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Beamdog Q&A: April 2019

JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
A few weeks ago Beamdog attended PAX East to showcase our console demo of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition at the Skybound Games booth.

Today we’re publishing answers from Beamdog Producer Luke Rideout to the community questions about the upcoming console releases of Baldur’s Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights.
anastielStummvonBordwehrlost1TorgrimmerVince2013Aerakar
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Comments

  • anastielanastiel Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 246
    Big News!
    JuliusBorisovTorgrimmer
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    Raduziel wrote: »
    It's official: PC is abandoned.

    I hope not. I think an important lesson that can be learned from the fiascos that several of the larger developers like Blizzard, Bethesda, and BioWare have blundered through recently is that it doesn't serve any company to do a one-eighty turn on the expectations of their fanbases. Pulling in new customers is important for a business, but not if it's at the cost of the respect of their established clientele, as the resulting backlash can seriously damage their brand and turn their highly esteemed IPs into jokes.

    Anyway, I'll go ahead and reiterate my question here in case it was missed in the Ask Beamdog thread: should we expect a different set of answers for April that aren't solely focused on the console ports?
    OrlonKronsteenPokotaThacoBell
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    So I guess all non console questions that were asked will be pushed back to May.

    NWN:EE will be useless on console without mods so hopefully you all can get that done.

    And I saw the MP question, but will local multiplayer (one console 4-6 remotes) be possible? I think that might be fin for the IE games.
    TorgrimmerOrlonKronsteen
  • batoorbatoor Member Posts: 676
    Julius can you answer if Beamdog has a plan to maintain the workload on future patches and such, when announcing so many new releases? Are you expanding and growing at a steady rate?

    Is everything in order?
    AdulPokota
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    lefreut wrote: »
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    @JuliusBorisov When will Beamdog close the Soultaker plot thread they opened up, teased, and then left twisting to the wind?

    New content is always nice but considering how long it takes them to release a patch that was supposed to be released at the end of last year, I think it's better if they focus on bug fixes first.

    The game's are more stable than they have ever been. When exactly should they fix story issues that THEY CREATED?
    OrlonKronsteenStummvonBordwehrRaduziel
  • TorgrimmerTorgrimmer Member Posts: 331
    Growing Pains Hurt, that's all i'm gonna say, take it for what it's worth.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @OrlonKronsteen "I think this is one of those situations in which both outcomes would be nice (so long as SOD resolution only occurs when you import a save from SOD, I wouldn't want that content forced on me unless I'd actually played the expansion). You don't necessarily have to have one without the other."

    You can't import if you use modded classes. So that would be terrible implementation.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    Quick fixes:

    The IE is a very finicking thing, and when Beamdog first started out they offered quick fixes as soon as possible. The problem with that is that the fixes tended to break something completely unrelated to the fix.

    Pokota
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @OrlonKronsteen "
    I don't understand why you couldn't make bug fixes and add resolution to the Soul Taker plot. Nor do I understand the bit about modded classes. Maybe I missed something or I wasn't clear."

    You said you only wanted the soultaker resolution to occur if you imported a save game from SoD. THis would lock many players out of ever seeing it, as using modded classes causes problems when importing from one game to the next. SO people who mod the games would be unable to ever see such a resolution.
    OrlonKronsteen
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    @JuliusBorisov I'll try to answer all your questions. I do believe in leading by the example, after all.

    It doesn't have to be every time, just until Beamdog gives me (and the community but I can only speak for myself) an answer. Yet, in every thread about the matter, answers keep being avoided.

    I have no problem recognizing that I don't know how to do something - just ask pretty much every modder at this community.

    But I do know that I'm damn good at commanding troops, handling an assault rifle, taking/keeping control of a ship, financial planning, PR and crisis management.

    I have at least 8 companies about the same size of Beamdog's to back up my words - companies that couldn't properly communicate with their clients and kept generating problems for themselves and after paying me handsomely well doesn't have those problems anymore.

    And by the way, if Beamdog ever need to sail safely I'll give my opinions too.

    If you think that Beamdog is being well managed I do have a thing or two to teach.

    But if this is a Q&A thread, answer those, then, please:

    Why is 2.6 delayed?

    Why it doesn't address pathfinding?

    Why it doesn't address things raised for years by the community?

    Why the patching process takes this long?

    Why Beamdog keeps expanding it's portfolio with a small team when there are so many things left behind?
    You mention a fix to the "popping" issue takes 8 hours, but it doesn't work like that when you have multiple products on multiple platforms.

    This is Beamdog fault's, not mine or any other client's.

    Why Beamdog doesn't take responsibility over its own product by closing the Soultaker Dagger plot that it decided to create out of thin air?

    Why didn't Beamdog act in a preventive way in the Google Store matter?

    About the world Iive question:

    I leave in a world when there is a person asking questions and at the other side there is silence or clouded things like "we're sad and can't talk about it". I live in a world where we have less and less information about the PC issues. I live in a world where a basic rule of marketing takes place: silence leads to speculation - for better or worse. I live in a world whose IE aspect is being molded by Beamdog's actions toward its most loyal clients. I live in a world where I do for free something that other companies pay me to do, am ignored by Beamdog and when I'm tagged by the people in charge of community management is for a public scold with a little bit of sarcasm and without answering none of the questions I raise over and over again. I live in a world where you don't politely tell a cliente to shush and try to embarrass him but actually listen and answer or try to solve things privately.

    About hate:

    Beamdog has a huge opinion about itself if it thinks I hate it. For future reference, here's a list of things I actually hate: communism, tomatoes, pedophiles, rapists, dog abusers and aggressive husbands.

    Beamdog tastes my patience and makes me feel powerless by showing me simple things escalating into things like this ridiculously long answer I need to answer for the person related to community management.

    Until Beamdog gets better at communicating, this will keep happening, if not with me with someone else.

    Good riddance and I do wait for the aforementioned questions if possible.

    Peace.
    AdulrealshempAndreaColomboVseslav
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    edited April 2019
    Hate is intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.
    Raduziel wrote: »
    a huge opinion about itself if it thinks I hate it.

    And in the same time:
    Raduziel wrote: »

    what gets me more angrier
    Raduziel wrote: »

    In the past I was afraid to see Beamdog having the same destiny that Troika had, but now I say that it seems to be the only way to make they learn how to treat their clients properly.

    So you basically wish the company from which you demand something to lay off their staff and close.

    Also.
    Raduziel wrote: »
    by showing me simple things escalating into things like this ridiculously long answer I need to answer

    Yeah, as if your comment in this thread from April 21 didn't exist. It's impossible to argue with those whose mind is already set.
    Aedanbyrne20Ardent
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,262
    @Raduziel Uh huh... Do you actually advise these other companies that consult with you to answer every little question asked of them by every single person out there? If so, I doubt they would have time for anything else... Do you also advise the airing of confidential information and dirty laundry to the public? I can't imagine this solving more problems than it creates.

    Anyway, if you really are all that and a bag of chips, then...
    Raduziel wrote: »
    Why it doesn't address pathfinding?

    Why it doesn't address things raised for years by the community?

    Ignoring the non-specificity of these inquiries...

    Why don't YOU handle these problems, eh? Be part of the solution and not part of the problem. I have been making hotfixes for issues and helping people with requests practically since I joined the forums. I prefer to help things get better, rather than whine about how bad things are without even attempting to do anything about it.
    JuliusBorisovbyrne20
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,262
    lefreut wrote: »
    If you have too many projects for your limited resources, it's your fault not ours.

    I don't know how things work where you live, but in the business world, money is needed to make things happen. ALL game companies have to make new products to keep the money coming in; that is just how it works. 90% of these companies, including the giant corporations, completely abandon patching their old games in order to keep themselves alive. At that point, any patches either come from the fans or don't exist at all. I really think you guys should thank your lucky stars that Beamdog can afford to keep patching their old games at all! I know I do...

    But if you really want Beamdog to stop spreading themselves so thin across so many projects, then I am sure they could do that... But I can almost guarantee you, such a decision would mean that all patching of IE games would cease for good... Is that really what you want?
    byrne20PokotaArdent
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Closing the chapter on the IE's would honetly be the right call imho. Albeit a somewhat unpopular one for longtime fans. Not only would it allow for truly optimizing the time and resource management of Beamdog, it would also allow the company as a whole to finally tackle larger projects. And no, I don't consider A&A to be a large one.

    The whole Soul Taker plot could for instance be a nice plug-in scenario for either a potential BG3, or some sort of other Forgotten Realms franchise in-the-making unreleated to the Bhaalspawn Saga. There's honestly no need for shoehorning it into BG2 a' la SoD2 at all.
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    edited April 2019
    Tresset wrote: »
    Raduziel wrote: »
    Why it doesn't address pathfinding?

    Why it doesn't address things raised for years by the community?

    Ignoring the non-specificity of these inquiries...

    Why don't YOU handle these problems, eh? Be part of the solution and not part of the problem. I have been making hotfixes for issues and helping people with requests practically since I joined the forums. I prefer to help things get better, rather than whine about how bad things are without even attempting to do anything about it.

    I'll ignore the first part of the post as it sounds like trolling and I won't bite this bait.

    About the second one, two things:

    1) I do fix those issues I know how. DoF has a lot of fixes, I've built fixes for the mess Beamdog made with Bags of Holding and for the Flail of Ages. Feel free to search the forum if you want to prove that I'm wrong. Even if I shouldn't because...

    2) It is not my job to fix these things, but Beamdog's. And that is such an absurd argument that I'm surprised that it was even raised.

    But I couldn't stand seeing people having trouble with things that I, a mediocre modder, am able to fix between job, studies, physiotherapy, wife, child and side projects. So I went ahead and did part of Beamdog's job to read this kind of comment towards myself.

    Imagine the following at the post office:

    - Hi, my letter haven't being delivered yet.

    - Well sir, why don't YOU get your feet on the road and deliver it yourself?

    Don't post against terrorism, go fight the baddies yourself. Don't know how to use a rifle? Well, learn how.

    Don't call the firefighters, put an end to the fire yourself.

    Don't call the police when robbed, put on a Batman suit and combat crime yourself.

    Don't complain if your Wi-Fi is down. Put things on a pendrive and transfer the data yourself.

    The list goes on and on.

    ---

    90% of the companies makes their own games, so I don't think Beamdog should be compared with them. ;)

    And about revenue, if Beamdog relies only on sales (especially in a sazonal market as games) and don't know how to make money create money things are worse than I thought.

    I do know that there is a thing that is very expensive to bought: public opinion. The all mighty Bethesda couldn't buy it, I imagine it also doesn't fit in Beamdog's budget. So the only way for Beamdog acquiring it is with a solid fanbase - guess what, the same people so far ignored and kept in the dark.

    Beamdog could release a smaller patch addressing things that mediocre modders like myself can handle just as a token of good will and to sign to the community: hey! We care!

    I honestly don't believe that UI issues and pathfinding can't be fixed due to contractual bonds. If something legal is holding 2.6, change 2.6 - release 2.5.9, throw us a bone for Pete's sake.

    If this legal issue is related to DCA, things are even worst as this is a thing that I never saw nobody in the community claiming this sort of material that can be easily made by dropping files in a folder and that is holding back things that are more urgent as they affect the fun people is having with the game.

    A game company doesn't sell games. It sells FUN. If people are getting frustrated because the game is misbehaving, this is an urgent matter as basically people are not receiving what they paid for.

    And I'll do my best to make this my last post about it as apparently Beamdog is more interested in justifying its flaws than solving their problems so arguing is pointless and I know I'm being teased to do something stupid and get banned. :)
    Post edited by Raduziel on
    AdulMiraStastnyAndreaColombo
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Closing the chapter on the IE's would honetly be the right call imho. Albeit a somewhat unpopular one for longtime fans. Not only would it allow for truly optimizing the time and resource management of Beamdog, it would also allow the company as a whole to finally tackle larger projects. And no, I don't consider A&A to be a large one.

    The whole Soul Taker plot could for instance be a nice plug-in scenario for either a potential BG3, or some sort of other Forgotten Realms franchise in-the-making unreleated to the Bhaalspawn Saga. There's honestly no need for shoehorning it into BG2 a' la SoD2 at all.

    Heck to the naw. The BG series is a wonderfully complete, self contained story. The only real empty space, the year or so between 1 and 2, has finally been closed. I do NOT want a hook for a future series or sequel to muddle that all up. The loose plot thread was introduced the story, it should be closed in the same story. Especially since Beamdog hasn't shown much interest in making their own crpgs since SoD's fake controversy.
    RaduzielMiraStastny
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    The loose plot thread was introduced the story, it should be closed in the same story. Especially since Beamdog hasn't shown much interest in making their own crpgs since SoD's fake controversy.

    Disagree with you there. Especially since Beamdog has again and again proven that the only extra content coming for the IE's is purely cosmetic in nature. So the only realistic chance we ever see closure is in future works.
  • ckoeckoe Member Posts: 26
    I would not be surprised if 2.6 would effectively be the last patch for PC, just because of the length of the patch cycle ...
    Even if I trust that there is good will at beamdog to continue backporting engine patches from the consoles.

    All good things must have an end, and all that. Well.

    I only hope it does not introduce new regressions which are unfixable without the source code.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    As a writer, there are always numerous different ways to solve plot issues like the Soultaker dagger thing, and i don't think there's an extra questline or plot thread that will leave everybody satisfied. I'm guessing that headcanons and community mods will do more to satisfy players than an "official" response. I think this holds for almost any plot issue.
    ckoePokota
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    There is no excuse for Beamdog to make a plot hook, plan a questline around it, and then drop it. The plot hook was left in, so it is Beamdog's responsibility to finish it. Full stop.
    RaduzielMiraStastnyVseslavPrince_Raymond
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