13 réponses à ce sujet

[Peteed]

as title says bought this back when the original nwn 2 came out with no xpacs and it seemed so crap it wasn't funny

before that I had nwn 1 and didn't understand how dnd worked so never played game much even though it seemed really good and seems nwn 1 hasn't got much of a player base these days

my nwn 2 disk got scratched to buggery but yeah kinda wondering if nwn 2 got much better than when it first came out and if it did do ya need the xpacs for the game to be worth playing?

what sort of legal issues are there if I were to download game disk off pirate bay because of my scratched disk? not sure if thats legal since I have a legit key and proper disk that just won't install game lol

also been considering dragon age and dragon age origins but they are like $115 each so i'm thinking at that price its not worth it since I might not like it. not sure how it differs from nwn 1 and 2 like if it stays using the dnd rulebook and having character building like dnd with multi classing and all that or if it turned into more about story and less about character builds and not sure if gear works like in the nwn games or like other games with STR and AGI and stamina for HP and all that

[dethia]

It is always difficult to recommend a game since everyone likes their own thing. I personally found the first and second expansions really great relative to the original game. The first game is really a set up for the expansion ;D.



Now you should be made aware that the 2nd expansion is very different from the 1st and I'll touch down on these difference briefly.



The party system in the 1st expac is the same as the first, you will encounter companions along the way who you can use to help you. The game is very much story driven and I found the story-line really great, it was one of those games you start and finish with very few breaks in between.



The second expansion takes place at exactly the same time as the 1st but in a different region. The party system is changed to mimic those used in icewind dale. You will make your entire party from the beginning and role play them yourself. Now that is not to say there are no companions. There are numerous npc's you will meet whom you can recruit. These NPC's will have dialogue that develops their stories but it is very much like the old school games. You aren't spoon fed the story nor are you spoon fed the stories of the companions you encounter (as opposed to those you made when you started the game). For example usually they would only reveal something about themselves when they are in your party and happen to be in a situation that relates to them. I won't spoil anything but to give a fake example, if you have recruited a ranger, he probably won't be saying much until you're actually in a forest where he can tell you things about the forest and probably himself. There are no such rangers in the game, but there are certainly other characters who follow these guidelines. The game focuses on exploration to drive the story, but you may end up traveling completely the wrong way ;D. That's ok as you can always retrace your tracks to get back on the road.



I know I've said quite a lot more about the 2nd expansion and that is because it is very different from the 1st and the original game. If you play the original you can expect the 2nd game to be quite similar just with a better storyline (in my opinion). The 2nd expansion has a nice story-line to it and a very different game play feel overall.

[dunniteowl]

Any discussion of illegal file downloading is strictly forbidden on these (or any legal) forums. As such I don't recommend you do that. Look at it like this. You buy a book and you have your receipt. Two years later you accidentally drop said book in a river or the sink or the bathtub and now it's totally ruined and unreadable. Now you still have the original book and it's receipt. Do you have the legal right to download an illegally produced online copy? Do you have the legal right to go to the library and scan it to disc? Clearly, you do not.

Your disc is scratched and that's a shame, really. But does the owning of an authorized key allow you to rationalize illegally grabbing an online copy? I don't think so. However, my point of view only reflects a sort of 'realpolitik' explanation of how what you suggest is not cool. And is definitely illegal. You decide for you what to do about it.

Other than that, I'd say, yah, the game's totally worth it. In fact, if you bought the game when it first came out, you'd be hard pressed to compare the two now. So here's my suggestion:
Go find NWN2 Gold, which includes the OC and Mask of the Betrayer. Install them (and now you have 2 authorized CD-Keys for the OC) and update them. Then play. I think you'll find that it's not the original release by a long shot. Oh sure, the story's the same, but the fixes and improvements really do change the way it plays, mechanics and gameplay wise.

Also if you're going to get interested at all in playing Community Made Modules, Storm of Zehir is probably going to be a necessary purchase. Some folks really didn't like playing it, but I thought what I played of it was pretty cool. Sort of a more old school feel to the way it played -- and in my opinion, that's a good thing. We've lost a lot of the flavor by catering to the current trends in gaming, going for a more FPS and WoW like experience on the whole, which in my opinion, has actually lessened the enjoyment you can derive from a deep and complex RPG experience on the computer.

You may also feel differently about that. So take my recommendations with the necessary amount of seasoning and also know that if this were fuel in your vehicle, your mileage may vary.

best regards,
dunniteowl

Modifié par dunniteowl, 20 juillet 2010 - 03:06 .

[dunniteowl]

It's better to burn out than it is to rust, hey hey, my my.



dunniteowl

(obviously a Neil Young fan too)

[MindYerBeak]

I've ripped off games in the past, all of them a long time binned and forgotten. Rubbishy games have none of my sympathy. But with games I like then I support the genre with my cash. Doing so will encourage the makers to produce more of the same, which is to the benefit of all. I could have ripped off DAO/NWN2, but chose to support them instead. I want to see a DAO2 and that can only be achieved by supporting Bioware with hard cash. By giving your financial support to the RPG genre you're supporting more of the same, ensuring it won't die a death as so many other games have done.



DAO is a good game, but the emphasis on lovey dovey sex scenes, bad language and nudity isn't my scene for an RPG. The battles in DAO are epic, but very time consuming and, at times, tedious affairs. There's too much emphasis on hack'n'slash in my opinion and more could have been done to emphasise the storyline. Much better graphics I must admit, and there's already an NWN Mod in the making utilising the better graphics. It's new at the moment and over time the price will come down. In the meantime I suggest you play NWN2. I've only recently started and only at level 6, but I'm enjoying playing it and the storyline is engrossing so far.

[cliff_g]

I was in the same situation as you where my disk was scratched. Instead of springing for a new disk I used a program (which I am not sure they want me naming in the forum) to create an ISO of the disc. It could not be used for playing but I was able to use it for installing the game. After that I would install the expansions and would not use that disk for playing anyway. I am not condoning making illegal disk copies so I am not sure how they would classify the copy I made for installing the game but I do still have my original disk and key code.



Dunniteowl:

I see you say there were improvements included in the NWN2 Gold edition. Are these improvements you do not get by installing the original version and running the updater?

[Lugaid of the Red Stripes]

Also, the last patch removed the disk check for playing the game, so if you've already got it installed, just run the updater and you should be ok.

[Lyssistr]

Since you have a key, I'd try contacting Atari support, they may give you an online replacement copy.

In most countries, by the law, you're entitled to two backup copies, for yourself (not distribute etc etc). It's a good idea to use that right because physical media tend to deteriorate.

Btw, dragon age is not nearly that expensive anymore, you can get both origins and awakening at ~22£ (new, not used) and Steam had an offer during its holiday season, like two weeks ago, for a similar price.

Your disc is scratched and that's a shame, really. But does the owning of an authorized key allow you to rationalize illegally grabbing an online copy?

I'm not 100% sure about this but provided you own a license, this may not illegal, at least in some countries. Software is licensed and what we actually pay for is the license to use it. Using an unlicensed product is illegal, using a licensed product, which was installed by whatever means, but is licensed - I'm not so sure.

I'm not a lawyer but 100% sure that when e.g. BSA checks a business for their software, it only matters if their software is licensed or not. Installation medium is totally irrelevant, after all you can make two of your own backup copies.

Downloading a backup copy, provided (s)he has a license key legal status however does depend on the country so imo best is to contact atari support and then, if they won't provide a backup copy, go to a solicitor for a 15 min question (here under 15 mins service is free). If the solicitor gives you a green light, remember it would only apply to NWN2, nothing more (xpacs etc) as you don't have licenses for these.

Modifié par Lyssistr, 22 juillet 2010 - 03:51 .

[Peteed]

well after hours of searching I found my nwn 2 disk and am trying to install



do the expansions effect the original campaign much or not?



do the expansions add more classes? is it possible to do multi player online at all with only the original game now or do I need the xpacs to be able to get into that?



how could I join a group thats working together to make mods for nwn 2? I have no knowledge how to do anything when it comes to making mods but would love help learning



also I tend to have trouble playing any class other than fighter in nwn games due to the low HP ya start with any advice on how to make it easier to play other classes at the low levels would be great thanks



oh and another issue with the casters is that ya can't rest when enemys are nearby yet the ammount of spells you have allowed per rest period is so low that they run out just a couple of fights into a cave not sure how a caster is meant to work with so few casts allowed a rest



thx in advance for any advice

[Haplose]

Not much impact of the expansions on the OC. But you definately should at least patch the game to avoid a number of bugs. On the other hand the expansions do add new races, classes, feats and spells, so it might be nice having those in the OC. But it's certainly not necessary.

Hmm... playing lower hp classes? Two major factors. Have a close look at your Armor class (or AC for short). Try to maximize it. If the enemy can't hit you, your hp count matters much less. Equipment will help, certain feats (Dodge, Combat Expertise/Improved, Divine Shield (for divine classes)) and so will buffs (defensive spells). But pay attention to the 5 AC types. You typically can only have 1 AC source of each type: Armor (but Mage Armor/Improved or cleric's Magic Vestment spells CAN stack with base armor value and increase it - but only the enchantment), Shield (or Shield spell, cleric can increase the enchantment with Magic Vestment), Deflection (can buff with cleric's Shield of Faith), Natural (can buff with druid Barkskin, Spiderskin or Tortoise Shell, wizard's Spiderskin or Shadowshield) and Dodge (Dodge actually stacks and you can have multiple - if you're lucky... such as Haste, Bard's Inspire Defense, Paladin/BG/Cleric feat Divine Shield).
The other thing is combat positioning. If you're more fragile, use another party member as a meatshield, who will take the blows.

Casters start slow. Try to conserve spells, have other party members do the most of the work early on. Support them with some buffs. A well placed sleep can also make a big difference early on. They become more powerfull later on. Or you can play a module where you start at a higher level...

Modifié par Haplose, 24 juillet 2010 - 12:35 .

[Selene Moonsong]

As far as your old CD/DVD discs are concerned, scratches can be repaired as long as they aren't too deep. I have a Memorex OptiFix Pro device that both cleans and polishes discs, removing most of the midor scratches that can appear on the surface of when discs are carfully handled.


As far as the Updates and Expansion Packs are concerned,  the updates (patches) fixed many of the problems the original NWN 2 suffered. The expansions do several things for NWN 2.

1. New game modules MotB and SoZ: MotB picks up where the NWN 2 OC leaves offwhile SoZ is an all-new adventure.

2. Both expansions add new content such as PrC, races, classes, etc.

3. Having the expansions so that you can install all three means you do not need to run all the updates from the beginning.

NWN 1 and MoTB have the same system requirements, but SoZ raised the minimum requirements a bit.

The Expansion Packs to not affect the content of the OC plotlines, story lines, etc, but do make the additional PrCs and classes available.

Overall, I recommend both Exppansions Packs.

Modifié par Selene Moonsong, 24 juillet 2010 - 01:51 .

[dunniteowl]

cliff_g: I mention NWN2 Gold not as MotB makes improvements to the original, but that, it is now lower priced than either of those games when they first came out. You get two games for the original 2/3 price of one. That's a deal. You don't get all the classes, races, feats and what not from simply patching the original vanilla NWN2 over having the expansions. You get bug fixes and feature improvements, but to get the increased level range, extra prestige classes, monsters, tiles, terrains, trees, etc. you have to get the expansion packs. Even if you're patching up to the latest patch, you're not getting extra cool stuff that was in the other expansions without them.



As for Online MP play, Peteed, most PWs are going to be using NWN2/MotB/Soz and to play, you'll have to have them all. If you are lucky, you may find a few PWs out there that only use "Vanilla" NWN2 to increase potential player base, though I imagine those are pretty rare. The expansions just add too much to the mix to be ignored.



As for joining a group that is modding the game, that's usually pretty easy to do if you check the Modules forums regularly, there are relatively regular announcements of people looking for help. It does increase your opportunity to advance your skills, but dedication within a volunteer environment is probably the single most important factor to your success.



Also, the Toolset and Scripting Forums are there 24/7 for you to ask questions, bounce ideas and to assist in problem solving, providing tips and advice as well as support and encouragment.



If you wish to learn, you'll have to open up that toolset and learn to deal with it like an intimate partner. In other words, don't let what you hate about it drive you away or make you forget what you love about it. Again, dedication and determination here count far more than mere technical skill and savvy. And, of course, you'll have moments when you just want to tear your hair out, or smash the keyboard into the monitor *(yeah, that'll show that stupid computer who's boss) and that's when the forums are your best source of help, advice and even therapy. We've all been there.



best regards,

dunniteowl

[NWN DM]

If you have questions about modding the game, you can always jump into the IRC chat room... there's always people in there and they're willing to point you in the right direction.