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How you were introduced to Baldur's Gate...

JustywustyJustywusty Member Posts: 7
edited August 2012 in Archive (General Discussion)
It was 1998 at Christiana Mall in Delaware. Me and my cousin were at Electronics Boutique, and I saw Baldur's Gate on a display. Seeing that it was an AD&D game, my interest was piqued, but I had been disappointed many times before. I loved the pen and paper games, but at that time (and even now) there were very few must-play D&D titles. Thankfully, I bought it anyway, and NEVER regretted it. Anyone else remember the day they bought/heard about this game?
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  • XavioriaXavioria Member Posts: 875
    edited August 2012
    I caught my brother and mother playing it, and I decided to take a shot at it. Been playing ever since... I believe it was 1999
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    Quite simply. I was a child, browsing through the collection of games in the house, and I stumbled upon Baldur's Gate. The description/images on the back of the box intrigued me. I installed, and here I am today.
  • skrissakskrissak Member Posts: 24
    brother was playing it, got me hooked. it's still my fav game to date.
  • micahdt71micahdt71 Member Posts: 3
    I was watching my cousin play Diablo but my parents wouldnt let me play it so i asked him if he knew of any other games that were like that. He told me about Baldur's Gate. I went and bought it and decided it was way better, although not really that similar. From that day the obsession was on. I bought every game I could that was using the Infinity Engine. I still think that BG2 is the greatest game ever.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    GOG, last year. What can I say, I had a lot of catching-up to do. :)
  • mellotronheartmellotronheart Member Posts: 13
    Back in 1998 my friend said "Hey you HAVE to play this with me!," which started a multiplayer game that ended up spanning 5 years as we played through BG1, BG2, and Icewind Dale.
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    mellotronheart said:

    Back in 1998 my friend said "Hey you HAVE to play this with me!," which started a multiplayer game that ended up spanning 5 years as we played through BG1, BG2, and Icewind Dale.

    The comment/request/demand that introduced you to the series sounds very much like how I got one of my friends interested in it. Among my friends, I tend to have what I call "contagious hype/entertainment passion", where when I clearly get excited/bright with anticipation about a game, movie, or concert, it spreads. I seem to be the only one in the group with this contagious effect.

  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    I was 10 years-old at my local Gamestop, money burning a hole in my pocket, and digging through this bin of PC games I happened to pick up the box for Baldur's Gate. I looked at the back, and it really sounded interesting, and then one of the employees who had played it talked it up and got me even more excited. It gave me some trouble with some Windows 95 type errors at first, but once I got into it I was hooked. I'd never seen anything quite like the BG1 intro -with Sarevok stomping around killing people with his bare hands and such- in a game before in my life, so I instantly felt I had stumbled upon something really special.
  • reedmilfamreedmilfam Member Posts: 2,808
    I'd heard great things about it but never played. Then came Knights of the Old Republic. My most fun game since TIE FIGHTER, Defender of the Empire! I was blown away by this new (to me) BioWare. Got BG original via eBay and it had TOSC with it (I had no idea what that was). Lo and behold, it was the same D&D that I played when I was a younger me geek.

    Soon had BG2 TOB+SOA, IWD, IWD2 and PS:T. Then came NwN. My geekiness knows no bounds! Only it's impossible to make Minsc as the character in NwN 1 OR 2. So. I waited. And waited. And then came...

    BG:EE

    Stand and Deliver. So that my Hamster might get a better look at you.

    ...18SEP2012...
  • CCarluNNCCarluNN Member Posts: 200
    It came in a software bundle with our newly bought computer back in 2000, a Packard Bell I believe.
  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    Rofl, can't beleive I'm going to say this, but here goes.

    I was a little noob walking around in the aisles of Best Buy and looking for a new RPG to play. I found a box called "Tales of the Sword Coast" and got lost in a trance reading the back of the box and looking at the pictures. I got so excited I bought the game without even realizing it was only an expansion pack.

    *blushes*
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    Jaysama said:

    Rofl, can't beleive I'm going to say this, but here goes.

    I was a little noob walking around in the aisles of Best Buy and looking for a new RPG to play. I found a box called "Tales of the Sword Coast" and got lost in a trance reading the back of the box and looking at the pictures. I got so excited I bought the game without even realizing it was only an expansion pack.

    *blushes*

    You might be surprised to know how many people have done that. On the bright side, you picked an outstanding series to buy and expansion for.

  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    Agreed! After saving up some more money I eventually bought it and it's my favorite game of all time now! (Well, Planescape is, but I consider all of them great in their own way.)
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    Jaysama said:

    Agreed! After saving up some more money I eventually bought it and it's my favorite game of all time now! (Well, Planescape is, but I consider all of them great in their own way.)

    And I bet you must have been absolutely "giddish" (I don't even know if that's a word) while you saved money in anticipation of purchasing Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately, I rarely get any kind of excitement or "OMG I CANT WAAAAIIIITTT" anticipation for modern games.

    Thank you, Overhaul Games, for giving me a taste of that wonderful and nostalgic feeling!
  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    edited August 2012
    Agreed! I have lost so much faith in modern gaming I just play old games now. Diablo 3 made me absolutely sick!

    My biggest problem with the Baldur's Gate series is the lack of randomization, after playing it for so long you tend to memorize every little detail. It's funny though, even without randomization the game still has such incredible replayability!

    *Edit for typo*
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    Jaysama said:

    Agreed! I have lost so much faith in modern gaming I just play old games now. Diablo 3 made me absolutely sick!

    My biggest problem with the Baldur's Gate series is the lack of randomization, after playing it for so long you tend to memorize every little detail. It's funny though, even without randomization the game has such incredibly replayability!


    Exactly. (Are you a forgotten ally of mine?)

    While the lack of randomization can be a bit of problem, it has so much replayability that it's nearly negated. I've been using the same overall party build and playstyle for the past couple of years, and it still does not bore me. It's like reading Lord of the Rings more than once; the story remains the same, but the fascination does not wane.
  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    Something I do to keep interest is reload after fights multiple times and test myself. For example:

    -Try the fight with a certain set of spells
    -Try the fight with only 3 or 4 members
    -Try the fight with only 1 person but rest beforehand after 'memorizing' every single buff spell you have available, making the one person going into the fight's avatar completely blanketed in awesome buffs!
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    Jaysama said:

    Something I do to keep interest is reload after fights multiple times and test myself. For example:

    -Try the fight with a certain set of spells
    -Try the fight with only 3 or 4 members
    -Try the fight with only 1 person but rest beforehand after 'memorizing' every single buff spell you have available, making the one person going into the fight's avatar completely blanketed in awesome buffs!

    I've done these a bit myself, though I sometimes have to reload fights by default, as I take the death of any companion to be a failure. (Even though I have two clerics, and in BG2 can cast Raise Dead quite early in the game...but there are a great deal of perma-death attacks as well).

  • Metal_HurlantMetal_Hurlant Member Posts: 324
    I was in a department store called Grace Bros (now Myer) in Sydney back in 1998 and looking at some games. Picked up Baldurs Gate and looked at it and some guy next to me also looking at games said, "that's a great game". I said really? He was all excited and said "yes! It's awesome". So I bought it. :)
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    Metal_Hurlant said:

    I was in a department store called Grace Bros (now Myer) in Sydney back in 1998 and looking at some games. Picked up Baldurs Gate and looked at it and some guy next to me also looking at games said, "that's a great game". I said really? He was all excited and said "yes! It's awesome". So I bought it. :)

    Whoever the guy was may get a visit from Karma some day, for doing a *very* good deed.
  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    Metal_Hurlant said:

    I was in a department store called Grace Bros (now Myer) in Sydney back in 1998 and looking at some games. Picked up Baldurs Gate and looked at it and some guy next to me also looking at games said, "that's a great game". I said really? He was all excited and said "yes! It's awesome". So I bought it. :)

    I do that all the time when I'm at a store. I always peek at what games people are looking at and offer my advice. I actually met a boyfriend through doing that, it's a great way to meet like minded gamers!
  • SophiaSophia Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 581
    CCarluNN said:

    It came in a software bundle with our newly bought computer back in 2000, a Packard Bell I believe.

    Same for me!
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    Late '99 my old Apple computer finally gave up the ghost, so for Christmas I bought myself a Dell and went shopping for some PC games. On the same day I purchased Baldur's Gate and Age of Kings. That was a good day.
  • TulimyrskyTulimyrsky Member Posts: 17
    It would have been 2001 or 2002, I bought Baldur's Gate II off eBay, as new, for about $20 AUD. I was intrigued by the box art and screenshots. I'm so glad I bought it, I still have the original cloth map and everything!
  • CheesebellyCheesebelly Member Posts: 1,727
    Back in 1998, a friend of my brother brought it to my brother to try it out. He eventually decided to buy his own copy not a long while later. One day he was busy doing his own homework and issued me to explore Candlekeep's exterior. So I did that.... that is until I got to Imoen and she started talking gibberish (I didn't speak a word of English back then) so I ran away scared thinking I screwed up his entire game.

    Not long after that, he installed the game on my own PC so I could play it. Fun times those were... didn't know what the hell I was doing! :')
  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    Cheesebelly said:

    Back in 1998, a friend of my brother brought it to my brother to try it out. He eventually decided to buy his own copy not a long while later. One day he was busy doing his own homework and issued me to explore Candlekeep's exterior. So I did that.... that is until I got to Imoen and she started talking gibberish (I didn't speak a word of English back then) so I ran away scared thinking I screwed up his entire game.

    Not long after that, he installed the game on my own PC so I could play it. Fun times those were... didn't know what the hell I was doing! :')

    That's so cute!

    I am used to little kids looking at complex games and immediately dismissing them as "boring". Watching a young mind becoming intrigued by an amazing game like Baldur's Gate is such a heart warmer! It takes me back when I was little and everything about videogames amazed me! RPG's in particular, I was blessed with an incredible imagination and when I played them I was the next best thing from actually being inside the game.

    A lot of my really old video game memories feel more like "places I've been", rather then "places I've seen". Sorry if I'm getting really deep over something silly, but it's the staple of my life and makes me so happy to think about ^_^
  • CCarluNNCCarluNN Member Posts: 200
    I think little kids these days are actually better and quicker in understanding computer video games. Well, maybe not in the field of RPGs like BG, but definitely on the battlefield with FPS like Call of Duty. I might be wrong, but this is the picture that I have of todays little gamers. Too realistic, too violent, not enough imagination.
  • JaysamaJaysama Member Posts: 66
    CCarluNN said:

    I think little kids these days are actually better and quicker in understanding computer video games. Well, maybe not in the field of RPGs like BG, but definitely on the battlefield with FPS like Call of Duty. I might be wrong, but this is the picture that I have of todays little gamers. Too realistic, too violent, not enough imagination.

    That's the point I was trying to make.
  • AenorAenor Member Posts: 64
    One day my big brother just came home and slammed the game box to the table. I still remember the amazement: "Whoa - 5 CDs!"

    I had just finished Fallout and thought it couldn't get any better than that. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.
  • DjimmyDjimmy Member Posts: 749
    edited August 2012
    Similar to @Xavioria, @skrissak my brother played it first and he showed the game to me. I didn't like it at all. I remember saying that it was a stupid game or something... that was until i tried it. Now everything is different. It is ironically enough how things you hate the most can become things you love the most.
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