So, how many years will Neverwinter Nights sustain a decent sized community?

[Legacy_simomate2]

               Just curious to hear your opinions! It makes me sad that I was never part of Neverwinter Nights golden era. I mean, I did first play the game, I think 6 years ago. But I was 10, I only played the offical campagin. I never really grasp the full capabilities of NWN back then, in fact, when I did open up the toolset and had fun playing around with it, my Step Father made me turn off the computer.
Quote: "This is how you mess up computers." Replace mess with a vulgar word...

Its pretty weird that he thought that though. He was the one who got me into NWN, but all hed ever played was the original campagin. Did he not realise that the campagin's existance was only to show off what the toolset was capable of? I mean, even on the back cover, it said this game was revolutionary... basically because of the toolset. And in gave it so many opportunities, so many doors were open and the large community of NWN custom content creaters grasp these. 

"Some games are memorable, but years from now, people won't just remember Neverwinter Nights--they'll also still be playing." - That was writtern in 2002. That was in a gamespot review and well... he was right! Its been ten years and people are still playing and expanding the game! But... for how long?

I really wish this game could last forever, but it won't quite obviously. Nothing can last forever, but its sad, knowing that NWN has not... and never will reach its full potential. I really wish that this game would be given into the hands of the community, free to download. It sort of has been given to us, they discontinued it ages ago. But, though this will never happen, I want to some how get more members to our community. I mean, we do occasionally, but I want more of them...

Ahhh.... wishful thinking.... ah.....

/Rant

What do you think? How many years have we got left? 
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               Much of the community interest has been decimated by the move to these boards.  I would estimate that less than half of the regulars of the legacy forum migrated and even of those, did it with misgiving.  Some of the vets limit their social activity to server-specific forums which can actually become extremely active at times depending on promotional gimmicks, season, etc.

On the positive side, though, you yourself are part of the most devoted, die-hard faction which the game produced.  I consider it a priviledge, myself, to be part of that shrunken community thus far.  I also came relatively late to the forums only about 5 years ago or so (OMG... looking at the calendar now... much longer than that... *gasp*) and believe it or not, there was a time that a topic posted in the AM could be off the screen by the PM (ppl were "post-happy"!).  Most of the action occurred before v1.69 was released and there was constant debate about every aspect of the game imaginable.

Unfortunately (for you and other NWN fans), what you are witnessing is the tail-end of an astonishing game's natural life span... a general erosion that spiked some interest briefly when it was made available by download.  The enthusiasts are now 10 years older, so using your own age as a metric, think of how things may change going from 16 to 26 and you may more easily grasp how unique this community really is to sustain those monumental changes.

The only event that (IMHO) would spark even greater activity would be if EA decided to release the source code.  I wouldn't hold my breath on that hope, though.

Not sure if what we are experiencing even now would be considered of "decent size".  Not when one was there when it was really active.  I miss a lot of personalities that never made the move, so for me anyway, it is not adequate . But that is just my own perspective.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 20 avril 2012 - 04:07 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Gorath Alpha]

               

HipMaestro wrote...

Much of the community interest has been decimated by the move to these boards.  I would estimate that less than half of the regulars of the legacy forum migrated and even of those, did it with misgiving.  Some of the vets limit their social activity to server-specific forums which can actually become extremely active at times depending on promotional gimmicks, season, etc.

Some of us from the earliest of days, nine years ago now, chose to leave some things behind.  I reverted to an Avatar name I'd used on the Black Isles forums, rather than what I'd used most of my NWN1/NWN2 tenure on the Legacy site.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_PlasmaJohn]

               EA has nothing to do with the source code.  That's all Atari.  Even if they were willing they couldn't because there's just too much "owned" by external sources like Hasbro/WotC.

How much time left?  People will continue to play NWN until there is a true successor multiplayer CRPG with a tool or tools to easily create and add content without forking over multiple thousands of USD for proprietary tripe like 3DStudio and Granny3D.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               Introduce the game to your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbors, etc.

Got a D&D group you used to play with, but everyone is now bogged down with childrearing or moved away?  NWN is as close as you can get to PnP without actually sitting around the same table.

Got friends that played the game when it first came out and then they moved on?  Show them some modules that use newer content that brings the game more up to date visually.

Got a girlfriend/boyfriend that wonders why you play all the time?  Have them watch over your shoulder for more than a minute or two.  Maybe they'll be interested in trying it out.

Say "Why, yes, it is an older game, but look how much you can do with it, and how many thousands of hours you can play it without forking over more than $10 one time."

I'm hoping this game keeps on running for many years to come.  

The ability for independent folks to actually run the multiplayer servers means the community isn't reliant on a company keeping up a game that is no longer very profitable.  The incredible toolset means creative folks can keep using it to tell new stories.  The community (even slowly shrinking) means there is support for players, builders, DMs, and content makers.  Oh, and the free to use content tools available means new things can always be made for use in-game.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Knight_Shield]

               Oh and dont worry about setting up a server or future hardware not running the game.
I have tried different setups .
You can use a linux OS which the game runs on or easier install on linux with wine.
I have also run it in vmware player but this you would need an old copy of xp.
Im just saying there are many options and cost is low to run a server.
I have a levelup server on virtual machine for $50 a year.

Oh and dont let me forget if you get stuck ..there is a communnity here that can get your problems solved.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               Last I heard young people still get into Jimi Hendrix now and again. Similar with Django Reinhardt and his music is nearly 50-60 years before Jimi on crappy recordings.

My wife and I still play the occasional round of M.U.L.E. on an Atari emulator using legacy joysticks. I run Zork and a number of other Infocom classics from my computer's shell. Lambda Moo still has a community.

Why not NWN too?

If you want to play it then play it. Don't worry about whether the community is bigger or smaller. You can still get players for your project. I've got an upstart project nowhere nearly as developed or polished as the likes of Aenea or Higher Ground. But I've got enough players to run mulitplayer every weekend if I could produce enough content.

Don't sweat it. Play it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Drewskie]

               Til something comes along which can replace it which will probably never happen.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_ShadowM]

               Everyone above pretty much summed it up, NWN1 just has the perfect balance between ease of use and ease to modify things and a deep hole of learning that not intimidating. Will take you 10 years to learn it all, but all though years you will be having a blast like I have. '> Here to another 10 years!!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_ehye_khandee]

               They can have nwn back when they prize it from my cold dead hands. '>

Be well. Game on!
GM_ODA
http://playnwn.com
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_simomate2]

               

Say "Why, yes, it is an older game, but look how much you can do with it, and how many thousands of hours you can play it without forking over more than $10 one time."
.

Well, none of my friends have even heard of Neverwinter Nights to be honest, those that I tell, they usually dismiss it with "That game looks ****". Really annoys me because I like old **** looking games more then most of the new games. New games are becoming casual, easy and boring with every game, there are a few rare gems however.

I did, however, manage to convince my best friend to buy it. '> Not sure if he'll like it yet for apparently he "doesn't like RPGs" even though he has hardly even tried an rpg. Ah I suppose its like how he "doesn't like Zelda games" when he didnt even realise the main protangonist never speaks....
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Empyre65]

               Doom (1 and 2) is even older, and it still has a good-sized community.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HSeldon]

               I know I'll be playing this game for quite a while, as long as the hardware and operating systems support it.  Unless a true successor comes along.  I don't take the time to learn new games all the time and when I find a good one I stick with it.  Between this game and Steel Panthers my gaming time is pretty much used up.  Even if some day there are no more good PWs to play on, there is still a lifetime supply of great modules at the vault.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rogueknight333]

               People are still playing even older games (just check out the Baldur's Gate forums right below NWN's for one example), so I think we can expect some sort of community to stick around for a good long time, particularly given the lack of any newer game that offers anything like the same advantages. I stay with NWN because it allows me to do things I could not do, probably could not come close to doing, with any other game.

To be sure the current NWN community is sadly reduced from what it was in the game's heyday. I find it a bit depressing, not to mention a little mystifying, how many gamers seem to feel some sort of obligation to always move on to the latest thing, regardless of its quality. Why are so many people willing to pay top dollar for a game simply because it is new, while older games available at a fraction of the price are superior in so many respects? This does not strike me as especially rational behavior, yet it is clearly what a great many people are doing. I do not know whether it is the lure of the "shiny new toy," the desire to play what all the "cool kids" are playing, the hype and advertising that newer games benefit from, or simply that having top quality graphics is in fact as all-important as the producers of such hype want us to think. Whatever the reason for this phenomenon, NWN has suffered from it, and it would be nice if something could be done to counteract this way of thinking, not only to restore a little bit of what the NWN community once was, but also to put some financial pressure on the game companies to finally make a true successor to NWN. Though I fear that the emergence of such a successor is an impossible dream.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Karvon]

               Second much of what's already been posted.  The game's just got so many different options and angles, it's hard to exhaust them all.  While I prefer DM'ed campaigns myself, I do delve into SP mod's every now and again during longer vacations - especially when my SO is out of town on business '>  and there are a lot of gems on the vault - hundreds of hours worth.  As a matter of fact, working my way thru rogueknight333's Swordflight series atm; and enjoying it immensely.

The king is dead, long live the king '>

Karvon