A reputed franchise from 20 years ago when gaming was a niche hobby enjoyed by a fraction of todays potential audience.
Not sure this would be the first franchise I‘d revive when looking for mass appeal.
That being said, it’s probably a well-known franchise within the niche of CRPG fans … which is sizeable, but still not huge (especially since it probably is still very PC-focused … while these games are released on consoles nowadays, they are still mostly created for and played with with mouse and keyboard).
Not sure this would be the first franchise I‘d revive when looking for mass appeal.
It, uh, took them 20 years to revive it?
Interestingly, of my friends playing the game at the moment, all of the pc gamers have moved on, while my console gaming friends are still fairly addicted to bg3. Anecdata, I know, but it also makes sense to me. The existence of a console port is proof of mass appeal and I assume wotc wouldn't have given the baldurs gate license to spiderweb software, even though every crpg player knows Vogel has mastered the formula, because no normie has ever heard of them and they wouldn't make beaucoup bucks.
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
A reputed franchise from 20 years ago when gaming was a niche hobby enjoyed by a fraction of todays potential audience.
Not sure this would be the first franchise I‘d revive when looking for mass appeal.
That being said, it’s probably a well-known franchise within the niche of CRPG fans … which is sizeable, but still not huge (especially since it probably is still very PC-focused … while these games are released on consoles nowadays, they are still mostly created for and played with with mouse and keyboard).
It, uh, took them 20 years to revive it?
Interestingly, of my friends playing the game at the moment, all of the pc gamers have moved on, while my console gaming friends are still fairly addicted to bg3. Anecdata, I know, but it also makes sense to me. The existence of a console port is proof of mass appeal and I assume wotc wouldn't have given the baldurs gate license to spiderweb software, even though every crpg player knows Vogel has mastered the formula, because no normie has ever heard of them and they wouldn't make beaucoup bucks.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link