GameBanshee Forums

I post on the IWD forum, and notice that almost no one answers me. I am just wondering how many BG2 players have also played IWD, plus I like to post polls =)

Once I was interested in IWD, it was even in my Games-to-get list, but then I read somewhere that the game was strongly directed towards combat rather than quest solving.

I mean, it had still quests but the vast mayority of them were solved by combat. So, I decided to spend my money somewhere else.

I`ve played them both and BG1 and 2.
When I`d finished them, I never felt the urge to go back and play them again because they don`t have the same in depth appeal of the Balurs Gate game. I`m playing Baldurs Gate 2 for the second time and it`s as interesting as ever with different paths to take.
Cheers

yeah its true, ive played BG2 about 2 or 3 times, and im now playing IWD2 for the second time(first time i stopped in the start of chapter 1)
BG2 is alot more interesting story wise, a much better plot, it had me cought the second i started playing it for the first time

but IWD2 , while have a nice plot, it aint nearly as interesting or developed as BG2, its mostly hacking and slashing your way through the game

I have played BG2 several times, but I haven't played IWD. The reason mostly has to do with timing. Several months before BG2 and IWD were released, I replayed BG1. I enjoyed it so much, I played it again but installed the Dark Side of the Sword Coast MOD to spice things up. Sure enough, the MOD breathed new life into the game. When IWD was released, I was rationing my time, and I made the decision to wait for BG2 before I played another game. If other people felt the same way I did, then IWD's success was probably hurt by the fact that it was released just a few months before BG2 was released.

After playing BG2, I got hooked on it. If I hadn't been so busy replaying BG2, I might have bought IWD and played it, but then Throne of Bhaal came out, so I played it a couple of times. Then I went back and played BG1 again, then Shadows of Amn, and then Throne of Bhaal. Then I played Planescape: Torment a couple of times (and loved it), and then I played IWD2.

IWD2 is a great game and it deserves a lot of praise, but IMHO, it's just too much of a good thing. It has everything but the kitchen sink, and to many enemies and friends to keep track of. In striving to please the most hardcore gamer, the designers really went overboard. For example, when they created a forest that was easy to get lost in, they didn't just make a forest that was easy to get lost in--they created a terribly difficult mapping challenge (with an easy-to-use exit that put you back at the beginning of the maze). You couldn't have asked for MORE; but the thing is, I really would have preferred LESS. By the time I finished the game, my brain was numb. That was about six months ago, and I'm just now starting to play games again.

I did not played IWD yet, but I intend to do it sooner or later, it is just that I want to try a few things with BG 2 first

I found the IWD series too far too linear. Definitely well-made, but not my thing.

I own BG/TotSC, BG2/ToB, IWD & IWD2. IMHO, the Icewind Dale games are not fit to lick the boots of the BG series.

OK - so that's overstating the case just a little, but as far as I'm concerned, if I'm playing an RPG, I'm interested in ROLE-PLAYING and not just combat.

I think the scope of the whole BG series has a much more epic feel to it and to me they just seem more "complete".

I've played through BG2 countless times (I think I've just about covered every class combo possible), but I've rarely found IWD holding my attention for more than an hour or two.

I had hoped that IWD2 would be an improvement on IWD, but alas not. Another complicating factor was the implementation of 3E rules in IWD2, which, try as I might, I just don't like.

Given that the popularity of BG2 mods doesn't seem to be diminshing any time soon, it looks like BG2 will continue to be the king of RPGs for sometime to come (which is fine by me).

Enil

Originally posted by Enil
Given that the popularity of BG2 mods doesn't seem to be diminshing any time soon, it looks like BG2 will continue to be the king of RPGs for sometime to come (which is fine by me).

Welcome, @Enil, to the forums.

The problem is, the market's driven not by a few diehard modders and fans, but by entirely new games. And gradually, over time, these new games will winnow down the ranks of any group that prefers a title which has been dropped by its publishers. That's not to say the mods will stop; but I suspect they will decrease over time. Unless somebody has the--shall we say, good sense?--to pick up the BG line once more, repeat its expected feature conventions and add something new to the mix, we'll just become more and more of a niche.

I think the new graphics engine used by Troika for TOEE holds out hopes for 2D RPGs, and if they can make it work, surely Interplay might just get a hint along those lines.

My opinion: other games have modders, but other games don't have.... WeiDU!!!

BG2 was already the best RPG around, but now is not just a modded game, it's a game under development still!
And by a community so large that good things are born almost without effort.
I doubt that any newly published game will have a real opportunity to match for a good while: "we" have tons of new NPCs, enemy IA ever improving, tactics packs...

And trust me, the best mods are still to come
I'm not talking about mine, I'm referring to Return to Windspear (of *undebatable* quality, as I've had the opportunity to witness), the Virtue mod (that I hope to see soon), and many, many others.
Don't know how long yet it'll last, but I have the impression it is quite an unique phenomenon in the gaming universe.

I just got IWD. I started and had a million other things to do to really dovote the time to the game. Yes I like it (what I saw of it). It is real hard to go from BG2 (where you are so powerful), to IWD (and just starting out again). I'll post again after I play IWD (and IWD2) so more.

AC

PS - maybe your Mom isn't so bad. I'll probably be the same way when my kids get old enuf for gaming.

IWD is a fine game

Having played BG, BG2, ToB, PlaneScape:Torment, and IWD a lot I find them all equally good. BG is underated, probably because of the improvements to BG2 but it is just as much fun. You just have to acclimate yourself to starting off as a level one char. IWD is the same way but a bit more intense. BG 1 & 2 are hack & slash games IMO just as is IWD. A better comparison would be the Fallout series where high a intellligence and charisma stat could actually effect the outcome of encounters. My only gripe with IWD is the lack of NPCs that could have been added to a party with the banter and colorful background. My bottom line is don't discount IWD or the orginal BG if you haven't tried them. Sure IWD is more linear than BG2 but BG2 was way more linear than the original BG. Planescape is equally linear yet no one gripes about it.