Talk:Baldur's Gate (series)

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[edit] Biff the Understudy

Is Biff really qualified to be considered a major NPC? Tell me what you think.

I don't think so, since he's pretty much an NPC they put in for missing NPCs in the first game - I think it's more of a Trivia/gag note.

[edit] Quotes

Please consider moving these quotes to Wikiquote and remove them from the article body. --Goblin 13:45, Nov 22, 2004 (UTC)

Done.--Poiuytman 11:57, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Dark Alliance?

I clicked a "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance" link, and it redirected me here. I shortly discover that there's information on basically every game in the series except for Dark Alliance, with the explanation "it is not normally considered part of the series because its plot is unrelated".

Great. Super. So, why does "Dark Alliance" redirect here then? It needs to be discussed on the page. "Dark Alliance" was the first Baldur's Gate game I played and is so far my favorite of the series. I doubt I'm the only one who feels that way, and it seems to me that it should not have been singled out here merely because the author of the page didn't like its lack of continuity with the rest of the series. --Corvun 09:39, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

You're very right. I'll remedy. Jordi·✆ 09:45, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
I've made a start: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Please add to it if you see something lacking. (Especially on the sequel, which I never played.) Jordi·✆ 10:09, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Thoroughly kick-ass! Question on the setting, though, since I mainly play tabletop D&D and don't have much experience with the computer/console games: is Dark Alliance a sub-setting for Baldur's Gate, just as Baldur's Gate is for Forgotten Realms, and Forgotten Realms for Dungeons & Dragons? I mean, is this the Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance campaign setting or something? And is that why it's seemingly unrelated to the other Baldur's Gate games? --Corvun 10:29, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Within the context of AD&D, both the PC and the console BG games take place in the "Swordcoast" sub-setting of the "Forgotten Realms" campaign. The games are typically not seen as "canon", although elements from the PC game series are now typically seen as adopted canon, because of the novelization, and because later source material (from Wizards) has referenced it.
It's best to view the PC and console game series as separate campaigns, which happen to both be based on the same source material, but have nothing else in common. Jordi·✆ 10:45, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Summaries, Plot Details, General Organization

I think each game section should start with a basic summary, with a separate subsection for full plot details. Major spoilers should be restricted to these areas, and removed from other sections where possible (such as Imoen's BG2 NPC info). Possibly make separate pages for BG1 and BG2 for more in-depth information, while keeping general information on this page. I'll do it eventually if no one else does, but I'll have to finish Baldur's Gate 2 first :P. The Imoen thing really ruined the surprise for me -- I just wanted to see a list of NPCs and avoid the plot section because of the spoiler warning, but ended up reading a spoiler anyway.

The article is getting too long, so I think it's time to consider splitting it. I agree we should start two sub-articles for Baldur's Gate (and Tales of the Sword Coast) and Baldur's Gate II (and Throne of Bhaal), and move most of the details there. --Goblin ›talk 4 July 2005 11:08 (UTC)


[edit] Candlekeep

I searched on Candlekeep and got re-directed here... should not Candlekeep be an article on it's own? Ariakas 13:10, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Depending on how much there is to say about Candlekeep that is relevant to Wikipedia, either create an article of its own or expand Sword Coast and redirect it there. --Goblin ›talk 06:24, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
I made Candlekeep a redirect to Western Heartlands#Candlekeep and added a little info. Poulsen 00:00, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Haer'Dalis and Drizzt

  • I added the NPC Profile for Haer'Dalis for BGII.
  • I also added the appearance of Drizzt Do'Urden in the Trivia.

P.H. - Kyoukan, UASC 04:57, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] can someone tell me

who is the head of Baldur's gate and Baldur's gate 2.

Pece Kocovski 03:18, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

What do you mean by "head"? Can you be more specific? --Poiuyt Man talk 05:31, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
I have a feeling that Pece Kocovski is reffering to the person that headed the production of Baldur's Gate. --cheese-cube 05:56, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

that is what i went to say. Who was in charge of making the game eg: like Peter Jackson was in charge of making Lord of the rings, or Jason Jones was Project lead of Halo2 ETC.

Pece Kocovski 07:44, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

The 'Director of Writing and Design' is listed as James Ohlen here, so that would be my best guess. --Casius 12:16, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Wasn't it a man called Fergus Urguhart?

Pece Kocovski 10:10, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

According to the manual, page 148, Ray Muzyka was Producer and James Ohlen was Lead designer.Poulsen 20:28, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] List of NPCs (party members vs. d&d fame)

As the NPC lists look now, BG2 is a mess with both party members and famous Forgotten Realms heroes and nobility, while BG1 consists only of party members. What I propose is moving the party members to Baldur's Gate NPCs and then list Elminster, Kangaxx, Taugosz "Tenhammer" Khosan, and who else are Forgotten Realms canon in the games. Casual browsers of the Forgotten realms pages will have more interest in links to Elminster or Drizzt, than arbitrary party members (harshly put). I'll start the lists in a few days, if nobody objects. Poulsen 17:54, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

The problem with the BG2 list as of now is that many of the characters in it are only tangential to the gameplay. I just played through it again and didn't see many of the characters listed. Saying that Drizzt's party are "prominent" when in fact they appear only for a few minutes of gameplay (out of a 30 hour plus game) is somewhat misleading. I don't recall seeing Elminster at all, although he is in Throne of Bhaal, for about 20 seconds. Since this list is supposedly referring to prominent characters in the game, rather than in the Forgotten Realms themselves, I would say that the NPC party members and enemies specific to BGII (Irenicus, Bodhi, Nalia, Keldorn, Firrkrag, etc.) are much more suited for this listing. Your logic about appealing to the casual browsers would seem to justify just making a list of Drizzt and other famous NPCs and using that for each specific media based in the Forgotten Realms, even if they barely appear in that book/game/whatever. There are plenty of NPCs that appear in BG2 but not in BG1 that could appear in this listing; it just looks like no one's bothered to yet write them upFrailgesture 23:36, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

If you look at the old [version] it was even more of a mess, with NPCs sporadically added one by one. The BG1 list was all npcs, while BG2 was a mix, none of them complete, iirc. I agree with your criticism of the BG2 list, and I am not a fan of listing NPCs for pretty much the same reasons; they might not play any part in a game at all. Can we agree on a list? I propose:
Aran Linvail
Bodhi (Baldur's Gate)
Firkraag
Jon Irenicus
Kangaxx
Saemon Havarian
Solaufein
Elminster appears in a Jaheira sub-quest. Poulsen 23:58, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
Elminster also appears in baldur's gate 1, 2 times, where he is apparently checking the main characters progress

[edit] Novelization?

Would it be okay if I mention that the Novelization of the Series is almost universially loathed by fans of the PC games for having an unlikable lead, poor characterizations and complete deviation from the plot?

Though I know it to be true, of course any reviews of the books should be linked, if not to "real" reviews, then at least to fan reviews. If you write it without sources it's essentially just your personal opinion, which isn't encyclopedic. But sourced criticism would be cool! Poulsen 16:07, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

I'll go find a few fan interviews, then.

[edit] Splitting into seperate articles

As mentioned further up on this page, it might be a good idea to split the individual games off into seperate articles, as it's nearing the size limits with only minimal content on the expansion packs. Furthermore, each game is notable enough to have a seperate entry. The Overview, Modding community and novels section are good in describing the series as a whole, with new articles on Baldur's Gate (computer game), Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal - any pros and cons? Poulsen 12:33, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

I think it's a good idea although I'm not too sure there should be too much info on the expansion packs except ToB, as Swords of the Coast was mostly just a hack and slash to satisfy fans until BG II came out. What new content do you think should be added? More on the storyline? -- Solberg 04:51, 12 March 2006 (UTC)Solberg

Tales of the Sword Coast might have a detailed description of new features and additions, a reviews/reaction section, the production credits and a more fleshed out story section. But if you're driving towards having BG1+ToSC in the same article, I can agree with that, and if ToSC then expands within the BG1 article it can always be split off later. What do you think of the joint BG1+ToSC article being named Baldur's Gate (computer game)? Poulsen 08:15, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unsourced statement

"The Baldur's Gate series brought many technical advancements in computer-based role-playing games..."

What type of advancements? The engine is not the first to use "pre-rendered isometric worldview, with sprite-based characters". Use of the Lua scripting engine does not necessarily mean an advancement over other scripting languages. Sounds more like market-speak to me. SharkD 18:19, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sorcerer's Place in external links

As suggested in a recent revert, I propose including external links to Sorcerer's Place for the following games covered by that website:

This excludes the following games covered by Sorcerer's Place, due to lack of resources at the website:

I only exclude Dragon Age because right now, with the game currently in development, there is not enough information at Sorcerer's Place to warrant a link. After the game's release, I suspect the website will have much more comprehensive coverage, and then a link will probably be needed. This website is a valuable resource for all sorts of mods, patches, tweaks, fixes, etc., both official and fan-created. I would also suggest an external link from Infinity Engine to the respective section at Sorcerer's Place. (Cross-posted to Talk:Planescape: Torment) − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 23:15, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

See Talk:Baldur's Gate#Sorcerer's Place link for ongoing discussion. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 07:54, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Baldur'sGateLogo.png

Image:Baldur'sGateLogo.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 23:40, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Merge of character articles

I support Kung Fu Man's proposal to merge in character articles such as Sarevok and Edwin Odesseiron, unless someone can begin to demonstrate notability of these articles independent of the subject. This is part of the wikipedia general notability guideline. For contrast, I'd hold off on merging characters such as Minsc until a later more specific discussion can take place. This article seems to have asserted independent notability, although I admit that it is limited. Randomran (talk) 23:21, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Support I support the merging. -- Magioladitis (talk) 15:44, 28 May 2008 (UTC)