Preview Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Twitch Stream

[Tigranes]

Looks like Baldur's Gate. Can't think of anything particularly negative to say about it really. Will probably buy this.

Tigranes

Eh. I called the EEs out as pointless, shit, inferior, buggy cashgrabs because that was what they were: overpriced and with no real reason to exist besides tablet port. DoS needs to be judged by its own merits. The only issue is we haven't really seen too much of it so far.

I skimmed the stream sso let me know if I fucked it up, but what I see:

• Actually very nice and pretty environments blending BG/IWD influences. Looks superb.
• They do look pretty linear as Infinitron noted but that's not a huge issue for this kind of game.
• Fuck-buttshit ugly UI. They do this in EVERY release. The most consistent hallmark of a Beamdog product is that they take existing UI, add one or two ease of use functions, then make it magnitudes fucking uglier.
• Writing seems humdrum but hey let's not pretend BG1 in particular was that great in this regard
• Combat/encounter design is the most important question, and they still won't properly show us what's going on there. The streamer ends up Select All -> Autoattacking everyone, there are a lot of trash mobs, and I didn't really see a lot of interesting stuff (although again I skimmed).

So the verdict remains pretty much the same as before:

1. New content on Infinity Engine base? It's really hard to fuck that up. Unless they fuck it up a lot it'll be worth playing.
2. Their track record contains very little original content, and most of that has been shitty. Here, what we've been shown ranges from inconclusive to adequate.
3. So I guess we'll only really know when it's out...

 

[SniperHF]

Eh. I called the EEs out as pointless, shit, inferior, buggy cashgrabs because that was what they were: overpriced and with no real reason to exist besides tablet port. DoS needs to be judged by its own merits.

Except that it requires acquiring one of those cashgrabs to play. Unless they literally remove the current BG EE SKU and replace it with a BG:EE + SoD SKU for the same price there's 0 chance I touch this thing.

 

[Infinitron]

Yeah, poor guy just wants to rest spam their way through the game and random encounters keep getting in the way, absolutely horrible! /boggle

He had to rest because his party was fatigued, not because their health was low, so the "git gud" argument doesn't apply here.

I guess fatigue is another one of them design decisions.

 

[Arthandas]

Today Baldur's Gate interquel, tomorrow Planescape Torment 2...

 

[Bester]

So do you have to finish BG1 first before you can play this?

 

[Volrath]

Yeah, poor guy just wants to rest spam their way through the game and random encounters keep getting in the way, absolutely horrible! /boggle

He had to rest because his party was fatigued, not because their health was low, so the "git gud" argument doesn't apply here.

I guess fatigue is another one of them design decisions.

Roguey brofists this

 

[Roguey]

Roguey brofists this

He modified fatigue as a mechanic nearly one year from release, better late than never.

Designing games with streaming in mind seems like interesting new territory. It's bound to get rid of a lot of timesink pointlessness that people have just grudgingly accepted all this time, though I imagine a few babies might get thrown out with that bathwater.

 

[Electryon]

lol they're using the infinity engine in 2016 the worst game engine ever made

what a bucnh of fucking idiots

they not capable to write a new engine for their game

how hard can it be

only a idiot would buy such a game and encourage fraud

If you think there isn't a market in 2016 for new Infinity Engine content you are delusional. Maybe they are capable of writing a new engine, maybe not. It hardly pertains to this conversation, as Beamdog's work focuses exclusively on the Infinity Engine. They're success is because they are working with that engine, the staff is full of long-time mod makers for those games. It's not like they're trying to trick anyone. Your comment about fraud is just plain stupid. What fraud are they committing?? They have the Wizards of the Coast license. There are people at Beamdog who probably have more knowledge about the Infinity Engine than the original Black Isle designers at this point.

No one has to like the Enhanced Editions of BG1, BG2, and IWD. There is alot to be said for the modded versions of the original games that essentially give the same experience. There's a valid argument to be had there. The statements in your post are just nonsense.

 

[Irenaeus III]

You should see his posts on CDS.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Designing games for Twitch. A noble purpose and exactly what gaming needed.

 

[kwanzabot]

Designing games for Twitch. A noble purpose and exactly what gaming needed.

maybe some people just like watching others play?

i personally dont but maybe some do

 

[Excidium II]

videogame voyeurs.

 

[J_C]

Beamdog dev: "keeping in with the tradition of Baldur's GAte, SoD is an extremely reactive game based on your choices and characters"

Really? Because BG was quite weak when it came to reactivity.

 

[Roguey]

maybe some people just like watching others play?

i personally dont but maybe some do

I think of it more as "If an aspect of the gameplay experience isn't enjoyable to watch, carefully consider if it's actually fun to play. If it isn't, consider ways it can be made fun, and if that's not feasible, cut it."

 

[FeelTheRads]

^ And that thinking is why gaming is shit today.

 

[Roguey]

^ And that thinking is why gaming is shit today.

This thinking would have prevented Underrail's Deep Caverns from shipping as they were. Constantly waiting for debuffs to wear off is excruciating to watch and play, but Styg left it as is until everyone from every forum complained about it.

 

[DeepOcean]

Today Baldur's Gate interquel, tomorrow Planescape Torment 2...

What can change the nature of a cash grab?

 

[Tigranes]

Eh. I called the EEs out as pointless, shit, inferior, buggy cashgrabs because that was what they were: overpriced and with no real reason to exist besides tablet port. DoS needs to be judged by its own merits.

Except that it requires acquiring one of those cashgrabs to play. Unless they literally remove the current BG EE SKU and replace it with a BG:EE + SoD SKU for the same price there's 0 chance I touch this thing.

Really? Well that's one significant tick for the Shit box.

 

[Excidium II]

Yes it is a direct expansion to BGEE. At least it seems you don't *need* to import a char.

 

[Jaesun]

If I recall correctly, the new game requires the BG:EE to be installed. We have known that since forever...

 

[FeelTheRads]

^ And that thinking is why gaming is shit today.

This thinking would have prevented Underrail's Deep Caverns from shipping as they were. Constantly waiting for debuffs to wear off is excruciating to watch and play, but Styg left it as is until everyone from every forum complained about it.

Yes, please post some more about games you never played, you might fool some other people into believing you know what you talk about so you can then quote them as "proof" that you're not as clueless as you are.

I can't imagine anything in Underrail (or any classic RPG for that matter) as fun to watch. Except maybe in a "i finished this game, now let's see how some other fags are playing it" way.
Guess what, games are made for playing not for watching. Fun to watch means instant gratification which is what is killing gaming. I'm sure you have no problem with that, though, since you hate games anyway.

 

[DeepOcean]

Wot? Actually someone demand that games must be good to watch as proof of fun? What BS is this? There are plenty of games that aren't fun to watch and are fun to play and games that are fun to watch and aren't fun to play. I can't stand playing 5 min of Starcraft 2 multiplayer or heartstone but it is pretty fun to watch.

 

[Irenaeus III]

Arguing with Roguey

 

[Bester]

the staff is full of long-time mod makers for those games.

I keep hearing this beamdog propaganda about modders. Two things pop to mind when I read this:

1) If it's such a brilliant idea to hire modders, how come BGEE and BG2EE turned out to be such utter shit?
It seems to me that whatever positive potential they might've had from their modding experience, it was completely destroyed by whoever was in charge of the project. Those "modders" didn't have any say in any decisions, they just did their jobs like speechless cogwheels, so like any other cogwheel in the gamedev industry.

2) I don't even believe the team behind EE are "full of long time modders". They probably have 2-4 modders at best. I may be wrong? But it sounds like propaganda bullshit to me.

There are people at Beamdog who probably have more knowledge about the Infinity Engine than the original Black Isle designers at this point.

This sentence is not even germane to the discussion. Kinda like the rest of your shill ridden drivel.

 

[Infinitron]

I believe Beamdog only really started binge-hiring modders for the IWD:EE project, although they probably contributed in small ways to the BG:EEs as well.