I didn't see a thread for this already, but I may have just missed it. Please drop a link if I did.

Anyway, I have ID1, but I haven't finished it yet. I'm thinking of getting 2, but honestly, I'm backlogged with other games at the moment. I'm interested, but I'm curious about what's changed.

There are some things that I didn't like about ID1 that got fixed in NWN and Baldur's Gate 2, etc. Things like unbalanced DEX armor bonus (in NWN, the Dex bonus to AC is capped depending on how heavy your armor is, so your full-plate-mail big, ugly, meatshield doesn't have to be nimble like an archer; things like that... also, the dual class system was so unfriendly that everyone had to either restart the game or use a hack to actually use it.)

NWN is good for some things, but it's no BG2 in terms of strategy. I'm just curious where ID2 stands. Any new classes, races, etc? Is the class system a little more flexible and easy to figure out this time? Anything else I should know about?

Icewind Dale 2 uses the 3.0 rules, so it's like NWN. New classes and races include Monk and Drow.

Oh, cool. So more like BG2 than anything else... Is it still less plotty? Create a full party from the start?

IWD2 has the tactical, action-oriented gameplay from IWD1 and BG2 with full party creation. It also provides some rather nice premades to choose from, though there is also an NPC project mod which adds scripted banter like it's IWD1 namesake.

It also has the IMO much more flexible and intelligent ruleset of D&D 3rd edition seen in NWN, though in many ways it's more completely implemented so you get neat things like subraces.

It has about a much plot as IWD1, perhaps a touch more, though it's no BG2. Though in that department it's still miles ahead of any of these "Action RPGs" that are so popular these days.

Simply put, IWD2 is a great game.

That sounds good. I'm not sure I would've bothered with ID1 if I'd known that 2 was better all around and coming soon, but fair's fair. I probably should have expected it, anyway.

To be completely fair, some people think IWD1 has a little bit better dungeon design. I'm not sure I agree on that point, but I do remember IWD1 having a touch smoother pacing and less "fedex" quests.

However for me, any defecits in those areas are more than made up for by the superior ruleset. I also recall IWD2 having more content overall, as well.

I've heard a lot of good things about IWD2 but how would experienced players compare this to NWN? I've spent a good number of hours on NWN but, to be honest, I've had more fun in character research and creation than in playing the game which I found to be annoying in plot, dialog and voice-acting. Is IWD2 any better in these areas?

Icewind Dale was a great game but in my opinion Icewind dale II is far much better.
Icewind Dalle II lasts more (more than Icewind Dale with all its expansions), have a better and much deep story, have more variety of enemies and scenarios...

NWN is a game that technologically aged bad, its gameplay is much boring than the infinite engine games. And many people think like me, look at the sales today. On its release week NWN was totally defeated on sales not only by Planescape and IWD, but also by TEE! But I must recognize that its expansion pack Hordes of the Undedark is far mutch better than the original.

For me, NWNs charm is in the multiplayer department and the toolset..
I never finished NWNs OC, but I've played IWD2 about 4 times through now, each time with a different character - yes, I played em solo...
had lot's of fun as a druid (air elemental shape - wooo!sh) and my 'necromancer' eventually found a cloak that protected him from the skull trap spell :D

IWD2 features more possibilities when it comes to making characters, which is because of the 3rd edition of DnD rules. I am not sure what implementation of the rules I like best, IWD2 or NWN.

as for I vs II, I think I like II more, because of the ruleset. They really expanded on the conversation parts of the game, mostly in the form of class, race and skill specific dialog options: as a druid I could only call a certain troll an abomination of nature, while as a fighter with high intimidate I could actually scare the beast into giving up his prize without a fight!
I certainly has it's charm, but mainly because of the 'feel', where the music and story come into play.

It was very balanced for the AD&D ruleset, which also was used in BG2 (had the same dualclassing/DEX rules). IWD is 3.0 (or 2.5 as some liked to say) and hence uses different rules.

Besides that: Yes, its tactical. More so than BG2 or IWD or most other RPGs I have seen. Also (at least IMO) its extremly harder than IWD1. Something else I remember is that in the starting town and to a degree in the very late game it also has some nice RP feeling in terms of dialouge/npc reaction to your choosen races/classes, but sadly did not take it so far AFAIK to let an evil group join the baddys, regardless how much sense it would have made from the race/class/alignment setup of your group. But after all, its IWD aka tactical D&D game. Was never ment to be an epic story plot series like the BG series so this stuff is a nice plus wich speak for the eye on quality in development, so just try to not get used to it ;)

Personally I prefer the first one mostly because of the sometimes unfun difficulty in IWD2, but besides that its a nice game I liked to play.