Christ Centered Gamer

Gross. FFIII's job system is like that, to a lesser extent. Some classes will not give you 9999 HP, even if you bring them to level 99, and some magic is basically useless late game.

For myself, I just found out that those 'optional sidequests' were actually pretty mandatory. Hours of grinding is my reward for chasing the story. Pleh. Double pleh, in fact.

Baldurs gate?

That really sucks. XD

I am ashamed to admit I never played it. I own it, I intend to beat it some day, but it is not this day. Though I will admit I'm more interested in playing Icewind Dale, if only because I tend to vastly prefer Black Isle/Obsidian games over BioWare games. Not that BioWare games are bad (Well, their new ones are, but I think that's also EA's fault...), but Black Isle/Obsidian games have always felt more interesting in terms of the themes they tackle. Planescape Torment? Black Isle. Knights of the Old Republic II (Which I consider to be better than KOTOR I)? Obsidian. Fallout New Vegas (Which I liked so much more than Fallout 3, though that admittedly was a Bethesda game...)? Obsidian.

Point being: While I have no reason to doubt that Baldur's Gate is good, I'm just wondering if Icewind Dale will end up being better (Or if I'll like it more), continuing the trend of me liking the Black Isle/Obsidian games more. XD

Nice. I've done the inverse. Only I beat Icewind Dale. I'm not sure what to say about it...I really enjoyed it...but there is a lot of flaws. Some of which are related to D&D 2E and my lack of knowledge thereof, some of which are age (which, as a rule, I don't complain about when playing an old game). Icewind Dale itself is a very interesting setting though. Dark, grim...but weird sauce. And I love me some weird sauce. Only do NOT pick a Dwarven samurai. I don't remember the proper name, but seriously...don't.

Crossover universes?

I'll have to remember that. lol

Crossover universes work sometimes. It seems that there is a fine balance to walk between making a sensible crossover and something utterly cheesy. I don't know where that line is, only that I've seen more on the side of cheesy than sensible. lol.

I like a good cheese sometimes, though. XD

Games which had amazing concepts, but terrible execution?

There are so many. So many. Mindjack: Interesting concept, horrible execution. Most Ubisoft games. Most EA games.

...I'm sensing a worrying pattern here.

Sometimes you just need to hide in a closet with a bottle of soda and a box of french fries?

I think I can relate to that, yeah.

Books you've read so many times they're almost like old friends?

Hello, Lord of the Rings. Though I will say, reading Lord of the Rings over and over again exposes some issues I have with the books. I'd never say they were bad or anything, but I find the structure of the Return of the King to be a needlessly drawn-out affair. I also think Two Towers made a mistake when it had the hard split between the Frodo/Sam story and the Everyone Else story. One of the things the movies did better was intertwining the narratives in a logical fashion. Tom Bombadil is...well, yeah.

Still some of my old friends. I will never regret reading them as much as I did.

Ew. That's a discussion that would quickly devolve into a spittle-flying rant, so I'm just going to walk away. >_>

Cliffhangers that resolve into other cliffhangers that turn into several episode story arcs?

So...DragonBall Z?

I didn't make it more than five episodes in...I should probably try again. Just for historical posterity. Plus, who doesn't like Goku?

Traveling for concerts?

While I've done it before, I'm not a huge fan of going long ways because I have to request time off of work and it just...bleh. lol.

Plus, it puts travel expenses on top of ticket price. Which usually makes it prohibitively expensive.

Squealing with joy?