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Ok, so some of us "old farts" have been waiting for this game for about 18 years now (after ToB was released) - though most of us had long thought it would never occur because of a question of just who held the legal rights to this game (..where even most lawyers representing interested parties didn't really know).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... cP0WdH7rTs


Good news is the developer: Larian. They know RPG pretty well, and hopefully they incorporated the sort of dialog that was so fantastic about BGII.

Strangely though, it's a 1st person game? (..or maybe it's 3rd Person?). I mean, I always wanted to play a 1st person perspective with BG I & II (..a'la Ultima-series as it evolved), but it never seemed to happen. I also question how well it is done here. After-all, D&D isn't really a real-time gaming format - the story-line (sort of) is, but action is tactical in D&D - a certain number of moves in a round etc.. and even the BG series didn't get this right (..just Temple of Elemental Evil). Ironically, Larian's Divinity Original Sin games DID this correctly (though not with D&D rules, rather their own). (..though my favorite for this was actually Wizardry's 8 1st person with rounds in active combat and tactical positioning/attacking - be cool if they did that with D&D 2.5, but I seriously doubt it.)

The other things I hope they get right are: D&D 2 (2.5) rules, and the shear difficulty that BGII had (at the very least on something like a "hardcore" setting). BGII could be very difficult if you didn't know the rules and applied them in a tactical manner, plus "levels" weren't "fixed" - you could run-into all sorts of things in that game that you weren't prepared for ..and die: (with only a limited number of save games that you could return to). As far as 2 (2.5) rules: while they weren't the most mechanically well-crafted rules, they did end-up with leveling that had real "meat": higher level characters were downright GOD-like when compared to lower level characters. This was also true for enchanted weapons, where you simply couldn't hit certain monsters without a magical weapon of a particular +; you find a weapon like that (and likely worked real hard to get it) and you cherish it - often with it being fairly unique in the game: in other words ARTIFACT level weapons instead of yet another generic weapon that is slightly better than the last.

As to the weird back-story representation (Human to Mindflayer) in the video, it's explained here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueSs-xrnDO4

I'm pretty stoked. Larian is definitely the right choice, they're one of only four game developers that I trust to appropriately handle a big-story RPG.

Regarding the game rules, prepare your mind for flaying: it'll be D&D 5th edition with any and all deviations that Larian wants to make. I have no familiarity with 5th ed. or even 2.5 beyond what was in the earlier games, but enthusiasts tell me that it's watered down. Personally I don't care since I mainly want the big story, don't consider any of the various d20 based video games to have had particularly stable game mechanics, and am confident that whatever Larian does will make sense as a PC video game based on their track record. The Pathfinder franchise is purportedly(tm) a fork of one of the older D&D rule sets so the hardcore crowd may want to be looking there.

Gamespot interviewed their founder, who went into some more details: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/baldu ... ent_page=1

He's definitely got the right idea. Baldur's Gate was a big deal for its time, but RPGs have advanced considerably in the last ten years--and Larian's been a big part of that. I'm hoping for something as big and expansive as Witcher 3, and if they've more than doubled their development staff that's a real possibility.

Four studios? I'm down to two: Larian and cd projekt. Nobody else makes an RPG that's nearly as good as these two companies, including Bethesda or bioware imo

This one is apparently larger than dos2 and dos2 was huge. I hope the keep the humour and charm that their own worlds have.

I'm that weird mix of nervous and excited that's hard to manage. Please be good please be good! I'm going to be so sad, and my cynical self will feel justified if this sucks...but man I'll be sad

The other two on my list are Obsidian and a wildcard for whoever happens to be employing Chris Avellone's services. Maybe Square Enix if I'm feeling generous.

I have high hopes, both because of DOS 2, which was awesome and because Swen Vincke seems like such a huge fan of DnD. There is a community update video he made about how he got the license for Baldur's Gate III and god damn how nerdy and awkward it is gives me all the hope in the world.

NovusBogus wrote:

I'm pretty stoked. Larian is definitely the right choice, they're one of only four game developers that I trust to appropriately handle a big-story RPG.

Regarding the game rules, prepare your mind for flaying: it'll be D&D 5th edition with any and all deviations that Larian wants to make. I have no familiarity with 5th ed. or even 2.5 beyond what was in the earlier games, but enthusiasts tell me that it's watered down. Personally I don't care since I mainly want the big story, don't consider any of the various d20 based video games to have had particularly stable game mechanics, and am confident that whatever Larian does will make sense as a PC video game based on their track record. The Pathfinder franchise is purportedly(tm) a fork of one of the older D&D rule sets so the hardcore crowd may want to be looking there.

Gamespot interviewed their founder, who went into some more details: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/baldu ... ent_page=1

He's definitely got the right idea. Baldur's Gate was a big deal for its time, but RPGs have advanced considerably in the last ten years--and Larian's been a big part of that. I'm hoping for something as big and expansive as Witcher 3, and if they've more than doubled their development staff that's a real possibility.

As an old fart who's played many different versions on D&D, 2.5ed was extremely fiddly with the rules, and high level characters were definitely gods.. 3rd (and 3.5) edition was mainstream for so long, and was extremely complicated and not really designed for mass market.. (great for nerds/geeks and all the jokes). 4th ed threw out the book, and tried to remake MMORPGs into table top form (miniatures were almost required)... 5th Edition harks back to 2nd ed days in terms of role-playing crunch, but streamlining down fiddly bits and the mess of interactions that were 2.5 and 3rd edition.

My biggest worry (and I'm excited), is that 5th ed doesn't lend itself well to a computerized DM... one of the things I love about 5th edition is that the DM has a lot of control over the story, and is can adapt to the players choices.. (i.e. my group has taken published adventures so far off the rails, that our DM is basically running a home-brew campaign at this point).

Jeez, I gave up after AD&D added (i.e. stole from Gamma World) psionics. Yeah, I'm old.

sweatshopking wrote:

Four studios? I'm down to two: Larian and cd projekt. Nobody else makes an RPG that's nearly as good as these two companies, including Bethesda or bioware imo

This one is apparently larger than dos2 and dos2 was huge. I hope the keep the humour and charm that their own worlds have.

Bioware has definitely dropped the ball on their last few releases, but it's probably too soon to give up on Bethesda. Sure Fallout 76 was a mess, but Fallout 4 was fun, even with its flaws.

druidcent wrote:

As an old fart who's played many different versions on D&D, 2.5ed was extremely fiddly with the rules, and high level characters were definitely gods.. 3rd (and 3.5) edition was mainstream for so long, and was extremely complicated and not really designed for mass market.. (great for nerds/geeks and all the jokes). 4th ed threw out the book, and tried to remake MMORPGs into table top form (miniatures were almost required)... 5th Edition harks back to 2nd ed days in terms of role-playing crunch, but streamlining down fiddly bits and the mess of interactions that were 2.5 and 3rd edition.




My biggest worry (and I'm excited),

..is that 5th ed doesn't lend itself well to a computerized DM... one of the things I love about 5th edition is that the DM has a lot of control over the story, and is can adapt to the players choices.. (i.e. my group has taken published adventures so far off the rails, that our DM is basically running a home-brew campaign at this point).

-sweet, now I'm feeling good about it again.



..and then you go and let me down there at the end.. WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME?

Captain Ned wrote:

Jeez, I gave up after AD&D added (i.e. stole from Gamma World) psionics. Yeah, I'm old.

Bah.

Both are TSR, and it was more like Gamma World > Planescape > (A) D&D.



-still, I feel you with respect to the abomination that was 4th edition.

Super stoked to hear the news, but I also am fully expecting this to be a Baldur's Gate "in name only" title. All the new attempts at recreating the isometric + dialogue magic of Baldur's Gate have fallen flat IMO (looking at you Pillar's of Eternity). I'm excited to see what Larian does with it, but I don't expect it to play/feel like a classic BioWare title.

CScottG wrote:

druidcent wrote:

As an old fart who's played many different versions on D&D, 2.5ed was extremely fiddly with the rules, and high level characters were definitely gods.. 3rd (and 3.5) edition was mainstream for so long, and was extremely complicated and not really designed for mass market.. (great for nerds/geeks and all the jokes). 4th ed threw out the book, and tried to remake MMORPGs into table top form (miniatures were almost required)... 5th Edition harks back to 2nd ed days in terms of role-playing crunch, but streamlining down fiddly bits and the mess of interactions that were 2.5 and 3rd edition.




My biggest worry (and I'm excited),

..is that 5th ed doesn't lend itself well to a computerized DM... one of the things I love about 5th edition is that the DM has a lot of control over the story, and is can adapt to the players choices.. (i.e. my group has taken published adventures so far off the rails, that our DM is basically running a home-brew campaign at this point).

-sweet, now I'm feeling good about it again.



..and then you go and let me down there at the end.. WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME?

If you can't turn a simple casino visit to troll for info into a heist resulting in the casino boat burning and sinking, it's not D&D.

..hmm, posing as True Neutral ..but deep down: Chaotic Evil?

SecretMaster wrote:

Super stoked to hear the news, but I also am fully expecting this to be a Baldur's Gate "in name only" title. All the new attempts at recreating the isometric + dialogue magic of Baldur's Gate have fallen flat IMO (looking at you Pillar's of Eternity). I'm excited to see what Larian does with it, but I don't expect it to play/feel like a classic BioWare title.

Well to each their own, but I loved Pillars if Eternity, enjoyed its story and characters much more than Divinity's. Divinity's game-play is great but overall I preferred darker tone of Pillars.Of course, Obsidian is busy with Outer Worlds now, but I have faith in them D I think they could make a great game too.

pauldavis wrote:

Well to each their own, but I loved Pillars if Eternity, enjoyed its story and characters much more than Divinity's. Divinity's game-play is great but overall I preferred darker tone of Pillars.Of course, Obsidian is busy with Outer Worlds now, but I have faith in them D I think they could make a great game too.

I enjoyed Pillars of Eternity (haven't been able to play PoE2 yet), but the game was partially marketed as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate. I don't think it did well in that regard, though it's been awhile and maybe I'd feel differently with a replay. I'm expecting BG3 to be the same; a good game but it won't feel like Baldur's Gate. AFAIK BG3 being an isometric game and having real-time with pause are both uncertain, and those are huge mechanical/gameplay elements that help define Baldur's Gate. Both BG1 and BG2 (and the expansion) did an amazing job of mixing the silliness/humor that one would expect out of high-fantasy roleplaying session, while also keeping the plot and story compelling and somewhat dark. That can be pretty hard to do without seeming forced or contrived IMO.

CScottG wrote:

..hmm, posing as True Neutral ..but deep down: Chaotic Evil?

I swear, the fire was not my fault.. It was the trolls attacking the boat that caused it to go up in flames.

Great news but the big question is, should those, that did not play the first and second Baldur's Gate (myself included) play them before the third one comes out? To be fair these games are pretty old and I heard, can be difficult to get into.

BG1 and BG2 pretty much play like a normal 2nd D&D campaign with some extra bells and whistles. Party wipes are on the par until your characters get around 8th and 9th level. Respect the icosahedron.

Krogoth wrote:

BG1 and BG2 pretty much play like a normal 2nd D&D campaign with some extra bells and whistles. Party wipes are on the par until your characters get around 8th and 9th level. Respect the icosahedron.

Yes, but it's the characters and the story that really make it special. "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!"

Buub wrote:

Krogoth wrote:

BG1 and BG2 pretty much play like a normal 2nd D&D campaign with some extra bells and whistles. Party wipes are on the par until your characters get around 8th and 9th level. Respect the icosahedron.

Yes, but it's the characters and the story that really make it special. "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes!"

"Ohh!!! Shiny ones!" "Cespenar is the best servant! Oh yes!"

Pharad wrote:

Great news but the big question is, should those, that did not play the first and second Baldur's Gate (myself included) play them before the third one comes out? To be fair these games are pretty old and I heard, can be difficult to get into.

They are widely regarded as some of the best, if not the best, computer role-playing games out there. AD&D rules are pretty archaic and counter-intuitive, but not impossible to understand. The most critical components to understand are THAC0 and how Armor Class works. Beyond that, during the early levels of the game (say 1-3), you're characters are incredibly exposed and can be easily killed. But they are well-worth playing, especially the EE versions that Beamdog released.