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How do you still enjoy the game?

This question is mainly directed to those who have been playing since vanilla release and went through this game a LOT of times. But of course anyone's opinion is welcome.

So everything is in the title. In 2016, after so many years, how do you still enjoy bg2? And I mean by that, what is your setup? Multiplayer? Single? Solo? Mods? What is your mindset? What are you goals when you start a run?

I am asking this because I am simply starting to get bored of bg2, in a general way.
JuliusBorisovCrevsDaakButtercheese
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  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    Phases also for me, but I don't play other RP games or PC games, only a single phase whith Elder Scrolls Oblivion. So in the non BG2 phases I play music, meet friends, read books, do some woodturning.

    I use mods, but after all this years ( I started before ToB expansion) there is not much challenge and fun in beating the game. My way to still have a lot of fun is creating a new party, whith self created and/or NPC toons, and then exploring their potential, not as single characters but as a team.
    My tipical BG2 run, from Chateau Irenicus to the end of ToB, often take weeks or even months, because I save before each battle (not a couple of goblins....) and fight it multiple times, exploring the different tactics and choices. So I fight the same battle whith all the cheese and power tactics that I know or can discover, but also whithout any cheese. And maybe only ranged, only mlee, only magic, no protective buffs, save or else spells, but high chance of else happening, each toon solo while the others wait in a corner. and so on.
    Every party give new combinations, a party whith F/M/T, C/M and blade or another whith 2 x F/M, T/M and Sorcerer are both versatile but very different to play.
    Sometimes Charname go solo, but is not a thing for me, my sorcerer of the solo run I am now making after reaching level cap recruited 5 NPC's, he did not need them, just felt alone.

    One costant thing of my playng is starting uderpowered against enemies overpowered for the mods I use and reaching in a quite short time a huge level of power. The XP of the mod quests I use and the fact that my ideal parties are of 3 or 4 people helps a lot. And having in mid or late SoA a ToB level party for me is not a problem, since I don't have anyway problems in beating the game, give only more possibilities to my experimentation.
    Most of my parties at some point of ToB, usually after the fire giants, have told me all that they can tell, and then the BG phase is ended, I leave the pc and start to do something other.
    ifupaulineJuliusBorisovCrevsDaak
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
    ifupaulineJuliusBorisovCrevsDaakBelgarathMTH
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    @dunbar, I agree that not taking the PWgaming route helps in keeping the game interesting.
    A lot more RP choices and party choices that the PWgamer is forced to discard.
    I am a PWgamer, but in my first BG2 years I was not so and had fun for the same reasons you have now.
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,977
    edited February 2016
    @semiticgod
    I didn't even know that I was still relevant on these forums, I thought people forgot I existed.

    Ultimately I will eventually depart from a game because even the greatest game be it multi or single-player, RPG or RTS, TBS or etc; will eventually grow still stale to me because of the fact I like to overdose on things I enjoy. I did it with shadow run, fable, rise of nations, elemental legendary hero's, divinity original suns, phantom dust, jade empire (like seriously am I the only person who beat this game using only support/magic/weapon styles?), the elder scroll series, Vampires the masquarade and many others.

    I spent so much time in both phantom dust and final fantasy tactics that to this day I still know those games by heart and how to break them.


    But with that said, the two most important factors that will keep me coming back to a game is

    1. How much inspiration can I draw from it to actually attempt fan art?

    2. Can the game be modded and how strong is its modding community?

    TES was the first game series every on pc that introduced me to the concept of modding and breaking your freaking game. Mods are single handedly the ultimate reason why i became a devote pc gamer.

    This that are worth mentioning, when a video game does have a interesting forum, that may help but honestly it only keeps me interested in the forum not the game.

    Role playing, sadly I've only played a handful of games that even come close to vampires the masquerade in the area, so that doesn't always help me.VTM just had so many choices and ways of role-playing that you could literally go through 90%-100% of that game without fighting. It was just ridiculous, and the actions actually affected the character.


    Then again I'm neither a meta nor a power gamer, if anything I'm an exploration gamer and story reader. I want to explored the world, see what it has to offer me, look for ways to break it, and then move on.
    Post edited by DragonKing on
    JuliusBorisovsemiticgoddessAerakar
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    People on this forum, generally, don't forget other users, especially those who bring some identity with them - like your love for dragons and drawing, @DragonKing.
    DragonKingsemiticgoddessAerakar
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,977
    @bengoshi
    Dragons master race!

    I mean, that is good to know, thanks.
    JuliusBorisov[Deleted User]EnialusMeliamne
  • PantalionPantalion Member Posts: 2,137

    How do you still enjoy the game?

    Do you ever reread books?

    It's much the same thing. Baldur's Gate is a familiar experience that I enjoy. Periodically I'll come back to it, play it to death, get bored of it, and then ignore it for several years, same as many of the best games in my collection.

    However destructive it is to my productivity. Sigh.
    AerakaratcDaveDaevelonEnialusMeliamne
  • jinxed75jinxed75 Member Posts: 157
    By enjoying the atmosphere
    By increasing the difficulty through mods
    By keeping the amount of powergaming at a minimum, and therefore the challenge and immersion alive
    By coming back every once a year or two, and not overplaying it
    semiticgoddessAerakar
  • YelocessejYelocessej Member Posts: 182
    I binge play until I'm sick of it and then YEARS will go by before I play again. I honestly completely forget about entire sections of the game, so it works out. I almost never finish Throne of Bhaal, it gets too boring for me.
    atcDave
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    I don't let it turn into a rocket science and try to do differents types of CHARNAMES and pick up differents NPCs. I just go around and do something stupid now and then.

    And never, EVER, rest in dungeons. It's a game breaking, especially for wizards and sorcerers.
    gorgonzola[Deleted User]
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Raduziel said:

    And never, EVER, rest in dungeons.

    Tell that to @PhillipDaigle ;)
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    2E is love. 2E is life.

    I really can't see this "tactical structure" in BG (both I & II). IWD, in other hand, requires micromanagement at every step (specially in a no-rest run).

    If you have a good ranged-based character in BG1 you can just go shenanigans in pretty much every battle. Same applies if you have a "magic sponge" (someone with lots of magic resistance or able to somehow absorb spells) in BG2.

    There's an ideia for a new run: no arcane spellcaster all the way from Candlekeep to ToB!
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,146
    I actually prefer the structure of BG to the other games for frequent replays. The vast majority of battles are pretty simple, with a handful that are challenging. A few, mostly from ToSC, are among the hardest in any Infinity Engine game. That makes it easy to goof off and have fun, or plot something a little more demanding depending on mood and time.
  • YelocessejYelocessej Member Posts: 182
    Raduziel said:



    There's an ideia for a new run: no arcane spellcaster all the way from Candlekeep to ToB!

    Done it. Keldorn and Cernd make life easy.
    atcDaveRaduziel
  • DaevelonDaevelon Member Posts: 605
    Like a lot of people already said sometimes i HAVE to play Baldur's Gate. It's by far my favourite videogame since vanilla version. The best is that from time to time i still find something unexpected (little things, of course, but still it's a pleasure).
    Funny thing is that i never played as evil, i just can't do it.
    gorgonzola
  • ButtercheeseButtercheese Member Posts: 3,766

    Tagging @bengoshi and @Blackraven and @Gotural and @DragonKing and @Buttercheese and @Lord_Tansheron for their thoughts.

    Someone who wants to hear my opinion?! That's a new one :D (Usually I just force my opinion on others but this works :P )

    Anywho... I still enjoy BG2 because every time I play through it, it's different enough to warrant a new playthrough. Mods help with that of course. I just enjoy coming up with different characters and see how the world BG reacts to them. Sometimes I have a preset story for a new Bhaalspawn in my head that I want to "warrant" by actually playing them. Most of the time it's simple escapism.

    When it comes to mods, I usually use mods that allow extra interaction with characters and "spice it up" a little bit ;) Also companion mods, though I do prefer the mods that bring in old characters instead of original ones.

    Here a (probably incomplete) list of mods I like to use: Edwin romance, Ajantis companion, Romantic Encounters, Viconia friendship, Mazzy friendship, Haer'Dalis romance, Yoshimo romance, Sarevok romance, Kivan companion, Xan companion.

    IMO BG2 allowes for the purest roleplay experience in any videogame I ever played, because the world and characters actually properly react to the things you do, or it at least creates a believable illussion of this. And it actually does make a difference what kind of character you play and in nuances. Most RPGs allow you for maybe three different character types, if you are lucky.

    So until a game comes along that actually manages to trump that experience, I will always go back to BG2.
    semiticgoddessJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • SpaceInvaderSpaceInvader Member Posts: 2,125
    With a couple of cigarettes and a good red wine glass.
    FinneousPJBelgarathMTH
  • PteranPteran Member Posts: 388
    Like other have said, I go for years without playing it. Then the mood strikes and install it fresh. I binge for a while, get bored, and move on.
    FinneousPJYelocessej
  • PhooeyPhooey Member Posts: 17
    For me, its breaks from the game that still keep me playing. When BG1 first came out and then when TotSC released I played it a couple times. Really fell in love with BG2 (collector's box yay!) and ToB =). Played the heck out of it for a few years then, life happened. Saw BG1 on GOG around 5 years ago and got the itch again and the EE happened.

    I keep playing because of breaks from the game, just playing parts of the games, mods, and EE. Mods were a HUGE reason I keep getting enjoyment out of the games. Plus I don't always finish a complete game, so some parts aren't so stale and overplayed.

    I actually haven't started a new game in awhile because I was waiting for BG2EE to get patched after its release and then Adventure Y rumors surfaced. I've been dreaming of a Trilogy run including the new SoD using the original Toon from my very first BG1 game. Jubbal the elven F/M =)
    EnialusMeliamneBelgarathMTH
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