Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback PFH reveal feedback.

People usually aren't as vexed as long as it is a bipedal creature.

yea but that not the point, a human thatare brain dead, you think its alright to have sex with this person ?... it has nothing to do with physical form... id argue that alot bestial looking beings, with sentient understanding bang each other, and considering all the half races in DnD, well i doubt the stork is delivering them ?

Yes i agree with you, it's just that a lot of people use that as an excuse.

Thank you Niara, your response was very thoughtful and I genuinely appreciate the good will that's coming from you. It made me do a little introspection and come to the conclusion that I'm overreacting to this, but not for the reasons you propose. The honest truth is that I'm frustrated beyond belief with Larian by now, especially after this PFH. I know the disgust with the bear scene is fundamentally just that - disgust and shock. Larian's priorities clearly don't align with mine, I feel angry at myself for putting my trust in them and them using romance, sex, character cosmetics, psychopathic power fantasy, sheer game size, juvenile humour and to top it all off a full-on bestiality scene to generate more shock and spectacle while their game has systems that have been underwhelming or completely broken for three years was just the final straw for me. I used to be genuinely excited for BG3, and now I'm not. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that this game just isn't for me and I am getting neither my money nor emotional investment back.

Everyone in an audience handpicked by Larian. Do you think they would of asked for it if he had told them it would involve the bear? Do you think they would have laughed if the scene had carried on to its natural conclusion? Do you think they would have laughed if Halsin's partner was female? Do you think they were laughing because they thought it funny or because they were nervous and or embarrassed as hell?

You might dismiss my advice, but I genuinely think that the whole online dialogue, marketing and other stuff don't indicate anything actually meaningful about this product. Why do we play games? I think, mostly, to have a fun time, maybe enjoy a good story or goof around. Speculating about systems and content while the game is not yet out can kill the interest or disappoint. Thats why I really hope you can avoid that trap, may be let it rest for several weeks, and massively enjoy the game when it actually comes out.

I admit, I feel rather similarly. I don't mind the bear thing per se - I think it is stupid and immature and shows Larian (and by association all of us) in a bad light, but I was never going to be romancing Halsin (or anyone else) anyway. No, so my objection is that they spend a whole lot of time on this trash and neglect other aspects of the game. Sven actually commented that getting the romances in had been a huge effort on Larian's part. And yet the writing remains talentless and shallow, the combat is dominated by stupid gimmicks, many systems broken and the NPC companions are awful.

I will play it because I bought the EA, but it has really warned me off buying an EA ever again.

im not going to put words in the mouth of those that were at this event, why dont you ask the Red Queen our own moderator that was actually there ?

Some like apples, other pears... not every book, movie or game is for everyone... even more so when Sven tells us one of the main aspect of the game is to wrestle with cohices regarding moraly dark natured themes... Sven outright tells us, there is things in this game that is not suited for kids, and the game have a ERSB 17 M label, stating strong sexual nature... thirdly, we have threads that go back years, debating seuxal content, in the game so its not news to anyone...

That being said, just couse you can do certain things, doesnt mean you have to have sex with a druid, we also have a modesty filter option... and alot of things i dont agree to, thats just how things are, but people are allowed to have and create diffrent things, then its up to you or me, if its a book, movie or game for us... if its not, well plenty of other stuff out there... but as stated free speech !

"Because animals cant consciously consent! "

So now it is an animal rights issue?


"It's not, unless you think something is wrong because you yourself think that it is gross, that makes it a you problem. "
No it doesn't. It makes it a you opinion which is perfectly acceptable.

Sven said in the PFH that it was possible to murderhobo the city of BG. My opinion is that this is far worse than a druid in bear form shagging his partner in private.

Yes it has always been,

1. - I guarantee you not a single person in that room was oblivious to the fact that Halsin was going to turn into a sexy bear. Why do you think they were screaming so hard for the first dialogue choice
2. - They wouldn't be laughing even if it was a classical male-woman missionary penetrative sex either. Sex is weird and awkward when observed in a company of others, especially so publicly among strangers.
3. - I don't know would THEY, but I sure would due to the various emphasis on "hard" and "large" and "deep" subtle jokes in the dialogue. Would be even funnier if they showed Jaheira turn into a bear and dominated a male character.
4. - Both. It was equally as funny and awkward as it could have been. As I said before, sex is weird. Try watching a serious romantic sex scene with your family and see how it feels. Of course it's awkward, but in such a public place it's even more so and thus funny because of how awkward it is to observe.

In any case, people are way overreacting and being way too serious. Honestly they should have showed the main character eating out a goblin's dirty ass instead if you ask me, would be even funnier to see everyone's reactions

Yes he tells us but him and Larian are incapable of doing anything remotely adult. Some sort of RPG-noir could be interesting but what we will get is 'snigger, snigger, giggle, giggle, look at us being naughty'. Meanwhile we await the fixes to combat, the QoL requests, stat rolling and all the other things that have been asked for during EA 'feedback'.

And people have diffrent opinions on how they portray things... im fairly sure if you made a game, people wouldent agree to what you created but it would be your vision, and thats perfectly alright !...

I couldn't care less if Halsin turned into a chipmunk or a horse.
To me, the cinematic acting and visual already looks bad. Add to this this a sexy romantic scene, it makes it hilarious. To me anyways. Add the Monty Python song for the cherry on top.
There is so much to love in this game, I just can't get along with so many of these cinematic dialogues.
I watch movies for cinematic stuff. I like my heavy RPG games to be old style top down...Call me an old fart, I just can't get immersed with these stiff acted weird faced 3D models.
This game will age really bad.

You cannot possibly guarantee that. Unless they had been forewarned they had no reason to think the transform would occur. Do you think that people genuinely thought Larian would do bestiality on a multiplatform livestream?
I wonder what Wolfheart was thinking. He was in the audience but his site was livestreaming the PFH, if I'm not mistaken.

You're sticking to this absurd mindset that 40+ people in their 30s are naive, dumb as a rock and unable to think 3 seconds ahead without intuition as to what might happen in a CRPG game that is ALL about its incredibly rich story and wide variety of choices, when Larian has already proven even with Early Access that they are not holding back any punches in terms of the story and how far it can go in any direction the player chooses.

People aren't as dumb as you're trying to convey, at least not those as I've recognized some of them while I was watching. Everyone in that room knew very well what to expect while they were asking for the first dialogue choice, especially due to Sven's responses and laughter. Do not mistake their reactions for innocent ignorance.

As for you thinking it's bestiality, it's simply not because Halsin is an Elf Druid and remains a fully sentient Elf even when he shapeshifts into his bear form. He ain't a real animal and screwing him is no different than screwing a Centaur, a Harpy, a Succubus, a Succubi, a Werewolf, a Sphynx, a Mermaid, a Medusa... etc... take your pick of various sentient mythological beings that are a fully sentient humanoid with animal appearances.

These types of overreactions I've seen in the real world as well, against partners of those suffering from extreme dwarfism that leaves them looking like kids. Despite people suffering from dwarfism actually being even more mature and intelligent than your average Joe, this does not stop people from condemning their husbands/wives as extreme pedophiles and trying to start lynchmobs against them, just because in their programmed brains TINY SIZE = KID.

I appreciate that you're trying to be positive. Really, I do. But I'm past giving this much benefit of the doubt to Larian. What they communicate publicly shows us their priorities, and their priorities have always been visual spectacle, surface-level flair and cheap humour. I assume they presented a state very close to release during this PFH and it contained the same party movement, nonexistent stealth mechanics, overly dramatic dialogue and generally edgy writing. Seeing the beautiful character creator and new monk animations was very enjoyable, but all excitement was drained from me the moment I saw monk no. 3 climb the roof and sneak up clumsily all the way behind the goblin's backs mid-battle without a single stealth check. When the Urge dismembered Gale only for it to be turned into yet another joke via Shadowheart's comment and then fell asleep while the narrator repeated the word 'Blood', I couldn't believe my eyes. It sincerely felt like I was watching a young teenager's violent fanfiction. It's safe to say the game is going to be full of such things because, simply put, this is Larian. Their idea of addressing dark themes is largely through excessive violence, torture and bullying, and the word 'subtle' is not in their dictionary. This may appeal to a lot of people, but it doesn't to me and I think we're well past speculation by now to say I personally have little to look forward to.

Lets be real, Larian showcase team and how they play the game on stage, the choices they make from the offered variety, literally everything - it's just one of the lowest bars possible (which is not uncommon for gameplay showcases). Again, you said it yourself and I completely agree - this is marketing, stupid little marketing priority, like give a gaming stick or a mouse to the least competent player possible (like the leading writer, lol) and encourage him to make the silliest choices. I bet you've played the game? Did it really feel like this retarded fest? My game was so far away from what I've seen during the PFH, I can't even say it was the same game.

Thanks for the measured response, I do appreciate it and it gives me a little more confidence that folks here can stay reasonable even when we may be on starkly different sides of a discussion. To be completely honest, Larian's juvenile approach to all layers of their game and their advertising of it, in the midst of their ongoingly clumsy systems, imprecise UI and controls, and their clearly still amatuerish choreography and cinematic animating are also big detractors for me. Everything is a joke to them, subtlety is an alien concept and player immersion is a distantly misunderstood tertiary concern, back seat to their desire for immediate instant-gratification silliness. To many people it is, genuinely, frustrating to see this continue to unfold when we were hoping for something more - even knowing in advance that this is their usual MO.