I said it doesn't have DRM, and it doesn't. I forgot about the launcher--that's on me--because I no longer have mine and don't use it and it's optional besides. If you use a program that's supposed to check for updates it's a safe assumption that it's going to, you know, check for updates. :)

Could it be made easier for the folks who don't want it to check and could they advertise the lack of DRM better? Absolutely. The people who are interested in those features are, unfortunately, a small minority.

You said (emphasis is mine):
"DRM was removed from BGEE several months ago. You log in, download, and then have a fully portable install that never phones home."

My point was, and is, that it does phone home. Not ifs or buts, it just does. A silent minority perhaps, but I'm not going to argue or disagree with you on that matter -- I don't know.

Right--if you use the superfluous launcher.

Which is what is installed at installation time. Maybe they should get rid of the launcher. :)

I think they could really up their sales if EE was released on GoG. After recently introducing discounts for completing your GoG collections, EE would probably be discounted for people who already have it which for many BG veterans could tip the balance of buying it. I just don't know what would happen to the original BG...

Hell, even if it wasn't discounted for BG owners, you could still get it much cheaper since there always is a discount for newly released titles. There are also weekend promos...

Yes, I would be interested in BG3, but not made by Oster & co.

If only they actually improved the graphics, they whine that the can't do it because the original art assets were lost (had they not been lost they could have just been recompiled at a higher resolution from the vector assets)...
Well, they could have recreated them from scratch, only in HD this time. That would justify a 50$ price tag too. Their reply to that was that this is beyond the scope of their overhaul... some overhaul. Ooh, iPad and DLC support, THANK YOU! /sarcasm

This is something they really really should have done a kickstarter for (that is, a kickstarter exclusively to fund artists to recreate the art assets to allow proper HDifying)

That being said, I disagree about it being all bad. Ignoring the price, now that the bugs were fixed BGEE is strictly speaking superior BG1 experience than BGTuTu, BG1, and BGT.

Has anyone bought the BG2 EE by now and can give feedback?

Steam currently has BG 1 Enhanced Edition discount to $9.99.

I have been trying to play BG 1 using the original version. Unfortunately, I can't seem to determine what is causing the game to crash. Currently, I think it may be a driver issue. The GOG community has been very helpful throughout the troubleshooting process. I haven't had much time to work on it because of the upcoming holidays.

I have considered buying the BG 1enhanced edition but I have a slight problem with buying the game a second time.

I would appreciate a non-biased opinion (or as non-biased as possible) of how stable the BG 1 enhanced edition is.

I'm also curious to see how the BG 2 enhanced edition turned out.

I remember hearing about this awhile back. I never heard the details of what actually happened though.

The game runs completely smoothly and crystal clear for me using Win 7 64 bit.

I am looking forward to buying BG2EE when it gets a similar discount.

BG2:EE might be decent, I'll wait what the general opinion is.

As far as BG:EE is concerned, I much prefer the original Baldur's Gate. I hate several aspects of BG:EE compared to the original:
- weapon skills
- summon spells (much less minions)
- druid / ranger roots spell
- some AI changes

In the end, BG:EE isn't very faithful to the original, which I guess they can't help, since it's based on the BG2 engine. But when playing Baldur's Gate 1 on the Baldur's Gate 2 engine, I get annoying by anything that's not the same as the original (except for the graphics of course).