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Games Entertainment

Neverwinter Nights is Gold 335

Posted by CmdrTaco from the gimme-some-of-that-action dept.
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."
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Neverwinter Nights is Gold More

Neverwinter Nights is Gold

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  • 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!
    • me too ;)

      ah the days of nntp prior to spam...

    • Re:I dont care.... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by eviltypeguy ( 521224 )
      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)
  • I must say its about time, Its a great game... I can't wait for another..

  • 64 friends! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jonny Ringo ( 444580 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:35PM (#3682444)
    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.
    • 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.

  • CRAP (Score:3, Funny)

    by Mr Krinkle ( 112489 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:36PM (#3682451) Homepage
    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?

    • Couldn't they have waited??? (Score:5, Funny)

      by allism ( 457899 ) <alice@harrison.gmail@com> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:04PM (#3682626) Journal
      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...
      • 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.

        • 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...)
          • 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.
            • 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.

          • Re:That won't work... (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Alsee ( 515537 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2002 @04:04AM (#3684602) Homepage
            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".

            -

  • Vacation (Score:2, Funny)

    by tylerdave ( 58777 )
    Damnit!
    Now I have to use my last week of vacation for the year.

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

  • hmmm... (Score:1, Troll)

    by jasno ( 124830 )
    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.
    • 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...

    • 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.

  • about FUCKING time - now i just have to compete with all the people who preordered and somehow get a copy FIRST
  • Good job Bio! Its about time, after waiting for four years. Here goes my summer...

  • Who owns what? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by WankersRevenge ( 452399 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:39PM (#3682476)
    The game allows players to make their "own" modules, or adventures, and DM them for up to 64 friends.

    Who owns what module? Bioware [slashdot.org]? Or the consumers? Inquiring minds want to know!

    • Re:Who owns what? (Score:5, Informative)

      by eddy ( 18759 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:47PM (#3682864) Homepage Journal

      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.

      • Update (Score:3, Informative)

        by eddy ( 18759 )

        It should be noted that concerns from the community prompted this from bioware [bioware.com]:

        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?)

      • 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.

        • 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 [caltech.edu] out of this after all :-)

      • Re:Who owns what? (Score:2, Informative)

        by B9DV8 ( 96776 )
        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"
      • I'm just the messenger.

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

        -
      • Mod -1 Kill the messenger.

        ;)

  • I don't get it. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Telastyn ( 206146 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:40PM (#3682481)
    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...

    • yeah, you miss out on (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Twister002 ( 537605 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:48PM (#3682548) Homepage
      - 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. ;)
      • 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.

    • Re:I don't get it. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Wraithlyn ( 133796 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:53PM (#3682586)
      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.
    • 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.

    • Re:I don't get it. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by nick_davison ( 217681 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:12PM (#3682681)
      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. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Chasuk ( 62477 )
      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.
      • 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?

    • Why it appeals to me. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Jethro ( 14165 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2002 @02:15AM (#3684373) Homepage
      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.
    • 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...
    • 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

  • Linux version delayed (Score:5, Informative)

    by Nilatir ( 179045 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:41PM (#3682486) Homepage
    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."
  • There is still no information [bioware.com] 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.
    • 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.
      • Apparently an announcment on the mac version is forthcoming today. There are rumors both on Bioware's message boards and at Inside Mac Games [insidemacgames.com].

        Patience, Grasshopper.
        • 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."

  • This should be good (Score:2, Interesting)

    by forkboy ( 8644 )
    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.

  • 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.

    • Re:Info for Linux Gamers in press release (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      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.

  • It's a little weird (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Lord_Pall ( 136066 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:46PM (#3682532)
    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..
    • Except that it wasn't necessary to get a physical CD if you had the capability of downloading 900M.

    • Re:It's a little weird (Score:2, Insightful)

      by zericm ( 21972 )
      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

      • 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.

      • 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.
  • 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?
    • 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).

    • Re:Linux version not in-box? (Score:5, Funny)

      by startled ( 144833 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:30PM (#3682771)
      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.

  • June 20th (Score:2, Informative)

    by jaaron ( 551839 )
    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.
  • I believe you can purchase it as of 6/18.

  • Oh! Glorious day! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sivar ( 316343 ) <charlesnburns[@]gmail...com> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @06:59PM (#3682605)
    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!

  • Don't just register the game for Linux! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by JeffMings ( 12432 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:07PM (#3682645)
    In fact, it might not even _have_ a registration card! Instead, buy it from a known Linux vendor, like Tux Games [tuxgames.com] so that other game companies will get the message that Linux really is a platform worth developing for!

  • Does gold have meaning? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eison ( 56778 ) <pkteison&hotmail,com> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @07:20PM (#3682717) Homepage
    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.
  • Be sure to check out A Land Far Away [alandfaraway.net] 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.

  • No Linux in the Box? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Erwos ( 553607 )
    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
  • 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.

  • Gone Gold? Huh? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Dr. Shim ( 576902 )
    What does "gone gold" mean anyway? I thought it ment that the game hit store shelves.

    Enlighten me.
  • 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.
    • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).

  • Linux Version (Score:3, Interesting)

    by michaelsimms ( 141209 ) on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @08:26PM (#3683076) Homepage
    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 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.

  • I think they mean they switched from using those blue-silver shiny CD-Rs, to Gold CD-R's. The Gold ones look cooler. :)
  • Get your wallpaper image if a penguin viciously attacking a Doomknight here! [bioware.com]

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

  • Linux version or none. (Score:3, Informative)

    by pjrc ( 134994 ) <paul@pjrc.com> on Tuesday June 11, 2002 @09:35PM (#3683355) Homepage Journal
    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. (Score:2, Informative)

      by Maul ( 83993 )
      IIRC, but...
      There is a Linux and Mac game executable in the box.

      • Re:Linux version or none. (Score:3, Informative)

        by pjrc ( 134994 )
        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.

  • 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?

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

    Thanks!

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