#Even in other games Astarion is still looking out for me XD

[feykrorovaan]

I was talking to random people in zone chat in ESO,and this random guy started hitting on me aggressively, as an immature man child does in a public space on the internet. How did I reply you ask?

I quoted Astarion.

"I'm flattered, but I think not. It's not you, it's me. I have standards."

I think I broke him because he replied with:

"Ok."

Then he showed me nothing but respect afterwards.

I think I found my new favorite quote.

[rallamajoop]

Neil Newbon's Heisenberg Playlist

So I watched this great interview with Neil Newbon ‒ the VA and motion actor for Heisenberg, terrifically talented guy. With encouragement from the text chat, he shared a few of the tracks on the playlist he created for Heisenberg ‒ something he apparently likes to do for a lot of the characters he plays.

One track, called simply "John", was by a band called the Cold Stares (in Neil's words: hard fucking rock, very gritty, very dirty, with a country edge).

John won’t you dig that grave, John won’t you dig that grave, John won’t you dig that grave, Gonna bury you in that hole someday.      

On paper, it's a song about a man tracking down the grave digger (John) that his wife is having an affair with, but just taking the sound and that chorus line? Oh boy, can I hear it!

But the other song Neil singled out from his playlist? "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt.

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't You can't make your heart feel something it won't Here in the dark, in these final hours I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power But you won't, no you won't 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't      

And I mean... damn. I guess you could maybe find a way to spin it as about parental love (or lack thereof) between Heisenberg and Miranda, but that sure ain't where my mind went... XD

There's plenty more great stuff in that full interview ‒ a lot about how much he loves doing performance capture, as a medium where he gets to play so many different characters he'd never be cast as in live action. When cast as Heisenberg, he was apparently told only mid-Atlantic accent, which is a hell of a feature to emphasise.

He talks a bit about his work as Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 too (because, y'know, it's not enough that this guy is Heisenberg, he's also the whole damn Internet's new elf-vampire-boyfriend too), as the game was already in early access by then, even if it was still years short of release. The full interview is a two-hour stream, but well worth a listen.

But the one last related detail I'd like to share here is one other track by the Cold Stares which I found in their discography while looking for "John", and which I have to say strikes me as another terrific Heisenberg track ‒ Dig my grave with a silver spade... Six foot in the ground and I can't get away.

Neil doesn't mention it himself, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's in his playlist somewhere. It's called "Headstone Blues".

I woke up this morning, with the headstone blues She's gonna kill me, gonna cut me loose Tied my tie in a pretty noose I can't win, she can't lose

I ain't the first, no, I ain't the first to leave you Oh but I know, I may be the last

Dig my grave with a silver spade Find a weeping willow to give me shade Bring me flowers on a summer day Six foot in the ground and I can't get away

I ain't the first, no, I ain't the first to leave you Oh but I know, I may be the last

[blackjackkent]

Looking at the patch notes for patch 5! This is the first set of patch notes I've actively paid attention to and man, it's fucking huge!

Honestly, reading through this, I am just mind-boggled all over again about the scale and ambition of this game. Obviously there were (and probably still are) quite a few bugs, unexpected interactions, etc., but Larian have worked their fucking tails off to make a fully functional automated D&D combat system and a story that has a monumental amount of potential variables, and speaking as a programmer it makes my head hurt just thinking about all of the moving parts that must be involved in making this work.

And they seem to be blasting through fixes at an incredible rate too. This is a good development team who seem to have a brilliant combination of technical know-how, good humor, community-mindedness, and passion for their source material, and I'm incredibly impressed even in the short amount of time that I've been playing the game so far.

Obviously I already knew about the addition of the epilogues, which it sounds like makes the ending much more satisfying overall, but some other things that stuck out to me:

"While at camp, you can now access and manage the inventories of companions who aren't in your active party." Yesssss; this has been one of the more annoying aspects of the game up to this point.

"You can now sell and barter items inside containers when trading." This will simplify things for me given I have a System involving Karlach and Shadowheart each carrying a Bag Of Crap to sell.

"Improved grouping and sorting of items in containers while trading." Please tell me this means all the dyes will finally be grouped together when I try to buy them for hoarding.

"A romanced Minthara can now refer to her bond with you using a drow word for deep, unbreakable love." Minthara is probably coming a good deal later in priority on my playthroughs but this is cute.

"Withers will sneakily resurrect any dead companions that fell before the final battle so they can join the ending cinematics. What a helpful skeleton." Good job, Withers.

"The loading screen art now unlocks gradually as you progress through the game." That's a neat touch.

"Fixed occasional T-poses and frozen animations related to the Incapacitated condition." No more T-posing drunk goblins!

"Fixed the combat UI not automatically skipping to the next available party member after a controlled character dies." I think this was why Hector's whole party almost died to the Selune lasers. XD

"Two new play modes: Honour Mode and Custom Mode." No idea what that implies at all but I'm intrigued. More content!

"Improved Astarion's Ascendant route at-will gnome kiss for masculine body types." This is not relevant to any playthrough I'm currently doing but just reinforces what I was talking about above, regarding the incredible number of variables this game juggles (for the most part super successfully).

Also quite a lot of updates that just made me laugh:

"Boo will no longer take damage when thrown."

"When players start a combat inside the Elfsong Tavern, all the patrons will now cower instead of continuing to drink."

"You can no longer use the awesome force of bombs to flip the switch behind the final door in the Gauntlet of Shar to force the door to open."

"You can no longer loot the entire inventory of unconscious traders - instead you have access to a limited selection, as with dead traders. Nice try, pacifists."

"Added the intensely satisfying 'Ahhh' sound for players who Short Rest using a keybind rather than a UI button."

"Shar is now aware of Shadowheart's actions even if she is using Disguise Self."

"Using the lift in the House of Healing when in Turn-Based Mode no longer causes it to loop between floors indefinitely upon exiting Turn-Based Mode."

"Fixed a rare bug where Halsin would decide to turn into a bear whenever you went to talk to him at camp in the Shadow-Cursed Lands."

"If Wyll somehow managed to avoid Mizora's punishment for keeping Karlach alive, he'll be punished retroactively."

"Fixed Astarion accidentally telling the Dark Urge's future."

"Astarion no longer asks the Dark Urge about killing Isobel even if they didn't."

"You no longer comment on Mol if you haven't met her before."

"Locke no longer blames Zevlor for his death if Zevlor died in Act I."

"Fixed several instances of sleeping goblins waking up wanting a chat when they should have been hostile."

"Halsin will no longer forget about saving Thaniel if you travel back to Act I while he's waiting at the lakeside. Focus, Halsin."

"Players who arrive to the Ketheric showdown shape-shifted will have to face him person-to-person, not apostle-to-badger."

"If Isobel is thrown off her balcony, she'll make more of an effort to get back upstairs again."

"Fixed some beggars in the Brampton District facing the wrong way when asking for coin."

"Dame Aylin no longer waits ten days to bring up the time she killed Ketheric Thorm."

"We have convinced Shadowheart not to join the final nautiloid combat if she is already dead."

"Umberlee's worshippers are now considerably more security-conscious about the donations in the Water Queen's House. "

"Fixed a state where the Chamber of Insight trial could be both succeeded and failed."

"Apprentice Laridda will no longer assume you to be the bearer of bad (break-up) news if you didn't bring her the break-up message."

"Ravengard should now use the correct pronouns when addressing you during the ceremony in Wyrm's Rock."

"Karlach no longer thinks she's left the Hells when you explore the rocky outcrop near Hope's prison."

"Added a profanity filter for custom map markers. You'll have to find more creative ways to label the kennel master."

"Splitting a green dye stack in the Traveller's Chest at camp will no longer change the dye's rarity from Uncommon to Very Rare."

"The hanging cages in Cazador's dungeon will no longer tell you they're safe to step on, only to drop you to your death in the chasm below."

"Fixed Mirkon sometimes cowering in fairly deep water when you talk to him while he's running away from the harpies."

"Improved Cazador's home security by locking a chest and a door."

"Locked one of the Caza-doors."

"Fixed padded armour sometimes appearing as underwear on bigger body types. "

"A dead fisherman on the beach will no longer hint that you can find Shadowheart just ahead if you are, in fact, Shadowheart."

"Minthara's haughty stare will now correctly look at players she's talking to towards the end of the game. "

V excited to continue my playthrough, even more than I was already. Feels like we're in good hands. :)

[themadchemist]

Finished my first BG3 playthrough the other day and man I LOVE this game!!!

I love how how there are so many different ways to handle certain situations and fights. It's probably the first time I played a game like this and it was so much fun!!!

I was actually really worried about all the different options and stuff but after spending 110 hours on this game, it wasn't really that bad, on the contrary, it was amazing!

I'm going to start my 2nd playthrough tonight, this time with a Drow Paladin/Warlock (my first was a High Elf Archfey Warlock and I have to say, Eldritch Blast is busted lol)

Here's my elf girl who looks more like a lotr elf than I wanted to lol

And my Drow boy for my 2nd run whom I've already fallen madly in love with

Spoilers under the cut, mostly for the companions' stories.

First of all, the main story. It honestly wasn't THAT great. Like it's not bad or anything, just nothing too special imo. Just goes from finds a cure, fight the 3 bad guys then fight the big gross thing. The 3 chosen were a bit interesting (ok, maybe just Gortash, mainly because he's so pretty lol) like I honestly considered allying with him but 1. I couldn't do this to my girl Karlach 2. I really wanted his robe and I doubt I could've gotten it without killing him XD (I ended up not using it at all but still).

As for the companions' stories, they were GREAT. Astarion, Shadowheart and Wyll were the best imo, Lae'zel has actually really grown, Gale's was good but not as good as the others tbh (and somehow he still managed to grow on me so much that I considered going for him instead of Astarion. I obviously didn't but damn Gale, go easy on me, my poor heart can't take it). Karlach and Halsin's stories were the weakest imo but maybe that's just me being salty about their endings...

For romance, I went with Astarion and Halsin and they're just so sweet 😭😭😭 Halsin has that gentle giant energy and he's just so easygoing. Definitely the kind of guy I'd go for irl lol. And Astarion. Man, he's AMAZING!!! I'm really happy with how his story turned out, a bit disappointed with his good ending, especially when there seems to be a way in d&d to cure his condition, but I'm happy with his story all the same. Like, he's kinda still his "magnificent basterd" self but he also grows so much throughout the story, he becomes softer, more sincere and most importantly, he's actually free and learning to be himself again, to genuinely love and care and to open up and show vulnerability and just ughhhhhh I love him so much and I honestly wish Cazador's death was even worse. He deserved much worse for what he did (and because his fight was soooooooo annoying).

Gale is another one that really broke my heart at one point and I was so ready to fist fight Mystra for him 😭😭😭 like at the end of act 2, he was actually ready to die and it was pure torture to see him like that and just 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Shadowheart was another one that I really enjoyed, I went from just liking her to wanting to punch her to absolutely loving her. Like in act1 it was fine, funny at times but she really got on my nerves in act2, especially in the gauntlet of shar, like I get that this is where she's supposed to achieve her goal and become a dark justiciar but going Lady Shar this and Lady Shar that at everything started to really annoy me at a certain point but all that annoyance got thrown out of the window when she freed the Nightsong and turned her back on Shar. Like, that must've taken a lot of courage and honestly I was impressed. And then the whole thing with her parents... Damn, Shar really is evil. I chose to free them even though it meant she would live with the pain of Shar's curse for the rest of her life. Like, this was one of the few times that I broke the rp and chose as myself. Overall, her story was amazing (fuck that fight with the mother superior though. All that darkness was pure hell for my party of casters).

Wyll's story really surprised me ngl. I was expecting the boring heroic guy but he turned out to be so much more. The whole thing with Karlach and then his father. This time I chose to sell his soul to Zariel for help to rescue his father but I wonder if I can still rescue his father even after I break his contract. And he gets free bonus points for the fact that his story ended in fighting a dragon. Dragons are always a good addition to any story lol.

Karlach's story had so much potential but it felt like it was cut short. There were a couple of ways to solve her engine's problem, like the gnomes in the steel watch foundry who were working with infernal iron and maybe Dammon. Idk, it was all a bit disappointing honestly. Like she died in my playthrough and no one noticed until she was gone and damn I feel like I'm going to cry again just thinking about it 😭😭😭 overall, best girl deserved so much better.

Speaking of Dammon, him, Rolan and Alfira are my children, my babies, I reloaded the fight with Marcus like 9 times just to save Isobel, not for her though I didn't care about her at the time, but for them. I'd defend them with my life. Like I can't describe the fear I felt when I learned that Rolan left the inn, like my reckless son better be safe or I'm quitting the game. And then the rage I felt when I found him in the wizard's tower but his face looked bruised, like whoever did this to him, their days were numbered. No one hurts my baby like that. And then I saw Dammon and Alfira around the city and I was so happy they were safe and building good lives for themselves.

Back to the companions, I was surprised that you couldn't talk to the tiefling refugees as Halsin. I don't understand why tbh. He took them in and let them stay at the grove, sure he left for a while and left Kagha in charge which led to the whole problem but it's not like he was to blame for that, he wasn't there and he stopped the ritual as soon as he got back. Unless I missed something, I really don't understand. Also, he's another character that suffered from a short story, one that felt more like a side quest even and after that, he was just there... But I'm glad I had a chance to have my big cuddly bear elf man who loves ducks and honey around (also his lines after the romance are just perfect. I love him so much).

And lastly, Lae'zel. I don't really have that much to say about her since I've only used her a couple of times for her personal quest. Although, I admit I didn't expect her to make such little fuss about opposing Vlaakith. Although that was probably all for nothing since I accidentally doomed her people to following a false queen by siding with the Emperor. In my defense, the Emperor was protecting me the entire time, I barely knew anything about Orpheus and the Emperor, despite the concealed truths here and there, wasn't entirely bad. He didn't stab me in the back in the end or force me to do anything bad AND if it weren't for the Emperor someone from the party would've had to become a mind flayer so idk... I wish there was a way to keep the Emperor and rescue Orpheus but oh well... Also, the idea that Balduran was fighting to protect the city even though no one really knew that was cool. (also, I made the mistake of making my Guardian really pretty so I couldn't bring myself to betray him even after he showed his true colors. I blame the option to hug him for this. I only wish he could've kept that look around me...)

All in all, I really enjoyed the game. Act 2 was probably my favorite. Will start my 2nd run tonight, excited to see the Drow reactivity they talked about since the elf was just there, just some person lol

[blackjackkent]

@zenjestrr: is Rakha gonna slurp the worms

zenjestrr: *drops a wriggling creature into her eyeball* this will fix me

blackjackkent: rofl

blackjackkent: I suspect possibly yes.

zenjestrr: 🦑🦑🦑🐛🐛🐛🎺🎺🎺

blackjackkent: Lae'zel doesn't like them and Lae'zel is like 90% of her impulse control, but they also potentially Have Answers

zenjestrr: will she go for the Super Worm in Act 3 or are you gonna play it by ear

zenjestrr: (embrace the power)

zenjestrr: (there's no downside)

zenjestrr: (other than looking like you took evil crack cocaine)

blackjackkent: XD

blackjackkent: I'm going to play it by ear.

blackjackkent: I can't even begin to predict what Rakha will be like by act 3

zenjestrr: lol i get it

blackjackkent: she's already evolving a bunch. she's practically a worm herself with how slippery her characterization is to get a grip on XD

zenjestrr: will you side with Baldy Boi or go Orpheus

zenjestrr: and if Orpheus again will you see how the ending changes if he stays gith or will you drop that hot potato on his lap again lol

blackjackkent: I have a sneaking suspicion the Emperor is going to die the moment Rakha learns what he is

zenjestrr: you know that's a game over, right lol

zenjestrr: like you CAN kill him at that moment but it's a game over

blackjackkent: oh really? lol

zenjestrr: yea

blackjackkent: well then :P

blackjackkent: she will spend the whole time WANTING to kill him :P

zenjestrr: Balduran is correct in saying that he never explicitly lies to you

zenjestrr: he is the only reason you haven't turned

blackjackkent: [nods]

blackjackkent: makes sense

blackjackkent: Orpheus I'm not sure about. Rakha has REALLY strong respect for Lae'zel tho so probably he will remain gith. which I guess means Rakha takes the worm herself?

zenjestrr: or have Karlach do it if you bring her with you

blackjackkent: yeah

blackjackkent: hrmdehrm.

zenjestrr: but yea I think squid x Wyll makes for a cool ending, especially since you can still do the Avernus roadtrip

blackjackkent: eeenteresting.

zenjestrr: I thiiiiink Lae'zel is the only one who breaks up with you if you go squid mode but I think maybe Ascended Astarion also does it

blackjackkent: no spoilers obvi, just thinking out loud, but I imagine it plays interestingly with the Durge situation too. illithid seem very chill. maybe settles the chaos a bit.

zenjestrr: [REDACTED]

blackjackkent: hehehe

zenjestrr: squid x Wyll also has the monster loving dynamic. Wyll is a devil now and has some self-hatred about it and Rakha (in this hypothetical scenario) would be a mind flayer, a monster, and might have some self-hatred about it

zenjestrr: Shrek ass ending

zenjestrr: both people seeing past the physical and loving the person

blackjackkent: truuuu

blackjackkent: bro your mind

zenjestrr: also if you go on the Avernus field trip there's PLENTY of brains for you to snack on

blackjackkent: truuuuuuuuuuuu

blackjackkent: ALSO

blackjackkent: fundamental climax of everything she sees in Wyll that she does not see in herself

blackjackkent: the self sacrifice

zenjestrr: ye

blackjackkent: wahhhhh feelings.

blackjackkent: OK I'm actually quite jazzed about this now haha