Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Would you participate in an EA release again?

BG3 was the first time I participated in an EA release. It was fun at first to have access to the game but ultimately I found the process long and generally unrewarding. Now as final release approaches I find myself somewhat bored of the Origin characters, the storyline in general, and obviously much of what will eventually be Act I.

I think in future I will swerve EA releases.

I'd be interested in hearing what others think.

Yes, i am already involved in a couple. But those are usually done by indie studios, so this is the first one of this magnitude. But i would jump aboard a similar train.

I have had a couple other early access games due to Kickstarters, though I'm now generally very paranoid about both those and early access in general; the former due to potentially super long waits or even a massive change in final product compared to pitched, the latter because it's often just an excuse to keep the game in development hell and never finish it. For BG3 though I made an exception and bought it on GOG the day it became available. Because Baldur's Gate and because Larian. I have tried playing it very little though in order not to spoil it for the full release and I'm sitting comfortable just below 100 hours.

Yes.

I would not do any future early access unless there was some guarantee that the developers were actively seeking feedback and incorporating it into the game. I personally feel seen and heard by the Larian devs, but I understand that many do not. I would consider another Larian EA, but probably not.

An early access with the quality and content of BG3? Absolutely. In fact I would argue that I already got my money worth solely with the early access. 100 hours of fun is more than I spent on many games of that price.

I absolutely would, but only for games that have been in EA for a while, and are clearly being regularly updated and consistent positive reviews

But for Larian? Despite the frustrations, this has been a positive experience, so for a future Larian game, I'd probably join at the first opportunity

I generally don't have a good experience with games in EA. I bought this one simply to support Larian (and because I'm such a BG fan) and don't regret it.

Personally I found from previous experiences with other games that early access would ultimately detract from my enjoyment of the full game release so for BG3 I just ignored it entirely and won't touch the game until the full release. With that said I have preordered BG3 and I am very hyped for the full game.

Yeah. Easily.

Just because I'm less than estatic about some design decisions Larian made with the game, it doesn't mean I regret the time I have spent on it or that I don't anticipate the final result.

Yes, especially for another game from Larian! I have had lots of fun with this EA!😊

I mean, just think back to what patch 1 was like and think of all the changes that will now be in the game from feedback from this forum and maybe reddit alone. Advantage, jump-disengage, individual sneaking and jumping, wizards learning cleric spells, cantrips causing environmental eruptions. There are so many really positive changes made from community feedback. I think this game is really a flagship for how an involved community can help shape a developer into making a much more enjoyable game. I would 100% do it again if it was a game I was looking forward to. I know a few people would like even more changes, but the fact is the difference from then to now is amazing

For a Larian game, absolutely. Got into this one due to DOS2 and wanted to show love and support, so I got it and loved my experience. Could have been slightly better, but overall good stuff.

Also, to add to my previous reply, I *am* participating to another EA right now since I bought a copy (and relative beta access) of Rogue Trader.

Our participation made it a better game, i will always EA Larian and other developers i trust.

I was lucky during an Owlcat stream and got an alpha key for WotR in a giveaway. Got quite involved with bug reporting, feedback and chatting on their streams up till release. Like Larian, they seem very appreciative of their community.

100% This. Participating in the development like this helped Larian make a better game, and let us feel guide them in ways that a community doesn't usually get to. If it had been released as it was originally, it would have been a lesser game. Also it was nice to have a comfort game that I could revisit a couple times a year without feeling compelled to be a completionist. I'll save that for next month

That said, I probably would not do Star Citizen again. I ended up selling my upgraded package to someone else and am just parked with the basic starter ship in a garage I never visit for a game that isn't installed.

For the right game & developer yes .......507 hours and counting

To add to what I said earlier for me, I felt like early access robbed me of the ability to experience games for the first time. The games that are most memorable leave a really strong first impression and it's one of those things where it's like how amazing would it be be able to experience it again for the first time. But early access is a much much lesser experience...by the time you actually get to play the full game it's just not the same thing anymore. So especially for a game as good as Baldur's Gate 3 I absolutely could not and would not under any circumstance allow myself to touch early access. I didn't even watch streams or playthroughs of the early access. I need to be able to experience the full and proper game for the first time without having touched early access.

Absolutely. I've never played a EA title. I knew there was no way in hell I wasn't buying Baldur's gate 3 So I just bought it and was pleasantly surprised at how polished it was... IMO

it has come a long way, and looks great, feels great. There are a few things that... erk me. Ill keep them to myself and enjoy the day, and look forward to release. Cheers!