I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we love the setting and feel of the Baldur's Gate series.
1) What's stopping Beamdog from creating an incredibly stable, easy to use engine (is that even possible?) that has the nostalgic feel while bringing us back to the Forgotten Realms with 5e rule set? For me, I just want to visit more places, have more story. @killerrabbit I hear you loud and clear, but I think adding to the Bhaalspawn series would constantly be a sideways step instead of a step forward for Beamdog.
2)Start something new and maybe instead of us chasing the storyline the story chases us based on where we decide to travel. Think Luskan is a nice place to visit this time of year? Well, go to Luskan and get embroiled in a plot with the Pirate Captains that have to be resolved before we can move on. Maybe make the game difficulty scale to our current level. Also, areas that don't scale so we can truly get in over our heads. Let there be a good multiplayer option (even two players would be amazing, things can get wacky with 3+).
Have the game world live and breathe a bit more with random events, areas that change based on what season it is, have the game be more about exploring than b-lining it to the preferred weapon you'll use and then never unequip. Maybe the game starts with our old aunt/uncle gifting us some badass weapon/armor/item from their adventuring days. It'll be the last thing they didn't have to sell so they could continue to live comfortably in retirement. Thieves will naturally attempt to and potentially succeed in stealing it (forcing a quest to get it back).
3) @killerrabbit also pointed out something important, don't make the engine reliant on pushing the graphics boundary. At some point, I feel too many developers rely on fancy graphics and effects to mask an underwhelming combat system or a sub-par story. The look of BG is perfect because the world is beautiful enough to view, but the characters are fuzzy enough that we can let our imagination fill in the blanks. What is the point of facial features if it never looks the way we want it to look (this drives me insane with any game that lets you customize a character)? Xan's moonblade burns blue, my imagination gets it. High-def is not required.
4) Let's say we did continue with BG3. @ThacoBell, we could start the prologue as CHARNAME's son/daughter, or nephew/niece (if we didn't have kids), and the prologue could all be tailored around how your particulate Bhaalspawn saga concluded. We wouldn't have the restrictions that SoD placed on our traveling party. I wouldn't want to start a game as a lvl 30+ character, but that's just me.
If they were to do a new game in a new engine with a new rule set I would rather it not have Baldur's Gate in the title. If they have something new let it be it's own identity. I will stand behind a new project like that just like I stood behind TTon and POE. Neither of those games are on the level of Baldur's Gate but maybe Beamdog will find the correct feel and balance while still making a lengthy game with depth while using a shoestring budget. It's a shot in the dark at this point.
But there is NO WHERE TO GO with a BG3. All options that I have ever heard require alienating whole swaths of the playerbase. I really enjoy ToB and the ending it brings, and I would never be okay with any developer deciding that the decisions I made didn't matter. Chose to remain mortal? Too bad! Charname was a god all along! What's that? You ascended as the evil god of Murder? Too bad! Charname was good all along and you start the game as the god of fluffy bunnies! Seriously, where could the series possibly go without retconning or flat out ignoring this story that is supposedly so beloved after 15+ years?
I like the ending of TOB too, but that's not the reason to say there can't be a continuation of sorts.
The Bhaalspawn saga is over, I agree. But other people's stories didn't finish at the same time. Simply change who the charname is for the narrative. People will still relate to the new "charname" as they will create he/she themselves.
The games are played multiple times, and each time players create a new charname (judging that by what people post on this forum). So why the sudden difficulty with having a different charname for a new adventure? It's what players do all the time.
So long as they don't call it BG3. Because it wouldn't be. That story for that character is finished.
... but I think it's clear Beamdog are making a new game. Didn't they release screenshots and wasn't it turn-based? It's a new engine, eh.
Wait, is this confirmed? The turn-based part? God I hope not! Really can't stand turn-based.
Not confirmed by any means. But it had what looked like cover mechanics a la Hard West or NuCOM, so some it's not a farfetched assumption. Personally I don't see any reason a TB&P system couldn't have cover mechanics, though.
... but I think it's clear Beamdog are making a new game. Didn't they release screenshots and wasn't it turn-based? It's a new engine, eh.
Wait, is this confirmed? The turn-based part? God I hope not! Really can't stand turn-based.
Not confirmed by any means. But it had what looked like cover mechanics a la Hard West or NuCOM, so some it's not a farfetched assumption. Personally I don't see any reason a TB&P system couldn't have cover mechanics, though.
It was a single shot, iirc, and I think it was in the "all you want to knoe about the next game" thread. Probably taken from one of the devs' Twitter pages.
It was a single shot, iirc, and I think it was in the "all you want to knoe about the next game" thread. Probably taken from one of the devs' Twitter pages.
I'm still not sure if I like what I saw or not! lol
Players start off in Beregost. They adventure and explore, only with randomized monster/undead/whatever invasions. Extra areas are added and dungeons are put in.
The level cap is that of SoD. After hitting the level cap players can earn mini HLAs. These make Martials more fun and balance them against Spellcasters. These HLAs are not permanent though. They only last for so long, and many of them are seasonal. This is to encourage balance between newer and older players.
Upon hitting the level cap, players can also join factions (Harpers/Zhents/etc) which introduces PvP. There are PvP zones, as factions keep their warring outside the eyes of the flaming fist.
BG3 takes place after ToB.
Finally, players can buy property. There are special areas in Baldur’s Gate itself which are residential. When property is bought players can customize their houses, including with trophies. This is where your gold goes into at high levels. The highest end of this are ‘fortified majors’ located outside of the city. These require NPC guards to keep them safe. Players can make their own gold-gathering buildings (such as farms) to pay for these guards. While this takes an insane amount of gold, it is planned to be like this to keep players interested.
And while it is still in the works...there are rumors to be ‘modding competitions.’ Modders send to beamdog their custom dungeons/events. Once every three months a winner is chosen and beamdog adds it into the game until the next winner is chosen. The modders who win get custom titles in game.
Guilds (along with guild halls and guild wars) are planned for the expansion. A crafting system is also in development so players can make (and sell) their own custom magic items.
I don't think you'll have a BG3, no point. I mean the story end pretty definitely in ToB. Lol, no real point. That isn't to say it is possible they won't make a game taking place after with the same lore and settings(FR is a HUGE money maker lol) but if you want to continue with Gorion's Ward and the same characters...nope, I do not see that ever happening.
I'm with the members here who say there's enough productions around for RPG lovers that want to move on. I liked Pillars of Eternity (and will no doubt play the 2), Tyranny looks good and I need to get in it, there's Torment: Tides of Numenéra which is quite decent too. Post-Apocalyptic lovers have Wasteland 2 (and soon 3), etc.
It seems kind of congested to me. Beamdog might as well keep using the nostalgic fiber. Why not a Baldur's Gate 2.5? An extension taking place inbetween SoA and ToB? Didn't Philip Daigle mentioned at some point it's something he's personnaly enjoy to do (or am I getting confused again)?
The transition between SoA and ToB was always kind of brutal to me, only a few days and the country is devastated by war? Should take months at least, there's room for a little story here I think.
Been thinking something, as I recalled an old discussion. Baldur's Gate takes place in 1368, Kelemvor access godhood the very same year, taking the mantle of god of the deads from Cyric. Cyric himself took the mantles of Baine, Bhaal and Myrkul. Cyric is rather absent from the storyline, except for a crazed cleric in SoA. While gods can't interfere with the bhaalspawn it still feel like a story could be told here.
As long as they don't let Rian Johnson anywhere near it...can you imagine?
Really don't read this if you haven't seen the Last Jedi
Charname would be found living in a cave eating spiders having murdered one of their companions because they had thought about short changing a barkeeper.
You wouldn't need to learn spells, learning is a waste of time.
Two of your companions would up and charge off to the Athkatla (the City of Coin) and lecture the people in the Mithras about the evils of being rich, liberate the animals from the circus, ignore the children held by the slavers in the Copper Coronet, and then fall in love during the spare afternoon they had.
You would see the signposted evil "big bad Snark" having breakfast and then watch him die at teatime having learnt nothing whatsoever about him.
Nobody tells you anything or gives any quests because it's so much fun watching people floundering around not knowing what the hell is going on........... oh look, there's an explosion......and a fight over here....and a squirrel over there
Every wilderness scene is covered in a white substance that looks suspiciously like snow but is in fact salt, washing powder or cocaine (you have to taste it to find out though)
You'd start at level 30 in every class because you're a woman of course duh..........
Comments
1) What's stopping Beamdog from creating an incredibly stable, easy to use engine (is that even possible?) that has the nostalgic feel while bringing us back to the Forgotten Realms with 5e rule set? For me, I just want to visit more places, have more story. @killerrabbit I hear you loud and clear, but I think adding to the Bhaalspawn series would constantly be a sideways step instead of a step forward for Beamdog.
2)Start something new and maybe instead of us chasing the storyline the story chases us based on where we decide to travel. Think Luskan is a nice place to visit this time of year? Well, go to Luskan and get embroiled in a plot with the Pirate Captains that have to be resolved before we can move on. Maybe make the game difficulty scale to our current level. Also, areas that don't scale so we can truly get in over our heads. Let there be a good multiplayer option (even two players would be amazing, things can get wacky with 3+).
Have the game world live and breathe a bit more with random events, areas that change based on what season it is, have the game be more about exploring than b-lining it to the preferred weapon you'll use and then never unequip. Maybe the game starts with our old aunt/uncle gifting us some badass weapon/armor/item from their adventuring days. It'll be the last thing they didn't have to sell so they could continue to live comfortably in retirement. Thieves will naturally attempt to and potentially succeed in stealing it (forcing a quest to get it back).
3) @killerrabbit also pointed out something important, don't make the engine reliant on pushing the graphics boundary. At some point, I feel too many developers rely on fancy graphics and effects to mask an underwhelming combat system or a sub-par story. The look of BG is perfect because the world is beautiful enough to view, but the characters are fuzzy enough that we can let our imagination fill in the blanks. What is the point of facial features if it never looks the way we want it to look (this drives me insane with any game that lets you customize a character)? Xan's moonblade burns blue, my imagination gets it. High-def is not required.
4) Let's say we did continue with BG3. @ThacoBell, we could start the prologue as CHARNAME's son/daughter, or nephew/niece (if we didn't have kids), and the prologue could all be tailored around how your particulate Bhaalspawn saga concluded. We wouldn't have the restrictions that SoD placed on our traveling party. I wouldn't want to start a game as a lvl 30+ character, but that's just me.
I could go on forever.
Where are these screenshots?
Players start off in Beregost. They adventure and explore, only with randomized monster/undead/whatever invasions. Extra areas are added and dungeons are put in.
The level cap is that of SoD. After hitting the level cap players can earn mini HLAs. These make Martials more fun and balance them against Spellcasters. These HLAs are not permanent though. They only last for so long, and many of them are seasonal. This is to encourage balance between newer and older players.
Upon hitting the level cap, players can also join factions (Harpers/Zhents/etc) which introduces PvP. There are PvP zones, as factions keep their warring outside the eyes of the flaming fist.
BG3 takes place after ToB.
Finally, players can buy property. There are special areas in Baldur’s Gate itself which are residential. When property is bought players can customize their houses, including with trophies. This is where your gold goes into at high levels. The highest end of this are ‘fortified majors’ located outside of the city. These require NPC guards to keep them safe. Players can make their own gold-gathering buildings (such as farms) to pay for these guards. While this takes an insane amount of gold, it is planned to be like this to keep players interested.
And while it is still in the works...there are rumors to be ‘modding competitions.’ Modders send to beamdog their custom dungeons/events. Once every three months a winner is chosen and beamdog adds it into the game until the next winner is chosen. The modders who win get custom titles in game.
Guilds (along with guild halls and guild wars) are planned for the expansion.
A crafting system is also in development so players can make (and sell) their own custom magic items.
It seems kind of congested to me. Beamdog might as well keep using the nostalgic fiber. Why not a Baldur's Gate 2.5? An extension taking place inbetween SoA and ToB? Didn't Philip Daigle mentioned at some point it's something he's personnaly enjoy to do (or am I getting confused again)?
The transition between SoA and ToB was always kind of brutal to me, only a few days and the country is devastated by war? Should take months at least, there's room for a little story here I think.
Really don't read this if you haven't seen the Last Jedi
You wouldn't need to learn spells, learning is a waste of time.
Two of your companions would up and charge off to the Athkatla (the City of Coin) and lecture the people in the Mithras about the evils of being rich, liberate the animals from the circus, ignore the children held by the slavers in the Copper Coronet, and then fall in love during the spare afternoon they had.
You would see the signposted evil "big bad Snark" having breakfast and then watch him die at teatime having learnt nothing whatsoever about him.
Nobody tells you anything or gives any quests because it's so much fun watching people floundering around not knowing what the hell is going on........... oh look, there's an explosion......and a fight over here....and a squirrel over there
Every wilderness scene is covered in a white substance that looks suspiciously like snow but is in fact salt, washing powder or cocaine (you have to taste it to find out though)
You'd start at level 30 in every class because you're a woman of course duh..........
Or this
Star Wars Holiday Special