No, I don't want to see another addition to this already closed up story. We have been told the story of CHARNAME, it is a legendary one indeed. One that brought me a lot of emotions, espceially at the end. But I really think, that charname's time is over and done. The story is finished.
I have already read from some posters that you Beamdog admit you don't have what it takes YET (I'm sure you will in due time) to make a full new game in a new edition (5th or 3rd or whatever you preferences may be.) and I understand that. It is hard to make a fitting and good story in Forgotten Realms. So I'm not going to say I'll be expecting a full new game, no siree.
Well then, what DO I want from you next?
Do what you have done this far Beamdog, Enhance the experience of these old games by making your incredibly wonderful Enhanced editions! I would love to play IceWind Dale 2, I did it once a long time ago but with the bad resolution, the laggy gameplay (low framerates support) and just clumpy and messy UI, I never got to finish it, or attempt to play it again. I have never played PsT because it didn't look good in my eyes, just like IceWind Dale did once, then came the enhanced edition.
To sum this up, do what you do best Beamdog, give us more Enchanced Editions!!!!
Like you I could not get into IWD2 when it came out, it's not the 3E because I loved 3E in NWN, it was the bugs and crashing and the UI. I've still never gone back to it either but I would if it was EEd and polished and working.
Gods no, I want something new and fresh. BG is done, all it needs is some more finetuning and getting those new loose ends tied up that came up with SoD, and that is really not enough to warrant a full expansion.
Well, okay, maybe, but the new content would have to be really good.
I'd like some closure for the Skie storyline introduced in SoD, so yes I'd like another expansion. That said I'm up for anything whether it be an all new product or an update to an existing Infinity Engine title.
Edit: I still say "no", but possibly for different reasons now. Since SoD the whole game has started to feel a bit "mangled" (for want of a better word) so, enough now. Let's see what Beamdog can do with a clean slate.
I understand that this is an old threat but I personally love the BG saga and would love to see some kind of an expansion that takes the story of the Bhaalspawn into the very heart of the realms of the Faerun gods.
It could be an epic conclusion to an epic saga. +1 for a ToB expansion.
I think it's time for Beamdog to move on and create a new 5E D&D-based game, which would feel like Baldur's Gate we all love and cherish and which will be completely new in terms of characters, story and plot, but the same in terms of "feel".
I think adding anymore to SoA, ToB would get pretty boring. How could you add anything that doesn't take away from the urgency of the Bhaalspawn storyline?
I would be interested in something that ties up loose ends and adds a bit of challenge, however. Improved Ilasera, Ascension, The Hidden, slavers compound, and Twisted Rune plotlines, for example. Maybe also add in a quest to find the Cloak of Balduran with some explanation of what happened to it after your capture by Irenicus.
I don't particularly want a new chapter to the story, myself, but a fleshing out of the existing game to integrate the new content, particularly SoD.
I'm kinda 50/50 on SoD, personally. It had a lot of great ideas but didn't really pull it together. But the real reason it's hard to get excited about stepping back into that chapter is how meaningless it currently is.
This should have been some high octane crap they went through. They literally went to hell and back a good 10 levels before they later chased the Shattered One through it, and then looked into grabbing some real estate in the area. Imoen was just about assassinated in her penthouse suite long before her spirit broke. Charname crossed paths with both a divine blooded hero who proved a horrible role model and a stalker with the voice of a dark god. A character nobody liked and fewer used took the opportunity to grow up a little and become a personal favorite before dying in a way to screw Charname over some dozen way.
Grand total of this story's impact of what should have been a defining arc of Charname's life? A throwaway line at the beginning about dark circumstances that predated its telling and a wistful banter between Rasaad and Jaheira about how badass Khalid was back at Bridgefort. This results in a poisonous void in BG2 that makes the game better without SoD than with.
I want to see the new characters again. I don't even care if their cheap cameos like Garrick and Ajantis. They need to be there. Glint ending up in the Watcher's Keep (the wand level) and going off on a date with the Cambion. M'khiin trying to start a "GROW THE HELLS UP!" movement among the goblins. Corwin visiting Amn on a mission and catching up with her former comrade over some wine at the Copper Coronet. I want to ransack Chateau Irenicus for the Soultaker Dagger and Fedex it back to Baldur's Gate so that daddy dearest stops sending assassins after me. I want to see Caelar's fate - whether it's being rescued from hell and forced to make amends or a smoldering corpse surrounded by a hundred shattered demons.
BG2 NEEDS to have an update to implement SoD into the lore. Even if it's the laziest of mentions, something needs to happen. ToB ended on a good note, I don't see a reason to add anything past it. But you could really add so much to what's already there to make the story more complete and comprehensive, if only just to become the satisfying finale it used to be before SoD showed up.
I agree with Calemyr and add that i would like to see something interesting about the Sarevok' Sword; in SoD it seems that the sword is somehow important and we manage to take it on Chateau Irenicus. It's written on description that the sword lost a lot of power and i would like to see some event about that (regaining power? Break a curse?)
I voted yes 2 years ago.. but now I ask myself, what is the point?
The saga is complete and I don't trust anyone to make a side adventure good enough to not damage what is already there.
SoD didn't exactly inspire confidence and a desire for more.
I suppose someone could make something or another in ToB, like more content.. as ToB is sorta crap anyway.. but it would have to be optional extra quests/dungeon/area, and not something that toys with the story.
I would like to see a 3.5 E or 5E Forgotten Realms game (NOT on the Sword Coast!), that perhaps tells what happened after ToB saga - like the aftermath of the Bhaalspawn Wars and the political upheaval after the fall of Saradush. There are so many references to the Sythillis Empire as well throughout the entire game whihc could be interesting to get into. Obviously with a new CHARNAME but perhaps carries your past choices from BG into this game would make for a fresh take on a familiar world.
Strong "no" from me. After SoD I'm satisfied. I would hate to see Baldur's Gate suffer the same fate as so many franchises - endless cycle of remakes, reboots and sequels, to crank out more products just to earn money out of nostalgia. Baldur's Gate started, it happened, and it is great game. But it is finished. This particular tale is over, let's have some new, fresh story to experience.
I don't understand the people asking for another game with an entirely different ruleset. I can already get spades of that at Obsidian, Larian, Owlcat - etcetera. And these companies all make exceptional CRPGs.
I don't want to lose the charm of the IE engine nor the wackiness of the AD&D 2nd edition ruleset. Siege of Dragonspear was an incredible experience for me and I loved how they stretched what was possible with the IE engine.
Beamdog could make a new game with a new ruleset but I wouldn't buy it. I came here for my full plate IE, and packing steel old school D&D.
The city is called Baldur's Gate, and we've seen it all, unless BG3 was set at a past or future time, where the structures and society look very different. That could be really cool. It could be around the time that Balduran took his last voyage and the impact of him not coming back.
You know what I would most be interested in is in some general Expansion to the entire BGsaga Engine, that is to say not a new Story per-se for BG2 but new features added to the base game of the the three titles that run on the same EE engine (BG1EE, BG2EE, and IWDEE). Something like implementing several new classes rather than just kits and perhaps including some of the multiclasses from Pnp that weren't implemented in the original, or adding some features from Pnp to some of the classes that were a little less fleshed out within the original game--druids and rangers come to mind. For me the most exciting part of SOD was the Shaman because it gave me hours of replay to the BG1 and BG2 base games, even if i never touched the new content. Also, from a modders standpoint I always excited when Game devs work to add new features to the mod-ability of their game, which is often why I'm more willing to pay for certain DLC from Paradox studios that I would otherwise ignore because the try to give the community better tools to modify or customize the game.
Nah. Bhaalspawn had some spare time between Iron Throne crisis and Athkatla, so there is a place for BG1 expansion (from timelines point of view). But I don't see such a gap between SOA and TOB.
When it comes to leveling, BG1 covers 1-9 (roughly), SOA 9-18, TOB 18-40. So there is no place for additional expansions, if you ask me.
Comments
BG is done, all it needs is some more finetuning and getting those new loose ends tied up that came up with SoD, and that is really not enough to warrant a full expansion.
Well, okay, maybe, but the new content would have to be really good.
Edit: Ah-ha! That's what I thought I did.
Edit: I still say "no", but possibly for different reasons now. Since SoD the whole game has started to feel a bit "mangled" (for want of a better word) so, enough now. Let's see what Beamdog can do with a clean slate.
It could be an epic conclusion to an epic saga. +1 for a ToB expansion.
I would be interested in something that ties up loose ends and adds a bit of challenge, however. Improved Ilasera, Ascension, The Hidden, slavers compound, and Twisted Rune plotlines, for example. Maybe also add in a quest to find the Cloak of Balduran with some explanation of what happened to it after your capture by Irenicus.
Can I change my vote now???
I'm kinda 50/50 on SoD, personally. It had a lot of great ideas but didn't really pull it together. But the real reason it's hard to get excited about stepping back into that chapter is how meaningless it currently is.
This should have been some high octane crap they went through. They literally went to hell and back a good 10 levels before they later chased the Shattered One through it, and then looked into grabbing some real estate in the area. Imoen was just about assassinated in her penthouse suite long before her spirit broke. Charname crossed paths with both a divine blooded hero who proved a horrible role model and a stalker with the voice of a dark god. A character nobody liked and fewer used took the opportunity to grow up a little and become a personal favorite before dying in a way to screw Charname over some dozen way.
Grand total of this story's impact of what should have been a defining arc of Charname's life? A throwaway line at the beginning about dark circumstances that predated its telling and a wistful banter between Rasaad and Jaheira about how badass Khalid was back at Bridgefort. This results in a poisonous void in BG2 that makes the game better without SoD than with.
I want to see the new characters again. I don't even care if their cheap cameos like Garrick and Ajantis. They need to be there. Glint ending up in the Watcher's Keep (the wand level) and going off on a date with the Cambion. M'khiin trying to start a "GROW THE HELLS UP!" movement among the goblins. Corwin visiting Amn on a mission and catching up with her former comrade over some wine at the Copper Coronet. I want to ransack Chateau Irenicus for the Soultaker Dagger and Fedex it back to Baldur's Gate so that daddy dearest stops sending assassins after me. I want to see Caelar's fate - whether it's being rescued from hell and forced to make amends or a smoldering corpse surrounded by a hundred shattered demons.
BG2 NEEDS to have an update to implement SoD into the lore. Even if it's the laziest of mentions, something needs to happen. ToB ended on a good note, I don't see a reason to add anything past it. But you could really add so much to what's already there to make the story more complete and comprehensive, if only just to become the satisfying finale it used to be before SoD showed up.
It's written on description that the sword lost a lot of power and i would like to see some event about that (regaining power? Break a curse?)
The saga is complete and I don't trust anyone to make a side adventure good enough to not damage what is already there.
SoD didn't exactly inspire confidence and a desire for more.
I suppose someone could make something or another in ToB, like more content.. as ToB is sorta crap anyway.. but it would have to be optional extra quests/dungeon/area, and not something that toys with the story.
I don't want to lose the charm of the IE engine nor the wackiness of the AD&D 2nd edition ruleset. Siege of Dragonspear was an incredible experience for me and I loved how they stretched what was possible with the IE engine.
Beamdog could make a new game with a new ruleset but I wouldn't buy it. I came here for my full plate IE, and packing steel old school D&D.
When it comes to leveling, BG1 covers 1-9 (roughly), SOA 9-18, TOB 18-40. So there is no place for additional expansions, if you ask me. That would be sweet though! Some of these characters would surely bright me up in Icewind Dale trekkings. Minsc, Korgan, Jan Jansen, what a joy!