NWN2: Discussion

[Cantousent]

The Hardcore setting really makes the death and resting schemes more palatable for me. That, and I can vent some rage by blasting my party with a few fireballs.

[Wistrik]

Maybe I'm just weird but every time I look at Sand and Grobnar I see Hugo Weaving and Barry Manilow..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hah, Hugo looks awesome as Smith. It'd be great if I could make a character that looked like him, and had his soundset.

 

Battle cry: "Do you hear that? That's the sound of inevitability. That's the sound of your death."

 

For extra grins, there could be a Mr. Anderson somewhere in the game.

 

Edit: he could have sunglasses as an accessory, and if a creature knocked them sideways on his face (or damaged his tie), he could go into berserk mode and kick the living snot out of them.

Edited November 29, 2006 by Wistrik

[Berserk]

Maybe I'm just weird but every time I look at Sand and Grobnar I see Hugo Weaving and Barry Manilow..

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Barry Manilow? HAHAHAHAHAAH!

 

"Oh, Wendersnaven, you came and you kept me from dying, but I sent you away!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know, that would make one kickass bard song.

[deganawida]

Maybe I'm just weird but every time I look at Sand and Grobnar I see Hugo Weaving and Barry Manilow..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Barry Manilow? HAHAHAHAHAAH!

 

"Oh, Wendersnaven, you came and you kept me from dying, but I sent you away!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know, that would make one kickass bard song.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

"I sing the songs that make the goblins fry! I sing the songs that make the dra-a-gons die!"

 

LOL, who knew that my mother's love for Manilow would come in handy?

[Cantousent]

Good Lord, can we get back to NWN before recalling the Manilow music makes me ill?

 

Unless of course someone has created some Barry Manilow custom content? :Cant's grinning icon:

[Dark_Raven]

Maybe I'm just weird but every time I look at Sand and Grobnar I see Hugo Weaving and Barry Manilow..

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Sand does look like Weaving's Elrond.

[Pop]

Does Khelgar's character evolve after he becomes a monk?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not really, from what I can tell. He wasn't particularly NG when he was introduced into the game, and he doesn't become more lawful when he becomes a monk, by my measure. Seems like his transformation into a monk was the end of his progression as a character, but he hadn't transformed much. Made a speech about justice and fairness, but it's not as if a NG character can't value those things.

[roshan]

Im quite sure that there is no difference. I havent monked Khelgar yet Ive gotten dialogues where he is referred to as a monk.

 

Before, someone mentioned that his dwarven character got a dialogue in the Ironfist stronghold where someone mentioned "He may be a dwarf, but hes no Ironfist". Well, my wood elf also got the same dialogue therefore I assume that it referred to Khelgar.

 

I think there is a tendency for people to imagine/assume that the game is a lot more reactive to the players character creation decisions than it actually is.

[Darque]

I never saw a reason to monk him, but I've heard he's an unkillable killing machine if you do, even with his suck stats.

[Jorian Drake]

I never saw a reason to monk him, but I've heard he's an unkillable killing machine if you do, even with his suck stats. 

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all of them are 'unkillable' since the games start

[Oerwinde]

I never saw a reason to monk him, but I've heard he's an unkillable killing machine if you do, even with his suck stats. 

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Oh yeah, nothing can stop him. He doesn't do quite as much damage, but he can't be touched. He's always the last one to die. In my fight against the end boss him and my main were the only ones to survive, and my main only survived due to large amounts of potions and healing spells. Khelgar only needed a single lay on hands for the whole fight.

[Xard]

My Khelgar does quite a deal of damage too. Besides, I "monked" Khelgar because that was what he wanted.

[CoM_Solaufein]

I never saw a reason to monk him, but I've heard he's an unkillable killing machine if you do, even with his suck stats. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I left him as a fighter. He's quite the killing machine as a fighter with an battleaxe or warhammer.

[Wistrik]

In my first game I let him become a monk. In my second game I kept him as a fighter and specialized in warhammers so he could use the Ironfist equipment to better effect. As a monk he did slightly less damage but rarely got hurt. As a fighter he did more damage but had to be healed once in awhile.

[metadigital]

...

There are some passionate folks out there both pro and con. The one thing that is pretty consistant between them both is that all their comments come from the heart. If they didn't like something they have no qualms about letting us know. A lot of folks are happy with the Single Player Campaign but feel that there is not enough support for the Persistant Worlds. In regard to that, we are continuing to add support for Multi-Player and of course fixing any bugs that need to be addressed.

...

 

We are a modding community, among other things, and with the old Neverwinter Nights Aurora toolset we encountered a lot of problems in order to translate mods into Spanish, specially the scripts. Did you revise the new toolset, or thought of making it more translator-friendly?

The Toolset is completely localized as it is. However, we have Patch 2 coming out that will support custom TLK tables for the modules making it easier for the end-user to make localization changes.

 

Right now we are seeing a growing popularity of the "premium mods". We think Neverwinter Nights was the first game to have this official mods where you pay to download. We assume that you are thinking of doing the same with Neverwinter Nights 2. Did you start working in some mod already?

 

This is brought up fairly often and unfortunately there is nothing I can officially announce at this time. Obsidian definitely has been working on the logistics of this and we will see what the future brings about being able to buy premium modules. Now free stuff, hmm, that sounds much more appealing... /grin We'll see.

 

source

[Wistrik]

Not surprisingly, Obsidian doesn't post negative reviews on the front page. So much for candid reporting. At least RR admitted there are those who dislike aspects of the game.

 

Some DLAN interview observations, with my highlights underlined. (This must be an old interview since Patch 2 wasn't even out yet.)

 

P and I - What are the more distinct changes between Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2? Can we expect more character interaction?

 

RR - Oh there is definitely more character interaction alright. Each Companion is no longer the mindless henchman from our Predecessor. They are completely controllable and customizable. If you want your fighter to become a Paladin, the next time he levels up, choose appropriately in the character screen. Another big change is that your companions actually have their own storylines. You don't have to do them but their epic rewards can be pretty impacting on the story. And of course, there is the influence system - If you continually treating a companion poorly, they will likely give you a colorful expletive and leave the party or even worse...Turn on you at an inopportune time.

They must've played with different NPCs because I have no control over what classes I can have my NPCs become unless I first complete their quest, and to this day only Khelgar (to my knowledge) has opportunity to change classes.

 

The influence system fails if you try avoiding the NPC altogether, thus accumulating no influence points good or bad, so the contrived dialogs at the end behave as if you've mistreated them. Well, excuse me for trying to form my own party and keep it consistent.

 

P and I - We understand that in Neverwinter Nights 2 we are going to encounter bosses at the end of some parts of the game. Can you explain this in more detail?

 

RR - There are special encounters strewn throughout NWN2. Some will only become available if you have done certain side-quests while others are key to the core story. The bosses you encounter are usually a culmination of reaching the end of a particular quest while some are stepping stones to the next part of a quest. Most of the bosses will surprise people in their abilities, well, at least for me they did. I would be rolling through the game thinking I am invincible and Boss X would come up and slap me with a small dose of what real power is.

Does RR play many CRPGs? I guess the cheesy knockdown ability of Reavers constitutes "real power" for some, along with the MINHP1 immunity system. After playing a child of Bhaal in BG2 and having epic levels in HotU, I haven't seen much that I consider all that powerful in NWN2. Target enemy until dead, rinse and repeat. The King of Shadows is about on par with ToB's Amelyssan the Blackhearted. New boss, old battle. I beat him again last night and had the unmistakable feeling of deja vu...

 

(end game spoiler)

Teleport via Tome of Illtkazar to Vale of Illefarn to face KoS, Teleport via Fate Spirit to Throne of Bhaal to face Amelyssan; destroy the statues in NWN2, cut off the essence pools in ToB; KoS restores himself from statues, Amelyssan restores herself from Bhaal essence; KoS multiplies himself, Amelyssan summons ravager minions; the KoS battle takes place in three segments, the Amelyssan battle takes place in four segments; KoS is invincible until all statues are destroyed, Amelyssan is invincible until all essence pools are disabled; KoS is much larger than his original self, Amelyssan is larger than her original self. The only big difference is that Amelyssan wanted to become a goddess, while KoS is a simple-minded ancient guardian of a dead empire.

 

 

Real power was given to me in HotU, where I confronted Mephistopheles and commanded him to die after invoking his truename. Game Over. You're not very powerful if you have to resort to mundane things like combat.

 

Edit: moved from Forumite Impressions (forgot where I was). Was going to add to Reviews thread but it's closed, so I followed Metadigital's lead and put it here.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Wistrik

[Enoch]

Not surprisingly, Obsidian doesn't post negative reviews on the front page. So much for candid reporting. At least RR admitted there are those who dislike aspects of the game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Umm... Obsidian isn't in the business of "reporting." They're in the business of selling games. No company in the entertainment business links to negative reviews on their official site.

[Wistrik]

Not surprisingly, Obsidian doesn't post negative reviews on the front page. So much for candid reporting. At least RR admitted there are those who dislike aspects of the game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Umm... Obsidian isn't in the business of "reporting." They're in the business of selling games. No company in the entertainment business links to negative reviews on their official site.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know that, but anyone who parades information on their front page is reporting, one way or another. You don't have to wear a name tag and carry a recording device to be a reporter. I'm also familiar with how businesses operate, much the same as old empires (Egypt for one) operated. That's why I read reviews and tend to only pay half a mind to what a developer puts on their front page. Sure it's positive, but it's only half of the story.

[Volourn]

"Not surprisingly, Obsidian doesn't post negative reviews on the front page. So much for candid reporting."

 

Why in bejeebvers woudl they, and how in your illogical mmind do you figure they should?

 

Of course Obsidian is bias. It's their friggin' game. They want it to sell, and do good so they can stay in business. It's not their job to provide a balanced view. That's whack!

 

As long as they don't flat out lie; they cna do whatever they want. period.

[Wistrik]

What is illogical is you putting others down simply because you disagree with them. I'm free to post my feelings here just as you obviously are, though at least I make an effort to refrain from personal attacks.

 

If Obsidian was completely honest, they'd provide a balanced view. I know that's not acceptable business ethics, but that doesn't mean I have to accept, condone, or defend it. I deliberately avoid jobs that would have me misleading potential customers. (Sales positions do this a lot; anything to get the sale.)

[metadigital]

Thanks for the business ethics course, Withrik!

[Mortis Nai]

I grew up in the 80's... there are no ethics in business.

[Volourn]

"Obsidian was completely honest, they'd provide a balanced view. I know that's not acceptable business ethics, but that doesn't mean I have to accept, condone, or defend it. I deliberately avoid jobs that would have me misleading potential customers. (Sales positions do this a lot; anything to get the sale.)"

 

Except they're not misleading anyone. You are by bascially calling them liars and misleaders or having poor business practices. They aren't doing anything immoral. It's not their job or their moral obligation to have a balanced set of reviews.

[Sargallath Abraxium]

If Obsidian was completely honest, they'd provide a balanced view. I know that's not acceptable business ethics, but that doesn't mean I have to accept, condone, or defend it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

...name one game company that ever did this on the front page o' a new release...so it's OK for e'eryone else, but not for Obsidz & NWN2??...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

[Cantousent]

I can see your point, Wistrik, but it's still nuts. I think other folks have covered the salient points, so you may take this post as support of their responses. Their incredulous, humorous, or even barb-wired responses.

 

With that, I agree that you have every right to post here. You're an intelligent and reasonable member, and certainly a great addition to the community. ...But, yeah, the honesty in publicity thing is nuts as a working model.

 

EDIT: Now, outright lying is a different matter. Even then, you wouldn't expect to hear about the problem on their own web-page.