‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ Prepared for 100k Concurrent Players, They’ve Gotten 700K
Larian’s Swen Vincke posted a tweet yesterday showing the game hitting 500,000 concurrent players, making it the third most played game on all of Steam He said that he told IT to only expect 100,000 concurrents at max.
What I love is that means this game would have been a success at 100k concurrent. That makes this a runaway success. Hopefully other triple As are paying attention to what Larian is doing.
Releasing an early access game as a full release? Other devs are doing that already.
That's awesome. Also the lack of micro transactions makes me want to support them more. I kinda wish they had a donate button or something.
The digital deluxe upgrade is basically that. You get some bonus stuff like extra bard songs, some cosmetics I think and the official Soundtrack. Stuff like that.
Is the soundtrack in the game files I assume? I haven't seen it yet, and I can't seem to get the dice skin to work so I wondered if I even got the deluxe edition for a moment.
Buy the Divinity games. They're all good.
You could always buy a second copy to gift to a friend. Then you'd be able to play together on top of giving them another sale!
I don't know why this sentiment is so popular. It's a single player game, most single player games don't have microtransactions... In fact I think it'd be odd and outside the normal if it did
@qwertyWarlord @AlecSadler I would like to respectfully disagree. Witcher 3 had DLC. Skyrim had DLC. Dragon age origins also had DLC. Many many single player games had DLC. I'm not sure where you're looking.
I wouldnt call it single player
You could request they offer something small…maybe cosmetic…within the game that you could buy to support them.
I bought it only because of their stance on microtransactions.
It wasn't really on my radar because turn based rpgs are not my thing.
I saw their press release and figured just for that upfront refusal to try rip everyone off to make money was good enough for me to buy the game and try it out.
I love dnd so it can't be bad
Also they published the game on GOG - so it’s DRM free!
We need to support and embrace this kind of games and studios more. They put so much love and effort into the game. But in the end, this game will probably profit as much as what Fortnite make in a couple months.
It's always sadden me to know that even something as successful as Elden Ring, which sold 20 millions copies and made 1.2 Billion dollars, is nothing compared to what microtransactions make in games like CoD (2 Billion dollars per year) or Fortnite (over 5 Billion dollars per year).
And people complain why they "don't make good games anymore".
Good thing is, it runs flawless on my Linux desktop too 👍 Just one of the best games I played in years. Good it payed out for larian to invest so much time into it. Maybe a good example for others that you do not need to rush a launch.
I love Lemmy. Geeks are everywhere. Linux is everywhere.
Seeing "runs flawless on my Linux desktop" on a gaming community is awesome! :)
I can also mention that it works flawlessly on Linux even with the GoG version (still through proton). It's uncommon for such games to be on GoG day one, and I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.
The saddest thing is that with the destruction of the media over the past 20 years, I'm still waiting to hear whether it's actually any good or not.
It's super fuckin good. If you liked dos2, it's basically that but with more immersive conversations, more potential dialogue trees, more DnD like, and more titties and dongs.
It’s good, best with a group
Definitely not unless your group is insanely dedicated to keeping it serious. All it takes is one person who doesn't care about lore or the story or some NPC talking to rush through something or make a joke and completely take you out of it. I could never play it in a group on my first serious play.
it's best in any format, imo. shaping up to be my all-time favorite game.
The group glitch where someone can’t leave your party once they join is pretty bad.
It's very good. Larian studios really went above and beyond with the level and attention to detail. The replayability is incredible. Most streamers are still on act one and there is no shortage of stuff to do. Edit: autocorrected a word
Latharian studios
Guessing some kinda typo/autocorrect business going on here, but just to cover the bases, it's Larian, not Latharian.
Yeah I think part of the reason there's so few reviews is that the game is so large that not my reviewers have finished it yet. Or at least a lit of what I'm seeing are "reviews in progress"
What are you even talking about
Fucked a tiefling with my dragon penis, 10/10
It’s good. It may well be my favorite game, ever.
I don't hear much talk of the optimization but the simple fact this is running great on a wide range of devices says a lot of the engineering prowess of the studio. Its amazing how well this game is runningnon my five year old machine. I know thats not too old but some new games make my cooling loop hot and this one doesn't even make my components work that hard.
Seems like the pre release was more demanding/less optimized. Running Fedora 38 and proton. Combined with the Vulkan option it's been fantastic. And I think this weird glitch I was having two nights ago has already been patched ʘ‿ʘ
Specs: ryzen 5 1400, 16g ram, and a Radeon 5500xt. I had bumped a few options down on ultra, shadows to medium, and fog medium. Didn't need to, but it's helped without any noticeable graphic difference.
Now if we could just let our friends drop-in and out so I don't have to keeo a separate save/character for them. I played with one yesterday and their character was stuck in my active party after they left.
Honestly I'm not surprised, it looks like something out of the mid 2000s. That's not to say something bad about it. Graphics don't make a good game on their own.
Wtf is this? Have you seen the in-engine character expressions? Shit looks phenomenal.
I love headlines like this.
Larian makes such great games. This kind of success means maybe a BG4 somewhere down the line.
I haven't played any Baldurs gate before, but the hype has definitely made me look into it.
Definitely seems like a game I'd like, a fantasy RPG, I haven't always loved turned based combat, so that's one of my hold ups. What do y'all think of the combat system?
As someone who hasn't played a single game remotely close to it before (Titanfall, a little call of duty, Final Fantasy 14, Halo), all I can say is PLAY IT. It's disorienting at first but once you play it for an hour you'll like it, and after three you won't he able to pit it down.
The combat is fairly challenging - it’s easy for one or two bad moves (or bad luck) to kill your whole party in a battle. It also takes a bit to learn the combat system if you haven’t played D&D.
That being said, I love it. Once you get the basics of combat down and get used to playing carefully, it’s a lot of fun and you get to build out the character that you think is both effective and just cool - and there’s probably a way for you to succeed with whatever build you end up making.
If you don’t love turn based combat I’ll say that it will probably feel very dense at first. You end up with 4 different characters with different strengths and weaknesses and each with a bunch of different abilities that have different rules for when and how often you can use them. Turn based means you get the time to make an educated decision about what you want to do next, but it’s a lot of information to juggle.
The combat is fairly challenging - it’s easy for one or two bad moves (or bad luck) to kill your whole party in a battle. It also takes a bit to learn the combat system if you haven’t played D&D.
I've always been interested in D&D, but no never played it.
You end up with 4 different characters with different strengths and weaknesses and each with a bunch of different abilities that have different rules for when and how often you can use them.
I have played quite a few games with the party system, so I have so previous knowledge on the strengths and weaknesses of party members, which may help. Thanks for the info!
If you're unsure if it will be for you, pick up divinity original sin 2, same maker and very similar style, but (a) without the d&d license and (b) will cost much much less. Both BG3 and DOS2 are incredible games which you can easily pour a hundred hours into
I personally like it very much, it feels dynamic?, for a lack of a better word, despite it being turn based.
However most encounters can be avoided, via conversation, choices, environment kills etc. So you don't need to fight much, if you don't end up liking it. ^(*as of act 2/3)
Pacifist playthrough 100% when?
So.... I'm the only one not playing it?
what are you even doing right now that's so important
Being lazy
Yes
Don't worry, I'm too poor to play (weak ass laptop, game cost a bunch in my country, and work, and kids)
If it wasn’t for those pesky kids
Nope, I'm playing DOS2, since that's been sitting in my steam library for way too long!
THEN maybe I'll BG3. If my laptop can handle it...
Currently playing it too after a 3 year break. :)
Me too, but only because I'm waiting for the PS5 version.
Oh! That will be my excuse too. Didn’t realize it wasn’t on consoles yet.
I’m waiting for it not to be 90 bucks, probably pick it up in a year
Dang. Here I thought we had it bad in CAD
I'm finishing D:OS2 first with another party. Also Larian games are always better a couple months or so after release, so I don't mind waiting. So no not the only one :)
There is still time to change that.
I have added the Baldur's Gate series to my backlog, I will probably play these in 10-15 years, wish me luck.
Just in time for BG4! (probably)
Odd headline. Seems very rooted in the assumption of online gaming these days to me but then you get in and the article is basically just saying the game is a huge success, which is great news I'm sure we can all agree. :)
The game does have multiplayer. If it's not using P2P connections, preparing for 100k players and having 700k could make that slower. But I'm pretty sure it's P2P so that doesn't make any difference.
As someone who hasn't ever really gotten into cRPGs before, how is the game? Is it hard to get into/is there a big learning curve to this game?
It’s heavy on the D&D 5e rulebook, if you have any level of familiarity with that it will all come naturally.
If you don’t, that’s ok too, they did a really good job describing rolls, saving throws, attack rolls, etc, in the guided tooltips.
If you haven't played a game like this, there is a learning curve. I've been playing stuff like this for decades and there's still lots to explore, in purely mechanical terms, with BG3.
That said, it is very much worth the initial investment. I found playing Divinity 2: original sin very much prepared me for BG3. You could start there a little more cheaply before delving into this expensive title. At least then you can see if you enjoy this style of game.
Being familiar with dnd 5e will give you a head start in the basics. Things like how ability scores and combat/social interactions can play out. But not necessary. They've changed quite a few minor things that deviate from the tabletop game that I've found myself having to actually unlearn dnd.
Monks are actually useable. Went with a 4 elements subclass. So I have a mix of spell-like abilities for range, and can still smack things with my staff and fist.
The main thing is, being aware of the micromanaging you'll have to do in combat. Don't be afraid to use consumables. And explore! I'm still only in act 1.( I've had pre release for over a year, so I'm taking it slow to see what changes are in the actual release).
And like regular DND, positioning is really important. Use the environment to your advantage: block line of sight, have the high ground, use spells that have an AOE to drive enemies where you want them to be.
If you go charging into the middle of the open room surrounded by baddies you're probably gonna get wrecked.
If you're passingly familiar with 5E D&D, you should be pretty much good to go. The CRPG-ness of it shouldn't be too much to get your head around if you know the underlying system at all.
You can do what I did: turn down the difficulty until you get the hang of it. It's adjustable during the game, so you can crank it back up later.
The game is mostly about talking to people and choosing your own adventure with the occasional tactical combat. There's a lot of complexity if you want to get into it, but most of it can be ignored if you play on easy. While the combat is fun for those of us that like that sort of thing, the big draw is the story and how reactive it is to your choices.
750k concurrent players several days after release, quite the feat!
I absolutely adore and admire those at Larian studios. Divinity 2 is one of the best games I've ever played. I hope I can play BG3 one day since I don't have the funds for a system that will run it or better yet, it becomes available on Geforce Now or something because I got a damn wedding to pay for and bills to pay!
As someone who has played Divinity Original Sin 2 and some of their older titles. You won't be disappointed, BG3 is phenomenal. Interactions between characters has been massively improved that the added animated cut-scenes when speaking to characters gives them significantly more life. I think I still prefer the combat system in DOS2 but I don't hate BG3 combat, it's just different.
My buddy has been playing co-op with me using GeForce now and it's worked great so far
Why is it a problem that IT was not prepared for so many concurrent players? Yes, it has multiplayer, but it's mostly a single-player game. Did they pull a Diablo?
This makes me so happy to read. Thanks
Well deserved, haven’t play it a lot personally but friends are very much still raving about it after playing for 20+ hours, so well worth it.
That's wonderful!
I wish my shitty ADHD-OCD mix brain would let me play it instead of doing shit through a system or something. I can't even play anything I want to cuz I'll feel bad that I'm not something the universe would want me to
You are a human. One of the things humans do is enjoy and have fun. It is in our programming. The universe wants you to enjoy and have fun.
Also, a big things humans do is endurance. Long term action and planning is kinda a thing we can do, while many other species specialize in rapid response. Taking the time to enjoy recharges our batteries so we can be more productive in the long long term.
Supporting systems that help others experience joy and fun (entertainment, the arts, sports recreation), through participation in ways that speak to you, helps all of us recharge our batteries. So our systemic endurance increases.
It's ok to play. It's necessary for our survival.
Mate, as soon as you get your shitty ADHD-OCD brain into it then you'll be hooked. There's plenty to keep you busy.
It seems this game has local coop? I was wondering if it was a nice experience for me and my GF
Yes, you can play on a LAN connection, offline assuming you both have your own PCs in the house. There is no split screen multilayer, yet. In fact, this is supposed to be the reason why only the PC version had it's release date moved up. They didn't see it as a requirement for the PC release and decided to work on the PS5 split screen issues, post PC release.
So PS5 will definitely have split screen functionality, and I suppose that might also go to PCs as well, but that's just a guess on my side.
I'm so hoping my husband will play this with me when it comes out on Ps5. He rarely plays games with me - but this one is too fun is to pass up
Get excited. It plays stupidly well with a controller. I changed out my traditional pc desk setup for a recliner/TV setup and mouse and keyboard still get uncomfortable after not much time. Once I tried it with a controller.. oh hell yes.
Ooh, yes, even more excited now! The recliner/TV setup seems perfect for this game imo. I bought an original Xbox a while ago just to play Dark Alliance the way I remembered playing back in the day, so this is going to be a huge treat either way
It's one of the best gaming experiences I had in years!
My friends keep telling me that getting the game is unethical because it supports Wizards, so I've not gotten it yet. I know Wizards is shitty and sent the Pinkertons to someone's house, but does this game actually directly support them? Can anyone here weigh in on this? Should I just pirate the game instead? It looks fun, but I also don't want to put my money in a bad place.
Sounds pretty wild to call it unethical to buy the game because of WoC (which isn't even the one responsible for the game). I doubt their worst act even comes close to a normal Tuesday for a lot of companies you likely buy from, directly or indirectly.
You can look up Larian if you want, but they are far from a big game publisher the way EA or Rockstar is. And they are going against the trend of mtx or DRM. Pirate if you want, but using morals as an excuse for not wanting to spend money doesn't really fly in this instance.
I'm not familiar enough with licensing contracts of this nature to know whether there are royalties being paid out based on the number of copies being sold. But in the case of whether WotC is going to get paid again for another licensed Baldur's Gate game in the future, that's already a done deal. Sales from this point aren't going to matter. It's similar to how that became clear pretty quick in the case of Hogwarts Legacy.
D&D is among the most mature IPs in gaming. It's not going anywhere, and Hasbro has it right now. The most effective thing you can do is support one of its competitors, like Paizo's Pathfinder.
As for whether you should pirate it, something to weigh is that Larian is one of the good guys. This is an offline/single-player capable game, with no MTX.
I mean it's definitely licensed d&d 5e content
Ok, so looking into it, WOTC owns the D&D license, which Larian Games had to licence. So, yes it indirectly supports WOTC. They don't own a stake in the game studio, and therefore aren't directly getting revenue from this games sales. They have already received the licencing fees they would be getting for this game. It does however help WOTC since they aren't developing their own 6th edition games currently and keeps D&D relevant so in that way it does support them.
Personally I would find that a morally grey area, and will pirate the game to see if I will buy it on sale.
Not sure why the author makes a big deal about the game being single player. I’m intending to play it with my friend. Just waiting for his PC upgrade to arrive.
Not sure why the author makes a big deal about the game being single player.
Because the majority of capital in the games industry is currently being thrown behind MP-primary/only Games As A Service experiences, and aside from a select few Sony studios, most AAA development is moving away from Single-player
I've really been getting into Sony Studio titles lately, and I hope they continue their trend of pushing games to Steam as PC ports!
Nobody makes singleplayer games anymore because you only buy them once instead of spending hundreds/thousands over the lifecycle of the game. You're supposed to bend over and take it like a man. For capitalism!
That's why a game like this is so refreshing. A good singleplayer experience that you can also OPTIONALLY share with your friends, and I also intend to do that. I'm literally going to go on Steam and buy two copies now.
I should make a Drow....
That's what I did. Her skin is white though so she basically looks like a normal boring human though lol.
Asking as someone who plays DnD 5e, how much of the fun of this game is in playing multiplayer with a consistent party?
Me and 3 friends have had a lot of fun with Divinity Original Sin 2 multiplayer. There's usually a lot of shenanigans and fun happenings as a direct effect of having several players bringing their own style to the game.
Just be advised that the experience will not be the same as playing single player. From what I understand the multiplayer experience in BG3 is much improved but I found that when playing with friends in DOS2 that I could not for instance take the time to dive in deep with conversations, quests, lore etc as I would like.
There is also a current issue in that if someone joins your game with a custom character, that character will from then on be a permanent member of the party. You cannot at the moment get rid of them in any way.
Bottom line it is fun, but you should treat it as a separate thing from single player - and definately have a dedicated playthrough for multiplayer.
I found that when playing with friends in DOS2 that I could not for instance take the time to dive in deep with conversations, quests, lore etc as I would like.
This is also my experience. IMHO BG3 is also more focused on conversations than Divinity 1 and 2 or at least you can focus more on it. You can also just kill everybody of course. For now at least I feel like only a small part of my time with BG3 was in combat. Most of it was exploring and talking to people. I'm sure coop is fun, but I'd rather play is solo.
I spent some time playing 4p at the weekend. Personally, I loved it. It definitely had the feel of a ttrpg session. Your experience will completely come down to who you are playing with
Looking up similar questions for DOS2 might help. Different combat base system, but the multiplayer implementation seems to be your main concern.
Just be aware that a lot of the abilities are very different than how they work in 5e and a lot of the descriptions of abilities still need a lot of polishing. I've only tried single player but that's my only gripe.
I'd say under 20%.
I play this game duo with a friend (where, like for d&d - it's hard to match schedules) and solo with 2 characters (and a third to follow after). I obviously like playing it with my friend, but tbh I think I like playing it solo just as much, or more. Both my solo campaigns and my duo one are pretty much in sync, but in my solo stuff I get to do what I want, with no consequences. Imagine if your d&d table is good-aligned, but after the session you get to go home and play the same session again, with your chaotic party, who doesn't take shit from town guards or uppity priests, who intimidates instead of persuading, who loots the dead king's body instead of saving him. So yeah, you can have both types of fun :)
I wanna contribute to that number but I've encountered a progression halting glitch. :(
It's a shame the game is still basically an early access. Exactly why you don't pre-order.
I actually got this game during early access and dropped it due to something similar.
But yes, never pre-order.
Waiting on the Xbox release date announcement
Wasn't sure if I still had a taste for this kind of game, but I'm loving it so far.
what is baldurs gate? ive nevet heard of it, skyrim 2.0?
Not really. Baldur's Gate is a Dungeons and Dragons based isometric game (camera like Diablo) from the late 90s-early 00s. You control multiple characters at a time and issue orders to attack, use magic, use items, etc. It's much more RPG oriented than Skyrim or other fast-paced ARPGs of today.
Not exactly, though it is RPG it is overhead style and more heavily based on the way Dungeons and Dragons plays. It is a turn based game with RNG elements though not entirely RNG has you influence your experience based on your character build.
It is heavily story focused but friends playing with you is heavily encouraged. No play through is entirely the same and that is the point. While there obvious game play and story elements that will remain the same the idea is to have a different experience each time.
It is absolutely worth playing. There is a bit more freedom and fun by design. It is truly the first larian game that has let me play my first ever character based on childhood imagination growing up as a kid.
Baldur's Gate (the first) is mother of modern CRPG's and what started BioWare. BG3 is arguable the best in it's genre and surpasses Dragon Age: Origins from 2009.
Definitely not like Skyrim apart from the fantasy setting, the game is narrative driven and everything is handcrafted by the devs. Skyrim has way too much randomly generated stuff to feel as rich as BG3. The game also is based off of dnd rules and is not real time action oriented like Skyrim, when not exploring you do things in a turn based mode and have to manage actions/bonus actions/and spell slots to do things. You also manage a party of 4 players and not just the one you make.
If you get the game and don’t have experience with DnD, definitely watch some battle mechanics videos cuz the game isn’t gonna explain all the nuances you should know to be effective.
Not sure of others having been having issues with steam save file cloud sync but it seems like every other time i try to start the game it hangs on syncing errors. Wonder if it's just me or maybe a bunch of people due to the larger than expected concurrent player number.
I believe it shouldn't matter how many concurrent users are playing a specific game. Steam's cloud save service is handling dozens of millions of users at any given time.
Sucks it's happening to you, tho :(
That was happening to me too. I just disabled cloud sync
Imagine making a game so popular that you give Valve's servers the hug of death
Getting it for a winter project 🖖🏻
They shouldn't have made always-online option then. I know there's offline mode, but default is online.
What?
Are you referring to a Steam default or the game default?
The game default is single player. You don't have to play online and not will you encounter characters like a MMO.
If you are referring to steam then just switch to offline? That isn't based on the game but the client running your game.
Game is designed to be online by default, even though you don't see it. If you want to play offline you have to go and disable multiplayer. Hence my comment, they shouldn't make something always online if they are not ready for the traffic. If you switch to offline mode some events become unavailable. Although it is praiseworthy that they have enabled it to be played offline.
I just got Diablo and Dave the diver!
closed source spyware, trash
Local linux user discovers video games
Won't even launch for me on steam deck, tried all the proton types, verifying files, restarting the deck, dx11 or vulkan, etc etc.
Nothing.
Incredibly big waste of money and disappointment
Edit : hilarious to be fanboy down voted for stating my experience, get over it
Have you tried using the --skip-launcher launch parameter? Seems to work with a lot of people with Proton Experimental.
Yeah, doesn't do anything either for me, it already doesn't use the launcher it goes straight to the larian logo, then nvidia, then crash.
![[HN] ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ Prepared for 100k Concurrent Players, They’ve Gotten 700K](https://lemmy.uhhoh.com/pictrs/image/82457e82-3280-48b5-ad03-3fde306328b0.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=196)