Constipated Craprunner
Erudite
You know you crave it!Mistress said:OK. That's a mental image I did not need.
You know you crave it!Mistress said:OK. That's a mental image I did not need.
Maybe this could explain the current loving of NWN and co?
I think that if a game does have any kind of focus on the story...than the story is possibely more important than the gameplay to an extent.
Well, it's better than Ive ever writtenSection8 said:Hows that for an analogy? :D
Section8 said:Well I personally don't think that BG had a terribly good story, the gameplay side of things was mediocre and even the peripheral stuff like advancement wasn't very compelling. Not only that but I felt the story lacked a decent method of delivery, however the most glaring flaw of BG is the false nature of the game world. Absolutely nothing in Baldur's Gate felt plausible. It was like adventuring through a world of cardboard cutouts, some of which had "Push to hear me talk!" buttons on them.
Section8 said:The bottom line here, is that when compared to games such as DIablo which dangle a fairly juicy carrot in front of the mule, NWN is dangling a parsnip that has been painted orange with the word "karet" written on it in magic marker. A magic marker wielded by the collective consciousness of sellout games media "pundits." There are a bunch of mules out there that believe the writing, and there are also a bunch of mules out there desperately trying to peel the orange paint off, respray it and re-write "karet" with its correct spelling.
The story was the reason I played BG:II. Since the story was centered around the character development of your character; your true identity is inextricably linked with major villans as they strive to take your power for their own. This drew me into the story and gave me the feeling that my actions could influence the way the story turned out. (even though that wasn't exactly true.. the main story was rather linear).
The sidequests however were well-crafted and gave me the feeling of freedom of the Fallout series, I especially liked the stronghold quests. There were also loads of sidequests, giving you a lot of story development choices.
The character development, particually on the NPCs that travelled with you, was ground breaking. They talk to you, they interact with the rest of the group, they can even fall in love with you.
The only game I have played which had better character development was Planescape:Torment., and that still didn't posess the feeling of interaction that BG2 gave me. Cardboard cutouts? I beg to differ.
Again I disagree. NWN can be used to create a very hardcore roleplaying fantasy, if you disagree you should play through the Lone Wolf modules available from http://nwvault.ign.com/. It always saddens me to see people put down NWN as as an over-hyped pile of propaganda, when they are missing the point, which is that NWN is essentially a genetic toolbox for growing different types of vegetable, and if you're still playing the poor single player campaign that the game ships with, you're chasing after a "karet" rather then its real fruit.
davmonster said:The story was the reason I played BG:II. Since the story was centered around the character development of your character; your true identity is inextricably linked with major villans as they strive to take your power for their own.
This drew me into the story and gave me the feeling that my actions could influence the way the story turned out. (even though that wasn't exactly true.. the main story was rather linear).
The sidequests however were well-crafted and gave me the feeling of freedom of the Fallout series,
There were also loads of sidequests, giving you a lot of story development choices.
The character development, particually on the NPCs that travelled with you, was ground breaking.
They talk to you,
they interact with the rest of the group,
they can even fall in love with you.
The only game I have played which had better character development was Planescape:Torment.,
Again I disagree. NWN can be used to create a very hardcore roleplaying fantasy, if you disagree you should play through the Lone Wolf modules available from http://nwvault.ign.com/.
It always saddens me to see people put down NWN as as an over-hyped pile of propaganda,
when they are missing the point, which is that NWN is essentially a genetic toolbox for growing different types of vegetable, and if you're still playing the poor single player campaign that the game ships with, you're chasing after a "karet" rather then its real fruit.
This is not true.. the entire story is based around the fact that you are a child of a god. As you get further into the game (and its expansion) it becomes an epic quest of self-realisation. Your in-game powers mirror this, growing as you get closer to your true form, even your dreams are effected.Your "true identity" is very little more than people occationally reminding you that you're Bhaalspawn.
Well IMHO the sidequests do blend into the story sufficently. Its oftern hard to distinguish which quests will further the story and which are just subplots, for example clearing the mines of BG1, which I thought it was merely a sidequest.Excepting, naturally, that they don't have anything to do with the story or affect it in any way, shape, or form.
I don't care whether BioWare's press release says, go and play 20 or so of the highest rated modules on http://nwvault.ign.com and see if you can't be entertained by just one. Its not that much effort to do, and if you can't be bothered, you are obviously not a hardcore RPGer such as those the module toolset was meant to please.Actually, the campaign was what BioWare focused on in all their press coverage. So, basically, you're the one missing the point.
Well of course its up to you, but the critical acclaim so far has been mostly for the toolset and the multiplayer option, if you're not going to experience them, your opinion is not going to be particually favourable.Like Gareth said, there's no real point in leaving that 2.2GB game on the drive when there's a slim chance at running across something halfway decent via download. NWNVault's rating system is a joke, since more than half the people who frequent that site think that NWN, which was a horribly crappy game all around, is worth the time.
You are obviously not a hardcore RPGer such as those the module toolset was meant to please
davmonster said:This is not true.. the entire story is based around the fact that you are a child of a god. As you get further into the game (and its expansion) it becomes an epic quest of self-realisation. Your in-game powers mirror this, growing as you get closer to your true form, even your dreams are effected.
Well IMHO the sidequests do blend into the story sufficently. Its oftern hard to distinguish which quests will further the story and which are just subplots, for example clearing the mines of BG1, which I thought it was merely a sidequest.
As for the NPCs.. their interaction with the game was more comprehensive then any game I have played before, including Fallout. More then the simple "Boss, Sulik is looking at me agaiin" they have their own agendas, (a certain NPC attempts to steal Boo for example.. in many lines of dialogue).. they can get to hate certain party members (at least one of which ends in a fight) for example.
The romancing may not be perfect, but its never been seen before in a modern game of this type. Planescape:Torment is one of the few titles that I can think of, that engrosses you in its NPCs in this way.
I don't care whether BioWare's press release says, go and play 20 or so of the highest rated modules on http://nwvault.ign.com and see if you can't be entertained by just one. Its not that much effort to do, and if you can't be bothered, you are obviously not a hardcore RPGer such as those the module toolset was meant to please.
Rating NWN on the engine and toolset alone, for me, it was ok, it was just the single player campaign that let it down. The point is that this already huge fan-contributed content can only grow and grow, as per Quake, meaning that sooner of later there is bound to be something out there that will please you.
Well of course its up to you, but the critical acclaim so far has been mostly for the toolset and the multiplayer option, if you're not going to experience them, your opinion is not going to be particually favourable.
*slayer mode off*
Saint_Proverbius said:Player: Damn, it sucks being human.
NPC: No, dude, you're Bhaalspawn.. Totally