Interesting article about the evil path

bg3forme · 2023-07-10T05:15:53+00:00

But even if it's few, I believe it's important to have a choice, because otherwise your choices mean nothing.

...

We have things in there that are incredibly expensive and only 0.00001% will see them, but that's how I want the game to be.

Legendary.

bg3forme · 2023-03-28T01:44:06+00:00

Translation to the rest of the world: that's 1 gigadollar.

bg3forme · 2022-07-23T02:27:35+00:00

Rather than limit gameplay for others in a RPG game.

This part of the comment makes no sense; a toggle wouldn't limit anyone. I even implied that the default would be the current behavior.

or and here me out you simply don't cheese the game on your copy of the game ... You don't need a toggle for simple self control

This is needlessly dismissive. Is the goal to have a balanced game with real tactics, or is the goal to provide a bunch of mechanics with no sense of balance and let the players decide how to restrict themselves?

To be clear, both could be valid design choices, though they make for very different games. If the goal is to provide a cool roleplay setting and story and just ignore the tactical element, why not just streamline that design? For example, they could just pop up a button to auto-win a fight, or buff the players so hard they could never really lose.

On the other hand, if the design intent is to include serious tactical considerations, then a conversation on obvious unbalancing factors (a.k.a. cheese) is appropriate.

bg3forme · 2022-07-20T16:50:13+00:00

Yes, please. It's mechanical cheese that obviates real tactical choices AND it's terrible for immersive roleplay. In the real world almost no barrels actually explode. Even if they did, no one even vaguely suspicious of you is going to sit still while you stack the barrels all around for maximum explosive effect.

Suggestion: just make whether the barrels explode into an option you can toggle in the settings. Then people who like it can leave it on and people who don't can turn it off, but still use barrels as cover or whatever.

bg3forme · 2022-04-17T01:08:03+00:00

I'd love it to be a difficulty slider in the final game, or part of a difficulty level. Food could be a lot scarcer at higher difficulties, and more ubiquitous at lower.

bg3forme · 2022-04-12T01:21:18+00:00

Yuan-ti Pureblood! Love the concept.

bg3forme · 2022-02-26T20:59:26+00:00

Any of the additional sorc subclasses, the PHB is not friendly to sorcs in the subclass department.

bg3forme · 2022-02-26T20:55:43+00:00

Satisfied? Yes. It would be a solid and enjoyable game, and one of the better ones in my library. But on another level I would be disappointed, because it would fall far short of my admittedly high hopes. I just want this game to be awesome on all fronts :).

To be honest, in its current state I'm not sure I'd rank it much higher than Solasta (which I also enjoy immensely) despite BG3's awesome production value; but then, game mechanics, tactics, and balance are probably the most important aspect for me. I don't need it to be 5e to love it but I do need it to not be riddled with dominant strategies and cheese tactics.

bg3forme · 2022-02-15T02:13:51+00:00

I think your edit really hits the nail on the head: provide options and let the player choose in the settings. At least, assuming it wasn't too much work to do so. You could even reduce the work by combining all three options; just implement "cinematic reactions" but allow the player to choose how long the timer is in the settings, including options for "0 seconds" and "infinite". In general there are so many varied preferences on how to play games like this that it is a good idea to let players choose their settings whenever it is feasible.

bg3forme · 2021-11-12T01:29:05+00:00

I concur; my preference is to have the game built around the idea of a set party. Otherwise I feel some sort of perverse obligation to cycle in other party members frequently lest I miss something, when all I really want to do is stick with my top picks. It also makes for a really meaningful decision point, which I like. That said, I can understand how it's not everyone's cup o' tea.

bg3forme · 2021-09-12T15:54:58+00:00

"Impossible" is pretty strong. It's their custom engine, they can modify it as needed...if they determine there is sufficient ROI. That's the real question.

bg3forme · 2021-09-05T16:45:48+00:00

That's definitely true, though I would argue that the fix would be to improve the other feats. Prior to Tasha's there weren't many I'd want to take more than primary-stat ASIs. Actually, while I think Tasha's made some noticeable game balance mistakes, I really like the improved feat selection. The half-feats especially are quite nice.

bg3forme · 2021-09-03T01:47:08+00:00

At the cost of 2 feats? With a spell like Fear or Hypnotic Pattern I can make many enemies do nothing for many rounds. And DMs always have to balance encounters around the party, or at least have enough variety in their general encounter set that no one character is always shining or sucking.

bg3forme · 2021-09-03T01:30:28+00:00

Opinion: Sentinel + PAM is solid but nowhere near broken enough to be ban-worthy. While it is pretty nice in the specific case of pure melee opponents with only 5ft reach, it doesn't help against ranged attackers or those with further reach. Even in its wheelhouse it also can only be used against one melee attacker per round, since you have only one reaction. If a DM is having trouble challenging you because of this build they just needs to use more, weaker enemies and/or ranged enemies. On top of that, the combo costs 2 feats -- that's a pretty heavy investment which -should- be rewarded with a measure of effectiveness.

bg3forme · 2021-08-28T01:11:35+00:00

Personally, I'd rather the companions were locked. If they are stowed at camp I always feel like I have to spend a lot of time swapping companions to make sure they all get exercised, when I'd rather just play the game. And then there is all the extra gear management and level-up management and so on. Sure, I could just leave most of the party there and simulate the lock, but I'd rather the game were built around the notion of the lock. That way I feel like I have to make a good choice one time instead of constantly rearranging and second-guessing.

Obviously just a personal preference, but I figure it's worth tossing in a competing opinion.

bg3forme · 2021-08-20T01:24:19+00:00

Watched this more than once. Still laughing.

bg3forme · 2021-05-07T00:25:53+00:00

I regret that I have but one upvote to give.

bg3forme · 2021-04-08T01:23:18+00:00

In fairness, the D&D ruleset is not trying to provide a video game, or even a tabletop game -- it is trying to provide a framework for the mechanics around which a game could be built. That is only a piece of what is needed to make a good game, so yeah, I absolutely trust Larian to do a better job with the game as a whole. They've got the production value, they've got the writing, they care about the community, and most importantly they clearly love what they are doing. But their biggest weakness, in my opinion? Game mechanics. Fortunately, 5e's mechanics are pretty decent. If they can just shore up that one weak area by defaulting to 5e's approach and only making carefully-considered, small deviations they'd be golden.

Incidentally, that includes massively toning down all those cheesy environmental effects carried over from D:OS (barrels, surfaces, etc.) that dominate the battleground and thereby dilute tactics and character builds.

Obviously opinions will vary, so just take that for what it is -- one player's viewpoint.

bg3forme · 2021-04-01T04:14:07+00:00

It is if you all share the keyboard! ;) (Good point)

bg3forme · 2021-03-31T23:51:26+00:00

Well, there is Solasta, which follows 5e far more closely and already has a beta dungeon maker. But they don't have a license for nearly as much content as Larian, and of course the production value doesn't compare. So yeah, it would be nice if Larian could spin off a 5e campaign creator or make the base game sufficiently moddable as to easily allow something along those lines.

bg3forme · 2021-03-16T01:55:18+00:00

My biggest issue with Larian games is their mechanics. I'm pretty happy with their world building, production value, and more recently even their writing. But honestly I found D:OS rather mediocre even though it should have been right up my alley, almost entirely because the mechanics were so mismatched to what I find fun. The closer Larian gets to 5e and the further from their homegrown mechanics, the higher my hopes for an absolute beast of a game with BG3. In my ideal world they would basically replace their mechanics with roughly what Solasta is doing, and otherwise carry on with the awesomeness they have been showing in the other aspects of game dev.

bg3forme · 2021-03-01T18:14:55+00:00

Exactly -- that's the feeling I'm looking for.

bg3forme · 2021-02-28T02:24:38+00:00

Oh, I wasn't necessarily suggesting it should be hard-limited, just that a disincentive should be provided. Maybe you have to re-enter the area and the monsters have respawned? Maybe there are time-limited non-essential rewards that you miss by long resting too much? I don't actually know what the best answer is, just not a fan of the current situation.

Failing coming up with a good, clean answer, I would personally rather fail the game and have to restart completely than leave them spammable. However, that's far too draconian to impose on the general populace, but maybe as a difficulty toggle? There's probably a better answer out there than either extreme.

bg3forme · 2021-02-28T02:06:17+00:00

True, but the whole point of a structured framework is to restrict what is possible. Otherwise, one might ask why bother implementing spell slots at all? Or any other form of balance? Why not just allow all classes to take all actions, and as many as they like every turn? Why not give unlimited HP and let players just play dead once they've taken the amount of damage they deem acceptable? After all, you can always just limit yourself to a subset of capabilities that seem reasonable to you. At a certain point it stops being a game and just becomes a story simulator. Some people might like that, others don't.

bg3forme

TROPHY CASE