Hi,
I'm a 40 year OLD complete 'noob' from England who bought his first PC back in 1998, just in time to play Baldur's Gate : the game I'd waiting for since becoming a gamer on an old Dragon 32 (remember ? - probably not !) home computer at the age of 14. Computers may have moved on dramatically but games have not IMO : the IE games are for me still the greatest games ever written, although I've also enjoyed a number of others ( the X-Com series, DeusEx, the Half-Lifes (though I'm not really into shooters, but you have to admire quality) , the original Tomb Raider, Civilzation, Thief : DS and a few others).
I'm barely computer-literate (many of my generation are) so I feel pretty humbled coming on this site but I'm rather excited about getting my IE games ( BG1+2, IWD1+2, Torment) to not only work on my new Vista system but also to look better and with mod-enhancements. I'll therefore mostly be 'lurking', researching mods etc. and I'll almost certainly need advice at some point(s!) So a big 'thanks' in advance to all the people who are dedicating themselves to keeping these great games alive : you deserve a lot of recognition for this.
As for me, I studied Philosophy at Warwick University in the early nineties and still read it 'casually' (if you can read philosophy casually) today, despite the fact that I find it (philosophy) just as depressing - though in a different way - as 'real life'. My favourite Baldur's Gate character must therfore be Xan the Enchanter, who is so gloriously depressed about everything it cheers me up no end every time I have him in my party. Where has this quality of writing gone in games ? In my view the quality of writing in all the IE games is stunning. The music too : I'm thinking at this moment of the music that starts up when you enter the 'Watcher's Keep' area in BG2 ToB. Sadly, I believe that this was a Golden Age for computer games in general, and like all such ages it was destined to be brief. But I'm sounding too much like Xan again so I'll sign off. Good luck to everyone on this fantastic site !