Enhanced Edition characters and content
TrentOster
Administrator, Developer Posts: 433
We've had some questions regarding the new story content for the Enhanced Edition. I thought I'd write up a little post, explaining our thinking around the structure.
We had a few high level goals with our new content:
1) Don't change the original story, curate don't re-invent.
2) Don't break the critical path
3) Give the new content a context within the story which allows us to fit it into the world.
4) The new content must be optional (supports point 1)
With these goals in mind we set out to craft new storylines which could integrate with the game without breaking the original plot and we came up with two concepts: Expansions and Characters.
Expansions would either have to be side quests jammed into the existing game (Tales of the Sword Coast) or story events which happen between of following the game (Throne of Bhaal)
We are still planning on going the expansion route, but timeline issues have forced us to push back the expansion planning.
Characters seemed a good solution to us at it would allow us to add new, optional, non-critical path content to the game within the context of some new, interesting NPC characters. We felt the new characters would add to the game and not take anything away and I think we are correct in this. The character structure also allows us to clearly demarcate new content for contractual reasons.
With this organization in our understanding and in our agreements, we will be proceeding with the two forms of new content as we move forward.
Best,
-Trent
We had a few high level goals with our new content:
1) Don't change the original story, curate don't re-invent.
2) Don't break the critical path
3) Give the new content a context within the story which allows us to fit it into the world.
4) The new content must be optional (supports point 1)
With these goals in mind we set out to craft new storylines which could integrate with the game without breaking the original plot and we came up with two concepts: Expansions and Characters.
Expansions would either have to be side quests jammed into the existing game (Tales of the Sword Coast) or story events which happen between of following the game (Throne of Bhaal)
We are still planning on going the expansion route, but timeline issues have forced us to push back the expansion planning.
Characters seemed a good solution to us at it would allow us to add new, optional, non-critical path content to the game within the context of some new, interesting NPC characters. We felt the new characters would add to the game and not take anything away and I think we are correct in this. The character structure also allows us to clearly demarcate new content for contractual reasons.
With this organization in our understanding and in our agreements, we will be proceeding with the two forms of new content as we move forward.
Best,
-Trent
23
Comments
While I understand your reasoning for adding new content as optional side quests linked to the optional new characters, I might still wish that certain pieces of equipment were not tied to them - Neera's gem bag, the elven chain, and the belt of ogre strength come immediately to mind.
Thank you again for your attention, for being so responsive to the online community, and for creating such an awesome reboot of our game.
But does this mean there are no plans for more minor additions, things like adding new strongholds for classes the Blaggard or Monk, making ToB less linear as many people seem to think is necessary (I'm not hugely fussed on this issue but it seems to be a common criticism) or even the potential of adding Overhaul created content to tie up issues the way the unfinished business mod did?
I've enjoyed the new characters as well as the new content that comes with them, and the black pits is great for multiplayer (though part of me wishes it was tied into the main game somehow), so I'd love to see both more characters and true "expansions". I have to say though I have yet to try out 3 of the 5 new kits, so I hope you don't feel any rush to get new content out. I've probably put 1000 hours into the original trilogy, and I'm certain on the right track to doing the same in the Enhanced Editions!
That's what most people think is the weakest part of the series, because it's very linear and lacks side quests aside from Watchers Keep. Adding a few quests with their own areas would go a long way to fix this issue.
Lore wise it would be possible to expand the game map to the north by moving Ulgoth's Beard to its' proper location to the left of Baldurs Gate. So a trail north would go through the Fields of the Dead, past the monastery ruins of Kheldrivver to the quest hub of The Way Inn. From there you could head west to the Trollbark Forest where the Warlock's Crypt (aka Larloch's Crypt) is or go east to the Dragonspear ruins which is overrun by Orcs and Goblins. With the possibility of going north to the Misty Forest and through to the High Moor. Within the High Moor you could have an entry to the Underdark where a version of the Black Pits is but under new management. You can explain any restriction from traveling further up north to Waterdeep due to the Iron Crisis. You could go east to the ghost town of Queldin's Mask too, that would be another great candidate for a quest hub.
Or you could expand the Wood of Sharp Teeth because in the year of the BG1 story, the Lich organization of the Twisted Rune has placed a magic gateway there. Which means you could create a quest hub there that can take you to the other magic gateways used by the Twisted Rune. These places include the Orsraun Mountains of the Vilhon Reach, the Calim Desert, the Sea Towers of the Nelanther Isles, etc... pretty much anywhere in West Faerun. The regions you can travel to via the portals don't have to be part of a overall quest either. You could just travel to the Orsraun Mountains to battle the tribes of Orcs, Goblins and Kobolds for the sake of exploration. If there has to be an overall story it could be to hunt down Priamon "Frostrune" Rakesk, the Lich responsible for creating the portals and to close each one off from the Twisted Rune. Then when you meet characters like Shangalar the Black in BG2, it would bring in some continuity.
It's a big ask to add everything in one go so I think that once you create the quest hub of somewhere in the mold of Ulgoth's Beard, then you can introduce quest maps in future updates. By breaking up the expansion into mini-expansions you are pacing out the work but also giving the option to put things on hiatus if something else requires your time. So if you were to make the Way Inn into a quest hub, you'd stay there creating quests within that space, then open up Larloch's Crypt the next month, and then Dragonspear Ruins the month after, then the Highmoor, etc... Or in the second example, you could open up a new Twisted Rune portal for every expansion update. Or if you were to be doing something like Ulgoth's Beard, you'd first create the town, then the next month release the Isle of Balduran in an update, then the next month release Shandalar's Island and then eventually release Durlag's Tower. So when the community feels that's been expanded upon enough, it would be simple to just not add any more updates and move onto the next project.
As for BG2, all that needs to be done is to add regions outside of the city. Regions that aren't all that complex but rather like the areas in BG1 that create that sense of traveling. At the moment you can travel from Athkatla all the way to Windspear Hills with one click, when ideally it would involve crossing multiple maps to get there. There's already an abundance of sidequests in BG2 that doing more outside of finishing what was started with the new NPCs isn't the highest priority.
Instead with BG2:EE, the deficiency is definitely with ToB. That is in dire need of optional sidequests and a permanent city. The Pocket Plane is a nice hub for storage purposes but it is far too removed from the chaos of Tethyr, there needs to be something like the city of Darromar (Capital of Tethyr) where you can take a break from chasing down the five to do something else. I don't think there's so much of a need to create extra dungeons or areas built around single quests but rather somewhere that houses multiple minor and major quests that overlap just like what was done with Athkatla. The problem with ToB is that everything is so compartmentalized from each other that it lacks the fluidity of regions like Baldur's Gate or Athkatla. Saradush was great while it lasted, so I say go for Darromar which would fit right on the west portion of the map. If a Darromar city map was 1/10th of Athkatla it would add so much to ToB.
So in short, I'd rather have quest hub maps like Ulgoth's Beard but with content added in around monthly updates over quest maps tied to specific NPCs.
BG2:EE wouldn't have this problem; I don't think it's even possible to hit 8 million XP in a single playthrough, and new weapons are certainly welcome (here's hoping for Rymosrac, Dorn's answer to Keldorn!).
If one can live with hitting the XP cap in the middle of the game, it’s fine. But, as shawne points out, from a gameplay perspective some things at the end need to be beefed up if more content is added. This, in turn calls for a raised XP cap. I guess chapter one in BG 2 needs to be beefed up too (provided the main character be carried over).