Originally Posted by Argonaut
Originally Posted by robertthebard
So I'm going to play BG to Nashkell, and then write a review about how "incomplete" it feels. Maybe I should stop at the Friendly Arm Inn?

Please do. There are many, myself included, that would be more than happy to tear this apart at the seams and bury it permanently.

Originally Posted by robertthebard
What does "feel like FR" mean? Let's be clear here, I played all of BG, all of IWD, all of NWN, and all of NWN 2. I played the Neverwinter MMO. I also played DDO, but initially it had no FR content, that didn't come until much later. So when I sit down for a session here, what is it that I'm supposed to believe makes it FR?

I suggest you start here : https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Ca...mp;qid=1603203613&s=books&sr=1-2

Originally Posted by robertthebard
What we do have is an extraplanar creature using us as a means of reproduction. Hi tadpole. How similar is this to being the bhaalspawn? Ok, so the perceived end result is that we won't become a God. However, that doesn't remove the connotation that a creature from another plane of existence is using us to reproduce. The end result of Bhaal's plan was to be reborn, after all. I wonder how many table top sessions around the world have wound up with wilder story lines than even what we're going to get here? So what I see are a lot of subjective judgements based on one act of a game that's not even in true beta yet. This is about as close to alpha as you can get, and still release something. How much of what we're playing now is going to change once we get out of EA?

Become a God? How about not the spawn of a god, not involved in a 4d chess conspiracy by a God, not having people hunt you down to take your god powers for themselves, having your entire life and home destroyed by these said people. Why don't you talk about how the tadpoles are not working the way they are, the nautiloids are not working the way they are, the illithid are not working the way they are, the ullitharid are not working the way they are or the incredible suspension of disbelief you have to make for the excuse presented for this, or how the tadpoles are manifesting powers they shouldn't have, or how you should never have been able to survive this experience, or how the universe ignores the fact that you have a living tadpole in your brain that isn't killing you which would be the subject of instant desire for many major players including figures such as Vlaakith CLVII or the entirety of Thay?

Why don't we talk about Gale who is in love with Mystra or how any magician would be aware that in FR any mortal that Mystra considers worth trusting would be a Chosen of Mystra and that despite his obsession with her he is content to travel with an open Sharite(shadowheart) so shortly after the spellplague? I can go on if you want.
Originally Posted by robertthebard
Some obvious things that have already been pointed out:

How much reading are people doing? There's a lot of lore presented in books, and I have a backpack that is absolutely full of them. Some are just love letters, or other types of correspondence, but there are a lot of books that aren't story flagged, but do contain lore about both the current situation in the Realm, and FR in general. I'm starting to get a ME Andromeda pre-release vibe here, where "it's not Shepard, so it's not ME" was the prevalent argument. The old BSN had "Warden Wednesday" for both Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, and those games were "not Dragon Age, because Warden". I have to wonder if "it's not FR, because no Bhaalspawn"?

I'm not entirely sure what you are asking here or how it's relevant so I'd like to ask you to rephrase it more eloquently.

So what you're saying is, for all the "it doesn't feel like the FR, there's an awful lot of FR here"? Because that's what I came away with. I guess I can take your route, and tear this whole notion of "Not feeling like the FR" apart at the seams? I mean, the first poster that quoted me left out the whole plotline of BG being all about how Sarevok was trying to "be the Highlander". That's what drives the entire story, he was wiping out Bhaalspawn everywhere he could find them, so that he could be the only one. I guess I have to take that into consideration, the lack of the ability to comprehend narrative, when I read a "review", something we all should do. My point about stopping at Nashkell, or the Friendly Arm is that I'd be taking the beginning of a game out of context from the rest, and making my conclusions based on that. I'm supposed to believe that someone has this magical, mystical comprehension of what it means to "feel like the FR" when they can't even pick up on simple subtext? I don't. What I read was a rage post about how "you're not allowed to call my views into question".

There are a lot of things "missing" from this game. Once again, some subtext(ish) type stuff: A lot of the game is missing. Hey, check it out, that clearly defines the subtext in what I said about a BG review, what a coincidence. Except it's really not. In fact, it was my whole point. How am I supposed to sit here and believe that it's my problem that I don't see your point, when something as simple as "We only have Act I, and it's in what amounts to an Alpha stage" flies right over your head? Sorry, that's not going to happen. Wait, no, I'm not sorry, that's just not going to happen. I'll do a "deep dive" into how much it's "The FR" when I've played the whole game, instead of Act I, with no context to what's driving the different factions, other than some surface level "we're here, and we're working against you/trying to capture you". You know, like writing a review about BG, but only playing to the Friendly Arm Inn?