Neverwinter Nights 2 gets an expansion pack... wait what?

[Theo Samaritan]

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

 

[Lukeje]

From the article it looks like it's made by a different company (Ossian, not Obsidian).

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

NWN (the original) kept recieving expansions for years. The NWN2 expansions aren't aimed at new players, they're aimed at NWN1 players. See, we all saw NWN2 as bullshit and there is still a LARGE NWN1 only community that hasn't moved over. I'm one of those people personally.

Don't even get me started as to why NWN2 sucked and MISSED THE DAMN POINT.

oh, and

Spoiler

@siempre: It's not really an expansion. It's more of an fan made adventure pack gone professional.
They released a well recieved adventure for NWN1 for free and are now having a go at selling their work.

A NWN3... only if someone besides Biowares bitchboy Obsidian made it. Obsidian takes Biowares big titles and then drops the goddamn ball, every time. And Bioware is all up in this "unique IP" bullshit- I loved Mass Effect but F**K you Bioware, would it have killed you to make the sequel? To make it more of a sandbox game? To make it the "design an MMO in a box!" the first one turned out to be only MORE AWESOME?

I feel so abandoned.

 

[Abedeus]

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

NWN (the original) kept recieving expansions for years. The NWN2 expansions aren't aimed at new players, they're aimed at NWN1 players. See, we all saw NWN2 as bullshit and there is still a LARGE NWN1 only community that hasn't moved over. I'm one of those people personally.

Don't even get me started as to why NWN2 sucked and MISSED THE DAMN POINT.

Those weren't expansions. After HotU, there were just packs with monsters, quests and items. No new skills, classes, storyline.

Also, why are they aimed at NwN1 players? I hate NwN 2. The only reason NwN 1 isn't installed on my hdd right now is that I have to juggle 5 cds for about half an hour to install it. Not to mention that the guys from the PRC stopped making NwN 2 version and just keep on updating the old one...

Let me guess - that missed point is a) intuitive toolset, b) low requirements, c) awesome multiplayer support or d) all of them?

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

What's funny - Poland has yet to receive the 2nd add-on. That's why I freakin' hate buying original games here, I get screwed over and there's a huge change we will NEVER get any more addons translated.

Because we can't use a Polish NwN 2 + English SoZ or Mask. Not by a long shot.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

d) all of them?

I'm going to take D for a hundred crushed dreams, Alex.

 

[Abedeus]

d) all of them?

I'm going to take D for a hundred crushed dreams, Alex.

Here, here. Sometimes I cry at night when I think "God... if you really are there, make a Neverwinter Nights sequel... GAAH NOOO DON'T TOUCH ME OBSIDIAN!! MY CHILDHOOOOOOD!!!". Uh, and then I wake up.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

I like NWN 2. There, I said it. I can suggest a few things wrong with it, mainly dodgy camera, and slightly dodgy AI. However, I would love to hear what it is that makes you all think it's forged from the crushed dreams of small children and baptised in the tears of the heartbroken, really.

As long as it's a genuine game-crippler and not just people incapable of seeing past their nostalgia and the fact it's cool to hate games these days.

 

[Abedeus]

I like NWN 2. There, I said it. I can suggest a few things wrong with it, mainly dodgy camera, and slightly dodgy AI. However, I would love to hear what it is that makes you all think it's forged from the crushed dreams of small children and baptised in the tears of the heartbroken, really.

As long as it's a genuine game-crippler and not just people incapable of seeing past their nostalgia and the fact it's cool to hate games these days.

Dude. I'm a Bioware fanboy. I've blindly bought all NwN games up to the sequel, in a pre-order (except for the first, which I've bought as soon as it was available in Poland) and I've been playing it for the last 7,5 years (or more, can't remember when exactly did it come out).

Okay, the problems?

a) bad multiplayer support - consumes hell lot of RAM, you can't import stuff from the previous game (so all your work is gone), PvP is a joke, plus lame subraces that make Multiplayer game a gimmicky "get the drow archer and win" contest, where there's absolutely no point in being creative.

b) bugs, crashes... but that's standard. What I can't understand it, how with graphics so ugly, the game requires such a powerful PC? Fallout 3 is much prettier and I can run it at 40+ FPS. I'm lucky if I'm getting that much with NwN 2.

c) poor interface. I've got a feeling they raped it through the ears, then vomited inside him and impaled on a rusty nail. The circle menu was one of the best things in Neverwinter Nights... Now that it's gone, everything is much more complicated for NO REASON. Why fix something that isn't broken? Also, multiplayer is empty because of that. I mean, you can get lost in the middle of the fight with all the modes on the right, skills on the middle... And you don't have active pause, of course. That's normal, I mean, you can have, but then prepare for the attack of jerks. Anyway, without a pause, combat is a hell.

d) little RPG in the actual storyline. Okay, it's long and... interesting (meh), but your choices don't change anything at all.

You want more, read my review. It's out there somewhere.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I like NWN 2. There, I said it. I can suggest a few things wrong with it, mainly dodgy camera, and slightly dodgy AI. However, I would love to hear what it is that makes you all think it's forged from the crushed dreams of small children and baptised in the tears of the heartbroken, really.

As long as it's a genuine game-crippler and not just people incapable of seeing past their nostalgia and the fact it's cool to hate games these days.

Dude. I'm a Bioware fanboy. I've blindly bought all NwN games up to the sequel, in a pre-order (except for the first, which I've bought as soon as it was available in Poland) and I've been playing it for the last 7,5 years (or more, can't remember when exactly did it come out).

Okay, the problems?

a) bad multiplayer support - consumes hell lot of RAM, you can't import stuff from the previous game (so all your work is gone), PvP is a joke, plus lame subraces that make Multiplayer game a gimmicky "get the drow archer and win" contest, where there's absolutely no point in being creative.

b) bugs, crashes... but that's standard. What I can't understand it, how with graphics so ugly, the game requires such a powerful PC? Fallout 3 is much prettier and I can run it at 40+ FPS. I'm lucky if I'm getting that much with NwN 2.

c) poor interface. I've got a feeling they raped it through the ears, then vomited inside him and impaled on a rusty nail. The circle menu was one of the best things in Neverwinter Nights... Now that it's gone, everything is much more complicated for NO REASON. Why fix something that isn't broken? Also, multiplayer is empty because of that. I mean, you can get lost in the middle of the fight with all the modes on the right, skills on the middle... And you don't have active pause, of course. That's normal, I mean, you can have, but then prepare for the attack of jerks. Anyway, without a pause, combat is a hell.

d) little RPG in the actual storyline. Okay, it's long and... interesting (meh), but your choices don't change anything at all.

You want more, read my review. It's out there somewhere.

My primary concern with multiplayer is the lack of support for persistant worlds. I'm a roleplaying dork, I play on PW modules, which are pretty much whole little 'worlds' people made with the toolset and then host consistantly, like say a WoW server. It's like being able to build your own MMO out of Lego's. The Problem with NWN2 is the module sizes are MUCH smaller because they're more complex. In the singleplayer game (of NWN2) the world is made of MULTIPLE linked modules to give the impression of size and space, but you can't do that with a multiplayer server. In NWN1 you can have a module thats easily 300+ area's large, in NWN2 you can get a quarter of that if most of them are interiors. This is due to the fact that NWN2 still has the same module memory use cap that NWN had! (2gb, which was near infinite space for a game of NWN1's complexity, but a thimble for NWN2's memory heavy shit)

And Bioware is all up in this "unique IP" bullshit- I loved Mass Effect but F**K you Bioware, would it have killed you to make the sequel?

I thought the majority of gamers the world over wanted more original IP's, less sequels.

I just wish they had done a new NWN instead of abandoning us for Mass Effect. I used to hate Mass Effect because it was the game Bioware did INSTEAD of NWN2. Now I own Mass Effect and I love it, but i'm still angry Bioware "wanted to do it's own IP's" and dropped KOTOR and NWN into Obsidians lap.

D&D isn't even an IP it's a system! Damnit Bioware WHY?

 

[cainx10a]

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

Mysteries of Westgate was a fan made module if I remember correctly. And the negative feedback of the game being a system hog? After a few upgrades the game run smoothly on my PC, the first expansion had a splendid storyline with well thought characters. I have yet to pick the 2nd Expansion, but NWN 2 wasn't a bad game.

 

[Abedeus]

Spoiler

I like NWN 2. There, I said it. I can suggest a few things wrong with it, mainly dodgy camera, and slightly dodgy AI. However, I would love to hear what it is that makes you all think it's forged from the crushed dreams of small children and baptised in the tears of the heartbroken, really.

As long as it's a genuine game-crippler and not just people incapable of seeing past their nostalgia and the fact it's cool to hate games these days.

Dude. I'm a Bioware fanboy. I've blindly bought all NwN games up to the sequel, in a pre-order (except for the first, which I've bought as soon as it was available in Poland) and I've been playing it for the last 7,5 years (or more, can't remember when exactly did it come out).

Okay, the problems?

a) bad multiplayer support - consumes hell lot of RAM, you can't import stuff from the previous game (so all your work is gone), PvP is a joke, plus lame subraces that make Multiplayer game a gimmicky "get the drow archer and win" contest, where there's absolutely no point in being creative.

b) bugs, crashes... but that's standard. What I can't understand it, how with graphics so ugly, the game requires such a powerful PC? Fallout 3 is much prettier and I can run it at 40+ FPS. I'm lucky if I'm getting that much with NwN 2.

c) poor interface. I've got a feeling they raped it through the ears, then vomited inside him and impaled on a rusty nail. The circle menu was one of the best things in Neverwinter Nights... Now that it's gone, everything is much more complicated for NO REASON. Why fix something that isn't broken? Also, multiplayer is empty because of that. I mean, you can get lost in the middle of the fight with all the modes on the right, skills on the middle... And you don't have active pause, of course. That's normal, I mean, you can have, but then prepare for the attack of jerks. Anyway, without a pause, combat is a hell.

d) little RPG in the actual storyline. Okay, it's long and... interesting (meh), but your choices don't change anything at all.

You want more, read my review. It's out there somewhere.

My primary concern with multiplayer is the lack of support for persistant worlds. I'm a roleplaying dork, I play on PW modules, which are pretty much whole little 'worlds' people made with the toolset and then host consistantly, like say a WoW server. It's like being able to build your own MMO out of Lego's. The Problem with NWN2 is the module sizes are MUCH smaller because they're more complex. In the singleplayer game (of NWN2) the world is made of MULTIPLE linked modules to give the impression of size and space, but you can't do that with a multiplayer server. In NWN1 you can have a module thats easily 300+ area's large, in NWN2 you can get a quarter of that if most of them are interiors.

Same with me. I've spent most of my time in NwN roleplaying on Polish servers or playing on World of Iniquity (did I spell it right?) or other PWs.

Also, while in NwN 2 you can get only 1/4 of the number of areas, those areas are smaller, less filled up with items and they require a lot more RAM. Hosting a server alone is horribly demanding and the hosting it for 16+ players... Gah.


I want my old NwN servers back :[

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

Mysteries of Westgate was a fan made module if I remember correctly. And the negative feedback of the game being a system hog? After a few upgrades the game run smoothly on my PC, the first expansion had a splendid storyline with well thought characters. I have yet to pick the 2nd Expansion, but NWN 2 wasn't a bad game.

Then how can you explain the fact that NwN 2 has less players online than NwN? Or servers, while we're at it.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

If i'm being fair NWN2 in it's own right isn't a bad game at all. But it doesn't live up to NWN1, which was most famous for being a sandbox generator. NWN2 had an opportunity to expand on this and maybe revolutionize gaming, but it didn't.

Spoiler

I like NWN 2. There, I said it. I can suggest a few things wrong with it, mainly dodgy camera, and slightly dodgy AI. However, I would love to hear what it is that makes you all think it's forged from the crushed dreams of small children and baptised in the tears of the heartbroken, really.

As long as it's a genuine game-crippler and not just people incapable of seeing past their nostalgia and the fact it's cool to hate games these days.

Dude. I'm a Bioware fanboy. I've blindly bought all NwN games up to the sequel, in a pre-order (except for the first, which I've bought as soon as it was available in Poland) and I've been playing it for the last 7,5 years (or more, can't remember when exactly did it come out).

Okay, the problems?

a) bad multiplayer support - consumes hell lot of RAM, you can't import stuff from the previous game (so all your work is gone), PvP is a joke, plus lame subraces that make Multiplayer game a gimmicky "get the drow archer and win" contest, where there's absolutely no point in being creative.

b) bugs, crashes... but that's standard. What I can't understand it, how with graphics so ugly, the game requires such a powerful PC? Fallout 3 is much prettier and I can run it at 40+ FPS. I'm lucky if I'm getting that much with NwN 2.

c) poor interface. I've got a feeling they raped it through the ears, then vomited inside him and impaled on a rusty nail. The circle menu was one of the best things in Neverwinter Nights... Now that it's gone, everything is much more complicated for NO REASON. Why fix something that isn't broken? Also, multiplayer is empty because of that. I mean, you can get lost in the middle of the fight with all the modes on the right, skills on the middle... And you don't have active pause, of course. That's normal, I mean, you can have, but then prepare for the attack of jerks. Anyway, without a pause, combat is a hell.

d) little RPG in the actual storyline. Okay, it's long and... interesting (meh), but your choices don't change anything at all.

You want more, read my review. It's out there somewhere.

My primary concern with multiplayer is the lack of support for persistant worlds. I'm a roleplaying dork, I play on PW modules, which are pretty much whole little 'worlds' people made with the toolset and then host consistantly, like say a WoW server. It's like being able to build your own MMO out of Lego's. The Problem with NWN2 is the module sizes are MUCH smaller because they're more complex. In the singleplayer game (of NWN2) the world is made of MULTIPLE linked modules to give the impression of size and space, but you can't do that with a multiplayer server. In NWN1 you can have a module thats easily 300+ area's large, in NWN2 you can get a quarter of that if most of them are interiors.

Same with me. I've spent most of my time in NwN roleplaying on Polish servers or playing on World of Iniquity (did I spell it right?) or other PWs.

Also, while in NwN 2 you can get only 1/4 of the number of areas, those areas are smaller, less filled up with items and they require a lot more RAM. Hosting a server alone is horribly demanding and the hosting it for 16+ players... Gah.


I want my old NwN servers back :[

And by contrast NWN severs can host up to 30 people before you get any lag usually. My server, Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mists, based on the gothic horror Ravenloft setting usually runs 25-40 people throughout the day. Dunno how many area's it has but they're ALL -very- detailed.

NWN1 servers are usually run out of college computers, and very well. POTM is hosted in Stockholm I think....

Then how can you explain the fact that NwN 2 has less players online than NwN? Or servers, while we're at it.

NWN2's biggest stumbling block is the module memory cap, not it's ram usage- which IS sizable. If it didn't have the hardcoded memory cap, you could just upgrade the host rig and tweak the settings to cut down on lag. The Memory cam is a hard wall though.

 

[Zaydin]

Sorry about that, hit enter at the wrong time.

Anyway, Neverwinter Nights 2 apparently is getting an expansion [http://kotaku.com/5165838/hey-a-new-neverwinter-nights-2-expansion]. Said expansion is 2 years late on the release schedule. The expansion is 2 years late. How old is this game now? Do people even still play it after its negative feedback?

I guess I am just confused as to why now? I mean, seriously, the amount of time its taken to get this out would have made a NWN3.

Hate to break it to you, but there are already two expansions out for Neverwinter Nights 2. Mask of the Betrayer & Storm of Zehir.

 

[Jandau]

A week ago, I might actually be interested in this. However, I'm hooked on Drakensang now and a half-baked NWN2 expansion doesn't seem all that great...

 

[Theo Samaritan]

Hate to break it to you, but there are already two expansions out for Neverwinter Nights 2. Mask of the Betrayer & Storm of Zehir.

I knew this. My point was more why now than why.

 

[Scorpioenigma]

I heard that there wasn't going to be a NWN3 there going to start a new seris of forgotten realms games set in a 4.0 universe or what ever adaption they make to the 4.0 rules.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I heard that there wasn't going to be a NWN3 there going to start a new seris of forgotten realms games set in a 4.0 universe or what ever adaption they make to the 4.0 rules.

That could be nice, 4.0 is definatly MADE to be videogamed, but.. ugh

4.0 tieflings and dragonborn ><

 

[The Madman]

I'm going to throw out a contrary opinion here since it seems everyone in this topic so far hates Obsidian and wish Bioware had made NWN2.

You know what? I mostly play singleplayer, don't really give a damn about multiplayer. And as such I actually think NWN2 is better than NWN1. Mask of the Betrayer, the first expansion pack for NWN2, is by far a superior singleplayer product than anything NWN1 ever had and indeed was one of the better rpg experiences of its time. Interesting plot, mature themes, challenging combat, great music, not to mention some fantastic moral dilema.

Indeed NWN2 has been a great platform for mods and there are a couple fan-made modules out there that just blow me away.

I still play Neverwinter Nights 2 today, hell, I still play mods for the original as well. So more content for this fantastic game is fine with me. Feel a bit sorry for Ossian since this is their first real attempt at a retail style product and its been delayed for so long. But I'll probably give it a try.

 

[LewsTherin]

I heard that there wasn't going to be a NWN3 there going to start a new seris of forgotten realms games set in a 4.0 universe or what ever adaption they make to the 4.0 rules.

That could be nice, 4.0 is definatly MADE to be videogamed, but.. ugh

4.0 tieflings and dragonborn ><

4th Ed. IS a videogame. A P&P videogame, but a videogame none the less. In MY day we had NINE alignments and *rambles*

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I heard that there wasn't going to be a NWN3 there going to start a new seris of forgotten realms games set in a 4.0 universe or what ever adaption they make to the 4.0 rules.

That could be nice, 4.0 is definatly MADE to be videogamed, but.. ugh

4.0 tieflings and dragonborn ><

4th Ed. IS a videogame. A P&P videogame, but a videogame none the less. In MY day we had NINE alignments and *rambles*

9 Alignments, AND WE HAD BARBARIANS AND WE LIKED IT.

I'm going to throw out a contrary opinion here since it seems everyone in this topic so far hates Obsidian and wish Bioware had made NWN2.

You know what? I mostly play singleplayer, don't really give a damn about multiplayer. And as such I actually think NWN2 is better than NWN1. Mask of the Betrayer, the first expansion pack for NWN2, is by far a superior singleplayer product than anything NWN1 ever had and indeed was one of the better rpg experiences of its time. Interesting plot, mature themes, challenging combat, great music, not to mention some fantastic moral dilema.

Indeed NWN2 has been a great platform for mods and there are a couple fan-made modules out there that just blow me away.

I still play Neverwinter Nights 2 today, hell, I still play mods for the original as well. So more content for this fantastic game is fine with me. Feel a bit sorry for Ossian since this is their first real attempt at a retail style product and its been delayed for so long. But I'll probably give it a try.

...Singleplayer? NWN?

Thats the problem. Obsidian missed the point and thats why the game failed to get NWN's fans. If it was still a commercial success despite that... kudos. But being a fan of NWN I was dissapointed.