I think it's common to finish the game with far fewer characters than you make. It's only a sickness if it is making you have less fun - analysis paralysis - it might help to think more in terms of broader character concepts, and maybe use an editor for minor tweaks if necessary. Or, to play with the idea of letting the individual game influence the evolution of the PC - letting the campaign have a "snowflake" quality with its own internal consistency that explains the sometimes sub-optimal choices.
I totally agree! While I kinda hate the concept of "cheating" using the editor (though I guess it's only cheating if you really bust the hell out of the D&D rules as customizing your character is part of the fun)
Right now I'm trying my first paladin, a half-elf Cavalier. But I'm really, really looking for some advice from people who know are veteran D&D players or who have beaten this game various times using various characters. I'm a veteran of this game, technically, but I'm by no means an expert like some of you are!
I have restarted IWD2 so many times that I now run the Targos Be Gone Mod. To this day I still havent finished IWD2. I bought it when it first released.
@Eleutheros: my first computer that had BG on it crashed and I lost all of my saved data for a halfway completed game. That's when I became incredibly anal about saving and backing up data.
I know how you feel, and I'm going for the exact same thing this time.
...I only mentioned not finishing IWD before, I was too embarrassed to admit this, but since so many other people have the same problem I do, I'll just go and let this out.
...I have never finished BG1. I got damn close once but then I lost my save file. Ever since then I have just had this chronic restarting problem.
...In fact the only IE game I have ever finished was Shadows of Amn. Then I moved on to Throne of Bhaal aaaand...never finished that one either.
I've played all of them more than halfway through too.
@LadyEibhilinRhett, I do a similar thing with a lot of games. I only just finished ToB for the first time two summers ago.
Never finishing turns them into variations on "The Neverending Story". There's something kind of sad to me about actually finishing a game. It's like getting to the end of the last book in a series that you've been reading for years. I'd rather just not get to the end, in a lot of cases.
... and I'll wipe all my saves just to start fresh.
wipe...all...saves? *chestpains*
I think I've copied my first character's saves (all 30 of them) to and fro at least five different computers...
Only 30 saves? I have thousands. I think I have at least a couple hundred per playthrough. Some of the older ones are backed up on flash drives now, but I have my three most recent playthroughs on my computer where I can access them. In Oblivion I had over 6,300 saves for my main playthrough.
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Right now I'm trying my first paladin, a half-elf Cavalier. But I'm really, really looking for some advice from people who know are veteran D&D players or who have beaten this game various times using various characters. I'm a veteran of this game, technically, but I'm by no means an expert like some of you are!
Despite the "Anonymous" we are easily identified by our blood shot eyes, knowledge of the early game but not late game, and carpal tunnel.
I know how you feel, and I'm going for the exact same thing this time.
...I only mentioned not finishing IWD before, I was too embarrassed to admit this, but since so many other people have the same problem I do, I'll just go and let this out.
...I have never finished BG1.
I got damn close once but then I lost my save file. Ever since then I have just had this chronic restarting problem.
...In fact the only IE game I have ever finished was Shadows of Amn. Then I moved on to Throne of Bhaal aaaand...never finished that one either.
I've played all of them more than halfway through too.
Never finishing turns them into variations on "The Neverending Story". There's something kind of sad to me about actually finishing a game. It's like getting to the end of the last book in a series that you've been reading for years. I'd rather just not get to the end, in a lot of cases.