Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General What is this?!

Having slept on it, it’s not the end of the world. Still…

In general, paying people in exposure is a scam, plain and simple. Also, people being willing to participate in a system doesn’t make it good. (There a are million examples of this; pick one that suits your political stance).

In particular, Larian being better than industry average doesn’t exempt them from doing shady things. It would be easier to trust them if they were more transparent.

Wait...I am confused. Shouldn't it be Larian GIVING us more promo stuff? All there is it seems are the same companion in-game pictures for over 2 years and weird cosplay this and that activities.
And 90% of the rest are pretty bad fan art. The few good pieces of art (kind of...) are from the new classes, like that bard banner on top of this forum page...its always these kind of same same character close ups though.
Would love to see more concept art, wilderness locations, creatures, buildings, items/relics, turnips, lore, short stories...anything! Doesn't have to be exactly like in the game, just set a fantastic fantasy world mood to get people's attention!

Sorry but after seing Rings of Power, I am in a dreadful mood...

lol

i just can't figure out how to respond to this. Larian asks if anyone wants to share some anecdotes and that makes someone angry? seems so weird to me. i don't know. i don't get some folks around here.

i'm just imagining the dinner conversation at home.

"how was your day, honey?"

"LARIAN ASKED FOR ANECDOTES!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??"

"my goodness, what were they thinking? such nerve they have. more wine?"

I'm not defending either side, but I think it's more Larian hasn't really given any news in quite some time but asked its players to do the same. I can see how some people would be upset about that.

I am personally frustrated with it. Like some of the others I would like to participate and share some of my stuff but I certainly don't want to via video.

I'm also a little disappointed in the fact that they are doing something like this as opposed to giving players some sort of bonus for participating in the EA.

So basically, the subreddit then.

So much straw.

The nerve of these a-holes providing a voluntary activity for anyone who wants to participate. It's disgusting and I, for one, am shocked and appalled at the audacity. I don't know how they sleep at night. I know I can't while injustice like this exists in the world.

You can be a bit more forgiving. The context of this is a community of people who have been looking for more of a back and forth during the EA, were told we'd get a more open development, and have been left twisting in the wind. Now we're less than a year out and we see them start laying the groundwork to hype the release.

In other words, it's people venting their spleen on the internet, no need to make it more than that.

Chill, guys. It's clear much of this community still has unreasonable expectations. I had very little expectations in regards to Larian's communication, ergo, them breaking the silence with this activity basically means it's still business as usual.

The only interesting part I see in all this is that I am now having thoughts about the possibility that we actually aren't getting another patch before full launch at all. Why ask the community for something like this if another patch that can add more memories is around the corner?

Fine by me, though. It would mean everyone is now working on the full release instead of faffing about with the EA build.

The way I see it this could be either for the next PFH and Patch 9 or it could be for the release promotion later down the line. But to me this isn't an indication that Patch 9 is not coming, especially because the majority of issues I've reported were addressed that they will be fixed in the next patch.

So I definitely see Patch 9 coming and this community event will most likely be a promo video somewhere down the line.

It seemed to me more like, this is the last patch you're getting before release, so we're adding something extra special, for the long road of EA that you've travelled with us. Or at least i hope that's what it is, and i also hope that something special is part of the patch or release later :P

Insert music "It's a long road, when you're on your own" etc :PP

This community? Lol. More like people in general these days have unreasonable expectations.

But it's more than that. It's about frustrations. It's about fans giving suggestions endlessly and seeing very few implemented or responded to. It's about "why did we even participate? I feel as if I was totally ignored.".

Take Reactions. How many pages of back and forth did people give on how many threads, and still not a single reply from Larian telling people what they're trying to implement, what they like or dislike from our suggestions... Nothing.

So now they're doing this video feedback thing where they're going to take the best positive stories and make it seem like the whole EA has been super positive for everyone. It's understandable that they'll do this, of course, but my point is that I can see why this might rub a number of people the wrong way. It's like pouring salt in festering wounds. It's like Larian's saying, "Hey guys. I know I've ignored you and been a total butt to you, but would you say some really nice things about me on video so I can use you to promote my work that I asked for your feedback on but then totally disregarded you? Thanks."

I'm not overtly bothered by this as it seems par for the course for Larian; it will no doubt mostly include how much everyone loves Astarion, fan art, memes. I think you nailed it here though, fundamentally it will be more patting themselves on the back. I can't say I blame them of course.

Sometimes I feel there's a cognitive dissonance with Larian's response to the community's requests; they make a point of highlighting the changes they have implemented, citing that they are listening but then apparently ignoring what they can't or don't want to change.

It seems like Larian don't like making promises, and I think it is understandable. If they have a feature planned, they just develop it in silence and release it as soon as it is ready. Making promises is a recipe for disappointment. Having worked as an amateur in game development, people tend to be more disappointed if you tease something but don't bring it on time or like they expected than just not communicate about it. I know a lot of games which fell into that trap : Spore, Cube World, Star Citizen, No Man Sky, Cyberpunk, not a good list to be on.

Yes. Of course. Teasing or promising and not delivering is bad. But there's an in between.

Example:. Hi friends. Please understand we have heard your suggestions about shove being OP. We're doing this for a reason. Rest assured that we are taking all your suggestions into consideration. We have yet to decide exactly how we're going to implement it at this time. There are multiple factors we have to consider, so understand that we may rework it, but we may not.

I think it's better to work on something quietly until it's ready rather than make sweeping promises that might not come true.

But I also think there's more to it.

How to say this? Hmm.

First, I think it's evident that they're reading the feedback.

So. What's the want? What is it that the "upset" people in the community want? Feedback on their feedback?

Consider, what would that feedback *actually* look like? People keep giving these vague examples of what they want. Things like, "We read your feedback and while we're considering blah, we haven't implemented it for blah reason..."

Well, what's that "blah" reason? Because when we start exploring this potential response, some reason ahs to be given.

And it doesn't serve Larian to get into an argument with some customer by having to tell them that their idea isn't any good. "We're not using your idea because we don't think your ideas are any good. In fact, we roll our eyes every time we read one of your suggestions."

You can ask that it be done tactfully, but there's only so many tactful ways of saying it, and I guarantee people will push for more and more in the way of explanations. They won't just accept a simple, "Great feedback, but that's not the direction we decided to go in." They'll want to know why. They'll demand that they be convinced. Which inevitably leads to: we don't like your idea. We don't think you're half as clever as you think you are.

What's the benefit of that? It takes two to argue, as they say. Luckily, Larian is above that. At least in my opinion.

I agree JandK.

I personally just sit back and relax as I wait for the game to release. All the feedback is provided so if they want it they'll take it. If not, still good. They don't owe me a thing, other than a fully released game of course ^^

Well, I must say, fair points. It is true. For some, there is no such thing as good enough. And, you're right in that it would be foolish to give us a lot of noncommittal responses. "We MIGHT fix shove" is just as bad as not saying anything, if you really think about it.

Anyway. With the request for video, I am still disappointed. I don't want to reveal my face or share via video. But I'm honestly not mad at them for it. Just because I won't doesn't mean others won't really enjoy doing it.