Baldur's Gate 3 - “It’s Rockstar-level nonsense for scope”

[Mummelmann]

chakkra said:

Mummelmann said:

In this case, I don't think there's any other developer around right now that understand that notion better than these guys. Scope is only one of the reasons Larian's games are so loved (and reviewed).

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/divinity-original-sin-enhanced-edition

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/divinity-original-sin-ii---definitive-edition

Based on their previous two outings in the genre, and considering the 5-6 years of development time and the growth the studio has seen in resources and insights, I think it's safe to assume the game will be great. I would be genuinely surprised if this didn't plant its butt safely above the 90s limit on Metacritic as well. There's also the early access version with people pouring hundreds of hours into it, most of which say the same thing. Between Larian Studios and Owlcat Games, my CRPG itch is being scratched something fierce in the past few years. I'm actually replaying Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 right now to prepare for the third one, since someone finally worthy of it has been been able to continue the saga.

Just about my only complaint about BGIII in its current state is the rules system itself; I'm not a fan of D&D 5th edition at all (Pathfinder 2e is my jam). But I understand that they can't use the, now archaic, 3.5 system, or the 4th edition that everyone hated.

From where I'm standing, the noise from the other players in the industry is in and on itself a sign that Larian are about to release something special.

Again, I'm not doubting that the game is going to be great; in fact, seeing the user score at Steam shows that those who have played it already are giving it an score almost as high as the previous entries, so obviously it is shaping up good. What I'm saying is that, in this particular instance, those devs are talking about scope, not quality; and I bet that if they have had imagined that they saying "I hope no one expects a 10, 20, 40-person team to make one" would be translated into "hey, don't expect anything as good from us", they would have refrained from giving an opinion on the matter.

Let's put it this way, nobody is expecting Spiderman 2 (or the next game from Bend Studios, for example) to have the same scope as GTA 6. Now, does that mean that those developers are not working hard enough to reach that "level of quality"? No, it just means that not every developer has the man power-budget-time to pulloff a game of such scope. That´s something that we tend to forget sometimes.

I agree with the overall sentiment, my main criticism is directed at the detractors from massive studios and publishers sitting on some of the biggest resources in the industry (the likes of Blizzard, Obsidian, Ubisoft, etc.). From these, it comes of as whining, as well as rationalizing poor practices within the industry. For smaller teams, it's of course very different. The industry needs studios like Larian to show the moneybags and "big boys" how it can be done, and hopefully inspire consumers to make more and better demands of the titans of the industry.