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Let's have "Baldur's Gate MMORPG" experience together! :)
Yanocchi
Member UncommonPosts: 677
Hey guys!
This is mainly for PVE players and everyone who missed NWN 1 and NWN 2 and the very unique and luxurious MMORPG experience that those games have offered. I thought it would be awesome if you all came to play Neverwinter Nights 2 on the Baldur's Gate server.
We could start right from the beginning with level 1 characters and go adventuring all together. :awesome: The world has been running like a real MMORPG for five or six years now. I played there actively for two years in 2010-2012 and would be interesting to get back in the company of completely new players.
Actually, I have a very unique proposal for you. Let's make a clan of real dragons! That will kill two birds with one stone. You'll get to try very unique MMORPG experience and also something that mainstream MMORPGs will never offer you, a chance to play as a real dragon. In order to do that, we need to create druid characters and choose specific feats and attributes that on epic levels allow to transform into dragon form and also summon a dragon companion. Before getting to epic levels and transforming into dragons, we would also get the chance to play as a clan of animals (bears, wolves, badgers, panthers, boars).
If you don't want that, there are also some other unique paths you could try. For example, you can be a bodyguard who takes 40% or 50% damage from another character. There are also more than a dozen of unusual prestige classes like Whirling Dervish, Ghost-Faced Killer, Black Flame Zealot, Wilderness Stalker, Dread Pirate, Warrior of Darkness, Anointed Knight, Dragon Slayer
, Silverstar of Selûne, Thaumaturgist, Stormsinger, Cavestalker, Bear Warrior, Shadow Adept or Bloodmage. The core prestige classes are interesting too, Scholar of Candlekeep, Blackguard, Stormlord of Talos etc.
There is some PVP in the world too but it is regulated and tied to role-playing. For example, you might get into PVP if you are a character from the Underdark and somehow end up on the surface without clothes that cover you, or if you are an evil necromancer and start summoning skeletons in front of players who play druids or lawful good paladins.
Reasons to get really excited about my proposal (in random order):
1. There are no awesome MMORPGs on the market for you to try anyway.
2. There is no "pay-to-win", "cash shops", "microtransactions", "gold farmers", "bots", "pay-to-play" or anything like that there! I've played NWN 1 and NWN 2 as MMORPG for five years actively and another three years less actively between 2003-2011 and I never even heard of those concepts during all my time there.
3. Any self-respecting MMORPG enthusiast absolutely must try either NWN 1 or NWN 2 on persistent multiplayer worlds. :awesome: NWN 1 would have been a much better choice to do that but it is too ancient already. NWN 2 is still quite competitive in comparison with modern MMORPGs, and the Baldur's Gate server is one of the most popular ones out there. Obsidian Entertainment were able to iron out most of the bugs in NWN 2 by 2010 and developers of multiplayer persistent worlds have handled them too.
4. If we are lucky, we might sometimes get into some adventures or encounters organised by live dungeon masters. That experience is closest that an MMORPG-like computer game can get to a pen-and-paper RPG (maybe Revival will succeed achieving that but that's still uncertain and 2-3 years into the future). It's the reason why you absolutely must try this experience if you are MMORPG enthusiast. I hope people here who are familiar with NWN multiplayer persistent world will voice some support on this point.
5. If you like old school MMORPGs and loved the world of single player Baldur's Gate made for PC by Black Isle Studios in 1998, then Baldur's Gate server for NWN 2 should bring a huge feeling of nostalgia for you. Many of the maps on the surface have been recreated from the maps of the single player Baldur's Gate.
6. If you are a fan of Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing, then you'll probably love it a lot more than Neverwinter or Dungeons & Dragons Online MMORPGs. For example, if you start a character in the Underdark, it would be useful to learn at least some basic words and phrases from real drow language from Dungeons & Dragons (or use the English - Drow - English online translator).
7. You can play and role-play evil characters, animals, dragons and some other creatures.
8. The whole experience is a lot more immersive than what most MMORPGs offer.
9. There is an auction house where players can buy or sell stuff, just like in MMORPGs. There is just one currency in the world, and that is gold.
10. Some old school features which have been removed from modern games. For example, you can drop your stuff on the ground and it will lie there for anyone to pick. And... cursed stuff gets "stuck" to you like in those old Dungeons & Dragons games like Eye of the Beholder until you or someone else casts "Remove Curse" on yourself. And... players who play rogues can set up traps on the ground, haven't seen that feature in any MMORPG yet. :awesome:
11. There is no griefing in the world! That's pretty important for completely new players. Ok, there can always be "a bad apple" in almost any game and this is no exception, but it's rare and dungeon masters usually show them who's the boss.
Death penalties are quite light in the game too, so dying is not a really scary thing. You don't loose loot and you just loose a bit of experience. You also can't loose levels. If you just gained a level and then just 3 experience points on top of that, then you'll just loose the 3 experience points.
12. The PVE experience. It is an open world without "instances". Unlike some games where your group can have only from 4 to 6 characters in it, in this game you can have really large groups travelling together. I remember when Alhoon, an undead mind flayer, was attacking an Underdark city with his armies once, we had a group of 17-20 people (drow, duergar, deep gnomes, tanarruks and Zhentarim allies from the surface) travelling together to defend the city.
13. The graphics still look really good, even now in 2015. For music I recommend installing their Baldur's Gate music pack for more nostalgia, but original NWN music is absolutely excellent too. It was composed by Jeremy Soule, the same guy who composed music for The Elder Scrolls Morrowind and/or Skyrim.
This is mainly for PVE players and everyone who missed NWN 1 and NWN 2 and the very unique and luxurious MMORPG experience that those games have offered. I thought it would be awesome if you all came to play Neverwinter Nights 2 on the Baldur's Gate server.
We could start right from the beginning with level 1 characters and go adventuring all together. :awesome: The world has been running like a real MMORPG for five or six years now. I played there actively for two years in 2010-2012 and would be interesting to get back in the company of completely new players. Actually, I have a very unique proposal for you. Let's make a clan of real dragons! That will kill two birds with one stone. You'll get to try very unique MMORPG experience and also something that mainstream MMORPGs will never offer you, a chance to play as a real dragon. In order to do that, we need to create druid characters and choose specific feats and attributes that on epic levels allow to transform into dragon form and also summon a dragon companion.
Before getting to epic levels and transforming into dragons, we would also get the chance to play as a clan of animals (bears, wolves, badgers, panthers, boars).If you don't want that, there are also some other unique paths you could try. For example, you can be a bodyguard who takes 40% or 50% damage from another character. There are also more than a dozen of unusual prestige classes like Whirling Dervish, Ghost-Faced Killer, Black Flame Zealot, Wilderness Stalker, Dread Pirate, Warrior of Darkness, Anointed Knight, Dragon Slayer
, Silverstar of Selûne, Thaumaturgist, Stormsinger, Cavestalker, Bear Warrior, Shadow Adept or Bloodmage. The core prestige classes are interesting too, Scholar of Candlekeep, Blackguard, Stormlord of Talos etc.There is some PVP in the world too but it is regulated and tied to role-playing. For example, you might get into PVP if you are a character from the Underdark and somehow end up on the surface without clothes that cover you, or if you are an evil necromancer and start summoning skeletons in front of players who play druids or lawful good paladins.
Reasons to get really excited about my proposal (in random order):
1. There are no awesome MMORPGs on the market for you to try anyway.
2. There is no "pay-to-win", "cash shops", "microtransactions", "gold farmers", "bots", "pay-to-play" or anything like that there! I've played NWN 1 and NWN 2 as MMORPG for five years actively and another three years less actively between 2003-2011 and I never even heard of those concepts during all my time there.
3. Any self-respecting MMORPG enthusiast absolutely must try either NWN 1 or NWN 2 on persistent multiplayer worlds. :awesome: NWN 1 would have been a much better choice to do that but it is too ancient already. NWN 2 is still quite competitive in comparison with modern MMORPGs, and the Baldur's Gate server is one of the most popular ones out there. Obsidian Entertainment were able to iron out most of the bugs in NWN 2 by 2010 and developers of multiplayer persistent worlds have handled them too.
4. If we are lucky, we might sometimes get into some adventures or encounters organised by live dungeon masters. That experience is closest that an MMORPG-like computer game can get to a pen-and-paper RPG (maybe Revival will succeed achieving that but that's still uncertain and 2-3 years into the future). It's the reason why you absolutely must try this experience if you are MMORPG enthusiast. I hope people here who are familiar with NWN multiplayer persistent world will voice some support on this point.
5. If you like old school MMORPGs and loved the world of single player Baldur's Gate made for PC by Black Isle Studios in 1998, then Baldur's Gate server for NWN 2 should bring a huge feeling of nostalgia for you. Many of the maps on the surface have been recreated from the maps of the single player Baldur's Gate.
6. If you are a fan of Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing, then you'll probably love it a lot more than Neverwinter or Dungeons & Dragons Online MMORPGs. For example, if you start a character in the Underdark, it would be useful to learn at least some basic words and phrases from real drow language from Dungeons & Dragons (or use the English - Drow - English online translator).
7. You can play and role-play evil characters, animals, dragons and some other creatures.
8. The whole experience is a lot more immersive than what most MMORPGs offer.
9. There is an auction house where players can buy or sell stuff, just like in MMORPGs. There is just one currency in the world, and that is gold.
10. Some old school features which have been removed from modern games. For example, you can drop your stuff on the ground and it will lie there for anyone to pick. And... cursed stuff gets "stuck" to you like in those old Dungeons & Dragons games like Eye of the Beholder until you or someone else casts "Remove Curse" on yourself. And... players who play rogues can set up traps on the ground, haven't seen that feature in any MMORPG yet. :awesome:
11. There is no griefing in the world! That's pretty important for completely new players. Ok, there can always be "a bad apple" in almost any game and this is no exception, but it's rare and dungeon masters usually show them who's the boss.
Death penalties are quite light in the game too, so dying is not a really scary thing. You don't loose loot and you just loose a bit of experience. You also can't loose levels. If you just gained a level and then just 3 experience points on top of that, then you'll just loose the 3 experience points. 12. The PVE experience. It is an open world without "instances". Unlike some games where your group can have only from 4 to 6 characters in it, in this game you can have really large groups travelling together. I remember when Alhoon, an undead mind flayer, was attacking an Underdark city with his armies once, we had a group of 17-20 people (drow, duergar, deep gnomes, tanarruks and Zhentarim allies from the surface) travelling together to defend the city.
13. The graphics still look really good, even now in 2015. For music I recommend installing their Baldur's Gate music pack for more nostalgia, but original NWN music is absolutely excellent too. It was composed by Jeremy Soule, the same guy who composed music for The Elder Scrolls Morrowind and/or Skyrim.
Comments
1. Buy Neverwinter Nights 2: Complete at GoG.com.
2. Install the game.
3. Download NWN 2 patch files from Atari's ftp server:
ftp://ftp.atari.com/patches/nwn2/NWN2_gold_plus_Zehir/
4. Place the patch files in C:\Program Files\Atari\Neverwinter Nights 2\
5. Launch the game with NWN2Launcher and select Update in the menu. The game updates to version 1.023 (1765) (Final) Aug 17 2009.
6. Launch the game. Select "Multiplayer".
7. The next window is Bioware Community Login. Invent Bioware Community Name and type in something random for password. (Character protection is on Baldur's Gate server and uses your game's CD-keys, so the password in this window is irrelevant. Remember your bioware community name because Baldur's Gate server will recognise you by that account name). Press "Sign in".
8. Select "Direct Connect". Server IP address is 23.229.0.132. You can always check the server's IP address at the website of the Baldur's Gate Server.
9. The game will automatically download all of the Baldur's Gate server files during your first connection to the server. It can take a while because there are additional 5 gigabytes of files for the Baldur's Gate server that will be added to the original NWN 2 files. Sometimes the NWN 2: Baldur's Gate development team does updates or adds new content just like in MMORPGs. The game automatically downloads the patch files when that happens when you connect to the game server.
10. Select "Create Character" to make your first character. The character will be stored on the game's server for many years just like in MMORPGs.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
* more info, screenshots and videos here
We could also use some guy who is into twitch TV livestreaming. People who watch live streams on twitch TV haven't probably seen anything like this project before. O.o
A journalist, a cameraman, 5-6 gamers from mainstream MMORPGs would be a perfect crew for an expedition into this "heart of darkness", badly known old school underground alternative to MMORPG gaming. :awesome:
* more info, screenshots and videos here
I preferer Biowares game to Obsidians though but it have some issues running on newer computers. It works but you get weird bugs sometimes.
1. We should visit Candle Keep to lament about good old times in single player Baldur's Gate before everyone was ravished by mind-numbing grind of MMORPGs.
2. We should encounter the local indigenous population. We should taunt the natives using a lot of MMORPG terminology and comparisons to World of Warcraft to show how civilised and superior we are.
3. We should finish the tour by turning into a pack of badgers (if we all have druid characters). As badgers, we should attack the role-players sitting peacefully on benches by the campfire near Friendly Arms Inn. That will teach a valuable lesson to all mature role-players in MMORPGs. If you sit and talk all day without taking the "Kill 10 badgers quest", the badgers will take a quest to kill you!
* more info, screenshots and videos here
I so wish that Swordcoast Legends had the features to allow multiplayer persistent worlds.
And that NWN 2 had been made by Bioware instead of Obsidian.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
In 2 weeks, all other games won't exist for a while...
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
* 2-3 dungeon masters
* 30 player characters (40% of server population)
* 100 NPC allies
* 800 hostile undead monsters
* more info, screenshots and videos here
Despite this success, the Flaming Fist and Blacktalons each lost a third of their strength and the fey suffered enough losses to be unable to assist in the war further if it is outside of the Sharpteeth. What plans the War Council and the other defenders of the Western Heartlands region have next against Magmire and The Blight remain to be seen, but commoners and nobles alike in Western Heartlands settlements are terrified if the defending efforts do not succeed, especially given that it is rumored that yet another undead army under the commander known as The General is now about to march again from the north.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
NWN 2 of 2010-2015 is very different from NWN 2 of 2005-2009. Obsidian Entertainment fixed bugs for three years after they released the game. They also created two expansions during 2006-2009. NWN 2 community has created a lot of custom content as well.
Over the past nine years Baldur's Gate server must have had contribution from 20-30 different programmers, graphics designers, 3D artists, scripters, UI designers and game level designers.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
It's quite friendly because more than half of player population is serious role-players and they still get completely new players every now and then.
For a new player the game can be quite challenging after an average MMORPG, though. It may be easier to adventure in a group with other players, but some character builds can solo quite well too.
It's easier to play on the surface than in the Underdark for a new player. The Underdark is more challenging and there are fewer players there than on the surface. The surface and the Underdark are like two separate worlds and only just a few epic heroes get a chance to explore the other side maybe once in a year or two.
Some more random screenshots from the server. The game world is really big, 150-200 maps.
Drow city of Sshamath
Durlag Tower
Some DM event
Somewhere near the city of Baldur's Gate
Looks like a road near Friendly Inns Tavern
Could be from the city of Baldur's Gate or Friendly Arms Inn
Probably outside the drow city in the Underdark
A tavern in the drow city in the Underdark
Candle Keep
Inside some building.
could be the town of Nashkel
They create or import new graphics and 3D objects too like this watermill
Some maps are changed to winter versions during real life winter
There's some kind of player guild for dwarves.
Some cities or places are ruined or destroyed as a result of DM events. They destroyed Beregost during massive DM events of the war between Baldur's Gate and Amn in 2012, then rebuilt the town.
Beware of player characters with evil alignment!
Evil characters of Zhentarim have a big stronghold called Darkhold.
It's one of the newest maps, created in 2014, shows their game level designers have learnt how to make even better maps than in the past
with some graphics from Elder Scrolls Skyrim inside the fortress
The Underdark has lots of tunnels and caverns.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
I was sorely disappointed with NWN2 but I might give it at shot.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
That's strange. It's more likely to experience a technical difficulty with the game. Server files don't usually cause problems.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
* more info, screenshots and videos here
It has real-time combat and it's not possible to pause the game. You can see how combat works in the video.
The server has been running 24/7 for seven years already with some occasional downtime days. They don't do any character wipes and in many ways it plays very much like any standard MMORPG. The main disadvantage is that only 75 players can be on one server at a time. However, it is a non-instanced open world and I've seen 20-30 player characters travelling in huge groups sometimes. The main advantage is that gameplay is a lot more immersive than in MMORPGs. They have 4-5 dungeon masters who have diverse tools to make the game more interesting for players. Sometimes they co-operate with map and level designers to make changes in maps based on DM events.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
The other video shows a couple of wizard's spells in a low level newbie area.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
* more info, screenshots and videos here