-No time or time cycle or timed events
-Extremely densely packed content where every location has something to do
-A fully hand-crafted game
I'd like to get back to these elements and their effects. With regard to being hand-crafted, you really notice the quality of location design, it's probably the most noticeably outstanding feature of BG3 as far as we know it as yet. And this has been Larian's strength for quite a while
(...)
What I do *not* understand is why you would intentionally make time and distance as irrelevant as possible, especially if you go beyond local maps.
Larian's decision to make tightly packed, detailed and interconnected maps, doesn't exactly absolve them from issues that arise from storytelling. This is not either/or situation. You can have a tightly pack map, and tell a story in it that feels natural in it. That BG3 doesn't have time cycle or passing time isn't in itself a problem - it is that they put things that grind against what players sees and interacts with, that creates the dissonance.
Waukeen stands as an easiest example of immersion breaking - easily noticable once player looks through the looking glass in the druid grove, forever burning throughout 20-40h of leasure exploration of act1 area. It's not a problem, that "ahh the building is burning" triggers when player gets close. The problem is that player is made aware that the building is on fire hours before he is likely to reach it, it will still be "just set on fire" after player spend days(?) extermination Goblins who supposively just set in on fire, characters around WR will always pretend it was just caught on fire, and after the even is done the WR will still and always be on fire, when you backtrack to the location later to meet the Z.
Compare it to burning house from PoEWhiteMarch. The event happens right after the battle with enemies was concluded. I don't think it is timed per say, but if you leave the area no one inside will be saved, and ashes will remain of the building. It triggers in a way that feels natural and urgent, there aren't many distarctions that will prevent players from engaging with the event, and there will be consequences to engaging/not engaging with the event.
Couple things that would make WR better:
1) don't show it to the player before they get close to it
2) have the place "burn out" after the event is completed
3) decouple spreading of the fire from Goblin raid - the WR still was raded, but spreading of the fire should be tied to something that happens when
player arrives at the scene. Mayhaps a structure damaged during raid collapses starting the fire. Maybe Flaming Fists do something while trying to get inside that causes the fire. Something that would make it less obvious that things have been frozen in time, waiting for PC to show up.
