Neverwinter nights

[HK-47_THE_MEATBAG_KILLER]

i just finished kotor 2 for about the 12th time and im getting a little bored with it. i am looking into buying a new game. i thought about getting the first neverwinter nights, since i like RPGs so much now, but id like some background on it, and a few opinions on whether it is worth buying. and please dont tell me to go to the NWN forums, as they are for some odd reason blocked by the filter, as is the Bioware website, but not the kotor 2 forums...strange.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Why not it's cheap now and you get all the expansions thrown in as well.

[astr0creep]

i just finished kotor 2 for about the 12th time and im getting a little bored with it.  i am looking into buying a new game.  i thought about getting the first neverwinter nights, since i like RPGs so much now, but id like some background on it, and a few opinions on whether it is worth buying.  and please dont tell me to go to the NWN forums, as they are for some odd reason blocked by the filter, as is the Bioware website, but not the kotor 2 forums...strange.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Buy it, play it, enjoy it.

 

Get the Diamond package as it includes both expansions and extra modules like Witch's Wake and Kingmaker. And it's quite cheap now.

 

You will access all the forums at Bioware once you register your game...

[Diogo Ribeiro]

And if you don't like it, hey, it's a premium frisbee.

[HK-47_THE_MEATBAG_KILLER]

what is it about, though? is it a scifi or fantasy game, or what? do you think it is worth it?

 

oh ya is it partial real time like kotor?

Edited March 30, 2006 by HK-47_THE_MEATBAG_KILLER

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

what is it about, though?  is it a scifi or fantasy game, or what?  do you think it is worth it?

 

oh ya is it partial real time like kotor?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Fantasy

 

Yes its the fantasy version of KOTOR. It even has it's very own Bastila.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

what is it about, though?

 

Time travelling lizards and a paladin with PMS try to take over the world.

 

is it a scifi or fantasy game, or what?

 

Fantasy.

 

do you think it is worth it?

 

No.

[Llyranor]

Yes, get the Diamond edition.

 

It gives you access to:

- NWN Vanilla

- Xpac 1: Shadows of Undrentide

- Xpac 2: Hordes of the Underdark

- Extra Module: Kingmaker

- Extra Module: Shadowguard

- Extra Module: Witch's Wake

 

Each of the above have their own campaigns. NWN Vanilla and Xpac1, you should start with brand new characters. Xpac2 is the sequel to Xpac1, so you can import you Xpac1 character after you finish that. The 'extra modules' will level you up to the needed level, so you should start those with new characters too.

 

Depending on how much you like combat/hack&slash, you might or might not be recommended by other people to avoid NWN Vanilla, since that one is particularly combat-heavy. The others might or might not feature a lot of combat too, but some might attest to their having better stories. It is all, of course, in the eye of the beholder.

[Darth Drabek]

I too, have debated buying NWN. I enjoyed the KOTOR games immensely, and I just finished Baldur's Gate 2 for the first time.

 

I went all the way back to that one because I heard it had very memorable characters and a great story, and those are the things I enjoy most about the genre. One of the reasons I avoided NWN was I thought it was a single character story, with some nonsense about a "henchman" instead of a group of adventurers.

 

So is it a party-based game, a la KOTOR or BG or not? Is the henchman thing like Jade Empire, where you do have a party join you on your quest, but only one at a time can travel with you and you don't directly control their actions?

 

Edit: This is one reason I dumped Morrowind after a few hours. If I'm playing an RPG, I want my running crew.

 

Thanks, y'all.

Edited March 30, 2006 by Darth Drabek

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

More like Jade Empire than KOTOR when it comes to NPCs.

[astr0creep]

I too, have debated buying NWN. I enjoyed the KOTOR games immensely, and I just finished Baldur's Gate 2 for the first time.

 

I went all the way back to that one because I heard it had very memorable characters and a great story, and those are the things I enjoy most about the genre. One of the reasons I avoided NWN was I thought it was a single character story, with some nonsense about a "henchman" instead of a group of adventurers.

 

So is it a party-based game, a la KOTOR or BG or not? Is the henchman thing like Jade Empire, where you do have a party join you on your quest, but only one at a time can travel with you and you don't directly control their actions?

 

Edit: This is one reason I dumped Morrowind after a few hours. If I'm playing an RPG, I want my running crew.

 

Thanks, y'all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Henchmen are hired companions. You can keep the same Henchmen throughout the entire game(s) or switch between them(you only pay once) depending on who you might need although if you want to switch you need to return to the Inn or Tavern or wherever they are found(there is no party selection screen like KotOR).

 

Each Henchmen have his/her own story and game-spanning quest and you access the next quest stages through conversations, usually after levelups or when you find certain items or people.

 

You can have 1 henchmen at a time except for the 2nd expansion in which you get 2(+summons) and they talk to each other like in KotOR, sometimes interupting at inopportune times...

 

As henchmen you may choose between healer, bard, mage, sorcerer, barbarian, fighter and rogue and they vary in gender, personnality and alignment. In the second expansion they can also change class if you let them(through conversation) and you can access their inventory and change their equipment.

 

I prefer, by far, Hordes of the Underdark but I'm biased...

 

Hope this helps and is accurate.

[Volourn]

"Time travelling lizards and a paladin with PMS try to take over the world."

 

LOL Awesome description. :cool:

 

 

Anyways, I'm biased as I love this game. Buy it. Since it's rather old; it is releatively cheap now so even if you end up disliking it; it won't be the end of the world money wise.

 

 

As for henchmen/hirelings. In the OC, the joinable npcs are Expert Hirelings. In SOU, and HOTU the are actually henchmen since regardless what BIO and/or Obsidian tries to tell you henchmen are actually friends/allies you choose to do travel with you for personal reasons like freindship, loyalty, or whatever.

 

In the OC, and SOU; you only get one npc. In HOTU, two npcs travel with you much like in KOTOR.

 

NWN's combat system has more in common with the BGs than with KOTOR. Heck, it has more in common with TOEE than the KOTORs. KOTOR series is combat is just plain bland.

 

The OC story is ok. It has its good points, and weak points. It's nowhere near the best; but definitely not amongst the worst.

 

SOU's story is lacklustre; but it's role-playing (espicially in ch1) is very good. Ch2 sucks bad though.

 

HOTU is good all around exccept it redefines phat lewt. HOTU, overall, is wayyy better than KOTOR series.

 

[metadigital]

... And the best part of owning NwN is being able to play the thousands of community mods, of which Kingmaker and Witch's Wake are just two. Check out the NwN Vault for the Hall of Fame.

 

Also has an interview with Bioware about their module writing contest, too.

GS: How did that [official Neverwinter Nights] writing contest go?

 

RM: Good! We got a lot of applicants, so it's been going really really well.

 

GZ: The challenge has actually been judging it, because there are so many applicants, and they've really exceeded our expectations by a lot. It turned out really, really well, and it got a lot of attention.

 

GS: What do you plan to do with the winners and the runner-ups?

 

RM: Well we're actively hiring so that's the first thing! So the runners-up, if they're good, we're willing to hire them too!

 

GZ: Some people just want to do it themselves, and so we'll have that option as well. We've sold modules to independent developers in the past, and it'd be great to get a second module at BioWare with the independent guys. So we could work with them externally too, but if they want to check out getting into the real game development world, they can do that too.

[Meshugger]

Considering that you can get the original + the expansions for 29

[Darth Drabek]

Hey, that actually sounds pretty cool. I had one other question, though... because they've put out so many versions of NWN I would hope the Diamond edition is 100% bug-free. Is there a patch needed for the later versions?

 

 

Thanks!

[thepixiesrock]

Yes, get the Diamond edition.

 

It gives you access to:

- NWN Vanilla

- Xpac 1: Shadows of Undrentide

- Xpac 2: Hordes of the Underdark

- Extra Module: Kingmaker

- Extra Module: Shadowguard

- Extra Module: Witch's Wake

 

Each of the above have their own campaigns. NWN Vanilla and Xpac1, you should start with brand new characters. Xpac2 is the sequel to Xpac1, so you can import you Xpac1 character after you finish that. The 'extra modules' will level you up to the needed level, so you should start those with new characters too.

 

Depending on how much you like combat/hack&slash, you might or might not be recommended by other people to avoid NWN Vanilla, since that one is particularly combat-heavy. The others might or might not feature a lot of combat too, but some might attest to their having better stories. It is all, of course, in the eye of the beholder.

[HK-47_THE_MEATBAG_KILLER]

ok, how many NWN games are there? do you have to play them all to get the story? i like the hack and slash somewhat, but i also play games for the plot and the ability to interact with other character. i like a somewhat compicated plot, the more the better in fact, like kotor. it would be nice to have the combat be a little more realistic, rather than just taking turns hacking at each other. however, i sort of liked the partial realtime combat, as it gave me time to collect myself and think through the battle. If not NWN, any suggestions on a game that would fit this description (somewhat)?

Edited March 30, 2006 by HK-47_THE_MEATBAG_KILLER

[metadigital]

Hey, that actually sounds pretty cool. I had one other question, though... because they've put out so many versions of NWN I would hope the Diamond edition is 100% bug-free. Is there a patch needed for the later versions?

 

 

Thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They were up to version 1.65 last time I checked (a while ago) ... there is an online synchronisation process (as long as you have access to the 'net).

[Enoch]

I'm another one of the regulars around here who never played NWN. For me, money isn't an issue so much as time is. I just can't be bothered to make time for a game nowadays unless I'm confident that it'll be a very satisfying experience.

 

What I know of NWN puts it solidly in the "meh" range. 5 years ago, I would've played it all the way through, but I just don't have that kind of time now.

[Volourn]

It should be noted that patch 1.67 is coming out soon - likely a month or so since they're in like the 3rd public beta test for it.

 

As for needing patches. With the latest retail version (Platinum) you likely won't *need* patches; but 1.67 is promising a lot of new stuff including stuff found in the latest Premium Modules. Bio is also gonna have 2 new tilesets as well as an extra patch when it does.

 

Like all BIO RPGs, NWN (all versions) have lots of combat as well as focus on story and characters. Whether you'll personally like said story or characters is really up to you. Us dinks could give you are opinions; but they are all opinions.

 

For myself, NWN (espicially HOTU) offers more in terms of story, characters, and role-playing than KOTOR.

[Judge Hades]

Is buying NWN worth it?

 

For the most part, yes. It is currently the best DnD online game out on the market and has a lot of user made material that is in some cases superior to what is packaged. I willalso give one a greater appreciation to the upgrades that Obsidian is putting in NWN 2.

 

You can get NWN Diamond on DVD for around $30 USD in most places and it would have all the released material, with the exception of the Pirates of the Sword Coast Premium module, in it.

[Moose]

The only part of NWN that stood out for me was multiplayer. That community peaked well over a year ago and is pretty crap now. Wait for NWN 2.

[LoneWolf16]

Considering that you can get the original + the expansions for 29

[Judge Hades]

Yeah, Icewind Dale had better graphics.

[Volourn]

No.