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JandK #940877 26/03/24 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by JandK
I don't like True Strike, but that doesn't mean I don't like DnD. There are numerous things I would change about DnD, but that doesn't mean that I don't like DnD.

Larian has also mentioned a passion for DnD several times.

Bottom line, at least for me, they did a great job with the game. And to reinforce my point: there's a lot about BG3 I don't like. But that doesn't mean I don't like the game.

@Blackheifer
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D&D isn't just a set of rules - it's an entire IP that includes people, places, Realms, and existing stories with 50 million current players. They may not have loved aspects of the 5e ruleset, but the ruleset isn't the IP

But I think the expressions of passion for DnD were reactions to the backlash to the CEO's statement that Larian would help DnD out by creating a ruleset that was fun for video games. After that backlash Larian did do the right thing by hiring some real DnD fans and this shows up in chapter 2 and in many of the books BUT that falls apart in Chapter 3.

Sure, you can dislike true strike and still like DnD. I dislike Tasha's / OneDnD. And yet I still like DnD. But Larian's attitude from the start has been hostile towards the ruleset. Why don't archers get height advantage? Why don't poison attacks create a poison surface? Why doesn't ray of frost create a surface? If you are fire why doesn't that come with an advantage like heat convergence? Flaming sphere would be better if it make a surface. Who says explosives are rare?

Now Larian deserves praise for creating a lovely city. Running around Baldur's Gate gives the same feels as BG1 but once we get past the amazing visuals and look at the story the retreads from DoS2 become apparent.

Chapter 3 is pure Larian. And it's the worst chapter.


Gods:

In DoS2 the MC becomes one of the chosen of the gods only to discover that the gods are asshats who treat their followers like cattle; the adventurers eventually kill the gods.

In chapter 3 BG3 everyone seems to adopted Kethric's opinion on the gods. For no good reason other than this is just the template that Larian uses. Shadowheart is convinced that **all** the gods are petty. Gale believes that Mystra uses him as plaything. Lae'zel believes Vlaakith treats the Gith like cattle (and she is right even if the others are wrong). Wyll still believes in the Triad but he's happy to confirm the god hating attitudes of the other companions.


You can like that or not but it's not Faerun. This isn't the age of enlightenment, this isn't Rivellon, nor is it Eora. If Mystra asked one of her chosen to kill themselves she would return them to life immediately or give them a place of honor in Elysium. In the realms the good gods are good, evil gods evil and the heroes vanquish the villains. If you prefer grimdark or morally grey you use the Greyhawk setting, not the realms.

Technology:

Factories just don't exist, smokepowder is rare and grenades are rarer than legendary items (and are very likely to explode in your pack).

Golems do exist but the 1950s switchboard that controls them, the steel infrastructure of the factory (which needed another factory to make) felt like it was imported from Arcanum or some other game.

Quests

One of the first quests you encounter is the explosives made by a creepy toymaker who creates explosive toys - which was all but a cut and paste from chapter 3 of DoS2.

After that you can go to the circus, get your lols from redcaps, ghouls, mummies and dancing zombies. And get the assemble the clown quest so you can help make another zombie. Boy is that fun /s

Then you can return the amulet and, for whatever reason, see the undead represented in manner consistent with DnD lore. Off to the graveyard where you do indeed see a cleric of Kelemvor represented accurately but then, for whatever reason, you need to forget DnD lore so you can get your lols from the necromancer in the magic store.

Then, if you hate yourself, you complete the save the artist quest and put some intelligent zombies in charge of a house of horrors. Going in as cleric of Kelmevor / Lathander is clearly the evil way to complete this quest for some reason.

Then off Astarian's quest where the "good" choice is to flood Baldur's Gate with 7000 vampire spawn. While holding the blood of Lathander presumably.

TL;DR

Yes, there is something to Larian wanting to use the lore of realms but not the combat ruleset. But it's equally clear that they felt constrained by the lore of the realms. Chapter 3 just belongs in another setting. Perhaps Eora.

They may have felt constrained by WotC but I think they also felt constrained by fans like me. They don't want to be told that Faerun doesn't have factories or that explosives are rare. They want barrels and for fans to post videos of big explosions from backpack bombs.

Larian's communications to the modding community seemed to be tinged with sincere anger and frustration. I can detect a note of annoyance when Larian talks about mindflayers and souls. I think they also want to free themselves from DnD fans and their expectations.


****

I think the Ultima series would be good fit for Larian - indeed parts of the BG3 plot are lifted from Ultima 6 and 7. (the devil horned people are either refugees or heroes / the new religion is just a front for an evil force that wants to take over the world)

But Larian couldn't help themselves from making fun of the Avatar so who knows if "Lord British" will let them make fun of a setting which includes the author's self insert . . .

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Originally Posted by JandK
Yes, it was.

Clearly it wasn't. As it was comparing to Starfield, which is not a CRPG.

That you went on to state your interest in CRPG's, the original line I quoted was not specific to CRPG's given that it was a comparison to a non-CRPG.

If your intention was that BG3 raised the bar for CRPG's, you should be more clear about that and for comparison purposes, should compare to an actual CRPG.


Originally Posted by WizardGnome
1. Does Larian make good combat systems?

Personally, I wasn't such a big fan of DOS1 combat... It honestly felt like dual wield wands and just regular attacking everything seemed better than literally anything else.

DOS2 had the god awful armour system. That not only had the whole "Status effects don't work while armour exists" making 99.99% of skills worthless (Especially since when armour was removed, targets died within a round anyway) and the split between physical and magical armour meant you were penalized for having a diverse party instead of focusing either entirely physical damage or entirely magical damage to burn through a singular armour type. Divinity Unleashed mod made the game 1000x more enjoyable due to reworking this trash system.

BG3 is meh combat. It's based on DnD but with various extra liberties that make it less strategic (Such as everyone being able to swap between melee and ranged weapons at will, with shields and such still providing benefits while using a ranged weapon). It's fairly standard in terms of video game DnD combat (Which doesn't ever compare to the actual fun of a TT system where things are more dynamic because things are not hard coded)

That said, I admit that the concept of surfaces in combat are interesting. It's just they've been implemented kind of awkwardly throughout the games (In DOS2 it's hampered by the dumb armour system. In BG3 it's shoehorned into a DnD game)

Originally Posted by WizardGnome
2. Does Larian make good worlds to interact with?

Larian's worlds are decent. In the sense that their size and density of things to do are pretty good. Generally I still like DOS2 with More Uniques mod to make exploration a smidge more interesting. BG3 feels somewhat unrewarding to fully explore without such a mod (Also things like the diggable loot being mostly garbage don't help)

Originally Posted by WizardGnome
3. Does Larian have good plot writing...?

I think the Divinity plots were passable.

DOS1 being you as mage hunters, hunting mages because sourcery is bad.

DOS2 being you as mages, escaping from prison and then developing your sourcery because mages are people too.

BG3's plot is kind of trash though.

Originally Posted by WizardGnome
4. Does Larian have good character writing...?

I think character writing from them has generally been positive.

Lohse, Fane, The Red Prince, Lae'zel, Shadowheart and Karlach are characters I've been reasonably fond of.

BG3 has had a number of complete duds though like Wyll, Halsin, The Emperor...

Originally Posted by WizardGnome
I've said it before, but I think I'd hate Gale's guts and find him super obnoxious if it wasn't for his VA and his expressive character - now I just sort of find him a lovable scamp.

Gale is irritating because his background is completely at odds with how he's portrayed.

Literally, his entire story is based on him being a narcisistic prick, ignoring the wishes of his Goddess GF to try and gain more power because he thinks he knows better than a literal god.

Then his character is a charming, caring, selfless person.

A complete 180 in characterization. Only we don't actually get to experience any character arc when this change occurs (Unlike with say, Lae'zel) or any reference to a change of personality.

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Originally Posted by KillerRabbit
Gods:

In DoS2 the MC becomes one of the chosen of the gods only to discover that the gods are asshats who treat their followers like cattle; the adventurers eventually kill the gods.

In chapter 3 BG3 everyone seems to adopted Kethric's opinion on the gods. For no good reason other than this is just the template that Larian uses. Shadowheart is convinced that **all** the gods are petty. Gale believes that Mystra uses him as plaything. Lae'zel believes Vlaakith treats the Gith like cattle (and she is right even if the others are wrong). Wyll still believes in the Triad but he's happy to confirm the god hating attitudes of the other companions.


You can like that or not but it's not Faerun. This isn't the age of enlightenment, this isn't Rivellon, nor is it Eora. If Mystra asked one of her chosen to kill themselves she would return them to life immediately or give them a place of honor in Elysium. In the realms the good gods are good, evil gods evil and the heroes vanquish the villains. If you prefer grimdark or morally grey you use the Greyhawk setting, not the realms.

Technology:

Factories just don't exist, smokepowder is rare and grenades are rarer than legendary items (and are very likely to explode in your pack).

Golems do exist but the 1950s switchboard that controls them, the steel infrastructure of the factory (which needed another factory to make) felt like it was imported from Arcanum or some other game.

Quests

One of the first quests you encounter is the explosives made by a creepy toymaker who creates explosive toys - which was all but a cut and paste from chapter 3 of DoS2.

After that you can go to the circus, get your lols from redcaps, ghouls, mummies and dancing zombies. And get the assemble the clown quest so you can help make another zombie. Boy is that fun /s

Then you can return the amulet and, for whatever reason, see the undead represented in manner consistent with DnD lore. Off to the graveyard where you do indeed see a cleric of Kelemvor represented accurately but then, for whatever reason, you need to forget DnD lore so you can get your lols from the necromancer in the magic store.

Then, if you hate yourself, you complete the save the artist quest and put some intelligent zombies in charge of a house of horrors. Going in as cleric of Kelmevor / Lathander is clearly the evil way to complete this quest for some reason.

Then off Astarian's quest where the "good" choice is to flood Baldur's Gate with 7000 vampire spawn. While holding the blood of Lathander presumably.

May I just say that your knowledge is amazing and this is a really good list of things I likely would've never noticed as I'm fairly new to the Forgotten Realms and some things make way more sense now (like I never got why the Mystra ingame feels so different from the one I read about on the FR wiki).
So, just wanted to thank you and hopefully whoever makes the next DnD game hires people like you.


If you want to answer to any of my posts with just hate, please just don't answer at all.

If you want just to white knight everything and can't accept opinions, please don't even answer me.

Thank you!
Paxil #940882 26/03/24 06:27 PM
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@Killer Rabit - lovely post. The "this is NOT Faerun" feeling seeps through in earlier Acts (I'm looking at you, House of Healing) and is jarring.
Like you said - Faerun is heroic fantasy, not early Warhammer (grimdark with lols, before it evolved into grimderp).

Last edited by Buba68; 26/03/24 06:49 PM.
Taril #940884 26/03/24 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Taril
Originally Posted by JandK
Yes, it was.

Clearly it wasn't. As it was comparing to Starfield, which is not a CRPG.

That you went on to state your interest in CRPG's, the original line I quoted was not specific to CRPG's given that it was a comparison to a non-CRPG.

If your intention was that BG3 raised the bar for CRPG's, you should be more clear about that and for comparison purposes, should compare to an actual CRPG.


Curiously enough, someone else got it. I'd suggest this may be a reading comprehension issue as opposed to faulty delivery. Your mileage may vary.

Paxil #940886 26/03/24 06:59 PM
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The full IGN article is pretty interesting

https://www.ign.com/articles/baldur...t-foregoing-dlc-aaa-development-and-more

I was struck by this part near the end

"Vincke: Well, it came up to the point that our studios were haunting down the ambassadors so that they would give an approval just so that they would get a work permit. So getting the work permits was the major problem. So the initial bit was just getting people out. So figuring that out. But that's not it. That comes with an entire family, the dog, the cat. Turns out the dogs and the cats were the hardest bit. So we spend more time and more money on getting some dogs out of Russia than we did on the people, which is crazy."

Like I read that and it just endears me to the whole endeavor even moreso than I already was.

Like damn, if 60 bucks for an Early Access helps makes stuff like that happen, then absolutely - for sure! I give them some serious credit for somehow pulling it off. Couple times there I thought it would just fold under it's own weight, but it was more like just hold up and wait, which wasn't too bad I suppose. It's the last curtain call that still feels a bit premature though.

I feel like some sort of forget me not for a final capstone would be nice, which if it isn't a DLC or Expansion or Sequel I guess will have to just be some sort of last patch that makes mod stuff possible on consoles. That's pretty cool, usually don't get much in the way of that sort of thing. There was some other stuff in there equally interesting, about their pipeline and whatnot, the cost of turnover and layoff and all the quarterly nonsense, some stuff about Wyll and Dragons that I guess was impossible, but seemed pretty damn cool to me! I don't know, hopefully something still comes down the pike at some point.

Anyhow, can't leave the dog! That part just got me good, all right in the feels

Paxil #940895 26/03/24 10:09 PM
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KillerRabbit killing it with that killer post.

Paxil #940903 26/03/24 11:39 PM
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I do have to say, some things noted here did seem strange to me (the steampunk golems definitely stood out) but it had been so long since I dove into the official "realm" lore that I didnt know if expectations had changed over the years. I definitely did find the whole blanket cynicism about the gods ham-fisted and an obvious Larian "tell". In a way, sometimes I felt like I was playing something closer to the Planescape setting.

JandK #940913 27/03/24 06:24 AM
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Originally Posted by JandK
Originally Posted by Brainer
Do you even need such production values in the first place if they mostly go towards cinematics, and those aren't all that great in the first place?

I reject your notion that it's not "all that great in the first place."

It's exceptionally well done. You can certainly cherry pick the occasional buggy moment, but overall, it's the result of real skill and effort. The success of BG3 speaks for itself, and it's shallow to reduce that success to nothing more than "bear sex." The game succeeded because of the cinematics, the voice acting, and the excellent character writing. Yes, excellent. Those characters came alive for so many people. That doesn't happen with hack writers.

It's fair if it's not to your taste. I think it's remarkably well done. You don't. Let's just call it a no-brainer.
The moment, the very moment you aren't playing a race that uses the standard human physique, it all falls apart. Close-ups of, say, githyanki in different armors are painful to look at with all the clipping. Recycled animations that don't change no matter which race or body or gender you're playing harken back to that one shot of Shepard from ME2 in a dress with legs spread wide. If they were more neutral, it wouldn't be nearly as jarring, but, again, the feminine stride from one of the very first scenes is extremely obviously out of place once you aren't playing a female character.

Expressions and gestures make your character seem like a buffoonish moron no matter whom you are trying to play most of the time - why would a barbarian, or a particularly sadistic Dark Urge be recoiling in fear from, say, the hyenas transforming into gnolls (look at 'em polygons!) after having just recently ripped Gale's arm off?

The camerawork is very subpar compared to, say, Witcher 3, where the Wild Hunt fight scene outside of Kaer Morhen alone is simply plain gorgeous. Here everyone moves with all the grace of a sock puppet, and some moments clearly show that they were done in very different timeframes (Barcus' first dialogue had those very distinct motion-captured animations very similar to how they looked in Dragon Commander ever since he was shown during the very first gameplay reveal).

Romance scenes are laughably bad, too. Stiff, awkward, with, again, poorly placed camera angles. The naked models are so low-detail and devoid of physics that showing them this close is a very questionable decision. Reused animations are even worse here, with, say, male characters' hands not lining up with Minthara's at all, or Karlach outright ignoring anatomy at one point. Haarlep's is just downright painful to look at - if ever there was a "two dolls humping" scene, that one certainly qualifies the most.

Clothes look like they're made of clay and every close-up of, say, Volo feels like something from a decade ago. And so on. And so forth.

All that cinematics budget could have gone into much better areas, is all I am saying, with what the results are like in the end.

Last edited by Brainer; 27/03/24 06:33 AM.
Brainer #940915 27/03/24 07:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Brainer
The moment, the very moment you aren't playing a race that uses the standard human physique, it all falls apart. Close-ups of, say, githyanki in different armors are painful to look at with all the clipping. Recycled animations that don't change no matter which race or body or gender you're playing harken back to that one shot of Shepard from ME2 in a dress with legs spread wide. If they were more neutral, it wouldn't be nearly as jarring, but, again, the feminine stride from one of the very first scenes is extremely obviously out of place once you aren't playing a female character.

Expressions and gestures make your character seem like a buffoonish moron no matter whom you are trying to play most of the time - why would a barbarian, or a particularly sadistic Dark Urge be recoiling in fear from, say, the hyenas transforming into gnolls (look at 'em polygons!) after having just recently ripped Gale's arm off?

The camerawork is very subpar compared to, say, Witcher 3, where the Wild Hunt fight scene outside of Kaer Morhen alone is simply plain gorgeous. Here everyone moves with all the grace of a sock puppet, and some moments clearly show that they were done in very different timeframes (Barcus' first dialogue had those very distinct motion-captured animations very similar to how they looked in Dragon Commander ever since he was shown during the very first gameplay reveal).

Romance scenes are laughably bad, too. Stiff, awkward, with, again, poorly placed camera angles. The naked models are so low-detail and devoid of physics that showing them this close is a very questionable decision. Reused animations are even worse here, with, say, male characters' hands not lining up with Minthara's at all, or Karlach outright ignoring anatomy at one point. Haarlep's is just downright painful to look at - if ever there was a "two dolls humping" scene, that one certainly qualifies the most.

Clothes look like they're made of clay and every close-up of, say, Volo feels like something from a decade ago. And so on. And so forth.

All that cinematics budget could have gone into much better areas, is all I am saying, with what the results are like in the end.

Agreeing with you on each point, especially Haarlep and Karlach were cruel to look at, just completely ignorant of what gender they are dealing with. This is definitely not done exceptionally well, it's bad and it's an insult to everyone who paid for this game.
As for the Tav, it doesn't help that (when I played) I only saw like 2 different facial expressions (squinting eyes or scared) and crossed arms. Add the masculine walking animation to it and I never felt really satisfied with my female Tav.

Personally, I'd say what saved this game from most of the flaws being noticed is the voice acting, that really is the only thing on AAA level for me, personally. The VAs are the ones who are capable of breathing life into the otherwise wax figure like characters.


If you want to answer to any of my posts with just hate, please just don't answer at all.

If you want just to white knight everything and can't accept opinions, please don't even answer me.

Thank you!
Naginata #940919 27/03/24 12:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Naginata
Am I disappointed that there will be no DLC or BG4? Absolutely.

Is it the end of all days? Of course not, because the modding support will probably lead to a "Big World Project - BG3" and I'm already looking forward to that smile

Brace yourself for further disappointment.

In order for a "Big World Project" to materialise a several things would be needed.

1. The modding tools would have to actually exist.
2. The game would need a substantial player-base to provide the necessary numbers of modders willing and able to work towards a BWP.
3. The audience or user base for the BWP would have to be large enough to convince the modders that the time and energy expended would be worth it.


============================================

Place your bets for Saint Swen selling out to one of the big boys before the end of the year.

Paxil #940927 27/03/24 01:32 PM
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@KillerRabbit, as always, what an awesome post! Speaking as a longtime hardcore fan of the Realms, you totally nailed it! smile

Jordaker #940948 27/03/24 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Jordaker
[quote=Naginata]
2. The game would need a substantial player-base to provide the necessary numbers of modders willing and able to work towards a BWP.
With BG3 winning most awards the past year and nine months after launch still having 100k regular players on steam,¹ I do not see this as a problem.

¹: https://steamcharts.com/app/1086940#6m

Paxil #940955 27/03/24 02:47 PM
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@KillerRabbit killed it.
Dead on.

Regarding modding, mentioned it since day 1 of EA the current situation, because this is Larian! While everyone else was "BG3 will be a modding D&D powerhouse...". but we are getting mods = DOS2.

Mods reality check...top mods:

Better UI to fix this and that.
New faces, Other heads.
Hair salon, extra dyes
More bags. More equipment. More items.
Cheats, quality of life for xxx.
Fast XP, more weight, no romance limit, xxx unlock.
Enhanced nudes.

BG3 is one of the most BORING and un-friendly/annoying game to mod. It should be the complete opposite.
No excuse that its because "of the narrative" or "cinematics". They could of made a non-cinematic dialogue option <DOS2 mode> that let people build modules to add adventures.
Baldur's Gate 2 had a great story, and had tons of amazing extra fan made content within the world tied to the main story / or as extra adventures. Adventures are still being made to this day.

In contrast check out mods for Solasta....more than half of them are quests, campaigns and adventures with lots of D&D rule tweaks + extra stuff.

Last edited by Count Turnipsome; 27/03/24 02:59 PM.

It just reminded me of the bowl of goat's milk that old Winthrop used to put outside his door every evening for the dust demons. He said the dust demons could never resist goat's milk, and that they would always drink themselves into a stupor and then be too tired to enter his room..
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About the lack of female running animation -- I just wanted to say that I never experienced this until I started playing a female half-elf instead of a female elf. The female elf runs like she should, in my opinion.

Now, if the male elf runs like my female elf does, well, that's another problem.

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Thanks everyone for the kind words. @Filia, your comments made me smile but I'm not expecting a job offer anytime soon. Can't imagine any CEO saying "hire the rabbit with pointy teeth"


Forum member @Niara is the real expert on the ruleset and @Kanisatha's knowledge of the novels surpasses mine. I got lucky one day when someone sold their entire 2e and 3.0 collection when 3.5 came out.

While this does dampen my hopes that chapter 3 will be revised in a definitive edition I wish Larian good luck and hope they are able to get more dogs out of Russia.

I expect that I will enjoy their next games as much as I enjoyed DoS2

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Total sidebar, but just on the technology in FR. I also had a similar feeling with the various Constructs and Explosives. It's also strange though, because I rather liked Bernard, and the Steel Watch, and Philomeen and pretty much everything with the Ironhand Gnomes, which is sort of inexplicable to me. I think I attribute this to the fact that I'm not at all that precious when it comes to the Forgotten Realms, because as a setting it has always felt like such a grab-bag to me. I legit get the feeling that FR had to go this way, because of fucking Eberron lol. As if some wizard was like, 'well, what the hell are we supposed to do with all this Eberron crap we spent the last decade pushing?' And some other Wizard was like "Don't worry, we'll fold it into the Forgotten Realms like we always do" and then all the wizards nodded in agreement hehe.

FR is probably my favorite D&D campaign setting on account of some of this silliness, but playing BG3 also helped me to realize where I draw my line, which is that I don't dig Arquebuses and Guns in FR. It just diminishes all the magic missiles and fireballs and bows. I'm slightly annoyed by the advent of 'crossbows for all' for similar reasons, but at least it's not everyone packin' a blunderbuss ya know.

It was the thing that frustrated me most about Eora and Pillars, even if I get that there is a ton of crossover between like Knights of the Round Table and the swashbuckling Pirate genres. I let most things slide. Like I don't really care if I can see the curvature of the earth from a Razaminth's space needle tower, standing taller than Egyptian pyramids with the riddle of steel I-beams. I don't care if Dragons can't fly without some serious magic lift. I don't mind when it dips into Ravenloft Gothic Horror either, as long it's mostly bowie knives to take out Dracula and not a showdown at the OK corral with the quick draw. Even the Robocop switch board brain was fine, some fireworks ok sure, just leave the guns out of it.

I don't know but somehow someone always want to sneak in some guns and some steam engines, which will just ruin it for me every time. I think Steam Punk is not my fav, because while I do like Punk, I also have weird associations there, like as this avante garde thing that can only really exist as reactionary. I think there's a reason Eberron didn't catch fire in the aughts, so I don't know why it always has to keep haunting in the aftermath constantly. Like I'm over here pining for a long-hair happy hippie dip into some kind of Robin Hood fantasy, only to have the archery contest interrupted by someone with a spiked mohawk throwing grenades around like it's Holiday in the Sun. Anarchy lol. It's similar to say, making a SW flick where everyone suddenly has smart phones and touch screens, instead of a bunch of goofy hand mics with knobs and dials and switches and whatnot. Like at this point we know how the various holograms used for galactic communications are produced, I don't need it to be more real, just keep it in the trash compactor. Granted I'm totally inconsistent with some of this stuff. Like yellow submarine rides at disney land, sure thing, sign me up for 20,000 leagues there. I thought that part was pretty great. But if it was a Thomas the Train with a railroad crossing I would balk! Why one and not the other? Who can say. I honestly don't know. I am arbitrary and capricious with my nitpicks. I'm fine with the robocops as long as they're swinging giants swords and using crossbows I guess. If they blow up when they die, sure, worked for me. Whereas if they'd had rocket launchers and gatling guns for arms and shot lasers from their eyes, then suddenly it's like 'wait, this isn't right is it?' But then it was pretty satisfying to take on all of Wyrms rock just immediately, no quarter hehe. I was going to say draw the line at no cannons and flying machines, but then I don't care at all when it's Rolan vs the Nautiloids, or some pirate ship blimp I guess, so go figure. I'm just happy it wasn't like muskets and flint locks though, cause I think that, even for the kitchen sink setting that is the Forgotten Realms, it starts to buckle pretty badly on that one.

Anyhow, just rambling. I'm so happy to just smoke a cigarette in the parking lot while the roadies are packing up and feel the ringing in my ears still hehe.

ps. I think I might be a bit harsh on Baker and fans of Eberron. On it's face I should have been totally into it cause, like the wiki says... "The Eberron Campaign Setting sourcebook lists the following films as inspirations for Eberron's tone and attitude: Brotherhood of the Wolf, Casablanca, From Hell, The Maltese Falcon, The Mummy, The Name of the Rose, Pirates of the Caribbean, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sleepy Hollow. Baker also said inspiration for the war-torn setting came from the unstable period of world history between World War I and II."

I read that and it's like holy shit, that sounds like a pretty good pitch! I like those flicks. But then it's also emblematic of this weird thing that happened, like the hauntology of the aughts, where everything had to get thrown in the recyclotron blender cause there weren't enough ideas anymore apparently? Like time just stopped at some point in the mid 90s when the avante garde become ironic and everything had to blend in that way. So like Punk (both it's late 70s/80s version and it's 90s revival) I guess recalls the WW1 haircuts, and so of course just set it there? But that reminds me of Fire and Ice or the Bakshi LotR where they're just rotoscoping WW2 photos and doing the modern/medieval mashup. Not that that can't work. I mean there are probably peeps who feel the same way when FR dips into Ravenloft for the horror or Planescape for the astral weirdness, or Greyhawk for moral ambiguity, except for some reason if they show me a shotgun and knights in the same frame, I just get Army of Darkness from that. Like then it only works as comedy, because there are shotguns and chainsaws for arms now lol. I don't know if it makes sense, or what all it's worth. Some sort of cautionary tale about the super specific and yet wildly vague milieu I expect the thing to operate within. It's some sort of time travel riff for me too I guess, which is another complicating factor.

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]

Along those lines, I suppose it's hard for me to tell when BG3 is being earnest or Earnest Goes to Camp, if that makes sense. Or like when it's aiming to be a satirical send up of BG/FR/D&D vs something with the aching heart gravity, cause it kinda does both. But then at the end it's sorta like "That's all folks!" & we're on to the main event now! But I was still into it more for the cartoons that played before the double feature!

I'm pleased with what they've achieved, though I wish there was more. It's impossible for me to shut about this game, or to control my impulse on that. Like good grief, how much oversharing can one pull off in a place like this, to just keep running my mouth or cool the warp core endlessly? It might pick up again! After they walk it back slightly and drop whatever patch? More crystals would probably do the trick, doubtless. This ship has been patched and patched so many times, if it takes on water or I get queasy, there's usually a bucket somewhere or an animal to talk to, to help decompress. I wanted it to never end, but it would seems that's somehow not the thing either. I think I just want a heartfelt goodbye now, where we know it's for real and not a boomerang coming back again next week with a text message at 3 am. There's plenty of ghosts to not get ghosted, but like also - the timing! If we'd known the drill before the epilogue stuff dropped, it would probably have felt right-ish. But we didn't know that was goodbye at the time, so it stings a bit. Is this a 5 star BG day today, or like a 2 star BG day today? I don't know. Still feels a bit like we got jilted on the honeymoon there, as if there was going to be some sort of grand vacation in Hell or maybe Menzobaranzan, but then they were like "Sorry, we found someone new. We're just not into you anymore. If only you'd caught all those hints along the way though right? Might have saved ya some heartache. But GG! Good luck! Have fun!" lol. I'm only taking it to these absurdly hyperbolic dimensions here, cause that is somehow how it landed for me. Didn't see it coming, but then maybe I had the blinders on. Deer in the headlights - almost certainly the case.

One thing I have enjoyed heartily is the banter and the back and forth though, the occasional foodfight, the gummy berry juice and the bounce. I guess it was happy trails after all. Maybe Mods? Kinda loved it! Good lookin' out!

Last edited by Black_Elk; 27/03/24 10:23 PM.
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I don't always understand everything in Black_Elk's posts but I always enjoy them approvegauntlet

Last edited by Ranxerox; 27/03/24 10:32 PM.
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Excellent thread! I love reading the forum’s conclusive thoughts on the game. Still haven’t played it, but one of my favorite posters made great points about early access and I’d like to reply. (Thanks for the youtube link!)

Originally Posted by Wormerine
They didn't change the game they are making, simply because some playerbase didn't like what they were going on, but they did address criticisms that they found valid. Early Access is a testing ground, not a design committee.
We’ve had the same basic argument over a year ago during the drought between patches 8 and 9. I said Larian should’ve tested more stuff during EA and you said then what you said here.

With more hindsight, we’re in a better position to interrogate that claim. We’ve seen the game evolve over fifteen odd patches: How closely does the initial vision match the final product? It’s not a rhetorical question, nor one for which I have all the information.

There are two comparisons to be made: Act 1 on day 1 of EA before time and feedback turned it into Act 1 on release; Act 1 on release compared to Act 3 on release (similar-ish amounts of time but no feedback for the latter).

From what I gather, time and feedback yield terrific results but time alone doesn’t do great. The value Larian got from EA goes way beyond QA testing. Over the course of 3 years, they found a lot of our ideas valid, to the point where it’s become unclear to me what the initial vision was.

You’ve a different take on why Acts 1 and 3 are so different in quality:
Originally Posted by Wormerine
Now, that there is sizable gap in quiality in IMO a concern in itself. It seems like Larian has tendency to overscope to start with, and is unable to keep up with the standard they set at the start of their titles.
It does make sense. Larian tend to make their games front to back, and we know they rescoped BG3 after its initial early access success.

I’d argue most of the initial design period is figuring out what the game wants to be, and I don’t see Larian navigating that without a passionate community. Act 1’s polish is a side effect of that process, which wasn’t as effective through later acts. That’s my first takeaway: Larian’s passion does show through the faults, which makes players fall in love and dream of improvements.

My second takeaway is that the business side matters. I came to early access to see the geniuses behind DoS:2 (according to sources I still trust) craft a sequel to a pair of masterpieces (according to me and same sources) but I saw passionate project managers leveraging ressources to make returns.

That’s possibly the harshest way to put it while still being mostly truthful. To be sure, they improved their returns by improving the game, but at some point you have to stop optimizing the inventory and ship it.

I’m glad Larian are switching projects. Please let their passion shine through a game that designs around their weaknesses. If you’re set up to build discrete set pieces, fold that into the world and lore; if you know you tend to change the plot, make it shorter; if your inventory isn’t working, find a way to do without.

Will you look at that, Larian still make me dream.


Larian, please make accessibility a priority for upcoming patches.
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Originally Posted by Count Turnipsome
Regarding modding, mentioned it since day 1 of EA the current situation, because this is Larian! While everyone else was "BG3 will be a modding D&D powerhouse...". but we are getting mods = DOS2.

Mods reality check...top mods:

Better UI to fix this and that.
New faces, Other heads.
Hair salon, extra dyes
More bags. More equipment. More items.
Cheats, quality of life for xxx.
Fast XP, more weight, no romance limit, xxx unlock.
Enhanced nudes.

BG3 is one of the most BORING and un-friendly/annoying game to mod. It should be the complete opposite.
No excuse that its because "of the narrative" or "cinematics". They could of made a non-cinematic dialogue option <DOS2 mode> that let people build modules to add adventures.
Baldur's Gate 2 had a great story, and had tons of amazing extra fan made content within the world tied to the main story / or as extra adventures. Adventures are still being made to this day.

In contrast check out mods for Solasta....more than half of them are quests, campaigns and adventures with lots of D&D rule tweaks + extra stuff.
I did have a rather vain hope that BG3 might become the new NWN when it came to being able to make your own modules, and that Larian might actually work on the toolset this time around to make it more end user-friendly.

Hah. Hah hah.

All it sounds like we're getting are "curated" (whatever the hell that's supposed to imply) cross-platform mods, because apparently the game just had to be released for bricks instead of being properly completed and polished to (almost) perfection on PC. No toolset, no big content changes (goodbye, hopes for a proper evil run and Minthara/Halsin becoming fleshed out at all...), no real future for the game outside of being a one-time big hit mostly thanks to obnoxiously aggressive marketing which was more of a showcase of them giving up on so many aspects it could have otherwise had. D:OS2 had support years after release, all the way up to, what, 2019-2020? With a definitive edition and content packs. Its modding never really took off because, again, the toolset is a pain in the ass to use (unlike NWN's), but there was at least a cool custom combat gauntlet mod that was worth downloading.

It's kind of insulting to hear how "they look forward to what modders will do" regarding the missing Dodge/Ready Action and such, and then barely provide any mod support in the end. But hey, the slobbering redditors/tumblos ate it whole, and who needs any other kinda feedback when Reddit fellates you 24/7 and any dissent there is quickly silenced, so you don't have to look at any negativity.

All of this is coming from a life-long Larian fan, BTW. One who thought that even Beyond Divinity, perhaps the weakest Larian outing (what with all the publisher pressure and very rushed development) was a really good game. The tales from the Divinity Anthology's diaries were both inspiring and really showcased how Larian's current issues were there from the start (overreaching, poor planning, time/resource management, retooling things way too late...). Now, though, as the fame got to their head, it seems that said issues are just ignored instead of worked on, which is quite unfortunate. With Obsidian eaten by Microsoft, Owlcat still releasing games in a barely beta-worthy state, and things like Colony Ship being very niche, the CRPG renaissance is no more, it seems.

Alright, that's enough drama.

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