NWN2: Storm of Zehir expansion (now confirmed)

[The Feral Kid]

they are discussing this addon with these "lizard-folk" with the Codex.

I'm sure you live under the illussion that your and others' opinion here matters and will affect the development of the game. It's called self-entitlement syndrome and is common among scum. The opinion of a loser spending his entire life with a keyboard does not and should not count to any serious developer. They're just trying to stir up some excitement, that's all. And Obsidian's games are all about genericness and casual gamers.

nobody said they were an epitome of evil. just another faction.

They're trying to present an uninteresting and limited faction that consists of the lowest life-form in the FR as a major villain. As I said it is suitable cause they're rather limited and easy to handle compared to some reallly big badasses in the FR that require a lot more research and work. That's understandable cause this a 15 hour expansion pack but the description tries to make it look as having more to it than it actually does.

Why do you lie? I can think fo tons of easier games than NWN OC. BIO's own KOTOR for one. Troika's own TOEE for another.

Both KOTOR and TOEE require at least some basic cooperation among the party as well as the formation of one and not just a single character to finish. NWN OC requires neither. It can be finished with a single character just hacking without using any of the abilities mentioned which the gameplay itself with its simplicity negates and deems redundant.

Where does it say Yuan-Ti will be the "ultimate evil bad-guys"? Seems to me like they just needed cannon fodder for their jungle areas.

"players will become aware of a new faction working behind
he scenes: the evil, shapeshifting, serpentine Yuan-Ti."

It's pretty damn straightforward and in-your-face if you aren't braindead. We are already aware from previous games that Yuan-Ti are nothing more than cannon fodder that offer roleplaying and depth similar to a deathclaw or a mudcrab, and Obsidian is trying to pass them as the ultimate villain to make up for their creative laziness.

 

[Trash]

They're trying to present an uninteresting and limited faction that consists of the lowest life-form in the FR as a major villain.

The kobolds have united and are running wild?

 

[easychord]

It's pretty damn straightforward and in-your-face if you aren't braindead. We are already aware from previous games that Yuan-Ti are nothing more than cannon fodder that offer roleplaying and depth similar to a deathclaw or a mudcrab, and Obsidian is trying to pass them as the ultimate villain to make up for their creative laziness.

It's obvious that you have read the Slayer's Guide to Yuan-Ti. As a sophisticated raconteur their history is not illustrious enough for you and their art fails to meet your exacting standards. It's obvious that Obsidian are being lazy in making the opponents in a economic module a race who prefer to talk rather than fight. How very obvious.

 

[axedice]

there is a sub-faction of Yuan-ti, the Vanguard of Sertrous (outlined in Elder Evils), who follow the teachings of the ancient obyrinth Sertrous, sometimes known as the first heretic, who wish to assist him in reconquering his layer of the Abyss.

now imagine how much Obsidian can get out of this if they will try. some potential PST goodness right there.

I doubt that any scenario featuring one of the new gods of 4th ed. can have any planescape goodness in it. They raped the whole planescape setting in 4th, removing all the planes, belief system, smart demons etc. Instead, you now have 2 planes called elemental chaos and astral sea with oblivian like demons in it. The devs are silent about changes with the 4th ed, and I don't see it as a good sign.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Another tidbit about the world map:

I know this is cool and all... but I can't help feeling somewhat disgruntled at the impact on character options. Do I have to play a Rogue/Ranger now or will having one in the party be sufficient?

Currently, you can select which character represents your party on the overland map. So as long as you have at least one character with the necessary skills, you'll be good to go.

Which warrants a question: is choosing a Ranger to represent your party a no-brainer? Are there any unique locations that can be discovered only by a character with high Lore and Spellcraft skills?

 

[Warden]

Now you totally spammed everything guys so the developer can't see and answer my question..


Anyway, from the NWN2 forum:

Q: Shoofly:
Is the party represented by the icon of a little guy like in Ultima?

Is animation possible on the overland map (e.g. waterfalls, flowing water, flags flying, etc?)

A: J.E. Sawyer:
The party is represented by a small version of the current party leader.

Almost anything that's possible on a normal NWN2 level is possible on the overland map; it's actually "just" a level that you build in the toolset.

 

[Lurkar]

Is someone honestly complaining about the Yuan-ti? The Yuan-ti are fucking awesome. The more Feral Kid types, the dumber he looks.

 

[MetalCraze]

And Obsidian's games are all about genericness and casual gamers.

while I myself disapprove of those little Obsidian's luv-luvs with the casual crowd like NWN2 OC and AP - KotOR2, which was bashed by "hardcore starwars fans" as being non-canon and MotB - a DnD story without elves and dwarfs were generic?
what

Which warrants a question: is choosing a Ranger to represent your party a no-brainer? Are there any unique locations that can be discovered only by a character with high Lore and Spellcraft skills?

it would be an awesome thing and would add to replayability if they will make it right. instead of discovering everything by a single character. then again Ranger class would've felt more natural for this task.

I doubt that any scenario featuring one of the new gods of 4th ed. can have any planescape goodness in it

yet we're still on 3.5

 

[Volourn]

Both MOTB, and KOTOR2 were 'generic' whatever that is supposed to mean.

MOTB = FR

KOTOR = SW

 

[dragonfk]

Both MOTB, and KOTOR2 were 'generic' whatever that is supposed to mean.

MOTB = FR

KOTOR = SW

Your posts are generic.

 

[Volourn]

So are yours. This is the Codex where Generic rules supreme!

 

[gamefan]

So are yours. This is the Codex where Generic rules supreme!

You scare me a little bit

 

[Nathaniel Chapman]

Are the developers still reading this? I would like to make a suggestion: a combat system where your characters and companions can die (like in BG2 and real DnD), and don't just stand up and ask for healing after the combat is over like they now do in NWN2 and MotB. This would make the combat infinitely more interesting (assuming no "raise dead" wands lying around everywhere, in the most unbelievable places), as the player would have to worry a little about losing a party member, instead of just keeping one of them alive until the combat encounter is over. This improvement could be used to retroactively fix the original campaign and MotB as well, although of course it might cause some crashes when the companion required to recite her line would be dead in someone's magic container. But this would be a small price to pay for an update that made combat interesting, and possibly very interesting, even in the OC (and it would make MotB retroactively almost perfect). And it is an improvement: everyone here and elsewhere talks about BG2's combat being superior to NWN2's, and it's the only substantial difference between the two systems.

We'd like to do this for SoZ (though it will definitely NOT retroactively affect MotB and the OC). Can't make any promises yet, but we'd like to.

 

[Nathaniel Chapman]

Another tidbit about the world map:

I know this is cool and all... but I can't help feeling somewhat disgruntled at the impact on character options. Do I have to play a Rogue/Ranger now or will having one in the party be sufficient?

Currently, you can select which character represents your party on the overland map. So as long as you have at least one character with the necessary skills, you'll be good to go.

Which warrants a question: is choosing a Ranger to represent your party a no-brainer? Are there any unique locations that can be discovered only by a character with high Lore and Spellcraft skills?

Well, Spot (which is generally more rogue-y) is also a very useful skill. Also, your character's movement rate makes a big difference in terms of evading encounters, so having a monk represent your party has its advantages as well.

 

[Nathaniel Chapman]

While I'm definitely in favour of death in a game with great turn based combat (e.g. ToEE) where I can control every action I wouldn't want it in NWN2 where I have little control over all the character's actions and constant pausing grinds on my nerves. I don't want to babysit everyone just because the AI is too dumb to use a healing potion.

Did you try Tony K's AI? Anyway, I'm rather a babysitter than a bored spectator. If I want to simply watch something, I won't play games. I'll watch a movie or trees or whatever.

hmmm tony k's ai... i like tony k's ai...

 

[Nathaniel Chapman]

And it is an improvement: everyone here and elsewhere talks about BG2's combat being superior to NWN2's, and it's the only substantial difference between the two systems.

I'll assume you are trying to troll...

No. I've never heard anyone say he preferred NWN2's combat to BG's. Or is that not what you meant? Maybe you can think of other substantial differences between the two combat systems besides the "companion can die in combat"/"can't really die in combat because that would irritate the average player" thing. I can't.

The difference is in the challenge of the combat. BG2 has harder enemies. NWN2's combat is too easy and thus monotonous chore.

We are tuning this game to be more hardcore and more challenging than previous NWN2 campaigns. Especially considering the non-linear nature of the game, you should be able to find something to challenge you throughout the game.

 

[MetalCraze]

yay

 

[OSK]

We are tuning this game to be more hardcore and more challenging than previous NWN2 campaigns. Especially considering the non-linear nature of the game, you should be able to find something to challenge you throughout the game.

Wow. I've heard so much of this "making games more accessible" that I forgot there were alternatives.

 

[Nathaniel Chapman]

We are tuning this game to be more hardcore and more challenging than previous NWN2 campaigns. Especially considering the non-linear nature of the game, you should be able to find something to challenge you throughout the game.

Wow. I've heard so much of this "making games more accessible" that I forgot there were alternatives.

Well, this is the second expansion pack to NWN2 - we can assume a somewhat more "hardcore" segment is playing the game. And you can always turn the difficulty down to easy (or come back to an area at a higher level) if you're not up for the challenge of a given area at any point in time.

It's one of the reasons I personally love open-world and open-ended games :D

 

[MetalCraze]

so will your companions die in combat? like not magically getting resurrected after the fight ends?

 

[Nathaniel Chapman]

so will your companions die in combat? like not magically getting resurrected after the fight ends?

That's the idea (for both cohorts and the party). Again, can't say for 100% sure that it will end up that way - we've got a ways to go. But that's what we're targetting.

 

[MetalCraze]

well I certainly hope it will end up that way

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =404920370

:D

 

[MetalCraze]

Obsidian + 4E console rpg license = meant to be.

what

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Obsidian + 4E console rpg license = meant to be.

what

Someobody wants revenge on Obsidian...