I actually switched off party AI in Baldur's Gate etc. Yeah I want to tell each party member what they should do in combat, but only bother me (autopause) if there is some decision to be made, like which enemy to attack if the former enemy has died already, which weapon to choose if you run out of arrows, what spell to cast etc.

Historically they're cheaper in russia ;)

I tried that but unfortunately i didn't quite liked it ;(

Wait, so as a person who has almost never played an RPG where there is the option to play as a magic user as anything other than a magic user, you're saying it is better to play melee in BG?

Not necessarily better. When you are starting out, it's a lot easier with a melee character. Magic users tend to be a little squishy out of the gate, and unless you've got a pretty good handle on BG's combat, it can be hard to get a magic user to a point where they start to shine.

This doesn't apply to Clerics though. Clerics can be bad ass melee and magic users. The first time I ever finished BG1 was playing a Cleric.

What hummer010 said. I tried using a bard when I first tried to play it, I just couldn't get my head around the combat, needless to say I got my ass handed to me.

If I had dipped my toe into it first, with a melee user, it could've been different. Then later come back and try a bard.

Should you make a spellcaster, hide behind other group members. A pure spellcaster CAN'T solo. Beware... Also, pure starting spellcasters have extremely low HP and can be killed by one hit from pretty much EVERYTHING, from a gibbering to a wolf to a bear... You have extremely limited number of spells to cast per day, they need memorization and before you can cast again, you have to REST, of course without being ambushed. IF the spell succeeds depends on an unseen dice roll, as well as the extra effects (if any), the enemy's resistance added in the mix, plus enemy ROLL of dice too, for either foiling spell altogether (like instant death ones), or taking less damage, or avoiding special effect. Spellcasting is a science in Infinity game engines.

Better start a fighter human and dual to mage later. Ideal level to do so is 13. You can earlier, though, of course. 3 or 9 sounds good, too. Remember to use a group. If not, then choose a multiclass, like those classy dwarf fighter/clerics, for example, all times classic and in BG1 original, probably the best character (to solo and not only).

If you play EE you have even more choices, like classes from 2. Wild mage can work well, too. Too bad they "nerfed" it and "fixed" its broken OP spells and combos.

Yes, its a feature of DnD games. Up to around level 9-10 plain spellcasters tend to be weak as they have no real damaging or crowd control type spells. After 10 though they really start to rock. Try being a fighter on the end of TimeStop then Finger of Death or Maze. First time I played through (with wide eyes, back in the day) I played a female wizard, really struggled, basically hide behind anything and use magic missile. The end of BG1 - which I wont spoil - ended up with me lining my party up between some gaps, and having a summon monster wand which I also blocked up, and basically hid right at the back firing magic missiles. Everyone died but my character, but I made it :o)

I think most people tend to favour starting with BG2 after playing the first once through (I am not one of them), as you start at around level 7-8, so have a good platform to start building any type of character. However class choice, and party choice still affects the difficulty of the game, but to a less extent than the early levels.
Actually a sorceror can solo - but only from BG2 onwards. If you had plenty of wands of monster summoning and magic missile, then its theoretically possible to do BG1 as well, but I wouldn't try it. Have solo'd 1 with a fighter/theif (twice and through BG2/TOB as well).

I remember when I first played Baldur's Gate, I spent an hour or two on character creation even though there wasn't really anything much to do.