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Beamdog announces the Dice, Camera, Action! Enhanced Edition voice and portrait pack

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  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    deltago said:

    Oh god, having them as NPCs would be catch 22 for Beamdog figuring the new NPCs for SoD still need to make an appearance in BG2 first. People will complain that there is no Glint but these people who don’t fit the story.

    That’s why I suggested it for IWD:EE. No other (non-mod added) NPCs to worry about.
  • ZoGarthZoGarth Member Posts: 47
    Okayyyy.... I feel a little weird since I've rarely criticized the Beamdog games. I've even bought 3 versions of every Beamdog game available on Android, GOG, and from the main Beamdog site, not to mention games I've purchased for other people. I even signed up for the Beamdog newsletter, watch the Beamblog, and promote the games to people I talk too. But even a noob like myself has used my own portraits and sounds since original game(s). But, I guess congratulation to this group that is on twitchy, youtubie, or is on one of the other social media site that a old man like myself doesn't follow (Heck, who wouldn't like their character added into the main game). But I really, really hope this is just "FAKE" news that was referred too for the last month+. If so you could have just released it with no big fan fair, since like them, while I would have been PUMPED to have my character added, I'm sure the rest of the community would say "Meh". A new story line like those added to the Enhanced Edition... now that a different story!
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @ZoGarth Don't worry, this wasn't the big announcement. That one got pulled, so we are still waiting for the big news. The EE pack was only mentioned about a week ago on stream.
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    Ludwig_II said:

    Don't worry guys, the big news is coming very soon, in the next 3 years or so...

    Is that before or after we get a BGEE update of the Mac App Store ;)
  • InKalInKal Member Posts: 196
    IMO really good promotional event for Beamdog as a company. Only a little suggestion: maybe you should make a short movie, send it to them (especially to that Jared guy) and ask him if he could post it on his youtube channel? maybe ask him about SoD, did he played it, how about a review? you know - to strike while iron is still hot.
  • O_BruceO_Bruce Member Posts: 2,790
    I am looking the most towards new portraits. :3
  • kanisathakanisatha Member Posts: 1,308
    Right on, @Kilivitz! I've been biting my tongue not wanting to say too much on this given the "Let's circle the wagons and burn the heretics at the stake" attitude of a lot of people on these forums, but you said it all for me. Very well put. Thank you!
  • the_sexteinthe_sextein Member Posts: 711

    SOD was a totally original game and it was pretty well done. It had a few bugs but I completed it on the first try without problem.
    They may be having some growing pains if they are using a more modern engine for their new title.

    Beamdog does take a stupid long time to patch their games and if that is any indication they are struggling because of team size which is probably why David finished his work for the project and decided to go else ware rather than sit around while the rest of the team worked for 3 more years on the game engine and quests. Beamdog is expanding, they are hiring and buying a new larger building so maybe they will get it under control in the future. From products to announcements and patches things have been very slow since SOD released.
  • kanisathakanisatha Member Posts: 1,308
    deltago said:

    Beamdog founded in 2009 has 5.5 (BG, BG2, IWD, PS:T, NWN, SoD as the .5) under their belt ....

    Yeah, this made me chuckle. Sorry, but no. You are of course free to define your game count however you want, but by my game count Beamdog's number of released games is zero. EEs and DLCs to EEs don't count as "games made" to me. Only a standalone new (though not necessarily a new IP) game will count for me.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    This just in. The Infinity Engine series are not games.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    kanisatha said:

    deltago said:

    Beamdog founded in 2009 has 5.5 (BG, BG2, IWD, PS:T, NWN, SoD as the .5) under their belt ....

    Yeah, this made me chuckle. Sorry, but no. You are of course free to define your game count however you want, but by my game count Beamdog's number of released games is zero. EEs and DLCs to EEs don't count as "games made" to me. Only a standalone new (though not necessarily a new IP) game will count for me.
    Yes you are quite correct. Redoing an entire engine to make a game not only run smoothly on modern machines but mobile as well shouldn’t count for anything.
  • ShadowdemonShadowdemon Member Posts: 80
    Kilivitz said:



    The hiring of David Gaider was solid evidence that they have (or had) a new IP in the works. However, two years passed and nothing came out of that. Then Gaider left and all they had to say was "Someday we will share the fruits of his labour!". Now seven more months have gone by. Should we be surprised?

    Yeah, I figured that as soon as David left that game would never see the light of day. I really hope I am wrong. I really want to see what he was working on. However I fear he realized it as well and left.
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    Am I the only one struggling for agreeing with both @deltago and @Kilivitz ?
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    Raduziel said:

    Am I the only one struggling for agreeing with both @deltago and @Kilivitz ?

    No. Because we both make good points. I agree with Kilivitz too (to a degree). I can probably counter point everything he said in his second paragraph, but things like Gaider leaving (I was one of the first to call them out and say, whatever he was working on has been shelved for NWN DLC) means don't expect a new D&D game from them soon. DLC for NWN for the next year or two + Axis and Allies need to come first (and maybe even another remake).

    Whatever Demon/Devil game they have in the works, it is still in the development stage. The people working on that are not working on NWN, Axis & Allies or IE games, but they still need to get paid for the work. Late 2019 at the earliest is my estimate, Mid 2020 if WotC wants it hyped up.

    Its why I say lower your expectations.
  • StaranStaran Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 295
    Well this thread is de-evolving.
    Am I disappointed. Yes.
    But, well, that is it.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    edited September 2018
    Kilivitz said:


    deltago said:

    Also, don’t discount Beamdog’s ability to weather through the Atari fiasco, one of the reasons why their games were so buggy upon release. Once Atari literally disappeared, their titles stability improved.

    What in the what? How exactly is *Atari* responsible for the bugs in BG:EE? They were the distributors. Not the developers. Seriously, what are you talking about?
    If you do not think a publisher holds more sway over the developer on a released product, you do not know this industry.
    By:
    Pushing the release dates before the games were ready.
    By demanding they change their release schedule to be BG>BG2>SoD instead of the intended BG>SoD>BG2
    By Beamdog refusing to work on BG titles as they fought with Atari right before and after Atari’s bankruptcy leading to a year of silence and uncertainty.
  • KilivitzKilivitz Member Posts: 1,459
    deltago said:

    [Atari is responsible for] Pushing the release dates before the games were ready.

    Hmm. BG:EE was initially slated for September 2012 and then pushed back to November so they could have "the best possible product on launch." This translates to "it's too bugged to be released now."

    You could argue, even without evidence, that it was Atari who was behind those release dates, and it wasn't Beamdog who jumped the gun by setting a deadline they ultimately couldn't meet.

    Then, you mention this:
    deltago said:

    Beamdog refusing to work on BG titles as they fought with Atari right before and after Atari’s bankruptcy leading to a year of silence and uncertainty.

    BG:EE was removed from sale between June and August 2013. That's three months (not a whole year). It sure felt like a year, but you're off by nine months there.

    And here's the thing: after the whole legal imbroglio was over, and they were free from Atari's clutches, BG2:EE got released in December 2013 and it was bugged as hell. But don't take my word for it, take Trent Oster's:

    "We rushed Baldur’s Gate II out. It’s that simple. We rushed it and we screwed things up." (source)

    Can't blame Atari this time, can you?
    deltago said:

    By demanding they change their release schedule to be BG>BG2>SoD instead of the intended BG>SoD>BG2

    Where did you get that information from? SoD was announced two years after BG2:EE was first released. And as we've just seen, Atari was out of the picture before that. The timeline of events simply doesn't accomodate this narrative of "Atari forced them to push BG2:EE out as soon as possible" because they could very well have delayed it for as long as they liked while working on SoD.

    But of course they didn't, because BG2, having been a lot more successful than the first game, was arguably an even more important release than the first game. One could even argue that if they had started by releasing BG2:EE before BG1:EE, people wouldn't have batted an eye.

    Also: SoD was not always meant as a full-blown expansion. It started out as a minor DLC that comprised the very end of it and the whole campaign involving Caelar's crusade was added later as the project got bigger and bigger in scope as development went on. Again, the timeline of events does not support your claim.

    Look, I really don't mean to disparage you. Your assessment of the Axis and Allies future announcement/release was really sober and most likely spot on. But maybe don't downplay Beamdog's mistakes by making these outrageous, unsubstiantiated claims and then accuse *me* of "not knowing how this industry works".
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    I don’t have time to dig, but references to SoD in BG2s added content was there from the beginning. I am also pretty sure the Daigle leaks (Sneaky Door) were also prior to BG2 being released, but it looks like those have been scrubbed clean.

    Atari’s was still the publisher for BG2:EE they weren’t out of the picture but still wanted as much money as possible prior to handing over the D&D digital licence to WotC. I also can’t remember when The Atari logo disappeared from the games, but that is when they were completely out of the picture.
  • KilivitzKilivitz Member Posts: 1,459
    edited September 2018
    deltago said:

    I don’t have time to dig, but references to SoD in BG2s added content was there from the beginning. I am also pretty sure the Daigle leaks (Sneaky Door) were also prior to BG2 being released, but it looks like those have been scrubbed clean.

    Is that proof that they meant to release SoD before BG2:EE as you've claimed? No. At best, it's proof they've already had the general outline of SoD's campaign figured out. As you know, developing releases simultaneously is something that companies do all the time.

    You know what's funny? Their approach to SoD is exactly the one you claim they have (or should have) when it comes to a new IP: take their time, don't rush it, release it when it's ready. They did (or rather tried to do) just that, but since it doesn't support your argument of "Beamdog isn't any less competent than any other studio out there" and "Every bad move Beamdog has ever made is Atari's fault", you'd rather insist, with the most circumstancial evidence possible, that SoD was meant to come out before BG2:EE. Even though it took them another 2 years to announce it.
    deltago said:

    Atari’s was still the publisher for BG2:EE they weren’t out of the picture but still wanted as much money as possible prior to handing over the D&D digital licence to WotC. I also can’t remember when The Atari logo disappeared from the games, but that is when they were completely out of the picture.

    So you mean to say Atari, while having their assets liquidated and *after* the agreement that reverted full publishing rights to Beamdog, made a last move to force poor Beamdog to release BG2:EE in a bugged state so they could make as much money out of it as possible before their licensing contract expired.

    Without any leverage, of all things.

    And then later on, Trent Oster the Magnanimous let Beamdog take the fall for BG2:EE's rushed release even though he could have told the truth and avoided blame without any fear of repercussion from a dead publisher.

    Of course. It makes perfect sense.

    Let me know if you've got any straws left to grasp at.
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    Kilivitz said:


    And then later on, Trent Oster the Magnanimous let Beamdog take the fall for BG2:EE's rushed release even though he could have told the truth and avoided blame without any fear of repercussion from a dead publisher.

    it's smarter to take responsibility. whatever the truth is, a perception of blame-shifting is highly toxic
  • KilivitzKilivitz Member Posts: 1,459
    edited September 2018
    bob_veng said:

    Kilivitz said:


    And then later on, Trent Oster the Magnanimous let Beamdog take the fall for BG2:EE's rushed release even though he could have told the truth and avoided blame without any fear of repercussion from a dead publisher.

    it's smarter to take responsibility. whatever the truth is, a perception of blame-shifting is highly toxic
    Right, right. That's why Oster didn't denounce Atari as the ones behind the removal of BG:EE from sal-- oh no wait, that's exactly what he did.

    But since you really really want to believe otherwise, it's best to just assume he lied about BG2:EE and Beamdog never shifts blame, ever (except for when they do).
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    Sorry, I did say Bankruptcy, but I meant all their legal issues (which included the bankruptcy of the parent company).

    Allegedly, their legal issue with Beamdog was Atari selling the game on other distribution channels, something Beamdog didn’t agree too. That was worked out after the 3 months, hence Trent’s post.

    Atari’s very public legal fight with WotC probably had more to do with the announced released dates than anything else.

    It can still be said that Beamdog has more stable releases under their belt than unstable. And Atari (and time) is the common denominator I can count. That and them keeping their mouth completely shut on what they working on to prevent a chorus of “what about now?” Noobsrs flooding and second guessing their approach on said release.
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    Kilivitz said:

    bob_veng said:

    Kilivitz said:


    And then later on, Trent Oster the Magnanimous let Beamdog take the fall for BG2:EE's rushed release even though he could have told the truth and avoided blame without any fear of repercussion from a dead publisher.

    it's smarter to take responsibility. whatever the truth is, a perception of blame-shifting is highly toxic
    Right, right. That's why Oster didn't denounce Atari as the ones behind the removal of BG:EE from sal-- oh no wait, that's exactly what he did.

    But since you really really want to believe otherwise, it's best to just assume he lied about BG2:EE and Beamdog never shifts blame, ever (except for when they do).
    distribution matters are one thing, and quality of the product is another
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