Voss said:
NWN 2 is dragging at over a year old now. And it was arguably (because computer games aren't reviewed in any sort of objective way other than advertising dollars) a pretty poor showing.
Firevalkyrie said:
NWN2 is... not the game it should be. The graphics are a pile of ugliness and the character models are far, far too bland. I bought it at CompUSA's going out of business sale, and at $30 I still paid too much for it. Plus, as far as I can tell, the development community has mostly stuck with NWN1, further limiting NWN2's potential uptake by reducing the number of interesting fan-made modules and modifications available for it.
Voss said:
That isn't really surprising. Obsidian's head guy has all the business sense of a lemon, and they're essentially trying to cannibalize someone else's tech and squeeze the last few drops out of an out-of-date engine (after upgrading the shinez graffix, of course, to the point that you need more than system requirements run it even passingly well). And they rush through development, leaving a lot of problems behind to be sorted out later.
Quite True. I preordered NWN2, played it for 2 days, and said Eucgh at the bugs and the errors and the complete lack of mod features which were supposed to be included with the game. I uninstalled it and went back to NWN1, which, although has crappier graphics, is almost equally customizable, much more stable, more server runnable, has alot of community content that helps everything you want to make yourself, and has considerably better AI and GUI. Effectively, I went back to NWN because NWN2 totally Blows.
Uzzy said:
Well, this is a problem with firstly how much detail you can pack into a campaign setting book, and secondly one of the consequences of a metaplot.
When I read this I immediately immagined an FRCS the size of a really massive encyclopedia, and thought in a very anime fan manner, "OMG I would so BUY that!"
I think the solution is focusing on smaller areas and giving more detail. We don't need a setting book for the whole realms, just like, individual countries. then they could all come otgether to form a fupersourcebook. 3e forgotten realms drove me nuts in that the books just didnt have a high enough level of detail and everything was too summarized. but at the same time, I dont give a rats ass about the happenings of X novel unless it actively effects the area im playing in. So a plot that happened in a novel that was written 10 years ago set in the same area should only be included if it CURRENTLY matters.
I am a fairly firm believer in canon. I have a BFR (Bachelor in Forgotten Realms) - Just kidding. but I think they need to be either more focused, or like a 3000 page book for 150$.
As for the canon thing, in our games it even stretches between editions. DM sent us back in time and ended up making it a mind control effect because he figured out he couldnt do what he wanted in FR because there is a god who controls time travel and only one spell to travel to the past that will actually work in FR, and it's only listed in a 2e sourcebook.
But yeah. More focus on the individual areas and less on the big picture. it would be less overwhelming. Then, put Organizations, Spells, and Monsters, in their own books so they can be used with whichever Forgotten Realms setting you need.
