Well met BG adventures and Larian Studios (I really hope they see my Thread),

Back in 1999, my uncle introduced me to the wonderful world of D&D Faerun with BG1 for PC. It's a franchise I hold near and dear to my heart.
I finally was able to get into BG3 early access and I am really enjoying the adventure so far.

The visuals are amazing and I'm really liking the cinematic dialogue, it makes me feel like I'm really part of the world. Love the choices of dialogue I'm given with the ability to role for success or failure. Throughout the years, I've been becoming more of a D&D fan so it's a real treat to understand the games mechanics and rule set. Voice acting is great and I'm really getting into the companions. So far, Lae'zel and Wyll are my favorite to chat with. Combat is fun; I love both turn base and real time combat. For me this is an improvement from DoS turn base system.

With that, I want to talk about what I think would better enhance the BG3 experience. Please understand, I am no professional tester, developer or gamer. I just want to share my thoughts on what I believe can help me and other BG fans to further enjoy the game.

1. The Map
This was something I was really hoping for an improvement from DoS. I'm getting frustrated scrolling around the in-game world just to go anywhere. The original BG 1 and 2 map system is in etched in my muscle memory. It was a simple yet very useful mechanic. I pull up the map, double click on any area and the camera takes me to that specific area, then I move my characters to that area. No scrolling, just Map, click and move. I really do hope this improves because this was really frustrating for me to maneuver around the world especially for long distances.

2. Selecting, Commanding Characters and Formations
I understand the DoS mechanic of clicking and dragging the character portraits to move or command them by themselves or solo. To me, it's still very finicky. Sometimes it they still links after dragging and I kept unintentionally rearranging the order of character portrait which also throws me off. Like the original BG, I just want to single click (no dragging) a character (or their portrait) and move them where ever I need to. I also had found it odd that there was no option to customize or set my party into formations. Since my main character was a wizard, she was the fist person to go head first into the battle when I just wanted her to be in the back of the formation. I remember, my uncle helping me set up clever formations in the original BG to minimize casualties. It something that my D&D friends and I do currently every time we play.

3. Toggle Equipment and Toggle Character Panels Pages
This was really confusing for me. I don't mind intricacy in RPGs but I find myself not using these pages. In the original Baldur's Gate, Inventory and Equipment were in the same page. Similar to BG3's character page. I understand you want to have a pages for singular character sheets and equipment including pages for all inventory and character sheets but I feel it's too bloated with pages. I find myself going back and fourth between pages just to equip items for my characters.

4. 6 Party Members
I really wanted to have the choice to have 6 party members in BG3. I understand some players say, "keep it simple with 4 party members." or "6 is too much" or "6 party members will make combat way too slow." but I digress. Just like in BG 1 and 2, the player had more options to play however they wanted in the game. I would also like to mention that D&D can have up to 6 party members. Of course this number really depends on the Dungeon Master but most usually say that 6 is the maximum number. For me personally, 6 was perfect for me because it allowed me to have the essentials (Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Rogue/Thief) as well as 2 free slots of any characters I choose, whom which I call the specialist characters. I could have the essential classes and then add a Bard for fun buffs, a Ranger to act as my sniper, or an extra Mage for more spells on the battlefield. Not only was I playing a RPG but at times felt like a strategy game because I was really focusing on fun tactics for my 6 adventures. This variety is the reason why I love original BGs system. With 4 party members, I usually find myself stuck with the same essential classes and miss out on the other fun party members including their dialogue or quests. I found myself doing that a lot in BG3. Since my character was a Wizard, I kept using Astarion, Shadowheart Lae'zel. I was sad to leave Gale and Wyll behind most of the journey but I wanted to make sure I have my Fighter, Cleric, Rogue and Mage. Wyll was even one of my favorite characters to chat with but I left him behind most of the journey. I also have to add, on how fun it would be to have the characters interact more with each other because of the 6 party members. That was the joy with the original Baldur's Gate where the characters would argue in the middle of battle or have philosophical discussions while traveling the dusty road or just having fun drama between each other.

I understand that some of these gaming mechanics are what define DoS but in the end, this is still a BG game. I don't want to belittle DoS, I did in fact enjoy those games; you guys where one of the main developers to bring back isometric RPGs, but I'm finding myself frustrated with the same mechanics in DoS 1 that are still in BG3 that I thought would be improved. Not only that, but I feel by introducing some of the original BG mechanics I mentioned will also help BG players feel more at home.

If I had to choose any of the mechanics I really want to have changed, it would be the party system. Please give it some thought Larian Studios. No joke, because of the max 4 party system, completely turned my uncle away to play BG3. Which also made me sad because I want to enjoy this game with person that introduced me to this franchise. It actually almost made me not want to fully enjoy the game. While yes, I am having a good time with it but I find myself more frustrated on the fact that I can't have more members on the battlefield.

Lastly, thank you for bringing this franchise back. I'm really happy to know that many new players are getting into BG.

Sincerely,
Roo