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Priorities and Exploration

RussellRussell Member Posts: 8
in Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
One of the problems with expansion content, as with many of the more interesting side quests, is they often feel like an illogical diversion from the more pressing narrative. For example, you're in the middle of unraveling a diabolical conspiracy to plunge the entire Sword Coast into chaos and war for the specific purpose of granting a bald homicidal maniac the necessary power to ultimately kill all of his brethren, including yours vicariously truly, and thus ascend his mortal existence to become the new Evil God of Killing Things, but something fishy may be happening on some island in the middle of the ocean, and we've got a map, so let's make sure to check that out first. Oh, and speaking of more pressing matters, you heard about this really cool tower that offers sight seeing tours. Why not take a break from running down leads and searching for clues as to why a giant, horned helmeted glowey eyed dude just showed up one night with some of his hooligan buddies and decided to prison shank your dad, and instead go have a gander at what I'd guess amounts to a fantasy medieval world's version of Disney Land? Well, probably a shade closer to Euro Disney, but either way it might help you take your mind off things. So, screw whatever malignant blight may have befallen the main source of metal to the region causing your stuff to occasionally break at inopportune times, and screw all those bandits out in the woods firing their frosty projectiles at hapless travelers! I mean, when else are you, in your new line of work and with such a hectic schedule and all, likely to get another opportunity to traipse through a creepy old tower and look at dead things, and relics? This is fantasy role playing, damn it, and not the kinky variety! We need priorities!

Having said all of that, there's an opportunity here to let us simply pick up where we left off, following the conclusive fratricide that wrapped up our pesky main plot so neatly (or messily, as we may wish to imagine those culminating events), watch an added cut-scene or two, attend a special little party in our honor, maybe a parade, with hookers, enjoy some free (albeit completely useless) wine, receive the standard congratulatory handshake from our governing betters followed by the customary boot out the door with a little extra spending gold, and from there we're free to simply continue on our way. We can check out Faerun's answer to Euro Disney, or head off to a semi-tropical island getaway and sip our (again) useless fruity alcoholic beverages from a coconut whilst being attacked by werewolves, or wrestle a demon, or free a captured nymph, or kill a captured nymph, or possibly engage in a new kinky variety of special role play with our captured nymph, all at our leisure, until we decide to check out some new area which leads us to bridging the gap between main story lines.

I don't care if every inhabitant of the Sword Coast is reprogrammed to spout the same banal lines, wherever appropriate, about yesterday's perilous events now thankfully solved. I don't care if they thank me personally, or even recognize me as that guy who really got sht done, and I certainly don't care if they offer to buy me free drinks because those damn things are completely useless!! And I'm not looking for the channeled ghost of Shakespeare here, honestly, not even for a huge degree of variance, I'm really not. For instance, every member of the Flaming Fist guarding this that or the other may have been shot in the knee by one of those frosty arrows mentioned earlier; I don't care!

All I'm asking for is a little me time, after a hard run of adventuring, to do some more random adventuring. I'd like the chance to go around exploring and collecting stuff that didn't make any sense to bother with earlier, level up my character, collect more loot than I can use or fit in my inventory, more gold than I can spend or should be able to physically carry, more cherished memories with valuable comrades, many of whom, as we've learned through our glimpse into the next installment, are very much expendable. I want to Live, Overhaul Games a division of Beamdog entertainment, won't you let me live!!? Is that really so much to ask for a chunk of my hard earned money in the midst of this deflationary spiral? No, so thank you and get cracking. Those who agree, please type sjgfiwusghkdjfhuiowehfksdjfhksjfhasjdfh ajkfhkasjdgfaoskdui kldfjlaskdfhaskldjh in response to let these developers know how you feel. Change we can believe in.

Comments

  • cmk24cmk24 Member Posts: 605
    Seeing as SoD will take place *after* the events of BG, it will not interrupt the main story in any way (unlike the previous expansion to BG). It will be implemented like ToB and have its own world map.
  • RussellRussell Member Posts: 8
    cmk24 said:

    Seeing as SoD will take place *after* the events of BG, it will not interrupt the main story in any way (unlike the previous expansion to BG). It will be implemented like ToB and have its own world map.

    Yes, but that's precisely why it grants the opportunity to go back and finish other stuff before transitioning into those new maps, *because* the main quest is done with and we're now officially between stories.

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758
    But in the same time it would require a lot of work. The areas from the BG city have been repainted for SoD, so in order to make other BG areas available in SoD, it would have required additional months of development.

    This is what I see as the main reason of not giving us an option to go back to a lot of BG1 areas in SoD.

    SoD will give us more than 70 areas, this is rather a big amount. I think we'll get a chance for free adventuring on some of them because Phillip Daigle said that SoD will combine a BG1 feeling and a BG2 determination.
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    @Russell Let's look at the original time frame for the release of these games:

    First there was BG (on five discs), then (seemingly ages later) came TotSC (on one disc) which would mostly only appeal to those who had already finished BG. Thus when you installed the disc it started in Ulgoth's Beard with only two party options; a pre-made 'canon' party or with the automatically imported party that you had FINISHED BG with.
    In other words, TotSC was stand alone freebie time, you were under no obligation to go back and kill Sarevok all over again, because your main quest was already completed, although you could if you wished to (and the final battle was made harder to account for your extra XP). Only in subsequent games would Ulgoth's appear on the BG world map but you still had to insert the TotSC disc in order to specifically play those areas.

    THEN came Durlag's Tower which only appeared when BGEE was released (in the original TotSC there was no one Algoth's Beard who offered to guide you to Durlag's). Although this can be regarded as freebie, add-on area it was never a stand alone mini-game in it's own right.

    So, TotSC was never an integral part of the original BG, had zero impact on the plot and was effectively your "down time" reward for having beaten Sarevok.
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    dunbar said:


    THEN came Durlag's Tower which only appeared when BGEE was released (in the original TotSC there was no one Algoth's Beard who offered to guide you to Durlag's). Although this can be regarded as freebie, add-on area it was never a stand alone mini-game in it's own right.

    Fairly sure this isn't true. I've always had a guide option when I played pre-BGEE. I did always take care to update the the latest patch though.
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    edited August 2015
    @decado I was referring to the original BG (the five disc version), not "BG - The Original Saga" in which you can clearly see that the Durlag's Tower icon on the world map was done later as a retrofit by a different graphic artist.
  • RussellRussell Member Posts: 8
    dunbar said:

    @Russell Let's look at the original time frame for the release of these games: Um, I think that may just be the Paramnesia talking. Durlag's Tower was always an integral part of the expansion from the beginning. It had, like, four quests basically, and Durlags was part of the main quest line. The werewolves, I believe, were optional. Can't remember about the frozen island, but that one kind of sucked anyway IMO. Regardless, I still don't see why they can't simply back-fill access to the old pre-existing map, with a few added dialogue tweaks, and let us step into the new one when we're ready. Isn't that precisely what the trilogy mod did?

    First there was BG (on five discs), then (seemingly ages later) came TotSC (on one disc) which would mostly only appeal to those who had already finished BG. Thus when you installed the disc it started in Ulgoth's Beard with only two party options; a pre-made 'canon' party or with the automatically imported party that you had FINISHED BG with.
    In other words, TotSC was stand alone freebie time, you were under no obligation to go back and kill Sarevok all over again, because your main quest was already completed, although you could if you wished to (and the final battle was made harder to account for your extra XP). Only in subsequent games would Ulgoth's appear on the BG world map but you still had to insert the TotSC disc in order to specifically play those areas.

    THEN came Durlag's Tower which only appeared when BGEE was released (in the original TotSC there was no one Algoth's Beard who offered to guide you to Durlag's). Although this can be regarded as freebie, add-on area it was never a stand alone mini-game in it's own right.

    So, TotSC was never an integral part of the original BG, had zero impact on the plot and was effectively your "down time" reward for having beaten Sarevok.

  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Durlag's Tower was always part of ToSC. Originally, you HAD to choose the tour option at Ulgoth's Beard, you couldn't walk there on the overland map.
  • ArcanisArcanis Member Posts: 377
    My memory sayy that Durlags Tower is part of TotSC..
    Anyways, no it was part of the BG voyage since it is assumed that you do it *before* fighting Sarevok.
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    There is a lot of confusion around the 'original' version, as came to light in this thread: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/35596/baldurs-gate-the-original-saga-box-content-question
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    I'm not confused, I was there.
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