D&D 5E Baldur's Gate 3 AMA

[Xeviat]

I took that as being the reason why it’s in the first person. I’m fine with that.

It’s the past tense part that I don’t like. It sounds like they want you to feel like you’re telling a story to someone after the events have occurred, which doesn’t really appeal to me at the moment. Makes it sound like you can’t fail.

First-Person Present Tense would make my eyes bleed.

 

[pukunui]

First-Person Present Tense would make my eyes bleed.

How so?

“I do this”
“I do that”
“I say this”
“I walk away”
“I threaten him with my sword”

Doesn’t seem so bad to me. That’s exactly the sort of language people often use at the gaming table.

 

[slobster]

First-Person Present Tense would make my eyes bleed.

Second person future tense is the only artistically daring choice.

 

[pukunui]

What’s jarring is that the game is presenting you with active present tense behaviors and dialogue from NPCs but only giving you past tense responses as though it was all happening in the past.

The game’s sequence isn’t “She said x, so I replied y”. It’s “She says x, so I replied y”, which makes no sense.

 

[Gradine]

Maybe you are hearing the narrative from the standpoint of an extraplaner being in one of the outer planes:

"Did I ever tell you the story of how I died?"

 

[Xeviat]

How so?

“I do this”
“I do that”
“I say this”
“I walk away”
“I threaten him with my sword”

Doesn’t seem so bad to me. That’s exactly the sort of language people often use at the gaming table.

It's just not the way things are generally written. Past tense is so omnipresent that present tense sounds weird.

 

[Xeviat]

Second person future tense is the only artistically daring choice.

I remember when fanfic sites outright banned second person. Hahahaha

 

[Xeviat]

Wow, this is going to make Warlocks very strong. Battle Master Fighters and Monks, too.


Hopefully they expand to 20 in DLC ...

I'm really hoping they find a balance between short and long rests, or I'm building a lot of warlocks!

 

[pukunui]

It's just not the way things are generally written. Past tense is so omnipresent that present tense sounds weird.

I’ve never played a game where the dialogue options were in the past tense like this. If I had, this wouldn’t seem so strange and off-putting to me.

 

[Xeviat]

I’ve never played a game where the dialogue options were in the past tense like this. If I had, this wouldn’t seem so strange and off-putting to me.

I'm thinking more from prose writing, not necessarily game writing. I suspect they're trying to make it feel literary.