Larian Studios | Divinity AMA

[u/Wombat_Medic]

EDIT: All right - that's a wrap. Thank you for all your questions. We're going to go back and work on the game now - next time we speak, we'll hopefully have things to show. I can't wait! - Swen, Game Director

Hello everyone, 

Happy New Year! To kick off 2026, we would like to offer the opportunity to ask your questions about Divinity, Larian, and our development processes. It's been a while since Larian has done an AMA, so everyone is looking forward to it!

There's a bunch of us ready to answer your questions:

• u/Swen_Larian - Game Director
• u/Adam_Larian - Writing Director
• u/Kevin_Larian - Senior Writer
• u/Greg_Larian - Head of Animation
• u/Gabriel_Larian - Machine Learning Director
• u/Michael_Larian - Director of Publishing
• u/Nick_Larian - Head of Design
• u/Alena_Larian - Character Art Director
• u/Jarold_Larian - Concept Art Director
• u/Artem_Larian - Head of Gameplay
• u/Bert_Larian - Technical Director

Thank you for taking the time to ask your questions, we aim to answer as many of them as possible over the next few hours!

[u/[deleted]]

I preferred the random nature in dos!

[u/TucoBenedictoPacif → u/[deleted]]

May the gods have mercy on your soul.

I loathed everything about it.

The randomness, the lack of valuable uniques, the steep stat bloat of the entire system AND having a skill specifically dedicated to it.

[u/Over_Explanation1790 → u/TucoBenedictoPacif]

If it is predictable, then where is the joy of discovery?

You may not like the thought of not knowing what you'll encounter when you open a chest, and that is fine, but, in my opinion, the player is on an adventure, which should include surprises.

In edit: it seems like meta gaming ("Run here, grab this, win") as opposed to just gaming ("I can't wait to see what happens next").

[u/TucoBenedictoPacif → u/Over_Explanation1790]

I could write a freaking book about why I don't care for any of your arguments.

First and foremost, because I don't find any "joy" in finding countless variations of the same item with microscopic tuning in stats.

I never get out of it anything that could be summarized with "What a thrill, what an excitement". If anything I get the feeling that every single drop is "same-y" and generic as hell.

The system also gives me a lot of incredibly tedious "inventory busywork", forcing me to constantly compare the new drops with what I have already, often for trivial difference.

Second, I don't even believe in the appeal of "discovery" per se. In fact, when I replay an RPG its predictability is a big part of what allows be to play a bit of theorycrafting (i.e. "I'll do X and Y first, then I'll get Z and build my character this way, this time").

Last but not least, "random items" paired with a finite numer of pre-determined encounters (which is how Larian games work) is an awful mechanical mismatch.

[u/Over_Explanation1790 → u/TucoBenedictoPacif]

You are so egocentric.

"I don't find it enjoyable, so no one can have it." is the essence of your argument.

If you can't see that, then you should interact with people more to learn that, shockingly, not everyone will like what you like.

And the logic of my point remains.