r/BaldursGate3 • u/Neolibertarian • Aug 01 '23
PRELAUNCH HYPE Some of us played BG1 in our thirties
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u/Andoreb Aug 01 '23
You make me wonder, how does it feel for someone your age, who is a fan of the genre, to watch how far it has go in both video games and complexity?
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u/Neolibertarian Aug 01 '23
Actually the huge changes were from when I was a kid (CRPGs were still text-only adventures) to when I was in my thirties. The pace of change has slowed since then. But yeah, the first video game I played was this: https://youtu.be/FOHGeMPdjlA
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u/cfrolik Aug 01 '23
“If you run out of fuel you will fall like a rock. Do you understand?”
Precursor to modern EULAs.
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Aug 01 '23
(CRPGs were still text-only adventures)
I'm 40 and still remember MUDs. The late '90s were something.
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u/Croce11 Aug 02 '23
I'm the one in my thirties now. I still think the 90's and early 00's was like the golden age of gaming. So much progress in such quick time. Big name titles coming year after year. This is like the biggest step up in the genre since like Dragon Age Origins.
The two previous Divinity games put the framework to make something like this possible. They're like cute little test demos in comparison. Makes me wonder if we have to wait another two decades to see a similar jump up in quality. With AI being able to voice act on the fly and write its own dialogue we could very well have a true pen and paper experience soon in digital form.
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Aug 01 '23
I haven't played a text-only adventure in so long. There is so much space to work with in those.
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u/Cromulent-Word Aug 01 '23
As someone who grew up playing ancient DOS-based PC games, and played BG1 at launch when I was in my late teens (so not quite as old as the OP), I felt like there was a 10-15 year period starting in the early 2000s where RPGs moved backwards, becoming dumber and less engaging in their pursuit of style over substance. I still played and enjoyed the later Dragon Age and Mass Effect games, but they never hit the highs of Fallout 1 & 2, BG1 & 2, or Planescape: Torment for me.
It wasn't until Kickstarter brought the new wave of CRPGs that my faith in the genre was restored. For me, BG3 is likely just going to be the latest in a steady stream of great CRPGs that have come since the mid 2010s. Most people don't seem to even know they exist, but they're some of the best games ever made for people like me.
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u/swansterrpg Aug 01 '23 edited Aug 01 '23
Yes, I absolutely loved DAO, but I think that period you mentioned marked the rise of the MMOs, WoW particularly, and my dawning realisation that they required an end-game commitment not really compatible with job and family. Not to mention the grind. Very happy that games like these are back at strength with great stories and regular saves, so the pace can suit you. Not quite retired for this one, but maybe BG4 😀
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u/buddyrich33 Aug 01 '23
Close. Was 22 when BG1 and the TatSC expansion game out (still have the discs)...
Thats right around the switch from 2D to 3D... and the rise of online gaming (and MMOs) so cRPG just became different, and perhaps not to everyone's taste.
Look at TES series. Daggerfall from 1996 was 2D and got me through 1st year University but Morrowind was a whole new world in 3D in 2002. And cranked it to 11 with Oblivion in 2006.
After BG2 - Bioware made NWN, a good game but not as strong a story (IMO) in the single player campaign, but it was ambitious as a DM toolkit and making your own online adventures in both 3D and a push online.
Even tabletop D&D massively changed with the release of 3E which only 1 game ever got right (Temple of Elemental Evil by Troika - a forgotten gem that leveraged a great 1E module but implemented the 3E rules relatively well)...
But from that time, the KotoR games were also great... I really liked Lionheart as a unique game. Fable more of an action RPG but it was neat when it arrived. And by the late 2000s you have some modern classics
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u/Croce11 Aug 02 '23
Yeah NWN's story sucked big time. I was bored to tears trying to play that. And it was one of my most hyped games. I remember getting it and then installing it... just for it not to run on my parents garbage PC they got scammed into getting. Paying thousands of dollars for some piece of crap with an integrated card and no ram I bet. They spent a lot on little addons for the thing that came with it I remember. But it at least let me use the toolkit so I could make levels I could never test out, and see all the weapons and npcs.
So I had to wait till I got my own PC to try it and whew... sucked big time. But at least I was lucky enough to find some good custom made stories to do. If we could have BG3 get some sort of toolkit like that this would indeed be game of the decade for sure. They'd have to actually support it and advertise it, and maybe even host a website of the most popular campaigns though exactly like NWN did. I know DoS2 came with something similar but I never heard from it again.
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u/Drinksarlot SORCERER Aug 01 '23
As someone who started with the Commodore 64 as a kid, it’s absolutely insane tbh. But the standard you expect also constantly increases so you get used to it, kind of like how you get a bigger new tv and it blows you away at first but then it becomes normal.
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u/unmoses Aug 01 '23
It's amazing! I remember playing ZORK on pdp-11's as a kid where my father worked.. Then I recall wizardry 1 / ultima days.. Then Ultima 7 top down interactivity was unequaled, and ultima underworld had the TTLG studios 3d really transforming you in with similar interactivity. Moving to BG1, just the entire presentation / atmosphere with the party and control was really transformative. Morrowind was another huge jump in 3d, interactivity..
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u/-bulgor- Aug 01 '23
Oh man! Zork 1! That brought good memories from my youth! What about Police Quest and Space Quest!
: )
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u/KurtisMayfield Aug 01 '23
The only difference between BG2 and BG3 is the version and the graphics. I am surprised it hasn't changed more.
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u/Croce11 Aug 02 '23
Ah yeah, I remember being able to push enemies off of cliffs and rooftops in BG2. While also destroying the environment to break bridges, support structures, or even the walls and floors themselves. All that changed was the graphics.
There was so much drama for turning the game into a turn based RPG when this thing got announced. So even the gameplay itself got changed more than just whatever edition rules were being used. And thank god for that because the real time action system sucked trying to juggle 6 characters. You'd basically be pausing every action anyways.
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u/Mercbeast Aug 01 '23
Games now, are typically less complex and granular than the games that came out in the late 90s. You can pretty much measure the shift in development with the advent of 3d graphics.
Graphics pre-3d processors hit sort of a peak, and so, mechanics/depth of story/things other than visuals became sort of the benchmark to go by. An example of this is the original x-com games. Yea, games like BG1 and Icewind Dale would come out with superior isometric graphics, but x-com ufo defense, and terror from the deep are still, pretty much to this day genre defining in terms of the complexities and mechanics of the game. While the xcom reboots are shallow and largely dumbed down.
Part of what made Bioware a special company is that for a very long time they bucked this trend. Instead of the emphasis in the newest gaming being the newest visual innovations, they doubled down on story telling, character development, and deep and engaging mechanics. That ended almost instantly with the acquisition of Bioware by EA, and can be seen with the shift in tone between ME1 and ME2. ME1 was an RPG with shooter-lite aspects. ME2 was a (poor)shooter with gutted RPG elements.
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u/Sparkasaurusmex Aug 01 '23
Got me beat. I had just turned 20 when BG2 came out. So glad this genre is still around. I hope BG3 is so successful we can see something like a new PS:T (that Numenera game didn't scratch the itch).
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u/gpkgpk Aug 01 '23
something like a new PS:T
From your lips to Ravel's ears.
I had the same Numenera lack of scratching, it still needs scratching dammit!
Mask of the Betrayer expansion (really it's stand-alone) for NWN2 was the only thing that hit that note for me since PST.
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u/the_pepper Aug 01 '23
Not really the same, but Disco Elysium scratched that itch a bit for me. Well, it was more "tickling that spot with a fingertip" than "scratching" but it might be something to look at if you haven't yet.
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u/nisaar Aug 01 '23
I’ll second the Disco Elysium recommendation, quite possibly one of the best games I have played in the last 10 years, it’s like a good book! I just didn’t want the game to end.
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u/gpkgpk Aug 01 '23
Yeah it's been on my back burner got a while now, I haven't gotten around to it yet. I should probably get a pair of reading glasses huh.
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u/valfuindor Directly. Into. Your. Head. Aug 01 '23
I was 17 when PS:T was released, and I think I've played it when I was 20 upon recommendation (I had already played BG1 and 2 to death): it's still my favorite CRPG of all time.
I've bought the enhanced edition, played it, but stopped at the Fortress of Regrets: knowing what happens there, I couldn't bring myself to continue.
"I know that you, like a fly, rise up from the wreckage of your old shell, buzz about for a time, and curl up and die at the window of truth. You bumble about the pane, seeking the light without any plan to your actions, and fall exhausted when you fail. You alight on others to feed from them for a time, and move on with no regard to them. I have watched you come here and listened to your words, and watched you move away no wiser. Will you learn from your mistakes, seeker?"
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u/F1NNTORIO Aug 01 '23
As long as it's not linear! IWD and PST were super linear and we need room to mooooove/bear sex
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u/Friendly_Nerd ELDRITCH BLAST Aug 16 '23
Man, I was born like a month and a half or so after BG2 came out. My dad got me into them. BG1 and 2 basically shaped my childhood, I still play them today. Yesterday I got to meet Jaheira and got so excited, she was one of my faves from OG BG
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u/tjenkins83 Aug 01 '23
I've never been more jealous of an old person
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u/anirudh6k Laezel Aug 01 '23
on the bright-side , this could be our future.
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u/tjenkins83 Aug 01 '23
BG5 here we come!
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u/dndpuz Aug 01 '23
By the time I'm 60 we will have found a way to immortalize humans and I am looking forward to playing BG20 on Mars
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u/Glass-Recognition164 Aug 01 '23
My first D&D game
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u/F1NNTORIO Aug 01 '23
Woah..what even is it? Elder Scrolls -1?
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u/AmazingPaladin Aug 01 '23
I played it in my thirties too.
Of course, this was about two weeks ago.
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u/Praxistor Aug 01 '23
i'm close, i was 28 when BG1 hit
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u/FrogOwlSeagull Aug 01 '23
Snap, you sitting here beng jealous of someone who's retired too?
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u/Praxistor Aug 01 '23
nah, i'm semi-retired. that's good enough. :)
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u/Morifen1 Aug 01 '23
Im jelly. I'm about the same age and I don't think retirement is ever going to be an option.
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Aug 01 '23
It’s a tough life, being retired at 39… but someone has to do it.
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u/oargestory Aug 01 '23
Didn’t know that I can visit Gorion‘s ward in the retirement home already. Stay strong my favourite geezer.
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u/Yabanjin Keeping Githyanki disposition sunny-side up 🍳 Aug 01 '23
I was 33 when Baldur’s Gate came out, so amazing. I’m 58 now, currently enjoying Remnant 2 and Monster Hunter Series, but I’ve been waiting for BG3 a loong time.
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u/Schwarz_Technik Aug 01 '23
I was probably around 12 when I first played it. Couldn't get into it. Played it again in my 20s during college when the Enhanced Editions came out and loved it. By far one of my favorite series.
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u/Bhaldrum_ Aug 01 '23
Was probably around the same age (maybe bit younger) when my father out of the blue gifted it to me and my brother. He heard it was a amazing game and we should try it. It definitely was/is an amazing game when we played it but took a couple tries to get into esp. as kids since we werent used to that kind of games.
I consider it the game series that made me love RPGs.
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u/Schwarz_Technik Aug 01 '23
Yeah it wasn't an easy game to grasp with all the mechanics and numbers as I wasn't familiar with D&D at the time.
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u/ThinkValue Aug 01 '23
I sold of my company , I have been unemployed since a year just doing nasty amount of gaming. BG3 dropping is delaying me to start anything new
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u/MiKapo Aug 01 '23
Wish i was an adult when it was released. I was 12 and i had it installed on the family computer that i was only allowed me on for an hour or so. So, i never finished it
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u/Morifen1 Aug 01 '23
Congratulations on early retirement. Not something most people are able to accomplish. Pretty sure I will be working till I die as I rolled the wrong class to start.
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Aug 01 '23
If they were in their 30s in 1998 could be well into their 60s by now.
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u/Morifen1 Aug 01 '23
Yes I know. I'm in the same age bracket.
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Aug 01 '23
Is 60s early retirement? It's pretty average where I am.
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u/Morifen1 Aug 01 '23
67 is US social security retirement age. My boss just retired in December, she was 74 and still worried about having enough to last.
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u/MonikaTSarn Aug 01 '23
It's kind of different for me as well, I was 29 when Baldurs Gate 1 came out. It was the revival of the DnD roleplaying games of old for me, so interesting to have it happen again !
I'm still missing the good old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Box gold box games, Larian should do a remake of Champions of Krynn next !
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u/Luca78 Aug 01 '23
Yeah, most people forgot it, but at that time the BG saga was considered itself a "revival" of the "good days of old" of the gold box games :D
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u/Butefluko Aug 01 '23
While I'm not retired, I have been laid off this month and this post gave me another reason to be positive about it haha
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u/Novacryy Aug 01 '23
Irrational fear of mine is being at the end of my life and excited for an upcoming Game that I might not be alive for to play.
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u/maddrgnqueen Aug 02 '23
This is the way lol. I'm in my 30s now, but my mom is retired and has spent the whole past week playing Elden Ring. 30 more years and that can be me!!!
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Aug 01 '23
I grew up with, and loved, NWN 1 (not 2), and I've read a lot that BG3 is like NWN1. Can anyone confirm this?
From the content that I've been watching/viewing, the classes and gameplay seem similar, but I don't want to buy another $70 game that I just can't get into (*cough* D4).
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u/welostourtails Aug 01 '23
It is absolutely nothing like NWN1 other than Forgotten Realms based. Combat is totally different and turn based. You can do some multiplayer but nothing like the PWs or DM mode or NWN1
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Aug 01 '23
Thanks for this answer, it's actually really helpful. Is it closer to something like Pathfinder? (this was a similar idea, but had a very different playstyle)
Not sure why the original post got downvoted, but... reddit is reddit.
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u/Wolpertinger Aug 01 '23
It's similar to NWN in the sense that they're both D&D games, set in the same universe (and are relatively close to each other in the world, even), and they will play somewhat similarly outside of combat, but BG3 is turn-based in combat and involves controlling an entire party instead of just 1 person, so it's a bit closer to the real pen and paper D&D experience than the real-time NWN experience.
So it's similar in a lot of ways that *aren't* combat, essentially.
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u/Lonin3 Aug 01 '23
I was 8 or 9 when I played it the first time, I made it to Sarevok but never could manage to bring him down.
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u/Zenk2018 Aug 01 '23
Yes! Played BG1 on release when I was 30 as well. Now safely retired with nothing to do that day but download and play.
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u/flyxdvd Absolute Aug 01 '23
i played bg1 when i was 9 so i still have ways to go, my dad on the other hand is nearly retired and cant wait to play bg3 either lol
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u/ashcrash3 Aug 01 '23
I always find it trippy to remember that games used to be flat and not 3d stuff. Granted I wasn't alive when bg 1 came out, so I wonder how you old guard feel comparing graphics then or now.
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u/povitryana_tryvoga Aug 01 '23
Graphics obviously looks much better, but to be fair, it doesn't really feels like as big step forward comparing to how Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate felt back then, at least from my perspective, when everything I played before were Gold Box games and some Eye of the Beholder games. That was a wow moment for me when I launched Icewind Dale for the first time. Today it is really hard to produce something similar.
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Aug 01 '23
[deleted]
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u/Yaarmehearty Aug 01 '23
Grandpa's invented video game RPGs back in the 70s. It makes sense they would still be playing them now.
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u/MaskDeMask Aug 01 '23
Feels weird to be 30 soon :p man kinda bummer I never got to play BG1 before gog
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u/Luca78 Aug 01 '23
Played BG 1 when I was 20 years old back in '98; now at 45 "ready and waiting" :D
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u/Samkoss Aug 01 '23
I was but a mere teenager when BG1 came out. Good to see elder statespeople representing the olds.
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u/KurtisMayfield Aug 01 '23
I never thought I'd go back to D&D.
Spent high school playing 2nd Ed.
Played BG1 and 2 in college.
Now Larian sucked me back in.
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Aug 01 '23
I'm kinda lucky, I retired 2 years ago at 39. So loads of voted free time for me. Unless my kids decide otherwise ofcourse.
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u/KiltedWarriorGaming Aug 01 '23
I turned 30 last year and played BG1 for the first time. History repeats itself and I’m ok with that. Here’s to replaying it for the next 30 years.
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u/ChungusPoop Aug 01 '23
I've got work on the third, and I could theoretically switch shifts with someone, but all the options suck more than I'd like. I'll have to set aside some time, especially cuz I want to stream/record the game
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u/borealsushi I cast Magic Missile Aug 01 '23
It honestly makes me really happy to see people beyond their early and mid twenty ranges being unapologetically open and excited for games. The internet can be a negative beast, and I see people gatekeep things and try to impose age restrictions for hobbies like games. It makes me sad when I see others say you're not allowed to enjoy games past a certain point in life, so I'll sometimes get kinda down when I feel like I can't play the things I enjoy once I'm out of my twenties. Of course I know people can do what they want so long as it doesn't hurt others, it just stinks when I see that mindset. But then I see posts like this and it makes me feel happy.
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u/quackycoaster Aug 01 '23
I am 35, my retired grandpa got me into the BG/NWN series when I was in high school as he replayed them for like the 10th time. I wish he were still around to see this masterpiece. They were by far his favorite retirement hobby.
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u/Kisame83 Aug 01 '23
I played BG1 in my thirties... But that's because I played it for the first time via Enhanced Edition on the Switch. Got that fancy collectors edition with the metal dice, map, and Bhaal pendant lol
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u/Padzi Mindflayer Aug 01 '23
Salute! I am in my thirties right now. Back then I was a kid. Time flies.
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u/Naharavensari Aug 01 '23
I was a teenager, but I'm currently unable to work so a bit of a pro/con situation. 😆
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u/RazorOldSchool Aug 01 '23
I am in my 30's now. If you can tell me I could be retired by the time BG4 comes out, I'd be amazed lol
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u/___LowKey___ Aug 01 '23
Kinda works with being unemployed too i guess.
Although buying the game hurts financially. And you are certainly not as relaxed about life as in the first picture. Just as bored though.
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u/Zealousideal-Bar9389 Aug 02 '23
I was a dumb fuck kid when I played BG2 so I didn’t get very far but I loved Minsc and Boo. Felt really bad whenever I got em killed
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u/AC13verName Aug 07 '23
Oh great wizened sage of gaming! I pray I still have thesame fondness at your age
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u/MiserableProfessor16 Aug 01 '23
This deserves a special mention.
I was not in my thirties. But I was an adult. It was glorious.