#larian did it its fine

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

Hi! 10kDays has had a vice grip on my psyche for the last week or so, and I'm really excited to play the preview. However, I don't wanna make anyone else in my group GM this game just because I want to play it, so I'd like to try out the GMless mode of play, and so would they, but none of us have any experience with that style of game.

Is there any game you'd recommend we look at for a general picture of how you intend GMless play to work? I do own Ironsworn, which has a GMless mode, so if that jives with what you're intending that would be really convenient lmao.

Thanks for your time!

So there's a couple of thoughts i have here, starting with the shape of the game and the pieces of it that need different kinds and amounts of attention:

The game itself is kind of designed in three strands: courses, combat, and the Face game.

Courses are an adaptation of the Arc/quest mechanic from Jenna Moran's Glitch. I've found that they reduce the GM load hugely, for two reasons: you can roll up half an hour before game, ask "who wants to be in the spotlight, what does your quest say is happening in your life right now, and what needs to happen?", and drop something in. Connections and debts are also designed to give you improv prompts, and to a slightly lesser extent perspectives. The other benefit of Courses is that they move planning burden from "GM, night before game" to "player, whenever they want to think about their blorbo". So on a large-scale, "figure out what the campaign looks like" view, you can get away with improvising every session and just following your own character arcs. Likewise, the District moves and intentions are intended to give GMs an easy "i don't know what to do next" button, and the focuses of mask/gear/bell are intended to share around the responsibilities of worldbuilding. Ironsworn's oracles are another example of how to help outsource some of that decision-making, and it's the reason Appendix Yi is earmarked to be a million random tables. For more information on how oracles work, please google Jay Dragon's Sleepaway on your work computer (or at least read this Twitter thread from NightlingBug).

There are a couple story structures that are well suited to wuxia and this game. There's the Shaolin Soccer/shadowrunner/classic ttrpg setup where you are clearly a team, and there are enemy teams, and you are doing hijinks against them. But there's also a Jin Yong wuxia epic type thing where you have, let's say three or four PCs, and you're maybe nominally on the same side but you're clashing a lot and you're tied together by sworn and blood kinship and you keep running into each other. I think the most pared-down version of 10kdays you could run and still call it a full game is 3 players, characters living sort of far apart so they rarely run into each other, and interactions are 2 of the PCs clashing at a time while the 3rd player picks up any NPCs, throws in some District moves, etc. You could do a 2-player game but the kinds of interactions you could have would be severely limited, I think. The Face game of politicking and building support structures is kind of just... you two, face to face.

Now the problem on everyone's mind is fighting. It's attention-intensive, everyone's interested in it, and depending on your setup there can be loads of combatants that a GM would normally be expected to pilot. Again, there are a couple of scaffolds for trying to do this GMless. The sample Techniques in Appendix Jia come with combat tactics to make use of them, so any player can pick up an NPC combatant and figure out what they're going to do. Fight choreographing like this runs the pitfall of it feeling sort of bad to hurt your friends effectively, at least for some tables, but there is the incentive of hitting your friend's Bite highlight when you grab the corpo thug and bite them in the ass.

It is one of my mid-to-low priorities to create like algorithm type protocols for enemy fighters to run themselves, though that's still in the pipe dream phase. One thing I'm looking at here is Katabasis by Rathayibacter, which has a super cool system for easily lining up combatant actions, enemy or not). Maybe I'll end up with literal combat loop Turing machines or something.

There's one more option here which is to lean the other way -- to foreground the GM themselves being a player. I'm talking Ryuutama dragons, I'm talking Fellowship Overlords. Obviously I one hundred percent have not added this yet, and I'm not even set that I will, but it's definitely a tool I'm thinking of to help manage the wuxia/cyberpunk/other bullshit genre merger. If you went this way, it would look like picking a district -- secret note, each district is built to amplify a genre. Gongshan is made to focus on wuxia/the bell, Jiaotou is made to focus on cyber/the gear, Youzhou is made to focus on punk/the mask, Jingcai Xin is made to focus on court and courtroom politics, and Yuanhai is made to play Nezha Reborn. Pick a district that corresponds to the genre the GM is playing as, turn those Moves into Heroic/Humbling Moves and the landmarks/NPCs into Treasures and Connections, turn the Intentions into Skills. Now you can combine this with what I first talked about, sharing out cognitive load, and focus on playing as a district/genre. Is that meaningfully different from being a GM, who let's recall still counts as a player at the table? I'm a sicko who loves being a GM so I'm unqualified to comment, but try out any combination of these options and see how they take you.

[mistercrowbar]

Sketchy lineup of origin companion (+Aldiirn) body type headcanons because I really would have like to see more variation in game. And c’mon the guys all dumped Strength they shouldn’t have six pack abs.

Thoughts under the cut!

Lae’zel - her being the shortest mostly because its funny to me. I legitimately did not realise she’s small & thin in game until most of the way through Act 1 because she’s so freaking intimidating. So she’s just like, mini murder machine. Utterly ripped keeping with the in game look for githyanki, trying to keep her shapes sharp and muscle bodies short. No boobs because githyanki lay eggs and honestly I find them weirdly out of place on her body.

Astarion - Slim and svelte, to seduce, not scare. I know canonically Larian said he’s 5’9” but look we need at least ONE guy to be short and it’s going to be Astarion.

Aldiirn - Soft body befitting a soft heart! Also to appear non-threatening. He’s active pre-campaign so the pudge stays consistent until he transforms and tummy hurty. :(

Shadowheart - Bottom heavy with muscle that can still be seen under the fat.

Wyll - gets a pass at having the default figure because he was making a career of the hero hobo thing already. But a bit less defined.

Gale - Good hearty chonk. Fat. Man’s been cooped up for a year, lost his magic (I assume casting costs calories), and has a penchant for wine and cheese. I figure he would slim down a bit due to being more active during the campaign (and certainly the cheeses are less fine on the road) but still remain the heaviest. Not gonna be beholden to if this is act 1 or act 3 tho because I am still learning how to draw fat on guys.

Karlach - BEEF. Gets the Gamagoori treatment where she’s as big as she needs to be to be the biggest in any given frame lmao. Still, keep her muscle shapes on the rounder side (compared to lae’zel especially) because she’s a sweetie.

I didn’t draw the non-origins because HONESTLY I get overwhelmed at the number of companions wheeze but Halsin gets the bear look and is a smidge taller than Gale, Minthara is like a more filled out Lae’zel, and Jaheira and Minsc as they are in game.

[receival]

baldur’s gate 3 starters.

the following is a collection of sentence starters from larian’s baldur’s gate 3. part 2.

look at me - i’m not a monster.

stay back. i don’t want to hurt you, but i will.

no. you’re not one of them at all.

i was ready to run you through. my mistake, friend.

that’s far enough. what’s your business down here?

you revealed our location? that tongue gets any looser, (name), and i’ll cut it out.

reckon i might miss this place.

this place is more dangerous than i thought.

well, don’t you cut a fine figure.

sometimes i’m jealous of that girl. ugh - to feel so invincible again.

in your expert opinion, what’s the best way to kill a devil?

i’m certain there are answers out there. we’ll find them together.

there’s no story. none that you’re entitled to hear, anyway.

you can tolerate a great deal of suffering, so long as it has meaning.

until then, all i can do is endure.

please try to understand that it’s not something i can just talk about freely.

perhaps there’s potential in you.

honestly, your faith is your own concern. i won’t judge, one way or the other.

i think i did well by joining you.

you already know my biggest secrets. what more can you ask?

that wall’s an illusion! hiding what, i wonder …

sun, moon, and stars will still be there, waiting for us.

this place is pretty spectacular, isn’t it?

no book or painting could ever do its strange beauty justice.

a perfect ring of mushrooms … nature, or magic?

hmm. i thought that might’ve done something.

another illusion. is anything real down here?

i’m more concerned with this ‘twit’ who set a spectator on you.

a rival - a mere footnote to my legend. you should be more concerned with who i am.

the fools must have turned back. or, better yet, died in the search.

i need no more rivals. try to take this as a compliment, yes?

this presence … this magic is not divine, but fey.

little? i am a god! and i’m gonna rip you - tear you - wear you for a hat -

don’t do anything hasty, now.

i’ll just kill you and claim it for myself.

i’m the lord of murder - i’ll show you why.

if you’re expecting me to drop to my knees before you, forget it.

a wizard’s tower is his sanctum, a private place for research and respite. but as this wizard’s not home … i say we take a peek.

a strange place for a button. especially one that doesn’t work.

what good would it do for me to be troubled? we can’t save them all.

you’ll have to speak slowly. i find it quite difficult to concentrate with my condition gnawing at my insides like a teething displacer kitten.

the whole village is falling to pieces …

hey, maybe we can scare up a few dusty bottles of wine somewhere.

i like your way of thinking. split any takings we find?

what creatures live in water this dark?

i’m a rabid dirty dog. and i bite.

i could’ve killed you before you even noticed me, but i didn’t. stand down.

i can be discreet. no need for bloodshed.

share? you really are in the wrong place.

a bleeding heart, are you? reckon i’ll just roast and eat it.

what in the hells did you do to that corpse?

you do plenty for me, more than you realize. but this cannot be remedied.

are you alright? is there anything i can do to help you?

enough. bickering won’t save your friend.

run away, then.

(name) - i was so worried! did they hurt you?

who cares? we’re together now, thank gods!

i’m grateful, don’t mistake me, but … why help us?

freeze it, cock-stench. we aren’t done just yet.

pay up, and you get to skink away. resist, and i gut you.

drop it. i don’t owe you anything.

your incompetence has been my ruin.

stop! no more innocents will die today, (name).

you care for the weak. most curious.

you so much as touch me, and i’ll tear you from limb to limb.

ah - another treacherous soul walks among us.

i ain’t going down easy.

you been a shit since i laid eyes on you, (name).

strike him down. prove your faith.

your silence speaks to your heresy.

look, you have no idea what you’re dealing with …

it’s the whole damn reason we’re here, and i’m not leaving without it.

the mission comes first.

and i thought i’d heard it all. that’s some cambion-level deception.

i go where there’s shit to stir. and there’s no shortage of options.

i can’t remember much, truth be told.

centuries of torment will do that to you.

you’ve been naughty. and you know what happens when you’re naughty.

just who in the nine hells are you?

well, well. aren’t you a luscious thing?

been a long time since someone stuck their neck out for me like that.

you have a manner of irresistible desperation about you. i like it.

you know, i’ve been thinking. and i think there’s something i should tell you. nothing big or terrible, just … a small little detail about me that hasn’t come up naturally.

i want to join you - to fight by your side.

i’m sorry for barging in like this, but i had to come find you.

i won’t let you down. i promise.

we all have our burdens, one way or the other.

i’m trying to say that you’ve earned my trust in a way very few ever have … i want that to mean something.

freedom - i’d forgotten how it felt. thank you.

if you have a moment, i’d like your opinion on something.

the problem is this: a preponderance of evidence that i am a terrible adventurer.

i can’t risk re-capture. i barely escaped last time.

it was a mistake. and not one we’ll repeat.

i don’t know. he was kind of fun.

we can’t just invite danger in to our hearth like that. we must be more careful.

most monsters will think twice before making a meal of me.

an old hunter’s trick - if you can’t mask your scent, spoil it.

i prefer a weapon to stench, thanks.

you’re a monster hunter? not what i imagined.

whatever you’re hunting, your stench alone will kill it.

a quick wit is rare indeed.

know how to ask, and they’ll share that knowledge. if you’re fool enough to pay their price.

speak plainly. what is she?

i think you’re mistaken - this place looks innocent enough.

truth is like a blade, my friend. we can arm ourselves with it - or just as easily find it pressed against our throat.

i would not put you in danger.

your coyness is getting boring. tell me.

you take insult where none is intended, my friend.

how thoroughly invigorating it is to stand by one’s friend in the face of danger.

you best have one hells of an apology for me.

you must have mistaken me for someone else.

that wriggler swimming in your brain juice is a bit of an inconvenience, isn’t it?

that’s none of your concern.

don’t change the subject.

keep that hole under your nose shut.

let’s not involve ourselves in this place any longer than is necessary.

you want to play the hero so badly? fine. let’s make this interesting.

gods, it’s hot in here.

i’ve had better days. and worse ones.

i am, after all, the villain of the tale.

you truly are a soul that steels my own.

you are as thick as they come.

even i am tired of the sound of my own voice.

i stand at a precipice, but if you do not give up hope, neither shall i.

all of this … it must feel like a betrayal.

you bastard! you ruined it, you ruined everything!

slow down - what did i do?

this is an interesting way of thanking me.

i don’t need this. good luck getting out of here on your own.

i know i should head home, but … i can’t bring myself to leave.

(are you alright?) / not even a little bit. but i will be.

she favored me like a child favors a captive pet.

i promise i will not betray your trust.

i cannot thank you enough.

you will face (name)’s judgement.

i wish you could have visited at a better time.

you had no right to intervene.

you’re not one of us.

copper for your thoughts?

always a delight to speak to you.

did i play games like this in my youth? was i sweet once?

what are you doing? i’m busy here!

nothing beats the taste of stolen beer.

come on, now. they’re just having a bit of fun.

let’s do what we have to do, then get out of here.

smell’s like burnt flesh.

hold out your arm so i can mark your flesh.

i’m here to spill your guts across the floor.

pain without purpose is a terrible thing, wouldn’t you agree?

i often feel i like raw pain too much. it scares me.

as long as the story ends in death, it’s all the same to me.

forgive me, but - that look in your eyes. something terrible has happened to you.

what i see in your eyes, in your soul, is only natural.

we’ve all suffered in these dark times. it is little wonder you hear scars of pain and anguish.

touch me and you’ll lose your hand.

the pain you suffer will cleanse you - do not fight it.

you look tired. should i take over?

welcome the pain. let it become part of you.

that looks like it’s going to bruise.

not that i’m suggesting we stop for a drink, of course.

i wouldn’t want to place all my faith in blind luck.

sympathies won’t help me to survive.

your life, much like your words, is meaningless. end the latter to save the former.

looks like the booze got the better of them. they’re practically unconscious.

they’re dying for me. all of them.

why don’t you take a closer look? i’ll observe from back here.

please don’t open the creepy book!

toddlers are easier to please than you lot.

you know, i never pictured myself as a hero.

all i want is a little fun. is that so much to ask?

having performance issues, (name)?

never have i met such troglodytes.

i was hoping you wouldn’t notice i was gone.

i suggest we admire it from afar.

it would be too much to hope that’s nothing to do with us, wouldn’t it?

i go my own way - alone.

i’ll feed your innards to the ants before i do that.

[basket-of-cats-and-witches]

Not Now, Kitten, Daddy is Dealing with the Minutiae of Cult Politics

I'm not actually sure this one needs a description. Have some really dumb and silly durgetash. Larian, you know what you did.

-

“Aelune.”

“No.”

“Aelune, I have work to do.”

Gortash sighed at the armful of Drow in his arms, tightly wound around him like a leech.

Their legs straddled his lap, slotted through the arms of the chair to dangle as they clung to him.

Aelune pressed their face into his neck. Their arms twined around his torso, keeping him firmly bound to the chair.

He sighed again, louder and more aggrieved. It would be hard, but not impossible. When they dug their heels in like this, it was hard to believe that they were well over a century older than him.

He reached forward and picked up his quill, filling out paperwork. “You're not going to move, are you?” He muttered.

They shook their head firmly. “You promised.”

“I know,” he replied. “But Bane’s followers need a firm hand. They are not nearly as manageable as your people. One cannot simply beat them into submission.”

Aelune snorted. “That's what you think. Send them to me if they're whining.”

He paused, quill aloft. It wasn't the worst idea. A few of his cultists had been vying for his position as Chosen for a while now. Sending his favorite shadow would be putting the cat amongst the pigeons, so to speak.

“Can you guarantee you won't kill them? Or permanently maim them beyond functionality.”

They let out a long, deep sigh, like a puppy being denied its favorite treat. “...fine. If you give me your time afterwards.”

Gortash smiled, signing a paper and setting it aside. “I promise.”

Slowly, they extracted themselves from his lap. “Give.” Aelune held out a hand.

Quickly, he wrote down a list of names and places. His shadow glanced over it with a pout. “I'll be back,” they said warningly, and stalked out the door.

Finally, a moment of peace. He leaned forward, eager to finish his work.

- several hours later -

“Enver Gortash.”

“Mmh? Oh. Oh no.”

“You broke your promise.”

[autistichalsin]

In light of all the bitching about the upcoming patch, I was so happy to hear you’re also not… mad at Larian, I guess? I was wondering if I’m missing something, because for all its bugs, the game is fine the way it is, to me. More than fine, it’s a great game, the first that really means something to me since Dishonored. Idk, I’m literally over here just vibing, glad I’m not alone in that 😌

I noticed there's been a trend in recent years, I think started by those media that truly DID become horribly disappointing as it went on (last season of GOT, for example), and people started just... like

There is a phase most media get where they are the Best Ever, they Can Do No Wrong. And then one day that phase ends, and suddenly, that media Can Do No Right. Everything is a mistake, everything is wrong, everything is an attempt to cater to one group of fans (who are, of course, the wrong group to cater to) and/or an attempt to spite one group of fans. I think that in this day and age, people sometimes don't understand the difference between consuming media critically, I.E., using critical thinking to understand the themes, plot, and characters, and consuming media critically, I.E. criticizing everything the creators say and do.

So instead of looking for simple explanations, I.E., "different trainings and specialties mean that the division of labor at Larian has a team that works on new animations, but that team is not the same team responsible for bug fixes, so getting new animations from the former isn't why the latter hasn't repaired Polearm Master or Shield Bash or Raphael and Mol's scene yet" they instead assume "Larian only cares about Astarion and Halsin* and are catering to their fans again at the expense of literally everything else"

*The idea that Halsin fans are receiving any kind of special treatment is laughable, but that is very much the accusation being made- i want to see their reaction when they open up patch 6 and see that their fave has new kiss animations too tbh. As for the new scenes datamined for Halsin, those are all in response to complaints made by people who HATE Halsin, not complaints by his fans. A platonic confession scene? A version of the post-breaking the curse scene that doesn't involve flirting? The only two that were made for Halsin fans were fixing his post-Drow dialogue and the ability to go with him at the end, and the latter hasn't been fully implemented yet (you can get a flag saying you chose him, but you don't get to tell him and have him respond yet). But I have seriously digressed.

IDK, it just seems like we're in the phase of fandoms where, since the initial joy of discovering what the game has to offer has worn off, people are getting their dopamine from getting angry instead, and that means making a game of who can have the best hot takes, who or what is the most problematic and deserving of shunning, what have the creators done to fuck over us poor fans, etc.

There are many legitimate criticisms to be made against Larian, I want to be clear here- their treatment of Wyll's character has been horrific, and the interactions between Durge and Astarion should have been given for ALL characters. It is appalling that they have let Minthara's romance be bugged to the point that some people can only trigger it by modding the game because the flags are bugged and that they have allowed Halsin's voice lines to be bugged SINCE LAUNCH causing many to think they don't exist. All of these things deserve to be criticized. But ascribing malice to things like having separate work teams on the game, or the pile-on people started over that "we fixed it so a glitch can't cause Gale to leave your party" patch... Yeah.

It's never a good sign when a fandom starts to collectively chase the high that comes from being The Angriest. It doesn't seem to be as prevalent on here as on Twitter, thankfully (ironically, speaking as someone who was on this site since before Superwholock, the most toxic parts of Tumblr moved to Twitter after the porn ban, and now it's mostly rational people on here) but we are rapidly sliding towards the "do you people even like this game or do you like the version of it you created in your head?" phase of fandom that everyone dreads.

[passionesolja]

Ima speak on some shit, because I’m past the praising BG3 period. Ima be blunt, I’m a Pathfinder fan first and foremost. I like the setting and Pathfinder 1e rulebook more than anything DnD does. But this ain’t about that, this is about an opinion I have, hear me out.

The continuous praise and celebrating of BG3 is hurting the game in the long run.

I bring up Pathfinder because those games aren’t perfect that launch. They’re the opposite. But it’s a community effort, like I bought Rogue Trader but I’m not going to dive fully in until the enhanced edition. I did buy Pathfinder: WoTR before the enhanced dropped, it was alright. It’s gotten better with age. Even now, the blood kincetist class is broken. So it’s not a 10/10, but I think it’s good. Not tripping over one sub class in 100 being broken. It is what it is.

What I’m tryna get at here, is that Baldur’s Gate 3 has way too much Yes Men. The entire wider gaming community is Yes Men for Baldur’s Gate 3. That’s not good, not this early in it’s life cycle. And yeah like BG3 is a fledgling game despite the early access time. This is the most vital time in its life cycle and I think that Larian doesn’t realize how fucked certain areas of the game are because they have a community of dickriders. I don’t like to use that word, but I have to for this content.

This is why they’re going all this victory lap-esque fan service bullshit when they should be fixing quests and adding the cut content. The game isn’t fixed enough for a bunch of randomized kiss scenes and a fan service epilogue. That’s shit that you add in Patch a year or so from now when all the flaws are ironed out and Acts have been fleshed out. I can’t even fault Larian for this because they’re doing right by their fanbase, but their fanbase isn’t knowledgeable. Their fanbase is full of people who don’t know shit about cRPGs. So they can’t compare and contrast notes, they don’t have a reference point to even help BG3 improve.

That’s fine, it’s not a bad thing, what’s bad is how defensive and bootlicking the fandom is to Baldur’s Gate 3. This is their golden idol game because they don’t have any further experience with cRPGs, so they can’t see all glaring flaws. And don’t understand that there are companies in the cRPG space that can and will crush Larian if they ever get the Baldur’s Gate 3 type of resources and funding. That day will come, best believe.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has a good foundation and frame but the fandom needs to stop acting like it’s fully built.

[animentality]

The main miscommunication I’m seeing with the Wyll Gortash drama is that for fans of Wyll, they feel that Larian is uplifting popular fan ideas and adding it to the game while ignoring an already established character. And they’re right that Wyll is being ignored but they are wrong to say that Gortash lines were added because of fandom. For Gortash fans, they feel that people are purposely ignoring the canon history of Durge to create their own edgy Tav. And they’re right that Durge needs more features of an Origin character and add these lines expands on Durge’s most important canon relationship. Where they’re wrong is thinking Wyll fans are only going after Gortash because they truly think the 5 lines added took something from Wyll.

The improvements Wyll needs for his story are overarching additions that would be best to add all together in an upcoming patch. I understand the frustration at seeing what they see as a side character being given lines when more time should be added to Wyll but those lines are a lot easier to code, write, and implement than adding more dialogue, interactions, and quest for Wyll.

We should be uniting over knowing we as fans can get Larian to add stuff to the game and expand on existing characters!

Thanks for letting me just chat into the inbox. I think you also see the miscommunication and it’s frustrating when others just seem to talk past the point instead of actually sitting down to think about it.

Also question for your pronoun preference, do you prefer someone picks he/him or they/them to use or switching it up when speaking about you? And do you like words like dude, guy, or bro being used?

You bring up many excellent points that I hadn't considered.

The addition of Gortash/ Durge characterization is NOT fanservice. It rounds out two major villains, ONE OF WHOM IS AN ORIGIN. It gives Gortash just a tiny bit of extra character, and it's not that big of a damn deal.

Five goddamn lines, this kerfuffle is over, which is just ridiculous.

But it's also true that Wyll also needs more quests, scenes, and a character arc?! These two things are nuanced, and they can both be true.

I have always complained that the Dark Urge is fundamentally flawed and suffers from some truly bad writing. Giving them more humanity IS a good thing for the story.

It's just a shame that the anti Durge/Gortas/Durgetash crowd is just blinded by hatred.

They don't like the two characters, so they accuse US of forcing the devs to do something for them - bullshit.

Larian is trying to fix its narrative issues.

Durgetash is, and I say this as NOT a Durgetasher...Durgetash is actually good for the story. It makes both of them more interesting and complex.

But what would the anti Durgetashers know?

they don't know anything about the dark urge. or gortash. and they don't care to learn. which would be fine, if they weren't attacking us for something i don't even know we necessarily did.

[1800duckhotline]

im new here and missed your bg3 phase entirely can i hear what makes the game so sucks for you (or ill go look in the tag! fine too). i love to hear people bitchin about games everybody else doesnt wanna criticize

omg hello... first of all welcome to my twisted mind etc. my blog is an array of a completely random agglomeration of interests so im sorry if i shift from posting from x to y at the speed of light LMFAO. my bg3 obsession phase was definitely a strange exception but i guess it is what it is

and def i can give u the sparknotes version of my criticisms for the game, which are both rational and not and you're free not to agree and so forth, i'm just one guy expressing an opinion which i think i'm entitled to since i've played this game for over 200 hours almost i am fairly sure. i was not okay.

obviously i'll be mentioning spoilers fyi. i got long here but i promise this is just the Resume of my actual opinions

i hate the fact everyone sounds british except minsc or jaheira. i just dont like it. like a few characters here and there its nothing that bothers me but i'm tired of british accents in fantasy media. it makes things more of a snoozefest

for a game that prides itself on characters being reactive and interactable (esp companions) more often than not the companions reactions have been disappointingly lackluster and straight up Sad because they're so Nothing. i.e. durge reveal

i think not having tav/durge voiced was stupid. my onion!

the game is not as revolutionary as people make it out to be when it comes to character design and good lord the character creator to me is offensive. the companions are all EXTREMELY SAFE when it comes to 'conventional beauty standards', and while i'm not surprised nor did i expect any less, the lack of body diversity to me is just so... boring. it's so nothingburger. like i love projecting hcs and shit but i wish i didn't have to do that

wyll having so little in terms of content and writing and reactions in the game compared to astarion (and let's also say shadowheart bc on a technical level she's the second favorite of larian) is genuinely the worst thing to me because his concept is charming and interesting and larian just decided to do nothing with him. players that are black and/or poc obviously have said this a trillion times, i'm just echoing the sentiment because i also hate how blatant it is, esp when i read up and watched how he used to be in EA. like not to say the writing there was stellar but he had dimension. larian just does not give a fuck abt him and it is irritating lmao, esp since astarion has tangentially 0 actual involvement with the game's main plot in his arc WHILE WYLL LITERALLY GETS HIS ARC SIDELINED BY THE EMPEROR I FUCKING HATE THAT STUPID TURN OF EVENTS SO MUCH

act 1 is probably the best optimized out of all the acts, with the optimization being probably up to midway of act 2. then it alllllll goes downhill. i said it so much but i never get tired of saying it: act 3 is so poorly organized, so many good ideas all smushed together in an indigestible slog of an act with too many quests flattened in one single serving making it so fucking hard to want to get it done. which is awful, because a lot of poignant plot events and fights happen in act 3. i'm still of the firm belief they should've made an act 4. considering this ties in with the aforementioned issue where wyll was supposed to get more content... and it got cut out 'for time'.

i fucking hate astarion fans. i trust like 2 people that do like him. i genuinely was so indifferent to him in the game. like he's fine as a character. i just dont like him much because of the fans. Again ties in with the wyll issues too because people love to pretend astarion would be in wyll's place in the dancing scene when astarion would call you slurs and kill you if he could

also like think what you will of minthara but i think it's criminal that she's a companion and alongside wyll is left to rot at the bottom of the game's code. it's definitely more egregious for wyll imo but like. idk i also am not a fan of this esp since i discovered halsin was added as a companion because THE FANS begged them to. seething

again, there's people more well equipped to discuss this and i did reblog and share posts abt this before on my main account but the embarrassing fantasy racism is there and it's an innate problem of dnd. i think it should be mentioned and kept in mind regardless if it's done well or not (which i don't think it was).

this is less abt the game itself and more abt the fandom but i genuinely cannot fucking stand people who are so aggressive at users who have sexuality headcanons for some of the characters of the game. i've seen people have SO much fucking vitriol towards lesbians having lesbian hcs, specifically, gee i wonder why. this hasn't happened to Me but i have witnessed it.

i think that's more or less the Issues i have with bg3. you're free to ask anything in specific but like... i dont hate the game. or i wouldnt have played it so much. but it should not have been GOTY to me. sorry. like there's so much i just think is wrong... but im just one guy.

i usually prefer completely different types and genres of games, so obviously i'll be more dissecting towards a game i tried out of curiosity and Liked, but with many grievances. the type of stuff i usually like is also far from perfect but i judge a lot of those things in bg3 because of how the game presents itself as in advertisement and social media posts, as well as just like, the steam page. i have plans in the future to try similar games to bg3 to see if it's a common problem within that genre or if it's the black sheep (for me) but for now it is how it is

anyways i did also like a lot of parts of the game, it's just, i can't really reccomend it without mentioning what i didn't like you know?

[haldenlith]

Family Ties

So, considering Astarion's an elf along with being a vampire, it means he potentially has family still out there, right? Definitely a House, given that he was a noble. This bit isn't a new speculation, especially given how young he is, by elf terms (around 239ish, give or take some indeterminate amount of years, since Astarion says nearly two centuries under Cazador).

My thing is, well... I'll start with the fact that he was a corrupt and power hungry noble (so it says in the artbook). It's quite possible that this is a "nurture" situation. What I mean is that it's possible that this corrupt and shitty mindset was inherited. What if he came from an exceptionally shrewd, domineering family interested largely in securing political power?

Him being only 39 and being in a position of some degree of power suddenly makes a little more sense. Before, it was incredibly bizarre for an elf to be out in society in that capacity at such a ridiculously young age for them, to the point that I didn't believe it when I read it (I'll admit I still wonder if it's an oversight or a typo on Larian's part). By all rights, societally, Astarion was a damn child by elf standards. BUT, if you're say... a family from outside of the illustrious Baldur's Gate, looking to establish a foothold in the mercantile city for your own benefit, why... the humans would be none the wiser. Astarion is very much otherwise an adult. He'd be young enough to be pliable enough to mommy and daddy's machinations. Hell, they could have easily been planning to play a long game. They could put him through some form of schooling there, to financing his being there in general, schmoozing and boozing with the other patriars and nobles of Baldur's Gate, at least until he was established.

Even though the artbook doesn't outright say he was a magistrate, I'm going to assume he was, given that it seems the elite in Baldur's Gate are generally politicians or adjacent, or very wealthy merchants. (Or the founding families, but that doesn't apply here.) So, once he became a magistrate, it would mean they'd have a foot in the door. All they needed was to trust that Astarion didn't muck it up. As long as he did his job, got cozy with the right people, kept the right families smiling, it'd be good. His weird flights of fancy and uproarious temper could be dealt with. He'd outlive a good chunk of the nobles anyway, given that Baldur's Gate is a majority human city, that also goes for its nobility. It's even possible that, given time, a century or two, he could work his way onto the Council, and then the Ancunin family could start pulling a few threads in their favor. It all depended on him being smart.

And that's where the Ancunin plot falls apart: Astarion's not smart. I'd argue that he's clever, but he isn't smart. We see that multiple times.

Examples: Being willing to hop into a deal with Raphael without considering the consequences (he sees the reward, not the fine print, basically). Approving of you setting off the trap in the Monastery to Lathander (which is extra hilarious when you consider he has special dialogue for dying to that). Wanting to interrupt the Ogre and Hobgoblin in the barn despite the risks, solely because it's funny.

(Honestly, I'd even count his attempts at seducing Tav. He didn't consider what that might entail or the very real possibility of catching feelings.)

This man is awful at thinking things through.

He's impulsive and filled with hubris, and that catches up with his living, not-vampire-spawn self in the form of The Gur. Sure, he probably wasn't personally out to get them (though it does seem that he buys into the racist sentiments of Society at the time), but whatever ruling he passed down probably meant he was still part of the ongoing systemic oppression against them, and he clearly thought of himself as untouchable enough to not have guards while enjoying all that being nobility in Baldur's Gate has to offer on the streets at night. He probably got too used to The Watch being there to protect him.

But money and influence make a poor shield against the physical danger of fists and blades, and a scheming Vampire Lord named Cazador, who was all too familiar with him.

All of this is to say that, when considering that little speculation of mine, it suddenly makes a little more sense why no one has been looking for him. It's quite possible that, while the Ancunin family may have mourned losing him, they may have also shrugged and just went back to the drawing board. They're elves. They can wait a bit and plop another Ancunin into Baldur's Gate high society, perhaps even farm some sympathy for their lost son.

TLDR: Summing all of that long ass rambling to say that it's entirely possible that Astarion has been a damn pawn his whole life, everything planned out for him. It might very well be a good thing that he doesn't remember much, and it might also be a good thing that they think him dead.

[alpaca-clouds]

Why I hate the concept of player-sexual characters

Okay, you know what? Let me talk about this. Because it really irks me. Like, it really irks me. I cannot express how much it irks me, to be honest.

I love BG3. And BG3 is doing a lot of stuff right when it comes to queer representation. Not so much in regards to any other form of representation (How is it that there is only one none-white character among your teammates? Why is there literally no body diversity at all? Why is there no fucking combat wheelchair?), but on terms of queer rep the game is doing very good. I mean, literally, most canonical relationships you interact with are queer. You meet a lot more happy queer couples than happy straight couples. Which is nice. And while I could've done with maybe one canonical trans character, you can at least play your player character as trans, which is fucking nice. So yeah, we are getting there.

But for heaven's sake, I will never, ever see player-sexual characters as bi/pan representation. Because they are not. Their universal sexual attraction serves not to define them as characters in their identity, but just for the player to fulfill their own power fantasy in whatever way the player desires. The fact that the characters do not care about what gender the player character has, is not really tied to the character or their story.

Which is why I like it so much more the way that Bioware did it with Dragon Age: Inquisition and some of the later Mass Effect games (is this true for Starfield as well? I have no idea). Where the characters do have a canon sexuality that influences who you can romance and who you cannot romance.

Like, I am in general not a big fan of the Dragon Age games, with the exception of Inquisition, because boy, I got invested into those characters and part of the reason is this. Like, holy hell, I cannot explain to you how invested I got into Dorian and his entire story. Like, back then I was still in egg-mode and I played the game with a female character - but I then did a second playthrough with a male PC just so I could romance Dorian.

Their sexuality is tied to who they are as people.

And sure, yeah, fine. Basically BG3 goes about sexuality in the way of: "The world does not care about it, so neither should you." Like, there is so many queer couples, some have kids that might be their biological kids, because magic, I guess, and nobody really bats an eye. So, I guess something like with Dorian, where part of his story was dealing with a homophobic dad would not happen here. Still, you know, with their supposed bisexuality not playing any role at all, it feels... hollow.

Because it does really feel like this part of them only exists for the player - not as part of their characterization. And I would feel a lot better about it, if it was.

I think it feels partly so offensive to me, because I am a bisexual trans dude and lived as a bi woman for so long. And as that my bisexuality has often been seen by men as something that they can consume in one way or another to act out their personal fantasies. So, player-sexuality/bisexuality in games being used for the player to act out that kinda fantasy feels... wrong.

How could Larian have done it or do it in future games? Well, pretty simple.

Bring in former relationships of different genders, let the characters comment on finding other characters (both in your party and out of it) attractive, allow the non-romanced characters to hook up together or hook up with other NPCs. Make their sexuality part of their story.

I totally would be fine with the characters all being bisexual. Sure, its a bit boring, but I also totally could buy into "in this world bisexuality/pansexuality is the norm" as part of the worldbuilding. But then show it through their interactions outside of being willing/able to hook up with the player character.

Though admittedly, this is in general one of my biggest issue with the writing on the game: Rather than having the characters talk with each other about stuff (outside of the idle banter in your party), they talk to the player character about how they feel about each other. You know, I have seen a lot of comments about how the ending feels unrewarding because apparently (I am closing in on the ending, but I am not quite there yet) after everything is said and done everybody just goes their own way, not acknowledging each other at all. But I think it is a problem in general.

Like, I get that each scene in which the characters interact more significantly than awkwardly standing in front of each other is a ton of work, because you gotta motion capture it - and also rendering it on the system make the workload on the hardware you are using a lot bigger... But it definitely would help the characterization.

To come back to Dragon Age: Inquisition (look, it is the one game I played that worked a lot with this), I had a general feeling for how the other characters related to each other, like, what their relationships were like. I knew how Cassandra felt about Solas and Varric. Or Sera about Cole. Sure, not all character relations were as well defined, but there was a lot happening there. Which here... I mean, I know how Shadowheart and Lae'zel see each other and how that evolves over time. I know how Karlach and Wyll feel about each other. But for example, there is never a scene where Karlach and Astarion argue with each other, even though they are moral-wise fundamentally opposed and probably would argue. Like, when you learn about the ritual and Astarion goes like "I totally should do it!", none of the other characters has an opinion on him planning that, let alone confronts him about it. Or where Gale gets annoyed with Karlach's approach to solving problems by just beating her axe at the problem. Or, like, Halsin and Janeira hanging out with each other, talking about druid stuff. Because outside of single cutscenes and the idle banter, the characters just do not interact a whole lot.

And I think that is a shame. Because they are already fun, engaging characters. But they totally would be more fun and engaging if they had a life outside of their backstory and their relationship to the player character. (And mind you, if you play an Origin playsthrough this does not change, because whatever character you play, still is the player character.)

Allow them friendships and romances outside of the player character. And be it just by having them awkwardly stand together and talk in front of the same tent at camp from time to time. lol

When you have that, their sexuality also would feel real - and not just like a device to propell the player's power fantasy.

Also, for fucks sake, just give us some aroace characters. Q-Q

[ravel-puzzlewell]

larian turn on your location i just want to talk. like i assume they made the "when removing character from party, give player all of their camp supplies" update based on some user feedback. i just wanna know what that feedback looked like. did it say "i wanna be encumbered every time i switch party members"? bc thats what happens

and like giving you plot important items and like keys and so on is fine. but why are you giving me camp supplies. why. i have like 50 kilos of camp supplies on each character at all times. i'm never in a "oh i dont have camp supplies" situation. but like. even if someone is struggling with it, you know what would be a better solution? letting you access inventory of all companions, even ones not in the party, while at camp.

like! its so obvious, games do it all the time. pathfinder wotr did it just lately. you let players manipulate inventory of all companions and treat everyone's inventory as shared at home base, so that players can easily switch items from companions in the party to the inactive ones, they can craft alchemy using everyone supplies, etc.

instead in bg3 its inventory micromanaging HELL. like the simple process of putting new gear on inactive companion is ridiculous. i look at the item and think hmmm i think it will be upgrade for laezel who is not in the party right now. say astarion is carrying the item bc he opens chests all the time, so i just often pick up shit with him. we go to the camp. i need to remember which items i thought would be good for which inactive companions, i need to remember which of my active companions are carrying them. i need to strategize like ok i want to put item on laezel, but i need to free spot in the party, so i will take item from astarion, remove him from party, fucking hobble over to laezel, add her to the party, find the items i took from astarion, check if they are upgrades for laezel. they are fucking not lol. i remove laezel from the party and hobble to the next inactive companion. the process takes forever and in the end next day i'm at merchant and i see item in like shadowheart inventory that would be good for laezel but i didn't notice before, bc they were not in my party at the same time, i hate this, i need shared inventory mod like yesterday

[vitanithepure]

Okay, fine, Larian doesn't want to fix Gale's romance in game, and I am not ready to let go of my fixation just yet.

*grumble, grumble* Larian forcing me to write my own Vitani/Gale romance. Unbelievable.

840+ words of pure self-indulgent fluff under the cut because I have no self control. No spoilers.

They didn’t go far, just enough to still hear their companions’ laughter and merrymaking over a shared meal, but enough to be alone. Vitani loved them dearly, but there were other people that they also used to share that time with, and now it’s not even sure if they are okay.

Their parents. Their brother and his family. With all the information from Baldur’s Gate coming in, there was a lot on Vitani’s mind, most of it bad. Some downright tragic.

“We took notice of your absence at supper. Is something the matter? It’s unusual for you to wander off like this.”

They would berate themselves for the lack of caution while out alone on unfamiliar ground, but Gale’s presence and attention never failed to make them forget the world around. Even more so, when he sits down beside them on the grass and puts a warm, comforting hand over their shoulders.

In turn, they lean in and put their head under his chin and everything seems better at this moment.

“I miss home, Gale. It isn’t far from here, but somehow it makes me miss it more.” 

“What do you miss the most about it?”

“Our cozy little garden. We used to share meals there, on sunny days. I don’t even know the name of the flowers, just remember how beautiful they were in bloom,” Vitani slowly disengaged from the embrace, looking away, “but it’s a silly notion, I shouldn’t feel so sorry for myself when we all have to deal with…everything.”

“Just a few nights ago, I felt so homesick and alone that I almost let it coerce me into giving up on the entirety of this. On me. On us,” he reached out to touch their face, gently turning their head towards his. “But you know that. You were there with me, brave in the face of my own foolishness.” 

He placed a lingering kiss on Vitani’s forehead, taking his time to smell their hair, a fragrance of lilacs and something that reminded him of sunshine - a scent distinctly theirs. Gale felt their smile under his palm, and it was the sweetest feeling to know he can do that - make them happy.

“It’s a good night for a bit of indulgence. The Weave is just here, waiting for you to paint a picture with it. And I would love nothing more than to see your lovely garden, just as you remember it.”

He stood up, helping them to their feet as well, and there was no disagreeing with that encouraging smile of his, those soulful, dark eyes. 

“Fine, but if I burn the forest down, I’m pinning this all on you,” and gods, Gale’s laugh, no matter how small, was worth every silly thing they ever did or said.

Vitani closed their eyes, reaching out for the Weave came to them as naturally as breathing but going back to those blissful moments from their past? There were horrors so profound between now and then they needed to sift through, but it’s easier when warm fingers entwine with theirs. 

They find the right place and time, the perfect summer day in Baldur’s Gate, and begin their work. A stroke of a hand to visualize the arbor, covered with grapevines over the entrance from the house, another to grow the old birch tree in the middle of the garden. All the pieces coming together.

And when Vitani’s eyes open again, they are both home…standing in father’s favorite patch of purple flowers. Oh, there would be hell to pay, but he isn’t here now. Gale is, though, and lets out a sigh of wonder at the luminescent creation before him. 

Because maybe it was their lack of skill, or maybe a fluke of wild magic coursing through their veins, but the illusion didn’t exactly show the garden as they saw it. Instead of broad daylight, it was glowing in the moonlight, giving off a silvery aura of its own. It was…

“...breathtaking.” Gale swept his hand over the nearby lilac shrub, its leaves shimmering at the touch. “It’s missing something, though. Well, two things to be exact, but first…”

Just looking at his effortless gesture, one would think it is he who had innate powers of controlling magic. But that was all his own brilliance, a passion shaped into art. Into a mesmerizing display of a swarm of butterflies, their wings iridescent, glowing in blues and purples. They flew all around them, spreading around the illusionary garden. 

“As for the second thing…,” when Vitani turned to face him, Gale was already looking at them. All the surrounding lights reflecting in his eyes, highlighting the silvers in his hair, making him look as ethereal as the scenery surrounding them. 

All they could hope for is that he sees the same when he looks back at them. That he sees the same care and devotion in their gaze. Because there is nothing beside this between them when their lips meet, here in this magical garden of their doing. Just love, wandering hands, and butterflies fluttering around their hearts.

[meonlyred]

Going to go on a bit of a rant here about the "BG3 companions younger mods" I have been seeing. Don't want to hijack someone's else posts. Or really engage in the fandom about it. Just want to get it off my chest.

I try not to judge how people mod their games. After all it doesn't effect me or my play throughs in the least. But man, I find these kind of mods disconcerting, I guess. I wouldn't go as far to say offensive but at very least it seems like an extremely narrow world view on what people can and cannot look like. Which I find to be irritating and frustrating.

There are dozens of RPGs with companions who are young, in their early to mid 20s. And that is fine. But we are spoiled for choice for games with companions like that. I am not sure the official age of all the companions, but most of them are clearly over 30, some older and that frankly is refreshing and wonderful to see. That adventure and questing isn't some Logan's Run bullshit where no one ever gets past 30.

This cast of characters had lives, they had complicated pasts before coming together. They weren't fresh faced and new sent out into the world for the first time. Its nice to see that written into their appearance. Their appearances are just as much part of their development as their quests and romances are.

I was delighted when Larian changed Gale from early access patch 1 to what he looks like now. Unkempt slightly greying hair, dark circles under the eyes, much more fitting of a man who spent a year quarantining himself while he waited to die an extremely violent death. It makes him look like an actual developed character and not "Leading Video Game Man With No Depth Or Personality #29323." [Replays his act 2 scene for the dozenth time where he actually looks harrowed and begging you not to leave him alone because he is terrified.]

And Jaheira! I am going to kiss someone on the mouth for her design! She actually looks like my grandmother did. I can't describe in words how fucking tired I am of "She is an elf so she looks like she is 12." Which jfc, so much to unpack there. Actually seeing a female character who is fucking "ALLOWED" to look old fills me with so much joy. Taking that away does feel almost offensive to me. Every inch of a real life women's bodies are already pick over for every imperfection as it is. Male characters can look old, have wrinkles and grey hair but heaven fucking forbid a woman looking over 30 or have any slight "imperfection!" I hope every video game female character from now on looks 50+ and if anyone tries to make her to look even a year younger, I will personally come to burn down your house.

I think, I might be the most pissed off about her "younger" mod.

There is even a mod to make Shadowheart look "younger" which I can't even begin to express my disappointed on that. Younger? You mean somehow airbrushed in our muddy shitty camp?

[azem-ghale]

Wish Larian didnt do the whole preset head thing, you get like 6 heads to choose from 4 look around middle-aged white people (which would be fine if we had more options) 2 of them are the same face except one has freckles you get 1 face if you want black features and 1 face if you want Asian features.

The whole head preset thing is dumb and made even worse by the face npcs share these presets so whenever i see someones unmodded Tavs im just sad theres nothing much unique about them they look like a huge chunk of npcs.

What if my tav had muscles, what if they were a bit fat, what i wanted my tav to not look like they have several identical siblings, what if i want my female tav to have muscles or even big titties, i cant because every female tav is skinny, small boobs (it looks dangerously close to how they did elves in DAI) rightbup to the janky walk/run animations

Whilst I have zero interest in romancing anybody (I think it feels rushed with how quickly things rush by , and hate how Astarion getsnover his aversion to sex pretty quickly id of kept his aversion all the way through the end) why is it the only black companion gets almost zero content even been sidelined in his own damn quest and his abuser gets fans too meanwhile the racist Vampire spawn keeps getting content added.

(also there is no way Astarion died as a 39 year old elf, if he was human sure but an elf nah that mf lied about his age as an elf that man would still look 18/20

Unfortunately this game attracted the type of people who can't handle anybody saying anything bad about thier super favourite game even if its valid criticism

Another also ehy are the choices ruen into mindflayer or work with the shithead emperor we have a flayer friend and no excuses are going to make me believe he couldn't help

[autistichalsin]

... Huh?

Okay, I love most of this interview, legit. But HOW did he get the message that "just sitting in camp is okay actually" is something the players would be into?

No, we don't think a character having nothing to do outside of camp is fun actually!

Also, originally they DID have it so that it was always your romanced partner that got kidnapped, but it "proved unpopular." I say they should change it again tbh

"AS: But also just so again, I think it's fine for a companion to just hang out at the camp. Again, there's potentially so many people at your camp, especially if you're playing good, you can have the whole crew carried through the entire game. It's okay for some of them to just hang out." LOL. LMFAO, even

[invinciblerodent]

I'm rambling cause I'm bothered and saw you mentioned it once so lol, feel free to ignore this is you want hun xoxo I genuinely did not want to believe that people were complaining about the lack of consent/the fearful/uncomfortable expression and body language on tav in the ascended astarion kiss scenes, like I straight up couldn't believe it, but i just looked at the patch notes for a hotfix in patch 6 and saw three separate people commenting to complain about it being "traumatizing" and wanting it to be more consensual and for him to be more dominant rather than cruel.... losing my mind i hate it here, gg on missing the point to those ppl. Rather than asking for maybe like a pop up saying "hey you chose the evil route, he's going to be evil and manipulative TW" they want it completely changed to fit their narrative and ideas. He isnt dominant hes meant to be bad, I feel so defeated they got what they wanted... Larian literally giving in and changing the point of that route is so frustrating wtf, that completely alters the whole thing...

No yeah, I totally agree with you on that.

I think I'm not even frowny about it being the way it is-- I'm obviously okay with people misunderstanding the whole route (I'd be having a really bad time if I wasn't okay with people misinterpreting media on the misinterpreting media website lol), it's not a big deal, if they want to entertain their whole "sexy dommy vampire daddy" fantasy (which, lol, this guy? really? this sopping wet rat whom I love?) it doesn't bother me-- usually I just block the people whose takes I find obnoxious or tone-deaf, and I don't even mind the expression being more ambiguous than straight-up fearful, because it allows for it to fit with a wider variety of characters.

What I dislike, upon further reflection, is how much this now comes off as if the changes are being made because of the complaints.

Even if the expressions were always intended to be more ambiguous and they just took it a slight bit too far on accident, even if it was always meant to be the way it is going to be now (which I agree, is a better way for it to be, just from a character customization point of view- i can imagine a number of characters who wouldn't look at A!Astarion like a scared bunny even if they're not "into" his cruelty), just because there was such a vocal minority responding so loudly to it and it's being changed the way they want it, it kind of makes it seem like it's setting a precedent I really don't like. Which is a precedent that says "instead of examining the actual story being told and examining the choices we made that lead to the outcome we dislike, we should just complain and yell loudly enough until all the uncomfortable aspects of it are edited out of existence". I really don't like that. (Have these people never played an oldschool otome game, with actual bad endings? Have they never had a handsome anime boy sneer into their face about how much he hates them because they didn't give him enough gifts on day 5???? Have yall never gotten friendzoned by anime boys???????????)

I already don't make much of a secret out of how much I'm not a fan of the kind of access fandom has now to the creators of the piece of media they enjoy-- how uncomfortable I am with people, like, referring to actors and game developers by their first names as if they were trusted friends, how prone people are to going through someone's twitter likes with a fine-tooth comb, and how much insight (even if we don't want it) we are given to people's completely innocuous comings and goings. I already don't like how much control people feel like they have over art created by other people.

Idk. I know Larian is trying to be a "cool game studio", and they're trying to please fans to retain their darling status, and I think it's to their detriment. I love the game they made (of course I do, I've been talking about it non-stop for the past year lol), but I genuinely hope the chunk of change they got from its success will allow them to just take a breath, and put out their next game with the confidence, and the finality it deserves.

please let's just go back to releasing a game fully and not futzing with it beyond bug fixes a year after release still, please let things just be finished and done and jfc please let's all just collectively grow some media literacy, we can't keep pissing on the poor like this they're already soaked to the bone, please