Quote Originally Posted by TinCow View Post
I think [hit points are] an inherent limitation of gaming, simply because representing health in a realistic manner isn't conducive to fun. [...] Even STALKER turned a lot of people off with its slightly more realistic health system, and all it really did was require a player to bandage himself after being shot to stop the bleeding. If stopping your own bleeding is too extreme for a lot of players, I doubt whether further steps towards health realism would be successful.
Then I must have been part of the fractionate minority that liked the STALKER system. You want to avoid bullets? Then put on armor to soften the blow or duck behind a wall. Much more satisfying, and less silly to boot.

Down with hit points! There has to be a better way to represent combat toughness. Face it, hit points are the prime way things get silly in an RPG. One day you're having trouble killing rats, the next you're going toe-to-toe with archdemons and dragons. Such foolishness. This is why high-level D&D campaigns became exercises in the absurd—your 25th-level mage wandering about the seventh circle of hell, zapping down fire giants and whatnot.

One of the best things about BG1 was that you started at 1st level, and faced typical 1st level problems. No uber-hammer-of-instant-death-smiting, just a 1st level fighter or thief or whatever trying to wrestle with orcs. God bless.