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Why are you playing these games?

RideratRiderat Member Posts: 136
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Hey! As the title says, I want to understand why people are playing BG series, IWD, and PST! Ok, you might add Arcanum, Fallout and similar games, but then we could pop in the whole crpg genre. Let's stick to the games that has received a pimping up from Beamdog.

For me, BG is probably the most played RPG in past couple of years. I play it periodically, roughly once every 3-4 months. I have never really understood why this game has stuck with me for so long. Is it the simplicity of controls, the depth of mechanics, the story, lore, visuals..?

For me it is probably the character progression and the presentation itself. I enjoy when the game is not as colorful as a rainbow and is a bit grim and gray (but not overly so). For most of the part, voice acting is also really awesome, Irenicus for instance. There is also some mystery added to the whole story and side-quests which in my eyes is quite unique for the genre.

What I don't like in the game is that it is sooo slow. Sometimes it takes you 20 minutes to slowly scout a new area, take care of traps and different moving speeds of your companions. And only then you are able to start fighting the real fight. If the game-play was just a tad bit faster, I would be sooo happy.

That aside, I am so glad that Black Isle was able to release games with such a rich lore that people are still able to enjoy.

In any case, please share your reasons for playing these games, - what is that makes it interesting for you? Maybe you play it just because romancing Viconia has been your dream since childhood and it has nothing to do with game-play, mechanics or visuals.

Thanks!

Comments

  • ShikaoShikao Member Posts: 376
    edited August 2017
    Well, @tbone1 covered all of the most obvious, but at the same time greatest points. Thus I will just add a much less noble one - Steam achievements ^_^
    Post edited by Shikao on
  • RideratRiderat Member Posts: 136
    edited August 2017
    Great stuff! I see that most of you are quite agreeing with @tbone1 . But what he mentioned could be applicable to other games as well, like TES: Morrowind.

    1. The game is has gotten various GOTY awards
    2. there are so many classes and play-styles to choose. Ok, you don't get a party, but that would be a minor thing, as you can join different guilds and factions
    3. there is literally shit-ton (I counted) of mods that can change the game completely from aesthetics to game mechanics.
    4. Quite easy to learn
    5. Crazy story, crazy side quests, you simply become a god with time and actually can feel it resonating on the game. You are the game. Besides on every run-trough, you pretty much discover something new - npc, place, item, story instance...

    I mean I am not saying that Morrowind might be a better game, what I am saying is that it offers quite a similar experience for the player. And there are probably more games like that, just none come to mind at the moment (maybe Dungeon Siege). It's just weird how there is such a strong community surrounding BG that is still creating content for others - playtroughs, artwork, short - stories, recently there was this guy on the forums who encouraged others to make wiki page up-to-date. I mean I think the game has something magical about it.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @Riderat Character building and even the way the game plays is utterly different. In general I find the moment to moment gameplay of all the elderscrolls games to be incredibly boring hack and slash.
  • tbone1tbone1 Member Posts: 1,985
    edited August 2017
    @Riderat Name a game that has better writing than BG2 or PST. I have yet to hear a definitive answer to this, though I've asked it for ten years.

    I think part of that is because multiplayer is now the de facto way to play most games. The interaction, commentary, and personality are provided by other players, not the writer(s). And because it is cheaper to do multiplayer, and it can also be a revenue stream, no one is putting as much money and/or resources into the writing anymore.
  • RideratRiderat Member Posts: 136
    tbone1 said:

    @Riderat Name a game that has better writing than BG2 or PST. I have yet to hear a definitive answer to this, though I've asked it for ten years.

    Honestly, I think the before mentioned Morrowind has a very intriguing story that really revolves around the character. There is one main story line that is maybe not as crazy, but all the optional quests are adding the spice to the pot.

    Honestly no2, i played Witcher 1&2 before BG and I was crazy hooked on the story. Then I tried BG and daym, it felt like BG has done the groundwork for Witcher.

    I havent played PST that much on the other hand, but afaiu its also pretty much evolving trough the dialogues. Altough being an undead that is constantly trying to die sounds pretty cool.

    I somehow think that BG games have it all coming together really nicely, like first Rocky movie.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @tbone1 This is a tricky question, and one laden with subjectiveness. Personally, I find that BG1's writing is is easily overshadowed by anything that can keep its plot focused and coherent, as its basically a proof of concept. But its so endearing because of its soul and its quirkiness (kinda like Earthbound in that regard). BG2's writing is pretty standard RPG fare and doesn't really stand out except for 2 instances. The performances are fantastic/hammy in just the right ways that they leave an impression even years later, and BG2's character interactions are nigh unparalled even today.

    As for an answer however, I think Mass Effect (as a series), the first Dragon Age, and Mother 3 have better written stories. I find Mass Effect to be roughly equal with BG2 in terms of characters as well.
  • ArtonaArtona Member Posts: 1,077
    I played these games, because I want complete, satisfying run throughout IWD, IWD2, BG, SoD, SoA, ToB and NWN. It'll be my headcanon and all of my protagonists will exist in one world. :)
  • thruddthrudd Member Posts: 96
    I think I have Said this somewhere in A post, If you cant on A Weekend go to Your friends Basement with a bunch of your buddy's, With your Players Handbook, DM Guide, Player Sheets, Dice, Potato Chips, Soda , The Infinity Engine D&D Games ( BG, BG2, IWD ect...) Will bring you back to those Days........ PLEASE Beamdog we want MORE !!!!!!!! I also Really hope they Use The Infinity Engine for a New D&D Game!!!
  • AndreaColomboAndreaColombo Member Posts: 5,525
    Most of my reasons boil down to nostalgia. Add to that my personal fondness for the party-based, isometric genre for it feels and plays tabletop-like (but with RTwP combat, which I find is much better suited to a cRPG), and these games' tactical depth, interesting plot, and likeable characters.
  • DrakeICNDrakeICN Member Posts: 623
    BG was my first* true love :'(

    I mean, there were before that Faxanadu and FFVII but I never loved them the way I loved BG.

    That is why NWN broke my heart.

    *At least my first RPG love. There was also Marathon and Warlords and Guardian legends and Escape Velocity and Myth and Warlords Battlecry and Pocky and Rocky and Abuse and...
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    For me it is the same reasons tbone1 listed, but as for the writing, I prefer that it is bare-bones enough to leave a lot of it up to me to head-canon. It really takes me back to my PnP days around the table with the old modules. They weren't fully fleshed out in the writing. Quite a few of them were lacking any flesh at all really. I can remember many times when we players and the DM had long discussions about what was really meant by the author of the module and then deciding to do our own thing regardless of what the author intended.

    I don't want everything spelled out and detailed in such a fashion as to limit my imagination or the opportunities for modders to insert new ideas and even reinterpret and change the nature of the encounters. If Black Isle had for instance, gone back after a few months and released an update with every "unfinished business" thing in there and more fully developed NPCs, I don't think we would still be modding and playing these games today. I like that they left big gaps for all of us to interpret in our own ways and even change it if we want to.
  • WesboiWesboi Member Posts: 403
    I mainly play for the theory crafting ideas and ignore most of the story components in all rpgs. I've created builds in different rpgs what sound rubbish to most but actually work wonders.
  • UnderstandMouseMagicUnderstandMouseMagic Member Posts: 2,147
    mf2112 said:

    For me it is the same reasons tbone1 listed, but as for the writing, I prefer that it is bare-bones enough to leave a lot of it up to me to head-canon. It really takes me back to my PnP days around the table with the old modules. They weren't fully fleshed out in the writing. Quite a few of them were lacking any flesh at all really. I can remember many times when we players and the DM had long discussions about what was really meant by the author of the module and then deciding to do our own thing regardless of what the author intended.

    I don't want everything spelled out and detailed in such a fashion as to limit my imagination or the opportunities for modders to insert new ideas and even reinterpret and change the nature of the encounters. If Black Isle had for instance, gone back after a few months and released an update with every "unfinished business" thing in there and more fully developed NPCs, I don't think we would still be modding and playing these games today. I like that they left big gaps for all of us to interpret in our own ways and even change it if we want to.

    I'd very much agree.

    But don't underestimate the quality of the writing that created the "bare bones". What we were given, although not much, was good enough to build upon. That's really, really hard to do without the luxury of long explainations. By the end of a book you might have the character down, but with a few lines, a few repeated battlecries, voice acting/inflections, it's genius.
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