I am not good at this type of thing. I am a bad speller, brought about by being forced to write right handed when I started school low those many, mant decades ago. I wonder how many can clain to have started gaming with a text game called "Zork" with its imfamus "Invisaclues" which were uncovered from a list of comon problems. Each clue had several hints that went from abstract to outright answers. You had a kind of magic marker when passed over a clue it would reveal the answer, but I digress. I have a very important date coming up on 12-13-15 which marks an event that changed my life for the beter. On that date one year ago it was found that I had bilateral Sub Dura blood clots on the brain. The date marks the day of my first surgery which was followed by a second surgery to remove more blood. It is a small miricle that I am still here and not in some nursing home being fed through a straw. I still find it hard to believe I was spared the fate what could have happened to me, but I digress again. I joined this forum because I was looking for answers to problems with IWDEE. I must apologize for the somewhat negitive responces to some of my posts. I think it is due to taking several starts with this type of game. I am and always will be a turn based game player. The realtime/pause combat is not a favorite of mind but I told myself I would finish this game before passing judgement, which I will do. When you reach my age you have to get used to the idea that you brain just ain't as quick as it used to be and that changing trends in RPG & computrer game is sometrhing you have to get used to. Kike the french say "The more things change the more they stay the same -:)". I DO NOT LIKE TO BE TALKED DOWN TO but I have to learn to see that other folk's are just tryuing to help. Every forum I have been a member has its own style and I have to learn to not make bad vibes.
WELL I have not said much to the point of "WHY DID I JOIN THIS FORUM" but I am hoping to make some friends and perhaps help some forumites with some problems and I will try to be a little mor positive if given the chance.
@Blackraven was my inspiration for starting no-reload runs in BG2. Definitely. I consider my no-reload Party of Spiders run to be my true entrance to the forums. It was a big deal to me when I came back to the run and finished it after a two-month hiatus. I relied on test runs on more than one occasion, but I learned a great deal from the experience, and it was greatly rewarding to see people who enjoyed reading it.
I used to stick with the forum's old randomly generated multicolor smilies for my portrait, but after I made a few posts discussing the eroticism of creepy spiders and Pai'Na, I decided to switch to Kitty's icon as a joke to those who had seen those posts. I considered switching to the tooth of Sekolah icon after a long and equally strange post about Ixilthetocal being a maniacal dentist, among other things, but decided to stick with Kitty's icon.
*Looks at the last post on the thread...* Well, this is some fine necromancy.
I've been here, mostly in the shadows, since July 2012. I came because I love Baldur's Gate I and II, and have a minor crush on IWD. I put a lot of faith in Beamdog and its people to update a great set of games that I loved, and I've been rewarded for that, and haven't regretted a single dollar that I spent on the EE's. SOD is exactly what I thought it would be...a great expansion (to me) that will continue to be played for many years to come, along with the EE's.
Since joining in 2012, I've played NWN2 modules, campaigns, dabbled in PW's, backed and beat POE (though I deleted it from my machine shortly after paying for the second expansion), pre-ordered and beat IWDEE, and yet I always returned to BGEE. I suspect that will often be the case, for whatever amount of time I have left on this little sphere in the universe.
I've lurked here to the tune of 1,752 visits (as of this post). I've read great content, learned a great deal about the games, and read some great playthroughs. When I wasn't playing BG, I'd often still check-in here to read stuff by @Blackraven and @CharlestonianTemplar, whose style of writing about the game, I've greatly enjoyed.
What I didn't do was engage very much with the community members on posts, but I did often like, insightful or agree on posts that I enjoyed or learned from. I remember Bhaaldog being a large presence here, then came back from a hiatus to see he was gone forever. I never did find out why, though I probably could have asked someone and received an answer if it were really that important to me I suppose.
There are a bunch of people whose stuff I have read, or glanced at that I've come to admire for their knowledge of the game, and their willingness to share their insights. @Grum@bengoshi@elminster@LadyRhian@BelgarathMTH are the ones who immediately come to mind as people I'd ask a question to in a pinch. Often, when I google searched for a solution on something that I had a question on, their names would be in the answer thread. @Quartz was also often in the answer thread, and I admire the direct manner with which he communicates. Many people are no longer here or active, which is the cycle of life and with games.
All in all, without knowing it, you all, on this forum, have greatly expanded the fun of Baldur's Gate for me, and even when my attention was directed elsewhere, this forum was always a cool place to come back to read stuff on. This place is like the SOSH (Sons of Sam Horn for anyone curious) for Baldur's Gate fans, which as a forum and community, says a lot about the content and knowledge base of its contributors.
One day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. Back to back they faced each other draw their swords and shot each other. A deaf Policeman heard the noise, he came out to arrest the two dead boys. If you do not believe this lie is true, ask the blind man he saw it too.
If you're really old school, you'll know where this is from.
"Don't you ever laugh as the hearse goes by, For you may be the next one to die. They wrap you up in big white sheets and cover you from head to feet. They put you in a big black box And cover you with dirt and rocks. All goes well for about a week, Until your coffin begins to leak. The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, The worms play pinochle on your snout, They eat your eyes, they eat your nose, They eat the jelly between your toes. A big green worm with rolling eyes Crawls in your stomach and out your sides. Your stomach turns a slimy green, And pus pours out like whipping cream. You'll spread it on a slice of bread, And that's what you eat when you are dead."
I came onto the forums because one day i stumbled upon whilst looking for portraits. I decided to join....Best decision i've made in my life so far besides saving for college!
I have been a fan of Baldur's gate ever since that day that my mom entered my room and give me this game. She told me she bought when she was awaiting my arrival (Whe she was pregnant.) She told me she didn't get far into the game and thought I might like it. So I gave it a shot and I really got into the game quickly. I didn't understand much english by that time so I sometimes sat with dad, and on occasions he/his friends sat with me too. (When they visited us) They helped me understand what some characters said and such things. I had no idea how to play the game, I never got to Baldur's Gate until I finally got a better understanding of the language.
All I did was wandering the swoard coast having no clue of what I'm doing besides slaughtering everything that moves, be it peasent or wyvern. I remember how fun it was to camp inside an inn and just fight the flaming fists for hours.
Growing up, I started playing more seriously and got almost addicted to it. I have been playing irregulary since I was 7-8 years old, and today I am 17. All my other friends played games like Call of Duty, Halo and all those games that was new at that time. So did I, and it was fun. But there wasn't a single kid knowing anything about Baldur's gate and when I tried to show them, they didn't like it. FPS games was there thing and I understand.
Still today I am the only one in my school, maybe in my city, maybe in my region playing the game. At least it feels like that. Truth be told, have my mother never given me this game that day, I probably wouldn't have known about it. And probably never would try it out. Looking at trailers, it is not something that gets to me. I know Baldur's Gate is a fun game but you have to play it and try it out yourself to find out how fun it is!
Having no friends in real life to discuss Baldur's Gate with, or play the game, I decided to join this forum. Because everyone here is interested in the game and it is so fun to discuss it, talk about it and make jokes about. It is like finding someone who shares your interests.
And I can't lie when I'm saying that most of you people on this forum, even if you are older than me, is way more funnier than my real friends. Clever humour. How we always make these references to the game, as a joke. It's so unique. Today, almost all jokes I hear are insulting. Teens always make jokes based on someone else flaws. It is quite annoying sometimes, to hear the same thing over and over again. Always have to involve curses and strong language and immature behaviour. I stay out of it, I'd rather come here, the environment and community this forums has manage to put together, it's a rare thing.
Most forums consists of angry and flaming teenagers, sadly. Moderators have to be constantly working to keep it clean. We people here, we keep it clean ourselves. We can behave. We can have fun. That is why I like this forum so much.
I've made A LOT of friends on these forums. I'm not gonna mention anyone, so I won't forget anyone. You all know who you are!
@EnialusMeliamne, wow I've just read your post mentioning me. (I've haven't played much this year nor have I been as active on these forums as I used to.) Beautiful words and I'm honored by your mention of me. It's great to read your appreciation. I would even say it inspires me to try another carefully roleplayed and documented playthrough.
@RelSundan, what a great story! Seeing how this game is being passed on from one generation to another I feel Baldur's Gate is more than 'just' a computer game. My father gave me the Rolling Stones (took me to a concert when I was 13 for example). Your mother gave you Baldur's Gate. I think I'll give any future kids of mine both
Heck, I think I even missed @semiticgod's post of last year! You're a forum legend man... I'm glad to have helped you decide to become active here. I'm even slightly surprised, because you usually didn't "like" my posts, so I've always thought you'd find them to wordy or my approach to traditional, cuz you're an experimentalist Anyway, your knowledge, your friendliness, and your experiments (pronounced in David Warner voice) are great to have here!
I am here only for the mods. I don't give a rats ass about anything else forum or beamdog related, no offence. ;p (exept some no-reload threads made by oldBioware veterans, awesome write-ups!)
ps. well, a patch 2.4 for BG2EE would be good. ;PP
ps. and when I am here heheh What is the name of a guy who has everything right? but right only. Like only right eye, right ear, right hand, only right testicle sorry, only right leg??? You don't know? Well, All Right, no problem.... ;pPPPPPP xDDDDDDDD
i bumped into an article from i dont remember where about baldur's gate getting an overhaul i was excited since i had never played bg1 then i registered in the forums as i recall to make a supportive reply in a thread about the developer team cause there were too many negative comments and then i continued to visit the forums as i waned to learn more about the bug fixes and release dates of patches to come
I've been a fan of Baldur's Gate for over 10 years, got the EE as soon as it came out, joined back when these forums first started and was super active for like a year. I ran a lot of forum games and even a regular fanart challenge that gained quite a bit of steam. I also did some beta testing for BG2:EE, though I don't think I was all that helpful. I found maybe one bug and that's it.
Then, I went to law school and dropped off the face of the earth.
I graduated law school last year, and last month, I heard about the big fanart contest, which prompted my return to the forums about a week ago. I hope to become a part of this all again.
For me, why I joined... I have the BG EE... but I didn't join the forum back then. I joined with the announcement of NWN EE... I absolutely love the endless possibilities (literally) that came with NWN... the game itself was HUGE... but the toolset added a whole new other element... for mods, persistent worlds, and in my case, a machinima series that landed me some success... So when they announced NWN EE, I got hyped for what it was going to entail - and wanted to jump in here and talk to other NWN fans about what was coming.
For me, why I joined... I have the BG EE... but I didn't join the forum back then. I joined with the announcement of NWN EE... I absolutely love the endless possibilities (literally) that came with NWN... the game itself was HUGE... but the toolset added a whole new other element... for mods, persistent worlds, and in my case, a machinima series that landed me some success... So when they announced NWN EE, I got hyped for what it was going to entail - and wanted to jump in here and talk to other NWN fans about what was coming.
@Tawmis I do remember the toolset... i opened it then went to game's folder could "see" the modules so instead i went the other way around i right clicked the module open with... 255 abilities in a sword.... can you imagine that ?
For me, why I joined... I have the BG EE... but I didn't join the forum back then. I joined with the announcement of NWN EE... I absolutely love the endless possibilities (literally) that came with NWN... the game itself was HUGE... but the toolset added a whole new other element... for mods, persistent worlds, and in my case, a machinima series that landed me some success... So when they announced NWN EE, I got hyped for what it was going to entail - and wanted to jump in here and talk to other NWN fans about what was coming.
@Tawmis I do remember the toolset... i opened it then went to game's folder could "see" the modules so instead i went the other way around i right clicked the module open with... 255 abilities in a sword.... can you imagine that ?
Heh - those were great times... great times indeed...
lets see..... 1 in the morning? yeah i got time to revive this ol' thread so here goes....
Why did I join the forum?
i remember waaaaay back in the day, the yester years of playing the vanilla BGs ( and perhaps the odd IWD and NWN perhaps ) but the BG series was my jam, even more than jam, my addiction, i used to be obsessed with this series, ever since the first time i found out about it's existence back in.... '99 i believe....
i used to play this series like it was my air and i was suffocating, when i say i literally have had 1000s of play throughs of BG 1 and BG 2, that is not exaggeration, if i kept play time from every time i played these games i would literally be in the 10s of 1000s for each, hell, even on steam im pass 1100 hours for bg1 and around 650+ or so for bg2 and thats when i barely started playing them anymore when i bought them 3 years ago for steam
but non the less, all the way till about.... probably that time 2016, maybe 2015ish, i would play these games relentlessly, no matter how many times i played, even without mods usually, i was always having fun, there was ALWAYS another class combo or team combo to try, and it rarely got old ( back in those days a hiatus would be 1 month, now adays it can be closer to 6 months to a year )
but anyhow, so with that, i thought i WAS baldur's gate, coincidentally enought, BG aka Baldur's Gate is actually my initials in real life, so perhaps i was baldur's gate hahaha, with all the play throughs i had under my belt, i was certain that i knew EVERYTHING about this series ( at one point in time, i knew exactly how much gold was in EVERY gold pile that wasn't RNG in bg1, yup, thats a lot of play throughs to remember that ) so i couldn't wait to join this forum, and spread my knowledge to all those around me, thinking that this was a pretty much dead series at the time ( since bg1 was around 14 years old now ) and even ToB was 11
What did I do when I first joined?
i remember when i first joined back in june of 2012, i think there was maybe.... 30 of us here, and at that point in time it was a pretty elusive club, and back in those days, it wasn't set up so just anybody could join, and you kind of had to go through some sort of screening process to get it, but luckily for me, i made 'er in
i actually remember, how to find this, a couple of years prior, there was a facebook group called; the protection of bhaal.... spawn.... something er rather... and that was a baldur's gate type group i followed, im thinking that group had to have some insight on what was going on in the company or the forums because first; that is where i heard the announcement for BGEE and second, that is where i heard about these forums was from that group
so with that said, here i was in this select group, and it was pretty neat, the best part was, the group was so small, that every word was heard, and i remember doing my best to be at the top of the leadership board for the day, which me and that thalantis ( dont remember his actual name ) were going back and forth, he was just a comment leaving master, but back in the super early days, i was able to keep up with bookmarking every post, and luckily even some of my feedback was put into the EEs for fixes; where basilisks now had to make your characters make save vs petrify instead of save vs death, and because BG1 was using the BG2 engine, i insisted that they get rid of that silly +10% XP bonus that bg2 would give for experience that wasn't quest XP
What, if any, were the turning points of my forum story?
one thing that i found so interesting because of these forums is that the BG series was alive and well, here i thought it was buried in the sands of time, but people were still playing these games after all this time, and doing things that i never thought of; playing solo, no reloads, the obtuse use of mods, those things just completely blew me away, here i was thinking i was the best BG player alive because i could beat the series on insane difficulty with no cheats, and yet people were playing no reloads and solo char games and using SCS mods to make the game way harder, and here i went from high and mighty back down, to just an addicted schmuck hahaha, although since then i will sometimes play a solo game of BG1, and i always do for NWN, but for IWD or BG 2, if i do solo, i get bored so quick, that i cant continue, and no reloads....... thats an easy pass for me, i play way to lazily for that sort of commitment and sometimes RNG is just not on your side, and as for SCS mods, yeah F that, and ascension? i remember back in the day playing with some ascension mod back in the vanilla days, and it was frustratingly difficult, and i didnt find it fun at all, because i had to exploit my way through it, so i like my games virtually mod free ( unless i need to get rid of some of beamdog's shenanigans like all those extra save games oi )
another real turning point for me, was learning how to mod, holy jumpins did that ever open up SO many possibilities, especially with the help of NI ( before back in the vanilla days i only ever had shadow/sword coast keeper ) NI has been an invaluable tool, kudos to all the people who made that program possible, you can basically remake the entire game with NI and the best part is? its so simple and easy to learn, since i already had so much experience with the BG series i knew where to look, and for the most part i was able to teach myself how to use the program, absolutely gorgeous
What is my favourite thing about being a member on the forum?
i think the best part about being a member is being able to help others with their IE games, whether its tips and hints, or nowadays, fixing games, from broken romances to broken stronghold quests, or just broken games in general, i even made a mod or two, and made a custom sound set and a portrait set buried somewhere around here, although i think the biggest thing i may be known for is either leaving stories of writing worth of a forum page ( look at my promotes for those ) or the IWD mod i made, ah, i remember making that, it took my 5 weeks, the first 3 weeks i was working back to back 16 hour days with only 6 hours sleep and then by week 4 i had to tone it down to 12 hours days until i finished at the end of week 5, what a huge undertaking that was, and then a year later v2.5 comes, oi, i had the intention that no more big patches were coming out so i thought that mod would be good forever, although i've been thinking and having ideas of remaking it, bigger, better, in every way possible once the new patch comes out, although it will take much longer because i will not be doing the same schedule as i did before since now i really want to get into the track and field side of things, but we will see, maybe i will, maybe i wont, who knows...
What other members were important to my forum story?
um hmm.... i remember back in the day that thalant... guy being kind of a "friendly rival" of sorts, as in i was trying to be more popular than him hahaha, but shortly after that, the forum started getting bigger ( especially when BGEE came out ) and my voice was getting smaller and samller, and during the 2012s, that was during the time when i was working for my semi retirement, so a few months after i joined this forum in 2012, i started working every day for 100s of days straight, and a year and a half later i finally semi retired, so because of that, i started to kind of come and go, instead of being here all the time, i even remember a time in..... 2015ish....? i didnt log in for months, and then when i did come back i started lurking way more then adding anything, i think withint 2 years time i must have maybe typed out 50 comments at most, while lurking around seeing what was going down, but then around 2018ish or so, i started coming back a bit more, getting more involved again, and now that im so damn close to retirement ( although this last stock purchase could put that into jeopardy haha ) i've had a lot more time to be around, and to be honest, this forum is a good place to be, the moderators do a very good job of keeping this place a good place to come to, for info and the such, other forums out there can just be complete disaster zones with trolling and anger and all that madness, but here, it is kept up much better
ah, also speaking about other members on this forum, i actually had the pleasure of playing multiplayer with 2 random forum users, and it was a pretty cool experience, never, ever had i the chance to play multiplayer with someone else because all my other friends either didnt like these games ( because they are the sort that if they dont have "new and improved graphics" its time to move on ) so it was such a luxury to play multiplayer
the first instance was back in 2014 when i was going to BCIT for boilermaker school, and a forum user messaged me up and was asking about a bunch of BG help questions and things, and then after awhile he said why dont we try out that new content part that beamdog made; the black pits, so i was like; sure lets do it, so one saturday for like 7 hours i think it was we completed the black pits and it was pretty cool, i actually still have him on my facebook and we used to chat every once in a while and we were making plans back in the day to visit each other's countries ( since im from canada and he was from the czech republic ) but we haven't chatted in a while, so no news on what is going on from there
then, the second instance was semi recently.... perhaps a year ago? maybe 2? im going to go with 2, i believe there was another person that was looking for players to do multiplayer with, so i joined up and said; hey, i will join ya; and so we got together over steam, and started a multiplayer run in BG1, and i made a cleric/mage that had jon irenicus' sprite and he made an inquisitor which rolled something ridiculous like 101 or 104 or something on his 10th try at most, it was complete madness.... so off we went, we left candle keep, grabbed the ring of pro +1, the diamond, killed the ogre for the 2 belts, made it to the FAI, collected khalid and jaheira, and our run forever ended there, what a shame, even in those 10-15 minutes of game time we played it was actually a lot of fun, but he had things to do, and after those things were said and done a week or so later, he no longer had interest in completing or continuing that game, what a shame haha
What was my best experience on the forums?
im going to say, the modding was the best experience, before these forums, the only "modding" i was able to do was through shadow/ sword coast keeper at the time, which were very limited tools, although i still use them to this day for easy quick fixes/mods just because sometimes it is quicker there, but Near Infinity, oh my lord did that program forever change my knowledge on the IE games, i learned about scripting ( and my god is it ever so easy with NI, none of this C++ crap, talk about trying to make script as complicated as possible oi ) and 2da files and all that jazz, and its been an amazing experience, one thing that really makes me happy is the custom scripts that i am able to make for my characters, for years i was using the lame scripts that came with the games, but now i can make it so my casters will actually cast ANY spell, instead of just a few select choices, and that has dramatically changed how i make my parties now, now that i have casters that cast all of their spells on their own, i dont mind having 3 mage type characters or even 6 casters in my team at once, because it is so pie with my scripts to have some a combination, so again, whoever made NI i thank you, because it is such an easy tool to use and learn, and it is so powerful on what you can do its mind boggling
What do i think now looking back on my forum history?
not much actually, although one thing that is nice is that this forum is alive and well and i've been around at this point in time for over 7 years now, and the people that have come and their passion for this game is truly an awesome sight to behold, who ever would have thought that a game, made back in '98 could still to this day almost 21 years later still be loved so much for what it is, this series is truly a classic, i still even remember one of the last play throughs i had with the vanilla games, i just entered ToB, i replaced minsc with sarevok, and my character was a fighter 7/ mage whatever with jon irenicus' sprite, and that file has sat in that folder to forever collect dust and never be played again, because trying to go back to the vanillas now is just impossible for me, i remember try doing so about 3 years ago, but they are just so poorly optimized ( well bg1 at least ) and the amount of nonsense you need to go through to make them work, bleh
i thank beamdog and all the work and effort they have done in bringing these series back, and making it so they are ready to be played without the use of mods, and for the very most part ( for me at least ) a pretty much bug free experience
but now, it is finally time for bed, since i had track and field practice tomorrow ( or actually later today i guess it would be ha ) and to the rest of you, take care my forum friends
A number of reasons, I suppose. I played the original Infinity Engine games back in the 90's. I really liked the work that Beamdog did with the Enhanced Editions. And I also really liked Siege of Dragonspear, as well as The Black Pits I and II. I used to visit some forums back in the day, before social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. While I have nothing against social media per se, I prefer forums. Sort of a 90's nostalgia kind of thing, I suppose.
What, if any, were the turning points of your forum story?
I don't know, it feels like a continuous experience, plus I'm relatively new. I don't really have a forum story. After I introduced myself in the welcome area, I posted some things in Off Topic, mostly about other D&D video games, such as The Temple of Elemental Evil, Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, and the Gold Box engine games like Pool of Radiance and The Dark Queen of Krynn. I've posted some things in other sections of the forums, like the BG2 one, and also Fan Creations, but mostly I'm in Off Topic for some reason. I visit the Politics Thread regularly and talk a bit there.
What is your favorite thing about being a member of the forum?
I like forums, they remind me of a time before social media, in which I grew up. But a forum is just a tool, or a format, if you will. The real heart of a forum is it's community. In that sense, some Internet communities that use forums are quite good, others are pretty lame. This one is excellent.
What other members were important to your forum story?
I would say @Balrog99, @jjstraka34, @WarChiefZeke, @semiticgoddess, @mlnevese, @_Nightfall_ , @smeagolheart, @DinoDin, @BallpointMan, @Grond0 and @ThacoBell, with whom I interact on a somewhat regular basis, though I haven't seen ThacoBell around lately. From what I can tell, all these folks that I mentioned are very different from each other and have very different points of views regarding a lot of things. I enjoy talking to all of them, even if we don't agree on any given issue, or on any issue. I think that being Infinity Engine fans, and D&D fans more generally, facilitates our conversations and debates immensely. For me, that's really what D&D is all about: finding groups of cool people to talk to and have fun. The adventuring party is a metaphor of that.
What do you think now, looking back on your forum history?
I don't know, I don't really have a forum history. Allow me to give a somewhat long-winded comparison: What I like about Baldur's Gate 2 in particular is that even if you play in single player mode, your party encounters several other adventuring parties throughout the story (for example, if you accept Korgan into your group, eventually you will have to battle his former group). That's actually a really good implementation of how tabletop D&D groups work. Sure, some people stick with the same group they've had since they started playing the game. Others jump from group to group. I think there's a healthy middle ground here. You don't have to stick with the same group no matter what. You can try your luck with a new group of players, just as your character can try their luck with a new adventuring party. So, long story short, being part of this forum is like being part of an adventuring party, if that makes any sense. I can't promise that I'll stick with you guys no matter what, but while I'm at this "table" I can promise that I'll do my best and just have fun.
Comments
I have a very important date coming up on 12-13-15 which marks an event that changed my life for the beter. On that date one year ago it was found that I had bilateral Sub Dura blood clots on the brain.
The date marks the day of my first surgery which was followed by a second surgery to remove more blood.
It is a small miricle that I am still here and not in some nursing home being fed through a straw.
I still find it hard to believe I was spared the fate what could have happened to me, but I digress again.
I joined this forum because I was looking for answers to problems with IWDEE. I must apologize for the somewhat negitive responces to some of my posts. I think it is due to taking several starts with this type of game. I am and always will be a turn based game player. The realtime/pause combat is not a favorite of mind but I told myself I would finish this game before passing judgement, which I will do.
When you reach my age you have to get used to the idea that you brain just ain't as quick as it used to be
and that changing trends in RPG & computrer game is sometrhing you have to get used to. Kike the french say "The more things change the more they stay the same -:)". I DO NOT LIKE TO BE TALKED DOWN TO but I have to learn to see that other folk's are just tryuing to help. Every forum I have been a member has its own style and I have to learn to not make bad vibes.
WELL I have not said much to the point of "WHY DID I JOIN THIS FORUM" but I am hoping to make some friends and perhaps help some forumites with some problems and I will try to be a little mor positive if given the chance.
I used to stick with the forum's old randomly generated multicolor smilies for my portrait, but after I made a few posts discussing the eroticism of creepy spiders and Pai'Na, I decided to switch to Kitty's icon as a joke to those who had seen those posts. I considered switching to the tooth of Sekolah icon after a long and equally strange post about Ixilthetocal being a maniacal dentist, among other things, but decided to stick with Kitty's icon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi
I've been here, mostly in the shadows, since July 2012. I came because I love Baldur's Gate I and II, and have a minor crush on IWD. I put a lot of faith in Beamdog and its people to update a great set of games that I loved, and I've been rewarded for that, and haven't regretted a single dollar that I spent on the EE's. SOD is exactly what I thought it would be...a great expansion (to me) that will continue to be played for many years to come, along with the EE's.
Since joining in 2012, I've played NWN2 modules, campaigns, dabbled in PW's, backed and beat POE (though I deleted it from my machine shortly after paying for the second expansion), pre-ordered and beat IWDEE, and yet I always returned to BGEE. I suspect that will often be the case, for whatever amount of time I have left on this little sphere in the universe.
I've lurked here to the tune of 1,752 visits (as of this post). I've read great content, learned a great deal about the games, and read some great playthroughs. When I wasn't playing BG, I'd often still check-in here to read stuff by @Blackraven and @CharlestonianTemplar, whose style of writing about the game, I've greatly enjoyed.
What I didn't do was engage very much with the community members on posts, but I did often like, insightful or agree on posts that I enjoyed or learned from. I remember Bhaaldog being a large presence here, then came back from a hiatus to see he was gone forever. I never did find out why, though I probably could have asked someone and received an answer if it were really that important to me I suppose.
There are a bunch of people whose stuff I have read, or glanced at that I've come to admire for their knowledge of the game, and their willingness to share their insights. @Grum @bengoshi @elminster @LadyRhian @BelgarathMTH are the ones who immediately come to mind as people I'd ask a question to in a pinch. Often, when I google searched for a solution on something that I had a question on, their names would be in the answer thread. @Quartz was also often in the answer thread, and I admire the direct manner with which he communicates. Many people are no longer here or active, which is the cycle of life and with games.
All in all, without knowing it, you all, on this forum, have greatly expanded the fun of Baldur's Gate for me, and even when my attention was directed elsewhere, this forum was always a cool place to come back to read stuff on. This place is like the SOSH (Sons of Sam Horn for anyone curious) for Baldur's Gate fans, which as a forum and community, says a lot about the content and knowledge base of its contributors.
Damn! I remember this rhyme. You went old school!
If you're really old school, you'll know where this is from.
"Don't you ever laugh as the hearse goes by,
For you may be the next one to die.
They wrap you up in big white sheets
and cover you from head to feet.
They put you in a big black box
And cover you with dirt and rocks.
All goes well for about a week,
Until your coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout,
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.
A big green worm with rolling eyes
Crawls in your stomach and out your sides.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.
You'll spread it on a slice of bread,
And that's what you eat when you are dead."
I have been a fan of Baldur's gate ever since that day that my mom entered my room and give me this game. She told me she bought when she was awaiting my arrival (Whe she was pregnant.) She told me she didn't get far into the game and thought I might like it. So I gave it a shot and I really got into the game quickly. I didn't understand much english by that time so I sometimes sat with dad, and on occasions he/his friends sat with me too. (When they visited us) They helped me understand what some characters said and such things. I had no idea how to play the game, I never got to Baldur's Gate until I finally got a better understanding of the language.
All I did was wandering the swoard coast having no clue of what I'm doing besides slaughtering everything that moves, be it peasent or wyvern. I remember how fun it was to camp inside an inn and just fight the flaming fists for hours.
Growing up, I started playing more seriously and got almost addicted to it. I have been playing irregulary since I was 7-8 years old, and today I am 17. All my other friends played games like Call of Duty, Halo and all those games that was new at that time. So did I, and it was fun. But there wasn't a single kid knowing anything about Baldur's gate and when I tried to show them, they didn't like it. FPS games was there thing and I understand.
Still today I am the only one in my school, maybe in my city, maybe in my region playing the game. At least it feels like that. Truth be told, have my mother never given me this game that day, I probably wouldn't have known about it. And probably never would try it out. Looking at trailers, it is not something that gets to me. I know Baldur's Gate is a fun game but you have to play it and try it out yourself to find out how fun it is!
Having no friends in real life to discuss Baldur's Gate with, or play the game, I decided to join this forum. Because everyone here is interested in the game and it is so fun to discuss it, talk about it and make jokes about. It is like finding someone who shares your interests.
And I can't lie when I'm saying that most of you people on this forum, even if you are older than me, is way more funnier than my real friends. Clever humour. How we always make these references to the game, as a joke. It's so unique. Today, almost all jokes I hear are insulting. Teens always make jokes based on someone else flaws. It is quite annoying sometimes, to hear the same thing over and over again. Always have to involve curses and strong language and immature behaviour. I stay out of it, I'd rather come here, the environment and community this forums has manage to put together, it's a rare thing.
Most forums consists of angry and flaming teenagers, sadly. Moderators have to be constantly working to keep it clean. We people here, we keep it clean ourselves. We can behave. We can have fun. That is why I like this forum so much.
I've made A LOT of friends on these forums. I'm not gonna mention anyone, so I won't forget anyone. You all know who you are!
@RelSundan, what a great story! Seeing how this game is being passed on from one generation to another I feel Baldur's Gate is more than 'just' a computer game. My father gave me the Rolling Stones (took me to a concert when I was 13 for example). Your mother gave you Baldur's Gate. I think I'll give any future kids of mine both
Heck, I think I even missed @semiticgod's post of last year! You're a forum legend man... I'm glad to have helped you decide to become active here. I'm even slightly surprised, because you usually didn't "like" my posts, so I've always thought you'd find them to wordy or my approach to traditional, cuz you're an experimentalist
I don't give a rats ass about anything else forum or beamdog related, no offence. ;p
(exept some no-reload threads made by oldBioware veterans, awesome write-ups!)
ps. well, a patch 2.4 for BG2EE would be good. ;PP
ps. and when I am here heheh
What is the name of a guy who has everything right? but right only. Like only right eye, right ear, right hand, only right testicle sorry, only right leg??? You don't know? Well, All Right, no problem....
;pPPPPPP xDDDDDDDD
Then, I went to law school and dropped off the face of the earth.
I graduated law school last year, and last month, I heard about the big fanart contest, which prompted my return to the forums about a week ago. I hope to become a part of this all again.
I do remember the toolset... i opened it then went to game's folder could "see" the modules so instead i went the other way around i right clicked the module open with...
255 abilities in a sword.... can you imagine that ?
Then I started modding and right now I basically flood @Grammarsalad @kjeron and @Gwendolyne inbox with stupid questions
Why did I join the forum?
i remember waaaaay back in the day, the yester years of playing the vanilla BGs ( and perhaps the odd IWD and NWN perhaps ) but the BG series was my jam, even more than jam, my addiction, i used to be obsessed with this series, ever since the first time i found out about it's existence back in.... '99 i believe....
i used to play this series like it was my air and i was suffocating, when i say i literally have had 1000s of play throughs of BG 1 and BG 2, that is not exaggeration, if i kept play time from every time i played these games i would literally be in the 10s of 1000s for each, hell, even on steam im pass 1100 hours for bg1 and around 650+ or so for bg2 and thats when i barely started playing them anymore when i bought them 3 years ago for steam
but non the less, all the way till about.... probably that time 2016, maybe 2015ish, i would play these games relentlessly, no matter how many times i played, even without mods usually, i was always having fun, there was ALWAYS another class combo or team combo to try, and it rarely got old ( back in those days a hiatus would be 1 month, now adays it can be closer to 6 months to a year )
but anyhow, so with that, i thought i WAS baldur's gate, coincidentally enought, BG aka Baldur's Gate is actually my initials in real life, so perhaps i was baldur's gate hahaha, with all the play throughs i had under my belt, i was certain that i knew EVERYTHING about this series ( at one point in time, i knew exactly how much gold was in EVERY gold pile that wasn't RNG in bg1, yup, thats a lot of play throughs to remember that ) so i couldn't wait to join this forum, and spread my knowledge to all those around me, thinking that this was a pretty much dead series at the time ( since bg1 was around 14 years old now ) and even ToB was 11
What did I do when I first joined?
i remember when i first joined back in june of 2012, i think there was maybe.... 30 of us here, and at that point in time it was a pretty elusive club, and back in those days, it wasn't set up so just anybody could join, and you kind of had to go through some sort of screening process to get it, but luckily for me, i made 'er in
i actually remember, how to find this, a couple of years prior, there was a facebook group called; the protection of bhaal.... spawn.... something er rather... and that was a baldur's gate type group i followed, im thinking that group had to have some insight on what was going on in the company or the forums because first; that is where i heard the announcement for BGEE and second, that is where i heard about these forums was from that group
so with that said, here i was in this select group, and it was pretty neat, the best part was, the group was so small, that every word was heard, and i remember doing my best to be at the top of the leadership board for the day, which me and that thalantis ( dont remember his actual name ) were going back and forth, he was just a comment leaving master, but back in the super early days, i was able to keep up with bookmarking every post, and luckily even some of my feedback was put into the EEs for fixes; where basilisks now had to make your characters make save vs petrify instead of save vs death, and because BG1 was using the BG2 engine, i insisted that they get rid of that silly +10% XP bonus that bg2 would give for experience that wasn't quest XP
What, if any, were the turning points of my forum story?
one thing that i found so interesting because of these forums is that the BG series was alive and well, here i thought it was buried in the sands of time, but people were still playing these games after all this time, and doing things that i never thought of; playing solo, no reloads, the obtuse use of mods, those things just completely blew me away, here i was thinking i was the best BG player alive because i could beat the series on insane difficulty with no cheats, and yet people were playing no reloads and solo char games and using SCS mods to make the game way harder, and here i went from high and mighty back down, to just an addicted schmuck hahaha, although since then i will sometimes play a solo game of BG1, and i always do for NWN, but for IWD or BG 2, if i do solo, i get bored so quick, that i cant continue, and no reloads....... thats an easy pass for me, i play way to lazily for that sort of commitment and sometimes RNG is just not on your side, and as for SCS mods, yeah F that, and ascension? i remember back in the day playing with some ascension mod back in the vanilla days, and it was frustratingly difficult, and i didnt find it fun at all, because i had to exploit my way through it, so i like my games virtually mod free ( unless i need to get rid of some of beamdog's shenanigans like all those extra save games oi
another real turning point for me, was learning how to mod, holy jumpins did that ever open up SO many possibilities, especially with the help of NI ( before back in the vanilla days i only ever had shadow/sword coast keeper ) NI has been an invaluable tool, kudos to all the people who made that program possible, you can basically remake the entire game with NI and the best part is? its so simple and easy to learn, since i already had so much experience with the BG series i knew where to look, and for the most part i was able to teach myself how to use the program, absolutely gorgeous
What is my favourite thing about being a member on the forum?
i think the best part about being a member is being able to help others with their IE games, whether its tips and hints, or nowadays, fixing games, from broken romances to broken stronghold quests, or just broken games in general, i even made a mod or two, and made a custom sound set and a portrait set buried somewhere around here, although i think the biggest thing i may be known for is either leaving stories of writing worth of a forum page ( look at my promotes for those ) or the IWD mod i made, ah, i remember making that, it took my 5 weeks, the first 3 weeks i was working back to back 16 hour days with only 6 hours sleep and then by week 4 i had to tone it down to 12 hours days until i finished at the end of week 5, what a huge undertaking that was, and then a year later v2.5 comes, oi, i had the intention that no more big patches were coming out so i thought that mod would be good forever, although i've been thinking and having ideas of remaking it, bigger, better, in every way possible once the new patch comes out, although it will take much longer because i will not be doing the same schedule as i did before since now i really want to get into the track and field side of things, but we will see, maybe i will, maybe i wont, who knows...
What other members were important to my forum story?
um hmm.... i remember back in the day that thalant... guy being kind of a "friendly rival" of sorts, as in i was trying to be more popular than him hahaha, but shortly after that, the forum started getting bigger ( especially when BGEE came out ) and my voice was getting smaller and samller, and during the 2012s, that was during the time when i was working for my semi retirement, so a few months after i joined this forum in 2012, i started working every day for 100s of days straight, and a year and a half later i finally semi retired, so because of that, i started to kind of come and go, instead of being here all the time, i even remember a time in..... 2015ish....? i didnt log in for months, and then when i did come back i started lurking way more then adding anything, i think withint 2 years time i must have maybe typed out 50 comments at most, while lurking around seeing what was going down, but then around 2018ish or so, i started coming back a bit more, getting more involved again, and now that im so damn close to retirement ( although this last stock purchase could put that into jeopardy haha ) i've had a lot more time to be around, and to be honest, this forum is a good place to be, the moderators do a very good job of keeping this place a good place to come to, for info and the such, other forums out there can just be complete disaster zones with trolling and anger and all that madness, but here, it is kept up much better
ah, also speaking about other members on this forum, i actually had the pleasure of playing multiplayer with 2 random forum users, and it was a pretty cool experience, never, ever had i the chance to play multiplayer with someone else because all my other friends either didnt like these games ( because they are the sort that if they dont have "new and improved graphics" its time to move on ) so it was such a luxury to play multiplayer
the first instance was back in 2014 when i was going to BCIT for boilermaker school, and a forum user messaged me up and was asking about a bunch of BG help questions and things, and then after awhile he said why dont we try out that new content part that beamdog made; the black pits, so i was like; sure lets do it, so one saturday for like 7 hours i think it was we completed the black pits and it was pretty cool, i actually still have him on my facebook and we used to chat every once in a while and we were making plans back in the day to visit each other's countries ( since im from canada and he was from the czech republic ) but we haven't chatted in a while, so no news on what is going on from there
then, the second instance was semi recently.... perhaps a year ago? maybe 2? im going to go with 2, i believe there was another person that was looking for players to do multiplayer with, so i joined up and said; hey, i will join ya; and so we got together over steam, and started a multiplayer run in BG1, and i made a cleric/mage that had jon irenicus' sprite and he made an inquisitor which rolled something ridiculous like 101 or 104 or something on his 10th try at most, it was complete madness.... so off we went, we left candle keep, grabbed the ring of pro +1, the diamond, killed the ogre for the 2 belts, made it to the FAI, collected khalid and jaheira, and our run forever ended there, what a shame, even in those 10-15 minutes of game time we played it was actually a lot of fun, but he had things to do, and after those things were said and done a week or so later, he no longer had interest in completing or continuing that game, what a shame haha
What was my best experience on the forums?
im going to say, the modding was the best experience, before these forums, the only "modding" i was able to do was through shadow/ sword coast keeper at the time, which were very limited tools, although i still use them to this day for easy quick fixes/mods just because sometimes it is quicker there, but Near Infinity, oh my lord did that program forever change my knowledge on the IE games, i learned about scripting ( and my god is it ever so easy with NI, none of this C++ crap, talk about trying to make script as complicated as possible oi ) and 2da files and all that jazz, and its been an amazing experience, one thing that really makes me happy is the custom scripts that i am able to make for my characters, for years i was using the lame scripts that came with the games, but now i can make it so my casters will actually cast ANY spell, instead of just a few select choices, and that has dramatically changed how i make my parties now, now that i have casters that cast all of their spells on their own, i dont mind having 3 mage type characters or even 6 casters in my team at once, because it is so pie with my scripts to have some a combination, so again, whoever made NI i thank you, because it is such an easy tool to use and learn, and it is so powerful on what you can do its mind boggling
What do i think now looking back on my forum history?
not much actually, although one thing that is nice is that this forum is alive and well and i've been around at this point in time for over 7 years now, and the people that have come and their passion for this game is truly an awesome sight to behold, who ever would have thought that a game, made back in '98 could still to this day almost 21 years later still be loved so much for what it is, this series is truly a classic, i still even remember one of the last play throughs i had with the vanilla games, i just entered ToB, i replaced minsc with sarevok, and my character was a fighter 7/ mage whatever with jon irenicus' sprite, and that file has sat in that folder to forever collect dust and never be played again, because trying to go back to the vanillas now is just impossible for me, i remember try doing so about 3 years ago, but they are just so poorly optimized ( well bg1 at least ) and the amount of nonsense you need to go through to make them work, bleh
i thank beamdog and all the work and effort they have done in bringing these series back, and making it so they are ready to be played without the use of mods, and for the very most part ( for me at least ) a pretty much bug free experience
but now, it is finally time for bed, since i had track and field practice tomorrow ( or actually later today i guess it would be ha ) and to the rest of you, take care my forum friends
A number of reasons, I suppose. I played the original Infinity Engine games back in the 90's. I really liked the work that Beamdog did with the Enhanced Editions. And I also really liked Siege of Dragonspear, as well as The Black Pits I and II. I used to visit some forums back in the day, before social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. While I have nothing against social media per se, I prefer forums. Sort of a 90's nostalgia kind of thing, I suppose.
I said something like "hi, I'm a new member, I like the IE games" in the welcome area.
I don't know, it feels like a continuous experience, plus I'm relatively new. I don't really have a forum story. After I introduced myself in the welcome area, I posted some things in Off Topic, mostly about other D&D video games, such as The Temple of Elemental Evil, Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, and the Gold Box engine games like Pool of Radiance and The Dark Queen of Krynn. I've posted some things in other sections of the forums, like the BG2 one, and also Fan Creations, but mostly I'm in Off Topic for some reason. I visit the Politics Thread regularly and talk a bit there.
I like forums, they remind me of a time before social media, in which I grew up. But a forum is just a tool, or a format, if you will. The real heart of a forum is it's community. In that sense, some Internet communities that use forums are quite good, others are pretty lame. This one is excellent.
I would say @Balrog99, @jjstraka34, @WarChiefZeke, @semiticgoddess, @mlnevese, @_Nightfall_ , @smeagolheart, @DinoDin, @BallpointMan, @Grond0 and @ThacoBell, with whom I interact on a somewhat regular basis, though I haven't seen ThacoBell around lately. From what I can tell, all these folks that I mentioned are very different from each other and have very different points of views regarding a lot of things. I enjoy talking to all of them, even if we don't agree on any given issue, or on any issue. I think that being Infinity Engine fans, and D&D fans more generally, facilitates our conversations and debates immensely. For me, that's really what D&D is all about: finding groups of cool people to talk to and have fun. The adventuring party is a metaphor of that.
Simply being here and interacting with other fans is a nice experience.
I don't know, I don't really have a forum history. Allow me to give a somewhat long-winded comparison: What I like about Baldur's Gate 2 in particular is that even if you play in single player mode, your party encounters several other adventuring parties throughout the story (for example, if you accept Korgan into your group, eventually you will have to battle his former group). That's actually a really good implementation of how tabletop D&D groups work. Sure, some people stick with the same group they've had since they started playing the game. Others jump from group to group. I think there's a healthy middle ground here. You don't have to stick with the same group no matter what. You can try your luck with a new group of players, just as your character can try their luck with a new adventuring party. So, long story short, being part of this forum is like being part of an adventuring party, if that makes any sense. I can't promise that I'll stick with you guys no matter what, but while I'm at this "table" I can promise that I'll do my best and just have fun.
Thanks for providing those insights, @m7600 ! It warms my heart this community is still continuing, in 2021.