Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Twitter social media and bug fix updates suggestion

(this is tl;dr initially posted to /r/BaldursGate3 because the Larian forums were down yesterday.)

I want to acknowledge that Larian has been doing a really good job releasing regular patches and hotfixes, and that with a game of this size across multiple OSes and a console, things will inevitability break as they're fixed.

However, I'd like to voice frustration that Larian does not use their social media (that is, Twitter) to better communicate that they're aware of major game-breaking bugs and working on fixes. Other than announcements of Patches and Hotfixes and announcing the rare merch updates, all they use their Twitter for is retweeting fanart. They've never once posted a PSA about bugs that are breaking important parts of the game, or making the game unplayable, that players keep bringing up to them in replies or on their official forums.

There are several major game-breaking bugs, that are either present since Patch 4 or have been an issue well before Patch 4, that Larian has never acknowledged they're aware of and working on. (Or they may have, and I missed it; it'd be great to see if anyone has seen them acknowledge these.)

-The latest Hotfix broke the game on Steam Deck, with very many people unable to launch it at all. but there has as yet been no mention from Larian that they're aware of and working on this.
-The latest Hotfix had a note that Larian is aware of bugs with Astarion's newly-added kiss animations; however, Larian has never acknowledged that Astarion's final romance scene is completely broken, with a cutscene that does not play and dialogue that is missing.
-The latest Hotfix says they fixed Minthara's second kiss in her romance; however, Larian has not acknowledged that Minthara's first kiss cutscene is inaccessible for some reason, so many players cannot even reach her second kiss cutscene.
-The hotfix before last fixed a bug where Shadowheart refused to follow the party (though I've seen many people, especially on PS5, say they're still dealing with this); however, people were reporting the same bug happening with Halsin, and reporting it is still happening in the current Hotfix, along with Halsin's combat voice lines and portrait-click voice lines not playing (an issue that has existed since Day 1 of the game launching.)

I feel like it'd go a long way to quell player frustration and engender greater trust if there was just the occasional short Twitter post to say "hey, we are aware of this, we are working on it, thanks for your patience." Because I know a lot of people who are pretty upset that a game they spent $70 on is still broken to the point it is even several months after release, and feeling like they're not getting heard, with even bug reports about these issues meeting radio silence beyond an automated response email. I know a few friends who returned their copies of the PS5 game due to the issues with Astarion and Minthara, specifically.

I hope this doesn't come across as entitled. I appreciate Larian for all the work they're doing to continue working on this game and all of the work the people handling bug reports and codework are doing. I just wish their social media team was more involved in communicating about these issues, too. Thank you for reading.

Bumping this because I also want them to improve their communication/transparency, but I heard a Larian employee once said they prefer to "show, not tell" so it's not likely they will start acknowledging bugs/issues publicly. I also don't think they check these threads as there are way too many opinions to keep track of. Still, it's worth a try, thanks for taking the time to list these issues.

I dont want them go to. xXx. but something have to be done.
I am 1000% sure the don't chek the official forum.
I dont know where they are taking the information about the changes that they are dooing to the game.
But almost none of them are here present as a complain or a wanted feature.
So I am at that point that I will agree with you. It's better if they pick one site or forum and communicate with us there. I don't care now if it is steam Twitter or redit or this really buggy site.

As someone that has worked in PR and community building for a long time. I have been suggesting they look at something as simple as a monthly (or even twice a month) official update on game status and work. They do not need to respond to comments, just make basically a PR post and then move on. For devs and companies community forums quickly become a cesspool that is best avoided for mental health reasons. However a regular update will be enough to keep the majority of the community happy and feeling like they are not being ignored.

Yeah, I agree with them not checking comments/trying to reply to every comment. I also don't expect like, even scheduled regular updates (that'd be nice, though!), just a quick "hey, we see this huge thing broke and we're working on it." It's just, I think out of all of the game devs I follow with newer games receiving regular patches, Larian is the least communicative over their only social media (both the forums and Twitter) when it comes to major breaks in their game. The fact it's currently unplayable on Linux and there has not been a single announcement from them is wild to me?

"Show, not tell" ought to stay for narrative decisions, not for customer service and PR when the product you're selling doesn't work... Wild. And i really hope they at least glance over the threads in their own official Feedback & Suggestions forum

Yes, it’s a horrible way of doing things and it will only go downhill from here unless they break their silence or come out with a patch to 'fix everything'. Then it will come full circle again.

From what I’ve observed, I would guess the feedbacks they pay attention to the most are the replies under their Twitter posts, the ones on the Discord server, and the e-mails they receive. Though the last part I hear just gets you automated messages. The forums are mostly for players to discuss and vent out their frustrations. I haven’t seen anyone from the Larian team address issues post-release outside of the ‘Latest News’ threads. If they do take a look at the threads here, I would be happy to be proven wrong, but glancing at thread titles alone won’t give much information and I wouldn’t bet on them spending hours to skim over threads that are usually filled with off-topic comments.

I have a firm dislike of commercial social media, and I hate being forced to use them. Larian have their own forum, with a subforum that is dedicated to news. What they do need to do, is fix their forum software.

I have a firm dislike of commercial social media, and I hate being forced to use them. Larian have their own forum, with a subforum that is dedicated to news. What they do need to do, is fix their forum software.

I don't want to use Twitter or the Discord server, they're full of insane people. This forum is nice and chill in comparison, it just runs on a toaster with expired warranty.

Those ‘insane’ people will be the ones who get Larian’s attention first lol. That’s just a fact. This forum was good until the gateway timeouts became constant.

They already have. Just look at the majority of changes. Almost none of them are requested in this official forum .

I think they are for sure working on other things behind the scenes, but because of their abysmal communication, people draw up their own conclusions about the things they're prioritizing (new kissing animations = oh, they're only paying attention to the thirsty people).

I am not delusional anymore. And I don't believe in my dream patch notes.
Ppl asked years ago for transmog system.... we got a mirror. Ppl asked for custom party ....we got a wardrobe.
Ppl asked for difficulty we got ... cat shaved and more romance options.
And those things are here since the beginning.

They're already planning to add a new difficulty, mate. The point I'm making is we don't know anything because they refuse to communicate. This is the main problem. I wish the "show, not tell" mindset just stayed in EA. I really wonder what their community team are doing on a daily basis.

This post isn't about whether people like Twitter or Discord or not, it is about the fact those are the two platforms Larian is prioritizing to communicate with the majority of its playerbase and potential market, and how they could do a better job of utilizing them. This forum gets significantly less traffic in comparison to their official Twitter and Discord. They interact with fans significantly more on those platforms than they do here (and they barely interact with fans on those platforms, which is my criticism, so that really says something about how neglected the forum is.)

This isn't about "which platform is superior or has better fans", it's about "which platform is Larian using most to communicate and are they doing an effective job of using it?" And they aren't, in my opinion and apparently the opinion of several others in this thread.

I'd love them to also post quick updates about major game-breaking bugs here, too! I want them to post updates and acknowledge bugs making the game unplayable for their customers at all.

If Twitter and Discord are truly where they interact with people the most, wouldn't you have a better luck of being heard over there? Or maybe you've already posted this on those platforms as well? Sadly, I think this forum is a little hopeless. It's not even accessible most of the time. Good news is more people on Discord (me included) have come forward to ask for more transparency, maybe they'll notice and do something about it. shrug

Hell, no! This not how software is supposed to work! Normally it gets incrementally better, not worse. This is a sad testament to the quality of the product and a severe lack of QA. Imagine fixing e.g. the breaks of your car, that shouldn't affect your air condition.

Apart from that I fully agree. I would demand refunding the game, if I could. And I'm not that angry because of the terrible state of the game, I'm angry because of the lack of communication. Others comanies like Team Ninja or Hexworks do way better.

Both Wo Long and Lords of the Fallen were pretty clunky after release. Both companies reacted and released a full breakdown / road map of what they are planning to do when, which content they are going to add... That is community service and is more than enough to keep me calm.

I'll admit, when I use the word "interact" I mean making any posts directed at the playerbase/customer base at all. On Twitter they DO NOT interact outside making their own posts, and reblogging fanart, and occasionally interacting with other brand accounts as a form of advertisement. If I posted on Twitter (which would also be difficult due to the character limit, I'd be ignored.

I don't use Discord so I can't post there.

I DID send what I posted here directly through the "bug report" feedback option. But I never received a response, and I doubt i will get a response about this.

To be honest I don't know very much at all about video game QA and bug fixing, so I was just thinking at least they're trying. But you are right, I don't think I've played a game like this where consistent patching just broke more and more of the game. I also haven't played a game in my memory that also added so much completely new content in with the bug fix patches, though... I feel like that has to be a significant part of the issue. Patch 4 had 1000 changes to the game, that seems like too much at once.

And yeah. I can't demand a refund because I bought it over Steam, unfortunately, but I know friends who are getting refunds for their PS5 copies. It's a pretty sad state of affairs, but Larian releasing any kind of road map would go a long way to help quell frustration.

Well i was thinking a lot when I ever saw a game getting worse by further patches??..

I then it hit me Wow. Life service games.
Are BG3 a life service game? Mybe it should be nominated for game award like cyberpunk in this category ??



I can totally replace my self in this video just instead holding wow in my hands I am holding bg3. I feelt joy till patch 2.
I had some issue with the lack of challenge but now things are different.