This could be a new Neverwinter nights type game.

[Legacy_kamal_]

               

Well, there are a few other people hammering away on various tasks as their free time permits. But yeah, it is mostly just me; we really need more people to work on xoreos.

Yeah. You!

 

If anyone else here can do actual programming, help this guy.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

While you've been discussing scl, something interesting has been happening on kickstarter. Larian has been gathering crowd funding for Divinity Original Sin 2 and has reached all of their stretch targets. So what you may ask. Well the final one to be achieved was for t he inclusion of game master mode. With this addition it will be (AFAIK) only the second game (NwN being the other) with this feature. Add to that an enhanced editor... Here's a link to the GameSpot article on the game published just before the last target was hit.

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_DrMcCoy]

               Naw, the first Divinity: Original Sin is already the next NWN: very, very late GNU/Linux support (in D:OS case, still not there, over a year later!), and Windows-only, non-portable toolset (if a now-deleted anonymous source on reddit can be trusted, it uses Microsoft-only windowing classes, just like the NWN toolset used the Microsoft Foundation Class library).

I for one am not impressed.

(Yes, I'm bitter, thanks for noticing)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_-Semper-]

               

With this addition it will be (AFAIK) only the second game (NwN being the other) with this feature. Add to that an enhanced editor...

with nwn2, vampire redemption and scl (you know, the thing the thread is all about) there are three other games with such a mode. we also don't know what the plans are for the dm mode in d:os2. right now it can also be a "failure" similar to scl. btw original sin's editor was a complete and utter mess. people moan about nwn2's toolset? they shouldn't even think about working with the tool larian released.

i also don't get why there's such an eager need for a successor to both nwn games. there never won't be something similar powerful. period. just use what you already have. the next step would be to use an already established engine, like unity or unreal 4, to create something new from scratch. or just play real pnp on roll20 or any other digital tabletop. it's also quite obvious that the majority of players are not into live dms. if at all they want to play fast dungeon romps in a singleplayer environment. it will be forever a niche, and there's no need to abandon the persistent niche called the nwn community.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

If the required tactic is :
boss requires x tanks, y healers, z dps or
players must take specific actions at specific times (stand in certain spots, etc) or in a specific order
things like that. If that's the case then the boss/raid is a puzzle in my thinking. You have to put things together in a given manner to reach success. It makes things a coop action puzzle.

This still seems rather fuzzy to me.

For example, a year or two back the hardest 10 person boss in the game was done with...

1 tank, 2 healers, 7 DPS
2 tanks, 2 healers, 6 DPS
2 tanks, 1 healer, 7 DPS

Would that fall into your definition? It could be done with varying numbers of tanks, healers, and DPS...but you had to change how you approached different aspects of the fight and play to the strengths of your group.

"Stand in certain spots" is also a bit unclear -- say the boss launches a fireball every 30 seconds at each player...which means the group needs to spread out so a group of, say, six people doesn't have everyone get hit by six fireballs each. Does that count? I mean, you can be at any spot you want, as long as you're not close to another person.

Hell, look at the official campaign end bosses (minor spoilers):

Have to defeat the appropriate "protector" to make the boss vulnerable for the original campaign. Have to smash the you know what to make the boss vulnerable in SoU. Have to kill the adds when they appear for the final HotU boss.

It kind of sounds like you're saying anything where you do more than just auto-attack the boss is no longer an RPG but instead a puzzle.

You get to kill boss X a few times to get the required gear to kill boss Y, which, in turn, gives you gear necessary to kill boss Z, and so on...

Except, of course, WoW is explicitly designed to *not* be that. In fact, they prevent you from rekilling boss X for a week so that you *have* to work on boss Y (or not raid at all) without all the gear from boss X because it technically isn't even needed. But you can rekill boss X once per week for more gear to make boss Y easier over time if you get stuck due to lack of skill.

I'm trying to even think of a case where that applied in WoW's history at all and the only thing I can come up with is maybe the original Onyxia cloak back in Vanilla? Which they've never ever done again for good reason.

i also don't get why there's such an eager need for a successor to both nwn games.

Because we want to get fresh blood in to replace people who leave...and it's awfully, awfully hard to do that in significant quantities for NWN these days. And it'll only get harder. People just don't have major interest in a game released over a dozen years ago. Yes, NWN was (and still is) amazing...but it's a very, very hard sell to people in 2015. Just look at the current size of the playerbase compared to even like six years ago. And stuff like the IGN vault going kaput isn't helping the cause -- yes, we have a new vault, but it still makes the game look older and abandoned to people not familiar with the situation.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_kamal_]

               

Sword Coast Legends has been released.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               

Well, I am currently playing it.

 

I would rate it along with PoE - it had great potential, but fell flat.

 

A NWN it is not.

 

More like a DPS WoW inspired NWN module.  Some of the remarks are pretty good...but the gameplay itself is atrocious.  Kind of feels like DA2 to me.

 

Bummer.

 

I am currently installing D:OS EE to see what it has improved.

 

@Dr.McCoy - if you could get Party Mode to work for NWN...I would be very greatful!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lord Vallis]

               

I have about 30 hours into SCL.  The campaign is decent.  Graphics are decent.  But it's a game meant for console and brings with it all the limitations console infers (including the age of the target audience.)  It's not only a simple button masher, but there are a limited number of buttons to mash.  There's not even a way to bind a key to select a given party member.

 

The toolset is a complete joke.  The best thing I can say about Sword Coast Legends is that it has drawn me back to Neverwinter Nights.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

Some of the remarks are pretty good...but the gameplay itself is atrocious.  Kind of feels like DA2 to me.

Could you clarify this?

Besides the over-the-top animations (which isn't gameplay per se) and the enemies jumping down on your head (which isn't some core gameplay thing and could easily be changed, would be like complaining about enemies spawning on top of you in NWN), I thought DA2 had a fairly good combat system.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_-Semper-]

               

There's not even a way to bind a key to select a given party member.

since when does a nwn player need such a key? '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MayCaesar]

               

since when does a nwn player need such a key? '>

 

NWN2 players do. '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               

Could you clarify this?


Besides the over-the-top animations (which isn't gameplay per se) and the enemies jumping down on your head (which isn't some core gameplay thing and could easily be changed, would be like complaining about enemies spawning on top of you in NWN), I thought DA2 had a fairly good combat system.

 

*blinks*

 

You sure you want to stick by that comment?  We are talking about DA2 here, after all...basically the most cursed at version of DA that exists precisely due to the combat system changes.

 

The skill tree changes are horrid, to start.  The items being flagged to be for one particular character, yadda yadda yadda.  Oh, and being able to basically kite anything with the controller and kill it is atrocious, plain and simple.  More like an action based RPG (aka Witcher) than a real RPG.

 

I mean...you are baiting me, right?

 

Ah, I get it.

 

Heh.  Almost had me going there for a minute.  Nice try.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MayCaesar]

               

Not this again...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

I mean...you are baiting me, right?

No. I legitimately think DA2 was a better game overall than DA:O, and I'm hardly the only one.

That doesn't mean I think it was perfect -- far from it. But if I loved 60% of DA:O and hated 40% of it, I loved 70% of DA2 and hated 30% of it (and that doesn't mean I think 10% was "fixed" -- it means I disliked different things about each game).
 

The skill tree changes are horrid, to start.  The items being flagged to be for one particular character, yadda yadda yadda.  Oh, and being able to basically kite anything with the controller and kill it is atrocious, plain and simple.  More like an action based RPG (aka Witcher) than a real RPG.

Well, let's look at skill trees. Have you ever considered that DA2 skill trees are actually more similar to NWN feats than DA:O skill trees? Take Power Attack. You can "improve" it with Improved Power attack...or ignore the upgrade and pick up Cleave, Great Cleave, Overwhelming Critical, and Devastating Critical. Or go another route and pick up Divine Might and/or Divine Shield. Many characters might also simply stop at Power Attack and Cleave, forgoing Great Cleave entirely because it isn't that helpful for them (would need to land 2+ killing blows per round).

Imagine if we laid out the whole series of feats in a skill tree -- it'd look like this...

Divine Might/Divine Shield
∧
|

Power Attack -> Cleave -> Great Cleave -> Overwhelming Critical -> Devastating Critical
|
∨
Improved Power Attack

Looks awfully similar to DA2 trees, no? Start at one point with upgrade options available but multiple paths allowed and you can skip things on the way. If we did this DA:O style it'd look like...

Power Attack -> Great Cleave -> Improved Power Attack -> Devastating Critical

...and Divine Might/Divine Shield would be in another "section" entirely. What part(s) of the DA:O skill trees were better than DA2's skill trees to you (or, alternatively, what about DA2's trees did you dislike)?

Items flagged for one particular character...I'm not even sure what you're talking about here. Unless you're referencing the companions having their own armor innately and thus only the player character changes their base armor (but everyone changes things like jewelry and weapons)? While I personally liked it, I understand why others might dislike it...but that's not actually part of the innate gameplay/engine (at a minimum it would be simple to flag it to allow "full" armor slots on all characters -- Bioware actually had to deliberately REMOVE the option for the companions).

Not sure what you're referring to with the kiting comment -- I played on Nightmare and don't recall kiting anything beyond what you'd consider to be standard combat tactics. Could you elaborate (and is that an actual difference from DA:O or just a general issue you have with DA2)?

And I don't even know what the "yada yada" refers to in this case : / I already mentioned the over the top animations and enemies falling from the sky, so presumably not those...and "THE CAVE" is unrelated to gameplay...so would any issues you had with the plot itself...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               

Of course you are baiting.

 

Kiting one particular Boss in particular comes to mind (a Qunari).  One can beat him with any build, simply by kiting and striking when he "recovers" - it is hilariously stupid.

 

Again, the difference between DA:O and DA2 is miles apart in gameplay - especially regarding the skill trees, obviously borrowed super-powered "abilities" on those trees (like Bianca's "burst" attack that affects an area!!!!!), how the items are locked to specific characters, and so on.

 

As for "why is the locked [insert item here] a bad thing?" - because they often have an individual look, and for fans of character customization that limits (rather than promotes) possibilities.

 

Atrocious, really.