Sammael

Yes, it is. Although "Baldur's Gate 3" was just a name they had to use at the time for copyright purposes - the game's true name has always been The Black Hound.

Two things. First, it was hosted with my old ISP, and I didn't bother re-hosting it elsewhere. Second, the CSS for the site was horrible (and IE-based, to boot) and it doesn't render all that well on newer browsers (including Firefox, which I use). Once I've figured out how to fix the CSS, I'll upload it to the new site (hence the item on the navbar).

It's strictly a fansite. I imagine Josh will eventually make a site for the project, but I have this burning desire for collecting data, and, well... why not share it with others? I'll parse my old Jefferson documents to see what all is applicable to the game (minus the old engine stuff and such) and port it over to the new FAQ.

My Webpage.

Those icons and that screenshot have brought a poisonous tear to this devil's eye...

I have only comment to make tonight: Grobnar has THE most annoying voice of any game character I have ever heard.

I don't think a mid-level rogue could sneak through a house full of other mid-level rogues while searching for a prisoner and remain undetected. If a player suggested that course of action to me in PnP, I'd ask him to make a Wisdom check. On the other hand, it's damn sure that CRPGs can't handle creativity.

Soooo... how many Insanity Points would you award for metagaming like that in PnP?

I just completed the area, by following the lure'n'kill tactic. Sure, it was effective, but it was also about as exciting as watching the paint dry. Moire was a total pushover, and I was surprised to see that the guy I was there to escort lived through the whole affair. I think I'll try to do some non-navigated exploration of the city on my own now, prior to going to look for that misplaced Waterdhavian emissary. But not tonight, I've had enough NWN2 for one day.

I just did a test fight to see whether I am hallucinating, or the fights are too hard. I am currently on the second floor of the estate where I was supposed to go pick up the informant. My party consists of my warlock (level 7), Neeshka (rogue 7), Khelgar (fighter , and Elanee (druid . I rested prior to the fight, buffed, and then entered the room where there were about 6 thugs. My buffs were as follows: stoneskin on everyone but Elanee, endure elements on everyone but the PC, protection from elements on the PC, barkskin on everyone except the PC. Elanee has no more slots available for buffing (the rest are occupied with a few meager cure spells). Unfortunately, some of the (hidden) thugs were close to the door when I tried to enter, so I couldn't bring all my characters in. This, of course, resulted in about six or seven other thugs leaving their rooms (or spawning) and attacking me from the behind. I did all that I could (including using disposable items - of course my Use Magic Device bonus of +16 is insufficient to activate scrolls with any degree of accuracy, and the wands I have hurt my party as much as they hurt the enemy), but my whole party died after about ten-twelve rounds. One point of note is that casting on the defensive absolutely does not work for my main character - he either uses it all the time (even when I disable it), or not at all (regardless on how much I click on the button). I've had more tactical battles than this one in Diablo. This is all too reminiscent of the horrible forced enemy-respawning battles of IWD2.

Hmmm. I am playing the game on hardcore, with AI still turned on, and I am not finding it very easy (particularly because of the incessant enemy respawning). Perhaps the CNPC AI is what's making it hard? I may have to try puppet mode.

I had decent diplomacy (Negotiator feat + couple of ranks purchased cross-class + high Cha + hat that gives bonus to Diplomacy + Beguiling Influence), but obviously did the quests in wrong order...

That makes some sense, although it seems a bit unintuitive. There should have been the option to talk to the bandit guards regardless of whether you've visited the Graveyard or not - if for no other reason, then to learn a bit more about them in-game. That's fine, but I still find it too complicated, as you still have to satisfy five conditions to be able to craft: feat and/or skill, recipe, mold, special component(s), and workbench. Too much micromanagement for my taste. Still, it's a non-essential component of the game, so I'm hopefully not losing anything by not crafting items.

The way I looked at it, I was asked by a superior officer whether I knew of a tavern nearby, and I replied truthfully.

UPDATE: Having completed VTM: Bloodlines and Heroes V: Hammers of Fate (Farmers of Hate), I finally got back to NWN2. Right now, I'm in Neverwinter, doing errands for the Watch (the next one being to protect the informant). Some more observations: I like Neeshka, although I think her alignment is off. The dwarf and elf are... forgettable. I didn't feel like taking a psychopathic pyromaniac with me. One thing I don't like is how the NPCs are pretty much forced on you. They also argue a bit too much for my taste. Is it just me, or does Bishop bear a striking resemblance to... someone? Alignment shifts are decidedly WTF. Chaotic++ for telling the guards to go to the Sunken Flagon to relax? Wha? I don't get it. This is just one of about five different alignment shifts I've seen that left me scratching my head in wonder. The game is linear, but not horribly so. There are more choices than in NWN1, although still not enough for my taste. For instance, why is the only way to deal with the Bandit Camp by slaughtering all the bandits? Why wasn't there an option to infiltrate them, bluff them, join with them? Perhaps I could have bought the prisoners off them to avoid the confrontation? Meh. I really thought the bandit camp quests were poor (and exceedingly difficult, what with re-spawning bandits), when compared to the other beginning quests. Also, the Neverwinter quests are a bit more linear than I would have liked them to be. Why didn't I have the option to infiltrate the thieves after siding with the watch? Also, some dialog options that rely on skills are obviously set up to make you fail regardless of how high your bonus is. I think I should be able to convince a common thug to do something reasonable with my +20 bonus on Diplomacy, but the game designers obviously didn't think so. I personally don't mind the lack of perma-death at all. I think the game is a whole lot more playable this way, and I am sure as hell reloading a whole lot less than I did in SoU or HotU (NWN1 OC was a joke even at hardest difficulty). Graphics remain very nice. The camera gets annoying at times, but not horribly so. I have yet to try crafting, and, frankly, I think they went overboard with complexity. As it is, I am finding it completely unappealing to not only have to hunt for obscure components, but also recipes AND item molds. WAY too involved for my taste, regardless of the quality of items you can craft. To be continued...

A couple of 'shots I took from Heroes V: Hammers of Fate. Not the best ones, but I really love the graphics.

In conclusion, Troika failed to hire enough people to complete their games on time and within the budget, and they blame the publishers for this. They apparently believed that publishers are a charity that will keep dropping more and more money into the bottomless pit that is game development, with no questions asked. If that's the way Fargo managed Interplay, it's little wonder the company was on a deathbed even before Herve drove it into the ground.

Amen.

There are plenty of dwarves in the Hive, though not as many as in the Lower Ward. This shows great promise. The implied tone, ambience, dialogues, and characters are spot on. If this actually ends up coming out, I will be one happy archdevil.

I've played G3 for a few minutes and my impression is generally favorable, but I can't say more until I've played it some more.

This is only his billionth account at any rate. I remember only a handful of them, but the one he started with, I think, was "Visceris" - and that's how I refer to him.

Sleep much? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm only playing a total of 4 hours per day, but I try to play at least two different games every day. So many games, so little time...

NWN2 Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines Gothic III Heroes V (eagerly awaiting the expansion pack) Caesar IV (borrowed from a friend) Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (also borrowed from a friend, I suck at this game as I can't even get through the tutorial)

Compared to what? Betrayal at Krondor? Blade of Destiny? Lands of Lore 2? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> NWN1.

I re-installed Bloodlines earlier today and started playing. The game is running very, very smoothly on my new rig, and I haven't seen or experienced any glitches yet. My new character is a male Tremere (I played as a female Toreador the first time).