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Topic: Legacy of the Gith (Read 210 times) |
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Dane Bramage
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So... it seems someone has leaked a bit of info to the net...
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=647011
Is it cause for alarm why EB has it on their website before an official press release from Atari?
Lots of speculation about content... level cap, etc. Hopefully, more concrete details will come out shortly.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 10, 2007, 9:08PM » |
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NWN DM
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Atari's management of this product is borderline incompetent and that is the cause for alarm... this isn't the first time news like this has leaked out with respect to NWN expansions.
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Dane Bramage
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actually not, because you have to copy and paste the link. you see... it's broken at the percent sign.
just copy the entire line into your browser.
it's still there... i just checked.
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Olias Stormcrow
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Atari were still advertising mounted combat in NWN2 up until the week before the game was released even though the developers had posted that it had been cut several months before.
That should tell you everything about official announcements from Atari right there.
edit:
Checking the official forums, Rob McGinnis posted that Legacy of the Gith was a working title for NWN2. Whether that is the case or merely a smokescreen prior to an official announcement only time will tell.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 10, 2007, 9:21PM » |
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Starbuck79
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This sort of thing happened all the time. I think there was speculation of this kind about both of the NWN1 expansions. Maybe it's a working title, maybe it's not. I just think it's funny that folks fall for the same thing every time.
I know people want to jump on Atari because it's Atari but this exact same thing happened with both expansions. I have no doubt there will be an expansion. It's only smart business. Yes I know we would like them to fix the DMC etc. but remember that they have different teams. The Expansion could be a year or more away.
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Dane Bramage
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This just in... seems the expansion is coming. EB got the release date right... fall of 2007, but they just got the name wrong. I wonder if Atari has had to announce this a bit early due to the "leak" on EB Games...
Anyway... without further ado...
Posted: Thursday, 12 April 2007 08:59AM
ATARI ANNOUNCES
NEVERWINTER NIGHTS ™ 2: MASK OF THE BETRAYER
Expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 Features Engrossing New Campaign; Epic Levels; New Companions and Much More
NEW YORK – April 12, 2006 – Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world’s most recognized brands and a third-party video game publisher, today announced the development of the next chapter in the Neverwinter Nights saga – Neverwinter Nights™ 2: Mask of the Betrayer. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the expansion to the award-winning Neverwinter Nights 2 is set in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Forgotten Realms® universe created by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS). DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from HPG, the licensing division of Hasbro. Neverwinter Nights™ 2: Mask of the Betrayer will be available in North America in Fall 2007.
In Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, players are transported back to the Forgotten Realms shortly after the events detailed in the original Neverwinter Nights 2. Following the climactic battle against the King of Shadows, the player awakens alone and stranded deep beneath the earth. Surrounded by a horde of evil spirits, the player embarks on an epic adventure that reveals his true destiny.
“Atari’s commitment to the Neverwinter Nights franchise and the enormous community is strong,” said Nique Fajors, Vice President, Sales, Marketing, Atari, Inc. “We are on track to release the Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion pack this Fall, less than one year since the launch of Obsidian’s outstanding sequel, and are confident the new features will deliver a role-playing experience that further engages and satisfies fans.”
Set in harsh, spirit-rich Rashemen, near the powerful nation of Thay, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer will present players with an exciting new campaign; epic levels; dozens of new feats and spells; new races, base classes and prestige classes; new companions; new weapons, armor and crafting options; hordes of new monsters; and enhanced modding tools.
“Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer’s engrossing campaign will conclude the storyline that began in the original Neverwinter Nights 2 and focus on combat, exploration and classic D&D dungeon-crawling,” said Feargus Urquhart, CEO, Obsidian Entertainment. “We’re also making new advances in story and character development as well as improving upon the acclaimed companion Influence System used in both Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2.”
The Neverwinter Nights franchise has sold more than three million copies worldwide, is translated into 10 languages, sold in more than 40 countries and features one of the largest and most active fan communities in all of gaming. To date, fans of the franchise, which includes Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide™ Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark™ and Neverwinter Nights 2 have created more than 5,000 modifications to the original game using the award-winning toolset included with the full game that allows players to create their own universes, quests and storylines.
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer is scheduled for release in Fall 2007. More information about Neverwinter Nights 2 can be found at http://www.nwn2.com, which includes user forums, project news, development updates and more.
_________________
Shane K. DeFreest
Maverick Public Relations
Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Manager |
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Lazybones
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Rashemen/Thay sounds interesting, and ripe for an epic game, but as always I'm far more interested in the new material for MP play and building than in the SP campaign.
NWN really started to hit its stride around the time that SoU came out, so I have high (if cautious) hopes for this one.
And hopefully, by the time the expansion comes out, the base game will be ready for NWC-style play, with a few DM-required, small-party mods out there, and we can exploit the surge of new players that an expansion inevitably brings.
At the moment, I plan on having a sequel to Shrine of the Eth'barat ready by the time that the expansion is released.
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Olias Stormcrow
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As interesting as this news appears to be, I can't help feeling that Obsidian would have done better to place more effort into resolving the problems that currently exist with NWN2 than creating an expansion at this moment in time.
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Dane Bramage
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Well... see, that's the thing. They didn't just decide to release an expansion. They probably started with the expansion back when the OC was in quality control. They have probably been working on it for a year now.
And... just because it's an expansion doesn't mean that it won't have some MP fixes. And, as LB points out above... NWN wasn't really playable until SoU came out, so perhaps MotB will be much the same way.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 12, 2007, 4:26PM » |
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Olias Stormcrow
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Well, they could have been working on the DM Client, toolset, standalone server and improving MP performance when the title was in QC/QA, speaking of which you do have to wonder why QC/QA would let such glaring bugs as not being able to add two weapons or sword and shield combos to the quickbar, or why stealth is so bugged ... but that's another story.
Of course an expansion will bring in more money for Obsidian and Atari unlike fixing the existing bugs which won't raise any revenue. As such the allocation of developer zots to an expansion is far more cost effective. Especially if the expansion contains a lot of content that was cut from the original planned release due to time constraints.
It just comes across as wrong to me to announce an expansion to the game when there are still so many outstanding issues with the original release.
NWN2 really needs to resolve those issues for it to progress and for a MP community to build on and thrive.
NWN was breaking new ground when it was released and whilst MP functionality really wasn't there prior to SoU, it doesn't mean that NWN2 should follow in the same pattern. Nor does it excuse it.
NWN2 is a sequel after all, and as such it should be building on the platform which NWN was at the time that development on NWN2 started, not taking a step backwards or repeating the same problems all over again.
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Dane Bramage
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on Apr 12, 2007, 4:57 PM, Olias Stormcrow wrote:| ...bugs as not being able to add two weapons or sword and shield combos to the quickbar... |
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You can do this. I have done it in the OC with characters. it is kinda weird how it works, so it may seem buggy... but it is doable.
on Apr 12, 2007, 4:57 PM, Olias Stormcrow wrote:| It just comes across as wrong to me to announce an expansion to the game when there are still so many outstanding issues with the original release. |
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honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if Atari's hand wasn't forced by the thing EB Games had up on their website. granted, Rob had hinted at an announcement regarding the expansion about 2 weeks ago, so it's actually not unexpected... but I kinda feel that they would have liked to wait until after 1.05 or even 1.06 came out.
on Apr 12, 2007, 4:57 PM, Olias Stormcrow wrote:| NWN was breaking new ground when it was released and whilst MP functionality really wasn't there prior to SoU, it doesn't mean that NWN2 should follow in the same pattern. Nor does it excuse it. |
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And you are certainly correct in this, but in my mind, they are working hard at correcting the situation... so i still have a lot of love for OEI. They are trying to stay positive and move forward in the face of a whole lot of criticism. As long as they keep trying to improve the game, then I will be on their side. if there were to release a bugfest and not fix it, then I would be a bit more harsh on the subject.
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Olias Stormcrow
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on Apr 12, 2007, 5:13 PM, Dane Bramage wrote:on Apr 12, 2007, 4:57 PM, Olias Stormcrow wrote:| ...bugs as not being able to add two weapons or sword and shield combos to the quickbar... |
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You can do this. I have done it in the OC with characters. it is kinda weird how it works, so it may seem buggy... but it is doable.
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In the intial release it was not possible to assign two weapons or a weapon and shield to a quickslot but this was fixed subsequently in a patch. It was merely an illustration of what glaring bugs got past the developers and through the QC/QA process.
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| « Last Edit: on: Apr 12, 2007, 5:28PM » |
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Dane Bramage
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I did notice that as well. Yet, I'm still gonna remain positive until proven wrong.
I'm just a half-full kinda guy.
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Starbuck79
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For those wonder about the timing remember that different teams work on different parts. At this point it's the coders working the DMC stuff and not the artists/writers. It makes total sense for those folks to get started on the expansion while the technical folks are fixing bugs/fixing the DMC.
Further, I would imaging a lot of the story stuff/character and module creation can also be done by different teams.
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