Side note -
I wish this forum gave me the option to delete this thread and spare the world this pointless, sad argument.
Sorry about highjacking your thread to get an excuse to kill a couple of hours messing around with Excel at work. Let me actually answer your four questions.
1. Does community interaction and involvement make the game that much better? Is there a chance it could actually hurt the game? I am not in game development, so I am curious how much people think player feedback will impact the final product.
First off, I believe in Larian’s passion and ambition. The stars are aligned for them to make a classic. They will use every weapon in their arsenal to make this game as successful as possible. That includes things like early access and console compatibility.
On one hand, DoS:2’s early access was a success according to Larian. They’ve repeatedly stated that player feedback helps them make the game better for the people who want to play it. It’s happened already in BG3, as people have stated previously. I’m positive more QoL upgrades are coming based on community feedback.
On the other hand, Larian’s ambition means they need to appeal to a wide audience. They’re trying to merge two fandoms with one game and compromises will be made, such as a control scheme designed around a controller even though it’s effing baffling for mouse users.
Some of it will be down to taste. But as I was skimming a 42 page thread trying to decide who felt what about a system, I noticed a good portion of the specific concerns mentioned had been addressed in later patches. The pathfinding is better, the autojump is better and requested buttons have been added. Those buttons aren’t perfect, but they’ll get better with another year of iteration.
Larian need all the time they can get to cater to every part of their target audience. Every piece of feedback will help them do that, whether you like it or not.
2. Based on player feedback and wanting to keep some things, even in the early part of the game, a surprise - how much do you think the full release of the game will actually differ from Early Access?
My first playthrough will go straight for the githyanki crèche. I’ve also never fought the fish people to save it for later. And I’m planning to buy a real gaming computer to really enjoy the visuals for the first time with 1.0.
There are some storylines that seem cut off, maybe there will be more intrigue in the grove and the underdark. The marsh also feels oddly empty, which is a nice change of pace but also a noticeable departure from usual Larian practice. There may be surprises there, or on the risen road, which oddly ends into the side of a mountain.
3. Do you think it will ruin the experience of the game and thus overall reviews/player perception when it comes out due to burn out or "bad experiences" during Early Access? As an example if you look on a lot of review sites there seems to be a ton of negativity because people don't "get" Early Access... or on forums people are posting about having played through Early Access ten times already and wanting more.
I feel the burnout.
A big part of the fun of BG3 is discovery. I’ve tried to be parcimonious with the content, but doing that means repeating the same critical path over and over. I’ve tried (almost) everything at least once by now, to spice up various runs, so the discovery lies in character builds. Unfortunately, my setup doesn’t let me play 2 characters, so I’m stuck with the five familiar faces on the poster.
It’s very different from “bad experiences”, though. I know what early access is. I’m psyched for the full release because, no matter the flaws in the game, I’m bound to find that sense of wonder when discovering 1.0.
4. Isn't 2+ years of Early Access a long time to have a half baked version of the game out in public? Is it going to kill the hype for the full blown release of the game or do you think marketing and word of mouth can get people hyped up again?
On the contrary, I think this is a hype tactic. I agree with Wormerine:
“BG3 was great 2 years ago, but look at it now!” Is a far better headline then: “the game that is well documented to be good has released.”
BG3 is a work in progress, but I wouldn’t call it half baked. I’ve got 200+ hours on it already, which is a good deal for 60€. And you bet I’ll tell my friends when it comes out.
