Yes I've tried to cope with this mod for some time now, and I've come the the conclusion that it didn't appeal to me - frankly I think it took out the fun in the game. So back to bantercentered games for me

I've been through most of SoA with this mod, and what really took the last joy away was the drow killing machines. Then again I'd have stopped anyway as I found this mod to be too centered on power. Perhaps it should have a subtitle: IA - for powergamers

What I found most annoying was actually the fact that a certain order of quests is required. I think this alone will decrease the replayability. The lack of compatability is also (but not so much) annoying.

That said I will not recommend this mod in the future to other than pure powergamers and folks who want's some totally different IWD2 alike games.

Cheers

Yeah, all to their own. To be honest, I have never enjoyed reading banters, flirts, lovetalks and such things in the game.

Drow encounters are not even half the way to the end of SOA. So, I wouldn't call it "being through most of the SOA".



Perhaps what you mean to say is "IA - for tacticians". But again, the mod can be enjoyed both by those who are already good tacticians and those who intend to learn tactics. The point is that the player should be of the sort who enjoy thinking for battles.

No certain quest order is required, though a certain quest order is suggested for beginners.



The mod has actually a big replayability value thanks to the numerous new quests and the fact that playing the game with different classes offers access to different new quests. The Item randomizer is another outstanding factor in increasing the mod's replayability value.

To each their own, indeed, but I feel compelled to point out the following: I am not a pure powergamer, and I never did enjoy IWD2 a lot. However, IA has been a lot of fun, and I keep coming back for more at certain intervals. While it's safe to say that IA is not for everybody, nor even for most people, you shouldn't underestimate how varied another person's taste can be. It would certainly be a shame if you discouraged people from playing IA (without bad intentions, of course) merely because they are not card-carrying power-gaming BG2 tacticians (yet).

When somebody asks about IA, I just say that it's brutally difficult, very well executed, and that quite a few people have learned to enjoy it. If that doesn't pique their interest, fair enough; but I think everybody can agree with the above statements.

Thanks for mentioning this, Zarathustra!

The mod's unique level of stability and bugfreeness is also an important factor some players simply miss when assessing IA (or comparing it with other mods).

We (the testing team and myself) do spend a lot of time to produce and release high quality and bugfree content. Now that we are talking here, the testing team are busy with IA v6.

Nuff said. Trademarks of IA.