Not really. Besides great convineance changes and various fixes Beamdog guys are awful at writing. The new NPC stuff is terribly shallow and dumb. If someone like Avalon supervised the whole project, I would be happy, but otherwise no thanks.
IWDII EE would be nice, never got the chance to play this gem.
Throne of Bhaal extra content could be very good for certain characters who could do with some much needed extra content.
Viconia is my favourite and while she gets some good interjections in the Underdark segment in SoA in reality there isnt much content outside of her romance to explore.
Minsc, who is damn near universally loved (by myself included) really had nothing going on bar his own exhuberant character and relationship with boo. You can argue he takes you on the umar quest and builds a friendship with Aerie but he really doesnt have much going on.
Also Imoen deserves some more attention. I heard she was due to be killed off originally in SoA and it really feels like it as after spellhold shes not got a lot to offer character wise.
I sound like Im griping but basically what Im saying is that the characters in BGII were one of its standout successes and this was accomplished with remarkably little aside from some interjections, banters and a few romances.
Also ToB really sucked in terms of "civilisation". Besides one small courtyard under bombardment the only other area of civilisation was a desert village.
@rjmacready I believe the issue with that is that they aren't allowed to modify the original content, so there might be some conflict when quests for old characters are involved.
I personally don't feel the need to add more to ToB. Yes it's a bit short, but it's also thematically a period of extreme pressure. It's not just your childhood friend waiting in prison, the world is literally on fire. War is consuming the land, and you going off on a quest to find Larloch's Chamber Pot would break immersion for me BIG time. And that's coming from someone who usually cares nothing about RP.
@Lord_Tansheron I dont believe it would fall necessarily under the province of modifying original content per se, its just adding new content to sit alongside the old. Its tricky I suppose but with how SoD looks and what theyve done already if Beamdog havent earned the rights by now to have some freedoms in designing and addig more Baldurs Gate content then they damn well should.
Also I do see your point about the urgency in ToBs narrative and theme. Ive raised it myself before in BG1 about how doing anything other than confronting Sarevok straight away at the climax seems completely out of place but thats precisely it isnt it? In both games its been ever present with Totsc and Watchers keep both. Yes, it is right to ask why you are traipsing up and down Watchers Keep when Tethyr is being ravaged by an all out Bhaalspawn war.
The answer is simple though: Because you want to spend more time to enjoying this video game and (unbeknownst to you) Demogorgon is waiting at the bottom of it and fighting him would be awesome.
I dont believe it would fall necessarily under the province of modifying original content per se, its just adding new content to sit alongside the old.
I'm not privy to the exact specifications of the licensing agreement, but I would assume there is a reason they didn't do a whole lot with the old characters in the EE.
Yes, it is right to ask why you are traipsing up and down Watchers Keep when Tethyr is being ravaged by an all out Bhaalspawn war.
The answer is simple though: Because you want to spend more time to enjoying this video game and (unbeknownst to you) Demogorgon is waiting at the bottom of it and fighting him would be awesome.
Yes, I definitely see the point there; however, WK is already pushing it, as you say, and adding even MORE distractions just doesn't quite hold up. Yes, BG is a nice game and all, but rather than inserting content into every nook it can possibly be fit into, I'd much rather see something ENTIRELY new. And to inflate an old game even at the expense of blatant RP issues? That just isn't a good move, imo.
Yes, I definitely see the point there; however, WK is already pushing it, as you say, and adding even MORE distractions just doesn't quite hold up. Yes, BG is a nice game and all, but rather than inserting content into every nook it can possibly be fit into, I'd much rather see something ENTIRELY new. And to inflate an old game even at the expense of blatant RP issues? That just isn't a good move, imo.
That makes a lot of sense but look at it this way as well: Beamdog is still a small team who have admitted themselves they just havent had the manpower to do certain things as in depth as they might have wanted. From the most recent stream I think it was mentioned how you dont have the entire run of Baldurs Gate like you did before simply because it wasnt feasable from a team and workload standpoint.
After SoD startig an entirely new game, be it IE or otherwise might be a step too far without taking a few more before it. Heck even my own hopes for an expansion are based on nothing more than that: my own darned blind hope.
However, though Im nothing more than an interested gamer so my opinion counts only for that much, if SoD is a great success I think following it up with another expansion to BGII is a better and more consistent step forward than starting afresh on an entirely new game. Thats just how I see it though and we both know for sure the beamdog folks have a 1000x better picture of where to go next.
Still Im just yammering on about nothing more than personal preference right now - my preference being for more Beamdog BG content for the forseeable future and with luck a brand new Beamdog forgotten realms title even further down the line.
Whatever path they decide on though Ill be waiting money in hand ready to shove it in their faces haha.
I want a new game in the forgotten realms universe. That being said, Give me more BG2 PLEASE. My preference would be an xpac set between the end of bg2, and your arrival at Saradush. More Aerie, more Minsc and Boo, more, more, more. Except for more Beholders, you can keep those.
I'd definitely buy it. ToB is pretty linear so more side content unlocked after arrving in Saradush would be cool, and add few more wilderness areas to SoA while you are at it.
While I enjoyed bg2 I do not want any expansions or sequels to it.
1. BG is over with ToB. The entire story is done and there is nothing they can do without creating a new story. They should go with new game instead.
2. 2e is old and outdated. They are only using 2e because they are enhancing the old game - I prefer a new game using newer rules (3.5 or 5)
3. Nostalgia rose tinted goggles will absolutely hate the game. Even if BG3 or so is the best game in history people will hate it and say how it ruined the franchise and how good the old days were. I do not want to see a good game being bashed purely because of pepple who cannot accept that thinga change.
My preference would be an xpac set between the end of bg2, and your arrival at Saradush.
Listen to the ToB intro. You're literally going straight to the ToB starting forest from Suldanessalar, where you've been partying with the elves a bit after mopping up Big I. Do you want an expansion for that one week of quaffing, feasting, and... uh... other forms of entertainment provided by a city full of very grateful elves?
Well, now with SoD hopefully basically covering the intermission between BG1 and BG2 and ToB finishing the story, there won't be any place in the story to build upon.
Therefore a new standalone game would be a better option.
BG2-EE of new expansion means IE engine will be continue fixed and improved.Especially , they can make lots of engine upgrade through other games release such like IWD2-EE , PST-EE,
All of fans feel happy and also get tons of new contents , better engine support.
I don't think make brand new game or 5th edition rule which is smart choice for Beamdog at this moment, it's not easy to make a nice old school style at all , if it's so easy , there will be nobody player still love baldurs gate and you don't have to kickstart for POE , Torment. You are difficult to find new BG style game in the past 10 years, even POE released , but I still feel IE engine give me better game experience than POE,
Continue upgrade IE engine and release IWD2-EE , PST-EE , BG2-EE expansion pack ,Baldurs Gate super collection version , better story telling for each game expansion pack and use sharply IE engine release new setting , rule game in the future, grab sales from IOS, Android marketing and make mobile version more stable , UI more friendly , You happy , I happy , Beamdog happy , all of fans happy ,
Another choice , Spend 2- 3 years to make new game , if get poor sales , all of people get angry and leave from this forum, Beamdog bankruptcy, no more old IE style game no more improve /quests for old IE engine game base,
I really think Beamdog should do what they can do and consider how to make profit and survive for a long time first ,if they can get successful from old school game next couple years , they will make right game such like BG3 eventually
If you are small studio , which decision you will make?
I guess I changed my mind due to the good points that @darrenkuo made. I think those are valid reasons for beamdog to work on another expansion instead of a new game.
Regarding the point that the protagonist has had their story told (I suppose this is really a discussion for BG3), but wanted to raise the point that BG is the only game other than NWN2 that allows you to create a notable alter ego in the Forgotten Realms.
All FR games gave you someone else to play (PST), standard adventurers (NWN, SOU, HOTU, IWD1&2) and then fizzled out with unremarkable endings, or standard 'character lives happily' ever after ones.* Including tha action RPG's.
My point being that the game gave you a choice in creating from scratch a notable hero of the realms, and then an interpretation of how that character continued to live after TOB. So if there is ever a game set after the events of TOB that ends that character "I'M THE DM" style, or does a Wizards of the Coast 'take em out back for a walk' as in R.A. Salvatore's characters - it's essentially removing the character choice that made the series great, and shouldn't really be tied to the name Baldurs Gate.
My preference would be an xpac set between the end of bg2, and your arrival at Saradush.
Listen to the ToB intro. You're literally going straight to the ToB starting forest from Suldanessalar, where you've been partying with the elves a bit after mopping up Big I. Do you want an expansion for that one week of quaffing, feasting, and... uh... other forms of entertainment provided by a city full of very grateful elves?
Yep, just finished rewatching it again. Armies marching, war on the storm coast, 5 bhaalspawn arising in the chaos. Towns sacked, lesser bhaalspawn hunted down and killed. Sounds like a lot going on in a week. Its always sounded like a decent amount of time to me.
When Im playing it just seems weird that all that happened and we didnt get any ingame hints that its going on prior to starting the TOB portion of the game. The ingame criers talk about the Sothillisian War but nothing about all this stuff going on up and down the storm coast. Seems the timeline doesnt line up. Maybe its just my head cannon.
Dont want to hijack the thread so Ill say again. Yes give me some more content BeamDog.
Voted yes but with a caveat: please, please make it a plot that's less about the silliness of FR gods and godlike levels of power, immortality, etc and more like BG1 in scope and flavor. Getting rid of the entire creepy silly bhaalspawn plot would also be a plus.
And absolutely no twilight influenced vampire shticks
Despite my eternal love for Baldur's Gate franchise... I woud love to see a new IE game set on Faerûn!
The world is massive! Take us to new adventures, new characters, new possibilities!
Man I would love to see more Waterdeep since we all saw very little of it in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. I would love to see Thay, Pirate Isles, Cormyr, Evereska or Silver Marches..
If it's just some new quests/adventures with new maps yeah ok
but I think it's enough with bhaalspawn and all these overpowered abilities, Gods, divine blood etc....
I would prefer the EE of IWD2 Or, I'd like to play as Irenicus before he turned into the crazy guy we know. It would be very interesting to play if the writting is the same quality as in the mod The Longer Road
If it's at the expense of a new game coming out then no. I'd even prefer IWD2EE over a new BG as there doesn't seem place for anything to be added and if there is place it is in ToB where everyone is very high level with amazing loot and the game is less interesting.
Expansion to TOB would be ideal. Personally, I'm not big on BG3, I don't think it can be properly pulled off. The story has been told and anything other than CHARNAME story wouldn't be BG. However, I think more Bhaalspawn background on TOB that's less linear with more quests would be nice.
perhaps some continuation. I liked the pocket plane, though.
I'd like an expansion with an entirely unrelated plot. You know, like SoU or more importantly HotU for Neverwinter Nights. This way we could effectively have a kind of BGIII since WotC wouldn't block the AD&D ruleset and world setting being used.
I would like a mini expansion to TOB itself, to make it less linear and more interesting. I never liked the expansion actually. Watcher's Keep is fun, but the rest is over pretty quickly and almost becomes a chore by the end.
Expansion to TOB would be ideal. Personally, I'm not big on BG3, I don't think it can be properly pulled off. The story has been told and anything other than CHARNAME story wouldn't be BG. However, I think more Bhaalspawn background on TOB that's less linear with more quests would be nice.
To be honest, I don't feel like there's any room in the game for another expansion. The story I really want to see told is what happens after you become a demigod, adventures in the planes, growing as a divine being. That sort of thing.
I Feel like I can never have enough Baldur's Gate so I'm all for it. Like many others I like the idea of a ToB expansion due to its linearity and brevity, however we are talking about an expansion to an expansion that feels like an inception paradox or something.
Comments
IWDII EE would be nice, never got the chance to play this gem.
Viconia is my favourite and while she gets some good interjections in the Underdark segment in SoA in reality there isnt much content outside of her romance to explore.
Minsc, who is damn near universally loved (by myself included) really had nothing going on bar his own exhuberant character and relationship with boo. You can argue he takes you on the umar quest and builds a friendship with Aerie but he really doesnt have much going on.
Also Imoen deserves some more attention. I heard she was due to be killed off originally in SoA and it really feels like it as after spellhold shes not got a lot to offer character wise.
I sound like Im griping but basically what Im saying is that the characters in BGII were one of its standout successes and this was accomplished with remarkably little aside from some interjections, banters and a few romances.
Also ToB really sucked in terms of "civilisation". Besides one small courtyard under bombardment the only other area of civilisation was a desert village.
I personally don't feel the need to add more to ToB. Yes it's a bit short, but it's also thematically a period of extreme pressure. It's not just your childhood friend waiting in prison, the world is literally on fire. War is consuming the land, and you going off on a quest to find Larloch's Chamber Pot would break immersion for me BIG time. And that's coming from someone who usually cares nothing about RP.
Also I do see your point about the urgency in ToBs narrative and theme. Ive raised it myself before in BG1 about how doing anything other than confronting Sarevok straight away at the climax seems completely out of place but thats precisely it isnt it? In both games its been ever present with Totsc and Watchers keep both. Yes, it is right to ask why you are traipsing up and down Watchers Keep when Tethyr is being ravaged by an all out Bhaalspawn war.
The answer is simple though: Because you want to spend more time to enjoying this video game and (unbeknownst to you) Demogorgon is waiting at the bottom of it and fighting him would be awesome.
After SoD startig an entirely new game, be it IE or otherwise might be a step too far without taking a few more before it. Heck even my own hopes for an expansion are based on nothing more than that: my own darned blind hope.
However, though Im nothing more than an interested gamer so my opinion counts only for that much, if SoD is a great success I think following it up with another expansion to BGII is a better and more consistent step forward than starting afresh on an entirely new game. Thats just how I see it though and we both know for sure the beamdog folks have a 1000x better picture of where to go next.
Still Im just yammering on about nothing more than personal preference right now - my preference being for more Beamdog BG content for the forseeable future and with luck a brand new Beamdog forgotten realms title even further down the line.
Whatever path they decide on though Ill be waiting money in hand ready to shove it in their faces haha.
1. BG is over with ToB. The entire story is done and there is nothing they can do without creating a new story. They should go with new game instead.
2. 2e is old and outdated. They are only using 2e because they are enhancing the old game - I prefer a new game using newer rules (3.5 or 5)
3. Nostalgia rose tinted goggles will absolutely hate the game. Even if BG3 or so is the best game in history people will hate it and say how it ruined the franchise and how good the old days were. I do not want to see a good game being bashed purely because of pepple who cannot accept that thinga change.
Therefore a new standalone game would be a better option.
All of fans feel happy and also get tons of new contents , better engine support.
I don't think make brand new game or 5th edition rule which is smart choice for Beamdog at this moment, it's not easy to make a nice old school style at all , if it's so easy , there will be nobody player still love baldurs gate and you don't have to kickstart for POE , Torment. You are difficult to find new BG style game in the past 10 years, even POE released , but I still feel IE engine give me better game experience than POE,
Continue upgrade IE engine and release IWD2-EE , PST-EE , BG2-EE expansion pack ,Baldurs Gate super collection version , better story telling for each game expansion pack and use sharply IE engine release new setting , rule game in the future, grab sales from IOS, Android marketing and make mobile version more stable , UI more friendly ,
You happy , I happy , Beamdog happy , all of fans happy ,
Another choice , Spend 2- 3 years to make new game , if get poor sales , all of people get angry and leave from this forum, Beamdog bankruptcy, no more old IE style game no more improve /quests for old IE engine game base,
I really think Beamdog should do what they can do and consider how to make profit and survive for a long time first ,if they can get successful from old school game next couple years , they will make right game such like BG3 eventually
If you are small studio , which decision you will make?
All FR games gave you someone else to play (PST), standard adventurers (NWN, SOU, HOTU, IWD1&2) and then fizzled out with unremarkable endings, or standard 'character lives happily' ever after ones.* Including tha action RPG's.
My point being that the game gave you a choice in creating from scratch a notable hero of the realms, and then an interpretation of how that character continued to live after TOB.
So if there is ever a game set after the events of TOB that ends that character "I'M THE DM" style, or does a Wizards of the Coast 'take em out back for a walk' as in R.A. Salvatore's characters - it's essentially removing the character choice that made the series great, and shouldn't really be tied to the name Baldurs Gate.
*With the exception of PST.
Who wouldn't?
When Im playing it just seems weird that all that happened and we didnt get any ingame hints that its going on prior to starting the TOB portion of the game. The ingame criers talk about the Sothillisian War but nothing about all this stuff going on up and down the storm coast. Seems the timeline doesnt line up. Maybe its just my head cannon.
Dont want to hijack the thread so Ill say again. Yes give me some more content BeamDog.
And absolutely no twilight influenced vampire shticks
The world is massive! Take us to new adventures, new characters, new possibilities!
Man I would love to see more Waterdeep since we all saw very little of it in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. I would love to see Thay, Pirate Isles, Cormyr, Evereska or Silver Marches..
but I think it's enough with bhaalspawn and all these overpowered abilities, Gods, divine blood etc....
I would prefer the EE of IWD2
Or, I'd like to play as Irenicus before he turned into the crazy guy we know. It would be very interesting to play if the writting is the same quality as in the mod The Longer Road