Any DUers play Neverwinter Nights?

[Chovexani]

I finally got the expansions and decided to dip my toes in the online waters. Looking for a server to play on.

[enki23]

1. never played multiplayer

.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

2. Go to the NWN Community page...................

and look for a guild that is searching for members. There is also a section that lists upcoming games that need players.

NWN is a GREAT game. Currently I'm having Rakshasa trouble in "Hordes of the Underdark." My poor 14th level Dwarven Cleric is not capable of fighting 8-10 tiger-men at once. Wish I had a wizard sidekick, 'cos all I have now is Deekin. :mad:

[Chovexani]

3. I completely forgot about the Bioware site

Thanks for the heads up, I haven't been to the Bioware site in a very long time. Coming from an extensive PnP background I'm much more into roleplaying than hack and slash stuff, hopefully I can find some likeminded people on there.

I'm glad I kept the game, I was very close to off-loading it on eBay when I first got it a while back because the official single-player campaign was so terrible (I have yet to finish it). I had dialup at the time so online play was not really an option for me back then. Luckily a little bird told me to hang on to it, and it collected dust on my shelf until a bunch of people told me the expansions were really good. I just started Shadows of Undrentide and my Drow Ranger/Cleric is doing well for herself.

A friend of mine at the local game shop told me that you really need to be at least level 15 for Hordes of the Underdark, so I guess that explains the trouble you're having. Did they improve henchman AI at all? I remember one of the things that really bugged me about the original OC was the awful spellcasting choices my little buddy would make--I ended up taking Linu with me because at least she was a halfway decent tank.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

17. Henchman AI?....................

You mean the henchmen have an AI? Who knew? LOL. IMHO, I believe the AI is less-intuitive than the OC. I have constant trouble with my sidekicks running headlong into strife, despite my desperate instructions to stay close. Eh, but its a minor quibble. The rest of the game is rock-solid, and gives me a D&D fix now that all my buddies have burned out on RPG-ing due to excessive rule geekiness.

[Chovexani]

19. LOL

My first attempt to get through the OC, Tomi had a nasty habit of rushing right into a big ass group of ruffians (smart tactics for a thief, LOL). And promptly getting himself killed. Linu does the same thing but at least she can heal herself--when she feels like it. Which she almost never does. I thought the pathfinding problems in Baldur's Gate were bad, but at least my party members never ran ahead of me and died like that.

Aw man I hate rules lawyers. There's a hilarious book, I think by Mongoose, called The Slayer's Guide to Rules Lawyers. A buddy of mine in junior high was practically the head of the Rules Bar Association he was such a rules lawyer, and he was 10 times worse when he DM'd (except when it came to his pet NPCs of course). Reading that book was like therapy for me hehe.

[LanternWaste]

4. It's my guilty pleasure

It's my guilty pleasure. Four of friends from high school (20 years ago) get together online twice a month to play and relive our old D&D geekdom days of old.

Yeah, we get grief from wives, girlfriends and co-workers but we enjoy it. Hey, I'm the first to say the PC games are the opiate of the masses and an indication of premature brain-death, but we take small tokes...

:freak:

[Chovexani]

5. Pry my d20s from my cold dead hands

:)

I never understood the whole wife/girlfriend giving you grief about D&D stuff. Granted, I think it's because I'm a nerd chick, but I always felt like there were worse hobbies for your SO to have. Like hookers. :P All my boyfriends have also been nerds so it was never a source of conflict for me.

I still play old school PnP D&D with my friends a couple times a month. I'm running a 2nd edition campaign and we're having a blast. I play NWN to get a quick fix...LOL I'm such an addict.

[LanternWaste]

7. I'd give my sanity for a lady with your attitude about it...

Ahhhh... I'd give my sanity for a lady with your attitude about it. I guess it was about the time that 2ed. came out that I slowly started getting weened away from it by various girlfriends without such a... benevolent attitude as yours.

As an aside... I still go into the hobby stores at the malls when I'm there and look at the covers of the resources and I've decided it must be a historical fact that women wore armor that protected only the chest and groin areas.... who knew? :evilgrin:

[Chovexani]

11. Ah, the chain mail bikini

Those things crack me up. I used to be offended by them but ever since a friend of mine ran a game in high school where there was an all-male tribe of beefcakey barbarians called the Chip'endale who used to run around in Chain Speedos +5, I've found them hilarious. :)

[4_Legs_Good]

6. I'm a recovered EQ addict. Really wanted to get into NWN

but never did.

Is it robust enough to really create a world in?

david

[Chovexani]

8. From what I understand it is

But, depending on who you ask, the Aurora Toolset is either the easiest thing in the world to use or the most byzantine thing ever invented. I'd agree with the latter opinion, after having to use it to install some custom heads I downloaded into the official campaigns.

There is a very large modding community though, and mountains of content out there, which is definitely a plus. I don't know enough about coding to try and make stuff myself, and I don't have the time, but there is loads of potential for someone who really wants to get into it.

[LanternWaste]

9. Invest some time in creation and learning C++

If you know someone who's going to invest some time and knows at least a little bit of C++, a small group can have a really good time. Still testing limits on the toolset and haven't found anything that I've wanted to do that I couldn't (except swimming and climbing).

[4_Legs_Good]

10. I was hoping to relive my old dungeon master days

of D&D with a few of my friends who are now dispersed across the country. Creating a world and adventures that they could work at, and I could guide. Quests, encounters, stuff like that.

oh, and of course the ability to kill any of their characters at any time.

david

[Chovexani]

13. It's quite good for that from what I understand

But like I said, you need some time to get into the toolset. The game doesn't really come with documentation on it so you need to go to the fan sites. IIRC the people on Bioware's NWN boards can point you in the right direction.

There are a lot of scripts, items, etc. on http://nwvault.ign.com
There are also a lot of fan-made modules on there of varying quality that you can try out to get a sense of what you can do with the toolset.

[LanternWaste]

14. Toolset will let you do just that....

That's pretty much exactly what the toolset let's you do. There's a heap of good resources at the Bioware web site and lot's of good support from other toolset/scripting experts who will walk you through something step by step on how to do some particular thing.

It's simply amazing the power the toolset puts in the hands of an accomplished person!

[4_Legs_Good]

15. Mwah hah hah hah

Mabye I'll break out the discs again, then!

Thanks!

david

[DrWeird]

12. Sigh. I used to be a gamer.

Even played with a neo-otyugh doll when I was a kid (see the Meeting Room).

Is it a good D&D game. The only things I've played recently were Dark Alliance II (OK, nothing special) and Temple of Elemental Evil (not very good.) Is NWN a good rendition of the game?

[4_Legs_Good]

16. You should try Everquest

If you have the setup for it. I remember the first few times I played EQ, it was like I had stepped back in time to the D&D days.

It's easy to learn, and fun to play, especially if you've got friends playing.

It's also insanely addicting and life consuming, so beware.

Almost no good roleplaying, though, which is ultimately why I quit playing other than very casually.

david

[Chovexani]

18. I'm not familiar with 3E rules

Being a 2E person when it comes to old-fashioned PnP D&D, so I can't speak to the accuracy with which it uses the 3E ruleset, but I think the multiplayer aspect really captures the "feel" of D&D.

The single player campaign that ships with the original game is dreck though. The plot is hackneyed and predictable, and the NPCs are irritating. It is pretty much Diablo 2 with fetch quests and better graphics. (I like Diablo 2, but it ain't D&D). I've heard the expansion quests are MUCH better, and partially through Shadows of Undrentide I'm inclined to agree. It feels much more like D&D to me.

If we're talking a single-player experience I think Planescape: Torment and the Baldur's Gate series are far superior games. The quests are varied and xp doesn't just come from killing monsters, problem-solving and good roleplaying is rewarded. The NPCs are much more interesting and the replay value is quite high, especially with Baldur's Gate 2, because there are so many NPCs you can take with you and different combos of characters can result in an entirely different experience--especially since certain NPCs don't get along with each other.

[LanternWaste]

20. My final word

My final word on the subject ('cause I really don't wanna get known as "that poster that plays computer D&D..." Really, gals-- I'm a normal guy. I promise...).

Yes, the Official Campaign's are pretty bad (except for the newest expansion's, which turned out to be somewhat decent) and the NPC's are, without exception boring and vapid.

That's why it's important to get someone who will volunteer to put his head in a few C++ books and spend a few months (at least it was few months for me) staying up late at night figuring out how to use the toolset and then to log in hundreds of hours to actually make a series of modules that the guys would like.

Now, consider this: I live in Cancun, Mexico (World Capitol of Spring Breakers and Drunk Sorority Girls) as does one of my players. Two Friday night a week, we would rather play NWN than, well... HAVE FUN IN CANCUN!

As the DM, you'll decide how and when the players get XP, how detailed any area, NPC or item will be, create the modules, use lighting and atmosphereic tools to create mood and ambience, throw in a good knock-down, drag-out fight with some orcs or a dragon on the fly, scale monsters for a tougher or weaker fight, possess NPC's for a real-time dialogue (or, with preparation, make a dialogue tree ala Baldur's Gate)... almost anything a DM can do in D&D, he can do in NWN (if he knows the toolset).

I'm not a big fan of PC games, but NWN is pretty neat. The only thing missing from our D&D games from 20 years ago are the fussy sisters yelling at us to shut up, acne-ridden faces, bags of cheeto's and a few trips into the backyard for a joint... :)

[Chovexani]

21. LOL!

Don't forget the Mountain Dew! :D

But yeah, NWN really is for people who wanna play D&D but for whatever reason can't do it in IRL. And for people like me who do play tabletop games but are addicts that can't get enough gaming. :)