I’m probably going to get booed heavily for this, but…
First of all, I don’t per se hate Baldur’s Gate 3, but I don’t think what I’m seeing right now is all that terribly healthy. For one, it’s playing right into Wizards of the Coast’s grubby corporate hands. Second, it’s taking time, money, and players away from the TTRPG space. Third, YouTube and Twitch streamers are getting sucked into it and away from their regular content. Last, not all of us have the technological capabilities or funds to get into this thing right now. (That last one might be a touch personal.)
I find it odd that this game dropped on Gen Con weekend, but I don’t think it was intentional. Wizards of the Coast not fielding questions at Gen Con and not holding another Content Creator’s Summit there? That was sketchy. Since its release, BG3 has broken a lot of records for a video game RPG. Larian Studios/WotC/Hasbro are making money like they’re printing it themselves. I guess yay for them. (*I never knock people gaining prosperity as long as it’s legitimate.)
I almost think this is part of a WotC corporate master plan.
Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.
We know from Cynthia Williams that they believe the Dungeons & Dragons player base is “undermonetized.” WotC pulled a lot of their video game content out of production recently but made sure to keep BG3 going. We also know there’s a concerted effort to make D&D into a “lifestyle brand.” That was painfully obvious during the D&D Beyond 2023 Showcase.
What WotC seems completely unconcerned with is the actual tabletop roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. The quality of D&D has been on a downward slide since 2019. It’s clear to me that their editorial staff is not putting in the time to prevent disasters such as #Hadozee and the latest AI art scandal in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. The TTRPG production staff seems to be losing their marbles all over social media these days starting with Kyle Brink and lasting all the way through Gen Con. And at the bottom of everyone’s priority list seems to be the game. The new 2024 version of 5E is coming and the Unearthed Arcana playtests seem to take one step forward and three steps back every time. (More on that in another article.)
Now, I’m not saying this is part of a greater corporate conspiracy (yet.) I do see where WotC/Hasbro has put a lot of their eggs into the Baldur’s Gate 3 basket. I think they expect it to be a gateway for new D&D players. I think they expect the profits to help shore up what the latest D&D movie lost. Most importantly, I think they are using this representation of how D&D is played to usher new players into the upcoming Virtual TableTop with all of its microtransactions, subscriptions, and other basic walled garden effects. Oh, and I think BG3 is paving the road for AI Dungeon Masters. (Please try to prove me wrong.)
Games such as Baldur’s Gate 3 detract from the TTRPG space more than enhance it.
“Your boos mean nothing to me. I’ve seen what makes you people cheer.” –Rick Sanchez
Video game RPGs are just not the same experience as live play around a TTRPG table. I’ve thought this since World of Warcraft became popular. I mean, look at D&D 4th Ed and tell me WotC wasn’t trying to emulate WoW with that game. Before that we had Neverwinter Nights, the other Baldur’s Gate games, Elder Scrolls, Destiny, and Diablo 2. Before WoW I played Unreal Tournament, Command & Conquer, and Diablo 2. After WoW? Umm…
Personally, I lost about ten years or so of my life playing WoW every chance I could get trying to get the absolute most out of my subscription. Then one day I woke up and wondered where my TTRPG hobby and free time went. Not to mention my sleep schedule and free spending money. It basically consumed my life.
This could potentially happen with any video game. I know people that take their Call of Duty time with deathly seriousness. Pokémon Go was ridiculous for a while and continues to be popular. I will admit, I play Fortnite and Heroes of the Storm quite a bit nowadays. However, I think it does eat into my TTRPG creation time.
In terms of money, it might not seem like a big deal to the big corporate minds at Hasbro, but $59.99 and another $9.99 for the DLC is kind of a big deal for some people. The average price of a D&D print book, such as Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, currently runs $59.95 on preorder for Digital and Physical copy from Wizards of the Coast. I’ve seen it as low as $45.99 elsewhere for the physical book. That price is only going to go up. That’s just a sourcebook, y’all. Wizards of the Coast has promised that the prices will be going up.
It’s rapidly progressing to the point; console, or PC, where it’s much cheaper to purchase software or PDF items that it is to purchase a TTRPG book. It’s been that way for quite some time now. Why go out of our way to play a tabletop game as opposed to doing everything online/electronically?
The only real difference between print and software is, we buy one set of books- Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. They last for over a decade before a new edition comes along. Countless campaigns are only an imagination away. We never have to buy a DLC, an update, a sequel or upgrade our whole system just to keep up.
Not to mention video games are finite. My oldest and I recently got into Mortal Kombat 11. We beat the game in two or three days between the two of us. We’re already talking about getting the DLC because I love that storyline. Bear in mind it’s a fighting game and not an RPG. But Diablo 4 and Baldur’s Gate 3 have endings to their storylines. After that, it’s just grinding and dailies while we wait for expansions.
Meanwhile, we could just be playing D&D. We can play around the kitchen table or even around the campfire. We don’t even need electricity to play D&D. Some campaigns can run for years with the same characters. Imagine playing the same game with friends in the same campaign setting once or twice per week for years.
Sure, there are sourcebooks, campaign settings, and all kinds of dice. All of those things are superfluous. We don’t even need official DM screens or character sheets if we don’t mind doing a little extra work. We don’t even need D&D Beyond to help generate characters. (I still make most of mine by hand. It’s not hard.)
Another thought on this subject is that a heavy amount of revenue just went into a video game and into WotC/Hasbro’s pockets that could have just as easily gone toward third party D&D products or even other TTRPGs. Every time someone buys BG3, they are feeding the monstrous corporate machine that is WotC.
Remember what happened in January? When WotC/Hasbro tried to revoke a long standing Open Gaming License and ruin half the TTRPG industry by forcing all of their competitors to remove old product from the shelf and only sell compliant products at a hefty percentage taken off the top? Remember all of the people with #StoptheSub, #DnDBeGone, and who were telling us to stop buying WotC/Hasbro merchandise?
The same people (Content Creators, influencers, etc) who practically had us rioting in front of WotC headquarters are now telling us, “Go out and get Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s just like real D&D only better.”
How quickly the tide has turned back in the favor of Hasbro, Wizards of the bloody Coast and big money. They’re laughing all the way to the bank. OGL? Who cares? Physical D&D books? Who cares?
If I see one more YouTuber or Twitch Streamer talking about BG3, I’m gonna…
Phones are expensive to replace but throwing them in a lake can be so satisfying. That’s not a recommendation, though. I love my phone and my YouTube. No lie, though.
I’m going to try really hard to keep this somewhat positive and upbeat. I follow a ton of D&D and TTRPG Content Creators on YouTube and watch a minimum of a dozen videos per day. (Y’all with the two and three hour livestreams are killing me, though.) I love each and every one of you who are putting out content. My own channel will likely get going once school starts. (Ever try to make a video with a spouse and four kids in the house? Yeah…) You guys are all great and I appreciate everything you do. Honest.
I get that I’m swimming up stream on this Baldur’s Gate 3 business. I’m not digging it. I’m not saying anyone else should or shouldn’t. What I am saying is that it is having an impact upon TTRPG sales and fellowship.
What I am asking is, “Are we playing Baldur’s Gate 3 because it’s a good video game representation of the D&D hobby, or are we playing it because a bunch of people on social media are telling us it’s the hottest thing going?”
The word “influencer” seems to have gotten a bad reputation more recently. But that’s what we’re getting is influenced by a bunch of people on YouTube and other social media platforms. The content they’re creating currently is telling all of their thousands of followers, “Baldur’s Gate 3 is the best game ever. Play Baldur’s Gate!”
So, what ever happened to “vote with your dollars?” What ever happened to “Don’t give WotC another dime?” Why the actual bloody Hell aren’t we questioning buying BG3 given WotC’s other actions this year?
I’ll actually answer those questions in another article. Right now, those are introspective questions. I’m not shaming anyone for buying Baldur’s Gate or telling others to do so. However, I think it’s going to be interesting the next time WotC/Hasbro does something the D&D community doesn’t like. The echo chamber can be awfully loud sometimes.
One of the hardest lessons learned from Everquest is upon me.
I don’t know if anyone really remembers this game. Before World of Warcraft, there was a text based MMORPG called Everquest. It was a lot of fun. I played it for a while in college. The only downside was every expansion that came out for EQ had higher and higher system requirements.
I was personally kinda bummed when I read up on the system requirements for Diablo 4 and Baldur’s Gate 3. In a perfect world, I’d have a PC that could run both games at the same time. On the other hand, I like having a roof over my head and most of my bills paid so the wife and kids can eat, sleep, and be merry. So, I’m still here on my very old, very beloved laptop that I’ve had since 2017 or thereabouts.
My computer still runs great. I love it. I’m on it every day. I originally bought it so I could write, maybe make YouTube videos, and play one or two games. (Diablo 3 and Heroes of the Storm. Yeah, I’m that one guy in North America who still plays HotS. Almost to account level 1,000.)
Alas, a computer upgrade is not in my future unless a windfall of money happens somewhere. I’m currently on a fixed income and completely at the mercy of my writing and other media works. (Which will be growing soon.) But BG3 ain’t happening any time soon.
I would bet that I’m actually not alone on this despite what we’re being bombarded with on X (Twitter) and Threads right now. Sadly, I’ve heard more about BG3 than I have anything else in the TTRPG sphere in the last two weeks. I’m ready for a change of subject and I’d wager some other people are, too.
I think there are bigger fish to fry out in the world than Baldur’s Gate 3 or Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. (Note for WotC- shorter titles next time.) There are gamers out there who can’t afford rent, buy groceries, or have a working vehicle. I’d rather donate to them before I’d buy BG3 or anything from Hasbro.
There are good Content Creators out there who make an honest living off of Patreon, YouTube, and indie game sales. I’d rather support three or four of them if I could afford it. I’ll put my top 5 recommendations in an article somewhere down the road. I want to make sure I’m not getting in trouble for “name dropping” them first. Although negative comments always get more attention than positive ones on social media, it seems.
Long story short, while Baldur’s Gate 3 is probably a really great video game rpg, I do not like the path it’s putting us on in the TTRPG world. WotC wants to turn all of D&D into a video game like BG3 as far as I can tell. That’s not a tabletop game anymore. I will discuss this more in the future. Right now, as far as I can see it’s all VTTs and videogames with their D&D lifestyle brand.
Where’s D&D? Where’s that 50 year old tradition of books, dice, friends, and fun? Are we all just going to let it go by the wayside and play video games on stream from now on? Call me disappointed if that’s the case.
Thank you for stopping by. I know this was a lot to digest. If I’ve offended anyone, you can reach out to me on any of my social media accounts. I’m usually pretty good at responding. Have a great week. I appreciate everyone here.
Jeff's Game Box 