Anyone ever played Baulder's Gate 3?

[82-T/A]

A friend of mine bought me the Deluxe set, and I started playing it. I think I'm bombing so far... I crushed the brain in that dude's head who was telepathically talking to me, and I'm trying to help my second player / character out of a mindflayer tank and can't figure it out. I seem to think the two of these things are related.

 

Also, what's with the option to pick the hair color for my balls? Like... that's an odd thing. Am I going to be doing a lot of running around naked? I'm wondering what I'm going to expect out of this game, hahah...

[82-T/A]

So... I looked up some videos to see what I could expect, man... I guess I'm from a different time. There's a male-on-male relationship... ok, whatever, but one of them is a mind-flayer, and there's some "odd" activity that occurs during that with the tentacles. Man, I grew up with games like Civilization, Kings Quest, Starflight, Star Control, the AD&D gold box series games. About the naughtiest stuff I saw was when I'd go into the cave on Legend of the Red Dragon BBS door game. Hahah... I think I'll probably play with the mind-flayer sex option turned off.

[Razzie.P]

4 hours ago, 82-T/A said:

Also, what's with the option to pick the hair color for my balls? Like... that's an odd thing. Am I going to be doing a lot of running around naked? I'm wondering what I'm going to expect out of this game, hahah...

Probably a good battle strategy, if you think about it.  I'm about to engage in battle against a warrior decked out in full metal armor, alright, I've done this a thousand times, I got this.  But I'm about to have a one-on-one with some nekkid dude with a tie-dye ball sack, well, I'm man enough to admit he's got the psychological advantage already.

 

 

44 minutes ago, 82-T/A said:

So... I looked up some videos to see what I could expect, man... I guess I'm from a different time. There's a male-on-male relationship... ok, whatever, but one of them is a mind-flayer, and there's some "odd" activity that occurs during that with the tentacles. Man, I grew up with games like Civilization, Kings Quest, Starflight, Star Control, the AD&D gold box series games. About the naughtiest stuff I saw was when I'd go into the cave on Legend of the Red Dragon BBS door game. Hahah... I think I'll probably play with the mind-flayer sex option turned off.

I've not played BG3 yet, so any opinion of mine has a bit of ignorance in there... but having played all the other BG games, plus Icewind, Tormet, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc (all the "kinda the same type" of games) I'm pretty sure all that stuff is only a part of your playthrough if you want it to be.  Someone who knows better can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're getting all anal probed by your halfling cleric or something, probably because you chose that.  I don't think it's has any mandatory "lets bang a bear" scenes or anything like that.

 

 

[82-T/A]

2 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

... if you're getting all anal probed by your halfling cleric or something, probably because you chose that.  I don't think it's has any mandatory "lets bang a bear" scenes or anything like that.

 

Hahaha... yeah, I can tell the sexual undertones are hard-core. The troll lady was pissed that I freed the elf lady, and the elf lady keeps going on about how I saved her and all that. Man, these games are hilarious. So far it's been pretty good... but I can tell that as you say, there's a path that takes you down one way, and another that takes you down a different way.

 

[82-T/A]

Ugh, the game is good. I'm so pissed at myself for getting into this damn game. Like, I wouldn't have even bought it myself... but now I'm addicted to it.

[Razzie.P]

11 minutes ago, 82-T/A said:

Ugh, the game is good. I'm so pissed at myself for getting into this damn game. Like, I wouldn't have even bought it myself... but now I'm addicted to it.

Yeah, from what I've heard it's pretty amazing.  I'm a fan of that type of game and it's certainly on my "to do" list, but I know it's gonna be a good chunk of time invested when I do start it.

[82-T/A]

Game has been pretty good so far. Graphics are amazing, and the fights are actually quite good. There seems to be stories within stories, and I've found that I've had to temper what I do for fear that I'll upset one of the party members over the other. What one party member might approve of, is not always something everyone approves of. As a Paladin (Good), I am also more or less obligated to make certain decisions that may upset other party members. There seems to be a lot of discussion of slavery in the game, so as a Paladin I generally need to disadvantage these people and / or attack them outright.

 

There are dozens of potential "party members" as I cheated and looked up more or less a list of them. They can all be convinced to join your party at one point or another. You can include them or leave them in your "camp" which I find interesting. As of this point, I don't have any stragglers... meaning that I've flat-out rejected anyone except the people immediately in my party. There can only be 4 total people, and I've taken the vampire thief, the cleric lady, the wizard, and myself (who is a Paladin).

 

Another thing I noticed... not to offend anyone, but apparently every single male character is gay (if you're playing a male character I guess). Like... apparently you can romance them (from the IGN page that shows the character list). Alternately, there are only 2 female characters that you could potentially do this with, but like 9 male characters. I mean... I guess this is just what it is with WOTC today, but I found it odd. I'm not going down that path, but I'm having to constantly say things that are "less than nice" because some of the phrases are interpreted as encouraging a "relationship" with these male characters. I'm not aware of any positives to having a relationship with someone in the game other than the story building, but I have noticed that it affects your character's performance when someone with a very high "emotion" toward you is gravely injured. It causes a disability roll if you will against you for future attacks (probably not the best way to word it). 

 

Either way, the game has been pretty cool, and I hate myself for getting into it. I'm shooting through it quickly, but there's a lot of smaller quests and such that an individual could follow along. A lot of hidden things too which I find myself skipping over (but hope to go back to).

 

It really feels like a "find your fate" kind of book, because there's so many possible solutions to a variety of different things. Really... it's probably the closest thing I've seen to one of the original games, Pool of Radiance (SSI Gold Box), where you just have a wildly open world, and you can basically do whatever the heck you want. Most of the other games in between all seem to focus on getting from point A to point B while not having a lot of diversion. So this has been really cool.

[Tanooki]

I'm confused, the center paragraph above.  Does that mean if you play as a guy, the game is constantly subtley if not outright having men hit on you?  And if that's the case, and you know it and don't want it, so you basically in nice or less nice ways say piss off, you end up being punished for not being some digital glory hole by getting a disability roll??  That's, if I'm reading it right, complete crap and some social engineering bs being shoved down gamers throats in that case (pun intended.)

 

I had a passing interest in this one, but was worried about a time commit on it vs just how crazy slow the movement and battles were in past decades entries.  But even if this did move at a more brisk pace to keep it going (like BG Dark Alliance console did) punishing people for not playing into the trap is just despicable.

[82-T/A]

On 4/25/2024 at 10:47 AM, Tanooki said:

I'm confused, the center paragraph above.  Does that mean if you play as a guy, the game is constantly subtley if not outright having men hit on you?  And if that's the case, and you know it and don't want it, so you basically in nice or less nice ways say piss off, you end up being punished for not being some digital glory hole by getting a disability roll??  That's, if I'm reading it right, complete crap and some social engineering bs being shoved down gamers throats in that case (pun intended.)

 

So... I'll try to be as politically correct here as I can. I would say for the most part, you have to recognize the current "movement." Back when I was in school, being gay was weird, and we'd make fun of you unless we know that you were outright gay, in which case we were understanding and most people were cool with it (at least my friends). Today, more than half of middle and high schools are some form of "other," and well... being bi is super-acceptable. I'm not going to make any judgements here, but you know, most kids are trying to figure themselves out in middle and early high school... so it's just what it is. Almost all my daughter's friends are "other." With all of that in mind, you have to recognize that most of the people this game attracts is going to be the younger generation, and well... it appropriately reflects the staffing at WoTC. Also, this is really indicative of the people in the Steam Forums too. Mostly younger kids... mostly all biologically white males... almost all of them trans or have furry-related names.

 

As for what you're saying... yes, pretty much. Basically, everyone you recruit is kind of hitting on you all the time, regardless of what your gender is. Honestly, I should have a female character because I'd much rather be looking at a shapely 4K female but than some dude walking around... but when I play these games, I always attempt to do so how I would want to portray myself in these times... so I pick a dude / Paladin. But based on my assumption, if I was to create a female character, everyone would still be hitting on me, regardless. Think of literally every character being "fluid" ... and there's no mention anywhere of sex or gender, or preference.

 

Now, this wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that you might start going down a conversation path with one of your teammates, that ends up being sexual in nature when you don't want it to be. One of the earlier conversations you can have with the first male characters you find that joins your party, is where the wizard offers to teach you magic. I'm like... OK, this sounds great. Now... I've never been on the male dating scene before, so maybe I missed an obvious innuendo there, but I was going right along... and then the Wizard started getting really close to me, speaking softly into my ear, and I'm like... dude... I'm not really into this. Except, there's no "Dude, I'm not really into this," option. So, you either have to fail a roll... (ah man, I screwed up my magic), or click the "Leave" button. I mean... I wanted to learn some magic... that's all I wanted.

 

And then the thief... if you fail a perception roll (he tricks you), he'll get on top of you and puts a knife to your neck, and starts commenting about how sexy your neck is. Later in the game, he starts trying to get really intimate with you and asking if he can just take a little nibble, and that it'll be great for both of you (he's a vampire). And again, there's no... "Dude, I'm not into this," option. 

 

Again, I have to assume the responses are exactly the same regardless of whether you pick a male or female (or... the male / female body type, because they aren't defined that way). Easiest way to say it is... everyone secretly wants a piece of you... even when they're pissed. So, you just have to pick your responses carefully or it could take you down a certain path. You can't be innocent when you play this game, you have to assume literally everyone wants your junk. Once you get the hang of it though, it's really not a big deal.

 

 

On 4/25/2024 at 10:47 AM, Tanooki said:

I had a passing interest in this one, but was worried about a time commit on it vs just how crazy slow the movement and battles were in past decades entries.  But even if this did move at a more brisk pace to keep it going (like BG Dark Alliance console did) punishing people for not playing into the trap is just despicable.

 

The game plays really, really well... but the time-suck thing is a problem for me. I've got tons of home renovations and schoolwork I should be doing, but for like 5 days straight after work, I've been playing it. I think I've got 29 hours so far, and I feel like a loser. Hahah...

 

I was asking a question on the Steam Forums, and I couldn't remember the characters names, but used descriptors "the one-horned Devil Lady" to which I was very scolded and reminded that her name is Karlach of the Tieflings (apparently you can bang her too). This one guy got really mad at me, and told me I was trying to be cool and act like a rapper (or something). I don't know, but I looked at his information and he had over 790 hours in Balder's Gate 3. I politely reminded "Lord Nibbler" that while I'm not trying to be judgy, 790 hours equates to literally half a year's worth of full-time work at 40 hours a day. So... you can apparently really get addicted to this game. 

 

A friend bought it for me... so if you want to save your money... don't buy it. It's good... go out and start running every night, do push ups... do anything other than play this game.

 

 

 

 

EDIT: This is what I put as the heading of my post asking for questions... "One-Horned Teifling and the Tyr guy in the village with all the dead people..."

 

I didn't remember the girl's name, but my concern was that she was upset with me for something she thought I did, which I know I clearly didn't do. Bottom line, I kind of played the game where I would just explore and keep walking through doors rather than "clearing the fog of war" on every map. So I set off a bunch of variables that basically caused things to happen that I didn't necessarily want to happen. I'm restarting the game so I can play through a little bit more slowly and not rush it.

 

Most people were really helpful, but this was the comment I'm talking about, which was hilarious...

 

Quote

Here's a tip: listen and read to what the people have to say.

 

As it is apparently beneath you to even read (and write) their names - especially those of your companions - you clearly don't give a damn about any of this, so what does it matter? Also it's "Tiefling", but that is also just written and said dozens of times.

 

It's the equivalent of a 10 year old smoking cigarettes and pretending all that gangster crap. Do you think behavior like this makes you look cool? I find it very rude (and ridiculous).

 

Like, I didn't want to insult the guy, he obviously takes it very seriously. But damn... I'm a 46 year old man... I've got a family, a full time job, lots of hobbies, and a child who's life I'm very involved in (she's in multiple sports, music, etc... and we have to drive her around and participate). Not to mention I'm constantly going to school to get degrees. So shit on me if I want to play a game and forget the names of the characters... haha...

Edited April 26 by 82-T/A
For the sillies...

[Tanooki]

I can't be that PC about it so I tend to just keep quiet about it or I just refuse to put my money where people want to (ranging from) be themselves, to attention seeking, to over expressing a legit mental illness whatever it may be on that range.

 

I think games should be detached from reality so this stuff just shouldn't really apply.  They're supposed to be an escape, not another realm to throw politics and social shenanigans down peoples throats for whatever the reason may be.  I can not get behind the fluidity thing, especially in media such as games.  In my mind I recoil when you get a myraid of made up weirdness from someone choosing to be the opposite to some person deciding they're a cat and it's catself or whatever pronoun they want to demand gets used as it just has gone too far.  If BG3 really is as bad as a heap of people are saying where whether you're a dude or a girl, and both the men and women want to get close if not bang the crap out of you I couldn't get into that.  If I'm playing an adventure I want to well...adventure, not have myself be in a weird three way with a couple of dude orcs and dwarves upstairs in the inn because I got tired of the constant asking until I relented or accidentally hit ok...

 

It's funny or not, but almost seems like D&D infected with a bad case of hentai meets leisure suit larry going on there.

 

I could write more, but I won't even quote you @82-T/A but that last paragraph (up to the degrees bit, I have 2 jobs) you put there it feels like you copy and pasted what I would have written down to basically age, family, having a daughter ...shit like that is why I disengage and want to enjoy my free time away from this virtue signaling psychopathic nonsense and have reverted to playing largely video games from the NES-GBA era, a few on Switch but not much, and doing anime from the 80s-00s period since it breaks from reaity in good ways.

[82-T/A]

16 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I can't be that PC about it so I tend to just keep quiet about it or I just refuse to put my money where people want to (ranging from) be themselves, to attention seeking, to over expressing a legit mental illness whatever it may be on that range.

 

I think games should be detached from reality so this stuff just shouldn't really apply.  They're supposed to be an escape, not another realm to throw politics and social shenanigans down peoples throats for whatever the reason may be.  I can not get behind the fluidity thing, especially in media such as games.  In my mind I recoil when you get a myraid of made up weirdness from someone choosing to be the opposite to some person deciding they're a cat and it's catself or whatever pronoun they want to demand gets used as it just has gone too far.  If BG3 really is as bad as a heap of people are saying where whether you're a dude or a girl, and both the men and women want to get close if not bang the crap out of you I couldn't get into that.  If I'm playing an adventure I want to well...adventure, not have myself be in a weird three way with a couple of dude orcs and dwarves upstairs in the inn because I got tired of the constant asking until I relented or accidentally hit ok...

 

It's funny or not, but almost seems like D&D infected with a bad case of hentai meets leisure suit larry going on there.

 

I could write more, but I won't even quote you @82-T/A but that last paragraph (up to the degrees bit, I have 2 jobs) you put there it feels like you copy and pasted what I would have written down to basically age, family, having a daughter ...shit like that is why I disengage and want to enjoy my free time away from this virtue signaling psychopathic nonsense and have reverted to playing largely video games from the NES-GBA era, a few on Switch but not much, and doing anime from the 80s-00s period since it breaks from reaity in good ways.

 

Yeah, I'll just say... I think they made it easier on themselves and pretended like all characters want some action, and it doesn't matter what you are (or what race or type of character you are). I'll still say... it's a fun game. But had one of my employees not given it to me (which he shouldn't have, and I have to give him an ethics lesson and pay him back for it), I probably wouldn't have bought it. I spent another 6 hours playing it last night. Ugh...

 

[Razzie.P]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:00 PM, Tanooki said:

I think games should be detached from reality so this stuff just shouldn't really apply. 

"Everyone wanting to bang me" is pretty much detached from my reality.  😔

 

 

[82-T/A]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:00 PM, Tanooki said:

I could write more, but I won't even quote you @82-T/A but that last paragraph (up to the degrees bit, I have 2 jobs) you put there it feels like you copy and pasted what I would have written down to basically age, family, having a daughter ...shit like that is why I disengage and want to enjoy my free time away from this virtue signaling psychopathic nonsense and have reverted to playing largely video games from the NES-GBA era, a few on Switch but not much, and doing anime from the 80s-00s period since it breaks from reaity in good ways.

 

So... today, I played it a little bit this morning. I was "adventuring" and I walked into a larger barn, and a goblin was banging a giant... or something like that. It was some enormous giant lady, and this normal sized Goblin something or other. They got pissed at me and attacked. I'll tell you waht though, that little guy was really taking that giant lady... I mean, just totally going at it. But yeah... I wonder what these people were thinking when they added this "aspect" of the plot???

[Tanooki]

@82-T/A It's a fine line to walk answering that question, if not for the fact here people can't get all political and sassy about it.  It's basically what even now the independent and  normal/moderate left are now aggravated at too (not just the right) which is called out as social justice/woke antics.  It's a cry for attention to try and normalize abnormal stuff and going about it in such a way it's so in your business that you just finally get numb, used to it, and just well accept it.  And that's why a growing amount of people are just getting aggravated, turned off, if not in outright revolt over it because some people take a bit to push too far, others take work, and now it's into others territory.  There was no thinking other than than to acclamate people into freaky strange stuff to basically score social points.

 

I would like to think a lot of people would rather just be left alone and let those who do the different stuff stay out of their face and keep their business their business as others do.  Getting forceful just creates aggravation and push back.  It's a slow creep of seeming stupid vicious selfish behavior that's infecting all sorts of media and worse so, classic media that's still kept alive in the modern era.  Off the top of my head pissing people off these days a lot: Star Wars, Disney in general, Velma cartoon, (now) Baldur's Gate 3, a number of other games too, tainting the social norms of one societies media for the crank stuff here (like anime, oh now they're all ____ and always have been ____)...nope, just nope.

[82-T/A]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

@82-T/A It's a fine line to walk answering that question, if not for the fact here people can't get all political and sassy about it.  It's basically what even now the independent and  normal/moderate left are now aggravated at too (not just the right) which is called out as social justice/woke antics.  It's a cry for attention to try and normalize abnormal stuff and going about it in such a way it's so in your business that you just finally get numb, used to it, and just well accept it.  And that's why a growing amount of people are just getting aggravated, turned off, if not in outright revolt over it because some people take a bit to push too far, others take work, and now it's into others territory.  There was no thinking other than than to acclamate people into freaky strange stuff to basically score social points.

 

I would like to think a lot of people would rather just be left alone and let those who do the different stuff stay out of their face and keep their business their business as others do.  Getting forceful just creates aggravation and push back.  It's a slow creep of seeming stupid vicious selfish behavior that's infecting all sorts of media and worse so, classic media that's still kept alive in the modern era.  Off the top of my head pissing people off these days a lot: Star Wars, Disney in general, Velma cartoon, (now) Baldur's Gate 3, a number of other games too, tainting the social norms of one societies media for the crank stuff here (like anime, oh now they're all ____ and always have been ____)...nope, just nope.

 

Yeah, I mean... I'm no prude... but a lot of that doesn't add much to the game at all. As a kid, I read through the overwhelming vast majority of the Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms novels. I don't really remember too many relationships. There were some comments... but nothing that was like this. I remember Riverwind the Plainsman was "dating" Goldmoon, and in the Pools book series (Pool of Radiance, Pool of Darkness, Pools of Twilight), there's a wizard who "dates" a Tyr Cleric. And the baby making happens between the books. From one book to the next, a decade has gone by and magically they're married and there's a baby. Haha... 

 

By the way, I had a conversation in camp with the goblin lady (whatever her name is), and she said... "it's a shame you've committed your body to Gale..." (who is the male wizard), and immediately I was like... WTF? What are you talking about? I've done no such thing... and then I think back to the point where it's probably ebcause I let him teach me magic, and I'm like son of a bitch. Not that I want to get with the goblin lady anyway... but sigh, apparently I'm in a gay relationship with a wizard and I don't even know how that happened ... and I still never learned magic from it.

[Tanooki]

@82-T/A I'm well aware of it seeing that post you have more background, I did some D&D stuff and some related materials over time, even their decade+ old online game and what not, never was there anything but a shred of that, and even usually it was just implied, not out in the open let alone what would get someone in this era likely arrested for stalking or assault in the D&D worlds or related, and I'm no prude either.  What you're saying in print seems to line up well with the implied in the digital and even older paper side of things with dice and all that.

 

Again it's being overly overt to a fault, and since you didn't go down the the path it chose (being blunt here, the rainbow road it seems) it'll just PUT you there anyway as now the game is conversing with you like it was a done deed and clearly you didn't.  Now learning how to shoot a magic missile from a guy means, well, it wasn't the only magic missile that was fired off to the in game folk -- classy.

[+wongojack]

I actually quit, but it didn't really have anything to do with the discussion in this thread.  I posted about it back in December here:  https://forums.atariage.com/topic/329715-modern-games-you-quit-in-2022/?do=findComment&comment=5376202

 

 

I did expect to get back into it eventually, but haven't made it back yet.

[82-T/A]

10 hours ago, Tanooki said:

@82-T/A I'm well aware of it seeing that post you have more background, I did some D&D stuff and some related materials over time, even their decade+ old online game and what not, never was there anything but a shred of that, and even usually it was just implied, not out in the open let alone what would get someone in this era likely arrested for stalking or assault in the D&D worlds or related, and I'm no prude either.  What you're saying in print seems to line up well with the implied in the digital and even older paper side of things with dice and all that.

 

Again it's being overly overt to a fault, and since you didn't go down the the path it chose (being blunt here, the rainbow road it seems) it'll just PUT you there anyway as now the game is conversing with you like it was a done deed and clearly you didn't.  Now learning how to shoot a magic missile from a guy means, well, it wasn't the only magic missile that was fired off to the in game folk -- classy.

 

So, apparently, simply by being "good" (as in alignment), and doing good things... the wizard (who is also good) became attracted to me. There is a bar / rating that each player gets... I forget what it's called... but it's your likeability (for lack of a better word). The more someone likes you, the more likely they are to want to "be with you" sexually ... apparently. And since the game has no concept of gender at all... as a result, everyone in your party is hitting on you. 

 

Because the game has no concept of gender, I'd imagine the same exact thing would happen if you were a female playing the game. But you talk about the rainbow road, and here's something I noticed. Ok... so, it's not high on my list... but trying to "romance" the one female character that isn't an alien takes a LOT... I mean a LOT of work. More than anything, you want to keep your characters happy... so you make decisions that you think is going to reflect what they would do, because you don't want them to leave you. Case in point, Gale the Wizard (man), and Shadowsomething (woman) both seem to be driven by similar things... so when you do "good," you further gain their approval (as it shows in the status). She is a little less good... so not always does she appreciate the things that Gale does. When you get to a certain point though, ONE improperly selected conversation point immediately turns to a sexual advance. 

 

Like with the Wizard, I rarely talk to him unless he has an "!" which means he wants to talk. And when that happens, I've learned to be really careful to be quick, and not select anything even remotely that could be misrepresented as an inuendo. But for whatever reason... like... I don't know what I picked that last time, but when I went to go talk to the goblin lady (forget her name) who's also in my camp, she said she was dismayed that I'd already promised my body to Gale, and that it's unfortunate because she could rock my world (in whatever words she used). I was like... I said nothing to that damn wizard that was even remotely assuming in that way. Like, I think I said something like... "we'll pick this conversation up later." I mean... what the hell.

 

Alternately though... it takes VERY, VERY, calculated decision-making to "progress" down the relationship path (if you so desire) with the Shadow girl (forget the name). Like... you say the wrong thing, and she totally disapproves. And the responses are so lame... they're all something that a nerdy 12-year old computer kid might say that's never had any experience with a girl. So all of that to say, there is 100% a strong push towards a gay relationship... that's because 99% of the people playing this game are going to be men.

 

... but let's be clear about the "relationship" stuff... it's a critical part of the game. You make the wrong conversation and a character could leave (forever) which screws up a quest or side-quest. So you want to talk to your team mates on a regular basis to keep them happy (gives you an opportunity to resolve conflict between them, and you gain additional "approval" points).

 

 

9 hours ago, wongojack said:

I actually quit, but it didn't really have anything to do with the discussion in this thread.  I posted about it back in December here:  https://forums.atariage.com/topic/329715-modern-games-you-quit-in-2022/?do=findComment&comment=5376202

 

 

I did expect to get back into it eventually, but haven't made it back yet.

 

 

I had to start over... and I'm glad I did. The game is generally pretty good, when you set aside the ridiculous aspect of some of it. The thing for me though is that I don't have any barometer on how this game compares to other modern games. Like... the last game like this I played from this vantage are the System Shock, Bio Shock, and Ultima games. As far as AD&D games... only thing I have to compare is perhaps Menzoberranzan, which came out literally 30 years ago. Other than that, we're talking the Gold Box Series games... like Pool of Radiance, so to me... the game is an improvement. Haha...  

 

[Tanooki]

@82-T/A So basically being crass, the game is one giant forced thirst trap for homosexual relationships because if you want to do something YOU want, it promises you under the hood of pissing off other people which can ruin/end or damage quests/side quests you want/need to do.  That's just so wrong on so many levels. :\  The fact you are forced to talk to these people, and something as innocent as saying we can discuss X more later (and X being something innocent/task related) insinuated wanting into their pants.  It's just awful, and i doubt anyone whining online about it justifably too will just get attacked by others and utterly ignored by the design team because this was done clearly with intent.

[Albert]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

It's just awful, and i doubt anyone whining online about it justifably too will just get attacked by others and utterly ignored by the design team because this was done clearly with intent.

Yeah, most people aren't as homophobic as you, fortunately.  If you don't like the game, because homosexuality is being "forced" upon you, go play something else so we don't have to listen to you whining about it.

 

Thanks,

 

 ..Al

[82-T/A]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

@82-T/A So basically being crass, the game is one giant forced thirst trap for homosexual relationships because if you want to do something YOU want, it promises you under the hood of pissing off other people which can ruin/end or damage quests/side quests you want/need to do.  That's just so wrong on so many levels. 😕 The fact you are forced to talk to these people, and something as innocent as saying we can discuss X more later (and X being something innocent/task related) insinuated wanting into their pants.  It's just awful, and i doubt anyone whining online about it justifably too will just get attacked by others and utterly ignored by the design team because this was done clearly with intent.

 

YMMV as they say, but I'll just say you have to be careful with your words. Kids today are much more sinical, sarcastic, and sardonic... so some of the language used kind of goes over my head. E.g., the wizard teaching me magic... well, I didn't know that was an innuendo. Haha. But if you can get past these little idiosyncrasies, the game is actually quite good.

 

The only aspect of playability that can be frustrating is that the game auto-focuses on whomever is attacking at the moment... and with ranged attacks, it means the "camera" (for lack of a better word), is shooting all around the screen. This can be difficult when you would rather focus the view just on your characters (to see how and from where they're being attacked). So I find myself having to recorrect the screen constantly in big / large event fights. I'd say that there's probably a setting in there for that, but I haven't bothered to look, I've just been dealing with it.

 

Inventory also gets to be a bit much... there's so many things, and like with all games, it's rather unrealistic. Like, in Ultima 7, you can put an entire cow in your pack (if I remember correctly), and this game is really no different. You just have to make sure you don't hit encumbrance. 

[Razzie.P]

36 minutes ago, 82-T/A said:

The only aspect of playability that can be frustrating is that the game auto-focuses on whomever is attacking at the moment... and with ranged attacks, it means the "camera" (for lack of a better word), is shooting all around the screen. This can be difficult when you would rather focus the view just on your characters (to see how and from where they're being attacked). So I find myself having to recorrect the screen constantly in big / large event fights. I'd say that there's probably a setting in there for that, but I haven't bothered to look, I've just been dealing with it.

 

The previous games allowed you to pause, strategically plan, assign your moves, then unpause to allow it to play out.  Then pause again, plan, unpause, etc.  Sounds annoying when typed out, I'm sure, but it really worked to allow the games to have a "turn based strategy" feel to the battles which batter matched the pen and paper/board games, in my opinion.  I think it'd be kinda rough to keep up with it all in real time.  This one not have that feature, and all the gameplay is real time?

[82-T/A]

17 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

The previous games allowed you to pause, strategically plan, assign your moves, then unpause to allow it to play out.  Then pause again, plan, unpause, etc.  Sounds annoying when typed out, I'm sure, but it really worked to allow the games to have a "turn based strategy" feel to the battles which batter matched the pen and paper/board games, in my opinion.  I think it'd be kinda rough to keep up with it all in real time.  This one not have that feature, and all the gameplay is real time?

 

Ok, I was kind of confused then by what you were saying. This game is definitely turn-based. More on that in a minute... but another thing that I like about the game is that numerous aspects of either conversation, or actions require a d20 roll. So you'll have a conversation with someone, and then attempt to use persuasion, and you have to role a 20, and get to use modifiers and other things as well... which I thought was VERY apropos to an AD&D game. For most of the older games I'd play, these things happened, but they were all done in the background. You literally see a virtual dice rolling around and landing on a number. Additionally, there's things like perception checks that occur for each player as you walk around, and that allows you to either see things, or not... so VERY AD&D there (or I guess I should say very D&D 5e).

 

As for it being turn-based, it definitely is turn-based. But as I was saying about the screen shooting around, when it's not your turn, it goes from bad-guy to bad-guy... and I usually like to focus on my character to see who's being attacked and specifically at what point and from the direct angle. I care a little less about the person doing it, and more so my immediate characters. A Picture-in-Picture would be super cool where it zooms in on a little box from where exactly the attack is happening. In AD&D Gold Box games, it would do this too... but would immediately go back to your player before say (the magic missile) hits. It doesn't do this, it just goes to the next player who's turn it is. But it's definitely turn-based. You can even operate the "real time" game in turn-based mode if you want also. I did this to better position my party in preparation for a fight that I knew I kept loosing. I sent my ranger and wizard into the rafters above a group of enemies, and then, and only then, did I approach the group with my other two characters. This gave me highly strategic advantage from above to shoot fireballs and arrows... allowing most of the brunt of the attack on my Paladin (who's stronger), and nearly every shot towards my players up there were missed.

[Tanooki]

12 hours ago, Albert said:

Yeah, most people aren't as homophobic as you, fortunately.  If you don't like the game, because homosexuality is being "forced" upon you, go play something else so we don't have to listen to you whining about it.

 

Thanks,

 

 ..Al

Excuse YOU.  I am *not* homophobic.  I'm not whining either, you've got some underlying issues if you want to lay all that down on me.  I see games as an escape from reality, not happy seeing agendas thrown around, same with other media too.  It has nothing to do with being uncomfortable around gay people or hating them, which neither I do, so not sure where you're coming off with that nonsense.

 

@82-T/A  I see what you're talking about, but seeing as Albert wants to single me out for being anti-gay fearing and hating of them I'm going to just say I'll agree with what you wrote so far, but I won't be replying anymore in here since oddly the site owner wants to pick fights and create narratives that do not exist and I really don't feel like getting into a pissing match with the admin.  Sorry I was enjoying the conversation, but apparantely it's ok for you to write that, but if I agree and respond I'm the bad guy in the discussion which confuses the crap out of me.

[+fdr4prez]

Thanks.

 

Based on the gameplay discussions here, i will not be playing this game.

 

I enjoyed BG1 and BG2 when they were new, and there were many home-brew type of add-ons for these that i enjoyed, but this BG3 doesn't seem enjoyable now.  For BG2, there was a "romance" add-on pack that I never installed.  I don't play these games to roleplay romance.

 

The only CRPG i play these days is Temple of Elemental Evil from Troika.  It is available on GoG.

 

It is an old game that didn't play well when it was first released, and Troika never quite fixed it, but due to the community support there is a nice fix+expansion for it by the Circle of Eight called The Circle of Eight Modpack - New Content (a purist can download the modpack without the New Content).

 

There is an even newer community effort named Temple+ that fixes a bunch more issues that Co8 couldn't fix, and the Temple+ adds more classes and spells, etc.

 

Get the ToEE from GoG, get the Co8 Modpack NC, and Temple+ for a complete package.

 

D&D 3.5e and turned based combat at its best!