So how is the gameplay part in this? I know all about shit writing and such, but nothing else.
>>333364665
Its the same gameplay as all other Baldur's Gate games.
Also kek'd at the edit.
>>333364665
Pretty good, fun to play.
>>333364665
The backgrounds look nice and I hear the difficulties affect encounter AI and stuff. Apparently the expansion is pretty linear but I heard you could do some proper evil stuff. Gonna pirate it after I finish my BG2 playthrough.
How is the mod support? Does it really break all mods?
>>333364901
>but I heard you could do some proper evil stuff
Well you heard wrong.
The entire thing is scripted and has no deviation for good or evil. And in most of the cases you aren't even given an evil choice.
OP's pic for instance.
Miss me yet, /v/?
t. Howard T.
>>333364991
Imagine butchering an old game to fit your political views into it.
>>333364961
Beamdog forums has a fix.
>>333365136
It also completely shits all over Icewind Dale by making its end game boss the DLC end boss to be beaten by lower level characters.
>>333364665
Just read this
http://nichegamer.com/2016/04/04/tale-dragons-memes-dragonspears-writing-horrid/
>>333365146
Except that didn't happen with this, at all.
>>333365060
How is basically saying "cool story bro" the same as approval?
Don't you gators have enough real material that you don't need to make shit up?
>>333365276
Nice try Amber Scott.
>>333365279
>gators
Fuck outta here with this cringey shit, you sound like a 12 year-old.
>>333365279
I wish dramashills like you would just fuck off.
>>333365331
Great comeback.
r/kotakuinaction - You need to go back.
The top reply sounds sarcastic as hell, like "Thanks for telling me about how you want to chop off your dick and wear dresses, but I just wanted to ask a fucking question".
>>333365272
>carl the cuck
The moron called a little girl defending her mother an accusation of mansplaining. The dude is clearly delusional and stop shilling his shit.
>>333365662
Hello Beamdog.
>>333365662
Didnt that get BTFO when someone posted a pic of the female character getting the same dialogue?
>>333365720
Yes.
>>333365720
No one plays female PCs in Baldur's Gate tho, so no one knew.
>>333365787I only play female characters in RPGs
>>333365861
It's ok to be gay but not everyone is gay.
>>333364665
Wait, why are there big black outlines on all the sprites? Why have they done this?
>>333365861
>playing a female character when females can't romance Viconia
>>333365909
Since when does being gay mean you want to be a girl?
>>333365909
Well according to videogames 25-35% of us are... it's not THAT uncommon.
>>333365954
Optional and you can turn it off. It does help with the fuckhuge battles later on though.
>>333365954
Optional feature that apparently a lot of people, especially tablet owners, requested due to it being hard to see characters sometimes.
>>333366140
I have doubts that anyone requested it since almost everyone has said its ugly as shit and wanted it removed before they would it was toggleable.
>>333366140
>hard to see characters sometimes
wat
>>333364665
it's been a while, but the writing in this image doesnt seem to be a far departure from BG2's writing. NPCs wouldnt hesitate churning out their life stories or replying with overwritten ye olde fantasy dialogue.
is there a lot of SJW pandering in the dragonspear, or is this the only conversation where it's brought up?
>>333366402
There's a lot.
They completely change Safana's entire personality because the writer thought her BG1 personality was sexist.
>>333366402
I would guess I've played through about half of it so far and I haven't seen any SJW pandering besides that one conversation. The Goblin party member kinda talks about being racist against Goblins, but then says she (or he, not really sure yet) hates most of them as well. The Goblin is kinda funny actually.
It's being wildly overblown.
>>333364665
I'd like to thank whoever is responsible for that edit.
You are doing gods work Anon.
Ed Greenwood chimes in:
"I am saddened by what I hear of the current kerfluffle raging about Siege of Dragonspear and the trans character Amber Scott designed and included in it.
Folks, the Realms have ALWAYS had characters (mortals and deities) who crossdressed, changed gender (and not just to sneak past guards in an adventure, by way of shapeshifting magic or illusions), were actively bisexual, and openly gay. How underscored this was by TSR and later Wizards varied over time, and was always softpedaled, because D&D wasn't a sex game, and we generally don't rub the reader's nose in sex unless there's a good in-story reason for it.
But even deities have changed gender, sometimes for good, and the servants of deities (Elminster, in ELMINSTER: THE MAKING OF A MAGE) have sometimes been forced by the deity to "spend time as the other" to learn what life is like.
So it has always been there, and is an integral part of the Realms. With that said, I've never met a gamer yet who doesn't tinker with every adventure to "make it their own" at their own gaming table, so if trans, LGBT, or sexual matters at all don't suit your tastes and needs in your gaming sessions, leave it out or change it.
But D&D has half-orcs, and half-dragons, and half-elves, and has magic items that specifically change gender, right there in the rules. Surely, if you can handle the basic notion of cross-SPECIES sex, having a full variety of gender roles should be something that doesn't blow your mind. If it's not for you, that's fine. I hate wearing certain shades of yellow. But I don't scream and yell at someone I see wearing those shades of yellow, and call them names, and threaten things. My right to dislike yellow applies to me; it doesn't extend to others. Because somehow, through an incredible oversight on the part of the universe that still hasn't been rectified, no one made me a god. (I'm still crushed.)"
>>333366613
Source.
I have trouble believing Ed Greenwood would chime it AT ALL.
Wasnt that elven god Correllon latharian or whatever basically neither male or woman?
>>333366613
Do they not understand that the existence of all the other stuff pretty much makes the mere concept of a trans character hilariously pointless within the fiction?
>>333366613
>>333366795
I have even more trouble believing that Ed Greenwood would unironically use the word "kerfluffle"
Anyway, Ed Greenwood toed the line when WotC romperstomped forgotten realms for 4e. This game is nothing compared to that.
Can someone just spoiler the entire plot of the addon. I just don't have the time to play Baldur's Gate anymore and I just want to know what the fuck Beamdog made up to connect the old games.
>>333366847
Lacking gender is not the same thing as being transgender.
>>333366795
>>333366952
It's on his Facebook, I'm too lazy to reformat to prevent spam notifications here
>>333366952
How bad really was 4e? I never played during that time but I heard it was ugly.
>>333367310
>Let's throw 95% of content and lore we've built over the years into the trash can
>BRILLIANT
>>333367218
Reading his facebook, he hasn't played the game, knows nothing about it and was just told the game has a transgender character and it made people freak out.
So he's uninformed and it shows.
>>333367370
Except that's what people are flipping their shit about so it shouldn't matter.
>>333365364
>>333365279
why are progressives so bad at memes?
>>333367482
No its not.
People aren't flipping their shit because the character exists.
They are flipping their shit because the character is badly written, serves no purpose and is just there to push an agenda, like everything else in the badly written expansion released to push an SJW agenda.
>>333365265
If you finished IWD above level 14-15 you were grinding like a nut.
>>333367109
No powergamers around that rushed through the game? :(
>>333367638
I finished on Level 26. And I wasn't grinding. Just did all the possible quests in base game, HoW and Luremaster.
>>333367643
There are on RPG Codex, ask there.
>>333367591
So fucking what? People act like the originals were paragons of fantastic writing and they weren't.
You can completely ignore the NPC in question, why is it so hard for people to do that? You can even kill her with zero penalty if you desire.
>>333367638
>IWD2
>>333365964
>tfw you always have a Remove Curse memorized for that reasons
Although I'm probably gonna try Haer'dalis romance this time around. And maybe ditch Minsc and make my run of ToB Haer'dalis' Harem.
>>333367742
>You can completely ignore the NPC in question
What about "people don't like the expansion in general not just one npc" don't you get?
Imagine someone actually thinking they could improve the story and characters of BG
Imagine someone actually thinking that and convincing enough people they could that they actually got the money to do it
What a world
>>333366467
She didn't have a BG1 personality. She has like 2 lines of dialogue
>>333367830
If they actually played it and don't like it then that's fair, I'm mostly talking about the "me too" guys who haven't even played it but have decided they hate it because reasons.
>>333367773
You should try what I did recently which is go for a "characters you never use" run.
I played an Archer with a party of Mazzy, Jan, Haer'Dalis, Aerie and Viconia.
>>333367906
>never using Viconia
>>333367884
>She didn't have a BG1 personality
Yes she did.
She was a manipulative bitch who did everything she could to get gullible men to do stuff for her.
>>333367884
Maybe this is a Samus Headcanon situation where people have this headcanon of what these BG1 characters should have been like and have kept it so long they think that's what they were actually like.
They were paper thin at best in BG1.
Did anyone else think that SoD was the game IWD2 wanted to be? Mostly linear with side quests, huge battles, and painted backgrounds?
Like 75% through SoD and really enjoying it so far. Probably going to finish it after work tomorrow.
>>333367950
Actually Viconia was the one i normally use.
The rest were people I never used.
I wanted to fit Cernd in there but he's just so terrible.
Is getting those enchanced editions of these games still good idea, without buying this expansion?
>>333367364
The spellplague was dumb but honestly what 3E did to the setting was also dumb. Asmodeus as the evil overgod was always a retarded retcon to justify the cruelty of the Wall of the Unbelievers when it otherwise fits things that makes characters flip to evil.
IMO, 4E turning the Red Wizards into an international merchant guild was a fucking great idea.
>>333367974
I just helped hunt a Vampire with some knightly bitch and a wizard. Am I still pretty early?
>>333368008
I think so.
The new added party members are shit but otherwise the games are untouched.
>>333367772
Shit, you're right I dumb. In retrospect I don't think I ever played IWD1
>>333367858BG was always legitimately trash though.
>>333368008
Yeah they are pretty good. 2.0 changed a shitload so if you can, I'd wait until the next patch that fixes some of the issues brought with it like borked multiplayer.
If you're one of those guys there are GOG versions out there...
>>333368008
They're pretty good, and they're on sale on GOG. I've played them all in both the original and enhanced versions, and the enhanced versions hold up. Go for it.
>>333367951
This. She even shows up when you meet Coran in BG2 and shows her true manipulative colors to him.
>>333368008
Doublecheck if all the necessary mods support the Enhanced Editions yet. If not, don't bother
>>333366523
Where do you get the goblin companion?
>>333368097
New patches better give you an option to use the older better Character Record pages.
The new ones are fucking awful.
>>333367950
It's not like she's easy to use. Managing reputation is a pain in the ass, and I only realized I could use Slayer form to get my rep down after she had already bailed on me for saving the Illithid slaves and killing the overmind.
>>333368008
I played BG2EE and the first things I saw were horrible sprite smoothing on the inventory screen and you still can't skip in-game cutscenes. Pass
>>333368004
So you've been using Valygar?
>playing propaganda games
Does Ascension mod from David Gaider work on BG2 Enchanced Edition?
>MFW Bioware general on /vg/ shits on these threads
>MFW every Dragonspear thread I see outside of /v/ is talking about how the Alt-Right (In caps, mind you) is attacking Dragonspear and how they're buying it to support the game
>>333368162
In one of the areas after you leave Baldur's Gate, chapter 8 I think. She's held by Baeloth in his new Black Pits.
>>333368279
A modified version updated for EE is on Bemdog forums, yeah.
>>333368354
I wouldn't mind playing it, but I'll be fucked if I'm paying 20 bucks for an expansion to Baldur's Gate 1 in 2016
>>333368354
You're behind this aren't you Krieger?!
>people still trying to claim they're most definitely not as bad as SJWs
This is no different from SJWs getting triggered by Tracer's ass.
>>333368412
I'm in the same boat. Actually a bit pissed about this since it's fucking up finding decent reviews on the expansion. I'm now convinced everyone either shitting on it because of trannies or unduly praising it because of the shitters. Have to wait for a friend of mine who bought it to play through and give me the lowdown.
On the bright side, I've been playing Witcher 3 for the first time and Dark Souls 3 launches in about a week so it's not like I've got a fire under my ass to play some BG anyway. Especially since I JUST replayed BG1EE and then Pillars of Eternity like a month ago.
>>333367109The Shining Lady's uncle died in her place during the original Dragonspear incident, meaning his soul got sent to hell to suffer. She raises a crusade to (supposedly rescue all the souls) but really she only cares about her uncle. Through circumstances, your party and the Shining Lady get sent to the first layer of hell and kill one of the archdevils or whatever they're called. She either dies during the fight or stays behind to guard the gate back to Dragonspear.
After leaving hell, you get framed for murdering Skie (the spoiled thief from BG1) and are secretly hustled out of the city prison to meet up with the canon party, regardless of if they were dead or you had alienated them. Then you get kidnapped 30 seconds later and the narration from the opening of BG2 plays.
Irenicus shows up a few times as a hooded figure to be mysterious and do the dream sequence thing. Theres a brief mention of him paying to have Sarevok's sword be stolen.
Think that covers it
Finished the game.
So is pic related the end of Safana's new character arc or whatever? It was the last conversation I got from her.
>>333368619
thanks anon
2000 Dollar Machines to play games like these.
2 fucking thousand
>>333368410
Oh, nice. That was pretty much only mod I needed with original games. And possibly the last great thing ever made by Gaider.
>>333368619
What. That... That doesn't sound like mid-level D&D.
Daily reminder that the creator of Forgotten Realms said you're all being bigots and should check your privilege.
>>333368237
I've used Valygar before yeah.
He actually makes a good Minsc if you don't wanna use Minsc.
>>333368717
Look for Wheels of Prophecy as well, compatible with Ascension as long as you install it after Ascension.
It's another amazing ToB-expanding mod that basically makes ToB less linear.
>>333368647
Possibly. Her real end is much more satisfying to me though.. .bitch.
I'm not mad the character is in the game, i'm annoyed that your conversational responses are so bland. No evil response? Not even a joking response of "I was raised a man but I'm truly a fire drake *mimes breathing fire*"? If you put a character liek this in a game, give us a little more depth of response,for fuck's sake.
>>333366873
This. Why would you be "trans" if you used a spell to make you whatever gender, wouldn't just be that gender and no longer "trans" because you aren't transitioning anymore, because your form is complete? Basically the only reason you'd be trans in the DnD universe is if you were really poor and/or really uneducated. I get it, they want to pander and that's fine, but why not pander in a way that doesn't make the character you're pandering look like obvious soulless tokening?
>>333366017
>want to be
Are
Can you export from BG>DS>BG2?
Maybe it's time for a new playthrough, I never played ToB.
>>333368538
1. shitting up an old franchise with a dlc that is barely playable and full of propaganda
2. literally ass
You're comparing a fucking flat ass to defacing genre defining art. You uncultured swine.
>>333368749
It is a little weird. Especially since BG1 tends to have a lot of dumbass "Joking" dialog options. Just having "*Tips fedora* M'lady" options is a little weird, but then we're talking about a tranny in a setting where getting a sex change should be pretty easy so I dunno.
>>333368770
You're trans when you're a different gender from the one decided at birth. Literally only delusional old bats think they stop being trans when they get surgery.
>>333368839
You don't export from BG1 to SoD. SoD starts right after you kill Sarevok.
>>333368749
>>333368865
You're not meant to be able to express disagreement with propaganda within the piece itself.
>>333368742
That looks pretty nice too. Going to try that one out. Thanks anon.
Part of me wishes this was just an epic troll and the character was just one of those actual girls that was raised as a boy because crazy peasant stuff but switched when she was old enough but they couldn't be that devious... or hilarious.
>>333368894
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1DcD8e55YY
>>333368865
There's quite a few dialogues where you only real response is "I don't care".
>>333368839
Yes.
>>333368731
He is squishier (leather armor), no rage and less damage. Seems like a bad substitute for Minsc.
I used him as a stealthy katana backstabber but all he can do is backstab for average damage.
>>333368841
>barely playable and full of propaganda
Why do you invent this story out of nothing? What do you gain from it?
>>333368894
That's because in the real world cosmetic surgery doesn't actually change your sex, it's just an attempt to make you look like the sex you believe you should be. In DnD however, you actually are on a genetic level whatever sex you changed into so it isn't the same thing. You wouldn't logically be trans anymore you would just be a female/male/asexual depending on whatever you changed yourself into.
>>333369050
Eh he can get a decent enough AC even with leather armor to be fine in melee and with Celestial Fury he can backstab and melee for a lot.
Obviously not in ToB but I always dump Minsc or Valygar for Sarevok in ToB.
>>333368865
>we're talking about a tranny in a setting where getting a sex change should be pretty easy so I dunno.
That also confuses me-in this setting, the whole pathos around being trans is largely erased-"I feel that I have the mind of a woman,I will actually make my body match this with magic, well that's solved."
I mean fuck, you can't even argue about it too, it's not like the way we alter the human form in this world to RESEMBLE that of the other sex-you really are a woman if you cast the right spell or drink the right potion, full stop.
It has actually just hit me that the problem of succession is massively complicated in this world-if your ambitious elder daughter turns herself into a man, does she now have a claim to the throne as your firstborn son, if you go by that style of royal succession?
FUCK ME, that could be a really interesting plot thread, especially if you talk to the son/daughter and they admit that it was only partly motivated by a desire for power, but also due to a yearning to be a true man.
I would love that knid of shit in the game,instead of a shallow, throwaway NPC that reeks of tokenism.
>>333369154
Don't go down this road, Anon. Trying to decipher every permutation of DnD Lore and how it effects everything is the road to madness.
>>333369050
The Corthala Family armor being total shit is the main reason I usually install the mod that adds a bunch of improvable magic items. I don't care about the massively overpowered stuff, I do care about not having to micromanage all my followers' Weapon Proficiencies or not having them ditch signature items if I can help it.
Only having to really equip the old BG1 characters from scratch is a godsend especially when they have overlapping proficiencies (e.g. needing two shortbows better than +3)
>>333364665
Is it true Minsc has bullshit about gamergate that he rambles about?
>>333369279
So instead of working with what you're given you just cheat?
>>333369117
>on a genetic level
I studied in bio. The idea that sex has a solid 1000% genetic basis on chromosomes and shit is dumb. A lot of what even biology means by sex is a hodge podge of characteristics that don't actually always match as much as we think.
>>333369154
>that could be a really interesting plot thread
honestly you could make an entire game out of a series of gender-swapping political escapades if you wanted to - NPCs drinking sex-change potions to avoid detection by the authorities, PCs turning into women to infiltrate a nunnery, etc.
But the writers here aren't interested in the ramifications of their absurd magical world, they just want to score social justice brownie points so they can tell people 'Look! Look! We're progressive! We put a tranny in our game! Look!'
>>333369291
It's one rare selection line that personally I haven't heard so I guess you have to try to hear to hear it.
Pretty sure it's like those joke lines Blizzard puts in their RTS games where if you click it enough the character says some meme or 4th wall breaking reference. A lot of characters have them.
>MFW I use EEKeeper to edit the stats of NPC party members to acceptable levels so that I can listen to the banter/stories of characters I've never used before without feeling the cringe of a shittily build character
Made Imoen a paladin, Haer'dalis a ranger with the archer kit (was good minus a few ToB fights), it actually made replaying the game really fun since I've never heard the dialogue of half the characters.
>>333369154
I think that might be why women and men are by and large considered equal in D&D, and Forgotten Realms in particular. At the grubby peasant level it's closer to medieval europe, but once people start getting well-off then it doesn't matter as much. Having male succession laws wouldn't work when your daughters can go to the local hedge wizard and get some ensorceled schlongs.
Which is also why the gamergate shits going REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE about strong woman don't need no man in D&D/FR are full of shit since it fits with the setting. REEing the tranny on the other hand makes sense.
>>333364665
So why didnt the guy just go to a priest or wizard to get his gender changed?
>>333369154
Because the social bullshit is a lot more complicated. Intersex people also get treated like shit, they got treated like shit before medical transition was even a thing.
Most of the pathos past the first year of transition for most of my trans friends has come from external bullshit, not themselves. There's christfag moral crusaders deliberately attacking literal kids for it.
>>333369367
Huh, so biology is now a social study and not a science. Had no idea.
>>333369237
Fuck you,I'm going to make a game and actually do this kind of thing JUSTICE,instead of doing a shitty side character that's largely unintelligible with the setting.
There will be a scene where the newly enmaled character lifts a comely wench to his shoulder and airly comments about breaking in his new cock before striding away, singing merrily.
>>333368619
Wow, what a completely pointless and nonsensical story. So apparently my party fucked up demons in hell but that flamboyant faggot Irenicus overpowers me like nothing anyway.
>>333369056
There is no inventing, just facts.
There is no gain, just truth.
>>333369340
I mean, call it cheating if you want, but having to blow Hindo's Doom, Hindo's Hand and the Shadow Dragon scales plus enormous amounts of cash to get the Corthala Family gear to stay even vaguely usable in ToB seems fairly balanced.
>>333369437
Imoen and Haer'Dalis are both really good, are you the kind of the retard who must play an overpowered easy mode build to have fun?
>>333369529
That is kinda bad. Irenicus should be able to fuck you up since he's supposed to be an epic level wizard, probably in the top 10 in the game world. He should be able to make merry jaunts to hell and back without much issue. A party of mid-level adventurers however sounds super fucky, especially if they're actually dealing with big shit and this isn't some minor planar excursion.
>>333369630
I just don't want a bard/blade whatever and a rogue/thief. If they're already really good then why's it matter if I made them into something else really good and arguably worse with archer? I didn't even make her an Inquisitor for the retard-good dispels.
Are you the kind of retard who cares what other people do?
>>333364665
It's good. There are some serious ease of life adjustments.
However, the game design, placement of mobs, number of fights and amount of thinks you fight can be tiring.
There are areas where close to hundred monsters are strewn about in groups. Orcs, goblins, ogres, lindwurms and more.
If you're more into the roleplay aspect, you better like playing a sarcastic, arrogant dick, because that's about half your dialogue options.
Tje other half is Paladin or murderer.
>>333369616
Why does it have to stay usable instead of just upgrading with the new stuff?
>>333369497
It's a science. The fact that you have no fucking clue what science does because your understanding of science if a programmer's or engineer's cargo cult should give you pause, not make you whine about a branch of science not satisfying your opinions.
We try to figure the world, part of it is figuring out when we're not sure about things. Theodore Monod use to say the more we answer questions, the more new questions we find because the new stuff opens more details that we don't get or invalidates old things.
>>333369697
Forgotten realms is full of stupidly powerful people. While Irenicus is probably up there i doupt he'd reach the top 10.
>>333369732
Gender studies retards need to leave, seriously.
>>333369697
He's not even close to top 10. Elminster, Blackstaff and Bigsby are all mages who I'd consider top 10 and they'd wipe the floor with him. And yes, I know that's only 3, but I'm just listing some of the spellcasters.
>>333367515
All this highlights is that subtle well done writing beats shitty in your face "LOOK HOW FUCKING PROGRESSIVE I AM" writing.
>>333369593
I must be imagining that I'm playing it fine and have been since release day.
>>333369880
When did non-spellcasters ever matter in DnD?
>>333369945
Drizzt. Whether the name triggers you or not, he's notable and gets most of it done with his swords and magic baubles.
Azoun, Zaknafain, Jarlaxle, Entreri as well.
>>333369945
Back when BG was made.
Funny thing is, in lore, the thayyans or some other magocracy got their shit kicked in by the not-Mongol hordes at some point, led by a character who was at most a level 15-20 2e straight-class Fighter. And the highest caster at his service was probably a not-even-level-10 shaman because he hates arcane casters.
3E rules (and to a certain degree rule mastery autism) fucked that up
so i saw a video of this dreaded interaction with that abhorrent tranny and it goes like
>hey, you have an unusual name. how come?
>well if you must know ive been raised as a boy by my parents but always felt like female at heart.
>oh...cool, ill be on my way.
is that it? is that what you're flipping shit about? tell me im getting trolled and no one actually got triggered by this
>>333370234
That's it and you're not getting trolled, people are honestly assblasted beyond belief about this
>>333370234
Nah Minsc has a line making fun of gamergate as well.
>>333370234
yeah white genocide is nothing to worry about
>>333370234
The problem is that there is no way to be negative to him. It's positive or neutral.
>>333369761
I was specifically thinking about mortal spellcasters when I said that. No gods, no liches, just wizard-ass wizards. And among those I thought he was within the top 10, not just a general "All characters top 10" type ranking.
>>333369880
Like I replied up there, I was also just considering spellcasters.
I mean hell, according to the FR wiki (Yeah yeah, wiki) he's got a level up on Elminster in 2nd edition.
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Jon_Irenicus
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Elminster
Again, due to wiki he might not actually be higher level, but I thought that supposedly he was a ridiculously high level mage around the top weight class.
>>333370332
>can kill her with no rep loss
Pretty fucking negative to me.
>>333370332
kill him if it bothers you so much. you better believe i sunk my sword in that faggot Noober in nashkel
>>333370373
I figured Elmister was a better mage because he actually made his own spells, some of which are incredibly OP. Not to mention Elminster has retarded artifacts and is a chosen of the god of magic herself.
Though in pure stats Irenicus is pretty OP, yeah.
>>333369529
Oh, it's much worse than that. The reason things get fucked sideways with demons is because the Shining Lady's second in command is a shapeshifted demon who's serving the real big bad and trying to open a gate to hell. If you use detect evil during a certain section you can even pick up on him, but apparently she never noticed. Just like she didn't notice the fact he let a cabal of necromancers open a gate to the Fugue Plane beneath her castle, and has been sending people down as sacrifices.
And then there's the fact that many people treat the Lady as hero (including, as is apparently brought up in one conversation, some of her victims). This is bizarre because the crusade has done literally nothing but murder innocent people and raid towns for cash and food. Its especially bizarre, because no one knows her sales pitch (the whole liberating souls of the damned thing) until half way through the story, including SOME OF HER OWN TROOPS.
Your entire involvement in the add-on could have been rendered slightly pointless; the Lady needs your blood to open a gate to hell (has to be yours for some arbitrary reason). So, she decides to try to poison and kidnap you in a heavily guarded compound rather than just ask, or try to steal some blood.
As an aside, the game actually makes a big point of how weird it is that the assassins managed to get inside Ducal Palace, but it's never mentioned again afterward.
The entire thing is filled with horseshit writing really.
>>333370490
Yeah, that's another way to look at it. Crafting magic items and shit takes XP, which may explain why Irenicus is a higher level. Maybe Irenicus is the biggest jew in the realms when it comes to XP, so he's high level even though the other mages could kick his ass with custom spells and artifacts and shit.
>>333370719
I guess Bhaal enjoyed the sexytime with the MC's mom a little too much and that makes you more precious.
>>333370839
Elminster isn't even the best wizard in Forgotten Realms.
The Simbul is. Higher level, more powerful, more signature spells created by her, also a Chosen of Mystra.
>>333370490
Irenicus had some unique spells of his own, too.
>>333371475
Researching new spells doesn't cost exp.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't played 2e in ~20 years.
>>333369715
If your char dies, do you have to walk back to town in order to revive?
Because holy shit I hate that system.
>>333371768
If your character dies you get a game over screen. Like in every other part of Baldur's Gate.
>>333371839
Okay, let me rephrase; if anyone in your party dies, do you have walk half across the game, go through 12 loading screens in order to get to the church, and then revive the character and walk all the way back again with that godawful pathfinding?
>>333371910
no you just reload a save
>>333371910
No you don't let them die in the first place, and if they do you reload the game.
>>333372051
>>333372106
I'm playing through Icewind Dale 2 and this is absolutely infuriating.
Why could they not have fixed this. Why not make them go unconscious and then apply a debuff for a time afterwards like DA:O or PoE.
>>333372204
Because that's not the way 2e d&d works.
Playing the first EE just now - game crashes every time I go into the Gatewarden's battle tutorial part. Anyone else had this?
>>333372450
Nope.
>>333372450
you didn't check your privilege
Someone bring me up to speed on this.
I'm getting that they made a shitty expansion with shoehorned politics for a game that's almost 20 fucking years old, but did they actually change content that was already there?
Why are they revisiting the title in the first place?
>>333373049
Minsc mentions gamergate.
There's a trans NPC you can talk to.
That's about it what /v/ is sperging about.
Gameplay is still BG1, so if you liked it you'll problably like the expansion. Story is meh, and there are plenty of bugs and crashes.
>>333372361
It's not realtime with pause either, but I don't see anyone complaining about that.
>>333373334
2e d&d is most certainly real time with pause considering you have all the time in the world to respond to your dm in how you want to act.
>>333373334
You're right, it's 6 second turns. The game even has the option to pause after every turn in combat.
So /V/ is monk actually fun to play as?
Don't care about difficulty.
>>333373458
6 second rounds anon. A turn is 10 rounds, or one minute.
>>333373049
Yeah, they butchered existing elements because they didn't like how they were written:
>perhaps even worse than Corwin’s broken mess of a character, is the modification done to Safana. While I understand Beamdog’s writers were angry at Safana for being a man-teasing “slut”, I never saw her character in such a way...
>So what did they do? They completely altered Safana’s personality. No longer is she anything close to resembling the sultry seductress that defined her character both in vanilla Baldur’s Gate and various user based mods over the last 18 years. Now, she is a sarcastic, sometimes ungrateful, always spiteful thief who begrudgingly follows your orders. The difference, especially if you’ve ever ran an evil party with Safana, are extraordinarily profound.
http://nichegamer.com/2016/04/04/tale-dragons-memes-dragonspears-writing-horrid/
>>333373385
>>333373458
>>333371910
Your characters are high enough to cast raise dead in SoD.
>>333373285
There's a heap of SJW propaganda in the game, dude.
Most of the city quests after the prologue are socialism lectures
Most of the female NPCs are modern feminist tropes
>>333368619
>kill one of the archdevils
u fucking wot
BG is like what, level 10 max? An archdevil gets rekt by a party of novice adventurers?
What the fuck
>>333372450
No. What's your specs?
>>333374010
Bullshit. Stop spreading lies.
>>333374085
Now, let's back up until we're sure. Are we killing an Archdevil or a DUKE OF HELL? These are big differences.
Killing a Duke should be nearly equivalent to killing a deity, so I hope to fuck it's the former and just some powerful devil.
>>333369437
I'm trying to use EEKeeper just now, but it won't detect my save games. Everything is pointing to the right directories, though? Savegame path is pointing to the folder in My Documents and installation is pointing to the Steam path
>>333374085
And its not even a random archdevil.
Its the main big bad from Icewind Dale.
>>333374085
It's the IWD boss.
Too strong for level 10s, still.
Think he's a beefed up Pit Fiend; even they need a +3 weapon to hit.
>>333374232
>spreading lies
Nope.
Do the city quests. It's "Muh refugees", "muh wealth distribution", "muh police brutality".
Viconia: the dwarf is only with her so they can say she belongs to no one when she joins you
Archer: strong independent single mother that's gay
Goblin: racism trope
Shall I continue?
>>333374406
Wait... are you saying that during a crisis with a deluge of refugees none of that happens?
You act like this kinda shit is new to the Forgotten Realms. I'm not seeing anything wrong with these characters and never felt slapped in the face with the stuff you're bitching about either.
The characters in Baldur's Gate have always been caricatures of a sort, so I'm not sure why people are suddenly up in arms about the new ones being the same.
>>333374406
>everything is propaganda
Damn why does this feel so similar to "everything is racism/sexism" etc.
>>333367310
one of the still the best ruleset that DnD ever crafted for tactical gameplay and tabletop gaming.
of course WoTC then decide to kill off or change a lot of sacred cows and destroy the setting in order to introduce new ones for merchandising.
this thread just tell you what happen when you do the latter.
if you want to test the gameplay just buy their beginning box and have a go
it's a lot of fun
>>333373585
>perhaps even worse than Corwin’s broken mess of a character, is the modification done to Safana. While I understand Beamdog’s writers were angry at Safana for being a man-teasing “slut”, I never saw her character in such a way...
>So what did they do? They completely altered Safana’s personality. No longer is she anything close to resembling the sultry seductress that defined her character both in vanilla Baldur’s Gate and various user based mods over the last 18 years. Now, she is a sarcastic, sometimes ungrateful, always spiteful thief who begrudgingly follows your orders. The difference, especially if you’ve ever ran an evil party with Safana, are extraordinarily profound.
This is basically one of the main reasons SJWs are shit writers. Since they overanalyze everything, they think that characters always represent the views of their authors. Thus, if they left slutty Safana intact, they would be "making a negative statement about women".
I'm not going to say Game of Thrones is the best series of novels ever written, but it's a popular example of a story full of flawed characters who are allowed to act naturally. At no point did GURM go "no, I can't have this woman be raped, that would be misogynistic! Instead, the horny bandits who just burned down her village and killed her family congratulate her on being strong and independant and send her on her way unmolested. I better point out that one of them is randomly transgendered too. Wow, I'm so progressive!".
On the other hand, SJWs always feel the need to bend the characters to their own ideology and the result is usually shallow masturbation. The obvious exception are villains, who will almost always have non-progressive values (being straight, white and male is of course a bonus).
>>333374625
>>333374604
Its like you completely missed the point where the writer said she was using the game to push an agenda.
>>333374604
It's current day identity politics; all of those things are current day shit you see on the 'net and outside of such.
That's an agenda, and it's explicit, slaps you with it, and is poorly written at that, so even if it doesn't bother you that it's railroaded in, it's still shit writing.
Is it needed?
No, it's not.
BG1 and 2 didn't have it.
I bought EE recently, because despite playing all NWN games and PST to death, I somehow never got around to playing BG, seeing the complaints about the new characters - is there any way to remove them? so that the game is basically vanilla
>>333374406
refugees and racism were already tropes in tob. children of bhaal are prosecuted all across the land. in saradush you meet elves seeking refuge that are being harassed by orcs, il-khan orcs so pretty much the police of saradush. you also meet a group dwarves fighting with pirates who abuse them. they appear in many games because theyre interestinc concepts and a fertile ground for moral dilemmas. whats wrong with that?
>>333374739
Show me where she directly stated that. The quote I see floating around is that she wants to include more diverse character types in her writing in general.
Besides, she isn't the only writer. Andrew Foley is another person responsible for a lot of the writing in the game. Did he make any similar quotes? Please show me if he has.
>>333374825
Are you serious? BG1 and 2 had numerous references to "modern day" things in their games. Just because they may not register now does not mean they didn't exist then.
>>333374893
Its the quote where she says she doesn't like writing "cis/white/male" characters, puts in as much diversity as possible, says Safana is sexist, and says if people don't like it, fuck em.
>>333374848
You can completely ignore them if you wish. Neera kinda force-talks you but you can tell her to fuck off. The rest are just hanging around various areas.
>>333375019
She said she doesn't like writing them all the time, not that she doesn't like writing them at all.
Whatever happened to reading comprehension? Is it dead?
>>333374871
ToB is shit, though; the writing doesn't hit you over the head as much either. SoD time after time lectures you on what it wants you to know outside of the game world, as per the writer.
I'd probably be more forgiving if it was actually written well and not so black and white.
>what's wrong with that
I'm sure we all want to have feminism and socialism 101 thrown at us in a cRPG without the other side getting fair limelight.
Never played the BG games
Should Ipiratethe originals or enhanced editions?
I don't really care about interface improvements, played enough old cRPGs to be comfortable with them
>>333375074
So she completely rapes a work you like and you're response is "I'm sorry?"
>>333375143
Except she hasn't and she couldn't even if she wanted to. She has people to answer to and as a whole they answer to Wizards of the Coast. Why is she the target of the vitriol?
>>333374962
You miss the point.
Many modern day things in those games were simple pop culture references from fiction, and outside of that, the writing was passable.
SoD is real life politics, and it's being pushed onto you. It's a self-proclaimed SJW giving it to you, and not even in a way that draws you in, rather it takes you out of the game.
If you're ok with propaganda, then sure, it might not bother you.
>>333375239
Because she created the character herself. Not the company. Not WotC. Everything that is wrong with SoD is the fault of the writers cause its the dialogue and characters that are so shitty.
>>333375104
top is a perfectly apt conclusion to the saga
>SoD time after time lectures you on what it wants you to know outside of the game world, as per the writer.
or perhaps youre reading too much into a video game writing because you made an a priori assumption that the writer aims to indoctrinate you
>I'm sure we all want to have feminism and socialism 101 thrown at us in a cRPG without the other side getting fair limelight.
no but we wont mind complex social issues and moral dilemmas in video games
>>333368485
SMOKE BOMB
>>333375279
Perhaps but that is the way of the world now. A lot of games are using real life politics and other culture battles in their storylines. It's just the way it is, raging about it and causing a fuss over it is not going to work and actually works against the people who dislike the direction games are heading in.
>>333375327
>we wont mind complex social issues and moral dilemmas in video games
You need to GTFO and go back to tumblr or whatever shithole you crawled out of.
>>333375143
>Anonymous 04/06/16(Wed)03:03:01 No.333375143▶
> >>333375074
> So she completely rapes a work you like and you're response is "I'm sorry?"
At least Trump isn't a cuck like these faggots
>>333366847
well yeah, just like all elves.
>>333375114
Pirate v 1.03 for a decent experience.
>>333375384
listen to yourself for a second you fucking imbecile, you're opposing games growing in complexity on the off chance that the issues they undertake might hurt your feefees. looks like you should fuck off to tumbler
>>333370719
that sounds suspiciously similar to how Lady Aribeth and her worthless retard husband never happened to notice all the Priests of Helm who were "curing" Neverwinter were in fact a cabal of reptile-worshipers who were spreading plague.
In their defense I think BioWare threw up a lazy explanation about how they were magically obfuscating their evil auras, so Aribeth never noticed what they were up to. And her husband was an inept, bumbling elf.
>>333375519
>you're opposing games growing in complexity
No I oppose games with horrible writing.
>>333375589
so do i but its the first time i mention it
>>333375589
A completely subjective argument. Horrible writing to you may be good writing to someone else. Maybe it is time games grew up a little bit and had more exploration of these social issues. It's not a bad thing.
So to sum up, the developers of the new Baldur's Gate expansion and the Enchanced Edition pulled a "Star Wars: Special Edition" on the fanbase, but because of adding new characters that's progressive, they get to look like the good guys while doing it.
>>333375719
>Horrible writing to you may be good writing to someone else
And people are overwhelmingly saying SoD is bad writing.
>>333375767
Most of these same people were part of the initial rage bomb that were sperging out about the trans character.
It has morphed into "horrible writing" as a shield for their real reasons. It's the same way all these crusades go. They start off with naked anger then they morph into using other arguments to mask the true one.
>>333375719
So the fact that actual trans people hate the trans character they shoehorned into the expansion doesn't matter to you?
>>333375843
I'm not a big fan of the character and personally I think if they were going to add such a thing it should have been handled better. I'm saying it's really not worth the insane amount of hate being levied at the writers and the game itself.
It's literally nothing.
>>333373049
>but did they actually change content that was already there?
Re-wrote the personalities of some NPCs like Safana and Jaheira.
Because apparently the original game was "too sexist".
>>333375965
Every single character they added in the enhanced editions has been shit and now they're just luring in the SJW crowd by having a character go BTW IM TRANS
It's brilliant damage control when you think about it
> they knew they had a piss poor product
> glitches out the ass, nonfunctioning multiplayer, terrible writing
> quickly add some SJW topics
> game launches
> it's getting bad reviews because it's legitimately a bad game
> "them goobergaters are harassing us because they oppose SJW themes in our game"
> everyone focusses on the SJW aspect rather than the piss poor writing and game in general
> free publicity to boot
>>333364665
Imagine being stuck for hours and hours with low level D&D 2nd edition gameplay, with barely any level up to keep you motivated.
>>333375965
So you're not at all annoyed that after 20 years we finally get official new content and all of it is below average garbage?
We shouldn't complain?
>>333375829
the writing is still shit see
>>333368619
and no SJW will ever be able to make a interesting minority character because they are too afraid of giving themflaws
>>333376047
Neera was the only shit one I've experienced so far. I have yet to delve into BG2 EE so I can't speak to them.
Rasaad was alright, Dorn was okay. Baeloth was the best though he was technically an easter egg.
>>333376068
No I am not. I happen to be enjoying the expansion because I'm not letting this infect my view of it. The main storyline has me interested and I don't feel like I'm being "preached to" either.
Perhaps it's nostalgia hearing some of the old characters I loved speak again and say new things and maybe it'll wear off, but right now I'm having a good time playing it.
>>333375025
but how will I identify them? i guess I'll look up their names in a wiki or something and avoid them like plague
>>333376068
From these threads so far all im seeing is usual 4chan shitposting where they call something shit and dont go into any details beyond a few points that probably can be ignored.
>>333376047
the vampire girl wasnt all that bad. finally an evil thief. dorn in bg2 was bretty cool too, though playing a full evil party was a fucking nightmare, the wizards were hunting me down at every step.
>>333376185
Neera, Dorn, Rasaad... not sure if there's another one. Baeloth is in there but he's actually a pretty damn awesome character but he's more of an easter egg type.
>setting with inter-species sex and tons of crossdressing/gender changing/same-sex intercourse
>GG gets all messed up over this
I will never understand you people.
That and the joke at GG's expense. You guys do know BG and BG2 are full of references to stuff from the late 90s right?
>>333376280
Most of them probably weren't even born at that time so they don't.
>>333376185
I'll point out you actually should let neera into your party.
She has a gem bag and you can kick her out after you steal it.
>>333376228
That's your fault for not being there at the beginning when we showed all the problems.
>>333376280
It's adorable that you think gamergate is still a thing that exists in any shape
>>333376280
They haven't actually played the games.
>>333376393
This thing is mostly from kotakuinaction. New name, same bullshit.
>>333376280
>setting with inter-species sex and tons of crossdressing/gender changing/same-sex intercourse
funny you would point that out in a world where you can magically change into the gender you want with just a spell why would there be trans
people at all?
>>333376228
>/v/ says ME3 is shit
>play it till the end
>its shit
i guess /v/ just saving you time on deciding if the game is shit or not. They pinpoint exactly where you will be dissapointed.
>>333376056
Sunset say hi
Steamspy ask you to come see him in his office
Glad I still got my big box for this kind of shit.
>>333376465
how do you know she didnt change her gender? she has female character model
>>333376729
Because she wouldn't be trans then.
