People News David Gaider has joined Beamdog as Creative Director

[Septaryeth]

As much as I loathe DA2, seeing how trashy the romances already are in BG:EE, I doubt Gaider could make it even worse.

 

[Space Insect]

I figure Beamdog won't throw in any crazy tranny sex into BG, especially since they probably want to keep their precious Teen rating.

 

[Alex]

He'll probably earn less at Beamdog in a future that's a lot more risky than just staying somewhere in the Bioware organization chart. You gotta respect this move.
I mean, I'm not seeing e.g. the revered Leonard Boyarsky making a move like that.

A person can be revered for something he has already done. All Troika guys put their livehood at stakes for keeping that company afloat. For it, they got to show three very good games. Of course I would love it if they tried that again. But even without that happening, those guys deserve respect, I think.

I figure Beamdog won't throw in any crazy tranny sex into BG, especially since they probably want to keep their precious Teen rating.

I dunno. There are lots of people out there that actually think romancing Edwina would be a good idea.

 

[Shevek]

ToEE was worse.

Dumb fuck

Who cares about this crap? Do women scare you or something?

Dumb fuck

Just when you think beamdog can't get any worse, now we'll get even more gay sex in BG3.

So? Sex is shit in these games regardless. Which gives a shit if it's gay or not? One of the best modern crpg characters is Gann from Mask of the Betrayer and he's gay. Who cares? There needs to be a Codex purge of all you edgebabies.

 

[Whisper]

I am not worried anymore.

Baldurs Gate 3 WILL have gay romances!

 

[ROARRR]

The EE´s are for myself just a new interpretation of the series.
The original BG series end with throne of bhaal.
Romance is a part of the BG series. It doesn´t matter if new or old!
If you don´t like it than don´t play it or ignore the romance part by telling the party members:"Shut the fuck up!".
Why is that so hard?

 

[Prime Junta]

One of the best modern crpg characters is Gann from Mask of the Betrayer and he's gay.

He is? I got the impression that he's banging farmers' daughters left and right, plus I think female PC's can romance him.

 

[mediocrepoet]

One of the best modern crpg characters is Gann from Mask of the Betrayer and he's gay.

He is? I got the impression that he's banging farmers' daughters left and right, plus I think female PC's can romance him.

Pretty sure he was on record as being bi. Anything goes.

 

[One-and-a-half-Ivan]

One of the best modern crpg characters is Gann from Mask of the Betrayer and he's gay.

He is? I got the impression that he's banging farmers' daughters left and right, plus I think female PC's can romance him.

Pretty sure he was on record as being bi. Anything goes.

MCA wanted to make him like that, but I believe that in the end they made him straight because of the publisher.

 

[Trodat]

Next step should be luring James Ohlen and Kevin Martens to help Beamdog make RPG's great again. Yeah not going to happen.

 

[Zed]

Better Gaider than whoever wrote the garbage BG:EE companions.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Is 2016 the end of the console derp cycle where the great console experiment failed or something? Did the Console wall fallen and refugees from Playstationland flocking to PC and I didn't notice?

No, I don't think it's the end of the derp cycle. It looks more like the console market being divided by the giants, which leads to its own implosion, and any publisher who isn't a giant is looking towards the PC market where digital distribution makes it easier to compete. The fact that new PC sales are at a record low in 2015 only adds to publishers' cautiousness.

Most of these designers are complete shit IMO, and will never come close to making anything as fun as what D&D already offered.

The truth has been spoken.

Honestly, I don't see how Gaider joining Beamdog can be viewed with optimism. After all, he worked on games many of us like find good for what they are, together with hundreds of other people, 10-15 years ago, under a much different command structure. Whereas Avellone and Tim Cain are living legends who are symbols of the old-school classics which they invested an enormous time and effort in, the only thing Gaider is a symbol of is, well, "romances".

What makes me even more suspicious is that Gaider is being offered a high-level position as creative director. I think we are once again faced with a situation where a name connected with old hits is being taken on board for his "experience", and said name sees in this a chance to prove how original he actually is, take a step away from the titles he is so tired of being connected with, and unleash his creativity on the unsuspecting audience. The result of this is very hard to predict, as game-making is a huge effort involving so many people, but what is certain is that it will be nothing near the "old school classics" we associate with that name, and usually precisely because that name considers these very old classics to be outdated and "not what today's players want".

 

[Fairfax]

The fact that new PC sales are at a record low in 2015 only adds to publishers' cautiousness.

Wrong. Graphics cards sales are down, and have been going down for a decade. That's because of on-board graphics, CPU-GPU combinations, less interest in desktops, tablet market, etc.
However, sales of expensive graphics cards for gamers have increased.

What makes me even more suspicious is that Gaider is being offered a high-level position as creative director. I think we are once again faced with a situation where a name connected with old hits is being taken on board for his "experience", and said name sees in this a chance to prove how original he actually is, take a step away from the titles he is so tired of being connected with, and unleash his creativity on the unsuspecting audience.

I'm the first to criticize Beamdog's bullshit, but it's a smart move, and it's simpler than that. He brings a lot more attention to whatever they're working on. They're already making headlines, and his involvement will increase word of mouth when a game is shown.
Not to mention the most obvious perk: he'll raise a lot more of money if they Kickstart their first game.

"Former BioWare devs bring you the sequel to Baldur's Gate II, led by none other than "
They're buddies with MCA and so is Gaider. Human stretch goal goes without saying.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Wrong. Graphics cards sales are down, and have been going down for a decade. That's because of on-board graphics, CPU-GPU combinations, less interest in desktops, tablet market, etc.
However, sales of expensive graphics cards for gamers have increased.

Look what I found. It's for you: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3012...e-in-2015-isnt-going-to-end-anytime-soon.html

I'm the first to criticize Beamdog's bullshit, but it's a smart move, and it's simpler than that. He brings a lot more attention to whatever they're working on. They're already making headlines, and his involvement will increase word of mouth when a game is shown.
Not to mention the most obvious perk: he'll raise a lot more of money if they Kickstart their first game.

Not saying it's not a smart move, just that we're not the kind of audience they would be after, when they set out to make a D&D5 game in the genre of "spiritual successor". If anyone (not implying you in particular) thinks D&D5 is enough to make a game good, there is a recent counterexample

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Kinda like that freedom from publishers everyone was so hot about. Obsidian in particular showed what you can accomplish when you are free from those shackles.

"Grognards" are loling at this indeed.

I assume this is a reference to Pillars of Eternity, but didn't Obsidian already reveal this five years earlier with Alpha Protocol? Supposedly, at a late point in development, the publisher expressed concern about the game being an FPS rather than an RPG, something that didn't overly bother the people making it.


In before someone insists Alpha Protocol is an RPG because it has semi-interactive cutscenes.

 

[Fairfax]

PC sales are irrelevant. What matters are the high-performance processors and dedicated GPUs, which have been selling more, not less.

 

[Fry]

Yep. Low-end pre-built PCs and gaming PCs are not the same market.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...op-graphics-cards-hit-10-year-low-in-q2-2015/

JPR claims that while the market of desktop AIBs is shrinking, sales of expensive graphics cards used by gamers are increasing.

“However, in spite of the overall decline, somewhat due to tablets and embedded graphics, the PC gaming momentum continues to build and is the bright spot in the AIB market,” said Jon Peddie, the head of JPR.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Beamdog wants to be a real video game company. Cute.

 

[Spectacle]

Wrong. Graphics cards sales are down, and have been going down for a decade. That's because of on-board graphics, CPU-GPU combinations, less interest in desktops, tablet market, etc.
However, sales of expensive graphics cards for gamers have increased.

Look what I found. It's for you: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3012...e-in-2015-isnt-going-to-end-anytime-soon.html

The fact that businesses no longer replace their PCs after 3 years but use them for 5 years or longer doesn't mean that fewer people are gaming on PCs.

In fact the current slowdown in CPU advancement makes PC gaming cheaper, since you can get away with a fairly old computer and only upgrading your video card from time to time and still play all the latest games with decent settings.

 

[FeelTheRads]

I was surprised how well written many campaigns and setting material is for many PnP rpgs.

You're talking crazy. Surely the ego of some guy is more important than that. Butt-sex and magic plant glue go hand-in-hand in RPG writing.

I assume this is a reference to Pillars of Eternity, but didn't Obsidian already reveal this five years earlier with Alpha Protocol? Supposedly, at a late point in development, the publisher expressed concern about the game being an FPS rather than an RPG, something that didn't overly bother the people making it.

I never heard about that, but if true it's just too good.

 

[Angthoron]

"Run, Gaider, run!"

And join Beamdog he did.

 

[Knut]

good move, maybe now the Beamdog's mediocre content will improve.

and I really look forward to any and all gay sex they decide to include, the spasms and butthurt here is too delicious :D

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Honestly, I don't see how Gaider joining Beamdog can be viewed with optimism. After all, he worked on games many of us like find good for what they are, together with hundreds of other people, 10-15 years ago, under a much different command structure. Whereas Avellone and Tim Cain are living legends who are symbols of the old-school classics which they invested an enormous time and effort in, the only thing Gaider is a symbol of is, well, "romances".

BG2 has been a staple in Codex Top 5 for years now, I'd say that's on a level above "good for what it is". Also, in terms of combat and encounter design, Ascension (Gaider's mod for BG2) blows away anything Avellone and Tim Cain ever did. Of course it remains to be seen if he'll ever get into area/encounter design again and if he does, it likely won't be with the same approach.

MCA and Tim Cain are living legends and symbols but they also may be burnt out and have nothing left to give to the industry. I guess we'll see how MCA does at Larian and whether Tim Cain will have a bigger role in new Obsidian projects down the road.

What makes me even more suspicious is that Gaider is being offered a high-level position as creative director. I think we are once again faced with a situation where a name connected with old hits is being taken on board for his "experience", and said name sees in this a chance to prove how original he actually is, take a step away from the titles he is so tired of being connected with, and unleash his creativity on the unsuspecting audience. The result of this is very hard to predict, as game-making is a huge effort involving so many people, but what is certain is that it will be nothing near the "old school classics" we associate with that name, and usually precisely because that name considers these very old classics to be outdated and "not what today's players want".

All true sadly. I don't know if it's a consequence of it being such a young industry but it's amazing how much disrespect/disregard for its history is prevalent in the industry, even among those veterans who rose to fame with those classics. Only in the indie scene some old-school influence can be found, everything else is about accessibility and lazyness of both players and game designers.

 

[Infinitron]

Baldur's Gate 2 did not have a development team of hundreds.

Supposedly, at a late point in development, the publisher expressed concern about the game being an FPS rather than an RPG, something that didn't overly bother the people making it.

And it shouldn't have, since adding more "RPG elements" made the game worse.

 

[Xzylvador]

I don't know if it's a consequence of it being such a young industry but it's amazing how much disrespect/disregard for its history is prevalent in the industry, even among those veterans who rose to fame with those classics.

"Rose to fame", that made me chuckle.

Being a 'big name' to a very small number of nerds playing video games in their parents' basement and posting on the 'dex (or watch, that's probably where most of the basement dwellers live, the 'dex posters do so from the attic, which has a window ) not being valued in a multi billion dollar industry appears strange to you?