I see the long discussion on the respective merit of BeamDog and GrapeOcean Technologies, and the individual merit of Trent Oster.
I wouldn't diminish the role of BeamDog, nor Oster's, because
- Trent Oster had a significant role with his brother and Marcel Zeschuk, by making a demo and acquiring experience, which allowed to the "doctors" to find enough reason to bring the money and their own experience so they could all fund BioWare;
- he did 3D modelling, coding, art, and testing on BG in parallel to the work on NWN as producer, so it's hard to say whether he had merit or weight on that or not. The dynamics of a project are complex and many actors play a crucial role without being properly acknowledged;
- BeamDog has worked long and hard to improve and maintain what was a messy work to begin with, and many players benefited from the EE;
- Black Geyser built on the fame of Baldur's Gate (so, both original and EE) to make a game. So it's not completely original and they owe a part of the merit to the legacy of Baldur's Gate - talking of originality, even the name they chose is based on Baldur's Gate's.
It seems these days that many "classics" mimic either Baldur's Gate or Fallout.
I wouldn't diminish the role of BeamDog, nor Oster's, because
- Trent Oster had a significant role with his brother and Marcel Zeschuk, by making a demo and acquiring experience, which allowed to the "doctors" to find enough reason to bring the money and their own experience so they could all fund BioWare;
- he did 3D modelling, coding, art, and testing on BG in parallel to the work on NWN as producer, so it's hard to say whether he had merit or weight on that or not. The dynamics of a project are complex and many actors play a crucial role without being properly acknowledged;
- BeamDog has worked long and hard to improve and maintain what was a messy work to begin with, and many players benefited from the EE;
- Black Geyser built on the fame of Baldur's Gate (so, both original and EE) to make a game. So it's not completely original and they owe a part of the merit to the legacy of Baldur's Gate - talking of originality, even the name they chose is based on Baldur's Gate's.
It seems these days that many "classics" mimic either Baldur's Gate or Fallout.