I am sure they will finally tell us the release date one April 1st.
this is really a joke.. beamdog please annouce that game will be released in 2050. It will be honest from your side. If the game is earlier, we all will be happy. This all "it will be released when it''s done" phrase is a little to much, after nearly half a year since the annoucement of the trailer. After all this time, i think you can give us a approximate date, to done speculating. If not, this is really weird.
No, because that'd mess up the continuity-dialogue when you meet him again in BG2. The BG2 dialogue allows for the possibility that you previously met him when he was fighting gnolls in BG1, but not for having met again since then.
@Vitor ,if indeed Shinning lady is angel creature, because she's without wings this could hint various implications such as fallen solar, "stripped-wings" solar or self-excised solar following her's agenda.
75 sidequests, eh? I'm certainly no expert when it comes to sidequest quantification, but 75 sounds like quite a large number to me.
For reference, I've done a quick tally off the top of my head, and I counted 10 sidequests in Beregost in BG1, 8 in Candlekeep, 3 in Friendly Arm Inn, 7 in Nashkel + Carnival, 29 in Baldur's Gate, and 35 in all other areas (excluding TotSC and EE content). That's a total of 92 sidequests in vanilla BG1, but I might have missed a few, so let's say 97.
Keep in mind that it's not quite straightforward what should and should not qualify as a sidequest. For example, I haven't included simple assassin attacks and special encounters in the above tally, while someone else could have done so, which would raise the number dramatically.
sidequests are anything that doesn't need to be completed to further the story or finish the game.
So investigating the mines would be a primary quest, returning kylee's dagger would be a subquest even though it is extremely short and part of the primary quest.
sidequests are anything that doesn't need to be completed to further the story or finish the game.
That definition might not help as much as you imply, when it comes to agreeing an exact count.
As @Adul has said (above), some people would include various set-piece attacks by assassins as "side-quests", but he hasn't counted those. Take the attack by Karlat at the Red Sheaf in Beregost - is it a "side-quest" to defeat him? By your definition I guess it should be counted, since it's certainly not necessary ever to enter the Red Sheaf and meet him.
The problem in precisely defining a "side-quest" is not so much the issue of how to define "side-", it's more a matter of what counts as a "-quest".
For me, a side quest is something not part of the main storyline, but still goes in the quest journal with it's own heading. So those things like assassination attempts aren't side quests, just encounters. Even if they have a quest entry, it's usually as part of another quest or just a "general stuff that happened" entry.
I would like to mention, though, that during a beta testing of BGEE 1.2 patch, Beamdog created a form to track a progress of testing quests in BGEE. It was based on http://www.forgottenwars.com/bg1/checklist.htm
No, because that'd mess up the continuity-dialogue when you meet him again in BG2. The BG2 dialogue allows for the possibility that you previously met him when he was fighting gnolls in BG1, but not for having met again since then.
And besides, why would Drizzt come back to the Sword Coast after traveling a long way to Icewind Dale?
No, because that'd mess up the continuity-dialogue when you meet him again in BG2. The BG2 dialogue allows for the possibility that you previously met him when he was fighting gnolls in BG1, but not for having met again since then.
And besides, why would Drizzt come back to the Sword Coast after traveling a long way to Icewind Dale?
He misplaced his swords and is tracking them down.
Adding to the official information known from the new beamdog site that has been revealed today (https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/692331/#Comment_692331), I've cropped portraits for all 4 new NPCs - the versions the SoD site uses are only 100*100, but thanks to the screenshots it was possible to create 110*170 portraits, S-versions. They look quite fine in the game, so these are bmp files for the S version:
Now that we have clearer portraits (thanks, @bengoshi!), I think we also have an answer to the question about whether the description of Captain Corwin as an "archer" meant a Ranger kitted as an Archer or a Fighter using ranged proficiencies.
The armour in her portrait definitely looks metallic to me, in which case she can't be an Archer kit.
Now that we have clearer portraits (thanks, @bengoshi!), I think we also have an answer to the question about whether the description of Captain Corwin as an "archer" meant a Ranger kitted as a Archer or a Fighter using ranged proficiencies.
The armour in her portrait definitely looks metallic to me, in which case she can't be an Archer kit.
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is lacking a good neutral warrior Non-Player Character. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe as captain of the Flaming Fist she's wearing some kind of ceremonial plate armor, and when the time comes to go against Shining Lady with Charname, she prefers to wear something more comfortable?
Since it's almost guaranteed you'll get to keep all your items from BG1 (it'd break BG2's item import functionality otherwise), an armor that gives a +3 DEX bonus could potentially be used with the Gauntlets of Dexterity to make a character's DEX 21.
Now imagine Kagain using this combination, plus the girdle from Rasaad's quest, Buckley's Buckler and the Manual of Bodily Health. A tank with shorty saves and STR 19/DEX 21/CON 22.
Comments
ps: i know this is provocative, but it's true
For reference, I've done a quick tally off the top of my head, and I counted 10 sidequests in Beregost in BG1, 8 in Candlekeep, 3 in Friendly Arm Inn, 7 in Nashkel + Carnival, 29 in Baldur's Gate, and 35 in all other areas (excluding TotSC and EE content). That's a total of 92 sidequests in vanilla BG1, but I might have missed a few, so let's say 97.
Keep in mind that it's not quite straightforward what should and should not qualify as a sidequest. For example, I haven't included simple assassin attacks and special encounters in the above tally, while someone else could have done so, which would raise the number dramatically.
So investigating the mines would be a primary quest, returning kylee's dagger would be a subquest even though it is extremely short and part of the primary quest.
As @Adul has said (above), some people would include various set-piece attacks by assassins as "side-quests", but he hasn't counted those. Take the attack by Karlat at the Red Sheaf in Beregost - is it a "side-quest" to defeat him? By your definition I guess it should be counted, since it's certainly not necessary ever to enter the Red Sheaf and meet him.
The problem in precisely defining a "side-quest" is not so much the issue of how to define "side-", it's more a matter of what counts as a "-quest".
I would like to mention, though, that during a beta testing of BGEE 1.2 patch, Beamdog created a form to track a progress of testing quests in BGEE. It was based on http://www.forgottenwars.com/bg1/checklist.htm
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/22227/phase-iii-quest-testing-721-721/p1
So, let's hope that 75 subquests in SoD are counted differently than 721 quests during the beta testing of BGEE 1.2 patch.
[spoiler=how the new portraits look in the game]
On the side bar:
On the record screen:
[/spoiler]
The armour in her portrait definitely looks metallic to me, in which case she can't be an Archer kit.
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is lacking a good neutral warrior Non-Player Character. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now imagine Kagain using this combination, plus the girdle from Rasaad's quest, Buckley's Buckler and the Manual of Bodily Health. A tank with shorty saves and STR 19/DEX 21/CON 22.