I like Anomen's development, but my major problem is that metagaming is required to justify taking him. Otherwise, for all charname knows, he is just an arrogant and self righteous jerk.
He's a jerk that brings a lot to the table though. I'd rather adventure with a powerful jerk than a wimpy nice guy...
I like Anomen's development, but my major problem is that metagaming is required to justify taking him. Otherwise, for all charname knows, he is just an arrogant and self righteous jerk.
He's a jerk that brings a lot to the table though. I'd rather adventure with a powerful jerk than a wimpy nice guy...
True, but that also requires metagaming. With his pre-test Wisdom, he's not that powerful.
To have him as an adventuring companion, I'd partially agree with you. As a romance interest (which was where the discussion started) being an arrogant jerk is kind of disqualifying.
Possibly unpopular opinion: We all use metagaming, even if we don't want to. Otherwise, we'd for example do the Windspear Hills right after the De'Arnise Hold.
Possibly unpopular opinion: We all use metagaming, even if we don't want to. Otherwise, we'd for example do the Windspear Hills right after the De'Arnise Hold.
I did that on my very first run (In fact on another run I did the Windspear Hills first before anything else.)
Lots of dying ensued.
Now that I've played SoA so many times I've memorized trap locations and don't use find traps until right next to them, so meta gaming assessment is probably true.
I don't think it takes too much metagaming to take Anomen: you've been captured, imprisoned, had Imoen taken from you, and have only 4 possible companions thus far: Yoshimo, Aerie, Jaheira, and Minsc. You're in desperate need for help, and though he might be irritating, he's unlikely to stab you in the back with the way he's going on. Yoshimo is the only one with any real knowledge of Athkatla in the party, and CHARNAME might already be suspicious of him: I could definitely see a pragmatic CHARNAME agree to travel with Anomen for awhile for the exact reason he's travelling with Minsc: safety in numbers.
Unpopular opinion: both heavy metagaming and light metagaming are fine options, but heck if I'm going to have to search every 6 feet for traps in light metagaming. At the very best, I'm using the Find Traps spell; at the worst, I'm metagaming them all anyways.
NPC mods are silly. You should always use me instead.
Oh I do, I gag you, restrain you in chains, connect the end of those chains to an iron ball or Anker and then push that Anker off the sword coast cliff and into the sea.
My wife is in her 70s too and she is still my sex bomb.
A friend of mine married a much younger woman amidst much tut-tutting and people telling her that while she was still young she would have to look after an old man. As it turned out, he had to look after her! True love doesn't look at such things however. You look after someone because you love them.
We all use metagaming, even if we don't want to. Otherwise, we'd for example do the Windspear Hills right after the De'Arnise Hold.
I would even go further: conscious non-metagaming (e. g. purposely not using buffs before fight when Charname doesn't know about ambush, and so on) is the most mategamey way to play the game.
Not really an unpopular opinion really, but still.. Anomen is actually a nice guy.
I know a super small minority might find him a bit rude, condescending and Disrespectful. But as most people know, it’s not so: Anomen is a nice guy.
Sure he can complain about your in game choices, which some apparently finds annoying. Stupid Anomen, how dare he reprimand you when you - the hero of Baldur’s gate and famous Bhaalspawn - decide to investigate petty crime, do fed ex quests and go questing for a gong? How rude!!!
Well perhaps your life choices aren’t as shiny and bright as you may think....? And perhaps just don’t have a clue when Irenicus asks you: “do you even know your potential”. Because Anomen does and will kindly advice you if you stray.
So are you really going to do 3 in game months of minor side quests before going to spellhold and save your old friend who helped you escape your cell in the dungeon? And letting the “epic” side quests be petty jobs better left to the local authorities or some small time adventurers (yeah I am looking at you Bondari)?
So you are seriously wanting to go on a quest for a gong? At best a repo job left for Bondari, and at worst just plain stupidity. I actually knew some people who went on a search for a gong - and they where stoners. What’s your excuse? The 18.000 xp that you just can’t live without?
Because Anomen will shut up with his reproaching when you actually do some real questing befitting your potential and will not scold you for helping your old friend - so do something heroic and go save Imoen; and you will find Anomen less of pain in the neck.
Surely you can find plenty of NPCs who solely judge you on your reputation, and not look at in game your choices. But Anomen does, and he lives up to his opening comment: he wants to do something righteous - not spend his time fooling around.
But if you know your potential and want do some appropriate heroic questing befitting you’re divine power and potential, then Anomen will not berate you. Just saying.
And if you just want some halfling cheerleader who cheers when your rep is 20 and don’t mind that you stand idle and relearn grease 20 times for the juicy xp and do petty questing, then there is a solution for that as well. Go ahead I won’t judge you
I like Neera and Rasaad in BG:EE but in BG2:EE they become a pain. Neera is an irresponsible brat and Rasaad should keep his opinions about my life choices to himself; he's worse than Anomen!
I like Neera and Rasaad in BG:EE but in BG2:EE they become a pain. Neera is an irresponsible brat and Rasaad should keep his opinions about my life choices to himself; he's worse than Anomen!
The better question is, what did you do that was so bad?
In fact, I once saw Anomen shove a beggar to the ground and watched as he force-fed the poor beggar the entire Umar Witch Project Journal. Anomen also cuts down trees for fun.
I like Neera and Rasaad in BG:EE but in BG2:EE they become a pain. Neera is an irresponsible brat and Rasaad should keep his opinions about my life choices to himself; he's worse than Anomen!
Maybe it's just me, but Rasaad and Neera feel quite dettached (spelling?) from the game, it's as if they have their own mini game inside SoA. It doesn't mean that other players won't like them, but I see all Bioware npcs as truly part of Athkatla and Amn, and their own problems blend in with the protagonist's quests in an organic way.
All the BD companions imo feel extremely disconnected from the original game content, which is hardly surprising given so many factors... completely different studio/writers/content creators/staff, a decade and a half with some dizzyingly accelerated cultural shifts between the releases, different voice actors (quite a few of the voice actors from the original games are legends in the business), definitely different voice recording technology (especially with audio, just because it's newer doesn't mean it's better), etc. etc.
I remember being a little shocked the first time I saw Neera's 1st BG2 cutscene in the Bridge District - listening to Lanneth's voice track and watching the awkward dialog (the strange rip-off of Gaelin Bayle's "Coo!" did not impress), I had this sinking feeling... which Rasaad later only reinforced...
yeah they do feel very disconnected from the rest of the npcs. even modded npcs feel more like they fit in the game then the bd ones. most of their content is in their quests and romances. they don't have as many banters as the vanilla npcs and they don't interject as often either.
I doubt new players to the series would even be able to tell which were the new companions were it not for a) how much more interaction they have in BG1, and b) their better audio quality.
This is a subjective (and imho rather dubious) claim - at least as subjective as what I'm about to state: the audio mix for the newer content is of ... let's say uneven quality (that's me being nice).
The voice tracks in the cutscene I mentioned is a good example of audio quality (not the quality of voice acting which is another issue altogether) being noticeably different in quality from the classic voicetracks. To be blunt, it was to the point of being distracting for me; I can noticeably hear the noisegate/compression effects- I remember thinking 'ok, I can understand if they couldn't afford/find better voice actors, but how much did they pay to mix this?'...
Black Isle Studios' work is 2 decades old; it's primitive tech by today's standards, but they made the most of it and a lot of it stands the test of time which is a big part of the reason why these games are still played today. A HUGE part of their best work was in the audio/sound/voice/ambiance/music category, which for a lot of people is glossed over or experienced subconsciously (and yet powerfully - imo it's a big part of what gives these quaint, visually limited games such an appeal, even when people don't realize it).
Visually, I have to give the nod to BD's updated chapter visuals for BG1 and such, and seeing the game at higher resolutions is great, etc. AI scripting, SoD is definitely miles and miles better than than the ridiculously bad classic AI. BIS/BW didn't get everything right obviously... but as far as food for the ear (as a musician it's something I'm partial to), imo it's BIS hands down, old school tech and all.
I think Dorn's cartoonish villainy, Neera's wackiness, and Rasaad's sober religiosity fit in very well with Minsc's cartoonish hamminess, Tiax's craziness, and any BG1 priest's frequent invocations of their god. As for Hexxat, her very questline reeks of Shadows of Amn themes (her superior is a shadowy supernatural crime boss!).
I think a new player, if they were asked to guess which characters were EE-exclusive, would probably name the EE NPCs accurately, but mostly just because they had more content associated with them. It would be easy to mistake BG1 Minsc+Dynaheir+Edwin and BG2 Haer'dalis, Aerie, Cernd, Jan, and Valygar as EE NPCs.
I think Dorn's cartoonish villainy, Neera's wackiness, and Rasaad's sober religiosity fit in very well with Minsc's cartoonish hamminess, Tiax's craziness, and any BG1 priest's frequent invocations of their god. As for Hexxat, her very questline reeks of Shadows of Amn themes (her superior is a shadowy supernatural crime boss!).
I think a new player, if they were asked to guess which characters were EE-exclusive, would probably name the EE NPCs accurately, but mostly just because they had more content associated with them. It would be easy to mistake BG1 Minsc+Dynaheir+Edwin and BG2 Haer'dalis, Aerie, Cernd, Jan, and Valygar as EE NPCs.
I suppose I can go a bit further with my criticism here because it's the unpopular opinions thread. Well, IMHO Minsc , Haer D'Alis , Aerie , Cernd , Valygar and Jan have clear personality traits and distinct quirks but they sound way more natural, even gaudy figures like Jan and Haer D'Alis dont possess the "hey, look at me!" presence that Neera, Dorn and Rasaad evoke. I don't know if a new player would identify who's an EE Npc and who isn't, and I know that they are loved by most players, but the way they're written is definitely different and I prefer Bioware's style .
I still appreciate BD for all their efforts making an EE version and a cool expansion, though.
I remember in the early days of the EE, there were new players on the forums that had to ask which npcs were new. Its easy to point out differences when you've been playing the same game for years and decades.
the only way you can tell the ee characters apart from the vanilla ones is in bg 1 ee if your not useing npc project. as they talk alot more then the rest of the npcs. in sod they are about even.
but like i said in 2 they feel like they have alot less content then the rest of the party banter and interjections wise so they stick out like a sore thumb.
Unpopular opinion: Bodhi is a better, cuter and far more interesting little sister than Imoen will ever be. And Jon in turn is the perfect elder brother. Especially when compared to Abdel. Or Sarevok, for that matter.
Comments
He's a jerk that brings a lot to the table though. I'd rather adventure with a powerful jerk than a wimpy nice guy...
True, but that also requires metagaming. With his pre-test Wisdom, he's not that powerful.
To have him as an adventuring companion, I'd partially agree with you. As a romance interest (which was where the discussion started) being an arrogant jerk is kind of disqualifying.
Possibly unpopular opinion: We all use metagaming, even if we don't want to. Otherwise, we'd for example do the Windspear Hills right after the De'Arnise Hold.
I did that on my very first run (In fact on another run I did the Windspear Hills first before anything else.)
Lots of dying ensued.
Now that I've played SoA so many times I've memorized trap locations and don't use find traps until right next to them, so meta gaming assessment is probably true.
Unpopular opinion: both heavy metagaming and light metagaming are fine options, but heck if I'm going to have to search every 6 feet for traps in light metagaming. At the very best, I'm using the Find Traps spell; at the worst, I'm metagaming them all anyways.
Just sayin'... tis also metagaming for the charmain to know whether Anomen's got 12 or 16 Wisdom.
As somebody in his 70s that is soooo ageist.
My wife is in her 70s too and she is still my sex bomb.
A friend of mine married a much younger woman amidst much tut-tutting and people telling her that while she was still young she would have to look after an old man. As it turned out, he had to look after her! True love doesn't look at such things however. You look after someone because you love them.
I call her my sex bomb. She calls me her randy old goat.
Powergaming and meta gaming isn't always all that fun.
I would even go further: conscious non-metagaming (e. g. purposely not using buffs before fight when Charname doesn't know about ambush, and so on) is the most mategamey way to play the game.
I know a super small minority might find him a bit rude, condescending and Disrespectful. But as most people know, it’s not so: Anomen is a nice guy.
Sure he can complain about your in game choices, which some apparently finds annoying. Stupid Anomen, how dare he reprimand you when you - the hero of Baldur’s gate and famous Bhaalspawn - decide to investigate petty crime, do fed ex quests and go questing for a gong? How rude!!!
Well perhaps your life choices aren’t as shiny and bright as you may think....? And perhaps just don’t have a clue when Irenicus asks you: “do you even know your potential”. Because Anomen does and will kindly advice you if you stray.
So are you really going to do 3 in game months of minor side quests before going to spellhold and save your old friend who helped you escape your cell in the dungeon? And letting the “epic” side quests be petty jobs better left to the local authorities or some small time adventurers (yeah I am looking at you Bondari)?
So you are seriously wanting to go on a quest for a gong? At best a repo job left for Bondari, and at worst just plain stupidity. I actually knew some people who went on a search for a gong - and they where stoners. What’s your excuse? The 18.000 xp that you just can’t live without?
Because Anomen will shut up with his reproaching when you actually do some real questing befitting your potential and will not scold you for helping your old friend - so do something heroic and go save Imoen; and you will find Anomen less of pain in the neck.
Surely you can find plenty of NPCs who solely judge you on your reputation, and not look at in game your choices. But Anomen does, and he lives up to his opening comment: he wants to do something righteous - not spend his time fooling around.
But if you know your potential and want do some appropriate heroic questing befitting you’re divine power and potential, then Anomen will not berate you. Just saying.
And if you just want some halfling cheerleader who cheers when your rep is 20 and don’t mind that you stand idle and relearn grease 20 times for the juicy xp and do petty questing, then there is a solution for that as well. Go ahead I won’t judge you
The better question is, what did you do that was so bad?
Oh my, this could not be further from the truth.
In fact, I once saw Anomen shove a beggar to the ground and watched as he force-fed the poor beggar the entire Umar Witch Project Journal. Anomen also cuts down trees for fun.
Maybe it's just me, but Rasaad and Neera feel quite dettached (spelling?) from the game, it's as if they have their own mini game inside SoA. It doesn't mean that other players won't like them, but I see all Bioware npcs as truly part of Athkatla and Amn, and their own problems blend in with the protagonist's quests in an organic way.
I remember being a little shocked the first time I saw Neera's 1st BG2 cutscene in the Bridge District - listening to Lanneth's voice track and watching the awkward dialog (the strange rip-off of Gaelin Bayle's "Coo!" did not impress), I had this sinking feeling... which Rasaad later only reinforced...
This is a subjective (and imho rather dubious) claim - at least as subjective as what I'm about to state: the audio mix for the newer content is of ... let's say uneven quality (that's me being nice).
The voice tracks in the cutscene I mentioned is a good example of audio quality (not the quality of voice acting which is another issue altogether) being noticeably different in quality from the classic voicetracks. To be blunt, it was to the point of being distracting for me; I can noticeably hear the noisegate/compression effects- I remember thinking 'ok, I can understand if they couldn't afford/find better voice actors, but how much did they pay to mix this?'...
Black Isle Studios' work is 2 decades old; it's primitive tech by today's standards, but they made the most of it and a lot of it stands the test of time which is a big part of the reason why these games are still played today. A HUGE part of their best work was in the audio/sound/voice/ambiance/music category, which for a lot of people is glossed over or experienced subconsciously (and yet powerfully - imo it's a big part of what gives these quaint, visually limited games such an appeal, even when people don't realize it).
Visually, I have to give the nod to BD's updated chapter visuals for BG1 and such, and seeing the game at higher resolutions is great, etc. AI scripting, SoD is definitely miles and miles better than than the ridiculously bad classic AI. BIS/BW didn't get everything right obviously... but as far as food for the ear (as a musician it's something I'm partial to), imo it's BIS hands down, old school tech and all.
I think a new player, if they were asked to guess which characters were EE-exclusive, would probably name the EE NPCs accurately, but mostly just because they had more content associated with them. It would be easy to mistake BG1 Minsc+Dynaheir+Edwin and BG2 Haer'dalis, Aerie, Cernd, Jan, and Valygar as EE NPCs.
I suppose I can go a bit further with my criticism here because it's the unpopular opinions thread. Well, IMHO Minsc , Haer D'Alis , Aerie , Cernd , Valygar and Jan have clear personality traits and distinct quirks but they sound way more natural, even gaudy figures like Jan and Haer D'Alis dont possess the "hey, look at me!" presence that Neera, Dorn and Rasaad evoke. I don't know if a new player would identify who's an EE Npc and who isn't, and I know that they are loved by most players, but the way they're written is definitely different and I prefer Bioware's style .
I still appreciate BD for all their efforts making an EE version and a cool expansion, though.
Back on topic
Hexxat has the best personal questline in SoA.
but like i said in 2 they feel like they have alot less content then the rest of the party banter and interjections wise so they stick out like a sore thumb.