I was 28, bought it in '99. Since I had a home network of 6pc's already set up, my friends and I decided to play a 6-player multiplayer game. One of my friends *insisted* that he be allowed to play Imoen. We all agreed, things were going swimmingly until we hit the Friendly Arm. 'Imoen' at this point went straight to the first locked chest, got caught stealing from it and... it didn't end well. We restarted the game, got to the same point and yes, my friend playing Imoen did it AGAIN. So for the third time amidst much colorful language concerning the parentage of said friend by all other players and his insistence he wouldn't try that again, we restarted. This time we made it to the 3rd floor of the inn before he couldn't restrain himself and got caught stealing. I think the thunderous roar of outrage from all concerned still echoes in the walls of my old townhouse...
So after 6hrs of real time, gone and never to be reclaimed, we threw the towel in and almost threw our friend out the window. All in all, not the best introduction to the game. Thankfully I stuck with it.
I was really little, like 6 or 7, when I would watch my dad play. He was really into dungeons and dragons and stuff, and I was a daddy's girl so I wanted to do it to, haha. Then when the Shadows of Amn came out I was like 8 or 9, so he taught me how to play and I became obsessed. We lived with my grandma to at the time and one day I wanted to miss school to play SoA, and he told her it was okay because it was an educational game
*Shrugh* played through it for the first time with a friend, playing on the same computer, basicly just discussing what paths to take on the varrious conversations, character creation etc etc.. Possibly was around 14-15, can't remember to be quite honest..
I was young enough for Baldur's Gate (together with other great games from the period like Fallout and Metal Gear Solid) to kickstart English language for me. Speaking a language that is not related to the English language at all, and having only very limited knowledge of the language, I really couldn't understand the dialogue when I first played. One might think that it would be impossible for me to play a game as deep as Baldur's Gate in this case - yet, I was drawn to the world; even though my English skills were very limited at first, I could understand the setting/surrounding events more or less - and I started to learn the language (when you play this kind of games with rich dialogue something's bound to get stuck to your head). Surely enough, I learned more English this way than I did at school.
I can't remember the exact age, but I was probably around 15-16, so around 1996, when I first played BG2 (I played the sequel before I played the original.) At first, I was little turned off, since I knew nothing of DnD rules, but I stuck with it. I actually got into IWD a lot more than BG, but then went back to it later.
When they announced the Enhanced Edition, I was really hoping they would clean the graphics up and bring them more up to date, since that has been something I've wanted for awhile.
I was 18 and about to start university. BG did NOT help my grades that first year.
I was a big fantasy fan, and had played through the Gold Box games, Ultima series and many, many more. BG and the other IE games remain my favorites now.
I was around 12 I think, my stepdad had found it in one of those 5 dollar game bins (I know, an outrage), liked the box art and gave it to me as a present. The man knows nothing of computers or gaming, but damn did he do good that day. Been playing it for... wow, 12 years now. Literally half my life. Time well spent!
EDIT: I had already commented on this thread. Some memory I have. It doesn't help I got the age wrong either. I was 11, lol.
I was 13, started with BG2+ToB first, picked 'em up when ToB came out... didn't finish it for years, but I still remember having black stains on my fingers from all the dictionary flipping - started BG2 with only basic understanding of the English language, and I was just about ready for a language certificate halfway through the game. though I still blame BG2 for my... let's say "spotty" understanding of the English grammar, because who gives a fuck about grammar when you can just throw together sentences based on what "feels" right.
...and according to my "meticulously" stored saves, I started BG1 on 2002-03-19, got all the way to Gnoll Fortress the first time... though at least managed to kill that pesky little drow, and laugh myself half to death when Jaheira and Khalid died from a sudden case of badmouthing two psychopaths
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So after 6hrs of real time, gone and never to be reclaimed, we threw the towel in and almost threw our friend out the window. All in all, not the best introduction to the game. Thankfully I stuck with it.
My dad owned it when i was a kid and i played it on his computer, so that is how i've known about it all these years
Possibly was around 14-15, can't remember to be quite honest..
I was 45. A late starter I know
When they announced the Enhanced Edition, I was really hoping they would clean the graphics up and bring them more up to date, since that has been something I've wanted for awhile.
I don't know if this was the same world wide but...
It came as this odd "Chapter 1" partial pack... So you had to be additional chapters as they released them. WTF was that?
Later that year I got my hands on the 5 disk edition.
I was a big fantasy fan, and had played through the Gold Box games, Ultima series and many, many more. BG and the other IE games remain my favorites now.
Time well spent!
EDIT: I had already commented on this thread. Some memory I have. It doesn't help I got the age wrong either. I was 11, lol.
though I still blame BG2 for my... let's say "spotty" understanding of the English grammar, because who gives a fuck about grammar when you can just throw together sentences based on what "feels" right.
...and according to my "meticulously" stored saves, I started BG1 on 2002-03-19, got all the way to Gnoll Fortress the first time... though at least managed to kill that pesky little drow, and laugh myself half to death when Jaheira and Khalid died from a sudden case of badmouthing two psychopaths
And it is