NWN - 2nd impression from Thrasher
Brian H.
===========================================================
OMFG, what were they thinking? There's NO STORY in this game!! It's so dull
and lifeless I actually think Dungeon Siege was more entertaining than NWN!
What the hell? Who were they trying to cater to? I don't get it, I seriously
can't believe this POS comes from the same folks who did BG2... I thought
they were actually moving in the right direction, BG2 was a big improvement
over Baldur's Gate. NWN isn't half the game BG1 was, and doesn't even play
in the same league as BG2. I don't know what's wrong at Bioware but somebody
better pull their head out before it's too late.
Anyway, more gripes...
Pathfinding: what pathfinding? your character moves in a strait line from
where he is to where you just told him to go. If something intervenes he'll
stop in his tracks and stand around looking stupid until you manually guide
him around the obstacle. People were doing a better job with pathfinding in
1983.
NPC Henchmen... WTF? OK, so they thought it would be cool to not have them
under the direct control of the player. That's fine... it might have been.
But it's not. The henchmen chase after enemies I can't even see, screaming
dorky battle cries the whole time. The player is left playing tag along
trying to keep up with a damn NPC as he clears the area of enemies. Is there
a way around this besides not using a henchman? I don't know and I don't
care, I suspect whatever commands you give henchmen will be equally flawed
so I'm not willing to devote the time to finding out. If the default
behavior is so badly broken how could more obscure commands work better?
Speaking of henchmen, do I really need to see all that "Power strike mode
activated", "Power strike mode deactivated" etc from the NPCs all the time?
I like the floaty damage numbers, though I would have rather seen different
colors for enemies and friends, and maybe the floaty text for feats the
player starts, but for trhe NPCs? I think Bioware is just addicted to spam.
They think spammy messages will impress us or something. In reality all the
spam does is make it more difficult to see information that's actually
important, which defeats the purpose.
Bugs... I've gotten stuck in walls several times and had to reload a game
because my guy wouldn't move. I'd talk about QA but QA is a known issue with
Bioware products.
Dialogue text... So, I get to ask the question "What gives you the right to
use kill these creatures for your own purposes?"... Looks kinda like my
usenet posts. But I don't proof read my usenet posts. Bioware doesn't proof
read their game text? This is only one example of several I've seen... I'm
using it because it was an important enough dialogue option that it got a
voice response. I really can't see how even an incompetent QA person could
have missed this one. I mean, it's not like they had to actually test
something, all they had to do was click the damn mouse and read the damn
text.
And the general crappiness of the graphics and audio, combined with the
total lack of meaningful story content has me wondering whether I'll ever
even get past chapter one. I'm sure this game will get a 95% rating like all
the big name releases do, but it deserves about a 60%. If that. I put it in
the same category as that Soul Reaver game that came out a couple years
ago... Or Revenant. Nox was a better RPG than NWN. And that's almost a
crime.
Twist
just casting a big fat worm with a huge red and white bobber waiting for
some unsuspecting fish to take the bait...
Not even a very good try...
You might want to cast your bait over on another
newsgroup.....pc.games.dungeonseige
"Brian H." <bh1234...@nospam.please.ismart.net> wrote in message
news:afdq5v$8uh$1...@hfc.pacific.net.hk...
Martin Scriblerus
news:afdq5v$8uh$1...@hfc.pacific.net.hk...
Oh, I did! Thrasher once again blows a gasket over a less-than-perfect game.
> ===========================================================
> OMFG, what were they thinking? There's NO STORY in this game!! It's so dull
> and lifeless I actually think Dungeon Siege was more entertaining than NWN!
> What the hell? Who were they trying to cater to? I don't get it, I seriously
> can't believe this POS comes from the same folks who did BG2... I thought
> they were actually moving in the right direction, BG2 was a big improvement
> over Baldur's Gate. NWN isn't half the game BG1 was, and doesn't even play
> in the same league as BG2. I don't know what's wrong at Bioware but somebody
> better pull their head out before it's too late.
What Lit classes have you taken? BG and BG2 were recycled "Star Wars" style
high fantasy opera. Son of a god, indeed... NWN, for all it's story flaws,
at least tries to paint a "realistic" portrait of how people might actually
react to such incredible situations. Not too spoil past the first Chap., but
what happens to Fenthick <?> is at least ripped off of Dostoyevsky, which is a
hell of a lot better than Lucas, IMO.
> Anyway, more gripes...
>
> Pathfinding: what pathfinding? your character moves in a strait line from
> where he is to where you just told him to go. If something intervenes he'll
> stop in his tracks and stand around looking stupid until you manually guide
> him around the obstacle. People were doing a better job with pathfinding in
> 1983.
I have yet to find an RPG that automatically places a ranged attacker in an
optimal shooting postition (i.e. as far as possible from the target with a
clear LOS). I have had few problems with barriers, certainly nothing I don't
find in every other game. IOW, NWN may not improve on this feature but it's
hardly worse than anything else.
> NPC Henchmen... WTF? OK, so they thought it would be cool to not have them
> under the direct control of the player. That's fine... it might have been.
> But it's not. The henchmen chase after enemies I can't even see, screaming
> dorky battle cries the whole time. The player is left playing tag along
> trying to keep up with a damn NPC as he clears the area of enemies. Is there
> a way around this besides not using a henchman? I don't know and I don't
> care, I suspect whatever commands you give henchmen will be equally flawed
> so I'm not willing to devote the time to finding out. If the default
> behavior is so badly broken how could more obscure commands work better?
LOL, it reminds me of playing D&D with less than rational (i.e. stupid, drunk,
stoned, etc.) players. For this reason, I kind of like the unpredictable
NPCs. Although the battle cries do wear on me as well.
> Speaking of henchmen, do I really need to see all that "Power strike mode
> activated", "Power strike mode deactivated" etc from the NPCs all the time?
> I like the floaty damage numbers, though I would have rather seen different
> colors for enemies and friends, and maybe the floaty text for feats the
> player starts, but for trhe NPCs? I think Bioware is just addicted to spam.
> They think spammy messages will impress us or something. In reality all the
> spam does is make it more difficult to see information that's actually
> important, which defeats the purpose.
I think the messages are there to, you know, let you know what's happening.
Isn't there a feature where you can turn these messages down or even off?
> Bugs... I've gotten stuck in walls several times and had to reload a game
> because my guy wouldn't move. I'd talk about QA but QA is a known issue with
> Bioware products.
Have not been stuck in a wall yet. If it happens though, that sucks.
> Dialogue text... So, I get to ask the question "What gives you the right to
> use kill these creatures for your own purposes?"... Looks kinda like my
> usenet posts. But I don't proof read my usenet posts. Bioware doesn't proof
> read their game text? This is only one example of several I've seen... I'm
> using it because it was an important enough dialogue option that it got a
> voice response. I really can't see how even an incompetent QA person could
> have missed this one. I mean, it's not like they had to actually test
> something, all they had to do was click the damn mouse and read the damn
> text.
Stop the presses! NWN has typos!
> And the general crappiness of the graphics and audio, combined with the
Graphics look great to me. Way more than serviceable. Are you maybe
forgetting the MP component of the game? I, for one, am willing to sacrifice
eye-candy if it means less lag in MP, but of course YMMV. The audio sounds
fine, it's just so damn repetitive. Again, I'm thinking this may have been
done that way for the MP reason.
> total lack of meaningful story content has me wondering whether I'll ever
> even get past chapter one.
Well this kind of explains your opinion of the story.
> I'm sure this game will get a 95% rating like all
> the big name releases do, but it deserves about a 60%. If that. I put it in
> the same category as that Soul Reaver game that came out a couple years
> ago... Or Revenant. Nox was a better RPG than NWN. And that's almost a
> crime.
I'd put it at ~80% myself for the SP, but the MP stuff I've seen so far gives
me great hope for the future of this title. Have you checked out some of the
RP servers? Great fun to be had there. Check out Grim's Tavern when you get
the chance.
Honestly, it seems as though you get upset just for the sake of being upset,
which doesn't lend your actual opinion much credence.
--
"You can learn a lot in a small dark room. Don't let anyone tell you
different" -Ulruog
Martin Scriblerus
news:vtuS8.3185$MIK....@news01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
> Nah, I think you're fishing here...some call it trolling and think you're
> just casting a big fat worm with a huge red and white bobber waiting for
> some unsuspecting fish to take the bait...
> Not even a very good try...
> You might want to cast your bait over on another
I'd agree that Thrasher is a troll except that he always seems genuinely
disappointed when games aren't perfect. It's not as if he's 100% wrong about
the things he moans about either. He just gives so much weight to such
insignificant flaws. I bet he'd even complain about an imperfect blow job.
F-14 DUDE
stupid and often getting him/her kill. If I can only hire one henchman, I
would like to be able to have full control of him in combat as well as able
to add/remove items to his/her inventory. But then again, doubt it is going
to change so I guess I will spend more time in multiplayer and play with
REAL people instead of the single player game.
Later!
"Brian H." <bh1234...@nospam.please.ismart.net> wrote in message
news:afdq5v$8uh$1...@hfc.pacific.net.hk...
Gumby
<cpr...@buucj.com> wrote:
>"Twist" <hah...@yearight.noway> wrote in message
>news:vtuS8.3185$MIK....@news01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
>> Nah, I think you're fishing here...some call it trolling and think you're
>> just casting a big fat worm with a huge red and white bobber waiting for
>> some unsuspecting fish to take the bait...
>> Not even a very good try...
>> You might want to cast your bait over on another
>
>I'd agree that Thrasher is a troll except that he always seems genuinely
>disappointed when games aren't perfect. It's not as if he's 100% wrong about
>the things he moans about either. He just gives so much weight to such
>insignificant flaws. I bet he'd even complain about an imperfect blow job.
He wouldn't know anything about that. That would mean a female getting
within a mile of him.
#1 New York Yankees fan!!!
#1 LSU Tigers fan!!!
#12,427 Dark Age of Camelot fan!!!
Bob Perez
"Gumby" <simp...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:fg2lhu8hqpkhqh1hh...@4ax.com...
>> I bet he'd even complain about an imperfect blow job.
>
> He wouldn't know anything about that. That would mean a female getting
> within a mile of him.
Not necessarily, you're assuming you know his sexual preference. ;-)
But seriously. As usual, most of his complaints are valid, just overstated.
He's right about the henchmen and even about the little floating text,
although it doesn't bother me as much. Nobody mentions the DS-style engine
that requires you to avoid looking up at the sky. For some reason, this
bothers NO ONE except me. But damn I hate it.
--
Bob Perez
"Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they
quit playing."
- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
DemilinX
> I copied & pasted it from c.s.i.p.g.strategic. Enjoy!
Haha. i love that attitude in print but gawd keep it away from me during my
dailing activities. :) Thanks for posting it. <g>
--
MåT W¡££¡åM§
www.northwestconcerts.com
np: The Actionslacks - Joan of Arc
"I hate when lanes end."
Andreas Baus
> Have not been stuck in a wall yet. If it happens though, that sucks.
Have not gotten stuck in a wall, either, but between scenery objects (like
one time between a tree and the rock it was standing next to). Was not too
bad, since using the Recall Stone and going back through the portal put me
in a spot where I could move again. Worse was how my pixie familiar at one
time got stuck inside a door while I was possessing it, trying to pick the
lock on the door; and not only would it refuse to move at all, but I could
not even unpossess it either (to unsummon it or smash the door or ...), so
I was pretty screwed; with going back to my last (rather old) quicksave as
the only way out (note to self: I really ought to save my game more often)
> Stop the presses! NWN has typos!
Well, it IS bad form, since things like this are easy to spot and dto fix.
It just leaves kind of a sloppy impression... After all this *is* supposed
to be a high-profile commercial product.
--
----
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Insert joke here.] ----
--
an...@studcs.uni-sb.de (Andreas Baus)
Markus Schäfer
> Nobody mentions the DS-style engine
> that requires you to avoid looking up at the sky. For some reason, this
> bothers NO ONE except me. But damn I hate it.
You're not alone. Looking at the sky does a lot for immersiveness in my eyes
(example Morrowind). I'm always disappointed when I can only see half of the
world I play in.
Markus
Nick Vargish
> > Stop the presses! NWN has typos!
> Well, it IS bad form, since things like this are easy to spot and dto fix.
^^^
!!!
*cough*
Nick
--
#include<stdio.h> /* SigMask 0.3 (sig.c) 19990429 PUBLIC DOMAIN "Compile Me" */
int main(c,v)char *v;{return !c?putchar(*v-1)&&main(0,v+ /* Tweaks welcomed. */
1):main(0,"Ojdl!Wbshjti!=obwAqbusjpu/ofu?\v\1");} /* build: cc -o sig sig.c */
Andreas Baus
>> > Stop the presses! NWN has typos!
>> Well, it IS bad form, since things like this are easy to spot and dto fix.
> ^^^
> !!!
> *cough*
Hey, my news postings are not a commercial product (wish they were, I'd be
able to buy a small country by now) ^_^
Nick Vargish
> Hey, my news postings are not a commercial product
That's why I edited that bit out of your original post. :^)
> (wish they were, I'd be able to buy a small country by now) ^_^
Can I be the Minister of Data Services? Or maybe the Wallet Inspector?
ramon
"Bob Perez" <b...@DELETETHISplanetperez.com> wrote in message
news:uhl5gul...@news.supernews.com...
They sky thing bothers me less in NWN than it did in DS. Admitedly, I think
it's because I didn't realize until yesterday that I actually COULD change
the angle of the camera (duh!). In DS the angle changed with the mouse, & I
think I sprained a mouse-muscle or two trying to flatten out my view. In
NWN I just leave it at the default, perhaps because I'm used to the Infinity
Engine. I'll agree that the skys and scenery in MW are wonderful (another
great game, along with NWN, I'm playing and enjoying them both...it's not
one or the other, totally different games, each which has thing that I wish
the other had, which would make MY perfect game...), HOWEVER, I gladly give
up the sky for battles with more than 2-3 opponents at a time without
serious lag time (as would happen in MW).
ramon
Booger
"ramon" <ra...@ex-machina-image.com> wrote in message
news:Y2FS8.49494$Ok1.3...@news2.west.cox.net...
>
> They sky thing bothers me less in NWN than it did in DS. Admitedly, I
think
> it's because I didn't realize until yesterday that I actually COULD change
> the angle of the camera (duh!).
How do you change the viewing angle in NWN?
Andreas Baus
Either via the PgUp/PgDn keys, IIRC, or much simpler by holding down the
third mousebutton while moving the mouse
Olaf
news:_3vS8.24051$5k6....@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> On the part of henchman, I do have to agree. AI for Henchman are
pretty
> stupid and often getting him/her kill. If I can only hire one
henchman, I
> would like to be able to have full control of him in combat as well as
able
> to add/remove items to his/her inventory.
AMEN!
olaf