Neverwinter Nights 2 is coming out. They've upgraded the appearance and some of the game play elements (but there's still no ability to ride horses, something WoW has had since day one, *grumble*), and they've even allowed those who pre-order the game to download the toolkit (which is disgustingly complicated at first look, but we'll see). I'll be building my own server and basing it in the Vilhon Reach (somewhere no one else has ever built a server around).
Question is - How many of you are planning to or buying it??
You cannot compare this game to WoW or any other online game. WoW, or any other MMORPG is repetetive work, in my opinion. Bioware has a history of amazing stories with great game play elements which makes it tops on my list. NWN can be completely stand alone or you can play it with a group, you can build your own modules to run your friends through. I plan on building Age of Worms, though I know it will take a long time. It may not have horses but they did come out with them for NWN1 so Im sure its only a matter of time.
Ummm...so, yes :]
Absolutely. Savaun, you and me have the same mindset- I've been thinking about building AoW in NWN2, myself. We should have the Paizonian AoW Collaboration, or something.
The toolset is supposed to be awesome, there are RP elements added in to the excess of the last one, and it's D&D in general. I'm frothing at the mouth for this game.
By the way, mounts in WoW are far overrated. You have to wait until 40th level (out of 60 max) to get one, pay a horrendous amount of money, and get a 60% speed boost out of it. You cannot use them in combat. At level 60, you have to pay 10 times the horrendous amount you paid at level 40 in order to get another 40% onto your speed. Still no mounts in combat.
I'm also slobbering over Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Do a websearch on this game- it's the closest thing to D&D that I've ever seen in an MMO.
What's the proposed release date? I enjoyed NWN (and both expansions), so I'll probably get it. I tend more toward solo play than online, so I'll see how much campaign gameplay is included in the initial release. I might end up waiting 'til the first expansion comes out and some of the bugs are patched.
Absolutely. Savaun, you and me have the same mindset- I've been thinking about building AoW in NWN2, myself. We should have the Paizonian AoW Collaboration, or something.
Well, if everything from my physical is good then I should be starting the police academy at the beginning of November but I can still devote some time to this. Perhaps we could collaborate, or osmethne!
I am planning on getting NWN2, despite the large stack of other games I have yet to complete/finish *looks at Oblivion, Doom 3, and Quake 4*.
That being said, I would love to work on an adventure mod with y'all for NWN/NWN2 when it comes out. :)
Well, if everything from my physical is good then I should be starting the police academy at the beginning of November but I can still devote some time to this.
Congrats, and best of luck! What department (if you don't mind me asking)?
Well, if everything from my physical is good then I should be starting the police academy at the beginning of November but I can still devote some time to this.Congrats, and best of luck! What department (if you don't mind me asking)?
Thanks!
Las Vegas Metropolitan PD :]
I am a big fan of biowares stuff, but I don't knwo thta I'll get this title-right away.
I still have a ton of NWN 1 mods to play, and I will. Then when NWN 2's cost drops down I will buy that.
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What's the proposed release date? I enjoyed NWN (and both expansions), so I'll probably get it. I tend more toward solo play than online, so I'll see how much campaign gameplay is included in the initial release. I might end up waiting 'til the first expansion comes out and some of the bugs are patched.
My Best Buy ad from Sunday said November 8th is the release date.
I am totally getting it and have even decided to preorder after I read about the in-game "Merchant's Friend" bonus and free class-based magic item you get for pre-ordering.
The toolset is supposed to be awesome, there are RP elements added in to the excess of the last one, and it's D&D in general. I'm frothing at the mouth for this game.By the way, mounts in WoW are far overrated. You have to wait until 40th level (out of 60 max) to get one, pay a horrendous amount of money, and get a 60% speed boost out of it. You cannot use them in combat. At level 60, you have to pay 10 times the horrendous amount you paid at level 40 in order to get another 40% onto your speed. Still no mounts in combat.
I'm also slobbering over Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Do a websearch on this game- it's the closest thing to D&D that I've ever seen in an MMO.
As far as the toolset goes, I've downloaded it from their FTP site and can't even begin to figure out where to start... Just a TAD bit more difficult than the NWN toolset, but what do you expect with a new system and better graphics? It'll likely have a higher learning curve than the first, but it looks great.
And as far as the horses go, that's hardly worth it! Having never actually played WoW (I refuse to pay money to play a game I paid money just to BUY), I'd only heard that horses were a neat addition - not that they really don't do much for you...
Syrinx
I'm drooling at the prospect of playing NWN2. It looks great, the story excites me, 3.5 rules and it's made by the guys that produced some of my favorite games ever. However, my PC back in CT is pretty dated. And Macs are preferred in the visual arts field. So, assuming I can get an upgrade for Christmas or graduation, which would I choose? Business or pleasure?
So, unfortunately, it may be a while after the game comes out before I can actually play it.
Macs are preferred in the visual arts field. So, assuming I can get an upgrade for Christmas or graduation, which would I choose? Business or pleasure?
Both! Get a shiny new Intel Mac, and dual-boot XP or Vista. Stay in OS X most of the time, and switch to Windows for NWN2.
...
Really, I suppose that should probably be "stay in Windows most of the time, and switch to OS X for doing anything other than playing NWN2".
I am planning on getting NWN2, despite the large stack of other games I have yet to complete/finish *looks at Oblivion, Doom 3, and Quake 4*.
That being said, I would love to work on an adventure mod with y'all for NWN/NWN2 when it comes out. :)
NWN2 will sate any desire you have and make you forget about all those other games, I'm sure.
You can do all the scripting that laughed at me and called me names when I tried the build stuff on the original. :) I can edit and write dialog.
The game uses an overland map system like Baldur's Gate did (the computer games, not the gods-aweful Playstation adaptations that disgraced the name of the series!), so we can just focus on special points of interest, rather than having to map out every last bit of the campaign world.
And there are HILLS. Real hills with curves! :)
The toolset is supposed to be awesome, there are RP elements added in to the excess of the last one, and it's D&D in general. I'm frothing at the mouth for this game.By the way, mounts in WoW are far overrated. You have to wait until 40th level (out of 60 max) to get one, pay a horrendous amount of money, and get a 60% speed boost out of it. You cannot use them in combat. At level 60, you have to pay 10 times the horrendous amount you paid at level 40 in order to get another 40% onto your speed. Still no mounts in combat.
I'm also slobbering over Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Do a websearch on this game- it's the closest thing to D&D that I've ever seen in an MMO.
As far as the toolset goes, I've downloaded it from their FTP site and can't even begin to figure out where to start... Just a TAD bit more difficult than the NWN toolset, but what do you expect with a new system and better graphics? It'll likely have a higher learning curve than the first, but it looks great.
And as far as the horses go, that's hardly worth it! Having never actually played WoW (I refuse to pay money to play a game I paid money just to BUY), I'd only heard that horses were a neat addition - not that they really don't do much for you...
Syrinx
Mayhaps the actual game (whose release date I've heard is Halloween day) will have a manual to explain it? I hope so.
As far as the WoW mount problem, it comes from the money system. There are 100 coppers to a silver, 100 silvers to a gold. You are generally around level 15 before you even get one gold, and in the 30s before you can consistently buy items priced in the multi-gold range (1-3 gold). Then, all of a sudden, at 40th level, everyone save warlocks and paladins (who get mounts as class abilities) is expected to come up with 100 gold to learn how to ride a damned mount. Then at 60th level, you've got to cough up ONE FREAKING THOUSAND gold to get the next mount. Warlocks and paladins have it slightly easier, with a paltry (heavy sarcasm) 400 or so gold required for their "epic" mounts.
As I mentioned above, the Vanguard game looks amazing. Horses WILL be part of the game, and affordable from an early level, and they're trying to put in mounted combat by release time. From the vast amount I've read, my mind boggles at the dynamics of the world they have planned. There are 20 some odd races AND classes, spread over three continents. The goal of the game designers is to remove the tedium from MMOs and replace it with actual challenge.
The necromancer in that game is the most innovative class I've heard proposed in any computer RPG. They actually can animate fallen enemies, rather than summoning undead (which has always bugged me when that's what necromancers do in a game), and they get an Abomination, which is like a flesh golem. They can harvest bodyparts off vanquished foes and "equip" their Abomination with them. Finally, they can assume undead forms themselves.
Okay, veered way off topic there, but seriously, anyone on the boards who has an interest in an MMO, check this game out! My brother and a friend and I are going nuts waiting for this game.
Put me down in the "affirmative" column. I was a dedicated NWN player for years, belonged to a guild, etc. I created a 120 hour mod for NWN, so I can't wait to get my hands on the new Toolset.
I hope to reconnect with some of the great folks I played NWN with, as they were (at least in my experience) the pinnacle of online RP'ers.
I think that's why I loved the game so much too: People took it seriously, yet had a lot of fun as well, like PnP D&D'ers.
Now its just up to system specs and cash-flow to determine when I can hop on board the NWN2 train.
When´s it coming out?
NWN was great, played ´em all through.
Release date looks like Oct 31, Halloween... although I probably won't be picking it up right away (I virtually camped out for the original) I look forward to November with bated breath.
No. As far as I'm concerned a computer RPG has to have the following:
1. Party of 6+ characters
2. Tactical turn-based, not real-time, combat
3. Nice pre-rendered backgrounds, not repetitive 3D tiles
and NWN failed on all those counts, so I don't put much faith in NWN2. I much prefer the old Infinity engine games, like Baldur's Gate and Planescape:Torment.
No. As far as I'm concerned a computer RPG has to have the following:
1. Party of 6+ characters
2. Tactical turn-based, not real-time, combat
3. Nice pre-rendered backgrounds, not repetitive 3D tilesand NWN failed on all those counts, so I don't put much faith in NWN2. I much prefer the old Infinity engine games, like Baldur's Gate and Planescape:Torment.
These all bothered me about the original. I like the Infinity engine games for strategic depth in combat, complex characters and nice backgrounds and character models. The reason that I'm optimistic about NWN2 is that they're allowing more party members to join you (I think 4-5 characters, including your PC), D&D 3.5 by the rules (hopefully with the option to zoom out and take an isometric view) and the toolset will actually be a lot more free form than tilesets. The screenshots that I saw look pretty nice. However, it may be a good idea to wait until the official word is in from other Paizo board members and reviewers before rushing out for it.
Honestly, NWN2 looks like the only viable D&D (or even RPG) game for the upcoming year at least. If you hate MMORPGs, this may be the only remaining chance for a decent single player RPG for a while. Either way, however, none of it can compare to sitting around a table with your friends goofing off and rolling dice.
Hate to say this, but I thought I would weigh in on NWN2.
I just bought the NVN Diamand Edition (19.99) on a single DVD rom from Target with all of the expansion modules and patches already included, and I want both my money and my time back. Bored me to tears. I haven;t removed it from my hard drive yet, but thats a matter of motivation.
This might be the worst D&D RPG to be released since the New Ubi-Soft Pool of Radiance game.
Its just flat out lame.
I'm in the camp that played the first one, but has yet to play the expansions.
I enjoyed it. I'll buy the new one.
This might be the worst D&D RPG to be released since the New Ubi-Soft Pool of Radiance game.
Wow! That's a harsh indictment. (The New)PoR has my vote for worst D&D game ever.
I mean if you like endless hours of wandering around a poorly drawn maze fighting the same undead creatures and orcs, no offense to anyone, but not my cup o' tea.I can most definitely see how the flaws in NWN show through the well worn layers of paint BioWare gave it, but its strengths, especially in being able to carry on a campaign with the same group of people despite scheduling problems and vast geographical distances made it well worth its while in its heyday.
Don't get me wrong. I still long for the days of BG and IWD and co., and I don't think there have been many good RPG's since, but I believe NWN was one of them, and I have similar hopes for its successor. To each their own, and my statements are not intended as criticism, just defending a game I think deserves better than to be compared to the bug-ridden "2.5 ruleset" horror that was UbiSoft's PoR. *big friendly nonthreatening smile*
Holy shnappities,
above is one of the aforementioned great rp'ers, and great friends I met through NWN and proof of the game's better points. He lives in Yukon and I lived in Texas at the time, and we became good friends through our mutual NWN experience.
Yep, its me, Luna, and I am trying to resurface from obscurity. I tried to email you a while ago, but I will do so again. Awesome to hear from you!
*runs dancing & clapping down the hall to tell SO he "ran into" LunaCrist* Yay!
-Z
In defense of NWN, I played only the solo campaign. I spent 2 days playing it before I realized what the game was about:
1) Only one NPC party member, not including the one animal you can summon (and have around all day long).
2) You better be a Rogue, or your NPC buddy better be a rogue (oops, almost said "Rouge" lol)
3) If you have a Rogue in your party, then the next logical choice for the second character must be cleric. This isnt necessary, though. You got this stupid rock that teleports you to safety at a whim. Can you spell LAME?
4) You walk around opening barrells and chests so that you dont miss the ever-critical key to get to the next level. In every single container there is a potion or 1 gold piece. WTF?!
5) Your NPC and/or animal companion is blood thirsty. They run off into battle so quickly that you have a hard time just keeping up with them in a foot race. By the time you catch up, all of the bad guys are dead and youve revealed 50% of the dungeon. And your NPC brushes the dirt off his shoulder like its no sweat.
6) The story is ultra-lame. You work for these higher-level politicians (or whatever) who stand around and pat you on the back for bringin back their scavenger hunt items.
Maybe its better multi-player. It has to be.
In defense of NWN, I played only the solo campaign. I spent 2 days playing it before I realized what the game was about:
I wondered from your earlier post whether you were upset about the mechanics, graphics, or what. I see that you didn't like what passed for the "campaign", which IMHO is less than 1% of what NWN was to many of the people who bought it.
I only bought it for the toolset and had an incredible time playing around with that.
I'll be buying NWN2 as soon as it comes out. I probably won't pre-order it since I don't want to go to the filthy mall twice.
A group of friends and I are going to take turns playing DM, and running adventures for each other, probably keeping the same party for each. In order to do that, I'm going to be skimming through my Dungeon back issues to find an adventure to convert...maybe "The Styes" (love that adventure!).
In defense of NWN, I played only the solo campaign. I spent 2 days playing it before I realized what the game was about:I wondered from your earlier post whether you were upset about the mechanics, graphics, or what. I see that you didn't like what passed for the "campaign", which IMHO is less than 1% of what NWN was to many of the people who bought it.
I only bought it for the toolset and had an incredible time playing around with that.
I'll be buying NWN2 as soon as it comes out. I probably won't pre-order it since I don't want to go to the filthy mall twice.
Truer words...truer words.. I agree on all counts. The thing with NWN was that it was actually three games in one: The player client (which was packaged with a fairly lame single player campaign to appeal to diablo-heads, IMO), the toolset (which I give an A+) and the DM client (also very cool).
With all the components in synergy and played with a good group, the game was an excellent value, and most of the user created mods that scored big, like the Penultima series or a handful of others, were superbly done and more fun than the SP campaign.
Hmm...
I could always be talked into coming out of "retirement" and running my campaign "Ascent to Kol Guath" again, I've only run it three or four times with two or three groups *broad grin* and once as a PnP campaign.
Let me know when you get the Styes mod running, I would most certainly be into playing that, and if not, I would be into working on something else with the right team.
In defense of NWN, I played only the solo campaign. I spent 2 days playing it before I realized what the game was about:
1) Only one NPC party member, not including the one animal you can summon (and have around all day long).
2) You better be a Rogue, or your NPC buddy better be a rogue (oops, almost said "Rouge" lol)
3) If you have a Rogue in your party, then the next logical choice for the second character must be cleric. This isnt necessary, though. You got this stupid rock that teleports you to safety at a whim. Can you spell LAME?
4) You walk around opening barrells and chests so that you dont miss the ever-critical key to get to the next level. In every single container there is a potion or 1 gold piece. WTF?!
5) Your NPC and/or animal companion is blood thirsty. They run off into battle so quickly that you have a hard time just keeping up with them in a foot race. By the time you catch up, all of the bad guys are dead and youve revealed 50% of the dungeon. And your NPC brushes the dirt off his shoulder like its no sweat.
6) The story is ultra-lame. You work for these higher-level politicians (or whatever) who stand around and pat you on the back for bringin back their scavenger hunt items.Maybe its better multi-player. It has to be.
Well, issue 1) was dealt with in the expansions, which allowed for TWO party members. Woot! Nevermind the golden classic of Baldur's Gate which had a limit of, what, six?
Nope, don't need a rogue at all. As a wizard, sorcerer, or druid, or ranger, or whatever else gave you a minion in that game, simply posses them and mine sweep. That's what I always did! Even if you don't have that, take it one trap at a time and just rest after you take the damage. Save before every door or chest. If you see scorch marks on the floor, get ready for a cataclysmic boom. The flame traps in that game are insanely overpowered. I remember going around with a level 9 wizard, and the spike traps were doing about 10 damage or so, and the flame traps dealt about 150+. Anyway, the tactics may be lame, but rogues aren't needed. Oh, and neither are clerics. Healer's kits in NWN were really freaky; you healed HP equal to your heal check, and didn't provoke an attack of opportunity. Screw potions! (Other than potions of heal, which were possible in that game)
3) The teleporter rock was lame. No way around it. Shadows of Undrentide gave a ring that did the same thing, but you had to have fuel for it, and I think there was a subquest/procedure involved in making it that removed a lot of the "lame" factor. I don't remember how teleportation was handled in Hordes of the Underdark, but I DO remember Undermountain being god-awfully stupid.
4) The barrels and chest loot was the main source of income in the game. Few enemies actually drop their equipped items, so it was left to finding placed/random loot in containers. Dumb? Possibly. Some odd personal experiences: A silver ring in the possession of a werewolf in Port Llast; a keen frost longsword under a rock in the woods (not +1, though, as you didn't have to have a +1 bonus on weapons to give them other enchantments in NWN, and there was no masterwork, and the pricing was WAY out of whack); and a scroll of ressurection on a corpse in the Spine of the World.
5) Set the companion to passive or defensive. That'll stop most of that behavior. I had a problem with my barbarian henchman getting the strange idea that "bust this chest open" meant "run around trying to kill all the undead in the level, and attract that bodak's attention while you're at it."
Some of the subquests in the original campaign were good (Charwood was my favorite), and the subsequent expansions did a lot better job with the story.
And yes, the "official" material was only a fraction of what NWN came to be, due to all the material that was user-made and put out for the game. That game, along with Baldur's Gate, was my introduction to D&D as well, and it is certainly an excellent method to get new players invovled with the tabletop game. When I went to websites to download modules, I kept hearing people post about how pen and paper was better. I couldn't imagine such a thing, but decided to give it a shot and, wow, they were right! However, I still had a lot of fun with NWN and eagerly await the sequel.
As an afterthought, I've also had a lot of fun talking with friends about the really stupid things that happened in that game that would never happen in pen and paper.
1) Even more annoying is that my little Rogue friend could eyeball the chest that was locked from 40 feet and know automatically that he couldn’t open the darned thing. In order to get the Rogue NPC to unlock the chest, I have to try first (its trapped, I almost died, thanks NPC Rogue friend for just watching while I bleed), and when I fail, he rushes up to finish the job. At the same time, my big summoned spider decides that punching the chest to death is a good idea as well.
4) The game (the first module at least) really is an exercise in collecting 1 gp at a time and for every ten feet walked, there is at least 1 box, 1 chest, or 1 barrel and 80 percent of them have something in it.
It was only 20 bucks, so no real big loss. I don’t think I have the heart to play expansions. Based on the comments (and I certainly appreciate yours Saern) I’ve seen on this thread, the game seems to shine in multi-player mode.
I think to this day that the original Baldur’s Gate is my favorite computer RPG. And while there is no replay value in it, Return to ToEE was pretty good, and a decent attempt at 3.5.
No arguments there; the original Baldur's Gate series were the best D&D games made thus far.
No arguments there; the original Baldur's Gate series were the best D&D games made thus far.
Not to mention contributing a metric buttload's worth of quotes.
"Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes!"
Ah, Minsc. The best character from Baldur's Gate. :) What was the line from Shadows of Amn when you bust him from prison and ask how he managed to keep Boo?
I once entered an inn in Beregost, I think was the town.. at that moment, the elven druid woman (can't remember her name! Khalid's wife) got into an argument with Xzar and Monteron and broke out into a massive fight.. Khalid and his wife vs. the two evil guys, while my wizard and Imoen stand there in shock, not sure what to do while the party violently disintigrated around us.
Icewind Dale 2 also turned out to be a favorite besides the Baldur's Gate series. It had enough Realms flavor to make it work in the setting, but it was a story all its own (much like BG, even though I really disliked the cameos from big name characters) and the designers really made an effort to break up the dungeon hack monotony that could set in in the first one. My favorite Infinity Engine quote was from the beginning of Icewind Dale 2, in Targos, when your party is talking shop with the other mercenaries Anson, Illigmar and Tarren.
Anson-"Yeah, my first day, they had me clear rats out of the storeroom on the docks. 'For the good of Targos', they said!
PC- "So, before I go, how did you clear the rats in the storeroom?"
Anson-"Oh, I just nicked a cat from that crazy old lady on the docks and let him loose in there. Poor blighter ate so much he keeled over. At least he died with a smile on his face."
PC- "You mean, THIS cat?" (hold up dead cat found in the store room)
Anson- "Yeah, that looks like him. Say, why exactly are you carrying a dead cat around with you?"
From here you have two options.
1. "Well, I, uh, heard carrying a dead cat was a good luck charm in the North."
2. "I thought that I could somehow use it to solve someone's problem and that maybe I would learn something from the experience. But I guess not."
And who could forget Jan Jansen from BG2 and his Uncle Scratchy's Flesh Golem eating contests?