What's with all the bad reviews? I love the first Baldur's Gate? Why are people shitting on the expansion?
From what I understand one of the writers is an SJW and there is a few things in the game that indicate that including
-Minsc saying "it's about ethics in heroic adventuring"
-a trans shopkeeper who won't shut up about being trans
-one of the characters is not "stronk independent women"
I haven't played it but from what I hear GamerGate really needs to calm the fuck down as they are beginning to sound like the very SJWs they despise. Do people not remember how much cringeworthy shit there was in the first BG. Minsc was practically an SJW before SJWs even existed
>>3117421
I still remember they had a Bob Newhart jokes.
>>3117421
>won't shut up about being trans
It's one line and not even the first thing she says to you. And yes there's a single mother party member you can romance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__6nFM5GER8
What kills me about this is there will never be a decent BG discussion on /v/ again because the thread will devolve into culture wars BS even if it's not related to SoD.
>fitting a whole game in between defeating Sarevok and being immediately kidnapped by Irenicus
ISHYGDDT
>>3117506
Apparently the game explains how Irenicus captures you.
There's some trans faggot character which means it gets 0/10.
>>3117421
They also rewrote Jaheira and Safana because they were problematic and not sensitive to feminist issues.
Also, there's more to it than just the SJW things. Like the Mary Sue boss that they reintroduce David Warner (Irenicus) purely to talk up. It's the same kind of lame fanfic material that they flooded the Enhanced Editions with, only now it's the entirety of its own campaign.
The SJW pandering is just the icing on the insult cake that is Siege of Dragonspear. Pic related is a well-written explanation for that. It's one thing to ham-fisted include a transgendered character to push your agenda, or even to try and "feminist overtones" to existing character. Artistic interpretation and all. But some of what was added was just insults and taking jabs at the playerbase and people who disagree with them. At this point it's not even just an inappropriate platform to push your views, it's also one to attack dissenters.
That said... if you're not a fan of the series, or you genuinely don't care about having the series now being used as a platform for social issues or beloved childhood characters getting butchered, then I guess it could be an okay game for you.
But honestly, if you're not targeting the people nostalgic for Baldur's Gate, who is your target audience?
>>3117501
Pretty much. I lean pro-GG but they really need to get their heads out of their asses here. No one is going to give a flying rats fuck about this culture war in 5 years and if you can't take a joke, even if it's a shitty joke, you are an SJW as far as I'm concerned
>>3117571
They didn't rewrite anyone though? The regular games are the same.
>>3117584
> If there was something for the original Baldur’s Gate that just doesn’t mesh for modern day gamers like the sexism, [we tried to address that]. In the original there’s a lot of jokes at women’s expense. Or if not a lot, there’s a couple, like Safana was just a sex object in BG 1, and Jaheira was the nagging wife and that was played for comedy. We were able to say, “No, that’s not really the kind of story we want to make.” In Siege of Dragonspear, Safana gets her own little storyline, she got a way better personality upgrade. If people don’t like that, then too bad.
~Amber Scott, writer for Siege of Dragonspear
>>3117591
It doesn't matter what she said, they didn't rewrite any of the characters for BG1 or 2. Yes they wrote SoD but they didn't change the original games you retard.
>>3117594
...who claimed they did? And why are you being so hostile?
>>3117596
You apparently. Why else would you reply to me with that quote? The characters weren't rewritten for the EEs. Not that there was anything to rewrite for BG1 considering how little dialogue Jaheira had.
>>3117605
You asked:
>They didn't rewrite anyone though?
And since I had just got done saying that they rewrote characters in Siege of Dragonspear, I was clarifying that they had in fact done so, and it had been acknowledged by their writers.
All I commented on was the rewrite, not the regular games. Not that there's not lots to hate about the Enhanced Editions that they put out, but that's not the discussion we're having here. This was specifically and only about Dragonspear.
But if that was your point- that in unrelated games to the discussion that they weren't changed to make these sudden and jarring changes to their characters in the MIDDLE ENTRY of the series seem even more wildly out of place, then yes, you're correct. You get Jaheira and Safana personality A for games 1 and 3; then personality B for game 2.
>>3117501
>there's a single mother party member you can romance.
>willingly gaining a wife's son
>>3117421
All of this seems like it can be easily modded out.
>>3117708
I doubt people will spend the effort to mod them out with how minor they are.
>>3117718
You have too little faith.
All it takes is one guy who wants it bad enough.
>>3117421
I've seen the footage of a player talking to the trans character. The issue I had with it, is that after she tells you she's trans, there's no evil/rude dialogue option like you might usually get in a scenario like that in BG. You can approve her being trans (good), you can find it interesting that she's trans (neutral) or you can just excuse yourself from the conversation. Combine this with Minsc's infamous line and the overhauling of certain characters, and it's pretty clear that the devs went out of their way to use the game as a soapbox for their politcal dogma. This is what people are complaining about. Oh, and apparently there's also tons of bugs like when the enhanched edition was first released the multiplayer doesn't work well yet either.
If you believe this is something to do with 'bigoted gamers' or whatever, you've been misled by the devs and the SJWs who support them. Not that there aren't legit right wing /pol/ types pissed off at this, but most of the bad reviews cite the issues I mentioned and aren't nearly as politically partisan. This is a fine example of something that also happened during the gamergate fiasco where the SJWs cherrypicked only the minority of the most idiotic and outrageous of their opponents and used the to strawman the rest of the movement, effectively coming up with their own fictitious narrative that portrays them as the moral authority. And it worked too, so I can't blame them for trying it again, especially the devs themselves (because there's money to be made and lost). Realistically though, they should have kept their ideology to themselves, especially because it's a roleplaying game and there's so many characters you could play and decicions they could make.
>>3117725
Someone might remove the tranny line but it's honestly not worth the effort. It's not like you click on her and she goes "HI I MUTILATED MYSELF CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE". All you would need to change is the name and remove the optional dialogue.
>>3117421
What's so special about transsexuals in a game with gender changing belts?
>>3117748
Nothing
>>3117737
That doesn't even seem like that much effort.
>>3117748
Without breaking the fourth wall to push your agenda, absolutely nothing.
>>3117708
This whole raw shittinness of it could indeed be filtered out, and I happen to have a very solid plan for how that could be done, it would not be easy, but it would be due to be mindbogglingly fruitful.
But I'm over this shit.
And the people involved are disturbing.
I could do the same kinds of things much better without touching this junk, or doing so in very limited ways.
>>3117736
>there's no evil/rude dialogue option like you might usually get in a scenario like that in BG. You can approve her being trans (good), you can find it interesting that she's trans (neutral) or you can just excuse yourself from the conversation.
Now that is some fucking bullshit.
I guess it was easier to remove the choice altogether than it was to come up with a decent comeback for a rude comment.
>implying a 2016 game is retro
>>>/v/
>>3117808
Moderators decide what is allowed on /vr/, not you. New content for old games is posted here all the time. Instead of trying to police /vr/ like a spastic, how about you try reporting the thread instead if you think it's against the rules?
>>3117817
This. Submitting a report is literally easier than shiposting a thread you don't like.
>>3117581
> I lean pro-GG but they really need to get their heads out of their asses
>give a flying rats fuck about this culture war
>if you can't take a joke, even if it's a shitty joke, you are an SJW
That false flagging though.
>>3117826
>>3117831
>a strawman of a strawman
This needs to stop.
>>3117835
we need to go deeper
>>3117421
>they are beginning to sound like the very SJWs they despise.
>>3117847
you're only proving his point
>>3117831
>>3117831
I kek'd. Is that OC or has it been posted before? That was the first time I've seen it.
>>3117861
the tumblr filename completes it
>>3117861
fresh
>>3117909
i'm not sure if it can get any more meta
>>3117501
>>3117704
That has got to be flat out the most ridiculous thing among that pile.
Transgendered characters absolutely have a place in a setting with extensive body adjustment means. The only issue needing to be clear is whether trans-pregnancy is possible.
But it IS a roughly medieval setting, which means that unwanted children get handled by churches.
>>3117989
Forgotten Realms seems more 16th century than medieval with the availability of plate armor, halberds, and smokepowder.
>>3117989
Personally I don't feel that fantasy games that focus on medieval settings should ever call attention to current issues and controversies. It breaks the hell out of the immersion just so you can be told something you've already heard a thousand times in far more appropriate settings.
>>3117993
Okay, so it's lazy-"medieval", like looking back to ages that felt that way but not bothering to reach all the way. At least BG1 and IWD, BG2 was explicitly described as renaissance, which kind of explains the setting, it has slightly different eras in different places, a very blatant example is having three different spain-based places at once.
>>3117997
Well, that is what sci-fi is for. But then, there IS lots of magic, to the point that the original die hard fans always complained about adaptation issues, like it being too "MONTY HAUL".
So, is there any chance the hordes of people following this shit can suppress their childish touchiness and pay attention to some _objective_ aspects of the game? Forget the characters, the plot, and that kind of shit.
How about about the areas?
Is there anything wrong with them? Did the "developers" have access to the original tools, and did they bother to use them instead of something easier and trendier? Do they mesh with the original areas? Did they obviously reuse old areas in bad ways? Of course, it would be easiest to judge just by looking at a few of them, comparing them to old areas.
>>3118015
>But then, there IS lots of magic, to the point that the original die hard fans always complained about adaptation issues
And while I do respect that thought, the fact is the writers almost never push current shit to explore it in that setting. It's almost always to preach their cause.
Heinlein's All You Zombies, and it's very good adaptation, Predestination, were examples of transsexualism done right, because the story wasn't about transsexualism, but it actually required the concept to work. It was a tool, not a statement.
>>3118015
You see rennaisance styled amnish soldiers in BG1 in Nashkel. It's more the location than times changing. You don't see matriarchal societies where men are treated like dirt and live underground in the middle ages either
>>3118026
I know they reused monsters from IWD but they have all new backgrounds. Some seem to mesh really well while others stick out. I'll post some examples.
>>3118030
This.
Baldur's Gate 1 included the Girdle of Masculinity / Femininity for literally changing your character's gender midplay. Baldur's Gate 2 included a storyline where a male character turns female.
These weren't done to preach a cause or push an agenda, so people didn't take exception to them.
not a fan of this background
I genuinely struggle to think of any game outside of Bioware's catalog that has had it's quality remotely impacted by any of the stuff GG rally against. The fact of the matter is that the "movement" are entitled, highly autistic and hateful people who really need to get their priorities straight. The kinds of people you would beat up in school for being completely unlikable.
They just fucking hate everything and don't have a scrap of self awareness between them.
>>3118070
Yes, every single person who was involved with the gamergate scandal was pissed off about a single thing.
You fucking idiot.
>>3118078
I didn't say that. I'm open to seeing legitimate examples of why gamergate is a valid movement and not over reactionary horseshit Wanna share?
>>3118070
>GG was about Bioware's SJW nonsense and not unethical nepotism and corruption in journalism
Like my old grand daddy used to say, "The less a man makes broad declarative statements, the less apt he is to look foolish in retrospect."
>>3118086
So you'd say that the shit flinging you see on boards like 4chan are the vocal minority who have lost sight of the actual intention of the movement, kind of similar to how the SJWs people flip out against are the vocal minority of people who believe in general cultural sensitivity?
>>3118083
It started off as an argument against biased journalism in gaming, which is a very valid thing to speak against.
Biased journalism of any kind is the wrong kind of journalism.
>>3118098
No, I'd say it's unrelated entirely. The people being targeted by GamerGate for their corruption then produced strawman arguments that confounded the original intent. People like yourself who reacted to the whole situation by trying to be aloof and above it all by not taking sides enabled the character assassination by never taking the time to research it at all.
>game developers shouldn't be sleeping with the people who review their games, or at the very least, should make that known
>>so you hate women and transgenders, huh?
>what? no. where did you even-
>>dont try to deny it, someone that was clearly from your camp and totally not controlled opposition said it. no take-backs!
>>3118038
Nashkel is part of amn though. BG2 also had a part of Tethyr in SoA. HoW clashed a little too due to using BG2 avatars, though not paper dolls.
>>3118050
NEAT. The theme-style seems roughly akin to BG1, but with an IWD level of detail/fine-touching.
>>3118064
Hah! This one maybe might have a crudely IWD art style with BG levels of hastiness.
>>3117407
From what I understand there's a few jokes and minor shit that trigger GGers, so they pretty much consider it The Great Satan and declare jihad against it.
>>3118116
Funny how the posters count didn't go up with your comment there, huh?
>>3118108
I get that general aspect of it, but all I've really seen is people using the banner of gamergate as a shield for their own rampant misogyny.
>>3118120
I'm pretty sure it did.
>>3118120
It did. I have 4chanX set to mark new IPs. Become proficient.
>>3118121
That's because you're looking at the most obnoxious posts. There are tons of people who are embittered by how out of proportion gaming journalists blew the topic, and the resulting shitstorm that they were baiting for.
>>3118026
>Forget the characters, the plot, and that kind of shit.
>in a story-driven ROLE PLAYING GAME
dude
>>3118026
>Forget the characters, the plot, and that kind of shit.
If I'm gonna play an RPG without any story or meaning then I might as well just install League of Legends.
>>3118471
>>3118501
The point is, those are very _subjective_.
On the other hand, you can rip an area map, and examine just that, almost dissect one component for everything quirky with it. And you can see all the craft that's gone into it, whereas lines fed to characters are just simple lines.
Besides, it's just an expansion pack, okay, heart of winter did have a decent dose of plot, and ToB kind of went all out, but ToSC did actually have practically NOTHING but a handful of new areas!
Besides, other stuff has been brewed up by modders, it's the areas that seem to be by far the biggest challenge.
>>3118641
>lines fed to characters are just simple lines.
You're pretending writing doesn't require skill, anon. Look at fucking Planescape: Torment. Pretty and varied as the game was, the real power behind it was the story and atmosphere from a team of writers' imaginations.
There was a shitload of care taken in the script department; not all lines are just simple lines.
>>3118471
>>3118501
And the technological situation that the infinity engine was nested in was such that the background maps were overwhelmingly impactful. This is after all probably the most graphically boastful 2d game known to people. More or less the last hurrah for pre rendered graphics before polygonal games soared exclusively.
>>3117614
SJW BTFO!
>>3118647
No, franchise writing is NOT able to be counted on to GET skill invested into it! Do you not remember what a disaster the BG books were? And DnD is pretty infamous for having gone way downhill after 2nd edition.
And Torment is like the one example that gets thrown around of a game with actual good writing. And it just so happens that the Planescape setting was promptly axed right after, it never even had a significant novel line!
>>3117407
TL;DR: Fans of BG were handed an expansion with self-insertion fanfic-tier writing.
Imagine a terrible fanfic about your favourite characters being heralded as a canon by creators of the original. That's how it feels.
Also they decided to kick the hornets nest, and expectedly got stung. Who would've thunk?
And then they started banning people for "hatespeech". One particularily funny example is when they banned person defending them for quoting a critic, misattributing the quote to him.
And then one of the devs went on Steam forums and made an ass off himself there. Shit's hillarious, man.
>>3117407
Still... NOT /VR/
>>3117407
Thank God this doomed any chance of a beamdog Baldur's Gate 3.
>>3117909
4deep8me
>>3118664
>And DnD is pretty infamous for having gone way downhill after 2nd edition.
You mean after third edition.
>>3118761
He said what he said boy
>>3118761
If it went steadily downhill since after 2nd edition, then, yes, naturally it would have implicitly been going downhill after 3rd edition, as 3rd edition players are known to say.
Sooo... Nobody wants to discuss how it's nigh fucking impossible to get a co-op game off the ground?
1. Characters you import into SoD will often lose all of their gear and have their hitpoint total randomized.
2. The act of pausing the game desyncs the piss out of the everything where the majority of the players get to watch Dio Brando shimmy around while they're stuck paused with their dicks in their hands.
3. The very first opening cutscene causes all players but the host to be stuck in 'cutscene mode', often necessitating a force quit since your interface+control is just obliterated.
4. Scripting is fucked beyond belief in MP to where in most cases you literally won't be able to exit the first dungeon because Imoen just doesn't appear (like she should) after defeating the boss of the area.
5. The latency is at least twice as bad as it was when I was playing Throne of Bhaal on MPlayer in 2001. I'm actually amazed.
And this is in just the first area of the game. It frustrates me that people are zeroing in on this le SJW witchhunt horseshit while there are actual, legitimate issues rendering multiplayer near-unplayable. Then you hear stories on how there was a 2-year open beta for SoD and it's just... are you fucking joking?
>>3117407
It doesn't use AD&D rules, it perverts and distorts them with 3.x / 4E aberrations just like IWD2 and Heart of Winter and ToB.
>>3118761
Forsake your false edition. Only True AD&D will save you. August 2000 is the cut-off. Chainmail is the beginning. 3rd edition is for weebs and SJWs.
>>3119001
Has anyone ever actually played Chainmail?
I'm wondering if it's any good at all for a wargame.
It's a bad game regardless of trannies
>>3119006
I don't think anyone plays it, which is weird considering that the "OSR" threads on /tg/ are full of hipsters who act like OD&D is the only system worth playing (it can't be played without Chainmail, spell descriptions like Haste and Slow just describe duration and not effect. Effect is in Chainmail).
Playing AD&D with an eye toward miniatures and tactics seems to be a good wargame experience.
>>3118981
>It frustrates me that people are zeroing in on this le SJW witchhunt horseshit while there are actual, legitimate issues rendering multiplayer near-unplayable.
>>3118108
Why in the ever loving fuck does anyone give enough of a fuck about websites that post video game news and reviews to start or participate in a "movement" against it? Get a fucking life
>>3119078
If you grow up with videogames, nothing else feels quite right the same way.
It's the same principle responsible for how this board is full of people who feel they haven't hat enough games as kids and collect tons of them to play.
>>3119068
Dude. Broken mods and unplayable multiplayer are first things that pop up in the bad reviews for this pile of shite. SJW writing is somewhere in the middle of a huge list of issues.
>>3119078
Long story short, these journos alongside with a few "progressives" can decide who gets awards and funding in the indie-oriented events,as well as a free pass to generate "outrages" against games they deem not progressive enough.
Developers, companies (and shareholders) look at "Journalistic" reviews for the information on how the game was recieved - a bad review from one of the famous sites is a direct hit in the wallet for some of them.
It's a shit like this that leads to many eastern games to be changed or outright butchered in the west, 4kids style. Latest Fire Emblem for instance has almost all S-Supports turned into a friendzone-fest instead of a proper romances. Also bikinis apparently a big no-no.
>>3119330
Someone was claiming that they added the transperson so they could use her to deflect all criticism towards the game.
This is Amber Scott's MO. Add a token LGBT, and if you don't like the work, then that's because you hate gays. She is not a writer, she is a sociopath.
>>3117614
You're going to have to cite just how their personalities changed, because the impression I get is that they wanted to add some depth Safana and Jaheira as characters given how one dimensional they were in Baldur's Gate.
Well, not Jaheira, because she was blunt, cared about Khalid, and was always going off about nature or how the group needed better leadership, but Safana was basically "I manipulate men!" and that was it.
>>3119365
I hate that defence, and I find it funny that games that are legitimately good with progressive themes never trot it out. I've never seen the developers of of Life is Strange or Gone home go on giant rants against the pretty sizeable group of people who hate those games, seems to me it's the last bastion of a shitty artist.
>Portrait is a health bar
>Health bar is also on the portrait
>Health bar floats above each character's heads
>>3119519
>pop-up when your health bar is low
>see everyone's health bar when in conversation with them
>NPCs actually mention how jealous they are of PCs' health bars
>if you select all party members, your cursor gets a health bar to reflect total party health
>combat is now replaced with health bars fencing with smaller health bars that have health bars above them to represent weapon degradation
>>3119504
I'm playing it right now and Safana actually feels like she has zero personality since they just removed the "I manipulate men!" part.
>>3119461
Fucking this. Faggots don't even play god damn games anymore. Its all just dick slapping drama and bullshit tween finger pointing./tg/ shit is went full retard as well.
>>3119504
>reading interview about this expansion
>'Jaheira was problematic and sexist, as the token nagging wife, so we are updating her for a 2016 audience'
>the person who said that is the lead writer
>>3119559
Makes sense since it's full of normalfags
>>3117852
>Social justice assholes attempt to infuse entertainment with transparently obvious propaganda
>their opposition is somehow equally terrible for finding this objectionable
Could you explain that?
>>3119724
Propaganda? It is a few lines of dialogue, that is a huge exaggeration.
>>3119793
>It is a few lines of dialogue
when it should have been none. leave all political bullshit out.
>>3119724
you're a bunch of obnoxious meme-shrieking cunts who take every opportunity you possibly can to make mountains out of molehills.
>>3119838
Oh okay. Well, can you point out the obnoxious meme shrieking cunts in this thread? There's been a few posts where people have shown their distaste for the ham-fisted agenda pushing in the game, so you should be able to easily find one, right? I'll just sit here and wait. You can continue to fling shit if you want though.
>>3119519
I actually like the health bars. I mean, when you're playing BG, you're focus is usually on the action going on in the middle of the screen, not the character portraits off to the side. I've definitely had more than a few occasions where I didn't realise one of my characters was badly woulded and they ended up dying before I could heal.
>>3119519
You can disable all of those though
What the creator of Forgotten Realms thinks of the drama
>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.)
>>3119926
whoops missed a line but copy pasting it was already enough effort
>And another thing: I have always felt HONOURED to have met, worked with, and enjoyed the work of so many talented women in all of my professional fields (library work has traditionally been dominated by females, gaming hasn't, and fiction-writing was male-dominated when I was young, but has steadily shifted throughout my lifetime). Does Paul Jaquays becoming Jennell Jaquays rob his, now her, artwork or game design or prose of one iota of its richness and the enjoyment it gives me? NO! And how by the Nine flaming Hells does one human being made happier by being the gender they prefer to be lessen my own security, or happiness, or make my life the less?
>Sheesh.
>The world has REAL problems, people. Telling someone else how to behave in bed (or dress, or what jobs they can hold down) isn't one of them. Or shouldn't be.
tl;dr who cares about trannies
>>3119838
¨That's /v/ in a nutshell right there.
>>3119926
>we generally don't rub the reader's nose in sex unless there's a good in-story reason for it.
>>3119994
safana is still a slut in SoD though
>>3120014
Check his facebook since a link is considered spam.
Goes by TheEdVerse or Ed Greenwood
>>3119926
>>3119929
>we generally don't rub the reader's nose in sex unless there's a good in-story reason for it
That's the exact problem with SoD - it rubs the "we progressive nao!" in your face. Also any piece of writing that uses term "mansplaining" unironically (one fo SoD characters does) is an instant fail in my book.
![Batgirl-41-joker-variant--012[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ai2FLVe.jpg "Batgirl-41-joker-variant--012[1].jpg")
>>3119994
Comics and video games are the two mediums the SJWs have hit hardest for whatever reason. Probably because the core fanbases for both are comprised of a bunch of nerds they feel like they can push around. Or maybe because it's easy to strawman them when they eventually revolt against the agenda pushing. The SJWs can just tell everyone "look at these bitter, misogynstic virgins, why should anyone listen to what they have to say?" Pretty shitty either way, if you ask me. Comics are definitely worse off right now than games though. Pic related, the Batgirl cover from last year that they had censored.
>>3120026
Not a single character used the word "mainsplaining" in SoD at all. At least play the games you're criticizing. And they don't rub the tranny in your face. It only pops up if you ask why she changed her name.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/51161/beamdog-statement-on-siege-of-dragonspear
>>3119994
>>3117421
What's the thing about ethics?
>>3120027
It doesnt make sense that comic book companies and video game publishers would change products for a demographic that makes up such a small percentage, yet it still happens
>>3120194
Something they removed from the game.
is the tranny a qt3.14 trap? can you romance her?
>>3120252
You wish
>>3120243
>we removed one line of insulting dialogue from this culture war travesty we infused into the game
>can't you whiners be happy now!?
>>3120286
>culture war travesty
Are you actually serious? Elaborate as to why you think this game is one.
The developers publicly reached out to Feminist Frequency and Jezebel for help against people criticizing the game.
I think at this point, Beamdog's already drawn a line in the sand. They got their criticisms from fans and rather than work with them, they made it an "us vs them" fight.
>>3120309
In what way do you think the things people are complaining about aren't? Have you even read the thread?
Do you think Beamdog including GamerGate references wasn't? Do you think them rewriting beloved companion NPC personalities to be more feminist friendly wasn't? Not even touching on the transexual character, but everything else was just too damn subtle for you?
The game was not improved upon by the inclusion of any of the above. No one wanted Baldur's Gate to be anyone's platform for social commentary, or the ongoing internet culture war, but Beamdog went ahead and used it anyhow.
And the funny thing here? It's not even the GamerGaters getting that upset. It's the neutral third parties who avoid the entire situation who found their beloved franchise being forced into the fight by Beamdog getting pissed off.
>>3120328
Examples?
>>3117591
That's gay as fuck, Safana was the cool slut every wants to party with.
>>3120339
Of which part?
>>3120343
culture war references in SoD other than the tranny and a minsc line
>>3120345
...I see you aren't reading the thread. Alright, I'll do your research for you again.
Here is where the lead writer admits to retooling established character personalities to be more in line with feminist paradigms:
>>3117591
Here's where we find out that their PR team is working with Anita Sarkeesian:
>>3120324
But hey. I mean, if you ignore the forced character rewrites, heavy handed feminism, transexuals, gamergate references and the grand poobah instigator being called in to quarterback it all, then yeah, you're right, no problems!
...ya dense mook.
>>3120324
LOL goobergay was the best thing to happen to 4chan in a while.
>>3120349
References in the actual game is what I'm asking.
>>3118026
>Did the "developers" have access to the original tools, and did they bother to use them instead of something easier and trendier?
I made a thread about that very thing and tweeted them about it, unfortunately without a response. I'd also be interested in what resolution the new backgrounds were rendered in.
>>3120354
Those were references in the actual game, try to keep up.
>>3120359
No pictures of it?
>>3120361
...I linked you to screenshots you fucking imbecile.
>>3120363
Looks like screenshots of twitter posts or a website.
Does anyone know what level a character would be at the end of this new shit? Would your char be level 16 at the beginning of SoA?
>>3120369
So? Heft your fat fingers over to the keyboard and google it yourself. Amber Scott's interview where she admitted to rewriting the characters for feminism is on Kotaku. Their PR/Developer Dee calling in Sarkeesian is on Twitter. The CEO T. Oster's statement defending the GamerGate reference is published on TechRaptor.
All of this information was readily available for you and has been posted multiple times. Now stop with your "hurr i was only pretending to be retarded."
>>3120378
So what you're saying is you won't provide any ingame examples?
>>3120380
Wait, is that what you're doing?
>the developers who made the game say it's in there
>the people complaining about it say it's in there
>but i don't really believe it's in there XDDDDD
Get the fuck out of here.
>>3120386
All I'm asking for are some ingame examples.
>>3120391
Then I'd recommend googling up some.
>what is immersion
>what is suspension of disbelieve
>let's put some ebin maymay into our game
>virtue signaling
>devs acting like total cunts in response
>all while raping a classical and beloved RPG series in the process
Nah, it's all just trans hate!
Right from the developer / lead writer's mouth.
>>3120370
440000 xp apparently, which amounts to level 9 for warriors + clerics, level 12 for rogues, and level 11 for druids + mages
>>3118989
But SoA already slipped in a bit of 3e things into it, and if people had a problem with it, they could stop whining and just remove them.
There is after all a limited number of classes. So, why not simply replace the monk with a crusader? Or even a more 2e monk. The barbarian is even easier to deal with, it's just a fighter kit, so you should be able to replace it with any existing fighter kit.
>>3120584
2E monk is from The Scarlet Brotherhood supplement for Greyhawk.
2E barbarian is its own distinct Warrior class from the PHBR handbook series.
Unless you mean Beamdog's verison of SoA, which of course added false edition rules.
The crusader is a 2E class from Faiths & Avatars.
>>3120612
PO: Spells and magic also had a crusader choice (or maybe it was PO: skills and powers)
BG2 barbarian IS a fighter kit. That's why it can dual class extremely freely if you just edit the dualclass.2da file.
>>3117826
>>3117831
>>3117861
>>3117876
>>3117909
>>3120625
Barbarian is a Warrior class. Black-cover books are not True AD&D and are in fact an aberration / abomination. Slavicsek and Donovan are excluded from the Canon of True AD&D.
It is the black-cover alteration to dual-classing rules that leads to barbarians lacking dual-class freedom, with its prohibition against more than 1 class from each of the 4 sub-groups. This is an arbitrary rule slipped in to punish psionicists for not having an over-group.
There are no kits in false editions either.
>>3120660
Not in the Infinity Engine. I don't know to what degree the monk and sorcerer were actual classes, but monk definitely was far more than a kit, which is why those 2 can't dual or multi class at all. They probably crudely blocked the barbarian from dual classing to not make those other 2 look weird.
The way it works, they had to sacrifice the option to dual class to a specialist mage to make room for kits, and with that, they had to choose between making only the first or only the final class able to have a kit. And, clearly, they did not manage to implement dual class options that weren't also multi class options.
>>3120758
This is improper implementation, having multi-class options equal to dual-class options. Dual classing is difficult and the reward is that you can dual class to whatever you want, as many times as you want (they were also wrong to limit it to only one instance of dual-classing).
>>3120779
They also left out druid/mages and F/D/Ms alongside.
They didn't allow fighter/mage/cleric or F/M/thief triple classes either.
Dual classing is not as difficult in a CRPG, much like simply playing a paladin is overly easy.
Now, if they would have originally felt the need to include a bard multiclass NPC, or a ranger/mage or druid/thier, that would probably have opened up dual classing options a bit. And they likely would have cannibalized it in SoA, that would have caused some funny drama.
>>3119365
She is?
http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Amber_Scott
>>3117826
i love the image :-)
>>3117407
get this shit off this board and go back to /v/
>>3120479
Actually I reached level 10 with a berserker
>>3120817
>SJW worked for Pathfinder
>somehow that makes her less an SJW
Or it means they kept her on a shorter leash. Most employers stop their employees from injecting inappropriate materials into their IPs.
>people are still playing this game
>people ever played this game to begin with
You guys need to find a better wall of text simulator.
I think it is quite fun. Never ran into any major bugs (that weren't fixed by loading). I skipped through most of the text, though. It feels more like IWD than Baldur's Gate, with linear progression and all, but you feel more invested in the adventure because its your Baldur's Gate saga character.
The main villain is kind of dumb, but not as dumb as Mellisan.
>>3119343
Yes anon, NoA has been censoring their video games in america for the last decades because of the strong SJW lobby.
>>3120932
It's probably three different people.
>>3120660
>>3119001
Okay, I think some of you people who are so assured about what's all faithful to the **proper** original materials of the righteous ages need to start examining the backgrounds. It would be really useful to be assessing them for how true they are to the forgotten realms design, and also whether they're actually in appropriate locations.
That's for those of you who feel you understand the settings as well as the story-dynamics.
And for that, you people will need whole area rips, not just single screens. I don't know if they are straightforwardly extractable with the old infinity engine tools, but it should come along.
>>3117501
>referring to a transsexual male->female as 'she'
Faggot.
>>3121328
manchild
>>3121328
In D&D, literal sex changes are possible.
>>3120245
>>3121341
Enjoy continuing to support the mass enabling of mental illness that is being promoted not on the grounds of any real proof and quite a lot of evidence that it actual has no impact or even encourages people with gender dysmorphia to commit suicide, but for poltiical reasons to continue the disconstruction of non-state based social structures and dismantling of Western society that was started by Soviet intelligence and co-opted by globalist capitalists.
>>3117407
SJW takeover. You are forced to deal with trans and bi characters and the dialogue forces you to be nice to them. Mass banning from the forums if you complain. See Voxday.
It apparently does not matter if the writing feels forced or fake
>>3120029
Yes there is, Captain Corwin, a major NPC, is a single bisexual mother whose daughter calls you out for mansplaining to her.
>>3120324
>Implying BG fans would buy a cashgrab muh HD mod from Beamdog.
I swear "retro" devs should all kill themselves like Double Fine.
>>3121687
>Dat filtered sprites
Shit fuckers! People actually pay Beamdog for such Retroarch-tier shit!
>>3122361
>classic-BG fans
>buying this insult to the franchise
No, they're definitely not fans. Hipster kids who's first interaction with BG was a Steam sale? Maybe.
>>3122386
The encounters and dungeons are actually very good. But you're too worked up over some gay story shit some nerd wrote as- if anyone cares about that in their dungeon crawler- to notice.
>>3122264
You will never be a janitor.
>>3122547
For all I care the plot is that my BG 1 character is on the way to BG 2 and doing some dungeons in mean time. BG 1 isn't a plot heavy game at all, and is the better for it.
>>3122606
BG 2 has a good balance of story to dungeons to it, but Throne of Bhaal goes overboard with its awful story in your face...which is unfortunate because it actually has some really fun encounters (no good dungeons outside of the awesome Watcher's Keep that you can just do during SoA, though).
>>3122386
>hey, hey, look at me, I can pick out a clause in a post and juxtapose it alongside a nonsensical implication
And you're not even TRYING to guess what the explicit modding reference relates to. Twit.
>>3122613
>you left the town? lol war no turning back
i dont care about lore much, but was that random spider lair chick from bg1 really supposed to be irenicus' wife?
>>3121690
Women can't have Strength scores as high as men. Word of Gygax, word is bond.
>>3122926
Gygax isn't saying much of anything these days, though.
I really just wonder the point in the 'enhanced editions'. The originals already have access to high resolutions, run well on modern systems, and have working multiplayer.
I'd say it's the same thing as HoMM3 HD, but that at least improved the sprites.
>>3122902
That's not the only re-used name. Hareishan is a mage in the mines in BG 1, and a vampire in 2. "Bodi", minus the "h" is one of the false password options at the thieves guild. I think they just wanted to re-use their fantasy names. Shit's hard to come up with.
>>3122510
SJW Quest IV: Twilight of the Transgendered Reckoning might have the finest encounters and dungeons ever put to paper, but I'd never know because I don't go playing games that were designed to pander and push political messages.
>>3123064
Just saying, whoever was in charge of the actual gameplay did a great job. And if someone could be bothered to salvage the material from the writing, there'd be a great game left over.
They did the same with ToB.
>>3123072
Ahhh, NOW somebody's getting it!
>>3122964
>at least improved the sprites.
If you want cartoon filters on everything, go be an RA shill.
>>3122798
Man-splain it to me. I'm a woman btw. I love daddy's cock but besides the point because I am stronk woman who can do whatever she wants including cuccking phat nigger dicks. Fight me, cis-male scum!
>>3121696
That's wrong. You're full of shit and delusional if you think this is mansplaining. Especially when it's identical if you're a female.
>>3125081
Yeah, I don't know why people keep parroting that bullshit. It's like they read that overblown nichegamer article and just proceeded to repeat the exact same words used in said article without actually looking at the context.
>>3125081
I don't quite give a shit about the SJW angle, but that kid is a bit of a dick. "Oh you want to help well fuck you my mommy is totes capable so go fuck yourself"
"Well sorry for being concerned, fucking brat"
Sounds terrible, really. At least a "thanks" would be nice out of basic courtesy. Makes me not give a damn about the kid or the mother.
>>3118105
journalism is inherently biased, it's the point of journalism. you can choose who to listen to
gamergate was about making fun of zoe quinn for being a slut. muh ethics was just an excuse
>>3119343
oh those poor fire emblem indie devs. i'm sure the censorship is because of tumblr and not children and i'm sure there's totally important political reasons behind complaining about it aside from buttpained manchildren upset they can't tribute all over their wiiu gamepads
>>3125231
it actually is because of a perceived backlash it would have had in the US, but you just want to project instead of looking up sources :^)
I hope someone rips the assets of this abomination. Could be used to spice up the modding scene.
>>3125201
It's a little girl who thinks her mom is the greatest
>>3124036
I'm not quite sure what you mean. I was just commenting how the EE versions don't seem to contribute anything of value, and are possibly even worse. I was just comparing it with HoMM3 HD since it's considered one of the worst of these rereleases.
>>3125259
Wuh-hoa! An atypical bit of solid sense in this thread!
>>3125275
why... do you speak... like this...
>>3125563
Because my writer... was handed... an aboundance of... "..." ... and was told to use them... freely.
>>3125275
Not that guy, but I find it weird that the kid speaks for her mom, or would even know what's best for her. Or the mom wouldn't reprimand the kid for being rude to another adult. Is this explained in the game?
>>3126130
I am that guy. I just think it sounds wrong. Specially considering the player character is just trying to help (and can be male or female, to boot).
Regardless of the fantasy setting, a kid that speaks like that just doesn't fit and kinda sends a bad image of the parent, therefore the parent would avoid having the kid speak like that to another adult, specially one who is being helpful. No amount of magic and goblins would change that.
Call me whatever, but I don't think that the intended purpose is to show that the mother gives zero fucks about having her kids being well-behaved. There's absolutely nothing wrong with teaching kids to be well-behaved. If the idea was to show that the mother was "an independent woman that needs no man" I don't think having the kid as mouthpiece is good writing. The mother could be an epic virtuous badass on her own merits without having the kid as a mouthpiece like that. That's just sloppy writing. Show, don't tell.
The image in >>3121690 , unless it's fake, shows that it's intentional and the author doesn't care if it sounds wrong. I don't see what having a kid being rude has to do with "diversity" or genders or anything, it just comes out as a bratty kid for no reason. "not reflective of the real world" my ass. Any mother would call her kid out on that in the real world unless she's completely disinterested, specially being a kid that still refers to her mother as "mama" to strangers. At those ages they kinda regurgitate what their parents tell them to say.
I don't care if some character is transexual or not, but I care if the writing totally takes you out of the game with obscure memes that only a couple players will get and sloppy characterization. The memes aren't even a reference to a show or something, it's to some internet meme only a few have heard about. Come on, now.
>>3117826
Not false-flagging, but I think GG would get its point across better if it purged the robots.
>>3125250
Waifushit and petting minigames is seen as ridiculous in the West regardless of feminists and FE is a major franchise on the 3DS with an audience broader than the ronrey sperglords on /v/ and reddit so of course they cut it.
>>3125275
Holy fuck the 1pp project is laughing its ass off right now and so am I, nice paper dolls SJW drones
I'm playing through BG:EE right now.
Are your companions supposed to be so silent? I'm on chapter 6 and only the half-orc added in EE has had any real dialogue with the player.
>>3127592
It would be kind of out of place if they did. Since none of the companions in BG 1 had much, if any.
>>3127832
lol what a shitty game
>All these seige of dragonspear screenshots with Safana
>Human Thief
>unable to dual-class to mage
>17 Dex
>Literally the worst thief
why.jpg
>>3127592
Yes, that's BG1. Now, if you were playing the original BG version, converted to the BG2 engine, with the Banter Pack added, then you'd have a considerable bit of dialogue.
>>3127850
Imoen was added very late during development.
>>3127850
Because the alternative is a gay gnome
>it's another room choke full of enemies
Is the whole expansion like this?
>>3117808
It's a 1998 game with an update, and anything before like 2005ish is retro. Calm yourself.
>>3128061
Does the banter pack work with EE? It seems it used to but doesn't anymore.
>>3129481
It worked with the last version, I have no clue about 2.0
I uninstalled it anyways, it was awful
>>3129850
>I uninstalled it anyways, it was awful
Good to know; I tried installing it earlier and it doesn't seem to work with 2.0.
Tell me one reason why I should play EE instead of BGT.
>>3129952
Amazing NPCs like Dorn, Rasaad and Niera
The newest and latest expansion pack Siege of Dragonspear
>>3129972
>Amazing NPCs like Dorn, Rasaad and Niera
why would you not include Baeloth to at least throw off this bait just a little bit?
>>3130060
I forgot that was a thing ;_;
>>3130060
And the bear
>>3129436
>Halo is retro now
Are you fucking retarded?
>>3125231
>>3127396
Hi, I'm THAT woman again. Mansplain it to me, I'm too dumb to understand this butthurt from both sides. I'm a woman and a hepephile, so I like fwapping to waifus too. Although I think TBQH men who fwap are all disgusting and an never be as pure and beautiful as the ugliest tumblr user.
>>3130681
are you 12 or do you as an adult actually think you're funny?
>>3130683
Stop slutshaming me. I did nothing wrong, and you're 12 years old cis-rapist for accusing a perfect woman of anything. You're a walking abortion.
>>3117407
I personally am staying away from it because I've read there are tons of bugs. Maybe I'll try it if it's on a 70%+ sale. I can overlook SJW-pandering, but I'm not about to shell out 20 bucks for a broken game that might get patched someday. I don't understand how a company can think it's a good idea to take such a niche title and treat it's development so poorly.
>>3131997
>Payng shekels for muh HD "remakes" evah
You dun goofed, goyim.
>>3120341
Seriously, what does a progressive writer at Beamdog have in common with a puritanical grandmother? They both hate attractive women who enjoy sex.
>>3120817
>her photo
>I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
On the other hand, I totally understand why she hates slutty women who enjoy sex like Safana.
>>3117407
From my perspective:
>The SJW soapbox is stupid and not an issue, however the new NPCs are written worse than the other Beamdog ones. Apparently updates will give them more character development.
>It looks bad compared to the original game
>The expansion feels more like IWD than BG/BG2.
>Bugs, will be fixed.
I mean, it could've been a hell of a lot worse. But what we got wasn't very good for an initial product.
>>3129952
It's better outside of Windows. I guess better widescreen than the mod could also be taken into account.
>>3118989
IWD2 is literally 3rd edition. ToB's HLAs are an approximation of shit in High Level Adventures, the 2E predecessor of the Epic Handbook.
If I start in the beginning (skip sod most likely) and play into tob, will a triple class character always be behind in power? I want to be an OP fighter/mage/cleric. Will my turn undead forever suck? Will I eventually reach level cap?
>>3135008
*even if the character isn't in line with lore.
God damn it.
>>3117421
>being this much of an "MRA" moron
jesus christ, gb2/r9k/ or /v/ or what ever
>>3135008
A mention of lore would've been nice though. One surrounding stuff like that (like a quest surrounding a new type of magic or research into the like) would've at put some depth in there.
>>3135039
>putting in "lore" just to explain something about a minor character that can be explained by the game's universe it's self
also, do you really think that would shut up the insane anti-sjw morons?
>>3135028
what an ebin shitpost
>>3135045
>putting in
You can just pull from what's already established either by the game or D&DA though, it's really not that much work because it's halfway done for you.
