Originally Posted by Tuco
Originally Posted by Zerubbabel
I like the chain system.
That's cool.
It doesn't make it good at what it needs to do, though.

Originally Posted by robertthebard
I don't have a strong opinion either way, but I do have to laugh at "use the old BG system" thing, because all that really changes is where we click and drag. If you wanted to move characters individually, you still had to issue a group wide hold command to do it, which is essentially unchaining them...

Wel, you are wrong.
The difference is that with a traditional "click and drag selection"/lazo select/"shift clit on portrait" system you'd be able at any given time to SPLIT your party in subgroups (i.e. "these two go here, these three there, and the sixth on this spot") with few seconds of quick gestures and without having to fight the interface for a couple of minutes. And with the ability to PINPOINT the exact location of each character moved, rather than praying that characters may stick reasonably close to where you want them.

Also, these old systems allowed to give the party (or THE PORTION SELECTED of the party) group commands about generic orders without relying on a questionable "I can control just this unit and I can only hope the other will imitate it with a good approximation".

The SUBSTANTIAL difference in practical terms is there. Some of you seem to just lack enough familiarity with the genre to spot it, somehow?


P.S. And I'll invite you to take note about the fact that the example I described is about managing a larger party, too (six characters) despise STILL being more efficient and quick to use than what we have now.
Imagine what a hideous mess it would be to control six characters with Larian's signature chain system.

No wonder they are terrified at the idea of giving players an options for larger parties, despise being so broadly requested: that would basically force them to come up with a control scheme that doesn't make the average player wish to beat up a Belgian kid in retaliation.

No, we just took the time to figure it out. Party members that are chained will move as if they are a unit. In regard to "tell them what to do", are we playing the same BG 3? In a turn based scenario, in combat anyway, you are not telling groups of characters what to do, you are doing their individual turns. This means that it doesn't matter how the group is linked together, because they're acting one at a time.