NWN2: Storm of Zehir is out!

[Wombat]

No comment on certain things as people don't like negative stuff about Obsidian games here so I'll focus on positive stuff.

A potential buyer would be happy if he/she knows better about the game beforehand and they won't complain unless they buy the game.

 

PS Well, as long as SoZ is concerned, I admit I'm quite far from a "potential buyer," though. At least, I don't buy games only because they are tagged as RPG or developed by Obsidian Entertainment.

[Deraldin]

Okay, that "game paused" text needs to die. Who's bright idea was that anyway? Did no one notice that it pops up over the ESC menu and obscures a couple options?

[Nightshape]

IMO, the camera options just don't work. now it won't even center on the selected character. what on earth happened?

 

taks

 

For lack of a good gameplay coder they got the monkey out of the cupboard that they used for the NWN2 initial release?

[Nightshape]

Okay, that "game paused" text needs to die. Who's bright idea was that anyway? Did no one notice that it pops up over the ESC menu and obscures a couple options?

 

 

Yeeeeap, that'll be the cupboard monkey.

[Walsingham]

It's just a theory, but I'm beginning to wonder if patching is inevitable.

 

1. A patch fixes problems.

2. Some problems come from slackness.

3. Some problems come from emergent behaviour of the multiple systems interacting

4. As games strive to be more innovative the risk of emergent problems increases

 

We therefore have a choice, as consumers. We can accept a ten minute wait for our game, or we can punish a company who relies on patching. I suggest that the effect of punishing people who patch will be very grave. These companies cannot be expected to troubleshoot every aspect of a game before release due to the crippling cost of 99% error testing. So they will simply have to reduce innovative features. Then we all end up playing EA games and nothing else.

[Oerwinde]

If you're going to whine about the price of expansions, whine at Blizzard. 50 bucks for an expansion for a game you already pay 15 bucks a month for. Slightly more irritating than paying 30 bucks for the expansion to a 60 buck game.

[Nightshape]

The expansion is priced correctly.

[Starwars]

My first impressions from another board:

 

I went out and got it first thing this morning (friend of mine works at the gamestore), ran home and played the opening segment.

 

It's a lot of fun judging from the early bits. I actually got my ass handed to me pretty badly in the first fights until I got my **** together.

 

There are an assload of skill checks in the dialogues, and the party conversation interface works really well. Many skill checks are more for flavour than meaningful consequences though, but again... There are a *lot* of them and it really helps the dialogues actually. The writing is a completely different beast tonalitywise than MotB but it's still quite good. The areas I've seen so far are very well designed and it feels like a nice "visual uprade", just like MotB did compared to the OC.

 

I briefly ran around on the Overland map a bit and I really like how it feels. I can definetely see some of the complaints about there being to much encounters coming true though. Of course, if you got good skillz (I'm using my Rogue as party leader on the map) you can probably avoid a lot of them. Fighting everything will probably get tedious because of loading times. So yeah, maybe slightly less encounters would be a good idea for a patch in the future. Haven't really played enough to say.

 

The music is a lot of fun as well, very adventurous and quite beautiful. Voiceacting so far hasn't been quite as good as MotB but not bad. Volothamp is pretty funny, I enjoyed the intro a lot, hehe.

 

This looks like something that can really suck you in and get you addicted. Just don't go in expecting a MotB type of game.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

SW, your summary reminds me a bit of Icewind Dale 2. Is it anything like it?

[kalniel]

Awesome game so far.

 

A VERY fitting tribute to Gygax in my opinion. A real nod to old school D&D computer games, and indeed Icewind dale, especially the way the story is told and the party stuff. I had forgotten just how fun it is to create a party with complementing skills and abilities, without worrying that any main character had to cover several bases or fit in with NPCs I didn't know about yet.

 

The music deserves a special mention too - again the quality of it reminds me of Icewind Dale and adds to the tingly game experience.

 

Voice acting.. actually I think it's very good. I didn't like the VO for everything approach that MotB took, especially for describing things my character was feeling - the slightly toned down SoZ fits better IMHO. Volo is excellent too. The ambient voices and effects also remind me more of the older games - there seems to be more background chatter from the streets etc., like the IE games.

 

It's definitely a less cinematic experience, but I'm glad of that - I was getting annoyed with that style of game appearing everywhere and really pined for a more old school style RPG, and from what I've seen so far, SoZ really delivers.

[Starwars]

Diogo, I've not actually played the Icewind Dales yet (quite likely that I'll play them after SoZ as I do own them) so can't really compare directly.

 

But yeah, it really feels like an old-school D&D game. One missed opportunity though... While the game seems to be much more low-magic than the OC and MotB, it doesn't exactly feel as if money will be a problem. I've already got quite a lot of it and I've only played for a few hours. I suspect it will make the trading system feel kinda unnecessary unless there are other rewards to reap.

 

Also, I kinda take back my earlier comment about many encounters. It does seem that way, and it would likely hold true if you don't have a good leader for the Overland map. However, you can avoid a lot of stuff fairly easily.

 

I've brought along one cohort (I suspect most people will take him along for the first playthrough). He's definetely good to have around. So far, he definetely does *not* babble off in long conversations like in the OC and MotB. Once he joined, he becomes a part of the party entity so to speak, though he sometimes have unique dialogue options written for him. I think I've read somewhere that party members do pipe up if you do something that is completely against their character, but I believe it's rare.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Great. Something like IWD comes along and I'm out of a gaming computer

 

Thanks for the replies nonetheless, guys. If I ever get around to fixing or upgrading my PC, I'll hunt SoZ as quickly as possible.

[Marcus]

It's just a theory, but I'm beginning to wonder if patching is inevitable.

 

1. A patch fixes problems.

2. Some problems come from slackness.

3. Some problems come from emergent behaviour of the multiple systems interacting

4. As games strive to be more innovative the risk of emergent problems increases

 

We therefore have a choice, as consumers. We can accept a ten minute wait for our game, or we can punish a company who relies on patching. I suggest that the effect of punishing people who patch will be very grave. These companies cannot be expected to troubleshoot every aspect of a game before release due to the crippling cost of 99% error testing. So they will simply have to reduce innovative features. Then we all end up playing EA games and nothing else.

I have 100+ pc games in my library, and only those from Obsidian require a patch to play. Every single pc game that I have bought since the 1980s works straight out of the box without a patch. What you are saying is bull. People should be able to get a functioning game from the store, and it should be able to work right after its installed. Period. I can see a patch for small tweaks and fixes, but to need one right after its purchase is bull. Period. People like you let companies walk all over them. I call that rolling over.

 

Maybe the BBB needs to take a close look at Obsidian's comsumer policies.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Marcus

[Pidesco]

As far as I know, SoZ doesn't require a patch to play, it requires a patch to play online.

[Gorth]

While the game seems to be much more low-magic than the OC and MotB, it doesn't exactly feel as if money will be a problem. I've already got quite a lot of it and I've only played for a few hours. I suspect it will make the trading system feel kinda unnecessary unless there are other rewards to reap.

It doesn't bother me that you might have more coins than you can spend, as long as not every peasant has equipment that would make nobility envious. Heck, sometimes money really is just a way of keeping score.

[newc0253]

Every single pc game that I have bought since the 1980s works straight out of the box without a patch. What you are saying is bull. People should be able to get a functioning game from the store, and it should be able to work right after its installed. Period. I can see a patch for small tweaks and fixes, but to need one right after its purchase is bull. Period. People like you let companies walk all over them. I call that rolling over.

SoZ works straight out of the box too.

 

but patching it would be a good idea, just like 'every single pc game' that you've bought since the 1980s 'worked' without a patch.

 

truth be told, virtually every game nowadays needs patching, for better or for worse, it's the nature of the industry. shoddy as it may be, it's welcome that Obsidian have the patch ready to go on day 0 rather than having to wait a week before the necessary fixes are available.

 

and, let's be honest: how much of a burden is it to download a patch these days? you already have to wait x minutes for it to install, so you wait another y minutes for it to patch? it's not exactly a hurdle, is it?

 

your main complaint seems to be that you're installing it on a computer that's not connected to the internet. in which case, permit me to ask: what cave is it that you're living in? and do they have running water there as well?

Edited November 20, 2008 by newc0253

[Gorgon]

Why do they get the camera wrong for every NWN2 release, my guess would be that there is something fundamentally off with the engine that they didn't think about when they were molding it to fit NWN2, and now it's not practical to fix it.

 

Camera was bad, but got tolerable with patches, if it's back to the 'bad old days', that's a deal breaker for me.

 

Anyway I'm going to wait and gather some more impressions before deciding.

[damonors]

Just played a little bit and here are my spoil free impressions:

 

-I was weak and bought it before hearing about bugs and gameplay like I promised myself I would do after PoRRoMD and Lionheart. Bad consumer!

-The digital download on Atari is great because you don't have to be online besides the first activation and you don't need the disk in the drive. Finally!

-Yes, the GAME PAUSED text has to die for reasons above. Please take it out or make it translucent or take it out.

-When I changed scroll speed in the options at first, it dumped me into the new camera mode (like above with the sound) and I had no idea what was going on. Luckily I posted on the official board and Nathaniel Chapman immediately set me straight. Still odd how it seems to change it to that camera mode with the first change in anything (anyone else have this?).

-I am glad I made a druid and got a nice, unexpected surprise in my feat selection. You bet your ass I picked it.

-Are half-orcs supposed to be bigger than grey orcs?

-I am liking the swashbuckler, though I wonder why we really needed it as a class?

-The overland map is awesome, better than Darklands even

-The 'choose your speaker in mid-conversation' is especially appreciated, and I like that they tell you when someone else in your party has something different to say.

-I wish we would get feedback if our skill checks in conversation worked or not, but whatever.

-The music is wonderful. Seriously good. I like the tavern music especially.

-Oh, the taverns (early on only) seriously remind me of the nice, warm, wood taverns of IE games. I half-expect that BG tavern music every time I walk in.

-Why are some highlighted NPCs green and some blue?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

And how old is the wood there?

 

In addition to newc's questions, not the previous two posts.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Diogo Ribeiro

[Llyranor]

WHY IS THIS GAME NOT 20$ YET

 

THIS IS AN EXPANSION NOT A FULL GAME

 

AND WHY ARE YOU PATCHING YOUR GAMES

 

IN MY DAY GAMES DIDN'T NEED PATCHES

 

I HAVE 100+ GAMES IN MY PC LIBRARY

 

NONE OF WHICH COST MORE THAN 30 BUCKS BUT THEY WERE FULL GAMES

 

NONE OF WHICH NEEDED PATCHING

 

THIS GAME WON'T EVEN MAKE MY COFFEE IN THE MORNING

[Kaftan Barlast]

So... how many NPC's can I secks?

[Amentep]

and, let's be honest: how much of a burden is it to download a patch these days? you already have to wait x minutes for it to install, so you wait another y minutes for it to patch? it's not exactly a hurdle, is it?

 

your main complaint seems to be that you're installing it on a computer that's not connected to the internet. in which case, permit me to ask: what cave is it that you're living in? and do they have running water there as well?

 

The computer I play on isn't connected to the internet either. Has nothing to do with caves and a lot to do with other circumstantial/situational things.

 

And I'll also say that in my experience, NWN2 doesn't patch if you aren't connected to the internet (downloading the patch, porting it over via a zip drive has never worked for me).

 

Luckily playing not patched hasn't been a major problem so far with NWN2 or MotB.

[Llyranor]

Luckily playing not patched hasn't been a major problem so far with NWN2 or MotB.

Don't lie please. I have over 100+ PC games, and none has ever EVER required any patching out of the box. Except Obsidian games. NWN2 and MotB are Obsidian games. Why do you lie?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

So... how many NPC's can I secks?

 

Why do you people ruin threads like these? Seriously.

 

 

 

Can the whole group join in the secks?

[Starwars]

Yes, via the new party conversation system we can have big orgies with everyone joining in at once. It's AWESOME!