Beamdog Badassery
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So here's the thing. I've seen a huge number of threads spawning debates over all of the things people feel that Beamdog has done wrong. I want to take a moment to say...
Thank you Beamdog!
Why? Because Beamdog is incredible. That's a fact. They took a game that people loved and added to it. They improved various features, such as the horrible journal, and gave us new characters and NPCs to talk to and recruit. They created new quests and added new magical items. And then after doing well with the enhanced editions, they gave us a new game to bridge the gap.
And then, after all of that, they still said, "What can we do to make this better?"
Throughout all of this time, they have listened to the feedback. They have added new features that have been requested. They have modified existing characters and story lines upon fan feedback. They have kept the lines of communication open allowing these games to not be just a game created by a company for a group of people. These games have become much more. They're a game that the entire community helped to create. Anytime one pulls up BGEE, you can point to various features that were created and implemented solely because of fan feedback. And despite all of the controversy from recent issues/non-issues, they choose to continue to try to improve our experience.
And it's incredible. The fact that there is a location where I can go to submit an idea for a new character, or character class, or quest line, or feature... and know that it'll be considered and maybe even implemented in a future update for a game that I've loved for the last 18 years is amazing.
And if somebody doesn't like the changes, they can still play the original. They did it all by releasing a new game with new features that built upon a game that is still completely playable, should you choose to play that version instead.
So thank you, Beamdog. I genuinely appreciate all of the effort you've put into reviving the BG experience and including us as part of the development process.
You're the best!
Thank you Beamdog!
Why? Because Beamdog is incredible. That's a fact. They took a game that people loved and added to it. They improved various features, such as the horrible journal, and gave us new characters and NPCs to talk to and recruit. They created new quests and added new magical items. And then after doing well with the enhanced editions, they gave us a new game to bridge the gap.
And then, after all of that, they still said, "What can we do to make this better?"
Throughout all of this time, they have listened to the feedback. They have added new features that have been requested. They have modified existing characters and story lines upon fan feedback. They have kept the lines of communication open allowing these games to not be just a game created by a company for a group of people. These games have become much more. They're a game that the entire community helped to create. Anytime one pulls up BGEE, you can point to various features that were created and implemented solely because of fan feedback. And despite all of the controversy from recent issues/non-issues, they choose to continue to try to improve our experience.
And it's incredible. The fact that there is a location where I can go to submit an idea for a new character, or character class, or quest line, or feature... and know that it'll be considered and maybe even implemented in a future update for a game that I've loved for the last 18 years is amazing.
And if somebody doesn't like the changes, they can still play the original. They did it all by releasing a new game with new features that built upon a game that is still completely playable, should you choose to play that version instead.
So thank you, Beamdog. I genuinely appreciate all of the effort you've put into reviving the BG experience and including us as part of the development process.
You're the best!
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Comments
They made unecessary and convoluted UI changes with no option to revert to the original.
Removed the classic movies and replaced them with some high-school student's cheap Flash project.
Added tons of bugs and broke several quests for months.
Their new journal is still full of broken/incorrect entries and proofreading errors.
Added bad characters with bland voice acting that constantly distract from the story.
New portraits and voice recordings that are way too modern and clash with the original art style.
New music that totally clashes with the original soundtrack.
Completely broke the game balance by including classes and items from BG2 and ToB.
Pretty much stole several mods developed by the community over the last decade and packaged it as their own.
Tacked on a lame expansion with a forgettable story.
Oh and I can't "play the original" anymore without paying extra money for this crap, because it was recently announced that they are only going to be sold as a full package on GoG. They pretty much force you to buy it.
So in short, you really don't know what you're talking about. And the only incredible thing about Beamdog is how they continue to beat a dead horse even when it's long past its expiration date. And how everyone seems to keep kissing up to them for no reason other than nostalgia and fanboyism.
Do you ever stop trolling this forum? People are entitled to their own opinions, and you have definitely tried to force your opinion on just about everyone in here for the past two years. Don't you ever get tired of being miserable and angry?
And yes you can still play the originals, since you own them. And if you don't, then stop complaining since you had more than 15 years to buy them.
If you don't want to play the enhanced editions, just don't.
But pretty please, sugar on top and all that, take your bitterness elsewhere.
If you don't have anything positive to say - just shut up.
1. UI
One of the strongest points of the EEs for me since the day one of the release of BGEE has been the UI which provides much more information than the vanilla UI-s of both BG1 and BG2.
In the same time, it has been very much in style with the vanilla BG2 UI, which I liked. Of course, I respect the UI from BG1 and that UI gives me good nostalgia.
With every next patch, the UI in the EEs became even better (the highlighting of known spells, the quick loot bar etc). It all led to the patch 1.3 for BGEE and BG2EE.
Yes, that 1.3 UI could stay as it was, without a major overhaul, but the thing is the new UI became a big step forward in terms of a moddability.
During the open beta the 2.0 UI got a lot of feedback, it got hundreds of comments with people sharing their views and opinions.
There were several beta builds released, and then, not long before the final release, we saw an improved beta UI, based on the feedback provided by this very forum.
It still needs more work, but that improved UI already showed that the company listened to its fans, it tried to improve the product.
The BG feel was back and with a lot of added functionality.
The patch notes for 2.0 clearly state that the work on UI will continue, and I have no doubts we'll get the best UI in the future.
2. Movies
This subject was well discussed after BGEE had been released. It was due to bringing BG to mobile platforms that the original movies had to be changed.
You can install http://www.shsforums.net/topic/55573-mod-bg-ee-classic-movies/ and enjoy the vanilla movies.
Moreover, for SoD, movies are very much in the line with BG1 and BG2.
3. Bugs
You know what? Beamdog has been fixing bugs for many years already! They constantly fix new and new bugs, and the game has less and less of them. New bugs are created because of adding more functionality, but the problems are being reported, submitted and fixed.
It's very ungrateful to say that Beamdog only added tons of bugs and broke several quests for months, without acknowledging the ongoing process of fixing.
The new UI was the reason of many new bugs, but in the long run it makes the game better, not worse.
4. Journal
They've been working on it for many years as well. With 2.0 the Journal is a lot different to what it was in BG1 and BG2. It's been improved a lot. It still has bugs but these bugs are being hunted and will be fixed.
The most important thing here is that the new UI, and the journal as the part of it, is very moddable, and there're already wonderful mods, which would be not possible without new features, like https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/50357/mod-sod-widescreen-gui-tweaks-v1-3#latest
The new journal system is much more functional than the vanilla one and there're all possible options to mod it.
5. Characters
The SoD NPCs are very good-written, check everywhere, from fans' reviews to official reviews. M’Khiin is called to be of the same quality vanilla BG1 and BG2 NPCs are.
It's obvious the writing on NPCs has improved a lot, although I already liked Baeloth, Dorn and Rasaad in the EEs.
And it's a pity you mention they're badly voiced. It's plain wrong! They're voiced superbly.
6. Portraits
Each artist has his own style, and it's impossible to create Mike Sass without being Mike Sass. Simple as that.
If you don't like certain portraits you can change them.
As for SoD, SoD portraits look much more BG-alike than the EE portraits. Actually, SoD has given me the best version of Viconia and Imoen, while the portrait of Irenicus is simply the best to me. I appreciate the work of Beamdog artists a lot!
7. Music
Come on! Are you kidding? You have to be kidding, because the EE music is stunning. It sounds exactly like BG vanilla music. Sam Hulick put a lot of effort into it, and SoD probably sounds as epic as SoA.
8. Game balance
If you think that using kits and items breaks BG1 balance, then you can:
1) not use them
2) install difficulty-enhancing mods
3) install Tweaks Anthology mod and choose BG1 vanilla proficiency system, which with you using only base classes will grant the BG1-alike experience
I actully love kits, new classes and items. The more the merrier. They don't break anything to me, when I'm playing my SCS no-reload run without non min-maxed charname.
9. Stealing mods
Modders are part of the team, and the team is constantly increasing. They didn't steal anything, they implemented what should have been implemented for the good.
10. Expansion
If you played SoD and didn't like it it doesn't mean all people think the same. There're many fans I know and there're many reviews I read where people say that SoD feels like a BG game and it's fun and interesting and recommended for BG players. I personally like it and got everything I wanted from an expansion.
To me, they did make it better. They've given me the best BG version I ever tried. And they're still improving it, of which I have the greatest respect.
I mean, you need the second game for Tutu to work anyway.
For the umpteenth time, here is a link to Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga on GoG:
https://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_the_original_saga
It's only 10 dollars and you can play it right now. Let us know how your rose colored glasses hold up to the ugly UI that takes up half the screen, the bugs, and the limited gameplay options. Please, do post a screenshot of the original inventory screen, hold it up next to the new one, and tell us how much better the former is. Please let us know how much you enjoy playing characters that alternate between ranged/two handed and sword and shield. Finally, tell us how much you enjoy not being able to pause in the inventory screen and how much fun it is clicking on 15 Hobgoblin corpses to find one ring. Oooh, or how great it is to be level drained and not have your spell preferences saved.
Or...don't. I get offering constructive criticism, but posting the same bitter, angry rants over and over doesn't seem to serve any purpose aside from sh*tting on other people's experience (like the OP; Gods help him for trying to say something nice). If you're unhappy with some of the changes and want to see Beamdog's efforts improve, that's great – but if you've written off the developer and the game entirely, then why are you still here? What constructive purpose are you looking to serve?
Can you never be happy?! Take your negativity elsewhere. All I've ever heard you do is be negative about Beamdog and EE versions and SoD.
Seriously, just let people who like the game like it, and go and play the originals..
Complaining about the art and music style is just silly. Use your own portraits and turn off the music if you don't like it.
Things I liked, aye? First off, I love the new interest in the game. Yeah, we got haters, but haters gonna hate, and for every one down vote It seems there was at least two? up votes. I didn't look, just seems way more on the side of SoD, and might makes right(Winning).
Thing the second, keeping my multiplayer going(yeah, bugs, take a breath) sharing my love of all things BG is why I'm here, how about you? oh... er, maybe not all of us.
Thing the third, Can I get that buff looking guy that apparently works for ya'll as an NPC. Romance option required. /wink
Edit: This post was inspired by coffee(the drink, and lots of it) and I just wanted to share credit where credit is due.
To come back to the opening post; it is mentioned that the controversy didn't impede their work. Now I do believe that said controversy would have turned out far differently if it was handled better from a public relations point of view. So I do hope Beamdog as a whole learned some lessons there.
As to @Wraith_Sarevok 's points, I'd like to weigh in that the story of the newest expansion is indeed quite forgettable. There are no pivotal moments that keep with you. Plus, it forces you as a player in one direction so forcefully that it breaks any and all sense of your own agency. Then there is the odd choice of ignoring any and all of the pantheon, stating that the crusade follows all of them. If that isn't a lazy plot, I don't know what is.
Finally; it's worth mentioning that these kinds of criticisms are made to improve the game, not to somehow destroy it. If you're unable to see any flaws in your favourite game you're unable to enhance it.
There's also the False, which are those purposely betrayed their deity after a lifetime of service: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/The_False Note: The punishments of the Faithless and the False were likely a bit more severe in the time of the BG series, because Myrkul was a much crueler god than Kelemvor. http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Myrkul
I started playing games again because of Beamdog - the last computer RPG before the EE series that I played was the Bard's Tale games or Pool of Radiance.
So, here I am, three years later - STILL playing the EE series. Planning to start writing mods soon. Hoping that there is more to come...
So, yeah, thank you Beamdoggies - from me, my wife (hooked), and my daughter (sometimes hooked). You roped me (and my family) back in, and I intend on hanging in there with you despite all those who deride the path you've taken.
The only thing that is absolutely forbidden by FR theology is worshipping All gods. Which is why Beamdog chose to make that the faith of the Crusade.
SOD is their thoughts on what happened in the gap. I have wondered in years and like everybody had my own ideas. This is theirs and unlike things in my head this is playable.
Great new characters - I'm on the M'khiin (or how you spell it) wagon. She will become a modern classic and fits just perfect. Also great balance between all the EE characters including the new family members and the old known faces.
And the music is awesome. Just awesome.
So thumbs up here.
And @Wraith_Sarevok if you want the old classic ones then just buy them online available on dvd. There is a plethora of them out there. Still have my old ones, they still work (needs a patch found online for free), and then playtime for you.
He states nostalgia is what makes people kiss up to beamdog? Maybe some people, but ironically it is likely that nostalgia that drives him to attempt to slate the game at any given opportunity. I mean, stolen mods? Really? The music has also pretty much been universally praised, yet he still hates on that as well.
I really started this thread because I wanted the people at Beamdog to see that even though there exists negative feedback, there are still tons and tons of people who, as a whole, are quite happy with what's been done. I don't want the negativity to flavor how Beamdog feels about the community as a whole.
Despite that the thread went off on a small tangent for a moment, I feel like the message has been delivered considering the number of Insightfuls, Agrees, and Likes that my first post received in a relatively short time period.
-Sarevok selection audio from BG2 3.0 update in 2017, cut in BG2 3.1, M'Khiin, a new Dwarven Defender companion and unique Shaman questline to access Druid Stronghold added to both SoA/ToB in 3.2 and everyone rejoices