What would you like to see in BG III
mlnevese
Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
Well while we don't have more information about what is being done what would you like to see in the upcoming Baldur's Gate III? H;ere is my small wishlist
1) Follow tabletop rules. Have it at least as a difficulty option as BG always did.
2) No XP Cap. I'm a completionist. I earned that XP and I want it. No I don't care if it will makes the end of the game easier. Make it an option for those who prefer to play with XP Caps.
3) Full party interaction. I love good interaction. NPCs should have opinions and even give suggestions. It makes the game feel alive for me.
4) Good Party AI. I really like to feel I'm playing with people. A good AI goes a long way in helping that. Make it optional for all our strategist friends out there.
5) Have a good story. Seriously an RPG without a good story is just a bunch of playable tactical battles barely glowed together.
Basically that's it for me.
1) Follow tabletop rules. Have it at least as a difficulty option as BG always did.
2) No XP Cap. I'm a completionist. I earned that XP and I want it. No I don't care if it will makes the end of the game easier. Make it an option for those who prefer to play with XP Caps.
3) Full party interaction. I love good interaction. NPCs should have opinions and even give suggestions. It makes the game feel alive for me.
4) Good Party AI. I really like to feel I'm playing with people. A good AI goes a long way in helping that. Make it optional for all our strategist friends out there.
5) Have a good story. Seriously an RPG without a good story is just a bunch of playable tactical battles barely glowed together.
Basically that's it for me.
16
Comments
I agree with your points 2-5. On (1) though, I feel a developer should change tabletop rules when they don't suit the computer/video medium. No computer game should ever strictly follow any corresponding tabletop rules (unless the "game" is in fact a tabletop simulator). Heck, even when my friends and I used to play tabletop back in the day, we never ever played by being true to the rules. The rules were always open to modification or elimination.
My additional wishes for the game:
1) Keep party size at 6. I love these kinds of games precisely for my party of companions and all the interactions with them as well as being able to develop them through the game. So a reduced party size, by definition, is a direct reduction in my enjoyment. A corollary to this point: please give me a UI screen where I can simultaneously access the equipment of all of my companions, not just the ones currently in my party. I don't horde my best equipment just for the current active party members. I like to distribute my equipment as appropriate across all of my companions, and it is a serious pain to have to swap party members in and out of my party to distribute equipment.
2) Stay true to D&D and Forgotten Realms lore. The lore is WAY more important to me than the rules. I am a Forgotten Realms lore junkie. I own and have read almost all of the FR novels and FR 3.5e sourcebooks. A corollary to this point: spread the game around to other parts of the Realms beyond Baldur's Gate/Sword Coast. The setting has so many very interesting places in it. Let's go visit them already!
3) A combat system that is NOT anything like the system from the D:OS games. Though I very strongly prefer RTwP, I would be open to a TB system so long as it is not anything like the D:OS system. A corollary to this point: environmental reactivity is great; just not like in the D:OS games where water and oil puddles and collapseable walls and such are always conveniently available and place exactly how you want them in every battle.
2. PSIONICS! Come on, Illithids are overunning everything! Surely there's enough mind juice for players as well.
3. Be as Minsc, Boo, Drizzt, Noober and Volo free as possible (aka the usual suspects of the cameo galore). Yes, I'm serious.
4. Also, I certainly wouldn't say "no" for owning your very own Spelljammer tentacle ship and going on trips into Wildspace/the Astral Plane.
5. Playable Oortlings, anyone?
All in all I'm personally way more interested in the Spelljammer elements than the city of Baldur's Gate itself. Especially so since all we had so far on that campaign setting was Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace. And that one was... baaaaad.
Now I want to watch a duel between an illithid and an Athasian Halfling
Something like Gorion defending his ward or Irenicus taking on the Cowled Wizards. But now with great visuals and editing.
2 multiple bloodlines for sorcerer and pacts for warlock
3 make the relarionship of clerics and her deity matters. AND warlocks with their patrons, something more unique. Warlocks have an different relationship with his patron. Is more similar to master/apprendice than to an god and his cleric.
4 mod support
Only one question. Can you explain why they don't suit to an computer/video game?
I mean, the "we will not follow the rules" only lead to things like Sword Coast Legends and even NWN could be better if for eg pale master get +caster level(the fact that they can only have one summon and don't get caster level, means that PM is useless).
I saw a lot of people saying "dont work on computer", but they don't mention
A ) What don't work
B ) Why don't work
Sure, some things like fly due engine limitations can't work, but IMO Pathfinder Kingmaker >>>> Sword Coast Legends.
The BG games broke or altered a whole bunch of the tabletop rules. I mean you could cast spells (or use potions) and attack within the same turn for one crucial and kind of imbalanced difference. The thief skills got a specific rework. Ability scores, their bonuses and the things they effect did not correspond precisely with the then rules.
Hell, even base character generation didn't follow the system the rulebook said you were supposed to follow. So I dunno, fans of the series shouldn't be surprised or even insist on fealty to the tabletop rules, imo.
This are minor differences IMO. The fact that you can attack and use potion has more in common to RtWP adaptation than to any other thing. On Eye of The Beholder, you can't attack and cast spells/use potions/scrolls on same turn. Thieves too, is one of many classes that works slight differently and you din't showed why they need to adapt thief?
Still not an example of "don't work on a different media", please. Show me one rule that doesn't work. Just one. I an not talking about technology limitations that make hard to adapt spells like raise island and fly, i an talkling about an rule that just doesn't work and can easily be implemented ( http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/spells/raiseIsland.htm )
Pathfinder Kingmaker follows a lot Pathfinder rules. Where are the rules that can't be addapted? I din't saw any?
It's not that the rules "can't be implemented". It's that implementing systems in the way people might be OK with in a tabletop game is not how people enjoy video games -- an important point Vincke made in his interview about "miss rolls" even if people got upset by that.
Nah, it needs to be one of those epic Elminster versus Manshoon battles. Man, even in the novels those were spectacular!
I sincerely don't know. That's what the people working for Larian with their big salaries are being paid to figure out. I was merely speaking in the hypothetical. IF some rules don't work well in a video game, then they should obviously (for me) be modified or dumped.
Re. SCL, I have said in the past my issue was not that they changed some rules but rather that they changed virtually ALL the rules, AND, changed them in a really silly way. This is not a black and white point. There is a LOT of gray area in my point.
Alignment, for example, tends to be a core factor, influencing all sorts of interactions in a tabletop setting. Outside of a few class mechanics, it's largely ignored in the BG games (and almost completely in IWD). In fact, it's arguable they ignored it *more* in BG2 than BG1, again showing that it's important to deviate from the rules in order to make better games.
First. I was talking about "not working" and this doesn't happens. All rules can work. If you roll the stats first, then what is the problem? The unique difference is that if you wanna play an certain class, you need to re roll. The result is the same.
Is completely different about misses, in order to remove misses, you need to re write all melee combat, all ranged combat, all spells, feats like weapon/spell focus, spell penetration, etc. Minor changes with almost no real impact and re write completely the game are two completely different things.
When I'm talking about "not working" in regards to character creation and stat rolls, I mean it would create unnecessary tedium for a player. You're also inventing some point about "remove misses" which has never been said by Larian.
Would love to see psionics as well. However since they are not implemented in 5e yet I doubt we’ll see them as a playable class. They tried a couple of builds in Unearthed Arcana but put it on the back burner when people hated it. There are some fan-created builds so it is possible they could come up with their own?
I had actually planned to ask about this. I knew psionics wasnt fully in 5e, but didnt know the status of it either. That's sad that it's on the back burner.
The "not following rules" that you mentioned is tinny, almost non perceptible changes. For eg, choose the class before roll is like someone that usually put first the wake up with an right feet and by some reason waked up with the left feet. The end result is the same. Be able to take two actions in a turn considering the RtWP is almost unperceptive. And there are any D&D/Pathfinder based game that is "tedious"?
I never saw anyone refering to any D&D/pathfinder game from Eye of the Beholder to pathfinder kingmaker as tedious.
This will be my last attempt, because I think I've been clear. As I said above, no *single* BG deviation is huge, but *collectively* they are indeed massive.
For just one more example, that I think has huge gameplay consequences: encumbrance. This system is hugely simplified. The 2e rules put your character at half movement speed pretty quickly when it comes to weight loads. But Bioware smartly knew this would be an incredibly unfun thing to implement. So none of the serious encumbrance penalties exist until you reach 100% of you weight load. And there was even precedent for implementing this! All the Gold Box games implemented the more serious rules about encumbrance and movement speed. This completely alters what your tactics and builds would have been.
And that's not even getting into things like engagement/attacks of opportunity, which don't exist at all in the IE games. I could go on and on, there's so many changes that it is inaccurate to characterize the deviation as minor.
2. No colour coded loot. Have magical items that actually feel special when they are earned.
3. No running around collecting herbs, metal, animal parts.
4. Branching story that can considerably change the outcome of the game.
2. Epic battles with at least one dragon. I want Firkraag round no. 2.
3. I want at least one joinable NPC to be written by Chris Avellone. Larian did work with him in the past, so I don't think it's impossible to ask.
4. PS4 release. This is my gaming platform these days, so...
5. Mod support. I know it's impossible on console, but without mod support this game won't last long enough. The crucial part of BG Saga being so popular even today is because of incredible modding scene, and modders finding new ways to create something exciting and inovative. Larian give them proper tools to do such great stuff!
Round.
Nevertheless, dropping the chance to miss feels like a more fundamental change than either of the above, and not one I feel good about. It just requires rebalancing and changing so much else in the game line on-hit abilities like vorpal hits. Hell, imagine the green slimes from BG 1 with auto hit.
It's just my hope and it's probably futile. But one can always hope and pray to Helm.
I don't see an big difference. Is like "first on put the sugar then the juice" to "first your put the juice, then the sugar" on Grimoire heralds of the winged exemplar you first roll, then pick an class. I don't see how it is a problem in a game.
Now you are talking about meaningful differences, but being very honest, they aren't example of changes that improved the game, since you mentioned games that din't implemented then and worked pretty well, they could be better if followed the rules. Some times changes ruins entire classes, like for example, NWN1 where you don't get +caster level as a pale master and it kills the class. On NWN2 warlock without pnp-like mods are awful.
And note that if you make an soccer game, with an basket ball, where there are only 8 players, etc; are you really making an soccer game??? This doesn't means that you can't use soccer as an inspiration and make an rocket league for eg, but if fifa stops being developed for 2 decadas and the new game plays more like rocket league, fifa fans will complain.
Baldur's Gate and PAthfinder Kingmaker are close enough to pnp but could be better. Sword Coast Legends, tried to re invent the whell..
It's in the trailer so there's a good chance of it showing up at some time... even if it's just an empty place full of dead bodies and Illithids