Viconia DeVir

anythinggoes

Hello! I have a question about Viconia that bothers me for the longest time, and I failed to find an answer online, so I think this place is the best one to ask.

I played BG2 even before it was republished by Beamdog, and Viconia was a character who had so much hints about her having a personal quest that never happened.

When I first recruited her in Shadows of Amn (I played 2 before 1) I got a lot of expectations. I expected that she will have a quest in Underdark. That we will meet someone who knew her back then. That we will get ambushed by Lolth's worshipers who are hunting Viconia. She tells all about her life in Underdark, her escape and her turning on Lolth so I was absolutely sure that as soon as we are going to Underdark, something will happen. But it never will.

You can find some other DeVir house members in the cage on the second floor of the tavern in Underdark, I was expecting them to have any interaction with Viconia - again, nothing. I tried multiple options of playthrough variations because I thought maybe I need to have a certain level of approval with her to unlock her possible quests - nothing helped. I researched the internet and found nothing as well, so I assume it doesn't exist.

But still, they added these DeVir NPCs for some reason, and all Viconia's stories imply that she could have a quest about her past, her house falling, her escaping Lolth and all that.

So my question is, maybe there was something planned in the original games, that was later cut? That's the only explanation I can think of. Do you guys know anything about that?

Wisterias

Yeah, it's a bit disappointing... though I guess Menzoberranzan and Ust-Natha are different places, but they could have still given it some focus...

I feel like instead of adding new characters like Dorn and the like (EE), who are pretty weak, Beamdog could have delved deeper into those details of the original characters, carefully... but oh well, they preferred to add pompous filler without substance.

FredN

Viconia does have some comments to make in the Underdark, but no, she doesn't have anything really special to add. She does, however, fit in nicely with an all evil party. Add in Dorn, Hexxat, Korgan, and Sarevok and you will have a nasty crew indeed. Remember, she has something other recruitable NPCs don't. Innate Drow magic resistance. This is actually pretty significant, and can be pumped up even further in ToB.

Trouveur

Wisterias wrote: »

I feel like instead of adding new characters like Dorn and the like (EE), who are pretty weak, Beamdog could have delved deeper into those details of the original characters, carefully... but oh well, they preferred to add pompous filler without substance.

Don't make assumptions about intent.
Beamdog weren't allowed to touch anything about original characters.

FredN

1) Viconia's MR of 70% is pretty significant. And in ToB you can pump it up further.
2) Dorn is weak??? Are you out of your mind?? I want some of whatever you're smoking. He's a Blackguard, which means he is immune to level drain. Considering how much of SoA involves fighting Vampires, this is a huge bonus. Now, I understand if you don't want to follow Dorn's personal quest ... it's not for the faint of heart ... but even without the Abyssal Blade and The Visage, Dorn is not to be scoffed at. And if you actually do his quest, with that gear, he's a lean, mean foghting machine who curbstomps Vampires.

Wisterias

Trouveur wrote: »

Don't make assumptions about intent.
Beamdog weren't allowed to touch anything about original characters.

Then, why they were allowed to add a romance for Safana in SoD? Or for Viconia? They are original characters.

They added interactions between the new characters and the original ones too...

Weird.

Wisterias

FredN wrote: »

1) Viconia's MR of 70% is pretty significant. And in ToB you can pump it up further.
2) Dorn is weak??? Are you out of your mind?? I want some of whatever you're smoking. He's a Blackguard, which means he is immune to level drain. Considering how much of SoA involves fighting Vampires, this is a huge bonus. Now, I understand if you don't want to follow Dorn's personal quest ... it's not for the faint of heart ... but even without the Abyssal Blade and The Visage, Dorn is not to be scoffed at. And if you actually do his quest, with that gear, he's a lean, mean foghting machine who curbstomps Vampires.

Dorn is fine, but I meant new characters are weak in terms of their stories and such, not in terms of their combat abilities. They're characters without substance or charm.

I don't care much, I recruit them, do their quests and then bye.

I like Baeloth but that's all.

atcDave

SoD was done several years after the EEs were done. It was a different time and a different contract, specifically *for* the purpose of developing new content. But even then, WotC would not allow Beamdog to change the core content of the original games. Only fix bugs, enhance the Engine and restore some cut content. And of course, those are the parts of the EE that were done extraordinarily well. I absolutely love what they did with that, but I do not use the EE NPCs (even to say I have all but Neera removed via mod).

Trouveur

Wisterias wrote: »

Trouveur wrote: »

Don't make assumptions about intent.
Beamdog weren't allowed to touch anything about original characters.

Then, why they were allowed to add a romance for Safana in SoD? Or for Viconia? They are original characters.
Weird.

SoD is a totally new game, so it was not an alteration to the original games.
They couldn't touch original characters in the BG1 and BG2 games.
The few additions like Branwen reacting to Tranzig were specifically approved by WotC.

DinoDin

Simply worth noting that these were different times and there wasn't a set of expectations for what the designers were going to deliver regarding companions.

In a way, I actually find this is a lot better than the modern RPG approach, where every companion is given an equal sidequest, romance options, reactivity, etc. The BG2 companions are much more immersive in that they come in different shapes and sizes so to speak. They don't feel as artificial.

So the BG1/BG2 designers just kind of went with whatever they felt like, and, I'm guessing here, whatever they had budgeted for voice-acting. On top of that, they had to cut a fair amount of content to meet their deadline and have a mostly bug-free game. This wasn't the days of easy internet patching via Steam or whatever for many consumers. There's a cut Valygar romance and a cut Minsc sidequest, iirc. AFAIK, there was never an intended Viconia sidequest.

I do think she was given decent reactivity if you take her to the Underdark. She's a helpful companion for navigating that part for first time players imo.

anythinggoes

Thanks for the answers! I think if it wasn't for other DeVir house members I wouldn't be so sure that there must be something, because they do feel like a part of a cut content to me. I know that there were cut parts, yes, I even played with mods that restored different cut quests, like the one about the magic lamp, and Minsc losing Boo. I just hoped there maybe something similar going on with Viconia and these nameless DeVir guys, but looks like there is nothing.
Sad, really, Underdark chapter is probably my favourite, and having a DeVir quest there could be so fun...