I can tell you what was wrong with Baldur's Gate: it was simply TOO big. I suspect it's why BG2 got cut down in size a lot compared to BG1. While it was great to explore the vast outdoor areas of the Sword Coast, there were too many areas with not a lot really going on that you just wandered through killing stuff. In terms of actual substantive content, the number of outdoor areas could easily have been halved without losing anything.
DD got the balance right: the sense of scale enough to make it seem like a real world, without there being too much of it.
Not that I didn't love BG. I'm just not blind to its flaws
LOL...Can't say I have ever heard that before. I suppose geographically, BG1 was bigger, as in there were mulitple areas, that could be explored between plot destinations. For the most part, BG2 cut out these types of areas. But it can't touch BG2 content wise, especially if all the sidequests are played out, it's not even close. That being said, I loved the exploring in BG1...found lot's of cool toys and npc's and sidequests that that escaped a lot of folks initially, I'm sure.
DD did provide a good mix though, and I look forward to the same thing in Ego Draconis.
