Since Raise Thread has been cast, I decided I might as well jump in as reinforcement, being still relatively new myself.
I first played BG in 2000 when BG2 was released. Somehow I only played BG once, but continued playing BG2+ToB repeatedly during the following few years when I was a student. Then, work and family happened and I didn't play any computer games at all. When the children got bigger and leisure time a bit more regular, I felt nostalgic for BG2 (I had no idea the EEs existed, been out of the loop for years), idly typed RPG into the search bar and was totally surprised to discover BG2:EE in the play store on my tablet in 2018.
So I started playing it, had forgotten some little details what to find where etc, and discovered this forum. In the beginning I only read a bit of quest related things, found information on mods etc.
Then in April 2019, after lurking for a few months, I registered. I checked today and noticed that my first comments were about an NPC mod and the issue with Google when the games disappeared there, but the first thing I remember consciously posting was entering discussions about alignment, ethics in games and role-playing paladins. Then @BelgarathMTH and @semiticgoddess (I later made more friends here, but these two were the first, and if I start making a list, I'll forget someone) introduced me to the minimal and no-reload concept, which still sounded a bit scary to me, because hadn't played BG1 in almost 20 years and didn't remember any details about the first game.
Then I started a roleplayed, narrated minimal reload run with an Undead Hunter, and it was so much fun to share that experience. I played SoD for the first time and enjoyed the new content.
Then I continued with NWN:EE.
In the later part of 2019 I went through a very difficult phase in private life, will forever be grateful for the support in form of sympathetic ears that I received here, and forever sorry for really getting on some people's nerves with it. But life went on and got better, I did my first no-reload attempts and managed to reach the final fight with Sarevok with my Undead Hunter.
I haven't done no-reload runs since then, because I still have new content to discover and that's sometimes better done casually, but the no-reload thread is still one of my favorites. There's so much to learn from others, new strategies to discover, and I like that it's a very welcoming and supportive community even to inexperienced beginners like me.
However, although I like to see and explore strategies, role-playing always comes first to me, it's what makes me stick with the games.
A change for me here happened in November 2020 when I became a moderator. I'm happy to have the opportunity now to help shape this community and keep it the friendly, safe and welcoming place that it was to me when I first joined and has been since then. There are still new people joining, while lots of "old guard" people who signed up when the forum started are still participating. Bringing the games to mobile devices and consoles made them available to a broader audience, and I'm optimistic that they're still popular and timeless and common ground enough to keep this community alive and active for quite a while longer.
I think my conclusion is what several others have voiced one way or another: I joined for the games and stayed for the company.
Hey all! Thanks to an amazing opportunity, I was interviewed by Beamdog writers on how I got into a gaming industry career & what it's like to be a Community Manager!
If you have a dream, work hard, and eventually, you'll get the result!
Comments
I first played BG in 2000 when BG2 was released. Somehow I only played BG once, but continued playing BG2+ToB repeatedly during the following few years when I was a student. Then, work and family happened and I didn't play any computer games at all. When the children got bigger and leisure time a bit more regular, I felt nostalgic for BG2 (I had no idea the EEs existed, been out of the loop for years), idly typed RPG into the search bar and was totally surprised to discover BG2:EE in the play store on my tablet in 2018.
So I started playing it, had forgotten some little details what to find where etc, and discovered this forum. In the beginning I only read a bit of quest related things, found information on mods etc.
Then in April 2019, after lurking for a few months, I registered. I checked today and noticed that my first comments were about an NPC mod and the issue with Google when the games disappeared there, but the first thing I remember consciously posting was entering discussions about alignment, ethics in games and role-playing paladins. Then @BelgarathMTH and @semiticgoddess (I later made more friends here, but these two were the first, and if I start making a list, I'll forget someone) introduced me to the minimal and no-reload concept, which still sounded a bit scary to me, because hadn't played BG1 in almost 20 years and didn't remember any details about the first game.
Then I started a roleplayed, narrated minimal reload run with an Undead Hunter, and it was so much fun to share that experience. I played SoD for the first time and enjoyed the new content.
Then I continued with NWN:EE.
In the later part of 2019 I went through a very difficult phase in private life, will forever be grateful for the support in form of sympathetic ears that I received here, and forever sorry for really getting on some people's nerves with it. But life went on and got better, I did my first no-reload attempts and managed to reach the final fight with Sarevok with my Undead Hunter.
I haven't done no-reload runs since then, because I still have new content to discover and that's sometimes better done casually, but the no-reload thread is still one of my favorites. There's so much to learn from others, new strategies to discover, and I like that it's a very welcoming and supportive community even to inexperienced beginners like me.
However, although I like to see and explore strategies, role-playing always comes first to me, it's what makes me stick with the games.
A change for me here happened in November 2020 when I became a moderator. I'm happy to have the opportunity now to help shape this community and keep it the friendly, safe and welcoming place that it was to me when I first joined and has been since then. There are still new people joining, while lots of "old guard" people who signed up when the forum started are still participating. Bringing the games to mobile devices and consoles made them available to a broader audience, and I'm optimistic that they're still popular and timeless and common ground enough to keep this community alive and active for quite a while longer.
I think my conclusion is what several others have voiced one way or another: I joined for the games and stayed for the company.
If you have a dream, work hard, and eventually, you'll get the result!
https://www.beamdog.com/news/mythforce-interviews-julius-borisov-community-manager/
Check it out!