EFFORTPOST An Introduction to Dungeons and Drama based on Baldur's Gate

As the gondolas wear mourning and Baldur's Gate 3 finally leaves Early Access and officially comes out today, I thought it was time to compose a post about almost every drama in the current and the previous installments of the main series so far. Didn't get what I was insinuating at the beginning? Don't look now. I've heard complaints that my posts are too prolix so in case you just want to jump right into the discussion for BG3 or the older games, just press CTRL-F and search for my favourite word "lackadaisical".

What's Baldur's Gate?

Great question, Baldur's Gate is a series of isometric role-playing video games developed by BioWare and published by Black Isle Studios (later acquired by Interplay Entertainment). Both games are set in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Forgotten Realms campaign setting, a high fantasy world filled with magic, monsters, and epic adventures. Graphically horrifically outdated even at the time they were released, their gameplay mechanics were coded to conform to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition role-playing rules, with the game automatically computing rule intricacies, including tracking statistics and dice rolling but allowing the user to pause it at any moment. What sets the 2nd edition apart from the 1st edition of D&D that warrants a bold format? Besides a lot of details that only giga nerds care about, the 2nd edition introduced a concept called THAC0. THAC0, or To Hit Armor Class 0, is a system only created to filter out r-slurs. It's completely obvious to understand yet people claim it's too hard to figure out and that you need a calculator to get the math right while in reality it's just the number you need to roll on a d20 to hit an enemy with AC 0 with the general formula being Roll >= THAC0 - AC. So if you want to hit someone with an AC of 10 and you have a THAC0 of 14, you need to roll a 4 or higher. There are, to this day, still people questioning how exactly this works in Baldur's Gate:

Can someone please explain thaco and armor rating better than this.

I'm very confused by THAC0

Can someone explain the dice and THAC0 system to me?

THAC0 in Baldur's gate explained

The only thing that's kinda confusing is that in Baldur's Gate items with a +1 modifier to THAC0 do actually give a -1 modifier to it. This is similar to having to minimize the negative log-likelihood to maximize the likelihood or in rdrama terms, you have to maximize the success probability of your post by minimizing the disdain carp has for you.

God, I fricking hate you! Hurry up and post the drama!

Ok, okay I'm sorry, no yelling p-please! I do need to talk about a couple of things first.

As far as I know, there isn't really any drama in the original games that escapes its framework and finds mainstream appeal. Most of the time, people weren't happy with certain gameplay mechanics or story decisions but in general, the drama is self-contained in the games themselves. In case you are interested, some people claim BG isn't following true D&D guidelines, has weird class/alignment relations, changed the way a number of spells worked, and a bunch of other shit that is only meaningful to you if you have never seen another person naked. There are, however, some points of criticism that also make sense for ordinary mortals. Namely, in BG1, the city of Baldur's Gate is a role-playing and gameplaying nightmare. No one has fun fighting vampires and it makes no sense at all that random mages in dungeons can have abilities that they can use to wipe out the entire world. You see, while BG1 (especially in the beginning) is a low-level adventure filled with meaningless encounters and full of standard tropes, BG2 (and especially its expansion Throne of Bhaal) lets you fight impossibly powerful creatures that regularly clock in and tear you apart with wishes and meteors. To this day there are still debates about which of them is the better game, and it mostly boils down to what kind of level of fantasy you prefer. One of the favourite pastimes of the losers in /r/Baldursgate (apart from posting their incredible lucky rolls for a starting character for the umpteenth time in over twenty years) is arguing which of the two games is better: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. There are, of course, a googol of potential mods, which range from simple edits of spells to new companions to extensive gameplay and mechanical changes. The most important is called Sword Coast Stratagems which adds about 90 optional components, mostly focused on improving monster AI and encounter difficulties, but also includes a number of cosmetic and ease-of-use components, to the game. While BG1 and BG2 are essentially trivial, the harder difficulties of SCS make them incredibly hard to play as enemies behave much more intelligently and realistically. BG (especially if you use SCS) is prone to min/maxing as it's basically figured due to its old age while in reality, you could beat the games without even knowing anything about their intricate mechanics by save scumming every time misfortune befalls your party. Now's a good time to talk about Lilura1:

Lilura

Lilura is, by all means, a clinically insane online persona that has infiltrated and taken command of all sites even the slightest bit related to video games. I tend to exaggerate, especially when I have to write lurid sentences to keep you on your toes so that you don't just scroll over this post, but Lilura is really terrific. ((She)) rose to fame on the only vidya website worth visiting - RPGCodex - by getting into hourly arguments about things you wouldn't even dream arguing about. Her thread in which she and other users discuss her equally indescribable blog is an absolutely delight read that only true connoisseurs will get. In case you want an appetizer, one of her first appearances in the thread is basically all you need to know as she said: " Sorry. I'm too busy posting authoritative write-ups for the greatest games of all-time, such as Jagged Alliance 2. It's much better than the garbage you play. It's also much better than the garbage gunman shits out." Not only does she criticize another user pejoratively, but she also criticizes their taste, portrays herself as a better person for not even daring to like that garbage, and shills a game that is so old that it was outdated when it first released while at the same time acting as if she is the authority figure when it comes to video games. Essentially, she's the amalgamation of all of RPGCodex's best traits. Her knowledge of CRPGs (Computer Role-playing Games) makes her a walking encyclopedia and her treatise on the evaluation of BG1 and BG2 is the pinnacle of pointless internet treatises: BG1 vs BG2 . It should not even be mentioned that Lilura does not like any video game created after 2007, especially not the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate.

Enhanced Editions

I'm not going to lie, so I have to acknowledge that BG1 and BG2 are very old and somewhat clunky games. Unlike truly timeless masterpieces like Trackmania Nations Forever or Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, both games look and play like shit by today's standards. That and the fact that Baldur's Gate was always going to be reworked [Cite something here] led to Beamdog, after a protracted and irrelevant dispute with Atari, Wizards, and other legal parties, getting the rights and reworking both games by releasing Enhanced Editions. Beamdog is apparently owned by previous Bioware lead codecels so they seemed like a good fit to do this. While the Enhanced Editions were supposed to solve the usual problems of old video games such as the terrible user interface, inventory management, compatibility with newer hardware, multiplayer, localization, performance, bugs, and glitches, they weren't supposed to alter the game and its companions in any meaningful ways. To give the devil its due, this came with some great improvements for playing on modern hardware, such as additional screen resolution options, further zoom-out, and other general quality-of-life issues. Beamdog began remaking the cutscenes from the original game to look more modern and polished. However, it was confirmed that the original cutscenes would not be included as an alternative option if you wanted the original experience. There are, however, a lot of essential changes to the gameplay in the form of new companions.

The New Companions

You see, games like Baldur's Gate have always truly lived and died by their companions. What nowadays seems like a standard approach to make role-playing games more lively, wasn't always the standard. In fact, a lot of the critically acclaimed RPGs have basically stolen the companion concept from BG (and other games) where you can decide which characters you want to have in your party and which you don't. BG, for example, had a sarcastic wizard who wanted to drop dead immediately and a dimwitted but kind-hearted berserker who, after too many blows to the head, thought his pet hamster was a miniature giant space hamster. Companions have their own personality and alignment, they can like each other, they can hate each other and they interact with your actions but you are free to pick up and kill anyone you want, including Minsc. Since you spend a long time with your companions in these kinds of games, the quality of the games depends a lot on the qualities of the companions. People were unhappy that in the switch from BG1 to BG2 some companions stopped appearing for various reasons, but the EE have introduced completely new characters which are just awful: You have Neera, a tumbr-esque whiny yet self-obsessed wild mage that is so quirky and brisk that you want to kill her as soon as possible, and even the more liberal redditors agree as Why did they make Neera so painstakingly annoying? and neera is a b-word. The worst of them all is by far Hexxat, who's a Black girlboss vampire who basically bosses you around, which wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't the only evil thief in the game making her basically mandatory for evil-themed playthroughs. There's a lot of seething about her, here: The tragedy of Hexxat., here: Let's talk (mechanically) about Hexxat. If you don't understand she's very strong... Read on. If you already think she's very strong, she might be more than you think. and here: So about Hexxat.

It would go into a lot of detail as to why exactly these characters and their quests are so terrible, but I think you get the point, at least to some extent. Beamdog's inability to write is the reason. All the new companions Beamdog added are inconsistent with the game's theme and tone, have dogshit-quality modern-era writing, and stick out like a sore thumb. As with the cutscenes, you are not able to toggle off these cringeworthy new characters and are forced to mod them out if you want a more genuine experience to the original game. That mod, I might add, is by far the most popular mod for this title. No big deal you think? I'll just buy the original games then. Well, that's the thing. You cannot. Beamdog had all the original games pulled from every digital storefront and instead forced them to be "bundled" in with the Enhanced Edition. Effectively being held hostage by the very company that spits all over the legacy of the games they claim to preserve. Essentially it boils down to Beamdog's inability to write and nothing shows this better than their own expansion of Baldur's Gate called Siege of Dragonspear, which aimed to provide the bridge between the events of BG1 and BG2:

Siege of Dragonspear

There was a time when the acronym SoD alone was so feared that any mention of it already triggered an incredible shitstorm. The older ones among us can remember the times of 2016 when the topic was really everywhere. Actually, long after the G*merGate issue had finally died down, Beamdog decided to spread their own opinion and choose a side in the never-ending blood war. Unlike the eternal battle between demons and devils, the battle between /r/SRS and /r/SRSsucks has come to an end, with the winner and loser being irrelevant from the start. The consequences of this battle can still be seen today in the appeal of the new heroines of video games. Besides the actual game, which is kinda whatever honestly as the gameplay is centered around fighting huge waves of enemies in a very linear game filled with borderline nonsensical writing and events that either ruin the companions of BG1 or spoil certain events and companions of BG2, Beamdog decided to use the game as a propaganda tool to spread their agenda. There are still people writing negative reviews about the game on steam and on reddit, and if you ever bring up SoD anywhere it's usually followed by a subsequent discussion.

So what's the big deal here and why is this so hated?

There are three major reasons for the hate:

• The inclusion of a Transgender NPC

• A refugee crisis happening

• Minsc saying "Actually, it's about ethics in heroic adventuring"

So the first thing is easily explained, a cleric in the game, Mizhena, reveals through one of the possible dialogue trees that she is transgender. The option opens up when you ask her about her name, at which she says 'I created the name myself several years ago. My birth name proved unsuitable' When asking her what was wrong with her old name she goes on to add, 'When I was born, my parents thought me a boy and raised me as such. In time, we all came to understand I was truly a woman. I created my new name from syllables of different languages. All have special meaning to me, it is the truest reflection of who I am.' It's a trans character in a world full of magic. Why was this added? Frick if I know. The refugee crisis thing, which totally parallels the Syrian refugee crisis at the time, was used as a plot device to start the story of this game. Of course, there is no resemblance to actual real-life events and persons but why even add it then? God, just writing the third line pisses me off. People love Minsc. I cannot state this enough. He is the figurehead of the games, he achieved popularity outside the genre, he is probably the second most famous D&D character ever. And Beamdog made him say the line that parodies G*mergate's infamous slogan. Why? There's no reason. At least they realized that the line is a mistake and the team admitted their mistakes and the line has since been removed. Altogether, you could summarize that Beamdog tried to push a 'social justice agenda' on the players, and g*mers are inherently anti-SJW. Here are some articles, if you would like to read more:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/baldurs-gate-expansion-receives-negative-reviews-trans-amy-walker

New Baldur's Gate Expansion Criticized For Including Transgender Character

Beamdog CEO: ‘We never thought a transgender character was a big deal'

Opinion: The Siege of Dragonspear drama and the video game community

I'll add some reddit threads because people still love talking about this game and its reactions:

Just finished Siege of Dragonspear and am I out of touch with the fandom? [150 comments]

Why is there so much smack about SoD? [100 comments]

Siege of Dragonspear? [100 comments]

Siege of Dragonspear! [100 comments]

And of course, the RPG Codex thread which has around 180 pages full of undistilled seethe:

BaldurGate: Siege of Dragonspear #baldur's gate #beamdog #bioware #controversy #enhanced edition #mizhena #mizhena saga #serious social issues #transgender

There are some really funny things here that are most likely lost to time like the time the Beamdog staff urged people to post a positive review or here or a YouTube video titled " Abuse" in which the player kills the transgender NPC with like a MILLION comments. One last thing I'd like to say is that the lead writer of SoD, a woman named Amber Scott wrote the following regarding the criticism of the game:

As I've said before (and I won't say much more on this subject other than to get my perspective out there):

I'm the writer and creator. I get to make decisions about who I write about and why.

I don't like writing about straight/white/cis people all the time. It's not reflective of the real world, it sets up s/w/c as the "normal" baseline from which "other" characters must be added, and it's boring.

I consciously add as much diversity as I can to my writing and I don't care if people think that's "forced" or fake. I find choosing to write from a straight default just as artificial. I'm happy to be an SJW and I hope to write many > > Social Justice Games in the future that reach as many different types of people as possible. Everyone should get a chance to see themselves reflected in pop culture.

Baldur's Gate 3?

The eagerly awaited Baldur's Gate 3 releases today. After Beamdog's frickups, the rights to develop this massive game were given to Larian Studios, most noteworthy for the creation of the Divinity games. Divinity is, to say it bluntly, reddit incarnate: Dialogues are incredibly unfunny, and everything is presented with a whimsical atmosphere. You can't take anything seriously, and the story and plot always lose the thread in Act 3 at the latest. A lot of people like and even love Divinity (especially the second game) for its multiplayer and its gameplay, and even though I played and finished both games, I'm not the biggest fan. My opinion doesn't matter because A LOT of people love these games. That's fine and all, but Divinity IS NOT Baldur's Gate. The game has been in Early Access for 26 years now, and the people of /r/baldursgate aren't the biggest fans as shown in the following threads:

• BG3 has nothing to do with the BG 1 and 2 besides setting - couldnt be disappointed more

• After months of being hyped over BG3, I am entitled to my own rant on reddit. Here it goes.

• BG3 really a BG Sequel?

• I think a name-change could abate 99% of bg3 criticisms.

All of which have 100s of comments containing a lot of seethe from BG veterans claiming turn-based-combat isn't BG and that Larian ruined the atmosphere and other things cba reading. Then there's also the whole bear intercourse scene I have to mention which generated a lot of interest around the world (game rose to the top 10 most wishlisted on steam) which is just an intercourse scene with a bear. Nothing major. In the trailer of the game. People loved it. Or hated it. If you think this is reddit being r-slurred, here are some of our more knowledgable drama users talking about the game:

@MayflyAlt98 - Comment

Cautious. The gay druid bear s*x scene showcase fell flat on it's face and them bragging about how many cutscenes it has made me Wish we still had Real time with pause although the classes do look decent to play. Really interested in how "The Dark Urge" origin will affect the game, I've always tried to roleplay a total edgelord villain

@kaamrev - Comment

No because it's not a fricking BG sequel, it's a DOS2 sequel with fricking turn based combat instead of real time pause, and an astronomically shit canon story linking the Bhaalspawn to the3rd game.

I should link a longposting drama about how BG1&2 veterans were gaslamp by DOS straggots by how the Bhaalspawn games were supposedly always bad by clearly DOS fans who never even touched the fricking original games

Similar as to how STAR WARS sequel fan fats gaslit original trilogy fans that they were always bad during the height of the Last Jedi internet wars

@arsey - Comment

I hope not. I was into Divinity at first but got bored and never finished. Looking forward to Baldur's Gate though.

@1066_International - Comment

Honestly I just want Baldur's Gate 3 to release already. I probably haven't been somewhat excited for a game launch for a decade now lol.

@CantorDust - Comment

It's the only time I've ever felt legit hype for a game ever. I love larian so much bros

@Losercel - Comment

In response to the previous: Literally the other way around. I love Baldur's Gate, I hate Larian. Cannot wait to see my boy Minsc again.

Baldur's Gate 3 is an anomaly

There's currently a lot of seething from game developers that Baldur's Gate 3 is an anomaly and not the standard for further RPGs b-because L-LARIAN had TOO MUCH TIME and the GAME IS TOO GOOD. WE CANNOT STOP DELIVERING SHITTY BROKEN AND CLEARLY UNFINISHED GAMES ON RELEASE, OK CHUD? GAME DEVELOPMENT IS A PASSION!

No, seriously, some game dev really said:

https://x.com/WritNelson/status/1677632079792668673

Like a lot of people, I'm deeply excited about what the lovely folks at Larian accomplished with Baldur's Gate 3, but I want to gently, pre-emptively push back against players taking that excitement and using it to apply criticism or a "raised standard" to RPGs going forward

...

As a TL;DR:

In an era of megagames, Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the largest attempted, built by a specialized group of people using mature tech specially built to make this specific game, reinforced by invaluable mass player feedback AND market validation ahead of its launch. This is not a new baseline for RPGs--this is an anomaly. Trying to do the same thing in the same way, especially without the same advantages, could kill an entire GROUP of studios.

And here's an article about that statement that summarized the sentiment:

Why devs consider Baldur's Gate 3 anomaly, not new standard for RPG genre: “It's Rockstar-level nonsense for scope”

tl;dr:

Long development cycle that started back in 2017;

Two previous games, Divinity: Original Sin and Original Sin II, “worth of tech and institutional knowledge to draw from”;

Successful Early Access period lasting three years that provided Larian with community feedback, bug hunting, and cash flow;

Huge team of over 400 developers across seven offices;

The license for one of the largest entertainment IPs (Dungeons & Dragons).

He cited several things that separate Baldur's Gate 3 from most RPGs in the market and that's why Nelson Jr. is concerned that Baldur's Gate 3 could be considered a “raised standard” to the entire genre and applied even to teams that didn't have the resources, cowtools, and experience that Larian did. Some reddit threads about this:

The supreme irony of the "BG3 is an anomaly" discussion [700+ comments]

The good thing to come from the BG3 discourse [500+ comments]

Why devs consider Baldur's Gate 3 anomaly [800+ comments]

How can you not be excited when before the game is even out, other studios are already pushing back saying "please don't hold all of us to this insane standard".

Global Launch Times

Final Note

Are you going to play and what class are you picking? Did you already play the Early Access and did you already watch all tier lists to min/max the fun out of the game on release? Any ideas on companions? Let me know, and as always:

God, I knew I skipped over some things and I had to simplify some other things but I'm annoyed and this took forever. I wish I weren't so lackadaisical.