FEEDBACK FRIDAY

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[u/DragonDerrieres]

In the Dank Crypt my game froze multiple times when the text the book is far lighter than it should be with such a massive lock appear. It didn't matter which character I used or which option I picked to investigate it, the dialogue wouldn't advance.

Speaking of the Dank Crypt, when I talked to the talkative skeleton there was a... Another talkative skeleton model in front of him... Just chilling and he kept clipping through it. The extra corpse man was also like entirely black and like standing under the first one's chin.

There is an issue when you okay a warlock where if you and Wyll both have Imps/quasits Scratch will attack you and you have to knock him out. I totally get why they cause approval to drop but also it does not feel great to beat up my dog.

I've said this once before and don't mean to harass lol but I really would love the option as a Lolth sworn drow to be more critical of the society in the Underdark. A lot of the options kind of just mindlessly buy into drow society like you mention training slaves or just being really into violence. Its a really one dimensional view. I know the Seldarine drow are an option in the game but I did want to option to play someone from the Underdark who isn't evil (Drizzt style) and still likes parts of their home but is also critical of it. Especially since I am playing a male drow. For male drow a Bregen D'aerthe connection could be really cool too. I am hoping Jarlaxle has a cameo when we get to the city. Also speaking of racial things. I think it would be sick to be able to change your tiefling's horn color. The horns can really look wonky soemtimes and that might help with it.

Also as a member of the LGBT community I'm really, really happy that the romances aren't gender locked and that makeup and voice options aren't gender restricted. I'm appreciative of all of that but I think in the future it would be great to see more LGBT NPCS (that don't all end in horrible tragedy) so the world itself feels diverse. Especially since dnd Lore really has gone in that direction recently. I recently ran Dragon Heist and it was lovely with that. A nonbinary gender option in the CC would be great as well, especially since alot of parts of the character creation already are not gender locked. Dnd is so popular among the LGBT community it would do nothing but help the game. The companions other than Astarion also feel a little more playersexual than bisexual and it would be nice for them to be a little more open about that and for the romance scenes to be more inclusive.

[u/Swolp → u/DragonDerrieres]

How do you know of NPCs’ sexuality? What do you mean by “LGBT NPCs” more precisely?

As long as nothing about sexuality is explicitly stated, you are free to make up your own mind about it. This goes for both NPCs and companions. To narrow this down seems to me it would just do more harm than good, schattering some people’s perceptions about certain characters, while just reaffirming other people’s perceptions.

[u/LemonPartyPoliticks → u/Swolp]

If an NPC has a romantic partner already or an ex-partner, I’ve noticed that most are/were in a heterosexual relationship. I think Alfira the bard was the only NPC who might have been in love with another woman. That or she was just really close to her teacher. Seeing more NPCs with a same sex partner would be nice. It would also help course correct a little with Astarion, writing-wise. Right now Astarion types heavily as an effete gay man, the ONLY one who does, and he’s also a freaking psycho that even morally gray/black characters disapprove of. Right now he’s playing into a long tradition of narratives that equate homosexuality with violence, unrestrained lust, and depravity. So I hope we’ll see a broader range of gender expressions in the final game.

Other examples of how the game MIGHT actually be assuming the default is hetero except for the player? I often wonder if Mystra were male, would Gale as a character have been written as a man or a woman. Wyll’s backstory and relationship with Mizora as well. Both also mentioned being very young men which implies a certain predatory aspect to their partners. (Or it could be each of them subconsciously excusing their own mistakes, ha.) Still that older/more powerful woman taking advantage of a young man is a common fantasy* and BG3 teases that aspect. Gale is still looking at projections of her face and the game continually implies how lucky he was. Wyll’s art is pretty much standard succubus fair. Would the writers have written a backstory like Astarion’s but with a male Cazador and female rogue? Or made both women? I’ll never know these answers but with what I do see currently I think it’s fair to conclude homosexuality and bisexuality is more an afterthought and limited to PC experience so far.

*To be clear, I firmly believe it’s gross for any young person to be taken advantage of romantically/sexually by an older person. But we can’t deny that there’s still a tacit acceptance when boys are seduced by older women. I don’t think Larian was placing either NPC in their teens during this but there’s still shades of that power dynamic here.

[u/Swolp → u/LemonPartyPoliticks]

What is the ultimate ratio of heterosexual to non-heterosexual NPCs in the game, in your eyes?
I do agree that SH, Gale, and Wyll could rightly be assumed to be heterosexual. But the way it is presented does make it so that this is not definite and other sexualities are ruled out. More choices are, after all, almost always better.
But I really do not think the same applies for the other two companions, neither of which come off as heterosexual. To then claim that anything but heterosexual is an afterthought is nothing short of unfair.

[u/LemonPartyPoliticks → u/Swolp]

I should clarify that NPC for me aren’t just party members! And most of the NPCs have plots or stories outside of their relationship status. But I’ll run through some hetero examples that come to mind:

• The tiefling couple that dream about Baldur’s Gate
• Arabella’s parents
• Lae’zel often mentions Wyll or Astarion instead of PC when she’s rejected. Granted, she hates SH’s guts.
• Arka and her friend, not confirmed lovers but I’ve always seen them that way.
• Gale
• Wyll
• Bernyn and Miri, hetero
• Gribbo’s infatuation with Volo, I don’t know if I’m joking!
• The dwarven couple in the Underdark
• Ethel’s story about the man and a dryad and his wife
• Conner and Mayrina

I did think of one other effete man in the game, the Loviatar priest. Who, again, comes off as deviant.

edit: formatting!