NwN Server and security update

[Legacy_Urk]

               Laz you really need to take it down a notch. The simple fact is that NWN is an unsupported title now. That's really all there is to it.

I understand your anger. I really do. As long-time bio customers we've become accustomed to a certain kind of treatment. But this isn't really Bio any more, dude. It's EA now. We just have to accept that and move on.

Don't worry so much. As a community we can fix what ails you. You may need to deal with a learning curve if you want to be a server admin, but it's not a steep one. All the real work has already been done for you.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lazarus Magni]

               I am not sure what you mean tone it down? All I am doing is asking legitimate questions, and expressing legitimate concerns and feelings, and perhaps defending myself against people who seemed to have been ganging up on me.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Urk]

               Absolutely. Your feelings are completely legitimate. I went through a very bitter mourning process myself when I realized Bio was really dead. If you read back a few pages you'll probably see I did some ranting myself on this very thread.

But here's the thing... they HAVE answered us. The answer is silence. That silence speaks volumes if you open your ears to it.

But the GOOD news is we really don't need Bio any more than they need us. We have a handle on the problem.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lazarus Magni]

               Thank you to all of you who have shown your support thus far. This is an exercise in grass roots activism. We may not be able to affect the change we would like to see, but at least we can make our voices heard.

I have added Bioware’s, Atari’s, and EA’s contact information to the petition. We are over half way to our signature goal, please consider voicing your support. Some of the comments people are posting really show this is still important to a lot of people even a year later, and even with the coping mechanisms the community has developed.

http://www.change.or...erver-for-nwn-1
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Lazarus Magni, 15 septembre 2012 - 07:05 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Luj1]

               

Squatting Monk wrote...

NWN is unsupported and has been so ever since the final 1.69 patch was released. It was astounding that BioWare supported it as long as they did. They could have spent their time and money on new titles that would actually make money. Instead, they spent it on NWN. That was wholly unexpected. Why? Because it's not their responsibility.

They could have abandoned it years before, and most other companies would have, because that's what businesses do. They sell a product, make what they can off it, then move on.

Yes, thats what greedy and unwise companies like EA normally do. SWTOR is a good example. EA wanted to branch into the online market with a strong SW IP before its too late. What they have failed to realize is that its never too late, you just need to have a refreshing concept. Instead, theyve decided to play safe and rush with their own WoW clone (what they thought was a "guaranteed success") and have produced a failure, a generic themepark MMO which no one will remember in 5 or 10 years. Same story is that of Zenimax Online studios and Elder Scrolls online.

Anyway, getting back to the subject. EA is all over with new games and following the trail of cash (SWTOR), but doesnt realize how much potential there is in old Bioware games like NwN 1. A ton of people still play it in single or multi player. Its one of those games which will never die, unlike typical modern projects. Now, smart people like Brian Fargo know that the apetite for retro was never greater than today in 2012. We had Legend of Grimrock, a brilliant ressurection of what people thought was a dead genre. We have Baldurs Enhanced. We have Project Eternity. We have a spiritual successor to Grim Fandango on the way. People are going back to good old games. These are the times of remakes. Going back to NwN 1, It's easy to come up with at least a few ways to make the fans happy and at the same time make some money (NOT millions but perhaps hundreds of thousands in time)

- Re-release the game with all expansions and Premium and non-Premium modules. We know that a LOT of people never got a chance to buy them.
- Integrate CEP and PRC into this new enhanced edition
- Reinstate the Master server
- Organize "Vote for the best PW", "Design a Module" and similar events like back in the day
- Make DLCs (I know you want to)
and so on..

Sky is the limit when you have imagination. EA can bring NwN back to life, they just dont want to. Because this is not enough profit for them. They are a greedy company, much like Blizzard, who long ago stopped thinking like artists and instead are thinking like crack dealers. This will lead to their demise. The Era of Kickstarter is coming and for the most part game publishers will thankfully become history. Peace
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Luj1, 01 octobre 2012 - 08:34 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Aelis Eine]

               

Going back to NwN 1, I can come up with at least a few ways for EA to make fans happy and at the same time make money

- Re-release the game with all expansions and Premium and non-Premium modules. We know that a LOT of people never got a chance to buy them.
- Integrate CEP and PRC into this new enhanced edition
- Reinstate the Master server
- Organize "Vote for best PW" and similar competitions like back in the day
- Make DLCs (I know you want to)

EA can bring NwN back to life, they just dont want to. Because this is not enough profit for them. They are a greedy company, much like Blizzard, who long ago stopped thinking like artists and instead are thinking like crack dealers. This will lead to their demise. The Era of Kickstarter is coming and for the most part game publishers will thankfully become history. Peace

EA can't make this happen =p AFAIK the rights for NWN still belong to Atari - Bioware was simply contracted to make it for them. I don't think Atari is allowed to release new content for NWN, because Hasbro would throw a hissy fit if it ate into the profits of the upcoming Neverwinter game by Cryptic.

So you can hate EA for everything Bioware did after Dragon Age: Origins, but you can't really hate them for what's happened to NWN. They've even been generous enough to maintain forums on their site for another publisher's game (Or two - NWN2 forums are here too)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Luj1]

               

Aelis Eine wrote...

EA can't make this happen =p AFAIK the rights for NWN still belong to Atari - Bioware was simply contracted to make it for them. I don't think Atari is allowed to release new content for NWN, because Hasbro would throw a hissy fit if it ate into the profits of the upcoming Neverwinter game by Cryptic.

So you can hate EA for everything Bioware did after Dragon Age: Origins, but you can't really hate them for what's happened to NWN. They've even been generous enough to maintain forums on their site for another publisher's game (Or two - NWN2 forums are here too)

Whoever, if they wanted to get the rights, they could. The folks at Beamdog took 3 years to get all the rights for Baldurs remake, but they did it. Also the guy behing Shadowrun Returns. A corporation could do this much faster than a few dreamers in the industry. The point is this is doable and its a good time for remakes. Big companies dont yet understand this. As for NwN, youre probably right. This is not likely to happen. But people will always find a way to connect and play together. This is the same for all timeless games.

PS And I dont hate EA and simillar companies, I can only pity them for their greed and narrow sight.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Luj1, 02 octobre 2012 - 08:25 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Daybringer]

               Before considering anything major like... remaking the game. It'd be safer to actually judge what kind of fan-base is there. Straight to the point, I'm pretty sure the rights to NWN were sold with the making of NWN 2... and now another company is making some sort of MMO called Neverwinter. If Bioware/EA/Atari/WoTC want to push for this old title with legal issues in the way, your looking at quite a ways out from today (about 5 years for a run of the mill mmo to run its course) to have another company give up its rights to the title without it being... terribly difficult

Thus, fix the account client thing, release NWN 1 onto steam for $10.00. I say steam because its popular among internet communities IE: Youtube channels. If it gets good reviews and a lot of sales again, then there's a profit motivation, if it does mediocre then no harm no foul. And no need to worry about getting back the title.

The games over a decade old, even longer in development time by years, a work of love by its makers. Its sensible to drop things in favor of... "shiny" There are a lot of people who likely never heard of the game however ... for those same reaons + Hey this advertisement still works: just change the gameplay footage =D I think that'd still sell today... I've never played a single game (including nwn 2) that made it so wonderfully easy (in comparison) to play dungeon master and tell a story, not to mention build a module.

~~
As to the master server, and fixing it to work properly. If its a matter of hiring someone to do the job without the whole putting nwn up for sale again, and not wanting to waste money that should go to other things. Put it up as a publicly funded project, allow people to give money via paypal etc, for however much it would take to pay for someone running a support position for that. If the money doesn't come in, then its an obvious waste of time, if the money does come in then hey perhaps support for other games could be opened up. (It's like kickstarter games, you get enough money past whats needed, and you start adding things, get enough money to support nwn then perhaps there's a 'market' in continuing patching and more.... personally I'd think adding in shader support would do ~wonders~)

If people want something, and are willing to pay for it then what could the problem possibly be? Support would only need stop when the money dries up. Simple, straightforward, easy to remember and easy for whatever community your working with to understand.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Daybringer, 22 octobre 2012 - 10:19 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Zarathustra217]

               I'm hoping to avoid reopening the antagonism, but is there no way that we can get in contact with Chris Priestly or any Bioware official to simply just make a brief comment? Perhaps we should ask on their facebook or twitter? I do not nurture any thoughts of some plot to kill off NWN is going on, but it does irk me that the last thing we heard was a pledge to restore things - and then, silence.

A simple explanation would help a lot in making us feel less forsaken here, and I believe most us here are mature enough to not instigate a great flame-war over not getting our will.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_ShinsFortress]

               I would settle for a "CEP MP lobby system".  I don't need the whole sourcre code and all game files openned up top undergraduate level butchery.  I just would like to be able to use the game like I used to.  Nothing new.  Nothing fancy.  Similar to the way I bought it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jadedjim]

               can we still play online?

I look @ the server list, in game, & its completely blank.

mainly looking for a good RP server.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               jadedjim,

Yes. You can still play online, though the server list formerly provided by GameSpy is gone. You can connect to your PWs of choice using the direct connect feature. See http://yourserverlis....php?juego=nwn1 for the list of active servers. There are also tips on using direct connect, if you aren't familiar with that.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MrZork, 02 décembre 2013 - 06:45 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               Also, if you run your game with NWNCX version 0.2.7 or later, that in-game server list will have servers listed again, thanks to virusman and SkywingvL.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               Pain of Dungeon Eternal also created a launcher application for NWN called Neverlauncher.

I believe the software is available on Pain's dropbox

I miss having Pain around. Last I heard he was busy with work, but would return when things settled down.