There are a lot of similarities between these two games. Just a few:
FIRST HALF: THE BLACK GATE
1. You start off the game trying to solve a murder. The man was flayed alive, just like in the bridge murders
2. There is an annoying guy with a brown beard named Sir Dupree. In bg2, there is an annoying guy with a brown beard named Sir Anomen.
3. You can move around by stepping into portals.
4. There is a two-handed sword which can instantly kill an enemy. In Ultima 7, it is called blackrock. In BG2, it is called vorpal silver sword.
5. Blackrock has a demon trapped in it. So does Harbinger.
6. You play a guy named 'the avatar', whose trademark is a red cape. In bg2, you can turn into a red avatar.
7. The first half of the game was called 'the black gate'. Abreviation: BG.
8. You spend the game chasing a self-help guru trying to let an all-powerful red skull called 'the gaurdian' into Britannia. In BG2, you spend the game chasing a mage trying to become a god.
9. The self-help guru, Baistlin, runs the organization, 'The Fellowship'. They seem to run very much like the Harpers. They even have a silly amulet like the harpers.
SECOND HALF: SERPENT ISLE
1. You travel to a dream realm which looks like land floating on space, to go to a castle and kill someone. Which game was that? This seems like the #1 similarity.
2. There is a city, Filaria, which looks like a large version of the Temple district, as it is stone paths floating on water.
3. There is a helmet that lets you see in the dark.
4. You can get an 'automatron', which looks like a small golem, to protect you. If you are a mage, the planar sphere golem can protect you.
5. You travel to a city of mages. They throw people they don't like into a dungeon, and those who escape are free to go. Bg2: You travel to a city which doesn't like mages, and if they don't like you they throw you in the Spellhold dungeon, and those who escape are free to go.

Will be updated as I think of more things.

[ 07-05-2004, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Megachihuahua ]

Believe it or not!!

ó Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

ó Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

ó The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

ó Both Presidents' wives lost a child while living in the White House.
Both Presidents were shot while seated next to their wife.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head.

ó Lincoln's personal secretary, whose name was John (Nicolay), advised him not to go to the theater.
Kennedy's personal secretary, whose name was (Evelyn) Lincoln, advised him not to go to Dallas.

ó Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners.
Both successors were named Johnson.

ó Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

ó John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939.

ó Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are comprised of fifteen letters.

ó Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

ó Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre and Kennedy was shot while in a Ford Lincoln.

Holy crap, Hank! Is all this is true, then that's just plain crazy! Talk about coincidence!

More like conspiracy! By aliens! Now where did I put my tinfoil...

as far as i know, those are all true...then again, what do I know :D

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/linckenn.htm

You can use the same methods to pick apart the initial list.

Look, I got more!
You can get on a boat.
There are pirates
There are, um, bucklers.
And, um, when you kill people gaurds attack you.
Um, and um, red dragons and green dragons.
Yeah, it must be aliens!
But in the begining of the manual it says it was inspired by Ultima. But 7 is the only good one.

Hush, young one, Ultima IV was THE Ultima.

And you forgot the most important similarity: you get to kill folks in both games.

[ 07-09-2004, 05:05 PM: Message edited by: Feral ]