Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Larian, please ensure you don’t take away player agency with AA in patch 7

Yes, unfortunately you and I misunderstood each other a bit. I don't mean removing Haarlep or generally removing any scenes that might upset someone. I don't mean scenes that can cause upset, but specifically content that requires a specific warning. There was no such content in BG3 before patch 6, and there is no other scene in the game now that can be compared to that. I'll try to make a clearer comparison to scenes from other games that do contain content similar to patch 6's kissing content, and accordingly, those games contain a special warning.

*** WARNING: sensitive content (may contain a discussion of violence, abuse, SA related to a BG3 scene) this content might not be suitable for all audiences. Trigger warning***


I understand the frustration of people who bought the game after patch 6 for the opportunity to roleplay special romance and relevant scenes. I've read reviews from players who say it's frustrating to be the minority and now romance has become too “vanilla” for them. Of course, it's up to the developers, if they want to keep the content in their game for the audience they've already attracted so as not to disappoint them, they might be willing to raise their ESRB rating to A. But, in this case, if the game is ready to satisfy all of its players, including those who came to the game after patch 6 (or because of it), then they should certainly satisfy the audience that wants a classic romance with Astarion after Ascension. These players bought the game at release, someone involved back in EA, and they had no idea that their favorite character would become a romantic partner exclusively for D/s. They played the game for six months and then suddenly found themselves unable to play without mods anymore because they find the kissing scenes unacceptable to them because of the actions and animations themselves, regardless of Tav's facial expressions. For these players, the patch 5 kiss should have been returned to the “Gently” line. It wouldn't create any problems for the game itself, it wouldn't increase the rating, it would just improve the game and add variety to it with the possibility of inclusion for all players. The very idea of D/s romance in the game is great, but it shouldn't be mandatory, you should give players a choice whether they want it or not.


Honestly, when I went through the game I just fought Haarlep, I liked the fight, but I had no idea about any “back of autonomy” thing. How can you get back something that no one took from you? To learn about Haarlep, if you don't want to consent to sex with him, you need to at least read about it or watch a video. There's nothing creepy about him in the game itself, he's a rather vulgar but unusual and curious enemy. I don't see the difference between a “Take your clothes off” line and a “I'm going to kill you now” style line - both are cause for a fight.