Hi everyone, new to the forums here but jumping straight into the hottest debate here...
As a long time fan of both the PC Games for D&D (specifically BG1&2 + NWN series) and TT RPG's, I have to say I am ok with Turn Based vs RTwP. Both have their pros and cons and whilst RTwP is a staple of the BG series to date, Turn based has been used well in other titles (ToEE for example) and I do not see a big issue personally to porting that over to a BG title.
As demonstrated by the goblin battle above, TTk or Time to Kill is a factor in TB games, "simple" battles can feel a little like a chore IF you are having to load into them (see XCOM for details), but can provide some truly awesome experiences if the player is given enough options.
It should be noted that in the fight above, there is no true Tank or Tanks to get stuck in, it's predominately ranged combat, so time is taken woth positioning and verticality ane ensuring opponents are kept at arms length as much as possible. It's more like chess, itcan be clever and imaginative, but it can feel slow and soulless if not carefully managed.
RTwP in the original BG series was a lot about having Tanks up front and centre auto hitting as much as possible and spamming heal. They weren't great fights either, tactically basic and often chaotic. That chaos however did "envoke" peril though. The Pause after a taking a critical hit sending you into a sweat of what best to do, keep as is, retreat said injured character but risk being killed as you ran, when un paused, the chaos was unpredictable and to a degree fun. Don't tell me though that fights in BG where always quick, especially when low level (or lower level than your opponents), but yes, quicker turns, more dice rolling did allow for fortuitously quick fights, bu also sometimes meant a quick death and a reloading of the game to do it again and again until the fight went your way.
This for me at least is the heart of the debate. Baldur's Gate games do not HAVE to be one system over another, but they should invoke a similar spirit at all times. So far I see a game shaping up to be a really good D&D game set in the Baldur's Gate world, but I do not yet see a Baldur's Gate game. So far that won't put me off purchasing, I like the look of a lot of what is going on here, but I also understand the other side of the debate, even it is often a nostalgic cry to the past.
I personally believe Turn Based (which looks better in Multiplayer), can look to mitigate the lack of urgency by adding small things back in. This is Pre-Alpha, so one assumes things like animations and voice-lines will be added and improved. Music can dynamically change based on the health of your party, but i think the main one for me would be reactions, the feeling that it's not I hit you and then you hit me, but that this is a fight. Climb to push me off a ledge, I should get a reaction (as long as you aren't sneaking), disengage my Fighter to swarm my Mage, Give me a swing. Fill the empty space!
Thanks for reading, these are just my initial musings on this topic and I look forward to further healthy debating! R.
