The patch 6 facial expressions made Tav seem like they had amnesia. Imagine asking for a kiss fifty times in a row and bugging your eyes out as if you'd seen a twenty-foot spider - each fricking time. Talk about overreacting! The expressions were simply ridiculous.
Even taking into account some rare head-canons of abuse, let's be honest: this isn't how real people behave. If Larian really intended to explore such a dark narrative, they should have consulted experts in the field. These patch 6 facial expressions were definitely not it.
The Larian team member who came up with the idea to swap the original motion-captured animations with these overly frightened faces made a huge mistake. The fixed animations in this scene still aren't perfect, but at least they've been toned down and are less komisch now. Let's live with that.
P.S. Honestly, I could create more realistic facial expressions using soft like Blender, staying true to real-life emotions. And none of these would look like the options we've seen so far.
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Rote90, let's avoid bringing personal traumas into this discussion. As a fellow survivor, I don't expect others to be triggered by the same things, nor do I expect special treatment if I mention my experiences. Everyone's healing journey is different. However, it's a fact that thousands of people were triggered by Patch 6, including both survivors and non-survivors (and the opinions of non-survivors are equally valid). There were even articles written about this issue. When considering the numbers, we should prioritise the majority of players who were badly affected by Patch 6, rather than just the vocal minority disliking Patch 7. This approach is typically what companies follow.
As a free-thinker, I also don't dare to claim my interpretations and head-canons as canon. Hopefully, we can all follow that approach. I also strongly believe we should listen to the original writer, Stephen Rooney, as only he has the right to express definitive opinions on Astarion storyline, and no-one else.
Let's remember, people working at Larian are human-beings who make mistakes. They made a dire mistake (which actually looked like some rookie employee's initiative), they saw the consequences, and they fixed it - while still leaving room for different interpretations. Well done, and thanks to the Larian team.
