Baldur's Gate II Sucks!

[TNO]

YO BLOBERT BRO WTF IS THIS SHIT!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS COPY-PASTA! SKYWAY IS A CLOSET CONSOLE FAG!

LOOK AT THESE CONSOLETARD RANKINGS!

FO2 > FO1

HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU LIKE THE SEQUEL MORE THAN THE PREDECESSOR, CONSOLEFAG! THEY SOLD OUT! DOES THAT MEAN FO3>FO2>FO1. ONLY ON EXCEL SORT AND GAMEFAQS!


FAGGOTS GAIT 2 > VTM:B, PS:T, ARCANUM AND FALLOUT!!!111

HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU GIVE FAGGOTS GAIT 2 99%! ITS LIKE A BIOWHORE GAME! EVERYONE KNOWS BIOWARE CANT MAKE GOOD GAMES. ITS NOT ONE PERCENT OFF PERFECTION ITS ONE PERCENT PERIOD LOL.


NWN2: HOTU > FALLOUT AND ARCANUM!!!

NO WAI THATS JUST TOO STUPID. COPY AND PASTE FROM ABOVE.


AT LEAST THE STRATEGY RANKINGS ARE OKAY. ALTHOUGH THAT SAID, HOW ON EARTH YOU CAN THINK A CLASSIC LIKE HOMEWORLD IS ONLY THREE PERCENT BETTER THAN SOME CONSOLETARD SHIT LIKE MEDIEVAL 2: WTFEVA IS CRAZY.



FUCKING DECLINE, FAG. FUCKING DECLINE. IM SCARED IT WILL TURN OUT MY OTHER BROS ARE FRAUDS TOO. COULD IT BE THAT ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIKE GOOD GAMES AND ARENT CONSOLE FAGS ARE ACTUALLY SECRETLY PLAYING THESE GAMES FOR PLEASURE, AS OPPOSED TO MAKE SURE WE ALL KNOW HOW SHIT THEY ARE? COULD IT BE THAT THERE ARE CONSOLETARD ZOMBIES AMONGST US, READY TO SPRING FORTH INTO CRYSSALIDS AND INFECT US ALL WITH CONSOLITIS SO WE LIKE NEW SHIT GAMES LIKE DA: ORIGINS - WHICH WE ALL KNOW BEFORE EVEN PLAYING IT IS GONNA BE SHIT! SHIT, I NEED A DRINK.

 

[Lockkaliber]

Just proof of what everyone has known since forever: that skyway is nothing but a sad attempt at creating an internet identity.

 

[Silellak]

This thread delivers.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Just proof of what everyone has known since forever: that skyway is nothing but a sad attempt at creating an internet identity.

Actually, it's not that.

Skyway has always been a person who has fairly positive impressions of videogames as much as he has negative ones.

It just happened at a certain point of time, a poster called Ticktockman got angry at some of his opinions, and decided to make a thread "Skyway is a whiny bitch."

It became a meme. Out of the sheer fact that some people disagreed with his opinions on The Witcher and a few other games, he just got this reputation.

And as a backlash, he started to condemn Codex for being too easy on games as well. So in a way, he just accepted such a position, because, apart from the games that he actually likes, he obviously does dislike many games as well.

And yet, if it happens that, say, Skyway says he likes Total War or DDO, people will act surprised. But it's ridiculous. Anybody who has read his posts since 2007-08 knows there is no such thing going on. It's just a meme attached by butthurt posters here. I mean, a guy on the Codex who dislikes certain games? Really?

 

[Black]

And the curse was never lifted.

 

[Malachi]

Do we know for certain that the "Metalcraze" posted by Lestat is really the Metalcraze / Skyway of the Codex?

Also:

People who whine about Aerie whining are whiners. There was like, five banters with her in entire game(unless you wanted to romance), and in every single one of them you can just tell her to shut up.

So it's a good NPC(a rarity in BG series!) you will not use because, uh, you would need to click "No one cares, let's go" five times in the game?

Tastes like lies.

If there were no other options to fill the cleric spot, I would agree with you. But Viconia was better than Aerie in some other ways:
1) Single class cleric, so she got higher level spells faster.
2) Drow spell resists.
3) Did not particularly care if you were good or evil (But if you were good, I seem to remember that she would let you know that you were being a pussy. ).

Considering these factors, plus the fact that she was actually fun, I took Vic along nearly every single time -- even in games where I would start out saying "Okay, this time I'll take Aerie." Never ended up happening.

I had to take Jaheira at least once, because Vic is not compatible with Keldorn. If you try, she eventually gets a beat down from a two-handed Holy Avenger. Not pretty.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Do we know for certain that the "Metalcraze" posted by Lestat is really the Metalcraze / Skyway of the Codex?

Read the url given in Lestat's link closely.

 

[Nael]

Is Skyway dead?

 

[Malachi]

Do we know for certain that the "Metalcraze" posted by Lestat is really the Metalcraze / Skyway of the Codex?

Read the url given in Lestat's link closely.

Ah, I see.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Just proof of what everyone has known since forever: that skyway is nothing but a sad attempt at creating an internet identity.

Actually, it's not that.

Skyway has always been a person who has fairly positive impressions of videogames as much as he has negative ones.

It just happened at a certain point of time, a poster called Ticktockman got angry at some of his opinions, and decided to make a thread "Skyway is a whiny bitch."

It became a meme. Out of the sheer fact that some people disagreed with his opinions on The Witcher and a few other games, he just got this reputation.

And as a backlash, he started to condemn Codex for being too easy on games as well. So in a way, he just accepted such a position, because, apart from the games that he actually likes, he obviously does dislike many games as well.

And yet, if it happens that, say, Skyway says he likes Total War or DDO, people will act surprised. But it's ridiculous. Anybody who has read his posts since 2007-08 knows there is no such thing going on. It's just a meme attached by butthurt posters here. I mean, a guy on the Codex who dislikes certain games? Really?

That's not even close to being a full/accurate explanation Wyrm. For many people, what makes Skyway's bitterness stand out isn't so much the combo of games he hates, but rather a mixture of the following:
- the sheer vitriol and bitterness at games that haven't been released (no, I'm not doing the 'you can't comment unless you've played it', but there's a difference between going 'oh dear, this looks really awful', and going 'this is fucking retarded and there is no possibility of the final product being any different'.
- MOSTLY that whereas most people make allowances for variation in taste, Skyway often appears to take his taste as being the 'obvious' absolute, wherein you either thing exactly like him and share his exact taste in games, or you (a) don't know what you're talking about, (b) are retarded or (c) are a mindless fanboy. People would react very VERY differently if he made more allowance for varying tastes. It doesn't matter how specific someone is on the reasons why they liked, say SoZ or KotoR 2, they're just shit in Skyway's view. Not that they don't mind things that he hates, or that they place emphasis on different things - he is just OBVIOUSLY completely right, and they are completely wrong, no two ways about it.
- Skyway is hardly the only one that gets flamed for doing that here - see, for example Emo Vamp.
- level of vitriol I guess. Not exactly out of place on the Codex, but I actually tend to agree with VD and those few others that was better when developers dropped round to the Codex more often. And the Codex NEVER sucked their dicks for doing so, the Codex ALWAYS criticised them, but it wasn't with the same viciousness and moreover wasn't with the same 'my tastes are ALWAYS right and anyone who disagree is retarded'.


I posted a while ago on the double-standards between the treatment of AoD and the treatment of other games on the Codex. Before VD does his usual 'someone said something vaguely non-complemnetary about AoD - time to transform into CAPTAIN MARKETING PLANET and save the day!', I was actually posting to say that the counter-criticism made of AoD was good, constructive and I wish that the folks who jumped out of the woodwork and flamed those for making unproductive/vitriolic/false assumptions of authoritative taste were similarly active in matters that didn't concern AoD.

Basically search the threads where someone has posted to bitch about AoD. Look at how people jumped to AoD's defence, demanding that criticism be constructive and not pointlessly insulting, or consisting of repeatedly stating one's opinion as if it is the only correct way of thinking. If those same people would just do the same more consistently for other games we'd have a better quality games criticism and discussion.

 

[Black]

Is Skyway dead?

Skyway can't be dead, skyway isn't a person.
Skyway is how you live your life.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Do we know for certain that the "Metalcraze" posted by Lestat is really the Metalcraze / Skyway of the Codex?

Also:

People who whine about Aerie whining are whiners. There was like, five banters with her in entire game(unless you wanted to romance), and in every single one of them you can just tell her to shut up.

So it's a good NPC(a rarity in BG series!) you will not use because, uh, you would need to click "No one cares, let's go" five times in the game?

Tastes like lies.

If there were no other options to fill the cleric spot, I would agree with you. But Viconia was better than Aerie in some other ways:
1) Single class cleric, so she got higher level spells faster.
2) Drow spell resists.
3) Did not particularly care if you were good or evil (But if you were good, I seem to remember that she would let you know that you were being a pussy. ).

Considering these factors, plus the fact that she was actually fun, I took Vic along nearly every single time -- even in games where I would start out saying "Okay, this time I'll take Aerie." Never ended up happening.

I had to take Jaheira at least once, because Vic is not compatible with Keldorn. If you try, she eventually gets a beat down from a two-handed Holy Avenger. Not pretty.

From having played the game a fuckload of times, I'd say Viconica was the best in BG2 (non-expansion):
- drow magic res
- great stats
- MAIN REASON: vampires are to BG2 what shapeshifters are to BG1. Viconia shreds them, in that by the time you get to the harder vampire fights, she can actually auto-control many of them, and destroy others. In her hands as a straight cleric, turn undead is just absurdly powerful in BG2. Of course, that assumes you aren't doing the romance shite, in which case you won't have her for those main fights. As a side, it also means that you'll have stacks of the best anti-undead damage spells and protection from level drain spells (aerie's mage spells aren't that great vs the vampires, at least not as effective as cleric spells. Better to have more sunblasts, more heals, more prot from negative energy, more restore and of course more turn (well, with Viconia it's more control/destroy) undead than you can use.

In ToB it might turn around, as mutliclasses pick back up again from 20-onwards (as they start to get access to top tier spells, cancelling out their main disadvantage in levels 10-20), and turn undead isn't very important in ToB. But fuck, do you really want Aerie for the entirety of ToB AND BG2? I'd go pretty much anything over that - heck, I'd take Jaheira's multi over Aerie's voiceacting (and as a fighter/druid multi she's not bad in high levels - fighting classes get a lot better in ToB EXCEPT FOR THE END FIGHT IF YOU ARE PLAYING ASCENSION (that's just one battle, but it makes such a big difference to challenge that it's worth mentioning. Not that Jaheria is gimped - she still has druid spells, and can hold down a main healing slot if you have an off-healer to back her up).

I often played the cheap fighter/mage dual class, where you calculate the exp cap to get the maximum possible level of mage whilst having the left over exp on fighter without losing any mage levels, OR went fighter/mage multi, so between hiom and Edwin I had arcane covered (if goinh fighter/mage multi I'd take Imoen as well, with my main being a swingman to cover whatever gap was needed). Viconia fits that build perfectly, as a straight healer in that lineup is more useful than a hybrid, even though the hybrid is better in a direct comparison.

 

[Lockkaliber]

Just proof of what everyone has known since forever: that skyway is nothing but a sad attempt at creating an internet identity.

Actually, it's not that.

Skyway has always been a person who has fairly positive impressions of videogames as much as he has negative ones.

It just happened at a certain point of time, a poster called Ticktockman got angry at some of his opinions, and decided to make a thread "Skyway is a whiny bitch."

It became a meme. Out of the sheer fact that some people disagreed with his opinions on The Witcher and a few other games, he just got this reputation.

And as a backlash, he started to condemn Codex for being too easy on games as well. So in a way, he just accepted such a position, because, apart from the games that he actually likes, he obviously does dislike many games as well.

And yet, if it happens that, say, Skyway says he likes Total War or DDO, people will act surprised. But it's ridiculous. Anybody who has read his posts since 2007-08 knows there is no such thing going on. It's just a meme attached by butthurt posters here. I mean, a guy on the Codex who dislikes certain games? Really?

So now Skyway is a stoic watchman that grudgingly accepted the position of bashing games he liked before coming here, only because he acknowledged the need for someone to fill this position in the greater scheme of the codex? Ridiculous wyrmie.

You have a point about some posters being butthurt about him and that's what perpetuates his behaviour in some ways, but you fail to explain why the man has made a complete turn around on a lot of games that he obviously has enjoyed and found good in the past.

He has basically adopted every hardcore opinion from posters like VD or Rosh that does the whole bashing thing a whole lot better than he does. Remember when Rosh showed up after Aliens got canceled and flamed Obsidian to hell and back? After that, Skyway's criticism of Obsidian has gradually increased tenfold. To me, it seems that Skyway is very impressionable person and he has adopted a lot of opinions here to seem like the most hardcore dude around.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Just proof of what everyone has known since forever: that skyway is nothing but a sad attempt at creating an internet identity.

Actually, it's not that.

Skyway has always been a person who has fairly positive impressions of videogames as much as he has negative ones.

It just happened at a certain point of time, a poster called Ticktockman got angry at some of his opinions, and decided to make a thread "Skyway is a whiny bitch."

It became a meme. Out of the sheer fact that some people disagreed with his opinions on The Witcher and a few other games, he just got this reputation.

And as a backlash, he started to condemn Codex for being too easy on games as well. So in a way, he just accepted such a position, because, apart from the games that he actually likes, he obviously does dislike many games as well.

And yet, if it happens that, say, Skyway says he likes Total War or DDO, people will act surprised. But it's ridiculous. Anybody who has read his posts since 2007-08 knows there is no such thing going on. It's just a meme attached by butthurt posters here. I mean, a guy on the Codex who dislikes certain games? Really?

Oh look here's wyrmlord out to ruin everyone's fun as usual..

Is Skyway dead?

After this killing himself is the only way he can regain his honor.

 

[MetalCraze]

Most of those ratings are what I put there more than 2 years ago before I even frequented Codex. Before that I didn't even play games like RoA, Wizardry, Ultima, LoL etc. I don't even visit AG anymore really. Before registering on Codex I thought that dungeon crawlers f.e. were mostly about mindless slashing - I pretty much got my taste refined thanks to better games I got in touch with here.

I certainly don't deny that 2.5 years ago I gave such marks to those games, would've never given them those today.

 

[janjetina]

BG 2 is a literally beautiful game. In the visual department, Baldur's Gate 2 and TOEE haven't been surpassed. Modern RPGs, citing "superb graphix" as a selling point are hideous compared to these two games. In regards to sounds, only Vampire: Bloodlines are at the BG2 level (Athkatla feels alive thanks to the sounds). Sinergy of visuals and sounds make BG2's atmosphere one of the best, if not the best, in video games.

As a role playing game, BG2 leaves much to be desired, but it's still a good game. Story and writing are average (if we take them in the context of other RPGs, they are above average) and characters are typical, but in the context of a video game (with added interactivity), it works well. IE combat system is flawed and high level encounters have their problems, but encounter design in BG 2 is very good, so the combat can be challenging (though there are many cheesy tactics that remove the challenge, hardly anyone is aware of them on the first or second playthrough) and interesting. The game is pretty linear with a few branches and C&C, but there are too few games that are satisfying in that regard. The sheer amount of content (which is not just filler) partially makes up for it, adding the replay value.

BG 2 is above average in almost every aspect, with stunning visuals and sounds and huge amount of well polished content, so, despite its flaws, it remains one of the best games. It's not at the level of Fallout or PS:T, but, then again, nothing is.

 

[mountain hare]

BG2 shits all over Fallout and PS:T.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Most of those ratings are what I put there more than 2 years ago before I even frequented Codex. Before that I didn't even play games like RoA, Wizardry, Ultima, LoL etc. I don't even visit AG anymore really. Before registering on Codex I thought that dungeon crawlers f.e. were mostly about mindless slashing - I pretty much got my taste refined thanks to better games I got in touch with here.

I certainly don't deny that 2.5 years ago I gave such marks to those games, would've never given them those today.

You were right with your judgement regarding BG2.

 

[Jasede]

From having played the game a fuckload of times, I'd say Viconica was the best in BG2 (non-expansion):
- drow magic res
- great stats
- MAIN REASON: vampires are to BG2 what shapeshifters are to BG1. Viconia shreds them, in that by the time you get to the harder vampire fights, she can actually auto-control many of them, and destroy others. In her hands as a straight cleric, turn undead is just absurdly powerful in BG2. Of course, that assumes you aren't doing the romance shite, in which case you won't have her for those main fights. As a side, it also means that you'll have stacks of the best anti-undead damage spells and protection from level drain spells (aerie's mage spells aren't that great vs the vampires, at least not as effective as cleric spells. Better to have more sunblasts, more heals, more prot from negative energy, more restore and of course more turn (well, with Viconia it's more control/destroy) undead than you can use.

In ToB it might turn around, as mutliclasses pick back up again from 20-onwards (as they start to get access to top tier spells, cancelling out their main disadvantage in levels 10-20), and turn undead isn't very important in ToB. But fuck, do you really want Aerie for the entirety of ToB AND BG2? I'd go pretty much anything over that - heck, I'd take Jaheira's multi over Aerie's voiceacting (and as a fighter/druid multi she's not bad in high levels - fighting classes get a lot better in ToB EXCEPT FOR THE END FIGHT IF YOU ARE PLAYING ASCENSION (that's just one battle, but it makes such a big difference to challenge that it's worth mentioning. Not that Jaheria is gimped - she still has druid spells, and can hold down a main healing slot if you have an off-healer to back her up).

I often played the cheap fighter/mage dual class, where you calculate the exp cap to get the maximum possible level of mage whilst having the left over exp on fighter without losing any mage levels, OR went fighter/mage multi, so between hiom and Edwin I had arcane covered (if goinh fighter/mage multi I'd take Imoen as well, with my main being a swingman to cover whatever gap was needed). Viconia fits that build perfectly, as a straight healer in that lineup is more useful than a hybrid, even though the hybrid is better in a direct comparison.

I too have played the game a fuckload of times (without expansion) and I always used the same party: Jaheira, Viconia, Edwin, Korgan and Valygar. Sometimes I'd replace one of those with Yoshimo/Imoen, if there were things to pick and such (which is a lot of times). And I have never, never, never ever used turn-undead in any of the play-throughs, and there were at least six or seven. I simply forgot about it and just summoned shit or solo'd vampires with Edwin or main character or buffed the party and waited until everything was dead.

edit: I'd never replace Edwin or Viconia or Korgan though, those characters are just ridiculously powerful. Keldorn too, if you were going for a good party.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

Anomen is better for anti-vampire duty, since evil turn undead is capped at 5 undead affected and it's much better to kill 10 vampires then mind-control 5 and give the other 5 a chance to level drain your dudes.

 

[Xor]

When do you ever fight 10 vampires at once in BG2? My strategy was to use protection from negative energy (or whatever the name of the spell that protected against level drain was) and send Korgan in alone while my casters nuked from a safe distance.

 

[Wulfstand]

BG 2 is a literally beautiful game. In the visual department, Baldur's Gate 2 and TOEE haven't been surpassed. Modern RPGs, citing "superb graphix" as a selling point are hideous compared to these two games. In regards to sounds, only Vampire: Bloodlines are at the BG2 level (Athkatla feels alive thanks to the sounds). Sinergy of visuals and sounds make BG2's atmosphere one of the best, if not the best, in video games.

I still think that Icewind Dale 1 (and possibly 2, never played it, but the pics I've seen from it were gorgeous) still has better views than BG 2, not to mention music (oh man, Kuldahar, Easthaven and the Severed Arm were (and still are) the shit in the game-feeling department) but that's just my opinion.

Even with all its flaws, I finished BG 2 SoA like 5 times, and it remains as the crpg i had the most fun with, spending zounds of hours just admiring the views, listening to one of Jan's stories (I just love the fact that he keeps his bizarre sense of humor all the way, even telling us of that one time when he was a god for a day, just after we finished Melissandre), yelling battlecries with Korgan and Minsc, enjoying Edwin's lines ( like when you ended up in you own Hell, after defeating Irenicus, Edwin's all like: well, I was going to end up here one way or another, so why not) etc. Such a great game. I almost feel bad for Bioware, seeing what it is now, but from what I've read, most of the old team that developed BG 2 left bioware some time ago. A shame.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

vampires? azurblade works wonders... from a distance

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Well, once you get the Medallion of Power from Linvail vampires are harmless.

Before that though, they're superbitch. Negative Plane Protection lasts 5 seconds and Restoration leaves you fatigued.

 

[Black]

BG2 shits all over Fallout and PS:T.

Only when it comes to cheesy uber epic filled with phat lewt boring fantasy.