Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin Romance, Expectations and Obligatory Poly

As fas as I can judge people has zero complains towards VA (he did an amazing job). People just want to know why our beloved characted has changed so drastically in Act 3 from wise, responsible, kind druid to an ambodiment of fetishes and poor repserentation of polygamy/polyamory. So it it natural to have questions to his writer. (questions, not threats).
People who try to insult devs are not mature. ( I remember situation with TLoU 2 but that's another story and not for this forum).

It really sucks that us Halsin fans are kind of left in this limbo.

Halsin needs to be fixed because almost everyone dislikes him. Wether or not Larian will do that at all, let alone to our satisfaction, is a whole other animal. We may never get a satisfactory resolution and thats hard to deal with.

Larian and Halsin's writer were obviously not prepared for how well liked and demanded the character was.

Agreed. I know all of us here can be very passionate when it comes to Halsin and we all want our opinions to be heard, but let's not accuse or insult or make any assumptions about the people creating this amazing game.

Do they really not like him? I'm seeing a ton of memes and fanart and thirst for him almost everywhere.

Im assuming those players are either ignoring, are oblivious to, or dont care about the flaws in his character.

Its easy to get lost in a hot druid who likes ducks. We all did it. Halsin is pretty GOAT when hes not being degenerate.

Edit: I also wonder how much of the Halsin hype is artificially inflated. Between streamers and fan artists, and again how great he is when he is great, Im wondering if the bad stuff is just being overshadowed and/or being justified or explained away by people trying to make due with what we have. The game is really popular, alot of people are playing it that dont normally play these types of games because of the romance/erotic aspects of the game.

Yeah it's mine that got locked. So I'd like to ask very politely to open it again.

Its this one: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=910404

The wrong one that got locked was the Shadowheart one. I'm afraid that yours was likely intended to be locked as it was related to the discord server which is where these attacks happened.

Oh I see, I havent see/heard/read anything about attacks in detail (what happend?), just saw my thread with a lock.

It's probably not something the mods want us to start discussing.

This. Its going to derail the thread so badly. This situation needs to be left alone and not brought here.

Yeah sorry, I guess that was my bad for asking.

Back to topic:

I think that Halsin could be a perfect example for a character that could have 3 or even more different romance paths. There are voice lines for open relationships, casual sex, monogamy and polygamy. I'm pretty sure Larian could come up with pretty good variants of those paths, just by adding some work and additional lines mixed with the original ones (some being rearranged, of course).

With him being one of the, if not the most popular character within the fanbase, it would be really cool to have Halsin as a tree in the center with different branches of possible ways of romancing Tav (or even not).
True, I have to admit, having different endings might take some time and needs additional work, but I'm pretty sure its totally worth it.

I bet someone on here could come up with some really cool dialogues (with mostly voicelines already in the game plus some additional ones) that sound appealing to 95% of the fans - if not more.
So its not about changing him, its about adding more to him. And let's be honest, that could even be an incentive to play a few times more.

Something like this is going to be the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to do it.

Halsin being so popular has this weird dual it helps/it doesnt help. It helps in that him being so popular might be enough incentive for them to fix him. Or, it tells them theres nothing to fix because he is already beloved. This is because there is a lot of good stuff in there, its just the stuff most of us dont like are...really bad. And I dont think in any other game, character, or context it would be even remotely tolerated.

The conversation might need to be more about this: Why was Halsin popular enough in EA for so many fans to want him included? The word thirsty is being thrown around a lot. Was Halsin popular JUST for his sex appeal or was it something more? I want to believe it was something more as I keep hearing (and saying) things like hes kind, hes dutiful, hes responsible, hes dedicated ect etc.

For me it was not anything he did in EA, I diddnt have EA. It was everything he said/did in acts 1 and 2 as they are now. There wasnt a whole lot of content, so what he DID say and do has a much bigger impact on me as a player.

Someone already did this. But it is one option (for people who prefer monogamous-ish path).
https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=907260#Post907260

I think this was a very decent compromise but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

As a player Im really struggling with the idea of compromising on this because is is such a drastic change from what I feel like I was being led to with this character in the first two acts. Like a bait and switch.

This one is just an option with minimum changes (since there are many people who don't want to change anything or have slight changes). Your ideas from the previous page are good too.

Im really torn between being pessimistic about it and being hopeful. The game is only a couple months out now and as more and more people play maybe these issues will be brought up more and more. Maybe they will do something. Maybe theyve made their money and are content with leaving things as they are.

All I know is I feel conned a little bit and Im really salty.

I wanted to post this here from the SH thread as I think its relevant here as far as the poly debate is concerned. I think this also applies to Halsin based on his act 1 and 2 dialogues and behaviours, and his confusing comment about only wanting Tav.

Halsin doesn't have quite the same problem, I think, since he's not written to be poly or mono or anything in particular during Acts I and II. We learn that he's sometimes open to flings, doesn't currently have a lover and is interested in the protagonist - seemingly only the protagonist - but not willing to act on that interest yet. He does still show interest even if you lock in with one of the others, so I guess that could imply... something. It's only Act III where things really get messy.

Its not quite the same thats true. But it makes me think of what he says in act 2 about how he really doesnt have anyone except Tav after you ask him about his family.

Granted its not blatant but I have a hard time imagining him saying basically "I dont have any friends or family, just you now" and do what he does in act 3 when you think about it logically.

Which part of Act III? Suddenly not knowing the word "relationship"? Making for the hills at the end while calling back "See ya later maybe"?