Excerpt from IGN's interview with Swen Vincke:
https://sea.ign.com/baldurs-gate-ii...sia-and-the-complexity-of-baldurs-gate-3IGN: Larian is making Baldur's Gate 3 now and Baldur's Gate is such a beloved franchise. How are you going to live up with the fans' expectations?
Swen: I don't think we can live up to the expectations. I think that's impossible. Those expectations are soaring through to the roof. What we're doing is we're making our type of Dungeons & Dragons with a lot of love for what came before and with also putting our own stamp on it.
I am sorry that Swen feels that way about BG fans. Permit me to speak freely about "fan expectations": This board has already discussed whether there is a significant overlap between D&D fans and longtime BG players so I am not going to steer the thread in that direction. What bugs me is that Swen and the dev team seem to be putting so much emphasis on innovation and translating 5E rules into a video game that I'm no longer certain if we will be getting a tabletop simulator or a role-playing game. To what extent a video game can capture the unpredictability and creativity of a D&D game master is beyond me.
For what it's worth, many great RPGs had poor or broken launches (which to my knowledge includes BG) but ultimately their saving grace was a skillful concoction of storytelling, writing and character development. Can we all agree that is what makes the difference between a game that will get shelved after one playthrough and one that is often revisited and has a vibrant modding community years after release? Being deeply immersed in a fictional setting is literally the only thing I expect of a
. As far as I'm concerned, Larian can screw up and cut corners on everything else. Thank you.
If you believe fan expectations are soaring through the roof, be a sweetheart and let me know how. There have been brainstorming sessions on here but trying to portray them as unreasonable fan expectations is a little underhanded in my view. I don't recall ever saying things like "I refuse to buy this game if you do not heed my suggestions" with the exception of one thread which coincidentally had to do with writing which I strongly believe is essential for an RPG and more important than any other component.
