Good deal.

[samIamsad]

I installed the first Baldur's Gate again. :drool: Roaming around the Sword Coast is still as incredible as I remember it being. All these years (yikes, almost 7!) ago.

[RLacey]

Currently Playing:
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Freedom Fighters
StarCraft
Uplink
Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Shadow of Memories
Pirates!
Halo
Gods and Generals


Recently Finished:
Um.... Ah.... Help?

Ah!

Fahrenheit


Waiting for me when I get home:
Bet on Soldier


Still To Get:
PREY
Oblivion

And some stuff that I'll buy on a whim in sales. Like I always do.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Have to play it someday, too. I just realized that Bioware are the uncrowned masters of dialogue trees. Love it!

Bioware did not develop KOTOR2. Obsidian Entertainment did. But fear no. It's still great.

[Zack]

Currently Playing:
Psychonauts

Just finished playing:
Beyond Good and Evil: (It deserves a solid A for my score. I thought it was a really fun game, with a very cute heroine)

Games I plan to play next:
Half-Life 2
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Runaway: A Road Adventure
No One Lives Forever 1 and 2
Conspiracies

Games I plan to buy:
F.E.A.R.
The Moment of Silence
Still Life
Star Wars: Republic Commando

[Zack]

Originally Posted by SamNMax

Bioware did not develop KOTOR2. Obsidian Entertainment did. But fear no. It's still great.

I think it's almost as good as the first game, in my opinion. But, I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't played it yet. Suffice to say, you should patch it up before you decide to play it. It was pretty buggy when I first played it.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

It was embarrassingly buggy on Xbox. And it was horribly rushed towards the end. I still had an excellent experience with it regardless.

Suffice to say that it might have even trumped the first KOTOR had it not been rushed and f#&ked up in the process.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by samIamsad

I just realized that Bioware are the uncrowned masters of dialogue trees. Love it!

Not so sure I'd agree, for a time there they where still playing catch up with Troika (still are in my opinion). Arcanum and Bloodlines both had deep dialogue trees but they also pipped Bioware with the implementation of skills, statistics and abilities (Try playing a Malkavian in Bloodlines) influencing and aiding conversations.

Looking at NWN's initial release they had your character's low intelligence score effect ALL conversations (play with 9 or less INT). That was present in Arcanum years earlier, It has also never featured in any subsequent Bioware title Occasionally in NWN your character's charisma score was incorporated to effect begging/pleading in dialogue but for the most part skills and abilities had little or no effect on dialogue at all.

Enter the Pirates of the Sword Coast premium mod. The conversation system was completely gutted and re-written. Now your characters stats play a greater roll as well as the ability to use skills and even spells in dialogue. Its still not perfect but its great to see it developing. With Troika gone they've less competition for the title, but Bethesda are clearly taking part with Oblivion this time around, dropping the rather dry index like conversation system from Morrowind (thankfully).

[Kolorabi]

Currently playing:
Blitzkrieg 2
Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion
Neuro Hunter (crap but fun...)

Will soon be playing:
Journey to the Moon
Taito Legends (Bubble Bobble!)

Recently finished:
Fahrenheit
Darkwatch

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

It was embarrassingly buggy on Xbox. And it was horribly rushed towards the end. I still had an excellent experience with it regardless.

Suffice to say that it might have even trumped the first KOTOR had it not been rushed and f#&ked up in the process.

I dunno. To me it feels like the made-for-tv movie sequel. I can't quite tell what it is, but the graphics, the voices and the whole design haven't gripped me in the same way as the original.

Mind you, it's still a bloody good made-for-tv movie .

[seek83]

currently playing:
xmen legends 2
earth 2160
total overdose

nintendogs
cs:s as always

just finished:
dungeon siege 2

gonna get: DS games
meteos
advance wars
lost in blue

gonna get xbox 360 in about , oh... 2007

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

Not so sure I'd agree, for a time there they where still playing catch up with Troika (still are in my opinion). Arcanum and Bloodlines both had deep dialogue trees but they also pipped Bioware with the implementation of skills, statistics and abilities (Try playing a Malkavian in Bloodlines) influencing and aiding conversations.

Looking at NWN's initial release they had your character's low intelligence score effect ALL conversations (play with 9 or less INT).

Thanks for reminding me that I have to get a copy of Arcanum one day! It's just...... I couldn't stop playing when I started Baldur yesterday night. Decent implementation of dialogues and character interaction, nonetheless. The not-so-random encounters while traveling to the Friendly Arm,... and there's also a BIG number of random text that comes into play, whenever you're talking to a goddamn generic "filler" NPC (the ones that don't have a name in the game ). Such as normal townsfolk, guards, etc. It's not hard to see why I skipped school to play this one. There's just so much going on.


The sequel was even better in this aspect, but I missed being able to roam around woods, ruins, mountains, etc. on the map. Oh, the module included in the original NWN was merely a bonus to what NWN really is. Never bothered to finish it. Haven't played the expansion packs, though.

Originally Posted by SamNMax

Bioware did not develop KOTOR2. Obsidian Entertainment did. But fear no. It's still great.

Oups! Obsidian consists of some former Black Isle/Interplay employees, so it should be at least a decent game.

[LeisureSuitedLooney]

Currently playing:

-Psychonauts

Just Finished:

-Still Life
-Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker
-NWN: Shadowguard
-NWN: Witch's Wake

(none of those "premium" NWN modules took longer than an afternoon/evening to complete. MAJOR disappointment!)

Planning to Buy Next:

-Fable
-Black and White 2
-Voyage
-too many more to list here....

[Crunchy in milk]

For me, Baldur's Gate is far superior than the sequel. BG2 for me was a sequence of scripted battles for your carefully managed party rather than an RPG. Especially the Throne of Bhaal expansion to it, a fricken nightmare for those not interested in carefully managing the contents of spell books.

If you enjoyed the roaming/exploration aspect of Baldur's Gate then Arcanum should be right up your alley, the giant island it takes place on is brimming with side quests and areas to just stumble on to.

I am falling out of love with Bioware, I don't enjoy roleplaying games made exclusively for people who enjoy combat. It just seems that their titles since BG2 have been "fight scene every 3 screens" affairs. I'd much rather play a trickster or thief and avoid all that save the world nonsense. Strongly looking forward to doing as much in Oblivion.

[simpson_yellow]

See my sig

In addition, I just bought Myst V (collectors' ed.), which should be hitting my mailbox early next week.

And F.E.A.R will be the next title to make my credit card wince.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

For me, Baldur's Gate is far superior than the sequel. BG2 for me was a sequence of scripted battles for your carefully managed party rather than an RPG.

Like Kotor? Essentially, I don't think Kotor and BG2 are that different from each other, except that BG2 is three or four times the game Kotor is (in terms of scope and size). It's incredible what they squeezed into a single game...

edit: BG2 was developed by Black Isle, wasn't it?

Especially the Throne of Bhaal expansion to it, a fricken nightmare for those not interested in carefully managing the contents of spell books.

Dear God, that's exactly what it played like! I didn't like it that much, either. But the resolution made it worth it! Side note: I played BG1 in 1999, saved my character on a disk, bought BG2+Throne Of Bhaal this year, found that disk and imported my character. Awesome experience after all these years...

I don't enjoy roleplaying games made exclusively for people who enjoy combat. It just seems that their titles since BG2 have been "fight scene every 3 screens" affairs.

Yeah, but I have to admit I quite enjoyed all those Might&Magic or Wizardry level-up-and beat-the-crap-out-of-those-goblins-over-there games. Back in the 80s and early 90s, these kind of games were almost everything RPGs were about. A couple of dungeons (I mean, mazes for you to get lost in), some hacking&slashing, mind-boggling riddles, ah...

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by samIamsad

edit: BG2 was developed by Black Isle, wasn't it?

No, BioWare.

Other than that, I agree with you guys. I play RPGs to immerse myself in another world, develop my character, explore and solve mysteries. I don't mind fighting a bit, but when it feels like I spend all my time killing monsters, I get tired quickly. Especially when the combat is difficult.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I play select RPGs for the exploration, stories, and character. The levelling up and equipment are more like means to those ends for me. You could say that I like playing RPGs as if they were adventure games and the stats management, party member selection, and combat are puzzle-like in their mild challenges. That said, I'm more drawn to single player versions than MMOs.

And please don't pimp the Final Fantasy series to me, I can't stand cartoony Japanese style looks. So much so that I'm willing to miss out on the great stories from those games I've been hearing about.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Kolorabi

No, BioWare.

Hm, I thought it was...... well, never mind.

Here's an interview that might clear this up:

GS: After Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment, KOTOR is the third time you've built a game on a BioWare engine. NWN2 will be the fourth. You and several other Obsidian founders also worked with BioWare while at Black Isle on the Baldur's Gate series. What lessons have you learned from your long-standing collaboration?
.
.
.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08...s_6104565.html

BTW: Isn't Faergus Urquhart a kickass name? With a name like this he could have become a Paladin in Waterdeep or whatever, but he chose to develop games. Foolio.