I thought about whether the statement "pissing on the old fans" is inflammatory. Re-phrasing this to "dispensing lant upon the historical clientele" would probably soften the blow, but I guess in either case perhaps the inflammation comes from making an implication that Larian decided to offend fans of the older BG series? Or, perhaps it is a cry against the entertainment industry's general predilection for over-extending a brand name long after the thematic coherence with the original art has been lost (cf. Star Trek franchise)?
BG III does have a few thematic tie-ins with the older series. The "coin on edge" theme for the protagonist is still there to a degree, but I felt the BG III dialogs could have been a little more explicit about it. I also wonder if The Emperor in BG III = The Hidden in BG II, and in that way the BG III story is rooted in one of the enigmas left behind by the older games. And finally, the ending of BG III leads in to what might be a resolution to the tale of the Dead Three. There is enough material here for a BG IV !
