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!

[luan]

I don't think you are offtopic at all. Besides, this is your welcome to IA and BWL.

Anything should fly honestly, especially game theory and design similar to IA.

I too played have played UO back in early highschool. To this day, no online game comes close to matching the "rawness" and verisimilitude of that gem of a game (the first year or two of its release, not the watered down nonsense it is now). You had real choices and consequences. If you read around RPG fansites such as RPGcodex or No Mutants Allowed(fallout fan site), you'll see a pretty major consensus that real choices are consequences are what can seperate a good game from a cult hit. As like in UO, say you piss off the wrong group of people, they just might try to take your castle that took you a year to build. But hey, say they fail in their retribution... and you end up taking everything they ever owned. But later down the road, the same happens to you and you are left with nothing more than the shirt on your back.

I say, so be it! No need to hold my hand!
They don't make games like that anymore! At least not in the US.
I only know of the Japanese market that still makes some REALLY difficult games with no hand-holding.

I have also extensively played World of Warcraft. Though entertaining, there are really no consequences to any action. Monsters are so easy... and Raid bosses were not difficult. The difficulty in such encounters stem from the team (un)coordination due to inept players in your group, not the AI you are pitted aginst. It all felt so... carebear. I do not blame blizzard however. They designed a brilliant game around a brilliant model. It makes $$$$$$ and is genuinely fun.
Players like myself simply aren't the target audience. It's just unfortunate that *that* target audience is growing smaller and smaller these days.
(At least they still have their RTS line which is anything but carebear)

The comparison between UO and WoW can relate directly to the contrast between IA and NWN2.
If you've ever played NWN2... holy cow...
You could almost play that game one handed with your eyes closed. Yes, forum goers often complained that the difficulty was way too easy. However, people who post on forums are generally the vocal minority. Casual gamers(target audience) generally don't post. IA's challenge synergized with the Epic tale of BG2 culminated in perhaps my best RPG gaming experience since UO. I enjoyed the story of NWN2, but was almost sickened by how far games have devolved in order to cater to a wider audience.

(I hear great things about the NWN2 expansion however, and that it is night and day vs the original campaign)

But that's reality, major gaming companies cannot survive off niche interest groups. Though I personally don't understand *why* our taste in games is necessarily niche. A grand tale with a grand challenge, is that too much to ask?

Fortunately, we have wonderfully hard workers/contributers like Sikret to fill that void

*cheers*