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General discussion (archive)GOG loves D&D: Neverwinter Nights(35 posts)(35 posts)
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Posted September 19, 2012
GOG loves D&D! Here's why:

While our [url=http://www.gog.com/en/promo/hasbro_stacking_promo]Diamonds of D&D promo is in the works we--the GOG.com staff-- would like to share some very personal memories with you. Today we we're talking about Neverwinter Nights, the game that had an excellent single-player campaign but it was the outstanding multiplayer capabilities and modding support that prolonged its lifespan indefinitely.

Today we welcome a special guest, who committed a lot of time and effort to creating and maintaining one of the most active cRPG communities out there: NeverwinterNights.info. But before we move to his statement, let's hear what some of the GOG.com staff members have to say about NWN.
[/i]

I was an admin for one of the Poland's biggest persistent NWN servers for two years. In my opinion the today's MMO's don't even come close to the amazing feeling we maintained in our very own fantasy world. The Neverwinter Nights multiplayer was as close to the real pen&paper RPG experience as a computer game can possibly get!
--Mr.A, the GOG.com video violator


Ah, to create worlds and populate them with virtual people (and other creatures), each with its own back-story and personality. Nothing beats the feeling! I love designing devious dungeons and manufacturing monumental landscapes. Had I more programming skill I would have become an actual game dev. Neverwinter Nights--like no other game--gave me a set of almost hassle-free tools that made playing god easier than ever! And one more thing: Whoah! Mr.A actually played a computer game?!
--G-Doc, the GOG.com clickity-click guy


DANGER: Neverwinter Nights just might be the last RPG you buy! Why, you ask? Quite simply, because in addition to more than 100 hours of exciting adventure that ships in the original Neverwinter Nights Diamond campaigns, there is a lifetime of adventure that awaits you online. Enough to satisfy even the most discriminating RPG player. You see, one of the most exciting and enduring aspects of Neverwinter Nights is its multiplayer capability. Shipped with the game are a toolset and a special application that enable players to craft their own adventures and host those games for others to play via LAN or internet connection. Due to these powerful adventure-crafting tools, hundreds and hundreds of online worlds have sprouted up and are frequented every day by thousands of players– even as the game celebrates over 10 years of play.

Playing online is easy. Just click the “Multiplayer” option when the title screen appears after you launch Neverwinter Nights. This will launch the Gamespy client (that ships with the game) and after creating a username and password, you’ll be connected online and can view or join any one of the worlds. Create a character on that world and jump into the action. It’s that simple. These worlds run the gamut of play styles such as roleplay (where you can let your inner elf come to the fore), hack’n'slash action, arena combat, social, or story-based. Most blend a bit of everything. They may be based on the worlds of popular fiction or be of the designer’s creation. They may be set in the world of fantasy, the modern world, or even science fiction. Try a few, try them all. You’re sure to find more than a few that fit your interests and excite your imagination.
The best part is that access to this unlimited online adventure is free. With your purchase of NWN, you gain access to play all these without ever having to pay again. Unlike those “free to play” MMO games where up it is free up to a certain level or where success can only be achieved through plunking down additional cash for gems to buy the best equipment, Neverwinter Nights online play is wholly and entirely free. Forever.

If that wasn’t enough, you could download any of the hundreds of free community-created adventures from [url=http://nwvault.ign.com/]nwvault.com[/url] (many of these are regarded as being as good as or better than the original campaigns). You can also expand your game with new spells, feats, skills, races, classes, or treasure. At the risk of beating a dead orc, this content is also free. The prolific community-driven effort to create adventures and expand the look and feel of the game has led to a large and passionate following for the game that has succeeded in making Neverwinter Nights stand tall, even when compared to the RPG games of today. So, where should your Neverwinter Nights adventure begin? NeverwinterNights.info is a good place to understand the depth of the game. Get online and find out why Neverwinter Nights just might be the last RPG you buy. Ever.
--Thudnblunder, Neverwinter Nights Community Site admin


So, there you have it. Personal stories of (mostly multiplayer) group love for the Neverwinter Nights. Care to share one of yours?

IMPORTANT NOTICE: In order to access the game's multiplayer features you need to input a unique CD-key. Here's an explanation on how to redeem one for your GOG.com copy of Neverwinter Nights: Diamond Edition.

[i]The previous entries in our GOG loves D&D series, along with some great user-submitted stories (thank you!), can be found here:
GOG loves D&D: The Baldur's Gate series
GOG loves D&D: Planescape: Torment
GOG loves D&D: Icewind Dale series
GOG loves D&D: Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
[/i]
Post edited September 19, 2012 by G-Doc
Posted September 19, 2012
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GOG.com: the game that had an excellent single-player campaign
That's funny.
Posted September 19, 2012
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GOG.com: GOG loves D&D! Here's why:
If that wasn’t enough, you could download any of the hundreds of free community-created adventures from (many of these are regarded as being as good as or better than the original campaigns). <a href="http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/gog_loves_dd_neverwinter_nights/post1" class="link_arrow"></a></div> Might be the time to repost a link to the old thread where we went through &amp; praised [url=http://www.gog.com/en/forum/neverwinter_nights_diamond/a_few_really_stupefyingly_good_modules]some of our own favourites from the vault.

Some of those not only match the NWN original campaign, but match the campaign of any D&D game out there.
Yeah, even that one.
Posted September 19, 2012
I don't know why, but in my mind the titles "Icewind Dale" and "Neverwinter Nights" always get mixed up. This has been as long as I can remember. Even now, I though this was the earlier IWD thread, and I was wondering why someone was bumping it..
Post edited September 19, 2012 by timppu
Posted September 19, 2012
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GOG.com: the game that had an excellent single-player campaign
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Roslavets: That's funny.
Hordes of the Underdark was an excellent single-player campaign. That counts, since it did claim the singular.

I've spent more time playing NWN over the years (between single-player mods and PW's) than I've spent on any other three games combined. I still play it (though not nearly as much as I used to).
Posted September 19, 2012
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timppu: I don't know why, but in my mind the titles "Icewind Dale" and "Neverwinter Nights" always get mixed up. This has been as long as I can remember. Even now, I though this was the earlier IWD thread, and I was wondering why someone was bumping it..
It may have something to do with this old trailer.
Posted September 19, 2012
Tried it, did not enjoy it, gave up. In fairness, I was playing as a wizard; I think without a party to back me up, a cleric or melee character would have been a better choice, but it sounds like there's kind of a consensus that the vanilla single player campaign ain't much. Maybe I'll try again some time, but at the moment, I'm giving Baldur's Gate a second chance, and there are only so many hours in the day.
Posted September 19, 2012
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BadDecissions: Tried it, did not enjoy it, gave up. In fairness, I was playing as a wizard; I think without a party to back me up, a cleric or melee character would have been a better choice, but it sounds like there's kind of a consensus that the vanilla single player campaign ain't much.
As someone who has played NWN for quite a bit, I'm absolutely astounded how the same pattern keeps going on: People got NWN, played the campaign, and concluded the game is rubbish.

I think the singleplayer campaign was mostly cobbled together as an afterthought or a proof of concept of what you can do with the toolset. NWN was made for both user-created content (singleplayer and multiplayer) and group-oriented multiplayer, and they didn't stop advertising these facts. And yet somehow people just looked at the relatively ho-hum campaign. Gross injustice in my book. =)

So go out there, download some of the modules people made, and perhaps go writing some of your own!

If you have to do the campaign, at least play SoU and HotU. I thought both of them were amazing, HotU especially. (...actually never finished it. I should start over some day.)

And I think it's a shame Bioware didn't make more of Witch's Wake, but at least they kinda managed to reach some of the same atmosphere in Dragon Age: Origins. =)
Posted September 19, 2012
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wwwwolf: I think the singleplayer campaign was mostly cobbled together as an afterthought or a proof of concept of what you can do with the toolset. NWN was made for both user-created content (singleplayer and multiplayer) and group-oriented multiplayer, and they didn't stop advertising these facts. And yet somehow people just looked at the relatively ho-hum campaign. Gross injustice in my book. =)

So go out there, download some of the modules people made, and perhaps go writing some of your own!

If you have to do the campaign, at least play SoU and HotU. I thought both of them were amazing, HotU especially. (...actually never finished it. I should start over some day.)
I may be one of a few, but I kinda liked the original single-player campaign. However I liked it most because of its openness: I could go wherever I wanted, any time I wanted. I spent most of my time doing side-quests and paid marginal attention to the plot.

I only barely started SoU afterwards and it didn't look bad either, just a bit more linear. Gotta return to it sooner or later. And now people are saying HotU is better than both campaigns and there's much more high-quality content to experience? If I didn't have my original (still working) DVD I would buy NWN right away.
Posted September 19, 2012
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BadDecissions: Tried it, did not enjoy it, gave up. In fairness, I was playing as a wizard; I think without a party to back me up, a cleric or melee character would have been a better choice, but it sounds like there's kind of a consensus that the vanilla single player campaign ain't much. Maybe I'll try again some time, but at the moment, I'm giving Baldur's Gate a second chance, and there are only so many hours in the day.
Echoing wwwolf up there, the expansions were a lot better for story, although still not as memorable as the stories of other D&D games in the same "tradition". Still, I think where NWN truly shined was multiplayer. If you never tried it, you should - it's one of the best mp RPG games out there, especially with the expansions and many of the epic campaigns done by modders over the years. I think one shouldn't play NWN for its included story, but for the ones built all around it by others.

If you want a good story, NWN 2 and its expansions are better!
Posted September 19, 2012
I also really enjoyed the NWN and well all the existing mods significantly extended the life of the game:)

maybe a bit off-topic but great to hear that you guys managed to get together with Obsidian on releasing the DRM free version of their Kickstarter Project Eternity:) I'm a backer myself and welcomed the news of a posibility of getting the copy on GOG, when it'll get made, with a great yey!!! :). There were really many people asking for it on their fora from the day one of the campaign. Did they contact you about it or did you make the first move? (if that's not a secret?;)
Posted September 19, 2012
Well, it was a decent game for its time I guess, especially for D&D fans.
Compared to other crpgs of its time, it was rather mediocre (weak story, uninspired side-quests, non-existent party etc.). Hordes of the Underdark on the other hand was really well-made and profound in terms of story telling and gameplay.
I think also that NWN 2 is miles ahead from its predecessor (Mask of the Betrayer especially)!
Post edited September 19, 2012 by aldrahn
Posted September 19, 2012
The original Neverwinter Nights is one of my Great Disappointments. The campaign, which I'd heard so much praise about, was an uninspired mix of everything in the setting, blasé writing and copypasted environments. The final dungeon used the standard cave tileset!

Random frustrations:
-I'd missed picking up a quest item in act 2, so I never got much from my henchman in the last third of the game (something similar happened in Dragon Age 2 with much less dire consequences).
-Instant death spells. In a single-person party game. At least you could respawn for a minor penalty... Come to think of it, Vagrant Story does that too, for some reason.
-Loot level caps. By the end of the first act or so you stopped getting any new loot. The best stuff you could get was generic +3 stuff. Never mind that the campaign goes on until about level 19. I don't think there were even any unique items with a higher modifier.
-Ugly graphics. I mean, like, artistically ugly. You have no idea how sick I was of the low-poly models and the complete lack of unique, memorable things to look at. The only thing the engine did moderately well was largish areas. Even I had to stop and admire the view when I came to an area that actually utilized that the game engine could handle terrain elevation.

Still, the game isn't completely terrible. Shadows of Undrentide (written by Naomi Novik, oddly enough) and Hordes of the Underdark are both considerably more enjoyable as they are just long enough to keep things fresh without feeling like a rip-off. I also enjoyed that particular area in act 2 where you're asked to pass judgement on the leaders of a village which is trapped in an eternal loop for their crimes.

Most important, however, is probably that A Dance With Rogues was made using the NWN editor. Aside from being a kick-buttocks (and very adult) mod, it manages to take the rather bland vanilla tileset and make it look interesting, something I did not consider possible. It does utilize the expansion tilesets as well, but not to the same extent.

Anyway, the sequel is better in every way aside from optimization, and it also hosts the very Planescape: Torment-y expansion Mask of the Betrayer. So, er, I like it better.

I realise I haven't mentioned multiplayer; that's because I could never bother to play the game as anything but a singleplayer game. I probably missed out on a very neat experience, but at this junction it's a bit late for that.
Post edited September 19, 2012 by Whitecroc
Posted September 19, 2012
Okay, now I want to play it in multiplayer - that's not a common thing.
Well, NWN is one of the games that I still have to REALLY play anyway (only played a little of the original single-player campaign years ago).
Posted September 19, 2012
Anyone who hasn't even got a clue what "Aielund saga", "The Prophet" or "Excrucio Eternum" means and how that relates to NWN has really wasted their money on buying the latter, I'm sorry to say. :P

When I started playing NWN, I had already heard lots of bad stuff about the original campaign, but I still gave it a try. And lost interest not long after the tutorial. But I didn't stop there, I just decided to check out what the community has to offer instead. And soon I was blown away and really into this game. I've played it almost exclusively for about three years (!), downloading one community module after the other. And that's only single-player. The original campaign doesn't even come close to what NWN is about (although I have to agree that HotU is great, it's the only official campaign I ever played through).

Abandoning NWN just because of its terrible campaign might have been a good excuse back in the days, when community content was sparse and people were disappointed that they didn't get a true successor to Baldur's Gate, but nowadays, with 10 years of accumulated files on the NWVault, it comes across as rather ignorant, especially since there's such a nice and helpful community to help you get started.


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BadDecissions: Tried it, did not enjoy it, gave up. In fairness, I was playing as a wizard; I think without a party to back me up, a cleric or melee character would have been a better choice
Personally I find playing a wizard is not as unforgiving on the lower levels in NWN than in other D&D games like BG, although I'd probably prefer a sorcerer. It all comes down to your playstyle. You can create your own party, consisting of you, your familiar (e.g. the panther) and a summoned animal (e.g. badger), then move carefully and draw single enemies out, sic your pets on them and cast or shoot from a distance.
Post edited September 19, 2012 by Leroux
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General discussion (archive)GOG loves D&D: Neverwinter Nights(35 posts)(35 posts)
(35 posts)