Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Long term vision for Larian and D&D

History:

In the 80s SSI started bringing D&D to PC and put out quite a few titles (I believe it utilized the 3.0 rule set).

The setting was the same world as Balders Gate and Neverwinter (Faerun).

It was a success and titles came out on a regular basis, and led to other developers producing titles.

In the late 2000s till now there was a down turn in favor of more graphic games like Skyrim, Dragon age, ect.

D&D greenlit online table top platforms like Fantasy Grounds, which offers creativity (theater of the mind) without restriction. Shows like Critical Role promoted the new 5e rules and piqued interest.


Oppertunity and Vision:[/b]

In the absence of annual D&D titles Larian has the potential to put out many more D&D titles if they get this right.

Way bigger than that: All the work they are doing now could translate into a product that could replace Fantasy Grounds, which is a completely modern version a product that allows DMs build and host campaigns.

If you have seen the price of fantasy grounds, then you can see the profit opportunity for Larian. They could take what they have (the engine) and produce a separate product, based on it, that captures the online table top crowd.

They could adapt current "modules" such as Curse of Straad, The Rise of Tiamat, ect...wow a whole new division of Larian, and Wizards of the Coast gets their cut again, on products that they have sold as just books.


[b]Project Management:

Mission statement: a clear end goal...you don't head west if your ultimate goal is north.

Efficiency: making a product with the least amount of waist possible.

Economy of motion: Not wasting time unnecessarily.


Thoughts on the game:


In the context of this game alone, without thinking about the future of D&D, it is awesome!


Characters:

I like how ALL the characters have been done (very polished). Now they don't all agree with my choices (so they aren't a good fit), but more are coming.


The graphics are stunning.


The game mechanics are enjoyable...just not 5e.

This is something brand new, a cross between DOS and 5e..I have found it familiar enough to be pretty easy.

The adventure, in and of it self, is very enjoyable.


Concerns:

I have expressed ideas in other posts and based on the reaction I realized that I was not making myself clear and expressing too many ideas at once...so.


Concern #1 This is not 5e.

This concern really stems for my, now not so secret, desire to see Larian succeed and realize their vision of being the future of D&D PC.

I have heard an absolutely false statement that that work in table top but not PC. SSI did it just fine.

The following caps are a whisper of emphasis, not shouting: IN ORDER FOR LARIAN TO SUCCEED WITH D&D IN THE LONG TERM THEY MUST LEAVE THE COMFORT ZONE OF DOS GAME MECHANICS.


This would start with the shortened playing field of DOS. Follow th 5e rules and open up combat.

Now there will be obstacles for sure, but once you change the mechanics (and this one is HUGE), then now you have to rewrite classes.


Why? What are the consequences of not implementing 5e rules?


#1 You just lost the moon!

You can't compete with Fantasy Grounds, cuz they are faithful to the rules.

You just wrecked ranged classes, who can strike from very far away...in fact they want to stay away.

In Fantasy Grounds, ranged characters are powerful and the fighter class is often looked at as a lesser option (not true, is very good but lacks the endgame pizazz of casters).

In BG3 early access, caster and will likely have to deal with melee (due to how close they have to be to hit).

Fighters are a top tier class again and casters and ranged not so much...sure it can be fun, but it is not D&D 5e..no way no how!

You can't be the future of D&D if you don't make the rule set a number one priority...and by the way there is such freedom in decision making when you have clarity like that.


#2 The need to balance the classes, because you changed the mechanics :O. Uht OHHH! Here comes the avalanche!

5e isn't balanced at all in that way (not talking about balance encounters...different issue). I mean, you couldn't if you wanted to (um..multi-classing).

Again, not a shout: D&D IS ABOUT THE FREEDOM TO MAKE A CHARACTER THAT FITS YOUR PLAYSTYLE.

Let Wizards of the Coast come up with the rules.


So the question is who do you want to be? A company that makes a game that everyone will love, play to death and forget; or do you want your work here to be a building block for future success?

Refer to the project management section. Keep your focus on the task at hand, but don't loose sight of the ultimate mission statement.

Don't head west to go north.

Suggestions:


Build a sky! I know this would be a huge undertaking, but would improve ALL of your future games.

The camera is horrid, and I just want to look up! Yes I want to scroll into first person and look around. D&D has flying monsters, flying mounts, and flying characters...bite the bullet and join the AAA titles.


Justification:
[u][/u]

The market is there...build something that is awesome in the moment, but that will position you to take the next steps.

I think they've said somewhere that they don't want to become a "foreign" franchise developer, and would rather work on their own IP IIRC.

The best that could happen though is BG3 kickstarting a wave of D&D RPGs, as it would be a proof of concept for WOTC that the market is (still) there. Maybe Larian could even license their engine.

The concept was always there, the issue was that WOTC never allowed it.

Furthermore the head of WotC has repeatedly said he wants to make a range of different types of games using the D&D license, meaning he does NOT want all future D&D games to be carbon-copies of Larian's BG3. Presumably then, unless Larian themselves are willing to make other types of D&D games for which they have thus far showed zero inclination, WotC would necessarily have to go to other studios to get those other types of games.