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Neverwinter Nights 2: Online Experiences
atreju
Member Posts: 60
Hey everyone,
I was wondering if anyone got some info about NWN2's multiplayer. Personally I have yet to find an MMO that gets even close to the fun I had with the old Neverwinter Nights (the BioWare one). I didnt read much good stuff about NWN2 though and the main reason what is keeping me away from just trying it myself is that there ain't a Mac version yet and if I boot into Windows there MUST be a very, very good reason for it to happen. There should be a Mac version in November or December, still the toolset remains Windows-only (can't really understand whats so great about the Windows API so the guys over at Obsidian chose this road but maybe this has some weird legal reasons, whatever...) so it would mean 'Bootcamp' in any case. If I finally buy the Mac version depends on if I would be able to play multiplayer with Windows users and if I there was a delay for new patches (what wasn't the fact with the old NWN).
So what are the NWN2 online modules like nowadays? Are there many of them and what's their average player capacity? Is it true that modules have to be much smaller now because of the new game engine? Most importantly are there people around who even play NWN2 online or is it merely a ghost fest?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Ah, almost forgot to ask if my rig would be able to run it properly. I'm wondering because I read NWN2 would be even more demanding then Oblivion and that one I didn't even consider to buy for the Mac and just got it for the 360.
My config is: 2,4GHz (800MHz FSB) / 2GB RAM (DDR2, 667MHz) / nvidia GeForce 8600m GT (256MB GDDR3 VRAM)
Comments
From one huge fan of NWN to another , i must admit things look quite grim concerning NWN2
I can go trough very lenghty explanations , but here is the bottom line.
When Bioware designed original NWN - they designed it as tool for creating your own (online) games , its single player campain came as more of example what can be done with NWN as a tool.
Result was that NWN got bad rewievs all over , and initially was just a modest succes. But its online part made it eventually the most sold PC game of all times, the game that is actively bought and played even 7 years after it was released.
on other hand
When Obsidian designed NWN2 - they designed it as single player rpg , its tools are just an after thought.
Result is that NWN2 got stellar reviews , and is quite popular with people that never played NWN online , or enjoyed thousands of player built modules. But even 1 year after the game was release there are one or two struggling persistant worlds and just handfull of player made modules...
I would not recomend you buying NWN2 , except if you are looking for single player RPG
For online experience, nothing can beat NWN1 ... and unfortunately by the looks of it...nothing will
With the release of new expansion, NWN2 will be greatly improved. But about the Persistant worlds, the servers can not handle many players at a time, untill now, 96 maximum. So.. if you like a MMOG, don't buy it, but if you like roleplaying very much, I recommand it !
My thoughts exactly. I was a huge fan of NWN1 online and had more fun than any mmo there (until my fav server died :-(... ). NWN2 is made as more of a single player game with multiplayer tacked on as an after thought. Though I thought the single player was nothing to scream about either.
Does that new expansion make any difference to the multiplayer worth mentioning?
To tell you the truth , i decided not to give Obsidian/Atari another chance.
I am not buying the expansion
There's no denying NWN2's online aspect, in particular, is in really bad shape. There'soptimists on the official boards but the fact is multiplayer is unfinished in its current state. There aren't any good multiplayer worlds out yet either, and frankly don't match any of NWN1s. And yes they're much smaller then NWN1s, since the memory one Area takes is incredibly massive compared to NWN1. Right now things look pretty damn bleak, I just hope NWN2 fixes itself into what it should be.
never played it. I have no patience for these rpg type games anymore
The singleplayer wasn't even a shade of NWN and the multiplayer tools are limited. It's one of the few games I've bought since a couple years ( wasting my time on P2P downloadable games and f2p ) and I'm sorry for every penny I put in it.
The new patch (1.10) fixed some stuff. The camera isn't in the way anymore and the controls works much better. Plus I can play it (on lowest settings) well enough on my laptop.
Remember that it took a while for NWN1 to get what it is today (or was at its peak).
NWN1 was a blast from day one. NWN2 has been a tedious pain in the butt to play. I'm glad they fixed the camera. I might give it another try. I just couldn't enjoy the game when I couldn't see a darn thing.
The majority of bugs were not fixed, however. They were left in when the patch was changed from 1.07 beta to 1.10 release. The actual fixes only get implemented when people buy and install the MotB expansion, or when a new patch is released after the expansion comes out. And before you think I'm lying or stretching the truth, here's Rob McGinnis to tell you himself: nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.htmlAnd I quote: "Now, for those of you that purchase and install MoTB, you should see all the fixes right away - including stealth - as they are "native" to that code. But for those of you that don't have MoTB, the fixes will be finalized in the patch after the MoTB release."
This is one more reason I will never buy another Obsidian game, or any other Bioware IP which is NOT made by Bioware. Obsidian and Atari both dropped the ball on NWN 2. But it is Obsidian's responsibility to fix things, and all their patches have ultimately fixed very little. now, they expect people to buy an expansion to a game which itself does not work right.
And there is no comparison between NWN 1 and NWN 2.
Look at NWN 2 compared to NWN 1 in terms of actual time after release? Okay, NWN 1 had competent devs fixing things that were broke, not making things worse as they went along or using an expansion as a "patch". NWN 1 had a thriving online community with persistent worlds, mods, and what-not by this time in it's development. Bioware fixed their shit before even thinking about charging people for an expansion. Obsidian has shown shoddy work with both KotOR 2 and NWN 2.
The majority of bugs were not fixed, however. They were left in when the patch was changed from 1.07 beta to 1.10 release. The actual fixes only get implemented when people buy and install the MotB expansion, or when a new patch is released after the expansion comes out. And before you think I'm lying or stretching the truth, here's Rob McGinnis to tell you himself: nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.htmlAnd I quote: "Now, for those of you that purchase and install MoTB, you should see all the fixes right away - including stealth - as they are "native" to that code. But for those of you that don't have MoTB, the fixes will be finalized in the patch after the MoTB release."
This is one more reason I will never buy another Obsidian game, or any other Bioware IP which is NOT made by Bioware. Obsidian and Atari both dropped the ball on NWN 2. But it is Obsidian's responsibility to fix things, and all their patches have ultimately fixed very little. now, they expect people to buy an expansion to a game which itself does not work right.
And there is no comparison between NWN 1 and NWN 2.
Look at NWN 2 compared to NWN 1 in terms of actual time after release? Okay, NWN 1 had competent devs fixing things that were broke, not making things worse as they went along or using an expansion as a "patch". NWN 1 had a thriving online community with persistent worlds, mods, and what-not by this time in it's development. Bioware fixed their shit before even thinking about charging people for an expansion. Obsidian has shown shoddy work with both KotOR 2 and NWN 2.
I'm reconsidering my decision to buy MotB now after reading this.
Well, the expansion MotB has been released in Europe. Here's the first ( of what I am sure will be many ) thread of bugs and issues before it was closed at 16 pages to open a new thread: http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=586932&forum=121
One main point: apparently, the 1.10 patch is basically incompatible with the expansion and the workaround is to reinstall the game, update to version 1.06, and then install MotB. So, they've again proven their inability to patch something right the first time, as well as shown that they continue to shove untested code out the door as a "release".
Thank you to all you European alpha testers, er...., I mean "customers" who have taken the task of improving Obsidians crap upon yourselves. Next year, when they've fixed enough of the bugs you guys report, I may buy the expansion.
Hey, by then, most of the original NWN 2 may be bug-free!!
NWN2Haze PW server is pretty cool spent a few hours on it
I have to admit...I had a lot more fun on nwn1. NWN2 just got...tedious to the point where I hacked the crap out of it just to make it enjoyable. IT just dragged on, and on, and on, and on.
I don't think we'll see persistant worlds popping up all over like we did for nwn1, though there are a few out there. From what I understand the coding and all is a lot harder with this toolset than with the last one, and takes a lot more time and hella hardware resources.
I could be wrong though, I know nothing about coding stuff.
D.
weird.... I enjoyed the hell out of NWN1 and played it online for years.
And I enjoyed NWN2 as a SP experience. And MotB is awesome. I've never encountered any bugs, not that I know of anyway.
But to enjoy it online... I don't know, it's been 2-3 years since I roleplayed to any given extent, so I'd be rusty as hell.
Gamer by nature,
poet by heart.
Yeah, right. The camera and controls are borked right out of the box in MotB. That stupid "strategy" control system they've "implemented" (more like hacked together) has everything screwed. I turned off "click to move" and chose "turn camera with character", and guess what? It still clicks to move ( when the scrollover description in the options clearly states clicking will no longer move the character)and WASD is impossible because the camera does NOT turn with the character (contrary to it's scrollover description). They might as well have left out the "options", because almost none of them work as stated. That's just to start, and frankly, it's all I've noticed so far because I refuse to play the game in isometric view.
And I meant what I said about never "buying" MotB or any other Obsidian game again. Never said I wouldn't "obtain" it.
The multiplayer community has been begging for, and been completely ignored, patches for the multiplayer side of the game since it came out. The game editor itself is a complete joke, whereas the editor for the original NWN was easy to use and had a broad range of capabilities. The NWN 2 editor is so borked, that world builders actually have to write there own code in some cases, just to get it to accomplish something the original NWN editor did with no problem.
I used to play NWN all the time back when it was released. Then I was excited to hear about NWN2 coming. When I bought the game it looked ok but the camera was all over the place and made the game not an enjoyable experience. Seems like anything Obsidian touches goes down in flames
They also didn't include much of the lore that NWN had which was really a major bummer. It is a shame that Bioware didn't want to do this game.
Here's some more problems with MotB: http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/myviewtopic.html?topic=588162&forum=109
Apparently, unless you swap around updates in a certain order, the autoupdater corrupts the game, leaving out all files between version 1.0 -1.06.
Anyone who tries to just install NWN 2 and then MotB will be screwed ( which probably explains alot concerning my post above), and anyone who tries to install MotB on a fully patched NWN 2 will also be screwed. feel sorry for people who buy this game and its expansion who don't read the forums ( a majority of game players), as they will be uninstalling rather rapidly. And Obsidian wonders where their shitty reputation comes from.
So, anyone who says they have no problems at all with NWN2, and especially with MotB, is full of it.
I actually liked it more then the original though I'm not one to go and play MODs much. I realize what the original was intended to do, but a lot of people wanted an epic adventure in the mold of past Interplay games such as Fallout, Fallout 2, Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale 2, and the Bioware KOTOR series. NWN 2 tried to give people that experience, but the game engine just wasn't meant for controlling multiple characters and it ended up with both sides being somewhat unhappy. Those who wanted a good single player campaign and those who wanted to do MODS/pesistant worlds. Personally I enjoyed KOTOR2 a great deal.
I really enjoyed the original NWN even though a lot of online reviews at the time did not praise it very much. I never understood those reviews. For me, it was almost on par with Baldur's Gate, just not quite as good. I have friends that liked NWN better than BG but that is personal preference I guess. I know BG was geared more as a single player RPG but it had a similar feel.
Anyway, I never tried NWN2. I thought about it a couple times. Almost bought it, but something kept me away. Not sure what. I am glad I didn't try it now.
AKA - Bruxail
I'm enjoying the hell out of it, buggy though it may be. There is quite a bit of upcoming modules and content from independent groups that looks very promising. A few of the persistent worlds I've tried have had great roleplayers, as good as any you'll ever meet. Ever.
If you can avoid smashing things when you find out you've paid for buggy software, then try this game.
Meh, mebbe I'll hold off on the xpac until they work some of these bugs out. It's not like I'm in a hurry for it or anything, though I had been looking forward to it.
D.
I just got my copy last week and I was wondering this too
Thank you for the many replies! All bad news about NWN2 though, not going to frustrate myself with this then...
Anyone up for some serious 'Back to Neverwinter Nights' project? I would still have some concept dumping around anywhere for a megalomanic Viking Age themed module and a CD-R with the hakpacks I wanted to use on that one.