Game News NWN 2 interesting news

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Neverwinter Nights

There is a very interesting <a href=http://www.gamestar.de/news/pc-spiele/adventure/16800>article</a> regarding <b>NWN 2</b>. The article is in German so I had to rely on the <a href=http://www.rpgdot.com>RPG Dot</a>'s folks for an accurate translation.
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According to the article, <b>Trent Oster</b> said at the current Games Developer Conference that <b>NWN 2</b> would have even more limited editors because development and testing of the NWN editors cost about $2.5 million which was a quarter of the budget (nice budget they had, btw). Oster said that "We believe that the investment paid off as far as NWN is concerned but will have to evaluate whether we want to do the same in regards to NWN 2"
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I guess that Bio thinks that people bought NWN because of the epic single-player story
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPG Dot</A>

 

[Slather]

I think the prevailing wisdom at the Bio boards is that any "NWN2" would be a spiritual successor, rather than an actual sequel. Whatever that means.

I quite liked NWN. Apart from the fact that I couldn't jump. Or swim. Or ride. Or fly. Or play a proper evil character. Or find a non-stereotypical henchman.

"Hiya, I'm Sharwyn the sexy bard, do you want to see me do some hot harp action?"
"Hello dere, oim Tomy, and oim an oirish scallywag"

etc.

 

[EEVIAC]

$10 Million isn't that big a budget for a modern game - I've read reports of the new Hitman game costing over $30 Million. As for NWN2? I went over to RPGDot and noticed the Fable preview report - who cares about NWN2...

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I think the prevailing wisdom at the Bio boards is that any "NWN2" would be a spiritual successor, rather than an actual sequel. Whatever that means.

I think it would suggest the name would be the same, but the rest probably wouldn't. Thats the "spiritual" side of games. Something is barely connecting a game and its prequel, but people call it a "worthy successor" or something like that. There were people calling NWN a spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate, after all.

 

[Slather]

Quite probably. I think the link is even more tenuous than usual given that "NWN2" will probably not be in a FR setting or even use AD&D rules. Perhaps the best you can say is "well, its by the same people who made NWN..."

 

[Volourn]

More stupid rumours that gets reported as "news".

 

[Vault Dweller]

What's with the attitude? What rumors? That Bio is going to make NWN 2? That Trent said something at the conference? That there was a conference to begin with? What exactly are you bitching about?

 

[Anonymous]

NWN 2: The Butcher Visits 3.5

 

[Ultron]

NWN 2....with ragdoll physics for Aribeth's breasts!

 

[Volourn]

What's with the attitude? Just a statement of fact. This is a rumour which true or not, is not news.

 

[Jed]

It's a fairly well-established fact that the purpose of this site is news, speculation, and straight-up shit-talk about everything related to CRPGs and more. Which part of this have you missed out on for the last two years? Caveat emptor, Volournus.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Oh, I see, but how one separates facts from rumors? Is a press-release promising epic gameplay a rumor or a fact? Is an interview with a developer who talks about his plans a rumor or a fact? What about the ghost games: Jefferson and VB? Technicallly, they've never existed, yet there are well documented features and design elements. Technically, Black Isle is alive and kicking. You see, 95% of all game news are merely rumors, so why complain about this one? That's the nature of the gaming industry, projects are being developed for a very long time before carefully worded official announcements to state the obvious are made. I see no point in waiting for one.

 

[Volourn]

Fine. I'll let you have your fun. :D

 

[Ultron]

To me, the only software that can be legitimately called "rumors" are those involving John Romero or the words "Duke Nukem Forever". :shock:

 

[chrisbeddoes]

NWN 2 The four quests The revenge of Aribeth.

Aribeth and her undead awaken once more .
Find the four artifacts to stop her but only after you graduate from the academy tutorial.

LOL OMG that game will PWN you ALLLZ !!!!

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

No no, you misunderstand; this time you have to find Aribeth's 4 pieces to summon her, then kill her. Its the only way she can be killed.

 

[Ultron]

Don't forget the Kobold ambush.....

 

[Crappywarrior]

If you preorder, you even get the opportunity of finding the secret mystary fith artifact, which summons Aribeth nekkid for you to oggle. Because, you know, animated female paladins are such a turn on.

 

[Volourn]

Yes, yes they are.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Yes, yes they are.

How many times did you clean you monitor while playing NWN?

 

[Volourn]

Lost count...

 

[triCritical]

Doesn't a NWN2 prove that NWN was a failure? I mean wasn't it suppose to be the end all of CRPG gaming. And why call it NWN2, how about Aurora 2.0 with more limited capabilties, or whatever version number they will be on when its done?

The only question of interest to me is will NWN2 have more dual weilding rangers then KotOR-thesuck had dual weilding jedi's?

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Doesn't a NWN2 prove that NWN was a failure? I mean wasn't it suppose to be the end all of CRPG gaming.

Heh.

One of the problems with making sequels is that in the long run its not only cheapening the brand's name, its also causing expectations the devs will more than likely won't be able to handle. Not only that, how do you make a sequel to a game whose success was set in two different fronts? To the people who genuinely liked the OC (God bless those poor souls ) and the expansions, how do you follow those up? More phat lewt and more levels won't appease everyone, not even the most ardent Bioware fan.

And what about the side that was there for the modding-capabilities? If Bio makes the dangerous choice of going fully SP with it, without modding, trouble will arise. Unless they plan to cut MP from their plans, while still allowing for a fairly well supported modding platform, albeit SP-driven. If they manage to allow for the same type of dynamic modding Morrowind allowed for, that might be a giant step for them, instead of the very strict segmentation of NWN via modules which couldn't carry information in between them.

And didn't they come to realize they had spent too much money and resources in supporting the game's tools? What does that say about their would-be plans for the sequel, I wonder?

Interact with us, Dave

And why call it NWN2, how about Aurora 2.0 with more limited capabilties, or whatever version number they will be on when its done?

I'd be up for calling their game anything but NWN 2. If Bioware decides to do this, then they'll disapoint the consumer base they earned with NWN if NWN2 turns up to lack elements the prequel had.

 

[Voss]

Its worth pointing out that they were heading in the single player direction already...

HotU, after all, wasn't set up for MP.

And be all and end all computer games sound nice to marketing people, but in a field where 'State of the Art' changes every few months, its not really possible.

 

[Dhruin]

Yep, completely agree with that. If there's one thing Bio does *really* well, it's learning quickly how to broaden their market. They've learnt with KotOR that "accessible" (that word again) RPG-lite adventures with a good/evil track and nice production values sells *very* well. That will be the formula for Jade Empire and to a large degree, NWN2.

Oh, I think it's completely news-worthy. Much more interesting than the average review from some 3rd-rate website.