Just Discovered IA and TBW! =P Options

[Overlord]

Greetings All,
I have been playing the IE based games for a little under a year now, and have been having a blast since. Now that I have played through most of the basic games, I have started to dive into the BG2 and BGTutu mod communities. Now from what I hear, IA is supposedly the "ULTIMATE" BG Challenge. So, I thought it would be best if I posted here to introduce myself, and find out a little bit about IA, and the TBWL Community.

First off, I have noticed there is a bunch of controversy and back and forth talk between the G3 and TBWL Communities when it comes to their respective mods and fixes to the game. I would like to start out by saying that I don't intend on criticizing anyone according to their work, or their affiliation. I am just here to have fun and make friends, =P.

Now, I have come here to find out where I should start after I have played the original games of BG, and want to spice up the game play. Where should I start? What mods and fix packs/tweak packs should I install first? I would really like to give IA a shot, but I want to make sure that my install is completely compatible and I have all the extras I am going to need to make playing IA the most fun. Any input on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

From what I have seen and heard, It seems that Sikret has some very nice work on this site, and a lot of people have recommended me to try out his mod list, and kits. So far they have been the most recommended. So, if anyone else has any opinions on where I should start. Let me know. Thanks a bunch everyone! Be safe!

[Overlord]

I mean, its totally the truth!

Games today are made to be catered to this new breed of gamer that can't stand a challenge. Look at online MMO's like World of Warcraft. They make everything sooo easy nowadays. When you die, you don't lose any equipment or experience. The monsters in the game practically apologize to you if they kill you. The travel system is designed where you don't have to walk more than a few steps anywhere to get somewhere. I think its getting ridiculous how easy games are made today. I remember back in the day of playing games like Ultima Online, if you died outside of town, you lost EVERYTHING. All your hard earned equipment, money, items. God forbid you had the key to your boat that took you months to get, because who ever found it could steal your boat in a millisecond. Lets just say no one finds your corpse, depending on where you died in the world, it could take you hours just to get back to where you died. If you died deep in a dungeon with powerful monsters all around, then you just might die again, and have to do the corpse run all over again!

Anyway, I am sorry to get so off topic. I just think that gamers have been bred to be babies these days. It seems as if anything presents a challenge, that they cannot just ram through with a clickity hack'n'slash fest. Then the game is a poorly made game, and the designers must of not worked very hard on their creation since it does not put you in that super powerful god status most games these days put you in.

If anything, I praise people like Sikret who take time out of their own lives, which if you have not noticed people, are short enough already, to make modifications to a game not just for themselves, but for all of our entertainment. Even if the mod totally stunk. Just the fact that the person put their whole heart and soul into building their project, just to make the gaming experience a little more exciting for you. That deserves praise all in itself.

Anyway, I will stop my rambling again! I can tell already that I am going to fit right in here at BWL. Thanks a ton everyone, and God Bless. -Overlord