SoD companions

[e11]

I've finished the little intro segment, and now I'm supposed to gather up a team.

Are the ones available in Baldur's Gate itself all there is, or will more familiar faces be available along the way? I just want to know whether to fill out the roster or not.

[fauxpas]

http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate_Wiki

[Marksthecylon]

More familiar faces (but not all of them) and new ones do appear along the way.

[fauxpas]

Not many of them you mean.

[Marksthecylon]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Not many of them you mean.

Unfortunatly you're right,
(More familiar faces (but not many of them) and new ones do appear along the way.)
would have been more accurate.

[Damn_Monkey]

The decision to include so little of the BG1 toons is really odd. After everything we went through, to think that they would just abandon me when I needed them most, doesn't feel right.

[fauxpas]

bd wanted to showcase "their" NPCs, although I suppose we ought to be happy that they didn't butcher more of the original NPCs than they did.

[e11]

So... should I fill up in the city or not?

[Julius Borisov]

Originally posted by Damn_Monkey:

The decision to include so little of the BG1 toons is really odd. After everything we went through, to think that they would just abandon me when I needed them most, doesn't feel right.

The reason for that is purely technical and has nothing to do with what fauxpas says:

Phillip Daigle during an interview with Mages and Murderdads has explained why not all NPCs from BG1 are present in SoD. It is because not all voice actors were possible to reach.

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/63453/interview-with-phillip-daigle-at-mages-and-murderdads-podcast

@e11

I'd wait a bit longer, - you'll meet Jaheira, Khalid, Edwin, Rasaad, Dorn, Neera, Baeloth, as well as new SoD NPCs later.

[captainwiseass]

Well, there aren't enough companions in the city to pick up a full party. But I think Minsc, Dynaheir, and Safana are pretty useful even if you don't plan to keep them around the whole game. (Safana's practically obligatory if your PC isn't a thief.)

[Damn_Monkey]

Originally posted by Julius Borisov:

Originally posted by Damn_Monkey:

The decision to include so little of the BG1 toons is really odd. After everything we went through, to think that they would just abandon me when I needed them most, doesn't feel right.

The reason for that is purely technical and has nothing to do with what fauxpas says:

Phillip Daigle during an interview with Mages and Murderdads has explained why not all NPCs from BG1 are present in SoD. It is because not all voice actors were possible to reach.

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/63453/interview-with-phillip-daigle-at-mages-and-murderdads-podcast

Aye, I remember them saying that when it came out. I still think it strange choice at the time. They choose not to add the other NPC's because they want to remain true to the game and only use original voice actors for immersion, yet they give the green light on chaging character personalities to better fit the current writers' vision of what is propper and brake immersion.

I view having the original voice actors as a boon, not a requirement. Having the options to build a better/bigger/more unique team is what I loved about the BG. I was very disapointed with the amount of additional NPC's that were recruitable in SoD. With having such a huge focus on being able to have large scale fights and pulling in adventurers from all over the realm to fight the Shining Lady, I was hoping that it would offer and opportunity to meet a lot of new friends.

[fauxpas]

Which is why I don't believe the "offical line" that JB is parroting, considering that they didn't have any trouble finding the original voice actors for BG(2)'s "canon party" as well as the the one that was singled out by them to be rewritten.


Its just ... awfully convenient that those were the actors who could be found but the others simply dropped off the face of the earth.

[Julius Borisov]

@Damn_Monkey Have you played SoD yourself? In what way character personalities are changed? Changed if compared to what?

[fauxpas]

Oh, that reminds me JB ... the entire "we had to get rid of the original NPCs because we couldn't find their voice actors" is proveably a bald faced lie.


It requires a mod to give a voice to Jaheria.

[Damn_Monkey]

I have played through SoD, once. And very well may not play through it again to be honest. Was not a huge fan of the story or how it was written.

As far as personalities go, you have to look no further than the issues that sparked all that controversy when SoD was first released. Both Minsc and Safana have lines of dialog that are not in character, but instead serve to push a personal view of one of the writers. Now I don't work in the video game field. I'll be honest when I say I have zero first hand understanding of how dialog gets into these games, but I would imagine that the writers do not have full autonomy, nor answer to no one but themselves. I'd imagine at some point an editor had to have read everything that went into it and chose what to say, and what to leave out.

Now I'm not one of those guys who demanding someone burn at the stake for what ultimatly came down to as bad writing, but It does bother me to hear a company say how they want to maintain the integrety of a character, and as such I loose out on the opportunity to play some of my favourites, to only have them go and alter said characters.