Baldur's Gate and Multiplayer?

SionIV

What is up with everyone and their need for Multiplayer with BGEE? This game has been out for over 15 years and it's never been that famous to play multiplayer. Not even back in the days with Gamespy a lot of people played it multiplayer.

Now i'm reading several threads with the following : I bought this game specifically to play multiplayer.

I can't help but to think that there are three logical reasons for this.

1.) People bought the wrong game.
2.) Beamdog somehow advertised this game as a multiplayer game or MMO.
3.) People though it was the new Diablo, like back in the days with BG1.

I personally HATE playing this game multiplayer because it annoys the hell out of me having other people pause my game and having to wait on them, then the whole resting for spells and where should we go. I don't want to go to Friendly Arm Inn, i want to go to Beregost! But we're stuck in the same zone?

Baldur's Gate has never and will never be a multiplayer game.

Is it possible to play it in Multiplayer? Yes.
Was it designed for Multiplayer? No.

So anyone else care to share their thoughts on this? Am i just odd?

jackjack

To be fair, it was and remains an advertised feature, and the EE promotional material emphasized that they would revamp it. But with different versions across the platforms, it hasn't really panned out yet.
Myself, I loathe the very idea—it's one of the many reasons I steer clear of MMOs. I've seen too many games get "balanced" for multiplayer, often to the detriment of the single player experience.

Corvino

I honestly tried to play multiplayer with the last patch, and the obstacles were pretty severe. There were a lot of disconnects, lag and general weirdness. I usually play single player, but sometimes I do want to play with a friend.

elminster

SionIV said:

2.) Beamdog somehow advertised this game as a multiplayer game or MMO.

They put a lot of emphasis on advertising its improved multiplayer, especially the idea that it would be cross-platform compatible.

https://twitter.com/TrentOster/statuses/229603408062078977

https://twitter.com/TrentOster/status/185448387653550081

As jackjack noted so far that hasn't panned out very well given various platforms now have various version numbers.

They also advertised that the game would have multi-player matchmaking (and unfortunately the website even said it had it after BGEE was released) but obviously that didn't happen until 1.2 was released. Even when 1.2 was released I tried playing with a group of people but it was like pulling teeth. It just would not connect well with more than 2-3 people.

Anyways, I don't really think the gameplay leaves multiplayer as being very ideal outside of playing it with your friends while in the same room (or perhaps with headphones) but I also don't see why it couldn't be considered both a single player and a multi-player game.

meagloth

I think most people play multi with theirs friends, all in a room together. I dont think theres anything wrong with It, and beamdog should definitely get it working. I would really love to have multiplayer works cross platform, as. Advertised.

DoorDie

Well, you're free to be hyperbolic about it, but the game was indeed designed with multiplayer in mind. You travel together because you're a party... this game very much mimicks pen and paper, which has contributed to a large portion of its success. It sounds like you prefer a more hack-n-slash or mmo-styled game. All the players I've played with haven't had an issue with the pause mechanic; it's pretty integral to the experience IMHO.

That said, the game was programmed back in the days when developers had to do a lot of the low-level network communication and timing resolution by hand. This is by no means an excuse for Beamdog, but it is imaginable that the code written for bg2 multiplayer is tied too closely into the game code itself for them to change it with the resources they have. There could be any number of explanations, but I also can't see why they wouldn't benefit from getting true cross-platform multiplayer working.

jackjack

Eh, I don't know about that. Being averse to multiplayer in no way equates to liking hack and slash and/or MMO style games—I steer clear of both. You're right that this game has parallels to PnP, and this is part of the draw. However, I much prefer controlling all four, five, or six party members on my own.
The game was designed with multiplayer in mind, true, but I certainly wouldn't say it was ever the primary focus.
Edit: I'm particularly confused as to why you think someone who doesn't like multiplayer would prefer an MMO.

CrevsDaak

Well, it works better than my BG2's MP (it crashes when I create a session, all the times), and I can get @Quartz‌ to confirm that it works, even if it sometimes crashes (it crashed for us the first time we played XD).
I agree with @SionIV‌, the game isn't made to be played as MP (at least BG1, BG2 has non-pausing dialogs), but you can get fun from doing so too. Playing with someone else maybe isn't better than playing alone with mods, but I enjoyed a lot of what I played.

Gallowglass

I've never been interested in MP for BG, never even wanted to try it, never have, neither in the original games nor with EE. There again, I've never been hugely enthusiastic about MP even with games that are more suitable for MP ... I've occasionally been known to go MP in a couple of other games, but my experience of MP was generally negative - there are far too many childish @$$holes out there whose only pleasure in life seems to be spoiling other people's fun.

Nevertheless, Beamdog advertised MP features, so now they ought to deliver on the commitment they made to those who like MP.

killerrabbit

Gallowglass said:

I've never been interested in MP for BG, never even wanted to try it, never have, neither in the original games nor with EE. There again, I've never been hugely enthusiastic about MP even with games that are more suitable for MP ... I've occasionally been known to go MP in a couple of other games, but my experience of MP was generally negative - there are far too many childish @$$holes out there whose only pleasure in life seems to be spoiling other people's fun.

Nevertheless, Beamdog advertised MP features, so now they ought to deliver on the commitment they made to those who like MP.

This pretty much sums up my feelings -- Beamdog advertized multiplayer so they have to support it but, as @jackjack said multiplayer compatibility comes at cost of the desktop experience. I suspect that MP support sucks lots of development time and I wish it could be eliminated but also understand why BD can't do that.

Pibaro

I totally agree with @SionIV‌
I spend many hours back in 2000 playing bg2 in multi with some friends, but it was annoying.
I think you can play it in multi, but it's not designed for the multi.
I think you can multi just some encounters, or something like that, but to play the entire game (not to mention the entire trilogy) is too much.

Twani

I don't play MP- in general, my game is so modded up it would be near impossible to find someone to play MP with! But I do remember playing it back with my uncle back in the 2000 or so. It was fun, but difficult, and the game didn't seem meant for it.

Beamdog said quite clearly that they were going to make better MP support. And... they really didn't. MP BG isn't really my interest, but Beamdog marketed this game to people who do want that MP support, and I think they should be held to that. Advertising something and then not having it is pretty uncool, in my eyes.

Quartz

Biggest reason I invested in the Enhanced Editions was for the promise of improved multiplayer.

So ... Yeah, it's been frustrating.

element

well I wanted to play mp with my brother... it didn't go to well

its actually quite fun in mp I believe coordinating a party in which multiple players are present is pretty fun and a very different experience imo, if some what clunky

do I enjoy mp as much as single player no? not even close. But, I would never say it doesn't have a place I understand why people like it and a game every now and again can be fun.

Gotural

BG:EE multiplayer works fine between my friend's mac and my PC. Can't speak for BG2:EE though.

I also think the game wasn't designed for multiplayer but still, something in my heart is EAGER to play a multiplayer game WITHOUT ANY PAUSE. Like, everyone play only his own character made by himself in real time, it would be a total mess.
The mages would blast their friends with non-party friendly spell etc. I think it would be a lot of fun and it would be a totally new experience.

TarotMaster

I was excited to see a mp option, because i had trouble setting up online games with others in IceWind Dale 2 via Himatchi. As far as the pausing goes it can be a bit tricky, but with co-operation i think it should work out fine. Playing an entire game on mp i think i have seen it done before on youtube. But it seemed to take a long time to do and i don't think they finished it.

ElectricZ

Back in the day, in the far off 1990's, I played through Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 multiplayer several times. Never once did I complete the game single player. I had (and still have) a regular group of friends that used to play pen and paper RPG's, D&D included. Baldur's Gate was the very first one that let us make a party online and play a serious campaign without having to have a GM, which was fantastic because by that point, several years out of college, we were all scattered around the country. BG, combined with voice chat, let us all play like we were in the same room. It's still one of my all time favorite gaming experiences.

With BG I and II Enhanced, we were all jazzed about playing it again, though now we have different platforms. It was a huge selling point for all of us. I even bought it PC on both PC and Android so I could play at home or on the road... which I can do, but only single player.

I guess the bottom line is that if you've played BG multiplayer, you miss it when it's not there. I can't see playing with strangers - the campaign could take over 100 hours to complete. But with a regular dedicated group, online multiplayer is a godsend. You can't get a more pure RPG experience than multiplayer Baldur's Gate unless you gather around the table with papers, pen, dice and graph paper.

I've got my fingers crossed that Beamdog makes it work.

p.s. sure would be nice if BG1 could be transferred to Steam if bought through Beamdog, but I know that might not be up to them.

terzaerian

You're being purposely obtuse if you're conflating MMOs with local multiplayer. Playing a game of BG with friends is nowhere near the same thing as an MMORPG, and is a different experience all around than either single player BG or an MMO. The reason it tends to leave a bad taste in the mouth is more due to the sheer difficulty of getting it set up, and failing to configure it correctly (you can turn the pausing off -_-).

SpaceInvader

SionIV said:

What is up with everyone and their need for Multiplayer with BGEE? This game has been out for over 15 years and it's never been that famous to play multiplayer. Not even back in the days with Gamespy a lot of people played it multiplayer.

Now i'm reading several threads with the following : I bought this game specifically to play multiplayer.

I can't help but to think that there are three logical reasons for this.

1.) People bought the wrong game.
2.) Beamdog somehow advertised this game as a multiplayer game or MMO.
3.) People though it was the new Diablo, like back in the days with BG1.

I personally HATE playing this game multiplayer because it annoys the hell out of me having other people pause my game and having to wait on them, then the whole resting for spells and where should we go. I don't want to go to Friendly Arm Inn, i want to go to Beregost! But we're stuck in the same zone?

Baldur's Gate has never and will never be a multiplayer game.

Is it possible to play it in Multiplayer? Yes.
Was it designed for Multiplayer? No.

So anyone else care to share their thoughts on this? Am i just odd?

Yes. Yes, you are odd as hell..!