Hello Larian Team, I've been playing the beta again after a long break and now that it's getting closer to the release, I have to say a few things that are burning my mind.
I love your games and I love Baldur's Gate. You've done a great job so far and the franchise is in the right hands. So I hope my criticisms don't sound too harsh. Although I must admit that there are a few things that really annoy me and I just can't understand why Larian can't and or won't stick to certain genre conventions (character selection via dragging a frame, inventory).
Here we go:
Highlighting objects
There is a button to highlight manipulable objects in the game world. Unfortunately, not all objects are highlighted. This leads to moving the mouse back and forth across the screen, like in pixlehunting adventure games from the 90s. Currently the function is nothing half and nothing whole. The button should either highlight EVERYTHING or this function should be abolished. I currently press the button, but I am rightly afraid of missing important items or containers. (On the bridge before the abandoned village, a chest is highlighted and the crate right next to it is not. Why? Both can contain items!)
Inventory / Items
Please excuse my harsh words, but the inventory and character sheet is one big annoyance. I think that many problems could be solved with a common group inventory. But anyway... - It should definitely be possible to tag multiple items to send them to camp or to another character, for example. - It should be possible to send items to a character waiting in the camp. - There should be a button to sell all "wares" at once. - Each character should automatically and always have a container for potions and one for scrolls in their inventory. These containers should NOT be inventory items that I can accidentally sell with all their contents! - There should be a key ring where all keys are automatically collected. (So that they do not clutter up the inventory). - When I move the mouse pointer over equipment in the inventory, it should be shown which values improve and deteriorate compared to the currently equipped item. - Camp supplies that I have sent to the camp should not have to be laboriously taken out of the box to rest there. - I should be able to click on a character in-game and then open his inventory. - When I'm at camp, I should be able to select ALL my characters and open their inventory, not just the ones currently in my party.
In-game view and map
- When I double click a certain location on the overview map, the ingame view should jump there. - I want to be able to scroll the whole map revealed so far in the ingame view and not be limited to a radius around my team.
Buying / Selling
- When buying and selling, the bonus of the best character should ALWAYS determine the price. No matter who I am buying or selling with. Shifting all the items back and forth in the inventories before buying and selling (see above) is just EXTREMELY annoying and has no added gameplay value whatsoever.
Animations
- The animation for jumping still looks very weird and unnatural. How about one or two steps of run-up for a long jump? - If a jump is so high that my character can hurt himself, why does he jump the same way as usual? At the moment it looks like he's wantonly hurting himself. Perhaps if he jumps from a great height he should bend his knees at the edge, or even hang onto the edge with his hands first and then let go?
Handling
- WHY can't I drag a frame to select my characters? Like in Baldur's Gate. - I want to select a formation in which my characters run to the next location. Like in Baldur's Gate. - I just want the game to operate, at least in terms of characters, like ALL OTHER GAMES of this type! PLEASE! Just like in Baldur's Gate, you know!
