I'd say there is something wrong with your hardware/software combination, because it works maxed out without problems on a half as strong laptops.

NWN2 is optimized poorly.

When NWN2 came out, I ran it with single core AMD 64 + 6600GS and there were slowdowns and stutters. I recently went through OC + MotB again with my current Phenom II x4 @ 3Ghz + ATI 4870, and while the performance was marginally better, it wasn't such a big difference and the performance drops are still here and there. (well ok, the resolutions are now doubled)

The game is pretty much CPU bound and not very multithreaded at all.
Good thing is, nowadays almost anything is enough to get reasonable performance out of it.

--
Edit. But hey, nothing plays NWN1 without hiccups either.

this is the best price i have ever seen for this package.

MoW is only included in:
http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-DDNWNC/dungeons-and-dragons-neverwinter-nights-complete

as far as i know.

the last time it was on discount by steam it was only 66% so around 7 euro and this was already more than worth its price.

only chance to get it cheaper with MoW is to wait for GG to drop the price or having another priceerror.

Did they ever fix the camera issues? Even with their so called "camera fix", which came with a patch (and MoTB installed) the camera constantly got stuck in things, such as the ceiling... and the AI issues were also a huge issue when I tried to play it (having my party members run back & forth between two enemies, without bothering to hit them was more than a little frustrating, and with AI off the micromanagement became annoying)

Darn, it was tough to resist when it was deal of the deay on GG, and now here it goes again on Steam, with even better price... Is my E5200 Dual Core 2.5GHz, 2 GB RAM and ATI 4650 1 GB DDR2 will be able to handle it?

The game is from 2006, and it was possible to run it on a decent computer from that time, so yes your computer will be able to run it. Probably not on the highest settings though. As others pointed out, the game is horribly poorly optimized.

Sounds like one of the ATI driver issues. I've run this game on 5 machines without problems, all nVidia GPUs and the lowest clock multicore processor of 1.7Ghz.

Three of those were were laptops which are not known for great compatibility overall.
So calling it still unoptimized sounds a bit stretched depending on your view.
You could easily blame ATI for constantly making bad drivers through the years as blaming Obsidian on making unoptimized games.

Oh and please don't confuse this with a fan boy rant, I remember well the crap nVidia pulled with a GPU melting drivers and I acknowledge ATI's superior technology through the years, but from the first Radeon card they were always held back by their drivers.

argh then I guess my fate is sealed! Absolutely loved the first NWN, finished both expansions, had a great time. Hope it will be similar with the sequel.

I have NWN2 on disk, along with "Storm of Zehir". It's funny that I think the game is superb, but I still prefer the first NWN and I can't really tell why.

That's because you're such a smart fellow with keen intuitive insight on what makes a great game!
NWN 1 is just awesome with it's "dance of death" combat, all that dodging and blocking going on.
The animations are superb, second only to those in Temple of Elemental Evil.

NWN2 is a great game, the official campaigns is way better than in NWN1 and the graphics are a mile higher.
But NWN1 is just better.

Give me my NWN3 already and stop making those stupid MMO disasters and action-whatevers!!

I hated NWN1. Yes, that's right, hated. A year or so ago, I tried to play it again, and I still hadn't changed my mind. The whole idea behind the game was flawed to the bone because of poor execution and unless you were among the few to have a good group of people to play with (a rare thing) you'd end up annoyed, frustrated and bored.

I heard the later expansions were better, but if we're talking about NWN1, it was pretty shit no matter how you look at it: the campaign was a complete joke. The quests were simplistic, predictable, the maps were uninspired and felt generic, the story itself was yawn inducing and that's without even touching upon the real flaws: how the game handled the story when in a group. Someone would accidentally talk to a vital NPC without anyone being around and then everyone would lose track of the story - or you'd be killed and resurrected while the others merrily talk to NPCs, meaning you're completely lost. No matter how hard I tried to keep track of the story, it was impossible. And this was with a group that really TRIED.

In the end, I just tagged along, giving up any chance of the story making any sense because the idiots at Bioware hadn't thought of *gasp* including a dialogue log which many other RPGs DID have.

So yes, I hated it for having such dumb and obvious flaws, for its pathetic campaign, the poor execution of a great idea. The editor was a joke as well - you couldn't even mix different tile sets and what you could do with them was very limited too.

You are not alone. Not at all. The story in the main campaign of NWN was horrendous anyway. I suspect that the attack at the academy at the start of the game was supposed to make you hate the bad guys, but none of the NPCs there had really shown any personality, and their deaths just ended up being a big *shrug*. I did not care, the game did not give me a reason to care. It was all just so poorly set up. If they had given you some time to get to know them, to flesh them out, to introduce the world properly, then the big attack might have worked, but the way they did it was just stupid.

Then we have what comes afterwards. You get to a new area, and you now have 3 directions to go. No, don't try to get to know any of the NPCs, they are unimportant. Their lives and personalities are unimportant. Just go out and kill stuff, and follow the directions of your superiors. Along the way you also get some followers, but they don't have any personalities, so don't worry about that. So you finish the area, and a new one. And guess what? 3 directions. NPCs are just as unimportant and bland as in the last area. So just go out and kill stuff.
And again you get to a new area. Same story as last time, 3 directions, bland NPCs. But what is that? Some of your companions actually have something to say about themselves? Too little, too late.
And then someone important dies, but as the person had no real personality other than the persons class, the persons death feels unimportant. It had been with you through the entire game, but was so bland that it might as well have been a scroll giving you directions on where to go next.

*sighs* From a storytelling point of view, NWN was a disaster. It was not just bad, it was horrendous. The expansions are better, but giving the low standard that the core game set, that is not really saying much.

*edit* Sorry about that rant, but I really hate NWN.

Lol, opinions seem to differ. :)

To clarify, I love NWN1 gameplay mechanics (never tried multiplayer so no opinion of that).
The campaigns were fine, nothing amazing but just fine. You get to know the ropes and have a bit of fun.

To me NWN is not so much a game as a platform for running custom modules. Like these.

But if you hate the gameplay and the whole system... well it takes all kinds.
Bunch of really good modules for NWN2 as well, not quite as many and few meet the OC campaign standards.

It includes the 2 expansions.

By the way, bought, and that is it for my christmas budget