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Returning to BG for the first time since elementary school!

When I was in 1st grade in 1999, one of my dad's gamer friends treated us to a new PC with a few game demos on it. He was a really cool guy, noticing that I was going down that path (having beaten my way through all my edutainment games and moved on to borrowing Age of Empires and Warcraft from my dad). That gift really shaped my life.
The demos included Wolfenstein, Bejeweled, etc, but the one I gravitated towards was Baldur's Gate. I played the demo over and over and over, creating different characters and making different choices. It was so frustratingly short! And so, for Christmas that year, I got... Icewind Dale. Loved that one too.
I also got Neverwinter Nights when it came out, and THAT was the real formative gaming experience of my childhood. Played it constantly for years. I would stay up all night playing it, and, well, my homework took a backseat to it... I turned out okay, though. And I stayed addicted to PC RPGs throughout my life. I've been a pretty loyal Dragon Age fan since it came out.
Did I ever get a full copy of BG, though? Not until now! The nostalgia came flooding in as soon as I found myself in Candlekeep, and it's incredible getting to go beyond that and see what I was missing all these years. I'm so glad the game's been remastered with such love and care. It's awesome talking to older gamers who were in high school or college when BG originally came out; it feels like a bridge between generations. I guess I was lucky to have a dad who nurtured the gamer in me at such a young age!
JLeeSionIVronaldoAerakarelminsteratcDavesarevok57lolienmashedtatersJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTHBanArdGreenWarlockEadwyn_G8keeper

Comments

  • MichailMichail Member Posts: 196
    Wellcome back. Immoen missed you...
    sarevok57lolienJuliusBorisov
  • SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
    Welcome to the forum! I bought Baldur's Gate when it came out in 1998, but I don't remember having seen a demo? What did you do in the Demo? How long was it? How did it end? :smiley:
    lolienJuliusBorisov
  • NimranNimran Member Posts: 4,875
    Woo! :cookie: time!
    elminsterlolienJuliusBorisov
  • Sylvus_MoonbowSylvus_Moonbow Member Posts: 1,085
    My crystal ball tells me you will shape out to be a fine brave warrior, @merrilly!
    lolienJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,146
    edited January 2016

    Welcome to the forum, @merrilly!

    merrilly said:

    It's awesome talking to older gamers who were in high school or college when BG originally came out; it feels like a bridge between generations. I guess I was lucky to have a dad who nurtured the gamer in me at such a young age!

    Lol! It's much more of a generational bridge than that ... there are gamers here who were already well into middle-age when BG first came out. (Naming no names ...)
    Hey I resemble that remark!

    @merrilly you will find a wide range of ages, backgrounds and interests here, it is indeed a bridge. And many of us were well into adulthood even when the game first came out. Well, I was a kid when AD&D first came out!

    BG and its sequel are a huge, long adventure. Expect to have fun for many months. Or longer if you just can't put it down like many of us here.
    Post edited by atcDave on
    lolienAerakarJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    I remember seeing a demo at London drugs that allowed you to go all the way to nashkiel mines apparently it said you could do chapter 2 and 3
    lolienJuliusBorisov
  • merrillymerrilly Member Posts: 21
    Well, I just reached Baldur's Gate... I can't put this game down!
    My party consists of Rhaan (chaotic good, half-orc thief), Imoen, Neera (romanced), Minsc, Dynaheir, and Rasaad.
    I kept thinking "I need to pick up a cleric!" but... I got too attached to my party members. I love them too much to leave any of them behind. Hopefully I'll be able to handle the rest of the game with other methods of healing.
    GallowglassJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,014
    I have played without a cleric (not including Rasaad though...). It was quite challenging levels 1-4. Just use lots of healing potions, they are everywhere and you will have more gold than you can spend eventually.
  • merrillymerrilly Member Posts: 21
    Yeah, I'm already at that point, so I guess I've made it, haha. Mostly I've been taking a lot of naps, which is cool, because that's what I do in real life too.
    AerakarBelgarathMTHEadwyn_G8keeper
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    @merrilly, @Aerakar - well yes, of course it's possible to win with no Cleric. But heck, Clerics do a lot more than just healing - most of the party buffing spells are Cleric spells, and they can also do some good summoning, and so on. It's certainly much easier if you take a Cleric along!
    AerakaratcDaveEadwyn_G8keeper
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,014
    Yes agree @Gallowglass, you are of course right. I myself almost always have a cleric for summons, buffing, healing. I would suggest dropping Imoen or Rasaad for a cleric in @merrily's party, e.g. Yeslick perhaps to backstop Minsc. But not sure he is willing given his stated fondness for his current group.
  • merrillymerrilly Member Posts: 21
    @Aerakar She!
    I thought about it when I met Yeslick, but I just couldn't do it. I'll have to experiment with other party members in future playthroughs.
    Gallowglass
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,146
    Experimenting with different parties is the fun of the game!
    I would generally advise having a cleric. But if you like your party, there's no reason you can't continue without.
    GallowglassAerakarJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • BubblesBubbles Member Posts: 589
    Talking about BG1 and 2s, I was so excited back then as i used to play AD&D during my high school days.
    When I first saw them on the shelf in a software shop I was like OMG I must have it!! (after high school, it is really difficult to find players who likes pencil and paper RPG x_x.
    Now with the EEs it opens up more options I never had the chance to follow up during the pencil and paper days, more kits etc.
    Frankly this game is really one of the best value for money game I think (there are so many ways you can try playing it). I rested for 1 year now I am back again playing the EEs ^^
    JuliusBorisovAerakarBelgarathMTH
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,014
    @Bubbles, I was poking around in some boxes in storage the other day and found my old AD&D books (Player's Handbook, DMG, Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, Deities and Demigods), also from high school and even earlier. Man, these things brought back some great memories.

    Back then in P&P I played mostly human magic-users, human rangers and the occasional dwarven or human assassin. Unsurprisingly, I play usually shorty or elven thief variants and rarely an occasional wizard or elven stalker in BG.
  • merrillymerrilly Member Posts: 21
    Well I enjoyed your contribution!
    You know, I've always wanted to try PnP... and that was actually DUE to the fact that I was raised on D&D games like Baldur's Gate. It's a total reversal.
    But sadly, I've never had the opportunity. Tried to get some people together in high school, it didn't work. I'm sure there are some players on my college campus, but I haven't been able to find them, and also I'm worried I wouldn't fit in. Heard too many horror stories from my D&D-playing friends about greasy sexist nerd boys.
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,014
    @merrily, it is tough to find an ongoing committed group of P&P players as responsibilities pile up, like jobs, school, kids, etc. My in-person gaming ended when I went to college as my old (mixed male/female) group drifted away to different parts of the country. I would love to restart that but my job moves me to different countries every few years and I have had little success with starting a new group. BG, later NWN, and now BG again has been my substitute though and it does scratch the itch somewhat.
    atcDaveBelgarathMTHJuliusBorisov
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,146
    I've had several opportunities to run/play PnP over the years, but of course circumstances always change, players come and go, whole gaming groups break up....

    The best I can say is give it a try with friends who have related interests; like fantasy/sci-fi movies/books/comics. There are definitely stage of life issues, but I have gamed with a lot more women in the last couple decades since getting married and having mostly married friends (my gaming groups back in my school days were more often all male, except for the occasional sister).
    It is easiest to get started with someone who already knows what they're doing; but obviously be careful, don't get involved with any group that gives you the creeps or meets in strange places. I would most recommend finding one acquaintance who's familiar with the game to start a group of interested friends.
    BelgarathMTHAerakarJuliusBorisov
  • Eadwyn_G8keeperEadwyn_G8keeper Member Posts: 541
    @merrilly ~Noted that you have not asked a single question about handling some of the more difficult encounters before reaching Baldur's Gate. Well done!!
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