NWN 2: Storm of Zehir - Gold!

Dhruin

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Atari sends word that NWN2: Storm of Zehir has gone Gold, with "November" provided as the release date worldwide:
New Adventures Draw Near as 'Neverwinter NightsTM 2: Storm of Zehir' Goes Gold
Development Complete on Second Expansion Pack for Celebrated Role-playing Title, on Target for Worldwide Launch November 2008

NEW YORK, Oct. 31: Atari and Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today announced that development is complete on Neverwinter NightsTM 2: Storm of Zehir. Developed by world-renowned studio Obsidian Entertainment, the second expansion pack for the acclaimed Neverwinter Nights 2 delivers thrilling original D&D® adventures made even more exciting by a host of new gameplay features.
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir builds on the strong tradition of Dungeons & Dragons computer games by marrying old-school concepts like full party customization and dungeon crawling with new innovations, such as a fully 3D Overland Map feature which allows for free exploration of the non-linear game world. The gripping storyline foreshadows the events that devastate the land of the Forgotten Realms in the Fourth Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Role-Playing Game, released in June 2008.
The Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Overland Map feature lets players explore the Chultan Peninsula and Sword Coast in a way never before possible in any Neverwinter Nights game. Players will explore well-known locations, like Neverwinter and Crossroad Keep, alongside lesser travelled areas, such as the xenophobic jungle nation of Samarach. Vicious monsters and groups of bandits populate the Overland Map, and the farther from civilization the player roams, the more difficult the encounters become.
The 20 to 30-hour campaign in Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir introduces new classes, including the fearsome Hellfire Warlock and the daring Swashbuckler, as well as brand-new spells, creatures, and playable races. Fans of the compelling multiplayer features of Neverwinter Nights 2 will be able to play through Storm of Zehir's campaign in the online cooperative mode, while modders can use the included editor to create their own campaigns and Overland Maps to share online.
Game Features:

  • Travel the Sword Coast and Samarach with the open-ended exploration of the new Overland Map. Use skills like Spot, Survival, and Hide to avoid ambushes and even find hidden locales and lost artifacts.
  • Create your own full party of adventurers. Devastate your foes with a squad of fireball-flinging Sorcerers, form a solid wall of steel with a party of Fighters, or strike the perfect balance in your party by spreading out the classes you choose for your characters.
  • Improved party gameplay with a sophisticated party conversation system, full party creation, and Teamwork Benefits.
Atari is committed to the continued success of the Neverwinter Nights series. The work that Obsidian has done in creating Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir is a result of listening to the fan community, working to deliver on their requests and constantly improving the experience.
More information about Neverwinter Nights 2 and access to the Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir site can be found at www.nwn2.com where visitors are encouraged to become part of the highly active Neverwinter Nights community and contribute their feedback.
More information.
 
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So this is Icewind Dale for NWN2? Can't wait to see if it is fun or not.
 
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One of these days I'll atually get around to playing NWN2.

What annoys me is the fact that I purchased NWN2 and Mask of the Betrayer shortly after each title was released. I wish I had waited, as no doubt a platinum edition will soon be released containing all 3 titles.
 
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A Platinum Edition, surely, possibly even a Diamond Edition too.
 
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A Platinum Edition, surely, possibly even a Diamond Edition too.
I'm waiting on this Platinum Edition as well. I did the same thing with the first NWN, not playing it until the Platinum edition came out nearly two years after the original release- and then I spent 4 weeks non-stop playing the game and both expansions all together! :) Ah, good times!
 
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i started reading the bible a long time ago. another book distracted me and i then decided i would wait for the new-new testament to be released so i could read the trilogy all at once.
 
That's awesome. But I wouldn't mind playing Mysteries of Westgate either. Whatever happened to that?
 
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Stuck in DRM hell or something like that. I doubt it'll come out before SoZ.
 
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Still no official word on a MoW release date, expect something next year would be my guess.
 
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Official word is that MoW will come out when they've got the DRM system in place, which is happening with the 'day one' patch for SoZ (1.21 - brings all versions to the same patch state).
 
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The problem with this, of course, is that MoW is going to seem like a step backwards. This is a much older game than SoZ but it's coming out later. It is a massively stupid step for Atari, but does that surprise anyone? I just hope that MoW doesn't kill the NWN franchise because I doubt that it will sell at all. People will just skip/pirate this title and move on.
 
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The problem with this, of course, is that MoW is going to seem like a step backwards. This is a much older game than SoZ but it's coming out later. It is a massively stupid step for Atari, but does that surprise anyone? I just hope that MoW doesn't kill the NWN franchise because I doubt that it will sell at all. People will just skip/pirate this title and move on.

There're some people on the MoW forum who insist that they'll buy it no matter how long it takes for the thing to come out, but I don't think those people even come together to make one thousand, let alone a hundred thousand.

Personally, I'm not all that interested in it.
 
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I'm waiting on this Platinum Edition as well. I did the same thing with the first NWN, not playing it until the Platinum edition came out nearly two years after the original release- and then I spent 4 weeks non-stop playing the game and both expansions all together! :) Ah, good times!

The commercial modules of NWN1 were never translated into my own language, which I would've preferred. There is no German-language collection which is *really* complete, because they are all missing. Only the two expansions are always contained. Even in the apparently brand-new "Neverwinter Nights Legends" pack. http://www.amazon.de/Atari-Neverwin..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1225622215&sr=8-1
It contains NWN1 plus the add-ons/expansions, plus a music-CD, the article says, and NWN2. Nothing more, it seems.
 
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That's awesome. But I wouldn't mind playing Mysteries of Westgate either. Whatever happened to that?

I had forgotten all about MoW. Thanks for reminding me that there will be another one after this, eventually.
 
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The problem with this, of course, is that MoW is going to seem like a step backwards. This is a much older game than SoZ but it's coming out later. It is a massively stupid step for Atari, but does that surprise anyone? I just hope that MoW doesn't kill the NWN franchise because I doubt that it will sell at all. People will just skip/pirate this title and move on.

It won't sell as well as it would have done if they'd ignored DRM issues and just ridden the wave of publicity, but I doubt it was ever going to be a major profit generator for them.

Plus depending on the plot it won't really feel like a much older game, the overland map is going to be irrelevant because it's a city game and the plot revealed so far seems pretty heavily weighted towards a non party experience, and the graphics will just be the same.
 
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I hope you're right, Benedict. I like the Neverwinter Nights franchise. I think Obisidian is doing a pretty good job with the game. I think Dragon Age will be its stiffest competition if Bioware starts cranking out expansions for it.
 
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I hope you're right, Benedict. I like the Neverwinter Nights franchise. I think Obisidian is doing a pretty good job with the game. I think Dragon Age will be its stiffest competition if Bioware starts cranking out expansions for it.

If they can come even close to the standard of Mask of the Betrayer then they're on to a good start. It certainly showed that the engine is more than capable of keeping the immersion going if the story is good enough to immerse, and the engine's obviously accessible enough to the amateur community that if we're lucky some good quality stories will come out of it.

It's a shame they handled MoW so badly though, in the long run the benefits of motivating the modding community with the promise of officially sanctioned and actively promoted releases for the cream of the amateur modders would have massively outweighed any losses from a bit of piracy.
 
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