Baldur’s Gate isn’t too old, it was released in November of 1998, but that’s still a bit dated now. The gaming industry isn’t friendly to the years, often working in what seems to be accelerated “dog years” in terms of technological advancements. It figured this was worth covering because it’s one of the best selling and considered a top tier single-player RPG by most accounts.
It was also developed by BioWare, who, at the time, only had one other game under their belt from two years before called Shattered Steel.
The story begins just after a devastating event in the Forgotten Realms D&D campaign called the “Time of Troubles.” This was a great twist in the standard D&D campaign, it caused all curative magic (clerics) to lose their ability to heal unless near their deity, magic didn’t function correctly (I believe this is where the Wild Mage came from) and was unpredictable and gods walked the earth as mortals which caused magic to, in effect, die while the gods were away. Since the storyline starts slightly after this event, the game contains healing and magic but the storyline is impacted by prior events of course, people have trust issues.
The game was made great because it held “mostly true” to the 2nd Edition D&D roots so the learning curve for D&D player’s wasn’t so rough; some things were adjusted to handle the real-time effect of a video game RPG. You could party with up to six Non-Player-Characters (NPC’s) whom would swap in and out of your active party over time as part of the storyline (something also implemented by the US release of Final Fantasy 2).
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Man, first you knock Final Fantasy and then Darkwing Duck? I felt that Darkwing was as well rounded as Rebecca from Talespin, love both shows by the way, yes he self promoted but I think he did that in part to help take care of his adopted daughter Goslyn. He also used non-lethal means to fight villains, like Batman. I’m surprised that you guys didn’t talk about the video game counterparts to Talespin and Darkwing Duck.
One last thing about why I back any kickstarter game, there is a game Sword Coast Legends being made by N-space. The companies president, Dan Tudge said “I think that consumers have proven by voting with their wallets that not everyone wants to play a hundred-million-dollar blockbuster, though we certainly all enjoy them,” said Tudge. “There’s a place for really creative story-driven RPGs that do things like remain isometric, do things like party-based-tactical combat with pause-and-play.”
To me that statement validates my backing games like Pillar’s of Eternity as a vote for those kinds of games to be made. I had thought it was very oddly coincidental that this game was coming out along with PoE and the others.
@Lenovo: People like him are one reason why I like building my own computer and staying away from pre-built “brand name” computers. Having some companies unnecessary software is bad enough but to put in underhanded adware and spyware is just ridiculous.
@FCC and Net Neutrality: This is one of those things I know people debate about whether or not the Government should be regulating this sort of thing. From what you guys have outlined it certainly seems like something that needs to happen. I know my own internet seems to get throttled or some sites not work at all for no apparent reason.
@Capcom and Modders: I love Modders, always defying what Companies state can or can’t be done.
@Star Trek tribute to Spock: I was born after the show had aired but I grew up with the movies so I have an attachment to the old cast of sorts. TNG and DS9 is still my favorites and even there Spocks’ presence was felt in episodes he showed up in like Unification. I love how the gaming community can honor their fallen icons, much like WoW did with Robin Williams and now Nimoy in STO.