It'd be unfair if I were given all the credit, since it's sbJFn5r who wrote a python script to generate these files.

I don't know if the generator will be uploaded to the Vault or not, but I suggest you make back-up copies nevertheless.

Have a nice play! Cheers!

Thanks a bunch Taro.

I've made a mirror on MediaFire just in case the MEGA link goes down again. I should think with both mirrors the chance of the generator being lost will be much lower.

GoG won't let me post links for whatever reason so just condense the hyperlink below into one line. Spoofing GoG's crappy bot protection system is kinda irritating honestly.

http://
www.
mediafire
.com/
download/
td6b03ra0c8lvgw/
Offline_Authenticator_Generator.7z

Well, thank you sbJFn5r!

I have created a Mediafire account & uploaded the file to it.

ht tp :// ww w.mediafire.com/download/azf4mgk4tef536r/Offline_Authenticator_Generator.7z

As always, remove the spaces.

Thanks a lot for this! I could always play the premium modules just fine (those not included in the Diamond Edition) and just now noticed they didn't work anymore. Now I don't have to worry any more about this.

???

I've just uploaded the generator to the Vault, it can now be found under this link:

http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/tool/premium-module-offline-authenticator-generator

If no one puts forth any objections, then it should stay on the Vault safely. :)

I tried all of them and waited for 10 minutes for each on authenticating screen. Nothing happened. And when I clicked the "Play demo" it goes back to main screen.

Read other posts in this thread - servers actually did work back then and allowed you to authenticate, but now they don't, so your only way of playing premium modules is by using the offline authenticator generator.

Thank you. I already checked Taro's link but it says use it only if you bought these Modules while they were on sale. Which I didnt so I am reluctant to use them.

Well I used it and now all the modules work. Thanks Taro.

downloaded from the vault - followed the instructions - worked like a charm. Thanks :)

I've just given this offline authenticator a try and can also confirm that it works. Using an install monitor, I was able to check that the only changes made by it on my system were the 3 .dat files it created (which had to be manually copied to the NWN Premium folder) and 3 files in the NWN Database folder (almost certainly created by one of the premium modules since they contained data on the character used for testing).

Like Hickory, my gaming system is completely offline and has never had a network connection so these 3 modules would never work (testing beforehand reconfirmed this - the modules would remain on the Demo/Cancel dialogue box even after 10 minutes' wait). As for Hickory's experience - I'd suggest that the most likely reasons are either (a) he has somehow managed to acquire actual DRM-free installers from Bioware or a third party or (b) his system has an "overlooked" network connection (built-in motherboard wireless adaptor for example) - easy enough to check with a ping to a network address.

Just in case the first option applies, the MD5 checksum for the InfiniteDungeons_Installer.exe file I downloaded was 00D94741B081BC4C34739C5E82CD0D0D - if Hickory gets a different checksum and his installers are legitimate, then perhaps he might wish to submit them to GOG so they can make them available to others here?

However a big thanks is due to Taro and sbJFn5r for providing the means of playing these modules offline. The closure of EA/Bioware's authentication server and the problems it has caused paying customers looks to be one of the early examples of online activation causing loss of content with software (there have been several cases for music stores using Microsoft's super-inappropriately named "Plays for Sure" DRM).

For the record, I didn't buy them *solely* due to the likelihood of this happening - it's taken longer than I expected though. Not decided whether to keep these or not, but since I have three paid-for copies of NWN - the original boxed version, Atari's cheapskate Deluxe Edition (pretty cardboard sleeve but no printed manuals or maps - still annoyed about that) and GOG's release, I think I'm allowed some leeway...

Cheers for the offline authenticator.

It worked like charm and made my day.

On the other hand these modules hadn't been available anywhere for years - so anyone who bought Neverwinter Nights after they stopped being sold didn't even have a chance to buy them. And the only reason why GOG don't include them in the NN collection is because of licencing issues.

If EA wanted or could sell these premium modules they would have done so years ago, as they continued to sell them until Atari ordered them (at the time Bioware) to stop selling them within one day in 2009 or so, which they did. And even if they would manage to somehow re-acquire the rights, given that now they shut down the master authentication server, they obviously have no desire to bring them back. Even people who legally bought them can't play them without the patch - if they did plan to re-acquire the rights to sell the modules, they wouldn't permanently shut the server down.

So unless you use this workaround you'll never be able to play them because you'll never be able to buy them.