The more I read here the more convinced I am that all Larian is doing is taking DoS and putting D&D/BG skins on it, and adding BG characters in it, just so they can call it BG3.
Many people pointed it out for me but there is a lot of real estate between:
Faithful recreation of BG1&2 > DnD reskin of D:OS2.
As someone who played both D:OS1&2 BG is definitely not a reskin. It is however Larian RPG, not Bioware RPG. If you were hoping for fan-like continuation of BG IP, that was clear that won't be the case once it was clear who was making it... at least to those familiar with Larian sensibilities. I don't think it's a bad thing by any means, but that also means I might not enjoy it in singleplayer.
There is a reason why all RTwP vs TB has been contained to this thread. And yeah, there is no way there will be RTwP option - too much of Larian design revolves around TB system. In something like Deadfire or pathfinder it's just the matter of how combat plays out. In Larian RPG entire coop structure (and now even stealth and trap design) relies on game being turn based.
Nope, I most certainly am NOT hoping for a fan-like continuation of Baldur's Gate 1&2. I couldn't care less if we never hear from the original characters from the BG series. I couldn't care less if we see the same places. I'm hoping for an RPG with combat that has the same FEEL of of the IWD and BG games and for BG3 to be at least the same or better. I'm hoping for the same level of emersion, the same level of immediacy, the same level of urgency, the same level of intensity, the same level of excitement, the same level of risk, the same pace that is possible in RT and RTwP combat encounters. TB games just can't pull that off.
I don't believe for one second that the coop structure Larian wants and stealth functions and trap design are not possible in a RTwP game and are only possible in a TB game. Not if the players are capable of effective communication and teamwork. I've done enough coop with other players to know what is possible in RT combat. The biggest difference between the functional turns (i.e. when the player is making decisions and issuing orders to and changing orders for the rest of the party, or when each player in a party makes a decision) of TB and RTwP games is that the turns in a TB game are fixed length and the turns in RTwP are variable length.
There's a reason why I don't play RPGs that don't have a full party of six. Done it twice and didn't like it. There's a reason why I don't play RPGs that are TB instead of RT or RTwP. Done it twice and didn't like it. I don't play Larian games for these reasons. I don't play a LOT of RPGs for these reasons. I think TB combat in an RPG, especially if it is coop, defeats the whole point of a ROLE playing game.
