A majority of people that I know, even my own age or slightly younger (although mostly 5+ years younger) do not know about the BG series, or they think of it as just the horrible Dark Alliance games. Most of them have not played Final Fantasy VII either, and I think BG and FFVII are some of the best games ever created, and I'm not being genre-specific. Whether or not/how much I "educate" them depends on them, really. Are they gamers? Do they show an interest? Have they wanted to learn about the games before? Plenty of more questions are asked in addition to gauged reactions. I have no interest in wasted time.
I've introduced a handful of people to both games, but sadly, most people are shallow and blinded by graphics. In the minds of most "modern" gamers, a game is judged purely by it's graphics. If they are not modern, clearly the game must be horrible.
As I am more and more often saying about the typical modern game: "All flash, no substance." Blech. I'd rather sit on a riverbed playing with rocks than install some of the garbage I see today. Crysis, anyone? =S
@Son_Of_Imoen I don't agree. You don't have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy BG. I've introduced it to plenty of casuals who absolutely love it.
Really? Man I should see if I can get my bestie into it. That would be awesome. He's quite intelligent, there was a board game that my family took a good 3 playthroughs to really understand, I showed him that board game and he had a full grasp of it within minutes.
Are you all so familiar with gamers in real life? I've seen people talk about how everybody thinks BG means Dark Alliance. I don't even know anyone that knows Dark Alliance. The people I know IRL who can be called gamers can be counted on the fingers of one hand: 5 and that includes two nephews of mine, one aged 7 and one aged 11 playing Wii, Playstation and the like. Of the people my own age, I only know 3 other people I know that play games: my brother, my brother-in-law and one acquiantance of mine who was a close friend some years ago (distancing not having to anything with gaming). And that's it. My parents like Spider Solitaire, but it's a card-game on Windows, does that count as 'casual gamers?'.
Are gamers that common in your lives off-line? For preaching, there first needs to be an audience!
I live with my brother who is a gamer, though he just plays Civ at the moment When starcraft2 came out when had an epic bronze league crusade however, it was awesome
My dark alliance buddy now lives miles away, I only see him a couple of times a year and we play boardgames or roleplay.
I tried forcing my gf to play a solo game of Call of Cthulu for me which began and ended as follows..
Me: You are Lady Jane Simpson! girl about town, flapper and working for your uncle to investigate the mysterious goings on at a small tenement of his.
The door hangs rotten, on rusty hinges and weeds bestrew the path in front of you as you gaze upon the house where just a few months ago a Man and his wife were dragged screaming to the asylum.
Lady Jane Simpson: I'm not going in there, it's scary!
Me:Don't worry it'll be fine! look just roleplay, what would your character do?
I don't know what sort of people like, vs don't like, BG. I do know that my 13 year old tells me, in a serious voice, "I grow tired of shouting battle cries at this mage. Boo will finish his eyeballs once and for all to be sure that he does not rise again," leading the rest of the present family members to cry, "Evil, meet my sword. Swooooooooooooord. Meeeeeet eeeeevil!!!!"
Her favorite computer character is still Imoen.
My oldest will play BG:EE when the Japanese translation is available. She still has nightmares about
The evil mage at the Friendly Arm Inn.
They know to give Boo his exercise, lest he bite us all in hard to reach places!
Anyway, I've spread love of BG to three people, so that is glorious...
I might do a gift copy to that 11 years old nephew. Two or three years ago, I showed all the youngsters (than 4-9 year old), Baldur's Gate with portraits that displayed themselves as the (custom-rolled) characters. It was just for show, but they got might enthuastic, especially the eldest two. I thought them to young to get to know the game (I can't be around to teach them, they live on the other side of the country, almost 100 miles away), but the eldest is now 11 (or 13? have to ask my mom), maybe he can learn the game on his own now. I've read reports here of fellow members who were that young when they learned to play.
Yeah. A good chunk of the people I know IRL are gamers. I could name ten right off the top of my head. I would be able to name more, but I am really shit at remembering people's names.
What? Seriously? Where on earth are you hanging out, that people haven't played FFVII? The problem with people I've met is EVERYONE has played FFVII and no one's even heard of any of the FF's before that, or of at least 25 infinitely better games I could mention. Honestly, it's the most popular in the series, and the most overrated, I don't know where you get off saying no one's played it (or that it's one of the 'best games ever created', for that matter. It's not even in the same class as BG. It's a good game, but I wouldn't rate it one of the best. Might make it into the top 100, but I'd put it somewhere down on the list. So many games were done so much better.)
I've been selling it left and right to people. Hopefully I have some multiplayer friends to play with soon from all the people I sold on the idea of buying BG EE
(In reply to reedmilfam) The wizard slayer sucks? Then I must be God at BG2 because I kicked ass with a wizard slayer all the way through. I even increased the difficulty too. As far as this subject goes, the best way to be a missionary is to find out the friend's interest in games and if they grew up playing games or enjoy games that are similar to this, then tell them about BG(EE) enthusiastically and share it with them. Even if they like a good story (ie; from fantasy books), they might come to love it for that aspect.
I'm 22 and I also started BG1 at 9 years old and it has been my favorite game since. I got my sister into it and now we have discussions on the game when we are both playing through it.
What? Seriously? Where on earth are you hanging out, that people haven't played FFVII? The problem with people I've met is EVERYONE has played FFVII and no one's even heard of any of the FF's before that, or of at least 25 infinitely better games I could mention. Honestly, it's the most popular in the series, and the most overrated, I don't know where you get off saying no one's played it (or that it's one of the 'best games ever created', for that matter. It's not even in the same class as BG. It's a good game, but I wouldn't rate it one of the best. Might make it into the top 100, but I'd put it somewhere down on the list. So many games were done so much better.)
I definitely do not feel that Final Fantasy VII is an overrated game. It's immersive, outstanding, and it's one of the few games I've played where I actually felt any form of attachment to the characters. The game greatly rewards players who spend time exploring and doing side quests. I've spent dozens of hours just enjoying the minigames!
I'd appreciate it if you read my post in it's entirety before firing off remarks such as "I don't know where you get off saying no one's played it", when I quite clearly was referring to people that I know in a specific age group. I will provide the statement in question below in order to prevent future confusion/unnecessary conflict:
"A majority of people that I know, even my own age or slightly younger (although mostly 5+ years younger) do not know about the BG series, or they think of it as just the horrible Dark Alliance games. Most of them have not played Final Fantasy VII either,"
You are entitled to your opinion of FFVII, BG, and any other game for that matter, as am I, as is everyone else. If you are looking to force your views of certain games on me, or if you are trying to start a debate/argument, you should look elsewhere, because I have absolutely no interest in it.
Back on topic: Who here has purchased this game for a friend that has never seriously played the BG series before? I've done this for a few friends of mine, and I hope it is a step towards them enjoying and playing through the entire series, be it original or EE.
7) Text interface. Reading long dialogue doesn't really interest me. I get the jist and hit next next next and get through to the next 'thing to do'. I imagine many players are the same.
Not to offend, but the story and very interesting text of games like BG/Morrowind/Avernum/Geneforge really helps immersion and story.
I hope you don't hate me for saying this, but my feelings are that if you are too impatient to read the story, you don't really deserve to enjoy it. Too many people are spoiled with voice acting and think older games aren't worth the time since they actually have to read.
I tried to get my brother's wife into Morrowind, (brother and I spent months playing it) but she had started with Oblivion, and she was like, "What, I have to READ all the things people say?" Forget that.
The biggest draw to Planescape: Torment was the tidal wave of story and setting. It was such a huge departure from "vanilla" D&D (at least to me) that it totally changed how I percieved RPG's and fantasy. I didn't care about the walls of text and crazy-long dialogue... I'd been reading 400+ page novels since I was 11, so it was a breeze for me!
Edited to add: my signature at work is: www.baldursgate.com
Text also has the added benefit of using your own imagination to fill in voices and intent. There is nothing more satisfying than engaging in dialogue with someone who is pure evil, and our perceptions of how that person justifies their own actions. Our minds add a certain tone and flavor to drama that I don't think can be captured by even the best of voice actors.
Comments
I've introduced a handful of people to both games, but sadly, most people are shallow and blinded by graphics. In the minds of most "modern" gamers, a game is judged purely by it's graphics. If they are not modern, clearly the game must be horrible.
As I am more and more often saying about the typical modern game: "All flash, no substance." Blech. I'd rather sit on a riverbed playing with rocks than install some of the garbage I see today. Crysis, anyone? =S
Happy days.
Are gamers that common in your lives off-line? For preaching, there first needs to be an audience!
My dark alliance buddy now lives miles away, I only see him a couple of times a year and we play boardgames or roleplay.
I tried forcing my gf to play a solo game of Call of Cthulu for me which began and ended as follows..
Me: You are Lady Jane Simpson! girl about town, flapper and working for your uncle to investigate the mysterious goings on at a small tenement of his.
The door hangs rotten, on rusty hinges and weeds bestrew the path in front of you as you gaze upon the house where just a few months ago a Man and his wife were dragged screaming to the asylum.
Lady Jane Simpson: I'm not going in there, it's scary!
Me:Don't worry it'll be fine! look just roleplay, what would your character do?
Lady Jane Simpson: My character's scared!
excuses if you ask me!
Its a lonely world.
Her favorite computer character is still Imoen.
My oldest will play BG:EE when the Japanese translation is available. She still has nightmares about
They know to give Boo his exercise, lest he bite us all in hard to reach places!
Anyway, I've spread love of BG to three people, so that is glorious...
Yeah. A good chunk of the people I know IRL are gamers. I could name ten right off the top of my head. I would be able to name more, but I am really shit at remembering people's names.
@Anduine
What? Seriously? Where on earth are you hanging out, that people haven't played FFVII? The problem with people I've met is EVERYONE has played FFVII and no one's even heard of any of the FF's before that, or of at least 25 infinitely better games I could mention. Honestly, it's the most popular in the series, and the most overrated, I don't know where you get off saying no one's played it (or that it's one of the 'best games ever created', for that matter. It's not even in the same class as BG. It's a good game, but I wouldn't rate it one of the best. Might make it into the top 100, but I'd put it somewhere down on the list. So many games were done so much better.)
As far as this subject goes, the best way to be a missionary is to find out the friend's interest in games and if they grew up playing games or enjoy games that are similar to this, then tell them about BG(EE) enthusiastically and share it with them. Even if they like a good story (ie; from fantasy books), they might come to love it for that aspect.
I'm 22 and I also started BG1 at 9 years old and it has been my favorite game since. I got my sister into it and now we have discussions on the game when we are both playing through it.
I definitely do not feel that Final Fantasy VII is an overrated game. It's immersive, outstanding, and it's one of the few games I've played where I actually felt any form of attachment to the characters. The game greatly rewards players who spend time exploring and doing side quests. I've spent dozens of hours just enjoying the minigames!
I'd appreciate it if you read my post in it's entirety before firing off remarks such as "I don't know where you get off saying no one's played it", when I quite clearly was referring to people that I know in a specific age group. I will provide the statement in question below in order to prevent future confusion/unnecessary conflict:
"A majority of people that I know, even my own age or slightly younger (although mostly 5+ years younger) do not know about the BG series, or they think of it as just the horrible Dark Alliance games. Most of them have not played Final Fantasy VII either,"
You are entitled to your opinion of FFVII, BG, and any other game for that matter, as am I, as is everyone else. If you are looking to force your views of certain games on me, or if you are trying to start a debate/argument, you should look elsewhere, because I have absolutely no interest in it.
Back on topic: Who here has purchased this game for a friend that has never seriously played the BG series before? I've done this for a few friends of mine, and I hope it is a step towards them enjoying and playing through the entire series, be it original or EE.
I hope you don't hate me for saying this, but my feelings are that if you are too impatient to read the story, you don't really deserve to enjoy it. Too many people are spoiled with voice acting and think older games aren't worth the time since they actually have to read.
I tried to get my brother's wife into Morrowind, (brother and I spent months playing it) but she had started with Oblivion, and she was like, "What, I have to READ all the things people say?" Forget that.
=/
The biggest draw to Planescape: Torment was the tidal wave of story and setting. It was such a huge departure from "vanilla" D&D (at least to me) that it totally changed how I percieved RPG's and fantasy. I didn't care about the walls of text and crazy-long dialogue... I'd been reading 400+ page novels since I was 11, so it was a breeze for me!
Edited to add: my signature at work is: www.baldursgate.com
^_^
Text also has the added benefit of using your own imagination to fill in voices and intent. There is nothing more satisfying than engaging in dialogue with someone who is pure evil, and our perceptions of how that person justifies their own actions. Our minds add a certain tone and flavor to drama that I don't think can be captured by even the best of voice actors.