Because we can never have too many of these.

I just need to check before buying The Temple of Elemental Evil. I'm tempted by it, but I don't want something that will make me ragequit every five seconds.

My experience with turn-based tactical RPGs have generally been older or indie games like the older Ultimas or Spiderweb Software's games, along with console SRPGs like Fire Emblem. What sets ToEE apart is the extra complexity of its ruleset, along with the quirks of D&D rules compared to other RPGs. My experience of D&D-based games is mainly Baldur's Gate and the indie game Knights of the Chalice. After experiencing those I anticipate my biggest difficulties, aside from the weakness of low level characters, will be spells and advanced combat moves.

Spells will likely be my biggest difficulty. Choosing what spells to memorize and when to cast them is challenging since a lot of them seem very situational. Aside from absolutely obvious spells like fireball or any kind of healing spell, many seem highly dependent on what vulnerabilities an enemy has (I see "saving throws" and "hit dice" a lot). I seem to be required to have a very clear understanding of what kind of enemies I am currently facing, enemies I know I will face, or enemies I might face. Many other spells seem to only do subtle manipulations of the dice rolls, making it hard for someone with limited experience in D&D to tell if casting such a spell was worth the effort.

As for spell memorization, since magic-users only start off with probably three spell slots at level one, how sparingly are magic-users expected to use their spells overall? How often does ToEE expect my party to rest? Because it's certainly a far cry from other RPGs where a wizard may be expected to at least throw a small fireball every turn.

Also, it's a bit counter-intuitive to have melee-range attack spells like chill touch when I normally don't want my magic users to get in melee-range. ;)

I've mostly seen the advanced combat moves in Knights of the Chalice. For some like grapple or bull-rush, I'm not sure how and when to use them because I don't think they've ever worked successfully for me in KotC. :P There are also the "ready vs. x" moves that I don't really understand, other than that they seem to make enemies get free attacks whenever my magic-users do anything (very annoying).

I guess my trepidation with regards to resting is how conceptually strange it seems in context. As in, how big would the temple be in real life such that a party of adventurers could spend several nights inside of it? :P ToEE, of course, is not the only RPG that experiences this dissonance.

Do all spells remain useful throughout the game, or are there some that are only effective at the start? For example, coming from Baldur's Gate I've heard Sleep is good "at low levels", which implies that it looses its effectiveness later. Is this true in ToEE and/or in general?

One last question about weapons. Does the game explain the differences/tradeoffs between different weapons? I'm thinking some of these must be major if, for example, bastard swords are special enough to require an exotic weapons feat.

With regards to Sleep, it's one of those spells that affects a certain number of Hit Dice of monsters. At higher levels, the monsters have more HD, so you'd be lucky to hit one enemy, and even then they'd make the (rather easy at higher levels) saving throw. Spells that are based on HD in general are not very good at higher levels.

If you shift-click on an item, it will give you a better description of it. Exotic weapons are generally better in some way then martial weapons.

OK, now it makes sense. Especially after asking Google what hit dice are. :P All right. There's information in the game or in the manual to tell me what these benefits are right? That would be useful especially for planning my character feats.

Update
Anyway, I've given in and bought ToEE. Wish me luck people.

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I just noticed this thread.

I played Basic D&D 20-25 years ago & I've played 4th Edition D&D. This game is based on 3rd Edition, so for me it was a little familiar & a little different at the same time.

First order of business...GET THE CIRCLE OF 8 PATCH!! It fixes so many bugs & adds extra content. Plus it gives you a Preferences option that'll let you gain your maximum HP with every level-up (trust me, you'll want it). You can also choose to adjust the number of your PCs from 5 (as originally limited) up to 8, but your maximum party size will be 8 regardless, so if you use all 8 slots then that means you can't take any NPCs.

As far as combat & magic, I've read alot of complaints about the "Wheel" of tactics, but I personally love it. It serves as a great reminder of everything each character is capable of. Also, if you've never played 3rd Edition D&D, you'll learn as you go along. Like I said, it was already a little familiar to me, but I'm picking up on the differences & getting better. Plus, over on the lower right side during combat, you can click & bring up your exact dice rolls (with bonuses & penalties) to show why a particular attack was/wasn't successful...such as if you're constantly hitting a creature but doing pitiful damage every time, it might tell you he resists 5 on all piercing damage., and that'd be your clue that you should use slashing weapons or magic instead.

The game system is definitely complex, especially if you have no knowledge of D&D 3rd Edition, but instruction & aid is all there whether it be in the Manual or in the game itself, and trust me, once you get comfy with what you're doing (and bulk up a bit), the combat gets really fun.

If you have any further questions or anything, feel free to ask here in the ToEE forum. There are a few of us actively playing who are very willing to help. Enjoy!

Yes, that's definitely on my agenda. I'm looking at the Co8 website now.

According to Co8's website, I need to install the first two patches from Atari first. Is that the case with GOG's version, or is it already patched?

Also, I can't download the latest version of Co8 (version 6) because ModDB is apparently broken.

GOG's version is fully patched, up to Patch 3 I believe. The thingy says not to have Patch 3 installed, but I got it to work correctly.

Have fun! It is a hard game from start to finish, but that just makes success in a huge battle that much more satisfying.

*** Use 5 or 6 save slots on a rolling basis so when the tide of a battle turns against you, the first 20 minutes of lucky rolls are not lost! And definitely do the Welkwood Bog mission instead of the FedEx quests to get to 2nd level.

Sorcerers do not need to memorize spells at the start of each day and are thus much more versatile in dynamic situations. As long as they know a spell and have a slot available to cast it they're good to go. I find this makes them very useful for casting meta magic. Their downside is that they receive fewer spells per level to know at any one time. I tend to use them for support roles as opposed to combat, but either way can work for them.