Suffering and success.

  • quortez@kbin.social
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    7 months ago

    Hasbro being the worst, yet again

    BG3’s only sin is having to be tied to the worst owner in tabletop gaming. Thank god Larian is independent.

    • sheogorath@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Larian pls make a new series based on the Pathfinder ruleset. I think the success of BG3 has helped the mainstream to get used to DnD ruleset. Although Pathfinder is more complex, I think they have the chops to make it more accessible to the masses.

        • godot@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Pathfinder was to get around WotC dropping D&D 3.5. Paizo was started by veteran D&D writers to sell adventures, which they still do as adventure paths, rather than a system. When WotC updated to 4e, meaning no more print books that Paizo could reference in their adventures, Pathfinder was a way to print new 3.5e PHBs and Monster Manuals.

          Paizo didn’t initially change much in PF1e. There were a few balance tweaks. The books were better laid out than 3.5. The players did the math on things like combat maneuvers in advance. In practice the game played pretty much the same, my groups jumped over seamlessly.

          Having run and played both, I do think Pathfinder 2e is counterintuitively simpler in play than 5e D&D. 5e plays fluidly almost immediately, move and act. PF2e is pretty demanding for the first hour or three, the three action economy and Conditions ™ are an armful, and many players need to unlearn some D&D habits. Once a player has below average system mastery PF2e is as fluid as 5e. Beyond that PF2e shines. The rules scale better to complex scenarios, giving players more clear options of how they could act and giving the GM a better framework to figure out exactly what someone needs to roll. I also think it’s easier for players to go from average to good system mastery in Pathfinder, it’s mostly just learning how to optimize their character and learning more conditions and spells that work in the framework the player already understands.

          For new players in session 1 D&D is simpler, in session 5 Pathfinder pulls even or maybe ahead, and in session 50 Pathfinder still sort of works where D&D falls apart.

          PF2e character customization, though, is much more complicated, which some people like and others do not.

        • Lianodel@ttrpg.network
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          7 months ago

          Eh, yes and no.

          Pathfinder 1e was pretty much just straight-up continuing D&D 3.5e, but with some tweaks. Pathfinder 2e overhauled a lot of stuff, often simplifying things, but still pretty complex.

          Compared to D&D 5e, Pathfinder has more rules, but those rules often make things easier, or (IMO) get you more return for the effort. So, for example: The feat list is bigger and more complicated, but in practice, it means you only need to look at a handful of them when you level up, which is easier (and the rules give you guidelines for swapping things out if you don’t like them). The monk has more decisions to make with stances and attack types, but that’s… kind of what you want with a monk to make combat interesting. There are rules for boats, and holy shit how does 5e not have rules for boats.

          The last example might sound silly, but it’s part of what convinced me to switch. It’s an annoying omission in and of itself, but also speaks to a broader pattern of 5e just not supporting Dungeon Masters, letting them fix the either broken or incomplete rules, or else take the blame for them. Pathfinder actually supports Dungeon Game Masters, as though their time, effort, and fun were just as valuable as anyone else’s. /rant

          Pathfinder 2e is what I’d play if I wanted something like 5e, but runs differently. If I wanted something similar, I’d pick something else, but that’s a longer, even more off topic discussion to go into unprompted. :P

          • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            That sounds cool. My only exposure to Pathfinder was the Pathfinder: Kingmaker game, which felt a lot like the predecessor to Baldur’s Gate 3. I haven’t played it on Table Top. I’d definitely try it if someone had the books though. I already have a lot of D&D books, which makes it my go-to game.

            • machinaeZER0@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              They just launched some new Pathfinder books that are effectively pathfinder 2.x, with a lot of small (and some larger) tweaks, but technically the previous 2e books are still able to be used interchangeably.

              To that end, there’s a Humble Bundle going on where you can pick up a TON of that legacy 2e content in official PDF form, so if you’re interested you should check it out! I believe most tiers include the Beginner Box, which has an intro adventure for new players and includes some sort of single player content that would give you a glimpse into how the game runs :)

        • bob_lemon@feddit.de
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          7 months ago

          Pathfinder was created as an updated version of D&D 3.5, which was very complex. PF food streamline parts of it, but ended up just as complex at some point, mostly due to the massive variety of options available through splat books.

          Meanwhile, D&D 5e was released to be much less complex by getting rid of stacking bonuses and the vast majority of math.

          Parhfinder 2 (which I have not actually played yet) did not do that. They opted for streamlining the existing system by combining several similar subsystems into one (i.e. everything is a feat now). But the math is still there.

          • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            Parhfinder 2 (which I have not actually played yet) did not do that. They opted for streamlining the existing system by combining several similar subsystems into one (i.e. everything is a feat now). But the math is still there.

            I disagree. I’ve played 5E and GM PF2E (so I’m biased, but informed). In PF2E there’s no stacking bonuses of the same type, and there’s only 3 bonus types now.

            Also, while there’s a ton of feats, Paizo didn’t just toss everything into feats.

            PF2E is built off of a few frameworks for subsystems, one of which being character creation. There’s also the monster creation framework which allows homebrewing creatures and encounters that follow challenge rating suggestions. There’s even guidelines for building your own subsystems for thibgs like investigation, chases, research, etc. That are easy to learn get you fairly close to what Paizo would design themselves.

            Meanwhile, the streamlining of 5E that you’re hinting at is WotC stripping out almost all character options. I always got tired of D&D campaigns by level 5 because your biggest meaningful choices are at 1st and 3rd level unless you start making multiclass abominations. And there’s also little support for GM’s, requiring each one to come up with their own rules for things like how ships work or designing magic items.

            I’d rather have a system like PF2E that provides options, because you can always choose to ignore them and build your own thing. If you’re playing 5E, you don’t have that choice

        • bouh@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Yes it is. Pathfinder made for builders who want to create a character with hundreds of options to choose from. It is rule heavy in the tradition of dnd 3rd edition. Pathfinder 2e is much more refined, but I doubt they went away from this philosophy. It’s still very rule heavy.

        • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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          7 months ago

          They use the Pathfinder 1e rules which are way too complex IMO. There’s no PF2e CRPG out there.

      • Carighan Maconar@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Personally I would love if they made something based on FATE. I would have absolutely no clue how to do it in a CRPG, but I love the system for actual pen&paper.

      • Thatsalotofpotatoes@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I was impressed by how good Larian made BG3 in spite of using tabletop mechanics, but the Divinity games still had much better game play. I hope they start a new IP and add more of the roleplay options that made BG3 great, but with their own mechanics (hopefully without a charisma stat)

        • bouh@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Forgotten realms is basically the IP for standard fantasy. This is an enormous strength for an IP. Divinity doesn’t have this strength, it doesn’t speak naturally to everyone like this.

          • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Frankly I was really excited for the Divinity project they dropped for BG3, precisely because I like the “high middle age/early modern” feel of, eg. Pillars of Eternity that FR kinda lacks.

      • Tarcion@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        This would be my absolute dream. I loved BG3 but the weakest part of me was being based on D&D 5e. PF2 is just a better system in pretty much every way imo.

        If they could make a PF2 CRPG, that would be incredible.

      • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        PF2e is a lot more approachable than 1e. It’s a lot harder to truly botch a character in 2e, while preserving variety of options. The 3 action system is also much more intuitive than action types.

      • griefreeze@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Any chance you might be able to give some highlights of what you consider significant differences between 5e and PF1/2 (your choice)? My only experience is 5e tabletop and BG3.

    • Diotima@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      I’ve been browsing older Forgotten Realms sourcebooks and the love that the authors put into those is amazing. It hurts to see D&D and the worlds I grew up loving destroyed by a soulless entity that cares only about profit.

      • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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        7 months ago

        If it’s at all of interest to you, there are a bunch of good novels set in the Forgotten Realms, too.

        There’s a pretty great thread from just a few years ago on the Candlekeep forums where someone read through every single book and gave a brief review of them. I can’t remember their opinion in great detail, but the biggest authors (Ed Greenwood and Bob Salvatore) were relatively lowly rated, while Elaine Cunningham and Erin M. Evans consistently rated much more highly.

        I’ve never read Cunningham myself, but I’ve read all of Evans’ FR novels and am a huge fan. Plan to read her non-FR novels once I’m finished with what I’m currently working through, if I can find a copy that’s not from the rainforest company.

          • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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            7 months ago

            Was trickier to find than I thought because of the unorthodox title. But here it is.

            It’s a 35 page thread with others chiming in with their thoughts as the original author makes his way through the list, and some summing up on pages 33 & 34. And technically still ongoing as new books slowly trickle out, though most of it was finished in 2020.

            Unfortunately it looks like the author never fully finished his wrap-up either. He said he was gonna do favourite series, fav individual books, fav authors, and misc comments, but only ended up doing the first two of those as far as I could see.

            Personally I mostly read through the reviews of Evans’ books back when I first saw the thread, and my vague recollection was that he/others liked them and mentioned also liking Cunningham, but I could be misremembering.

            Happy to provide my own review of Evans’ work if interested.

        • caseofthematts@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I’ve been searching all around for Cunningham books and I can’t find any. Not any libraries around here, virtual or physical. Not any used book stores. No where!

          • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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            7 months ago

            I’ve really struggled with the first of Evans’ Brimstone Angels series for a long time, too. The rest of the series was easy to come by, but the first one goes for over $100 second hand.

            My local library had it for a while, but seems to have gotten rid of it. Thankfully, all Evans’ books are excellently narrated in audiobook, and are also available in ebook (including easily pirated, which I don’t feel too bad about considering I’ve bought the physical copy of all but the first, as well as the audiobooks of all of them).

            I would guess the same should be true of Cunningham’s works, though I haven’t looked. (And the quality of the audio narration may not be as excellent. I know the narrator of the small number of Greenwood books I read was less than stellar.)

            • caseofthematts@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Audiobook unfortunately isn’t much of an option for me due to attention issues. All I know is it’s been impossible for me to find the Starlight & Shadows series.

              If you have any recommendations for Evans’ books I’d love to see if I can check those out, as well.

              • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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                7 months ago

                Evans only has one standalone novel and one 6-book series.

                The standalone: The God Catcher is set in Waterdeep, and is about the daughter of a minor noble who flunks out of wizard school and becomes a rogue, getting caught up in the scheme of some dragons who have found a way to bypass Waterdeep’s mythal and get into the city. It’s a fun ride.

                The series is the Brimstone Angels series, about two twin tieflings abandoned at birth and adopted by a curmudgeonly single dad dragonborn. The prologue shows one of the twins accidentally forming a warlock pact with a devil. The biggest ongoing appeals of this series are:

                • the nature of an infernal warlock pact and the relation between the warlock and patron
                • the experience of a race that internally is absolutely no different to humans (unlike, say, half-orcs, which are canonically actually more likely to be aggressive) but which are perceived as evil
                • the politics of the Nine Hells (her patron becomes, especially as the series goes on, a sort of deuteragonist of the series, and we see a lot of internal political dealings, schemes, etc. between different devils of different ranks)

                If you’ve read the 5e Player’s Handbook, the quotes that are at the start of the tiefling and dragonborn racial entries both come from this series. The tiefling one is part of the prologue of book 1 (Brimstone Angels) and the dragonborn one is—from memory—from book 5 (Ashes of the Tyrant). The last two books are especially good if you’re interested in dragonborn, or if you like creative fantasy world building in general, because Evans’ background before she got into writing was in anthropology, and the dragonborn culture was not very heavily fleshed out previously, so she had a lot of leeway to do some really cool unique work with them. She’s got a number of articles on her blog about draconic language and dragonborn culture as sort of fun supplemental material. Here’s part 1 of “playing a Dragonborn in the Forgotten Realms”. There are also parts 2 and 3 of that series, plus 2 posts of the draconic language.

                Book 4 is set in Cormyr, and deals a lot with Cormyrian politics. The closest parallel to which in more popular fantasy that I can think of is Wheel of Time’s Andoran succession crisis

                Book 3 was explicitly part of WotC’s The Sundering, a series of books set around the time of the Second Sundering, the in-world explanation for the rule and setting changes between 4th and 5th edition. But Evans was allowed to set all of her remaining books 3–6 during the intermediary period, so book 6 climaxes basically right as the Sundering itself is hitting the world, which plays into her story threads in a major way.

                There’s stuff about how Asmodeus came to be a god, how tieflings came to look like they do in 4th and 5th edition, how Azuth returned to life after being presumed dead, and a brief excursion to Toril’s twin plane of Abeir, the magic-less land ruled by dragon tyrants from which the dragonborn escaped.

                There’s one other of her blog posts that I’d like to recommend, but I’m putting it down here because it’s a little different. It’s less a lore thing and more something interesting in the writing. Good if you want interesting ideas for narrating at a table, maybe, but mostly interesting if you’re interested in hearing about the writing process. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys seeing the “behind-the-scenes” of movies and the like. It’s this one where she’s talking about how she weaves in a game mechanic into the narrative in a seamless but necessary way. Specifically, how she used a 4e “healing surge” in the first book, a mechanic that was often derided by people who didn’t like 4e because of how unrealistic it was, but which she utilised in a way that was both flawless and entirely necessary (because the character doing it had used an ability that required they be below half health, and then later in the same scene used one that required they be above half health, to be faithful to the game rules).

                But yeah, it’s safe to say that I’m a huge fan, and highly recommend her. Unfortunately if audiobook is not an option, book is the only way to get the first Brimstone Angels book, unless you’re lucky enough to have a library with it. But at least when I was buying 6 or so years ago, all the other books in the series were easy to get a hold of.

                • caseofthematts@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Fortunately, all of those books seem to be in my local library ebook app, so I’ve got some new reading to do, thank you for the wonderful breakdown!

              • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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                7 months ago

                Oh, I’ll just also add that she’s got two other books set in her own world that I know of. I think at least a third is planned. And next year the classic MMORPG RuneScape is releasing a book set in its world’s past written by her. I’ve not read any of these, but plan to.

  • rigatti@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Hasbro continuing to make shit decisions on behalf of WotC, the only sector of the company keeping it afloat.

      • Lianodel@ttrpg.network
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        7 months ago

        Ah, the Jack Welch method.

        (Seriously, fuck that guy. He was a pioneer among bloodsucking CEOS, and part of it was mass layoffs to boost short-term profits.)

          • caseofthematts@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            If they wanted to fire the “bad performers” then they’d be firing the CEOs and higher ranked people, not those actually making the products work.

          • kibiz0r@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Nothing, if that’s genuinely what you’re doing.

            But it’s dangerous to incentivize it, because you get short-term gains by firing anyone, whether or not it’s the right long-term call.

            It’s also just difficult to identify bad performers. Fundamental attribution error is a bitch. And because we’re really bad at seeing the entire system surrounding someone’s productivity, we tend to blame operator error only to find that the next operator we hire has the exact same problem.

            • Lianodel@ttrpg.network
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              7 months ago

              Exactly. It’s just goosing the numbers. The company made this much in profit, and the cost-cutting from firing people will save money immediately, so it looks great… on paper… for a little while. It doesn’t matter if the company is gutted, because the CEO and most of the investors will dip before things get too bad, and go onto the next thing. The employees will suffer and the customers will be upset, but CEOs don’t answer to them, they answer to shareholders, and shareholders just want the line to go up this quarter.

      • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        There’s no one there left to defend the IP, so they can do evil things. I’m guessing it’s as intended.

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    laying off 1,100 employees as a way to "modernize our organization and get even leaner

    Yeah because that’s what we want of the ones in charge of publishing, administering and providing support for some of the most played games in the world now and historically: leanness! The fewer people to take care of important things, the better! 🤦

    I know that he’s talking to investors rather than players, but come on! Also, there’s nothing “modern” about stupidly trying to increase profits via mass layoffs without expecting blowback and for quality to suffer. That’s some 1700s bullshit right there.

    • Carighan Maconar@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Also, when your company is ailing (read: Not making more profit than last year, no matter what ocean of money your managers are swimming in), fire the good parts. That’ll fix it!

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        7 months ago

        Hasbro is unprofitable, but there was a memo a while back that said Wizards of the Coast was their most profitable division. Possibly their only profitable division. That’s Magic: The Gathering and D&D.

        This is also whey we’re seeing both those properties getting the fuck monetized out of them. Big influxes of MTG sets based on other licensed properties, and attempts to undo the open licensing around One D&D.

        But then it makes even less sense to lay people off from those divisions.

        • masinko@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          They also said in a memo maybe 2 years ago they want WotC to be worth double their value in 5 years. That’s pretty unrealistic standards for an already established company.

        • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          The best way to save hasbro is cut back on making trash plastic toys for kids and stake the company to a well-staffed, functional WoTC who can deliver what MTG and DND fans want.

          Is that in the original spirit of the company? No, but who the hell cares? Certainly not investors and certainly not consumers or they’d be buying the toys

      • Lesrid@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Imagine if we quit our jobs if we didn’t get an annual raise. Maybe we could afford housing.

  • half_built_pyramids@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    For the likely large overlap this audience might have with dnd, it didn’t make 100mil a year so it gets to eat shit. It doesn’t help that the video game license isn’t counted in that total. Other Hasbro brands do make 100mil a year.

    I thought magic was one. It is surprising to see layoffs there.

    Anyway, of course a corporation does evil shit. The only moral is the line going up.

    • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      MtG made over a billion dollars. From what I can see WotC, products/services/licenses, make up over 3 billion of Hasbro’s 5.something billion revenue.

      • half_built_pyramids@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, card crack is real. They’ve been whaling and getting kids into gambling since the 90s. Don’t know why lay offs there. Line go up just a little more probably.

        • Holyginz@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          It’s not that. It’s that the fewer people they have to pay the more money they get to keep. It’s incredibly short sighted and self destructive. But they don’t care at this point.

          • heyoni@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            That or they’re planning to lean on generative ai to produce content

            • lorty@lemmy.ml
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              7 months ago

              IIRC they contract and credit the artists. I don’t think theyveven use any in-house srtists.

              • caseofthematts@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                They’ve been caring less about artists and the community in recent years.

                At cons, they used to pay for artists hotels and give them free booths to set up, now artists get nothing and have to pay something like $750 for a booth.

                • tmyakal@lemm.ee
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                  7 months ago

                  I think that’s more about WotC giving up on cons and tourneys than giving up on artists. If they’re having events at all, they’re not putting as much money into them as they used to.

                • lorty@lemmy.ml
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                  7 months ago

                  You mean using AI to design the card’s mechanics? I’d like to think we are still a ways away from that, specially since they’d have to train their on model that adjusts not only for the text generated but what the actual card would do in a game. they could use it for french vanilla cards I suppose, but it’s not like those take a human that long to make anyway.

              • heyoni@lemm.ee
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                7 months ago

                1100 layoffs and they don’t use in house artists? I find that hard to believe but you might be right.

        • Diotima@kbin.social
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          7 months ago

          Yeah, my partner really likes the art but we’re both aware that MtG was just the real world precursor to the current micro-transaction culture.

        • DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca
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          7 months ago

          MTG used to have 2 or 3 releases a year. Enough to keep things fresh, but not an instance amount.

          When I was working in a Game Store in the Early 2020’s, there as more than one release a week, and a major release about once a month. They set the milking machine to maximum.

  • Sirico@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Guess Larian just got a load of designers and writers. Such a shame as 5th ed was a real highlight, but now a lot of people seem to be heading back to pathfinder like the 4th ed days. Luckily, the Divinity universe can stand on its own and there’s a wealth of other tabletop rulesets waiting for their amazing adaptions

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      7 months ago

      I don’t think it’s too controversial to suggest that 5e mechanics are not the strength of BG3. It would be arguably praised more if it kept the world design of BG3 and replaced the combat to have the spell scope of DO2 with the basic actions of 5e (aka shove, which arguably BG3 tweaked anyway to make it fun in combat)

      I’ll miss the design approach of the game but BG3 was just a big advertisement to how good a D:OS3 will be

      • Lesrid@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Revisiting DOS2 after playing BG3, the game feels like Splatoon: Painted surfaces everywhere, all the time.

      • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I agree. DOS2 was, mechanically, a superior game. Porting 5e into videogame format isn’t as clean.

      • Vyllenor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 months ago

        Imo Solasta is a better implementation of 5e mechanics (aside from the lack of grappling improvised weapons), but BG3 story is undeniably better

        • TheLowestStone@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          This 1000 times.

          Solasta (especially modded) is a much more pure 5e as video game experience.

          BG3 is a much better game overall.

    • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      I made the change almost a year ago now after all the OGL nonsense they tried to pull and I honestly believe Pathfinder is a much more fun game. My entire table enjoys it more than 5e and they are a real variety of different player types.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I prefer D:OS 1s story and played-through world to D:OS 2’s, but D:OS 2 has a lot more polish. Both are excellent games and worth your time.

  • arc@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    The same Hasbro that tried to make a land grab for all D&D derivative content by changing their Open Game License to grant them irrevocable, perpetual rights to it. This is not a nice company as they demonstrate time and again.

    So maybe it’s time the RPG community stopped thinking Hasbro are ever going to change, mourn for what D&D has become, but move onto something else.

    • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      This is mostly a USA problem. :) There are so many great pnp systems out there. But there will be a learning curve.

      • ctobrien84@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        What? We don’t have a plethora of other games here in the US? I’ll have to remind the owners of all those shops that those hundreds of other games they’re selling currently only exist outside of the US. How embarrassing for us…

        • reluctantpornaccount@reddthat.com
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          7 months ago

          Yeah Pathfinder 2e is good. It’s more crunchy than 5e, but that also means there are rules for most situations that come up. I like the 3 action system, much better than the old, “main action, swift action, move action, move- equivalent action” thing the old version had going on.

  • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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    7 months ago

    But what about the poor CEOs? Did they get their Christmas bonus? Think of the children!!

  • joker125@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Haven’t played BG3 but wtf sense does it make to layoff these team(s)?

    Plenty of people paid for the game and enjoyed it and it won GOTY.

    • cam_i_am@lemmy.world
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      You misunderstand. Larian is the company that made the BG3 video game, and they haven’t laid people off.

      However it’s a licensed game. Baldur’s Gate and D&D are IPs that are owned by a company called Wizards of Coast. And Wizards is owned by Hasbro. Hasbro is forcing layoffs at Wizards, specifically on the D&D team because it doesn’t print money as efficiently as say, Magic the Gathering does.

      The people at Wizards, i.e the people who actually make D&D are no doubt passionate wonderful people. But Hasbro (and probably some of the Wizards management) are awful corporate parasites determined to suck every last penny from their properties.

      They don’t give a shit how loved a product is, if it’s not making $100M per year then it’s basically worthless to them and they won’t fund it. So layoffs happen.

    • Kakaofruchttafel@feddit.de
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      7 months ago

      Larian Studios is not owned by anyone. The Wizards of the coast team that Larian worked with has been laid off

    • krakenx@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      TSR, which was the company that originally made D&D got bought by Wizards of the Coast, which made Magic the Gathering. Then Wizards got bought by Hasbro.

      Every product you love has been acquired by a large company that got bought by a larger company and then turned to shit. Until the government stops blocking mergers and acquisitions, this trend will continue.

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    7 months ago

    Please do not tell me that anyone is surprised that a triple A game studio laid off most of their employees as a reward for a job well done.

    Please. Please tell me everyone has figured out that nearly all large game dev companies are pure fucking evil.

    EDIT: Welp, thats what I get for making an ill informed post after 36 hours on the road before passing out in my motel, yep, I probably should have read the article.

      • cbarrick@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        They didn’t even read the headline.

        The headline clearly says that Hasbro (owners of WotC/D&D) did layoffs, not Larian Studios (creators of Balder’s Gate 3).

        • Redredme@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          The headline here on lemmy is unreadable gibberish with BG3 in the title. It could as well be

          Layoff 5blagagasjjee Swen shgrwaaahahaaaa Baldurs Gate 3 dacghgfrtf gone. Click here for ads.

          So i get where he’s coming from. On the other hand, once you start reading the ads with some content in between it becomes clear immediately that this is about the IP holder, not the game studio.

          • lad@programming.dev
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            7 months ago

            I’m kinda with you on that, without knowing that Hasbro doesn’t own Larian this can be misread.

            But I guess that the overly angry tone made people quite upset about your comment

          • brsrklf@jlai.lu
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            …is that an attempt at sarcasm or something?

            ‘There’s almost nobody left’: CEO of Baldur’s Gate 3 dev Swen Vincke says the D&D team he initially worked with is gone, due to Hasbro layoffs

            Same Lemmy title as the article. You know exactly who’s talking (“CEO of Baldur’s Gate 3 dev Swen Vincke”), about whom (“the D&D team he initially worked with”), what happened to them (“is gone”) and who is to blame (“due to Hasbro layoffs”).

            As far as titles go, it’s pretty good at telling you exactly what the actual article is about. Sure, you may need basic knowledge about how a licenced product works, and that BG3 is under the D&D licence. It would be rather hard to fit all that in a title.

      • Mereo@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        Read? Lemmy is Reddit 2.0. Unfortunately, the majority don’t read articles.

          • Poggervania@kbin.social
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            7 months ago

            Off-topic, but when I mentioned this in a different thread, an actual answer I got is basically the fediverse is really similar to reddit - how can the culture be any different?

            Anyways, if the fediverse starts to become Reddit 2.0 I think it would be high time to go.

            • lad@programming.dev
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              7 months ago

              Or maybe people could steer the culture in one way or another by encouraging/discouraging specific behaviour. Nah, sounds like an unrealistic thing

              On a serious note, self-regulation should be simpler in a smaller community, so it might work better here than on Reddit

    • Lemonparty@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      About a week ago you decided to make your lemmy account. A better idea would’ve been to learn how to fucking read.

        • Lemonparty@lemm.ee
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          I’m proud to say I’ve spread the lemon party gospel on lemmy a few times, and the reactions are always worth it.

    • stopthatgirl7@kbin.socialOP
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      7 months ago

      You…You might want to consider reading the article.

      Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, who own DnD. Larian, a completely separate company, got the rights to make BG3 from Hasbro. Hasbro laid off nearly everyone Larian Studios worked with at Wizards of the Coast.

      • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Hasbro laid off nearly everyone Larian Studios

        WHY ARE ALL DEVS EVIL

        • HandBreadedTools@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          What? No. They’re saying that Larian, a completely independent company, worked with a team from Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast is owned by Hasbro. Hasbro laid off 1100 employees from Wizards of the Coast. Many of those employees were on the team that worked with Larian to make BG3.

          Larian Studios had literally nothing to do with this. Larian did nothing wrong.

    • tryitout@infosec.pub
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      7 months ago

      Please tell me everyone has figured out that all large companies are pure fucking evil

      Fixed that for you