IWD vs BG I

Ok I am curious. How do people rate the 4 major differences between IceWind Dale and Baldurs Gate I.

1) Plot. Baldurs Gate.. "your the Avatar" .. or Icewind Dale "Please Save our Tree". I have to go with the Baldur's Gate plot. Heck basically the game is so open, you don't even need to follow the plot and can run around..

2) World. Baldur's Gate Wide open areas vs IceWind Dale's set chapter-area hops. Again I give the nod to Baldur's Gate. Very little stops you from going anywhere. Except maybe surviving to get there...
The city of Baldur's Gate was a thief's dream. BG I had dozens of little Easter Eggs, hidden things and minor sub-quests. Even if some of them was "Fed. Ex." And I got tired of the High Almightly Druid telling me " Go to this place, and check it out. Not there? Well go to this other place ..."

3) Party. Baldur's Gate has you make one Uber character and get pseudo-PC's along the way.. or Icewind dale's Party of Six, no waiting. Of the two a party of six right off the bat is a bit indimidating unless your a vet of BG I. But once you get the hang of it, I give the nod to IWD. Each one of my characters is special, unique to me and complement each other.

4) Adventure. Baldur's Gate suffered from a lack of dungeons for an AD+D product, but Tales of the Sword Coast was a very nice add on. Icewind Dale is an endless Dungeon Crawl and what little open areas there are are cramped "walk the path" twists and turns. I actually like the more open outdoor adventure of BG I and hope BG II will have the same WITH alot more dungeons.

So 3 out of 4.. I think BG I/ToSC is a better game than IWD.

Good question,
I have been playing R.P.G's for 12 ytears now and I think that the different worlds/ systems stand up better to different gameplay/ stories.
I ahve always thought that D+D should be dungeon crawls to ninth level, followed from then on by intrigue.
Therefore I would have to say that I.W.D is better suited but could do with an add-on for those high level characters.

Good question,
I have been playing R.P.G's for 12 ytears now and I think that the different worlds/ systems stand up better to different gameplay/ stories.
I ahve always thought that D+D should be dungeon crawls to ninth level, followed from then on by intrigue.
Therefore I would have to say that I.W.D is better suited but could do with an add-on for those high level characters.

Baldurs Gate RuleZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZz

And it is possible to create a party of six in baldurs gate -> just start a multiplayer game make six
characters and transport the savegame from single player to multi player and voila you've got yourself
a party of six (or was that party of five) as single player games
So That makes IWD 0 BG/TotSC 4 pretty impressive victory i have to say

So Stop playing Icewind Dale And Play Baldurs Gate

BG had a great story and a bunch of great subplots that really could develop. The whole plot of joining the thieves guild and performing three task was a wonderful experience, and so was the very difficult raid on the gnoll castle. Although you end up killing just as much probably, the experience is a lot slower so you learn to appreciate your spells and new equipment.
I also liked the characters you met and how you could decide to play the game as evil with evil characters you met along the way. Imoen was a great character, who could leave her behind?
IWD is still fun though just not as much of a thinking game.