It's coming

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As of this posting 13 days to go. I'm kinda excited. I've been forcing myself to play through (very slowly) my 30th (3,000hours?) run through of dragon age/dragon age2 so that I don't play through BG/BG2 and spoil the Enhanced Edition.


Anyone else excited? 'cause I hate the waiting. I really do!

 

I'm looking forward to it also. I've been itching for a BG game for months, but I haven't let myself go near it. It got especially hard when my son started playing it several weeks ago, and he was asking all sorts of questions about it. But even then I held out.

But woe unto the citizens of the Sword Coast, for soon shall the Bhaalspawn brothers wage a war of supremacy among them. And the toll in blood shall be great indeed!

 

Mixed feelings on the matter. I am eager to play the enhanced edition, but I can't say I'm very happy with how they decided to go with modder fixes. The extra Long Bow of Marksmanship you can pickpocket from the ghost at Firewine Ruins? Gone in the EE version, because someone decided (for everyone else) that the fact that you can pickpocket it was a bug in one of the fixpacks. Way to remove the only worthwhile pickpocket-able item in the game. Haste/innate ability and haste spell/Ring of Free Action stacking? Gone, instead of fixed. You can no longer cast Haste on someone who is under a different haste effect (like Boon of Lathander or Offensive Spin) and vice-versa, and RoFA now cancels haste instead if simply suppressing it - with the latter being the original intent imo (ie, I believe the original intent was if you removed the ring, the you'd regain the benefits of the haste spell assuming it hasn't expired yet). The reasoning for the change was supposedly because of how things were worded in the spell/item descriptors.

TBH I do appreciate what the modders are trying to do, but you have to admit that they are setting a precedent that is unheard of in BG1. I mean, what are your thoughts on actually having to reload because you accidentally hasted your Cleric of Lathander/Blade? That's a major step in the wrong direction tedium-wise. And what of the extra Long Bow of Marksmanship? I would have preferred it if they made the enjoyment/convenience of the players their main priority (and worked on establishing acceptable limits) instead than the other way round. The former is, after all, the original intent of the people behind BG1, regardless of what is actually said/implemented in-game.

 

These are some very specific concerns for a game that hasn't been released yet. Are you in the beta or something?

 

Nope, but I've been spending a lot of time lurking in the BG:EE forums lately. Lots of interesting content (fixes, mods) and a few disturbing ones. There's a 7 page thread on why Minsc should/should not be gay and we-support-Anomen-thread (which has devolved into a major flame war, bring popcorn).

 

Sounds like I've been missing out!

 

Indeed (/sarcasm, heh). Tbh tho I was all "YE GODS! You people are insane!" when I first read through some of the content, but after a while you get desensitized until all that's left is a growing morbid curiosity.

You have been warned.

 

I have mixed feelings about people who have mixed feelings.

But beside that, I'm curious as hell how they tweaked the game.

 

That's hilarious.

Some people just take this stuff too seriously. I mean, yeah it might be your favorite game and you have really fond memories of this and that and maybe it helped you through a rough patch in your life, etc., etc. But none of that changes the fact that it's still a game. Which means that saying "I will staple your eyelids to your forehead and make you look at the sun if you insult Anomen again!" is just insanely inappropriate. Frankly it shouldn't even be cause enough for your blood pressure go up a single point. Real problems, yes. Video games, no.

 

Doesn't Dynaheir tell the PC that Minsc is the way he is because he was hit in the head?

---------- Added 0 hours, 1 minutes and 40 seconds later... ----------

Anomen is hands down the biggest a-hole in the planet.... Wait! No! I didn't mean it, I swear! I have childrennnn! Please, no! NOOOOO! MY EYESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Go for the eyes, Boo!

 

I don't care about Anomen as long as his armor isn't rainbow colored when I add him to my party. He's a good heal *****.

 

Well, I'm not the only one with this experience then

Btw, I too think that there are a few questionable 'fixes' applied just because
some modder interpretes it as such. But they're all minor enough; so I'm still looking forward to play the EE finally next week.

 

5 days. You can now pre-load the game if you've pre-purchased. Release date = 11/28/12

 

Dunno if posted already...but have a look and listen at the first BG:EE Gameplay-trailer:





I liked it. And from what we can see, the GUI is quite marvelous!

 

The voice at 0:54 must be Neera's. I wonder who that gnome illusionist (Zelnick) is at 0:28.

 

BG:EE may now be regarded as "the original intent of the people behind BG1", since it is after all, lead by the original people behind BG1 (Trent Oster, Cameron Tofer, etc.), and every change proposed by the volunteers had ultimately to be approved and added by the developers. They may not be unanimously approved by the community, but so would any change, by anyone, to such an old and legendary game. There are no grounds to doubt the legitimacy of Overhaul's work.

 

I would appreciate it if you did not quote my post and then edit it in a way that (explicitly) puts certain sentences out of context.

The point of that last sentence is that the BG2 games were supposed to be enjoyable. Understandably, allowances have to be made because players don't always know what they want and different types of players want different things, but overall the goal of the series is clear - it is a work of art, for fantasy game players to enjoy. This should always, ALWAYS be first priority when it comes to making these changes.

I'm not sure where you get your info, but some of the modders have made it very clear with their posts in the BG:EE boards that they're not working directly with the old developers. I distinctly remember one of the modders commenting, for example, that the reason why they decided to change how the BG1 Boots of Speed worked was because they found the item description/implementation too inconsistent or confusing. Although they admitted that several interpretations could be made regarding how the item should work they had to choose -by themselves- which one to implement because there was no one to tell them exactly which interpretation was supposed to be the correct one (and in all honesty, considering the modders' description of the state of the old code I wouldn't be surprised if the developers themselves had already forgotten which).

Also how many times have you reloaded in any of the BG series because your character accidentally received the benefits of a powerful buff? I'd be pleasantly surprised if you did not answer zero. Now, consider that it's going to be that way for characters like Blades or Clerics of Lathander and the Haste spell.
That's what I meant when I said some of the changes are going to set a precedent unheard-of in the BG series.

Perhaps you misunderstand your sources because I know it's been reported that the developers gave the modders their blessing. That's a completely different thing.

 

imho the only drawback is the online component of the game. I've always hated electronic-only games, as well as steam and such things. Will there ever be a boxed version? Will it require online activation? I can't tolerate distributed computing at all.

Regarding the game itself, well, it is nice that such games receive support again. Perhaps I'll buy it in the end, and for this reason only.

If it was only for me, I'd stick with the good old versions of the saga.

I'm much more looking forward to Project Eternity.

 

^ A good question.

The Classic BG-MP was quasi-authented by the disks in each players drives.

How will it work this time round?
I have to admit, I have been looking forward for some MP'ing with the BG:EE.
Been a while since we could do that with the Classic BG. Given the tons of mods (or tweaks) people use nowadays.