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Why Minsc is so popular?

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  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

    ... he can easily switch to a bow. Something that Khalid with a shield can't quickly do.

    Dang it! I knew there was some reason why they included a Pause button ... I wish I'd figured it out ages ago ... :sweat_smile:

    [Deleted User]Quartz
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    I played BG2 before BG1, and I couldn't stop laughing when I met Minsc. So when I started BG1, I brought him along and was totally disappointed at his lack of funny content, so I understand where you're coming from, @Grey_Lion. I ended up ditching him for Kivan or Ajantis during that playthrough.

    In BG2, he is certainly not the best, but that makes him even better in my opinion. Even though he's not the BEST, he's still useful in any combat role (BG1 or BG2), and he's great comic relief (BG2).

    As far as BG1 is concerned, I can't even play BG1 without the BG1NPC project anymore. IMHO, the modders did an incredible job of capturing the character concepts of the NPCs that bioware portrayed in BG1 and BG2, especially and including Minsc.
    [Deleted User]Gozeta
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    I think one of the key reasons Minsc and Boo are so popular is that they are genuine nice guys. Yes, they are great comic relief, but with a heart too. Many heroic types get caught up in some crusade for moral virtues, or some cause or other, and the story needs to keep hitting that point. Minsc and Boo retain a child like naivety, where good is good, evil is evil, and for stomping on. There is no deep thinking, as befits his stats, just clean simple, know-them-by-their-actions evil-stomping. Plus, he loyal as he trusts you completely. That is very appealing for a good party play through.
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    @Blucher - Jan used to annoy the heck out of me too. It always annoyed me that I could not find a thief who would advance levels to the end of the game, as I always forgot he even existed! My usual answer was to Thief-up myself in some way.

    Since picking up the Enhanced Editions though, I have actually played with him for the first time. Maybe I've mellowed in the intervening decade, or maybe I've just been exposed to more annoying characters since, but I have genuinely enjoyed his contributions. Of course, it is also possible that having played out all the other NPCs years ago, his remained fresh for me to discover :) But I was genuinely entertained, which was not the case a decade ago, and the only one who might have changed is me...
    Skarose
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    abacus said:

    They don't really make fantasy worlds like Baldur's Gate any more. Nowadays, it's all DARK AND EDGY AND SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR SERIOUS MATURE ADULTS rubbish. You'd never see a character like Minsc in a "grown-up" fantasy setting like that of Dragon Age or...shudder... The Witcher, starring Geralt "If I grimace any harder I'll have an apoplexy" of Rivia.

    That's why I have include Minsc in my party...because he brings levity and silliness to the setting, something modern fantasy is in desperate need of.

    I've not played any of the other games in the series, but to be fair, DA:O has a few moments where it isn't afraid to put its undies on its head and say "wibble"... I thought the inter-party dialogues were actually pretty funny.
    wibble?
  • abacusabacus Member Posts: 1,307
    wubble said:

    abacus said:

    They don't really make fantasy worlds like Baldur's Gate any more. Nowadays, it's all DARK AND EDGY AND SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR SERIOUS MATURE ADULTS rubbish. You'd never see a character like Minsc in a "grown-up" fantasy setting like that of Dragon Age or...shudder... The Witcher, starring Geralt "If I grimace any harder I'll have an apoplexy" of Rivia.

    That's why I have include Minsc in my party...because he brings levity and silliness to the setting, something modern fantasy is in desperate need of.

    I've not played any of the other games in the series, but to be fair, DA:O has a few moments where it isn't afraid to put its undies on its head and say "wibble"... I thought the inter-party dialogues were actually pretty funny.
    wibble?
    Indeed!
    image
    NonnahswriterwubbleSkatanArdul
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    Yeah, Dragon Age: Origins is definitely not without comic relief. My favorite moments come from Dog. Alistair, Morrigan, and Sten have some hilarious interactions with him, the things you can get him to fetch for you are often hilarious joke items, and his "personal" quest involves needing to pee on landmark oak trees on every map to mark his dominance to other Mabari hounds.

    I think Dog is one of my favorite characters in DA:O for the same reason that Minsc is one of my favorite characters in BG - the aforementioned comic relief.
    BlackravenJuliusBorisovwoowoovoodoo
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    abacus said:

    wubble said:

    abacus said:

    They don't really make fantasy worlds like Baldur's Gate any more. Nowadays, it's all DARK AND EDGY AND SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR SERIOUS MATURE ADULTS rubbish. You'd never see a character like Minsc in a "grown-up" fantasy setting like that of Dragon Age or...shudder... The Witcher, starring Geralt "If I grimace any harder I'll have an apoplexy" of Rivia.

    That's why I have include Minsc in my party...because he brings levity and silliness to the setting, something modern fantasy is in desperate need of.

    I've not played any of the other games in the series, but to be fair, DA:O has a few moments where it isn't afraid to put its undies on its head and say "wibble"... I thought the inter-party dialogues were actually pretty funny.
    wibble?
    Indeed!
    image
    @abacus

    Well I think that's definitive proof that I've been getting it wrong for quite some time :)
    abacus
  • abacusabacus Member Posts: 1,307
    wubble said:

    abacus said:

    wubble said:

    abacus said:

    They don't really make fantasy worlds like Baldur's Gate any more. Nowadays, it's all DARK AND EDGY AND SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR SERIOUS MATURE ADULTS rubbish. You'd never see a character like Minsc in a "grown-up" fantasy setting like that of Dragon Age or...shudder... The Witcher, starring Geralt "If I grimace any harder I'll have an apoplexy" of Rivia.

    That's why I have include Minsc in my party...because he brings levity and silliness to the setting, something modern fantasy is in desperate need of.

    I've not played any of the other games in the series, but to be fair, DA:O has a few moments where it isn't afraid to put its undies on its head and say "wibble"... I thought the inter-party dialogues were actually pretty funny.
    wibble?
    Indeed!
    image
    @abacus

    Well I think that's definitive proof that I've been getting it wrong for quite some time :)
    @wubble
    Must be why they never sent you home!
    wubble
  • SmilingSwordSmilingSword Member Posts: 827
    edited July 2015


    So in effort to make fantasy "grown-up" and to get out from under Tolkien's shadow, we have authors like GRRM, Joe Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, et. al. bringing us "darker and edgier" fantasy...fantasy that purports to be "adult" and "mature" by drenching its worlds with rape, bloodshed, racism, misogyny, and by having everyone swear like wounded sailors. It's the exact same process that comic books suffered through in the nineties...if you know anything about that period in the comic industry, then you'll understand what I regard Geralt of Rivia as such an awful character.

    Of course, this didn't make fantasy better, just trashier and uglier. Howard Chaykin once said "Comics in the '90s were profoundly shitty — they were dreadfully cynical exercises in whorish crap"...a condemnation I could easily apply to The Witcher or, to a lesser extent, Dragon Age.

    Right whole comics in the '90s were crap thing is something that I will fight tooth and claw, some of the most important comics ever written were written in the '90s. If you said superhero comics published by Marvel and DC, "Not DC Vertigo, mind you." in the '90s were crap, sure I could get behind that. Lets look at just some of the great works the '90s gave us.

    Warren's Ellis's Transmetropolitan 1997.

    Garth Ennis's Preacher 1995.

    Neil Gaiman's Sandman, 1989 "Ok this started just before the '90's did, but it ran all the way to 1996, so I'm adding it."

    Mike Mignola's Hellboy 1993.

    Alan Moore's Lost Girls 1991.

    As you can see some of the best damn comics ever written came out of the '90s, so shunning the entire decade is utterly ridiculous. There were even good superhero comics during the '90s, when Warren Ellis picked up Stormwatch in 1996 he turned it into quite a fascinating read. Also the Authority another masterpiece by Ellis dropped in 1999, though that is a bit late for this topic.

    Also have to say Joe Abercrombie was a breath of fresh air to fantasy. Martin is great at world building, but terrible at making me give a damn about his characters. Haven't read any Richard Morgan, so I can't comment one way or the other. I will say writers like Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, Joe Abercrombie and GRRM have made fantasy better.
    Also have you tried any Andrzej Sapkowski?
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    The early 90s was a great time for mainstream superheroics too - the Superman line had a great depth of well written characters to draw on, Justice League had rediscovered itself as a title that could run with character led humor and great relationships, Valiant Comics was rediscovering the formula of telling a complete story each issue, while still telling a larger tale, Spiderman was still a light-hearted romp through the Marvel Universe with one of the best supporting casts in comics. What killed comics wasn't the dark angsty tales that appealed mostly to the teenage audience, but a blatant commercial desire to price the industry out of the reach of the audience. Every week it was gimmick covers and special editions, so you were guilted into buying a comic 5 times instead of once, with very little in return, and raised prices to pay for the gimmicks in the first place. Inter-title continuity and crossovers are a great things when done right, but when your crossover events drag in almost every title in your universe, the monthly budget is beyond a typical fan's budget, and their regular comics made little sense without the other titles - yet the big events were so thin on material that many issues became nothing but a protracted fight scene with little plot development for the duration of the crossover, and crossovers became more frequent.

    Yes, this is also the era of the dark, angst-led antihero, as personified by Batman but magnified many times over in lesser titles. By the end it became almost impossible to have a simple hero who could inspire, everyone had to be flawed. There was almost a delight in corrupting the most virtuous of the heroes and comics, as if being the the one to take their innocence was clever and smart, rather than derivative and boring, removing what was becoming an increasingly rare trait from the various comic universes.

    Alan Moore was still turning out some great work in the 90s, an unexpected delight was his work on Rob Liefeld's Supreme, of all things. The Japanese manga imports were finally hitting full stride, Maison Ikkoku was a particular favorite which was about as far from super heroics as I was likely to get. Looking back, the bulk of my comic enthusiasm is late 80s/early 90s, with a definite nod to the Lee/Kirby 60s Marvels that were always fun to pick up in 'reading' rather than 'collecting' grade. Over-commercialism aside, 90s were so much better than the 70s, and early 80s.
    SmilingSwordJuliusBorisovNaveen
  • KaliestoKaliesto Member Posts: 282
    GO FOR THE EYES BOO! GO FOR THE EYES! ARRGGGHHH
    wubbleJuliusBorisovNihilus
  • ojthesimpsonojthesimpson Member Posts: 121
    edited July 2015
    minsc is the best because of his "personality". He is like the midget and handicap giant in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I think for someone who doesn't speak English as their primary language it would come off as silly to downright stupid.

    Imagine watching Star Wars and taking out Chewbacca .....thats what playing BG1 and 2 is like for me without Minsc.

    but as Minsc would say Minsc is the best because He is BUTT KICKING FOR GOODNESS!
    so.
    FEEL THE BURNING STARE OF MY HAMSTER AND CHANGE YOUR WAYS!!
    JuliusBorisov
  • UliarathidUliarathid Member Posts: 5
    "Magic is impressive, but now MINSC leads! SWORDS FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!"
    ThacoBell
  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    Welcome to the Sudan.
    image

    On topic. He has so much character. He's unique, wonderful, original and beautiful. Plus he has a hamster. Anyone with a hamster has to be pretty damn awesome.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    ^
    what is @wubble doing here?
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    Identity theft!
    JuliusBorisov
  • Avenger_teambgAvenger_teambg Member, Developer Posts: 5,862

    They don't really make fantasy worlds like Baldur's Gate any more. Nowadays, it's all DARK AND EDGY AND SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR SERIOUS MATURE ADULTS rubbish. You'd never see a character like Minsc in a "grown-up" fantasy setting like that of Dragon Age or...shudder... The Witcher, starring Geralt "If I grimace any harder I'll have an apoplexy" of Rivia.

    That's why I have include Minsc in my party...because he brings levity and silliness to the setting, something modern fantasy is in desperate need of.

    There were funny moments in the Witcher too. Dragon Age... hmm, don't remember.
    woowoovoodoo
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    I remember geralt's humour being very dry and sarcastic.
  • NaveenNaveen Member Posts: 81
    Minsc is a quixotic character, but unlike the real Quijote, if he charged against windmills he'd destroy them. It is difficult to be so insane, cool and uplifting at the same time.
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,607
    Because everyone likes a bald, brain damaged ranger who comes with his own miniature space hamster familiar.
    SmilingSword
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847


    The Baldur's Gate games represent a fantasy world from before then. They feature an almost Monty Python-esque brand of absurdist humour, very much different from Dragon Age, which has this awful, utterly insufferable Whedon-esque style of jocularity wherein everyone is smarmy, flippant, sarcastic and "snarky." It's a very "American" style of humour that does not appeal to me in the slightest (Neera from the Enhanced Edition is the walking embodiment of this brand of humour, which is the reason I never take her into my party). Dragon Age II was infinitely worse..."Funny" Hawke made me want to hammer a railroad spike into his skull, and if you were to remove every sarcastic one-liner from the game, you'd probably be left with a page worth of dialogue at the most, consisting mostly of exposition.

    I know I'm replying to a post that's nearly 2 months old but THANK YOU for articulating exactly what's been going on with WRPG writing that's vexed me since Dragon Age came out. I never could put it into words precise enough. This "Whedon-esque" kind of humor, as you say, irritates me too.

    I'm going to screencap your post to refer back to because I know I won't remember it entirely.
    SkatanQuartz
  • JediMindTrixJediMindTrix Member Posts: 305
    Minsc, I loved because he was one of those character that were there from the beginning. I had a similar attachment to Garrus and Tali in the ME trilogy. My very first BG run he joined me.

    then you'll understand what I regard Geralt of Rivia as such an awful character.

    I'm strongly inclined to believe you haven't played these games.
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