Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion The ending is a slap in the face [endgame spoilers within]

Cyberpunk is actually a perfect game to bring to the discussion for all the reasons you mentioned. CDPR pulled some stuff that Larian certainly has not, but it seems like hyping a not-quite-ready product and releasing it is the new norm, and that folks rating games like that 10/10 (whether gamers on Steam or game marketers paid for their opinions) are going to guarantee more of the same. Heck, CDPR is now getting long-term support awards for fixing things they claimed were working at release.

I, too, found the BG3 endings completely anticlimactic at best. I mean... all the hours spent ferreting out each character's macguffin and making sure to follow their stories to the ending, to have that ending essentially be, "Ha! We won. Byeee." was jarring and insulting, in a way. You fight the battle, you get the rewards. That's the deal. Fortunately for my own expectations, I did play EA and so I was not surprised by the amount of bugs and unfinished story, given how little of the actual game EA players got to see (for years.)

But I don't think this is a development decision. I'm sure Larian developers take great pride in their work and want to push out the best possible experience. These decisions are marketing decisions, and if an unfinished game that crashes and burns (like CP2077) can win GOTY and get tons of awards for continued support because it takes them so long to clean up their bugs, there isn't much marketing incentive to delay a product until it's truly ready.

Also, with Hasbro/Wizards involved, much of this might have even been out of Larian's control altogether. DDO is a decade out of date at this point. I'm not sure Hasbro really understands D&D, or cares. They just speak dollars.

Everything is always about hype and bleeding-edge newness. Because everybody wants everything right now, and they'll pay for it and leave gold-star reviews when their ids are satisfied. Sadly, as long as that is what the market demands, that is what the market is going to get. Fortunately, at least with software, there is a chance for iterative fixes. But, like you, I'd prefer to wait for a solid product up front than get to *finally* realize the developer's original ambitions in a years-to-market special edition that should really be v1.0

Well, that's the difference. CDPR went from the best developer in today's industry, player's friend and one of the few companies that actually cares about their product because they make it with passion to just another lying corpo that's famous for releasing propably the biggest flop in recent years. They got awards but those awards are for fixing game and working on it. Larian on the other hand is treated like god among common men and receives awards related to the game release the whole thing is a total wankfest. For what? For a game that's 1/3 barely playable and doesn't have a proper ending (still). Without any communication. Hell, even CDPR announced that they'll be fixing Cyberpunk after the disasteous launch

Really at this point I just want Act 3 to actually have less lag and for conversations to not get cut off.
Then I want them to stop releasing patches which don't address major unplayability issues and concentrate their efforts in making Act 3 actually make logical sense and do proper satisfying endings.
After that they can fiddle with minor things to their hearts content.

So far they seem to be doing stuff in a real arse about tit manner.
I didn't need a magic mirror, managed just fine without one...Is it nice?
Of course.
Would I have prefered they sorted out a major issue instead?...Too damn right.

I think we'd be more forgiving if there was more communication about what they are working on. What we want is road map, what we are getting is congratulatory twaddle from external sources and nothing whatsoever from Larian.

The ending is incredibly disappointing when you consider the game has one of the best opening cinematics in recent years. I'm pretty optimistic they'll improve this in the future though, we just have no way of knowing when. As for Act 3, I never had a problem with it before Patch 4, no lag, just model glitches that span for 1-2 seconds and some conversations are cutting out now after updating. I wouldn't even consider it unplayable, it's just a minor annoyance compared to the smooth sailing that was Act 1 and Act 2. A shame this doesn't seem to be the universal experience.

The overall lack of communication is a major concern and it makes me question their capabilities in managing their game. Every patch seems to add another array of bugs for some people. I'm aware programming is a complex process but should it really take 4 patches and 10 hotfixes? That number is a testament to their efforts, but it's just getting sad now every time they come out with no major fixes/changes. The recent addition of Astarion's kissing animations (which is very arbitrary imo but I get that it appeals to a large part of the fanbase) is also bugged for certain body types, like I'm not sure they even bothered testing it before they released the hotfix. Just seems like they're doing a lousy job tbh.

At this point, I'm not sure a roadmap would even reveal anything about their plans, like I think they'd keep it vague to manage expectations. I guess it would be better than nothing

This is going to have to be a case of YMMV, I think. But we're definitely in agreement about games being praised as amazing, jaw-dropping, and spectacular when they are incomplete and filled with so many bugs that it's just the concept of the game that remains spectacular.

I've been able to make it through to the (very unsatisfactory) ending on BG3 multiple times before this latest hotfix. But it's a chore (not because of gameplay, but because of when the game won't), and I'm in agreement with players who would prefer substantive fixes over cosmetic enhancements and shinies designed to sell more sub-par copies. But when CNN is writing feature articles about Astarion's delicious sauciness taking the gaming world by storm, it's hard to remain optimistic that developers are allowed to prioritize good coding over quick bucks.

And, again given that the latest "update" to CP2077 is a total reset and nerf designed to drive Phantom Liberty sales and tie-in to their Netflix series while still trying to deliver on initial release promises, it looks like even the "good guys" are all-in on the quick cash option. It would be hard to trust any roadmap, as rendemption mentions. Not only would it be purposefully vague, it would most definitely be fungible. Sadly, I don't think that's just Larian or CDPR. I think that's everyone now.

Red Hook did decent job with Darkest Dungeon 2, even when their first roadmap had to be trashed they were open about implementing feedback and actually reworked most frustrating mechanics, so if there is one studio I trust to do good job it's them. Once the game was officially released, it was day and night between early access

Red Hook did decent job with Darkest Dungeon 2, even when their first roadmap had to be trashed they were open about implementing feedback and actually reworked most frustrating mechanics, so if there is one studio I trust to do good job it's them. Once the game was officially released, it was day and night between early access

Never heard of them in my life but I'm sure they're great. I think smaller studios have a lot more freedom and are usually more able to deliver because of it. Larian is really big right now and if they came out with a roadmap and failed to deliver the content in time, or decided not to add it at all due to it not working well, they would be met with bad media rep and more unproductive criticism. You will no doubt be disappointed if you start comparing studios that aren't even on-par in size or popularity.

I haven't heard of them either. Sounds like they are worth looking into. And that's a good point rendemption makes about comparing studios. I guess I was thinking more about market trends in which more and more studios are participating than in trying to do an apples-and-oranges comparison, but it's still worth keeping in mind.

Even timing is a factor. Who knows what lingering effects pandemic shutdowns are having as to a potential backlog of work for voice actors, or various industry strikes that might touch on the gaming industry. And, at some point in time, there has to be a return on investment or there's no future for a project at all.

Still, as a trend, it seems the gaming industry expects more and more from me as a consumer of their products. Some of that expectation has returns, so that's not all a bad thing. Like Early Access. It was a great opportunity to get the first look at BG3. On the other hand, I think the expectation was that a finalized release would be substantially more stable, which hasn't proved to be the case. Larian got my attention with BG3 Early Release. Just the title was enough for me. It earned continued attention and a product purchase by what it showed me during early release. But as of today, I can't even play the game as a persistent Act III bug means I would have to drop everything I was doing and either start a new Tav, or replay an old one.

I'm happy to heap praise on what I like as well as draw attention to what I don't. But Larian already has my money and my attention. All I'm saying is that, if they want gold stars, they need to turn in a better performance and earn them. Overly critical reviews can have a negative impact on a game or even on a studio, I am sure. But so do reviews that only talk about positives and don't mention any of the negatives, as they set up unreal expectations about what a new player is going to experience.

At any rate, I sort of trailed off into the reeds there with a little soapbox that was just my opinion and not intended to "correct" anyone else's at all. Thanks for the info on Red Hook, and maybe I've just hit a bad patch of coincidentally timed gaming problems lately that are leading me to be overly-cynical.