Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Patch 7 Closed Beta Feedback

Hello!

Dice are once again rolling, and the Patch 7 Closed Beta has gone live on Steam!

If you’re one of the randomly selected players to take part, you should now have an entry in your Steam Library called Baldur’s Gate 3 Playtest (with Gale’s handsome face staring at you).
If you haven’t, don’t worry! We will continue to add players throughout the Closed Beta, so keep an eye on your Steam Library.

❗Spoilers ❗
As not everyone will have the opportunity to participate in the Closed Beta, we would appreciate it if you could keep any spoilers about the new evil ending cinematics to a minimum, so players can enjoy these themselves once Patch 7 releases in September!

I have set up this thread so you can share your feedback about Patch 7 and its content. You are free to start your own threads but please make it clear on the title that they are about Patch 7 and spoiler text when necessary.

You can also find a general discussion thread on this link: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=945765#Post945765

Thank you all!


[As stated above, please expect Patch 7 spoilers underneath this post]

Not 100% sure this is where I should be posting my feedback, but here goes... I literally just got the beta downloaded, did my first search filter for the mods, and I expected the filter to show me everything that fell under any of the categories that I had selected. Instead, it seems the filters show you only mods that contain ALL of the filters selected (I'm assuming. Only because with the filters I selected there were no mods to display). It would be nice to be able to browse a bunch of mods in a variety of categories that interest me. I don't always know what mods I want until I see them, so keeping a broad search is kinda a necessity. (even just a box to tick to "contain ONLY these filters" or "contain some/any of these filters") Thanks!

when you spend the night with minthara in act 1 her animation is different and is more suited for a tav with a penis.
however, this animation triggered when my tav does not have a penis.

is this a glitch or has the old animation been completely replaced? has anybody else had this issue?

edit: i attempted to replicate this on another save but it triggered the old animation. however when i encountered the issue my tav was set as nonbinary/other while this new save is set as female, which i believe may be the issue

I really like the new Ansur animation/scene.

The character that comes up to Ansur now floats much higher up from the ground, which feels more natural as they're coming up to his height and the scene feels a bit more dramatic.
I like the fact that you're no longer able to see your other companions during the moments when the PC is suspended in the air. It feels more appropriate to me that when our character is roughly brought back down to the ground at the end of this scene, that's when you can see your companions in the background, already in fight-mode and ready to jump in and help you. This new version feels more approriate to me.

I'm also glad that we now have dialogue options that come up with Minthara's "Talk to you about a private matter," but these responses from Minthara are still bugged. I did send a bug report via the online form as I'm sure others did as well, so hopefully those issues will be fixed by the time it goes live.

Having seen the new full AA kisses now, I have to say, I think Larian has gone too far in the opposite direction now. I think it's particularly bad with the kneeling kiss, the other two are okay (except for the smile after AA pushes Tav away when they try to kiss him again, that was a bit unnerving).
I understand there has been a lot of backlash, and the OG expressions were also this level of goofy, but I truly think a neutral expression (or, at least, neutral-er than this) was the solution for people's different RP. I think because Astarion's animations haven't been changed at all but now Tav reacts to some of his more questionable (not really very negotiated, if BDSM) gestures so gladly it's kind of somehow creepier than the previous version, and I like horror but I'm not sure that was the intention with this fix.
The gif Larian posted to their highlights where Tav has a mildly coquettish raised brow looked much, much better and more fitting. That gif was promising but then the scene itself was disappointing.

I am aware this has been a recent issue on the forums, so please mods let me know if I should edit my post and remove it, and I'm also going to ask users if they can avoid turning it into the debates we've seen, as I believe opinions regarding on the kiss' expressions have already been tread at length here these past few days.

On a more positive note, (mild spoilers for the evil endings)
EDIT: I'm going to keep my post up because I don't think it's fair I don't get to express feedback I care about if I don't want this kind of debate to happen, but please, I believe it's been made clear a good chunk of AA romancers prefer the new set of animations already. Let's not go down this road again : (

Yay!!! Thank you, Larian! <3 Really looking forward to seeing this! I can only imagine it so far, in your words, thank you so much for this post! It's clear that the animations have stayed the same, yes, I had some issues with accepting some of Astarion's actions, but if the Happy Faces mod was able to alleviate that, I'm sure Larian made Tav's facial expressions even better. The way you described it is beautiful, it's perfect for me, now I will be able to see that Astarion likes to dabble and dominate and my Tav loves him, expresses her love and lets Astarion express himself and have as much fun as he wants! It's true love and total acceptance. It fits my game perfectly, hopefully the Nightingale mod will also work with the new kisses so that the mod's kisses will randomize with the kisses in the original game - and it will be an awesome romance! Perfect!

After seeing the changed expressions on my Tav's face, I didn't get the impression that she looked *too* happy. I don't think the new expressions look too goofy or over-the-top. But maybe that has something to do with it looking different on some faces than on others.

My thoughts on the new facial expressions:
- For the kneeling kiss, my character still has a furrowed brow and a look of some apprehension, although a playful smirk IS there, and all the fear and sadness is thankfully gone now. She never has a huge smile on her face... in fact, the only time she shows a lot of joy/pleasure during the kiss is when he first places his hand on her throat (she closes her eyes and smiles with pleasure), and during the actual kissing itself.
When he gives her the little push, she has a slight playful smile, but still with a furrowed brow.
- For the bite kiss, I actually think not very much has been changed, except she smiles when he places his hand on her cheek before the kiss, and she smiles after the little slap (but still has that furrowed brow while she's smiling - like she thinks he's being mischievous and cheeky).
- During the face-grab kiss, my character looks surprised at first but then has a slight smile after he grabs her and looks at her face/neck. But afterwards, there's still a look of some confusion on her face that he ends the kiss abruptly.

Overall, the facial animations of the kisses make it seem more like there's a playfulness there now, and that our character enjoys the way he touches her. It looks like a more playful/consensual dynamic between the two of them, which I am happy about.
As you mentioned, there are no changes to the actual kiss animations (so far). Only some adjustments to Tav/Durge's face. In my opinion I don't think they went too far with them, they are much better than before.

Thank you Larian for hearing all the feedback about the return of happy kisses.

The last thing I want to create in the game in a single romance with an evil man is frightened, worried by kissing characters (woman).
Seeing the new kisses AA, I experienced that is fun to play again.

Honestly Astarion pushes on in his two intimate scenes, not in the kissing but yes still intimate so it's nothing but a playfulness. My character loved it, finally again.

I choose to kiss consented to see something intimate. Like my character in this context.

These playful, spicy things have always been Astarion's thing.


Maybe the knees are too much, it's a special moment that's not for randoms, but it's already Larian who chose this fanservice. Not surprising, considering Astarion's VA has been requested to autograph "On Your Knees" countless times.

Thanks Larian, that's about what I expected from kisses, I especially like Tav/Urge face when Lord grabs her, orgasmic face/playful face is what I'd like to see on Feb 16th.
The tone of the kisses is really playful, like Astarion and I are playing together, it fits my RP almost perfectly.
Apparently there's a different set and spectrum of emotions in the kisses, and that's pretty cool, and most importantly there's no fear/pain/horror there.
I can't wait to play again and now without the mod, thanks again for listening to us. It really means a lot.

I completely agree. The new expressions are the furthest thing from neutral or open to interpretation, they completely invalidate one half of the narrative. They are entirely unfitting for any kind of character but a very particular one that I have no interest in playing. Not to mention that I find Tav's expression during the kneeling kiss extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. If these will be the only expressions available after patch 7, I don't think I can play this romance anymore. Not in a way that feels comfortable to me, or makes even the least bit sense for my Tav.

I don't want to get too deep into it here, but to me these new faces are incredibly triggering, as it feels too much like they are turning a serious situation into something simply kinky and making light of it, in a way. Seeing Tav be forced to react in those ways felt horrible to me. I had a similar kind of visceral reaction to seeing them as other players had to Patch 6.

Ok guys let’s please not turn this into another thread getting into fights over astarion kisses. There have already been two threads locked because of that discussion getting out of hand, so people should just let it rest. It’s such a minor detail that is ultimately not a huge problem in the game, and people are getting far too up in arms over it. The kisses from now on will be happy and match up with all the other relationships having happy kiss scenes, because that’s the tone the game wants to convey here, end of story. If you want a story where your character is outright being abused and is upset about it, it is not to be found in this game.

Could you elaborate on what you’re referring to here about new minthara dialogue? I’m curious about how much she has to say in Patch 7, given that most of her dialogue has been in various states of broken since the game came out. I’m always going to be bothered seeing people praise little changes to things like Astarion and Shadowheart, meanwhile people who care about Minthara just have to wonder if she’ll even talk to you in any given update. Absolutely unfair treatment of her character on the part of the developers to make the work of the actor and the writers barely functional and so hard to see.

P.S. Larian please give Minthara a romance scene in Act 3, it’s so unfulfilling for her to be the only character without even an intimate conversation cutscene at camp.

I don't want to get into a fight with anyone. Only to express my feedback while there is still a chance of changes being made, because this is very important issue for me and I don’t appreciate people constantly downplaying how strongly I feel about it. The "tone the game wants to convey here, end of story" doesn't feel like a fair argument to me, considering Tav's Patch 6 reactions have been part of the story for half a year now, and the players who were bothered by them didn't want to simply accept that either. Sorry.

I think who have played this romance since release loved this romance with the happy tone dynamic that fits the majority of narrative lines, and the kissing, the intimacy the character asks for is logical just for a game like this.


Yes, you're right, HenryDoughnut

I'll post threads here where it's been actively discussed why neutral, especially scared faces for romance breaks many things on many levels.

Here
And here


Astarion didn't get a new chair, by the way. He already has a nice one, though.
I would like new items for Astarion, after the Asc, the golden goblet, wine, or the food he likes, is interesting. Spawn could have a Cazador skull. Fella wanted one in act 1 don't know how now, but I want one.

Sorry about that paragraph ХD, it's half-joking, I know disproportionate content for companions is frustrating.

Every time I see a request for Minthara my heart bleeds, it's true, she deserves it, it's also true that I worry a bit when it comes to new content that might be inconsistent. Hopefully that won't happen with Minathra.
I think many who like the fantasy side that Minthara shows are interested and deserve more. Overall the drow lore is unique and vast to explore.

This is the Minthara dialogue I was talking about, where you can say, "I need to talk to you about a private matter."
You get a couple of options for responses now, but for one of them, Minthara's mouth barely moves while she's talking (the animation needs to be fixed), and for the other one she doesn't respond at all.


I'd love it if Minthara would get another romance scene in Act 3. Personally I feel that she should. She deserves more!


Agree. Everyone will have access to mods in Patch 7 for those who want to see more sadness in their character's face within the story somewhere or with whichever companions.

It's really funny watching you all post "oh I can't play anymore because they changed the tone of the character".

I'm an early access player. I've also been playing the game since release. They've changed AA's intonations, animations and facial expressions at least 10 times since then, with all sorts of patches and fixes. Now you say "patch 6 is canon", but actually six months before that we had completely different, smiling kissing animations. And we quietly played with them for six months. There was no need for patch 6 at all, it's a banal fanservice for the 14th of February.

Of course, many AA fans were upset because they had already been playing with different character tones for half a year. Now you're telling them that "patch 6 is canon". Is that something you just made up yourself now? All they did in patch 7 was bring back the character tone they stole from us in patch 6. I hope that's clear.

But it’s not the tone the game wants to convey, that’s bullshit. At no point was the narrative “kinky bdsm uwu”.


FFS, this is the same route where Astarion will use every attempt to gaslight you into becoming a spawn, even going so far as to call you a humorless little wretch for trying to put up boundaries after ascension when he starts treating you like a pet.

We are given numerous options to express discomfort and hesitancy with going along with it. For instance, during the turning scene, initially saying no when he asks you to kneel will set your character’s facial expressions to uncomfortable / reluctant for the rest of the scene.

This is a route where the break up backpedal option literally has the description “abusively” written into the script. Our companions literally call out Astarion, With Wyll going so far as to say he’s a degenerate, while Halsin and Gale point out Tav is a slave. We can’t break up in the epilogue with him like you can with EVERY other character.

And sorry, the expressions were relatively neutral before. Tav looked rightly confused by Astarion’s sudden aggressiveness. He bites them without consent, he pushes them, he makes them kneel as a sign of humiliation. The old expressions had you react appropriately with surprise, confusion, or slight annoyance at being forced to do degrading things. This is a master and slave relationship based on everything the narrative has been building toward and once you’ve become a spawn, there is NOTHING to imply you will be safe for breaking up with him.

And finally, this is changing something that has been in the game for nearly half of its release. If this wasn’t the artistic vision, then it should have been updated months ago.

Tl;Dr: My character should not be smiling for things I’d be breaking up with my partner IRL for doing to me without my express consent. The fact that these facial expressions just decide my Tav is ok with it is gross and triggering.

LARIAN IS ROMANTICIZING ABUSE.

Let's you also say they romanticise serial killers because that's what durge is. And why don't you factor in a new epilogue for the evil ending where we get two happy villains? We also have the worm, so Astarion can't control us and no we are not slaves. In fact, even the regular epilogue has a branch of dialogue that confirms their wonderful lives. I realise that some players really want to play the victim, but not everyone. It's not about Astarion, it's about you and your play style. This is a roleplaying game and you choose how to react to a particular event. Stop bringing reality into the role-playing game.

They changed this in the seventh patch because they got a lot of complaints. A lot of players didn't like it because 6 months later their game was changed. If they did that, then there were more complaints than praise. So most people prefer not to play a victim in this route.

I only agree that Astarion didn't have bdsm dynamic and they added it for nothing. We used to just have cute kisses, they could have kept them. I mean that's exactly what we had on release.

I can’t choose how to react to the event because Larian is deciding that for me by forcing my Tav to enjoy being pushed around and made to do embarrassing things.


Right, which is why we’re complaining now because those of us who were mostly fine or neutral with the old kisses are now upset because the needle has been swung a full 180 degrees into the “I want to be a vampire like you!” character that ignores red flags.

If this is how they want to do things, then there should be a choice where we can express how we feel about the relationship, otherwise the facial expressions need to be made a lot more toned down. I’m watching to me what looks like domineering and mildly abusive body language and my Tav is smiling and enjoying it. The implications are gross.

You can. Just break up with him. Say no. That's exactly what you want to do. If you're saying that all these signs are "scary" and "offensive" to your character, then why does your character continue a relationship with him???? There's no logic to it. You can break up with him even 300 times before the epilogue, he has no power over it. So you're still left with the same reaction. Players who stay with him must be happy with their situation, otherwise they would have dumped him.