Baldur’s Gate Day 1 Reflection
Ok so First day of Baldur's gate... Friend! What a ride! Since I know nothing about Dungeons and Dragons, it was an interesting experience looking through each of the races, and types, character creation portion. I laughed several times through the stream because people assumed I'd spend over 2 hours creating the character! I totally could have done that but I was on a mission to get to the story and find out some of the psychological themes.
In the opening scenes, there was a person who put this slimy slug-looking thing in the other person's eye, and that way the being dramatically showed the slug seemed like a form of torture and intimidation. At that point I was looking for themes, and I could imagine that the story would get really deep really fast!
As I went through some of the character creation, I noticed so much back story for the races of beings. At one point, I mentioned that I wouldn't choose one of the folks because they were from hell, and someone in chat mentioned that their kind is actually very kind and compassionate beings. In that moment, I felt like I saw the theme of discrimination based on location. I discriminated and assumed that the creatures would have a negative behavior or presentation based on where they are from. How many times do we see that in our world? Often.
When I was deciding on my character's type or occupation, I had a difficult time choosing between Cleric, Paladin, and Wizard. I eventually decided on Wizard, but I found that the process of choosing felt strangely personal. It was an interesting experience having friends in chat say "Oh yes, you're a wizard for sure" or "cleric would def fit you!". I wondered what about me and those roles did my friends see that were similar. It was also interesting that I don't share a ton of personal details, but somehow the folk in my community were accurate in some of the different concepts that resonated with me. Was it that they were good at really seeing the person behind the streamer or do my efforts to be authentic actually work?
After creating my character I created also created a guardian. I found it interesting that I chose a very large masculine Drow. (Which I now know is pronounced similar to plow). I chose a Lolith-sworn Drow, but the chat warned against it as apparently, they are not to be trusted. I don't have any experience with them, of course, but I noticed that theme of discrimination come up. I took that chat's word for it because I didn't want to die as soon as I started the game. Based on my danger radar, I trusted their assessment of this type of being. We will see how that pans out, but it brought up the idea again that, often be choose to believe others about people because of their experiences and it doesn't feel worth the danger to "wait and see".
As the opening scenes progressed, I met ShadowHeart, and immediately, I didn't trust her. I saved her from pod she was trapped in, and she immediately got out complaining about Lae'zel the Githyanki. Something strange happened between my character, Emmy, and StormHeart. I had the option to tell her, but it felt important to keep my cards to myself. I think sharing that with her would have been too vulnerable given that I already had concerns about here. This made me think of the importance of being selective with your vulnerability. When you don't trust someone, please don't pour your heart out to them. It can be a healthy boundary to establish trust first, even if you feel pressured to share certain information about yourself. You have the right to say "no" or decline sharing.
As the story continued it became more difficult to focus on the themes due to trying to get the hang of the mechanics of the game. Before logging off, I did notice a moment of grief. Myself and StromHeart (whom I still don't trust) landed on a beach, checked the pockets of a deceased fisherman, and saw a letter. The letter was from his love who wished him safe travels and had plans to meet and start a life together. It made me think about losing someone you love and the pain we experience that comes with that. I'm not sure if the lover is still alive or if they are deceased as well, but what a painful experience. This is a game, but this letter could have brought us so much for those playing who have experienced a similar grief. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just something I noticed. For those who are grieving, I recommend Tear Soup. It's a book that seems like a children's but it's truly a wonderful resource for all. https://amzn.to/3RLqgOF
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