I have been playing this series for many years now and I think it has been a major point of contention when I play other MMOGs.

In Neverwinter 1 i played on persistent world server which was created and run by game owners using the tools provided by the developer.  The great thing about this is that the rules for roleplaying are set and enforceed by those who run the server and the amount of customisation and 'catering' to the players needs is amazing - ranging from a customised crafting system where the ONLY good items you can get on the server come from player crafters, making crafting very meaningful - right through to custom built guild halls for player factions including a thieves guild where players would literally make a connection there and go in to hire an assassin (a PC) to take out one of their rivals (another PC).  I think this kind of player interaction is what really made it good baecause the questing and leveling part was really not that great on persistent world servers.

Unfortunately Neverwinter 2 did not turn out so well in terms of the multiplayer system which means less people play the game but you can still get the same level of satisfaction on certain servers - they even have disguises which conceal you face and player name so you can set up robberies without people knowing who you are OOC!  It's a shame that MMOg are unable to replicate this as it is not to every players taste (and i'm sure left unmonitored a lot of griefing/ganking would happen) and would be too much work for Devs but I was just having a nostalgic moment and felt like posting this.

If anyone does still play NWN2 check out Tales of Moonsea http://www.talesofmoonsea.com/ which is one of just a few decent Hardcore RP servers left on NWN2

Originally posted by A5tro

I have been playing this series for many years now and I think it has been a major point of contention when I play other MMOGs.

In Neverwinter 1 i played on persistent world server which was created and run by game owners using the tools provided by the developer.  The great thing about this is that the rules for roleplaying are set and enforceed by those who run the server and the amount of customisation and 'catering' to the players needs is amazing - ranging from a customised crafting system where the ONLY good items you can get on the server come from player crafters, making crafting very meaningful - right through to custom built guild halls for player factions including a thieves guild where players would literally make a connection there and go in to hire an assassin (a PC) to take out one of their rivals (another PC).  I think this kind of player interaction is what really made it good baecause the questing and leveling part was really not that great on persistent world servers.

Unfortunately Neverwinter 2 did not turn out so well in terms of the multiplayer system which means less people play the game but you can still get the same level of satisfaction on certain servers - they even have disguises which conceal you face and player name so you can set up robberies without people knowing who you are OOC!  It's a shame that MMOg are unable to replicate this as it is not to every players taste (and i'm sure left unmonitored a lot of griefing/ganking would happen) and would be too much work for Devs but I was just having a nostalgic moment and felt like posting this.

If anyone does still play NWN2 check out Tales of Moonsea http://www.talesofmoonsea.com/ which is one of just a few decent Hardcore RP servers left on NWN2

Yeah, I've seen it on the server list a lot.  It's usually 3-7/40 players or something like that.

There are plenty of other RP servers where IC is enforced.  To be honest, that's pretty much the norm with NWN2 nowadays.  The action servers are all dead.  I guess the people who wanted a good ARPG couldn't stand the bugs in NWN2.

As for the multiplayer system being worse, I'd say yes and no.  It's much harder to build a module in NWN2, yeah.  The crashes are horrible, yeah.  Having to download massive content packs for each server is a pain, though that's necessary with custom geometry on the terrain.  But the scripting in NWN2 is far more powerful, and the game is far more balanced.  You can make custom content in NWN2 that isn't possible in NWN.  DMFI is a good example.  Is it worth having all servers crash 5-20 times per day?  Probably not, but oh well.

Yep, most of the servers are dead these days, mostly becasue you have to download the PWC file which turns the casual gamer right off 'checking out' a server.

Originally posted by A5tro

Yep, most of the servers are dead these days, mostly becasue you have to download the PWC file which turns the casual gamer right off 'checking out' a server.

Yeah, you can't win them all.  If they used the same flat, stepped terrain as the original NWN, they would have been called behind the times.  By using completely customizable 3D terrain, they force you to download massive files before being able to play.  You're screwed either way.

It didn't help that the whole .pwc file system was an abject failure.  Yeah, it kinda makes sense to have one massive file which is easily downloaded with one click.  Until you take into account the massive bandwidth requirements for uploading several hundred MB to each player each time you update the server's terrain, not to mention how long it takes players to grab that stuff.  Idiotic.  Thankfully, players have stepped in and come up with far better solutions.  First Audolo, now Worldgate.

Not that it really helps.  There are so many servers now that I don't even bother trying because I can't be arsed to get the million files needed to play it.

What NWN2 needed was GW's network technology.  Then again, GW probably has the smartest solution for downloading possible, and Obsidian has shown that implementing smart technology isn't exactly their strong point.  Story and gameplay are usually great.  Look decent, too.  But their games are always so damn buggy and half-assed on the tech side.

NWN 2 wasn't all that great to me anyways. The graphics were decent but  the developers from The Witcher did a way better job on graphics, I was surprised they used the same engine.  I just couldn't get into the game like I did with NWN 1..... I actually started playing the first one over again its been quite a few years since I played them all the way through.

Im not a big fan of Obsidian, I didnt like NWN 2 or KOTOR 2 both originally great Bioware games.

Still waiting for a 3T NWN2 action server :(

Skip NWN2 completely. It is one big ball of shame and disapointment , and it will never live up to potentials of NWN1

NWN1 however is slowly waning away ... what can we do ... it was around for over , what 7 years ?

Originally posted by Lobotomist

 It is one big ball of shame and disapointment , and it will never live up to potentials of NWN1

 

I can honestly stay that NWN 2 was heartbreaking for me.  Yes.  Heartbreaking.  Perhaps I am a bigger, and more sensitive, "gamer" than I ever thought.

I thought the NWN 2 toolset would empower people like me to run campaigns like in game such as Vampire:  The Masquerade. 

It remains a sore spot.

Every once in a while I still load up NWN1 and play around, even go onto the online servers and see what people have come up with but it generally does not last long. 

I really liked the first NWN because it did not force me to have a large party of people whom I had to control and rather would just let me create the character I was playing and go about my busyness killing.  NWN2 forced me to tote around other nps's and that turned me off.  Also the feel of the game was somewhat off.  I played the game more for being able to log on with my friend or run a LAN game and go through the campaign and fight back to back against all sorts of monsters.  the Co-op style is what's fun for me.

I was hoping the next Fallout would have a co-op feature but it looks like it's going to be a solo RPG which is ok with me, I just wish I could load it up with a buddy.

I read all the crap posts about how sh1t NWN2 was and that was enough for me, far to linar and crap graphics with a poor camara angle view.  I will never buy another of their games ever again. I have stopped buying sh1t products full stop. I have banned many so called game makers from my wallet. Like Codemasters, Atari to name just a few.

I refuse to buy crap and the games industry needs to sit up and take not, the law should also be changed to stop shops refusing the return of game which do not do as they claim on the box.  There should be a place games can post the name of companies who have taken the pi$$, sites like this should show them on their front page and also show games who have given brilliant servers too, this would also give people confidence to buy a said product.

Originally posted by NightBandit

I read all the crap posts about how sh1t NWN2 was and that was enough for me, far to linar and crap graphics with a poor camara angle view.  I will never buy another of their games ever again. I have stopped buying sh1t products full stop. I have banned many so called game makers from my wallet. Like Codemasters, Atari to name just a few.

So, you judged the game completely based on what other people said about it? You refuse to buy from quality development companies simply because someone else said you might not like it?

 

I refuse to buy crap and the games industry needs to sit up and take not, the law should also be changed to stop shops refusing the return of game which do not do as they claim on the box.  There should be a place games can post the name of companies who have taken the pi$$, sites like this should show them on their front page and also show games who have given brilliant servers too, this would also give people confidence to buy a said product.

No, the industry does not need to "sit up and take note" of your unwillingness to have an open mind about things. The problem lies with you, and a sense of self-entitlement you have formed, that has caused you to end up repeatedly dissapointed.

Allow software returns once opened? so you can just steal the key and return it? I don't think so.

I miss the days of the DEMO.  You see a game you think you might like and you go to their site and in big letters it will say DEMO CLICK HERE and you go about your busyness and download and try it and see for yourself exactly what it is you plan to get into.  The only thing that is preventing this from happening is the fact that we're talking about the MMO genre.  I'm pretty sure there is a way around it like perhaps giving a week long trial so that you can get in and try it for a week and see if you like what you see.  Unfortunately the trials only come up when the game has been out for a while and they do it only because they believe that their subscription numbers have slowed and they need to do something about it.

I think as the age of the internet goes on and Fiber Optic Internet slowly becomes the mainstream people will be able to download larger files at faster speeds and thus I think demos will become more common as well as free trials.  Well... one can hope anyways.