GOG is having a sale on the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II.

60% off. Get both for under £12. That's an AWESOME deal.

It's THE best D&D rpg of ALL TIME, in my humble opinion.

And also - they have just released a new expansion for the original Baldur's Gate - Siege of Dragonspear - to bridge the gap between the two games.

So pick up your magic miniaturised giant space hamster, retrieve Lilacor from whatever well you threw it down, and get ready for some old-fashioned BUTT-KICKING.. FOR GOODNESS!

Got them both already on gog... IWD 1 and 2 too.

and NWN 1 and 2 plus all expansions.

and planescape.

NWN I rated higher than BG because of the DM mode + module building.

I love gog I recommend them to everyone.

I wasn't a huge fan of NWN. OK, it included a comprehensive toolkit for the modding community (great if you're into that kind of thing) but I found the game itself linear and dull, the combat underwhelming (and nowhere near as tacticaland immersive as the BG series) and the characters just lacked the variety, individuality and charisma of the BG series. Also I'm a mark for AD&D 3rd edition.

The best part about the game was the Hordes of the Underdark expansion, and Bioware's first attempt at a "disbelieve illusion" ending which went on to be done much better in ME3.

Still need to play Planescape:Torment though.

Minsc + Lilacor = good times!!

I wasn't a huge fan of NWN. OK, it included a comprehensive toolkit for the modding community (great if you're into that kind of thing) but I found the game itself linear and dull, the combat underwhelming (and nowhere near as tacticaland immersive as the BG series) and the characters just lacked the variety, individuality and charisma of the BG series. Also I'm a mark for AD&D 3rd edition.

The best part about the game was the Hordes of the Underdark expansion, and Bioware's first attempt at a "disbelieve illusion" ending which went on to be done much better in ME3.

Still need to play Planescape:Torment though.

ME3's ending is not better than anything ever.

I dunno, your mileage may vary with NWN. What made it best was it's multiplayer scene.

I also preferred icewind dale to BG 1 and 2, though I accept that they are both masterpieces.

Planescape is still the best, storywise.

But then again, go for the eyes Boo! Go for the eyes!

I've heard that re. Planescape, I definitely need to give it a try.

Icewind Dale was good, but I missed the banter between party members. Creating a full party of playable characters is fun, but I prefer one character plus NPCs. Never played IWD2

Edit: also, Minsc plus Lilacor is sheer insanity.

Hamsters FTW!

VITA, MORTIS, CAREO. (Yeah, that's right. Eat undead horde, suckas)

My only complaint, if you can call it that was not being able to bring Dynaheir, Coran, and Branwen with me to Amn.

Offset of course by Mazzy, Valygar and Yoshimo.

Man, what a great series.

My only complaint, if you can call it that was not being able to bring Dynaheir, Coran, and Branwen with me to Amn.

Maybe we'll be able to reunite with them at Dragonspeare? Now I need to look into that!

And don't name that treacherous bounty hunter...

Planescape, BGI and BGII all currently downloading from GOG. That (and XBL's generous free copy of Borderlands) is my gaming needs satisfied for the forseeable future.

I had really hoped, before they released Temple of Elemental Evil, that the next game in the D&D adventure series was going to be Baldur's Gate.

I'd have loved it with Minsc, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, and Kivan as the characters...

Hmm... may have to whip up some custom cards and find some matching minis...

For me, the reason I like IWD is the music, the artwork and the seldarines hand story.

I killed Nym hard.

HARD.

Seriously. That guy died bloody.

One of the things I loved about BG was the almost literally complete D&D spell book (and how the game made me really appreciate spells I'd never considered or understood the purpose of when I played the roleplaying game itself). The spell effects themselves were great... but what really stuck in my mind were the caster incantations.

Now, I just saw this posted on a BG forum:

Here are the Latin verbal components (with English translations) of the BG2 spell schools:

Abjuration: "Manus, Potentis, Paro" = "A hand, powerful, I prepare"
Alteration: "Praeses, Alia, Fero" = "Protecting, another, I bring this forth"
Conjuration: "Facio, Voco, Ferre" = "This I do, I call, to bring you forth"
Divination: "Scio, Didici, Pecto" = "I know, for I have studied, with my mind"
Enchantment: "Cupio, Virtus, Licet" = "I want, excellence, allowed to me"
Evocation: "Incertus, Pulcher, Imperio" = "Uncertain, beautiful things, I command"
Illusion: "Veritas, Credo, Oculos" = "The truth, I believe, with my eyes"
Necromancy: "Vita, Mortis, Careo" = "Life, and death, I am without"

And I find myself appreciating it even more. It was attention to detail like this which has, in my opinion, made the games legendary!

That's cool. See, this is why Latin is a dead language... 2 dudes having a conversation, suddenly make ones coffee cup +3 vs ork, summon 2d6 badgers and an unbound pit fiend.

Yeah, it'd be a bit of a problem when you propose to your significant other and accidentally polymorph them into a rabbit.

Which reminds me, favourite random BG memory of all time. Attacked by a horde of goblins in the wilderness, and I cast some kind of hysteria spell on the for giggles. Then I see the following dialogue pop up:

Squirrel attacks Goblin

Squirrel does 2 hit points of damage

Goblin *dies*