Baldur's Gate 3 - Living up to the Hype (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 08:44 (52 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I've read lots of praise, but if anyone is going to call out the Emperor's lack of clothes, it's you. Good to hear that the bar has been raised.

Usually when we hear 'the bar has been raised' it's in relation to some super polished, high fidelity open world game or something.

Baldur's gate 3 is full of jank. Glitches. Bugs. The graphics are far from cutting edge. And yet, that doesn't matter.

I'm starting to think many AAA devs are focusing an inordinate amount of time and money on things that don't actually matter. Things players don't ultimately care that much about. And the opportunity cost of that is why they call this game an "anomaly" and something not to expect.

I think everything matters to some degree.

Yeah, but it's always about a cost benefit analysis. When something costs a lot, but helps very little, then it's the wrong decision if pursuing it makes you forgo things that help a lot.

We like to think of the best artists as striving for perfection, but that's a great way to run out of money shooting a film or making a video game.

Yep. And many times when you find out about the creative process, you find out that the element you think is perfect is accidental, or an obviously inferior idea was argued for strenuously. An accident I recently heard about was related to the T-Rex in Jurassic Park. It essentially broke, and the head came down through the sunroof with much more force than was intended. The kids' terror was real.