Interview Feargus talks about NWN2 at Eurogamer

[kingcomrade]

Yes, I donated 20 bucks in the last drive, thanks.

Whiney bitches? Au Contraire, you're the one crying putz. So Seven laid into you too huh?

Yes, he totally destroyed me with his wit and subtlety, just like you.

 

[Rat Keeng]

I'm a'gonna whip all you pubic bunnies into submission, mark my words. Go on, mark them!

Fallout 2, on the other hand, became boring very quickly. Without a strong story to follow, the player just wanders around the wasteland, visiting towns in a random order and deciding what kind of end slides they get.

Not that the story's particularly strong, but I think a big factor in the boredom, is the glaring inconsistencies from one location to another. The devvies said way back that different people did different locations independently of one another, and they didn't communicate much inbetween, that sort of thing shows in the game.

 

[Twinfalls]

So does the piece of metal allow you to pick up FM radio? Maybe listen in on the cops?

btw: repeatedly posting rants about someone else's post count = rather obviously silly

 

[Jed]

Shrouded Hills --> Tarant --> BMC --> the penal colony island --> Wheel Clan --> Quintarra --> the book quest to find the dark elves, at which point the linear storyline is divided into two linear storylines --> Vendigroth --> Void

That's not entirely true. The second time I played Arcanum, I walked straight to Quintarra without going through the Wheel Clan caves.

 

[Jora]

Shrouded Hills --> Tarant --> BMC --> the penal colony island --> Wheel Clan --> Quintarra --> the book quest to find the dark elves, at which point the linear storyline is divided into two linear storylines --> Vendigroth --> Void

That's not entirely true. The second time I played Arcanum, I walked straight to Quintarra without going through the Wheel Clan caves.

Didn't know that's possible. However, I think you still neeed to talk to Loghaire to find out what happened to the missing dwarves and what you need to do in Quintarra. So going there early doesn't change the linearity of the main plot.

 

[DemonKing]

If we have to go around and collect every sword piece and reforge it I'm really going to lose faith in the creativity of the CRPG industry.

Of course - there could be interesting consequences to having a slither of a magical sword blade actually inside your body - maybe someone lops off the limb containing it and you have to go on a quest to find a wizard with a regeneration spell, who in turn demands a favour for doing the deed and finally after being healed you only then have a chance to track down the SOB who maimed you.

Or maybe in a turn about from the traditional "collect the four artifacts" quest maybe you only have to stop the baddies from retrieving them and destroy them.

Of course, more than likely, it's just another version of the NWN/KOTOR OC.

 

[crufty]

For me, NWN would have been a classic had there been multiple henchmen and no stone of recall/insta-healing/cure/raise dead, etc.

So I'm looking forward to NWN2.

 

[kingcomrade]

If we have to go around and collect every sword piece and reforge it I'm really going to lose faith in the creativity of the CRPG industry.

Don't worry, I hear they're working on a new subrace of elf which is going to totally pwn ur mind! You just have to wait until they finish writing the fanfic. I mean, the backstory.

 

[Screaming_life]

At the end of the battle there was a giant explosion, and what had happened was that the sword of the commander of the Githyanki basically explodes. And shatters. And not just shatters so there's a piece underneath the desk... but scatters across the planes.

Shattering across the planes suggests there could be enough pieces to makes several games!

Anyway, you never know, the bit in your leg might be the last piece... or it would be cool if the whole thing was an optional quest and there was another way to kill the bad person.

 

[Voss]

No, what would be cool is if they dropped the whole idea and hired actual writers to come up with a story.

 

[Fighter]

If we have to go around and collect every sword piece and reforge it I'm really going to lose faith in the creativity of the CRPG industry.

Judging by the fact that this would involve planetravel and as they said you will be traveling the entire sword coast (leaving no place for planetravel), then what you suggest wont be the case... Hopefully...

...and anyway how the story starts does not really tell you how it is going to be. Remember PST, you are amnesiac (very original, eh?), you cant die (agh, you are also special) and your quest is to find a bunch of people (in a bunch of different locations) who can give you a piece of a whole (just like that sword), in this case information.

Does not sound very original at first glance, does it?

No, what would be cool is if they dropped the whole idea and hired actual writers to come up with a story.

As if you have seen what they came up with...

 

[bryce777]

At the end of the battle there was a giant explosion, and what had happened was that the sword of the commander of the Githyanki basically explodes. And shatters. And not just shatters so there's a piece underneath the desk... but scatters across the planes.

Shattering across the planes suggests there could be enough pieces to makes several games!

Anyway, you never know, the bit in your leg might be the last piece... or it would be cool if the whole thing was an optional quest and there was another way to kill the bad person.

In the sequel, you assemble the armor of course.

 

[bryce777]

If we have to go around and collect every sword piece and reforge it I'm really going to lose faith in the creativity of the CRPG industry.

Judging by the fact that this would involve planetravel and as they said you will be traveling the entire sword coast (leaving no place for planetravel), then what you suggest wont be the case... Hopefully...

...and anyway how the story starts does not really tell you how it is going to be. Remember PST, you are amnesiac (very original, eh?), you cant die (agh, you are also special) and your quest is to find a bunch of people (in a bunch of different locations) who can give you a piece of a whole (just like that sword), in this case information.

Does not sound very original at first glance, does it?

No, what would be cool is if they dropped the whole idea and hired actual writers to come up with a story.

As if you have seen what they came up with...

Except that is a poor description of torment.

We can only speculate about nwn2 f course, but it already sounds pretty goofy.

 

[Fighter]

Except that is a poor description of torment.

That is the idea.

 

[Seven]

I'm also terribly sad to see that being here longer doesn't seem to impart any special wit or intelligence.

We may be short of wit or intelligence, but out dicks more than make up for it. Now open wide, baby.

The whiney bitches like this Sheriff or Seven grate on my nerves, the Codex might've been "better" way back when, but in their case it would be a mistake to think they had anything to do with it. It's like being talked down to on a Counter-Strike server by a clannie: unimpressive.

You're right, I can't claim to have made the Codex a better place; in fact, the majority of my posts over the last year have been nothing but sarcastic one liners.

You know what “grates” me though? It’s being criticised by a fat reject who had to sit next to the high school fag in the cafeteria.

While we’re on the subject of making the Codex a better place, what have you done lately, except contribute a shit load of spam? And in case you’re wondering, the only reason why you haven’t been dumbfucked yet is because you’re not worth the effort, every one already knows what you are and can smell you a mile a way.

 

[themadhatter114]

It's great how you guys are making up things that will be in the story just so you complain about how Obsidian is going to put them in there. Perhaps if Bioware were making the game you could bitch because, after all, they did make NWN and KOTOR exactly the same way, but there's really no indication that in NWN2 you're going to have to go fetch the sword shards or that it has any material relevance to the story beyond giving the character some motivation for actually starting the adventure as opposed to having expectations thrust upon you from the beginning.

All that was meant by 'more real' in the last comment was that the companion interaction was more realistic than the retarded way it was implemented in NWN1.

 

[Lurkar]

Look guys, this story is TOTALLY non-linear. I mean, this is how it's gonna be set up: You have to rebuild the sword across the planes, right? Here, let's give it a number like...four. Right, there's four planes you have to visit and get a part of teh super awesom3 sword from. And along the way you'll meet a crew including: a grizzled, hardened mercenary with a dark, secretive past involving family problems, a plucky female wizard (probably a superhot elf) with a dark, secretive past involving faimly problems, a hilarious little gnome who can't speak english but is really good in comput-er, MAGIC PUZZLE solving, and a wookie. Yeah, a wookie, because you go to the STAR WARS plane (I think I wet myself just saying that, it's so awesome). Anyways, this game is non-linear because you can visit these planes in ANY ORDER before going to the final, SUPER HIDDEN SECRET FIFTH PLANE that all the sword pieces reveal. Oh, and you don't talk at all on the fifth plane, you just kill things.

 

[kingcomrade]

I hate it when my melee units get sucked forward into battle, but my ranged units are all hung up shooting

You know, I've tried to post a few interesting threads, but since I'm uninterested in Oblivion and nobody else seems much interested in any of the alternative systems (Fallout Brainstorm was the thread I wanted to "succeed") that I've been thinking about, the threads die.

I don't criticize you at all, I barely even mention you, I only brought you up because you suffer from the same snobbery that Sheriff does, and though I'd like to say you're a bit more mature, your actions haven't supported that in any way.

I'm surprised you remember about the fag sitting at our table, I think I posted that months ago. It wasn't the reject table, if such a thing actually exists outside your imagination, he was just an obnoxious fag with the same friends as me.

 

[bryce777]

I'm surprised you remember about the fag sitting at our table, I think I posted that months ago. It wasn't the reject table, if such a thing actually exists outside your imagination, he was just an obnoxious fag with the same friends as me.

WOW

First off, that is the DEFINITION of the 'loser table'. In school things were different for me, but come on!

More importantly, this is PRICELESS. It is more pathetic than the tes library guy's april fool joke. I was sure he was making it up, and had no idea it could possibly be true....

 

[kingcomrade]

...? That a gay person sat at my table in high school? Ooh, teh shaem. You're really reaching.

 

[Seven]

...? That a gay person sat at my table in high school? Ooh, teh shaem. You're really reaching.

Fat Kid + Gay Kid = reject table, it's the law of the playround--you must torment vulnerable minorities and soft weaklings.

It's like Jake and the Fatman, except Jake is hyper-homo and the Fatman's still fat except he doesn't have the cool dog and he's not really cool himself, did I mention that he's still fat?

 

[Stephen Amber]

Fat kid and skinny kid are sort of interchangeable. High school sucked...

 

[Voss]

It's great how you guys are making up things that will be in the story just so you complain about how Obsidian is going to put them in there. Perhaps if Bioware were making the game you could bitch because, after all, they did make NWN and KOTOR exactly the same way, but there's really no indication that in NWN2 you're going to have to go fetch the sword shards or that it has any material relevance to the story beyond giving the character some motivation for actually starting the adventure as opposed to having expectations thrust upon you from the beginning.
.

So, you're saying they're going to introduce a major plot point that involves your characters background, a major event in the game (the town getting invaded), and make it clear that you have a bit of it in you...

and repeating over and over in interviews that this sword-fragment- in-your-ass is going to drive your interest in the story...

and you don't think they're going to make you do anything with it?
.
.
.
Anyone have that Dumbfuck title handy?

And yes, this is a lot better than having 'expectations' thrust upon you. (Aside from those expectation that you're going to deal with the sword and the powaz it conveys, of course).

Try this for an adventure hook, using the same base materials:
village, adventurer come of age. Mayor says to you 'I know you are eager to go off into the world. Please deliver this letter/package to {random NPC name} in Neverwinter, it will aid their rebuilding efforts.

You:
1) take the package straight to Neverwinter, with a straight focus on the A plot of the game.
2) ditch the package and go exploring. Get caught in B or C subplots (they're smaller), which lead you in some way to Neverwinter (likely interacting with the A plot at some point due to limited dev time, but not necessarily).
3) Go exploring, but get ambushed by Evil Minions, leading your path to Neverwinter eventually. (Back to A again)
4) Thumb your nose at the village, creating enough of a ruckus to get you noticed by villain(s). Leading you into D plot, where you actually have an opportunity to be EVIL and fight guards, leaders and etc, in your quest for power, possibly (but not requiring- you could be happy as an Evil lieutenant) eventually giving you an opportunity to take the villains position and power base. This would require some extra dialogue (and work). But workable with a decent faction affliation and reputation system.
*Gasp* actual replay potential.

You could even whine about multiplying development time by exponential factors and cut this last one and still have a workable story. The thing about motivating someone to play again, is the motivation is internal to the story, not a fucking gimmick. Memorable characters, intriguing plots, mysterious places, and in the case of the non-reading players of RPGs, good rewards.

Strangely the lack of an implanted Macguffin doesn't hurt a story at all.

 

[Fighter]

Try this for an adventure hook, using the same base materials:
village, adventurer come of age. Mayor says to you 'I know you are eager to go off into the world. Please deliver this letter/package to {random NPC name} in Neverwinter, it will aid their rebuilding efforts.

Yeah, a lot more original.

1) take the package straight to Neverwinter, with a straight focus on the A plot of the game.
2) ditch the package and go exploring. Get caught in B or C subplots (they're smaller), which lead you in some way to Neverwinter (likely interacting with the A plot at some point due to limited dev time, but not necessarily).
3) Go exploring, but get ambushed by Evil Minions, leading your path to Neverwinter eventually. (Back to A again)
4) Thumb your nose at the village, creating enough of a ruckus to get you noticed by villain(s). Leading you into D plot, where you actually have an opportunity to be EVIL and fight guards, leaders and etc, in your quest for power, possibly (but not requiring- you could be happy as an Evil lieutenant) eventually giving you an opportunity to take the villains position and power base. This would require some extra dialogue (and work). But workable with a decent faction affliation and reputation system.
*Gasp* actual replay potential.

Except they didn't go into more detail and you dont know if it isn't exactly like you describe, just with 'a sword up your ass'.

The thing about motivating someone to play again, is the motivation is internal to the story, not a fucking gimmick.

Motivating someone to play again is having multiple ways to go about things. There is nothing inherently bad in being 'the special one', it does not exclude good replay or roleplay. (like planescape torment)

Memorable characters, intriguing plots, mysterious places, and in the case of the non-reading players of RPGs, good rewards.

All claimed for NWN2.

Strangely the lack of an implanted Macguffin doesn't hurt a story at all.

*gasp* Do you have some insider information? To see if 'an implanted Macguffin' hurts the story or not, you should at least know what the story is, no?

 

[Avin]

I'd be happy of any stupid quest that makes me go to other planes, far from FR.