Well met, fellow community members!
I hope to make this thread the go-to place for story-writing discussion and input from series veterans and new fans alike. Having beaten the Bhaalspawn saga and played at least one BG spin-off (it was one of the Dark Alliance entries but my memory is slightly fuzzy right now) I will try to shed some light on what the previous games have done right and where they may have gone wrong as far as character development or the writing in general. Naturally, opinions should not be passed off as facts so please chime in with your impressions after reading mine.
1) Lack of character development in the series
This may sound harsh but I feel that your party members in BG could have used more dialogue, more cutscenes and more character-related quests. Sure, there are a variety of characters to choose from, which is a great thing given the amount of different classes and alignments in DnD. However, it is obvious that budget constraints set in at some point and the player was starved of meaningful interaction with their party members for much of the campaign once they ran out of lines to interject. That is to say nothing of the relationships between your companions. I would far rather choose from a smaller pool of potential companions, each of whom will be consequential to the main story and work on their personalities as you further progress in the game. Their interactions with each other and with you should be a major driver of immersion. In short, make *them* the main characters instead of the player-made one because although I like the story shining a spotlight on your character (in other words, me), it's the other (pre-made) characters that make a story memorable for obvious reasons.
2) Rushed romance, i.e. speed-dating
One of the reasons why BG's romances usually fall flat for me is that they are rushed to the point where the tentative relationship with your love interest reaches a climax before you're even midway through the game. I believe it would feel much more rewarding to delay key events in a romance until the very end. As far as sex scenes go, I generally view them as a waste of money and a way to restrict your product from a fairly large share of the gaming market needlessly (see ESRB ratings). I'm not sure anyone plays video games for such explicit content but at any rate, I think the money is better spent on more quests, more items, an extra dungeon etc. Of course, that is assuming there will be such interactions in the upcoming game.
3) Characters are locked to a certain alignment
I know this is a DnD thing but there is a glimmer of hope in me still that the rules can be bent with regards to character alignment. Being able to replay the game with a different alignment and observing your party members as they turn into a pack of vile monsters.. err a party of gallant heroes would be a major selling point for me. Provided that the characters are well-written instead of being reduced to memes or stereotypes.
Well, those are just my two cents. Looking forward to hearing you out on what BG3's writing ought to focus on!
