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Hi, I am probably late to the party, but I wanted to forward/discuss some ideas that I had while playing Baldur's Gate over the years, and a few questions regarding the game play video.

1) One of my favorite things about BG2:ToB was the idea behind the Longer Road, Ascension and Redemption mods, that made it possible to convince Bodhi and/or Irenicus to join my party in the final battle. There is something intriguing about fighting side by side with an old enemy. (Savarok is a good proof of this).
I would love to experience something similar in BG3.
I would also love to be able to summon an old foe, (for instance using the Wish spell), that I could use in combat. It shouldn't always appear, but perhaps appear one in 20 times when you use the wish spell. In BG2 you could see what the most powerful monster/person was, that a character had defeated in combat. Let's say Korgan's most powerful defeated enemy was a Doom Knight. If I was lucky then using the wish spell, I would be able to summon the Doom Knight and use it myself for a short duration. I always wanted to see how a former summoned foe, would fare against kangaxx, demogorgon or the foes in the dreaded twisted rune building in the bridge district.

To add to the point. For me one of the elements that made the original Doom such a masterpiece, and still makes it awesome, was exactly to see monsters battle each other, and pit them against each other. Any game that makes it possible to pit monsters against each other makes for great entertainment. In Dungeon Keeper 2, I would make a huge combat pit, and make Monks fights against Bile Demons, Vampires against mistresses and so forth. I loved watching them unleash their spells and attacks against each other, and I missed this element of seeing who would win in a battle in BG2. Don't overdo it though. Perhaps once, a few times or if you are incredible fortunate it could occur. Personally I've used the wish spell once or twice in all of my games throughout the decades, so I don't intend for it to be like summoning a golem.


2) One of my favorite things about BG2 was the manual. I would carry it everywhere and re-read it again and again. I love the dialog between Elminster and Volo, the detailed descriptions about spells and the small hints about what dangers and mythical weapons and creatures can be found in the forgotten realm, so I really hope that it will be possible to get a PC version, with a physical manual.

3) Are we going to see micro-transactions, frustrating DLC and "season passes"?

I personally utterly despise this new trend (for me it's still new). I'd take an expensive expansion pack any day of the week instead of that nonsense. I really loved a lot about Dragon Age: Origins but DLC ruined the game. There were so many issues with getting it to load. Items wouldn't carry over in save-games or to larger DLCs (DA: Awakening) , and the DLC DRM system was a pain in the ass. And then there was this abomination: https://scottjen.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dragonagedlcnpc.jpg Also, if you purchased DA:O without DLC, you only got 90% of the game. Many important and powerful items were only availabe in DLC, which is ridiculous.

4) In the game-play video we see Asterion say "water...better not push my luck" or something along those lines. Is it possible to venture into water with him and take damage/get crippled until a healer can be found, or is there an invisible border in the game that simply prevents him from taking damage from water?

I really hope the latter isn't the case. I like to learn from my own mistakes and if I walk into water and die, take damage or even lose a limb that has to be healed by a cleric at some point, then that just makes the game more immersive.

5) Is the atmosphere fixed and set in stone? The game looks beautiful but it doesn't seem that frightening, and have the serious tone of Baldur's Gate. It's a development that can quickly ruin a game. Take Diablo 1, that game was scary. Every time you decided to head back into that endless Cathedral, you were scared. Genuinely scared. The music was haunting, the game was dark, the atmosphere sinister and playing it in pitch black during the night gave me goosebumps.

Diablo 2 was still atmospheric but the darkness of the game was toned down a lot, and the frightening areas were few in between.

Finally Diablo 3 was a Disney adventure created by a company that basically had none of the original developers left. The game lacked soul and it is a travesty that it shares the Diablo name with two classics.

The same occurred with other games. Quake 1, Dungeon Keeper 1, Carmageddon 1, Blood 1 and many other games, were more dark, gritty and serious than the following games, and atmosphere was sucked out of the games. The reason that I'm writing this, is that the music in the Baldur's Gate 3 game play video, didn't really strike me as being Baldur's Gate music. The colors are vivid too and it seems like a great HDR experience, but at the expense of the overall atmosphere. Perhaps I am just anxious here and worried about the final result but I really hope that we will see more dark tones in the game.

I am writing all of this while being very tired and English isn't my mother language, so I hope it's not too unreadable. Thanks if you made it this far too 😊

Last edited by Kirsebaer; 26/03/20 12:51 AM.
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1) The game will have a maximum character level of 10 - no spells above 5th level. No Wish spell, and even if there were one, it would be limited because every option has to be specifically programmed into the game.

2) The days of PC games coming in physical boxes have ended. No brick and mortar stores carry physical editions of PC games, and the publishing costs of PC games is no longer profitable enough to justify the expense.

3) No. Larian doesn't do microtransactions.

4) There's probably an invisible border because the game developers have to program everything into the game and thus can't plan for everything to allow full freedom of movement in every direction.

You do not want to lose a limb because your party can't reach level 13 and get access to Regenerate spells. Losing a limb probably isn't simulated at all.

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Originally Posted by Kirsebaer

5) Is the atmosphere fixed and set in stone? The game looks beautiful but it doesn't seem that frightening, and have the serious tone of Baldur's Gate. It's a development that can quickly ruin a game. [...]

The reason that I'm writing this, is that the music in the Baldur's Gate 3 game play video, didn't really strike me as being Baldur's Gate music. The colors are vivid too and it seems like a great HDR experience, but at the expense of the overall atmosphere. Perhaps I am just anxious here and worried about the final result but I really hope that we will see more dark tones in the game.

I am writing all of this while being very tired and English isn't my mother language, so I hope it's not too unreadable. Thanks if you made it this far too 😊


I wouldn't say that the atmosphere of the previous games were frightening or all that serious in tone, particularly the first half of BG1. Later parts of BG1 and BG2 did become more serious and darker. For BG1, most of the landscape was quite vibrant to help contrast the darkness of the dungeons that came later. The 'serious tone' was heavily contrasted by characters like Noober or Minsc and Boo.

That aside, in the AMA, they stated that they are working on making things have more grit so it doesn't feel as 'clean', but that system wasn't ready in time.

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larian never done microstransactions, infinity engines had "invisible borders" and the seirous tone stuff again.

Man.

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Originally Posted by Xvim

....characters like Noober...


Heya!

Someone should petition Larian to create someone equally obnoxious for BG3! ...but JUST for the crowd who complain about BG3 not feeling like the original series. laugh

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I vote for Billy!


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Originally Posted by Nobody_Special
I vote for Billy!

That would trigger the sh!te out of the "too much like DOS"-crowd. Perfect!

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Larians got some funny ass videos I swear.. wow

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Originally Posted by Seraphael
That would trigger the sh!te out of the "too much like DOS"-crowd. Perfect!

keep belittling people's concerns and opinions. it makes you look strong and important.

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Originally Posted by Xvim
Originally Posted by Kirsebaer

5) Is the atmosphere fixed and set in stone? The game looks beautiful but it doesn't seem that frightening, and have the serious tone of Baldur's Gate. It's a development that can quickly ruin a game. [...]

The reason that I'm writing this, is that the music in the Baldur's Gate 3 game play video, didn't really strike me as being Baldur's Gate music. The colors are vivid too and it seems like a great HDR experience, but at the expense of the overall atmosphere. Perhaps I am just anxious here and worried about the final result but I really hope that we will see more dark tones in the game.

I am writing all of this while being very tired and English isn't my mother language, so I hope it's not too unreadable. Thanks if you made it this far too 😊


I wouldn't say that the atmosphere of the previous games were frightening or all that serious in tone, particularly the first half of BG1. Later parts of BG1 and BG2 did become more serious and darker. For BG1, most of the landscape was quite vibrant to help contrast the darkness of the dungeons that came later. The 'serious tone' was heavily contrasted by characters like Noober or Minsc and Boo.
.


I concur, maybe it´s nostalgia talking, but I do not remember BG-BG2 (Tob definitely yes) as a particularly dark and gritty game. I mean, it has some drama and dungeons but in Diablo 2 you find corpses and gore everywhere you go, in BG you find a circus when you arrive at Athkathla (which would only be dark if you have a trauma with clowns), I also remember a fair, museums and parks, lots of taverns and lots of lush dreamy forest and lake environments to explore.
Just near when your foster father was killed there is a suicidal guy that is waiting for someone to convince him not to jump, and you also have Noober, Jan Hansen, Minsc and Boo, Imoen, the guy that hits every female in the tavern in Athkathla, kobolds with the name of the three stooges, guys named as porn actors, many hilarious encounters with weird characters, one of your companions turns into a woman, etc etc so, to be honest, I´ve never felt a dark atmosphere or any seriousness in the overall game that I remember of. It was a very cool adventure game, with drama and laughs 50-50%







Originally Posted by Nobody_Special
I vote for Billy!



Kickstarter for Billy to make a comeback in the early access! weird

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what swith all that "theres no wish spell"
Wish was confirmed.

Tho its probably a story only thing

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Originally Posted by qhristoff
Originally Posted by Seraphael
That would trigger the sh!te out of the "too much like DOS"-crowd. Perfect!

keep belittling people's concerns and opinions. it makes you look strong and important.

Keep on hating when you're called out on your BS you miserable hypocrite.

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Originally Posted by Sordak
what swith all that "theres no wish spell"
Wish was confirmed.

Tho its probably a story only thing

Wish spell confirmed? That would be a de facto confirmation of BG4. Not that I doubt for a second there will be a BG4, but I doubt Larian would announce it in such a roundabout way. I think Wish is more wishful thinking than confirmed at this point, but I'd love to be proven wrong about it.

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Originally Posted by Seraphael
Originally Posted by Sordak
what swith all that "theres no wish spell"
Wish was confirmed.

Tho its probably a story only thing

Wish spell confirmed? That would be a de facto confirmation of BG4. Not that I doubt for a second there will be a BG4, but I doubt Larian would announce it in such a roundabout way. I think Wish is more wishful thinking than confirmed at this point, but I'd love to be proven wrong about it.


In this podcast for Kotaku, Sven Vincke and company confirmed the wish spell but also stated that some spells were banned. They use a three-color-coded list of spells. Green is good to go! like magic missile. Red is "never gonna happen". He didn´t enter into specifics but they said that is High-level stuff. . 38.15

Wish is accepted because it has a role in storytelling, so It seems wish would be in the game. Casters would not be able to cast it because of the level cap but maybe you can find scrolls, items like the djinni lamp or something like that

https://art19.com/shows/kotaku-splitscreen/episodes/1f188c51-4594-42d9-a255-7d2f528ad8bc

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Originally Posted by _Vic_

In this podcast for Kotaku, Sven Vincke and company confirmed the wish spell but also stated that some spells were banned. They use a three-color-coded list of spells. Green is good to go! like magic missile. Red is "never gonna happen". He didn´t enter into specifics but they said that is High-level stuff. . 38.15

Wish is accepted because it has a role in storytelling, so It seems wish would be in the game. Casters would not be able to cast it because of the level cap but maybe you can find scrolls, items like the djinni lamp or something like that

https://art19.com/shows/kotaku-splitscreen/episodes/1f188c51-4594-42d9-a255-7d2f528ad8bc
Thanks for the input! Sounds even more interesting when implemented in a narrative context as Swen mentioned than the genie of BG2.

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Yeah, The wish spell is a classic, and always fun to use, but it also has potentially one of the highest cheesy potential of the all-time spells of DND, even higher than Planeshift. Still good news that we will have "wish" in the game, even if it´s only for plot purposes in the end.

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Originally Posted by Kirsebaer
5) Is the atmosphere fixed and set in stone? The game looks beautiful but it doesn't seem that frightening, and have the serious tone of Baldur's Gate. It's a development that can quickly ruin a game. Take Diablo 1, that game was scary. Every time you decided to head back into that endless Cathedral, you were scared. Genuinely scared. The music was haunting, the game was dark, the atmosphere sinister and playing it in pitch black during the night gave me goosebumps.

Diablo 2 was still atmospheric but the darkness of the game was toned down a lot, and the frightening areas were few in between.

Finally Diablo 3 was a Disney adventure created by a company that basically had none of the original developers left. The game lacked soul and it is a travesty that it shares the Diablo name with two classics.


Diablo was one of those formative games for me. I would say Diablo 2 is the gold standard for ARPGs and that Diablo 3 was, as you say, not Diablo anymore. Off-topic, the trailer of Diablo 4 is probably the best game trailer I have ever seen, it truly captures the horror of facing evil incarnate. But the gameplay? Maybe I'm blind but it looks like Diablo 3 with the color gradient turned down. Diablos atmosphere is more than the art just looking grey and brown.

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Originally Posted by _Vic_

Originally Posted by Seraphael
Originally Posted by Sordak
what swith all that "theres no wish spell"
Wish was confirmed.

Tho its probably a story only thing

Wish spell confirmed? That would be a de facto confirmation of BG4. Not that I doubt for a second there will be a BG4, but I doubt Larian would announce it in such a roundabout way. I think Wish is more wishful thinking than confirmed at this point, but I'd love to be proven wrong about it.


In this podcast for Kotaku, Sven Vincke and company confirmed the wish spell but also stated that some spells were banned. They use a three-color-coded list of spells. Green is good to go! like magic missile. Red is "never gonna happen". He didn´t enter into specifics but they said that is High-level stuff. . 38.15

Wish is accepted because it has a role in storytelling, so It seems wish would be in the game. Casters would not be able to cast it because of the level cap but maybe you can find scrolls, items like the djinni lamp or something like that

https://art19.com/shows/kotaku-splitscreen/episodes/1f188c51-4594-42d9-a255-7d2f528ad8bc

I don't think this would be necessary. Magic in 5e is way toned down and less cheesy than in BG, even Wish kinda sucks.

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Originally Posted by Torque
Originally Posted by Kirsebaer
5) Is the atmosphere fixed and set in stone? The game looks beautiful but it doesn't seem that frightening, and have the serious tone of Baldur's Gate. It's a development that can quickly ruin a game. Take Diablo 1, that game was scary. Every time you decided to head back into that endless Cathedral, you were scared. Genuinely scared. The music was haunting, the game was dark, the atmosphere sinister and playing it in pitch black during the night gave me goosebumps.

Diablo 2 was still atmospheric but the darkness of the game was toned down a lot, and the frightening areas were few in between.

Finally Diablo 3 was a Disney adventure created by a company that basically had none of the original developers left. The game lacked soul and it is a travesty that it shares the Diablo name with two classics.


Diablo was one of those formative games for me. I would say Diablo 2 is the gold standard for ARPGs and that Diablo 3 was, as you say, not Diablo anymore. Off-topic, the trailer of Diablo 4 is probably the best game trailer I have ever seen, it truly captures the horror of facing evil incarnate. But the gameplay? Maybe I'm blind but it looks like Diablo 3 with the color gradient turned down. Diablos atmosphere is more than the art just looking grey and brown.

Heck, I'd say never buy from Blizzard again, after the lies, deceit, censoring, and issue-dodging they've done.

The whole reason they announced Diablo 4 this far out was to distract people from the Blitzchung controversy.

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Diablo 4 is my most anticipated game in the next while, but I won't be buying it. I will never spend money on a Blizzard product again, and I made them delete my 19 year old bnet account and all of my purchase and activity history, just like I am slowly re-purchasing my entire Steam library on GOG to get away from Steam communities (I am a day One steam user with a 5 digit steam ID).

Activision, Zenimax, Ubi, 2K, and Paradox are three publishers I have flat boycotts on now because of their practices.

The only reason EA gets a pass at present is because they still publish Mass Effect. The moment that franchise goes dark, EA gets added to the list.

Last edited by qhristoff; 11/04/20 07:04 PM.
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