What went wrong with the EE versions of the Baldur’s Gate games? I thought Beamdog did a great job remastering Planescape: Torment

>>11854373 (OP)
it's fine if you use the mod that gets rid of the OCs

>Developer: Beamdog
>Beamdog
It’s literally picrel
>>11854401
It wouldn't fix issues like game balance changes and blurry graphics still

>>11854373 (OP)
Their "additions" are almost all universally shit, especially because of how hard they try "modern sensibilities." They were even arrogant enough to try to tell the story of what happened between games, while just making up a ton of shit that wasn't received very well with fans of the originals. If you have to buy it, just get the GoG version since i'm pretty sure you still get both since they're scummy shitheels who don't want people to even have access to the originals.
Modding is also a lot better with the original, though I havent looked into whether people have started to cave and work on EE for a while so that might have changed at least.

>>11854373 (OP)
aside from just feeling cheap, they neglected to include the online co-op mode. how tf is it "enhanced" when core features are missing? never giving beamdog my money.

>>11854440
Both shipped with tons of bugs not present in the originals, and the UI changes weren’t great or authentic either. Plus, releasing the Enhanced Editions pretty much killed any chance for the GEMRB project to advance and polish beyond just the two Baldur’s Gate games.

They’re also incompatible with many mods made for the originals. Just pirate the separate installers and run them through GEMRB instead.

>>11854373 (OP)
I'll always love it for this perfect example of a DMPC. Denying him joining my party was one of the funniest things I've ever experienced as you could practically hear his writers raging at you from behind the character for not accepting their super cool and edgy oc into your group. I've never seen a character that so desperately tries to join you while at the same time having to pretend to be too edgy to care.

>>11854467
Oh, I was just listing a few things, but yeah, it was exceptionally poorly received because it was exceptionally shit.
>>11854474
>Dude bro dark paladin bro he's named like worf bro please enjoy donut steel bro he fits right in

>>11854373 (OP)
1. These are untalented people leeching off a highly esteemed property they would never be able to make themselves.
2. Instead of treating the source material with respect they used the opportunity to cram in their garbage self-insert characters.
3. Fuck each and every one of them.

>>11854512
I remember some anon making a thread asking how to remove the OC stuff found in EE. Another anon started lashing out and couldn’t articulate why having fanfiction tier shit in what's supposed to be the definitive edition of these games is a good thing. Let’s hope normies and the theatre kid types leave the tabletop hobby once it’s no longer hip to set up a DnD session with coworkers on the weekend.

>>11854373 (OP)
Nothing much, as long as you mod out the new squadmates

aside from what other anons mentioned, overpowered shit from the bonus disc merchants is on by default

>>11854373 (OP)
Well, the original wasn't that great of a game either. They didn't ruin Torment because Torment was actually a good game.
Baldur's Gate has the advantage of being first and more conventional, but Torment and Fallout mog it hard.

They made the beloved cocktease into a strong independent feminist BPDemon who don't need no man. Also the random tranny out of nowhere

They didn't have a tard wrangler.

Don't forget they fucked up the stealth to "balance" their Shadowdancer kit by adding a universal CD on exiting stealth instead of just failing a check. They nerfed Assassin poison to "balance" their Blackguard kit, too. Pretty egregious shit if you ask me. Way too many changes literally nobody asked for and should never have been made in thr first place.

>>11854494
Its the dialogue that does it beyond the concept.

They try and set up this cool scenario where he introduces himself then nonchalantly tries to slip into your party. You tell him no and he literally goes "wait a minute! Your *player name* our quests would benefit one another." Still no "a-are you sure... what about my cool blood spirit thing. I definitely wont try and join again midway through the story if you say no!!!"

It would almost be funny if it was self aware but what makes it even funnier is that its not.

>>11855293
The absolute audacity and hubris to "fix" somebodies story or creative vision will never not be aggravating. Its the same thing that made the Demons Souls remake into visual slop.

>>11855767
Yeah, I seem to remember the wild mage chick being similar. Characters like K&J having "are you sure" dialogue made sense, because they were specifically there as allies of Gorion as a contingency for your very situation. Most party members only really got pushy originally when they were trying to take advantage or directly utilize the player at that moment, so it just comes off as sad.
>>11855773
They basically treat it like they're Tolkein's son come to finish the Silmarillion or some shit. Half the time they barely even understand the things they're trying to change.

I know the embarrassing donut steels and shit are the most visible problem but the most significant issue with the Baldur's Gate EE is that it's not Baldur's Gate. It's Baldur's Gate 2 with the original campaign forced into it.
The original campaign is not balanced or designed to deal with the BG2 class kits, rebalanced spells, abilities, etc. BG2 is not the same game as BG1. The EE even uses BG2 spell effects and sounds.
When you play the EE, you aren't playing Baldur's Gate, you're playing modded Baldur's Gate 2 which is not the same thing. It misrepresents a legendary game and many people will innocently believe that the original game was as broken and unbalanced because they'll be told that the self-insert new characters are the only difference.

The best way to play the Baldur's Gate series.

1) Play the original BG1.

2) Play Shadows of Amn without Throne of Bhaal installed and without the 2 bonus merchants added.

3) Stop.

>>11854373 (OP)
The NWN EE is also fine. But mainly it's because they were adding shit.

>>11857027
This is true for IWD, too.

>>11856958
>Half the time
That's being a bit too generous.

>>11857281
Yeah, I forgot about IWD. It fucks up the game. What's annoying about it is that they just copied what enthusiasts were doing via mods without considering that the way an enthusiast plays, who has played hundreds of times since launch and knows all of it inside out, might not be the best way to play it for the first time. Or even more, that it might not be the same game at all.
Mind you this was still a problem before the EE because anyone looking to play Baldur's gate would immediately get 'oh you gotta install gibberlings 3 this, widescreen that, unify the two games into one, it'ts the only way, the only way dude trust me'.
Basically Beamdog fell for that themselves and in turn replaced Baldur's Gate with a clownish impersonation.

>>11857027
Good post.

>>11857027
vrpg defends this decision constantly like the fags they are.

Forcing BG to hi res and widescreen also screws over the art direction.

>>11854373 (OP)
They gave up on IWD2EE.

>>11858692
I've come to believe that the insert characters are a smokescreen to get everyone talking about that and ignoring the actual major damage they've inflicted on BG's legacy.

>>11858692
Not in my experience. Maybe a few redditors will come out of the woodwork to pop by and say some gay shit about it, but the vast majority of /vrpg/ hates the EE's. In fact, most /vrpg/'ers simply play the originals, a lot of them hardly any mods. I don't know if it's bots, or autists, or fuckin' researchers trying to mine data, but at least once a month someone askes about the EE's and like clockwork all the autists come out and just start railing on why they fucken suck and why Beamdog is a joke. Every single time, all the time. This website and its derivatives of vidya are just a never-ending cycle of, "EE's?" "Never in a million years, they basically slapped my grandma, OG or bust."

>>11860240
I mean I wouldn't consider myself as emotionally charged as some are about it, but I would say the vast majority of the changes can reasonably be considered negatives to the majority of people who actually subject themselves to it. This isn't exactly a series with massive casual appeal, outside of zoomies who started with 3 and want to go back to the infinity engine. If the changes were simply QoL (actual QoL, not the built in cheats bullshit people call QoL) rebalancing was optional, all added content like the doughnut steels was an extra addon that needed to be enabled, and they didn't introduce shit like >>11857027 mentioned... it would be just fine. The thing is its both a series of egregious oversteps on the original, but they also actively went out of their way to make the original versions as inaccessible as they could. Thats the part thats really hard to ignore more than anything imo, they're saying they don't want anything they've done to be considered optional. Its straight up the "I made this" meme, and I'm someone who keeps both versions of both games installed just for ease of accessibility.

What I find most distressing is that we can never talk about BG normally again. If there is a thread of any kind we have to go over every single point about the EE and it becomes the whole thread. There is no way out of it because through no fault of their own people will try the EE and ask about kits and stuff that isn't in the original version and we'll have to go all over it again. It's like a curse on every future discussion.
I envy the Resident Evil people who still manage to talk about the games pretty solidly despite the two competing versions of the original game.

>>11860264
>if it wasn't the way they made it, then it would be just fine.
Yep.

>>11854373 (OP)
There is nothing wrong with it. I still play it all the time. People complain about the changes and additions, but you can play the story and ignore the new NPCs/class changes.
>>11854443
False. I play it online with my friends often.

>>11854474
>meet him for the first time at the tavern
>he tells me to piss of and don't bother him or else he'll beat me up
>can't initiate dialogue after that
>decide to attack him expecting a tough fight because my character won't let some random guy talk shit to him
>he dies in one hit
Funniest thing I've seen. Thanks for the magic two-handed sword sucker.

>>11860438
>you can play the story
The story isn't what made the game great.
>People complain about the changes and additions
Correctly. The best part of the game, its then unique and high quality adaptation of actual RPGs to computer gaming, is what is vitally compromised.
>I still play it all the time.
This is why your perspective is skewed.

>>11859890
Why?

>>11859565
How? Widescreen is supposed to just add stuff on screen without modifying it.

>>11855293
>if people don't like that, then too bad
what a thing to say when you've just said you didn't like some things

>>11860759
Nta, but no source code. Some slavs ended up fixing it up.

>>11857027
They also nerfed Drizzt, Gray Wolf, Sarevok and probably few other hard fights in BG1. While allowing you to make a dual wielding 19 STR Half-Orc Berskerker or an Archer, which already trivializes the whole game.
EE is simply made by stupid people who never beat the originals.

>>11861190
>EE is simply made by stupid people who never beat the originals.
And yet they are patting themselves on the back for it every day.

>>11861190
I don't know what you are smoking. Drizzt still requires extreme preparation or cheese to kill. He is practically untouchable by a level capped grandmaster. Greywolf has an better AC than he did in the originals because of weapon style points in EE. Sarevok has always been "nerfed." He was nerfed by Tales of the Sword Coast.

>>11861504
>still
nta, but i accept your concession.

>>11860762
The environment graphics of BG were designed with the viewscreen specifically in mind, though I grant you that widescreen does less damage than zooming in and out does to the visuals. It was never made to be scaled, it was designed to be seen in that UI at that scale. Modern players try it, zoom to some ungodly scale and say 'wow old games looked bad, its so blurry'.