Four fresh interviews for NWN2: SoZ

[Magister Lajciak]

Interview galore... we have yet another: http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/stormofzehir1.php

[Tigranes]

Come now, everybody knows that bears wander onto the road during lunch hours and play Calvinball.

 

Who's to say that god forbid, you have non-combat situations that require role playing, puzzle solving, and building your character's history as a way to gain experience.

 

Of course, but why can't you do this in any other level? I mean, let me make it clear: I don't see it as a big deal either way. I wouldn't cry if we did start at level 1. And that's because I think in terms of a CRPG in the NWN2 engine, almost everything you can do as level 1/2 you can do as level 3, and level 3 is not as frustrating - making that frustration a pointless one. But sure, this logic can be applied inversely: it wouldn't be a big mistake to start at level 1. I just think this was done so that more casual gamers can get into the game. The Electron engine and NWN2 as a franchise encourages you to look around everywhere, try out everything, and fight in a head-on frontal assault: I think it would have taken a lot of work to change this so that less familiar players find themselves engaged in good level 1 activity without being mauled left and right.

[Zoma]

With all this buy low and sell high trade system, I hope there is a medium in the game that allows to carry trading supplies in form similar to caravans for trade. Otherwise, filling the inventory slots of the PCs throughout the game with trade materials from town A to town B seems unnecessarily tedious.

 

So I hope there is an option to purchase trade caravans/wagons eventually once the player starts up his or her trade company. Caravan animations be simplified by merely plotting trade routes between town A to town B with small animations playing on the overland background.

[Humodour]

A barter system! How innovative! If only RPGs in the past had used this, inventory management and item purchase would have been so much more meaningful and atmospheric.

 

Oh wait.

[Atreides]

BG1 low lvl memory: Running through forests, loading next forest after a long wait. I happen to enter near a random skeleton that throws a dart at my full HP mage. I die.

 

That wasn't fun but it makes a good tale. But I guess it's not too different from loading up where a mage happens to cast Finger of Death or a high level trap's sprung.

 

I hope when my reasonably experienced party gets their own wizard tower we can have a dungeon called "the pit" where we have a dozen hungry cats. Naturally we'd throw low level adventurers inside so the cats deal 1d2 damage and kill them while they can't actually hit any of the cats because they're nubs.

 

To me the thing that made low BG so fun was the "Greatest defeated" and "% party XP gained". That more than anything made me want to make sure my main character landed all the finishing blows, and it was worth it. That made me want to get enemies down to their few last hps while my mage nailed them with crappy magic missiles.

 

Note that the system doesn't depend on low lvl - rather the trophy hunting desire.

 

Also pls consider releasing economic/keep mission add-on packs after the game's done.

[Monte Carlo]

[Anchorman]"We bears are a proud race!"[/Anchorman]

 

Ron Burgundy's yappy little dog was clearly at least 3rd level.

[Walsingham]

Just be thankful that in fantasy games you can actually go toe to toe with a bear without a gun.

 

You do realise that the whole point of having a gun is that you don't have to go toe to toe. Or are you short sighted?

[Tale]

So exceptional individual dies if torch burns his little finger? Riiiight

 

And exceptional individual that has background of couple of years of thievery is instantly seen if guard has few petty ranks in spot?

Just because you're exceptional doesn't mean you're a superhero. A background of a couple of years of thievery doesn't turn you invisible.

 

Commoners are level 0. Level 1 isn't an average person. Level 1 in D&D is still an exceptional individual. Look at the stat scores. 10 is your average person. Or is it 8? Sure, they can still be easy to kill at level 1, but a level 1 is still exceptional.

 

Not so... or at least not any more. In AD&D 2E, what you wrote was true, but in 3.5 edition, commoners are at least level 1 too - see the NPC classes (these classes are weaker than PC classes though) section of the rules.

If we're going to say "any more," then perhaps we should speak of 4E? Where it's even more true.

[Monte Carlo]

KS: The tone and flavor of Storm of Zehir is quite a bit different from that of Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer. First, the game will be more of a light-hearted adventure than a dark, forbidding tale. A more "fun"-oriented story is generally easier to make less linear. Storm of Zehir has a lot of minor plots and events, not all of which directly support the main storyline.

 

The story is still very important to Storm of Zehir, but the game is more about exploring an interesting and reactive world than it is about living out an epic storyline.

 

He shoots.... he scores!

 

That's what I'm talking about. There is hope.

[Magister Lajciak]

So exceptional individual dies if torch burns his little finger? Riiiight

 

And exceptional individual that has background of couple of years of thievery is instantly seen if guard has few petty ranks in spot?

Just because you're exceptional doesn't mean you're a superhero. A background of a couple of years of thievery doesn't turn you invisible.

 

Commoners are level 0. Level 1 isn't an average person. Level 1 in D&D is still an exceptional individual. Look at the stat scores. 10 is your average person. Or is it 8? Sure, they can still be easy to kill at level 1, but a level 1 is still exceptional.

 

Not so... or at least not any more. In AD&D 2E, what you wrote was true, but in 3.5 edition, commoners are at least level 1 too - see the NPC classes (these classes are weaker than PC classes though) section of the rules.

If we're going to say "any more," then perhaps we should speak of 4E? Where it's even more true.

 

Yes, it is true in 4E too. I guess I am still in the mode that 4E doesn't really feel like D&D for me, so I automatically discount it. Sorry about that - yes it is true in 4E.

[Musopticon?]

KS: The tone and flavor of Storm of Zehir is quite a bit different from that of Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer. First, the game will be more of a light-hearted adventure than a dark, forbidding tale. A more "fun"-oriented story is generally easier to make less linear. Storm of Zehir has a lot of minor plots and events, not all of which directly support the main storyline.

 

The story is still very important to Storm of Zehir, but the game is more about exploring an interesting and reactive world than it is about living out an epic storyline.

 

He shoots.... he scores!

 

That's what I'm talking about. There is hope.

Yeah, I liked that as well. It's great that Obsidian can let the epic thing drop for a game and just immerse the player.

 

The format also sounds like one which is relatively easy to modify and build upon, especially if they have a modifiable trade economy. Modders could build new areas and with some twisting add them to the main game and create map locations for them. Pretty much like BG 2 mods did it.

[Gorgon]

Are any of these new NWN2 adons due anythime soon ?

[Xard]

SoZ should be coming out in fall