Like Sand Through the Hourglass...

HaHaCharade

One of the things that is of course cool about BG or IWD is that they use the Forgotten Realms Calendar, and time passes when you camp, travel, etc.

I always tend to try to camp as little as possible really, and I wonder if that is just me being OCD or if others do that too. There really isn't any penalty to passing too much time (hell you could pass years and the plot is still there). I sometimes wish there was more emphasis put on time passing, and having to do certain things in a certain amount of time... like in real AD&D... but that may also get annoying. I know there's that timed quest in BG where you rob the thieves guild (its been awhile but I think that's right). I do tend to camp *a lot* more in IWD, especially in places like Dragon's Eye where hordes of Cold Wights require a lot more fireball spells then I can memorize per day at the level I'm there... Anyway, just wondering what people's thoughts were on it all.

Shin

I have thought about this as well. Personally I try to adapt to a middle road. Generally I view resting as something my party does when tired/sleepy after a long day of adventuring - I never do it in a game mechanics-sense just to regain spells (unless in extreme circumstances, like if there is an important battle coming up where it would make sense for the party to be as well prepared as they could possibly be), and normally try to rest no more than once per in-game 24-hour period.

On the other hand I believe it makes sense for the BG story to take place over the span of a couple of months (like, when I return to Candlekeep I want to feel like it's been several weeks or months since I was last there, not like I just left earlier the same day), with the main character doing a lot of traveling and backtracking up and down the Sword Coast, so I definitely rest when the schedule calls for it. Rather than speedtravel to a destination 35 hours away for instance, I will travel to one maybe 16 hours away, camp there, and then travel on.

I also prefer this "timeless" concept where there aren't any clocks ticking on quest completions or other options available to you, as that kind of feature tend to fence you in and lead completionist gamers like me to just figure out and stick to the most time-efficient ways of getting everything done, which has a poor effect on immersion.

My normal in-game completion time for BG+TotSC is usually between 120 and 160 days, depending on how much traveling around I do. BGT also adds around two weeks of time when traveling to and from the werewolf island, something that Tutu doesn't seem to do.

HaHaCharade

I am usually up around 350+ days for BG + TOSC.... Blah lol

Tetraploid

I don't really make an effort to keep my game time down, so by the time I've strolled merrily up and down the sword coast, BG has taken my character years to complete. Personally, I find it fairly amusing: someone asks me to do something for them and I come back over a year later to tell them I found their boots or whatever.

My favourite is in IWD2 (don't know if any other games do this) where, if you don't have a cleric in your party and opt to 'rest until healed' it takes (I think) 8 hours per hitpoint. A few levels in, you start getting messages like 'You rested for 76 days and 16 hours'. Conveniently, in this monster filled wilderness, not a single goblin found your party while they were apparently in comas.

sandmanCCL

I find I only have to rest once or twice a map while adventuring, regardless of some self-imposed rest schedule.

I usually finish BG1 with about 2 to 3 months having passed, and BG2 in about another in-game month, with Throne of Bhaal taking maybe an in-game week. All my end-game TOB files have between 100 and 120 days on them.

LordsDarkKnight185

...These are the days of our lives.

._. *grabs popcorn*

Permidion_Stark

There are some places in the game where I set self-imposed time constraints. In BG2 I always try to get out of Irenicus's dungeon without resting because I don't like the idea of Imoen getting nightmares (even though she turns up in enough of mine later on). When Baron Ployer curses Jaheira I get the cure as quickly as possible - though that is mainly because she is annoying when she is healthy but she is completely unbearable when she is sick.

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud

No timers on my quests, please. I like to take my time to explore and fight enemies well-prepared.

BelgarathMTH

The only attention I pay to the game time is the day/night cycle. I avoid going skulking about at night.

"Darkness falls, and Nature sleeps...", and all that. Not to mention, all the worst elements of society and monsterdom come out at night, just as in real life.

The only other attention I've ever paid to the game clock/calendar was when I was playing with Berelinde's Gavin mod in BG2. He has to visit his adopted daughter at the temple of Oghma every 15 days.

Oh, and I also watch it when I have knowingly activated a 3-day NPC quest, for Minsc and his Umar Hills boy, Nalia and her De'Arnise Keep, or Aerie and her Quayle/playhouse visit. Ignoring these will get you either stutter-bugs or party breaks.

Same thing after I have received messengers for Anomen or Jan Jansen.