Games

Yes, you can play on a LAN connection, offline assuming you both have your own PCs in the house. There is no split screen multilayer, yet. In fact, this is supposed to be the reason why only the PC version had it's release date moved up. They didn't see it as a requirement for the PC release and decided to work on the PS5 split screen issues, post PC release.

So PS5 will definitely have split screen functionality, and I suppose that might also go to PCs as well, but that's just a guess on my side.

You are a human. One of the things humans do is enjoy and have fun. It is in our programming. The universe wants you to enjoy and have fun.

Also, a big things humans do is endurance. Long term action and planning is kinda a thing we can do, while many other species specialize in rapid response. Taking the time to enjoy recharges our batteries so we can be more productive in the long long term.

Supporting systems that help others experience joy and fun (entertainment, the arts, sports recreation), through participation in ways that speak to you, helps all of us recharge our batteries. So our systemic endurance increases.

It's ok to play. It's necessary for our survival.

I'm not familiar enough with licensing contracts of this nature to know whether there are royalties being paid out based on the number of copies being sold. But in the case of whether WotC is going to get paid again for another licensed Baldur's Gate game in the future, that's already a done deal. Sales from this point aren't going to matter. It's similar to how that became clear pretty quick in the case of Hogwarts Legacy.

D&D is among the most mature IPs in gaming. It's not going anywhere, and Hasbro has it right now. The most effective thing you can do is support one of its competitors, like Paizo's Pathfinder.

As for whether you should pirate it, something to weigh is that Larian is one of the good guys. This is an offline/single-player capable game, with no MTX.

PC upgrade? I play BG3 on steam deck, runs great. I imagine any PC in the last 10 years could run the game well enough.

Me and 3 friends have had a lot of fun with Divinity Original Sin 2 multiplayer. There's usually a lot of shenanigans and fun happenings as a direct effect of having several players bringing their own style to the game.

Just be advised that the experience will not be the same as playing single player. From what I understand the multiplayer experience in BG3 is much improved but I found that when playing with friends in DOS2 that I could not for instance take the time to dive in deep with conversations, quests, lore etc as I would like.

There is also a current issue in that if someone joins your game with a custom character, that character will from then on be a permanent member of the party. You cannot at the moment get rid of them in any way.

Bottom line it is fun, but you should treat it as a separate thing from single player - and definately have a dedicated playthrough for multiplayer.