NWN - Made Me Love Gaming (Op-Ed)

Aubrielle

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For one Kotaku writer, Neverwinter Nights was the title that made them truly love gaming.


<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">In an editorial published on Kotaku, we learn how much of an impact BioWare's Neverwinter Nights had on the author during their earliest days of playing video games, while also hearing that current BioWare employees, including level designer Jess Hara Campbell, have also credited the title for their earliest role-playing inspirations. I can't say that Neverwinter Nights had much of an impact on me at the time of its release due to its handling of companions and somewhat lackluster storyline in comparison to Baldur's Gate, but it was still a solid offering with a wealth of DMing options, so it's great to hear that others found it even more compelling:

The story BioWare wrote in Neverwinter Nights has plenty to keep the player engaged, and the ever-evolving nature of the main antagonist keeps an aura of mystery around the game from start to finish. The atmospheres are excellent—the music, forests, dungeons, and ambient sounds created excellent immersion even with 2002-era graphics.

It was the characters, though, that made Neverwinter my favorite, and for many years only, game. I replayed the main campaign four times, and the expansion packs many more times than that. The NPCs were fun, flawed and downright weird (kobold bard, anyone?). Perhaps more importantly, the PC was entirely up to me. I don’t think gaming would’ve become a passion for me if I’d been forced to play as a Muscular Male With A Sword. There’s nothing wrong with that archetype, but he and I don’t have much in common.

Gaming is different things to different people: some want to role-play as someone else; some want to be a better version of themselves; some people just want to swing an axe. But what sets gaming apart from books and movies is that the player has a hand in creation: we get to decide which of those things to be. And getting to write our own stories is pretty powerful.
Now, if we were talking about the original SSI title on AOL back in the formative years of online gaming, I'd have much more to say about the matter.

[/quote]More information.
 
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Seriously?
NWN almost got me abandoning videogames for good. I thought if this is what future games will look like, I have nothing to search for here.
 
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NWN had its charms, it just wasn't in the graphics quality level.
 
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I didn't start playing it until around 2006ish. The amount of mod content available by that time really appealed and it's become one of my favourites. I still enjoy it. Only quibble that remains is lack of full party control.
 
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I still play a DM-Run Persistent World server in NWN. We manage, even though GameSpy and online support from BioWare was dropped years ago.

The world of online gaming hasn't ever created anything half as good as this.
 
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I love NWN!! I really wish there were still people actively creating new worlds and servers..
 
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That's funny you're talking about NWN because I'm currently playing NWN 2 that I accidentally discovered last week (thanks to GOG summer discounts) and I totally love it !
 
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Loved the game, as well, probably more than Baldur's Gate (blasphemy! he's a witch! etc).

I like NWN2 even more, especially when expansions are factored in.

All of this leads me to demand a true sequel. Not some MMO drivel.
 
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These threads are bad for me, now I want to play some D&D party based game but I just started a new game last night (Remember Me).

That's funny you're talking about NWN because I'm currently playing NWN 2 that I accidentally discovered last week (thanks to GOG summer discounts) and I totally love it !

How can you have accidentally discovered NWN2 only last week O_O?
 
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At first I was put off by the lack of party control in NWN, but at the time there wasn't much else around to match the enjoyment I got out of the Baldur's Gate series so I stuck with it. I finally lost interest during the HotU expansion and didn't get back into it until NWN2 came out. I rank NWN and NWN2 in the second tier of favorite Fantasy RPGs. Mostly I enjoy NWN2 for the expansion modules and modding possibilities. NWN doesn't quite cut it for me now because of the aging graphics and somewhat cumbersome interface.
 
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I LOVE NWN, as I have declared many, many times here.

I played very early RPGs on my Apple ][+ in the early 80s, but not much for a while and then mostly FPS games throughout the 90s into the 2000s. It was only when - being a Star Wars nerd - I was preparing for the PC release of SW: KotOR that I asked 'what should I play to prepare me' and got into NWN. And have never looked back. Actually replayed NWN 1 and 2 (and add-only) across last fall-winter-spring :)
 
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I agree with joxer, NWN sucks.

I played after Baldur's Gate 2 and it was soooo frustrating. The story was boring, the quests were boring, the combat was meh at best and the graphics were so goddamned awful. I hate early 3D (especially in the Playstation 1 era, but early 3D in pc sucks, too, sometimes). The art was uninspired. I played for about 5 or 10 hours before giving up and never playing any of the modules or NWN 2. I will still play them sometime, but I'm really not looking forward to it.
 
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I loved all the NWN games and played them over and over. Of the two the second was my favorite - especially the expansion.
 
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Well NWN was my first CRPG (besides the original Rogue), so it will have a special place in my heart. Besides, the community modules are fantastic and some of the best CRPGs I've played.
 
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Gotta love the classic D&D titles. So many of the new RPG's have made trade offs. Sword Coast Legends doesn't get what made some of these other games so special.
 
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All I can say is not many games can keep my interest for ten years after its release. The game also still has new modules being released by the community every year.

I still play NWN 2 for the same reasons as NWN, and doubt I'll quit anytime soon.
 
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Maybe i'll re-install it tonight!

Anyone want to recommend some mods? Preferable longer campaigns that start at level 1, and have a good blend of combat/story/puzzle?

Some have recommended Darkness over Daggerford
 
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