I prefer story over combat type of RPGs.since I'm a DM I try to balance those to make a game not fall into a Diablo sort of game

Yeah, if story's more your thing maybe you should wait until you've finished the first 3 and the Infinity Engine cravings return - they WILL though!
Saying 'Diablo' is going a bit far though, as I previously described the combat and possible tactics are WAY deeper that that arcadey thing
You do get a bit of roleplaying too - I did the 'good deed' of buying wine for an alcoholic who couldn't get served anymore and I saved a small child from an under-the-stairs cupboard - got XP for both!

Diablo ftw, just sayin'.

REALLY - I thought Diablo got very 'What happens on this level? Oh there's a different 2 monsters with slightly beafier stats and they give me a slightly bigger stick to hit them with - what a suprise" very quickly, myself

I like that kinda stuff tho. :P

Plus Diablo 2 is even better.

You can actually do it for free if you can Pick Pocket. Aside from that, there are a couple minor quest type things that will get you some XP. Other than that, there are just the shops, although a couple of them have some decent stuff.

You almost make it sound as if it were a bad game, hehe. I personally haven't played BG2 yet, just the first game, but I really love it. What makes it so great is the plot and overall atmosphere, and although you die a lot like macuahuitlgog said, I still enjoyed it. I have to admit that I even like it more than P:T, I prefer the lighter and more adventurous feel of BG compared to the darker, grittier world (or rather city) of Sigil. So I think it all just comes down to personal preferences as there are even people who say BG1 is better than BG2 for various reasons (like the fact that the second game is more city-centered and doesn't have that much outdoors).

It certainly put me off. I thought it was excellent, right up until my very first fight... Whereupon my entire party was slaughtered. I didn't really need that kind of learning curve at that point, so I left it and never went back.

IMO, any RPG which poses a serious risk of total annihilation for a reasonably experienced gamer the very first time combat is opened, has a serious design flaw. I don't mind a game being difficult, I just expect it to give me a chance to learn the ropes before it gets medieval on my ass.

It's very luck based, D&D after all.

I think it's always going to be a potential issue with Level 1 AD&D characters with their 1 die worth of HP!
BTW has no-one mentioned tutu yet? - If you're going to play BG1 use Baulders Gate tutu to play it with the BG2 engine - it's much improved like that apparently!

the combat is dice rolls,skill based or stat based?

Again refer to my post about the archer ambush I set up in Icewind Dale - the chances of my guys actually landing a hit on the goblin were all based on dice rolls modified by my guy's dexterity, skill with a bow and the goblin's armour class
Once I'd hit him the amount of damage done was also determined by dice roill - 1D6 for arrows and bolts and 1D4 for my mage's sling
however, setting up the ambush was purely my own cunning!

That's as maybe, but I've never experienced it in any other AD&D game I've played. I've died plenty of times of course, but never in the very first fight in the game. And I didn't just lose the fight. As I recall it, I didn't even come close to seriously harming a single one of my opponents. It really took away my desire to play the game at all.

Ah, yes, my first time against a single wolf also resulted in a rather one-sided battle, when that wolf hit me...

Still, I loved both BG and BG 2 for what they were. Two of my defining CRPG experiences.

To tell you the truth, a whole bunch of issues made ME stop playing BG1 too, I'm hoping that this Tutu thing will solve some of them for me
But it's a bit weird because I'm played right through BG2 but not throne of Baal (HD snafu) so I really want to play through all 2 games and 1 expansion with the same char but THAT means playing the whole of BG2 again and I don't know how I could justify replaying BG2 when my backlog of never played games is so big!