My original experience was similar to the post about the game crashing. I had to wait a year or more to have a PC that could actually run it at all, especially outdoors. Morrowind had similar issues, of course, so it wasn't anything too new.
I was okay with Buffy's experience right up to the point of taking a huge drink of lake water.
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Especially when she washed everything off in it just afterwards, which who knows how many others have done, not to mention the various living things in the water and... well, you get the idea.
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Lorelei might have been thirsty and hungry, but she'd rather put up with those than be sick or dead.