Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General I think I'm giving up on Larian

Echoing some of Tuco's sentiments, I think there are a few issues with some of these recent changes:

First, I'm completely baffled that they chose to make these changes so late into the game with release looming, not thinking that having EA users playtest them for balance purposes would be prudent. It feels more like a last minute big change to rope in as many illusory casuals as they can to boost sales.

Second, sometimes too much choice actually impacts replayability. I have played the BG saga on and off every couple years since they released. I have not done this with D:OS2 or D:OS1, I have played them each a couple times from start to finish. I directly attribute this to having too much freedom, why would I make a new game and try out someone else when I can respec whenever I want and try out a build for a handful of hours? It seems pointless to go through the entire storyline to get a taste of what that feels like. If a player's race is arbitrary and the extent of it is only a handful of dialogue options that occasionally creep up in conversation and it has little to do with a much more permanent experience when paired with a class, then what is the point of having multiple runs with different races other than for cosmetic reasons? I realize this point is all about player preference and is subjective, but I do feel that having too much freedom and too many choices actually can genuinely detract from a game's longevity. It's no small wonder that some of the games with the simplest rulesets have been popular for as long as they have, and games that are far too busy have not.

To pivot off of point two, I do see that these changes will have an impact on the game's longevity and I am welcome to eat my words, but making things work within the confines of a fixed ruleset has been shown time and time again to increase replayability, encourage experimentation and develop a true cult following that can last for years. The fact that people are genuinely excited that Amazon released BG2 for free is a testament to this, while the amount of people currently playing D:OS2 has dropped off in the ensuing years.

I understand that Larian is primarily concerned with telling a great story, and I know they will with this game. But I sometimes feel they view mechanics as just a sandbox experience to tinker with to create fleeting memorable moments with humor and wackiness, and sometimes forget that those same mechanics, in a game, often can contribute to a much more lasting impression in terms of a game's longevity and ability to hold interest. I do believe all of these changes will severely impact replayability as someone has mentioned. And while the chief criticism of opposing parties is, 'well then...just don't pick it' is disingenuous, simply because, fine, they want to create more choices and freedom? Give me an option that holds true to the ruleset as an option, and offer another option for people that want something else. But it seems they have overridden that option in favor of creating more choice with less structure, which, in itself, is creating less choice.

I was super excited when they announced the release date a month early, and was genuinely thinking about all the different playthroughs I would be doing to experience all the different branching paths, classes, and different companions and experiences, but if everything is customizable, I simply don't see the amount of playthroughs exceeding a small discrete amount, simply because I can change everything on the fly and experience more within one playthrough, less is sometimes more...shocker. And given this game was literally advertised as having SO MUCH to see, do, explore, choose, and experiment with, these last minute changes simply seem to say, "well, actually you can just see, explore, choose, and experiment with most of these things in a single playthrough, so why bother with more? Want to try out that gloomstalker/rogue/fighter combo for 2 hours? go for it, want to switch it up and try out the tempest/storm cleric/sorcerer? Give it a taste. After all, it's literally only 100gp to completely change everything there is to change about someone except their race, and that's only to keep a couple dialogue options consistent."

And point three, this game was marketed as two things, a spiritual successor to a much beloved series, and a genuine attempt to create a genuine tabletop experience in a video game, even more so than its predecessors. And while I have agreed, somewhat, with some of the changes they've made along the way in keeping with the rule of cool, and creating a more polished experience, it seems like they've suddenly decided to go off the deep end at the 11th hour, which just so happened to coincide with all the recent press interest. "Oh, now we got them roped in, let's just throw caution to the wind." They have pretty much gone back on what they promised, which is unfortunate to say the least.

So all in all, I am perfectly fine if they want to add choices, but where is the choice for those of us that like to experience more in terms of a more robust structure, knowing full well that having that structure is likely to create many more possibilities than the illusion of endless choice can provide?