When you choose to defend Aldeth however it is like "Ok I want to make peace, and you druid-dudes dont want a peaceful solution so be it".
But the other line goes like "I defend the druids because of their aloe-vera balm" Wtf..?
Saying that the druids don't want to make peace is illogical when they've obviously tried many times before. Thus, PC's answer seems willfully blind. The aloe-vera comment could be a joke, or it could be that the devs had a hard time coming up with a reason why anyone would side with them.
Since I so often have to gloss over, alter or flat-out ignore dialogue options in games, I don't pay much attention to the aloe-vera thing.
I don't remember it being condescending @Shandyr ! for me, I just don't think I roleplay this game at all. I create rules for myself but I just can't bring myself to play different personalities, I think I must just be really unimaginative!
I agree with @Moomintroll You don't have to use extra imagination to play BG. Like a good book it can immerse you in another world all by itself. If other people want to add things... That is fine too!
Now leave me be, I need to shave the underside of my arms again so I can fit into normal society more easily... Why do people dislike platting!
@Shandyr I think that makes us totally different! (sorta) I restart multiple times, I get loot envy continuously and re-roll when I get jealous of my NPCs equipment :P
I picked in between medium and hardcore. I do all that "hardcore" stuff, but not constantly. I also gloss over some cheesy, powergame things I do via roleplaying. In that light, it's hard to say I'm "hardcore," because really I'm just trying to make myself feel better about abusing the fence in Mae'Var's guildhall (+ high pickpocket + potion of master thievery + a rogue stone), or shooting cloudkills at monsters who are offscreen or whatever.
In my head though, I was running a thieving operation that resulted in a lot of profit, or something. Or I stole all that stuff because those people did something to deserve it.
If you have trouble suppressing your MG knowledge, you could try playing with the item randomization mod. There are quite a few mods and SIRs I use to make my own game harder.
Not a powergamer. Not gonna accept the implicit insinuation that whoever doesn't fantasize on additional scenes that DON'T PLAY OUT are dumb and deprived of "willing suspension of disbelief" to the point of questioning whether or not characters go to the loo.
I guess you could say I am a medium-hard roleplayer. I tend not to metagame, but playing a man who is actually a woman? No. And incidentally, I viewed the "siding with the Druids aloe vera comment" as the CHARNAME mocking Aldeth Sashenstar. "I find your complaint so ridiculous that I will side with the Druids because... they have this really great Aloe Vera compound for Armor Chafe. Yeah, totally, you loser."
The examples for hardcore roleplay were pretty weird. For instance it doesn't matter from a gameplay perspective whether you take Dynahair in your party or not during BG1 since the experience or skills of other party members don't carry to BG2 no matter who you had in your party in BG1. Also, I think that Gorion's and Sarevok's battle was epic - Gorion used spells that the PC can himself cast only at the end of BG1 and he obliterated all of Sarevok's lackeys. Hardcore roleplay is to me primarily about doing all decisions in the game based on your characters race, class, alignment and the personality that you've decided him/her to have.
I think I'm a bit of a mix because of the aspects that I utilize from each.
I do use a degree of knowledge from outside the game, which changes depending on the situation. I see Gorion dying essentially without effort to Sarevok because...that's what happened.
I definitely play my character, though. It just so happens that Detect Evil (No, Schneidend, that is not an invitation for debate.) allows me to do so while still doing a degree of powergaming, so I am a RPer/Powergamer, with the order changing depending on the situation at hand.
I don't worry about the stuff that the game just assumes is happening like eating or other mundane functions - when was the last time you read a novel that had the characters eating and taking potty breaks with the same consistency you find in real life?
I try to go with a mostly balanced character (stat wise) altho I've been known to balance them on the high side more often than low unless there is a real compelling argument for the low or I am playing some sort of "special" build that is intentionally nerfed or uses random rolls etc. I typically justify my relatively high end (but balanced) characters with arguments like "the game allows it so why not" or " he's a freaking - insert - hero, god, Bhallspawn, demon, paladin, half-ogre, thighmaster, etc...."
More often than not I try not to meta-game - no pre-buffing for battles I know are ahead with some exceptions where it makes sense like very dangerous areas - especially if my character has been "warned" in some way.
Hey Poncho isn't that dragon crap steaming over in the corner? Yes Cisco why don't you grab some to thicken the soup - better toss a potion of awesomeness in there too!
I don't try to make battles seem more than they are or otherwise fantasize outside of what the game portrays for me altho I do generally have strong notions about my characters and companions personalities and quirks that are based on what the game has given me to work with but generally taken a step or two beyond that in my head.
I make dialoge and other choices based on my character concepts and that of my companions and try hard not to let game rewards or metagame info I have lead me to do things that I don't think my party would do while staying true to those concepts!
Of course sometimes I have been known to find round about meandering (cough) ridiculous( cough) reasons to choose the "right" answer to get that Axe of Sandwich Wedging or a carafe of Mental Anguish just when I really need them - of course once I have them in hand I immediately go back to choosing dialoge and actions based on my character concepts and pretend we never strayed from that.
I do like to build in some incompetence to my characters and companions - mostly by choosing stuff for them (feats skills talents etc) that are cool for the character concepts but perhaps useless from the meta-gamers standpoint and I rarely follow any of the "perfect" builds or strategies - much prefering to struggle along with my kewl concepts and then massively patting myself on the back when we actually win a battle in spite of not having the perfect build or strategy or equipment
-[ this is usually followed by sticking out my tongue and wiggling my fingers in my ears and saying nyah nyah nyah in a manner that might bring to mind....]- ahem well yes moving right along now...
I do like a challenge and back in the day I played quite a few no-reload games in BG and other IE games -given my "non-perfect" playstyle I was of course mostly unsucessful in those endeavors but it's all about the journey not the destination - the adrenaline rush these games bring when you know that every battle might mean GAME OVER adds another whole level to the experience and if you fail that just means you get to roll another character and start a new adventure and I am all about starting new adventures...
Now that I think about it I may just limit my self to no-reload journeys once BG EE arrives...
I couldn't really answer the poll, because I don't think I fit very well in any of the categories. I roleplay all my games as myself, and put in as much realism as my imagination will muster.
Like @Lord_Gay, I usually have to do a lot of dialogue re-writing in my head so I can play as a gay man. One time, I got around the problem in part by starting a female character in the creation screen, but using Shadowkeeper to change my avatar and all other features to male. The avatar still cast spells in the female voice, though. And the now gay male romances just weren't written to make sense as happening between two men. Gay guys don't talk to each other that way. I could put down a few "my lady's" and compliments about "what a beautiful woman" I was to camping, but not all the time.
I don't like how, when I play a male, which is most of the time, all the female characters start aggressively coming on to me. I have to roleplay that I can get them to stop by simply coming out to them. Most of the "stop romancing me" options provided by default involve rudeness to the other character, basically telling them to "shut up and leave me alone," and I hate that. Game-writers ought to write better romantic let downs where you can tell them "let's be good friends" and really mean that. Berelinde, the mod-writer for the Gavin mod, knows how to do that. Lots of the mod-writers do.
In real life, a gay guy who liked me would be complimenting me on my maculine features and talking to me about matters of interest to gay men. The Faren and Nathaniel mods do a pretty good job of writing some realistic dialogue that reflects the way two romantically interested men actually talk to each other.
But without mods, I have to do a lot of creative re-writing.
As for metagaming, I think that walking into certain encounters unprepared amounts to suicide. I like to roleplay being a diviner or a cleric of Oghma who gets magical warning flashes when something bad is about to happen, sort of like the character Phoebe on the Charmed TV series.
I never use Algernon's Cloak or other "steal me" game cheese, because I am simply not morally reprehensible enough a person to do that, and I don't check my real-life morals at the door when I start playing a game. I see the game as a form of self-expression of an empowered version of me into a magic fantasy world.
I always answer all dialogues with the answer that most closely resembles what I would actually say. I read what the speaker says, and then I make up my own answer *before* I read the choices I have for my avatar. A lot of times, there will be one there that actually does correspond closely. If not, I just pick whichever one seems intended for good characters.
So, I guess that's it. Sorry this post is so long. I am such a windbag.
I guess there are times where I fall inbetween hardcore and medium. Though I do reload when I die, or an npc that I want with my character dies, and have a bad habit of using metagame knoweledge to help my lil character along. But I don't make the most powerfull character ever, or try to go out of my way to make it super cheesy. So perhaps I'm a medium roleplayer? XD I don't know. All I know right now, I'm playing my Mage/Priest of Ogmha who is getting his butt kicked in Nashkel right now.
It's rather the random encounters your PC cant foresee. Like the headhunters (e.g. Nimbul).
The devs really nailed this with me. My first playthrough, they got me. Every single time. They had the assassins at exactly the right places just when I was weakest and most vulnerable. I like it that I go to an inn wounded, winded, low on spells and options. Going to rest like that and waking up refreshed always makes me happy. I enjoy doing that in a game. So whenever I headed to an inn, at night, I ran into an assassin, and died. They mopped the floor with the whole party. My first night in Beregost? I went to the Red Sheaf. Finally got to Nashkel? Let's get some (final) rest at the inn. Back from the mines? Well, glad that's over, and we already did the assassin here in Nashkel so we know nothing can...
But there's only one "first time", and I have a pretty tough time to remember mine on Baldur's Gate. (Which would be another interesting topic for another thread: "Do your remember your very first playthrough, and what was it like?")
I don't remember much of my first time, but I do remember one thing. I play that whatever secrets I find in a game on my first play, I get to use every time I play again. If I don't find it, I never get to use it. I remember that I found the cold wand by the mines on my first play, but didn't find the ring of wizardry by the FAI. Thus, I've always grabbed the wand and never picked up the ring.
But there's only one "first time", and I have a pretty tough time to remember mine on Baldur's Gate. (Which would be another interesting topic for another thread: "Do your remember your very first playthrough, and what was it like?")
I don't really remember my first play through. All I know that I didn't get past Nashkel. (The mines used to freak me out) I don't even remember my old characters, to be honest. It was years ago, and I was rather young. Though I do remember being scared of the creepy trapped filled mine.
It's rather the random encounters your PC cant foresee. Like the headhunters (e.g. Nimbul).
Several still get me! Like Nimbul, or that blasted Mage at the Friendly Arms. I'm not looking foreward to dealing with that when I get my Mage/Loremaster of Oghma out of the mines. Though I'm sure if I can, if I get lucky enough. I didn't even get most of those 'hidden' items. Not until I found out about them threw the net and stuff. Now I normally pick up the armor in Nashkel, and the Ring and the FAI
Comments
And I haven't taken my pills in age's and age's and age's and age's and age's and age's.
So reality is only a problem for me when it rears it's ugly head and spits purple sunflowers at me... Oh wait... no...
Since I so often have to gloss over, alter or flat-out ignore dialogue options in games, I don't pay much attention to the aloe-vera thing.
Now leave me be, I need to shave the underside of my arms again so I can fit into normal society more easily... Why do people dislike platting!
In my head though, I was running a thieving operation that resulted in a lot of profit, or something. Or I stole all that stuff because those people did something to deserve it.
Not gonna accept the implicit insinuation that whoever doesn't fantasize on additional scenes that DON'T PLAY OUT are dumb and deprived of "willing suspension of disbelief" to the point of questioning whether or not characters go to the loo.
So I don't think it's that you are unimaginative. I think the game's dialogue options are narrow, and that impacts how you think about your character.
I do use a degree of knowledge from outside the game, which changes depending on the situation. I see Gorion dying essentially without effort to Sarevok because...that's what happened.
I definitely play my character, though. It just so happens that Detect Evil (No, Schneidend, that is not an invitation for debate.) allows me to do so while still doing a degree of powergaming, so I am a RPer/Powergamer, with the order changing depending on the situation at hand.
I try to go with a mostly balanced character (stat wise) altho I've been known to balance them on the high side more often than low unless there is a real compelling argument for the low or I am playing some sort of "special" build that is intentionally nerfed or uses random rolls etc. I typically justify my relatively high end (but balanced) characters with arguments like "the game allows it so why not" or " he's a freaking - insert - hero, god, Bhallspawn, demon, paladin, half-ogre, thighmaster, etc...."
More often than not I try not to meta-game - no pre-buffing for battles I know are ahead with some exceptions where it makes sense like very dangerous areas - especially if my character has been "warned" in some way.
Hey Poncho isn't that dragon crap steaming over in the corner? Yes Cisco why don't you grab some to thicken the soup - better toss a potion of awesomeness in there too!
I don't try to make battles seem more than they are or otherwise fantasize outside of what the game portrays for me altho I do generally have strong notions about my characters and companions personalities and quirks that are based on what the game has given me to work with but generally taken a step or two beyond that in my head.
I make dialoge and other choices based on my character concepts and that of my companions and try hard not to let game rewards or metagame info I have lead me to do things that I don't think my party would do while staying true to those concepts!
Of course sometimes I have been known to find round about meandering (cough) ridiculous( cough) reasons to choose the "right" answer to get that Axe of Sandwich Wedging or a carafe of Mental Anguish just when I really need them - of course once I have them in hand I immediately go back to choosing dialoge and actions based on my character concepts and pretend we never strayed from that.
I do like to build in some incompetence to my characters and companions - mostly by choosing stuff for them (feats skills talents etc) that are cool for the character concepts but perhaps useless from the meta-gamers standpoint and I rarely follow any of the "perfect" builds or strategies - much prefering to struggle along with my kewl concepts and then massively patting myself on the back when we actually win a battle in spite of not having the perfect build or strategy or equipment
-[ this is usually followed by sticking out my tongue and wiggling my fingers in my ears and saying nyah nyah nyah in a manner that might bring to mind....]- ahem well yes moving right along now...
I do like a challenge and back in the day I played quite a few no-reload games in BG and other IE games -given my "non-perfect" playstyle I was of course mostly unsucessful in those endeavors but it's all about the journey not the destination - the adrenaline rush these games bring when you know that every battle might mean GAME OVER adds another whole level to the experience and if you fail that just means you get to roll another character and start a new adventure and I am all about starting new adventures...
Now that I think about it I may just limit my self to no-reload journeys once BG EE arrives...
Like @Lord_Gay, I usually have to do a lot of dialogue re-writing in my head so I can play as a gay man. One time, I got around the problem in part by starting a female character in the creation screen, but using Shadowkeeper to change my avatar and all other features to male. The avatar still cast spells in the female voice, though. And the now gay male romances just weren't written to make sense as happening between two men. Gay guys don't talk to each other that way. I could put down a few "my lady's" and compliments about "what a beautiful woman" I was to camping, but not all the time.
I don't like how, when I play a male, which is most of the time, all the female characters start aggressively coming on to me. I have to roleplay that I can get them to stop by simply coming out to them. Most of the "stop romancing me" options provided by default involve rudeness to the other character, basically telling them to "shut up and leave me alone," and I hate that. Game-writers ought to write better romantic let downs where you can tell them "let's be good friends" and really mean that. Berelinde, the mod-writer for the Gavin mod, knows how to do that. Lots of the mod-writers do.
In real life, a gay guy who liked me would be complimenting me on my maculine features and talking to me about matters of interest to gay men. The Faren and Nathaniel mods do a pretty good job of writing some realistic dialogue that reflects the way two romantically interested men actually talk to each other.
But without mods, I have to do a lot of creative re-writing.
As for metagaming, I think that walking into certain encounters unprepared amounts to suicide. I like to roleplay being a diviner or a cleric of Oghma who gets magical warning flashes when something bad is about to happen, sort of like the character Phoebe on the Charmed TV series.
I never use Algernon's Cloak or other "steal me" game cheese, because I am simply not morally reprehensible enough a person to do that, and I don't check my real-life morals at the door when I start playing a game. I see the game as a form of self-expression of an empowered version of me into a magic fantasy world.
I always answer all dialogues with the answer that most closely resembles what I would actually say. I read what the speaker says, and then I make up my own answer *before* I read the choices I have for my avatar. A lot of times, there will be one there that actually does correspond closely. If not, I just pick whichever one seems intended for good characters.
So, I guess that's it. Sorry this post is so long. I am such a windbag.