New NWN2 OC estimate of 30-40 hrs

[Jumjalum]

Nathaniel Chapman posted this over at the Bio boards in response to Gromnir

 

 

As the person managing the QA on this game, and thus the person in charge of getting people to try to beat the game as quickly as possible, I have to say that this is wrong. I would not describe our SP Campaign as short in any way, shape or form. I think 30-40+ hours would be a conservative estimate for someone actually trying to play through the game.

 

Let me just say this - when you shoot for a certain amount of gameplay (let's say, 20+ hours, as has been stated in interviews in the past), you then go and craft content to fill that time. Sometimes you end up creating too little, and undershoot that estimate significantly. Other times, you end up hitting it pretty much exactly. And, finally, every once in a while you underestimate what you can do, and you end up with more gameplay than you at first realised. A lot more.

 

He seems pretty convincing, though I guess I'm still skeptical but I certainly feel a little better about the OC prospects now. The whole thread is here http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewt...480875&forum=95

[mkreku]

And I assume it was way too much work to head over to these, their own, boards and write the same post.

 

Thanks, Obsidian!

[Judge Hades]

Yeah, lets not post this sort of information on their own forums.

 

In any case 30 to 40 hours, though still short, is acceptable.

[StillLife]

And I assume it was way too much work to head over to these, their own, boards and write the same post.

 

Thanks, Obsidian!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What is the deal with that? The Bio Jr. thing is supposed to be a joke...right?

[Judge Hades]

Its not Bio Jr.

 

Its BIObsidian.

[kirottu]

And I assume it was way too much work to head over to these, their own, boards and write the same post.

 

Thanks, Obsidian!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What is the deal with that? The Bio Jr. thing is supposed to be a joke...right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Atari wanted to have one NWN community.

 

Anyways, good info!

 

Actually, to tell you the truth... they just got bored with Hades and that

Edited May 13, 2006 by kirottu

[Judge Hades]

I don't really give a crap what Atari wants. I want to discuss an Obsidian game at the Obsidian forums.

 

EDIT: GRRRRRRRRRRR.

Edited May 13, 2006 by Judge Hades

[kirottu]

You are banned there... Coincidence? I think not!

[Judge Hades]

I could make another account but its not worth the effort.

[WinterSun]

Hey, I'm on my third account there and I haven't posted once! Beat that!

[Gromnir]

repost:

 

oh, and to be fair we will point out that shortly after we was told by josh that no reasonable estimates of nwn2 could be made at this time, some obsidian qa guy mentions on the bio boards that 30-40+ hours o' gameplay is what he thinks nwn is gonna include.  so you folks who is looking for any reason you can to be happy 'bout the cuts that has had to be made to stay on schedule (including game areas and the dm client,)  and for you folks that wanna stay optimistic in spite of fact that you is worried that the lead designer left the team shortly 'fore all these new problems came to light, well, not to worry, 'cause nathan did an end around on josh and lets us all know that 30-40+ is the newer and frendlier obsidian estimate for gameplay hours.

 

cheers.

 

HA! Good Fun!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think most accurate gameplay lenght estimate comes from the guys who are playing NWN 2 and that is the qa guys.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

josh, the lead on nwn2, has said that nobody can give an accurate estimate at this time... and josh is one of those self-destructive straight shooters. nevertheless, after the fergie fiasco we has seen previews (and where you think they get their estimates) and obsinaties that all says 30-40 or 40 or some such.

 

you peoples believes what you want to... am gonna be a bit more cautious.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Judge Hades]

Hey, I'm on my third account there and I haven't posted once! Beat that!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

How the hell can you have 2 banned accounts and never posted on the Bioware forums? Are they getting that anal now by using preemptive bannings?

[Cantousent]

Oh, I believe Nathan. It would be stupid for him to outright lie at this point. Also, I tend to think that most folks don't really like to lie. That doesn't mean they won't, just that people would rather tell the truth.

 

What this also confirms, at least to my mind, is that Feargus did make the 20+ hours comment. This passage: "...let's say, 20+ hours, as has been stated in interviews in the past..." makes it quite clear someone gave the estimate in an interview.

 

Hey, I don't care if Nathan is fixing Feargus' mistake or not. There's no way in hell that he made that comment off the cuff. The folks at Obsidian decided to address the issue. I believe Sawyer when he says it was a big mistake to make the estimate in the first place. I've never thought the game would be as short as 20 hours for the average player. I just figured someone should give an official response and this is as likely as we'll ever get.

 

Also, NWN2 is a big title and I'm sure Obsidian's more than glad to let Bioware do the heavy lifting. "Let Bioware handle the boards," they say. "Afer all, why should we try to hold a new batch of unruly message board cowboys when Bioware has trained them all to be message board sheep?"

 

The problem is, Obsidian, you won't be able to hide behind big brother forever. One day, you're going to be forced to decide between running a board with your own games or not. ...And message boards, even if they represent a vocal minority, are worth too much to just cast aside. At least that's my assumption based on how many official message boards all these gaming companies support.

[WinterSun]

Hey, I'm on my third account there and I haven't posted once! Beat that!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

How the hell can you have 2 banned accounts and never posted on the Bioware forums? Are they getting that anal now by using preemptive bannings?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

They're not banned as such; I just can't be bothered posting there. I think they deactivate your account if you don't log in for a while.

[Spider]

I don't know, I'm with Gromnir on this one. I just find it odd that a 20+ hour estimate is made, then a lot of stuff (including game areas) get cut and all of a sudden it's 30-40 hours. Which conveniently enough is a number a lot of people (me included) could find themselves settling for. It all seems a bit... well, convenient.

 

Add to this (also something Gromnir pointed out) the fact that all of these cuts were revealed after Ferret was removed from his position.

 

Does nathaniel Chapman have any reason to lie? Yeah, actually he does. If there is an order from Atari's marketing or the bio bosses not to give out any other figures than 30-40 hours, that is one reason. Is he lying? Now that is the true question here. I really have no idea. I hope he isn't, but there is no way of telling. I haven't seen him post enough to be able to have an opinion on that.

 

However, I do believe what JE says and if he says no one can make such an estimate at this time I do find it odd that an estimate is made none the less.

 

All we can do is wait, I guess. But I am keeping my enthusiasm on hold for a bit.

[Judge Hades]

I guess the safest route is to not buy the game and wait., of course if everyone does that then the game will never get sold.

[Spider]

Well, they will still send out review copies. Even though reviews tend to be a biased, they still help in making an informed decision.

 

Also, there are people for whom the length of the SP campaign is irrelevant since their main interest is the tool set. They can probably be relied upon to be honest.

[Judge Hades]

Those who have an interest in the toolset often have an interestin the MP expects of the game which is severely hampered by the lack of a DM client.

[Atreides]

Wonder if Obsidian's tempted to make a Noober-type character asking how long the player expects to be adventuring.

[Volourn]

It's E3 time which is why we're likely getting more info now. Besdies, the DM Client habaloo on the NWN2 baords woke up the Obsidians as they have been posting A LOT the last few days in comparison to beforehand (they were posting before but not this much).

Edited May 13, 2006 by Volourn

[Krookie]

I was expecting more. 30-40 isn't terrible though, as long as it's a good 30-40 hours.

[Cantousent]

It's not in Obsidian's interest to have their people lie, Spider. This isn't some sort of random comment. Nathan was making a clear statement about the game. If Obsidian keeps to the 30-40 hours claim and times average out at 20-30, then it'll be worse than if they just didn't respond at all. No, I don't think most people like to. Sometimes they must. ...But people rarely lie when they think it will be worse than the truth. In this case, saying nothing is certainly better than a lie.

 

As for you, Atreides, don't be a yutz. The question isn't whether the game is 20-30 hours. It's not whether or not the DMC will ship with the game, whether NWN2 will support PW building, or even how well the toolset will function. The real question is, can we trust Obsidian to level with us as consumers? While you might see everyone who asks that question as a noober, I see everyone who doesn't ask that question as foolish.

 

On the other hand, I'm still quite a noober because I've got the game on pre-order. That, my friend, makes me a noober.

[Jumjalum]

On the other hand, I'm still quite a noober because I've got the game on pre-order.  That, my friend, makes me a noober.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hmmm...do I speak to you for the exp or just kill you now?

[Cantousent]

Hey, it's 47 bucks at newegg for the pre-order. It's not like that's going to make or break me. Plus, I'll come here and give an honest opinion about my experiences.

[Volourn]

"It's not in Obsidian's interest to have their people lie, Spider."

 

I don't think obsidian has lied. I just think they have had poor planning, and time management. That is not a good sign. "