Why SoD and Beamdog are important
thefirstbigw
Member Posts: 2
Back in the late 90's, it was amazing to see Bioware rise to such great heights so quickly with Baldurs Gate and its sequel, and I think I speak for many when I say that it was equally disappointing to see the direction that Bioware went afterwards.
To watch them depart from that pinnacle of crpg complexity in order to create games with mass market appeal that were more "cinematic" and action-oriented was very frustrating and disheartening to many of us.
So to have Beamdog pick up this crpg torch of valuing substance over style all these years later seems like a modern day miracle.
This is why Beamdog and this expansion are so important to modern game design as well as a breath of fresh air to so many of us.
To watch them depart from that pinnacle of crpg complexity in order to create games with mass market appeal that were more "cinematic" and action-oriented was very frustrating and disheartening to many of us.
So to have Beamdog pick up this crpg torch of valuing substance over style all these years later seems like a modern day miracle.
This is why Beamdog and this expansion are so important to modern game design as well as a breath of fresh air to so many of us.
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Comments
So we know what signs to look for if Beamdog loses it's focus: if mages start making flashy sword-dance moves.
Although I've boycotted Bioware, I did love their games, and hopefully Beamdog will pick up where Bioware left off years ago.
(I mostly don't buy any mainstream titles these days, boycotting the industry for screwing up DRM - but will probably make an exception for Mass Effect: Andromeda)
As for the original topic, I think Bioware continued evolving the games that started with the Balder's Gate series. One of the most commonly observed differences between BG and BG2 is the richer NPC interactions, and that engagement with the virtual members of your party, trying to tell a rich story for a role-playing experience, is clearly the area they decided to focus on - and that is not a bad thing.
At some point, rather than having a rich world to be explored by the gamer, it turned into telling largely the same rich story for all players, due to the cost of creating such detailed content rather than leaving much of the detail to our respective imaginations. Old school games succeed in much the same way that radio has better pictures than TV - most folks don't appreciate that, and won't appreciate old-school gaming for the same reason, when offered more modern alternatives.
While Bioware may be seen as simply chasing the dollar, I think that is much more of an EA trait (marketing through almost-mandatory DLC etc.) while I see Bioware up to that point simply trying to entertain a larger audience.
I think there is plenty of room for both old-school and new-school Bioware gaming, and am very happy Beamdog have picked up the mantle of the old. EA with the new, not so much.
On the old school we have Obsidian, InXile and Beamdog too. Also Larian too.
All around good time for crpgs.
It was their DLC practices in part - I bought all their DLC, but then saw the route they took with the prothen DLC. Also (just my point of view) for a company that heavily pushed inclusivity, they completely missed the point (or chose to) with the Tali romance by making her a stunningly beautiful supermodel with alien hands.
They should have at least given her a third nostril...
All in all I don't have a problem with DLC, and have a disposable income when it comes to gaming (I put $1000 each in to TTON, Wasteland2, POE), and if Beamdog started cranking out the DLC e.g. $5-10 for NPC kit quests such as making Jaheira a wizard killer, I'd be behind it.
I even play games from every genre, and don't mind when companies dip into other areas - like Obsidian with Dungeon Siege, or that tank game - but I've worked in corrupt companies that have contempt for their clients and Bioware started to show that in their buisness dealings.
Or I might have been drinking too much at the time and completely misread the situation.
But watching the Beamdog guys in livestreams/interviews aswell as knowing how good/funny a writer David Gaider is gives me a sense that Beamdog have a great positivity and culture about them for the future.
...Unless they're all Dopplegangers and Mindflayers with a master plan...
In mass effect 2's case it created a stellar game, but the mechanics were very much grars of war with rpg numbers sprinkled on top and ever since then the game philosophy is almost attempting to drift as far away from rpgs as possible while still maintaing itself as mainly an rpg creator.
Do you not buy Steam games in that case since that is also DRM? Almost no games are DRM-free these days.
DRM is fine when its non-invasive, doesn't steal your personal data, and doesn't stop you from playing games you actually purchased. If it can't do that, you shouldn't tolerate it.
There's plenty of places that sell DRM free games; GOG.com (my personal favorite & obviously the one I use the most), FireFlower Games, Playism-Games, itch.io, IndieGala, Groupees, Bundle In A Box, some of the games sold by Humble Bundle (just be care to filter for only DRM Free because a lot of what the sell are keys for Steam or other services such as Origin, Uplay, et cetera). At one time this also included Indie Royale & Desura, but given the fact that Desura is in bankruptcy proceedings and that Indie Royale is in part owned by the same company as Desura I would suggest not potentially wasting money with them at this time.
I stopped following Sword Coast Legends once it was publicly announced that it was going to be a Steam exclusive. Based on the reviews I heard about Sword Coast Legends, I'm probably not missing much.
If anything the current RPG renaissance is providing me more hope even for the big time companies and further fueling my admiration for the little guys digging new trenches!
Bring on the RPG's ...
I have loved IWD since release and I am so glad that I have been "forced" to replay it again, I have spent so many hours delving back into the game with different characters and so many playstyles, It really is an under appreciated gem of a game.
I can't wait do do it all over again with the BG games and SoD and hope against all hope that there may be a PST and an IWD2 on the not too distant horizon.
The reason I am so appreciative of Beamdog, apart from the personal enjoyment I get from their refurbishing of these classics, it is that they have brought these great games back from relative obscurity, to a totally new audience and in doing so have also proved that this genre is still financially viable.
I think it's great that Beamdog have decided to dip their collective toes into something like SoD, it retains the cachet of the past but will still be a fresh experience for those not yet sated with their previous endeavours and prove that the are capable of more than just rehashing classics and I hope this will be a springboard financially to do more new stuff and give them an opportunity to refurbish some more gems... Did I mention PST and IWD 2 *cough*
Thank you Beamdog!
But here we are alomost 20 years later with an expansion to BG. I know they're using the same engine, and are a small team, and there's a load of other stuff that I don't know about in the comparison. But just saying it'd be interesting if...
The latest livestream of Dragonspear was really fun to watch and was especially informative for providing a glimpse into just how into these games and fun the folks at Beamdog are.
/stoked
Beamdog have become very important to me restoring this classic game and now adding to it significantly I hope for their continued success. Fond memories of Bioware and Interplay's good old days.
Currently playing Planescape Torment and doing a Trial of Iron run in Pillars of Eternity. Co-op'ing a game of Divinity: Original Sin with my brother on my PS4 and slowly shooting my way through Wasteland 2 on the PS4. I also just got done running in some shadows with Shadowrun Returns and Dragonfall Director's Cut, going to wait to play Hong Kong because I am playing too many games right now.
But really I just want to play some Beamdog Siege of Dragonspear. I LOVE what they have done with BG and watching the livestream for SoD and the youtube of the reveal press conference has got me really excited for some BG. I don't want to start BG in earnest until SoD comes out but it is getting harder and harder to wait even if I do have some good games to play in the meantime.
It's an isometric rpg extravaganza in my gaming world right now!
Its not blind fanboyism I have enjoyed many rpgs from fallout 1 to arcanum. Morrowind to vampire: the masquerade. Sadly the more recent Bioware games have failed to match the complexity, depth and sense of adventure of their older counterparts. The kickstarters for me have also been a bit disappointing, I enjoyed WL2 but PoE (spiritual successor bla bla bla) which I had very high hopes for just felt broken. I'm sure the plot is wonderful but I can't get past the combat which felt broken (I enjoyed arcanum remember)
SoD represents an actual spiritual interquel and with the work beamdog are doing I hope and believe whatever they create in the future will be more than just a pale imitation of the games we know and love.
It was not greed that led to their fall. Well, at least not on their part.