The Sundering has launched...

[MarkB]

I know I picked up the BG series simply because it was a D&D game using the 2nd edition ruleset. I still play through the infinity engine games because it's the only way to get an AD&D fix on the computer. The gold box games are a bit dated and I'm too spoiled by modern interfaces. The forgotten realms logo didn't make a bit of difference. It was AD&D! on the computer again finally! That's all that mattered.

Indeed - I originally bought Baldur's Gate because I'd played D&D in school in my youth, and wanted an RPG that used that ruleset. I enjoyed the game and its sequel so much that when Bioware were developing Neverwinter Nights, I joined the development forums and actually bought the 3e rulebooks purely in order to participate in the discussions.

And having bought and read the rulebooks, I was inspired to finally seek out local RPG clubs and get back into playing tabletop RPGs. So not only do I directly relate the games to the D&D setting, I consider them responsible for me getting back into D&D after a 15-year break, re-introducing me to what has since become my favourite pastime.

 

[frankthedm]

Okay
1. The intro of the video looks a lot like the videos they use in League of Legends, just something I noticed.

Other than the FR namedrops, felt like a generic fantasy MMORPG opening.

2. So the Sundering seems to be one giant 4E "retcon", undoing everything which happened to the realms during the Spellplague.

Since the folks who backed 4E are mostly likely to be most upset anyways, might as well tick em off more.

3.They bring Bhaal back and feature Baldurs Gate prominently. Is WotC really that desperate that they have to ride this hard on the success of the video games?

If they have any sense they certainly will! Getting free advertisement from the very existence of a time proven video game property is a no duh decision. To not do so would be a dereliction of duty to the Hasbro shareholders.

 

[frankthedm]

I'll try for another stab at describing the issue.

To me, Baldur's Gate is fan fiction. It's authorized fan fiction, and quite good fan fiction at that. But it's still fan fiction. To see the original authors drop their own work and embrace this one is a little ... disconcerting, I guess.

You could say that any Batman fan writing a Batman comic is writing fan fiction.
—Neil Gaiman

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RunningTheAsylum

 

[amerigoV]

Sigh - I cannot believe I actually read through this meaningless thread. So I'll just contribute some quotes from Xan that sum things up nicely:

Interviewer: Xan, what does this thread prove about BG, WoTC, and the Sundering?

"Life is so hollow"

Interviewer: Have you read through this thread on Enworld

"It is hardly worth the effort of trying"

Interviewer: Would you comment on Bhaal's upcoming role in the Sundering?

"What is the point?"

Interviewer: If you could go back in time to the beginning of this thread and tell people one thing, what would it be?

"We're all doomed"

Interviewer: Some might say this is a classic "win the Internet" type thread. What are your thoughts on "win the Internet" type threads?

"Their quest is vain"

Interviewer: "What is your opinion of anyone that continues to post in this thread?"

"Onward, to futility!"

Of course, we cannot talk BG and not quote Minsc:

What? Boo is outraged! See his fury! It's small, so look close. Trust me, it's there.

 

[Wicht]

The product page for Murder in Baldur's Gate includes downloads for using the adventure with 3.5e, 4e and D&D Next rules -- these are mostly monster and NPC stat blocks. That means it isn't properly Pathfinder compatible, but 3.5e compatible, which is nearly-but-not-quite the same thing.

Sigh. Subsequent investigation shows that this is indeed the case and that my initial understanding of what I was told was off a bit. It would have been really cool to have WotC produce a Pathfinder compatible something.... One can continue to dream...

 

[Blackwarder]

Sigh - I cannot believe I actually read through this meaningless thread. So I'll just contribute some quotes from Xan that sum things up nicely:

Interviewer: Xan, what does this thread prove about BG, WoTC, and the Sundering?


Interviewer: Have you read through this thread on Enworld


Interviewer: Would you comment on Bhaal's upcoming role in the Sundering?


Interviewer: If you could go back in time to the beginning of this thread and tell people one thing, what would it be?


Interviewer: Some might say this is a classic "win the Internet" type thread. What are your thoughts on "win the Internet" type threads?



Interviewer: "What is your opinion of anyone that continues to post in this thread?"



Of course, we cannot talk BG and not quote Minsc:

Can't XP you but that is pure gold.

Warder

 

[jodyjohnson]

I didn't see anything in the 'make your own encounters' style of this adventure to make it Pathfinder incompatible. It's really compatible with anything since it is all plot and humanoids.

 

[Herschel]

Bhaal makes a comeback. Did I see myrkul as well in the stained glass?

Might as well.retcon back to the OGB.

FWIW, I liked the idea of the 4e reset after all the garbage of mid 2e throughout 3e, and I really loved the format of the 4e FRCS (though perhaps the order of the material as presented was suboptimal), but yeesh Cordell,.et al really blew it on the actual story elements of the spell plague.

I hope they truly do this one right,.and moreso keep their word on no more. I do not use a post OGB timeline, but I steal from all eras of FR product (as well as others like Mystara, Oerth, The Wilderlands, etc.)

This. I stopped purchasing FR products after they came out with the Time Of Troubles nonsense and 4E actually got me back in to the Realms.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I'm... conflicted. On the one hand, I like that they are undoing the lion's share of the 4E changes, which collectively were the straw that broke the Scars Unseen's D&D buying back. On the other hand, what I really wanted was for it to never have happened at all. A retcon. I guess realistically that couldn't happen without having to support multiple eras a la 3E Dragonlance. Still, not quite what I was wanting.

Whether I support Forgotten Realms Next or whatever will largely be determined by the extent of Ed's influence on it, I guess.

 

[YRUSirius]

I hope for a soft "reboot" to some edgreenwoodish realms from the old grey box era. And the hints are out there. AO is trying to "retcon" the age of upheal that began with the time of troubles by recreating the tablets of fate. So there might be a chance that the old deities will be back and the new ones, like cyric will be gone. I'd be okay with this.

-YRUSirius