Not A Retraction, Just Being Fair.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have no interest in BG3. I just don’t wanna give WoTC any more money if I don’t have to and if I’m going to play D&D, well, I’d rather have that experience at the table top first, online next and even then, I wanna do it over voice, complete with cringe-as-hell moments, there’s just no substitute, y’all. I also still don’t have any real desire to interact with anyone else’s sexual proclivities even thinly-veiled. It just is what it is. Am I missing something? Well that’s entirely possible, I’ll concede that point but in line with my last post about how bad D&D 5th Edition actually is (it’s really not) vs. the culture surrounding it, Baldur’s Gate III is just stepping up to the plate and swinging for the fences, let’s just state fact here.
So, I have to admit one thing, the people playing and loving BG3 were right. I’m not saying that in defeat, mind you, hey, nobody is happier about being wrong than me because when I’m wrong, that means the worst hasn’t happened, my suspicions weren’t confirmed for a change and it’s a load off my mind. Yes, BG3 players and fans, you were right and I hope you’re enjoying it because I genuinely am too. If you aren’t aware, I have a post here on what I thought were the many issues with Baldur’s Gate III.
So why would this make me happy? Well, for starters, it seems like Larian Studios were sitting in those offices (do not make me regret saying this, Larian) looking at the core rulebooks and going, “How can we make this more like the tabletop game?”
To me, that would be a pretty awesome approach and had the emphasis been on that, I might have been tempted to actually check it out. Kind of a big maybe but certainly more than “Look you can fuck a character who wildshaped into a bear” disinterested. Despite those missteps and I’ll admit fully they were probably just that, missteps, there is something that Baldur’s Gate III is doing that is making me smile, nod and go “Yeah, okay, I’m beginning to understand…” Let’s get into that.
Baldur’s Gate III still has a problem but that problem is still also a solution. It’s making players play D&D 5th Edition Rules As Written. The computer itself acts as a Dungeon Master and judges your moves, dice rolls, etc based solely on the rules. It’s not making rulings, it’s disregarding Rule of Cool and Rule Zero because it does not understand, nor does it need them. Anyone opting to play this game needs to fully understand that and grasp this concept because…
Certain Character Races are going to be subject to those rules. You know how a DM just kinda comes up with something and says, “Yeah, in this world, Tieflings, Kender, Orcs, Goblins, Dragonborn & Draconians don’t suffer negative attribute modifiers because we take a stand against racism at this table” yeah well the computer doesn’t give a single damn about that. The Kender will be considered little kleptomaniacs by humans and other races, Orcs are still gonna be violent and evil, Tieflings will not be trusted due to their demonic heritage, people, that’s just the way it is. Buy the ticket? Take the ride. It’s not a direct one-to-one simile for any group of people, please let that go. If you pick a Tiefling, then the distrust, the hatred from Clerics and Druids, etc is going to come with the territory. In a world where you can play anything you want, you may want to weigh out options a little better.
The Approach is exposing tourists in a big way. Now when I refer to “tourists” I’m talking about the people who are activists above all else. They’re a hammer in search of nails and when that’s all you have, well, you know the rest. I read about half a Twitter thread about how racist the game is because of this thing with Tieflings and, to be honest, the best thing that can happen right now, is the game could keep trucking on as it currently plays. Remember, kids, if I play a Yuan-Ti, I’m not expecting to even earn the trust of the entire party. I better be ready that certain scenarios are just gonna put my character through the wringer. If I have a problem with that, then I probably should go with the human fighter/barbarian as my old standby.
The Tourists are in for some really hard times. Honestly, I’m not trying to beat dead horses to glue but what I am saying is mostly to them, what do you do when the AI DMs come? Oh, I know WoTC has gone on record as saying “We love our human DMs!” (Well how about semi- and psuedo-human DMs you racist assholes!) “No one at WoTC is working on AI DMs!” Such is true, no one at Wizards of The Coast is working on AI DMs. I have been saying that companies love clever use of language, whether it’s obfuscation, backpedaling, half-truths, or outright lying to make whatever they did or are going to do out to be something you shouldn’t be concerned about. So that’s great, WoTC isn’t working on that, okay, good. I mean they did just have a huge dust-up over an artist using AI to enhance the artwork he created…and I don’t care that he did. While that’s all well and good and puts WoTC in the Virtue Signal Good Guy category with their fans, I want to point out that when your parent company enters into partnerships, well, that’s probably gonna make a liar out of you. Not all that long ago, Hasbro announced their partnership with Xplored in order to bring AI to board games. Tourists, like it or not, those human DMs you burned out, they’re gonna get replaced and let me tell you, don’t bank on that cybernetic braintrust leaning on Rule Zero or Rule of Cool either.
It’s Creating a More Welcoming Environment For Those Who Like 5th Edition Core As Written. This is true, right now, the tourists and narcissists are harping on social media and whatnot but they’re still playing it. They’re not walking away and guess what? With that rule structure in place, no one can get kicked for wrongthink at the table or otherwise. That’s pretty confidence-inspiring so players who might have a bad taste in their mouth from the culture around 5th Edition, this might remind the player what they loved most about it and for those that aren’t familiar…
New Players Are Getting Introduced To The Game. Yeah, this is perhaps my favorite aspect of it because a new player coming into D&D will now have a familiarity with the rules and will more easily be able to bring in friends to play Rules As Written. The only downside is that most players initiated like this won’t be able to really understand rule alterations, stolen rules from other systems, system modifications and why. They’ll still need an experienced player or DM to really guide them. Still, this is a gateway into the hobby and one, I personally welcome.
This is the final time I’ll say it but with all these computerized DM scenarios, unless WoTC changes the rules entirely and the whole of the game is reprogrammed and patched (and don’t put it past them to do so) then the “problems” that the tourists see aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The best that can be hoped for at this point is that they finally drop this hobby and move on while everyone else genuinely enjoys the hobby. This is really the only way I can see and understand D&D Beyond and future Baldur’s Gate games succeeding. As far as D&D Beyond goes, I’m still not on board with that either. At my table, I can create a character and customize as I want and/or need without constantly forking over money to WoTC for the “privilege” so that’s where I’m sticking but, the fewer tourists there are in those types of spaces and the more of us there are, the more I can see it succeeding.
Those are just several of the best things I can see where Baldur’s Gate III actually did something right for the hobby for a change. Personally, I hope Larian Studios and WoTC does the right thing (for once) and simply doubles down and sticks with it because there is one more positive and I think it deserves honorable mention. It’s exposing who actually read the books and who didn’t.
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