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Companions from " The Siege of Dragonspear" to be added to BG 2 EE

ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
edited October 2018 in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Dear Beamdog!

I am writing this letter on behalf of hundreds of your players, based on months of researching and analysis.
We enjoyed Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear so much that it became one of our favorite games. We feel like this game can also enhance the Baldur’s Gate adventure and experience, and means so much to all of us.

We’re deeply sad that there’re no plans to include quests and NPCs, related to Siege of Dragonspear, into Baldur’s Gate II:Enhanced Edition. [1] Not only it’s sad because new BG storylines and new Infinity Engine characters, locations and items could be exciting to play, but because stories from Siege of Dragonspear are not finished.

EXAMPLES


Caelar Argent is left in Avernus, but she’s alive. The way she as a character was built, and the fact she can join your party at the end of SoD means she was supposed to be a returning character in Baldur’s Gate II:Enhanced Edition. We all know that in Shadows of Amn, and especially Throne of Bhaal, the main character becomes so powerful that she could return to Avernus and save Caelar Argent. her Story is obviously not finished yet and a plenty of BG gamers are still using hashtag #bringBackCaelar, made by Dev6, across the Web. It became a real battlecry.

Caelar Argent, the Shining Lady:









Safana. Baldur’s Gate II provides stories for a few BG1 NPCs, whose stories were changed in SoD. For example, Safana is supposed to be the main substitute for Imoen during SoD, but in BGII she still acts as in 2000, with no explanation why she became so hostile to the main character with whom, supposedly, she travelled to Avernus, and back, and with whom she could even have a romance in SoD.



Skie is killed in SoD, and it is very heart-breaking to every player, because there’s no resolution to this story. During one of the livestreams it was revealed the Soultaker quest was planned for Baldur’s Gate II:Enhanced Edition but it was cut. [2] As of now, there’s a plot hole in the storyline: what happened to Skie, what happened to the Soultaker, did Irenicus use this powerful dagger? Questions, without any answers.



Corwin and Glint. The Siege of Dragonspear introduced new romances. There’re players there, for whom these romances are the best, and whose characters will forever be in love with Corwin, or Glint. Again, with all the power the main character gets in Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal, this character, being in love with a SoD-only NPC, would do everything to return and take this NPC into his or her party.

Captain Schael Corwin:






These were just 4 of numerous examples why content related to the Siege of Dragonspear would be welcome by players. We don’t talk about a free patch, we understand creating such content is diffucult and pricey effort. This is why we ask Beamdog to create and release a paid DLC to continue stories started in Siege of Dragonspear.

Neera, the Wild Mage:




CONTEXT
  • In January, 2015 Beamdog Studio Director said: “If Adventure Y is a success I would like to do a SoA->ToB expansion”. [3]
  • In June, 2016, Trent Oster admitted that Siege of Dragonspear “has been a success for us and continues to be a success”. [4]
  • The subsequent launches of Siege of Dragonspear on mobile, where reviews for SoD are very favourable (both on iOS and Android) show that it indeed continues to be a success.
  • In September, 2018, you said that you “might add content to Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition one day”. [5]
  • All the polls show that the content for SoD in BGII is a desired feature.
  • These are the results from the official forum. 80% of the users who voted in the Poll “Content from Siege of Dragonspear in BG II:EE”, voted for “Yes, we need the new content for SoD and BG2”. [6]

THE MOST POPULAR COMMENTS
  • It doesn't even have to be a full on expansion and I would still buy it.
  • I very liked new areas, and for me this was the best sod aspect so yes just for new areas i would be good to add sod npc, even more becouse EENPC and they quest locations also have great art. New items was also great with interesing ideas and new opcodes. Caelar will give great chance to rescue quest and some kind of roleplaing redemption. We have Saverok and Viconia but i hope it can be made fresh.
  • Put M'khiin in the Copper Coronet slave ring, replacing one of the kids. She can join the party when you free her. One dialogue and no new quests for a brand new NPC, all in a way that would fit right in with Shadows of Amn. You could do the same thing for Voghiln, Glint, and Corwin. Voghiln could be telling tales at the Five Flagons, Corwin could be investigating the missing people in Imnesvale, and Glint could be doing gnomey things somewhere else.
  • If they sell it as a DLC then those people who don't want it or who have never played Dragonspear would not need to have the characters in game. I think they could make any of the characters show up with a little effort. Again, it doesn't have to be a full expansion. If they just released a medium sized DLC, I'd be happy.
These are the results from the Russian social media (and this is while Siege of Dragonspear is not even translated into Russian). 73% of the users who voted in the Poll “Do you want the story of Caelar Argent to be continued?”, voted for “YES, very much”, 17% don't mind having this content and only, 2% accept the new content but with additional conditions and only 8% are against adding it . [7]

QUOTES


For the last year, the most popular request after every licestream, was about Siege of Dragonspear-related content for Baldur’s Gate II:Enhanced Edition. Let us just quote players (and check out big amounts of reactions those posts got):
  • “When is Beamdog going to announce adding a plotline for the Soultaker into BG2EE?” [8]
  • “We want M'Khiin and Glint in BG2!” [9]
  • “Is it a final decision? It would be a pity” [10]
  • “Excited for that patch roll out. How about plans for adding a resolution for the soultaker to BG2EE?” [11]
  • “Congrats on finishing the 2.5 patch for BG2EE! Why not take a victory lap and finish the Soultaker plot thread as well?” [12]
  • “The 2.5 patch cycle is nearly finished. Will there be small hotfixes in the future, to patch up smaller issues like bug fixes and regressions, so that player's won't have to wait months or years for bugfixes? Also, what are Beamdog's plans to finish the SouldTaker plot thread?” [13]
  • “The Soul Taker expansion was originaly planned for BG2, so even if your reasoning makes somewhat sense, I'm not sure that's the real reason why Beamdog didn't make it. Again, Beamdog purposefully created a cliffhanger in SoD with clearly obvious plan to do another expansion for BG2.” [14]
  • “I too would be interesting to hear more about this. When I purchased BG:EE and BG:SoD, I sort of hoped that Beamdog would close their own unresolved plots.” [15]
  • “I just finished SoD. I feel kinda down that none of what I did there really matters. I romanced Corwin and feel really shite that I will not see her again after all that. Is there any chance you guys are going to expand BG2 more? Maybe letting us continue with the characters you added in SoD? I'm sure you have read many fans' thoughts on how you could meet them again and it seems plenty possible. Also, the SoulTaker plot line... I really have unfinished business there.” [16]
  • “How about plans to close the Soultaker plot hole?” [17]
Even a member of the development team admitted the need to finish the Soultaker plot: “Good news! Hopefully those devs that just finished the 2.5 patch series can now focus on fixing the Soultaker plot hole.” [18]

CONCLUSION & REFERENCES


To finish our community letter, we would like to share this amazing Siege of Dragonspear fanart. Fanart can go a long way to show how much the game means for people. Please, Beamdog, create new Siege of Dragonspear-related stories, so that our biggest dreams could come true.

References:
  1. Regarding modding SoD NPCs for BG2:EE
  2. March 9 Livestream Recap
  3. Phillip Daigle
  4. Trent Oster
  5. September 14 Livestream Recap
  6. Content from Siege of Dragonspear in BG II:EE (Poll)
  7. Russian RPG Community forums and the other Questionnaire
  8. We want M'Khiin and Glint in BG2!
  9. Recap Questions
  10. Soultaker
  11. Questions about Soultaker
  12. Soultaker's plot
  13. Expansions
  14. Opnions
  15. Forum requests
  16. Another Forum request
  17. More requests
  18. Discussion

Thank you very much!
Sincerely yours, Baldur's Gate EE Community.

Tags: #beamdog #baldursgate #faerun #forgottenrealms #bringbackcaelar #rpg #mods #icewinddale #planescape #neverwinternights #siegeofdragonspear #infinityengine
Post edited by ashafetov on
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Comments

  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    ss7877 said:

    ashafetov said:


    For the last year, the most popular request after every licestream, was about Siege of Dragonspear-related content for Baldur’s Gate II:Enhanced Edition.

    Also, playable Goblin race + Barbarian/Shaman multi-class :)

    I do like this as well! But not sure, if it is not too much already :)
  • ss7877ss7877 Member Posts: 49
    edited October 2018
    Dev6 said:


    I asked about goblins as a playable race once and got some very good insights from @AndrewFoley as to why we don't have them. Read through the posts there, it's a pity of course but it does make sense.

    Not a problem. Then another variant - Half-goblin :)

    Half-goblins live with humans and are considered humans by most society's. Half-goblins are most often raised by their human counterparts. If a goblin mother is found to have birthed a half-goblin, she is most often sent to find the father and is supposed to give the baby to the him. In some situations, the baby and the mother are simply sacrificed. Despite this, many Half-Goblins are taught Goblin and often become ambassadors as adults. In this job they mostly go from goblin communities to human communities trying to keep the peace if there is tension between the two.

    Half-Goblin Race + Barbarian/Shaman Multi-Class = Instabuy DLC
    Pls, think about it, Beamdog :)
    Post edited by ss7877 on
  • Yulaw9460Yulaw9460 Member Posts: 634
    edited November 2018
    Deleted.
    Post edited by Yulaw9460 on
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Yulaw9460 said:

    If free
    then
    execute *shrug*

    If paid DLC
    then
    execute *ignore*

    Yes, but it would be nice also do describe the methods first. I would use "else" instead of the second "if". Sorry, just picky
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Thanks @typo_tilly ! Well, this is mostly game design type of question. At least it seems to be. it really depends on how deep this new characters can affect the BG2EE plot. But for me personally it would be just great to make them available to add to the party.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • batoorbatoor Member Posts: 676
    edited November 2018
    I can't believe you spent this much effort on a mediocre expan... : = )

    Nah this is some impressive dedication and something that gets the ball rolling. Then you can build a shrine for Thacobell at the end of it all if it turns out to be a success^^
  • Yulaw9460Yulaw9460 Member Posts: 634
    edited November 2018
    Deleted.
    Post edited by Yulaw9460 on
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Yulaw9460 said:

    ashafetov said:

    Yes, but it would be nice also do describe the methods first. I would use "else" instead of the second "if". Sorry, just picky

    Errh... sure. My point is that NPCs from SoD really don't give much that already exists. There's really no shortage of annoying Gnomes or odd accents in BG2, as far as I remember.

    If they come for free: Sure, whatever. I suppose I can do with them as I already do with the current batch of EE NPCs: Strip them of any valuables and feed them to the Gibberlings. Or wolves. Whatever is handy.

    If they come as some kind of DLC with a pricetag: No chance. Ever.
    Yes, but the existing content from SoD can enhance the BG2EE experience, doesn't it? At least in the way of seamless continuation of original party from SoD. This is the thing I loved in Icewind Dale. I do agree, it won't affect main story of BG2 and it should not, but might extend the original Game with additional narrative depth. Just my 5 cents. If this is the price-only question, then it is hard for me to judge how my work does it require.
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    batoor said:

    I can't believe you spent this much effort on a mediocre expan... : = )

    Nah this is some impressive dedication and something that gets the ball rolling. Then you can build a shrine for Thacobell at the end of it all if it turns out to be a success^^

    TO me it seems to be a good expansion, I would also continue BG2EE with the party from SoD. Like, this is main point here :)
  • AedanAedan Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 8,551
    I do support this idea with all of my heart, but Trent said no :'(:'(:'(:'(
  • Yulaw9460Yulaw9460 Member Posts: 634
    edited November 2018
    Deleted.
    Post edited by Yulaw9460 on
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