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Fan reactions to new expansion


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#1 IriaZenn

Posted 06 April 2016 - 04:49 AM

Anyone really sad and pissed off over the fan reactions to the new expansion by Beamdog Entertainment? Like the worst of the worst are crawling out of the sewers to spew disgusting comments everywhere. 

 

Also hi to everyone! I'm not dead!



#2 Laufey

Posted 06 April 2016 - 10:34 PM

Anyone really sad and pissed off over the fan reactions to the new expansion by Beamdog Entertainment? Like the worst of the worst are crawling out of the sewers to spew disgusting comments everywhere. 

 

Also hi to everyone! I'm not dead!

I haven't actually read the fan reactions, but I assume they're like fan reactions to just about anything - tons of angry comments from all directions that make it seem as if everybody hates the movie/game/whatever. I personally haven't played it yet, I'm still wrapped up in trying to make my mods work properly for the BG2 EE (I have it now, I think, yes) but I'm sure I'll get Siege of Dragonspear eventually.

 

As I understand it, Siege is pretty big, yes? At least as big as ToB? Personally I think it sounds like it'll be a nice addition to the saga and fill things in neatly between BG1 and BG2, and as long as they don't meddle with previously established story but keep it a separate interlude, I'm sure I'll like it just fine.


Rogues do it from behind.

#3 IriaZenn

Posted 07 April 2016 - 04:46 AM

 

Anyone really sad and pissed off over the fan reactions to the new expansion by Beamdog Entertainment? Like the worst of the worst are crawling out of the sewers to spew disgusting comments everywhere. 

 

Also hi to everyone! I'm not dead!

I haven't actually read the fan reactions, but I assume they're like fan reactions to just about anything - tons of angry comments from all directions that make it seem as if everybody hates the movie/game/whatever. I personally haven't played it yet, I'm still wrapped up in trying to make my mods work properly for the BG2 EE (I have it now, I think, yes) but I'm sure I'll get Siege of Dragonspear eventually.

 

As I understand it, Siege is pretty big, yes? At least as big as ToB? Personally I think it sounds like it'll be a nice addition to the saga and fill things in neatly between BG1 and BG2, and as long as they don't meddle with previously established story but keep it a separate interlude, I'm sure I'll like it just fine.

 

It's actually pretty good. The fan reactions are pretty horrible because there's a single line from a vendor that identities the character as a trans woman and people went insane because "they're forcing SJW shit in our game". It's gotten so bad that Ed Greenwood had to speak up about how trans people would exist in the FR. 



#4 Laufey

Posted 07 April 2016 - 02:13 PM

 

 

Anyone really sad and pissed off over the fan reactions to the new expansion by Beamdog Entertainment? Like the worst of the worst are crawling out of the sewers to spew disgusting comments everywhere. 

 

Also hi to everyone! I'm not dead!

I haven't actually read the fan reactions, but I assume they're like fan reactions to just about anything - tons of angry comments from all directions that make it seem as if everybody hates the movie/game/whatever. I personally haven't played it yet, I'm still wrapped up in trying to make my mods work properly for the BG2 EE (I have it now, I think, yes) but I'm sure I'll get Siege of Dragonspear eventually.

 

As I understand it, Siege is pretty big, yes? At least as big as ToB? Personally I think it sounds like it'll be a nice addition to the saga and fill things in neatly between BG1 and BG2, and as long as they don't meddle with previously established story but keep it a separate interlude, I'm sure I'll like it just fine.

 

It's actually pretty good. The fan reactions are pretty horrible because there's a single line from a vendor that identities the character as a trans woman and people went insane because "they're forcing SJW shit in our game". It's gotten so bad that Ed Greenwood had to speak up about how trans people would exist in the FR. 

 

Ugh, that's just silly. Best ignored, I'd say. It reminds me of this one thread I read on BG2EE where some guy was very upset and disappointed that Hexxat only romances females, and of course he couldn't possibly play a female character so now he felt discriminated against. :P Never mind that in original BG2 there were three options for male characters and only Anomen for females, or that in BG2 EE there are three other new romancable characters, two of which are options for a male CHARNAME. (But of course one of those is a male half-orc so I guess that doesn't count. :P )


Rogues do it from behind.

#5 Theodur

Posted 12 April 2016 - 08:19 AM

I think some of the writing is pretty cringy and a bit too agenda driven, but I never felt the problem really was with Mizhena. I actually never noticed I was supposed to be offended by this character before I read on the internets that I was supposed to be offended! But this just proves that it's not just the SJW's who are retarded. The anti-SJW's can be equally moronic and thin-skinned, just playing the game and expecting for something to latch on and be offended by. My problem is that while I like diversity in games, I felt like in a short game like SoD it was all a bit too compressed and felt like a sledgehammer blow to the head.

 

It has a potential to be a good game, but right now the bugs, the totally messed up journal and some other things are ruining it for me. I'll probably somehow make it to the end of my first game, but after that definitely waiting on a patch to fix these issues.


The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold


#6 Clovis

Posted 20 April 2016 - 04:59 AM

Hi everybody! I'm not dead, either! :)

 

I've been holding off on buying the game because of all the bugs that have been reported.   I might buy it if they get it properly patched.

 

As for the SJW stuff...I can only comment from what I've read and have watched on youtube and the like.   Based on just that, my take is that it seems a little hamfisted in its implementation.  The inclusion of deep and/or sensitive issues in a game can be a great thing, done properly.   I've always been impressed by the way BG2 handled Valygar's atheism.   The dialogues between Keldorn's concern for Valygar's lack of religious faith and Valygar's contentment with following no god were superb.   Both characters' views were well-represented, and there was a mutual respect, if not agreement, on the issue.  It just doesn't sound like that's the sort of good writing we've got in Dragonspear.

 

I confess, though, that I am probably a bit biased because I am annoyed by the central tenant of programmer Amber Scott's justification for the inclusion of the new material: that the original BG is sexist.   I question if Scott even played the original game.   The BG1 characters lacked the depth and development of BG2/ToB, no question.   But even at that, Jaheira was much more than a "nagging housewife", for pity's sake.  As for Safana - she's basically a film noir femme fatale that uses her charm and wits to get people to do her dirty work.   A bit of a cliche, perhaps.   But hardly the "mere sex object" that Scott decries.



#7 Theodur

Posted 21 April 2016 - 08:24 AM

Hey Clovis!

 

re: Safana. Even if you see her as somewhat of a slut... what the hell is wrong with that anyway? Why can't we have a character like that? If Amber Scott is making a claim that no woman in a game should ever be portrayed being slutty, what she's doing is essentially slut-shaming... hmm, SJW double-think at work, I see.

 

For the Safana trope that is done well in a game, just see Isabela from Dragon Age2. Basically Safana with a cool personality, and handled just right by a game developer that is very progressive and inclusive, without this like you said, hamfisted implementation.


The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold


#8 Coutelier

Posted 24 April 2016 - 01:34 PM

I've not yet had a chance to play it.  I'm sure I will eventually, but right now I'm trying to avoid more distractions.  All I've really thought about it is that the controversy might yet turn out quite good for Beamdog since, let's face it, outside of their official forums the Baldur's Gate fandom has been pretty much dead for a long time even with the release of the Enhanced Editions.

 

I'd heard about the changes to Safana, and just didn't see the point.  I mean, yes, she is a very shallow character.  So are most of the BG1 NPC's... they only get a few lines each so it's easier to write them as archetypes so that you 'know' who they are right away without having to see them develop or knowing their entire backstory.  Is there any point in trying to change her now, since we know how she ends up anyway?

 

It's better I think to just include as much of a variety of female characters as possible, from sweet, shy but determined little Aerie, impish characters like Alora and Imoen, femme fatales like Safana, to tough and experienced fighters and adventurers like Jaheira.  Each of them is, in her own way, a product of survival in a harsh world, and Baldur's Gate is the first game I remember that really had all that diversity.



#9 Clovis

Posted 24 April 2016 - 08:54 PM

Hey Clovis!

 

re: Safana. Even if you see her as somewhat of a slut... what the hell is wrong with that anyway? Why can't we have a character like that? If Amber Scott is making a claim that no woman in a game should ever be portrayed being slutty, what she's doing is essentially slut-shaming... hmm, SJW double-think at work, I see.

 

For the Safana trope that is done well in a game, just see Isabela from Dragon Age2. Basically Safana with a cool personality, and handled just right by a game developer that is very progressive and inclusive, without this like you said, hamfisted implementation.

 

Hi Theodur! :)

That's a really good point about Safana.    I got the impression that Ms. Scott would only be happy if all the female characters were Shar-Teel types.   But then what do I know, being a useless male dungheap. :D

Thanks for the Dragon Age 2 recommendation, btw.   I've been meaning to check that one out for a long time, but just never got around to it.



#10 Laufey

Posted 08 May 2016 - 05:57 PM

Going off on a tangent here - I am on a mission to explore the BG2 EE romances, and I decided to start with Hexxat. I had high hopes for this romance, but so far I've been pretty disappointed with the writing. Yes, the character looks good and has an attractive voice, and she's a pretty efficient npc, but as a romance prospect I feel like I barely know her despite now having reached ToB. Her dialogues mostly seemed to be along the lines of : 'You're pretty hot. Do you think I'm hot?' with a bit of innuendo thrown in. Really, all I know about her is that she was raised by her aunts and that her mother was some sort of priestess or mage, and we're supposed to be at the 'Stage 2' romance by now. I liked her *regular* quests mind you, but as a romance I find her very lacking.

 

I just hope Dorn, Rashaad and Neera are better.


Rogues do it from behind.

#11 Shian

Posted 29 June 2017 - 09:12 PM

I am (slowly) playing through BG EE while I (finally) try to write the fanfic I've had in my head for a decade and the connection between the two games sounds like a lot of fun! Is it really something we can import chars from BG1 into or is it a separate thing with new chars? 



#12 Theodur

Posted 30 June 2017 - 09:00 AM

Hi Shian,

 

You certainly can import your BG1:EE character into the Siege of Dragonspear expansion, and then continue on with the same character into BG2:EE.


The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold





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