'd love to see a Baldur's Gate 4 made by Larian. In that case, I would participate in early access again for sure.

From what I have experienced in early access, and from what I've seen in the panel, BG3 definitely has the potential to become my most favourite game yet.

Edit: Oh, just to make it clear: I don't think everything's perfect in BG3. But for me, the things I like clearly outweigh the things I, personally, would have done differently.

Minor conceits at best.

There were many scripting issues that moders quickly addressed that Larian just ignored.


Major issues completely ignored from the get go?

Day / night cycle

Faithfulness to the 5e rules

Companion addition bones

ect, ect, ect


It's really a dead horse that I moved on from along time ago, but ultimately EA only takes away from the full game anyway.


P.S. I gave my answer, why turn it into an argument?

Definitely not for a Larian game and definitely not for a game that doesn't look like it'll release within ~6 months. 3 years is way too long for an EA and kind of just gets depressing.

Essentially, I'll look up the developer's previous early access titles and if it seems like they were well regarded, where the dev actually communicates with the EA players, then I'll consider participating.

I've had some good discussions with people on the forum and my participation *might* have played a (small) role in Larian removing some of the more egregious parts of BG3, so I don't regret joining this EA...but I'm not particularly satisfied with it either.

I burned myself out on the D:OS early access and didn't play the full game until the enhanced edition released.
With D:OS 2 I limited the amount of time I played in early access which I enjoyed but didn't subtract from the enjoyment I got at full release.
I've not played BG3 early access since the initial release many patches ago which I enjoyed. However now I've got so much to look forward to in the full release including things like the removal of the surface effects being absolutely everywhere.

Early Access is fine as long as you ration yourself to avoid burning out. To Laririans credit they recommended that people don't play the early access if they wanted the best experience which I'm sure plenty ignored.

LOL at 750+ hours played in EA...Umm...Yeah I would for sure do it again. Heard horror stories about other EAs so I would be wary and research them first, but TBF I did that with this one.

No, but only because I feel it would lessen the wonder of my first playthrough in the final release; so it's not a fault on the part of Larian.

I avoided the EA for ages but in the end, as the years went by and with no concrete release date (and knowing how some games get delayed again and again), I finally caved and played about a year ago. I told myself it would just be for a couple of hours to get a feel for what it would be like but I loved it so much I played way more. I finally managed to reign myself in my just before reaching the Underdark.

I really hope the game is as long as they say it is as I'd be really annoyed with my lack of self control if I thought I'd played pretty much a third or quarter of the game.

I was going to play Baldur's Gate III *regardless* of who made it. Too much of a fanboy. If it were Beamdog doing it in the Infinity Engine, I'd have pre-purchased the second I could. If it were Obsidian, I woul've done the same. And I'm by no means excited for either. I wasn't too big on Divinity either. Didn't matter. I was always going to buy this; so might as well early on. I enjoyed it.