@Sylvus_Moonbow, thanks for the video link! That answered all my questions. So Tord is his actual first name, I take it. @Wisp, thanks to you too for answering.
notLily's stuff is amazing! He has hundreds of videos for just the bg series alone and several other games I love his fallout 2 let's play
For some reason, I am really curious as to if your username is based on the Greek Philosopher, or a character from the Avernum series. lol
I liked the way the name sounded and the historical figure was made known to me by some Carl Sagan stuff I saw on youtube, ... but no deep meaning really for me.
I've just spent a few hours trying to get my own Let's Play series started... and man it's alotta work! I only got as far as the circus tent before I felt totally exhausted. I don't know how Tord does it, to somehow maintain some level of enthusiasm and creativity for hundreds, or even thousands of videos! I think I'll just focus on enjoying my BG 2 experience for myself cos already recording feels a bit like a chore.
I had a brief look at his NWN series, and man, it's even more creative and professional, it's like watching a movie or listening to an audio book! His Baldur's Gate stuff is really his first 'amateurish' attempt at recording a Let's Play... He sure has some talent, maybe it's his experience as a PnP D&D dungeon master, but man he can tell a story!
@Heindrich1988, I've taken to running a Tord-like dialogue in my head while I play BG, and even going so far as to act out aloud all the different parts to the dialogues. (You should hear my Minsc and Branwen imitations!)
Tord's whole attitude toward the game, and his gift to the BG community, have breathed new life into BG for me.
I like to *pretend* I'm making a Let's Play while I play. But to actually *do* it, like he has? Huh-uh.
I've learned so far that trying to narrate your own game aloud while actually clicking around and managing inventory and spellbooks and combat is *quite* the feat of mental multi-tasking. I really can't praise Tord enough for his talents.
And, as shown in @Sylvus_Moonbow's video, he also has talent as a video creator in the style of MTV and VH1, or other "pop-up" styles of video production. I'm really quite in awe of the guy.
And I yell out loud and gnash my teeth while he consistently forgets to put helmets on his frontline fighters, getting them critical hit to death again and again, and musing into the microphone, 'Hmm, ha ha, I guess I wasn't paying attention - their armor doesn't seem to be doing them much good."
It's oddly enjoyable to watch someone play the game without metagaming. I've often found my inner monologue saying, "Nooo!" while watching his BG playthrough. It was painful to watch him send Khalid into battle, not realizing his weapon had broken and was only using his fist. It makes me wonder how long it took until I realized that weapons could break during my first playthrough.
@Heindrich1988, I've taken to running a Tord-like dialogue in my head while I play BG, and even going so far as to act out aloud all the different parts to the dialogues. (You should hear my Minsc and Branwen imitations!)
Tord's whole attitude toward the game, and his gift to the BG community, have breathed new life into BG for me.
I like to *pretend* I'm making a Let's Play while I play. But to actually *do* it, like he has? Huh-uh.
I've learned so far that trying to narrate your own game aloud while actually clicking around and managing inventory and spellbooks and combat is *quite* the feat of mental multi-tasking. I really can't praise Tord enough for his talents.
Yeah I actually checked out the first few episodes of Veriax's BG 2 Let's Play, and even though he was the inspiration for Tord, I must say Tord has far surpassed him in sheer quality of roleplay and story-telling. Also Tord was born with a voice for telling stories!
I've taken the middle option of continuing to record my gameplay, but not worrying so much about trying to be entertaining at all. Recording makes me feel as if there is somebody standing over my shoulder to keep me honest in my gameplay with regards to roleplay and realism, and I guess if nothing else, once I finish what I am sure will be an epic journey, I can look back and reminisce on the highlights and see how I got there.
Oh yeah, a funny side-effect of hours of recording a Let's Play... u end up getting used to thinking out loud, and end up narrating everything!
'... Okay I think we'll stop here today. [Presses F9]... Right, now just save game and quit... let's just check my email before I switch off the laptop... hmmm I think I need to pee...'
Haha. I think the reason Tord stopped doing them is because he said it took around 20 HOURS to make a 15 minute Neverwinter Nights episode. That is mental. They are really high quality though, the NWN series is brilliant, so much effort into it. This guy is so underrated. Now he's been MIA for the past 6 months..........
@daven, there's a relatively new video up on YouTube where he explains about a new job with a four hour commute, and that he just couldn't do it anymore.
I think I want to try this with my redemption based bard. I do think I'm likely to kit her though. Now I need this sc2 tournament to end so I can watch this all.
Haha. I think the reason Tord stopped doing them is because he said it took around 20 HOURS to make a 15 minute Neverwinter Nights episode. That is mental. They are really high quality though, the NWN series is brilliant, so much effort into it. This guy is so underrated. Now he's been MIA for the past 6 months..........
Really? He said that? You sure he wasn't just referring to perhaps a custom video he used to setup Lilly's background? (I assumed that was custom and got no idea how he made it)
Recording a Let's Play sure slows down fast you can play, but not by THAT much. I usually play sessions around 1 hr long, that raw video is about 40-50 GBs, so the most time consuming thing is compression, which takes about 3 hrs, but obviously you don't need to sit infront of the PC to do it.
Once that's done, chopping up the video into 4 or 5 shorter Youtube friendly parts only takes a few mins, but then uploading each part takes about 30 mins with my internet speed, but again you can just set it up and leave it running in the background.
That said, I suppose there is quite a difference between his BG and NWN videos. His BG vids are more or less a blind playthrough, where his decisions are influenced by roleplay choices rather than metagaming. In his NWN playthrough, he roleplays much more, and presents the game almost as an audio book, so he has clearly 'rehearsed' those videos, and thus I guess they take some time to prepare.
Personally I think games like Baldur's Gate are only fun if you do role play the character. There's plenty of games for testing your wit when it comes to tactics or strategy. I can't help power gaming when it comes to stats and encounters but when it comes to party, dialogue and quests I stick to the character.
Speaking of which, being in the middle of a Lawful Evil play through I can't believe how many quests they made impossible if you don't choose a goody goody dialogue choice.
Roleplaying my NE halfling assassin (to certain degrees) has been quite interesting. I had a buncha quests stored up last night to turn in and my party was furious that I went from like 8 rep to about 14 rep. And why did I do it. Well even though my silly halfling is 10 int, 9 wisdom; she's learned that the more people like you the cheaper things are. And there are 2 items she REALLY wants in beregost (Shadow Thieves Armor and Dagger of Venom) and now there is only 1. Saved me about 3000-4000g just with the reputation difference.
Of course if I was fully roleplaying (which I admit I'm not), there are a couple of quest NPCs who would be dead already due to how they spoke to me or the items I turned into them that I want back, but I'm saving those for when I get my last item and go to keep my reputation in the 6-9 range.
@SharGuidesMyHand, that video is hilarious! I think I would have missed it if you hadn't posted it here. YouTube makes it very hard to find specific stuff by members who have extremely prolific video counts (in the hundreds or even thousands), like Tord. I'm lucky if I can just follow his runs in order without getting lost. I've been watching a lot over the past couple of weeks, and I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of his body of work.
Now, that video, I can understand taking twenty hours to produce. He would have had to have that script in front of him, speaking that fast, and planned out ahead how to sync it with all those rapid-fire images in the video. What amazing audio-video artistry! No wonder he got that job in video games/broadcasting.
@SharGuidesMyHand, that video is hilarious! I think I would have missed it if you hadn't posted it here. YouTube makes it very hard to find specific stuff by members who have extremely prolific video counts (in the hundreds or even thousands), like Tord. I'm lucky if I can just follow his runs in order without getting lost. I've been watching a lot over the past couple of weeks, and I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of his body of work.
Now, that video, I can understand taking twenty hours to produce. He would have had to have that script in front of him, speaking that fast, and planned out ahead how to sync it with all those rapid-fire images in the video. What amazing audio-video artistry! No wonder he got that job in video games/broadcasting.
He also has a "BG2 in 15 minutes" vid, and other 15-min. vids for other games (i.e.: "Fallout in 15 mins").
@MonoCanalla, Tord is straight. And he's a really straight kind of straight. He says that he created Lilly Black just to try playing a game with a character who is the complete opposite of himself, and making her female was part of that package. He doesn't see her as in any way an avatar that he identifies with, thus the internet screen name "MyNameIsNotLilly". It's more like he's writing a book or movie with a female protagonist.
Have you watched this interview, where he draws Lilly Black naked in a bathtub while answering questions? This guy is about as straight as they come.
Sorry, I just cannot get over a neckbeard roleplaying a female character. Especially if she's called Lilly Black.
So the whole Lara Croft Tomb Raider series of games was just a girls only thing.Fuck,to anyone who has played one of these games.Sorry.......................................but you're gay.....................or a lesbian.
Sorry, I just cannot get over a neckbeard roleplaying a female character. Especially if she's called Lilly Black.
So the whole Lara Croft Tomb Raider series of games was just a girls only thing.Fuck,to anyone who has played one of these games.Sorry.......................................but you're gay.....................or a lesbian.
This whole thing of Black Lily and stuff...is very gay.
Guys... I am what most peoples would call a 'Conservative'. It's even reflected in the way I roleplay my games, where I usually use female characters in a support/ranged role, and protect them behind the men, even when the likes of Jaheira is actually a better tank than Anomen. And of course, my ladies only drink wine, none of that ales or beers.
However... Using 'gay' as an insult? How old are you? I mean really?
If you don't like Tord's style, fine, just don't watch his videos.
You might have taken me wrong bud.I was being sarcastic.I'm a big fan of Tord's videos and like him i usually have a female PC and indeed a 'chick' group,most of the time.That was my point,this is a roll-playing game,you can be who the hell you want.
Just for the record,someone's sexuality is their own business anyway.I started playing PC games with Tomb Raider and the role has always stuck with me.I usually take a female PC in most role-playing games i've played ever since.That was my point with Tord's stuff,i wasn't slagging him for it
I, for one, quite enjoy his gameplay for a few reasons: 1. This guy has a nice voice and is very capable of story-telling. 90% of the "let's play" episodes I watched are accompanies with horrible voice so this one really shines.
2. Like you said, this guy does not load very often, which makes my experince as smooth as possible. I even decide to replay the whole series as he did in the walkthrough: minimal reloading and very careful planning.
It's been reported on the discussion section of Tord's YT channel that he has gotten married. I don't see confirmation from Tord himself though.
Tord had also created a website devoted to his Lilly Black character, but the link doesn't appear to be working.
I know some people may think Tord has "overdone it" with the whole Lilly Black personna, but keep in mind that his videos are very popular and he has become a mini-celebrity among RPG fans. Much of what he does has been in response to fan demand.
Alright, fair enough, I guess I misunderstood what u meant.
I personally don't play female PCs or other characters I cannot relate to (like Dwarves/Gnomes), but Tord does do it exceptionally well, and is what I aspire to achieve. Easier said than done though.
I've tried to do this, but just can't. I faithfully roleplayed an elvish archer up to Nashkel mines. She refused Xzar's offer as she didn't trust him. She nearly came to swords with Jaheria as they differed so much in opinion. She didn't allow Imoen to steal and tried to avoid fighting humans as killing in self defence was little better than murder to her.
It was fun, but when I got to Nashkel mines I was still level one with no gold and mediocre equipment. I was also annoyed by her character. I'm a pragmatic person and her idealism got on my nerves. She wouldn't even loot dead bodies.
So the whole Lara Croft Tomb Raider series of games was just a girls only thing.Fuck,to anyone who has played one of these games.Sorry.......................................but you're gay.....................or a lesbian.
I am a lesbian trapped in a man's body.
I have no problem playing as female characters. But there's a difference between picking a female character for aesthetic/mechanical reason and obsessing(for the lack of a better word) about it so much you're creating elaborate backstories or making a website dedicated to it.
That, hovewer I look at it, does not seem healthy. No matter the gender.
Comments
I had a brief look at his NWN series, and man, it's even more creative and professional, it's like watching a movie or listening to an audio book! His Baldur's Gate stuff is really his first 'amateurish' attempt at recording a Let's Play... He sure has some talent, maybe it's his experience as a PnP D&D dungeon master, but man he can tell a story!
Tord's whole attitude toward the game, and his gift to the BG community, have breathed new life into BG for me.
I like to *pretend* I'm making a Let's Play while I play. But to actually *do* it, like he has? Huh-uh.
I've learned so far that trying to narrate your own game aloud while actually clicking around and managing inventory and spellbooks and combat is *quite* the feat of mental multi-tasking. I really can't praise Tord enough for his talents.
And, as shown in @Sylvus_Moonbow's video, he also has talent as a video creator in the style of MTV and VH1, or other "pop-up" styles of video production. I'm really quite in awe of the guy.
I've taken the middle option of continuing to record my gameplay, but not worrying so much about trying to be entertaining at all. Recording makes me feel as if there is somebody standing over my shoulder to keep me honest in my gameplay with regards to roleplay and realism, and I guess if nothing else, once I finish what I am sure will be an epic journey, I can look back and reminisce on the highlights and see how I got there.
Oh yeah, a funny side-effect of hours of recording a Let's Play... u end up getting used to thinking out loud, and end up narrating everything!
'... Okay I think we'll stop here today. [Presses F9]... Right, now just save game and quit... let's just check my email before I switch off the laptop... hmmm I think I need to pee...'
Recording a Let's Play sure slows down fast you can play, but not by THAT much. I usually play sessions around 1 hr long, that raw video is about 40-50 GBs, so the most time consuming thing is compression, which takes about 3 hrs, but obviously you don't need to sit infront of the PC to do it.
Once that's done, chopping up the video into 4 or 5 shorter Youtube friendly parts only takes a few mins, but then uploading each part takes about 30 mins with my internet speed, but again you can just set it up and leave it running in the background.
That said, I suppose there is quite a difference between his BG and NWN videos. His BG vids are more or less a blind playthrough, where his decisions are influenced by roleplay choices rather than metagaming. In his NWN playthrough, he roleplays much more, and presents the game almost as an audio book, so he has clearly 'rehearsed' those videos, and thus I guess they take some time to prepare.
Speaking of which, being in the middle of a Lawful Evil play through I can't believe how many quests they made impossible if you don't choose a goody goody dialogue choice.
Of course if I was fully roleplaying (which I admit I'm not), there are a couple of quest NPCs who would be dead already due to how they spoke to me or the items I turned into them that I want back, but I'm saving those for when I get my last item and go to keep my reputation in the 6-9 range.
Now, that video, I can understand taking twenty hours to produce. He would have had to have that script in front of him, speaking that fast, and planned out ahead how to sync it with all those rapid-fire images in the video. What amazing audio-video artistry! No wonder he got that job in video games/broadcasting.
Have you watched this interview, where he draws Lilly Black naked in a bathtub while answering questions? This guy is about as straight as they come.
So the whole Lara Croft Tomb Raider series of games was just a girls only thing.Fuck,to anyone who has played one of these games.Sorry.......................................but you're gay.....................or a lesbian.
However... Using 'gay' as an insult? How old are you? I mean really?
If you don't like Tord's style, fine, just don't watch his videos.
Just for the record,someone's sexuality is their own business anyway.I started playing PC games with Tomb Raider and the role has always stuck with me.I usually take a female PC in most role-playing games i've played ever since.That was my point with Tord's stuff,i wasn't slagging him for it
1. This guy has a nice voice and is very capable of story-telling. 90% of the "let's play" episodes I watched are accompanies with horrible voice so this one really shines.
2. Like you said, this guy does not load very often, which makes my experince as smooth as possible. I even decide to replay the whole series as he did in the walkthrough: minimal reloading and very careful planning.
Tord had also created a website devoted to his Lilly Black character, but the link doesn't appear to be working.
I know some people may think Tord has "overdone it" with the whole Lilly Black personna, but keep in mind that his videos are very popular and he has become a mini-celebrity among RPG fans. Much of what he does has been in response to fan demand.
Alright, fair enough, I guess I misunderstood what u meant.
I personally don't play female PCs or other characters I cannot relate to (like Dwarves/Gnomes), but Tord does do it exceptionally well, and is what I aspire to achieve. Easier said than done though.
It was fun, but when I got to Nashkel mines I was still level one with no gold and mediocre equipment. I was also annoyed by her character. I'm a pragmatic person and her idealism got on my nerves. She wouldn't even loot dead bodies.
I have no problem playing as female characters. But there's a difference between picking a female character for aesthetic/mechanical reason and obsessing(for the lack of a better word) about it so much you're creating elaborate backstories or making a website dedicated to it.
That, hovewer I look at it, does not seem healthy. No matter the gender.