Maybe more neutral looking expressions could have worked for everyone. But having Tav close their eyes in ecstasy, at having their throat grabbed out of nowhere, is not neutral. Neither is the grin after their face is shoved away. It forces a personality type and emotions onto the player's character that contradict many of the possible dialogue choices, as mentioned above.
No, it isn't. Neutral expressions still leave the option of treating these scenes as scenes that are
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Demonstration of sexual assault. Since a victim experiencing fear of the abuser may try not to show fear so as not to anger the abuser, neutral faces can also be triggers for SA/DA victims.
In patch 7, thankfully, Tav's facial expressions in their romantic kisses with the Ascended Astarion are now finally more or less in line with Astarion's story, and also represent an example of beautiful, passionate and consensual D/s scenes. I sincerely congratulate all members of the BDSM community who play this game on the fact that D/s romance is now represented in such a wonderful game as Baldur's Gate 3! <3
Restricting roleplay like this is not an improvement. The original complaint about Patch 6 was exactly this too, that some players felt it contradicted their roleplay and changed what they had imagined Tav and their relationship with Ascended Astarion to be like before. They have something that suits them better now, but does that really have to come at the cost of taking the original away from others? Please consider adding the original expressions back, maybe as locked behind a new dialogue flag on one of the options above.
Yes, changes in facial expressions,
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Provoking triggers in SA/DA victims (in the real sense of the word “trigger”, not in its inflationary key).
Is an improvement and that improvement is more than worth it, and fans of what can't be named on Larian's official forum can install mods for the sake of their roleplay. Like those players who don't want to play D/s scenes, and have been playing with a mod for a while now, giving them the opportunity for the classic romance they've had in the game since release, not between two patches.
I will add, after some experiences with discussing this topic in other threads: Please do not assume malicious intentions or otherwise horrible motives on my part for requesting this change, or of anyone else who may feel the same way. I love this character and the story I experienced with him. It is incredibly important to me, and it would really hurt to lose it like this after a year.
There are players who on some resources frankly and without hiding their motives, stated that they like these animations, that they fit their tastes in terms of animated 3D content, praised Larian for these animations, etc., but they are not going to demand the inclusion of these animations back into the game, and have long since taken these animations and are discussing future mods for their Tav/DU, including the ability to use these animations for their characters in relation to other romantic companions. You won't lose what you love, the corresponding mods are guaranteed to come out very soon.
I echo most of what is already said on this thread and just wanted to add another voice to it. Making ANYTHING means you can't please everyone and just as others said no malicious intent is meant for those with different interpretations of AA than my own. My own two cents- AA is designed to be a villain and has been since launch. He's received more kisses than SA and those kisses were obviously meant to convey a very specific dynamic and were done very well to create the "villain" feeling that is supported through dialogue throughout the game. What's jarring is that the new scenes, beyond looking a bit...broken, remove the dynamic that's been conveyed for a year. These expressions are not neutral. They almost rival AA.
These expressions are in keeping with the concept of Astarion's real author, Stephen Rooney (“evil and fun”). As well as the vast number of examples of dark romances in other games, film and literature where two villains adore each other. “Specific dynamics” is not appropriate for games aimed at a mass audience and should have appropriate ratings and warnings, as well as a clear indication of genre, so as not to traumatize people and fool that majority of players who buy the game as a classic RPG.
I'm glad Larian corrected the mistake and I'm sure the scenes
*** 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***
Repetitive sexual assault.
They won't appear in BG3 again. Also, I'm glad I got a new life experience through this game, and if ever in any other game someone wants to show me
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“abuser” with scenes like this
In such a situation, I will submit an appropriate report to the ESRB, leaving it to the competent organization to decide whether such scenes are permissible in that particular game.
