Predictable (Spoilers)

[fable]

Originally posted by Mr Sleep:
<STRONG>Tob was made for POWERGAMERS(TM) it's that simple.</STRONG>

Odd, but it kinda reminds me of a fantasy-based MMORPG that I used to play a lot: GemStone. When I first started, it was a big deal to make 20 levels (that gave you a special title before your name), and that took 1-2 years. Fifty levels earned you "Legend" status--there were only a few, even after some folks played nightly for many years. When the game moved to AOL and subsequently to their own net server, they deliberately spiffed up the spells bigtime, added areas where enemies spawned very swiftly, and had folks making lord level within 6-8 weeks. It wasn't uncommon to see people with 150 levels.

They did this because they knew a lot of players get off on making that next bonus, learning that new skill or spell. This reduces the game to an endless series of bonuses, but it seems to be the way most players enjoy things.

[C Elegans]

Originally posted by The Antichrist:
<STRONG>Is it just me or did anyone else find ToB extremely predictable and on the whole a bit dissapointing? Like it was so obvious Melissan was the big bad guy and throughout the game i had no sense of purpose &lt;snip&gt;</STRONG>

I certainly agree with you about the predictability, Antichrist, but I still wasn't disappointed or enjoyed playing the game less. For some reason, I just knew Melissan would be the final boss as soon as I had asked her why she tried to save the Bhaalspawn. (You get this dialogue option very early in the game.) Her reply just seemed hollow, not enough, do undetailed compared to other BG NPC:s motivations.

Anyway, I still enjoyed the game a lot and found a satisfying conclusion to the series. As for the story, MPO is that the story line has been declining in a linear fashion, BG1 had the best storyline, ToB the least good. But I still think the storyline is very good compared to some other CRPG:s I've played, with the sole exception of Planescape:Torment.

[humanflyz]

I agree that they should have made Throne of Bhaal Baldur's Gate III. They could have made it so not linear. Maybe Bioware should have halt the Five Bhaalspawn War. Maybe they should let the PC do some more exploring and through various means find that there are Five other most powerful Bhaalspawn trying to start a war. Then the PC meet up with Melissan and then the story could go on as it did in ToB with you killing off each Bhaalspawn and find out that Melissan betrayed all five of the Bhaalspawns and she's after you. I am just rambling here, but I am sure they could have made the story longer. I am sure a lot of you have better ideas.

Oh, does anyone know anything about the progress of TeamBG petition to let Bioware release the IE engine?