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Neverwinter Nights is Gold

Urthpaw writes "Neverwinter Nights, the D&D based RPG from BioWare (Makers of Baldur's Gate among other titles), for Windows, MacOS and Linux has Gone gold. The game allows players to make their own "modules", or adventures, and DM them for up to 64 friends. Server-linking features allow the assembly of distributed MMORPGs."

333 comments

  1. EBWorld by astrotek · · Score: 0, Troll

    I thought it only went gold at ebworld... because it takes time to ship. Retail stores get it in 4-5 days

    1. Re:EBWorld by TBone · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Going Gold" means the Master CD's (which are, or at least used to be, gold in color) have been shipped to the publisher, who will begin to mass-produce them, along with the manuals, and stuff everything in boxes.

      It has nothing to do with any particular retail outlet, other than the outlets can probably expect shipments to start arriving in 7-10 business days.

      --

      This space for rent. Call 1-800-STEAK4U

    2. Re:EBWorld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Going gold just means the final cd has been sent for replication. It's generally a matter of 2 or 3 weeks before these reach stores from the point gold is declared.

    3. Re:EBWorld by forkboy · · Score: 1

      Going gold has nothing to do with who is selling it to you....it's a term that means there are no more changes being made to code or content, and the final copy is being sent to the publisher for mass distribution.

      --
      This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
    4. Re:EBWorld by Osty · · Score: 2, Informative

      The term "Gone gold" does not imply shipping, only that the master copy (the "gold copy") of the CD(s) has been pressed, and is ready to be sent to manufacturing for replication (referred to as "RTM", or "Release to Manufacturing"). "Ship" means that it has actually left manufacturing and is on its ways to the stores. There is a definite time lag between "Gone gold" and "Shipped", usually at least a week, often more like a month. If somebody tells you XXX just "went gold", and it's already in the stores, then it "went gold" probably 2+ weeks ago, and "shipped" a few days ago.


      Unfortunately, too many people misuse the phrase "Gone gold", so it's now synonymous with "Shipped". It should mean something different, but such is the way of the ever-evolving English language.

    5. Re:EBWorld by astrotek · · Score: 1

      And that would be why Warcraft3 is gold on ebworld also I guess. Even though blizzard hasnt announce it.

    6. Re:EBWorld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, They also mis-use the term "alpha" which used to mean feature complete but with known bugs, and "beta" which used to mean candidate for release (gold) but which now means alpha.

    7. Re:EBWorld by Daetrin · · Score: 1
      Depending on the title 7-10 days is kind of optimistic.

      A publisher has to be really intent on getting the game out as early as possible in order to get the thing from initial printings to the store in that amount of time. For most titles it's more likely to be 2-4 weeks or even longer i believe.

      Of course lots of things factor into it. Neverwinter Nights has been delayed quite a bit so A: they may well have gotten a head start on the boxes and manuals and have everything ready for the CD to be slid inside, and B: now that it's finished they may want to get it out as quickly as possible in some kind of percieved compensation for the delay (despite the fact that a week or two more or less won't really make that big a difference.)

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    8. Re:EBWorld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Though, these days going gold doesn't mean as much as it used to. First step after buying almost any game is to go to the manufacturer's website and check for patches. It's different than it was before widespread Internet connectivity became available. Then the only way to really distribute these patches was a 1-800 BBS or something. Maybe mail the manufacturer and hope they ship you a patch for your crashing game. Games probably got a lot more Q&A testing before distributing patches was harder as well.

    9. Re:EBWorld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It has never been delayed. Bioware said that it would be done when it was done and refused to announce a release date. I don't know why people insist on saying it was delayed.

    10. Re:EBWorld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Games went 'gold' before CDs were around, so it has nothing to do with CD color Yes I was a developer back in the days so I'm not pulling this outta my ass.

  2. I dont care.... by kpansky · · Score: 1

    if this is off-topic or not...

    w00t for BioWare! Not only a quality game, but a quality simulatneously multiplatform game! Good job all around. Im glad I preordered my copy already!

    --

    --Kevin
    1. Re:I dont care.... by liquide · · Score: 1

      me too ;)

      ah the days of nntp prior to spam...

    2. Re:I dont care.... by eviltypeguy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, not quite. While they're releasing the MacOS and Win32 versions to the shelf.

      Linux will see the online release of the Neverwinter Nights server at launch and the client shortly afterwards. However, Linux gamers will still need the Windows version of the game to register at the Neverwinter Nights community site and to import game resources into their Linux server and game. (The editor is currently not planned for Linux)

    3. Re:I dont care.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't see any mention of the Mac version in the press release. It just mentioned (I know -1 redundant):

      The PC version of Neverwinter Nights will ship to retailers before the end of June. Linux gamers can anticipate the online release of the Neverwinter Nights server at launch and the client program shortly afterward. Linux gamers will still need the Windows version of the game to register at the Neverwinter Nights community site (http://neverwinternights.com) and to import essential game resources into their Linux server and game.

      PC and Linux mentioned, no Mac talked about, unless they consider the mac to be a PC like the true meaning of the acronym.

    4. Re:I dont care.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What Mac version? Look at the release, and look at the LACK of information from Infogrames about it. The Mac release will be delayed.

    5. Re:I dont care.... by eviltypeguy · · Score: 1

      My apologies, I could have sworn the original press release included 'Mac' as one of the current ones, it looks like it won't ship until this Fall :/ MacSoft has picked up the rights to publish the Mac version.

  3. Neverwinter!!! by Indes · · Score: 1

    I must say its about time, Its a great game... I can't wait for another..

  4. 64 friends! by Jonny+Ringo · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's a lot of friends for this type of crowd!
    Its good to see that they are marketing this rpg to populuar kids as well.

    1. Re:64 friends! by EvilAlien · · Score: 2
      Back in the day merely playing computer games was a stigma. I still remember a time when having anything to do with computers was something "the popular kids" would turn their noses at.

      Referring to any computer game as being marketed to "popular kids" is still kinda funny to me.

      --
      perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
    2. Re:64 friends! by 5etanta · · Score: 1
      Yeah but there not Real friends!

      Brian P

      --
      "I see lots of Pengins, is that good?" "Thats good Dad, click yes."
  5. CRAP by Mr+Krinkle · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just when we got over our MUDing addiction EverCrack came along. Then now this. How do they ever expect geeks to get a life and go outside?

    --
    I am 31337 or something.
    1. Re:CRAP by BlastQuake · · Score: 1

      I played Everquest for a whole 2 weeks. It was boring, laggy as hell, and it did _not_ have the same close community I was used to on the MUD I play. Of course Everquest has been trashed long ago, and I am still everyday logging into the Mud I've played for the last 7 years. Community helps people! I've known the same people on Nightmare for several years, and have gone out of state to visit many of them. Of course I still ahve no life, but at least I get more out of nonlife than people who actually _pay_ for the priviledge ;-).

      --
      "What use is power to the Keeps of Balance?" -Disnt of Nightmare LpMud
    2. Re:CRAP by FunkSoulBrother · · Score: 1

      You obviously never played on Tallon Zek

    3. Re:CRAP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the geeks got outside how would they breed more geeks? You've got to keep the male and female geeks penned together in basements.

    4. Re:CRAP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who's over their mudding addiction? Certainly not me. :)

  6. i cant play it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    my mom says D&D is satanic, so i cant play it.

    I'm 19 and dont care what my mom says but she said that when i was little and all through my life so now i just have no interest

    1. Re:i cant play it by unicron · · Score: 1

      Yeah, my mom used to say the same thing. So I sacrificed her to goat-headed god. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW YA WHINY BITCH?! AHAHHAHAHA..yes master, sorry master.

      --
      Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
    2. Re:i cant play it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are implying that Jon Barrett is in some way affiliated with Microsoft. While it would be great to work for this great innovator in software, Jon can't afford it because he lost all his money trying to buy hardware that worked with Linux. After he was bankrupt, he gave up on the non-operating system and switched to FreeBSD, which allowed his computer to work beautifully from then on.

  7. Vacation by tylerdave · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damnit!
    Now I have to use my last week of vacation for the year.

    1. Re:Vacation by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2

      Tragically, my summer holiday is almost always the second whole week in June, i.e., it's going to be just before the game hits in the UK. And my birthday isn't until next month. Now that's bad timing... :-)

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  8. School ends friday for me... by IanA · · Score: 2

    You can be sure I'll be spending my previous school hours playing this game. WOOPEE! I've been waiting sooo long :)

    1. Re:School ends friday for me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You will be waiting a very long time to get a job after your finish school if you just fuck off every summer. Get an internship or something, learn a programming language, do something useful. Play games too, but don't forget your future.

    2. Re:School ends friday for me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My Dad is the CEO of Dillards. I'll have no problem finding a job when I'm out of school dude. Hell, I don't need to work, he's a fucking millionaire and he has promised me an allowance for the rest of my life dude. I can fuck off and play games all I want.

    3. Re:School ends friday for me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dunno, dude, what if Snoop Minnis comes back? You'll be out on the street then!

    4. Re:School ends friday for me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuckwit.

  9. hmmm... by jasno · · Score: 1, Troll

    Lets just hope it doesn't suck as bad as Icewind Dale did. I finally broke down and spent $16 bucks at costco and got one of the most frustrating games imaginable.

    First off, it was designed to be so difficult that the only way to win was to save-cheat (certain areas just aren't winnable the first 5-10 times you try it until you learn the technique).

    Secondly, the path finding algorithm almost cost me my keyboard in a fit of rage as my party wandered aimlessly instead of attacking.

    Assuming they've got these worked out, and it runs at higher than 800x600, it should be a great game.

    --

    http://www.masturbateforpeace.com/
    1. Re:hmmm... by Telastyn · · Score: 2

      Actually I found that ID was actually one of the few BG clones I did not have to prepare for battles or "save-cheat". I did restart early though, and play through it with only 4 characters, as the game seemed to reward fewer, more powerful characters. I could not beat the game as it suffered from "Impossible end battle syndrome"

      BG2 for example had multiple neigh-impossible battles (except for the last one of course, which was cake compared to all the other games in the line) which imo could only be completed by following certain tactics (that were less than honorable) and knowing things you shouldn't know *AND* getting lucky one of the times through the fight.

      I'm actually looking forward to Icewind Dale 2, which is supposed to fix the 800x600, path finding, as well as adding a bunch of new features. Neverwinter imo is just an overhyped engine without much content or realism attached to it. Hopefully I'm wrong...

    2. Re:hmmm... by eddy · · Score: 1

      Fix the 800x600? What do you mean?

      Playing in higher resolutions is just weird, everything is so small. (yeah, yeah, larger monitor -- whatever)

      --
      Belief is the currency of delusion.
    3. Re:hmmm... by Telastyn · · Score: 1

      Allow for different resolutions. I also think that 800x600 is ideal for things that aren't action oriented games, but I'm not everyone.

    4. Re:hmmm... by eddy · · Score: 1

      Okay. I'm all for choice. Don't see max 800x600 as a problem, but sure -- adding higher resolutions when you don't scale the graphics ought to be pretty trivial.

      I actually hacked BG1 to bring it up in 800x600, but never went the whole mile to fix the zoning problems. I'm sure it could be done, if only one were a little bit more patient :-)

      --
      Belief is the currency of delusion.
    5. Re:hmmm... by Hex+Advocacy · · Score: 0, Offtopic
      Repeated message:

      I'm informing you in this message that your use of decimal is disturbing to geeks. I think it likely that you do not know what radices mean, or else you would be using hexadecimal. Read about hexadecimal at intuitor and repost your comment as a reply using hexadecimal. You may use "0x" as a prefix or "h" as a suffix for the numbers. Intelligent people despise decimal--so try to show some intelligence. And please reply to this message.

      Personalized message:

      Look your dollar amount is so easy to translate. At least do that one.

    6. Re:hmmm... by Spy · · Score: 1

      I like playing at 1024x786 on my LP530. (DLP Projector)

    7. Re:hmmm... by jasno · · Score: 2

      Wow! You mean I'm the only person who cranks up his resolution AND his font size?

      True, the characters are about as small as they can get, even in 640x480. But what I'm looking for is a resolution where the infobox text, for instance, doesn't take up half the screen, and the graphics look better than my Amiga circa 1991.

      --

      http://www.masturbateforpeace.com/
  10. much rejoicing by greymond · · Score: 1

    about FUCKING time - now i just have to compete with all the people who preordered and somehow get a copy FIRST

  11. About Time... by Dunkalis · · Score: 1

    Good job Bio! Its about time, after waiting for four years. Here goes my summer...

    --
    Slashdot is a waste of time. I enjoy wasting time.
  12. Lets hope they include a game with this. by Kenja · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Lets hope they include a game with this, rather then an editor + a few quests like they did with Morrowind & Dungeon Siege. I for one am sick of paying 50$ just to find out that the devloper expects me to finish the game for them.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by IanA · · Score: 2

      Morrowind of course has over 500 hours of gameplay. 'An editor and a few quests'... pfft.

    2. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by Kenja · · Score: 2

      Morrowind has 500 hours of "pick up item A take to location B". Sorry, this got old after the first day. The world in Morrowind, while nice to look at, is devoid of any real content. They should have just updated the graphics for Dagger Fall.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    3. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by Dunkalis · · Score: 1

      They will. Its been a major focus for them. The editor is the in-house editor they used; nothing more. BioWare's focus, according to them, has been a solid single-player adventure. Besides, don't you think the creators of Baldur's Gate can create an awesome SP game?

      --
      Slashdot is a waste of time. I enjoy wasting time.
    4. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by IanA · · Score: 2

      from gamespot UK:

      This is a game that manages to involve you on every level,
      and even in the world of role-playing games,
      it has a rare amount of depth.

      If all the quests were the same, it hardly has depth. There's the main storyline, then 13 houses/guilds you can join with quests, and many others. You're wrong, of course.

    5. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by eddy · · Score: 1

      I hope so too, because I fear the world will feel very static if you cannot interact in it in any meaningful way. What's the point of a 3D world if you can't use all the good things the freedom of 3D should bring to the table?

      I'm guessing no mounts, no swimming, no scaling walls, no blowing up bridges, no tunneling under walls, etc. It'll be like a large lego. Nice, but kind of blocky.

      I hope I'm wrong, cause I've already preordered. If NWN sucks, I'll just pretend I paid them for a second copy of BG/BG2

      --
      Belief is the currency of delusion.
    6. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by kingkade · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing no mounts, no swimming, no scaling walls, no blowing up bridges, no tunneling under walls, etc. It'll be like a large lego. Nice, but kind of blocky.

      You guessed right :( -- no riding, flying, swimming or climbing. i think climbing and flying were mostly cut out for balance reasons (boooo).

      Would be cool to be able to do stuf flike use a piece of furniture to block a dungeon door after a chasing monster or to be able to dodge an strike and have the attacker hit a pile of crates that crash down on him. Or being able to chop down a tree to cross a river...oh well. Still looks like you can do anything else and we probably have something better than Baldur Gate 2 :))

    7. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by H310iSe · · Score: 1

      yea, they posted that info in the forum a while back but they seemed to say, yea, it would be great, but we killed ourselves just getting the game out as-is. I think they said that they're looking at this as a 1-2 year process after the first game release. If we all buy a ton of copies, they're going to add cool mods (like mounts, etc.) later on.

      I have such vivid memories from BGII (including many funny ones) I Can't Wait for NWN!

      --
      closed minded is as closed minded does
    8. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by j_snare · · Score: 2

      There's quests!? Wow, I've been having too much fun just fooling with NPCs and raiding vaults and stuff.. ;-)

      Much like my Daggerfall experience, I don't bother with the quests much, I just go off and do my own thing. That's where the real fun comes in.

    9. Re:Lets hope they include a game with this. by kingkade · · Score: 1

      >

      I have such vivid memories from BGII (including many funny ones) I Can't Wait for NWN!

      Aye, as do I, especially from BG 2 :) Even though it sounds fruity, I remember one of the romances w/ a party member. Like with Arie (that right?), when i wanted to "let her down" i was *actually* concerned about hurting her feelings! And the npc's interacting with each other felt like a real party.

      Or the betrayl with Yoshimo (if you had him in your party). When Irenicus (yep, im a dork) addressed him, and told him how well he had done his job, my heart just sank an i actually felt like i was [figuratively] stabbed in the back!

      That game and that series truly set the bar, beyond what i though i could get from an rpg...the product of ppl who love what they're doing.

      The ending was also rewarding and truly well done. Makes me want to buy the expansion just to see what happens...aww nuts, there goes 20 bucks...

  13. Who owns what? by WankersRevenge · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The game allows players to make their "own" modules, or adventures, and DM them for up to 64 friends.

    Who owns what module? Bioware? Or the consumers? Inquiring minds want to know!

    1. Re:Who owns what? by idontneedanickname · · Score: 1

      well in the betatoolset EULA it sed that bioware does (that might change) btu htey did it so that if someone wants credit for a module and there's arguing then bioware can just dicide...saves em alota trouble

    2. Re:Who owns what? by eddy · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is what the beta toolset said:

      Section 4(b):

      "By distributing or permitting the distribution of any of your Modules, you hereby grant back to INFOGRAMES and BIOWARE an irrevocable royalty-free right to use and distribute them by any means. Infogrames or BIOWARE may at any time and in its sole discretion revoke your right to make your Modules publicly available."

      I'm just the messenger.

      --
      Belief is the currency of delusion.
    3. Re:Who owns what? by Buck2 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I thought it was funny.

      Moderators suck these days. I feel sorry for you.

      --

      As my father lik@(munch munch)... ....
    4. Re:Who owns what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine if that clause was in the Half-Life license. There would be no counter-strike.

    5. Re:Who owns what? by rabidcow · · Score: 2

      Now, does this prevent you from attaching your own, non-conflicting license, which says something like: "Employees of INFOGAMES and BIOWARE may not play this Module, nor may this Module be stored on any form of magnetic media owned by INFOGAMES or BIOWARE except for the sole purpose of distribution." ? That wouldn't prevent them from distributing it, but it sure would make it a pain in the ass for them.

      'course they'd probly tell you you couldn't distribute it as soon as they found it.

    6. Re:Who owns what? by B9DV8 · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is the latest post on the Bioware Forums:

      "I believe that the EULA has changed. Due to legal reasons (as none of us are lawyers here) we still can't comment on the EULA. Ever.

      _________________
      Derek French
      Producer, Live Team
      Neverwinter Nights"

    7. Re:Who owns what? by Alsee · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm just the messenger.

      LET'S KILL THE MESSENGER!
      The mob cheers in approval

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    8. Re:Who owns what? by ave19 · · Score: 1

      Joan of Arc? Is that really you??? Loved you in that movie.

      --
      ...or maybe not.
    9. Re:Who owns what? by geekoid · · Score: 2

      Mod -1 Kill the messenger.

      ;)

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  14. I don't get it. by Telastyn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why would anyone want DM'd games online? You loose pretty much every benefit of P&P rpgs; loose pretty much every benefit of single player rpgs; for what? the ability to play across distances, a computerized dice roller, and some pretty graphics?

    I think BioWare will make a fun game, with alot of features, but I don't think (and history hasn't proven) that the id "make an engine, let the community write the game" approach works in rpgs...

    1. Re:I don't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My friends and I are scattered to every part of the country. We are all either far too busy with work, school, or work-school to get together and hang out. So why is this a bad product if it lets us dork around playing a game that came from my friends brain as opposed to the mind of some guy who writes stock RPGs for the masses? It'll be like middle-school all over again except miles removed.

    2. Re:I don't get it. by Ismilar · · Score: 1

      The game does contain a full single/multiplayer game, so it's not 'just' and engine and an editor.

      The single player game will supposedly be just as good as Baldur's Gate I or II (that remains to be seen, though, since I haven't played NWN yet)!..

    3. Re:I don't get it. by Wraithlyn · · Score: 5, Insightful
      You answer your own question, albeit dismissively.
      • Play across distances. Yes! This is a great advantage.
      • Computerized dice roller. It's more than that. It completely handles the torrential rain of rules and tables that comprise D&D. Probably the biggest obstacle to people getting into P&P gaming is all the math they have to do. (Simple math, yes. But lots of simple math can still be tedious)
      • Pretty graphics. This is like asking why anyone would want to see a movie.. for the 'pretty pictures'?? Give me a break. Visualization adds a new dimension.

      So yeah, I think there's some pretty sizable reasons right there.
      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
    4. Re:I don't get it. by Telastyn · · Score: 1

      The dismissiveness is because (to me) the gains are not nearly enough to overcome the losses

      - Single player rpg
      - Play at any time
      - No evil DM's to ruin game
      - Game doesn't end because people get tired of it
      - Actual story (usually)
      - Save games/quick to play

      - P&P
      - Do anything anywhere
      - Creative solutions to problems
      - Actual fun with actual people
      - Not allowed to "cheat"

      All these things are lost with a DM'd online game *AND* it takes longer (for the dm to actually create things, rather than describing them). Maybe it's just because all my RPG buddies are local, simple math doesn't bother me/isn't hard, and I have a vivid imagination that I don't really see the need for a computer to help me in those regards...

    5. Re:I don't get it. by GoofyBoy · · Score: 2

      You don't have to be there to actively DM, just create the dungeon and let people long on. Sort of like how muliplayer FPS don't need a live referee/Admin to play.

      --
      The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
    6. Re:I don't get it. by nick_davison · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Why would anyone want DM'd games online? You loose pretty much every benefit of P&P rpgs; loose pretty much every benefit of single player rpgs; for what? the ability to play across distances, a computerized dice roller, and some pretty graphics?

      That's pretty much the point of NWN - they've attempted to give back most of the features that you traditionally lose by moving to a computer.

      For example: The freeform interaction that a real world DM gives is brought back by allowing the DMs to take over characters, manually trigger events, adjust the difficulty via a slider to ensure everything's always perfectly balanced for interesting play.

      Where the computer gains the advantage is that it allows a lot of things to become automated. Think about those D&D games you played as a kid. Half the time the game degenerated while the DM focused on a single player, looked up a rule, etc. On top of that, they'd be dropping rules all over the place because they couldn't remember them or they took too long to figure out. Now all of that stuff's handled automatically.

      So, the end result is you get a game that [ideally] handles everything you don't want to handle or don't have time to handle, giving that postive aspect of computerised gaming and yet allows the DM to step in wherever's needed, keeping the benefits of traditional gaming. Of course, that's assuming everything's ideal, but they're looking like they're pretty close.

    7. Re:I don't get it. by Danse · · Score: 2

      The online game should force players to adhere to the rules as well, and this can be monitored by the DM(s) (there can be multiple DMs in NWN). Actual fun with actual people, via computer. Creative solutions to problems. I don't see why that can't be accomplished online. If the DMs do some preparation before running the game, then they should be prepared and able to react to changes and unlikely or unexpected events. The tools make a lot of this pretty easy. Nobody is saying that it will replace P&P, but it provides a nice alternative to P&P and SP RPGs.

      --
      It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
    8. Re:I don't get it. by Requiem · · Score: 1

      You also miss out on opportunities to slap someone around for not knowing the difference between "loose" and "lose".

    9. Re:I don't get it. by cicatrix1 · · Score: 1

      Also, there is a considerably lengthy single player game, as well as a score of multiplayer modules already created. They aren't counting on people building the game for them, they are allowing them to extend it in the way they have been wanting to for years.

      --

      I know more than you drink.
    10. Re:I don't get it. by startled · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't think you're familiar with how the game is set up. You don't have to go find a random server with strangers. You set up a server and play with your friends.

      Actual fun with actual people-- I'm not sure what you're saying here. My friends aren't actual people? I'm pretty sure they are, unless I'm more insane than I thought. If you're referring to lack of voice, use GameVoice/RogerWilco/TeamSound. If you're referring to not having them in person, have a LAN party!

      Not allowed to "cheat"-- I don't understand at all what you're talking about here. NWN should enforce the rules much better than any DM normally would, so the problem would almost be the other way.

      Single player rpg-- you seem to be forgetting that there's supposed to be a very good single player RPG in NWN. Only time will tell, of course, but that's the same as any other single player RPG.

      Save games/quick to play-- how do you lose that? This is way faster than P the only limit is that your friends will expect you to play more than 10 minutes.

      Actual story (usually)-- aside from what ships, there will be lots of community-released adventures, or you can make your own. You'll have more (and in many cases better) stories than what you get in your typical single player rpg.

      No evil DM's to ruin game-- get a better DM!

      simple math doesn't bother me/isn't hard-- wow, you're in full denial mode now. Computer-run combat is a lot faster than P&P.

      I play some P&P with friends locally, but we're really looking forward to NWN. Is it going to totally replace our P&P sessions? Of course not! But getting a group of us together online with NWN and voice is going to be awesome, for different reasons than P&P is awesome.

      Everyone knows there are real tradeoffs to be made between this and P&P-- no need to make up fake reasons to justify your apprehensiveness. But people are excited about this game because it's doing something totally new. Games that try something new are one in a million these days.

    11. Re:I don't get it. by Chasuk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why? How about being able to play a properly DM'd game even when my local buddies are all otherwise occupied? In my underwear? At any hour? How about, when I care to DM myself, being able to avoid of the tedium of character creation and rolling dice and the minutia of hundreds of rules?

      I stopped playing tabletop dungeons because I hated that tedium. Showing up at as friend's house for a game that was supposed to start at noon and no one had even finished rolling their fucking characters by 3pm. No thank you.

      All of the benefits and none of the body odor and spilled cheese dip and delays or interruptions.

      I honestly can't think of a single DISadvantage.

    12. Re:I don't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I hope it's BETTER than Baldur's Gate I and II because those were boring. It was so complicated to play that I was waiting to look behind me and see a group of sweaty geeks waiting for me to finish my turn. I gave it up after playing for less than a day and finally installed Diablo II. MUCH better game and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn't take a lot of rule reading to figure it out and it was easy to play. That's how games should be.

    13. Re:I don't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PLEASE, something!

      Think of the children!

      Bad spelling *does* make a difference. It's hard to understand what someone means when you have to stop at every other word and figure out what it's supposed to be.

    14. Re:I don't get it. by Ismilar · · Score: 1

      Funny, it was the opposite with me. I gave up playing Diablo II after less than a day because it was boring.
      You click on an enemy, it dies... click on another enemy, it dies, click, dead, click, dead, boring, boring, boring... BG was complicated, but at least there was a story and you could talk to people and stuff.

      NWN will probably be in between. You control only one character (maybe with some summoned/hired AI controlled help) just like Diablo II, but (like Baldur's Gate) there is a good story, interesting characters, and quests that don't involve slaughtering everything that moves...

      The best of both worlds! :)

    15. Re:I don't get it. by Virtual_Raider · · Score: 1

      I agree with you in everything but the visualization point. The whole point of the role play is to excercise imagination, and this narrows you view just in the same way a movie narrows it when compared to the images one can form in their brains when reading.

      That said, I think this game is gonna be cool =)

      +R

      --
      +Raider of the lost BBS
    16. Re:I don't get it. by Maserati · · Score: 1

      I don't know about that. A lot of the multiplayer FPS I have played (mostly RtCW) could have benefited from having a live referee around.

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
    17. Re:I don't get it. by Heironymus+Coward · · Score: 1

      I agree with some of your counterpoints, but this one is a little off:

      Computerized dice roller. It's more than that. It completely handles the torrential rain of rules and tables that comprise D&D. Probably the biggest obstacle to people getting into P&P gaming is all the math they have to do. (Simple math, yes. But lots of simple math can still be tedious)

      what, haven't you played The Fantasy Trip: In the Labyrinth?

      there are still some games out there with that kind of simple elegance...

    18. Re:I don't get it. by Wraithlyn · · Score: 2

      "The whole point of the role play is to excercise imagination"

      I always thought the whole point was to have fun. Imagination is just an essential ingredient :) Besides, with this NWN system, your view isn't narrowed, you can create anything you want! It's not just some one track eye candy clicktrek like Dungeon Siege (still very addicting I gotta admit :), this is a complete content creation toolkit, there should be infinite possibilities. (Which is not the same thing as being able to create anything, I know, but give it time :)

      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
    19. Re:I don't get it. by clare-ents · · Score: 2

      Okay, in the stuff I've DM'd recently on pen & paper the following has happened in my last two sessions

      a: In order to sneak through a gatehouse over a river entrance the druid of the group cast waterbreathing on herself which shares to all in contact, turned into a crocodile via shape change and ferried the party underwater neatly avoiding detection.

      b: The rouge was worried that the statues might animate and ran to to collect a cloak lying on the floor exiting by jumping out of the window tumbling into the moat and swimming off.

      Is the computer *really* going to be able to cope with these even with the assitance of a real life DM?

      --
      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
    20. Re:I don't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rouge: 1) any of various cosmetics for coloring the cheeks and/or lips red.
      2: a red powder (ferric oxide) used for fine polish.

      Rogue: A vagrant or tramp. A dishonest or worthless person. We will leave out the misbehaving horse usage for now...

      I've been noticing a lot of you playing with rouge rather than rogues lately. I think you are involved with an entirely different type of role playing than the rest of us...

    21. Re:I don't get it. by Phoukka · · Score: 2

      Here's an alternative thought for you:

      LAN game it.

      Have everyone bring over their laptop, set up a small LAN, and have at it. You get real-time discussion without interfering gadgetry, all the benefits of getting together (swapping tales, an excuse to eat large quantities of junk food, etc.), AND you have a nice game engine for dealing with all the rules and putting up pretty pictures of whatever you're doing.

      What's not to like? Er, aside from BO, tall tales, bad food, off-topic/out-of-character chatting, coordination of times, and a lack of physical space (for people with small apartments). All in all, just play the way you want to...

    22. Re:I don't get it. by geekoid · · Score: 2

      I'll be able to play DnD in a nice visual atmosphere with peple I heven't play with in 20 years.
      Personally, I''l take Face to face anyday, but that is not alway a realistic option.
      I could fly across the US every weekend, But thats a hefty fee to play DnD

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  15. Linux version delayed by Nilatir · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the press release:

    "The PC version of Neverwinter Nights will ship to retailers before the end of June. Linux gamers can anticipate the online release of the Neverwinter Nights server at launch and the client program shortly afterward. Linux gamers will still need the Windows version of the game to register at the Neverwinter Nights community site (http://neverwinternights.com) and to import essential game resources into their Linux server and game."

    --

    "We were half way to Rivendell when the drugs began to take hold."
    -- Hunter S. Tolkien
    1. Re:Linux version delayed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That really chaps my ass!

      What happened to all that talk about simultaneous release? I bet they are pushing it out sooner than they should, just to get it out in June. Well, now I don't have to worry about buying it right away, I guess.

    2. Re:Linux version delayed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's linux dude.
      Go figure.

    3. Re:Linux version delayed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      patience is a virtue.

    4. Re:Linux version delayed by eXtro · · Score: 1

      I'd be a bit more consternated about the requirement to use Windows to register/download the important bits. I can wait a couple of extra weeks to get a reasonably stable binary, but having to have access to Windows is really annoying.

    5. Re:Linux version delayed by Tyler+Eaves · · Score: 1

      It says NOTHING about running windows. It means you need to buy the Windows version to use the linux binaries, as opposed to issuing a new CD just for linux.

      --
      TODO: Something witty here...
    6. Re:Linux version delayed by ywwg · · Score: 1

      that's not entirely clear from the press release, I was confused too. Can someone clarify for sure?

    7. Re:Linux version delayed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ip test.

    8. Re:Linux version delayed by Quixadhal · · Score: 1

      Sounds fine to me. Let all the nasty bugs get caught and fixed by the windoze people and then when the linux version comes out in July, it'll be nice and clean.

  16. Gone Gold = ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That means that the CD master has been made, right? Not that it's sold however-many copies.

    1. Re:Gone Gold = ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haven't you noticed? Neverwinter Nights has been topping the Billboard charts for the past couple weeks.

  17. any beta testers able to comment? by beme · · Score: 1

    Any beta testers able to comment without breaking NDA (or breaking.. what the heck to I care?) on how the testing went?

    Seems like the beta test was pretty short.
    Either those testers really cranked on it, or.. what? Is it getting pushed out with known issues-to-be-patched-later? It was just so good there weren't many problems? Maybe the beta test was plenty long and I'm just mis-remembering.

    Anyone know where the best place to order it online would be? (best = some combination of cost and delivery time)

    --

    -beme
    1971
    1. Re:any beta testers able to comment? by tsm_sf · · Score: 1

      The beta did seem short. Just a final test to see if that bit worked in the real world, maybe?

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    2. Re:any beta testers able to comment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, if it compiles, ship it. You can always patch it later after you have their money and you determine if enough people buy it to make it worth the money to fix it.

  18. Can't wait. by FATRanger · · Score: 1

    Can't wait till this hits stores, after burning out on MMORPGs it should be good to play a "good" RPG with friends again. Also nice to see them supporting the modding community a whole lot more than other RPGs have, with tool set demos [Planet NWN] out before the actual game!

    1. Re:Can't wait. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't have any friends though that would want to play an RPG with me. Is there going to be a meta server for pickup games like Quake or Half-life? You know, jump in, play a half-hour and jump out? Like diablo?

  19. System Requirements... by Thenomain · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There is still no information on whether or not NWN will be available for Mac OS X or just Mac OS 8/9, or both, or what. In fact, they don't even mention the platform in the press release.

    You think they'd know by now, wouldn't you? I get the feeling that it just isn't ready yet.

    --
    This now concludes our broadcast day.
    1. Re:System Requirements... by Urthpaw · · Score: 1

      Jay (Community manager) just said that there'll be some news for mac-ites later this week.

  20. This should be good by forkboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    After being rather disappointed with the last few RPGs to come my way (Morrowind being the latest) I'm hoping this lives up to the good Bioware name. Fan sites are already working on plans to mod all the old D&D modules we knew and loved back in the day....Ravenloft, Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain, the Drow and Giants series', Temple of Elemental Evil....all the good old stuff I played in high school. It will be worth it for nostalgia's sake alone.

    Another plus to this game is that I'll be able to game with all my old friends back home again, just us, not as part of an MMORPG, and in modules of our own design. I'm really looking forward to it.

    --
    This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
    1. Re:This should be good by eviltypeguy · · Score: 1

      It's sad to hear that you were disappointed with Morrowind. I'm still throughly enjoying, my only complaint about it is that it's too friggin' long

    2. Re:This should be good by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 1

      Are there any sites set up about the conversion of the old modules? I was a very active user of the old FRUA game, and those were some of my favorite subject matter. The idea of being able to play through those great old ones with my old group, now scattered accross the country has me poised to buy it the very second they ship out the Linux version.

      --
      Everything will be taken away from you.
    3. Re:This should be good by forkboy · · Score: 1

      Here's a list of player-run worlds that include a few old-school modules/worlds. I'm still looking for the site that listed all the single modules that were on the list for conversion. Chew on this for new....email me if you want, I'll let you know if I found anything else.

      http://www.planetneverwinter.com/community/proje ct s/

      --
      This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
  21. Info for Linux Gamers in press release by mewsenews · · Score: 2, Informative

    The PC version of Neverwinter Nights will ship to retailers before the end of June. Linux gamers can anticipate the online release of the Neverwinter Nights server at launch and the client program shortly afterward. Linux gamers will still need the Windows version of the game to register at the Neverwinter Nights community site (http://neverwinternights.com) and to import essential game resources into their Linux server and game.

    This is a surprise. The Linux version was supposed to ship IN THE BOX.

    1. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is a surprise. The Linux version was supposed to ship IN THE BOX.

      I knew the moment Bioware announced that there would be no Linux tools for NWN that they were playing the penguin community. I pointed the story to my wife and said, "They'll never release a Linux version of this game." She said, "Yeah, but look at the free publicity they're getting from slashdot and linuxgames. Not to mention the pre-orders."

      Screw Bioware. I'm not buying this game.

    2. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you moron, didn't you read he's got a wife to whine at?

    3. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the 'there never will be a linux client' posts. You should note that this is a offical press release, not some Bioware guy promising stuff over irc or email.

    4. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by afidel · · Score: 1, Troll

      I knew the moment Bioware announced that there would be no Linux tools for NWN that they were playing the penguin community. I pointed the story to my wife and said, "They'll never release a Linux version of this game."

      You sir are a fucking moron. The reason they have not released the building tools for linux is that Borland hasn't released a final version of the linux version of C++ builder which is what they used to make them. They have said that they will look into the feasability of the port once Borland gets the final version out, and if it is at all possible that there WILL be a copy of the build tools for linux. As far as the game not shipping with the linux binary on the cd, SFW? Does the fact that many ID games don't ship with the binary make them any less playable on linux? Of course not! Bioware is not abandoning linux or pulling a bait and switch, they are simply doing what is most economical for them, releasing one set of cds with the resource files and the binaries that 99+% or the users will run. The rest of the people will have the binaries available free of charge from Biowares website.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    5. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Free publicity from Slashdot and Linux Games? Judging by Loki's success, that's worth a half-dozen sales right there!

    6. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't believe this was modded as a troll. What a crock.

    7. Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know how cool it would be for a AAA Linux title to be in the same BOX as the windows.
      It would mean alot for linuxgaming. People are buying the game and sees it has support for Linux. When enough games got this 'tag' on people won't be afraid of shiften from windows to linux.

      Bioware promised this would be the deal - but know i am so dissapointet that i don't know if i should throw around chairs or buy the game.

  22. It's a little weird by Lord_Pall · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They went gold right as their public beta testers started to receive their cd's..

    I'm wondering if they're planning on patching day of release to fix multiplayer problems..

    1. Re:It's a little weird by MattW · · Score: 2

      Except that it wasn't necessary to get a physical CD if you had the capability of downloading 900M.

    2. Re:It's a little weird by zericm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Joy. The worst thing that has happend to gaming is the internet. It used to be that companies would rarely ship a game if it was not bug free. Now, they don't care what shape the game is in, as long as it meets Marketing's street date. They just release a patch.

      And to be honest, I didn't even mind when I just had to download a small file to get the game going. Now, the patches are longer, and more frequent. The worst offender that I have purchased was World War 2 On-line. The "patch" was 70 megs, and the game was still unplayable.

      I'm really very sick of the whole process now. The game vendors don't seem to have much of a problem asking folks to spend $40 to enter a beta program. My solution is that I won't purchase a game until I hear seriously good word from regular folks. Pity more folks don't take the same attitude; it might increase the quality of that first release.

      eric

      --
      The welfare of the people has always been the alibi of tyrants. - Albert Camus
    3. Re:It's a little weird by alouts · · Score: 1
      Overall, your point is basically a good one, and I agree in most cases. Now, since I haven't played NWN yet, I can't vouch for its stability, but as a lot of people here probably know, it has been pushed back many, many times. Hopefully some of those delays have been to fix bugs and design issues with the game so that the initial release is solid. That's BioWare's story at least, and I'd like to believe it.

      As to the internet though, I have to disagree with you for the most part. Having quick availability to patches may be giving the game companies an easy out in getting to market on time, but I am gratefull as hell for the fact that I have quick, reliable access to patches as they do get released.

      What I remember in the times that "used to be" was that games that had bugs in them definitely existed, but you couldn't get patches for them unless you wrote to the company, and they were nice enough to send you a floppy with a patch on it. If you were down for two weeks, you were lucky - that was quick. Many publishers never made patches because there wasn't any reliable way to distribute them. For that, the internet has been a godsend.

      I too wait to hear very good things, but not because I don't like having to patch software, but just because I can't stand the crappy quality of 70% of the recent games I've played.

      In fact, now that I think about it, the internet has been great for my gaming not just because I can get patches easier than before, but because I can usually find demo versions of games and try them out before I buy. More than once I have tried out a crappy game and stayed the hell away from it thanks to the demo.

    4. Re:It's a little weird by jayhawk88 · · Score: 2

      It used to be that companies would rarely ship a game if it was not bug free.

      Wow, that's got to be the funniest thing I've read in quite some time. Thanks.

  23. Speaking as a long time gamer... by sterno · · Score: 5, Funny

    I got into role playing in middle school, and let me tell you:

    YOUR MOM WAS RIGHT!

    It was such a nautral progression to go from fighting dragons with my ranger to sacrificing virgins to the great dark lord. I don't play as much anymore, but every so often when I get bored with smoking crack and drinking the blood of the unworthy, I'll get some people together for a game. It's a great game and I highly recommend giving it a try sometime.

    --
    This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
    1. Re:Speaking as a long time gamer... by zaffir · · Score: 1

      Simple solution - de-virginize the virgins. Then they can't be sacrificed. Oh wait, that would be sinful too. Yay for religion!

      --
      "Upon attaching the waterblock to my penis, I began to notice that I know nothing about computers." -- JRockway
    2. Re:Speaking as a long time gamer... by nfras · · Score: 1

      Yes it is an unnatural progression from Dungeons and Dragons to Occultism and Satanism. Here, I have the proof

      This story is true I tell you, true!

      --
      You call me a pedant? I prefer the term "correct"
    3. Re:Speaking as a long time gamer... by ShavenYak · · Score: 2

      Heh, Chick tract. Cool. But this one is a much better read if you go through this link.

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
    4. Re:Speaking as a long time gamer... by Schnapple · · Score: 1

      Goddamn I love Chick Tracts.

  24. forums by idontneedanickname · · Score: 0

    the ppl at the forums are goin crazy!! IM ONE OF EM!!! AHAHAHAHH ITS DONE W00T!! (huff puff) *goes crazy*

  25. Will this stop GTL? by TeldakSS · · Score: 1

    Will Largo go into the Ever-Promised Hibernation? Largo has been ranting and raving about NWN since it was announced, it seems. And Before. I wonder. We shall see, we shall see.

  26. Linux version not in-box? by TiberiusX · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What I'd like to know is why (once again) Linux is not being represented in the retail box. All the way up to release, the story I heard was "versions of the product for Linux, Macintosh, and Windows were going to be in the same retail box." That was one of the biggest reasons for my money going into this game (other than being a fan of Bioware's previous works like the Baldur's Gate series, the revolutionary approach to this game in particular, and of CRPG in general). Sure I'll still buy the game, but I dislike in the extreme having to wait "a short time" (which could mean a month) to play it on my OS of choice.

    What happened, Bioware?

    --
    -- May the Source be with you...
    1. Re:Linux version not in-box? by MattW · · Score: 2

      Just be sure, when you fill out your registration card, to note you bought the game for your linux box. Honestly, if BG2 had been linux compatible, I might not have bought a windows box to game on. I played q3 for a long time on linux, and I think it is great that Bioware is putting out a client. In a way, I think it epitomizes that they're a hip company. Their linux players who WOULD NOT otherwise play on a windows box probably comprise, at most, 0.1% of their playerbase. But they're doing it anyhow-- quite possibly because they wisely know that game clients aside, a LOT of people (myself included) plan to run servers only on linux. I know very few people who colo windows boxes who have the freedom to install a game server. Those of us who DO have that freedom already use Linux (or BSD -- I hope the linux compat layer lets me run the linux server on FBSD).

    2. Re:Linux version not in-box? by BlastQuake · · Score: 1

      Terminus comes with Win32, MacOS, and Linux binaries all in the same box- not the most recent game but I still like it.

      --
      "What use is power to the Keeps of Balance?" -Disnt of Nightmare LpMud
    3. Re:Linux version not in-box? by startled · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't worry. Given the standard computer game release cycle, you'll likely get the Linux version around the time the game finally becomes playable.

    4. Re:Linux version not in-box? by elsegundo · · Score: 1

      Well, it's not like Linux-ers download everything else, rather than buy boxed versions.

      Who buys the boxed version of RedHat or Mandrake or SuSE? I suppose a few people do, but the rest download the freakin' ISOs.

      I guess it is nice to have a paper manual with glossy printing and all that...

      --


      The revolution will be televised. Blackout restrictions apply.
    5. Re:Linux version not in-box? by Zobeid · · Score: 1

      It has been known for a while now that the Linux and Mac versions weren't going to ship in the box. That was the old plan, it was abandoned weeks (or months?) ago, but nobody bothered to update the FAQ. The whole decision is probably based on the toolset being Windows-only.

      The speculation I've heard is that a Mac publisher will be brought on board to finish up the Mac version -- *including* porting the toolset. Which I'm guessing might take 10 or 12 months.

      But I've also heard there may be a new announcement about the Mac version as early as tomorrow, so here's hoping for a pleasant surprise.

    6. Re:Linux version not in-box? by TiberiusX · · Score: 1

      Well, its the principle of the thing. A Linux client alongside a Windows and Mac client, in the same retail box, for what looks to be the biggest game of the year... it says something. Of course I'm happy it'll be available on-line, but I'd still like to see a bit more Linux action in the brick-and-mortar scene.

      Yes, we Linux users usually download everything anyhow, but I happen to be one of those poor saps still stuck on a 33.6K modem connection (geographically challenged) and just downloading minor things (like, say, the Linux kernel) can be painful. Heh, I really hope the NWN network code allows me to multi-play decently, too :)

      --
      -- May the Source be with you...
    7. Re:Linux version not in-box? by TiberiusX · · Score: 1

      Ack!

      Nobody told me!

      :)

      --
      -- May the Source be with you...
    8. Re:Linux version not in-box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where have yo been? Linux will get the game about 3 years after the last person thought the game was still worth playing. :P

    9. Re:Linux version not in-box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Infogrames need a cash cow. the linux version isn't done yet, infogrames have been letting rumours slip about an earlier release date. bioware have been continually squelching such rumours.
      infogrames have lots of games in development right now, you'll notice, but no real big sellers. i imagine that this is what's prompting the slightly later release date of the linux version.
      bring it on, nevertheless, says i!

      ashridah

    10. Re:Linux version not in-box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      What I'd like to know is why (once again) Linux is not being represented in the retail box.


      How about, building games on DirectX is an absolute vacation compared to doing the same thing on a unix box.

      Why not jump onto SF and build a unix clone of DirectX for unix variants? You do that, and you'll remove a gigantic hurdle for most game programmers.
    11. Re:Linux version not in-box? by SunGod_SF · · Score: 1

      Well, ya know, the fact is that developing games costs a lot of money, and the Windows version of NWN is the lead version that will help the publisher get a return on investment. The Linux version will likely make the publisher jack in terms of revenue. The Linux version is great for server geeks and MMRPG entrepreneur wannabes, but in reality its not going to make a lot of money for Bioware.

      So think about it this way. If you were running the publisher, and you could earn money NOW by shipping the Windows version and put off the low-revenue Linux version a while, what would you do? Hmmmm, that's a toughie.

      They may be selling games, but it's still a business. Just be a little patient. Games aren't made overnight. Or if you insist, they could rush like Microsoft does, and ship an egregiously f*cked buggy product.

  27. yeah, you miss out on by Twister002 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    - The endless character recaps by everyone there before, during, and after the game e.g. "Baldac has a 16 charisma and an 18 wisdom with a +2 mace of boring"

    - The stench of geek BO, combined with smelly feet in the summer...ahhh...nothing like a rank basement to really bring out the geek aroma.

    - The challenge of trying to :

    a) figure out WHAT kind of food to get
    b) trying to find someone there who has money to PAY for the pizza (usually goes to the guy making $9/hour (e.g. "the rich guy") instead of minimum wage part time like everyone else.

    - Trying to herd everyone into the room so that the game can start/continue

    oh yes, I'll miss that. ;)

    --
    "For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
    1. Re:yeah, you miss out on by Iffy+Bonzoolie · · Score: 1

      Damn, I only have a +1 Mace of Boring... But, I have a Cloak of Inconsequence, as well, I think it balances out.

      -If

      --
      Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
    2. Re:yeah, you miss out on by abolith · · Score: 2

      We never had those problems.

      we made sure there were fans or A/C tokeepus cool plus everyone showered at least once in the weekend, well except for this guy named kieth. DAMN that guy stunk! we stopped playing with him in VERY short order.

      the food was no trouble eveyone knew to bring 5-10 bucks or you didn't eat. at first people thought "ya right, they won't make me go hungry", but we geeks can be very cruel at times....no one ever "forgot" thier cash at home again.

      as for kinds of food...easy..PIZZA and Mountian Dew.

      --
      if you want "No More Hiroshimas" then I say "You First. No More Pearl Harbors."
    3. Re:yeah, you miss out on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn, I only have a +1 Mace of Boring... But, I have a Cloak of Inconsequence, as well, I think it balances out.

      I hate to interrupt, but the wizard improperly identified that item. Its actually a Cloak of Incontinence. Oh, and its cursed too.

    4. Re:yeah, you miss out on by bitchazz · · Score: 1

      Damn, as much as I lve Mt. Dew, it gives me canker sores :(
      Anyone else?

  28. cool by OklaKid · · Score: 0

    for a graphics intense website they done an exellent job, kudos to their webdesigners...

  29. Gimme 3 copies for my lan please. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thank You Bioware!!!

    I hope all the linux users return their registration cards and make comments about buying the game because of the linux port.

    1. Re:Gimme 3 copies for my lan please. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope, all the Linux users won't buy the game until the Linux client binaries are available. Other than that, I agree with you...send in the registration cards and make sure they know, what your platform of choice is. The state of 3D rendering, sound and overall niceness of Linux, regardless of distro, has massively improved, certainly to a point that Loki could only have dreamt of. Imagine the company getting a flurry of registration cards and noticing against all odds, that the Linux portion accounts to 25% or more (which sounds awefully optimistic, but then I see awefully many people switching from plain Windows to at least a dual-bootup too!)

  30. going gold by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When a game goes gold it doesn't mean that it is available at retail outlets, rather that the gold master CD, from which all other CDs will be copied, has been burned, so it is still a matter of copying the CDs and putting them in the packages before retail outlets can get them out to the public.

  31. Life is what you make it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Life in the future will be virtual all in our brains with vitamin/protein IV's hooked up. You are getting real life....in 100 years....

  32. June 20th by jaaron · · Score: 2, Informative

    My BestBuy Pre-Order box says June 20th for the release date. Does anyone know how much documentation it's going to come with? I've looked at the beta and the scripting language is fairly complex.

    And make sure you registar your LINUX copies so that BIOWARE knows that there are Linux gamers using this! The default assumption is that your purchase is for a Win32 platform.

    --
    Who said Freedom was Fair?
    1. Re:June 20th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go ahead, but it'll STILL be 98% windows 1% Linux 1% mac. Even if every Linux user registers it, it'll only point out how few of them bought the game. Between that and nothing, there's really no difference as far as their sales are concerned.

    2. Re:June 20th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even at 1%, if you consider that the game is selling for about $55 and if the game only sells 500,000 copies (which it will most likely be more than that), the amount of money made across the the industry (from retailer down to developer) is still $275,000.

      $275,000 might not seem like a whole lot, but it's an awefull lot in terms of the number of salaries that can be covered.

  33. Just look at amazon.com by linuxpng · · Score: 2

    I believe you can purchase it as of 6/18.

  34. Oh! Glorious day! by Sivar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Another few months when the patch comes out and we can all play the most anticipated video game in AD&D history. This is one that I have been looking forward to for years!

    --
    Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  35. OS requirements? by zaren · · Score: 1

    The official NWN site only lists Windows requirements - where can I find out what kind of Mac or Linux box it'll run on?

    -----
    Apple hardware still too expensive for you? How about a raffle ticket?

    --
    Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
  36. NWN EULA by EatAtJoes · · Score: 1
    Does anyone have an update on the EULA for the NWN toolset? Last I saw, Bioware still owns anything and everything you make with the toolset, but they said their legal team was "reviewing" it.

    If it's released with the same bad license, I don't think we'll be seeing any quality mods being made for NWN, which would be a shame.

    1. Re:NWN EULA by idontneedanickname · · Score: 1

      as i sed in another reply they did that so that they can avoid people fighting over ownership of the mod...i.e. bio posts a mod on their site and they say person A made it, but for some reason (true or not) person B sais they made it...so instead of having to go trough this bioware can just say this or this person made it or, it belongs to us anyway so go fuck off. but they'd dtill put the name of the person that submitted it or they think actually made it on there somewhere

    2. Re:NWN EULA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Learn to use grammar and punctuation, please.

    3. Re:NWN EULA by B9DV8 · · Score: 1

      This from Derek French on the Bioware Forums

      "I believe that the EULA has changed. Due to legal reasons (as none of us are lawyers here) we still can't comment on the EULA. Ever.

      _________________
      Derek French
      Producer, Live Team
      Neverwinter Nights"

  37. Couldn't they have waited??? by allism · · Score: 5, Funny

    We have to move in three weeks, and I know my husband is gonna be just WORTHLESS he actually gets a copy of this...I wonder how much it would cost to get them to delay the in-store availability to July 7--whatever the cost, it would be worth it so that I wouldn't have to pack and move our apartment alone...

    Thanks, BioWare, for making my life miserable...

    1. Re:Couldn't they have waited??? by Mr+Krinkle · · Score: 2

      This will be easily fixed.
      Just make sure to call your cable and have the internet cutoff before it comes out. Just don't tell him until after it is cutoff. Then you will be all good. Or even better just accidentally steal his proc and tell him you are holding it hostage until you move.

      --
      I am 31337 or something.
  38. wheren't we supposd to ... by bsDaemon · · Score: 1

    be boycotting this very same thing because of it's license or something a couple of weeks ago?

    1. Re:wheren't we supposd to ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's so hard to keep up with being self-richeous these days. Oy!

  39. Now what am I going to do? by haus · · Score: 1

    I just bought my plane tickets to Wisconsin so that I could see the pre-release demo at GenCon again this year....

    1. Re:Now what am I going to do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just bought my plane tickets to Wisconsin

      Dude, you bought a ticket TO Wisconsin? ON PURPOSE?!?!?!

      You deserve everything you get. :o)

  40. Don't just register the game for Linux! by JeffMings · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In fact, it might not even _have_ a registration card! Instead, buy it from a known Linux vendor, like Tux Games so that other game companies will get the message that Linux really is a platform worth developing for!

    1. Re:Don't just register the game for Linux! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it isn't. So that would be contributing to a lie.

    2. Re:Don't just register the game for Linux! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TuxGames will likely do an installer, as they have done in the past.

    3. Re:Don't just register the game for Linux! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is not.

  41. What's the minimal/recommended Hardware? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm too lazy to look em up myself. Thanks in advance... :)

  42. Y'know, with friends like these... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's exactly that attitude that scares the sheople.

    (BTW, disclaimer: My brother introduced me to P&P RPGs at Northwest Christian College before he got a biblical studies degree. My Father is Baptist. My Mother appears to not care anymore. I'm Catholic, and Married. (The Catholic Church, BTW, doesn't think it's a sin to RP - they supported the LOTR as a wholesome movie about a fight between good and evil.)

    1. Re:Y'know, with friends like these... by unicron · · Score: 1

      The Catholic Church, BTW, doesn't think it's a sin to RP - they supported the LOTR as a wholesome movie about a fight between good and evil. So was Doom.

      --
      Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
    2. Re:Y'know, with friends like these... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It's exactly that attitude that scares the sheople.

      Yeah, heaven forbid these people ever develop the ability to understand sarcasm when it's smacking them upside the head like a... nice soft towel... wrapped around a large, heavy gold brick. (with apologies to Douglas Adams).

  43. [offtopic]Re:This should be good by forkboy · · Score: 1

    I didn't *HATE* Morrowind, it just didn't "do it" for me. I thought the 3d engine was pretty weak (poor physics and weird clipping) and the textures were all kinda the same....every dungeon looked like every other (with the exception of Daedric ruins) and all the landscape looked alike no matter what the "climate."

    The economy in the game is awful, warriors are way overbalanced compared to any other type of character, and the organization of journal information is terrible.

    On the upside, the magic system rocks and some of the cities and ruins are pretty cool looking. Oh, and you can become a vampire...that makes it fun for another day or two. I enjoyed the game for about a week of heavy playing between spring and summer semesters...I guess it was worth the net $15 I payed for it after selling it on half.com.

    --
    This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
  44. IWD was actually very nice for H'n'S by eddy · · Score: 3, Funny

    For the record, IWD didn't suck. In fact, I am in the middle of a multiplayer campaign with two friends, and we're all having a blast!

    IWD must be the best of the IE games to play over the net. Not much talking to NPCs and it is nice and linear so no arguing over which way to go :-)

    A bit hard to fit it into everyones schedule, but that's life.

    If NWN bombs out (I hated DS -- after having great expectations. Damn you Chris Taylor. Loved TA, but what were you thinking with DS?!) I'm pretty sure that IWD2 will deliver more of the same we all (except the OP) love.

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.
    1. Re:IWD was actually very nice for H'n'S by blowhole · · Score: 3, Funny

      LOL, if you use OMA (one more acronym), imma have to PMEO (poke my eyes out).

      --
      "Ask me about Loom"
  45. Does gold have meaning? by eison · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does going gold have meaning anymore? Don't we live in a world where we *expect* to have to wait a month *after* we buy something for it to work, and the chief effect the CD seems to have is slightly lowering the users' initial startup time and the publisher's bandwidth costs? Why still call it "going gold"? Why not say "started pressing the patching/update client"?

    Sorry, I just find this depressing.

    --
    is competition good, or is duplication of effort bad?
    1. Re:Does gold have meaning? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      It's called going gold, because typically (though probably not so much anymore) CDRs were gold, and the game would be given to the publisher on a CDR (as opposed to a silver pressed CD).

  46. "Clustered" MMORPG of Neverwinter Nights by sleight · · Score: 2

    Be sure to check out A Land Far Away if you are a hard core role player (in the "acting" sense and not in the "hack and slash" sense). It's a fairly massive online community of about 700 people whose characters will all live within an international cluster of servers.

    I got my character in a couple of months ago when I read someone else's post about ALFA here on /. It looks like it ought to be a good time.

    1. Re:"Clustered" MMORPG of Neverwinter Nights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ALFA sucks, a bunch of elietest punks they are. It's not a cluster either, just a bunch of linked servers. Only 64 people can be in the same zone at any time. And their are still many many unanswerd questions that could tear any MMORPG based on NWN apart.

    2. Re:"Clustered" MMORPG of Neverwinter Nights by Danny+Rathjens · · Score: 1

      Gee, thanks. I spent a couple hours reading just about everything until I finally got to the application part and it turns out they've stopped taking applications for who knows how long, ;)

    3. Re:"Clustered" MMORPG of Neverwinter Nights by Njoyda+Sauce · · Score: 1

      Is the name Beowulf taken?!

      --

      You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever.
  47. No Linux in the Box? by Erwos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It'd be nice if we could start some sort of mass movement to not put up Linux servers until the Linux client is out. The lack of tools is bad enough - if they want servers, they need to deliver clients.

    In fact, if it did that for every game, we might see more Linux ports done in-house. Just a thought.

    -Erwos

    --
    Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
    1. Re:No Linux in the Box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you'd start to see no Linux server ports being created. Linux's desktop marketshare is even less than that of MacOS.

    2. Re:No Linux in the Box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Linux's desktop market share is even less than
      > that of MacOS
      >
      Are you sure about that? It ain't, where I live. In my pretty large circle of friends a whopping one (1) person has a Mac. The OS most people I know run is Win98 (yes, 98...I have yet to hear one person actually wanting Win XP). Linux is still a distant second but definitely more and more visible on people's radar screen. This seems to be the year, where adoption of Linux is actually happening @home.

    3. Re:No Linux in the Box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      linux is 4% of the marketshare if I remember correctly, check the google z-thingy, it's what I trust the most for OS/browser stats.

  48. How long will it be... by Herger · · Score: 1

    How long will it be before people start calling it "Nevercrack Nights" or similar :)

    Congratulations to Bioware on a job (hopefully!) well done. I'm looking forward for it.

    1. Re:How long will it be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Neversleeping Nights

    2. Re:How long will it be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NeverSleep Nights would be more like it... :)

  49. Managing your addiction by sam_handelman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Gaming can take over your life, or it can be an enriching escape from worthwhile, but stressful activities. My Summer is gonna be extra stressful:

    10 hrs/day Work (I'm a researcher / grad student)

    ouch! Once I've prioritized that, I can use my time management skills to arrange it so that playing this Summer's hot new games doesn't become a substitute for crack.

    4 hrs/day Heroes IV: Tournament of Honor
    4 hrs/day Neverwinter Nights
    4 hrs/day Master of Orion III
    2 hrs/day Smoking Crack

    all 24 hours a day are filled with stimulating activities, without displacing my drug habit. Also, by deleting wasteful food from my schedule, I'll be able to lose that weight without becoming physically active.

    --
    The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
    1. Re:Managing your addiction by Creepy · · Score: 1

      MOO3 isn't expected until September (OK, Q3, but we all know that Q3==September), so you should get at least 4 hours of sleep in there for a while.

      If you want to keep your addictions going now, maybe try long term habits like Morrowind or Wizardry 8. For a short termers, maybe try Dungeon Seige.

      Also, amphetamines work a lot better for sleep deprivation than crack. You may want to make the switch, at least for the short term. Just a thought.

      While you're at it, practice for the real world by gaming while you're working. Also, try drinking various chemicals around the lab. They're bound to give you super powers, especially at a University lab. Trust me. And, ... hey - where's your slashdot time coming from :P

  50. hexa by Hex+Advocacy · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Repeated message:

    I'm informing you in this message that your use of decimal is disturbing to geeks. I think it likely that you do not know what radices mean, or else you would be using hexadecimal. Read about hexadecimal at intuitor and repost your comment as a reply using hexadecimal. You may use "0x" as a prefix or "h" as a suffix for the numbers. Intelligent people despise decimal--so try to show some intelligence. And please reply to this message.

    Personalized message:

    Change your dollar amount. $33.50 is $21h.50.

    1. Re:hexa by ShavenYak · · Score: 2

      Change your dollar amount. $33.50 is $21h.50.

      No it isn't, you retard. It's $21.8h, because 0.5 decimal is one half, or 8h / 10h. If you're going to advocate hex, you need to learn to use it.

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
  51. Rule Lawyers, you forgot by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

    Rule lawyers.
    God I hated people dissecting the rules to make it work in their favor. Waste of time.
    Making Munchikins should be interesting as well.

    --
    Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    1. Re:Rule Lawyers, you forgot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NOOO my ranger can't die! PLEASE! I've been playing him for 10 years! He's my soulmate! He's a level 56 ranger with a +5 longsword of icescuplturing. Please, you guys need to organize a resurrection party quick!!!!! I'm going to kill myself!

  52. Gone Gold? Huh? by Dr.+Shim · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What does "gone gold" mean anyway? I thought it ment that the game hit store shelves.

    Enlighten me.

    --
    People discover the meaning of life between getting piss drunk and the following hangover.
    1. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by dorix · · Score: 1

      It means that the final master CD (the "Gold") has been burned and shipped to the manufacturer. Barring critical last-minute bugfixes, this is almost always the version that actually ends up on store shelves, but not necessarily.

    2. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by Osty · · Score: 1

      What does "gone gold" mean anyway? I thought it ment that the game hit store shelves.

      "Gone gold" means that the master copy of the CD (traditionally a gold CD, though that's not always the case, but that's where the "gold" part comes from) has been shipped to manufacturing, which will press the first run of CDs over the next couple of days/weeks (depending on the production capacity and the size of the run). This is also called "RTM" or "Release to Manufacturing" (interestingly, when no manufacturing is involved, this is often changed to "RTW" or "Release to Web"). Once manufacturing is done, the game is then "Shipped", which means that the game has been shipped to retailers, and possibly direct-order pre-orders if such a facility was set up. This means that when a piece of software "goes gold", you will generally be able to buy it between a couple weeks and a month or more later.


      That's the traditional definition of "going gold". However, an increasing trend is to replace the term "shipped" with "gone gold", in that when a game "goes gold", it'll be on the store shelves almost immediately. This is wrong, but oh well. Unless you're French, you can't stop the progress of language.

    3. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I could be mistaken, but I believe 'gone gold' predates CDs entirly.

    4. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by VikingBerserker · · Score: 1

      I was under the impression that "Gone gold" means that the game has sold 500,000 copies, sort of a parallel to the recording industry.

      Since I've seen some games come along that have gone gold before they've hit the shelves (preordering is great!), I think my definition holds more wight than the two previous responses.

    5. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot. The previous two posters are right and you, my retarded little love child of a yak and a subhuman mother, are, once again in your pathetic life, wrong.

    6. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by Datafage · · Score: 1

      No, as the guy above you says, gold has nothing to do with sales numbers, but rather that the gold master CD has been cut.

      --

      Nicotine free Amish .sig.

    7. Re:Gone Gold? Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you are a lame troll. sorry I remove all of your trolling points. please die

  53. hexa by Hex+Advocacy · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Repeated message:

    I'm informing you in this message that your use of decimal is disturbing to geeks. I think it likely that you do not know what radices mean, or else you would be using hexadecimal. Read about hexadecimal at intuitor and repost your comment as a reply using hexadecimal. You may use "0x" as a prefix or "h" as a suffix for the numbers. Intelligent people despise decimal--so try to show some intelligence. And please reply to this message.

    Personalized message:

    The 'th' doesn't get you away from hexadecimal.

  54. Lord Help Me I'm an Old D &D Fart Now by Mittermeyer · · Score: 2

    WARNING- This is going to sound like an '... and we liked it that way' rant, but here goes-

    I was playing D&D back when we were poring over Dragon Magazine #4 to try and glean anything at all about the maddening frustrating lack of rules. So we created a lot of stuff on our own, some of which got duplicated by TSR when later editions came out. Kind of hacking an RPG in a time when no one knew what an RPG 'should' be.

    So I may be an old fuddy duddy, but you just can't be as creative when the code (by it's very nature) limits the actions of the characters and the creativity of the DM.

    And so help me I have NEVER gotten into the MUDs and their graphical descendants, because there is no substitute for face-to-face gaming.

    I'll pass on this D&D gimmick just like everything else, and let everyone else allow their imaginations to be dictated to by the game company.

    Come to think of it I actually remember porches and playing outside without benefit of a video game. Lord I AM old.

    --
    ________________________________________ History Must Not Fall Into The Wrong Hands ___________________________________
    1. Re:Lord Help Me I'm an Old D &D Fart Now by coljac · · Score: 1

      No, no, why assume that a game like NWN is suppose to supplant F2F RPGs somehow? As others have said, this could be a fun activity on its own without being compared to tabletop gaming. One's a computer activity, one's a social activity, each have their place.

      In my day, we had 8-bit computers with less than a meg of RAM and we loved the games that were on there - 'we liked it that way'. Does that mean I'm against NVidia, ATI, AMD, Intel, etc. for creating the awesome hardware that games run on now? No way!

      --
      Everyone knows that damage is done to the soul by bad motion pictures. -Pope Pius XI
  55. hexa by Hex+Advocacy · · Score: 0, Troll
    Repeated message:

    I'm informing you in this message that your use of decimal is disturbing to geeks. I think it likely that you do not know what radices mean, or else you would be using hexadecimal. Read about hexadecimal at intuitor and repost your comment as a reply using hexadecimal. You may use "0x" as a prefix or "h" as a suffix for the numbers. Intelligent people despise decimal--so try to show some intelligence. And please reply to this message.

    Personalized message:

    Sure you're using a general number, so just take the general hex amount. Repost.

  56. hexa by Hex+Advocacy · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Repeated message:

    I'm informing you in this message that your use of decimal is disturbing to geeks. I think it likely that you do not know what radices mean, or else you would be using hexadecimal. Read about hexadecimal at intuitor and repost your comment as a reply using hexadecimal. You may use "0x" as a prefix or "h" as a suffix for the numbers. Intelligent people despise decimal--so try to show some intelligence. And please reply to this message.

    Personalized message:

    A nice round decimal number? Why not a nice round hexadecimal number?

  57. fan-boy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    look who's talking?

    Clean up Bill G's cum out of your mouth, its beginning to stink up the place.

    1. Re:fan-boy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Smells a hell of a lot better than GNU/Cum! Wait, all you get from RMS is GNU/Shit. Now that *really* stinks.

  58. Subscription? by Jerp · · Score: 1

    Does this game require a monthly subscription to continue playing?

    Can you do serving over IP or is it limited to IPX?

    1. Re:Subscription? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IPX? For Christ's sake, does ANY game support IPX anymore? It's a dead protocol. Even Novell has gotten rid of it for IP. IP is where it's at jack.

    2. Re:Subscription? by Jerp · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Just found the answer: no subscription required

    3. Re:Subscription? by Jerp · · Score: 1

      IPX? For Christ's sake, does ANY game support IPX anymore? According to the FAQ, Neverwinter Nights does. It's a dead protocol. Even Novell has gotten rid of it for IP. IP is where it's at jack. Thanks for the news flash, Jack. Some gaming companies unfortunately use IPX as a way to limit unauthorized internet play, with IP support in the game requiring authentication with a designated registration server.

  59. Neverwinter Nights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hi this game will not equal my favorite Linus game of all times, DOOM. Anyway it is just a copy of DOOM, in which you run through a maze and shoot at monsters and evil humans. When you shoot at the humans they say "hey!, Hey!" in slow motion. They are the best computers AI in DOOM, too. You can open a door and the evil humans come out, one by one, while you stand there with a double barrelled shotgun and shoot them while they say "Hey!, Hey!" in slow motion. So I will not be replacing my favorite Linus game, DOOM on my Linus beowulf clusters any time soon.

  60. MW was okay. by eddy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I disagree, I've hade many weeks of fun with Morrowind. The quests are not solely FedEx.

    Were I a game-designer I would try for a game which could generate quest-trees from a grammar and a database (the game would use a decent database and I would equip the game-engine with a suitable query-language, such as a limited subset of SQL) of the world objects. There would be actions, locations and conditionals, and then... but I digress.

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.
    1. Re:MW was okay. by coljac · · Score: 1

      Absolutely. Sneaking into a guy's house to poison his supper was fun.

      The thing about MW is the lack of linearity - it's not a "railroad" as we used to say. I've played many hours of MW and still haven't touched the main plotline. That's pretty unusual (for games that do have a main plotline).

      --
      Everyone knows that damage is done to the soul by bad motion pictures. -Pope Pius XI
    2. Re:MW was okay. by eddy · · Score: 1

      There's also moral issues which I think are some of the greatest things to explore in CRPGs, and where the 'drama' lies.

      For instance, you can either work to free the slaves, or you can work with the slave owners (I never tried to buy and sell slaves myself, but I'm sure it's possible. I'm a little sneaky like that, freeing slaves and then lying to my Telvanni masters about it. "No sire, they ran away! Promise!" :-)

      --
      Belief is the currency of delusion.
  61. Super Chatroom / Otherworld by Asicath · · Score: 1

    If you've read the otherworld series (Tad Williams) you'd see the mass apeal for this outside of just RPGing.

    This is one of the first toolsets (that I can think of anyways) that allows you to create a 3D persistant world hosted on your own computer.

    So, use it like a chatroom, you can design a huge area just for people to get together and hang out in. If you really want to be ecentric, force anybody who wants to come chat with you online to log onto your world server. Force them to enter a huge castle with lots o guards and neato stuff, just for the effect.

    Even link these worlds together so that maybe your server is linked to a great lobby of doors that people can wander through.

    1. Re:Super Chatroom / Otherworld by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you can do that? It's like the old concept of an avatar chatroom. Isn't the Sims the first 3D world you can create like that though?

  62. Nerd of the Rings by jfisherwa · · Score: 1

    I am Black Wolf the Dragon Master!

    1. Re:Nerd of the Rings by PenguinX · · Score: 2

      Burger King! Where all Dragon Masters eat!

  63. Is jousting windmills really that fun? by bashibazouk · · Score: 1

    And what about binary.

  64. That won't work... by allism · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here are the two different scenarios, keep in mind that in our current apartment we do not have broadband and we will have it in the house we are moving into...and stealing his computers wouldn't work, he's got at least two that this game would probably run on and could borrow one if he really wanted to...

    Scenario 1 (the way I would like things to be):
    Hubby pitches in on packing, eagerly anticipating us being in our new house and having the basement set up to do his gaming (the basement is wired for surround sound). Hubby gets everything moved, and quickly unpacks everything before July 7 so he can game at our house, with our high-speed connection, without having the responsibility of unpacking still on his shoulders because it is ALL DONE.

    Scenario 2 (what is really gonna happen):
    Hubby knows that game is coming out, and starts packing, but tells himself that he won't get sucked into playing the game. Game hits the shelves a few days before the last weekend we have before moving day (July 3). Hubby goes down to his friend's house who has mondo bandwidth 'just to check out the graphics' on the Friday night before moving day, comes home at 7 am Saturday (no exaggeration, this happened most recently with Jedi Knight 2, why would this game be different?). Hubby sleeps all day and gets started packing around 4 pm, realizes he left something essential at his friend's house, drives down there, reappears at 7 am Sunday, sleeps all day. Moving day comes, movers end up finishing up the packing, causing no end of havoc when trying to find things. Hubby does not spend a weekend at home for a month, because it is easier to go to friend's house to play NwN than to unpack and set up the basement.

    P.S. this is NOT meant to be me complaining about my husband's gaming on weekends, it doesn't bother me when he stays out playing, it's just kinda like someone scheduling a funeral during the Super Bowl--damned inconvenient timing and a football party is a lot more fun than a wake...

    (I'm really hoping the BioWare people will see this and delay shipping just for me...)

    1. Re:That won't work... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tell him he's not getting any until he unpacks and sets up the basement. Problem solved.

    2. Re:That won't work... by m_evanchik · · Score: 2

      This is a joke, right.

      A husband and wife that both read slashdot.

      What's sad is, and I'm speaking from experience as a guy, that there is nothing you can do to get him over this. Don't try sex. It will fail miserably and you'll get your feelings hurt. That man has one thing on his mind right now and it is NWN.

      Even trying to get him to wait for the patch will be worthless. Even if he waits for the patch, he'll think about it forever.

      Make a deal with him. Talk to him ahead of time. Make playing NWN a reward for doing tasks.
      If you play your cards right, that poor sorry SOB will get all his work done early in return for his bone.

      Good Luck.

    3. Re:That won't work... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uhh...I think he's cheating on you. Who is this "friend" he keeps going to until 7 am in the morning?

    4. Re:That won't work... by Random+Feature · · Score: 2

      What's so odd about that? My husband and I both read /.

      And while he's looking forward to NWN, I'm the one trying to build a new system to run it on and convince him that I should get a new system to play it on.

      Since most of our purchases have been laptops and weren't specifically purchased for gaming, they won't cut it. The minimum requirements aren't too bad, but the recommended (and you KNOW you're going to need that to really have a good time) are a bit more than I've got laying around in the server closet.

      ::sigh::

      I just know this is going to suck up most of my free time this summer.

      --
      I don't have a solution, but I certainly admire the problem.
    5. Re:That won't work... by caferace · · Score: 1
      I for one applaud you patience, and geekdom.

      If you have some babe cred as well, I suggest applying for this job.

    6. Re:That won't work... by Alsee · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Solution: Buy the game for him as a present :)

      Either (A) Ask some little favor from him related to moving - "I just know those nasty movers are going to kill all my plants" or "break my fine glassware" or "scratch my antique whatchamacallit" - and tell him you'd appreciate him taking care of it so much you'll buy the game for him as "reward". Specifically, you'll run out to buy it while he's unpacking his computer in the basement so that he can play it "right away". Just don't forget the deal when he unpacks the plants/glassware/antique first and his computer second while everthing else sits in boxes :)

      or (B) Buy it and "conviently" arrange for to to wind up at your new house.

      or (C) Buy it mail order, shipped to your new address.

      I'd really suggest (A), and give him a big smile and peck on the cheek when he agrees to help with your "problem".

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    7. Re:That won't work... by allism · · Score: 1

      I'm not that...I'm not sure what word to use, bargaining? We talked about it last night, he is going to try to get most of the packing done this weekend :)

  65. If any Linux users are unaware of it by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 1

    There's a project to get the toolkit running in Linux, using wine here.

    --
    Everything will be taken away from you.
    1. Re:If any Linux users are unaware of it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why bother? The game isn't even being released for Linux yet! (if ever)

  66. www.tsr.com by LordYUK · · Score: 0

    heh, old school web address straight to DnD bypassing that Pokemon crap on wizards front page. Go /.!

    --
    This is my sig. Its pathetic.
    1. Re:www.tsr.com by Urthpaw · · Score: 1

      Yeah... I've been using http://www.tsr.com/ for ages... I was sort of wondering if anyone would notice :p

  67. Not that I want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm by Sheetrock · · Score: 2

    Did they ever get back to us on the whole EULA thing? Given that it's been a few weeks since they were going to tell us what the master plan was, I kind of feel like they're trying to put a lid on the whole deal and hoping that it'll blow over by the time the product hits the shelves. I really hope this isn't the case, as for a fleeting moment there I felt like we were being taken seriously.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    1. Re:Not that I want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The milk is shooting out of my nose! I'm dying here! Help!

    2. Re:Not that I want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not milk.

    3. Re:Not that I want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm by Doppleganger · · Score: 2

      From here

      Quote: Posted 06/11/02 23:36:49 (GMT) by Derek French

      I believe that the EULA has changed. Due to legal reasons (as none of us are lawyers here) we still can't comment on the EULA. Ever.

  68. BSD? by journie00 · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know if FreeBSD's linux emulation will be sufficient, or do I need to keep linux around for playing video games? (Never thought I'd be doing that...)

  69. Question by Hard_Code · · Score: 2

    Many multiplayer games I've seen do not require a direct 1-1 relationship between copies purchased and players playing. For example, some allow you to run a game of 4 players, off 1 legit CD, or something like 4 players for the 1st CD, and then 2 for every other legit CD joining the game...this way you could use your brand spanking new expensive game to actually *play* with other people who might not have it.

    I am wondering what the NWN policy is (I checked the FAQ and couldn't find anything about it). If I am able to play with 1 or 2 other people (who I know for a fact will definitely NOT buy this otherwise), then I'll be sure to get NWN...otherwise, there is no point in me buying it at all (and Bioware loses a sale).

    --

    It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
    1. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need one unique CD for each "client", which in this case refers to player characters and the DM. The dedicated server program does not require a CD. Therefore you can host a server farm for free, but everyone who visits will need their own CD.

  70. Linux Version by michaelsimms · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The Linux version will be available as a downloadable addon to the windows CD. As such your Linux vote will get lost in the Windows numbers. PLEASE either do one of the following: Send in your registration card with the Linux box ticked, or buy from Tux Games who will be reporting back each and every sale we get as a Linux sale.

    We did the same for Wolfenstein and had positive response from our numbers we handed in to id. We intend to do the same for NWN and hopefully ensure more games get ported.

    Whichever way you do it, DO IT. Unless you make your voice heard, they wont listen.

    --

    Tux Games. Your complete source for native Linux games.
    1. Re:Linux Version by Bob+The+Cowboy · · Score: 1
      The Linux version will be available as a downloadable addon to the windows CD. As such your Linux vote will get lost in the Windows numbers. PLEASE either do one of the following: Send in your registration card with the Linux box ticked, or buy from Tux Games [tuxgames.com] who will be reporting back each and every sale we get as a Linux sale.


      We get the copy of the game that works with Win32 and OSX as well when we purchase through TuxGames, right?

      Bill
    2. Re:Linux Version by michaelsimms · · Score: 2

      Yes, as with all games that are released like this, we will create an installer CD that installs using the original published CD. Doing it any other way would have a dozen lawyers on our backs within about 3.2 seconds.

      --

      Tux Games. Your complete source for native Linux games.
    3. Re:Linux Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > [Tuxgames] will be reporting back each [..]
      > sale as a Linux sale
      > did the same for Wolfenstein and had positive
      > response from our numbers we handed in to id.
      >
      If you don't mind me asking...what were those numbers?

    4. Re:Linux Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Will someone please build a DirectX clone for Linux?

  71. Gold? by JanusFury · · Score: 2

    I think they mean they switched from using those blue-silver shiny CD-Rs, to Gold CD-R's. The Gold ones look cooler. :)

    --
    using namespace slashdot;
    troll::post();
  72. Mac OS Info Tomorrow by DoenerMord · · Score: 1

    InsideMacGames.com is reporting there should be more news about the Mac OS version tomorrow.

    http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/

  73. Sixty bucks?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    $60 for a game. I thought I was out of my mind to pay $50 for Civ3. I just went to a software outlet a couple weeks ago and didn't see anything over $50 and lots of current titles for $40. Some fairly recent titles (Black and White) for $20.

    If I find it somewhere for $50, I'll probably buy it but not a penny more (excluding taxes).

  74. HELL TO THE YEAH!! by Max+Threshold · · Score: 1

    A native Linux version! It's about time one of the MMORPGs figured it out.

    Go ahead, mod me redundant. I'm so excited I just had to post.

    1. Re:HELL TO THE YEAH!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dude. it's not an MMORPG.
      it's not massively multiplayer at all, although you can cluster heaps of servers together via portals, which makes it cool for developing a massive world to wander around in (i must say, that idea rocks totally).

      ashridah

  75. The key. by eddy · · Score: 2

    Hehe, yeah, maybe that was going overboard. Didn't even notice. Guide for the uninitiated:

    IWD = Icewind Dale
    IWD2 = Icewind Dale 2
    IE = Infinity Engine -- powers BG/BG:TotSC/PS:T/IWD/IWD:HoW/BG2/BG2:ToB and IWD2
    NPC = Non-Player Character
    NWN = Neverwinter Nights
    DS = Dungeon Siege
    TA = Total Annihilation
    OP = Original Poster
    TotSC = Tales of the Sword Coast. BG1 add-in adventures
    PS:T = Planescape: Torment
    ToB = Throne of Bhaal. BG2 expansion.
    HoW = Heart of Winter. IWD add-in.

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.
  76. Hockey fans or Linux fans? You decide... by alouts · · Score: 1
    After taking a gander at their site, check out the wallpaper they released a little bit ago...

    Penguins, anyone?

    Are they making a none-too-subtle statement about the awesome power of linux?

  77. NWN Penguin wallpaper by Sivar · · Score: 2

    Get your wallpaper image if a penguin viciously attacking a Doomknight here!

    Poor Doomknight doesn't know what he's up against...

    --
    Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  78. Update by eddy · · Score: 3, Informative

    It should be noted that concerns from the community prompted this from bioware:

    We have been in contact with Infogrames and the concerns over the wording of the EULA, by the fans, has been duly noted.

    The legal beagles will be taking another look at this issue and we should have more information for you in a few days (Monday is a holiday up here).

    Until that time, we won't have any further comment on the EULA until a more official statement can be made.

    ...but I don't know if anything came of it. Seeing how the game is now gold, I imagine we're gonna hear soon, or they didn't change the license.

    My problem is with the revocation rights. Those should go away. I'm hesitant to even bother learning the tools if they retain that right. It's the principle of it all. (why should this be any different than say a text-editor?)

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.
  79. They can say a lot of things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can also use it to make compilations of popular mods and sell them, and if the game gets popular they will do so too. Many people will balk at this, and rightly so.

  80. Linux version or none. by pjrc · · Score: 3, Informative
    Hey, Bioware, are any of you guys reading this?

    My brother loaned me his copy of BG1, which I played. Robin, by girlfriend later decided to give BG1 a try and we purchased a copy, since I had returned it already.

    I purchased BG2 and played most of it, again on 'doze.

    Well, I don't play so many games now, and I don't even have a native 'doze installed anymore (got a vmware based 'doze for a single program... and yes, that's a legit vmware I paid for too).

    So at least for me, it's a decision between PAYING for a linux version of a game, or not even bothering to play. Windows is not an option. You can have my money, but only if it works entirely in Linux. I'm just not going to install windows to play a damn game. I'd rather just not waste my time on it if it requires the headache of installing 'doze, installing drivers, rebooting endlessly in the process.

    I know a lot of people still dual boot, but I've kicked that habbit.

    1. Re:Linux version or none. by Maul · · Score: 2, Informative

      IIRC, but...
      There is a Linux and Mac game executable in the box.

      --

      "You spoony bard!" -Tellah

    2. Re:Linux version or none. by pjrc · · Score: 3, Informative
      There is a Linux and Mac game executable in the box.

      Did you read these words in the press release:

      The PC version of Neverwinter Nights will ship to retailers before the end of June. Linux gamers can anticipate the online release of the Neverwinter Nights server at launch and the client program shortly afterward. Linux gamers will still need the Windows version of the game to register at the Neverwinter Nights community site and to import essential game resources into their Linux server and game.

      So, converting marketing to english, it sounds like there will in fact not be a Linux executable in the box (other than the server), but it will be made available undetermined time later on the website.

      Even then, 'doze will be needed to register on the community site (presumably to get involved with public game servers).

      And what do you suppose "to import essential game resources into their Linux server and game" means? I hope it does not in fact mean some small but critical setup component will only work on 'doze, and thereafter linux can be used.

    3. Re:Linux version or none. by schon · · Score: 1

      what do you suppose "to import essential game resources into their Linux server and game" means?

      It probably means "We don't want to have people download the 2GB graphic and sound files."

      Just like every other game available for linux and windows - download the binaries, use the data files from the CD.

  81. Consoles are for you by yerricde · · Score: 2

    It used to be that companies would rarely ship a game if it was not bug free.

    This is still the case with software for game consoles. If the quality of the boxed product is important to you, then PC gaming may not be for you. Buy a Sony PS2 console and buy games for that.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:Consoles are for you by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 1

      Except now, consoles are getting Internet access and hard disks, how long before history repeats?

  82. Mind Drug by thugstyle · · Score: 1

    Maybe I can actually afford rent this month, No more nose candy!!

  83. Extra layer of indirection? by eddy · · Score: 2

    How about if you add an extra layer of indirection?

    Instead of releasing a module proper, you release say, a single xml-document, which can be run by end-users through a translator which just happens (gasp!) to output IWD-compatible modules if properly fed.

    Maybe there's an implicit 'anything that could possibly be made into a working module belongs to us'? :-\

    Hmm.. maybe we'll get some reverse-engineering fun out of this after all :-)

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.
    1. Re:Extra layer of indirection? by SlightlyMadman · · Score: 1

      Well, you'd have to reverse engineer their file format to be able to write that translator. Whoever does that, would be violating the DMCA.

      The only way to get away with it is if the developers never set foot in the US again, and none of the servers that were used to distribute the translator were located in the US. You could always hope it gets passed around on gnutella or something, but the program would need to be readily available (ideally, distributed with the "not a module") for it to really take off.

      --

      Money I owe, money-iy-ay
  84. Fucking Priorities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get your priorities STRAIGHT! Go on vacation to Amsterdam and fuck as many hookers as possible in the red light district!

    1. Re:Fucking Priorities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This guy's right. You shouldn't play NWN at home...play it at work instead.

  85. If the winter night is cold by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you had better wear a jacket.

  86. Cold by sych · · Score: 1

    Funny, I skimmed that topic and read it as "Neverwinter Nights is Cold".

    And it thought "yes, i bet they are..."

    It took me a few seconds to make sense of it all.

  87. Duke Nukem by dextr0us · · Score: 1

    I never thought i'd see the day NWN would comeout, now i'm still just waiting for duke nukem forever.

    --
    "Martha Stewart can lick my Scrotum......do i have a scrotum?" -- Sharon Osbourne
  88. Where the F*CK is the Mac version??? by frankie · · Score: 2

    whether or not NWN will be available for Mac OS X or just Mac OS 8/9

    I thought it was going to be OS X only. Of course, I also thought it was going to be triple-compatible in the box, including the toolset.

    I get the feeling that it just isn't ready yet.

    I get the feeling that Bioware has been flat out lying about even working on a Mac version in the first place. Do we have any evidence that it exists at all? I have been drooling about NWN for the past 2 years, and it's all turning to crap.

    1. Re:Where the F*CK is the Mac version??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So get a real fucking computer and you wont have to worry about it.

    2. Re:Where the F*CK is the Mac version??? by Creepy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Apparently an announcment on the mac version is forthcoming today. There are rumors both on Bioware's message boards and at Inside Mac Games.

      Patience, Grasshopper.

    3. Re:Where the F*CK is the Mac version??? by Datafage · · Score: 1
      I thought it was going to be OS X only. Of course, I also thought it was going to be triple-compatible in the box, including the toolset.

      The toolset was NEVER claimed to be triple-compatible. The game alone was supposed to be.

      --

      Nicotine free Amish .sig.

    4. Re:Where the F*CK is the Mac version??? by frankie · · Score: 2
      Indeed, the Mac announcement came out on the 12th. Here's Marketroid to English translation:
      "You know that stuff we said about parallel simultaneous development on all platforms? We were totally lying. We spent the whole time making the Windows version. We think we can port it to Linux pretty quickly, but the boxes that Apple sent us are still unopened in the storeroom. We'll pass them to Macsoft along with a couple source code folders."
    5. Re:Where the F*CK is the Mac version??? by frankie · · Score: 2
      toolset was NEVER claimed to be triple-compatible

      Totally patently FALSE. Here's some references:

      • 1999: Dungeon Masters moderating online games will be able to create their own scenarios using BioWare's Solstice Toolset.
      • 2000: From the very start of our development cycle, we have been designing Neverwinter Nights not only to be multiplatform but also to be fully interoperable between the different OS versions," says Oster. "We want a Be OS player and her Windows friend to be able to play together on a Mac server under the guidance of a Linux-based dungeon master.
      • 2000: Neverwinter Nights will support the Windows, Mac, Linux, and the ever-popular BeOS operating systems, and all versions will be completely interoperable.
      • 2001: * The powerful and user-friendly Neverwinter Aurora Toolset allows players to create entirely new adventures, campaigns, and worlds of their own devising. The toolset is a major features of the title and will receive full post-product support. * Single-box release across multiple Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, Macintosh and BeOS). All versions will be fully interoperable.
      • 2001: So the big question in everyone's minds seems to be "Why did you wait this long to tell us that the toolset is Windows-only?" That's a fair question and the honest answer is that we didn't know, we still don't know. [...] The truth is that we want our toolset to be available on all platforms.
      • 2002 (right now): We are planning a simultaneous PC/Macintosh/Linux release for Neverwinter Nights, with all three versions to be included in a single box.
  89. NWN clan made before the toolset even came out by psypete · · Score: 1

    yes, this guy was hooked before there was even some kind of a screenshot. i guess he likes D&D. it'll be a little clan (max 30 people i believe) so join quick. there is a ranking system, but i THINK you can be bumped up the ranking by letting the clan use your custom-made resources and crap. but im not sure, ask the admin.

    http://www.psipro.com/B/
    oh yeah, and they support CS too. and more games to come. weird.

  90. Why it appeals to me. by Jethro · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Why would anyone want DM'd games online?
    I'd much rather DM a real-life game. But since me and another guy from the The Party moved to the other side of the world, another guy got married and has kids now, one's not been heard from for about a year and one has an erratic schedule, I find the idea of setting up an online RPG module and having them all be able to play whenever they have a few minutes quite interesting. Kind of like PBM only with graphics.

    Not that I think this will come to pass, nor that this is EXACTLY what the system is meant for, but it still sounds like fun.

    P.S. Yes, I have tried starting something local with real people, couldn't get it to fly though.
    --


    In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
  91. Don't want imagination dictated by the game... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If you want to use your imagination instead of looking at the pretty pictures may I suggest you try OpenRPG.
    Its a tool for playing your old fashioned P&P rpgs and tabletop miniature games over the internet. Its pretty much a virtual gaming table without the chips and soda.

    OpenRPG is available for Linux and Windows and there is a java version available for Macs and people who don't like Python. It's GPL'd, already at V1.0.3 (out of beta) and actively being developed.

  92. Aww come on! by AlXtreme · · Score: 1

    I've still got an exams and essays in the next few weeks! How can they expect me to get anything done now? You people are horrible!

    Wait, is the Linux client out yet? that might just save me a week or so. Do have to cancel everything in the holidays though, but it's not like that matters. Thank god for not having a life :o)

    --
    This sig is intentionally left blank
  93. European Release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Any word when the European release is expected. No doubt we will have to wait months for the publisher to pull their finger out.
    Every time a game has staggered release means more people downloading the US rip because they don't want to wait. Shooting yourself in the foot indeed.

    Will somebody please think of the second largest market in the world!

    1. Re:European Release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The game is simultaneous released in US and EUR.

      German software stores report 27th of June as Release Date for the German Version

      Infograms isn't that stupid...

  94. I'm not mad.... by StarbuckZero · · Score: 1


    Well something is a hell of a lot better then nothing. One less thing on the Transgaming vote polls that's what I say. I'm sure they didn't have to make Linux binary, they could have made out just fine with just a Win32 version of the game for that matter. Besides I could buy it and play it here at work join my lunch breaks, then I could play it at home on my PC (Red Hat 7.3 only) shortly after. Just like I did with Unreal Tournament and Quake 3(but I paid for the Linux version).

    --
    From Zero to Hero... Starbuck Zero
  95. The truth is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that its very unlikely you've ever even had sex (it must be hard to get a girl to come back to your parent's basement) let alone had it enough to know anything what so ever about the clit.

    so give it up... you're not fooling anyone.

  96. you should leave the speculation for the comments by shren · · Score: 2

    Server-linking features allow the assembly of distributed MMORPGs.

    That's the hope of the fans. They haven't promised to deliver it, and have in fact stated some design decisions that would make this very hard to do, if possible at all. The fans, you see, are hopeless optimists who are sure they can outdo the professionals.

    If you had doors between quake servers, would that make quake a MMORPG? No?

    --
    Maybe the state's highest function is to grind out insoluble problems. (Zelazny, Hall of Mirrors)
  97. Final Exams @ VT by kyoko21 · · Score: 1

    Hopefully this game will be released right at the end of June. By then, all the schools should be out and no more homework (except for bandcamps and the usual summer work for AP classes or debate camp).

    My old roomate (now in med school) used to play Starcraft 24/7 when it first came out and he nearly missed a final exam. Ahhhh... the good old days. Sure wish we could go back to those golden years of the net when bandwidth were plenty and users were lacking :-)

  98. Gone Gold? They've sold that many copies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see a lot of posts saying "Going Gold" has to do with manufacturing/shipping... It always used to refer to number of sales. Silver, gold, platinum, maybe even titanium these days. Gold was something like a million copies sold.

    Have I been misreading Slashdot headlines for years? Is this a distinction between software and music CD applications? If so, what do you call it when a piece of software sells a million copies?

  99. Another Dorks&Dweebs game! by macdaddy357 · · Score: 0

    D&D Kid: I have a hundredth level magic user and a ring of wizardry and a cloak of invisibility, what have you got. Non-loser: Not to brag, but I've got a girlfriend. D&D Kid: Last night, I stormed a castle, and got 100 platinum pieces, 300 gold pieces, 20 gems, 6 pieces of jewelry and an enchanted sword! What did you get? Non-loser: I got laid.

    --
    How ya like dat?
    1. Re:Another Dorks&Dweebs game! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yuo = teh idiot

    2. Re:Another Dorks&Dweebs game! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can get both ... unless your mommy told you not to mess with satanic things like D&D

    3. Re:Another Dorks&Dweebs game! by DirkDaring · · Score: 0

      "I have a hundredth level magic user and a ring of wizardry and a cloak of invisibility"

      Pshaw! Like a hundredth level magic-users would even NEED a ring of wizardry and a cloak of invisibility!

  100. Can't use Tuxware! (was Re:Linux Version) by eudaemon · · Score: 1


    They insist on having the check-digits from your credit card number, but American Express doesn't issue check-digits for Private Payments numbers.

    Perhaps they could add paypal for payments, since I don't give web retailers anything but one use credit card numbers, ever.

  101. goatse.cx and BSD by ShavenYak · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Heh heh. You must be a troll (hmm, then why am I replying?). The other day I read a post about goatse.cx and BSD, which prompted me to post the following in a vain attempt to get a +1 Funny:

    Hey, I thought the big selling point of BSD was that there are no holes in it. That looks like a pretty big hole on the goatse.cx page!


    Of course, some dork moderator decided that was offtopic. But that's not really important. More interesting was this reply:

    The site goatse.cx is running Apache/1.3.23 (Unix) on Linux

    According to Netcraft


    So, Mr. Microsoft/BSD troll, you have been refuted. HAND.
    --

    Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
  102. Too little by xant · · Score: 1

    A smile and a peck on the cheek? For Christ's sake, this is Neverwinter Nights . We're talking some intense sexual favors, and I don't mean things you've done for him before.

    --
    It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
  103. asdlfa by rocket97 · · Score: 0

    can you install Linux on it?

    --
    "The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." -Harlan Ellison
  104. It limits and expands by Synn · · Score: 2

    Well, I'm also an old fart roleplayer but I enjoy these new tools.

    Yes, you give up a certain creative license. You won't be creating new dungeons on the fly in NWN, but on the plus you also "give up" a lot of the labor. You spend less time rolling dice(the game engine handles the mechanics) and more time telling a story.

  105. Hello? System Requirements Anyone? by Joe+MacDonald · · Score: 1
    I've mentioned this before, but for a game that's supposedly being released for linux (and the press release mentioning that us linux folks are getting delayed in an off-hand manner doesn't fill me with confidence) these guys at Bioware sure haven't been doing much to hype it to linux users. I still wouldn't have known it was coming out for linux if I hadn't seen it here, and until very recently there wasn't even a mention of linux in their FAQ.

    So now my complaint is this: where the hell are the system requirements for the linux version? All I saw on their site was: PII 450 or K6 450, 16meg TNT2-level card and 96 megs of ram on Windows, plus a DirectX soundcard and DirectX 8.1. Am I to assume exactly the same hardware requirements are going to apply to linux? What about the poor Mac folks? Since everything else they've said suggests they only know what the windows version will look like, I'm half expecting something that requires WineX.

    Pfft. I miss Loki.

    --
    -Joe
  106. Calm down... by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

    The vast majority of PC owners out there use Windows so they are just serving the largest market. Sounds smart to me.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  107. Online DM? by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

    "Why would anyone want DM'd games online?"

    Easy, you'll eat a hell of a lot less pizza.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  108. Cheats ready yet? by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 2

    Can they hold off on the release date until I get my character cheat system worked out?

    Thanks!

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  109. Re:Hello? System Requirements Anyone? by CrisDias · · Score: 1

    The NWN Community site has a FAQ that mentions system requirements, but they don't mention Linux (same as Windows maybe?) or Mac. Keep checking for updates... http://nwn.bioware.com I've read about Linux support since I fist saw this game, back in 2000. NWN is Gold. In other news: goodbye productive life. :-P

  110. Don't worry by yerricde · · Score: 2

    Except now, consoles are getting Internet access and hard disks, how long before history repeats?

    Don't worry. It is the user's expectation that a single-player or split-screen console game will be relatively bug-free out of the box. If Super Mario 9 for PostCube crashes when little Chester gets to level 12, you bet Chester's mom will be taking the game back to the store rather than tying up the phone line for a whole day to download a patch. I can see a system where players can buy new characters for Smash Bros. 3 or something, but I don't see Nintendo risking its brand name by pushing Zelda 11 out the door and dismissing the bugs with "We'll patch around them."

    Not everybody has the broadband to download a 500 MB patch for an Xbox game. And given Microsoft's track record with respect to automatic updates, you'll have to download the patch from Xbox Update onto every system you play the game on (which may mean packing up your Xbox and taking it to the home of a friend who subscribes to compatible broadband) unless Microsoft distributes patches on DVDs at cost (as has been done for Windows Update).

    And how do you expect to fit a large storage device into a handheld system like Game Boy Advance? Are you going to do like the Game Park system does, make the game cartridges partially rewritable?

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  111. Re:Gone Gold? They've sold that many copies? by SunGod_SF · · Score: 1

    In the software business, "going gold" has nothing to do with sales. It refers to the instance that the developer declares the product finished and approved for manufacturing. Typically the same day a product goes gold, it ships out to a duplication facility for manufacturing, and depending on certain factors, its usually on its way to retailers and distributors within a matter of days.