"None of the characters from the previous Baldur's Gate games would have returned, the cast would have been completely original as well as the story, although characters from the Icewind Dale series would have returned."
Make me glad this thing burned in development hell. I don't mean to disparage any artists (the idea and artwork are great, really), but I don't see any reason to call this thing Baldur's Gate 3 instead of Icewind Dale 3 other than "Baldur's Gate" is a stronger franchise name. It reeks of meddling executives insulting their audience's intelligence.
Call it Icewind Dale 3 and release it, I'll be fine with that.
I think that The Black Hound suits better for an expansion for IWD2 rather than a new BG game. It was 80% complete, main pieces of the plot, arts and everything was done, so it shouldn't be technically complex to resurrect the project, given the license permission.
Instead, an expansion for BG2EE shouldn't take time after ToB. Why not placing that betwieen SoA and ToB? I always thought that there should have been some time between the defeat of Irenicus and the rise of the Five, so meanwhile CHARNAME could have done something related to Suldanesselar
For BG3, imho it's better to set the plot years after ToB, with a new CHARNAME. Either only a few years, so you can meet a fully grown up Imoen as a quest giver (just like Leliana in Dragon Age: Inquisition), or MANY years after, when everybody is old or dead.
Question is, is the stuff from TBH still around or did it get lost like all the other original assets? Also, instead of inserting another plot-element into BG, I really think the current plot holes and loose ends should be taken care of first.
I disagree that it smells of "executive meddling" or that using an already established franchise name in any way "insults the audience's intelligence".
If this was to be released as a new game, it would have to be updated to 5th edition rules, since that is the only ruleset that WotC/Hasbro will licence for new games. Which wipes out the "80% complete".
SoD was a tight squeeze, I don't think there is room in BG1/2 for yet another major plot based expansion.
I suspect many of the best ideas have been recycled for other games by now (PoE especially, SoD possibly). And there is the consideration that a possible contributing factor to the axing was the story really wasn't working very well. It can happen even to the best writers.
There remains the possibility of an IWD2EE expansion, a long way down the line, or possible incorporation of ideas into Beamdog's BG3 if there is writer overlap.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's a really, really easy way to get rid of Abdel Adrian without compromising the broader canonical sequence of events: just have Imoen be the "official" protagonist. She beat Amelyssan, she gave up her godhood, she's the person Viekang attacks at the start of MotB. Problem solved.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's a really, really easy way to get rid of Abdel Adrian without compromising the broader canonical sequence of events: just have Imoen be the "official" protagonist. She beat Amelyssan, she gave up her godhood, she's the person Viekang attacks at the start of MotB. Problem solved.
No. You don't need to tell his name... Just call it "The Bhaalspawn" or "Gorion's Ward".
No. You don't need to tell his name... Just call it "The Bhaalspawn" or "Gorion's Ward".
As has already been pointed out, that doesn't actually fix anything - there's no way to accommodate players who chose to ascend at the end of ToB (or, more broadly, the most basic question of whether Gorion's Ward was male or female). Imoen gives up her Bhaal essence in every possible ending, so if a single version of events is needed, it might as well be that one.
Comments
Call it Icewind Dale 3 and release it, I'll be fine with that.
Instead, an expansion for BG2EE shouldn't take time after ToB. Why not placing that betwieen SoA and ToB? I always thought that there should have been some time between the defeat of Irenicus and the rise of the Five, so meanwhile CHARNAME could have done something related to Suldanesselar
For BG3, imho it's better to set the plot years after ToB, with a new CHARNAME. Either only a few years, so you can meet a fully grown up Imoen as a quest giver (just like Leliana in Dragon Age: Inquisition), or MANY years after, when everybody is old or dead.
Also, instead of inserting another plot-element into BG, I really think the current plot holes and loose ends should be taken care of first.
SoD was a tight squeeze, I don't think there is room in BG1/2 for yet another major plot based expansion.
I suspect many of the best ideas have been recycled for other games by now (PoE especially, SoD possibly). And there is the consideration that a possible contributing factor to the axing was the story really wasn't working very well. It can happen even to the best writers.
There remains the possibility of an IWD2EE expansion, a long way down the line, or possible incorporation of ideas into Beamdog's BG3 if there is writer overlap.