#that's all Larian isn't it?

[ride-a-dromedary]

I personally think a nice way to give us more chances to talk to Halsin in Act 3 is giving us the option to ask him for a new story from his 350 years of life, and we get a new tidbit of information that changes based on how high his approval is, or whether or not he's being romanced. If the approval is low, he shares little or refuses. I want a chance to hear about how much he studies, meditates, and hibernates and not just the salacious parts!

#BG3 Musing #Halsin Posting #halsin is very clear that he's lived a while and feels a lot older than he is #i want to hear more about high forest and the emerald grove #i want a way for him to tell me things about himself that don't involve me having to have a rendezvous that casually brings up a bad memory #yknow? #karlach asking him for stories and him immediately being like 'no one really cares about those they're only really interested in escapades' #and wyll being like 'do you actually do anything besides meditate council fight train and make love?' and halsin just nonchalantly #'is such an existence lacking?' i know thats supposed to be funny #but he sounds so put upon by it #like okay and..? #maybe im just a sap but i want to hear more general stuff #if that writer on twitter is serious about taking suggestions heres one #also this isn't an invite to bash on act 3 halsin - most of the companions are dead air after you do their quest #this is an encompassing larian issue all around where the companions sort of all fall flat midway through act 3 #but that's another point entirely

[wizardsix]

astarion stans who refuse to try befriending or even romancing anyone else are the most annoying mfs. "I only romance astarion I just can't relate to the other stories" really? you can't relate to gales deep self loathing? his deep love and loyalty for those he cares about? you can't relate to wylls kind heart and desire to always do good, even if it means he's miserable? can't relate to shadowheart blindly following a god, only to learn the truth and reinvent herself? you can't relate to lae'zel or karlach who were lied to and used as weapons their whole lives, but continue to push on even when they're scared? you can't relate to the overarching theme of authority vs autonomy???

it's not difficult, it's just people refusing to appreciate and explore the game to its fullest bc their manipulative sexy vampire is all they need(something astarion actually loathes being seen as btw). but ok, you can be boring and do whatever you want, but don't lie and say the other stories are bad, because they're not. it's simply a lack of media literacy and critical thinking. because to you, if a character doesn't tell you point blank that they're aware of their situation, it's bad writing. missing the entire point that victims don't always realize the situation they're in. keep in mind astarion and karlach are the only ones who got away from their abusers, which is why they tell you clearly and confidently about what happened to them, fully aware that it was abuse. whereas the others give only their tunnel visioned perspective and speak highly of their deity(not caring about themselves, wish to appease them for something in return).

don't get me wrong (seriously, if I see one person misunderstand me I'm going to lose it) astarion is a good character, but people who only like him need to stop acting like he's the only complex and well written one. stop crying when people with brains call you out for being weird about his ascended ending. the game isn't about him. at least try and show some respect to those who worked hard on the game. make an oc and try new things, i promise the fictional vampire won't care if you don't romance him one run. have a drink with shadowheart, dance with wyll, go to a restaurant w karlach, maybe then you'll calm down.

#this isn't astarion slander this is a critical post against his annoying ass fans #if this post offends you then youre exactly who im talking about. use your brains. i want people to appreciate larians hard work #idk man i just dont understand people who play heavily choice based games and don't try different things #again dear god do not get me wrong. play how you want. its the people that literally lie about characters that irritate me #'gales full of himself/lae'zel is mean/wyll is boring' tell me your brain is full of holes w/o telling me #also. shocking. but youre allowed to dislike or be neutral on characters but at least try to see their story and give a Valid reason why #no 'gale was toxic to mystra' doesn't count bc thats a blatant lie. and him forcefully triggering romance stuff is a bug. try again #the thing is too i just know this chaos is caused by dragon age stans that migrated to baldur's gate bc the next game is gonna fucking tank #cant keep their stupidity in the da fanbase it seems #astarion ancunin #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #six speaks #also im not saying every stories writing is perfect bc not even astarions is perfect. i have criticism for all of them #but at their core they succeed in delivering the themes mentioned above

[wavebiders]

Thinking about how most of the time when you have the option to stay quiet during a companion quest you get approval for letting them handle it and sometimes even get disaproval for talking over them

And then with Shadowheart's quest speaking up with Viconia not only gives a +5(while *keep silent* gives nothing) but also if you don't do that she will look genuinely scared when Viconia asks you to hand her over

#girl just wants someone to love her and stand up for her😭 #I've been choosing to stay silent for all my pt's since I'm so used to letting the companions handle their own quests #so I always get the scared look at Viconia's offer #which is heartbreaking but makes perfect sense #she's spent most of her life being used and abused by her caretakers whose love was so desperate for #of course when confronted with that trauma she's gonna have a moment of doubt in regards to the person she loves now #but turns out just standing up for her beforehand cuts that panic short! #anyway I just think it's a very interesting character detail that having someone vocally have her back #is more important than leading the confrontation herself #bg3 #shadowheart #also not to get overly self-indulgent #but you know that one poem about how to the author being butch means this feeling of chivalry towards other girls? #that feeling is part of why this romance works so well for me #Shadowheart isn't weak and she is the hero of her own story #but you do kinda get to be her knight in shining armor so to speak you know? #larian did a great job of balancing that with still making sure she has enough agency and stands on her own #and without ever making it feel like the romance is mainly geared towards men #I appreciate that

[pinacoladamatata]

eating my popcorn watching all this drama go down irt the larian discord server

#like i never joined but the whole discord community relationship thing fascinates me from a psych perspective #like in a miller exp or stanford prison exp way #i am aware of the irony of this coming from a blog on tumblr where i act stupid on purpose #but i do think the entire larian discord has been incredibly unprofessional both from larian's employees and the moderators/support team #but. this isn't a hospital where i. like. care. this is my silly blog where i post dumb shit and wow are you guys seeing this? #like im am just trying to imagine. like if my hospital had an 'official discord' where staff interacted w the public like that #i cant. actually. because i've fired people for taking pics in clinic. this shit is wild #like no one seems to really know whats going on and some ppl are claiming larian hate modders/1 or 2 modders specifically #while others are like. no they dont; it just sucks having to reverse engineer the script extender etc #and then there's the google doc thing of like thousands of screenshots of the discord mod chat which i WISH i had the time to study #it makes me realize how little i know about the whole online moderater lifestyle thing that happens on discord and reddit etc #anyway im curious and nosey always so this is interesting to me #and the drama of it all takes my mind of other horrible things for a bit

[antiqua-lugar]

look I think that the writing in Baldur's Gate 3 is very good as much as the next guy, but.

it's also as subtle as a brick to the face.

"Oh but how could we ever know if this ending is Good TM or Bad TM for this character" they tell you. they literally tell you. characters look straight in the camera and tell you.

why are we having this discussion when the characters are looking straight at me going Oh Boy Sure I Am Glad That Other Thing Did Not Happen

#this is not about taste I also love some of the bad endings go wild #you bet your ass i am making them all worse at some point i love tragedies #but like if we are just talking Is This A Good Thing To Happen To Them they literally tell you it isn't #and before anyone comes at me talking about unreliable narrators or whatever: this game is as subtle as a brick to the face #and has very understandable themes #because it's the same theme for every character #that's literally the point #this is not ulysses #bg3 #antiqua plays bg3 #this brought to you by: are we seriously having god!gale discourse. like for real. #like don't get me wrong you can argue that larian should have not done that but that is an entirely different discussion #the only characters with ambiguos endings are wyll and karlach and I think it's mostly because of how rushed and good alignment only they a

[diluc33rpm]

the romance/relationship system in bg3 is genuinely some of the worst designed shit i've ever seen in any game with that feature but at least the memes we get out of it are funny. once saw someone comment something along the lines of 'patch note: waving at gale will no longer cause him to buy a house for the two of you to retire in' and i've never recovered since

#i love gale he doesn't deserve (most of) the incel slander #but it's painfully such a good riff because it really really does feel like that #the player choices being a b/w alternation between 'hey there' and 'YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF... NOW!' normally is already comical as is #the fact that it carries over into interactions with the party members who you're presumably trying to be close with is... something else #and what makes it worse is it ISN'T jokey hyperbole. anyone remember 'send a mental image of you kissing him or HIS HEAD ON A PIKE.' c'mon #trying to chat and vibe at the refugee camp celebration and the sum of conversation i get is one (1) line asking how they're doing #because going any further than that elicits marking you down for the path of boning take it or leave it #it's genuinely so hard to get to feel like you can deepen a relationship with the characters in ways that aren't trying to pursue them #yes! halsin! i really want to know you better! i just don't want the ass!! why is trying to hit the only option other than up and leaving!! #99% of the time i expect nothing from media creators in terms of writing interactive relationships #larian are beyond parody in that they've somehow managed to do worse than the already suboptimal majority #we're just going to impose the roadblock of do you want to fuck y/n right off the bat. good luck finding a way to talk around that if not #the obscuration surrounding where exactly the checks are really does not help at all either #when the shit's got even the allos complaining about it you know it's BAD #shame because i was excited for character scenes given that's a lot of what's hyped up about the game #but no it's all just the romances. 'what if i'd like to breathe in someone's general direction-' well now have you heard of our romances? #fish fear them party members fear them and tav is going to have to walk alone on this sinful earth #conservative bigoted relative at the family reunion withers era was a fucking time before they tweaked that line speaking of #just so crazy they can get away with this shit #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 liveblog

[zahra-hydris]

enjoying bg3 by ignoring everything larian says about the characters outside of the game

#ign interview? mentally blocked it out #christmas special? what christmas special #these are my characters now larian #this isn't so crazy; larian is essentially ignoring everything about them that's in the game after all

[clowndensation]

norbyte not fixing the script extender until the next patch truly is like. okay peace. see you all in 4 months.

#this isn't me irritated at him. i also wouldn't wanna deal with this. #this is me irritated at larian for making hotfix 18 completely reconfigure the game files #like i just don't believe you had to do all that in order to fix the trading mechanic or whatever issue you said was broken #'but vinnie there's a fix! just roll back the hotfix!' that didn't fix my game and i'm too annoyed about it to try any more. god bless.

[strahdvonzarovich]

the anders to gale and fenris to astarion comparisons are startin to drive me crazy ngl

#idk how anyone sees any comparisons between them aside from v surface level ones #which are mage and elf #media literacy is lacking apparently lmao #this isn't fenris and anders all over again and tbh saying that does larian a huge discredit to their writing team...

[alexa-crowe]

needing to test to see if the game is broken bc of mods vs game will break without mods atp

#look larian i would love to troubleshoot but i can't. and judging by the fact that this issue has been persistent throughout every single #hotfix after the crashing started with patch six i think it's safe to say it's really not a mods thing #like there would be a specific action with all of the mods and/or an error line in script extender but there isn't #and the thing is it's crashing in act 3 so i'm fairly certain loading a game in act 1 will be fine #and not help to actually figure out what's causing the issue #it crashes whether i'm fighting the ghosts in jannath's estate or not after like 5 minutes every time i load the game #and the constant hotfixes are annoying atp like the mods barely have time to update before they need to be updated again #so i can't just wait for all the updates and then see #rambling

[sun-marie]

Has the BG3 modding community found any way to change what NPCs are wearing, and if so is it at all similar to like DAO's .utc files? I really want to see if it's possible to change Mystra's clothes when she talks with Gale

#good effort on larian's part for putting sparkles all around her #but they can't fool me that is a generic-ass noble dress #if it isn't possible now perhaps it will be soon #marie speaks

[elisaserioart]

Hey mama Larian can you please add this interaction in *that* particular moment, because I think we all need it EDIT: Since I've read some comments here and on Twitter that seem to refer to my drawing and my "request" (clearly ironic, I hope it's understood!), I want to clarify one thing: this is just a drawing to express my feelings as a fan who, in that precise moment, just wanted to console the character. Astarion's quest is beautiful and perfect as it is. I love it because it's written perfectly. Right after defeating Cazador, Astarion NEEDS to feel that his body is his own again, and that's it. So no, there really isn't any need for a new interaction to hug him (unless, in the interaction, he himself seeks the embrace, which is what I depicted in the picture: my Tav is 'receiving' the hug and his expression of his feelings). I hope it's clearer now! xoxo

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #astarion x tav #nimwaen #holy fuck what a moment

[kirain]

Wall of the faithless isn't canon in bg3. They changed alot of things actually. So no Gale isn't "scared" he's just an obsessed asshole who doesn't learn from his mistakes.

Oof...

There's really nothing I can say except: you're wrong. The City of Judgement and the Wall of the Faithless are canon to BG3. If you don't like Gale, that's fine, but you don't have to make things up or completely disregard the lore to do it. Larian Studios literally hired people from Wizards of the Coast—the company responsible for all the canon lore, characters, and campaigns in D&D—to help them with the story. It took them five years, I believe, to fully study and understand the lore. They constantly conferred with the team to double, triple, and quadruple check every slice of content they added to the game, and parts of the game are now considered canon to D&D 5E.

As for Gale "not learning" from his mistakes ... when you first meet him, he literally admits he made a mistake with Mystra. Though personally I don't see it as the "power-hungry" move people seem to think it is. Gale simply wanted to be considered an equal to his partner (really his groomer), which is a perfectly healthy and normal desire for anyone in a relationship. Your partner should treat you like an equal, but Mystra very clearly saw Gale as a pet. A trophy. A worshipper. Subservient. Beneath her. A silly mortal with delusions of grandeur (which she cultivated), which is really rich when you learn she was once mortal herself. Mystra is a hypocrite.

Gale tried to prove himself worthy of equality by trying to bring Mystra what he thought was a piece of her missing Weave. For anyone who doesn't know, the current Mystra was torn to pieces by Cyric and Shar, then put back together by her Chosen. Though back to full power by the events of BG3, she's still technically missing pieces of herself, and Gale mistook the Karsite Weave for one of those pieces. Instead of simply telling Gale it was corrupted Weave, she let him go on believing it was hers. Personally I think that's because she was tired of him (maybe he got too old for her 😒) and was hoping he would do something that, in her mind, would justify abandoning him—but I admit that's full conjecture on my part. What is true is that she knew the orb wasn't hers, but for some reason she let Gale think it was. Even after she abandoned him and left him to die, she never told him. Not until she realised she could use him.

In Act 3, while the argument can certainty be made that he's thirsty for power, Gale ultimately becomes fed up with the gods because, as he knows better than anyone, they treat people like commodities. While I have no intention of ever ascending him myself, it looks like he actually makes good on his word. He doesn't threaten or toy with his followers, he inspires people to walk their own path, he only asks for prayers as payment (as without some form of devotion, gods in D&D cease to be), and if you romance him ... he ascends you into godhood as his equal. Mystra could have done this for him, she just didn't want to. And if you don't want him to ascend, it's genuinely so easy. I don't understand what people are complaining about. It takes one conversation with zero checks to convince him to completely abandon his ambitions. One. If he was truly "power hungry", it wouldn't be that easy.

Again, I would argue that Gale's true goal isn't really power, it's freedom, and divinity gives him that freedom. He has many conversations where he makes it clear he doesn't want to live under the gods' thumbs anymore; which, in a world like Faerûn, is extremely understandable. As I said in my Wall of the Faithless post, he's scared. Eternal torment for a simple mistake, one of which could've been avoided if Mystra told him the truth or treated him like an equal? When your partner is a goddess, how can you not feel inadequate? And if you convince him to give up the crown, he's perfectly content with Mystra's forgiveness. Even in the Early Access, that's all he really wanted.

Gale's far from perfect. He's arrogant and overconfident and insecure and he can be prone to emotional outbursts (most of which he apologises for, however), but he's nowhere near the heartless, power-hungry monster the haters seem to think he is. He is, in fact, one of the most compassionate companions in the entire camp, to the point that he accepts everyone, including Minthara. He votes for Astarion to stay when you find out he's a vampire. He gets mad at you if you surrender him to the Gur. He's one of the only companions who will openly marry/stay with you if you become a mindflayer. He's willing to sacrifice himself to save the world, and willing to damn himself to be with you. He loves every act of kindness, while hating every act of cruelty. I understand that the bugs from launch ruined a lot of people's perception of him ... and unfortunately some of those glitches are still present even now, but he is a good man.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #karlach #karlach cliffgate #wall of the faithless #city of Judgement #wizards of the coast #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #astarion #minthara

[eff-plays]

Idk if this is a hot take of any kind but I actually really like that Astarion's romance starts off in an unhealthy way and evolves. That's like ... the point? Ya know?

It's interesting. It adds layers and conflict. It allows for growth and evolution. And Larian have claimed multiple times that it was on purpose, that many video game romances have sex as the culmination while here, some characters will fuck you immediately but then what? What happens after? Sex isn't the reward, but part of the relationship. There is more beyond. But people think that there being stuff beyond sex means that that's the only value that exists, and that the sex adds nothing. But in Astarion's case, it's extremely important?

It's complicated. His relationship with sex is complicated. They did it on purpose. That's the point. So what if it's not "uwu soft trust me I don't want sex please let's just hold hands" from the start? He doesn't trust the PC from the start, so why the fuck would he agree to that? He doesn't know them at all. He needs to do things his way because he's not ready for anything else yet. And if you feel sad for him, that's fine, because it's meant to be sad? But to the point of it becoming anger at the people who wrote it? That's weird, man. Astarion isn't real, you're not hurting a real person, and he literally asks Tav for it? In my case, he asks them twice before they say yes. They're not forcing him into anything. The only time you can force him is after the Araj scene, and he immediately breaks up with you after. So he's clearly perfectly capable of ending things if they get too toxic.

I swom to Jon just romance someone else at that point. Idk if this is my romance writer brain talking but well-written, not contrived, and non-abusive conflict is actually rare and sometimes difficult to write, but IMO every good romance needs conflict. Because at the end of the day, it's also a story?

It's not perfect because it's not meant to be. It's meant to be a starting point to evolve from. Sometimes things can be unhealthy without being abusive or problematic TM.

Anyway. Yeah I like how fucked up it is. Because Astarion is fucked up. It makes it more real and more compelling. I made my Tav fucked up to match.

"Well my Tav wouldn't fall for it and would realize ...!" Roleplay harder. Clearly Tav/Durge aren't meant to pick up on his manipulations from the start, or overlook them, or fall for them. There's a bajillion different ways to justify it. If you can't see past your own meta knowledge, romance someone else.

But if you really want the relationship to start without sex then just write that fic? Why are you demanding that Larian caters to your specific tastes and sensibilities? They had a story to tell and they told it. You not liking it is neither a personal a slight against you nor their problem.

#bg3 #astarion

[she-dwells-within-the-forest]

I keep seeing posts asking Larian to add a hug option for that scene with Astarion. While I understand it, I completely disagree, and I hope it's never added in.

That scene isn't about Tav. That scene isn't about their relationship, romanced or not. It's solely about Astarion, and the beginning of his journey toward healing.

Sometimes I think about hugging and why we do it. I think a hug in that moment would be more about comforting ourselves through an uncomfortable moment, rather than actually offering any comfort to Astarion. I don't think he would have the capacity to fully take it in or accept it. The brain operates at such a primitive level when you're experiencing trauma. Therefore, it's best to hold back and let him be.

He needs to have that moment for himself, alone. To scream for the rage, the grief, the sadness, the terror, the pain. All of it, all 200 years of it. Long before he met Tav and the gang.

It's perfect as it is, and when he's ready he comes to you and thanks you. Perhaps a hug option at that point would be more appropriate? But again, I feel it really isn't necessary. It's already perfect.

#just my thought ramblings #bg3 astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldur's gate iii #astarion #astarion ancunin #i guess this sort of discourse #sorry guys #just been seeing it alot and have alot of thoughts about it

[tugoslovenka]

i love baldur's gate 3, truly i do. i find it one of the most wonderful games in recent times and the work that larian has done in trying to emulate a dnd-like video game is commendable bc they have done some good work with the lore and mechanics. but i really, really would like it if larian would for once in their goddamned fucking existence released a full game on launch day. i know games will always need patches to address some issues, but releasing info abt the upper city as a hub area weeks before release only to completely scrap the idea altogether? having NO ending, literally no actual epilogue or anything that adds to the story after the fight, just this random black screen and no proper epilogue? the half-baked encounters against orin and gortash after making them out to be on the same level ketheric's fight which actually felt like a boss? making dark urge this entire ~special origin story without actually allowing a player to do a true evil run without losing out on like 2/3 content? there is no punishment or reward for not taking/taking the tadpoles, it literally means nothing in the grand scheme of things. also for a multiplayer game, there's a resounding lack of actual story progression if you have all four slots covered, like it straight up locks you out of a lot of companions' stories bc you can never take them with you. this isn't even getting into the horrendous bugs and performance issues that straight up fry PCs by the end of the game. also adding fan service without any actual plot like - halsin's completely useless existence in act 3? also nonsense like gortash being lorded in the middle of wyrm's rock, the literal first fortress to the city that would not house the new lord of baldur's gate under any circumstance? gale starts the game with a TRUE RESURRECTION scroll that can be used to solve a myriad of problems, including, i dont know, curing karlach entirely by killing her then reviving her? having to go to cazador's palace through a random tower in the middle of the city? the emperor just deciding to abandon you and join the elder brain after spending years fighting its influence if you decide to go against him? like these are all unfinished parts to a "full" game. i still have nightmares from DOS2 and what a fucking mess that was and the fact that you need the "definitive edition" to make the final act work is straight up predatory... honestly fuck y'all for making ppl pay twice for the product they should have gotten the first time. anyway the game is great but larian needs a kick up the ass for some obvious bullshit that would not be tolerated if it were any other studio!

#anyway im ranting bc i booted the game up and saw the same bugs again fuck that #bg3 #thoughts