I have played and beaten BGI and BGII and was playing IWD. Is it just me, or does IWD seem to lack enough depth to really keep you interested. For a while, I thought I liked IWD better than BG, but after a while, I seemed to get bored. Maybe it was the very linear storyline. Not sure.

Started BGII again as solo elf ftr/mage. It really makes the game so different to go it alone and not depend on others. Very radical going from 6 in a party to 1. The first time thru, it was always a given that I had 6. The hard part was deciding who the other 5 would be.

Bottom line is that it is very cool to pick this game up again and be really geeked about it again after playing IWD or anything else for that matter. I must say, it was ToB that got me interested in BGII. Wanted to start from BGII to get the specials at the end before I started ToB (as I deleted my ranger that beat it).

I totally agree with you. I tried playing IWD after I beat BGII (when i was waiting for TOB to come out). It couldn't keep my interest at all. You just can't go to hugo after owning a ferrari. I think that the character interaction and romances in BGII was really what made it so much better than IWD. It's so multi-faceted, while IWD is, like you said, so linear.
I also liked the fact that in BGII you could go anywhere and take on any quest, at any time. You have the freedom to basically do whatever you want, whereas in IWD you have to follow a very specific path to complete the game.

I couldn't play IWD too after magnificent BG2. Howewer, this depends on playing stile - a lot of people enjoy IWD. As for me, I have so bored with speechless party members http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/frown.gif! In BG2 every NPC is alive with his individual features, with his own temper... How could one travel without speaking a word to the rest of the party? http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif

Its all about taste I guess. I personally prefer IWD's atmosphere to BG2. Everything just looks cooler. Its like Unreal versus brown-grey-gold Quake.

I just wish IWD had BG2's kits and proficiences.

I just like using my imagination with the group I created with IWD instead of having preset characters. Most of them were a pain..
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Why?

[This message has been edited by Lifetime (edited 07-25-2001).]

I prefer some of IWD's graphics, as they have some good looking dungeons/areas, and I like the way their spells look, but it's far too didactic and hack & slash for me. Sure, BGII has it's hack & slash moments, but in IWD that's all I seem to do.

Also, having no NPC's is pretty boring.

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trux

I agree that the lack of kits made IWD very boring. A thief in IWD is a waste after level 9 or so. You max out all 4 abilities! Then what? No set traps or detect illusion. I found I liked creating my own party, but I found going solo in BGII was about the same. Not too high on the NPC's in BGII, so I just leave home without them.

good gaming to you all.

Luckily for me I discovered Icewind Dale first. I think what kept me into it was the fact that I was playing a multi-player game with my brother and my dad. http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif Kresselack's Tomb, 6 of us, 50 of them. "Ooooooohhhhh shiiiiiiit" http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...miles/hihi.gif

But yes, now that I've just begun to play Shadows Of Amn I must say that though I am still faithful to IWD, it's just too hack-and-slash. Though you must admit, the character portraits in IWD are WAY better then anything in SOA.

-Killing Spree-
"I dunno... Should I ressurect him?"

I kinda wish I would've found IWD first so BG didn't spoil it for me. My party is just kinda wasting away in some dungeon because I just can't take playing it anymore; and I want to 'cause I want to see HoW and the new downloadable expansion.

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http://sites.netscape.net/rtx999/rtxlogo.jpg
a bunch of long hairs.
trux

trux-

Well I stopped after I found Shadows Of Amn, my male counterparts stuck with Icewind Dale. My dad beat Heart Of Winter by "casually" playing for about a week. (I watched his final dragon battle- WAY TOO EASY!) Then my little brother went on to Luremaster, he found it unreasonably hard, even with his cheated characters. Though, I've said this before:
"He is the child who just learned today that the hide in shadows mode wears off when you stand right next to a torch"

-Killing Spree-
~Who tommorow is going to play through Bodhi's stupid maze~

I found IWD first, and I have to say that I liked it better so far. The linear part of IWD may have been boring to some, but the quests in BG2 are a little overwhelming. Everything seems to need to happen right away-save the poison sister, go to the keep, etcetera.....and its impossible to know what DOES have to happen right away. Got so bad that I stopped playing for a while because I felt i might be missing a crucial quest...
Also, I like starting with all my own characters and bringing them along. Having some one already be at LVL 7 with certain characteristics is not as interesting to me.
BUT...BG2 is obviously way more in depth. I finished IWD relativeily easily...and I'm no star.
Lastly, seems like you really need to know the ins and outs of ADND for BG@-all the crazy protection spells and stuff. I imagine if you really knew your stuff, this would be great. But for someone who doesnt really know the finer points, its tough to learn, and some battles are just way out of hand because I dont know what negative planar protection does.....

just my $.02//////

I concur with the portraits being better in IWD. They cannot be used in BG right? As far as having to know AD&D, I played many moons ago, but never much magic. Most of what I picked up came from experience in the game and reading many posts here. You can learn so much from people here. It is a great resource.

ps, dont listen to the people who cheat. hacking and console play really spoils it all.

why don't u just extract the portraits from iwd and use them in BB/BG2 then.

or go to www.teamgb.com and go to their portraits section and select iwd portraits and the lovely people have already done all the work for you, just dl them and put them in your bg2 portraits directory.

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http://hesperex.tripod.com/hesperex1.jpg
My website http://hesperex.8k.com
Hesperex Freth: 1st son of Matron Mother Shi'nayne Freth, 1st house of Ched'Nesad. Weapon master and patron of house Freth.

[This message has been edited by Hesperex (edited 07-26-2001).]

Try Torment, the plot is MUCH better than BG2 (better than most books). Its pretty linear at the end but there is no "rush". However, it isn't a game you can really play over&over. I have played BG2/TOB many times & Torment once, I am going to purchase BG1/TOS and go throug to TOB w/ a char..

Torment is truly an experience. I've played BG1 BG2 IWD and torment (only finished BG2 so far), and torment is definately the coolest idea, implementation, voices, graphics, writing, and ... CHARACTERS! I mean, the characters are the coolest I've ever seen in any game! D'akkon, Morte, Fallen-From-Grace, and the main char, Nameless ... The list goes on, they are just damn cool, and so much fun to roleplay.

Yeah Torment is really a huge game..one that you can take your time on. Its story is so immersive and there are so many different things to do and discover..incredible when you sit back and think about it.
It takes a heck of a long time to start up though..the opening is really slow.

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Why?

There is also a lot of insightfull wisdom in the dialog (paticularly between the nameless-one and Dakon) & the plot.

Can a game make you a better person? If there is such a game its Torment.

(and yes it is very slowgoing at first and can be somewhat intimidating)

on a more "base" level you have Shena Easton's voice for your main-squeeze - hubahuba (in the back of my mind singing "Strut-out, put-it-out, thats what you want from women").

and the nameless-one's voice (the guy that plays Jerod on The Pretender) - very cool.

perhaps the best line in ANY game:
Upon ressurection exlaiming dourly, "Uggggghhhh, feels like I've been strained through someone's bowels." A statement that aptly describes how I feel 20% of the time after waking-up.

I am very much glad I'm not the only person to think so. When I did the whole D'akkon's 'circle' quest (dialouges after you become a mage and look at d'akkon's circle he carries), I was in shock at just how thought-provoking and cool the whole mini-story of D'akkon's race pans out.

IMO it's the best RPG the PC has ever seen, and I've played most of the notables since Might and Magic 2. Hmm, all this talk is giving me an urge to reinstall it...

I