Crossposting from another thread (because I wrote it in another context and I immediately realized that it's very pertinent even here): __________________
I just recently realized that my past assumption that we "obviously will spend a lot of time in BG" is not exactly a given and I'm mildly terrorized by it. To be clear, I'm sure we'll get there... But at some point I remembered that you can find posters/letters talking about how the city would be currently quarantined or something like that.
What I'm starting to question is if it will be a city we explore and interact with extensively or if Larian will "pull an Arx" and give us a semi-abandoned city, that is basically a sieged warzone and where only few sparse oasis (or battle arenas) will be accessible to the player. Not that I would expect the ENTIRE city to be there and reproduced 1:1, anyway, but the scenario describe above would be a fair bummer, compared to, say, having few selected quartiers of the city that you can explore in detail.
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That aside, I share a lot of the other points that have been listed so far. In fact, I could say that another "one thing" I fear about BG3 in its final state is how MOST of the concerns mentioned here don't sound exactly far-fetched.
I also see this as a major concern.
I think I stated this earlier... but I would much rather have the path to the city itself be quick and have the city fully fleshed out and alive than have the journey to the city take a significant amount of time and for the city itself to be something like you are describing. The only way I would see what you are describing as a positive is if we get to the city and it is somewhat 'normal', but later in the plot it is under siege and a lot of people leave or something like that.
The initial teaser/trailer for the game where the guy transforms into a mindflayer does concern me though - given that you see tons of mindflayers in the sky and the city as a total war zone that is having a meltdown. That could be cool if it is near the end of the game and you got to interact with the city in a 'normal' way before it happens. But if you arrive and that is already going on? I think that would be pretty lame. But I could see this happening given that rather than starting in a relatively 'normal' fashion like you did in a game like D:OS2... you start on a mindflayer ship that is under attack, in flames and flying through the sky like some kind of Transformer movie. I think if you translated the BG3 start to D:OS2 it would be like... you are on the ship with the magisters, but the ship is being attacked by the voidwoken when you wake up and the Seekers are also coming to rescue you at the same time... and it is on fire... and a giant tentacle monster is attacking you... and level 12 void monsters from Act 2 are on the ship... and you can kill them with the help of a level 15 Seeker guy who is fending them off... and you aren't in the ocean, you are in the void... but then you get teleported out of the void back to Fort Joy at the very end... and you start on the beach.
Or something like that.
On the other hand the things that are somewhat assuring about this to me are...
1. If Larian has listened to feedback they know a lot of players were disappointed with Arx in D:OS2. 2. I think they understand Baldur's Gate will be a huge deal to the player base and if done poorly the game reviews/reception will reflect it. It is an iconic place that the game itself is named after. 3. A lot of NPCs we have already met have indicated we will meet them in the city at a later time at various locations. 4. The game has been in development for a long time already (seems like 5 to 6 years by the time it actually releases) - I believe way longer than they initially anticipated given that Early Access is going to have been out for 2-3 years by the time it releases. I imagine they have spent a ton of that time adding a plethora of content to the game given that they just now seem to be starting on the 'polishing' of things like cut scenes and the overall UI.
