Trent Oster again (11/16/2015) mentions the plans and obstacles for a NWN Overhaul

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               

From this thread on the Baldur's Gate forums, last week:

 

Again, I usually look at all this as optimistically as possible.  OverHaul/Beamdog would probably be interested in doing a NWN overhaul and Trent has some ideas about how he'd do it...but the licensing is getting in the way.  He has many times previously described the number one obstacle as being the current Neverwinter MMO.

 

As a semi-regular Trent Oster stalker (well, at least on Twitter) I've noticed that he seems to have intentionally ramped up his hype quite a bit for pretty much any D&D-related anything over the last year.  It cannot hurt to get in WotC's good graces for any number of reasons, but I still hope...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Fester Pot]

               

I really don't know how things work in the industry, but I'd just change the name Neverwinter into an acronym if it's causing the issue - if it was allowed of course. '>


NWNEE.


FP!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Considering that WotC went after a small independent retailer on the West Coast - which bought its products direct - for using the word "Neverwinter" in its name, I can't see the licensing issues sorting themselves out anytime soon. The only way they'll flex on the name usage is when - and if - they move away from Neverwinter as their major development area within the Forgotten Realms.

 

Maybe for a Christmas present to all us NWN fans, they'll go back to using the Dalelands as the setting for their Forgotten Realms releases  '> and Neverwinter:EE will become a reality.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Failed.Bard]

               

I'd be happy with someone just releasing a new, multi-threaded graphics engine for it.  A better game engine, with most of the nwnx options built into the toolset, would just be a bonus at that point.  Any game actually attached to it would be irrelevant.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Frush O'Suggill]

               

If the Neverwinter name is what's holding things up, then just don't use it! Between NWN, NWN2, NWO, and SCL, the name has already been played out. Faerun is a big place, and I don't understand the fixation with this one tiny corner of it. Just change the setting of the OC to a different city - no one will care! Or, even better in my opinion, excise all hardcoded references to the FR completely and give us the option to use whatever setting we want. It is beyond frustrating that the name Neverwinter is really what's keeping us from getting an updated Aurora engine.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               

Two things... First, I am pretty sure that Oster (and anyone with a similar idea for the game) want to use the name "Neverwinter" or something close like "NWN" specifically. Being able to leverage all of that pre-made name-recognition, marketing, and goodwill for a well known product is part of the appeal of the project for companies like Beamdog.

 

Second, while I am not an IP attorney or anything, I suspect that Oster is using "the Neverwinter name" to refer to the panoply of IP-related issues connected to releasing an updated version of the game. Anything that uses the D&D rules and/or has a similar campaign, whether or not it's called Neverwinter Nights, will be a potential target of WotC/Hasbro's legal team.

 

All that said, I am thrilled that someone like Oster is still interested in a project like this. I hope that, eventually, one of the folks with decision-making power on that IP will realize they have a ready-made avenue for making some money and give the green light.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Drewskie]

               

Wotc/Hasbro have been very poor stewards of d&d properties when it comes crpgs.  And not just the Forgotten Realms... DLA and Codi were supposed to be Dragonlance and Planescape projects respectively, but that didn't pan out as wotc was protective of those, even though they've not touched the settings themselves in like 20 years.  They could have called the MMO anything and used any setting... Greyhawk or perhaps Eberron both would have made sense.  They've screwed over the game and the community consistently over the years and will continue to do so well into the future.  

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Zarathustra217]

               

I think what we should hope for is that the Neverwinter MMO dies out. Until that happens, NWN:EE will be considered as unwanted muddling of things, even if it's because of the name alone - and there's just more money in mindless whacking at stuff gameplay there days.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

...and there's just more money in mindless whacking at stuff gameplay there days.

 

Not to mention its fun - kind of reminds me of when I was 12 and I discovered...nevermind  '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               

@Failed.Bard - Apparently Beamdog approached Bioware/EA and nosed around about licensing the engine for an unrelated project they were considering.  According to Trent, Bioware/EA seemed to have no interest in licensing the Aurora engine outright for any use other than simply overhauling NWN.  I don't know how vociferous they were about it.  Maybe someone just casually said "Nah, we're not real interested in licensing the whole shebang for something else".  Although he didn't hint at this, it occurred to me they also might have also said "We will, but it'll cost you the same million we charged CD-Projekt to license it for Witcher."  Either way, that seems to set up a quandary where the only re-licensing of the Aurora engine is either going to be related to Neverwinter, specifically, or nothing at all.  I hate when people get so frustrated that they say something is stupid but that's just stupid.  

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lilura]

               

Despite not being a fan of their IE-based Enhanced Editions, I think the NWN community would benefit greatly from an EE if it's to relive the popularity it once enjoyed, and still deserves (particularly the community-made content).

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               

Yeah, even a really "weak" enhanced edition would help enormously.  If Beamdog/Overhaul even sneezed on NWN as far as an EE goes, that would at least put it on Steam, probably with a Steam Workshop, and with some basic (but sorely needed) graphics engine improvements like shaders and VBO's- a modern way of dealing game models.  If they did just that, it would actually be quite a coup for the community from the standpoint of what that would allow custom content makers to make.

 

Without being overly somber about it, it's getting harder and harder to imagine that Beamdog is going to be willing/able to pick up a NWN:EE project in a few years when things presumably "open up".  No fault of their own, of course, just kind of how business opportunities present themselves.

               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               

I'd be happy for anything exciting to happen in the nwn world.

I host my own PW, but I haven't even been on it for months - its really just kept up in case someone wants to play it.

 

I have all these ideas for things I want to build, but get let down when I start because nwn isn't capable of all the things I want, or I just feel demotivated because of the decline of the community - its a spiral, I know : By being demotivated, I demotivate others.

 

Im in work now, and often I will jump onto these forums every 20-30 minutes, praying for an interesting post to reply to.

How sad am I. :-(

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               

If I were in that situation (and assuming it uses a standard hakpack like CEP), I'd get some CC skills under my belt, customize the sh*t out of it with custom content tailored for the module, then release it as a standalone adventure.  The funny thing is, people are still buying NWN and they're still playing NWN.  But multiplayer has always been a relatively small percentage of the NWN player base.  The old vault had a survey about it, and something like 10x as many people played SP modules as MP, maybe more.  Looking at the download count for Gladiatrix III from the new Vault, for instance, seems like people are still interested in SP.

 

Just my 2 cents.  

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grani]

               

Just releasing the game on Steam would cause an influx of new players. I'm not so sure, however, if I'd like it to utilize Steam workshop. This would only make it more difficult for non-steam users to grab content stored there. Then again, maybe the new content would be worth it.

 

But it's unrealistic to expect it to be released on Steam, especially considering Neverwinter Nights 2 was available there for some time and then taken down.

 

However, it would be good if the game was released at least on Origin! I mean, Jade Empire made its way there, can't Neverwinter Nights do the same? Of course there might be some licencing issues, but if GOG managed to release, then EA would be even more likely to do so.