Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Will BG3 incentivize a “kill everyone” playstyle too much?

I do understand your concern at the first point you make. It can feel really off and push the player to ambush when they start to get the idea that talking (and failing the speech checks) leads to being in a really bad situation combat-wise. Sometimes it makes narrative sense, other times not so much.

The bit where you meet the goblins who are enjoying the show of their victim going round and around while tied up to the windmill is a good example. It doesn't feel very natural. If they were watching and mocking, then why wouldn't they be more huddled around the spectacle that they're supposed to find so funny? I mean that's what goblins would be like, isn't it? I doubt they'd be so disciplined as to have a few watching whilst others set up a defensive perimeter and watch from a distance.

The setup looks artificial. Archer's on high round? Check. Tanky units closer to the character the player will be talking to? Check. This reminds you that this is essentially a trap, constructed as such, which in turn reminds you to approach it in a gamey fashion. One approach being, of course, to simply ambush them first. One could argue that the player shouldn't believe they can persuade evil goblins so what's the point of talking - that a sensible roleplaying approach would, in fact, be to attack first. However, that still doesn't explain their arrangement around the windmill.

If you were in hostile territory in someone's throne room and about to engage in tense diplomatic talks, being at a big disadvantage if things go south would make sense. It's their house and they are prepared for trouble so of course you can expect some archers looking down from somewhere and some full-plated guards in front of the King, etc,.

Making any old encounter feel like that when it shouldn't might lead to people attacking first more often then they feel makes sense thematically, for want of a better word. This is especially true if they don't like the idea of reloading if they try the speech route and it fails (especially those with slower computers - thought that's not Larian's fault, heh) and now the fight is going to be three times harder and longer than if they'd just said, 'Sod it, it's not really what my character would do but I'll just set up an ambush and kill them'.

As for the incentive of 'killing everyone' for XP, I think Larian will adjust things appropriately. I also think that with the potential for so many side-quests and XP rewards due to non-combat related adventuring, there won't be any need to worry about missed XP. This is just a guess but with a playthrough being 75 to 200 hours, I would imagine that you'll reach the level cap well before the end of the game without having to engage in more combat than fits your roleplay.