Confession: I have never, ever played BG with a female CHARNAME... It is too unrealistic to believe a female would follow my every command...
Confession: I am an xp hoarder... This means I will kill everything on a map, including squirrels for that 1xp morr... (I do this yet I find no problem editing my CHARNAME to be a wildmage/kensia multiclass Gnome...
Confession: Like Star Wars... I have now forgotten the number of times I have completed the vanilla game. However, even though I spent possibly a 100 hours installing mods for a mega-mod (apart from the xp mod of course) BGT installations... (For those with 1000 in lore this will make sense... Leonardo Watson... You are my hero...) I never completed it... Bugs and frustration always laid me low... I now play BGEE 1&2 modless for the time being... But I feel I will crack over time...
Confession: I play BG to leave the real world... The pyramid can be dark, damp and cold y'know...
Confession: When playing, I feel dejected that you cannot reply to Shank or Carbo with the line, "I'm not Gorion's ward... I'm his Mummie..."
Confession: I play BG to leave the real world... The pyramid can be dark, damp and cold y'know...
I play ANY rpg to get away for a while, and "live another life". Playing a hero if you need a pick-me-up, or an evil asshole if you want to vent. As long as it has no negative influence on your real life, I see no problem with it. It's not as bleak as non-gamers sometimes seem to think.
There's a lot of mods already certified for EE @Anduin, and even those that are not fully might still be playable if you're a bit handy with scripts and dialog structure.
Just to note, you can romance CN Anomen. I'm not sure why people are saying you can't. Just don't let him kill his father (that dialog branch is a bit hard to get through- save before doing it), and he'll be fine to romance. The romance is a bit different, in some lines: he talks about how he's happy to get rid of the Order to you, for instance, and he's a bit more forward then he is as LG.
@Ballad, I agree with you on the lack of banter (though that is easily remedied with the BG1 NPCs mod).
It's funny that you prefer BG2's tactical challenge. In BG1 you face potentially deadly archers (bandits), rogues (Slythe, Silke), fighters (Greywolf, Sarevok), priests (Bassilus, Mulahey), wizards (Davaeorn, Mutamin, Red Wizards) and hybrids (Nimbul). This gives quite a lot of variety IMO. In BG2 on the other hand enemy arcane casters are prety much the only class that really constitute a danger to a decent party. Warriors, rogues, and (to a lesser extent) priests are not only less common as enemies but also generally easy to deal with. So in BG2 all you need to do to survive the most difficult battles is (learn to) cast the right debuffing spells on superprotected enemy mages, depending on the types of protections they're using. I find that this can turn battles into chess games that can become quite reptetive after a while.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post! Well, I have to say that you have a point, but I see thing a little differently. In BG1, I felt that most of the 'harder' enemies - Bassilus, Davaeorn, Mutamin, Nimbul and even Sarevok - could be beaten with very straightforward, bull-headed tactics. Most of my fights would look exactly the same: buffs, wands (fear, paralysis), greater malison, confusion/hold person/emotion, charge with fighters/rangers. When it came to lesser enemies, most of the time I didn't even need to cast spells at all. A single charge from the wand of fear would usually render my opposition defenseless so I could just proceed to pick them off with my rangers. Also, since most mages in the game seemed to lack effective defenses, I could easily interrupt them with an arrow/fireball before they could cast a single spell.
It might just be me, but I felt like BG2 had a greater variety of enemies and encounters that required unique, made-to-order tactics - enemies, that would wipe the floor with you unless you put in some serious thought and effort. Not just mages, mind you, though they definitely played a big part. Dragons, mind flayers, level-draining undead and enemy mercenary parties come to mind, just to name a few. And again, I don't mean to say that BG1 was totally bereft of challenging enemies: I really enjoyed facing the Greater Wyverns and the Demon Knight in Durlag's Tower, for example.
@Ballad, I agree with @Blackraven. Due to legal reasons fan-made mods could not be included in BGEE. I myself am playing BGEE with BG1NPC right now for the first time, and I don't think I'd ever want to play without it anymore.
Check it out. It's not officially supported yet, but I got it running with the help of those who hang out there, with no significant problem sofar.
Oh, wow, I remember hearing about this a long time ago; it looks spectacular - I now feel sorta bad for having played the game without it. Anyhow, thanks for bringing this to my attention!
Confession: I don't even remember the amount of times I played original BG2 before I got my hands on a copy of BG1, but I do remember I was also a little dissapointed. It might have been unrealistic thinking of me to hope for it to be just as immersive as its successor, but there ya go.
There are also a lot of other interesting mods for both BGEE and BG2EE. BG2Tweaks for example has been a must for me ever since I first discovered it, and since BGEE now has the same engine it also works there.
Edit: though if you're like me you may want to get a taste of all the original npcs before you go heavy on custom npc mods. Happy gaming!
Confession: I played IWD before I had even heard of BG and it was only due to one of my mates down the pub saying thats rubbish, try this, that I ever got into it.
I spent possibly a 100 hours installing mods for a mega-mod (apart from the xp mod of course) BGT installations... (For those with 1000 in lore this will make sense... Leonardo Watson... You are my hero...) I never completed it... Bugs and frustration always laid me low
This has happened to me in the most frustrating annoying way!
So I look up all the good mods. I read about them and pick and choose my favorite with great care. I find safe sites to download them. I organize them into neat folders. I download a Big Picture pdf guide on how to install them, and in what order. I follow it meticulously and install the game. I roll for about a half hour to get the perfect character to play the game. Finally I am done and ready to begin my journey.
@SapphireIce101& @meagloth, same here. I actually like Saemon. Have never killed him and probably never will. Which brings me to another...
Confession: I like Aran Linvail and even with an evil charname side with him and the Shadow Thieves. (Once did I side with Bodhi, but after having performed a couple of tasks for her I reloaded and sided with the Shadow Thieves).
Confession: I feel bad about killing Ragefast and usually avoid doing so.
Confession: like @AvengingExile I prefer the setting and storyline of BG1 over BG2.
Confession: I play with true grandmastery and multiclass grandmastery, which can be considered a cheat.
Confession: I've played so much that I turn the speakers off during BG2's Chapter One prison break transition and quote all the dialogue from memory.
... *raises hand*
Confession: I've never played the Tales of the Sword Coast expanded content. (Is it any good?) I've done Watcher's Keep only once.
I find it worth it.
Better pack some heavy weapons though.
Confession: I love Korgan, and although bloodthirsty, I don't think he's that evil. Some of his greatest banter is with the good guys, and he fit quite well in one of my good-guy parties. (Still wouldn't want to bump into him in in a dark alley with a bag of coins in my pocket though...)
Confession: I've never played the Tales of the Sword Coast expanded content. (Is it any good?) I've done Watcher's Keep only once.
Confession (last one!): The list of NPCs who have never been in my party: Alora Coran Faldorn Quayle Safana Skie Eldoth Kagain Tiax
You should have a great time if you try out some other party members and have a go at the ToSC quests. Be warned that Durlag's tower is a mini-adventure in itself on the order of Watcher's Keep in length, and you should probably not attempt until the party is around level 5; also
you'll want a Thief on board who has at least 85 in detecting traps, preferably 90 or above.
As for the NPCs I tend to get attached, and the idea of swapping out party members for the NPCs that aren't available until chapter 4 or 5 just never quite feels right to me. One way I have remedied that is to keep one or two slots open until I get those characters. The game often isn't actually that much more difficult for having fewer party members, but it usually does require some smart use of spells.
Confession: In my headcanon Firebead Elvenhair is an old Harper friend of Gorion's from back in the day. He comes to Candlekeep to study about various things, and has some knowledge about Bhaalspawn lore. He is the one who brought Imoen to Candlekeep, since in his wisdom he knew she and Charname would be fast friends, and knew that Gorion would do what he could to protect Charaname (and by extension Immy). He couldn't do it himself since he is still an active researcher for the Harpers.
Confession: I'm still looking for my ideal playthrough of BG. Every run I make, I always think "What if..." and sooner rather than later start again
Confession: I have never finished Watcher's Keep and Throne of Bhaal. When the first screenshots of BG2:EE appeared, I didn't understand that some of them were from ToB and thought "HOLY Illmater, what is this?"
Confession: After I've tried the SCS mod for the first time I just can't play BG without it
Confession: I've started the most number of BG runs as a thief
Confession: Nearly every charname for me starts from a portrait, I tend to search for a new portrait and while I look through many pages of Google results I consider his or her traits, character, weapon proficiencies etc, but it all starts from a portrait
Confession: My favourite male NPC is Yoshimo, Jaheira is my favourite female NPC
Confession: My favourite location is Umar Hills. I absolutely adore there're animals near the country houses. It is the place I would happily live at in the real life
Confession: My favourite quest is the Unseeing Eye inquisition
Confession: l have never played NWN because it is not isometric but I like IWD a lot
Confession: Every working day the first site I open is this forum
Confession: During many different moments which somehow seem appropriate to me, I listen to Tom Petty while playing Baldur's Gate.
Well if it keeps your Paladin from free fallin', I guess there's nothing wrong with it. Especially if you can prevent even the losers you might have to put up with as your party members from a breakdown. Besides, it could make the waiting before battles more interesting, as well as your parties' treks into the great wide open.
Confession: I just spent an hour and a half trying to solve the first genie riddle in the circus tent at Waukeen's Promenade. After a number of failed attempts at trying to translate the confusing wording into manageable algebra, I gave up, did a quick search, and discovered the following thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/24103/spoiler-who-can-actually-solve-the-genies-riddle
I really, really wish I hadn't. I found out that not only could some people transcribe the riddle into a solvable equation, but they also considered it so easy as to be elementary school stuff. Now, I haven't been involved with math since high school, but I do consider myself pretty good at the stuff - or at least did. Now I just feel incredibly dumb and disheartened. BG2 has officially kicked my ass, and there's nothing I can do about it.
Confession: I only finished BG1 when it came out as an EE. I had no attention span when I was younger so I focused heavily on grinding and exporting rather than finishing the game because I wanted to be POWERFUL. I similarly picked LG alignment just for the higher starting rep. *hides in shame*
Confession: I LOVE Irenicus' voice acting even if his reasoning for destroying the elves is pretty weak.
Confession: I absolutely suck with installing mods which is why I never used them.
Confession: I only played with Dorn all the way through BG2 because he was romanceable. I liked his character in BG1, but hated him in BG2 and only played for the romance.
Confession: When I was a hormonal teen I originally picked up Anomen only because I found his portrait attractive and he was strong. I eventually came to actually like him because we can both be judgmental jerks. I see some of my own flaws reflected in him which I suppose makes him easier to relate to.
Confession: I am pretty awful at this game and attempt to brute force just about everything. It's taken a long time for me to get better at this game, but I'm still somehow effective.
Confession: During many different moments which somehow seem appropriate to me, I listen to Tom Petty while playing Baldur's Gate.
Well if it keeps your Paladin from free fallin', I guess there's nothing wrong with it. Especially if you can prevent even the losers you might have to put up with as your party members from a breakdown. Besides, it could make the waiting before battles more interesting, as well as your parties' treks into the great wide open.
Confession: During many different moments which somehow seem appropriate to me, I listen to Tom Petty while playing Baldur's Gate.
Well if it keeps your Paladin from free fallin', I guess there's nothing wrong with it. Especially if you can prevent even the losers you might have to put up with as your party members from a breakdown. Besides, it could make the waiting before battles more interesting, as well as your parties' treks into the great wide open.
Confession (very unpopular one) : I don't see Imoen as a little sister. More like a childhood friend. Bhaalspawn or not, I don't feel any kinship to either her, Sarevok or Yaga Shura. I don't believe being Bhaalspawn makes you brothers or sisters. Each child is the same race as their mother.
Comments
Confession: I am an xp hoarder... This means I will kill everything on a map, including squirrels for that 1xp morr... (I do this yet I find no problem editing my CHARNAME to be a wildmage/kensia multiclass Gnome...
Confession: Like Star Wars... I have now forgotten the number of times I have completed the vanilla game. However, even though I spent possibly a 100 hours installing mods for a mega-mod (apart from the xp mod of course) BGT installations... (For those with 1000 in lore this will make sense... Leonardo Watson... You are my hero...) I never completed it... Bugs and frustration always laid me low... I now play BGEE 1&2 modless for the time being... But I feel I will crack over time...
Confession: I play BG to leave the real world... The pyramid can be dark, damp and cold y'know...
Confession: When playing, I feel dejected that you cannot reply to Shank or Carbo with the line, "I'm not Gorion's ward... I'm his Mummie..."
There's a lot of mods already certified for EE @Anduin, and even those that are not fully might still be playable if you're a bit handy with scripts and dialog structure.
It might just be me, but I felt like BG2 had a greater variety of enemies and encounters that required unique, made-to-order tactics - enemies, that would wipe the floor with you unless you put in some serious thought and effort. Not just mages, mind you, though they definitely played a big part. Dragons, mind flayers, level-draining undead and enemy mercenary parties come to mind, just to name a few. And again, I don't mean to say that BG1 was totally bereft of challenging enemies: I really enjoyed facing the Greater Wyverns and the Demon Knight in Durlag's Tower, for example.
Oh, wow, I remember hearing about this a long time ago; it looks spectacular - I now feel sorta bad for having played the game without it. Anyhow, thanks for bringing this to my attention!
Confession: I don't even remember the amount of times I played original BG2 before I got my hands on a copy of BG1, but I do remember I was also a little dissapointed. It might have been unrealistic thinking of me to hope for it to be just as immersive as its successor, but there ya go.
There are also a lot of other interesting mods for both BGEE and BG2EE. BG2Tweaks for example has been a must for me ever since I first discovered it, and since BGEE now has the same engine it also works there.
Edit: though if you're like me you may want to get a taste of all the original npcs before you go heavy on custom npc mods.
Confession: I still have his copy of the game.
Confession: He will never get it back.
Confession: I have killed Saemon once, but immediately regretted it.
Confession: I secretly wish that Aran Linvail was a romancible NPC.
Confession: I don't really have a favorite villain in the whole BG Saga.
Confession: I wish the Coran mod for BG2 had a romance.
So I look up all the good mods. I read about them and pick and choose my favorite with great care. I find safe sites to download them. I organize them into neat folders. I download a Big Picture pdf guide on how to install them, and in what order. I follow it meticulously and install the game. I roll for about a half hour to get the perfect character to play the game. Finally I am done and ready to begin my journey.
I start the game.
....
.....
Irenicus doesn't show up!
gggggggggaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
Confession: I like the story, setting, and overall feel of BG1 more than BG2. (But I still love BG2 immensely!)
Confession: I hate Throne of Bhaal. I only play it to finish up any mod NPC's story that I'm currently playing.
Confession: I've played so much that I turn the speakers off during BG2's Chapter One prison break transition and quote all the dialogue from memory.
Confession: I've never played a game without cheating. (I'm a terrible gamer.)
Confession: I've never played a whole game with an evil party.
Confession: I never run a party without Kivan.
Confession: KIVAN'S MINE!
Confession: I've never played the Tales of the Sword Coast expanded content. (Is it any good?) I've done Watcher's Keep only once.
Confession (last one!): The list of NPCs who have never been in my party:
Alora
Coran
Faldorn
Quayle
Safana
Skie
Eldoth
Kagain
Tiax
Confession: I like Aran Linvail and even with an evil charname side with him and the Shadow Thieves. (Once did I side with Bodhi, but after having performed a couple of tasks for her I reloaded and sided with the Shadow Thieves).
Confession: I feel bad about killing Ragefast and usually avoid doing so.
Confession: like @AvengingExile I prefer the setting and storyline of BG1 over BG2.
Confession: I play with true grandmastery and multiclass grandmastery, which can be considered a cheat.
Confession: I love Korgan, and although bloodthirsty, I don't think he's that evil. Some of his greatest banter is with the good guys, and he fit quite well in one of my good-guy parties. (Still wouldn't want to bump into him in in a dark alley with a bag of coins in my pocket though...)
As for the NPCs I tend to get attached, and the idea of swapping out party members for the NPCs that aren't available until chapter 4 or 5 just never quite feels right to me. One way I have remedied that is to keep one or two slots open until I get those characters. The game often isn't actually that much more difficult for having fewer party members, but it usually does require some smart use of spells.
#Harpsohard
Confession: I have never finished Watcher's Keep and Throne of Bhaal. When the first screenshots of BG2:EE appeared, I didn't understand that some of them were from ToB and thought "HOLY Illmater, what is this?"
Confession: After I've tried the SCS mod for the first time I just can't play BG without it
Confession: I've started the most number of BG runs as a thief
Confession: Nearly every charname for me starts from a portrait, I tend to search for a new portrait and while I look through many pages of Google results I consider his or her traits, character, weapon proficiencies etc, but it all starts from a portrait
Confession: My favourite male NPC is Yoshimo, Jaheira is my favourite female NPC
Confession: My favourite location is Umar Hills. I absolutely adore there're animals near the country houses. It is the place I would happily live at in the real life
Confession: My favourite quest is the Unseeing Eye inquisition
Confession: l have never played NWN because it is not isometric but I like IWD a lot
Confession: Every working day the first site I open is this forum
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/24103/spoiler-who-can-actually-solve-the-genies-riddle
I really, really wish I hadn't. I found out that not only could some people transcribe the riddle into a solvable equation, but they also considered it so easy as to be elementary school stuff. Now, I haven't been involved with math since high school, but I do consider myself pretty good at the stuff - or at least did. Now I just feel incredibly dumb and disheartened. BG2 has officially kicked my ass, and there's nothing I can do about it.
Confession: I LOVE Irenicus' voice acting even if his reasoning for destroying the elves is pretty weak.
Confession: I absolutely suck with installing mods which is why I never used them.
Confession: I only played with Dorn all the way through BG2 because he was romanceable. I liked his character in BG1, but hated him in BG2 and only played for the romance.
Confession: When I was a hormonal teen I originally picked up Anomen only because I found his portrait attractive and he was strong. I eventually came to actually like him because we can both be judgmental jerks. I see some of my own flaws reflected in him which I suppose makes him easier to relate to.
Confession: I am pretty awful at this game and attempt to brute force just about everything. It's taken a long time for me to get better at this game, but I'm still somehow effective.