I just finished Icewind Dale!!!

[Ellester]

Actually the saving grace of IWD was its story and atmosphere. Sure it was a simple big bad

[Monte Carlo]

I would rather play a well-considered dungeon crawler with a deep backstory, interesting magic items and a plot rather than a CRPG with all-singing all-dancing graphics, features and loot but no soul.

 

IWD definitely has soul. As Ellester said, all the areas were given a little bit of thought. Dragon's Eye and Dorn's Deep level 2 were my favourites, BTW.

 

Cheers

MC

[Sermon]

Ah, sucks to be you then.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes, it sucked to meander across the world map, hoping faintly that I'd bump into some story during my great search for the Big Bad.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was actually thinking the same when I was playing BG ...

[Musopticon?]

I'm sad to say, but me too.

[kirottu]

Icewind Dale had too much combat for my taste.

[Blaise Russel]

I was actually thinking the same when I was playing BG ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

To a certain extent, I concur. But the ladder nature of the plot, progressing from unimportant henchman to slightly more important henchman, was, for me, slightly more fulfilling than half a game of trying to find the bad guy and half a game of walking to meet him.

 

(And I shake my fist impotently at all those who enjoyed the game for its atmosphere.)

[Sermon]

Icewind Dale had too much combat for my taste.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I felt that BG did have equally as much combat. I do have to say that the bundle IWD+HOW+TOTLM is the IE game I go back to most.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

The thing I liked most about IWD is the lack of baggage it forces you to take on. Besides some way of getting your characters to the start of the game (something which is a part of PnP) you are free to weave whatever tale you like around them without the game coming along 10 hours later and stomping over your carefully crafted background story.

 

Another thing that is really enjoyable, is because all the characters are your own creations you dont miss out on anything by mixing and matching whacky party types six specialist magic user apprentices being one of my most memorable and all the squabling over spells. If you create your own party in BG you do it at the cost of not having the NPCs join up.And those are a big part,if not the biggest part.BG needs the NPC's to carry the game, where as IWD can get by without them.

 

IWD reaches it's full potential with HOW/TOTL.

[Monte Carlo]

Icewind Dale had too much combat for my taste.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

LOL! That's like saying Gran Turismo has too much.... driving.

 

Cheers

MC

[kirottu]

Heh, yeah. It just wasn

[Zhen Dil Oloth]

I dislike IWD for 3 reasons.

 

3 gamestopping bugs on three seperate plays in the same general area that even patching didn't cure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

What bugs were those???

[Volourn]

"And those are a big part,if not the biggest part.BG needs the NPC's to carry the game, where as IWD can get by without them."

 

NBo, it doesn't. Without joinable npcs; BG2 is just abtter version of IWD with better quests and much more freedom and more role-playing. Not too mention a story that isn't just about Killing The Big Bad tm. (yeah, the story has that too; but the story isn't just limited to that either).

 

I liked IWD1. It was a fun game; but it is nowhere near in the same league as the Bg series. Of course, i do agree that Bg does have pretty much as much combat as IWD. The difference, of course, is that Bg's combat is either highly avodiable (when youa re traveling) or it usually (wiyth some exemptiuons) about forward the plot. In essence, IWD's story while it's ok for a dungeonc rawl is there as filler inbetween dungeons.

[Dragon Lord Jones]

I dislike IWD for 3 reasons.

 

3 gamestopping bugs on three seperate plays in the same general area that even patching didn't cure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

What bugs were those???

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I'd like to know too, as I played all the way through with no problems or patches the first time ... ? I remember a lot of talk about a game stopping bug at the final battle or around there, but I was lucky enough to never encounter it.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

NBo, it doesn't. Without joinable npcs; BG2 is just  abtter version of IWD with better quests and much more freedom and more role-playing. Not too mention a story that isn't just about Killing The Big Bad tm. (yeah, the story has that too; but the story isn't just limited to that either).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes it does. Much of the richness of BG comes from the NPCs. The combat isnt as good as IWD. What do you do at the end of BG ? You kill the bad bad. Without the NPCs bye bye lots of BG's roleplaying.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

I'd like to know too, as I played all the way through with no problems or patches the first time ... ?    I remember a lot of talk about a game stopping bug at the final battle or around there, but I was lucky enough to never encounter it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

When I first played it, it would go bluescreen every time I met a frost giant. Patch was already out to fix it, and I dont know what the cause was. But that was essentially a gamestopper as there was no way around it.

[Blaise Russel]

A problem with UK CDs meant a crash whenever you tried to get to the second half of Dorn's Deep from the glacier.

[Volourn]

"The combat isnt as good as IWD."

 

You are right. It's better. More challenging, more varied, better enemies, more fun battles. BG is scary as it does what a good storyd riven game should do; and it beats IWD at its own game. All one has to do is fight even ONE of the npc based parties in BG, and see how much combat is sooooooooo much better in BG than in IWD.

 

 

"Much of the richness of BG comes from the NPCs."

 

True; but there's still the overall story in discovering out your character's origins as well as the poisoning of the mines which of course both seperate stories overlap. As for role-playing; there's a LOT of quality interacting with non party members as quests have way more ways to solve them than in IWD and that's even with BG even lacking role-playing options as compared to BG2, PST, NWN, or KOTOR series.

 

In conclusion, there is NOTHING that IWD does better than BG. NOTHING.

[Ellester]

I liked IWD1. It was a fun game; but it is nowhere near in the same league as the Bg series. Of course, i do agree that Bg does have pretty much as much combat as IWD. The difference, of course, is that Bg's combat is either highly avodiable (when youa re traveling) or it usually (wiyth some exemptiuons) about forward the plot. In essence, IWD's story while it's ok for a dungeonc rawl is there as filler inbetween dungeons.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree BG had just as much combat if not more than IWD. There are two reasons why its not always apparent. One, IWD had some larger battles, where you got nailed by 10 Yuan-Ti which wasn

[Volourn]

"There was one tactic, remove protections and beat down, repeat for every mage and dragon battle in BG."

 

Huh? Not true, and I know this for a fact. I NEVER used remove protection type spells in the Bgs eries except just to try soemthing different. It surely wasn't my usual tatic. My normal tatic for liches and the like was buffs, summons, and just plainly overpower 'em with my meleeers and super spells. Debuffing spells are for wussies.

 

 

"This was my one pet peeve about BG2, the repetitiveness of battles involving magic and/or dragons."

 

Any complaints about repetitive battles in BG2 is 100x more worthy of being pointed IWD's way. Outside of a few battles, I used the same tatics in IWD throughout.

[Monte Carlo]

Volourn, as usual, is speaking out of his fundament.

[Sermon]

You are right. It's better. More challenging, more varied, better enemies, more fun battles. BG is scary as it does what a good story driven game should do; and it beats IWD at its own game. All one has to do is fight even ONE of the npc based parties in BG, and see how much combat is sooooooooo much better in BG than in IWD.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

BG might be better

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

In conclusion, there is NOTHING that IWD does better than BG. NOTHING.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Maybe in your conclusion. But we have seen time and time again just how flawed your conclusions are so they mean little anymore.

[Volourn]

Sermon: "BG might be better

[Dragon Lord Jones]

In conclusion, there is NOTHING that IWD does better than BG. NOTHING.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

the artwork was far better in IWD

[Sermon]

Volourn wrote:

You say all this yet then you respawn with your opinion. Classic.

 

These rants were