D&D General Baldur's Gate 3 will now be releasing August 3rd on PC and September 6th on PS5, increased level cap, race & class details and more

[Paul Farquhar]

Should tell you how long ago I tried it. I suppose I will need to reinstall again and see how they changed things. I did buy it a few years ago.

I had another playthrough just now so I could compare it better to the final product. There are huge changes between the beginning of EA and the end of EA.

You have 3 days.

 

[Demetrios1453]

People are mad over Asterion attacking them at the start? Given what he's just seen and gone through, he's perfectly justified, if mistaken.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

People are mad over Asterion attacking them at the start? Given what he's just seen and gone through, he's perfectly justified, if mistaken.

"Mistaken? I asked him back to the camp for dinner. I have some fava beans and a nice chianti."

-The Dark Urge​

 

[Demetrios1453]

Viconia would certainly help - but at the end of ToB they all went their separate ways. I understand that it really wouldn't make sense for them to start over at level 1 again. Of course, I do wonder what the excuse for having Minsc and Jaheira return.

In trying to avoid a traditional mix of fantasy characters, these writers have fallen into the cliché of obtuse character extremes. Many fantasy writers today are scoffing at traditional fantasy character races, but what they don't realize is that interesting characters don't need shiny things like horns or hellfire hair. They only need personalities that are believable and relatable. IMO, the writers have completely lost the mark on that. I'll take well written characters from simple and basic fantasy LOTR races over this crap any day.

Have you played EA recently? The companions are quite a bit different than what they were.

Also, if they annoy you so much, there will be 12 relatively generic characters available to create a party with near the start of the game.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Many fantasy writers today are scoffing at traditional fantasy character races, but what they don't realize is that interesting characters don't need shiny things like horns or hellfire hair.

Sorry to come back to this, but specifically, by name, what fantasy authors are you referring to?

I'm mentally iterating through modern fantasy, and the vast bulk of it falls into two groups:

1) "Basically only humans" - i.e. all the main characters are human or something very close to it. There might the odd other species but not many.
2) "Basically only humans and elves" - The same but also there elves, which may or may not be called elves.

That's 95% of fantasy written after say, 2010 or even 2000. The other 5% is usually what used to be called "weird fantasy" and may feature stranger beings, but there ain't much of it.

I'm struggling to think of even one non-D&D fantasy novel feature a protagonist with "horns" or "hellfire hair".

So I'm just going to say in advance of you not naming anyone, that I kind of think you've made this up in your head. It reminds me of how, like 10+ years ago, people used to insist "Oh every fantasy novel has elves, orcs, dwarves and so on!", when like, no, 99% (no typo) of non-D&D fantasy novels from say, 1990 onwards also didn't orcs, dwarves, halflings etc. (though elves, yes). Seems like more people read a fantasy novel since then. I thank Audible and Kindle.

They only need personalities that are believable and relatable. IMO, the writers have completely lost the mark on that. I'll take well written characters from simple and basic fantasy LOTR races over this crap any day.

So elves, half-elves and humans? Which is 5 out of 6 companions in BG3 are. Literally people complain about this a ton, because there are no dwarves, halflings, dragonborn or the like as companions.

Have you actually played this game? I don't think you have. But you're acting like you have.

The only modern-D&D-race companion is Karlach. She's not in Early Access except as an NPC, so you've never played with her. And Tieflings have been around since 1994, long before BG1, so complaining about them is one those classic "closing the stable door after the horse lead a long and fruitful life and died of old age" situations.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just been catching up with The Dragon Prince. Noted the elves have pointy ears and horns!

 

[KEV777]

The cut scenes in BG3 suffer from more than just the uncanny valley problem. Have you seen how bad the whole dagger at the neck scene is beyond horrible. Why bother adding in those animations when more NPCs are needed.

BG1 had about 25 companions that can join your party and that still wasn't enough - EE had to include more. BG3 probably won't be any different. Creating a full Multiplayer party might be the best option here.

Have you played EA recently? The companions are quite a bit different than what they were.

Also, if they annoy you so much, there will be 12 relatively generic characters available to create a party with near the start of the game.

yeah, I will probably go with that option. BG1 had 25 companions + additional EE companions. I'm quite sure the selection in BG3 is not adequate.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

People are mad over Asterion attacking them at the start? Given what he's just seen and gone through, he's perfectly justified, if mistaken.

He's not justified if you follow the flow of events.

He makes up an excuse to try and justify his behaviour, but it's clear he was basically trying to kill you for essentially irrational reasons.

Specifically the order of events is:

1) He waits for you out in plain sight in the middle of the road.

2) He lies to you about an intellect devourer that needs killing being in the bushes, and notes you've killed others, if you have (so clearly has been watching you)

3) When you go to kill it, or refuse, he ambushes you with a knife, and puts it to your throat.

4) He threatens to kill you if you don't tell him what he wants to know, and doesn't believe anything you say.

5) You break free one way or another.

6) He tries to excuse his behaviour by saying he thought you were with the Mind Flayers.

With 6, as he's been observing you, there are only two possibilities. He's lying. Or he's confused and irrational, because his behaviour makes no sense. He's a Rogue, if he really thought you were "with them", he could have vanished into the shadows (or just sprinted away), and if saw you killing intellect devourers, he already knows you're not "with them", if he's operating rationally.

So the best case for Astarion is that he's half out-of-his-mind and can be excused that way. He's certainly not justified in any normal sense.

 

[KEV777]

Sorry to come back to this, but specifically, by name, what fantasy authors are you referring to?

I'm mentally iterating through modern fantasy, and the vast bulk of it falls into two groups:

1) "Basically only humans" - i.e. all the main characters are human or something very close to it. There might the odd other species but not many.
2) "Basically only humans and elves" - The same but also there elves, which may or may not be called elves.

That's 95% of fantasy written after say, 2010 or even 2000. The other 5% is usually what used to be called "weird fantasy" and may feature stranger beings, but there ain't much of it.

I'm struggling to think of even one non-D&D fantasy novel feature a protagonist with "horns" or "hellfire hair".

So I'm just going to say in advance of you not naming anyone, that I kind of think you've made this up in your head. It reminds me of how, like 10+ years ago, people used to insist "Oh every fantasy novel has elves, orcs, dwarves and so on!", when like, no, 99% (no typo) of non-D&D fantasy novels from say, 1990 onwards also didn't orcs, dwarves, halflings etc. (though elves, yes). Seems like more people read a fantasy novel since then. I thank Audible and Kindle.


So elves, half-elves and humans? Which is 5 out of 6 companions in BG3 are. Literally people complain about this a ton, because there are no dwarves, halflings, dragonborn or the like as companions.

Have you actually played this game? I don't think you have. But you're acting like you have.

The only modern-D&D-race companion is Karlach. She's not in Early Access except as an NPC, so you've never played with her. And Tieflings have been around since 1994, long before BG1, so complaining about them is one those classic "closing the stable door after the horse lead a long and fruitful life and died of old age" situations.

I'm not referring to novelists. It's the comments from game critics and rpg game developers who decry the traditional character races and classes. In fact there is a now infamous article detailing how BG3 developers where upset at player character selection being human male. That made me laugh the most of course.

My point is simple, don't include characters like Karlach when you don't even have a Dwarf with a Scottish accent. Get the basis covered first.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

yeah, I will probably go with that option. BG1 had 25 companions + additional EE companions. I'm quite sure the selection in BG3 is not adequate.

One big difference is that you can fully-respec every companion in BG3, they're not permanently locked into the choices made by the designers. So with the 12 more generic companions you have infinitely more flexibility than with BG1, all you're locked to is a race.