Was Baldur's Gate considered popamole at release?

[Volourn]

I only care about my time and palce. I'm egotistical like that.

 

[Globbi]

I wasn't on the codex then (hell, my Internet connection was nonexistent and I didn't know English well, had serious problems playing FO1 at that time because of my English) but I quess the reception of BG was pretty much the same as it is now. I personally love BG games but I don't think it makes sense to argue all over again why, or why not, they are good games.

Discussion about it started here it seems: http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php ... c&start=25

To be fair, when I joined, admitting you liked BG got you a similar treatment as when you join now and admit that you like DAO or NWN2. While now BG is still not given as an example of a stellar game it is often at least mentioned as a decent one.
The thing those retards don't seem to get is that communities (can) change and that one never gets far if one takes hyperbole to seriously. Most of the people who tried to give me grief for liking BG(2) are gone or don't bother anymore and the newer members are by and large also more tolerant to the IE games. I'm still here. I still find the BGs decent (even if I couldn't stand playing them anymore). Does that mean that "the codex" OMG flipflopped?

Aren't now DAO and NWN2 considered averange games? Not great, some people like them, other hate them. BG is considered quite good for some reasons but it's never been and isn't now considered nearly as good as FO with it's great dialogues and usage of skills. So I think what Shannow said may be true and is nothing new or surprising.

Anyway I'm not on the codex that long (even though I always read more than posted) but there used to be a saying: "Chances are, if you like it, it's shit". There are only a few good games that people here have always considered as good. Now codex is more tolerant, mainly for two reasons:
1. No tubgirl and goatse scaring the weaklings off.
2. Not enough good games.

There is also the higher goal of fighting consoletards. It's easier to like BG, if:
other RPG fans, who like BG, agree that games now are dumbed down shit;
if stupid brats with consoles hate it and will never play it for too much text or whatever else idiotic reason;
if there are so much possibilities and challenge (and whatever else) compared to modern games and you play it after you run out of better games in your seasonal run through good oldies.
And there is a lot of nice mods making the game better.

 

[octavius]

I only care about my time and palce. I'm egotistical like that.

Pretty princesses are entitled to that.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I remember being surprised by the level of decline when I have played Baldur's Gate after playing Fallout 1/2 and Ultima VII.
While I liked the generic fantasy atmosphere and ability to enter people's houses and having them react, the linearity, messy boring combat, some poorly implemented spells and not-very-stat-based dialogues and stuff like that killed the game for me.

 

[DraQ]

Someone need a nap at 2pm in the afternoon? WOW. Are you 4? Or 80?

2 PM?
The Codex is not place centric.

Volourn cannot into round Earth.

 

[octavius]

I remember being surprised by the level of decline when I have played Baldur's Gate after playing Fallout 1/2 and Ultima VII.
While I liked the generic fantasy atmosphere and ability to enter people's houses and having them react, the linearity, messy boring combat, some poorly implemented spells and not-very-stat-based dialogues and stuff like that killed the game for me.

Vanilla BG has not aged very well compared to many other games of the same era.
But I still replay BG overy other year or so because of the great mods that has been made for it. The Widescreen Mod makes it look very good indeed on higher resolutions, the NPC Project mod adds lots of new content, in the form of banters, interjections and quests making it feel more like BG2, and the Sword Coasts Strategems makes combat far more interesting and deadly.

 

[Redeye]

More importantly, since when did popamole stop meaning 'cover based shooter' and start meaning 'random stupid word for dumbed down crap'?

Instead of "pop a mole", pronounce it "poppa-moh-ley" like some gesticulating Italian mafia guy.

"Itsa poppa-moh-ley!"


That's how I always read the word.

 

[curry]

I can't believe you guys actually have the nerve to think Baldur's Gate was a pop-a-mole at release. Yes I'm being serious and no I'm not butthurt. Not only was Baldur's Gate successful both critically and commercially, it spawned a shit load of clones. Think about it.

 

[GarfunkeL]

I can't believe you guys actually have the nerve to think Baldur's Gate was a pop-a-mole at release. Yes I'm being serious and no I'm not butthurt. Not only was Baldur's Gate successful both critically and commercially, it spawned a shit load of clones. Think about it.

Seriously? Not even the other IE-games were BG-clones. What games do you mean?

 

[curry]

I can't believe you guys actually have the nerve to think Baldur's Gate was a pop-a-mole at release. Yes I'm being serious and no I'm not butthurt. Not only was Baldur's Gate successful both critically and commercially, it spawned a shit load of clones. Think about it.

Seriously? Not even the other IE-games were BG-clones. What games do you mean?

Well perhaps not straight clones but it definitely heavily influenced the genre.

 

[spectre]

^I think he's referring to Gorasul: Legacy of the Dragon, and the likes.

I'd say, BG couldn't possibly been "popamole".
I mean it was STILL D&D second edition, with wacky stuff like lower armor meaning you're harder to hit. I remember people writing whole FAQs for people who couldn't into that.

At the time of its release, I remember it was pretty much lauded as the second coming, unfortunately, people were fapping all over the VOs, and the fact that it was whole 5CDs worth of a game.

 

[Hegel]

Always kept a copy of fully modded BG+BGII on my hard drive.
I update it twice a year using the mod's autoupdate utility.

 

[oneself]

Codex bashes the new, not the bad.
Cherish the old, and not the good.

Surprise surprise

 

[torpid]

This the kind of topic where Volourn goes full derp

 

[J_C]

Always kept a copy of fully modded BG+BGII on my hard drive.
I update it twice a year using the mod's autoupdate utility.

It's kinda off topic, but what mods are you using in the games?

 

[baronjohn]

I remember that everyone was really excited and hopeful about Bioware when they released Baldur's Gate, and they were right too since they later released BG2 and it was a really good game.

Then Bioware turned to Bioshit when they published Popamole Empire.

 

[bhlaab]

No, nobody considered it popamole because nobody has ever used that term outside of about 5 people on this forum

 

[Hegel]

Always kept a copy of fully modded BG+BGII on my hard drive.
I update it twice a year using the mod's autoupdate utility.

It's kinda off topic, but what mods are you using in the games?

All the ones in the autoupdate list (Expert install) minus the korean ones (they are bugged as fuck and prevent you from entering the Slums). Took this old pc I'm currently on about 30 hours to download and install the content, my Alienware rig in New York did the same in under 4 hours.

Edited to remove the price, it looked like I was bragging.

 

[DraQ]

I can't believe you guys actually have the nerve to think Baldur's Gate was a pop-a-mole at release. Yes I'm being serious and no I'm not butthurt. Not only was Baldur's Gate successful both critically and commercially

You mean like Oblivion?

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I can't believe you guys actually have the nerve to think Baldur's Gate was a pop-a-mole at release. Yes I'm being serious and no I'm not butthurt. Not only was Baldur's Gate successful both critically and commercially, it spawned a shit load of clones. Think about it.

Just like Oblivion.

 

[Squeek]

IIRC, the big deal was that BG would use (and simulate) the current D&D rules set.

Interesting note, I think, is that the original version didn't pause the game when you went into the inventory screen. So your party could get trashed while you were considering which potion to gulp! In reaction to player outrage (though some players actually preferred it to work that way), they patched it nearly right away.

Myself, I enjoyed BG for what it was. I had been played Daggerfall over and over, and BG was a fresh change of pace.

 

[Johannes]

I don't see on what level they would be dumbed down compared to other RPG released around the same time. You might not like them for whatever reason, fine, but they're not simplistic or forgiving for a newbie.

 

[Serious_Business]

I only care about my time and palce. I'm egotistical like that.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

In the general gaming population BG received more love by far than the original Fallout.

To be fair a lot of that love was made up by one Volourn Honorblade, but it was still good for what it was.

 

[curry]

I can't believe you guys actually have the nerve to think Baldur's Gate was a pop-a-mole at release. Yes I'm being serious and no I'm not butthurt. Not only was Baldur's Gate successful both critically and commercially

You mean like Oblivion?

More like Morrowind