@Dazzu try to read my previous post ignoring the ( ... ) part, it's a funny comment only and of no importance, that probally made the post a little more confuse, i just read agin the posts and no english tip error that justify a misunderstand was detected, just some absent of "," and "." maybe.
About the 2° part of you post, when i speak of BG2 i mean the transition of BG1 characters to BG2 with a deep work in their history and banters.
Hail @Wendigo, it's kamuizin from avengers of balduran here to , hope that more ppl from av. of balduran come here to!
If you remember my posts over at beamdog then you know that continuity is the most important thing for me and that I would love for the BG1 NPC's to follow into BG2 and for BG 1 and 2 to be bridged neatly. Obviously it would be way too time consuming for Mr. Osner and his team to bring every single NPC from BG1 into SoA with all of their own complex storylines and interactions though so I'm certain that the next best thing is this and I hope it is what they're going to do:
So. When you finish BG1, Sarevok dies, there's a short cinematic and when it ends you and your team are back in Baldur's gate. You're free to go sell items and do whatever you want then. Once you travel out of Baldur's gate however, there's a 'you've been waylaid by enemies' message. You're on the road and a man comes to talk to you. He tells you there's trouble in Amn and you need to come help. Whatever you answer the conversion invariably ends with you accepting. Once you've accepted most of the NPC's will say that it's time for them to go on their own separate ways. Except for.......... you guessed it... Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid, Dynaheir, Imoen. If you don't have any of those NPC's in your team then all of your NPC's will leave. Afterwards, Amn appears on your map and it's blue. You click on it, get 'waylaid by enemies' again. It's Irenicus and he ambushes you and your party. (if you have any). There's a fierce fight which ends with your PC knocked down then the end cinematic with evil Irenicus bringing you into his dungeon. Cut to black! The end.
Starting SoA, if you didn't have any of the canon NPC's in your party then Minsc and Jaheira will not be in the cages, (it could be some weak shadow thieves instead who could help you for the first part of the dungeon then betray you as you're about to take the portal). Imoen will be there no matter what, obviously we can't go around that, it would be far too complicated so if you don't like her suck it because the game obviously does . Seriously though if you didn't have her in your party before you left she could say she's followed you all of your way to Amn so she could watch your back, afterall we all know it's in her nature to be a curious sneak. Just have her script changed if you didn't have her in your party. Nice and simple. I'm sorry but I don't see them bringing Khalid or Dynaheir back alive and as much as I'd like it, we have to stay realistic. If we ask for too much they might end up doing less than what they could have done (as counter intuitive as that sentence sounds). What I mean is that if we all ask for too much they might decide that they just won't bridge the two games at all saying it would be too complicated. But I think that my solution is simple enough to be implemented. But maybe we could have two extra characters be bridgable to Baldur's gate 2. We could have a vote and then we could ask for the most popular characters to be transfered
Also regarding gear, I already wrote about it but I'll say it again here. There's this merchant in Baldur's gate city who also appears in the Waukeen Promenade in SoA. I'd like this merchant to be holding all of your BG1 gear and selling it for a high price. That way you're not too OP at the start of SoA but you get the nostalgic feeling of seeing all of your old gear back and buying what you need from it.
i think it would be neat if in throne of bhaal when you go to choose your team you should be able to use anyone from any of the games, that would be neat
So. When you finish BG1, Sarevok dies, there's a short cinematic and when it ends you and your team are back in Baldur's gate. You're free to go sell items and do whatever you want then. Once you travel out of Baldur's gate however, there's a 'you've been waylaid by enemies' message. You're on the road and a man comes to talk to you. He tells you there's trouble in Amn and you need to come help. Whatever you answer the conversion invariably ends with you accepting. Once you've accepted most of the NPC's will say that it's time for them to go on their own separate ways. Except for.......... you guessed it... Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid, Dynaheir, Imoen. If you don't have any of those NPC's in your team then all of your NPC's will leave. Afterwards, Amn appears on your map and it's blue. You click on it, get 'waylaid by enemies' again. It's Irenicus and he ambushes you and your party. (if you have any). There's a fierce fight which ends with your PC knocked down then the end cinematic with evil Irenicus bringing you into his dungeon. Cut to black! The end.
Starting SoA, if you didn't have any of the canon NPC's in your party then Minsc and Jaheira will not be in the cages, (it could be some weak shadow thieves instead who could help you for the first part of the dungeon then betray you as you're about to take the portal). Imoen will be there no matter what, obviously we can't go around that, it would be far too complicated so if you don't like her suck it because the game obviously does . Seriously though if you didn't have her in your party before you left she could say she's followed you all of your way to Amn so she could watch your back, afterall we all know it's in her nature to be a curious sneak. Just have her script changed if you didn't have her in your party. Nice and simple. I'm sorry but I don't see them bringing Khalid or Dynaheir back alive and as much as I'd like it, we have to stay realistic. If we ask for too much they might end up doing less than what they could have done (as counter intuitive as that sentence sounds). What I mean is that if we all ask for too much they might decide that they just won't bridge the two games at all saying it would be too complicated. But I think that my solution is simple enough to be implemented. But maybe we could have two extra characters be bridgable to Baldur's gate 2. We could have a vote and then we could ask for the most popular characters to be transfered
Perhaps Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, and Dynaheir could be written into the ending of BG1 without all that extra stuff, if everything you're talking about is deemed too complicated.
If Imoen or Jaheira/Khalid are missing from the party, it makes sense that they could be seeking vengeance for Gorion's murder and be just a step behind the protagonist. If Minsc/Dynaheir are missing as well, it makes sense that they could be working alongside the others, along with any other NPCs who may or may not show up in BG2. For extra fun, maybe party members who don't appear in BG2 could be in that party and wind up dead in Irenicus's dungeon.
If the only people missing are Minsc and Dynaheir, maybe an excuse could be invented for why they would be after Sarevok or his lackies. Or maybe a scene could be added where the protagonist is celebrating in a tavern with all of his past and present companions - including Imoen, Jaheira, and Khalid since they all knew Charname before the game started - and players who had never met minsc could be introduced to him and Dynaheir when he overhears the celebration and interjects a humorous speech about heroism or something.
The latter situation gets more complicated, but I think that at least having the few characters invested in Gorion approach the protagonist after Sarevok's death might work to bridge the gap between games a bit.
Now that we've learned about the new NPCs, I wanted to revive this thread since this has already been asked.
So, will these characters (and possibly even the old NPCs) be found in Chateau Irenicus like Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira after you defeat Sarevok for consistency sake? Would it require writing new banters, quests and romances in BG2EE?
I think adding new characters like these would logically imply that they will be found in BG2EE, which makes me hopeful for an affirmative answer. But I'm still wondering about the old NPCs as well, and if some of them are supposed to die like Dynaheir and Khalid.
While it's a bit early to talk about BG2EE content, it's likely that we will be bringing these three NPCs forward into BG2. As for other NPCs - we most likely won't be bringing any of them into BG2 that aren't already there. And as for where you find the new NPCs in BG2, that is still under wraps.
Thank you for the quick answer. I still hope that you will still consider about bringing the old NPCs to BG2EE as well, though. I can't see why not, and it would make the new game and plot more solid and interesting IMHO. I mean, I think BioWare had some good reasons to make them in the first game, why not including them again?
What about Xan? He was a great character, dark and moody, a genuine emo mage. The guy had a sword that was on fire, for chrissake'! Shame he doesn't even make an appearance in BG2, but then that only leaves room for him to be introduced as a party member again.
I think the problem of bringing the old NPCs to BG2 is two-fold:
- Contract limitations. A lot of old BG1 NPCs actually do appear in BG2 and allowing them to join your party would probably conflict with the "no changing old content" restriction.
- But I think the biggest problem is more in adding new voice-work to all of these characters.
Though I'm sure that a lot of people would like to see the BG1 NPCs in BG2EE regardless.
As i told before i see no problem in remake the voice records of the game characters, it's a simple matter called evolution and if the assignment rights covenanted by Beamdog and the rights owner don't allow even this, i have to say it's not an assignment of rights but an assignment of problems.
I would be happy with any solution that allowed me to mess around in the sword coast for a while after Sarevok's death (Like BGT). My current CHARNAME is a very self-disciplined Kensai who couldn't imagine wandering around adventuring while the killer of Gorion was still at large, so I plan to do most of the sidequests after the main story has come to an end.
@PhillipDaigle - Thank you very much for the clarification. I'm very happy to learn that the new NPCs will likely have a follow up in BG2:EE. I reckon how it contractual limitations may prevent BG1 characters to carry on to BG2:EE, as much as I would like to see Shar-Teel, Alora, Xan and the others join CHARNAME again in Amn.
- Contract limitations. A lot of old BG1 NPCs actually do appear in BG2 and allowing them to join your party would probably conflict with the "no changing old content" restriction.
Edwin and Viconia are the only hireable, non-immediate BG1 NPCs. Assuming you defeated Sarevok with them in your party, they should not appear in their respective BG2 locations. Edwin would be replaced by someone else (another mage/Shadow Thief?) and Viconia wouldn't be encountered at the stake in the Gov't District (perhaps she could even be kidnapped and saved by CHARNAME afterwards, for example). Otherwise, you will find them as canonically planned by BioWare. No changes.
Similarly, for the other unhireable NPCs like Xzar or Coran, the rule is exactly the same. If you didn't take them with you in BG1, they will be found in their expected BG2 locations. You decide.
The only thing that could justify this is: they weren't with you, so they were on different business. After all, how would you justify the fact they were with you and suddenly you were kidnapped by some powerful dude with other people you didn't interact with in the first place (except Imoen, of course)?
This could trigger an interesting 'what if' variable that players can experiment at their pleasure. Think of the possibilities!
The whole thing would work in the same way you decided to kill/rob Drizzt in BG1. Depending on your choice he will react differently in SoA, remember?
- But I think the biggest problem is more in adding new voice-work to all of these characters.
That is a minor detail, although annoying; I can give you that. But that's something I can live with. The BG1 NPC would keep their original voice sets when clicked or attacking, but banters would be likely voiceless. But I would trade off silent NPCs with new banters and quests. Bonus points if Overhaul can negotiate to rehire BG1 voice actors, but I'm not overly optimistic about this.
As I said above, the game would be potentially expanded to something never seen before, without harming the canon, assuming Overhaul are willing to take this challenge. I would even be willing to pay for a possible DLC. I remain hopeful.
Mods like Smiling Imp's BG1 NPCs for SoA add everyone back in, I think; almost all of the BG NPCs have fan-made mods that bring them back. BGT adds them back in an optional component, but silently - no dialog; fan made mods have included even "break the story continuity and get them back in there in some plausible way" like Coran. The big winners in the NPC front are Kivan, Ajantis, and Xan, with their own extended mods (Jastey does a cool ressurection thing to get him back, which is pretty nicely coded). Khalid can be brought back, too (I have never played that mod, though).
Dynaheir is only available as a silent NPC in the mods I have seen. I think Safana falls into the same trap - few folks want to write for an NPC that has already had extensive canonical plot-driving stuff happen in-game, both for the technical challenge and for the frustration of making it work. I love the Dynaheir romance in BG1 NPC, but I am pretty darned afraid of trying to extend Domi's work, when Dy's
death protecting PC from Sarevok
makes for great storytelling and opens up a new romanceable.
(Not saying it isn't a good idea for professional folks to do more - just saying that the mod community has some of what you are looking for right now )
Edwin and Viconia are the only hireable, non-immediate BG1 NPCs. Assuming you defeated Sarevok with them in your party, they should not appear in their respective BG2 locations. Edwin would be replaced by someone else (another mage/Shadow Thief?) and Viconia wouldn't be encountered at the stake in the Gov't District (perhaps she could even be kidnapped and saved by CHARNAME afterwards, for example). Otherwise, you will find them as canonically planned by BioWare. No changes.
Not really sure why these changes are neccessary. They could have escaped Irenicus' lackeys (who wouldn't have been particularly interested in them anyway) when charname got kidnapped, or decided to part ways after Sarevok's death for one reason or another. Then they wound up in their canon Athkatla locations. This changes the work needed to simple banter text changes rather than rewriting the plot.
A smoother, less plot-holey transition from BG1 to BG2 should be priority 1 for BG2EE. The amount of work that would need to be done is precisely why it should be done (not to mention a lot of sweet new content could be generated in doing so which is what we're in this for, right?). I'm in the bring back the BG1 characters camp. I'm not sure what the details of the contractual limitations are, but adding more content doesn't seem to be a violation. We're not asking for anything to be taken away; the original BG2 content would just be optional if that's how our party happened to be made up at the end of BG1.
Bringing back Khalid and Dynaheir doesn't have to be that big an issue: resurrect them via evil methods that plummets your reputation so much even Jaheira won't stay in your party. Or make them normally resurrectable near the end of the Jon's dungeon but so twisted by Jon's torture that they themselves turned evil or otherwise sufficiently *changed* leaving future Minsc + new witch and CHARNAME + Jaheira pairings plausible.
New voice work for old characters = unnecessary. Would be nice though.
Not really sure why these changes are neccessary. They could have escaped Irenicus' lackeys (who wouldn't have been particularly interested in them anyway) when charname got kidnapped, or decided to part ways after Sarevok's death for one reason or another. Then they wound up in their canon Athkatla locations. This changes the work needed to simple banter text changes rather than rewriting the plot.
Yes, that would be feasible I guess, but are you sure you would survive the dungeon without them? There's still Yoshimo, though.
A smoother, less plot-holey transition from BG1 to BG2 should be priority 1 for BG2EE. The amount of work that would need to be done is precisely why it should be done (not to mention a lot of sweet new content could be generated in doing so which is what we're in this for, right?).
YES! Exactly!!! It would be a shame Overhaul (and we) would miss such a one-time opportunity now that we got it. Baldur's Gate is a great game with tons of bugs and plot holes to fix. If they're enhancing this game, why not fix this big plot hole as well?
I agree that something needs to be fixed in the transition (and I like Azlon's idea).
But I disagree with the presence of Khalid and Dynaheir. People die. It's a tragedy. But tragedies have always been part of the greatest stories. Would you ask a remake of FFVII where Aerith doesn't die, or a new Easy Rider where eveyone lives happily ever after?
Overhaul, don't fall into fanservice. If I want fanservice, Ill knock over at Square Enix.
I think that those who start in the dungeon with you should be based off either your ending party or your alignment. Alignment sets you up with evil party members in the dungeon with you while neutral or good sets you up with the default group. Imoen should be in both groups (for storyline reasons) and Yoshimo should be there for storyline reasons as well. Maybe Kagain and Tiax should be there to replace Minsc and Jaheira?
Vote for Barnwen always have her in party, she is neutral so can be on evil or good party. Make Branwen younger and romanceable in BG2. If not possible simple transfer her as companion. Also would like to see Shar-Tell, Kivan and Xan. Many good companions not apper on BG2.
What about Xan? He was a great character, dark and moody, a genuine emo mage. The guy had a sword that was on fire, for chrissake'! Shame he doesn't even make an appearance in BG2, but then that only leaves room for him to be introduced as a party member again.
Xan found a new job as UI instructor in BG's Duchal Palace, hence cannot be in Athkatla :P
I'd be the first to root for Xan's inclusion in BG2, as long as we get new voice-acted lines from the same actor. That plan is certainly doomed to fail though. Why are we even debating this? We should all just lie down and die, there's hardly a point in trying anything.
As for Viconia, she's been doing some stuff between BG1 and BG2, so having her immediately would break her character. Actually it's probably impossible to have BG1 NPCs start in BG2 without breaking chars/quests. Why Aerie if starting with Quayle? There are more questions like that in fact we would have to get a number of different BG2 games based on the ending party in BG1. It might be cool, as finishing BG1 with specific characters would trigger certain events in BG2 and block others, ultimately it may be too big a task to tackle for OG - especially if they'd like to include it on launch. After all, they'd have to redesign the whole game.
Moreover, I thing there is some unspecified time frame implied between BG1 and BG2 (I don't remember how much). It is suggested that the CHARNAME's party broke up and everyone took his/her own route. I strongly believe that the party inside Chateau Irenicus is not the BG1 ending party, but rather Irenicus took his trouble to capture everyone on different occasions. Imoen was captured since she's a Bhaalspawn as well. Minsc was captured alongside Dynaheir, who had a secret mission related to Bhaalspawn. Khalid and Jaheira were also captured as they were Gorion's friends and Irenicus might have thought Gorion left them some of the info on Bhaalspawn and CHARNAME in particular. I don't think that other chars had stronger ties with CHARNAME - they were rather a band of companions who left after killing Sarevok. What follows, they were not captured are they were not captured yet (who knows what Irenicus had planned?).
The only thing I'd like to see in BG2 is actually having some changes in the game due to actions taken in BG1. In BG2 you can tell Edwin you killed him, but I killed Dynaheir if that matters (again, game a bit broken, but in this case I'd just remove Minsc and Dynaheir from BG2 without much loss). There may be some more examples of such cases.
Some of them should because they were travelling with you in the first place. Generically stating that they were killed feels like an awkward easy solution to the problem of why they weren't implemented.
"I heard you were ambushed and taken to Athkatla, and by travelling with you I know that if you get caught it's something fishy. So I came to see if I could aid you like in old times."
That's a simple excuse I though that could be implemented to give a reason for an BG1 NPC to be in Athkatla.
i vote for continuing to add the three new characters in bg2 as is planned. adding new (old) characters just doesn't feel right to me. i really like dynaheir, kivan, xzar and tiax, but you know, some people just aren't the whole journey there for you. they die or have their own business. you meet new people. it realistic, if not exactly real.
i would prefer an excuse why you had this party in elusive an adventure y, and then see one or two new npcs in bg2 (we need a real thief!).
frankly, i don't want to see everyone and their mother recruitable.
@Crawley, I see you have a point about breaking quests, but let me counter with some possible examples that shouldn't require changing too much from the original BG2.
You mentioned Quayle. What if you get him in Chateau Irenicus and go to the Waukeen's Promenade Circus? While you talk to the guard, Quayle would say something about his circus and wonder if Aerie is fine. Then you go in and find the ogre that Quayle will immediately recognize as Aerie (by her voice). Kalah may have a different hostage (maybe even Aerie herself). When you finish the quest, you can decide to keep Aerie and/or Quayle (you can split them up), or you can ditch any of them if you like. Quayle or Aerie will stay at the circus if you need them again. As for Haer'Dalis' quest in the sewers, you would get the same messenger, but talking to Quayle directly instead of Aerie.
As for Viconia, she could be kidnapped from your party (like Nalia), and you have to rescue her again. It doesn't change much of what we already had in BG2.
What about Edwin? Well, as soon as you meet Renal Bloodscalp, he will immediately recognize him and send you to Mae'Var.
As I see it, I can foresee minor changes here, but nothing that would break quests. All BG1 NPCs (at least those we meet in BG2), have a very small role, so I don't think it should be too hard to add them without breaking the game. It takes, I know, some time to get things right (new banters, quests, etc.), so I understand everything can't be done because of time constraints. It's very likely this won't be available at release, but I can accept to buy an additional DLC to add all of them, *especially* those you never meet in BG2 (like Xan, Alora, Yeslick, Branwen, Kagain, Shar-Teel, etc.).
Compare BG1 to BG2 on BG1 have better and more npc and give more option for party composition. Good solution is Baldur's Gate Trilogy Tweak Pack http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/67-baldurs-gate-trilogy-tweak-pack-10/ componnet 18. Import more NPCs into Shadow of Amn: From your choice of Alora, Branwen, Eldoth, Kagain, Kivan, Shar-teel, Skie, Xan, Yeslick...if the NPC is in the party and is not dead, then they will be imported into Shadows of Amn.
@pablo200783 BGT twak pack option to import more NPCs from BG1 to BG2 was a good modder solution, but an official solution equal BGT would feel a little hollow in my view, we need a link here that drag the BG1 NPCs to BG2, something on the storyline that give them reason to travel to amn (to follow the main char if they were on the party, or to be there if they were not on the party).
I think this request is designed very well thought out but doing this would change the original content of the game. This is something that Trent and others have always said they were not going to do. I also think it would be a costly job and would take time. I think that it isn't a priority.
Basically this. I imagine that the new NPCs will be available to pick up again at some point, but the old NPCs that were already cut means that they're going to be staying cut. Making them available once again will screw with the original flow of the game a great deal, and unfortunately Beamdog cannot do this because it says in their contract specifically not to do this.
Comments
About the 2° part of you post, when i speak of BG2 i mean the transition of BG1 characters to BG2 with a deep work in their history and banters.
Hail @Wendigo, it's kamuizin from avengers of balduran here to
If you remember my posts over at beamdog then you know that continuity is the most important thing for me and that I would love for the BG1 NPC's to follow into BG2 and for BG 1 and 2 to be bridged neatly. Obviously it would be way too time consuming for Mr. Osner and his team to bring every single NPC from BG1 into SoA with all of their own complex storylines and interactions though so I'm certain that the next best thing is this and I hope it is what they're going to do:
So. When you finish BG1, Sarevok dies, there's a short cinematic and when it ends you and your team are back in Baldur's gate. You're free to go sell items and do whatever you want then. Once you travel out of Baldur's gate however, there's a 'you've been waylaid by enemies' message. You're on the road and a man comes to talk to you. He tells you there's trouble in Amn and you need to come help. Whatever you answer the conversion invariably ends with you accepting. Once you've accepted most of the NPC's will say that it's time for them to go on their own separate ways. Except for.......... you guessed it... Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid, Dynaheir, Imoen. If you don't have any of those NPC's in your team then all of your NPC's will leave. Afterwards, Amn appears on your map and it's blue. You click on it, get 'waylaid by enemies' again. It's Irenicus and he ambushes you and your party. (if you have any). There's a fierce fight which ends with your PC knocked down then the end cinematic with evil Irenicus bringing you into his dungeon. Cut to black! The end.
Starting SoA, if you didn't have any of the canon NPC's in your party then Minsc and Jaheira will not be in the cages, (it could be some weak shadow thieves instead who could help you for the first part of the dungeon then betray you as you're about to take the portal). Imoen will be there no matter what, obviously we can't go around that, it would be far too complicated so if you don't like her suck it because the game obviously does
Also regarding gear, I already wrote about it but I'll say it again here. There's this merchant in Baldur's gate city who also appears in the Waukeen Promenade in SoA. I'd like this merchant to be holding all of your BG1 gear and selling it for a high price. That way you're not too OP at the start of SoA but you get the nostalgic feeling of seeing all of your old gear back and buying what you need from it.
If Imoen or Jaheira/Khalid are missing from the party, it makes sense that they could be seeking vengeance for Gorion's murder and be just a step behind the protagonist. If Minsc/Dynaheir are missing as well, it makes sense that they could be working alongside the others, along with any other NPCs who may or may not show up in BG2. For extra fun, maybe party members who don't appear in BG2 could be in that party and wind up dead in Irenicus's dungeon.
If the only people missing are Minsc and Dynaheir, maybe an excuse could be invented for why they would be after Sarevok or his lackies. Or maybe a scene could be added where the protagonist is celebrating in a tavern with all of his past and present companions - including Imoen, Jaheira, and Khalid since they all knew Charname before the game started - and players who had never met minsc could be introduced to him and Dynaheir when he overhears the celebration and interjects a humorous speech about heroism or something.
The latter situation gets more complicated, but I think that at least having the few characters invested in Gorion approach the protagonist after Sarevok's death might work to bridge the gap between games a bit.
So, will these characters (and possibly even the old NPCs) be found in Chateau Irenicus like Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira after you defeat Sarevok for consistency sake? Would it require writing new banters, quests and romances in BG2EE?
I think adding new characters like these would logically imply that they will be found in BG2EE, which makes me hopeful for an affirmative answer. But I'm still wondering about the old NPCs as well, and if some of them are supposed to die like Dynaheir and Khalid.
Any ideas? Hints? @PhillipDaigle ?
Thank you.
Just my humble opinion. Keep up the good work!
I think the problem of bringing the old NPCs to BG2 is two-fold:
- Contract limitations. A lot of old BG1 NPCs actually do appear in BG2 and allowing them to join your party would probably conflict with the "no changing old content" restriction.
- But I think the biggest problem is more in adding new voice-work to all of these characters.
Though I'm sure that a lot of people would like to see the BG1 NPCs in BG2EE regardless.
Similarly, for the other unhireable NPCs like Xzar or Coran, the rule is exactly the same. If you didn't take them with you in BG1, they will be found in their expected BG2 locations. You decide.
The only thing that could justify this is: they weren't with you, so they were on different business. After all, how would you justify the fact they were with you and suddenly you were kidnapped by some powerful dude with other people you didn't interact with in the first place (except Imoen, of course)?
This could trigger an interesting 'what if' variable that players can experiment at their pleasure. Think of the possibilities!
The whole thing would work in the same way you decided to kill/rob Drizzt in BG1. Depending on your choice he will react differently in SoA, remember? That is a minor detail, although annoying; I can give you that. But that's something I can live with. The BG1 NPC would keep their original voice sets when clicked or attacking, but banters would be likely voiceless. But I would trade off silent NPCs with new banters and quests. Bonus points if Overhaul can negotiate to rehire BG1 voice actors, but I'm not overly optimistic about this.
As I said above, the game would be potentially expanded to something never seen before, without harming the canon, assuming Overhaul are willing to take this challenge. I would even be willing to pay for a possible DLC. I remain hopeful.
Dynaheir is only available as a silent NPC in the mods I have seen. I think Safana falls into the same trap - few folks want to write for an NPC that has already had extensive canonical plot-driving stuff happen in-game, both for the technical challenge and for the frustration of making it work. I love the Dynaheir romance in BG1 NPC, but I am pretty darned afraid of trying to extend Domi's work, when Dy's
(Not saying it isn't a good idea for professional folks to do more - just saying that the mod community has some of what you are looking for right now
Bringing back Khalid and Dynaheir doesn't have to be that big an issue: resurrect them via evil methods that plummets your reputation so much even Jaheira won't stay in your party. Or make them normally resurrectable near the end of the Jon's dungeon but so twisted by Jon's torture that they themselves turned evil or otherwise sufficiently *changed* leaving future Minsc + new witch and CHARNAME + Jaheira pairings plausible.
New voice work for old characters = unnecessary. Would be nice though.
It should be this: http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=113&Itemid=84
But I disagree with the presence of Khalid and Dynaheir. People die. It's a tragedy. But tragedies have always been part of the greatest stories. Would you ask a remake of FFVII where Aerith doesn't die, or a new Easy Rider where eveyone lives happily ever after?
Overhaul, don't fall into fanservice. If I want fanservice, Ill knock over at Square Enix.
I'd be the first to root for Xan's inclusion in BG2, as long as we get new voice-acted lines from the same actor. That plan is certainly doomed to fail though. Why are we even debating this? We should all just lie down and die, there's hardly a point in trying anything.
Moreover, I thing there is some unspecified time frame implied between BG1 and BG2 (I don't remember how much). It is suggested that the CHARNAME's party broke up and everyone took his/her own route. I strongly believe that the party inside Chateau Irenicus is not the BG1 ending party, but rather Irenicus took his trouble to capture everyone on different occasions. Imoen was captured since she's a Bhaalspawn as well. Minsc was captured alongside Dynaheir, who had a secret mission related to Bhaalspawn. Khalid and Jaheira were also captured as they were Gorion's friends and Irenicus might have thought Gorion left them some of the info on Bhaalspawn and CHARNAME in particular.
I don't think that other chars had stronger ties with CHARNAME - they were rather a band of companions who left after killing Sarevok. What follows, they were not captured are they were not captured yet (who knows what Irenicus had planned?).
The only thing I'd like to see in BG2 is actually having some changes in the game due to actions taken in BG1. In BG2 you can tell Edwin you killed him, but I killed Dynaheir if that matters (again, game a bit broken, but in this case I'd just remove Minsc and Dynaheir from BG2 without much loss). There may be some more examples of such cases.
"I heard you were ambushed and taken to Athkatla, and by travelling with you I know that if you get caught it's something fishy. So I came to see if I could aid you like in old times."
That's a simple excuse I though that could be implemented to give a reason for an BG1 NPC to be in Athkatla.
i would prefer an excuse why you had this party in elusive an adventure y, and then see one or two new npcs in bg2 (we need a real thief!).
frankly, i don't want to see everyone and their mother recruitable.
You mentioned Quayle. What if you get him in Chateau Irenicus and go to the Waukeen's Promenade Circus? While you talk to the guard, Quayle would say something about his circus and wonder if Aerie is fine. Then you go in and find the ogre that Quayle will immediately recognize as Aerie (by her voice). Kalah may have a different hostage (maybe even Aerie herself). When you finish the quest, you can decide to keep Aerie and/or Quayle (you can split them up), or you can ditch any of them if you like. Quayle or Aerie will stay at the circus if you need them again. As for Haer'Dalis' quest in the sewers, you would get the same messenger, but talking to Quayle directly instead of Aerie.
As for Viconia, she could be kidnapped from your party (like Nalia), and you have to rescue her again. It doesn't change much of what we already had in BG2.
What about Edwin? Well, as soon as you meet Renal Bloodscalp, he will immediately recognize him and send you to Mae'Var.
As I see it, I can foresee minor changes here, but nothing that would break quests. All BG1 NPCs (at least those we meet in BG2), have a very small role, so I don't think it should be too hard to add them without breaking the game. It takes, I know, some time to get things right (new banters, quests, etc.), so I understand everything can't be done because of time constraints. It's very likely this won't be available at release, but I can accept to buy an additional DLC to add all of them, *especially* those you never meet in BG2 (like Xan, Alora, Yeslick, Branwen, Kagain, Shar-Teel, etc.).