Baldur Gate 3 is must be what players experience in their heads when they do DnD.

As someone who has played TTRPGs for over 20 years, many of which spent with D&D, I can confidently say that playing BG3 has very little to do with the experience of playing D&D. BG3 is still a video game with all the limitations and pre-made choices (dialog-wise, in terms of mechanics, world Interactions etc) as any other video game. I would compare what's going on in my head while playing D&D to reading a book and visualizing what's on the page in my imagination.

And the book is being written by the collective nonsensically choices of everyone at the table

Nah. It's really about hanging out with friends.

That's really social and positive.
- It’s true though.

DnD is kind of a cross between improv, telling stories, and a choose-your-own-adventure, from what I gather from my spouse who runs games for a living. Playing Baldurs Gate 3 was really eye opening and I think the game helps one understand the appeal of tabletop RPGs a bit better.

It's interesting to hear from someone who has trouble seeing the appeal. I think of storytelling, whether fictional or otherwise, as a core aspect of the human experience.
I think everyone should learn to tell a story that hangs together and has some elements of structure and style. We can't all be raconteurs for hire, but getting to participate in a story is important. It gives us a chance to live a purer existence for a while.
- The thing that's always kept me from trying it is thinking on the spot. I have really bad social anxiety and I have bad validation issues and I always need to impress, so I get freaked out about having to improv. Collaboration is hard for me too. I'm much better when I have all the control and can make all the decisions myself and not have to worry about screwing up or disappointing. I loved BG3 though and it's piqued my interest in DnD again.
It's similar to people who got into the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter after watching the movies. The movies aren't exactly like the books, and generally speaking, "the book was better", but the movies are easier for a newbie to digest and if they enjoy it, they'll feel more comfortable committing time and effort into digging into the "deeper" version of it.
- Ok, that makes alot of sense. I'm like the person who watched the movie and think I know what the book is like (but really the book is much better).

Not really imo. It's quite a different experience.

I am seeing a lot of comments disagreeing with this and I've just gotta know: Y'all actually play PnP D&D? Because BG3 very much captures a lot of what goes on at my group's table very well. Same with the recent movie that came out.

It's not perfect, obviously. It's a CRPG so unlike the pnp game, you can't do anything you can imagine. But you can come pretty damn close, which is something I love about the game.

I think there are inside jokes that only the tabletop DnD people catch too.

I mean yea, that's kinda the whole point. It's literally set in the D&D universe.

There's a sense of completion that isn't there in a tabletop. When I play BG3 I'm constantly thinking about alternate paths and what-ifs.

When I'm playing in person its more thinking about your character and the story you're playing in person.

troll post detected

This. How it feels in the players heads is highly group and person dependant.
My crew is sonic the hedgehog fans so there tends to be a certain flair reminiscent of the Adventure games
Yeah it's cringe but it's also hella fun to goof off like this