Larian is an unusual case. It's indie but it's huge. They aren't funded by or marketing through a bigger publishing company so IMO that's still indie. But they're hundreds of people so not really small, and BG3 can by all means be considered a AAA game because the difference in quality and scale is indistinguishable from AAA published games.

It baffles me how anyone can stand to preorder any game with the market being so oversaturated. There are SO MANY great games on a constant $20 or less sale rotation you'll probably never have a chance to play if you're a full-time working adult. I'm worried about grabbing a highly acclaimed title that's been out for 5 years before it fades into obscurity, and I have to stumble upon a shout-out 3 years later to be reminded of its existence. Not about some stupid launch skin bonus, or OST mp3s you'll never click open.

"Choose" isn't really an accurate term to use in your comment though, is it? Obviously high-realism AAA game graphics are going to come with a high budget outside the realm of possibility for the average indie dev, unless they have some super talented people with a passion for the project working for cheap.

A lot of us are willing to make this concession or adjust expectations for an experience that has great gameplay, soundtrack, story, etc. as easily as reading subtitles to enjoy a foreign film. The imagination can do plenty of the heavy lifting.

Just saw a YouTube vid showcasing a whole damn multiplayer mod. A whole squad rolling up on the area with floating user tags. It looked fun as hell.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon! It's on steam sale for $12 reg version, but I bought the Hero Edition for $14. It has two extra job classes and something else I've forgotten. I'm 4 hours in and it's been a LOT of character and plot set up while just scratching the surface of their turn-based combat. The story is pretty good so far and full of Japan's particular brand of uncanny fringe humor that I'm expecting to snowball as time goes on.

The 3rd act of MGS2 hits like a sledgehammer after so much light hearted, self-parodying, comfortably familiar heroic espionage. The story has aged so well. It invokes that eerie 4th wall break feeling that Psycho Mantis delivered, but on a prolonged and more meaningful scale.

The bar is apparently low these days.

"They released it almost bug free!" is the new "AAA devs announced there will be no micro transactions!" Gamers as a group are basically abused spouses.

Yeah, it's the not buying it.

It’s a fair price.

That's a valid opinion that I disagree with. My opinion on the price isn't why the guy sucks. It's just another reason I won't buy the game, personally. It's just the basis for him acting like a damn fool on a public forum about it.

No need to come to their defense if you like that game, that's cool. I'm just voting with my wallet for my own personal reasons. Simple as that.

So what it went from $20 to $35? Game has been out for a long time and updated quite a bit in that time. Also if the devs don’t want to put it on sale… that’s their decision 🤷‍♂️

I thought all of this went without saying, so I didn't. That's just stuff I personally dislike as a consumer. Nothing egregious about it.

It's how the douchebag thinks it's okay to treat other people is what turned me off of ever giving them business.

They're staunchly anti-sale, and the game will not ever be available at any kind of sale price. On top of that earlier this year they increased the price to "adjust for inflation". When they announced it there was a reddit thread with plenty of criticism in the comments. He proceeded to come in hot, fling shit, and condescend to everyone with the attitude of a grade school bully. It was mildy entertaining tbh. They really need a PR person with a guy like that in the lead.