Already have the original soundtracks for the original games, so no thanks. If it's got Beamdog's name on it, it's a no sale for me.

source, please?

The EEs came to GoG not from the start. BG:EE was released in 2012, BG2:EE - in 2013, but they came to GoG on October, 16, 2014. https://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/2jf9i9/baldurs_gate_1_and_2_enhanced_editions_are_on/
GoG had been selling the original games since much earlier. No other store could sell them. And they continued to sell the original games even after EEs became available for purchase there.

It means GoG had had a separate contract regarding the original games, and their contract regarding the distribution of the EEs was concluded much later. It also means that these contracts are independent of Beamdog's contracts, as it took time for GoG to negotiate with the rightholder an option to sell the EEs. Most likely, it took them more time to negotiate changes to the contract regarding the original games, - the contract that existed before the EEs became available at GoG and that continued to exist after that.

April 3rd 2016
https://www.gameskinny.com/4x7i7/beamdog-president-pleads-with-players-to-leave-positive-reviews-for-baldurs-gate-expansion-amid-social-justice-controversy

April 28 2016

https://www.gog.com/news/definitive_edition_bundle_baldurs_gate_i_ii_icewind_dale?pp=972a67c48192728a34979d9a35164c1295401b71

As a side note you might want to look at the positive reviews SoD got on GoG. Almost all of them got posted within a few days after the CEO begged for positive reviews.

Here's a link to the GoG announcement https://www.gog.com/news/definitive_edition_bundle_baldurs_gate_i_ii_icewind_dale?pp=972a67c48192728a34979d9a35164c1295401b71, which quotes Greg Tito from WotC:
"We want these to become the definitive editions – featuring both the enhanced and classic versions of the games."

As for "begging", here's the link to original post (and not the site that can't spell Baldur's Gate correctly with "Badlur's Gate"): https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/50341/negative-reviews-on-gog-and-steam "It appears that having a transgendered cleric and a joke line by Minsc has greatly offended the sensibilities of some people. This has spurred these people into action, causing them to decide this is the worst game of all time and give it a zero review score on Steam, GoG and meta critic. Now, I'd like to ask for that favour. If you are playing the game and having a good time, please consider posting a positive review to balance out the loud minority which is currently painting a dark picture for new players."

It is just a reaction of Beamdog to the decision introduced to them. This comment can be further explained in the reply of Beamdog's support, posted on this forum: "I am sorry you believe that we are the cause of this, but I can assure you we have no say in what other retailers do with our titles (discounts/bundles, etc).

That being said, GOG brought the idea to our attention and over a year ago Cameron decided that it was a positive choice, I am sorry you are negative towards this, but I want you to know you are supporting the people who make those decisions, and blaming the ones who don't. " https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/info_on_possibly_getting_the_classics_unbundled/post29

Yeah and that there was a downright lie, wasn't it? Very few negative reviews even mentioned the trans character at all. A lot of those that did were actually written by transgendered gamers.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/228280/discussions/0/371918937272938521/ Stuff like this popped up on a regular basis, and Beamdog conveniently ignored it.

Beamdog got stick for releasing a poorly written expansion pack, that didn't mesh well with BG1 or 2 at all, and mostly just diminished the whole saga by creating gaping plot-holes and the like. The fact that it was incredibly railroaded, offered no freedom, and very little options for actual roleplaying was also a factor.

And example of lack of roleplaying options can be seen here https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/sp/dnce7jw3633a.jpg You get 5 options. All of them equals "get offended". By a word that isn't even offensive in The Forgotten Realms. Kind of breaks the 4th wall in a big way, doesn't it? It is not a good rpg when the writer just takes control of your character and makes your character react to a situation the way she would have.

https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/h3/5xfbb7z7yzsy.jpg Another Beamdog employee chimed in and begged Feminist Frequency for help because "everyone hates the trans character".

The trans character got used as a shield to deflect from the ocean of valid criticism the game got, and Beamdog basically labeled everyone who didn't like the game for whatever reason, Transphobic.

Beamdog also censored critical voices on their own forums, and made critics fair game for their own sycophants to attack at will. Don't like the bugs? What you really mean is that you hate trans people.

https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/trolling_and_censorship_in_the_beamdog_forum/page1

Even former mods at your forums chimes in on the whole ordeal in this thread. You remember that theread, no? You rushed in to do damage control rather early, and dodged all the comments and questions you didn't wish to\couldn't debunk at all.




So yeah. Beamdog has zero credibility now and it is their own doing.

All that I wanted to reply about the matters you bring, I replied in detail in that another thread on this forum you link. I know your opinion and the fact you don't agree/believe any single word.

I'd say this has nothing to do with EE OSTs now available for sale as separate items.

You just dodged the whole thing then and you are doing the same now. You didn't explain anything you just dodged and ignored the "uncomfortable facts".


Yes it has a lot to do with the OST now being sold separately, since Beamdog has done the same kind of thing in the past when the classics for removed from sale. The OST is just the latest thing in a larger problem.

I'm surprised that this is still brought up. I'd expect that anyone who works for Beamdog or even supports Beamdog would have accepted that people are allowed to dislike Siege of Dragonspear without being lumped in with 'isms'

Siege of Dragonspear as a whole, was in my opinion an uneeded sequel / spin-off. But I'm okay with that, gaming is full of those and I don't mind uneeded sequels so long as they're done right. But this one came 20 years too late and the execution was extremely lacking.

It's clear Beamdog's reputation is iffy at best and a large portion of the community doesn't trust it. In my opinion this is what they need to start doing:

A) Restore the original versions of the games they remastered. Some people prefer the original versions, some people prefer the remasters, that's fine, but give people the ability to choose which version they want.
B) Don't make sequels of 20 year old games. Instead, why not make a new D&D game using the infinity engine? New setting, new characters, new world, completely new story. Otherwise, it will always feel like the company is living off of Black Isle studios' and Bioware's past sucesses
C) As someone who worked in the gaming industry you have to learn to accept criticism. Sometimes it's fair, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's constructive, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's warranted, sometimes it's not. It doesn't matter. This happens to every entertaiment medium, not just games and companies need to accept that.

What Stika said. Make your own damn games and stop messing with the classics.

But then again....http://kotaku.com/the-struggle-to-bring-back-baldur-s-gate-after-17-years-1768303595

"“There’s the idea of making all our own stuff, like BioWare did with Dragon Age,” said Oster. “We created all of our own lore, created all of our things. It’s just, that’s a lot of hard, hard, hard work. If you don’t do the work right, when people play the game it comes off hollow. Even if you go crazy in your world building there’s kind of the opposite, it can hurt the experience.”"

Too much hard work, it seems.

"Beamdog president Trent Oster emphasized that doing the Enhanced Editions and Siege on Dragonspear has also been a means of cultivating a strong relationship with Wizards of the Coast. Siege of Dragonspear, he said, was very much an ongoing collaboration, a back-and-forth conversation especially when it came to matters of lore and how to best leverage obscure portions of the D&D universe."

And even with all the back and forth with WOTC about lore issues, they still managed to break the lore over and over again.

I've got to be honest; disregarding any opinions he might have had as to why negative reviews were being left, I don't see the problem with his actual request: "If you are playing the game and having a good time, please consider posting a positive review [...]" (emphasis mine). I'd hardly call that begging.

EDIT: Great article, though. I wasn't aware of the expack or the controversy surrounding the changes that were made. Some of those quotes are pretty ballsy. No wonder people were upset.

Yes! Yes! Yes!


Can you imagine the reaction of we got the correct response? Instead of pride, arrogance and tact, we could have received a humble response that would have made Beamdog the good guy.

Just assume I work for Beamdog (I don't) and accept my response to all your inquiries.

Thank you for playing our games. It means a lot to us that you care passionately about our games. Enough to have honest and meaningful dialog.

We clearly did not meet your expectations on many fronts. Let me address those now.

As for the portrayal of our transsexual character, I want to apologize to anyone we offended. It wasn't our intent. We strongly believe that video games can and should, when appropriate, have a message that can have a positive influence. We clearly overdid it for some of you, and we even offended some of those we wanted to embrace.

We took your comments to heart and held several meetings to find the root cause. We think our hearts were in the right place, but we did not consult those in their respective communities effectively enough to communicate what we intended to communicate.

We strive to have authentic characters and will certainly endeavor to serve authenticity in our next offering.

Thank you to those who have sent us positive comments. We appreciate hearing how our games have influenced our players in positive ways. And we like hearing how most of our players have loved the game for the game it is. We will continue to patch and fix as much as we can of what isn't perfect.

Speaking of imperfection, we have to stress the elephant in the room : what happened to the originals?

We had a team, along with other stores and other interested partners. We determined that Baldur's Gate and other infinity engine games are undervalued, oversold, and could do with a fresh update. To get the fresh update, however, we needed to make money and the only way we were going to do that was if we took the full market share of Baldur's gate, ps:t and iwd. It sucks. We know it sucks. But we think it's worth it. Without this move, we couldn't make these games fresh and alive for the new audience. We made the decision to go ahead because the lovers of the originals, for the most part, already owned the games.

We didn't want to take the originals off the market entirely because like you, we love them too. With a bit of patching, they are practically gaming heaven. Even vanilla has its charm. So we included them with the purchase of the game.

And that leads us to the soundtracks. Another sucky move. Especially if you want the originals, not the ee, and you want the ost. However, we cannot sell the ee at its current low price if we included it. And we wanted the price to be low enough to entice those unwilling to play the game because of its age. We know everyone will love the old infinity engine games if they can just get a chance to try them, so we broke up the games. On some platforms, we broke it up even more with dlc. We're sorry for who we burned with that move, but it was the only way we could see ourselves getting the game out to those who we wanted to showcase it to.

Thank you to all of the fans of the infinity engine games who already bought the old editions that Hasbro sold. We are thankful that you have all the goodies already. We will never try to retroactively remove those goodies from you. That would be both illegal and wrong. Trust me, we're not that kind of company.

We appreciate those whose business we've had and hope to earn the business of those we don't have. Please, let's keep up this dialog. Your passion and willingness to communicate can help us both get what we want : world domination! Er... I mean some good games in the hands of old and new players alike.



Again: I don't work for Beamdog. Some things listed here might not be true. Fake details are put in bc I hope they are the real details. We live in an imperfect world and people are just trying to do their best. That said, honest discussions held while validating other's opinions is how we carry on conversations. And responses to those opinions are how companies stay on business.

Wow. Someone needs to hire you for PR. That was a great, uplifting read.