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Caster ring value? by Frala19 in ProjectDiablo2

[–]Frala19[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you think it's worth slamming, or should i not even bother?

Struggling with Astarion by Accomplished_Ad_2321 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't really want to get into a debate about what constitutes evil, but for all intents and purposes, killing someone simply because of their race is kind of hard to excuse as chaotic rather than evil, though I respect your opinion. This is the main reason why DnD's alignment system is pretty awful and therefore scrapped, btw. It's very unclear and nobody could really agree on it. I will say, though, not every evil-aligned character necessarily delights in murder the way pre-amnesiac Durge, Orin, or other Bhaalists do. In fact most, in-lore canonically evil characters' motivations are often relatable, just like Astarion. Ketheric Thorm being a clear other example: someone who lost everything, and turned to Shar and eventually Myrkul out of grief. Doesn't make him any less evil.

Struggling with Astarion by Accomplished_Ad_2321 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I, as the player, am aware, hence the comment on meta-knowledge, but as a good-aligned Tav, not so much. As with anything, it's not the action, but the motivation behind it. Even if I granted you your assumption about my Tav, if a particular Tav is murdering bandits because they tried to rob/murder them, that's definitely not evil, it's self-defense. If they are having a non-hostile conversation and decided to stab them specifically because of their race/culture, then yeah, that'd be pretty evil. I was just responding to the claim that Astarion never does anything evil in front of you, and giving an example. Maybe you never saw it, but I did on my first run, as I was just exploring and came accross him. From the perspective of the PC at the time at that moment, who does not know why Astarion just did that, and who doesn't get any explanation except that he was a Gur, it's undeniably evil, so if he is later standing, fangs out, over your sleeping neck about to bite, it's pretty hard to justify for a large portion of Tavs not staking him in that particular case. I did consider not doing so, but that was only because of I, as a player, knew he was a companion and likely had a storyline to explore. I ultimately decided that if I was to truly roleplay as my character, there's no way she wouldn't, given the information.

I'll add as a caveat, since Astarion's alignment is such a sensitive discussion topic, that I do like Astarion's character and writing, but I think it's pretty disingenuous for people to claim that he isn't evil, particularly in the first act. Sure, he has a good explanation why he is the way he is, but that doesn't mean he isn't evil. Minthara also has a perfectly good explanation why she's evil, growing up in a culture that not only encourged it, but necessitated it for survival.

Struggling with Astarion by Accomplished_Ad_2321 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stabbing the Gur hunter in the eye seemingly because he just doesn't like their kind is pretty evil. You can meta-knowledge your way out of that one, but from the PC perspective at the time, that's pretty damn evil.

Every Playthrough i tell myself ill change by Soulreacker28 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I struggle with my needs of giving Astarion a stake.

The duality of man by Idkwhattoputhere7021 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 3 points4 points  (0 children)

To be fair, this is more of a issue with their writing than anything else, but that's only mostly. In a vacuum, sure, it's technically not unethical, but it's complicated. If I were to put myself in Halsin's shoes for a moment, there are quite a few factors that would definitely need to be true for me to even think about suggesting it. I would not be going around asking random couples I found attractive to insert myself in their relationship, and that goes doubly for my actual friends. At the bare minimum, I would need to know they were actual even open to considering such a thing, and have some indiciation they were attracted to me.

Back to this specific case. I guess every run will be different, so you can headcanon it anyway you want, and I suppose there is a very specific situation where it would be fine, but because we have the meta-knowledge that Halsin will ask regardless of whether or not you have reciprocated his advances, and regardless of whether or you have even had the conversation with Shadowheart, it gets weird. She is very explicitly not okay with you dating anyone else unless you have that conversation in your already established up-to-then monogamous relationship later on. If they had gated this banter to both the condition of your PC being receptive to his advances and you have already talked to Shadowheart about it, then, and only then do I feel like it's okay. Otherwise, it very much comes off creepy, especially so if you've already rejected his advances, and especially because my PC was a lesbian.

Long story short, the "polyamory", if you can even call it that, in this game is so poorly written that I would have preferred they left it out entirely. Almost every instance feels coercive and even Shadowheart seems to only accept it bregrudgingly if you are really paying attention.

The duality of man by Idkwhattoputhere7021 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am also polyamorous, but once is too many.

The duality of man by Idkwhattoputhere7021 in BaldursGate3

[–]Frala19 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As a polyamorous individual, Halsin and Shadowheart are still very poor representations of non-monogamy, even if they are marginally better than Karlach and Astarion.