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

Changes I would make for Halsin overall:

1) Either cut the comments or rewrite to be less . Easiest would be to just cut it, but helping Astarion would really bring his tone in Act 3 from horny bear to something more akin to Act 1/2.

2) Give him something to do in Act 3 other than complain about the city. A mini quest to rescue the dying tree or aid a group of refugees, perhaps.

3) Remove any sexual comments toward other relationships or inviting himself along to the if he has been turned down already.

4) I personally think it is in character for him not to assume Tav would change their life to accompany him. However Tav should have the option to ask. If for some reason approval has dropped too low, give Halsin the agency to say no. After all Tav already can ask I would guess players who prioritize happy endings would never see that content.

Just cutting the objectionable content and one more small dialogue tree would go a long way to cleaning up the tone. IMO.

Oh, yeah, there is a dragonborn druid in Act 3 who cares about a tree which cannot grow/ is kind of dead, so a quest with Halsin and this guy could be a good addition.

Yes!! When I found that druid I was sure Halsin was going to say/do something. But nothing happened. They could even tie it in with the Mystic Carrion quest. If he dies the tree will grow back.

The more I learn about this game, the more I start believing this writer didn’t write absolutely every line with the intent of it being scrutinized so heavily. When you look into it, one of the game's major selling points was bear sex. A major factor in people hearing about the game is due to BG3's “unhinged” nature. Like michieltJuhh said, it’s all about those shocking moments that I'm sure attracted a large number of players. I understand where the frustration is coming from though. 

Role-playing games ask you to get into role and act like all of this is real. These types of games beg you to pay attention and immerse yourself. Then they spring surprise open relationship on you, your partner is having fantasies about your buddy that lives in camp with you, your main love interest ditches you at the end after committing everything to him. Naturally, some people will take issue with this. You can’t blame people for role-playing in a role-playing game lol

While the Halsin epilogue is absolutely in need of work, most other aspects can be ignored. Now that doesn’t mean I think they shouldn’t be addressed, I’m just saying in the event they aren’t, don’t let it bum you out too much. I don’t think these “unhinged” moments were written with any real depth, it’s more like bad comic relief. Just don’t think about it too hard, I’ve seen a few people get heated over such a small aspect of a 150-hour game. You don’t need to justify these OOC moments to yourself because they were never meant to be taken very seriously, treat it as the underdeveloped fan fiction it is and enjoy what’s there 

edit: Oh and for the fantasy bit, that's a pretty strange thing to have in your videogame. I understand everyone has their fantasies, I have them too! (completely unrelated but, please dm me if you know any good minthara cosplayers) We weren't meant to analyze it like this, but imagine if this was real scenario. Your significant other just admitted, in front of you, that they have been fantasizing about banging your best friend. Would that not warrant a serious discussion irl?

I'm just saying, the people who liked Halsin in EA should probably just put him out of his misery before/during Act 3 because I doubt they were expecting him to be replaced by a joke.

To be fair, there was no more money to be made from us, who already bought BG3 for the EA. But, there still was a large number of people, a pool of untouched money, so to speak, still waiting. From his first time in the game onwards, Halsin maybe was the most promising candidate to use for marketing. Especially for the younger folks, who are easily impressed by the scenes shown at the last PFH. And I think, this is why we have the Halsin who's in the game now. I don't even blame anyone, it was a matter of money and they decided to take this steps. Do I appreciate it? Not in the slightest. Do I wish I had a nice adult chill buddy names Halsin? Yes of course.

Maybe, now that the hot phase of selling copies is gone, we can get a version of Halsin that's more like he was in EA.

Part of the problem (or is it?) I think is our emotional investment and attachment to the characters took everyone, even ourselves, by surprise. Thats where a lot of the heat comes from.

They did a really good job with this game and I personally get so immersed in it. Even characters that dont have a whole lot to do I find them to be so vivid and I care for them.

I was not expecting to feel so strongly about Halsin but I do. I do about everyone really. But especially him.

Yup, it's just more reason making it inconsistent, out of character scenes of questionable quality. I mentioned this in the other thread, but in real life that would be grounds for divorce. Add the disapproval and.. well, I can think of a lot of real life cases where that did not end well. At all. Keeps the cops and courts busy at least.

It's making me kill Halsin in every playthrough before going to act 3 from here on though, regardless of who I romance (sorry people, I want him changed too but until then...).


Question is if it was worth it. That's up to them to decide of course, but the way I see it is that they lost a lot of loyal fans who spent hours upon hours sending in feedback during EA - which they supposedly really appreciated, and supposedly still do - just to have it used against them, even if unintended. And what did they gain? A bunch of immature people buying their game who saw some scenes they thought were funny, then never got past act 1 because it's not their type of game and the rest of the game doesn't whatsoever reflect what those scenes of questionable quality do.

It is truly an accomplishment that so many players have such an emotional attachment to one or more characters. And it's not just companions. Even minor characters like Dammon seem very real.

I agree that it's the source of much of the disgruntlement. I'm completely happy with the value I got for the price. I'm selfish and invested enough to want more. Particularly for our favorite wood elf.

A reminder to keep the heat down, and avoid emotive language. And I do consider referring to “fanfic quality porn” emotive, and unlikely to invite constructive debate.

EDIT: As is calling other fans a bunch of immature people, which I missed on my first read through of the same post.

Fair enough, it's changed!

I dont think it was worth it. It may have got them a lot of money, but at the expense of their art and the story telling.

I *personally* would have prefered quality over quantity. I think the subject of physical intimacy is natural with this kind of narrative. Sharess Caress is kind of a mixed bag though. I can see investingating a brothel, I can see meeting up with certain characters in a brothel and getting quests there. I dont understand why the PC would buy the services given the nature of our situation at that point in the story but ok, I could even go with that, I might be dead soon so why not. The drow twins was just a bit much. Can you even hire anyone else? Raphael? The nymph?

I just think they over did it a bit, particularly with Halsin. Light flirting is acceptable. A bit of cheeky adult scenareos and/or banter is fine. But what we got is less cheeky and just turned distasteful. The proof is in the fact that people are complaining about it.

But Im also not the type to enjoy sex for the sake of sex so that might just me my bias comming in. I can humor it to a certain degree, just not to the degree Larian took it with Act 3 Halsin.

I was surprised that this was just a one-liner too. It seemed perfect for Halsin.

That being said, there are soooooo many NPCs in Act 3 that just have one line of dialogue with no option to reply. The ratio of those NPCs to NPCs who actually have more dialogue, or quests, feels really skewed compared with Acts 1 & 2. It felt like a bunch of placeholders from which more content could have been developed if there had been more time.

I have the same feeling. For instance, there's a tiefling child whose parents are murdered. Halsin comments on it. Something about the city being such a terrible place for children like that. The bystanders mention that they can't take care of the child. But there's no option for us to take the kid back to our camp. After all, we took in Arabella for a while and Yenna later. But there's nothing we can do except hear one of the very few lines Halsin has during act 3.

Lets just face it: In the end, making a game, is about making money. And I think that WOTC also want a big chunk of it. So from their points of view: Pretty sure it was worth it.

And if I am running the numbers, I have to admit, that I am also pretty sure that we, the ones who are complaining about Halsin, are the minority. If I check other media like X, TikTok and such, I can find way more people making thirsty comments (or way worse than that, lot of NSFW stuff) than I can see different names complaining on here. Plus, we have a mass of silent players, who are not making any comment. Then we have players who havent even reached Act 3 (and havent seen "the worst of Halsin"), others who don't even have Halsin in the party etc. Last but not least, the ratings for the game and the reviews are still those of a top tier game - and whats more to wish for?
Not playing the devil'd advocate, but realistically, Larian's not gonna change anything because the numbers are against us.

Do I wish it they will change stuff? Yes of course, make him really player-sexual, give us options to make him stop flirting if it hurts the PC, make him stop trying to get into a blooming relationship, make him stop offering others to join the intimacy he shares with the PC etc.

They would have made money even if they diddnt go the route they did, most people havent left act 1 anyway so alot the popularity os based on the content in act 1 and 2. You dont/shouldnt need cheap distasteful, borderline exploitative, adult content to make money with this type of game with this type of budget. So many games and franchises have made huge amounts of money without needing to do that.

That and Astarion really is whats making them their money. Its not Halsin and his behaviour and comments, which makes the implementation so much worse for me. Half the reason the bear scene is so hyped up is because its Astarion, I dont think thered be nearly as much thirst if it was another character shown.

Of course more general forums, sharing platforms etc. are going to be more popular than a forum specifically made for the game. I still think the majority of silent players who finished the game would've preferred a consistent story and were put off by these inconsistencies. That kind of feeling doesn't disappear - they'll have less faith in a good story next time. On the other hand I think the majority that haven't reached act 3 are those who weren't convinced to play the game until they saw these scenes, because it's just not their type of game otherwise and there's nothing more than just these scenes for them. It's like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom putting emphasis on the return of Jeff Goldblum just to have his entire presence thrown into the trailer. Meanwhile act 3 itself is still an unfinished mess and now we know what they spent their time on instead.

And the people that gave all that feedback during EA, which I'd imagine are those that are here on their official forums (not I, I don't bother with EA)? Well, I don't expect a lot of them to return for the next title's EA, now that they know what happens with their feedback. They do still have the time to fix it, and give Halsin a real romance, but that doesn't mean this didn't happen in the first place.

So they got short term profit at the cost of long term profit. In the grander scheme of things it very likely didn't matter whatsoever, we're talking such small margins (of both gain and loss) that it's not going to harm them at all. But it still sets a precedent that if they continue will start cracking the veil of 'good company amongst all the bad ones' which is something I can imagine they'd rather uphold.

Of course you shouldn't need this kind of content, but if we are allowed to speak about other games on here, this kind of content gets the most spotlight on most gaming portals. CP2077 had lot of articles with headlines like "In CP2077 you can design your genitals" and such. Same as there were lots of articles about the scene from last PFH, with the headlines being "In BG3 you can f*ck a bear" or "This game allows s*x with animals" and so on. They knew what they went for. Of course, by picking Astarion they made the best choice: He was the most popular male companion, they showed that they support gay romances and they knew lot of EA players will be pleased with it.
Still: They calculated the risk they took, they knew sales would skyrocket (and they did, said Halsin's VA) and news portals would be full of BG3. While I agree that the game would have done well without that, they decided to go this way. And they can't just show one scene making Halsin a horny bear and deliver a completely different character afterwards. The problem in this case is, they had to change him compared to EA. Plus, I'm pretty sure they had clauses about sold copies, metacritic score and such and everything that helps pushing the numbers will be used - and to be honest, people nowadays are easily impressed if you just show enough violence or nudity (as we saw with the bear scene and Dark Urge from said PFH).

I just want to be more realistic. Beside satisfying fans, Larian has no real reason to rework Halsin. Well, maybe if they plan to give us a completely changed Halsin on the DE, as that would include people buying it again.

Still, I would like to see some lines added, removed or just moved to a poly/casual sex romance path with an additional mono path being added. Don't need a full rework or a marriage or some other kind of a vow, just a partnership between equals - with love coming from both sides. RIght now, its no romance or if any kind of romance, its one-sided from the Tav.

Sorry for double posting, but thought I should answer to that, too.

First of all: I really wish they would change Halsin, but I am trying to be realistic.

I don't really want to disagree with you, but if lot of people would've preferred another gaming or story experience, where are all their comments, rants and such?
Looking at Metacritic, I see a 96 and a 8.9 - lets be honest, a whole lot of companies would offer a bowl of kidneys to get that.

The first time I went into the forum and Discord, I was way more emotional ridden, mostly because I disliked that this totally good game made a few dumb writing mistakes. I like to write and play tabletop myself and felt like it was way too rushed or they sacrificed some good writing to get more sales (also on most tabletop rounds, sexual stuff is not really appreciated and if needed, its just a quick classic fade-to-black).
Now, after a few weeks have passed, I try to understand and see the facts.

I really understand everyone who is disappointed, tired, angry or even feels betrayed by how Halsin turned out in the full game - he has changed compared to EA Halsin. Its a bit like it could happen in real life: You get to know someone, you start dating and at some point, the person shows a completely changed behaviour - one that you dislike. I really get that and all of you have my honest support - I just think, we don't take the right path if we try to downvote everything in the game just because of the experience made with a single character (well, maybe 3 if we add SH and Astarion to the mix).

As for Act 3, of course it lacks depth, but I feel like thats mostly due to bugs (that are totally fine, if they try to fix them in a proper timeframe), performance issues and the game itself being rushed. With like 300-400 people working on it, I feel like its not right to blame the addition of Halsin for the state of Act 3. We don't even know if the people who worked on Halsin would've worked on Act 3 otherwise.