Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback My review as a 33 years old fan of BG

Hi,
First, let me introduce myself. I'm 33, I played BG since I was 11 and for many, many, many years with a lot of mods and in a lot of ways.
Also, I'm french so please, forgive my bad writing. I just want to maximize the chance to be read by Larian.

So, here we go (and sorry, I'm a little chatty).
In a general point of view, when I heard about a BG3 I was just like interiorly crazy happy. When I heard it was Larian, I was pretty happy, a little septikal but happy.
I played a lot of games : witchers 1, 2, 3 Pillars of eternity 1 and 2, Tyranny, Numerama, Wasteland 2 and 3, divinity origin 1 and 2, BG 1, 2, ToB, ID 1 and 2, Elemental temple and some others I forgot right now. The point is, I kinda love the RPG with great stories, etc.

So what about this BG3 ?

After playing more than 30 hours and being close to the end, here is my opinion : Larian, I loved divinity origin (the 2 more) BUT what was good in divinity isn't in BG. And I say it after playing the early access. I say it not cause I have somethting againt divinity (agian, I loved them) but because it's (in my point of view) a fact. And you can't just take a licence and don't respect some of is major elements. Again, I love divinity, but isn't divinity and right now, when I'm playing BG3, it's like I was playing a divinity game with a BG3 decorum, it's a little inconfortable.


Here we go from the most important point (for me) to the minor one (obviously this is just my point of view but I'm pretty confident it is a good one)

1) GIVE ME BACK THE CLICK AND DRAG !!!
It's a recurrent topic on this forum, I saw it and I can't agree more. This is sooooo annoying to have my companion following me like dumb dogs, moving for each millimeter I move, going everywhere and stupidly where they shouldn't. It's absolutely not confortable to have to click on a portrait and drag it out and then move every companion and reclick the portrait and drag on another one... It's just NOT CONFORTABLE. And I get it, it's for console gamer but could we remember BG was and should be, at first, a PC license. So, make the adjustement for the console gamer but don't screw the comfort of the PC gamer... It's really bad and it participates to make the experience less funny (to not say a little annoying).

2) GIVE ME BACK THE ACTIVE PAUSE !!!
I remembered when I listen the video of Larian talking about turn-based, they said it was "more strategic". So I thougth "Yeaaaaah... Don't think so but stay open-minded and let's see..." So I tried BG3 with a really open-mind and I can say "no, this is not cool dudes, not cool..." Why ? Let me tell you why in my point of view.
The fights are just soooooooooooooooo long. Ok, I find turn-based usefull for big and hard fight, not necesseraly essential but usefull... BUT for the major parts of the fights ? It's just so damn long and NOT EPIC.
My best exemple is when I come back by the teleport point in the goblin village just to clean it (I had already killed the three bosses). So I tp and the fight began... There was like 15-20 goblins who want me dead. It could have been epic, my team at the top of the wall, shooting arrows and spells on a hord of goblins trying to reahc us ! Epic ! BUT IT WASN'T !!! Why ??? Cause it was so sadly loooooong and sloooooow and booooring.... Like "goblin move, goblin move, goblin move, goblin move, goblin move, my companion miss a shot, goblin move, goblin move, goblin move, goblin move, I shot, goblin move, goblin move, goblin move..." for like..... A ridiculously long time !
So here is my proposition : Keep the turn-base thing, but let the player choose !
Sometimes I just want to see an epic fight, I don't want to play chess ! Make the possibilit for the mages to auto-used their basic spell and let the fight in real-time. i'll pause when I feel the need to readjust my strategy or I just enjoy the view of my team shooting arrows and spells !!
Because it was A BIG PART OF THE FUN IN BG ! Looking at my guys hitting like crazy on a freaking dragon, crossing fingers for them to actually hit it ! THE EPICNESS !
Give me back the epicness and the flow of the game. The all in turned-based is just so slow. Don't be wrong, I liked it on divinity but it's jsut another game. In divinity, you had a lot of action's point, you could do a lot of things in one round. In BG, you just ridiculously wait to.... hit once. I don't really see why it's more "strategic" at this point...
And I know, people will say "it's a Larian game, it's their style". So I repeat : "I love divinity, but BG is not a divinity game, so I Larian want to do another divinity-game, go on, but don't call it BG, cause it's not.
Turn-based is cool for planning hard fight, but it kill all the epicness of all the fights, even the hard one...

3) boxes, chests, bags... everywhere... No, Larian, just don't please. Much as I needed time to make my opinion about the turned-base opinion, I immediately feel bored by your love of the useless boxes... AGAIN, it was ok in divinity but it was different, it was random loot, there was the thrill, etc. But here, this is BG, I want to discover and learn where are every awesome stuff of the game, but more I DONT WANT TO OPEN 1******* EMPTY BOXES, BARRELS, CHESTS, ETC !!!! It's not FUN. Really. Not fun. What was ok in divinity is not here cause you are not doing another divinity-game. So please, could you like... Close 90% of the useless recipient ? I'm not against some useless recipient time to time, but at every corner of the game... I jsut discouraged me. Don't want to open any chests at all... Not fun. Long. Boring.

4) The companions are cool for me. I except a lot more of them obviously cause, you know, it's BG and it's a big part of the fun, a lot of companions for a lot of different adventures. By the way, I agree with all the people who asked for 6 of them. I saw some people talking about D&D and rules of the 5°, etc... I heard you but 2 facts : first a game is about fun and it's more fun to have 6 than 4, second I'm not there to play a perfect reincarnation of the D&D rules, I'm here to play a videogame inspired by D&D and fun. So, if BG 1 and 2 did it with 6 guys, I'm prtty sure it's doable.

5) The companions, again ! I said I like them and it's true. Nevertheless... One thing bored me. At the party after the victory against the goblin, Gale, Wyll and Astarion all wanna have sex with me.. I have nothing against sex but guys... We know each other for like... 5 days ? Seriously ? Is the fantasy world full of sex-addict ? Is it a giant orgy-party ? I think it's a bit too much. Having one guy (or girl) starving for sex, meh, ok. But all of them. Please... It's too fast ! I mean I REALLY LOVE romance in game... But if romance is just about being nice with somebody and - BAM - sex 5 days later, it's just sad, really sad. Not romantic at all.
More, after reading some topics, I discovered the companions would date pretty everything, girls, boys, dwarf, tieffelin... (Am I wrong ? Did I missread ?). I think it's not cool. I mean, I have nothing against bisexuality of everything but does it mean everybody should be bisexual and have absolutely no race preference (and I'm talking about fantasy race !) ? I think it'll be more credible if this one or another prefer the halfling or the elf or whatever you want. But making them love absolutely anybody make them... inconsistant.

6) I'm not fond of the roll-dice stuff. I know it's D&D but hey, you know what ? I don't really care D&D. I didn't play BG1 and 2 thinking "ho cool it's D&D !" I didn't even know what it was at the time. So, don't give me the "it's D&D". It's a videogame, inspired, based on D&D, D&D must be an inspiration, not a prison cell keeping all creativity and smartness imprison... So, I say it again, I don't like the roll-dice thing in the conversation. It feel sooooo random.. SOOO RANDOM, it's just.. I don't find it funny. I don't feel I was better in one or another skill. I just feel like, "meh, 7/15/2/13, who care's the dice just gonna slap me in the face no matter my masteries...". But I get it, some people think it's fun. Not me. I prefer by far the skills who unlocked some answer than the skill who give you "-1" on the dice results...

7) It'll be the last, I promess ! I love the fact that the camera zoom on people when we talk with them. I love it and at the same time I wonder. Is it really ever necesary ? I thougth for myself did I really need to see the merchants faces ? Is it really an improvement ? I'm not sure... I love see face of important people or during important event. I loved the face of the gith with his red dragon. But is it good expenses to give me the opportunity to see some random goblins face's ? I don't know.

To conclude and as I said in the beginning, I think Larian want to put too much of Divinity in BG and it's a big mistake from my point of view. If you want to revive a famous game, you have to respect his fondamentals : 6 guys, active pause, not freaking thousands of useless empty boxes. I tried BG3 with an open-mind but I'm a BG fan. I know why I loved this game so much and so I know why Larian is mistaking.
Please, heard me, I'll play your futur divinity game with PLEASURE. But right now, you're doing BG3. It's a pause active game, with click and drag and 6 dudes adventuring. Please, respect it (btw BG could be turned-based there was this option to have an automatic pause every round, so... see ?).

You can keep doing the game the way you want and I'm sure a lot of people will love it but ? Will it be a good BG successor or will it be a Divinity game with BG attire ?
Don't make the mistake. BG is more than just an attire, more than just an universe. It's a gameplay which you can improve but you should respect a little.
Give me epicness (just saw this word didn't excit ! O my god T.T, feel so bad... ERRATA : Epic, not epicness, really sry dudes...).

I trust you guys, I buy your early access, I did a review (which I never did before), I keep faith. So, do the right thing. Give the pause active (while keeping the turn-based too), give me a click and drag (which mean a gameplay design for PC gamers) and forgot your delirium of empty chests !

Thx you for trying to revive this game, trust you guys, so trust me.

+10 Agree to this, good points.
I have a bad feeling there will be option to respec companions to what class you want, so that there wont be that many of them with different stories they have to make.

Hi, thx for your support.

I don't really mind respec stuff because it's an option so... everyone is free ot use it or not.
When I play, the first time it's all about respect the game as it was done, but after some party, I don't mind respec in order to achieve the perfect team !
More, it can be usefull to choose a companion you want but who didn't match your party.
About it, (just remembered I played kingdom pathfinder) there was some smart system like in Pillars of eternity deadfire where you choose between 3 "class" for exemple, Eder could be "fighter" "fighter/thief" or "thief" (something like this, I don't remembe exactly). The point is, there was a little flexibility without betraying the character's spirit.

That won't happen as for some the class is backed into their backstory (Gale or Wyll for example).

I'm not sure where you got the impression that this is a game "inspired" by D&D or "based" on D&D. It is 100% meant to be a game that uses the current D&D edition mechanics and that is part of the caveat that the licensing publishers(WotC/Hasbro) have given. There is obviously some leeway to this but even the smallest of changes are already receiving overwhelming backlash by the community. This is reinforced by the fact that they used the BG name in order to market the game. Believe me when I say that if this is not the case then, legally, I could ask for my money back immediately based on the legal precedent of 'honor your advertising'.

That being said, I am fully aboard with dialogue choices being thresholds as opposed to rolls simply because this is objectively superior for the role playing experience and this mechanic is already included in D&D. It is known as "take 10". If the DC for a check is 17 and you have 9 in the relevant skill you can opt to just "take 10" in the roll and instantly pass. This is to remove the chance when it comes to critical skill check when time is not an issue. I understand that you don't enjoy probability but are you aware of how this works in other games? Dice rolls. In other games they have been distilled into pure mathematical equations that are run hundreds of thousands of times in the blink of an eye with variables much large than what is available on dice. Most developers have the clarity of mind to know that this is not something that the player should see or be privy to the details of let alone to shove it in their face like Larian does. What I am saying is that for the most part what bothers you about this mechanic is that you are being made aware of it.

1) GIVE ME BACK THE CLICK AND DRAG !!!
Yes. 100%

2) GIVE ME BACK THE ACTIVE PAUSE !!!
No.
For me, BG 1&2 were great but not perfect, mainly because of real time combat. In D&D you attack roll once every 6 seconds (at least in low levels), and Bioware actually, literally, translated as such in real time, so the characters would swing once, then stand still and very silly for next 6 seconds until another swing... which looked... very really stupid IMO.
And turn combat is what D&D rules are made for and it is very fun once you get used to it. (millions of D&D tabletop players would agree with me.

3) boxes, chests, bags... everywhere...
Yes and No.
Maybe leave it as it is and add an option/perk to know whether it is empty/uninteresting without clicking.


4) By the way, I agree with all the people who asked for 6 of them.
Yes. 120%
They have been open minded for so many stuff, why are they so stubborn on this?


5) The companions, [sex stuff]
Agreed.
Pornhub lets me choose my preferences, why can't Larian?
Like how about... in the character making menu, add an option to specify the character's sexual orientations?
And besides, halflings...., gnomes.... oh dear... it won't surprise me if this game is banned in some countries.


6) I'm not fond of the roll-dice stuff.
Nope.
Good thing is, you can F5/F9 should you find the roll unsatisfactory.

7) It'll be the last, I promess ! I love the fact that the camera zoom on people when we talk with them.
Yes, but.
I too think it was a little bit overkill and waste of resources, but I guess it's already done...

I agree 100%...

It's funny to find someone which shares so many of my views about the state of the game. It's almost as if people who've played the original BGs, tons of cRPGs and Divinity throughout their lives have some useful insight.

Just to tackle one of the responses here:





2) Translating the turns into real time makes since given that this is a video game. You can't have a DM shout all enemy actions at once given that it is... well, impossible. You also can't have all of the players shouting what they want to do given that it would be... well, stupid. But you must realize that those combat encounters would nevertheless happen in real time. The turn based system exists in table top due to the limitation stated above, it is merely a workaround for an impossible situation trying to simulate what would happen in real time. So, now that we have computers which are actually able to translate simultaneous enemy AI commands as well as that of your companions and your own... we shouldn't use this improved system because on a limited system it is not possible? It's dumb.
In regards to your point of the characters swinging once and then standing still (first of all this is pretty much beside the point but whatever), well, you won't say that if you have an improved haste berserker dwarf hacking away at something I'll tell you that right now xD But by that logic it is much more retarded to see an entire party stand still and look as one of your companions get completely mauled by several enemies while standing there doing nothing and the companions also doing nothing (poor teamwork if you ask me lol).
Your argument that turn combat is what D&D rules are made for... well, once more it's due to the limitation I already described, and regardless of that the original BGs had the turn based combat implemented. The entire game is turn based. It is simply shown to you in real time to have a better flow of the game, a greater feel of excitement and epicness as you can actually see the battle unfold, hear the warcries, the spells going off, the hits, etc. Turn based in BG3 is reddit or a stream, because I'll just alt tab while the AI are doing their stuff to prevent closing the game out of boredom.

6) If I understood correctly, what OP is saying is that he would prefer that his stats and skills dictate what he can or cannot do during a conversation rather than relying on pure randomness. I'm not as opposed to using dice rolls for certain things such as deception or persuasion or whatever, but I get his point. Creating an incredibly charismatic character to then still lose on a persuasion check due to RNG... feels meh.
And please, saying that you can just F5/F9 as a workaround for a feels bad system is silly at best. At most, by saying that you're actually proving his point.

All in all, I agree with pretty much everything you state OP. The game is not a BG successor. This is a Divinity OS 3 with D&D spells and a 5e ruleset completely mangled by Larian with their "we know best" mentality which is breaking the flow of the game and introducing a whole lot of balance issues (AC reduction and HP inflation as just one example). I don't mind that some changes are made, but throwing away countless systems that were tried, tested and loved which worked well over 20 years ago and just say "screw all that, we'll just make something better on our own"... is just taking the Baldur's Gate name for a nice cash grab and disrespect its origins.

Hi guys, thx you all for your comments.

Argonaut,
I'm not sure if I understood you well or not. I was saying BG1 and 2 are based on D&D, isn't it ? I think you said the same, more or less, so... I think I agree with you. Did I ? ^^
About the dice, again I'm not 100% sure I understood everything you said (but I'm confident than I did at 80% at least). So I'm not completely ok.
I have not a problem with the probability, I have a problem with the little impact the skills have on the probability. For now it feels like my "masteries" in "persuasion" or "intimidation" have a really really little impact on the roll-dice. Besides, there are games where this is not about probability but pure skill. You have 3 points in "intimidate" it unlocks the dialogue option "intimidate level 3".
I'm not saying Larian should do it. I just say, other ways exist but anyway, here, in BG3, I don't appreciate the probabilité system.
What's the point reloading to get the reaction I want.
And more we could have a debate about the logic of a random reaction to the same sentence, but this is not the point. The point is, I feel powerless and unskilled in frnot of the dice, no matter the points I spent in some skills.


Lumign,
I'm pretty used to the turned-base game, I played Divinity, HoMM, Bounty, Fire Emblem, etc. My point is, here, in BG3, it lacks of epic, it's long and boring. And as I said, I would like to have the two option like in... BG1and 2 (which you could have an automatic pause at every beginning of rounds)
If you think a fighter swinging his sword every 6 secondes is no fun, so what about a guy doing the same thing every 6 minutes (I overstate) (cause you know, goblin move, goblin attack, goblin move, gobl.. etc) ?
Never get when the developpers lower the possibility of gameplay (cause it shouldn't be this complicated to give the opportunity to play real-time).

For the companion it's terrific yeah ! I don't ask an option at the beginning, I asked for the companion to have a... how should I say it... a sexual personnality ? I mean I have no problem with all the different sexualities but it doesn't mean I'm myself a free open-bar guy. I have my preferences as everyone. Everybody can't be nymphomaniac. I won't be shocked if (I say it randomnly) Gale can't support elves or if Astarion didn't like dwarf girls or anything you want except for this "I take anybody who's near me cause I'm a freaking companion created to have sex with anybody who's smile at me"...


About te roll-dice thing, I'm aware it's my preference and some people will love it. First I critiziced the unsatisfacting connection skills/roll-dice.
But reading you I thougth "why they don't just let people reroll the dice if they want ?" it's a perfect exemple of this moment where the developpers limited the options. They have a vision, I respect it even if I'm not ok with it. But why impose it when they could simply let people choose. Those who wont reroll and play with the thrill of the dice wont reroll and those who just want to have the story they're looking for will reroll like hell. And everybody is happy. I call it a compromise. ^^
A game should be about the fun the players have first, not about defending a point of view at all cost.

About the camera zoom, I guess you're right. What's done is done. Maybe a little too much enthusiasm !


Minsc1122,
thx ! I'm glad to see I'm not the one thinking the way I think.

EDIT: jsut saw the last comment !

coredumped,
... O my god ! You say it so right ! This is exactly it, flow and epic. And the go back to windows to not be bored... This is so it...
Thx you to have made this point so clear. I agree with you about everything you said.
Respect.

on point 1: yeah I agree number of threads inc some by myself to improve party management. Right now it's really bad heh. A simple group and ungroup would solve a bunch of issues.

2: I'm ok with the system - I think - but playing through EA again you can deal with that village in a completely different way so that you still kill everyone but avoid that long as hell surprise battle. I actually liked DoS approach once I got the hang of it. I could skip actions and get more actions on future turns. This one feels a bit odd for some reason and maybe it's because it's been 20 years since I played BG and I got use to Divinity games (I played both).

3. It was like that in bg1 and 2. I agree that maybe it's a bit excessive but I think the loot inside all of those things in RNG so you could get something cool or you could get crap. I think if they remove a lot of it that could make the world feel empty - I don't know.

4. I'm indifferent on this point. More companions means more rebalance of the game. I welcome a smaller tighter group tbh.

5. I tried to have sex with Shadowheart and she turned me down. I tried to see which tiefling I could bang but the game didn't really give me any options and that was actually what was most upsetting!

6. I'm not enough of a geek (I mean fan!) to comment on this one.

7. I don't mind the camera but I don't like the feel of being able to move it to the edge of a zone as if I am inside a level editor. They need to tighten it up a bit and they need to fix things like being unable to scale/zoom out properly when you are on the ground fighting something up in the rafters and it takes you a few minutes just to focus on the monster there because the camera won't zoom out properly.

What's the point of reloading ass load of times when you have proficiency in some DIALOG based check where you have to roll like 3-5 and you still cant do it 2-3 times. I get it if roll is 10+. That's reasonable to fail. But out of 20 to not roll even 3 with proficiencies? This is not balance, this is some next level D&D.

@Zefhyr
It seems as if we are brothers in mind and taste. You summed up all my thoughts and concerns after my 30+h playthrough.

I add:
2b. Please don't rely on heavy blasts (like explosive barrels) in order to shortcut long and lame fights that result from the crippled turn-based fighting system! This seems to me as a belated and poor quick fix to those extreme long and boring fights.

Hi cgexile, thx for the comment.

2) I played a lot of RPGs and I really appreciate divinity, but as I said, what worked with divinity didn't worked here for me. As I said, divinity turn are not the same you have more action doable and it worked fine. Divinty it's like playing chess. But BG it's like playing a freaking adventure with epic fight and there is no epic in a long and boring turned base fight against weaklings. I tried BG3 EA with the will to love it and I still want to love it but as it is now, this is not BG, this is not what we can be expecting from it because, it's not epic and flowless. I'm not against the turned base mod, I'm for a compromise. I don't need it to wipe out à hord of goblins and I don't need it lasts so long.

3) I strongly disagree. There was absolutely not as many recipients in BG3 as there was in BG1 and 2. Actually, BG3 universe feel like the apaprtment of this old solo guy who collect every wrapping, boxes, bottles, etc he could get. It's far from what was BG1 and 2. I'm ok with opening some chests and wonder "damn, nothing !", I'm not ok with opening 5 chests, 12 boxes, 8 bookcases, 6 bags and 22 barrels just to find trash... all in one room (I overstate, I know ^^) !

4) well, ok. I must be a little gourmand. Like have companie and talk and live adventure with lot of friends. Nothing better than beginning a BG party and lsot 30 minutes thinking "who will live this adventure with me ? Minsc ? Imoen ? Jaheira ? Keldorn ? Yoshimo ? Aerie ? Viconia ? Damn... so many people, so many adventure, so many little personnal story !" ^^

5) Unlucky you ! All the guys jumped on me... Still don't understood why ? I mean, I was nice but I am nice. It doesn't mean I want to bang you if I let you eat my staff (not litteraly) and bite my neck. I'm just a nice guy, don't mind me, boys ! u.u

Udon, thx guy. I agree. As I said in comment, why don't propose re-roll. It would satisfy everybody. I still remember when I fail a persuasion with shadowheart... What's the point of failing a romance cause of a bod rolling dice...

into oblivion,
thx guy ! It's heartwarming to not feel alone in my opinion !
Personally I used two barrels once, to kill one freaking minotaure !

Hi again,

since we do share a lot of the same view points, I just want to leave a link for my initial feedback of the game after playing the EA: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=691319#Post691319

In regards to the flow of the game and the "epic feel" I also voiced my opinion about it here: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=699277 and then discovered that there is also a stickied thread regarding this topic on the General forum: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=652913&nt=74&page=1

Agree with all points.

But RTwP is not an option. It requires redoing the game from zero and completely changing the enemy/party member ratio.

I agree with a lot of these... But I'm afraid RTwP is not up for discussion. They're completely set on it. Best I could hope for is a RTwP mode in Definitive Edition or a mod.

Hi OP.
That's fun because I have the exact same experience as you with BG1/2, with DoS and with the annoucement of BG3 by Larian.

That said..

1) totally agree. It really suck atm.
2) i'd love it but that's not a dream anymore. It won't happen.
3) agree, this is boring and a bad exploration design.
4) agree. I'll continue asking 6 companions until the end of EA (5 is a good compromise, not my ideal party size but better than 4).
5) I don't experience things related to sex atm even if I ended the EA but if everyone want to have sex, it's not fun and it's not natural. Overdose again...
6) I find it too intrusive and unnecessary... There are too much rolls like that everywhere everytime. I'd love being able to have a discreet auto roll or at least being able not to see those rolls at all.
7) agree. Those that have nothing interresting to say should just have a popup above their head. Cinematics dialogs should only stick to quests(main/side/...)/lore related things.

There are many other things to say according to me but that points are important to me. The other things will come later when I'll write my own feedback^^

Even if they are set in stone with turn-based that is not a reason to not continue to raise the question. They have more than enough time and funding and we have paid full price to alpha test the game for them. Changing this system to include RTwP will not change as much as you suspect as RTwP is turn based that is hiding it's artificial mechanics(such as being turn based). Everything in older CRPGs that are RTwP are still following the action economy faithful to it's definition in the PHB but it is hiding this from you.

The only difference is that the world will not pause and wait for you but no changes would need to be made in this regard as the desire for RTwP comes from people that use that challenge level as a benchmark and are more often than not seeking that thrill of the challenge. I do not think, in consideration of all these points, that it is not worth them spending the amount of time and effort to include the option to play RTwP. If modding features are included I will personally look into modding it into the game given that there is enough access to the engine and source code.

It’s to give you a different play through experience each time. I don’t know how your dating life went, but a lot of opportunities didn’t go my way... and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s another person with their own intention. Maybe just revisit it later.

I don’t really get why people would save scum to purposely replay the same game path over and over.

OP totally agree with the in-person conversation. I don’t see what this adds to the game. This game is at its best when I can’t make out the ridiculous over stylization. It also puts one character as ‘the speaker’ which doesn’t make any sense.

I really hope you're right... The main reason I strongly prefer RTwP to TB is that characters act simultaneously (naturally, not waiting idly for someone to hit them), not faster combat. It would be wonderful if we could have an official RTwP mode (or at least a well-made RTwP mod).