Roll Call

[xane]

Okay, lets hear from those eagerly awaiting NWN.

State your RPG experience, what you expect from NWN and how you will be playing it (single-player, multi-player, DM, designer, server, etc, etc).

Me: I started playing RPGs back in the early 1980s, mainly with D&D, AD&D, Traveller, GURPS, Cthulu, etc. Through the 80s I played regularly at games clubs and with a group down in Southampton, I went to a few conventions (Games Day and Games Fair), by 1990 it kind of fizzled out and I moved onto CRPGs, but I kept my interest up ever since, recently it's been difficult with a young family.

I still have a few scenarios on paper and in my head for NWN design, I may even try to create my own server. I'll definitely try the single player, but, like BG I'll probaly never finish it, the multi-player is my real interest. I'd also like to have a go at converting some of the classic AD&D scenarios, like Temple of Elemental Evil, Desert of Desolation, and the "UK" series of games ("Gauntlet", etc).

With enough interest, and with an anticipated BW NWN server, we could even get a regular meeting going for the game, it'll be nice to have a totally virtual RPG session for a change !

Preview at Gamespy

 

[Testin da Cable]

woo Cama, very impressive!

for myself, I started out with some D&D in the early 90s. I got severely hooked on it, but sadly the little group I was in never got very far. Soon after this I went virtual, playing all kinds of different games on my ickle c64, most notably the "Bard's Tale" series. Later, on my Amiga I also played RPGs with the "Dungeon Master" series springing to mind.

I expect NWN to blow DS totally out of the water, it being a class above DS [imo] in depth and scale. Even were they to par out I'll still be getting involved.

I'd like to join the potential 'little band' of merrymakers if you'll have me. Onward!!

 

[Sar]

Well I started with The Fighting Fantasy books that were out years ago (early 80's iirc) done by Jackson & Livingstone. After that it was Warhammer/Space Quest, then onto cRPGs/console RPGs in the late 80's/early 90's.

 

[old.Cask]

Hi all. I'm new here but gonna post anyway...

Only dabbled in a little pen&dice RPG while I was in high school. Those were the days when anyone heard mentioning the words "Role-play...." would get outcast from school society and beaten up every morning. Still, I GM'd some AD&D games which was good fun even though I was crap at it.

When I recovered from my injuries I started playing an online text-based RPG which was part of the Compuserve service. That produced massive phone bills and was generally unfulfilling.

I then moved on to EverQuest which I got really hooked on when unmetered internet started getting rolled out. Although it isn't really an RPG, it was still good for escapism and has a really interesting community.

After moving to the European EQ server most of my friends stopped playing so I'm now waiting for the next thing. DAoC entertained me for a while but soloing is so boring and unrewarding that it doesn't really benefit unsociable types like me.

I'm sure Star Wars Galaxies will get me. But hoping to find some friends that play NWN too.

 

[djpringle]

Like Sar I started with the good old Fighting Fantasy books, moved onto D&D (never got into AD&D), Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay then things died a death for a while until I got Bards Tale 3 for the C64, still play the PC version now and again (helped pass night shifts beautifully).

Lately just struggling on with BG1, not counting Diablo2, can't wait for NWN probably only play it single player but might get it up and running on a LAN, who knows only time will tell

 

[old.Souledge]

Jackson and Livingstone started me off too.

then onto D&D then AD&D as a player then GM then Club GM.

Bit of Paranoia and MERP here and there.

Then Balders Gate series UO and now DAOC


NWN
NLN (not long now)

 

[Nightchill]

Well, I started with D&D in 1990 (one of my friends ran it, I was very young back then). In 1992 I got hold of a copy of Dragon and then proceded to spend my paper round money on ad&d 2nd edition, the dark sun campaign settings and ran it for a group of players.
I remember the breakthrough when we found out you took the armor class away from the THAC0 Don't look at me like that.. It was only a small paragraph in the printing I had..

Anyway, things steadily progressed with branches into Call of Cthulu (sp?), the White Wolf games (Vampire, Werewolf et al) as well as a long year with Alternity (another overlooked, and now deceased, game). I bought 3rd Edition near it's launch and was instantly impressed.
The rulings were concise, multi classing was simple, feats, skills, new classes, ah the fresh air.

My main gripe has been that I've DMd around 95% of the time. Players tend to think a DM is some sort of God.. "I couldn't possibly do it" becoming a common phrase.
I finally found a fellow Astrophysicist who'd give it a go, and proceded to train him up. He's spent a fair bit of money on the whole FR 3rd Edition set (as well as getting hold of a lovely Megamat) and we're looking to have a good group for our last year (starting in Sept) of our degree

 

[granny]

Originally posted by Nightchill
I remember the breakthrough when we found out you took the armor class away from the THAC0

ROFL!

Actually this is what I remember most from my early days playing D&D (um, must have been about 13-14 when I started, so, er about 1983, this was before AD&D, it was just D&D then) and the 10 years or so of pen & paper RPG playing that followed it - interminable arguments over the rules...

The longest ones always seemed to happen when we played Traveller. We had a GM who had created his own set of combat rules for the game which were very, very realistic (well, when I say realistic I mean "lethal" - getting shot was a Bad Thing) and fantastically complex and jesus wept the arguments went on for weeks sometimes

That'll be something really nice about NWN, no arguments over rules, they're coded in

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by granny

jesus wept the arguments went on for weeks sometimes

ME: Dude, the dragon can't have seen me from there fs
HIM: It did. Deal with it. *rolls dice*
HIM: The dragon breathes on you for 1841 points of damage.
ME: You're doing this on purpose aren't you? *rolls dice*
ME: DAMMIT!
HIM: Sorry dude, your dodge failed. The dragon swipes you for 783 points of damage
ME: Bastard, it didn't see me. You're full of it.
HIM: It heard you actually. You're a human. You walk loudly.
ME: *^$*(G((&R^%DD!!!133

 

[Nightchill]

Closest I've got to that is having a Dinosaur surprise my character... in daylight... on a grass plain..

 

[Skyler]

I started out in early 90's with D&D and some other stuff, moved onto computer RPG's the second they were out pretty much and played them too....

I want the MP NWN mainly, as I feel itd be the best part of it...

 

[Sar]

Aye, it'd be fab to get some games running with the regs

 

[~Mobius~]

hi guys.

i have very little experience at D&D but i play alot of RPGs including dark age of camelot.

i also really like rping and im interested in myths and fantasy stories etc

so i hope to see you in game once its released in england

 

[granny]

Originally posted by Nightchill
Closest I've got to that is having a Dinosaur surprise my character... in daylight... on a grass plain..

You've obviously never been running to Treibh Caillte from Connla and run smack into the Ollipheists. Certainly surprised me

 

[old.mystah_e]

Old Skool days

Hi, My first experience was from my cousins playing d+d. I was hooked and bought all the box sets, basic ,experts etc. Those covers were great, by the artist elmore?
Anyway, i soon got a few m8 playing me being DM. We used to play at school, at any time. During breaks, in classes, where ever. We started off with dices, but later abadoned it. It used to be like, i present them with a situation, and depending on the response, i would judge how well they did. If they surpised me with clever answer, they they would usually succed. We eventually got to the point, with 2 m8s , one playing a fighter and another playing a mage to the final stages. Immortality!! They ended being god of fighters and magic respecticlely and they would fight like the devil and other crazy things.
Anyways, i will try NVN and maybe i will try to resurrect some of those ol stories........

But can you do this in NVN? I was DMing a group, using one of the premade adventures. The party was fighting a dinsoaur, and they just managed to kill it, but as it died, it fell on top of one of the party and crushed him. hehehe ---------->DMing at its best

 

[ajeroth]

RP Experiences...

Hi guys and gals...

Started AD&D back in..let me see...gonna show my age now About 1986, with a little group from secondary school. Had always been interested in fantasy and sci-fi books, so gave it a go..and have never regretted it since.

From there, I progressed to playing Stormbringer, Call of Cthulu, Paranoia, GURPS, Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Werewolf and Vampire.

Through university, I dm'd a group through Rolemaster (my favourite - 1st edition..the one with all those companion books and Ive got em all ) and played in the same group with GURPS.

Only gotten into CRPGS in the last six years or so, and the BG series have been superb in what they attempt to do, but obviously it doesnt compare to p&p and the companionship of real roleplaying. DS and D1/2 are ok..but the constant hack and slash gets..boring.

What am I looking for in NWN...single player to start off with, to learn more about how ti goes about what it does and what to expect . Im interested in the online side of things, but dont know much about how it will be organised..friends connecting to someone's computer, or a central server or something.

After DAoC swallowed four months of my life, Im not sure I want to repeat that experience (just yet) but a couple of nights a week I can manage (provided I keep the wifey sweet).

Anyway..Ive also got the temple of elemental evil and the two followup 'campaigns' and had thought about seeing what I could do with them. Might be too big a task..but you never know

Ta, Aj

 

[Mousey]

Count me in.

Started with Colossal Cavern Adventure... Crowther... remember that one? thence play by mail, and so to AC, Ultima, EQ, AO, DAOC.

looking forward

 

[Tenko]

I'd never heard of RPGs until I got to secondary school where I immediatly started playing, (circa 1984 AD, in the latter half of the previous century ).

Played everything we could get (D&D, Warhammer, Judge Dread, Call of Cthulu) and made up our own systems instead of doing Homework anywhere we could get some privacy (The Cloak room at the bottom of the main stairwell was pretty good!)

I took two systems to heart though, writing huge campaigns for D&D and Starwars (Completely mapped and storried planet and sector respectively)

However after moving to a more unsavoury neighbourhood (They mostly come at night, mostly...) I stopped going to friends houses and started to play computer games only. Now playing DAoC I am REALLY looking forward to creating my own server and getting my now married childhood friends to Log on and finish my D&D campaign!

 

[Nightchill]

Ah rol(l/e)master.

DM: Right, you rolled a 17 with a type J4 Mk 3 weapon, I look that up on table err 19, sub section a, column Z minus. Now... I cross section that with table 473, section Q13 and randomise the result with table 52b and let's see... ooh you hit him in the tendon!

 

[ajeroth]

Rolemaster could get like that...with an inexperienced group. I will admit, there are a lot of detailed tables that can let the game get bogged down, if people arent sure of what is going on.

On the other hand, resolving all that can be done very very quickly with a group of people who are prepared...e.g. have those weapon and crit sheets out in front of them (photocopies or summat). Plus the obvious roll a 66 or 95-00 and its dead (well, on E crits anyway).

I just really didnt like the hitpoint system of AD&D, as it made no sense to me (and still doesnt). Hit points are almost pointless in rolemaster, except for long-term bleeding. I can only remember two characters dying of hit point loss in the 9 years or so I ran/played Rolemaster.

Then again..it could be very very deadly, which is why it will never make it into a game system whereas hitpoints gives the user far more control over when to run away

Thing with it being deadly, is that it encourages roleplaying rather than attempting to hit everything with a big shiny metal sword. That, more than any other reason is why I liked rolemaster. You got rid of the hack'n'slash fools very quickly.

Ta, Aj

 

[ajeroth]

Anyone fancy trying to use the tools to create a low level 'adventure' or 'campaign' for this?

The whole point of this for me is the online stuff, and dm'ing again as my group all moved on after University and Edinburgh aint too good for RP groups. Lots of people still look down on roleplaying as 'satanic' or plain wierd.

For me, they are the wierd ones..unable to escape their prisons of work life.

Ta, Aj

 

[ajeroth]

Bah, double posted

Ta, Aj

 

[Recoil101]

I started off on the Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf books didnt do much then for a few years till I met a chap who ran a Games club.. started a bit of 40k etc and suggested to one of the blokes there some DnD would be cool... had an amazing group going for a few years, we finally progressed on to LARP (Live Action Role Play) and have been doing that for about 10 years.... however all the DnD/LARPers are goig to be purchasing NWN on friday... the GM is going to GM this for us as well should be v cool..

 

[Nightchill]

OT: larp

Out of interest, where do you play? I'm guessing you're not from the UK since it tends to be called LRP (without the 'a') here. Although, american encroachment..

Been lrping for a while now, managed to get Granny to one \o/ Next one is in three weeks, hoping for lovely weather Nice to meet someone else in this minority past time tho

 

[Mr Jabba]

Started playing/DMing D&D and AD&D as a nipper at school (S1 Tomb of Horrors, a classic; S4, exploring a space-ship...hmm...dodgy). Played Traveller, Call of Cuthulu and a bit of the very silly game where everyone is a Clone. Did a bit of LRPing (we were in the local paper - Yobs Frighten OAPs; they saw us running around in the woods and called the papers, "Help, help, there's an ogre in the woods!"). However most of my time was spent as an AD&D DM.

At Uni I played a bit of AD&D, where my characters were either highly intelligent Magic Users, or really stupid Barbarians.

With Baldur's Gate etc. I've been able to recapture my ability to waste time although being married has minimised the time availible for wasting.

I'll be playing NWN as a single-player game at first. Although I'd love to play multi-player RPGs again, I'm time poor, so I don't know if I'll have the opportunity <crosses fingers>

 

[bigfoot]

I ordered it purely because Sar's been raving about it like an even more deranged person than he is. In my opinion DAoC was most disappointing and as someone who dabbled a bit in AD&D as a kiddywinkle i'm hoping this will be more phun.

 

[Xavier]

it is!! it is!!!

just start ignoring him if he mentions morrowind, it is teh suXX0r

 

[Sar]

Morrowind: Great freedom, and an epic game, but it's ruined by poor framerates and that utterly shite journal "system", which makees it impossible to keep a decent track of what you're meant to be doing.

As for NWN, I've just entered the Beggars Nest and took out Drawl with my first Henchwoman: Linu.

Also having loads of fun getting to grips with the toolset - I can't believe what a doddle it is to create stuff!

 

[Sar]

Originally posted by bigfoot
I ordered it purely because Sar's been raving about it like an even more deranged person than he is. In my opinion DAoC was most disappointing and as someone who dabbled a bit in AD&D as a kiddywinkle i'm hoping this will be more phun.

DAoC was disappointing after a while, as are all MMORPGs tbh: that's mainly due to the lack of a storyline involved to spur players on. Any RPG that relies on players entertaining themselves on the fly will probably fail, because the majority of people playing MMORPGs are there to level up and little else, either because that's their primary goal or because they don't have the imagination to create or do anything. This makes the game experience fairly empty after a while.

NWN, although not strictly an MMORPG should do better in multiplayer, I hope, as the NPCs in this game and in peoples modules will be slightly more interactive than those in the likes of DAoC and EQ.