Trudging Through the Mere - NWN2OC

[Zoraptor]

The trial and keep management were better than anything in the NWNOC and alone would have made a better experience, and other bits were pretty good as well, like Jerro's Haven- though the overarching storyline and most of the characters were pretty cliche and there was a lot of unnecessary padding both of encounters and storyline. I certainly would not rate it as a top tier RPG experience for the OC.

 

On the other hand I have never been able to think of a single redeeming feature of NWN1's OC. Even the 'the game was meant for multiplayer really/ the expansions were better' argument doesn't work for me as it was so bad that I never felt even a twinge of desire to try them.

[Nonek]

I still think it's a very pretty game, probably using incorrect terminology there, but in some ways it beats Dragon Age in the looks stakes.

[Volourn]

"The trial and keep management were better than anything in the NWNOC and alone would have made a better experience,"

 

NWN had two trials that were better than the NWN2 trial.

 

It also had some also very cool things as well.

 

'OBJECTION' says everything that needs to be said about NWN2 trial. not to mention, NWN2 OC had a habit of stealing ideas poorly from games like PST. L0L Annah wannabe L0L

[Zoraptor]

Nah, K2 'stealing' from PST is a no brainer (Vhailor/ Nihilus; Kreia/ Ravel; Atris/ Trias etc etc etc) for sure, and there are certain thematic similarities in MOTB too. But Annah and Neeshka are female rogue tieflings and that's about the end of the similarities.

[Luridis]

"The trial and keep management were better than anything in the NWNOC and alone would have made a better experience,"

 

NWN had two trials that were better than the NWN2 trial.

 

It also had some also very cool things as well.

 

'OBJECTION' says everything that needs to be said about NWN2 trial. not to mention, NWN2 OC had a habit of stealing ideas poorly from games like PST. L0L Annah wannabe L0L

 

"Have you ever seen the accused causing or near events like those that befell Ember?"

 

OBJECTION! Proximity to a crime is not the equivalent of committing a crime... bitch!

[Volourn]

"But Annah and Neeshka are female rogue tieflings and that's about the end of the similarities."

 

Nah. they had more. Still, I said she was a wananbe not exactly the same. I'm not Annah's buiggest fan but she was still billion times better than Numbshka.

[Luridis]

Lets not beat up on Obsidian too much. I suspect they weren't given a lot of maneuvering room on that project.

[HoonDing]

I didn't like it when it came out. I'm not interested in playing it with a newer rig and patches at this point.

 

I'm trying to figure out what about the OC was so much better than the NWN 1 OC. The trial? The companion characters had more dialogue but I couldn't relate to or care about any of them.

 

Oh, and the death of Farmgirl companion to bring in Badass!! companion felt like something out of a comic book.

Badass? Amon Jerro was just a crappy warlock.

[Keyrock]

I too always had trouble finishing NWN2OC.  I could never do it straight through.  The game REALLY drags through the middle section.  It's best, in my opinion, to take a break for a while, play a couple of other things, then come back to it refreshed.  That's what I did when I finished it up a couple of months ago:  I had started the game almost a year ago, got to somewhere toward the end of Act 2, stopped playing it for months, came back, then finished it up.  It worked like a charm.

 

As for the party AI, even with the myriad of options available, it's nearly unplayable with party AI turned on.  I HAVE TO play the game in puppet mode, micromanaging my party, otherwise I'll get slaughtered when my companions keep making boneheaded decisions. and obliterating my party with friendly fire.

[Tsuga C]

 

Did any of you find the pace just a munch to slow for a CRPG?

 

Nope.  I still haven't finished the game as I installed it on a computer at my parent's home so I'd have something to do when visiting during lousy weather, but if memory serves I'm just into Chapter 3.  I haven't run into any of the problems you've described and the AIs are generally acceptable--tuned properly, that is.  Yes, your companions will still do a number of foolish things, but if you are liberal with the spacebar you can keep them from creating too many cluster****s.

 

The only objections I have are that the sheer number of opponents you face forces you to spam the "rest" function and the "influence system".  My wizard, an Abjurer, loads up on Evocations and Abjurations and promptly blows through them in two encounters (three, max) and thus requires frequent rest.  The influence system is simply dreadful as the companions are fools with their collective head up their rump.  I do hope that Mask of the Betrayer has superior companions to those I'm (slowly) working with now.  As things stand, I've already lost Elanee and will probably lose most of the rest of the feckless companions as I'm not very interested in dealing with their preposterous personalities.  I wish I liked them more than I do, but they're not my cup of tea.

[rjshae]

There are some nice mods that expand on the NWN2 experience:

• Races of Faerun pack
• Kaedrin's PrC pack
• NWN2 Facelift pack
• Companion and Monster AI pack

Here are some well-received NWN2 remakes you can play:

• Pool of Radiance remastered
• Icewind Dale

plus many other modules are available. YMMV, of course.

Edited January 26, 2013 by rjshae

[Volourn]

"The only objections I have are that the sheer number of opponents you
face forces you to spam the "rest" function and the "influence system". 
My wizard, an Abjurer, loads up on Evocations and Abjurations and
promptly blows through them in two encounters (three, max) and thus
requires frequent rest."

 

Youa ren't playing right.

[WDeranged]

I ran out of steam with NWN2 after reaching Neverwinter, I just wasn't having fun with the combat so I shelved it, one day I'll go back and blitz it on a lower difficulty so I can experience the expansions without a guilty conscience.

[Oerwinde]

I loved the game, but Old Owl Well was probably my least favorite part of it. Trying to replay it again but its definitely showing its age. The Facelift mod definitely helped, but the fact that I can barely get 25 FPS out of it while standing still with no combat at medium specs with a modern rig is pretty awful.

[Keyrock]

As things stand, I've already lost Elanee and will probably lose most of the rest of the feckless companions as I'm not very interested in dealing with their preposterous personalities.  I wish I liked them more than I do, but they're not my cup of tea.

Elanee is always the first companion I kick out of my crew as soon as I have more companions than spots available.  She's absolutely insufferable.  I hate her so much that I don't ever even bother doing her personal quest because I can't stand her aggressively annoying personality.  She's useful to have around from a purely tactical standpoint because she can heal and she has AoE spells that don't friendly fire, by it's just not worth it to have to put up with her.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Keyrock

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I think I'm going to get this from GOG. I remember putting a ridiclous amount of time in to MotB.

[Gorth]

The trial and keep management were better than anything in the NWNOC and alone would have made a better experience, and other bits were pretty good as well, like Jerro's Haven- though the overarching storyline and most of the characters were pretty cliche and there was a lot of unnecessary padding both of encounters and storyline. I certainly would not rate it as a top tier RPG experience for the OC.

 

On the other hand I have never been able to think of a single redeeming feature of NWN1's OC. Even the 'the game was meant for multiplayer really/ the expansions were better' argument doesn't work for me as it was so bad that I never felt even a twinge of desire to try them.

The trial and the keep are probably the only real "good" parts of NWN2OC. The grind fessts with orcs and thugs spawning out of thin air, the forced companions (looking at you peasant girl whose name I can never remember), the main villain that made you laugh for all the wrong reasons. He was supposed to be a tragic yet intimidating figure, yet all you could think of was that he came across as something out of a bad comic book. The game had many problems and IIRC the lead designer left Obsidian shortly before its release.

 

NWN1OC on the other hand... I think I should find a walkthrough some day and see what happens after mid chapter 4. never could bother to finish it, just too painful all the way through.

 

MotB was good, but ye gods I hate high level play. D&D just wasn't made for that. Could only bring myself to complete it once. Storm of Zehir is my favourite of the bunch, not at least thanks to the overland map. Completed it thrice so far.

 

I've installed Temple of Elemental Evil (haven't really played it yet). Damn, it looks nice (superficially at least, subject to change). Why couldn't somebody produce a string of D&D games on that one???

[Zoraptor]

That was allegedly the plan, but ToEE sold poorly.

 

Personally, I really disliked its engine for some reason, same with Arcanum. No real idea why.

[BruceVC]

There are some nice mods that expand on the NWN2 experience:

• Races of Faerun pack
• Kaedrin's PrC pack
• NWN2 Facelift pack
• Companion and Monster AI pack

Here are some well-received NWN2 remakes you can play:

• Pool of Radiance remastered
• Icewind Dale

plus many other modules are available. YMMV, of course.

 

Nice links thanks

 

I am going to look into the Pool of Radiance remake

Edited January 28, 2013 by BruceVC

[rjshae]

I've installed Temple of Elemental Evil (haven't really played it yet). Damn, it looks nice (superficially at least, subject to change). Why couldn't somebody produce a string of D&D games on that one???

 

The developer (Troika) apparently had plans for a follow on based upon Against the Giants modules, but that fell through. The initial release of ToEE was rushed out and was horribly buggy, which led to poor sales. It was also released incomplete (especially the ending), although I understand the Co8 team has addressed most of that now. Personally I enjoyed the game system; I just didn't find the game itself all that rewarding.

[BruceVC]

 

I've installed Temple of Elemental Evil (haven't really played it yet). Damn, it looks nice (superficially at least, subject to change). Why couldn't somebody produce a string of D&D games on that one???

 

The developer (Troika) apparently had plans for a follow on based upon Against the Giants modules, but that fell through. The initial release of ToEE was rushed out and was horribly buggy, which led to poor sales. It was also released incomplete (especially the ending), although I understand the Co8 team has addressed most of that now. Personally I enjoyed the game system; I just didn't find the game itself all that rewarding.

 

I loved ToEE, it was the first RPG PC game I played about 7 years ago, and it got me back into PC gaming as I had stopped for about 10 years.

Oh my hat !! Against the Giants , I remember that module like it was yesterday. I use to DM and when that game was combined into Queen of the Spiders it provided the greatest RPG ever

[Nonek]

Never got much satisfaction from the "Against the Giants" series, had a few high points but not particularly liked by my group or myself, then again we were never fond of the whole elemental evil campaign. There was a series of adventures set in Greyhawk City that were very good however, all revolving around a villainess known as "Falcon." With a bit of jiggery pokery and a few style adjustments they really brought the Jewel of the Nyr Dyv to life, always thought they'd have made an excellent game. Nice one set in Dyvers called "Puppets" as well.

 

Currently having a bit of a romp through NWN2 with a monk, got to say that i'm quite enjoying it, i'm picturing him as being made into a living weapon by the shard embedded in his flesh. Finding West Harbour to be quite an appealing locale, and once again am quite impressed by the whole concept of the fair as a way of introducing the protagonist, who he knows and his background. May half inch for the next time I get the pnp group together.

[Keyrock]

 

I've installed Temple of Elemental Evil (haven't really played it yet). Damn, it looks nice (superficially at least, subject to change). Why couldn't somebody produce a string of D&D games on that one???

 

The developer (Troika) apparently had plans for a follow on based upon Against the Giants modules, but that fell through. The initial release of ToEE was rushed out and was horribly buggy, which led to poor sales. It was also released incomplete (especially the ending), although I understand the Co8 team has addressed most of that now. Personally I enjoyed the game system; I just didn't find the game itself all that rewarding.

Same here.  I found ToEE to be rather...  well, boring.  There just wasn't anything exciting in that game.  It's for the most part just one long slog through a dungeon.

[Tsuga C]

 

Youa ren't playing right.

 

Of course I am, Volourn--my game, my style of play.  I have a specific character from my "pen 'n' paper" days and I'm seeing how well she happens to translate into a cRPG protagonist.

[Volourn]

Nope. If you need to rest every 2 seconds, that's a failure on you. You mostc ertainyl don't play that way in pnp, I hope.