About race diversity in BG3

[Noin Trongaz]

Well, I have to say that I prefer the Arcanum way of creating a world. This is in my opinion the biggest con in BG3 world-building.
Every race can be anything and even monstrous races speak fluently the common tongue. This makes the visual differences only cosmetic, which is just unrealistic (in the sense that a fantasy world can be realistic).
In BG1 and BG2, most gnomes were mages, halflings rogues etc. It just seems weird that a halfling can be as good of a two-handed fighter as a half-orc. If you think about it, if you belong to a race of intellectually powerful but physically weak race, you would play to your strengths rather than trying to be something where your abilities are limited. So, gnomes as the masterminds in Arcanum who tend to be bankers and politicians while employing brutes like half-ogres is just something that makes the gaming world more interesting.

For me, it just makes a world more interesting if the races have different cultures and treat each other in a very differentiated way. A great example would be the Witcher universe, or Warhammer. It makes me more interested in exploring their societies.

I like diversity where it makes sense because it makes me more immersed in the game. For example, if you meet a Dragonborn, you are like "whoa this guy has a head of a dragon, it probably can't speak and in the dialogue the creature hisses, clacks and uses sign language to communicate. Or a gnome who is a arrogant intellectual but can be easily intimidated by brute strength and tells you "of course you use your muscles in an argument, you brute". And then calls for a half-ork friend who is like "try your ♥♥♥♥ with someone your own size".

I loved details in Arcanum like really stupid characters not being able to form proper sentences. How half-ogres were treated like idiots even if you were very intelligent. How magic users hated technology users. If you have a plenora of different races, how likely is it that they will treat each other without xenophobia? I mean, in our world, people consider a person with a slightly different skin tone a different species and treat them with aversion, while the said skin tone is the ONLY thing that differs (and yes, dark skinned people also treat people with a different skin tone from them with aversion, I have heard first-hand accounts from Asian and African countries). Now imagine if there were dragonborn, tieflings and gnomes. They would be treated with EXTREME caution/distrust simply by how different they are. And that can be a very interesting thing to encounter in the game. For a lot of people, it would be an educational experience to be treated in a certain way just because of the race they chose.

[BLAME! 40K]

Yeah , The world building is just bland , but that is apparently what people want

[Zackerie]

they didn't model the entirety of faerun, the modeled a very small part, that just so happens to be extremely diverse, which is great if you want to make a video game in faerun, for instance. would be like getting upset that everyone in America is speaking english, even tho there is clearly people there from other countries...

[Noin Trongaz]

Originally posted by zackerie:

they didn't model the entirety of faerun, the modeled a very small part, that just so happens to be extremely diverse, which is great if you want to make a video game in faerun, for instance. would be like getting upset that everyone in America is speaking english, even tho there is clearly people there from other countries...

Yet there are different societies in America as well, and an area populated by a different subset of people feels very different. Hell, a lot of African Americans speak a straight up dialect. And despite America being very diverse for a long time, people still treat each other with a lot of aversion based on visual differences.

[Zackerie]

you seem to miss the point they modeled one of the meltest melting pots in faerun. not a closed off community. oh and guess what, there is still crazy racism left right and center. even in the most tolerant places. weird. but hey if you wanna invent things to get mad at, go for it. Doesn't sound fun to me.

[Noin Trongaz]

Originally posted by zackerie:

you seem to miss the point they modeled one of the meltest melting pots in faerun. not a closed off community. oh and guess what, there is still crazy racism left right and center. even in the most tolerant places. weird. but hey if you wanna invent things to get mad at, go for it. Doesn't sound fun to me.

Sorry, I didn't realize I was mad?
I am just saying what kind of world building I prefer and find more immersive. I really like the game, I would just prefer a different type of world building, as this one makes the world more bland in my opinion.

[Agony_Aunt]

Never been a big fan of Forgotten Realms as a setting. Its just a too generic fantasy setting. But, as a counterpoint, generic is the sort of setting you want as your default setting for a fantasy game, especially for new players. Advanced players can move on to other settings, either homebrew or official.

For example, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Planescape, and Ravenloft are quite different settings.

But they got the license to make BG3, so it kind of had to take place (mainly) on Faerun.

Maybe Larian for their next game could get the rights to make a game in a different setting. I'd love to see a Dark Sun game (cannibal halflings - yay!) or Planscape and make a successor to Planescape: Torment.

[DDkiki]

Originally posted by Agony_Aunt:

Never been a big fan of Forgotten Realms as a setting. Its just a too generic fantasy setting. But, as a counterpoint, generic is the sort of setting you want as your default setting for a fantasy game, especially for new players. Advanced players can move on to other settings, either homebrew or official.

For example, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Planescape, and Ravenloft are quite different settings.

But they got the license to make BG3, so it kind of had to take place (mainly) on Faerun.

Maybe Larian for their next game could get the rights to make a game in a different setting. I'd love to see a Dark Sun game (cannibal halflings - yay!) or Planscape and make a successor to Planescape: Torment.

As an old larian fan i just wish they stick with Divinity universe, story there is in dire need of continuation as Original Sin 1-2 were prequel and spin-off sorta, not direct sequels of DD, BD and D2.

And i want playable imps :C

[kgmi]

I ve played almost 100h, just by my in-game experience, I could not tell you the difference between an Elf, a half-ellf and a Human, where are they culturally different?
Language? Customs ? They all feel the same to me.

Most races speak "common" british english, it does pull me out of the experience at times.
Tieflings sound exactly like the most humanoid races.

You get Race specific dialogue options but thats all and few and far between.

Jaheira is the only druid i met with a different accent, why is that ? idk.
Every NPC might as well be from Baldurs Gate, I wouldnt know, they all the same to me at the end of the day.

Only Karlach I can distinguish in her speak, does she sound like she has been mentally stuck in highschool ever since.

[✙205🍉🐆→]

This is the problem of the board game when the licensee removed the restrictions that he himself created

[Darkwing†Duck]

There are no more races, just cosmetic preferences. Just pick what ever you want and be whoever you want...kinda dumb.

[videomike_Ultimate_Plushie]

MMM, an man of Arcanum's history and world-building. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE IT. I do agree the -excellent- worldbuilding and respect to race relations and the reality about it is absolutely glorious. You don't see female Gnomes? There's a cultural reason for that. The nature as to why Half-ogres are so kind to children and the minute races? There's a reason for that and it's horrifying. Even the anthropological basis for elves and ogres from humans(technically giants) is downright fascinating. And all of what I said is in the damn manual written in first person like a research essay. The game follows that in wonderful accuracy both in culture and otherwise.

Hell, it's got one of the most realistic forms of horrid around race I've seen in fiction right off the bat. when a group of people are selling dwarvish artifacts from a mass dwarven tomb they found, -and using the bodies for labor-....but they say it's okay because the dwarves there didn't act like dwarves. such as not having their walls basically caked in hyroglyphics about their ancestors. The key aspect is because of the worldbuilding the story can harness and make use of these cultural details constantly to build intigue. The fact that a dwarf never shaved his beard is actual a major plot point for example.

I agree, people who say discussing race, be it culture hallmark, phenotype and anthropology, and ancestry/birth are just plain wrong and arcanum and LOTR proves it.

[['w']]

just relax and watch some "4 Halfling Barbarians" on youtube, ease your pain, all will be fine, play as you wish, don't read too many comments on steam.

[tank16365]

Running into the Dragonborn shopkeeper in the third act that sounds and acts like a airheaded teenage girl was kind of immersion breaking to be honest. Let's not get into the why did it have feminine...er.....body type 2....physical body parts.....

[Noin Trongaz]

Originally posted by videomike_Ultimate_Plushie:

MMM, an man of Arcanum's history and world-building. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE IT. I do agree the -excellent- worldbuilding and respect to race relations and the reality about it is absolutely glorious. You don't see female Gnomes? There's a cultural reason for that. The nature as to why Half-ogres are so kind to children and the minute races? There's a reason for that and it's horrifying. Even the anthropological basis for elves and ogres from humans(technically giants) is downright fascinating. And all of what I said is in the damn manual written in first person like a research essay. The game follows that in wonderful accuracy both in culture and otherwise.

Hell, it's got one of the most realistic forms of horrid around race I've seen in fiction right off the bat. when a group of people are selling dwarvish artifacts from a mass dwarven tomb they found, -and using the bodies for labor-....but they say it's okay because the dwarves there didn't act like dwarves. such as not having their walls basically caked in hyroglyphics about their ancestors. The key aspect is because of the worldbuilding the story can harness and make use of these cultural details constantly to build intigue. The fact that a dwarf never shaved his beard is actual a major plot point for example.

I agree, people who say discussing race, be it culture hallmark, phenotype and anthropology, and ancestry/birth are just plain wrong and arcanum and LOTR proves it.

Yes, and these things were fascinating to discover, weren't they?

[videomike_Ultimate_Plushie]

Originally posted by A Peasant Mobster:

Originally posted by videomike_Ultimate_Plushie:

MMM, an man of Arcanum's history and world-building. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE IT. I do agree the -excellent- worldbuilding and respect to race relations and the reality about it is absolutely glorious. You don't see female Gnomes? There's a cultural reason for that. The nature as to why Half-ogres are so kind to children and the minute races? There's a reason for that and it's horrifying. Even the anthropological basis for elves and ogres from humans(technically giants) is downright fascinating. And all of what I said is in the damn manual written in first person like a research essay. The game follows that in wonderful accuracy both in culture and otherwise.

Hell, it's got one of the most realistic forms of horrid around race I've seen in fiction right off the bat. when a group of people are selling dwarvish artifacts from a mass dwarven tomb they found, -and using the bodies for labor-....but they say it's okay because the dwarves there didn't act like dwarves. such as not having their walls basically caked in hyroglyphics about their ancestors. The key aspect is because of the worldbuilding the story can harness and make use of these cultural details constantly to build intigue. The fact that a dwarf never shaved his beard is actual a major plot point for example.

I agree, people who say discussing race, be it culture hallmark, phenotype and anthropology, and ancestry/birth are just plain wrong and arcanum and LOTR proves it.

Yes, and these things were fascinating to discover, weren't they?

Yes. yes they were, especially THAT one. But it was fascinating and ever point helped build the world and story