Concensus for a census...or how I lost the war

[Lord Brass]

I've been thinking about the response that Kaz received on her 'Fave NPC' question. "Party" suggestions are always posted, no matter how often they're asked. So, I was thinking that we could have a census on the frequency of characters. Just to...so that we...Well, because I could annoy you guys with this suggestion or get on with my coursework. Thus, I'm here. Annoying you.

Even so, what do you reckon to the suggestion? A league table maybe. Not sure about data collection though. Maybe we could get Ertai_OHF or Ziroc interested. Come on guys - what do you say?

It would be interesting.

Albeit terribly banal.

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Making running away an art form

[SixOfSpades]

Well, this is what I'd consider the "best" party, and I'm sure it's been done a million times:
Me (Fighter->Thief)
Imoen (Thief->Conjurer)
Kivan
Minsc
Branwen
Coran

Other worthy folks to have would be Ajantis, Yeslick, Xan, Khalid, etc.

[Xanthul]

I usually choose Jaheira & Khalid, Dynaheir & Minsc, Imoen & me (fighter type or mage). Sometimes i replace khalid with Kivan. I know this isnt the best party, but i get them all early in the game so i like it that way, i dont like getting new NPCs of a high level.

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"Captive, captive... captive in heaven" -Ertai, Captive of the Blinding Angel

[SixOfSpades]

Yeah, what really sucks is getting Thieves at a high level, so you have almost no control over what skills to put their points into. I hate that, that's why I burned through the first 4 chapters this time; Got Coran after only 9 days, when he was only Level 3/3 (He doesn't get any lower.) My Fighter was still only Lev. 1 when we entered the Bandit Camp, but he was Lev. 3 when we left.

[Telchar of Nogrod]

I tend to make my own party in multi-player. This way I can enjoy playing and customizing every class and thier combinations. Most of the time I make four and take two. I really like Minsc; but, the more I play him, the more I see that his HPs really suck. I agree with SixofSpades, I'm going to start taking Kivan.

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Baruk Khazad! Khazad Aimenu! The axes of the dwarves! The dwarves are upon you!

[Lord Brass]

Guys, thanks for the response, but I was thinking about the genaral "public" out there. A survey. A poll. A census. The sort of thing that makes people say "Hey, I'd never thought of that." That's what I'm talking about.

Anybody that bothers to read old posts will see party composition questions answered all of the time. People post them so frequently that it makes you wonder whether they bother to abide by the forum rules and regulations, and check old posts before producing a new one. I don't want to discourage anybody here but as a case in point, Six' has only been posting about the same length of time as me, but this guy knows so much! If I ask a question, Six' is bound to know the answer.
(As for Ertai, if Ertai says white is black you'd better turn up with all your friends as far as I'm concerned. It isn't slavishness, it's just respect for your betters, people that know the game far better than you.)

These two guys are just some of many that are more than willing to share their experiences with us, that is the reason why this forum is so good, but why do that when they've answered that question on characters and parties a "thousand times?"

The idea of a "league table" of characters would be something that Ertai or The Z Man could put on the "frontispiece" of Ironworks, an idea that suggests to players, new and old, what people see as their favourite characters for BG. There are sites that list all of the NPC's, so no need to go there, but an "I won the War with this character" table would be of invaluable help to the newcomer. We could all post our trials and endeavours with different characters and give a running total of the possible combinations that have succeeded through to the end (even to BGII). That way, if somebody asks what would you use, you could point them at the statistical data. Let them make up their own mind.

So, what do you say. Is it worth it?

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Making running away an art form

[Telchar of Nogrod]

I think it's a great idea. I'll keep checking to see if anything develops. I must have misunderstood your post. When I looked at the other responses, I just went with the flow. I agree about reading all the old posts. That's where I got most of the info' I needed to finish the game the first time around. I still go to them when I forget something. Thanks for clarifying your post.

[SixOfSpades]

(Blushing from the praise laid on by Lord Brass) Thanks!

Well, when I sit myself down to play a computer game, I tend to eat that thing alive. So when it came time for me to ask the inevitable "What's the best Party?" question, I got to work: I went to GameSpot's site, and copied their List of Companions onto a spreadsheet. I made sure to get everyone's stats, alignment, and weapon proficiencies, then I sorted them according to their class, and finally I sorted each class based on who I personally thought was better (disregarding alignment). Then, when I heard you could have the characters from the Illusions cellar join you, I went and added them to the list as well. Now I've got a big ol' speadsheet with names and numbers, and it's done well by me so far.

Now that you mention it, that spreadsheet sounds like a good basis for this kind of poll. I sorted each class according to who I thought was best--let everyone else do the same thing. A goodly amount of work for some poor sod to have to set up, of course, but then, so was (is?) this forum. That sort of census would only work for the NPCs, of course, and if we did that, there'd have to be a separate one for BG2, and ToB (Does ToB have new NPCs?), and Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights, and help the dominoes are attacking me!
Ah, heck, those other forums have moderators, too--let THEM worry about it.

A "Main Character" poll would be a bit different--sorted by class, again, but folks vote for the class instead of any specific stats; you know, "I have beaten the game THIS MANY times with this class of character," etc. Maybe they get to vote twice for the same guy if they beat BG2 with him, too. We could provide examples of statistics for each class, so newbies know what to shoot for when rolling their first hero.

Just a thought.....a big, long-winded thought, but a thought nonetheless.

Oh, Lord Brass: My "It's been done a million times" remark was referring to the party composition itself, not the number of times I'd answered that question.


I'm changing my sig after this post.....

[Kaz]

Good idea! I'm for it! Now what question was I supposed to answer again

Originally posted by Lord Brass: [B These two guys are just some of many that are more than willing to share their experiences with us, that is the reason why this forum is so good, but why do that when they've answered that question on characters and parties a "thousand times?" [/B]

Because it's fun, maybe Showing off your character and all that

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Sapphire Dragoness of ALSB
Waitress at Cloudy's Cafe
Guardian of the Temple of Aerie (specialized in GenCon and BG)
Magess of Lady Lioness' Court
Historian of IW
Most Illustrious Arch-Magess of the Illuminati
Lux omnis est

[Lord Brass]

Well - showing off in public Kaz, people will talk! Still, it's as you say, helping out (and being helped) is part of the fun. It just seemed a reasonable way to produce some creditable data on an oft-asked question.

Your spreadsheet Six' is a good example of you ferreting away on your own for the sort of material I'm talking about; which is out there for everybody to see, but people are either too lazy to go find it, or wouldn't have a clue where to start. So, if we can compile it, we'd be doing a (BG) public service.

There is a subtle difference between your main character and the NPC's. I think we must all have expressed an opinion on whether we prefer BG or IWD's approach. Personally, I like both. Yet, the idea of a poll were we express how well we've done with a particular character class would suggest to the new guys who'd like some info what sort of thing to choose. (This is only compounded in BGII with the extra character options.)

So, well done guys. Good suggestions one and all. The only thing we need now is some response from out glorious leaders...and they seem strangely silent!

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Making running away an art form