GameSpy support for NWN likely discontinued indefinitely.

[Legacy_BelowTheBelt]

               If we can create a list-matching service similar to GS and host it in an environment like nwnconnections or other site that allows players more direct contact with the community, it could actually reinforce the strength of the community.

Gamespy was great because it was easy, but you never 'had' to interact with the larger community, so it could be isolating as well.  So few players actually come to these forums, that any solution should be considered to help create a NWN 'homebase'.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Hazelthorne]

               This really is a bummer though.  We are not done! We will not go into the night without a fight.  One of our BG:TSC PW techs said that we can use Skywing Client and modify it to work as Gamespy once did.  We have the mind power, we just need a team and the technology.

And Bioware, I love your your work, I saw what you did with Dragon Age and how EA buried the multiplayer option and I tried the toolset as well.   If anyone can buy your game-child back, get it back from Cryptic.  Convince Atari you need it back.  They are butchers to whatever content they touch and everything they touch (such as Star Trek) turns to crap.  We want Neverwinter Nights 3 with customizable module content and that wonderful rich connection to the FR lore continued on in your capable hands.  For ten long years we have built international communities around the NWN multiplayer options. People have married over it.  Babies were born and now play it as adults; a second generation legacy.  International boundaries have been crossed and people are playing D&D style RP from around the world.  This is your beautiful child, please invite it back home!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_hensk]

                This is a bloody shame i wonder if there is anything we can do to rememdy this situation. The NWN Anthology is still

available on game stop and NWN on GoG its a shame those new players who buy it will never know how to find

Multiplayer servers.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lazarus Magni]

               This bites.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_luna_hawke]

               I've sent gamespy a message asking if it's possible to directly pay to have nwn2 put back up.
I'll let you know if I hear back.

As an alternative, I would think having a web site like this one with all the populated PW's on it might be helpful.
And also include the direct connect info.
Something like this can be posted on all the nwn2 related sites if someone was willing to host something like this.

http://www.neverwint...Players_Online2
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Melkior_King]

               In the mean time, I have started a proboards forum for the purpose of listing the direct connect details of nwn (1&2) servers.

I will be happy if an alternative can be found which will make this list redundant.
http://nwnserverlists.boards.net
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Visavant]

               If you're a NWN1 or NWN2 server host, pm me at your earliest convenience.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Fergoose]

               Thanks to anyone helping compile a list of servers and direct connects. Wouldn't an updated version of this thread also be a fairly elegant and low maintenance solution? Particularly as it allows people to see how many other players are logged on (which is often a spur for others to log on).
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Fergoose, 07 décembre 2012 - 07:44 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_SkywingvL]

               Should GameSpy support be permanently discontinued, there are some options available. I am willing to investigate creating and hosting a barebones emulation BioWare master server that would track connectivity information for game servers that connect to it. Given that the master account database doesn't seem like it is coming back up, it makes more sense to just pass through all auths as succeeded and have the only function of the emulation master server to track which game servers are online.

Servers would need to be modified to connect to the emulation server. I'm willing to update the xp_bugfix NWNX4 plugin for this for NWN2, otherwise a hosts file update to redirect nwmaster.bioware.com / nw2master.bioware.com to the appropriate address would suffice in a pinch without any binary modifications needed (however a nwnx plugin that doesn't hardcode an IP address would be far better - datacenter hosting providers can change over time etc.). The master server protocol is more or less the same for NWN1 and NWN2, and provides the capability to track enough data to allow end users to be told of how to find a server, enabling both games to be served by the same project.

This would enable providing matchmaking information for direct connect provided a web interface were to be created to frontend that data, with enough information to show online player counts per server, for participating servers.

Actually surfacing this information within the server browser for the NWN2 and NWN1 clients themselves is more involved and will probably require client-side modifications. The CE for NWN2 could in theory (time allowing) be modified to query an alternate source, backed by the emulation master server, for this information.

https://github.com/S.../nwn2dev-public  is the beginnings of a github project for a minimalistic master server able to track connection information for game servers that talk to it. Additional contributors are welcome, particularly on displaying matchmaking information in a web interface, as well as client interface for the matchmaking service for NWN1.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par SkywingvL, 07 décembre 2012 - 09:04 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_NWN_baba yaga]

               i like the donation idea. I dislike most of the new generation of developers, publisher policies and fans anyway and dont throw my money at them. So I can invest some good money on the continuity of NWN, count on me here. And i dont mean i donate just a $ you know:wizard:
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NWN_baba yaga, 07 décembre 2012 - 09:00 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               Thanks to all trying to help lessen the impact of this!

This morning, UK game developer Rebellion posted an open letter to their Sniper Elite gaming community, one of the dozens of games who have also been affected by this wide-scale shutoff:

A few weeks ago, the online multiplayer servers for Sniper Elite were suddenly switched off by Glu, the third-party service we had been paying to maintain them.

For the past seven years we have run these servers at a cost to ourselves so that fans of Sniper Elite could continue to play online for free.

This decision by Glu was not taken in consultation with us and was beyond our control.

We have been talking to them since to try and get the servers turned back on. We have been informed that in order to do so would cost us tens of thousands of pounds a year - far in excess of how much we were paying previously. We also do not have the option to take the multiplayer to a different provider. Because the game relies on Glu and Gamespy’s middleware, the entire multiplayer aspect of the game would have to be redeveloped by us, again, at the cost of many tens of thousands of pounds.

While we are not happy about the situation, as an independent developer we simply do not have the resources to pay the massive costs of new servers along with redeveloping a seven-year-old game.

We share the disappointment of fans who have played the game since it was published in 2005. This is not something we intended or wanted to happen, but unfortunately it has been beyond our control. We have always looked to support our fan community and we hope the past seven years of free multiplayer service have been evidence of that - we're sorry that the servers have been shut down in this way.

We would like to thank all the fans who have continued to support Rebellion and Sniper Elite.

It's a shakedown.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par OldTimeRadio, 07 décembre 2012 - 09:12 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_henesua]

               That makes sense. GLU used to be located in San Francisco, but take a look at where they are hiring. Typical corporation. They are merely chasing profits, and the cheapest labor they can find despite having one of the largest concentrations of developers near their "home office". Not impressed by anything they have created in the past few years either.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_CrispyWalrus]

               I don't think the point is GLU hiring policy or corporate history but that on inquiring about restoring multiplayer they were "informed that in order to do so would cost us tens of thousands of pounds a year - far in excess of how much we were paying previously."  This does not bode well for the hope that some NWN PW admins had of seeing if the community could somehow fund the cost to keep the master server online.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par CrispyWalrus, 07 décembre 2012 - 09:31 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

CrispyWalrus wrote...

I don't think the point is GLU hiring policy or corporate history but that on inquiring about restoring multiplayer they were "informed that in order to do so would cost us tens of thousands of pounds a year - far in excess of how much we were paying previously."  This does not bode well for the hope that some NWN PW admins had of seeing if the community could somehow fund the cost to keep the master server online.

This is not GLU's cost. GLU is the new owner of Game Spy. I was tlaking about GLU not the developer that was being forced by GLU to pay some absurd price for multiplayer services. It has everything to do with GLU's corporate culture. They aren't about making games. Games is simply the flavor on a very thin candy shell covering their greed. Kinda like a fig leaf.

And by "used to be located in SF", I meant they used to actually produce games in SF. I don't know if they have any real staff here any more. I think its just a corporate head quarters.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par henesua, 07 décembre 2012 - 09:41 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_NWN_baba yaga]

               hmm... i dont like to see my only beloved game die a slow motion death on so many levelst. Now i think they should have just said (back then), f*** it we are over with it and move on you nwn people... All these little punshes into our community p*** me of realy. Dont know what to say... me mad now precious f*** it!!!

p.s.
i hate doom threads but i´m just sick of this and that doesnt work anymore etc...
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NWN_baba yaga, 07 décembre 2012 - 09:52 .