I'm just an old guy who started D&D in 2nd edition 30 years ago. I enjoyed Forgotten Realms and the classic "gathering my party to venture forth" from a tavern where we received a quest to go find some treasure. Usually an elf was the most exotic or strange party member who would garner attention from local villagers or farmers as they had never actually seen one in person before. If there were any Tiefling or Drow with us they would surely have worn a disguise to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves. Slaying an ogre or band of orcs was quite the accomplishment for a group of eager level 2 adventurers, enough to earn a reward from the local mayor and a reputation in the area. Finding a cache of magical items was quite rare and scrolls or potions were valuable assets to be used carefully. Eventually something would happen to thrust the party into the seat of danger and a plot would unfold which would lead to intrigue, greatness and powerful enemies. Back then, like in the original Baldur's Gate 1, our story began similarly to Gorion's Ward, a novice set off into the unknown on an adventure with their childhood companion Imoen. Can you imagine how boring characters like Imoen, Jaheira or Khalid would seem compared to those in "Baldur's Gate 3"?
In contrast, BG3 feels like some Michael Bay, Guardians of the Galaxy fever dream with flying ships and planar races being the new normal, throwing away the entire vibe set by the first 2 games. BG3 has the player fighting Beholders in the Underdark as early as level 2-3! It feels like someone who only just heard of Forgotten Realms wanted to take all the most over the top content and cram it all into the first chapter. By the time our characters set foot in a normal town or village (which currently doesn't even exist in Early Access) they will likely be in the double digit levels and have an entire troupe traveling in their camp. A camp which may consist (thus far) of a Lich, owlbear cub, The legendary Volo, a vampire, a gith, a druid, several magical humans and a dog. It makes deciding whether to spend extra gold for a nice room at the Friendly Arm Inn seem like an entirely different setting.
All of this leads to nothing in the current game feeling special or particularly noteworthy.
I can understand your point. I'm playing DDO - and I *love* it because of its Ebberron setting ! But it also has a few trips into the Forgotten Realms available - and, indeeed, the tne there is much different.
The Forgotten Realms are vast, though, and I have learned that travel through theplanes is in principle possible, so I'm not that much surprised.
However, I fear that younger player generations are just trained towards a particular play style with modern games, and that this might come through in games like a watermark. Modern games have mostly emphasis on 1 thing : On excitement and thus on adrenaline. If you look at which games sell most, you can clearly see what's common these days.
And, besides, I see no difference in the look between a beholder and a spectator.
Last edited by AlrikFassbauer; 16/12/2111:15 AM.
When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it. --Dilbert cartoon
"Interplay.some zombiefied unlife thing going on there" - skavenhorde at RPGWatch
