Baldur's Gate I was better than Baldur's Gate II

[Lilura]

I'm sure insulting random people who share your love for old school RPGs is a good way to attract interest to your blog. So good job, asshole.

It's funny, you know. My blog purge along with my hardline approach has resulted in a readership increase. But yeah, I guess, overall, the pro of King Content outweighs the con of occasional cuntishness.

You really should play MotB, btw.

I don't think she was acting like that before her readership "skyrocketed" thanks to her focusing on what mainstream wants, in place of her preffered NWN modules.

Yes, because ToEE, IWD2 and PS:T are so mainstream; right up there with Skyrim and Fallout 4. And posting reviews for the esoteric Bone Kenning, Tremagne and Sapphire (NWN modules no one has even heard of, other than the most hardcore NWN fan) is pandering to the masses, too...

 

[Great Deceiver]

No. Watcher's Keep is orders of magnitude worse than Durlag's Tower in atmosphere, design and floor layout. ToB is crap anyway.

 

[ScrotumBroth]

This thread got me reminiscing of BG1. One special moment comes from when I've encountered the very first Ogre, just before Friendly Arms Inn. The one carrying the Girdle Masculinity/Femininity.
There was no way my lvl 1 party could take it on fair and square, so Montaron "volunteered" to be the bait and kite him while Imoen did the work with her bow.
It may seem like a basic tactic, or even nonviable by todays AI standards, but back than it was thrilling.

Or baiting a group of bandits and running away with a fireball spreading one step behind.

Although, if I'm honest about the amount of time spent, the clear winner is the character creation screen with awesome music.

Good times.

 

[MajorMace]

Mazzy - Sucks kobold cock.

Fuck you
The only one who's better than Mazzy is motherfucking Keldorn, yet again we're talking about the wisest motherfucker around.
Mazzy is great, fuck you all.

 

[Lilura]

Durlag's Tower and its Labyrinths:

Spoiler

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Durlag's Tower in atmosphere, design and floor layout.

Each part was quite interesting and enjoyable, but I wouldn't say it was an atmospherically cohesive dungeon, more a theme park of independent attractions but without it having a theme park aesthetic.

 

[Shaewaroz]

OK, I think this thread has gone on long enough. All we need is an unbiased and prestigious source to determine which game is better.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9453

/thread

 

[Lujo]

Ye, I just said it in another place, Durlag's is a bit of a thematic mess. It's just "messin with the assets" place that's kinda ridiculous and hard to take seriously in the setting. Which is a bit of a feat :D

 

[Jvegi]

People shitting on BG2 and Durlag's Tower... Bizarro World it is.

 

[J_C]

People shitting on BG2 and Durlag's Tower... Bizarro World it is.

Just another day on the Codex.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I wasn't shitting on it though, i just disagreed with the description someone provided. Dirlag's Tower is most certainly the most interesting aspect of Bg1, but i wouldn't say it was an eclipe-all-else dungeon. Perhaps it is in some respects, but atmospheric cohesion is not one of them.

 

[Hobo Elf]

In BG1 you find barely any magical weapons, and the ones you do are generic Long Sword +2 (+1 Cold damage). What is so exciting about that?

It's exciting because you've finally found a weapon that doesn't break due to the iron plague. Also magical items are spaced out much better in BG1. In general I felt that once you found a magical piece of equipment it felt, well, magical. In BG2 you practically trip over them. I agree that if we do a side-by-side comparison between items in BG1 & 2 then the items in BG2 might feel a bit more statistically interesting, but they lose out on their uniqueness due to the sheer volume of other shit the game throws at you.

 

[Luckmann]

Durlag's Tower and its Labyrinths:

Spoiler

I'm not going to get into the whole Durlag's Tower vs. Watcher's Keep thing, because at the end of the day I loved both, but one thing that really strikes me about Durlag's Tower is how it did so much more with so much less. It's so compact and everything seems like it matters, and it feels "lived in" to a degree that Watcher's Keep doesn't. This is partially entirely intentional, I would think, because Watcher's Keep is a prison, but Watcher's Keep, level-by-level, feels much more random and with a lot more wasted space and if you stop and think about it, there's countless times you can probably ask yourself "Why on Earth does this even exist here?" and there's no sensible answer.

Part of it could be that sometimes, the scale(s) in BG2 are just plain off, like the space between different things doesn't feel right. I dunno.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

In BG1 you find barely any magical weapons, and the ones you do are generic Long Sword +2 (+1 Cold damage). What is so exciting about that?

It's exciting because you've finally found a weapon that doesn't break due to the iron plague. Also magical items are spaced out much better in BG1. In general I felt that once you found a magical piece of equipment it felt, well, magical. In BG2 you practically trip over them. I agree that if we do a side-by-side comparison between items in BG1 & 2 then the items in BG2 might feel a bit more statistically interesting, but they lose out on their uniqueness due to the sheer volume of other shit the game throws at you.

I wholeheartedly disagree. I got my longsword +2 in chapter 2. Went sraight from generic longsword to a +2 right at game's introduction and never found a 'better' weapon, even within the expansion. I didn't even get the sword from a massive sidetrack, its on the same map as the mines.

Yes, that one moment was exiting, but its not as exciting as decent itemisation and loot conventions such as bg2 provides, not by a country mile. Quite the opposite of everything you said.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Another aspect of BG1 i like. This is a full scale RPG of 40+ hours of gameplay bla bla bla where the level cap is like what, 9? 10?

Nowadays you can get to level 9 just by finishing the prologue lel

 

[Lilura]

People shitting on BG2 and Durlag's Tower... Bizarro World it is.

I praise virtues and criticize flaws.

Also, BG2 has one of the most obnoxious fanbases in the genre; definitely the most obnoxious of the core Renaissance era — worse even the Morrowind 'tards. From reddit to the 'Dex, they're all the same in thinking they're elite when they actually squat on the lower rungs.

They are clueless on what constitutes tactical combat systems, clueless on what constitutes reactivity, clueless on what constitutes good writing, and even clueless in regard to aesthetics.

95% of them are out-and-out munchkins, too.

Also, because most of them have only played BG in the BG2 engine, they generally gravitate to and embrace the EEs.

Thus, as a rule of thumb, they are noxious scum.

 

[Shaewaroz]

I'm getting a migraine from reading all your smug bullshit Lilura. I've never use the ignoring option in Codex, but I guess now is a good time to try it out.

EDIT: Ahh, the thread looks so much better now.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Biotard confirmed. If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen, figgit.

 

[Lilura]

I'm getting a migraine from reading all your smug bullshit Lilura. I've never use the ignoring option in Codex, but I guess now is a good time to try it out.

You can ignore me on the 'Dex, but Google Indexing will likely throw my blog in your face when you Google an intelligent IE-related string.

 

[Blaine]

I also hate Lilura—but in my case it's because she bookends her em dashes with spaces in the AP style.

It's absolutely disgusting and shouldn't be allowed.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I'm getting a migraine from reading all your smug bullshit Lilura. I've never use the ignoring option in Codex, but I guess now is a good time to try it out.

EDIT: Ahh, the thread looks so much better now.

Lilura is an excellent example of why agenda-based shilling for a personal interest kills forums quicker than any other kind of shit-posting. At least s/he's honest about it though, no idea what Lyric Suite 's personal interest here is though...

 

[Shaewaroz]

I'm getting a migraine from reading all your smug bullshit Lilura. I've never use the ignoring option in Codex, but I guess now is a good time to try it out.

EDIT: Ahh, the thread looks so much better now.

Lilura is an excellent example of why agenda-based shilling for a personal interest kills forums quicker than any other kind of shit-posting. At least s/he's honest about it though, no idea what Lyric Suite 's personal interest here is though...

I don't mind people tooting their own horn or having agenda-based arguments, but I prefer not to ruin my days reading confrontational self-absorbed smug shitposts. I ignored Lyric Suite as well, since he also focuses on bashing and degrading others instead of arguing about the topics in question.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Maybe i don't have any personal interest and i genuinely like BG1 over BG2?

 

[Nas92]

Also, because most of them have only played BG in the BG2 engine

I almost hate to ask but what exactly is wrong with playing BG1 with the BG2 engine? I have played BG1 with the original engine and with the BG2 engine. The sprites and the portraits you can just mod to look like BG1's.

they generally gravitate to and embrace the EEs.

The EEs are more than just technical changes though. BG1EE, for example, fucks with the soundtrack of the game. Baldur's Gate city's standard daytime track is changed into a vastly inferior tune and they also managed to make the final area not play any sound at all but the combat music. Not to mention the inescapable added companions who are terribly written.

 

[Micormic]

My overview of BG2 companions, inspired by a generic giant spider.




Yoshimo - No opinion on the zipperhead one way or the other, pretty neutral and didn't say much. Didn't last long but thanks to him being a turncloak I had to use imoen, thanks for that bioware...

nice spoiler you ass

Is there anyone who hasn't played BG2 here already? lol