Oh come on, a TPK on the first session is quintessential D&D. Tomb of Horrors?
sorry non english player, what is TPK? Never liked Tomb of Horros, also know noone RL who likes it (but I know there are people who love it, so not denying it).
I know D&D life is "hard" when starting (levels 1 to .... hm 8), especialy 1, but that? It is forgotten realms after all. There are people who can enjoy this kind of stuffe and those who do not.
It's been mentioned in a few places now, but Larian's idea for this EA release was to 'encourage' people to play in a more evil role, so they could gather more data on this aspect as more people tend to go for good options all the time. So the situations you mention are pretty much railroading you into the evil option, ie. killing Nettie to get the antidote (btw I have also experienced this bug, where she talks to you as if you are poisoned even if you persuaded her not to previously).
As others have mentioned, the idea is that the game will (eventually) have enough depth so that 'winning' every conversation check is not required in order to make satisfactory progress - by save-scumming checks you are potentially missing out on 'alternative' content from the failed check, which may have repercussions later on in the story.
The situation with the imps and the helm objective, well that requires a little 'outside of the box' thinking on the part of the player. Same with the illithid and fisherfolk - when they become hostile that doesn't mean you have to attack them, you can target the illithid with your first attack which will release them from it's control. As a DM of 35 years I'm a little surprised that this not only didn't occur to you, but you think it is a fault of the game. And a level 1 player attempting to battle wits with a mind flayer... how do you really think this action should play out?
I and many others agree that there needs to be a system for rewarding non-combat XP, perhaps this is something they have in the pipeline. Also some of the other issues like spell movement are clearly bugs that need to be rectified. Again, EA.
In summary though, I think there are reasons for most of your issues which hopefully now make a bit more sense to you.
Have not heard that anywhere, on the other side, truth be told, I usualy do not follow games, learned the hard way, when I do, it usualy leads to disappointment. And thats why I posted a feedback to EA and not a review
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I do not need to win everything, but then, there have to be differences, and rewards. Maybe this is going to have enough depth, but right now? Also, EA is not some early stage, its actualy open beta, I doubt where will be much changes. As of now, there are just 2 outcomes... either default or at least one fail, the other is all check succeed. And since there are at least 2 checks in each conversation, the chance for failing is realy realy high and therefore the game have just one outcome. I realy hope you are right and there will be more depth later on.
It did, but I could not target him
Nono, that the checks are high and a fail result in death is perfectly normal. But WHEN you win, where is the reward? As you mentioned, a lvl 1 winning a battle of wits with a mind flayer? As GM, if I wouldnt give the player at least one level up for that, I would be skinned alive...
My "problem" is not the high skill checks, but the lack of a proper reward.
Lets talk about that guy in the ruins (behind the door), you can persuade him and as reward you get the initiative when you enter the room (I would give the player a small xp reward, but getting initiative is good enough).
What with the halfling and his 2 companions before you go there? You can persuade him or intimidate him (or some third option I do not have in mind), when you fail: fight, when you succeed, they walk away, no exp reward (so it would have been better to fight them). And when you fight... as said in the initial post, NPC lvl 2... 100% saving throws 100% hit, my party level 2 0% saving throws, 50% critical miss...
And whats with the girl in the next room? Ok you have to pick the door... shouldnt she hear that? Obviously she did not, she was still patrolling the corridor. When she turns her back to the door, I open it... and... well the party should actualy have a high change to start the round, but not in BG3, reload a dozen times, a dozen times she had the initiative and killed my mage with the first strike because it was always a critical hit... always, aha.
There is not much going on on the first map, but enough to see the pattern.
I certainly hope so. And yes, EA. We will see.
As said, feedback for this EA, not a review. It did make sense, before and after your post. But it does not change my opinion, as of now BG3 is frustrating (for me).
But it is the game's fault, because Larian expects you to know everything about the DoS system, the D&D system in the latest edition and have a really good grasp of gameplay tactics and an inquisitive mind with good intuition, as well as an awful amount of luck. That is way too much to ask for.
Your example is great. I did not even know I could attack the Illithid, because I did not even see it under the debris, and he never lit up. Oh the loading screen tells me that I can attack environment objects and neutral people with STRG, but they do not tell me how I see all of the possible interactions. For me the only visible options were persuasion and attacking.
Nettie is another great example of the game not giving you crucial information. Again you are presented with attacking and persuasion. However there are at least 5 ways to deal with the situation, including pickpocketing, something never explained to me so far. There apparently is also a cauldron to brew up your own potion. But again, it does not light up, so is it just fluff like chairs and benches, a container like the thousand empty bookshelves, something I can interact with in combat, or an actual tool for bringing forth the story? I never noticed it. My solution was to look for a secret backdoor that led me to a cave, where I could not progress. At that stage I was so invested with this possibility than naturally the others did not occur to me at all. So I reloaded until I passe all three checks, because I could somehow anticipate the outcome.
In combat it is even worse, because it varies between ridiculously easy and incredibly hard depending on your knowledge and willingness to exploit mechanics.
well said, agree with everything you said
