Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Less racism in the game?

I’m going to respond to the original post in good faith, as I don’t think that the initial concerns deserve to be shut down in an off-hand way. Certainly not.

Some of the claims are confusing and need clarification. Specifically, the final bullet point about Larian suggesting refugees are bad. I don’t see that in the game at all. In fact, the game tries to get you very attached to the tiefling refugees, so that you see their side and sympathize with them when you arrive at Baldur’s Gate. And I do enjoy that aspect of the storyline. So what makes you feel that refugees are written as bad? Yes, there are people in the city who are against refugees, and yes, one of the supervillains of the game is victimizing the refugees for political gain. But that’s portrayed as villainy, not as what is right.

As regards to Minthara and Lae’zel, this critique makes a bit more sense to me. The claim seems to be that groups who are racially “other” (i.e., appear non-white) are portrayed as less likable, less sympathetic, etc. I’ll say two things here.

First, Larian did not come up with these ideas by themselves. It’s a legacy from DND fantasy worlds and great swaths of the fantasy genre. In many fantasies, the “racialized” or “non-white other” is in fact, often treated as evil or less sympathetic. Just think about the Lord of the Rings movies, for example. The Uruk’hai and the goblins are heavily portrayed as racially “other” in contrast to all of the white protagonists, and they are portrayed as evil. Or consider the goblins in Hogwarts Legacy being the villains of the plot. This is a fantasy genre trope, NOT a uniquely Larian trope. I think that mitigates criticism of Larian to a great degree, that they were reiterating staples of the DND fantasy world that they inherited for the game.

I’m not saying that the fantasy genre is right in portraying the racially “other” as evil. In fact, I think it’s deeply problematic.

Second, I will say that Larian gives the githyanki a major glow-up in this game. They are not actually portrayed as wholly evil, savage, and brutal, through and through. In fact, the origin character who I would consider to be one of the key protagonists of the game, Lae’zel, has tremendous character development, and you see so many layers to her. She’s a fully fleshed-out being, who can slaughter, sure, but she can also love, be loyal, become a devoted parent, in fact become a hero who saves Baldur’s Gate. And Orpheus, and a couple of other gith, like Varrl, contribute to that glow-up. In addition, players who play as a githyanki can roleplay as good. There’s a flexibility there, that grants the githyanki race more depth than they had prior to this game.

For what it’s worth, Larian also treats the tieflings (a group ostracized for their race) with great care, sympathy, and love. The game consistently challenges rude suppositions that the tieflings are demonic in character.

Now, when it comes to Wyll, I would not agree that they depict him as lazy. I think that they depict him as a heroic, kind of lawful good and bland guy. It’s clear that he doesn’t get quite as much love from the devs as some of the other characters. There are a few things that I would not describe as racism necessarily, but rather as implicit bias. For the sake of having a constructive discussion, using a term like “implicit bias” could be helpful.

So there are clearly problems with Wyll. Yes, he lacks content compared to some of the other companions. And yes, it was in bad taste for Mizora to keep talking about him as a dog and having him on a leash, considering the legacy of slavery in the US. I know that the game was not developed in the US, but devs should know that it’s going to be heavily consumed here. But I think that these things, especially the lack of content, are due to an implicit bias, and not out and out racism.

I agree that Karlach’s arc, as well, should have been concluded within the main game. The other characters get that. However, I don’t think this has to do with her race at all. I simply think that they ran out of time and energy to develop her properly. They did whitewash her as opposed to their original vision, so I’m not sure that she should be considered “non-white” exactly. And the tieflings are treated so sympathetically as a race in any event.