Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion The obsession with single characters is extremely irritating and community is killing it

100% agree. They are loud, can't accept other opinions and ask for benefits for how 'special' they are.

Who do you mean with 'they''? YOu can say anything, but you have to accept, that people don't always share your opinion. ANd of course there are rules on discussion boards about being polite to one another (which I think should go without saying, but is sadly forgotten often).

I was refering to the new generation/the minority/the people on social media platforms that ZOZO was talking about. I accept that they have their own opinion, it seems more like they cry out loud whenever you have another opinion, at least to what I see. This might be due to the age of the participants, I don't know.

But what is a minority? I don't really think, that Astarion fans are a minority. I would be hard pressed to say, which fans in the BG3 fandom are in the minority - maybe we people, who want to have small races companions , but that is ok. And yes, I agree, that people could be a bit kinder when discussing. I don't want to convince people, that my view is the only right one, I want to hear their arguments about their views and maybe get a new perspective along the way.

Sorry, I guess this is a misunderstanding. I'm not talking about fans of a specific companion or BG3 fans in general, this was more about the whole gaming community or even the whole society. I was talking about small groups of people who can't accept that they don't get what they want (which is often something very niche) and start to act very 'loud' if you get what I mean. And this might apply to any game community as well as for other RL topics. It's just exhausting that people attack others just for not supporting their wishes - which is basically because, yeah, they don't share them.

I've seen and been in enough discussions that had someone saying stuff like "Your opinion is not valid", "I don't care what you guys want", "F*** you, if you don't want the same as me, I will just block you" etc. at some point. Not saying things have been better in the past, but nowadays, it's easier to find someone else online who is in the same niche.

Look I like Astarion but I am not such an Araj'Oblodra type of fan. I even chose him as an origin character for my feedback difficulty video series.
But for the fans I do see some huge flaws what is questionable.

For example noone complains about the fact that Astarion should be an undead. But most of them complain about romance. If I whould be a fan I whould question Larian about it.
What gives me somehow the wibe that something is wrong here. But I will keep my opinion for myself. Because I don't want the drama or any kind of negative things toward me.
I just wanted to give somekind of advice that mybe its not a healthy thing to step into a bee nest.

I love the VA for Araj 'Oblodra, she nailed the seductress tone. I don't think of any other character in the game sounding more suggestive.

(I reckon she's actually a shapeshifted yochlol, an amorphous demonic handmaiden of Lolth. Super major turn-off, but that's head-canon.)

[Edit]
Vampires as undead... Yes, but vampires are unique among undead in that they have circulatory system and can be poisoned. I think they can eat/drink but derive no sustenance.

This all said, BG3 vampire spawn don't match TT spawn. Cazador would have to do his own hunting, spawn are too brutish and are at best lair guards like in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

That "extraordinary evidence" is not there. It is baseless to believe that the 50% who don't go past Act 2 share a significant overlap with the group whose members obsess over certain characters. It is far more likely that these "obsessors" are among those who go all the way. I find it extremely unlikely for someone to care about Astarion's character, and not invest time in finding out where his story ends up.

Isn't this character obsession mostly limited to specific subforums or discussion groups like "Story & Character Discussion"? Which in that case is sort of obvious - it´s in the name. I mean sure Tiktok, instagram and steam forums don't have subforums, but Tiktok isn´t really designed for discussions around how to build the ultimate bardlock, and nobody should use steam forums for any discussion, ever.

Also with gaming media becoming more mainstream, there´s a larger overlap with the type of fans that also obsess over KPop boy bands who bring that culture with them. But I don´t think that it´s "killing" the community, there´s just a larger variety to the community and if you want more of the old school type of discussions around crpg's there are many subforums and places for that as well. Or you can meet and share the same space and accept that we will have different interests within the same cultural phenomenon. Some people probably don't understand people who number crunch and obsess over character multiclass combinations either, that´s what the Build Discussions subforum is for.

If a "good" Minthara path were created, a lot of her lines will have to be duplicated as well. So there would be a new good version of her dialogue and the current version where she talks as a typical superior drow matriarch. Otherwise, there would be a strange contrast between what she sayis and what you'd want her to say. Actually there exists a mod to get her in the party without destroying the grove and I tried it, but removed it almost immediately after Minthara became a companion, because nothing made sense anymore. My 2nd PT is a durge origin, she is also a Drow, so she and Minthara get along well. But it seems clear that Minth's ultimate goal will be to take control of the nethercrown and dominate the world. (Still in early Act 3 for now, so I don't know how it will evolve towards the end)

I disliked Astarion also, from the first moment I set eyes on him in EA and he attacked me from behind. So the only time I took him in the party was in PT1 to encounter Cazador and then dumped him again to continue with my "normal"" party. Now , I still don't like him much, but the time when my origin as Durge became known in camp, I found his reaction quite moving and sympathetic. He just moved up a step in my esteem. I'm sure there are still numerous "hidden" conversation lines that may change my opinion on some characters.

Play him as an origin. It's a better experience at least for me it was better. He became my Fane choice.

I agree totally with your appreciation of Oblodra's voice. She's enthralling.
The voices of the undead Shar-nurses in the House of Healing were also a jewel. But maybe that effect comes from the sharp contrast between the voice and who is using it.

I think Oblodra is a real Drow not a demon , because I heard her mutter that she will restore house Oblodra to glory.

Strangely enough, the OP himself seems to be obsessed with Astarion. But aside from that, the point seems to be that commercial social media are a cesspool of stupidity. That's probably largely correct. The sane thing to do then, is stay away from them. It is understandable that it may be hard to do, given that unbelievable amounts of money are put into attracting the attention of the masses. But be brave, stand strong, and don't look into the abyss!

Oh yeah, those nurses. 'Are we poorly? Are we desperately poorly?' Yeah, they're cool. Would've been cute in life but now the deathly visage makes them shocking. Great design and dialogue. And there's that funny scene should you act sick (another check fun to fail).

I've got a bias. I don't kill them, nor the female mummies. It's probably not healthy.

Okay, Oblodra's probably drow. But I reckon she's going to end up a yochlol.

Hey there! I know you probably won't want to hear my opinion on this as I'm a HUGE Astarion fan, but I wanted to pop on (since it seems I'm the type of person who's currently irritating you).

I have 500+ hours in this game. I've beaten it to completion 4 times and started 8 different characters. I've done a good playthrough. An evil one. An evil urge. A resist urge. I also have over 50% of the Steam achievements.

And I have 0 issue with how you like to play your game.

I love Astarion. He's well written, well acted, and complex and dynamic. And yes, very pretty to look at.

I'm not a teenager (thank God), I'm in my early 30's and I've been playing video games since I was 4 years old.

And here's the thing: I spend hours in character creator, in all of my plathroughs, I've only not romanced Astarion once, I let him feed everytime and, guess what? I've explored every inch of Faerún.

People can play differently than you and that's okay. If a game elicits passion for the characters, that means they've created some damn good characters. You can absolutely hate Astarion; I expected more people would honestly. But in that similar vein, we can love him.

A nuanced and fun RPG gives license to people playing how they want. You can get a player who just kills Astarion right off the bat and I won't be mad at them at all. They can play how they want.

Just do what you want and avoid spaces that bother you. It's okay, man we all support how you want to play.