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Seems SoD is surprisingly controversial. Would you still recommend purchasing it?

OudynOudyn Member Posts: 74
in Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
Hey guys. Given money and time issues that cropped up recently, I have sadly not been able to buy or play Siege of Dragonspear. Just because I'm a giant murderlizard, doesn't mean I don't need entertainment too!

All joking aside, I was planning on doing so soon, but it appears there is some sort of odd controversy surrounding a particular transgender character and a line from Minsc? Now, I love Minsc, as I do most of the characters in this series. It would be a shame to see them misrepresented. Nonetheless, I'll still have enough money to purchase the expansion rather soon.
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Comments

  • RodyRody Member Posts: 22
    I haven't bought it yet, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

    My course of action:

    Waiting to check how we stand on bugs until the controversy storm ends.

    If bugs are not that bad and mods are working - likely purchase.

    Ignore issue on Minsc line, it's being deleted.

    Controversy on trans character being modified with a very likely improvement on interaction and possibly added content (a plus by us getting more content).

    I can't recommend to buy or not based on story - haven't played it yet. Some folks are saying its linear - again, waiting for storm to pass to have a better assessment.




  • redlineredline Member Posts: 296
    edited April 2016
    Yep, definitely. There are a handful of valid criticisms about bugs, etc., but I had no issues with major bugs in single player (multiplayer might be a different story), and many of the more divisive UI changes can be toggled on and off. As for the "controversy," it's a couple of lines from an unimportant character, and a silly rare selection sound from Minsc that I have yet to hear despite finishing the game already. There's a reason that actual published reviews of the game are largely positive. It's a good game that drew the attention of some very noisy malcontents.
  • IllustairIllustair Member Posts: 878
    edited April 2016
    The game only costs a measly $20. I'm not by any means rich, but this is BG we're talking about here; surely it costs more than that. A true fan would give the game a fair chance to judge it by its own merits from his own judgment.

    SoD Reviews Thread

    In any case, the reviews from critics are mostly positive - the average so far being 78. And that's just because of one negative/mixed review that gave it a score of 58 and it dragged down the rest that are composed of positive scores ranging from 8-8.7 IIRC. Mind you, half of the complaints of the critic who gave it 58 deserves scant consideration e.g. one complaint is about the graphics. And before you freak out with the game's new sprite outlines, it can be toggled off (some people liked it though); the game graphics is the same, if not better.

  • OudynOudyn Member Posts: 74
    edited April 2016
    Well, that's more or less what I expected. Games media seems way too sensitive these days, as if it were taken over by stereotypical users of certain websites. I'll pick it up when I have the time to play it. Must resist urge to spoil ending...
  • laeknirlaeknir Member Posts: 58
    There are a few bugs which are being worked on. To me it was not very controversial. There is a single gamergate joke which they're going to remove (it passed right over my head, to be honest), and there's a minor character that will reveal she's a transsexual. Big deal, IMO. It's certainly not being "forced down anyone's throats" as some negative reviews have said. Beamdog has also said they'll expand her character a bit, but as it is you barely interact with the NPC except for purchasing healing. So... for me, non-issues.

    I'm nowhere near the end of SoD, so there's a lot for me yet to do and explore, and I'm having fun.

    The additional material, conversations, etc. for Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira and Khalid are all great. I'm not fond of the Safana character, but I really like the new Glint character. The rest I haven't seen yet. There are also a LOT of new magic items that are really fun.

    The beginning starts out a little slow, but I'm liking it more and more as I go. Definitely worth it, in my book.
  • minsc4prezminsc4prez Member Posts: 105
    Rody said:

    Some folks are saying its linear - again, waiting for storm to pass to have a better assessment.




    I agree it is pretty linear compared to bg1, 2. I think the gameplay is alot closer to IWD than BG
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    If you were planning on playing multiplayer with a friend at any point, stay with v1.3. I've encountered so many frustrating UI glitches, multiplayer permission problems, and a total lack of general stability that I cannot recommend buying SoD, let alone updating to v2.0.

    But if its just for the single-player experience, I'd still wait for at least 2 patches or until it goes on sale. You aren't missing too much. The only good parts are the fights.
  • DetectiveMittensDetectiveMittens Member Posts: 235
    edited April 2016
    The only thing surprisingly controversial about SoD is that it was surprisingly labelled as "controversial".
  • SurvivorSurvivor Member Posts: 68
    edited April 2016
    I'd probably wait for the next patch if you haven't bought the addon yet to minimise the risk of encountering annoying bugs. Contentwise the addon is fun, I think.
  • BelfaldurnikBelfaldurnik Member Posts: 212
    As mentioned in the Steam forum, I'm positively surprised by the amount of banter added by the new companions and the options to consult them in special situations. Such as asking M'Khiin when meeting spirits/ghosts. My only problem so far is that the party does not have enough room to add them all and keep them in the party long enough.
  • ber5nie5ber5nie5 Member Posts: 429
    i only play one player mode, so i can only comment from that perspective.

    i enjoyed playing the game and liked the storyline. there are alot of side quests, but i do have to agree that the game was pretty linear overall. not really a big issue for me.

    on the negative side, i mainly had two things that i didn't like.

    1. the quest log needs a major overhaul. would be nice to have it tell you what you need and who you need to turn it in to. the journal wasn't very helpful either.

    2. would liked to have been able to have all char's available for addition to my party before leaving bg. or at the very least, very early on so that i would be able to get them as much exp as possible and develop them according to my tastes. Was a big disappointment to not be able to add jaheira to my party until very late in the game.

    overall though, i really enjoyed playing the game and that's what really matters. it only cost 20 bucks and is well worth it in my humble opinion.
  • RaltarRaltar Member Posts: 35
    It's good. I didn't even notice the things that people got worked up over(I'm pretty sure the Minsc thing was patched out? Maybe?) and I never met the transgendered character, either. If you liked the new BGEE stuff, you should probably still like this. Probably. At the very least, the combat encounters were pretty good.
  • LoreLore Member Posts: 114
    its def. worth getting its in my opinion a great addition to BG.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    Definitely worth getting. Even if you care about the controversial stuff, it's maybe 1% of the game.
  • Wraith_SarevokWraith_Sarevok Member Posts: 130
    Do I recommend it? No not really. Not in its current state. There are several critical bugs and issues (import stealing your items, old saves not loading) that might cause you to smash your keyboard in frustration. I would wait until the nearest patch makes the game more playable.

    However, if you really can't wait to get into the story, then go ahead and buy it. I've been able to put up with the bugs so far. Don't pay any attention to all that controversy crap. None of it is as exaggurated as the oversensitive screamers make it out to be. If you've played Dragon Age, this isn't all that different, but it is hilarious to watch I'll admit.

    I'm into the story so far, although I'm still relatively early. Watching the villains confront each other is awesome. If you've liked Beamdog's previous works so far then you'll probably enjoy this. I personally hate the way they do things, but don't let me stop you.
  • KogornKogorn Member Posts: 104
    I highly recommend you buy it for the reasons already stated herein. FYI, it seems the post bug-free playthrough at the moment is if you play single player, at core difficulty or below, and importing your FINAL SAVE from BGEE, rather than your character. Multiplayer and importing characters (as opposed to saves), have some issues right now that should be fixed in the next patch.
  • PhilhelmPhilhelm Member Posts: 473
    I have only played the game for a couple of hours, but it seems fine so far. I can't really fully rate the game yet since I haven't seen all it offers. Regardless, it is only $20, and it gives you hours of new content for your BG character. Even if it were the worst game ever, I would still not consider it to be the worst $20 ever spent.
  • Kitteh_On_A_CloudKitteh_On_A_Cloud Member Posts: 1,629
    Been away a long time from these forums, had been waiting anxiously till this expansion was released. After reading up on the controversy, I feel really disappointed in Beamdog, though. The SJW thing feels very un-Trent Oster-like to me, and I even wonder how Oster could've let a SJW writer go about the story writing without having had a decent background check on her persona and her views. If I had been him, I'd never have handled it this way. Amber Scott's reply on the whole controversy also sounded really childish and narrowminded. To me it feels Baldur's Gate's legacy has been tainted by modern political correctness bullcrap. Really not feeling all too anxious in buying this expansion right now. In fact, I think I'll pass up on this one. Might not even support Beamdog at all anymore. It's one thing to mess with your own characters, but you just don't mess around with beloved game characters (which aren't your own) from an epic D&D series. So yup, tossing the ball on this one unless someone can remotely convince me otherwise.
  • O_BruceO_Bruce Member Posts: 2,790
    @Kitteh_On_A_Cloud
    Let me fill you in. The "controversial" writing is probably less than 1000 words of dialogue. Entire expansion has over 500,000 words of dialogue. If you feel like 1/500 of the actual content is enough to make you feel offended and to miss out like that then well, that's sad. I mean, really sad.

    And here I was glad to see you post again.
  • rapsam2003rapsam2003 Member Posts: 1,636
    O_Bruce said:

    @Kitteh_On_A_Cloud
    Let me fill you in. The "controversial" writing is probably less than 1000 words of dialogue.

    Probably even smaller than that. lol

  • PurudayaPurudaya Member Posts: 816
    Kitteh_On_A_Cloud said:

    Been away a long time from these forums, had been waiting anxiously till this expansion was released. After reading up on the controversy, I feel really disappointed in Beamdog, though. The SJW thing feels very un-Trent Oster-like to me, and I even wonder how Oster could've let a SJW writer go about the story writing without having had a decent background check on her persona and her views. If I had been him, I'd never have handled it this way. Amber Scott's reply on the whole controversy also sounded really childish and narrowminded. To me it feels Baldur's Gate's legacy has been tainted by modern political correctness bullcrap. Really not feeling all too anxious in buying this expansion right now. In fact, I think I'll pass up on this one. Might not even support Beamdog at all anymore. It's one thing to mess with your own characters, but you just don't mess around with beloved game characters (which aren't your own) from an epic D&D series. So yup, tossing the ball on this one unless someone can remotely convince me otherwise.

    I wouldn't take every comment on "SJW" at face value – there was a certain... fervor about a very minor character that quickly exploded into Gamergate seeing "SJW" everywhere in SoD to the point of absurdity. Lots of conclusions were quickly jumped to that could easily be debunked by anyone who actually played the game. You're of course entitled to your perception, but I would recommend checking out some of the professional reviews/reviews by real players and deciding for yourself.
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    edited April 2016
    Excalibur_2102 said:

    Amber Scott's reply on the whole controversy also sounded really childish and narrowminded.

    As far as I'm aware most of the responses since the "controversy" have been from Trent himself, and Amber hasn't said a word on it. The two quotes that Amber made that keep popping up are the one from the Kotaku article before release, and a forum post that I think she made last year some time.
    And those quotes are continuously reposted without *any* context to make them look bad.
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