So ... here's a bit of news. (Baldur's Gate 3)

[Rath Darkblade]

Baldur's Gate 3 is coming out -- BUT!!!

<<<WARNING, DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON>>>
The teaser videos are a very graphic depiction of how mind flayers are created, and what happens when they are born. DO NOT watch the teasers at work, or anywhere near children. I'm not kidding!
<<</WARNING, DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON>>>

I tried watching the teasers, and And ... ohhh, ick. I just learned what ceremorphosis is. And where mind flayers come from. Now there's a bit of Nightmare Fuel I didn't need. I think I need some Brain Bleach (aka alcohol) ...

[Tawmis]

I rememeber playing BG1 eons ago. I know I played BG2, but don't know that I finished.

It's an interesting take they're using for Mind Flayers/Illithid.

[DeadPoolX]

Well, after looking at gameplay footage of reviewers who bought the game in Early Access, I have to say that the devs managed to do something that BioWare never could: make hair that looks good. It comes in a variety of styles (including long hair!) and actually moves. Also, they managed to make decent facial hair! Almost no game has good facial hair.

[Rath Darkblade]

Huh, interesting. After the initial hullabaloo about BG3 (OMG the sky is falling etc.), the game's price on GOG dropped from $89.95 (AUS) to $59.95 (AUS). That's quite a drop. Any idea why?

Naturally, it's still in development.

[Tawmis]

Not sure. Not been keeping an eye on it, since my system would choke trying to play it. So I am not sure if it was expensive here and dropped too (in the US).

[DeadPoolX]

No idea if the price dropped in the US, but I'm pretty sure it's remained the same ($79.99) in Canadian dollars on both Steam and GOG.

Maia's been thinking of paying for it now, even though it's in Early Access, if for no other reason than to give feedback.

Apparently some asshats have voiced their disapproval of players being able to save when and where they want. According to these imbeciles, players shouldn't be allowed to save at their own discretion as forcing players to play a specific way means "having to accept the consequences of your actions." Also, there seems to be an issue where players "forget to save" in games with manual saves. If you're too inept (or lazy) to stop for a second and save, then you're a moron.

Ugh. I can't understand why ANYONE would actually prefer checkpoint saves.

Regardless, I doubt Larian would actually listen to these nutjobs. Their previous games have allowed manual saves, quicksaves, and autosaves, and it looks like they're continuing that model.

[Rath Darkblade]

Sounds good to me. *nods* The more save-points, the better.

"Having to accept the consequences of your actions"? Yes, most games give you different options (e.g. in dialogue) which lead to different consequences. So you can try one way, then another. But regardless of that, I usually think about the options I have, try to imagine where they would lead, and then choose the one that most appeals to me -- and if it leads to a bad consequence (except an insta-death, of course), so be it.

Obviously these cretins haven't played very many RPGs. Think about your dialogue options. Imagine where they would lead. Does no-one do that anymore? Gosh, Roleplayer, what strange ideas you have.

[DeadPoolX]

I bought Baldur's Gate 3 for Maia, even though it's in Early Access. Maia wanted to help test the game out and offer advice to help shape the game, which is something everyone who's bought the game so far in Early Access has been encouraged to do.

Anyway... if anyone here has any pressing concerns about BG3, ask away and I'll relate them to Maia. She might not be able to answer them all, but at this point she has a better idea of the game than the rest of us do.

[Rath Darkblade]

OK, let's start with the basics. What is the (general, overarching) plot here? Obviously illithids have something to do with the plot, and equally obviously they're creating more illithids. I can see from wiki that you, the player character, are taken captive by the mind flayers, who have launched an invasion of Faerûn, and implanted with an illithid tadpole, a parasite capable of enthralling and transforming them into another mind flayer. But before the mind flayers can transform their victims, the flying ship they are all aboard comes under attack from githyanki warriors and flees through multiple realms, including Avernus, the first of the Nine Hells.

You are freed during the fighting and steer the damaged ship back to Faerûn, where it crashes. As you search for a way to remove the parasite, you encounter other survivors of the wreck: a human wizard, a half-elf cleric, a high elf vampire, a human warlock, and a githyanki fighter.

OK, so this takes place in the Forgotten Realms. Any idea if it starts out in a city, or in the wilds somewhere? Is there a time limit on how long you have before you turn into an illithid? Presumably, if you start in level 1, you would have to be very powerful indeed (level 21 or so) before that can happen. But can the game wait that long? Or do you remove it at an earlier level, and then have to gradually resist the illithid invasion, before you take the battle to their door?

Just wondering.

[DeadPoolX]

OK, let's start with the basics. What is the (general, overarching) plot here?

I actually meant in terms of gameplay, and not anything lore or plot-related. You can find out that stuff yourself.

Any idea if it starts out in a city, or in the wilds somewhere?

It starts out on an Illithid ship. You probably knew this already, but that's where it starts.

Is there a time limit on how long you have before you turn into an illithid?

I think it's story-related. So far there's no indication that there's a "running clock" in the game that dictates when or if you'll turn.

Overall, it's hard to tell because the game's in Early Access right now and limited to Act 1, which means it's possible (although unlikely) that changing could be a timer.

Presumably, if you start in level 1, you would have to be very powerful indeed (level 21 or so) before that can happen.

You start off at Level 1 and your character is more or less complete crap.

You're limited to Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Warlock, Ranger, and Cleric, so you can't play as a Sorcerer or a Bard yet. Presumably, those classes (and others) will be added in later.

As for races, you've got Human, Elf, Drow, Half-Elf, Dwarf, Tiefling, Githyanki, and Halfling. There are sub-races among those as well, such as choosing to be a High Elf or a Wood Elf under the general "Elf" category. I'm not going to list all the sub-races, though, so if you want to know that, you'll need to check the Wiki.

Something that's really annoying Maia is that you can't reroll stats when you create a character. You have to complete the character-creation process and then you get your stats, which means if you want different stats, you'll have to re-create your character, which includes redoing their looks, background, voice, etc.

But can the game wait that long? Or do you remove it at an earlier level, and then have to gradually resist the illithid invasion, before you take the battle to their door?

Again, no idea. BG3 is extremely limited right now (like I previously stated, you can only play Act 1 at the moment) and because it's in Early Access, the game needs some massive optimization which makes playing a bit difficult at times.

Maia's playthroughs are currently suffering from an extremely common problem that many people with very different systems (i.e. differing operating systems, video cards, hard drives, RAM, etc) are experiencing that causes intermittent framerate skips and freezes. These freezes can occur anywhere from every few minutes to as often as every single minute. Fortunately, these freezes are also very short, but even so, it's not easy to play the game when this is happening so frequently.

To be fair, this isn't entirely unexpected of an Early Access game and Larian has been very upfront about the state of the game right now. Basically, the only reason to purchase BG3 at this point is to beta test it and give feedback. Some people might not think that's worth the cost (and if the bitching on the BG3 Steam forum is any indication, there are those who think it's a scam to pay full price for an Early Access title), but Maia and I think it's important enough since this feedback can help shape the game's development.

[Rath Darkblade]

You can't re-roll stats? That's unusual. I know that in some D&D games, you can set your own stats (e.g. Neverwinter Nights). Not being able to set your own stats isn't fair -- presumably, the developers know that lots of people who will want to play BG3 are familiar with how D&D works and what stats are important for what class (e.g. STR for fighters, CHA for paladins/bards, WIS for clerics etc.) So it's not fair to have the game set the stats for you and refuse to let you change them. I can just imagine how that would annoy Maia.

Why not, at the character creation phase, just have every stat at 8 (i.e. -1 modifier), give the player a pool of points, and let them make up their own minds?

As for the cost -- does paying for it right now, and providing feedback, mean that you get the finished game for free? Or do you have to purchase it at full price?

[DeadPoolX]

You can't re-roll stats? That's unusual.

I think you can allocate points during the creation process, but if you want to get a character with higher stats in specific areas without spending points, you can't re-roll. I presume they felt that re-doing the character creation process is as good as re-rolling, but they might reconsider that if they get enough negative feedback on it.

That's part of the reason they've released BG3 as an Early Access title. It's easier to change or fix things before the game is finalized.

As for the cost -- does paying for it right now, and providing feedback, mean that you get the finished game for free? Or do you have to purchase it at full price?

Early Access always means you pay full price and you get the final game when it's done. Sometimes you actually pay LESS for a game in Early Access and the price goes up after it's released as a full game.

It's weird that you — and some other people on the BG3 forums — have asked this question. I'd have thought it was obvious (who in their right mind would pay to be a beta-tester and then pay again for the game itself?), but maybe a lot of people really don't understand how Early Access works.

Just so you know... BG3 is listed as taking up 150 GB on the store page, but the install size at the moment is around 82.5 GB on Maia's computer. Presumably this is because the full game isn't finished yet, so it's probably best to assume the store page is accurate.

I'm telling you this because whether you get it on Steam or GOG, you'll have to download it. As far as I know, Larian has absolutely no plans to release BG3 on disc because very few people actually buy PC games in stores nowadays, and the number of DVDs or Blu-Rays it'd need would be insane. Also, optical drives are becoming a thing of the past, so Larian probably figures there's no point in spending money on producing the game in a medium that relatively few people have anymore.

[Rath Darkblade]

As for the cost -- does paying for it right now, and providing feedback, mean that you get the finished game for free? Or do you have to purchase it at full price?

Early Access always means you pay full price and you get the final game when it's done. Sometimes you actually pay LESS for a game in Early Access and the price goes up after it's released as a full game.

It's weird that you — and some other people on the BG3 forums — have asked this question. I'd have thought it was obvious (who in their right mind would pay to be a beta-tester and then pay again for the game itself?), but maybe a lot of people really don't understand how Early Access works.

Yes, I've never done Early Access myself. I always waited until the game was finished. So I don't really know how it works. *shrug* Sorry.

As far as I know, Larian has absolutely no plans to release BG3 on disc because very few people actually buy PC games in stores nowadays, and the number of DVDs or Blu-Rays it'd need would be insane. Also, optical drives are becoming a thing of the past, so Larian probably figures there's no point in spending money on producing the game in a medium that relatively few people have anymore.

Fair enough. Yes, I've noticed that the number of PC games in shops has steadily decreased over the past few years.

It would be nice to be able to buy a game on discs. Then I always have a backup; if something goes so dreadfully wrong that I have to uninstall and reinstall the game, it doesn't take so long to do it. (Same with what happens if/when I buy a new computer).

But I obviously understand that technology marches on, and using DVD/Blu-Ray technology to release games is simply not economic any more.

[DeadPoolX]

Yes, I've never done Early Access myself. I always waited until the game was finished. So I don't really know how it works. *shrug* Sorry.

Yeah... didn't mean for my previous comment to sound insulting or anything. It just genuinely surprised me, but I sometimes forget there are a lot of people who don't know how Early Access works.

[Rath Darkblade]

No problem, I'm not insulted. I honestly don't know how Early Access works. At any rate, I didn't think you'd have to pay twice for the game. Obviously that would be unfair to you. I just wanted to know.

I had a look at some of the races/sub-races. It seems odd to have half-elves and not half-orcs, though some people now want to roleplay kobolds and minotaurs. I thought only DMs roleplayed those!

I also had a look at the classes and sub-classes a bit. Good to see that Assassin will make the final game, even if it's not there now.