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Of BG and analysis paralyses...

Some fifteen or so years ago, I started playing BG, and have played it intermittently ever since. But for me, "play" is defined as make a bunch of characters, barely play any of them, delete them, uninstall, reinstall, repeat. There furthest I've ever gotten is the bandit camp, and I've only made it that far, once!

I even had a druid once with a stat total of 99, and that wasn't even good enough. He was deleted within a week.

I've read too much choice can paralyse someone like me.

I really want to enjoy this game all the way through. How do I break this cycle? How do I pick a character and keep it?

Does anyone have any advice?
QuartzAerakar[Deleted User]lost1
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Comments

  • Humanoid_TaifunHumanoid_Taifun Member Posts: 1,055
    I feel like you have not yet really described your problem. What exactly makes you delete your characters?
    Are you agonizing over the worry that they might not be perfect?
    Do you grow bored of them?
    ElysianEchoes
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    @Humanoid_Taifun , I'm not really sure. There are just so many neat characters possible that I always am wondering about what a different character is capable of. So maybe it is something like may not be perfect? I don't think I play one long enough to get bored with it.

    @Raduziel , I wouldn't know where to start with mods as I only have a tablet right now. Mods also would increase the available options, and might just make it harder for me to pick something. Rotating runs just ends up as fifty saves outside candle keep gates lol. But planning a character to become attached to it? You might have something there. I had the same sort of problem paying PnP, also, but not as out of control.

    Thanks for the responses.
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    edited March 2019
    A lot of people have this issue to some degree, but most solve it by completing the game multiple times so they can accurately gauge how strong/weak various class combinations are over the course of the game. You might consider going that route as well, as your current early-deletion system doesn't let you accumulate enough knowledge to accurately gauge the strengths and weaknesses of any of them.

    Perhaps it would help to choose a class combination that most people regard as especially versatile or interesting, like an elven fighter/mage/thief or a half-elf ranger/cleric. After reading about why those combinations are popular, you could then do a complete run-through to see whether you agree. Good luck!
    ElysianEchoesAerakar[Deleted User]lost1
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    @jsaving , you're right about my need to play further into the game. Even with the intention of multiple plays, I just can't seem to manage that. How do I stop myself from this 'grass is greener under the other character' syndrome? How do I have multiple plays when I can't stick to even one?
  • Humanoid_TaifunHumanoid_Taifun Member Posts: 1,055
    If all else fails, you could make an entire party for yourself. That should give you the option of trying plenty of different flavors of grass all at once. Plan for one or two dualclasses, to bait yourself into following the character for longer "because they are not yet complete".
    ElysianEchoesGreenWarlock
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    If all else fails, you could make an entire party for yourself. That should give you the option of trying plenty of different flavors of grass all at once. Plan for one or two dualclasses, to bait yourself into following the character for longer "because they are not yet complete".

    Sadly, when I tried to play IWD:EE, making the whole party introduced a whole new breed of grass - theme parties. I wanted to try so many different combinations of classes, my neuroticism became that much more acute.

    Maybe I'm just hopeless lol
    BelgarathMTHGreenWarlock
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    edited March 2019
    Please don't be offended, but you should consider talking to a psychologist. This may be a sign of other, deeper, things.

    I know I did and serves me very well until today.
    Post edited by Raduziel on
    ElysianEchoes
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    Raduziel wrote: »
    Please don't be offended, but you should consider talking to a psychologist. This may be a sign of other, deeper, things.

    I know I did and serves very well until today.

    None taken, good sir. I've actually started seeing a therapist in the past couple weeks, though haven't done much more than give a history and take some t/f test so far. It'll probably be good to mention this, too, then.

    Meanwhile, though, know any tips/techniques I could try?

  • Ludwig_IILudwig_II Member Posts: 369
    edited March 2019
    Everyone is different, but I will write what works out for me and hope you can find something useful out of it.

    I like to play a character, but what I like even more is planning on how I will progress that character all throughout the saga. But once I get onto playing one, I also get all other different ideas, and keep following this forum which provides even more interesting things to try every day.

    The way I cope with all this abundance of options and information is, to keep planning. While I'm on a playthrough, I make notes about other ideas that I want to try in my future playthroughs, and I even have 2 tables in excel, 1 for character ideas and 1 for party themes and options using those characters. As I keep getting new ideas and learning cool new things, I keep adding them into my tables and notes with detail, like explaining the strategies, items to use, mods to use and such.

    I think my main difference with you is, I don't get into trying these new ideas straight away. I'm just noting them for the future. This way, I have something to look for after my current game as well. For example, I've been on a Stalker playthrough for more than 6 months now, and I'm still at the early stages of BG2 due to not having enough time to play. But, I am looking forward to finishing this playthrough so that I can start a new one, which will be a Dragon Disciple. I have 10 other ideas lined up, and I will most probably never play all of them, but that doesn't mean that I can't plan them. I might use some of these characters on Black Pits or Icewind Dale as well, as they are much shorter to finish.
    ElysianEchoesAerakarlost1
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    Thank you, @Ludwig_II . Perhaps by writing down ideas like you say, I can assuage the urge to pursue them immediately, as maybe I won't feel like I will lose them? Very worth a try :)

    I'm also wondering how I might do with a character suggested by another as opposed to trying to analyze what would be "best" or "fun" for myself.
    Ludwig_II
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    If you find it too difficult to stick to the target of completing the game, then give yourself a different target - for instance you could use the Nashkel Mines or the Bandit Camp. While completing the entire game may seem too far off and thus it's easy to abandon a run, that should be much less the case with intermediate targets. If you do find it easier to hit such targets then over time you can stretch them, e.g. one run Nashkel Mine, next Bandit Camp, next Cloakwood Mine etc. The point would be that any target should be achievable in your mind, so that the desire to see what comes next is not overwhelmed by the difficulty of doing that.
    ElysianEchoesJLeeAerakar
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited March 2019
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    ElysianEchoes
  • masteralephmasteraleph Member Posts: 270
    I share your pain- it’s always hard for me to get very far in the game, and I mostly end up restarting. Doesn’t happen in BG2- I think my main annoyance is the relative lack of power low level PCs have.
  • Humanoid_TaifunHumanoid_Taifun Member Posts: 1,055
    @chimaera She just gave them away for free?
    I like to keep them, mostly for RP reasons. Like, when I travel with someone I do not trust, I can give them the Bracers of Binding before going to sleep, and cast a Remove Curse in the morning.
    I guess you could also exploit cursed items when one of your characters gets charmed, abusing the bug that you can still equip things even when the character's inventory is locked down. I have never tried that though.
    semiticgoddess
  • jasteyjastey Member Posts: 2,669
    How about you play in "Multiplayer" mode and create all 6 of your party members. This way, you can have 6 different characters in one run and let them develop. Is it still possible to play Multiplayer alone and swap NPCs midway? So, if you get bored, swap the 5 to other characters, maybe adjusting the XP to make them fit the game chapter. This might make you swap 5 characters and make it worse. Or it could make you finish the game without the feeling to lose out on something.
    For me, the story, the quests, the people to encounter (NPCs included) was always the most important thing. I barely roleplay different classes, I just play a better version of myself, lol.
    ElysianEchoes
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    @Raduziel , stop sabotaging myself . . . That resonates somehow. The therapist said I don't treat myself very well. Is kinda sad that extends to video games which are meant to be a fun diversion. Like you say, if I see the character as more than a class, maybe it'll 'live' longer.

    @Grond0 , also good advice. I do seem to get overwhelmed too easily.

    @chimaera , what a neat character! That's a good example of what Raduziel was talking about. The grass I mean is the combat, but you're right, there's an NPC for just about anything I could make myself, I imagine.

    @masteraleph , I wonder about how my characters will play out in the sequels. May be part of what overwhelms me. It is pretty rough when a wolf can chew one up in the first wilderness area, huh?

    @jastey , I've considered that, too, but get hung up on the extra dimension of party combinations. Like you say, encountering the NPCs seems an important part of the experience.

    Thank you, everyone, for your responses.
    Grond0
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited March 2019
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    ElysianEchoes
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    edited March 2019
    As a side note, here's an old video that includes both a discussion of analysis paralysis and a review of the original Icewind Dale.

    ElysianEchoesRaduzielAerakar
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    @chimaera , shadow dancer is one class I'm pretty interested in. I've made (and deleted) several of them. Interesting in concept, tedious in application...I wish there were am npc one.

    @BelgarathMTH , that sounds worth a try, at the least. Eliminating option seems a good way to break paralysis.

    @OlvynChuru , I'll give it watch when I can. Thanks for finding it for me.
    BelgarathMTH
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    chimaera wrote: »
    @chimaera , shadow dancer is one class I'm pretty interested in. I've made (and deleted) several of them. Interesting in concept, tedious in application...I wish there were am npc one.

    Which is why I prefer a mage/thief. Can always cast invisibility in a pinch, but gets a bigger bag of tricks to play with.

    I had a similar thought, but taking twice as long to get the 'fun' wizard spells gave me pause.
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    @JuliusBorisov , I see your point. Abusing the power to "do over" kind of robs a character of their uniqueness, huh?
    JuliusBorisov
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    @ElysianEchoes I have had issues with restart-itis as well, for much the same reasons. I've found the best solution is to create a character who will be fun throughout. Because you can make a character who's overpowered early on and it gets boring later into the game, and you came make a character (probably dual-class) who's awfully weak and suddenly overpowered, which also ends up boring.

    So I go for something like a Bard (Blade) or a multi-class Fighter/Thief--something that's mildly powerful throughout, with enough different mechanics to keep me invested. Playing a vanilla fighter can get a little one-dimensional, for instance. It's also good to focus on making NPCs "your own" but spec-ing them how you like, so you get invested in them as well.
    JuliusBorisovAerakarrufus_hobart
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    edited March 2019
    @Quartz , consistent fun does seem best. Part of my problem is I can't decide what would be most fun. I'm kind of leaning towards Chimaera's suggestion of mage/thief, along with the other suggestions of planning/developing a character and doing no-reload like Julius said. If I played Abdel, like Belgarath suggested, it would make decision making easy, but I just don't think I'd stick with a fighter or berserker through the saga.

    Maybe it would be fun to share a play through, also. I've enjoyed reading about some from other people. Might keep me interested, too, if someone else were interested.

    Edit: I decided to make the berserker, as it seemed as good as any place to start, rather then obsessing over what could happen later in the saga. And, I got a pretty dang good roll! 18/52, 18, 18, 18, 5, 18 ?

    Anyway, that gives me the future option to dual into thief or mage. So if berserker gets stale on its own, I can branch out.

    Now, to come up with a personality and plan. I took axes and two weapon for level 1. I wonder what cool weapons I'll come across...
    Post edited by ElysianEchoes on
    JuliusBorisovBelgarathMTHAerakar
  • ElysianEchoesElysianEchoes Member Posts: 475
    @Skitia , it sounds like you were meant to be a DM. I admire you can translate your ideas into sharable form. To play an idea without stressing over how suboptimal it is is also an enviable trait.
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