Ok, I did get the game running in Windows 7 SP2 compatibility mode. Now I am waiting for a 'Multiplayer CD Key' from GOG. I'm not sure what the turn-around on this will be.
I have found a solution posted by someone about the GoG key problem.
So I have noticed the occasional person here or there that, like me,
purchased NWN2 from Gog with excitement, installed the game, jump onto
multiplayer, enter a new (or old) username and password, hit sign-in and
then BLAMMO:
So what do you do?
Step 1.
Exit NWN2 and open your Neverwinter Nights 2 Complete installation
directory. The default, for example, is c:/Gog Games/Neverwinter Nights 2
Complete, but you will need to find your installation directory.
Step 2. Find the program called "SerialTool". Run it.
Step 3.
Enter your unique CD Keys from your GoG Account. Often these keys will
already be prefilled in the boxes below. Hit save and close if you
intend on following the optional step below, otherwise hit save &
launch.
[Optional] Step 4. Download and install the client extension if you haven't already. Once this is done, merely run the extension NWN2 Launcher and you're good to go!
Otherwise
simply run the regular NWN2 launcher and use Multiplayer: Direct
Connect to connect to the server using the IP address listed above (as
of this post: 23.229.0.132:31337)
Yannochi, thanks for this! And absolutely, if anyone needs help getting the game running, BGSCC forums will gladly help you. Also, if you learn to use the toolset a bit, don't forget when it comes it armor, you can have your own customized armor imported into the game however you choose to design it. ^^ Just toss me a message on the forums with the .erf file.
I am not going to say it is easy but if you follow the step-by-step instructions here you shouldn't have many problems and you can always ask questions on the forums if you need help. There are some players who will even design armor for you and send it to me to be imported into the game if you have too much trouble. This allows you to have a character design of your choosing which will be completely uniquely your own.
I hope to see you guys there and we will have fun DMing for you.
One of the totally new players, who joined last month, has been making videos of his gameplay. I noticed that yesterday they had a group of seven players adventuring together.
If someone wants to see some gameplay of a low level group with 6-7 players, here is a link to his video. I recommend watching the video at 1h 29m - 1h 35m (and linked to start the video there) because in that part you'll see the perils of exploring ancient dungeons.
The most exciting moments are when there are dozens of players in really large groups adventuring during epic events organised by the team of dungeon masters (like DMEcho here :awesome: ). There can be dozens of player characters, dozens of neutral or ally NPCs and dozens of hostile enemies during some events in the world.
Today I wanted to share some thoughts about stories and global plots in Baldur's Gate Online in comparison with MMORPGs and Game of Thrones TV series.
It's interesting how in Baldur's Gate Online a much tighter community and a team of dungeon masters in an open non-instanced persistent world enable much more immersive storylines and global plots than what's available in MMORPGs.
I've come to realise that it is actually a really excellent thing that there can be only 75 players at the same time on a server and that the total persistent active community is measured in hundreds and not thousands. The majority of books, films and TV series don't have a "massive" setup. Game of Thrones builds great stories and plotlines only because it focuses on less than 100 characters. There are massive scenes and occasions in Game of Thrones sometimes but their number is lower than the number of smaller scenes with fewer characters. In massive scenes there are usually some extras fighting in a big battle, attending a wedding or just going on their business in the background. In Baldur's Gate Online dungeon masters can easily arrange all that by using up to a few hundred neutral, ally or hostile NPCs as extras if a more massive scene needs to be organised during some storyline. In Game of Thrones minor supporting characters and extras during massive events are basically like special or extra NPCs.
When there are only 75 player characters on a server, their personalities and behaviour play a greater role in the world and how different stories are shaped and progress further. It seems that persistent and immersive role-playing flourishes much better in such an environment too because it feels less artificial and more authentic in that environment, where actions and role-playing shape the world and stories. Routine interaction between player characters is like mundane dialogues or scenes between protagonists, lead and support characters in Game of Thrones. Routine scenes help to establish the characters and prepare them for stories. But there is always a small chance that a dungeon master is lurking and a routine scene gets a sudden twist with something happening or perhaps a supporting character in the form of a special NPC controlled by a dungeon master entering the scene, and a story beginning or continuing. Some game systems and features like disguise system, stealth mechanics, skills and feats, roll checks and saving throws, also help to make the experience deeper and more authentic.
Perhaps MMORPGs will go into a similar direction some day. However, providing a much more individualised immersive storytelling experience by maintaining teams of dungeon masters and storytellers might require very steep monthly subscription fees or other types of monetization to compensate for the time and effort of people behind the scenes who are weaving the plots and stories.
Still, even then the setup might not work on a more massive scale. Game of Thrones and other books and films mostly consist of dialogue or small scale action/interaction scenes with 2-12
characters. Also, the total number of different ongoing storylines in Game of Thrones is
not really too high, so that the audience is able to keep track of what happens with the global plots over a longer span of time. With 750 player characters and 30-50 dungeon masters on a server there would be too many stories and plotlines for people to keep track of. Since immersive global storylines are usually weaved from a manageable number of smaller plots which intersect each other, in a more massive multiplayer world the web of storylines could become too complicated for people to follow. It could become fragmented and most people wouldn't be able to experience the whole bigger story. The other alternative might be to limit the number of ongoing stories. However, very immersive storytelling often needs to rely on smaller scale scenes involving only a handful of characters. Having a lower number of stories would mean that many people are left out of the participation in such scenes and only get the opportunity to experience the massive scenes. Character personality and individual influence on the progression of the story would also become much harder to achieve, or the stories might be influenced only by a very small number of people from the entire game community.
I want to make my character in my current D&D sessions but his deity is not an option here. I run a human from Thay that's a lawful evil necromantic cleric of Set. The next best equivalent is Wee Jas but also is not an option:/ My cleric shall kneel to no other!!!
Yesterday I had my weekly game session in Baldur's Gate Online. I condensed some moments from the two hour session into a 14 minute video.
It's the first video which focuses on showing PvE battles between a player group and small groups of monsters where both players and monsters are using melee attacks, ranged attacks and magic spells.
Here is the newest video. Cloakwood Mines is a very big and deep dungeon with many levels under the ground. I didn't get to see its deepest levels yet but the first floor is really immersive. Great level design, really nice graphics, lightning and shadows set the atmosphere for a perfect classic Dungeons & Dragons experience in persistent multiplayer online environment. On the third level there is a large underground mountain with some old ruins and a lair of lizardfolk.
The game continues to amaze me greatly. Recently I took a better look at
all the different types of cleric spells. Some of that stuff has never
been tried in any MMORPGs or even single player games. The only place
I've seen stuff like that is in pen & paper Dungeons & Dragons.
For example, there is a spell that sends you to a Plane of Mirrors.
There you have a chance of encountering a mirror image of yourself. The
mirror image tries to kill you in order to escape the Plane of Mirrors
and take your place on the material plane of Faerun. There are also some
spells meant for guilds that are related to their strongholds, such as a
spell that builds stone walls and a spell that creates wards and guards
but takes hours to cast and costs 5000 gold coins. Another spell
consecrates or desecrates a whole game map where it is cast. Anyone who
turns undead on the consecrated or desecrated map either gets bonuses or
penalties based on the spell. There is even a spell for wetting or
drying someone's clothes. Those two spells are related to spells,
effects, weather conditions or world phenomena that do electrical
damage.
The game costs only $8 right now instead of the usual $19 with -60% price. It's quite a huge bargain considering it is completely free of any kind of additional real life money transactions after the game purchase.
In 2014-2015 one of the biggest updates in Baldur's Gate Online was the introduction of Darkhold. I haven't been anywhere near there with any of my characters yet. There are testing phase videos from 2014 showing maps from the Darkhold expansion before they were completely ready and implemented on the actual game server. Judging from the testing phase videos it takes almost an hour just to run through and explore all of the maps without any fighting or other interaction.
The Darkhold maps represent what modern NWN 2 looks like.
In the testing videos the character starts in a village and then ascends a huge mountain where terrain slowly shifts from summer green to snow and blizzard. The way to Darkhold reminds of the ascend to the Greybeard mountain in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
Darkhold is a considerable fortification in role-playing terms. It houses approximately 800 wariiors and several commanders.
In
the Far Hills, near the Sunset Mountains of the Western Heartlands and
the edge of the Sword Coast region, there looms a castle of immense
proportions, rising from a bare rocky spur on the side of the mountain
named the Gray Watcher. Its walls are streaked red by the rusting bars
upon the windows; its chimneys spew forth a smoke of blackest night.
Darkhold, or Castle Darkhold, publicly serves to protect the Far Hills,
harbor trade caravans in need of re-supply, and facilitate diplomatic
relations between the Inner Sea and the Sword Coast. It is claimed and
occupied by the Zhentarim organization.
The entrance to Darkhold
remains open—yet fully guarded—to caravans, merchants and traders that
would seek business with the Zhentarim, allowing those with reason,
enter to the outer courtyard, under strict rule as "guests" of the
Zhentarim.
Screenshots give a better impression of the actual visual quality inside the game because NWN 2 Youtube videos deteriorate and distort the quality. This screenshot shows the village near the huge mountain.
In the first testing video the player character explores this village and then departs in the direction of the mountain.
There is obviously some influence and even direct assets from Skyrim in the overall design of the Darkhold maps. In the second video the big skeleton of a dragon might be from Skyrim.
Darkhold sits on top of the mountain.
This is one of the videos showing exterior and interior of Castle Darkhold itself.
i have really sad issue. Just bought game, but i have broken keyboard on my laptop, so i cannot manually enter server IP for direct connect and ctrl+V is not working there. Any ways to solve it and connect?
For some players this has got to be incredible at the very least. Tho there is a catch? Why would something like this be free, or is it all covered in 1 purchase?
For some players this has got to be incredible at the very least. Tho there is a catch? Why would something like this be free, or is it all covered in 1 purchase?
Yes, it is a one time purchase. You get permanent access to all that if you get Neverwinter Nights 2 with its two expansions, Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir. That's an $8 purchase at the moment this June because NWN 2 Complete is temporarily sold for -60% price at gog.com.
Baldur's Gate Online is very transparent about their financial situation. You can see the financials here down to the single cent, how much money they have, how much money the game costs to maintain, and how much donations they get each month.
There are two main reasons why the "payment model" is based on voluntary donations. The first reason is that it is a passion project for the developers. The second reason is that maintaining BGO for real profit could lead to legal issues with IP owners of NWN 2, D&D or the single player Baldur's Gate games.
People making voluntary donations don't get anything in return in the
game. It is just a way for the fans to express their support for the
project and help it to stay alive. Baldur's Gate Online has been running
persistently for 6-7 years now, so it seems to work well for them.
Don't worry about the open world PvP there, at least zerging and ganking. The player community is generally friendly and many are PvE players or at least follow PvP role-playing regulations. Some people do play as evil characters and it is possible to get into conflicts. You don't usually get pulled into PvP without getting involved in role-playing, though. There are some instances when player characters can become kill-on-sight. For exapmle, a drow getting out of the Underdark to the surface has to be extremely careful. It takes an epic character to cross the borders of the surface and the Underdark and getting killed three times in PvP on the other side can result in permadeath.
Dead tired of conventional MMORPGs and having played over 75 hours of The Secret World the last 3 weeks I'm in REAL NEED of something HIGH FANTASY. Time to sign up with you guys ;-)
BTW... Change the IP address in (2nd) OP so that people can get started a lot easier
Dead tired of conventional MMORPGs and having played over 75 hours of The Secret World the last 3 weeks I'm in REAL NEED of something HIGH FANTASY. Time to sign up with you guys ;-)
BTW... Change the IP address in (2nd) OP so that people can get started a lot easier
It's a nice substitute for conventional MMORPGs. It offers high fantasy and very classic Dungeons & Dragons / Forgotten Realms / Faerun experience.
I changed the IP address in the second post, thanks for pointing that out.
I really enjoyed NWN1, but the controls in NWN2 kept me from even getting out of the starter town before I uninstalled it.
Oh, are the controls still borked? That was one of the cut corners when they moved from NWN1 to 2. I couldn't play it all, and you couldn't reset the control scheme back then. I'd kinda hoped that someone had finally modded it so it was more flexible. Oh well...
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
A new epic dungeon expansion has been released in Baldur's Gate Online! The new epic dungeon is the hardest area on the server and the first shared dungeon, accessible both from the surface and from the Underdark. The dungeon is for groups of powerful high level characters and requires teamwork to survive. Monsters spawns are odd, tough and unpredictable. On the bottom there is an epic shop which sells some of the best and most expensive gear.
The Upperdark lies between the surface and the Underdark. The update features 20 new areas including big wide caverns, a Svirfneblin (deep gnome) village and 18 new monsters.
Very nice. My eyes glazed over also while reading the instructions and I do stuff like that from time to time. Love the pics and vids.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Comments
I have found a solution posted by someone about the GoG key problem.
http://www.bgtscc1.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=42910
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I have noticed the occasional person here or there that, like me, purchased NWN2 from Gog with excitement, installed the game, jump onto multiplayer, enter a new (or old) username and password, hit sign-in and then BLAMMO:
So what do you do?
Step 1. Exit NWN2 and open your Neverwinter Nights 2 Complete installation directory. The default, for example, is c:/Gog Games/Neverwinter Nights 2 Complete, but you will need to find your installation directory.
Step 2. Find the program called "SerialTool". Run it.
Step 3. Enter your unique CD Keys from your GoG Account. Often these keys will already be prefilled in the boxes below. Hit save and close if you intend on following the optional step below, otherwise hit save & launch.
[Optional] Step 4. Download and install the client extension if you haven't already. Once this is done, merely run the extension NWN2 Launcher and you're good to go!
Otherwise simply run the regular NWN2 launcher and use Multiplayer: Direct Connect to connect to the server using the IP address listed above (as of this post: 23.229.0.132:31337)
Enjoy!
* more info, screenshots and videos here
More info on that here:
http://bgtscc1.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=47647
I am not going to say it is easy but if you follow the step-by-step instructions here you shouldn't have many problems and you can always ask questions on the forums if you need help. There are some players who will even design armor for you and send it to me to be imported into the game if you have too much trouble. This allows you to have a character design of your choosing which will be completely uniquely your own.
I hope to see you guys there and we will have fun DMing for you.
If someone wants to see some gameplay of a low level group with 6-7 players, here is a link to his video. I recommend watching the video at 1h 29m - 1h 35m (and linked to start the video there) because in that part you'll see the perils of exploring ancient dungeons.
The most exciting moments are when there are dozens of players in really large groups adventuring during epic events organised by the team of dungeon masters (like DMEcho here :awesome: ). There can be dozens of player characters, dozens of neutral or ally NPCs and dozens of hostile enemies during some events in the world.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
It's interesting how in Baldur's Gate Online a much tighter community and a team of dungeon masters in an open non-instanced persistent world enable much more immersive storylines and global plots than what's available in MMORPGs.
I've come to realise that it is actually a really excellent thing that there can be only 75 players at the same time on a server and that the total persistent active community is measured in hundreds and not thousands. The majority of books, films and TV series don't have a "massive" setup. Game of Thrones builds great stories and plotlines only because it focuses on less than 100 characters. There are massive scenes and occasions in Game of Thrones sometimes but their number is lower than the number of smaller scenes with fewer characters. In massive scenes there are usually some extras fighting in a big battle, attending a wedding or just going on their business in the background. In Baldur's Gate Online dungeon masters can easily arrange all that by using up to a few hundred neutral, ally or hostile NPCs as extras if a more massive scene needs to be organised during some storyline. In Game of Thrones minor supporting characters and extras during massive events are basically like special or extra NPCs.
When there are only 75 player characters on a server, their personalities and behaviour play a greater role in the world and how different stories are shaped and progress further. It seems that persistent and immersive role-playing flourishes much better in such an environment too because it feels less artificial and more authentic in that environment, where actions and role-playing shape the world and stories. Routine interaction between player characters is like mundane dialogues or scenes between protagonists, lead and support characters in Game of Thrones. Routine scenes help to establish the characters and prepare them for stories. But there is always a small chance that a dungeon master is lurking and a routine scene gets a sudden twist with something happening or perhaps a supporting character in the form of a special NPC controlled by a dungeon master entering the scene, and a story beginning or continuing. Some game systems and features like disguise system, stealth mechanics, skills and feats, roll checks and saving throws, also help to make the experience deeper and more authentic.
Perhaps MMORPGs will go into a similar direction some day. However, providing a much more individualised immersive storytelling experience by maintaining teams of dungeon masters and storytellers might require very steep monthly subscription fees or other types of monetization to compensate for the time and effort of people behind the scenes who are weaving the plots and stories.
Still, even then the setup might not work on a more massive scale. Game of Thrones and other books and films mostly consist of dialogue or small scale action/interaction scenes with 2-12 characters. Also, the total number of different ongoing storylines in Game of Thrones is not really too high, so that the audience is able to keep track of what happens with the global plots over a longer span of time. With 750 player characters and 30-50 dungeon masters on a server there would be too many stories and plotlines for people to keep track of. Since immersive global storylines are usually weaved from a manageable number of smaller plots which intersect each other, in a more massive multiplayer world the web of storylines could become too complicated for people to follow. It could become fragmented and most people wouldn't be able to experience the whole bigger story. The other alternative might be to limit the number of ongoing stories. However, very immersive storytelling often needs to rely on smaller scale scenes involving only a handful of characters. Having a lower number of stories would mean that many people are left out of the participation in such scenes and only get the opportunity to experience the massive scenes. Character personality and individual influence on the progression of the story would also become much harder to achieve, or the stories might be influenced only by a very small number of people from the entire game community.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
* more info, screenshots and videos here
In March 2016 there were 2592 total player characters and forums are usually visited by 350 unique daily users.
Statistics:
[gender]
F - 744
M - 1848
[alignment]
Chaotic Evil - 150
Chaotic Good - 265
Chaotic Neutral - 374
Lawful Evil - 178
Lawful Good - 312
Lawful Neutral - 218
Neutral Evil - 298
Neutral Good - 368
True Neutral - 429
[race]
Dwarf - 234
Elf - 457
Gnome - 78
Gray Orc - 79
Half-Elf - 113
Half-Orc - 137
Halfling - 130
Human - 854
Planetouched - 510
[subrace]
Aasimar - 212
Air Genasi - 21
Deep Gnome - 20
Deep Imaskari - 16
Drow - 155
Earth Genasi - 86
Fire Genasi - 49
Gold Dwarf - 23
Gray Dwarf - 10
Gray Orc - 79
Half-Elf - 91
Half-Orc - 137
Half-drow - 22
Human - 838
Lightfoot Halfling - 30
Moon Elf - 103
Rock Gnome - 58
Shield Dwarf - 201
Strongheart Halfling - 100
Sun Elf - 72
Tanarukk - 12
Tiefling - 125 (
Water Genasi - 5
Wild Elf - 14
Wood Elf - 113
[deity]
Abbathor - 3
Aerdrie Faenya - 2
Akadi - 28
Angharradh - 11
Ao - 28
Arvoreen - 11
Auril - 31
Azuth - 43
Baervan Wildwanderer - 1
Bahgtru - 9
Bane - 42
Baravar Cloakshadow - 8
Berronar Truesilver - 7
Beshaba - 20
Bhaal - 30
Bhaal - 1
Brandobaris - 25
Callarduran Smoothhands - 8
Chauntea - 31
Clangeddin Silverbeard - 20
Corellon Larethian - 44
Cyrrollalee - 1
Deep Duerra - 2
Deneir - 10
Dugmaren Brightmantle - 3
Dumathoin - 6
Eilistraee - 27
Eldath - 14
Erevan Ilesere - 12
Fenmarel Mestarine - 13
Finder Wyvernspur - 14
Flandal Steelskin - 1
Gaerdal Ironhand - 4
Garagos - 20
Gargauth - 18
Garl Glittergold - 7
Ghaunadaur - 6
Gond - 50
Gorm Gulthyn - 14
Grumbar - 30
Gruumsh - 22
Gwaeron Windstrom - 13
Haela Brightaxe - 6
Hanali Celanil - 7
Helm - 46
Hoar - 14
Ilmater - 23
Ilneval - 7
Istishia - 31
Jergal - 10
Kiransalee - 9
Kossuth - 36
Labelas Enoreth - 1
Laduguer - 3
Lathander - 55
Leira - 42
Lliira - 7
Lolth - 53
Loviatar - 7
Lurue - 18
Luthic - 7
Malar - 34
Marthammor Duin - 6
Mask - 46
Mielikki - 41
Milil - 11
Moradin - 23
Myrkul - 32
Mystra - 69
No Deity - 532
Oghma - 27
Red Knight - 15
Rillfane Rallathil - 20
Savras - 4
Segojan Earthcaller - 2
Sehanine Moonbow - 11
Selune - 22
Seveltarm - 7
Shar - 68
Sharess - 8
Shargaas - 3
Sharindlar - 1
Shaundakul - 38
Sheela Peryroyl - 12
Shevarash - 17
Shiallia - 3
Siamorphe - 7
Silvanus - 69
Solonor Thelandira - 24 (
Sune - 20
Talona - 5
Talos - 33
Tempus - 46
Thard Harr - 3
Torm - 40
Tymora - 42
Tyr - 34
Ubtao - 10
Umberlee - 12
Urdlen - 4
Urogalan - 3
Uthgar - 12
Valkur - 2
Vergadain - 9
Vhaeraun - 17
Waukeen - 70
Yondalla - 5
Yurtrus - 1
* more info, screenshots and videos here
It's the first video which focuses on showing PvE battles between a player group and small groups of monsters where both players and monsters are using melee attacks, ranged attacks and magic spells.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
The game continues to amaze me greatly. Recently I took a better look at all the different types of cleric spells. Some of that stuff has never been tried in any MMORPGs or even single player games. The only place I've seen stuff like that is in pen & paper Dungeons & Dragons. For example, there is a spell that sends you to a Plane of Mirrors. There you have a chance of encountering a mirror image of yourself. The mirror image tries to kill you in order to escape the Plane of Mirrors and take your place on the material plane of Faerun. There are also some spells meant for guilds that are related to their strongholds, such as a spell that builds stone walls and a spell that creates wards and guards but takes hours to cast and costs 5000 gold coins. Another spell consecrates or desecrates a whole game map where it is cast. Anyone who turns undead on the consecrated or desecrated map either gets bonuses or penalties based on the spell. There is even a spell for wetting or drying someone's clothes. Those two spells are related to spells, effects, weather conditions or world phenomena that do electrical damage.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
It's quite a huge bargain considering it is completely free of any kind of additional real life money transactions after the game purchase.
https://www.gog.com/game/neverwinter_nights_2_complete
In 2014-2015 one of the biggest updates in Baldur's Gate Online was the introduction of Darkhold. I haven't been anywhere near there with any of my characters yet. There are testing phase videos from 2014 showing maps from the Darkhold expansion before they were completely ready and implemented on the actual game server. Judging from the testing phase videos it takes almost an hour just to run through and explore all of the maps without any fighting or other interaction.
The Darkhold maps represent what modern NWN 2 looks like.
In the testing videos the character starts in a village and then ascends a huge mountain where terrain slowly shifts from summer green to snow and blizzard. The way to Darkhold reminds of the ascend to the Greybeard mountain in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
Darkhold is a considerable fortification in role-playing terms. It houses approximately 800 wariiors and several commanders.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Far Hills, near the Sunset Mountains of the Western Heartlands and the edge of the Sword Coast region, there looms a castle of immense proportions, rising from a bare rocky spur on the side of the mountain named the Gray Watcher. Its walls are streaked red by the rusting bars upon the windows; its chimneys spew forth a smoke of blackest night. Darkhold, or Castle Darkhold, publicly serves to protect the Far Hills, harbor trade caravans in need of re-supply, and facilitate diplomatic relations between the Inner Sea and the Sword Coast. It is claimed and occupied by the Zhentarim organization.
The entrance to Darkhold remains open—yet fully guarded—to caravans, merchants and traders that would seek business with the Zhentarim, allowing those with reason, enter to the outer courtyard, under strict rule as "guests" of the Zhentarim.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screenshots give a better impression of the actual visual quality inside the game because NWN 2 Youtube videos deteriorate and distort the quality. This screenshot shows the village near the huge mountain.
In the first testing video the player character explores this village and then departs in the direction of the mountain.
There is obviously some influence and even direct assets from Skyrim in the overall design of the Darkhold maps. In the second video the big skeleton of a dragon might be from Skyrim.
Darkhold sits on top of the mountain.
This is one of the videos showing exterior and interior of Castle Darkhold itself.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
Tho there is a catch?
Why would something like this be free, or is it all covered in 1 purchase?
Yes, it is a one time purchase. You get permanent access to all that if you get Neverwinter Nights 2 with its two expansions, Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir. That's an $8 purchase at the moment this June because NWN 2 Complete is temporarily sold for -60% price at gog.com.
Baldur's Gate Online is very transparent about their financial situation. You can see the financials here down to the single cent, how much money they have, how much money the game costs to maintain, and how much donations they get each month.
There are two main reasons why the "payment model" is based on voluntary donations. The first reason is that it is a passion project for the developers. The second reason is that maintaining BGO for real profit could lead to legal issues with IP owners of NWN 2, D&D or the single player Baldur's Gate games.
People making voluntary donations don't get anything in return in the game. It is just a way for the fans to express their support for the project and help it to stay alive. Baldur's Gate Online has been running persistently for 6-7 years now, so it seems to work well for them.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
Don't worry about the open world PvP there, at least zerging and ganking. The player community is generally friendly and many are PvE players or at least follow PvP role-playing regulations. Some people do play as evil characters and it is possible to get into conflicts. You don't usually get pulled into PvP without getting involved in role-playing, though. There are some instances when player characters can become kill-on-sight. For exapmle, a drow getting out of the Underdark to the surface has to be extremely careful. It takes an epic character to cross the borders of the surface and the Underdark and getting killed three times in PvP on the other side can result in permadeath.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
* more info, screenshots and videos here
BTW... Change the IP address in (2nd) OP so that people can get started a lot easier
It's a nice substitute for conventional MMORPGs. It offers high fantasy and very classic Dungeons & Dragons / Forgotten Realms / Faerun experience.
I changed the IP address in the second post, thanks for pointing that out.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
Oh, are the controls still borked? That was one of the cut corners when they moved from NWN1 to 2. I couldn't play it all, and you couldn't reset the control scheme back then. I'd kinda hoped that someone had finally modded it so it was more flexible. Oh well...
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
The Upperdark lies between the surface and the Underdark. The update features 20 new areas including big wide caverns, a Svirfneblin (deep gnome) village and 18 new monsters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* more info, screenshots and videos here
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey