Will there be any leniancy on time-related quests concerning Jahiera, Viconia ect..

1130210

This isn't more of a request but rather I think something that should be fixed. You always had to wait ridiculously long for the time-related aspects of their romances to trigger. Resting didn't help, either. I'm hoping they *FIX* that. Because as a fan, it's practically broken.

It wouldn't even count how many hours you've been playing. Only how many hours straight you've played. I played Baldur's Gate II like 4 times, and not once did I ever complete a romance.

EDIT: In another aspect, I'm talking about a part of the game that didn't age well.
This is something about the romances that didn't age well compared to how modern games rpgs (bioware, mass effect) did it.

Aristillius

Yeah, a little tweaking on the romances would be welcome.

Shin

I disagree completely. In virtually all my games (not counting the very early ones when romances tended to bug out) the romances have finished before I've even managed to reach Brynnlaw, even if I leave several of the main sidequests until chapter six. So if anything I'd like for it to be more time between romance talks/events, as it currently feels a bit rushed. Make them twice as long and I might have a chance to complete them closer to the Bodhi kidnapping event.

But I guess that goes to show how different playing styles can be.


I guess I can agree in some respects that the romances haven't aged so well, mostly the fashion in how you have to help each romance NPC overcome some large emotional problem and then eventually get to sleep with them as a kind of reward/culmination of the entire thing. It doesn't feel very relaxed or modern.
On the other hand, such a turn of events seems relatively reasonable in Aerie's and Jaheria's romances given what they've been through, and Viconia's romance (which has always been my favourite) doesn't really adhere to that concept.
The only thing I feel would be needed is probably just more romantic content, more and varied RP-style interaction with your love interest - the vanilla romances sometimes feel a bit restricted in comparison to more extensive NPC ones (Fade and Dynaheir are good examples) where the romance becomes a more integrated part of the game.

Then again, there's an important balance between making a romance involving and having it take over too many aspects of the game (Saerileth is arguably an example of the latter).

Corvino

@Shin I'm pretty sure there's a real-time counter between various romance dialogues, and have had to leave BG2 vanilla running for several hours in pause while doing other things to get subplots to advance in the past. Jaheira's is the worst for this, as a number of events only occur on resting outdoors (and how often do you do that in BG2?) and her timer seems longest. Aerie and Viconia have far fewer problems.

Shin

I can agree a resting outdoors requirement seems kind of arbitrary given the ease with which you can reach inns in BG2. But as for the real time, I've always viewed it as a good thing. Going for awhile between romance talks, both in-game and in terms of real time, makes it feel more natural.

Also, there are romance accelerator scripts available that I believe will drastically cut down on the romance talk time - that seems like a much better option than shortening the baseline.

Lord_Tansheron

The baseline should be measured by the "average" player; granted, it's difficult to establish such an average, especially in a game this old. I don't recall how it was for me back when I was oblivious to the details of the game, 100 playthroughs ago... I think I'd remember problems or annoyances, so it was probably alright.

I guess one could argue that with the progress made in Baldur's Gate and gaming in general, and the overall higher "skill level" of contemporary gamers, people could probably be expected to complete the game more quickly than they used to. As such, shortening the time between "love talks" is probably not the worst idea.

Thrasymachus

The Jaheira romance can be extremely frustrating, given the real time trigger and the need to sleep outdoors.

It was insanely frustrating to play 40+ hours, respond 'correctly' to all the relevant dialogue options, only to have the romance be left 'hanging' because I (obliviously) missed the timer trigger.

So yes, PLEASE FIX THIS!

ChildofBhaal599

Yeah, they should probably fix the jaheira one especially. Give us something to try and make us rest outdoors, like make everyone fatigued when the trigger is ready and you are outdoors.

pekirt

There was a mod that did exactly what @1130210 asked for. (Need to sleep outdoors for a druid lover is best left "unfixed", I'd say.)

Corvino

@pekirt The only problem with the resting outdoors parts is that they're not signposted. You just stop getting banters with no explanation given until you rest outdoors. A simple change like a one-line banter "I'd like to sleep under the stars sometime, all this city living makes me feel apart from nature" etc to set it up would be a push in the right direction.

pekirt

@Corvino That would be a good idea. So, a feature request, then?

http://forum.baldursgate.com/categories/feature-requests

edit: (...too lazy to do it myself...)

JuliusBorisov

I'm fully with @Shin on this and against fixing these timers.

I've played BGT several times and it had many romance timers decreased. It spoiled everything for me. The end of Jaheira romance, for ie, took place BEFORE Bodhi had a chance to interfere. It was a very strange feeling, especially compared with the vanilla longevity. In the vanilla BG2 the end of Jaheira (the apperaring of Elminster) took place when the party came to the surface from the Underdark. It was the best time, I think.

The fact some people find these romances too long means they just tend to play quickly. But there're also people who like to explore every piece of any map, do every quest available etc. I'm from these people. If you don't rush you'll take pleasure from these romances.

Personally, I even liked that it took time. It resembles a real life where all the personal decisions are far from being quick. The wait only makes the appetite better.

Thrasymachus

I have no problem with the romances taking a 'long time' (though relying on real time, as opposed to game time, seems weird).

My problem is specifically with the Jaheira romance.

There are two areas where the romance seems to freeze. First, Dermin does not always appear when he should (why, I'm not sure). Second, Terminsel does not always appear to give your PC the note. These problems seem to be associated with the timer, as far as I can tell, and the need to sleep outdoors.

I'm not sure they're outright bugs, but they make completing the Jaheira romance damn hard, if not impossible.