I used to find the mod more interesting and better; unfortunately, certain components have lost their appeal. A few years ago, I played the mod and could skillfully rob the bank at night—much like in the movies—but now there are far too many security measures, making roleplay impossible without losing a massive amount of reputation. The bank guards even spot you despite "improved invisibility." That’s not good. Now, the mod is just one of hundreds and nothing special anymore. You can simply attack the bank and rob everything, you lose a huge amount of reputation in the process...Or you simply leave it be., It's a shame.
Hello! Many players previously complained that robbing a bank was too easy and unrealistic, so we've made changes based on player requests. In real life, it's practically impossible to simply walk into a bank at night and rob it without seriously damaging your reputation and slaughtering the guards, so I think this was done correctly and the game is now more realistic. In reality, after such a robbery, the player should have become hostile to all the city guards, but that would have been too much, and we naturally decided against it.
As for evaluating the mod as a whole, the mod has a lot of content, and the bank area is just one of many details. I'm just sorry that you're judging the entire mod based on just one component. Especially considering that robbing a bank isn't required by the plot and is only an optional extra for the evil party who aren't afraid to ruin their reputation. But in any case, thank you for your feedback on our work and for playing the mod.
I used to find the mod more interesting and better; unfortunately, certain components have lost their appeal. A few years ago, I played the mod and could skillfully rob the bank at night—much like in the movies—but now there are far too many security measures, making roleplay impossible without losing a massive amount of reputation. The bank guards even spot you despite "improved invisibility." That’s not good. Now, the mod is just one of hundreds and nothing special anymore. You can simply attack the bank and rob everything, you lose a huge amount of reputation in the process...Or you simply leave it be., It's a shame.
Please, write all the other things that were better.
My last post didn't imply that this mod has become bad; it simply meant that it used to be special, allowing for an interesting role-playing experience with bank robberies. Now it's like all the other mods and nothing special anymore. You attack the building, kill everyone, and take some money, just like many other mods...
And NO, it's not a given that bank raising always fails. Even now in the digital age, bank raising can be successful, although it has become more difficult compared to 20 years ago.
@Austin87
What about adding an install option to allow for robbing the bank more easily like in previous versions? That way, it seems like more people would be satisfied.
I do not see what would be "garbage" here. Endarire made one suggestion pertaining to an additional option, e. g. making it easier to rob the bank. That is a perfectly fine opinion to have, irrespective over as to whether you may wish to agree or disagree with it. Personally I don't need it, so I am indifferent to the suggestion itself, but I see no issue with it and I am pretty certain that more than one COULD have the same opinion as Endarire.
I don't view a suggestion like that as "garbage" either. I think many people—myself included—enjoyed robbing the bank without killing 30 people and without the city finding out. It was an interesting experience back then. Too much "realism" doesn't do a mod any good.
You could even turn it into a mini-quest where a bank employee tasks the main character with robbing the place and ensures the guards are "asleep" or otherwise distracted; you could enter the building through the cellar at night or use a teleportation spell—the possibilities are endless. But simply stationing guards everywhere who can even see through "Improved Invisibility" is a very cheap and extremely unprofessional solution. That kind of ability is usually possessed by powerful liches or powerful mages, not just some random bank guard.
I didn’t know the robbery was changed. I had played the mod in the past and left also a review (I’m pretty sure) and I had robbed the bank in the way the player told. I will further chime in and say:
1) Allowing the players to have choices is better than not having them. So, having another way of robbing the bank is cool.
2) In the D&D sessions I’ve played, if you took enough "measures", you could simply come out on top and actually succeed even on robbing banks. Or you could fail, if you didn't do everything well.
3) I will say also a controvertial thing: I’m not too sure that you should lose reputation if you kill everyone inside the bank. I would say that reputation currently it’s not the best designed system. That goes to the next thought: if the player has the option to kill everyone, leave no reputation hits. If somebody knew you robbed the bank, it is clear you wouldn't be welcome in that city anymore and you would be pursued. Reputation hits should happen if people know about what you've done.
@Austin87 If you happen to read this garbage, I hope, for your own good, you can ignore the 'feedback' and shallow criticism. I don't know how else to put it, but I've noticed that some modders seem desperate for feedback, and at the slightest criticism or complaint, they rush to modify something, even if the criticism comes from a random user (or worse users with a history of pure trash comments).
"Now the bank is hard to rob, the mod is just one of hundreds and nothing special anymore." That's so deep. I have to mention that I find it hilarious how users of a certain type seem to attract each other and even justify their clownery in a similar ways: "I'm sure MANY PEOPLE agree with me". And all this without mentioning that since the mod is on github, getting old versions of the mod (when it was SPECIAL) is not even a real problem. Anyway, @Austin87 good luck dude.
That is rich coming from "random user" after Austin wrote "Hello! Many players previously complained that robbing a bank was too easy and unrealistic, so we've made changes based on player requests."
You are completly ignoring points made by people that 100% make sense - like random guards seeing through improved invisibility - extremly unrealistic and immersion breaking.
There are quite few users that already wrote that having a choice is good but you know better than anyone else right? There are quite a few mods that give you options for components to install easier/harder so I do not see it as an unresonable request.
And saying that you can download older version of mod is never a good idea - both for player and the modder simply because there can be some bugfixes already done or additional content (and you want to avoid having reports of something that already was fixed )
That's a good point since it's really always the same users (or the same type of user for that matter, thank you for posting and serving as an example).
Have you guys ever wondered why certain modders participate... less and less over time? Or why they end up creating their own spaces like a discord? Why am I even asking this? People like you don't ask these kinds of questions. Anyway, please keep suggesting things and providing feedback, I'm sure modders appreciate them. In a side note, this reminds me that last week I read about problems sending private messages in the forum, and I couldn't help but remember this gem:
"There's also some weird dude called Endarire bombarding me in private with quest ideas irrelevant to Cormyr he supposedly feels are right for my mod," It makes me chuckle a little every time. Anyway, I hope that problem gets fixed soon. Good luck.
The only "garbage" I can see here is you, calling other ppls opinions and suggestions garbage. Oh yeah, and advising ppl to use outdated modversions and wasting months of bug fixes and issue treating...
What was your contribution to the modding scene again?
Trying to bring a little humor to your day, fellow bank robbers 😉 When I originally designed this component, an actual bank heist wasn't even a real possibility - I simply brushed the idea aside. 🤷♂️ But it was Austin who actually added the ability to pull off the robbery - all credit goes to him. 🏛️💰🚨
The walkthrough states that the non-romance route for Aran Linvail’s new quests is only available to male characters. If that is indeed so, it would be nice to also open it up to female characters who reject his advances.
Comments
Hello! Many players previously complained that robbing a bank was too easy and unrealistic, so we've made changes based on player requests. In real life, it's practically impossible to simply walk into a bank at night and rob it without seriously damaging your reputation and slaughtering the guards, so I think this was done correctly and the game is now more realistic. In reality, after such a robbery, the player should have become hostile to all the city guards, but that would have been too much, and we naturally decided against it.
As for evaluating the mod as a whole, the mod has a lot of content, and the bank area is just one of many details. I'm just sorry that you're judging the entire mod based on just one component. Especially considering that robbing a bank isn't required by the plot and is only an optional extra for the evil party who aren't afraid to ruin their reputation. But in any case, thank you for your feedback on our work and for playing the mod.
Please, write all the other things that were better.
And NO, it's not a given that bank raising always fails. Even now in the digital age, bank raising can be successful, although it has become more difficult compared to 20 years ago.
What about adding an install option to allow for robbing the bank more easily like in previous versions? That way, it seems like more people would be satisfied.
Thankee!
You could even turn it into a mini-quest where a bank employee tasks the main character with robbing the place and ensures the guards are "asleep" or otherwise distracted; you could enter the building through the cellar at night or use a teleportation spell—the possibilities are endless. But simply stationing guards everywhere who can even see through "Improved Invisibility" is a very cheap and extremely unprofessional solution. That kind of ability is usually possessed by powerful liches or powerful mages, not just some random bank guard.
1) Allowing the players to have choices is better than not having them. So, having another way of robbing the bank is cool.
2) In the D&D sessions I’ve played, if you took enough "measures", you could simply come out on top and actually succeed even on robbing banks. Or you could fail, if you didn't do everything well.
3) I will say also a controvertial thing: I’m not too sure that you should lose reputation if you kill everyone inside the bank. I would say that reputation currently it’s not the best designed system. That goes to the next thought: if the player has the option to kill everyone, leave no reputation hits. If somebody knew you robbed the bank, it is clear you wouldn't be welcome in that city anymore and you would be pursued. Reputation hits should happen if people know about what you've done.
The current way is really gamey.
"Now the bank is hard to rob, the mod is just one of hundreds and nothing special anymore." That's so deep. I have to mention that I find it hilarious how users of a certain type seem to attract each other and even justify their clownery in a similar ways: "I'm sure MANY PEOPLE agree with me". And all this without mentioning that since the mod is on github, getting old versions of the mod (when it was SPECIAL) is not even a real problem. Anyway, @Austin87 good luck dude.
You are completly ignoring points made by people that 100% make sense - like random guards seeing through improved invisibility - extremly unrealistic and immersion breaking.
There are quite few users that already wrote that having a choice is good but you know better than anyone else right? There are quite a few mods that give you options for components to install easier/harder so I do not see it as an unresonable request.
And saying that you can download older version of mod is never a good idea - both for player and the modder simply because there can be some bugfixes already done or additional content (and you want to avoid having reports of something that already was fixed
That's a good point since it's really always the same users (or the same type of user for that matter, thank you for posting and serving as an example).
Have you guys ever wondered why certain modders participate... less and less over time? Or why they end up creating their own spaces like a discord? Why am I even asking this? People like you don't ask these kinds of questions. Anyway, please keep suggesting things and providing feedback, I'm sure modders appreciate them. In a side note, this reminds me that last week I read about problems sending private messages in the forum, and I couldn't help but remember this gem:
https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/40754-announcing-baldurs-gate-2-rebirth-tc-mod-for-ee/page/7/#comment-359900
"There's also some weird dude called Endarire bombarding me in private with quest ideas irrelevant to Cormyr he supposedly feels are right for my mod," It makes me chuckle a little every time. Anyway, I hope that problem gets fixed soon. Good luck.
What was your contribution to the modding scene again?
Trying to bring a little humor to your day, fellow bank robbers 😉 When I originally designed this component, an actual bank heist wasn't even a real possibility - I simply brushed the idea aside. 🤷♂️ But it was Austin who actually added the ability to pull off the robbery - all credit goes to him. 🏛️💰🚨