Just something I am curious about.

When the expansion for the original Baldur's Gate 1 was first released, how well was it received? Did people like it? Was it worth the extra purchase? Was it as controversial as the new expansion seems to be?

If I recall correctly, Tales of the Sword Coast was rather well received (mainly because a sequel was already announced).

Throne of Bhaal, however, was quite controversial. Mainly because the writing was thought to be sub-par and it was too linear. Kinda like Siege of Dragonspear (minus that NPC debacle).

Interesting question, there wasn't a lot of new content in TOTSC, just a few new spells, items and a dungeon but this may have been over looked because of anticipation for BG2. In the 90's, short expansion packs or expansions with little content weren't exactly uncommon and while consumers typically weren't fond of the practice, I wouldn't go so far as to say they were controversial. As for controversial content in the TOTSC areas, I don't think there was any, it was entirely standard fare DnD.

Erm...

Ulgoth's Beard, npcs, vendor and quests (Aec'Letec etc.)
Ice Island quest (completely new area)
Werewolf Island quest (completely new area)
Durlag's Tower quest (new, huge dungeon)

That was a lot of content, comparatively, given the game's age.

I can't comment on release because I didn't even have a PC back then, but I think ToTSC has a *lot* content.

I think I read in the manual that not only are there new spells and areas (as mentioned above), they also added things like getting a bonus if you hide in shadows when it's night or you are in the shade. They also increased the XP cap and added new items.

Good thing you told me this now, especially considering I'm going though BG1:EE for the first time right now (just finished flooding the Cloakwood mine).

I just had a look at the maps for the Ice Island and Werewolf Island quests and I don't recognize them at all. For the 3 times I've played though BG1, I totally overlooked those areas. Any idea how frickin depressing it is just finding this out now....................

Spoilers

The same thing happened to me with BG2 and the Twisted Rune. I don't know how I missed that entirely. When I found out about it I played through the game a few times already. I still haven't even fought the Twisted Rune.


End spoilers

It was received well back in the day. Mostly because the quests it added were pretty involved and took quite some time to finish. And Durlag's Tower was an epic dungeon. Design in a smart way, with a nice background history. And rather challenging. Only Watcher's Keep from ToB can compete with it.