The LARIAN Thread

[rusty_shackleford]

I'm sure it's true in your mind. Shame on me for taking you seriously for a second.

She was a senior narrative designer of BG3.
https://www.developconference.com/speak ... aire-welch

I am currently working full time at Larian Studios as a Senior Narrative Designer. There I am the feature lead for companion characters and romances. I am the screenwriter for the Dark Urge Origin and work in an associate capacity screenwriting for the other origin characters.

Post-EA main story(dark urge) + other companions are Welch

It's why the game feels like it has two incomplete main stories competing for attention, and you can completely miss out on one by playing as a custom character.

Her main job on BG3 was romance, not narrative design. Lawrence Schick is the principal narrative designer. None of the companions were written by her. Shadowheart and Halsin were written by John Corcoran. Astarion was written by Stephen Rooney. Lae'zel and Wyll by Kevin Vanord. Gale was written by Jan Van Dosselaer. Karlach by Sarah Baylus. You're an actual moron if you think a single goofy fanfic writer rewrote the entire story and all the companions while the rest of the 20 man writing team sat there and jerked off doing nothing for two years. Furthermore, none of this is even relevant to my original point. Which was that the two previous leads and most senior writers at Larian, Jan and Sarah, did not leave Larian, but were awkwardly pushed aside in favor of two new hires, and total nobodies at that.

didn't read your stupid post but she wrote the dark urge storyline which is the main storyline for the game

[Hyborian]

She was a senior narrative designer of BG3.
https://www.developconference.com/speak ... aire-welch


Post-EA main story(dark urge) + other companions are Welch

It's why the game feels like it has two incomplete main stories competing for attention, and you can completely miss out on one by playing as a custom character.

Her main job on BG3 was romance, not narrative design. Lawrence Schick is the principal narrative designer. None of the companions were written by her. Shadowheart and Halsin were written by John Corcoran. Astarion was written by Stephen Rooney. Lae'zel and Wyll by Kevin Vanord. Gale was written by Jan Van Dosselaer. Karlach by Sarah Baylus. You're an actual moron if you think a single goofy fanfic writer rewrote the entire story and all the companions while the rest of the 20 man writing team sat there and jerked off doing nothing for two years. Furthermore, none of this is even relevant to my original point. Which was that the two previous leads and most senior writers at Larian, Jan and Sarah, did not leave Larian, but were awkwardly pushed aside in favor of two new hires, and total nobodies at that.

didn't read your stupid post but she wrote the dark urge storyline which is the main storyline for the game

Who wrote the non-Dark Urge storyline?

[rusty_shackleford]

Her main job on BG3 was romance, not narrative design. Lawrence Schick is the principal narrative designer. None of the companions were written by her. Shadowheart and Halsin were written by John Corcoran. Astarion was written by Stephen Rooney. Lae'zel and Wyll by Kevin Vanord. Gale was written by Jan Van Dosselaer. Karlach by Sarah Baylus. You're an actual moron if you think a single goofy fanfic writer rewrote the entire story and all the companions while the rest of the 20 man writing team sat there and jerked off doing nothing for two years. Furthermore, none of this is even relevant to my original point. Which was that the two previous leads and most senior writers at Larian, Jan and Sarah, did not leave Larian, but were awkwardly pushed aside in favor of two new hires, and total nobodies at that.

didn't read your stupid post but she wrote the dark urge storyline which is the main storyline for the game

Who wrote the non-Dark Urge storyline?

the person that had their storyline displaced by a femgooner and therefore doesn't matter

[Hyborian]

didn't read your stupid post but she wrote the dark urge storyline which is the main storyline for the game

Who wrote the non-Dark Urge storyline?

the person that had their storyline displaced by a femgooner and therefore doesn't matter

Cope, Rusty. You know as well as I do that you just got owned.

[rusty_shackleford]

Who wrote the non-Dark Urge storyline?

the person that had their storyline displaced by a femgooner and therefore doesn't matter

Cope, Rusty. You know as well as I do that you just got owned.

I didn't even read any of your posts that were longer than a sentence

[Hyborian]

the person that had their storyline displaced by a femgooner and therefore doesn't matter

Cope, Rusty. You know as well as I do that you just got owned.

I didn't even read any of your posts that were longer than a sentence

Dementia got to you, unc. You're rambling about **** that wasn't even relevant to the original point.

[Roguey]

Which was that the two previous leads and most senior writers at Larian, Jan and Sarah, did not leave Larian, but were awkwardly pushed aside in favor of two new hires, and total nobodies at that.

Is it really "pushed aside" when they both decided that they would much rather do some actual writing instead of leading?

[Magick]

Ha ha, get wrecked, Astarion VA.

lol if it does well that means in spite of the AI voices, which means they're good enough and not a problem, doesn't it. In which case no need to go paying **** like him, because it's ALREADY done well.

Tbh I wouldn't want everything voiced by AI, but like everything, it has it's place.

[Lhynn]

Just took a **** so bad Larian wouldnt put it in one of their trailers.

[Rand]

Belgians... What did you expect?

OMFG, they're Belgians?
This actually explains quite a bit.

Anyway, I am deeply interested in seeing the final expression of this game.
We can begin to resolve the discussion of whether Larian filthed up BG3 on their own (by hiring American degenerates) or simply responded to and incorporated WOTC's wokefaggotry complaints and direction by seeing what an unrestricted Larian does.
Inital trailer analysis is revealing. Major department heads and all senior management actively endorsed that... thing being released on the world.

[Faceless_Sentinel]

apparently bluesky ******** are dogpiling larian/swen for expecting them to do work + AI
not going digging into it

Yeah Blowy Zoe claims they tried to "recruit" her

https://bsky.app/profile/unburntwitch.c ... 4p47aqts22

I know this because they tried to recruit me and I strongly considered it but they’re also a “do an unpaid writing test where you have to also make it playable” company so that’s not something I vibe with

https://bsky.app/profile/brunodias.bsky ... 4qheh7gk22

Larian's horrible hirring process is an open secret in the industry – insane amounts of unpaid work in "writing tests", excessive numbers of interviews, months and months of back and forth, etc. Everyone in games narrative circles has heard the stories at this point, probably from multiple people.

They made me do 12 interviews. Then they rejected me based on my resume.

https://bsky.app/profile/hayfeverray.bs ... 6fakyg4c26

For anyone reading this and wondering, yes Swen was always a jackass like this. He would take writers' keyboards and rewrite their dialog for them, ofc he's a dumbass who thinks AI could be useful

Swen is literally Nick Burns the Computer Guy. "MOVE!"

https://bsky.app/profile/hayfeverray.bs ... 6iz5dq7k26

Feels like a good time to talk about when Larian employed an outright fascist and refused to fire him.

Over covid one of our engineers was radicalised. Next time we saw him he was watching Tim Pool videos in office and telling us about "cultural marxism" at work drinks, the whole nine yards

After a while he had a little cohort of freaks that shared some of his sentiments.

Everyone was uncomfortable with this guy. Folks went to Swen and said "Hey, this guy is a weirdo fascist. He's making everyone uncomfortable. He's at odds with the team's values"

Swen's response? "He's invaluable to the team, it's too hard to replace him this close to release"

Naturally the vibes got worse. Hanging out at lunch now sucks because these guys might bring their bigotry, like complaining that Aragorn is black in the new MTG crossover set.

And there's a lot of minorities on the team. Yet, bigots abound in the studio. Swen is happy to profit off the cachet of making a "woke" game while letting bigots endanger minorities in his studio

My worst experience, as a ***** woman, was shortly after coming out in work.

One of the other office weirdos, and sexual harassment afficionado Felix Pedulla (current CDPR employee) walked past me in the office one day.

He makes a weird remark about my tits, and then to "confirm" something grabs my crotch in the middle of the office. No fear, no shame.

But why not report it? Well, the ship had sailed. We had unchecked fascists in the office, people taking the **** out of BG3's gender options, multiple cases of sexual harassment, and more.

More importantly, we were told that if someone is important enough they will not be dealt with.

Hope all these people **** off. Larian is Swen's Kingdom.

Good! The degenerates he caters the most will destroy him. At least i hope so.

[pokafox]

Like, let's say each of those is even like a 5-15% of a John Howe or Gustave Doré, why the **** do you need AI when you have SEVENTY TWO artists ?

Modern media is more and more self-admittance of failure.

Also, the "next level of Tactical combat we're known for" comment is ironic considering BG3 was a big stepdown from DOS2 in that regard.

.

[maidenhaver]

apparently bluesky ******** are dogpiling larian/swen for expecting them to do work + AI
not going digging into it

Its going to get ******** wrecked. Devs are ravennous whores, and the industry is precarious. Don't get between them and money.

[CheesusCrust]

You hear that jaded chud? Swen wants you to feel something, anything at all. How can you hate the guy?

tell him the only way to "bring light into darkness" is to add white men and wipe out every ****** per square centimeter he put in his ******** trailer

[orinEsque]

apparently bluesky ******** are dogpiling larian/swen for expecting them to do work + AI
not going digging into it

Yeah Blowy Zoe claims they tried to "recruit" her

https://bsky.app/profile/unburntwitch.c ... 4p47aqts22

I know this because they tried to recruit me and I strongly considered it but they’re also a “do an unpaid writing test where you have to also make it playable” company so that’s not something I vibe with

https://bsky.app/profile/brunodias.bsky ... 4qheh7gk22

Larian's horrible hirring process is an open secret in the industry – insane amounts of unpaid work in "writing tests", excessive numbers of interviews, months and months of back and forth, etc. Everyone in games narrative circles has heard the stories at this point, probably from multiple people.

They made me do 12 interviews. Then they rejected me based on my resume.

https://bsky.app/profile/hayfeverray.bs ... 6fakyg4c26

For anyone reading this and wondering, yes Swen was always a jackass like this. He would take writers' keyboards and rewrite their dialog for them, ofc he's a dumbass who thinks AI could be useful

Swen is literally Nick Burns the Computer Guy. "MOVE!"

https://bsky.app/profile/hayfeverray.bs ... 6iz5dq7k26

Feels like a good time to talk about when Larian employed an outright fascist and refused to fire him.

Over covid one of our engineers was radicalised. Next time we saw him he was watching Tim Pool videos in office and telling us about "cultural marxism" at work drinks, the whole nine yards

After a while he had a little cohort of freaks that shared some of his sentiments.

Everyone was uncomfortable with this guy. Folks went to Swen and said "Hey, this guy is a weirdo fascist. He's making everyone uncomfortable. He's at odds with the team's values"

Swen's response? "He's invaluable to the team, it's too hard to replace him this close to release"

Naturally the vibes got worse. Hanging out at lunch now sucks because these guys might bring their bigotry, like complaining that Aragorn is black in the new MTG crossover set.

And there's a lot of minorities on the team. Yet, bigots abound in the studio. Swen is happy to profit off the cachet of making a "woke" game while letting bigots endanger minorities in his studio

My worst experience, as a ***** woman, was shortly after coming out in work.

One of the other office weirdos, and sexual harassment afficionado Felix Pedulla (current CDPR employee) walked past me in the office one day.

He makes a weird remark about my tits, and then to "confirm" something grabs my crotch in the middle of the office. No fear, no shame.

But why not report it? Well, the ship had sailed. We had unchecked fascists in the office, people taking the **** out of BG3's gender options, multiple cases of sexual harassment, and more.

More importantly, we were told that if someone is important enough they will not be dealt with.

Hope all these people **** off. Larian is Swen's Kingdom.

chudbros… were we too quick in judging Swen?

Such rigorous writer vetting, and you still get wattpad tier writing. The writer pool is filled with **** it seems. I can prompt a better story on AI than the crap Larian came out with in bg3.

[orinEsque]

You hear that jaded chud? Swen wants you to feel something, anything at all. How can you hate the guy?

tell him the only way to "bring light into darkness" is to add white men and wipe out every ****** per square centimeter he put in his ******** trailer

you missed out too many. Not racist enough.

[Bertram_Tung]

you missed out too many. Not racist enough.

Take that santa clause hat off you muslim *****

[pol_345polex]

you missed out too many. Not racist enough.

Take that santa clause hat off you muslim *****

She really a Muslim?

[Nemesis]

@orinEsque is already hard at work on the next set of mods.

[The_Mask]

It’s been a week since we announced Divinity, our next RPG, and a lot has become lost in translation.

Larian’s DNA is agency. Everything we work towards is to the benefit of our teams, games, and players. A better work day, and a better game. Our successes come from empowering people to work in their own way and bring the best out of their skill & craft, so that we can make the best RPGs we can possibly make.

In that context, it would be irresponsible for us not to evaluate new technologies. However, our processes are always evolving, and where they are not efficient or fail to align with who we are, we will make changes.

To give you more insight, we’ll do an AMA featuring our different departments after the holiday break, in which you’ll get the opportunity to ask us any questions you have about Divinity and our dev process directly.

We’ll announce the date in the new year. In the meantime, I wish you all happy holidays!

[maidenhaver]

Games narrative circles. Which level of hell is that?

a group they use to blacklist anyone that doesn't have the right ideology tickle prostates and use it to enforce who gets hired

Gatekeeping is good and works.

[pol_345polex]

There's disagrees and there's agree. Whatever the answer is i say @orinEsque if you're really a muslim i hate your kind with every ounce of my being. If not we're good.

[Acrux]

She really is.

[orinEsque]

Someone on Steam's BG3 forum asked if anyone knew of any good mods. I said, "RPGHQ has a few good ones", and got permanently banned. No links, just banned for saying it.
...
Since I helped orchestrate corrective means of decontaminating The Realms, I've never really looked back.

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Larian equals based chads

[GhostCow]

Someone on Steam's BG3 forum asked if anyone knew of any good mods. I said, "RPGHQ has a few good ones", and got permanently banned. No links, just banned for saying it.
...
Since I helped orchestrate corrective means of decontaminating The Realms, I've never really looked back.

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Larian equals based chads

Could have been a steam moderator, but probably wasn't.

[Lancaster]

Someone on Steam's BG3 forum asked if anyone knew of any good mods. I said, "RPGHQ has a few good ones", and got permanently banned. No links, just banned for saying it.
...
Since I helped orchestrate corrective means of decontaminating The Realms, I've never really looked back.

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Larian equals based chads

Could have been a steam moderator, but probably wasn't.

I've posted much worse than this on their forum. Ranging from Asstarion getting a virus from feeding on patrons in a Baldur's Gate gay bathhouse, to lack of masculine characters. I posted this one around the time of the Realms Restored debut.

[Kalarion]

Someone on Steam's BG3 forum asked if anyone knew of any good mods. I said, "RPGHQ has a few good ones", and got permanently banned. No links, just banned for saying it.
...
Since I helped orchestrate corrective means of decontaminating The Realms, I've never really looked back.

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Larian equals based chads

Could have been a steam moderator, but probably wasn't.

Look at the screenshot. Are you telling me community managers and moderators would be labelled as game developers?

[rusty_shackleford]

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Larian equals based chads

Could have been a steam moderator, but probably wasn't.

Look at the screenshot. Are you telling me community managers and moderators would be labelled as game developers?

iirc yes, it's the same message either way

[Magick]

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Larian equals based chads

Could have been a steam moderator, but probably wasn't.

Look at the screenshot. Are you telling me community managers and moderators would be labelled as game developers?

Can't see why the steam platform would differentiate, rather than just "From the game company, or from steam".

[The_Mask]