Baldur's Gate vs. Athkatla

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The two big cities in two big games. There where many topics about what game was better. But what city do you like most? I prefer Baldur's Gate for the whole environment is so cool, and the history of the city is better. So what are your opinions? Post them here

 

athkatla was just kind of.. hollow.. know what i mean? there was no depth to it. the people were nearly all the same, you would talk to people and they would not say anything interesting. The quests that you have to do around the city are also poor..

 

If memory serves Baldur's Gate was larger, and had more things to explore than in Athkatla. Also there were more side quests than in Athkatla. And Baldur's Gate's docks district was fully explorable, and bigger.

 

Baldur's Gate was better, established by a real hero and governed by Dukes. Atlatka is run by a bunch of pansy wizards to cowardly to show thier own faces.

 

I'm glad till now many have the same opinion as I do. Difference is that whole BG (is it really bigger) can be explored, in Athkatla you can only visit some parts of the city.

 

has anyone else ever noticed that if you look at a map of a part of athkatla, ie the temple district, on the edge of it you can see part of a district that is nowhere near it, i think the temple has pictures of either the slums or waukeens prominade..

 

Of course Baldur's Gate was better. It had some tall buildings and a large marketplace with a lot of merchants... if memory serves me correctly, of course..

 

Yeah I know what you mean Spudsquisher. Ok well I hate in Baldur's Gate how the maps aren't labeled and it is so hard to find places. I don't mind the quests you get in Baldur's Gate, but let's admit it many of them are short and sweet. What you get with Athkatla are a few short and sweet quests and then larger quests.

Would you rather go fetch a body from the sewers and bring it to a wizard?

Or would you rather go through sewers to get to a hidden wizard's lair, rescue a bard and ultimatley end up in an Astral Prison?

Would you like to go take an amulet to a boy across town?

Or uncover a series of Murders and Kidnappings in the Bridge District?

Would you like to steal a telescope from the Hall of Wonder?

Or rather stumble upon slaving operations in the Copper Coronet and get the chance to ruin the whole thing?

And Baldur's Gate is not larger unless you count all the extra houses that have nothing for you to do but bully people and rob them and get in trouble with the guards. So they decided to cut that part out of Athkatla and show it in the background, big deal.

No, I am not ragging on Baldur's Gate here, but it would seem the the quests you get in Athkatla are more in depth. Infiltrating the Fallen Paladins, undcover work in Mae'var's Guildhall, the Unseeying Eye, Sir Sarles and the Illithium, Bodhi vs. the Shadow Theives, etc.

People in Athkatla are just as funny as people in Baldur's Gate. But you have to try having different NPC's talk to different idividuals to come across new conversations. Now that is anything but "hollow".

I vote for Athkatla.

[This message has been edited by Big B (edited November 09, 2001).]

 

Hi,

I agree with Big B, Athkatla gets my vote,

Narrow and deep rather than broad and shallow,

Cheers,

WittyNewt

 

I disagree B.

Most of the Baldur's Gate quests you mentioned are pretty inconsequential in regard to the scheme of things, and to the xp total that you're working on. These weren't quests you'd seek out, but if you stumbled on them, you could decide to take a minute out, and complete them, or ignore then altogether. Most of those minor quests, I felt, were for people of differing character types, so the player would have a chance to do side quests particular to how he felt his character would. A necromancer would probably keep the boys amulet instead of delivering it to him, and actually would go into the sewers to find a body for another necromancer. A thief would jump at the opportunity to go steal the telescope. Its something nice and character driven other than the linear plot to the end of the game. Usually they're of little consequence, but they add a nice feel to the game, and character to the player.

Also they don't feel like they're getting in the way of the game.

In Athkatla, I felt like I had to do most of the quests (although maybe that's just me) for the experience, and particular items that you "need." Most of the quests don't feel like they have anything to do with the game, especially after chapter 2 where you're supposed to be working toward saving your friend. Alot of the quests are just dumped on you... Cult of the Eyeless, the priest of Helm just walks on by, and says, "You! go defeat them!" Most of the quests are no different than the simple little ones in BG - they involve going and fetching some object, with the difference being you get to walk farther to deliver it, and usually they ask you to walk back to where you picked it up and kill someone/something (in fact all of the examples are fetch-return-and-kill-someone quests: Mae'vars Guildhall, Unseeing Eye, and the Fallen Paladins - Mae'vars guildhall was particulary bad). The amount of time that you have to take out for these quests bugs me quite a bit. Would a guy really stop to help the church of Helm inflitrate and destroy some cult he happened to walk by, when he's supposed to be getting on a boat to go save his sister.. Ha! I love that inflitrating the Fallen Paladins is finding them just hanging around in the street - nice headquarters.

Anyway, I feel like the quests in Athkatla were just as inconsequential to the game as the quests in Baldur's Gate, except that once you got started on them they took longer to complete.

 

Hi,

There is nothing to stop you going straight off to spellhold, you only need to do a few quests to do this.
As you said Arty, most of the quests are there to give you some useful items and xp. You could delay the majority until after the underdark if you want.

Cheers,

WittyNewt.

 

Somehow when I played BGI I always got bored when I was in BG... in the other city that never happened

 

now when you put it like that. i was going to vote for bg but then i read big b's post im not sure. ill stay neutral for now

 

I prefer Baldur's Gate, even though there's not as much to do as in Athkatla.
(Rant Mode malfunctioning today, thus the short answer )

 

Athkatla has my vote, is a tidy city, and has more wealth than Baldur's Gate

 

Baldurs gate...ath is just a boring place..i dont like it.

 

Foolio, when you give your opinion, also give reasons why you choose for Athkatla... The quests in Athkatla are some more advanced, but the environment in Baldur's Gate is much cooler, the whole sphere is better, and you learn about the history of the city, and Athkala has really cool quests but that is all, you learn nothing, the city has nothing to learn you.

 

I think that Baldurs Gate is better and it has much cooler history and cooler undergroud places like the old temple of bhaal

 

I think Baldurs gate.... but Athkatla is also a cool city... but Baldurs gate is better

 

I liked the feeling in Baldur's Gate when you went to a district and saw an edge of a building at the border of it; then you went to the neighbour district and found exactly that house and could go in! Great feeling!

Personally I find the two cities difficult to compare because the gameplay is so much different (low-level in BG1, mid- to high-level in BG2, thus allowing to do quests immediately or waiting for more experience).

I mastered Baldur's Gate (city) only once but I still like it more than Athkatla. If only for the name: "BALDUR's Gate", my vote goes to this great city!!