Are there really plans for a BG3?

[Gjefflin]

Originally Posted by Sir Redweed

I believe that any D&D based version with the same NPC type interaction on a turn based system would satisfy all of the people longing for a return to Baulders Gate. I knox I have looked into several games and seem to rank the BG series at the top not as much for the story line but in sticking to true a D&D based game with your friends.

What doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

I have to say that I agree. My favorite gaming series EVER was the Baldur's Gate series. I'm playing Oblivion right now but to me it's an Action game with RPG elements. There aren't any true RPG games made anymore and it's very very sad. I got so excited about Temple of Elemental Evil and it was fun for all of 2 weeks and then consistently dungeon delving and not being able to take most of the quests because they were evil quests (My character was a Paladin) really took a lot of the fun out of it for me. Plus...the storyline was NO WHERE NEAR as good as the BG series.

I'm dying for a great old-school traditional turn-based D&D 3.5 rules game with today's graphics and i'm just not sure why they're not being made. Every single RPG nowadays is what they call an "Action RPG" and half of the time, you can't tweak your own stats. It's good to know that others feel the same way. If they make a BG III, it would be one of the happiest gaming days i've had in quite awhile.

[JonIrenicus]

Originally Posted by Gjefflin

I have to say that I agree. My favorite gaming series EVER was the Baldur's Gate series. I'm playing Oblivion right now but to me it's an Action game with RPG elements. There aren't any true RPG games made anymore and it's very very sad. I got so excited about Temple of Elemental Evil and it was fun for all of 2 weeks and then consistently dungeon delving and not being able to take most of the quests because they were evil quests (My character was a Paladin) really took a lot of the fun out of it for me. Plus...the storyline was NO WHERE NEAR as good as the BG series.

I'm dying for a great old-school traditional turn-based D&D 3.5 rules game with today's graphics and i'm just not sure why they're not being made. Every single RPG nowadays is what they call an "Action RPG" and half of the time, you can't tweak your own stats. It's good to know that others feel the same way. If they make a BG III, it would be one of the happiest gaming days i've had in quite awhile.

I agree with this as well. I still play bgi-ii a few times every few months (I still have to play it because there are still no games equal to it's play style). I add on mods to make it a little different and I custom make my own characters for fun.

I played through dark alliance 1/2 and they sucked bad. Just a bunch of hack and slash. Only thing I liked about them was playing the alt chars, drizzt ect...

I don't understand the dumbing down of rpg games... I mean the average gamer is 30ish and can afford all types of games. There is a huge market for it yet no one seems to be going after it (for the most part). I mean who really started the computers to get going, geeks/nerds and people who love rpgs. Yet it is going in the reverse direction that it should be going.

I wish they remade the bg series with the nwn2 engine or something along those lines. I would love to see Irenicus in all his evil 3d glory and the whole game of course =p

And if they did make bgiii (lets hope), they would make it like bgi/ii in the sense that you'd be some "random " guy. Not Gorion or anyone like that.

[snoopyofour]

Personally I would hate it if B3 came out in 3d. If you want to know why there are so many action-rpgs and so few real rpgs its because of this obsession with 3d graphics. I didn't enjoy the graphics in nwn at all. I thought dungeon seige was horrible. In fact I had a perfect track record for finishing games until I got introduced to the 3d rpg thing. As long as gamers keep demanding more advanced but IMO less asthetically pleasing graphics, they are going to leave game designers wide open to some corporate exec saying "yeah but wouldn't be really cool if you could shoot the dragon yourself, I mean isn't that whay these graphics are for?"

[Pellinore]

I agree. I prefer the 'painted' and 2d style of the bgii graphics. I hated NWN after playing it for about 30 minutes and will probably not play it again. I would rather pay $50 for another 'inferior graphic' bgii style game than I would
pay $10 for a 'state of the art' NWN 3d style game.

As a side note, an appearance of Jon Irenicus as a lich would be sweet...

[JonIrenicus]

Being that it is 3d isn't really the true problem anyways(it costs a lot more then 2d). NWN was ok and their expansions got better and better so there is still hope for NWN2. I mean it's like when we wanted more and more powerful processors. Today it isn't really about the power, it is how it is used now.

[VoBo]

Originally Posted by JonIrenicus

Being that it is 3d isn't really the true problem anyways(it costs a lot more then 2d). NWN was ok and their expansions got better and better so there is still hope for NWN2. I mean it's like when we wanted more and more powerful processors. Today it isn't really about the power, it is how it is used now.

I can't agree with this, when you play a game like NWN it loses its RPG feeling because of the graphics. In games like NWN the producers have laid all there money on getting the best and coolest graphics, instead of actually creating a good game with a really good story. The only 3D game I actually enjoyed was NWN: SoU as I actually felt that it had some RPG-felling, even though it wasn't in any way like the BG series.

One thing I would hate, if there is a BG3 created, is actually the 3D graphics. You can still make a cool and good looking game without being able to look on your character from every direction. You are playing a game in BG series, not NWN: "We have the same nice graphics and useless story again".

And by the way, how can you live with yourself and actually saying NWN: HotU was a good game? I mean, was there a monster in the manual you didn't meet, and was the story made for anything else than being able to hack your way through Underdark?

[Kingslake]

There were so many things I did not like about NWN. I didn't like the graphics, and the storyline didn't grab me much.

I loathed and detested the levelled loot idea. Chests in every nook and cranny (why ?). You can almost guess what you are going to get in chests because it is geared to your level, so you keep seeing the same stuff until you advance in level enough to merit new stuff. Then you keep on seeing the new stuff until... you get the the point.

Most of the loot you find should be on the bodies of those you have fought, or given as rewards for having helped someone. That will cut down on the chest-around-every-corner syndrome. Those chests that still exist should often be un-levelled, sometimes rubbish, sometimes something very nice.

Most game reviewers rated NWN higher than BG. Part of that was because it was 3d and very customisable. However, there is little doubt which has become the best loved game, and it isn't NWN.

[Kipi]

Originally Posted by VoBo

And by the way, how can you live with yourself and actually saying NWN: HotU was a good game? I mean, was there a monster in the manual you didn't meet, and was the story made for anything else than being able to hack your way through Underdark?

Now, we must remember that each one of us have own taste of games... some may have liked it (like I did) and some don't...

But to the topic, I'd also like to see the old style BG. Even though I mostly like 3d RPGs as well, I still prefer old style games. Why? Mostly because my computer isn't good enough to run today's 3d games. But I wouldn't be that disappointed if BG3 would come out as 3d, if it just have good story on it.

[Sylvanahs]

A few days ago, there was a rumour At Well-Rounded Entertainment that Baldur's Gate III was being worked on and that it would use a 3D engine. Feargus Urquhart, the President of Black Isle Studios, provided the following statement:

There is no one working on Baldur's Gate 3. Between BioWare and Black Isle, we are just working on finishing up the products that we are currently developing.

This was found in a Planet Baldur's Gate Forum. In other words, there probably will be a BGIII.

[aldazir]

Originally Posted by Kipi

Now, we must remember that each one of us have own taste of games... some may have liked it (like I did) and some don't...

But to the topic, I'd also like to see the old style BG. Even though I mostly like 3d RPGs as well, I still prefer old style games. Why? Mostly because my computer isn't good enough to run today's 3d games. But I wouldn't be that disappointed if BG3 would come out as 3d, if it just have good story on it.

I couldnt agree more. Im not touching the 3D debate coz I think weve covered it, but what about storylines? I would be curious to know the ratio of progammers compared to story writers these companies employ. Or are they one and the same? I would happily sacrifice top quality graphics for a great story, complex characters with interesting/ challenging quests. Its like some old movie that you can watch over and over and never get tired of, why?
COZ IT TELLS A GREAT STORY. I think its kinda funny that after playing BG2 for some time, apart from the entertainment value, I have also got great value for money from the game. I am now looking for new adventures, but having read the posts in this and other forums, I would not be enclined to purchase NWN. I am less enclined to wait in anticipation for a sequel which might not ever live up to my expectations. I am MOST enclined to purchase a copy of the first BG & its extensions and play the whole saga over again.

[Gjefflin]

Personally, I wouldn't care if it was 2d or 3d. The deal is that the BG series (especially 2 and 3) really kept my interest due to the storyline and the depth and feeling of the characters. That's really something you don't find in a lot of RPG's nowadays if at all. I did enjoy playing the NWN series but not as much as I enjoyed playing the BG series. It's definitely as far as i'm concerned...the best storyline old-school computer RPG ever made.

So I hope to god that they're going to continue with the series and not just end it.

Anybody else get any new scoop or updated information on it?

[Sereth1728]

Actually, I read a magazine a while ago about Baldurs Gate 3 being developed. The magazine titled the game: Baldurs Gate 3: The Children of Death or something like that. The game was abandoned when black isle studios got closed. But anyway heres the story:

After defeating your last enemies in throne of bhaal the main character has no enemies left except for the newly found children of death. The main character is attacked by followers of the lord of Death i believe it was and they believe that they should be the ones to replace the lord of murder. Anyway you were supposed to get all of your followers from the old games and some new ones. It still used the same graphics as baldurs gate 2...but they look alot more refined in a way. That's what i saw in the magazine. It's too bad they abandoned the project early it could have been a decent game.

[Blessed]

I just thought I should throw my two cents out.

BG3 above all else should put story first.

Now is that to say certain upgrades shouldn't be done? Its a hard question with 3D distractions come into play and it takes away from whats really important....if you let it. But it does make alot of other things possible which could be done that really hasn't been attempted yet. ..flying..climbing...jumping....I'm sure if I was getting paid to come up with these ideas I could make up some more crap.

Story, Story, Story.....NWN was ok kinda take it as a BG still getting used to the engine, but they couldn't handle the scale of the game. They wanted to make it huge, but didn't fill it up.

NWN 2 I think had alot more to the game and I had fun playing it with the first expansion...a second is in the works. It didn't feel like NWN though which took some getting used to since thats what I expect, but once you get over that its fun.

One main factor was the attention to detail that left. What happened to Bioware and Black Isle? Bioware went the way of the money big corporate and Black Isle employees went to different companies. I think Bioware knows how to make engines, but suck at making the actual game. Take the BG series for example and then take each companies program seperate from each other. Bioware NWN and then Black Isle IWD2. IWD2 a very fun game sucked for me without the backing of multi player. I think at most it probably had 30 people in GSA. Now back to NWN it took away from everything BG2 had going for it not to mention the feel of the game was ice cold take the gui for example.

Major factors for a good online experience in my eyes with BG2

GSA - Lots of people complained about GSA saying MPlayer was better, but what ever GSA was fun getting to the point where you were going to jump into the game and you were trying to find players. Now we have a problem. No one plays a game like this any more. Now its all MMO so why would we want to gear a game like that? They wont. That to me was a big factor of why it was so fun to play BG2 on GSA and the fact you had the close feeling of 6 people going out for a campaign something that isn't embraced in NWN at all unless you are a module maker and demand it or embrace it some how which can be done I suppose.

6 Pary Members (Your six buddies) - As I said above having just a few people to play with was alot more fun the having a 100 you don't RP with or at least experience the story together.

Feel of the game - BG2 they were less worried about cheating less worried about how many players they could fit into the game and more about story and a good gaming experience.

Basicly I don't think the question is about 3d or not to 3d, but about quality game makers. Now that is the question.

Bring back Black Isle the real game makers.