Originally Posted by Warlocke
Originally Posted by Leucrotta
Works, plays fine right now? I don't see the problem. The continued recent release of stuff like the Wasteland series, Pathfinder series, Expeditions series, etc shows that the formula still works just fine.

None of those are particularly taking the world by storm. Maybe someday a studio will make a AAA BG-like, but that hasn’t happened since Dragon Age Origins, and since then each title has been moving further away from that model. The new one is apparently going to be a straight action game.

I love Infinity Engine games, but I know if I didn’t grow up with I would never bother putting up with dated mechanics and gameplay designs. Being built around D&D 2nd Edition doesn’t help. For as much as I loved it as a kid, that is a janky, convoluted mess of a rules system.
The fact that developers keep coming back to the style of those older games says a lot to there being something timeless about them.

AAA rpgs shifting towards open-world arpgs is a whole 'nother beast in regards to what's at play there. But Bioware specifically has unfortunately developed a real bad case of 'trend chasing' and the decline in quality of their output is a pretty commonly voiced criticism/observation. Take of that what you will. But I don't think 'there are no AAA BG-style games' is really a particularly damning observation. Lots of well-loved genres have to contend with AA and Indie releases because the big studios don't go for risky or lower-performing niches more than once in a blue moon anymore. Larian's BG III itself is something of an anomaly in that regard. They just decided to go left instead of right in several areas which are a bit of a shame if you wanted something a bit more reminiscent of the OG saga (like me)

Yeah, I don't really agree that 2nd edition rules are nearly as much of a hinderance as people make out for BG. It really isn't that hard to figure out. I played it as a teenager with zero 2e experience (or indeed, tabletop games in general) and it took less than an hour to 'get' how the different stats etc worked.