Larian Studios is Done With Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate | MMORPG.com

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Larian Studios is Done With Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate | MMORPG.com

Larian Studios is done with Baldur's Gate and D&D, according to comments made by Larian CEO Swen Vincke at GDC earlier this week.

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ShinyFlygon

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

Aeander

Just saying if they ever want to make a turn-based Guild Wars CRPG, I would throw money at that yesterday.

Babuinix

ShinyFlygon said:

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

Slow news week = reashed stuff

ZenJelly

I was happy about this when I heard it before and I'm happy about it now.

Kyleran

ShinyFlygon said:

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

Because their CEO stated it in his address at the GDC. Apparently not everyone was "in the know."


I certainly didn't know it.

achesoma

Gotta leave on a high note.

Scot

Kyleran said:

ShinyFlygon said:

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

Because their CEO stated it in his address at the GDC. Apparently not everyone was "in the know."





I certainly didn't know it.

Yeah, you would think they would have the decency to post it on here before making these sorts of announcements.

Scot

This to me means Larian is free to make what sort of RPG it likes and DnD is a very constricting system. I have just been looking at how to get rid of Elves and Dwarves from a Sword and Sorcery table top rpg, those races were crammed in because DnD must have them. They just don't appear in S&S fiction, well at least the older fiction which is all that matters.

In a nutshell, I am going to make the Elves alike to Melnibonéans and the Dwarves are going to be stocky humans. DnD has this habit of making the settings conform to the game, when it should be the other way round.

Sovrath

Scot said:

This to me means Larian is free to make what sort of RPG it likes and DnD is a very constricting system. I have just been looking at how to get rid of Elves and Dwarves from a Sword and Sorcery table top rpg, those races were crammed in because DnD must have them. They just don't appear in S&S fiction, well at least the older fiction which is all that matters.

In a nutshell, I am going to make the Elves alike to Melnibonéans and the Dwarves are going to be stocky humans. DnD has this habit of making the settings conform to the game, when it should be the other way round.

What's the issue? just remove them.

Scot

Sovrath said:

Scot said:

This to me means Larian is free to make what sort of RPG it likes and DnD is a very constricting system. I have just been looking at how to get rid of Elves and Dwarves from a Sword and Sorcery table top rpg, those races were crammed in because DnD must have them. They just don't appear in S&S fiction, well at least the older fiction which is all that matters.

In a nutshell, I am going to make the Elves alike to Melnibonéans and the Dwarves are going to be stocky humans. DnD has this habit of making the settings conform to the game, when it should be the other way round.

What's the issue? just remove them.

If you whip something out of a setting you leave a hole, you have to alter or replace it with something. Then there is the classes, but you can get round that, I won't have the issue of a player who wants to be a Monk in a Sword and Sorcery game, but if this was a video game you would get that! The setting and lore must come first not get shoe horned into the system.

Sovrath

Scot said:

Sovrath said:

Scot said:

This to me means Larian is free to make what sort of RPG it likes and DnD is a very constricting system. I have just been looking at how to get rid of Elves and Dwarves from a Sword and Sorcery table top rpg, those races were crammed in because DnD must have them. They just don't appear in S&S fiction, well at least the older fiction which is all that matters.

In a nutshell, I am going to make the Elves alike to Melnibonéans and the Dwarves are going to be stocky humans. DnD has this habit of making the settings conform to the game, when it should be the other way round.

What's the issue? just remove them.

If you whip something out of a setting you leave a hole, you have to alter or replace it with something. Then there is the classes, but you can get round that, I won't have the issue of a player who wants to be a Monk in a Sword and Sorcery game, but if this was a video game you would get that! The setting and lore must come first not get shoe horned into the system.

I think you are "over thinking" it.

Scot

Sovrath said:

Scot said:

Sovrath said:

Scot said:

This to me means Larian is free to make what sort of RPG it likes and DnD is a very constricting system. I have just been looking at how to get rid of Elves and Dwarves from a Sword and Sorcery table top rpg, those races were crammed in because DnD must have them. They just don't appear in S&S fiction, well at least the older fiction which is all that matters.

In a nutshell, I am going to make the Elves alike to Melnibonéans and the Dwarves are going to be stocky humans. DnD has this habit of making the settings conform to the game, when it should be the other way round.

What's the issue? just remove them.

If you whip something out of a setting you leave a hole, you have to alter or replace it with something. Then there is the classes, but you can get round that, I won't have the issue of a player who wants to be a Monk in a Sword and Sorcery game, but if this was a video game you would get that! The setting and lore must come first not get shoe horned into the system.

I think you are "over thinking" it.

What this means is they can start with a blank slate or if using an IP make an RPG system to fit the IP. Which is a big help when wanting to tell your RPG story. But I do overthink things, well someone has to.

Gorwe

ShinyFlygon said:

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

People expected Icewind Dale 3. But given what those games are, they don't mesh nicely with Larian's portfolio. As for me? No surprise here. Baldur's Gate was more of a prestige achievment, but it is smarter to go with a "blank" IP.

Vrika

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

ValdemarJ

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Kyleran

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

unfilteredJW

Kyleran said:

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

The whole team was miserable working on more DnD stuff.

The money can stay on the table.

Scot

Kyleran said:

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

This is what I was thinking, give them the opportunity to go their own way. It is more of a risk, but if they go for a sci-fi IP as mentioned less so. If they start from scratch I still think they could do something amazing, but will they even stick with an RPG? I think any studio wants to show it has more arrows in it's quiver than the ones it is famous for, still I imagine it will be an RPG. 

I assume Valdemar's reference was to the Traveller TTRPG? It is certainly underused outside of the those circles. I would say Firefly has the more focused setting though, that can help when starting a gaming series.

Seems to me though that they want to move away from licenses and the Divinity series shows they can do their own thing, but yes it will be years from now before we have an idea of how well that's going.

dotdotdash

ShinyFlygon said:

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

This is very much news.

Previously he merely said that there were no specific plans for more Baldur's Gate 3 content, but he also said that it wasn't off the table. Other people at Larian - including their product lead - also said they were having discussions about additional content for the game internally. If you read the GDC interview, he specifically says they started working on BG3 DLC before Christmas.

What's different here, obviously, is that he's not just saying they're done with Baldur's Gate 3. He's saying they're never going to do anything with Dungeons & Dragons again, period.

dotdotdash

unfilteredJW said:

Kyleran said:

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

The whole team was miserable working on more DnD stuff.



The money can stay on the table.

I'm not sure where you're getting this from. Haven't heard anything from Larian devs suggesting they were "miserable".

dotdotdash

Scot said:

Kyleran said:

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

This is what I was thinking, give them the opportunity to go their own way. It is more of a risk, but if they go for a sci-fi IP as mentioned less so. If they start from scratch I still think they could do something amazing, but will they even stick with an RPG? I think any studio wants to show it has more arrows in it's quiver than the ones it is famous for, still I imagine it will be an RPG. 

I assume Valdemar's reference was to the Traveller TTRPG? It is certainly underused outside of the those circles. I would say Firefly has the more focused setting though, that can help when starting a gaming series.

Seems to me though that they want to move away from licenses and the Divinity series shows they can do their own thing, but yes it will be years from now before we have an idea of how well that's going.

Vinke's specific quote re: the possibility about a sci-fi RPG was that it was something he'd dreaming about since he was a kid... so it's not going to be a modern franchise like Firefly.

Kyleran

Scot said:

Kyleran said:

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

This is what I was thinking, give them the opportunity to go their own way. It is more of a risk, but if they go for a sci-fi IP as mentioned less so. If they start from scratch I still think they could do something amazing, but will they even stick with an RPG? I think any studio wants to show it has more arrows in it's quiver than the ones it is famous for, still I imagine it will be an RPG. 

I assume Valdemar's reference was to the Traveller TTRPG? It is certainly underused outside of the those circles. I would say Firefly has the more focused setting though, that can help when starting a gaming series.

Seems to me though that they want to move away from licenses and the Divinity series shows they can do their own thing, but yes it will be years from now before we have an idea of how well that's going.

Well they certainly should have enough money to follow their dreams now.

ValdemarJ

dotdotdash said:

Scot said:

Kyleran said:

ValdemarJ said:

Vrika said:

They got huge reputation from Baldur's Gate, and now they can use it to sell something that they can make without paying license fees.

I kind of liked their Divinity games before BG3. Glad they're done with D&D and I'm glad they got to showcase their talent. I'd like to see them do something sci-fi like Traveller or a Firefly like setting.

Meh, IMO they are leaving big money on the table by not having any expansions and starting fresh with an unknown or different IP is always a pretty big risk.

Someday, years from now we'll find out if they made the right choice or not.

This is what I was thinking, give them the opportunity to go their own way. It is more of a risk, but if they go for a sci-fi IP as mentioned less so. If they start from scratch I still think they could do something amazing, but will they even stick with an RPG? I think any studio wants to show it has more arrows in it's quiver than the ones it is famous for, still I imagine it will be an RPG. 

I assume Valdemar's reference was to the Traveller TTRPG? It is certainly underused outside of the those circles. I would say Firefly has the more focused setting though, that can help when starting a gaming series.

Seems to me though that they want to move away from licenses and the Divinity series shows they can do their own thing, but yes it will be years from now before we have an idea of how well that's going.

Vinke's specific quote re: the possibility about a sci-fi RPG was that it was something he'd dreaming about since he was a kid... so it's not going to be a modern franchise like Firefly.

Where in that quote did he say it wouldn't be in a universe like Firefly? Firefly was launched 2002. It isn't exactly modern or vintage. The only firm word I saw is that they'd like to do their own IP, not something licensed. That certainly leaves it open for franchises in that style, which are no more modern than Star Trek and those of the last 50 years.

I just don't want to see a sci-fi skinned "wizards and warriors" idea like Star Wars or Starfield. I'd like to see the "chosen one" schtick shelved for a while. It's overused and generally a lot more restrictive for role-playing character development.

DigDuggy

ShinyFlygon said:

Didn't they already say as much, months ago? Why is everyone acting like this is news?

Sometimes, people (me) didn't see the older post, so it's good to repost something like this. (for me at least)

Sovrath

dotdotdash said:

unfilteredJW said:

The whole team was miserable working on more DnD stuff.



The money can stay on the table.

I'm not sure where you're getting this from. Haven't heard anything from Larian devs suggesting they were "miserable".

Ah! I just saw a video where they talked about it. The key being that the team didn't have their heart on working on "more" D&D stuff and there was an "exhausted vibe" in the office.

Essentially, like anyone, they poured their heart into a project but now they are done.

about 4:38