RPGWatch Feature: NWN2 - Mysteries of Westgate Interview

The 10% number was explicitly given by BioWare but I'm not going to try to dig it up - finding something years old on their forums is near impossible.

I'm not sure Shane moving on proves much; it looks to me like Rob McGinnis does a good job on the community side and the need for media PR is limited - but you may well be right. NWN2 operates in a different environment with a near unlimited number of free Asian MMOs, Guild Wars, D&DO, the rise of WoW…and just the sheer amount of community work available for NWN. It's hard to know how much is NWN2's fault (no doubt a chunk) and how much is just the current gaming environment.

MP regular players were less than 20% actually. It was a stat given by David Gaider in 2003. The pro-multiplayer faction - then insisted Gaider's data was wrong. Gaider got so sick of the thread he walked away from the forums for a while after that.

It was embarassing. The MP advocates have always disliked hearing that their numbers were comparatively small.

But that has not been the real problem over the years. The real problem was the PW advocates - who barely amounted to less than 2% of players - HATED hearing that. Insisted BioWare was wrong and they didn't know this that and the other thing.

Which does not mean that PW play was not fun, engaging or worthwhile to be engaged in as a player and community member. It may well be the most addictive and rewarding of play styles - and the Pw community's persistence in the face of all the challenges over the years certainly shows they are the most dedicated players. No doubt of that.

But it does mean that as a function of "zots" there are rarely first in line - and often ignored.

Georg Zoeller has attempted to clarify the PW numbers over the years as well. It doesn't help. They don't want to hear it - and that's that.

Given that BioWare has the server data and players don't, it was a ridiculous discussion to get engaged in. But the advocacy and insistence by the PW crowd that their style of play was the One True Game has been an unfortunate reality with the NWN1/2 community over the years.

And it still is.

In terms of gameplay, the elements which advance a strong story based adventure usually break under multi-player. That's an unfortunate element of how the engine deals with cutscenes and some plot states. I wish it wasn't so - but it is - and designers have had to exclude multiplayer from most of the Premium mods as a result.

It may be the Westgate Adv Pack may be different and fully support multiplayer play. But I wouldn't count on it.

I still remember 10% but the exact number doesn't matter and I'd accept your expertise. Luke Scull said Westgate won't be MP compatible (quote is earlier in the thread), although whether that's just a "we don't officially support MP" or "it will blow up if you try", I don't know.

WTF does PW mean in this context?

Persistent (permanent ) World!!

We actually ran one on the Dot NWN server, but it was rarely used!!

Context of Westgate? Not a thing.

Context of multiplayer, generally? Permanent/Persistent Worlds.

Actually it does pertain to this story and game since it was a subject, discussed by the developers, reviewer and fans.

Originally Posted by Steel_Wind
Steel_Wind's post

Us PW advocates (I ran Wheel of Time:The Third Age) seem to dominate the main forums as well. It was like that before the game was even released. PW's often lead the way in championing new features, NWNx for example when Bio wouldn't put in a DB of their own.

Nevertheless, I know Gaider's frustration. WoT:3A does not use haks and is one of the biggest servers on NWN. Whenever I've mentioned Haks as a problem with MP I got lambasted by other Server Admins who insist its not a problem for players. However, my numbers don't lie so I happily pick up the stray players who can't get on their servers and grow and grow and grow.

Of course you ran DLA so…

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PW in NWN means Semi-persistent Worlds.