Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Poll.Which option of facial expression do you want to leave in kisses with Ascended Astarion

Completely agree.

@Natasy, as I've said numerous times now it's clear this poll isn't going to be representative, and that's okay, but asked that we don't keep belabouring the point. I have also reminded people above that we shouldn't incite conversation around existing or past community drama or antecedent infighting, and your comments about "spawn spaces" seem to be pushing the line there.

I'm hoping that we can soon go more than a couple of posts without my having to remind people of the rules of engagement laid out above!

I voted for the option “Leave in the game only the facial expressions of the character from patch 7”. I have already repeatedly given various arguments in favor of this position, and now I want to give one, in my opinion and personally for me the main reason why it should be so. Scenes that I will not characterize so as not to violate moderator requirements, but these scenes must have an official descriptor set by the ESRB, are unnecessary for a game like BG3. It's not in keeping with the game's rating. If Larian suddenly decided to agree to change the game's rating to AO for whatever their reasons, it could cause problems for console players. I emphasize, can, not guarantees. Nevertheless, Sony treat games with AO rating with rather low loyalty, such games, as a rule, when released, count on profits exclusively from PC players. All known games with AO rating are not available on consoles. Therefore, if the rating is increased, there is a risk that players on Sony consoles may lose the game altogether if Sony bans it on consoles (Sony will return the money to players in this case).

Totally agree with Zayir on the moral side of this issue.


Thank you for a revealing example of a rational and unbiased opinion that most BG3 players would likely agree with. I'm willing to bet anything that most players, if asked, would answer in roughly the same vein as Ixal. There are tons of important issues players are interested in, there are tons of things in the game that need attention. Minthara, for example, needs attention, and has far more problems at the moment than Astarion.

Some of you guys really should be less concerned about the poll numbers. Chances are the vast majority of people see this squabbling over kiss animations are very confused. And yeah I would prioritize bug fixes (poor polearm master) over the kiss animations as well.

@Marielle, I know you have said repeatedly before that you believe certain scenes should impact the ESRB rating, and you are of course entitled to your opinion, as are others to disagree with your assessment. But for the avoidance of anyone's doubt, discussion of ESRB ratings is not on topic here and is not relevant to people's preferences for animations, so let's draw a line under that, too.

I still think having a narration or just text line suggesting he might have the ability to compel even with tadpole might solved everyone's issues. Then they dont have to change the kisses.

People who want the smiles can 'know' their character isnt compelled.

People who dont can then 'know' their character is being compelled by an ascended vampire. Which makes the story more tragic.

This is the minimum effort for the devs and is closer to making everyone to happy with their RP/HC.

I'm only addressing this to the choice of the developers. Isn't it something toxic and problematic to first write a scene of consent and pleasure - then on 14 February ‘look, scary, sad, angry’ - then bring back the context of the original scene and the logic of content such as kissing - and then hypothetically ‘look there's a new opition for kissing - fear and anger’ wow

But the term emotional is true I'll change it.

LiryFire, thanks for removing the emotive term. But the choice of the developers to include the patch 6 animations in the first place is not on the topic of this thread so let's not derail it by relitigating discussions that have already been had elsewhere.

I would also remind you (again!) of the forum rule: if a Moderator has asked users to drop a topic, please do not double-down or continue discussing it. If you or anyone else wants to query any of my guidance, you are free to PM me, but please do not enter into debate with me about guidance in thread. Thanks!

i think it is clear in the game that spawn cannot be compelled as long as the tadpole is there. also this wouldnt be any less work than to just add two options for internal monologue, not even a voice line is needed.

I think it's not fair at all to make this poll on this forum, because this forum doesn't represent the whole community. Not in the slightest.
A lot of people on Reddit and many other places say that they don't want to participate in this forum's discussions, because they aren't feeling like they would be welcomed here by this forum's AA fans.
Also, just one Reddit community is a lot, A LOT bigger than this forum.

On Reddit, for example, many comments for an option to choose are highly-highly upvoted:



A lot of people in different communities already expressed their dissatisfaction that Larian only listens to their forum and ignores much larger communities, so I'm against this poll.

And once more.


@Rote90, in addition to failing to move on when requested by a moderator, your post also seems to fail to take on board what I have said about not inciting conversation around community infighting and drama. If you wish to continue to engage with this thread, please review and comply with the rules of engagement outlined in my post above at https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=950554#Post950554.

I would also ask that we don't get derailed by the specifics of how users might be prompted to select between animations if more than one option is available as per one of the options in the poll. The specific set of suggestions as per that Reddit post is not the topic of this thread and has already been discussed elsewhere.

The Red Queen, I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose, I didn't see your comments, I only was answering to the OP.

Okay, thanks for clarifying.

If you are coming into a thread three pages in, I would always recommend casting a quick eye over previous responses before posting yourself to make sure you're not simply going over old ground, and in particular to look out for any moderator comments especially when you know that the topic is one that has caused contention before.

The Red Queen, sorry, my fault, it won't happen again. I will follow your advice.

Agree. I see how patch 6 pushed a certain narrative, however much justified it was in the grand scheme of things, but with patch 7 it’s the same thing. 2/3 kisses were totally fine in patch 6 already, it was only the kneeling one was had an extreme reaction from Tav. Unfortunately they overdid it again in patch 7. the gif shown in community update 28 was perfect. It’s not what we got, but it was good. I guess it’s about whether it’s easier to tone down the expression or add the dislogue flag / internal monologue

WARNING: contains screenshots of patch 6 and 7 animations

Agree as well. The kneeling kiss is too much now, as it was too much before.
1. pretty much the same, prefer patch 7 because the slight smile in anticipation before being told to kneel
2. I like patch 6 more, a slight pause because Tav didn’t expect to be told to kneel
3. both are too much, but I like patch 6 more, it’s more of a shock at the sudden neck grab but would prefer the one from the community update
4. like patch 7 more, patch 6 expression makes no sense if you’re going to look like the fifth picture
5. both the same, reaching up to meet him
6. prefer patch 6 after being pushed away

Okay, folks. It's alright to briefly mention if you prefer another option not mentioned in the poll, but let's not derail this thread by getting into a detailed discussion of the different animations. It's not on topic, so let's draw a line.

I have also placed the screenshots of kiss animations in the above post in spoiler tags, in recognition that a number of forum members have said they find one variant or the other distressing.

Sorry I didn’t know I could put spoiler warning for pictures

I think it's illogical. As you say, people on other resources say that Larian listens to the forum. But these people will not vote on the forum. It's more logical to vote on the forum, since in their opinion the forum is listened to, isn't it? You don't need to write and enter into debates, afraid of disputes, just cast your vote. This is just my opinion. Of course, no one is forcing anyone to vote here. Moreover, this is just a poll, no one will rely on it and make decisions. I'm not going to send it to Larian and say: "look at the results." No, nothing like that. It's just that here on the forum, there was no such poll, it's interesting to know what people would choose from the three options, without adding new animations to the game. Personally, I like the expressions of patch 7, but I choose to leave both options.

@illeaillas-san, I’d suggest you don’t derail your own thread by engaging in a debate on the validity of this poll and discussion about community infighting that I’ve repeatedly asked we draw a line under!

I agree that if people think that Larian pays more attention to fans on the forums than other channels, it makes sense to come contribute here, and everyone willing to have friendly and constructive discussions with people of different viewpoints is very welcome! Though they may need to prepare themselves for disappointment if they think that saying things here alone will get them what they want, as we longer term community members can attest

But further discussion of that would certainly take us off topic, so let’s draw another line.