Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Not BG4 or D&D

Total sidebar, but just on the technology in FR. I also had a similar feeling with the various Constructs and Explosives. It's also strange though, because I rather liked Bernard, and the Steel Watch, and Philomeen and pretty much everything with the Ironhand Gnomes, which is sort of inexplicable to me. I think I attribute this to the fact that I'm not at all that precious when it comes to the Forgotten Realms, because as a setting it has always felt like such a grab-bag to me. I legit get the feeling that FR had to go this way, because of fucking Eberron lol. As if some wizard was like, 'well, what the hell are we supposed to do with all this Eberron crap we spent the last decade pushing?' And some other Wizard was like "Don't worry, we'll fold it into the Forgotten Realms like we always do" and then all the wizards nodded in agreement hehe.

FR is probably my favorite D&D campaign setting on account of some of this silliness, but playing BG3 also helped me to realize where I draw my line, which is that I don't dig Arquebuses and Guns in FR. It just diminishes all the magic missiles and fireballs and bows. I'm slightly annoyed by the advent of 'crossbows for all' for similar reasons, but at least it's not everyone packin' a blunderbuss ya know.

It was the thing that frustrated me most about Eora and Pillars, even if I get that there is a ton of crossover between like Knights of the Round Table and the swashbuckling Pirate genres. I let most things slide. Like I don't really care if I can see the curvature of the earth from a Razaminth's space needle tower, standing taller than Egyptian pyramids with the riddle of steel I-beams. I don't care if Dragons can't fly without some serious magic lift. I don't mind when it dips into Ravenloft Gothic Horror either, as long it's mostly bowie knives to take out Dracula and not a showdown at the OK corral with the quick draw. Even the Robocop switch board brain was fine, some fireworks ok sure, just leave the guns out of it.

I don't know but somehow someone always want to sneak in some guns and some steam engines, which will just ruin it for me every time. I think Steam Punk is not my fav, because while I do like Punk, I also have weird associations there, like as this avante garde thing that can only really exist as reactionary. I think there's a reason Eberron didn't catch fire in the aughts, so I don't know why it always has to keep haunting in the aftermath constantly. Like I'm over here pining for a long-hair happy hippie dip into some kind of Robin Hood fantasy, only to have the archery contest interrupted by someone with a spiked mohawk throwing grenades around like it's Holiday in the Sun. Anarchy lol. It's similar to say, making a SW flick where everyone suddenly has smart phones and touch screens, instead of a bunch of goofy hand mics with knobs and dials and switches and whatnot. Like at this point we know how the various holograms used for galactic communications are produced, I don't need it to be more real, just keep it in the trash compactor. Granted I'm totally inconsistent with some of this stuff. Like yellow submarine rides at disney land, sure thing, sign me up for 20,000 leagues there. I thought that part was pretty great. But if it was a Thomas the Train with a railroad crossing I would balk! Why one and not the other? Who can say. I honestly don't know. I am arbitrary and capricious with my nitpicks. I'm fine with the robocops as long as they're swinging giants swords and using crossbows I guess. If they blow up when they die, sure, worked for me. Whereas if they'd had rocket launchers and gatling guns for arms and shot lasers from their eyes, then suddenly it's like 'wait, this isn't right is it?' But then it was pretty satisfying to take on all of Wyrms rock just immediately, no quarter hehe. I was going to say draw the line at no cannons and flying machines, but then I don't care at all when it's Rolan vs the Nautiloids, or some pirate ship blimp I guess, so go figure. I'm just happy it wasn't like muskets and flint locks though, cause I think that, even for the kitchen sink setting that is the Forgotten Realms, it starts to buckle pretty badly on that one.

Anyhow, just rambling. I'm so happy to just smoke a cigarette in the parking lot while the roadies are packing up and feel the ringing in my ears still hehe.

ps. I think I might be a bit harsh on Baker and fans of Eberron. On it's face I should have been totally into it cause, like the wiki says... "The Eberron Campaign Setting sourcebook lists the following films as inspirations for Eberron's tone and attitude: Brotherhood of the Wolf, Casablanca, From Hell, The Maltese Falcon, The Mummy, The Name of the Rose, Pirates of the Caribbean, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sleepy Hollow. Baker also said inspiration for the war-torn setting came from the unstable period of world history between World War I and II."

I read that and it's like holy shit, that sounds like a pretty good pitch! I like those flicks. But then it's also emblematic of this weird thing that happened, like the hauntology of the aughts, where everything had to get thrown in the recyclotron blender cause there weren't enough ideas anymore apparently? Like time just stopped at some point in the mid 90s when the avante garde become ironic and everything had to blend in that way. So like Punk (both it's late 70s/80s version and it's 90s revival) I guess recalls the WW1 haircuts, and so of course just set it there? But that reminds me of Fire and Ice or the Bakshi LotR where they're just rotoscoping WW2 photos and doing the modern/medieval mashup. Not that that can't work. I mean there are probably peeps who feel the same way when FR dips into Ravenloft for the horror or Planescape for the astral weirdness, or Greyhawk for moral ambiguity, except for some reason if they show me a shotgun and knights in the same frame, I just get Army of Darkness from that. Like then it only works as comedy, because there are shotguns and chainsaws for arms now lol. I don't know if it makes sense, or what all it's worth. Some sort of cautionary tale about the super specific and yet wildly vague milieu I expect the thing to operate within. It's some sort of time travel riff for me too I guess, which is another complicating factor.


Along those lines, I suppose it's hard for me to tell when BG3 is being earnest or Earnest Goes to Camp, if that makes sense. Or like when it's aiming to be a satirical send up of BG/FR/D&D vs something with the aching heart gravity, cause it kinda does both. But then at the end it's sorta like "That's all folks!" & we're on to the main event now! But I was still into it more for the cartoons that played before the double feature!

I'm pleased with what they've achieved, though I wish there was more. It's impossible for me to shut about this game, or to control my impulse on that. Like good grief, how much oversharing can one pull off in a place like this, to just keep running my mouth or cool the warp core endlessly? It might pick up again! After they walk it back slightly and drop whatever patch? More crystals would probably do the trick, doubtless. This ship has been patched and patched so many times, if it takes on water or I get queasy, there's usually a bucket somewhere or an animal to talk to, to help decompress. I wanted it to never end, but it would seems that's somehow not the thing either. I think I just want a heartfelt goodbye now, where we know it's for real and not a boomerang coming back again next week with a text message at 3 am. There's plenty of ghosts to not get ghosted, but like also - the timing! If we'd known the drill before the epilogue stuff dropped, it would probably have felt right-ish. But we didn't know that was goodbye at the time, so it stings a bit. Is this a 5 star BG day today, or like a 2 star BG day today? I don't know. Still feels a bit like we got jilted on the honeymoon there, as if there was going to be some sort of grand vacation in Hell or maybe Menzobaranzan, but then they were like "Sorry, we found someone new. We're just not into you anymore. If only you'd caught all those hints along the way though right? Might have saved ya some heartache. But GG! Good luck! Have fun!" lol. I'm only taking it to these absurdly hyperbolic dimensions here, cause that is somehow how it landed for me. Didn't see it coming, but then maybe I had the blinders on. Deer in the headlights - almost certainly the case.

One thing I have enjoyed heartily is the banter and the back and forth though, the occasional foodfight, the gummy berry juice and the bounce. I guess it was happy trails after all. Maybe Mods? Kinda loved it! Good lookin' out!