Nothing I said was sarcastic. You mentioned that you had followed BG3 and read all about it, to which I replied, so have I.
Really? Damn, could've sworn you were. Yet again I stand corrected.
There is nothing dismissive about a cookie. It's an idiomatic expression, implying that a reward is expected when I don't believe it's warranted.
Yes, yes I know, most times I've seen people use the 'want a cookie for that?' expression was to jokingly dismiss someone, and I jokingly answered yes, I want a cookie.
I will never say no to cookies!
So you admit that there are consequences to using the tadpoles? They are RP reasons, and they are enough to keep you from using them?
Fine,
yes, but the problem is that those "consequences" are all in my head. It's
all mental gymnastics to imagine what my character would act like, what my character would do in a given situation. Not to mention Swen and the marketing team kept on saying that there will be consequences to our actions. In game. Recognized by the game.
See where I am going with this? Imagined consequences are no consequences.
The game doesn't recognize those RP choices for the most part, I can count on the fingers of my hands all the times the game does include very
minor dialogue changes. For the most part it plays out exactly the same as a full muncher. When you first get the vision from the Brain where the Prism comes to protect you, the narrator says:
THE POWER YOU HAVE USED ON OTHERS. Even if you never picked any illithid dialogue options, happens even if you stayed a true purist and never rescued SH from the pod aboard nautiloid.
The times game recognizes you never used tadpoles:
1. 2nd Guardian Dream.
2. You can honestly tell Jaheira that the tadpole is not changing you and that you are resisting it, after drinking the truth elixir spiked wine.
3. Upon meeting the Emperor you can straight up say no to his Astral Tadpole.
4. When he talks to you about Stelmane (1st dream sequence after the Prism one in act 3) he will make a comment that you should use tadpoles.
5. 2nd dream sequence in act 3, if you annoy him into showing you what had truly happened to Stelmane, he will say that our puerile attitude is annoying him and he will force you to consume tadpoles if he has to.
That's it, no other differences, game plays out as if you had consumed tadpoles.
Meanwhile all the consequence free perks you get for using those powers all the time...
That said, I can understand what fylimar is saying above, which is that the search for power often *feels* like the evil choice, and we're all conditioned in some way to expect a punishment for going that route. But that's a built in morality thing we've all gotten used to. It begins to fall apart when examined closely.
In this game, the approach is not typical. To win, you have to sacrifice a portion of yourself. You have to be reborn, forfeiting your soul and appearance. Doing so happens over a long and slippery slope as you are eventually forced to come to terms with the reality of what it will take to win.
"But I want to win without that sacrifice!" --sure, of course you do. But that's not the way it is. It's not your fault that the world is wicked.
See, that's the problem with this entire situation. The game implies that it's a great sacrifice to use those powers, to munch tadpoles yet... nothing changes (aside from your looks if you take the Astral one).
The entire ending of the game being flawed as it is, but we are finally getting somewhere. You can make the sacrifice yourself, you can pass the responsibility to the Emperor (and essentialy sacrifice the life of a technically innocent githyanki or use said yanki as the sacrificial lamb) or you can let Karlach do it. She volunteers after all. You can essentially get consequence scot-free. Let someone else do it.
Also, in most games, there are always well thought out pathways and loop-holes to get by without sacrificing anyone. I am not saying it should be as easy as resisting tadpoles all the time. That is the problem with BG3, this game gives us so many options and when it comes to those that matter, nah, a binary. Someone becomes a MF or you use Gale to blow the brain.
Take NWN2:MotB - you can save yourself from the curse only if you collect ALL of the mask pieces in your dreams.
Or DA:O's morally grey - sacrifice yourself, Alistair/Loghain or let Morrigan perform her ritual.
And one would think that BG3's sacrifice-free way, loop-holey would be to get Omeluum on the team. Or inspire Orpheus with our actions enough, to the point that he can just psychically bombard the brain, while our mere mortal asses use the stones to command it to off itself.
And yet, no. None of that happens cause "sacrifice is necessary, you saw it coming a mile away". It's all pathos and no logos.
