It's one of the basic rules of economics. If you invest in something you are neglecting something because the resources are limited.
It doesn't mean that you are neglecting entirely, but you're not putting all the effort you could.
And do so to give something that wasn't required seems to me like a bad choice. Especially when there are things urgently required, like IWDEE upgrade, iOS/Android compatibility, german dub, so it goes.
If Beamdog wishes to increase its profit, there are tons of easy to do things that people already stated that would pay for. Trying to achieve this by giving something not required and that can be easily obtained for free is a bad management move.
About the second quote:
Thanks for the heads up. It sounded arrogant indeed and that was not my intention. I mean that I saw some clients complaining about minor changes in the game. Enough for me, if I was Beamdog, not changing anything that doesn't requires a change.
As my old man says: if it's not broken don't fix it.
I have to agree with the commentary I'm seeing about the portrait pack seeming like a random and perhaps unnecessary content addition. My first thought was that it didn't seem like the sort of thing players wanted and then when I actually saw the portraits they didn't exactly fit the style I was expecting either. The Rasaad, Neera and Dorn portraits fit in seamlessly but these portraits seem more fitting for Icewind Dale than Baldur's Gate. I'm not really an angry entitled fan or anything I'm just a little confused by it.
None of these portraits interest me, but I don't see a problem with cheap portrait DLC. It's just Beamdog commissioning an artist to draw them. It doesn't draw time away from programming or bug fixing.
The same agreement could be done with a freelancer programmer.
The same guy from Beamdog that got in touch with the artist could be solving the German dub issue.
And so it goes.
But the deed is done now and there's no turning back.
Since I got shot in service I spend a lot of time in this forum
Almost entirely off topic: I hope your recovery is quick and painless. Getting shot sounds like a painful bit of business, and spending a lot of time on the forums sounds almost doubly as painful.
Apparently, it is not read by Beamdog. Since I got shot in service I spend a lot of time in this forum and I never saw any request for portraits. And I don't remember seeing any request in this direction.
I, likewise, wish you well. I can relate a bit. It isn't a gunshot, nor something as honorable as a service wound, but I have low cerebrospinal fluid volume and get a lot of blurred and double vision with light and sound sensitive headaches. We just figured this out so I'm hoping we have a surgical solution soon, but I've been dealing with it for years with misdiagnosis all over the place. I like the forums because they are not only a time killer, but they are a place I can read much more comfortably (grey text on black background is amazing).
@Raduziel get well, and soon. I can sympathize because I'm going through some serious health issues myself, and it sucks. But I always remember the kids I've seen at cancer hospitals and remember that whatever happens I made my forties and was able to walk out. It helps keep perspective.
@Durenas that's true, but none here AFAIK asked for a portrait, so it was a waste of time and money running after someone who does it. But that is my last talk about this matter, my idea here was to give some free advice to Beamdog. The company can take it or ignore it. I'm not taking anything I say here out of the hat, anyone who had studied Business Management or Economics knows what I said.
@Papa_Lou thanks, dude. TBH this forum is helping me a lot - makes time pass faster and is helping me learn some new things like modding.
@themazingness Ouch, wish you well. Hope the docs can make a precise diagnostic and be able to patch you up ASAP. And being shot is not something to be proud of or honorable. The whole idea is to literally dodge a bullet lol. Thanks for the support.
@tbone1 Yeah, there is always somewhere to look out for inspiration. I'm 29 now and quite happy that I avoided the wheelchair. All I need is time to heal and try to make the best of this earlier retirement from the military. I'll spend some long time doing physiotherapy and will try to sketch something to get my doctorate degree. Maybe I'll become a teacher or a consultant, IDK. Hope for a quick recovery for you.
At least now I have a story that will never make Christmas boring again. When I was 9 I fell from quite a high tree and luckily broke only a leg. When I was 20 I got hit by a car and broke some ribs and both arms. Now a gunshot. Looks like I have a high Constitution score. Like people use to say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Another death evasion and I'll be able to unlock HLA, I guess.
If you're going to go to all the trouble of doing this, at least have the artist match the new portraits to the style of BG. As others have pointed out there are already millions of free portraits out there so make the official DLC ones stand out by seamlessly slipping into the games world.
This is a problem I've had with most of the Beamdog portraits, it just seems lazy. Not to bash the artist at all, please don't misread.
Same character, different styles to match the games. If a schmuck sitting at home can do, Beamdog can do better.
I've been saying this for ages. Glad I'm not the only one.
If this pack had high quality original portraits in BG2 style that would be something. From the looks of it however these portraits have nothing in common with the classic ones and I fail to see why I would want them over any of the countless high quality portraits I can get from deviantart or other places for free?
@Durenas that's true, but none here AFAIK asked for a portrait, so it was a waste of time and money running after someone who does it.
It would be if Beamdog hired freelance artists to do the portraits. But the odds are they went to the inhouse artists who work in the office.
If Beamdog is, say, waiting for approval from licensors to move on to the next phases of whatever projects they're working on, and they've got the artists sitting there, unable to fix bugs or translate or whateer other tasks need doing, they might as well get them to do something that can generate a little income in the meantime.
And if that is indeed the case, they wouldn't be wasting any money or much time running after someone to do the portraits; at most they'd be jogging down the hallway to the artist's cave to make the request.
It's common Stone Age knowledge that workplaces located in caves equals to recreation holidays. Thus said employees have no claim to request days off from work.
Well, why are Gnolls and baby Wyverns kept in caves? I guess it was ultimately *artists* who decided to put them there, right? For reasons concocted by them very selves, in their very own minds, right? Perhaps this, after some deep introspection, triggered the artists to realise that they were probably best of sharing a similar fate, for reasons eerily alike to those they had concocted for the cave dwellers that they by now had already destined to be just so. Reasons we might never know of. Reasons that hint of some inscrutable homomorphism between beast and man - indeed - between beast and artist! An opaque, mystic, shared fate only ever unveiled by the spirits of the muses. Revealed exclusively by themselves and for themselves. And perhaps Gnolls. And Peter (of the) North. (Who were, incidentally!, both a cave dweller and an artist.. You see? The pieces are falling together now)
The portraits are good and fit the BG2 theme (imo) but I honestly wish we had more BG1 styled portraits. I love how all the portraits had powerful facial expressions and they looked realistic instead of painted, it really brings life to the characters. Xzar is a perfect example, his portrait matches perfectly on what you expect to see from him.
It's still great to see more content coming to the game!
I honestly wish we had more BG1 styled portraits. I love how all the portraits had powerful facial expressions and they looked realistic instead of painted, it really brings life to the characters.
There's no end to how much I agree with this.
On an unrelated note, I'm fairly sure the portrait pack was drawn by Kieran Yanner. Looks very much like his style.
Comments
About the first quote:
It's one of the basic rules of economics. If you invest in something you are neglecting something because the resources are limited.
It doesn't mean that you are neglecting entirely, but you're not putting all the effort you could.
And do so to give something that wasn't required seems to me like a bad choice. Especially when there are things urgently required, like IWDEE upgrade, iOS/Android compatibility, german dub, so it goes.
If Beamdog wishes to increase its profit, there are tons of easy to do things that people already stated that would pay for. Trying to achieve this by giving something not required and that can be easily obtained for free is a bad management move.
About the second quote:
Thanks for the heads up. It sounded arrogant indeed and that was not my intention. I mean that I saw some clients complaining about minor changes in the game. Enough for me, if I was Beamdog, not changing anything that doesn't requires a change.
As my old man says: if it's not broken don't fix it.
The same guy from Beamdog that got in touch with the artist could be solving the German dub issue.
And so it goes.
But the deed is done now and there's no turning back.
@Papa_Lou thanks, dude. TBH this forum is helping me a lot - makes time pass faster and is helping me learn some new things like modding.
@themazingness Ouch, wish you well. Hope the docs can make a precise diagnostic and be able to patch you up ASAP. And being shot is not something to be proud of or honorable. The whole idea is to literally dodge a bullet lol. Thanks for the support.
@tbone1 Yeah, there is always somewhere to look out for inspiration. I'm 29 now and quite happy that I avoided the wheelchair. All I need is time to heal and try to make the best of this earlier retirement from the military. I'll spend some long time doing physiotherapy and will try to sketch something to get my doctorate degree. Maybe I'll become a teacher or a consultant, IDK. Hope for a quick recovery for you.
At least now I have a story that will never make Christmas boring again. When I was 9 I fell from quite a high tree and luckily broke only a leg. When I was 20 I got hit by a car and broke some ribs and both arms. Now a gunshot. Looks like I have a high Constitution score. Like people use to say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Another death evasion and I'll be able to unlock HLA, I guess.
From the looks of it however these portraits have nothing in common with the classic ones and I fail to see why I would want them over any of the countless high quality portraits I can get from deviantart or other places for free?
If Beamdog is, say, waiting for approval from licensors to move on to the next phases of whatever projects they're working on, and they've got the artists sitting there, unable to fix bugs or translate or whateer other tasks need doing, they might as well get them to do something that can generate a little income in the meantime.
And if that is indeed the case, they wouldn't be wasting any money or much time running after someone to do the portraits; at most they'd be jogging down the hallway to the artist's cave to make the request.
Why are they kept in a cave
It's common Stone Age knowledge that workplaces located in caves equals to recreation holidays. Thus said employees have no claim to request days off from work.
I guess it was ultimately *artists* who decided to put them there, right? For reasons concocted by them very selves, in their very own minds, right?
Perhaps this, after some deep introspection, triggered the artists to realise that they were probably best of sharing a similar fate, for reasons eerily alike to those they had concocted for the cave dwellers that they by now had already destined to be just so.
Reasons we might never know of. Reasons that hint of some inscrutable homomorphism between beast and man - indeed - between beast and artist! An opaque, mystic, shared fate only ever unveiled by the spirits of the muses. Revealed exclusively by themselves and for themselves. And perhaps Gnolls. And Peter (of the) North. (Who were, incidentally!, both a cave dweller and an artist.. You see? The pieces are falling together now)
It's still great to see more content coming to the game!
On an unrelated note, I'm fairly sure the portrait pack was drawn by Kieran Yanner. Looks very much like his style.
- more portraits is always fine
The bad:
- these portraits stand out from the originals
- not all races are covered up
- you can get loads of custom portaits for free
http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/08/new-portrait-pack-faces-of-good-and-evil.html