Greatatlantic
Erudite
Yep, I'd estimate I'm at about 10 hours of gameplay, give or take. Actually, probably just take. Anyways, here's been my experience so far.
Pick up DVD version pre-order. Ooogle at the 80 page manual with glossy pages. Then I tried to insall, and I get a message asking me to put in install disc 1. There is no install disc 1, its all on that DVD. I try it on an older computer incapable of handling the gameplay but with a DVD drive, it does indeed start to install. No one has posted any similar problems on the tech forums, so I just bite the bullet and exchange it for a CD version. This install just fine, and SEVEN CDs later I can play.
My specs: 3.2 ghz Pentium 4, 1 gig RAM, 7800GS (256 MB). I think the graphics look great and I'm not getting any noticeably bad performance. I haven't even checked the settings though. Its enough for me to just know it looks fine.
Next up is character creation. If you played the original Neverwinter then you know pretty much what to expect. However, there is a new race (planetouched) and almost all races has numerous sub categories that are pretty different from each other in terms of ability modifiers and favored classes. For example, under elf you have the drow sub-race along with sun, moon, and wood elves. There are 12 possible classes to start from, including the brand new warlock class, which looks like some sort of direct damage spell caster. Also, for what I assume is for the main campaign only, you can pick a "Background" which gives you some minor bonuses and penalties, and the other characters will speak to you with your background in mind.
For my character, I created an Aasimir, a mostly human with just a bit of angel in their blood. I made him a lawful good cleric with more of a spell focus. Can't remember dominions off the top of my head.
MINOR SPOILERS START HERE
The tutorial is actually you trying to win the harvest fair cup, it is a competition for the young of the village to help emphasis their need to be strong, since the village is often attacked by swamp creatures. To help you out the game teams you up with two child hood friends, your first henchmen, who are a fighter and a wizard. I found winning it be fairly easy, and the only real challenge was the brawl.
After winning, or failing if its possible, you skip ahead to later that night when the town is invaded by strange dwarves and other creatures. Your first quest is to gather up the scattered town militia in order to fight the invaders in force. There are multiple ways to do this. Some people are injured. As a cleric I was able to use my faith to heal them. If I had been a chaotic evil bastard, I had the option to slit their throats. Other people can be convinced to leave their homes using diplomacy, intimindation, or other "methods of persuasion".
After this you are sent to the city of Neverwinter (I'm skipping details here, such as the fact you have a foster father and a broken piece of silver). Getting to Neverwinter seems to be setting the stage for the rest of the game. There are a few missions you have to do, but a lot more optional quests. For example, there is a fort on the way to the city whose commander has gone missing and his replacement refuses to run patrols necessary to keep merchants safe. Meanwhile, soldiers are harassing travelers since there is a bounty on "bandits" and they aren't to picky. You can do a quest to save the commander from a necromancer, but on the way back to the fort the replacement will confront you and say the real commander is to be arrested or just outright killed. I managed to successfully use intimidate to get his muscle to stand down and there was no fight (though I worry there was no die role either).
Upon arriving at Neverwinter you'll lean a bit more about a shard and where to go next, Black Lake, the ritzy part of town. Unfortunately, there was a murdered noble men there and the section has been totally sealed off. From here you have two options. You can currey favor with the local thieves in the hopes they have a secret way in, or you can join the city watch and fight the thieves in hopes you'll get permission to enter the disctrict. Being lawful good, there really was only one option for me. You then spend time rooting out the corruption. Interestingly enough, even after joining the City Watch you can still accept bribes from the thieves or extort money out of other people. I didn't try these routes, but they are there.
MINOR SPOILERS STOP HERE
And thats about where I am now story wise. My big complaint would be with the camera. Though you have 4 different modes, all of them seem to have problems. It can be pretty difficult to navigate around and see everything thats happening. Beyond that, the combat is... OK. They did a much better job then the original OC simply by having less of it. Spacebar is the pause key so its easy to to figure out what to do. The interface is pretty different then the original. I'm still getting use to it, but hitting F brings up a list of all the spells you have memorized so you can quickly select one and cast it.
Anyone have any other questions? It seems like I'm just getting my toes wet.
Pick up DVD version pre-order. Ooogle at the 80 page manual with glossy pages. Then I tried to insall, and I get a message asking me to put in install disc 1. There is no install disc 1, its all on that DVD. I try it on an older computer incapable of handling the gameplay but with a DVD drive, it does indeed start to install. No one has posted any similar problems on the tech forums, so I just bite the bullet and exchange it for a CD version. This install just fine, and SEVEN CDs later I can play.
My specs: 3.2 ghz Pentium 4, 1 gig RAM, 7800GS (256 MB). I think the graphics look great and I'm not getting any noticeably bad performance. I haven't even checked the settings though. Its enough for me to just know it looks fine.
Next up is character creation. If you played the original Neverwinter then you know pretty much what to expect. However, there is a new race (planetouched) and almost all races has numerous sub categories that are pretty different from each other in terms of ability modifiers and favored classes. For example, under elf you have the drow sub-race along with sun, moon, and wood elves. There are 12 possible classes to start from, including the brand new warlock class, which looks like some sort of direct damage spell caster. Also, for what I assume is for the main campaign only, you can pick a "Background" which gives you some minor bonuses and penalties, and the other characters will speak to you with your background in mind.
For my character, I created an Aasimir, a mostly human with just a bit of angel in their blood. I made him a lawful good cleric with more of a spell focus. Can't remember dominions off the top of my head.
MINOR SPOILERS START HERE
The tutorial is actually you trying to win the harvest fair cup, it is a competition for the young of the village to help emphasis their need to be strong, since the village is often attacked by swamp creatures. To help you out the game teams you up with two child hood friends, your first henchmen, who are a fighter and a wizard. I found winning it be fairly easy, and the only real challenge was the brawl.
After winning, or failing if its possible, you skip ahead to later that night when the town is invaded by strange dwarves and other creatures. Your first quest is to gather up the scattered town militia in order to fight the invaders in force. There are multiple ways to do this. Some people are injured. As a cleric I was able to use my faith to heal them. If I had been a chaotic evil bastard, I had the option to slit their throats. Other people can be convinced to leave their homes using diplomacy, intimindation, or other "methods of persuasion".
After this you are sent to the city of Neverwinter (I'm skipping details here, such as the fact you have a foster father and a broken piece of silver). Getting to Neverwinter seems to be setting the stage for the rest of the game. There are a few missions you have to do, but a lot more optional quests. For example, there is a fort on the way to the city whose commander has gone missing and his replacement refuses to run patrols necessary to keep merchants safe. Meanwhile, soldiers are harassing travelers since there is a bounty on "bandits" and they aren't to picky. You can do a quest to save the commander from a necromancer, but on the way back to the fort the replacement will confront you and say the real commander is to be arrested or just outright killed. I managed to successfully use intimidate to get his muscle to stand down and there was no fight (though I worry there was no die role either).
Upon arriving at Neverwinter you'll lean a bit more about a shard and where to go next, Black Lake, the ritzy part of town. Unfortunately, there was a murdered noble men there and the section has been totally sealed off. From here you have two options. You can currey favor with the local thieves in the hopes they have a secret way in, or you can join the city watch and fight the thieves in hopes you'll get permission to enter the disctrict. Being lawful good, there really was only one option for me. You then spend time rooting out the corruption. Interestingly enough, even after joining the City Watch you can still accept bribes from the thieves or extort money out of other people. I didn't try these routes, but they are there.
MINOR SPOILERS STOP HERE
And thats about where I am now story wise. My big complaint would be with the camera. Though you have 4 different modes, all of them seem to have problems. It can be pretty difficult to navigate around and see everything thats happening. Beyond that, the combat is... OK. They did a much better job then the original OC simply by having less of it. Spacebar is the pause key so its easy to to figure out what to do. The interface is pretty different then the original. I'm still getting use to it, but hitting F brings up a list of all the spells you have memorized so you can quickly select one and cast it.
Anyone have any other questions? It seems like I'm just getting my toes wet.
