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."

Comments

64 friends!

[Jonny Ringo]

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.

CRAP

[Mr Krinkle]

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?

Re:EBWorld

[TBone]

"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.

Who owns what?

[WankersRevenge]

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!

Re:Who owns what?

[eddy]

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.

Re:Who owns what?

[Alsee]

I'm just the messenger.

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

-

I don't get it.

[Telastyn]

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...

Re:I don't get it.

[Wraithlyn]

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.

Re:I don't get it.

[nick_davison]

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.

Re:I don't get it.

[startled]

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.

Re:I don't get it.

[Chasuk]

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.

Linux version delayed

[Nilatir]

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."

It's a little weird

[Lord_Pall]

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..

Speaking as a long time gamer...

[sterno]

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.

yeah, you miss out on

[Twister002]

- 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. ;)

Oh! Glorious day!

[Sivar]

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!

Couldn't they have waited???

[allism]

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...

Don't just register the game for Linux!

[JeffMings]

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!

IWD was actually very nice for H'n'S

[eddy]

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.

Re:IWD was actually very nice for H'n'S

[blowhole]

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

Does gold have meaning?

[eison]

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.

Managing your addiction

[sam_handelman]

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.

Re:Linux version not in-box?

[startled]

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.

That won't work...

[allism]

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...)

Re:That won't work...

[Alsee]

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".

-

Linux Version

[michaelsimms]

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.

Update

[eddy]

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?)

Linux version or none.

[pjrc]

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.

Re:Linux version or none.

[pjrc]

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.

Why it appeals to me.

[Jethro]

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.