This is what I've been fearing to think about. What if Astarion's writer no longer writes him.. and it's been handed to Karlach's writer? It's also entirely possible the original writers have moved on to other projects and what's left is... staff writers?
Yeah, that's terrible. I read that the original authors are already working on a new game "about space". And in that case, "supporting" (ruining) the game would probably be people who fantasize about a woman with her face contorted in horror being strangled on her knees on Valentine's Day. And those who think women deserve such a "moral lesson".
Originally Posted by Sereda2
I do wonder if the issue is that the present writers aren't comfortable writing for characters that don't appeal to straight men, or maybe they don't see giving the player agency to decide how they want to relate to a character as very important. It feels they've decided to make A.Astarion story one of 'the cycle of abuse' continues whether the player likes it or not, and for reasons I cannot fathom, S.Astarion is just neglected. Astarion's voice actor is enthusiastic about his character, the fans are enthusiastic. I can't fathom why the writers don't seem to share that feeling at all.
That's the impression I get too. Look at how they are actively shoving in the "brutal" Halsin on the background of the disdainful and frankly mocking attitude towards Astarion. A mediocre, boring character, in many ways just copied from the druid from Diablo 4 - appearance, form of a bear, which must be separately pumped, though he did not offer sex to anyone there, because Diablo is not about that and there is no special plot there. His only "original feature" is his annoying attempt to have sex with Tav and their romantic partner. And no one condemns those players who drag Astarion into that nasty threesome with Halsin, even though the fact of the matter is that using someone who was already traumatized by it to satisfy their own perverted desires while thinking it's okay is far more characteristic of a person than killing some backstage 7000 spawn we don't even know. But if you tell them about it, they start yelling that it's a game feature, that since it's in the game, it's okay, that you can't insult other players' roleplay... They can insult the player - but only the players who help Astarion become stronger. His masculinity, his aristocratism is only truly revealed after Ascension. And someone hates him so much that they want to either "punish" him properly or throw out of the game those who want to see Astarion like that, who want a nice happy epilogue with him.
And about the marketing department, it's completely unclear. Either they "missed" it, positioning the game primarily as a sex store, and thinking that Lord Astarion is the "D/s department" (well, who's going to figure out that the partner in this case does not make such a face), and players will like it, and for those who do not like it, there is a button to "refuse Ascension" (that's how we play role-playing games, right?). Or did they feel that "moralism" in a game that utilizes sadism for educational purposes is a selling point? I don't have any hope for the writing team to get someone in there, even if not as talented as the previous team, to at least not be harmful. But maybe the guys in jackets, who like to count profits, will still realize that it's better to release a product without mocking the end consumer...
Originally Posted by Ametris
Ah yes, the "good" path where he becomes a defanged, tooth-rotting fluffy human in a vampire skin, dependent on his great protector and completely adjusted to them, palatable to teenagers so they can swoon over him being their babygirl. He loses his temerity, sarcastic sense of humour and sexual kinks and is a broken man in full on copium mode, trying to hide his growing depression. He's someone who burns in the sun while his so-called friends mock him (I know they're finally working on it, but it's only because of so much criticism) and will always have to drink blood and deal with many inconveniences and then watch Tav die. Also, apparently being equals means owning nothing and being happy.
Why does he need redemption anyways?
He doesn't need to. Players who played in very early access wrote that Astarion attacked if they refused to help him with a ritual. That the "path of the Spawn" was added later, due to the fact that these same teenagers wrote letters to Larian with snot and demanding to let them "fix" Astarion. Astarion began to be "softened" in order to make him "more palatable to the players". It's not him who needs it, but the audience of teenagers and bitchy female fans to suppress and "fix" him in the first place. And the aforementioned heterosexual men can let them do that, but the rest of us - be kind enough to romance those who resemble those very same heterosexual men's fantasies about themselves. Or - get punched in the face and know your place.
Originally Posted by Ametris
Maybe they could focus on making his "good" path actually good, rather than destroying the alternative one where he finally feels safe and confident enough to drop his masks and show his real, dark self and is obsessively in love with someone who helped him achieve his ultimate revenge. He doesn't need fixing. He's perfect the way he is. They can shove their childish morality lessons, manipulative tactics and propaganda where the sun don't shine.
This!
Yeah, by the way, make a "good" version with healing from vampirism at least, weak? Or does someone have to have "drama" and "he's a vampire and must go into the darkness"? What makes you think anyone owes you anything at all? Yes, in our game we could have sent any "debt collector" from NPCs or companions to a place where the sun will never look, if the plot had a realistic "counteraction to evil". But here the "gods" decided to intervene...No, really, go there yourself, make your own mass-market spawn, be happy, but at least get away from the Ascended, let people play in peace in the world they want to be in, not in the one they themselves want to "plunge into darkness".
Originally Posted by Ametris
Originally Posted by LiryFire
First those awful one-sided answers after the ritual that was on the release.
Literally: 1. I want power. 2. F me. 4. School 1. F you
Kisses with a disgruntled face, the only ones in the game. The game doesn't reveal Astarion's dominance in the romance, falls from the sky, clumsier and with that Tav face, it's just insulting. There's no kiss or hug in the epilogue (but there's no kiss at the spawn either, strange)
This! Writers' impositions are all over the place.
But you can hug Halsin in the epilogue, and there are a lot of "flirting" lines for him. And this "kind character" will stare at you in such a way that you have to remind yourself that Tav is a powerful enough character and can hit him, otherwise it would be uncomfortable. Spawn's hug, by the way, is somewhat fake, more like a friendly hug. He smiles artificially, as in the first chapter, his eyes are slightly squinted again, and he doesn't snuggle with his whole body, as he did at the end of the hug in the second act.
Originally Posted by Ametris
Somehow they managed fine with Gale, Halsin and Wyll in this patch. It's only Astarion that got messed up.
I won't be amazed if by the time Astarion's VA is done with his BG3 playthrough, his character will be completely ruined. The hatred for him is just too visible. No one else changes their personality and has their sex scenes censored in subsequent patches.
The best character and the worst treatment of him. Give Larian the " bullying of the year" award. It's true that "year" is a bit small, in the past years this was not observed with the games either.
Originally Posted by Veranis
I think they have been quite good at giving us a platform to roleplay our characters in most parts of the game, which is why the post-Ascenscion dialogue and kiss reactions are so baffling. They don't match with anything that comes before or after.
