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Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

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Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#11

Post by bm3719 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

This is one of those games that I would have chewed on all summer back when I didn’t have responsibilities to tend to. To those who might consider themselves “well-rounded” with careers and families and sports etc. Does that magic and sense of free time to dig deep into something ever come back?

I explicitly set aside time for it, and track video games along with other things on my todo list.

This may seem counter-productive and like it might ruin the fun, but the opposite turned out to be true. Since free time is finite now (and arguably always was), it helps to get the most out of a game, prioritize which games I really want to play, and what I expect to get out of the experience.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#12

Post by nottorp »

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

This is one of those games that I would have chewed on all summer back when I didn’t have responsibilities to tend to. To those who might consider themselves “well-rounded” with careers and families and sports etc. Does that magic and sense of free time to dig deep into something ever come back?

> Does that magic and sense of free time to dig deep into something ever come back?

Cut down on tv series and your gaming time suddenly shows up :)

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#13

Post by izacus »

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

This is one of those games that I would have chewed on all summer back when I didn’t have responsibilities to tend to. To those who might consider themselves “well-rounded” with careers and families and sports etc. Does that magic and sense of free time to dig deep into something ever come back?

It doesn't. You got old.

Either you decide that it's a hobby worthy of your time and MAKE time between your other responsibilities (or remove some of them) or you make peace with the fact that you don't really care that much about this hobby and that you're done with it.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#14

Post by jsnell »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #6

> However, some devs are urging players not to rate all other games in the genre by such a high standard, appealing to Larian Studios’ unique combination of vast experience and resources. AAA game labels spend billions on producing mediocre quality bullshit sequels just to maximize revenue predictability rather than quality, originality or artistic value. That's their choice.

"In the genre" is the operative part there. There have definitely not been any RPGs that cost a billion to make, and AAA RPGs are pretty rare.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#15

Post by philipov »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #6

> However, some devs are urging players not to rate all other games in the genre by such a high standard, appealing to Larian Studios’ unique combination of vast experience and resources. AAA game labels spend billions on producing mediocre quality bullshit sequels just to maximize revenue predictability rather than quality, originality or artistic value. That's their choice.

At this point, I consider a AAA rating to be a signifier of mediocrity. If something is being touted as AAA, I can be pretty sure it will be a disappointment. There are two factors that cause this: The amount of hype creates expectations that can not be met, and the cost of production is so high a studio can't afford to deliver everything they have to. The value proposition is just not there. I find that indie and mid-sized studios (like Larian) are much better at both controlling quality and managing expectations.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#16

Post by izacus »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #6

> However, some devs are urging players not to rate all other games in the genre by such a high standard, appealing to Larian Studios’ unique combination of vast experience and resources. AAA game labels spend billions on producing mediocre quality bullshit sequels just to maximize revenue predictability rather than quality, originality or artistic value. That's their choice.

Larian isn't even close to AAA studio and their previous games have been great with wide critical and user acclaim.

What are you on about?

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#17

Post by Waterluvian »

bm3719 wrote: post #11
Waterluvian wrote: post #2

This is one of those games that I would have chewed on all summer back when I didn’t have responsibilities to tend to. To those who might consider themselves “well-rounded” with careers and families and sports etc. Does that magic and sense of free time to dig deep into something ever come back?

I explicitly set aside time for it, and track video games along with other things on my todo list. This may seem counter-productive and like it might ruin the fun, but the opposite turned out to be true. Since free time is finite now (and arguably always was), it helps to get the most out of a game, prioritize which games I really want to play, and what I expect to get out of the experience.

This really makes sense. I think I'll try to adopt something like this.

Part of what I nostalgically yearn for was that feeling of, "my homework is done, it's a Friday night, there's no hockey tomorrow morning. I have a Pentium 2 in my room, summer breeze through the window, the world is asleep, there's a distant train rumbling quietly by, and I'm about to spend an hour reading up on every detail of Baldur's Gate while it installs."

This is probably gone. There's so many parts of this that don't work anymore. But I guess I really cherish that it happened. Those were absolutely magical nights.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#18

Post by dmix »

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

Divinity: Original Sin was one of the best games I've ever played. I don't game much these days but that one sucked me in hard.

I tried playing other CRPGs (Divinity was my introduction to them) to fill the void but they didn't have the fun combat that Divinity did (Path of Exile) or were very story focused (Planescape: Torment, I would have def loved this one if I was younger and had the time).

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#19

Post by DrThunder »

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

This is one of those games that I would have chewed on all summer back when I didn’t have responsibilities to tend to. To those who might consider themselves “well-rounded” with careers and families and sports etc. Does that magic and sense of free time to dig deep into something ever come back?

Occasionally.... for me it I seem to get more hooked on a good story line than any specific gameplay. It's more like reading a good book with an awesome plot. The last game I spent a long time on was God of War - PC.

Also, getting older and having more responsibility typically means you become wiser. I no longer want to waste that much time gaming. I'm good with a few hours a week. There are so many better uses of time that I have. I've got outdoor hobbies like mountain biking that take priority over screen time. I spend 40hrs a week doing work on a screen and have a hard time feeling good about MORE screen time when I get home.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3: New Standard for the RPG Genre?

#20

Post by pugio »

izacus wrote: post #16
qwerty456127 wrote: post #6

> However, some devs are urging players not to rate all other games in the genre by such a high standard, appealing to Larian Studios’ unique combination of vast experience and resources. AAA game labels spend billions on producing mediocre quality bullshit sequels just to maximize revenue predictability rather than quality, originality or artistic value. That's their choice.

Larian isn't even close to AAA studio and their previous games have been great with wide critical and user acclaim. What are you on about?

I think you may have misunderstood the OP and actually agree with him. He's saying that AAA studios (sometimes) spend more money to produce lower quality products, and that claims from some AAA studio devs that you shouldn't use BG3 as a new standard are just them trying to excuse their own mediocre offerings.
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