Any New D&D Type of Games on Horizon?

[Canelek]

I was trying to recall the last time I had a really fun time playing a non-MMO RPG. I guess Oblivion was ok, for all its flaws, but it had 0 replay value for me. I never tried NWN, so have no comment there.

The last PC D&D-type game I played was Temple of Elemental Evil, which I thought was splendid, for what it was. Sadly, I cannot access most game sites, so decided to see if anyone has the goods on upcoming games that fit the bill. I imagine with the release of the new D&D rules, there may be something in development by whoever owns the development rights.

[Truant]

NWN2 second expansion Storm of Zehir is supposed to release in Nov sometime. It's incorporating the changes/additions to the Forgotten Realms lore with 4th edition. NWN2, mechanically however, runs on 3.5 edition.

I still haven't played through the first expansion (no time!), but I greatly enjoyed the original campaign of NWN2.

[Ashur]

TOEE was a great 3.5 game. It just lacked interesting replayability. No idea about 4E-type solo RPGs.

[Canelek]

All I know is that it will have to be very fucking compelling. Of the last 5 or so games I have bought, I have played a total of maybe 2 hours, and that is mostly Madden 09, which is mediocre at best.

I think I will give NWN2 a shot. Although I spend 99% of my gaming time on EQ2, it is nice to take a break now and again--at least until the next expansion.

[Xatrei]

Whatever happened to DDO? Did it tank?

I always thought that Hasbro / WotC missed the boat by not licensing Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms for a modern MMO much earlier. Now I think they're too far behind the curve.

I can't really add anything of value to the original question since I'm so burned out on fantasy games atm that I don't bother to keep up with what's on the horizon.

[miir]

Yea, it pretty much tanked.

You can try it for free for 10 days!!
http://www.ddo.com/

[Ashur]

P.S. Fuck Eberron

[Xatrei]

I think I might take a look at the freebie trial. I was never interested enough in the game to pay for it (and still am not), but for free it's worth having a go, I suppose.

[miir]

Let me know if/when you do try it.
I've been curious to try it out to see what they have done with it

[Canelek]

I just picked up NWN2 Gold Ed, with the expansions included. Will try to take a peek tomorrow. My original intent was to grab up a 22" for my laptop, and nabbed a LG for a decent price. NWN2 was on the way out sort of....

[miir]

I tried the NWN2 demo on my PC before I upgraded and it ran like shit.
Eventhough I've heard the expansion and numerous patches improved the performance greatly. I've been hesitant to try it again.


Let us know how it is.

[Canelek]

Will do. I have always been a fan of turn-based RPGs on the PC--going back to Legacy of the Ancients (c64), all of the AD&D crap on the PC, TOEE, Betrayal at Krondor, etc... this should be a treat!

I would try tonight, but we raid Sat, Sun, Mon, Wed....

[Xatrei]

Let me know if/when you do try it.
I've been curious to try it out to see what they have done with it

I'll probably take a look at it over this weekend. I'll let you know more when I know.

P.S. Fuck Eberron

Not to derail from the subject too much, but I took a look at some of the info about Eberron. Some of it looked interesting and kind of fun, and it seemed to be a pretty cool departure from the more traditional D&D settings like Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. Obviously, I never played in the setting or really gave it much more than a cursory look, but what was so bad about it?

[Canelek]

What I would really like is to flesh out RA Salvatore's long-winded Drow series. As corny as they sometimes got, I loved the way he told the stories; especially in Menzoberrenzan (sp).

Yes, I know there was Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, but they are quite dated and really didn't weave a good tale, imo--being more in the stamp of the older D&D PC games.

[Ashur]

P.S. Fuck Eberron

Not to derail from the subject too much, but I took a look at some of the info about Eberron. Some of it looked interesting and kind of fun, and it seemed to be a pretty cool departure from the more traditional D&D settings like Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. Obviously, I never played in the setting or really gave it much more than a cursory look, but what was so bad about it?

Where to begin?

> Let's start with the "Living Construct" "Warforged" race. Hey, nothing says D&D to me like playing the Tin Man!

> Then there was the ever popular LIGHTNING RAIL TRAINS which while I would like to take to work, makes me ill in a fantasy scenario. Catch the train? No thanks!

> Reinforcement of "Plate Hate". It's to be assumed you will be swinging from your whip like Indiana Jones, so you better be wearing your standard issue "Chain Shirt" which was the defacto armor almost everyone was being forced into in 3.5 (yeah, even wizards thanks to mithril and the Twilight enhancement). What? Wearing armor!!!?? the outrage! You fall off a cliff (unless you are a warforged!)

> Doppleganger and Werewolf people... do I really need to elaborate?

> BARBARIAN HOBBIT RAPTOR RIDERS!!!! (seriously... wtf?)

> DEATH CULTIST ELVES... um, ok

> Plus the old "Hey, if it's usually evil, it's probably good here - Drow are nice guys and so can red dragons!"

>Magic as science - the lightning trains, the dirigibles, warforged... I mean come on, is this D&D or Westworld?

[Xatrei]

Again, I never played in that setting, so my impressions are limited to skimming through some of the resources, and I can't say anything about the how game mechanics of some of the special rules may have performed (then again, you're always free to discard stuff that doesn't work for your group). From the perspective of viewing it as an interesting fantasy setting only, however, I view a lot of the complaints that you have about Eberron as positives. It strikes me as an interesting alternative to the cliche fantasy settings that we're all familiar with in the same way as, say, Planescape or Spelljammer. Granted, it's not high fantasy, but that's part of what struck me as cool about the idea when I looked at it.

Different strokes, though.

[Sartori]

http://dragonage.bioware.com/communitynews.html

[Truant]

Well that looked pretty badass mr. sartori.

[Canelek]

What is that one, Sartori? I can't get to that site. ><

[Sartori]

Dragon Age by Bioware, supposedly a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate.

[Canelek]

I can't figure out how to get around in NWN2. Perhaps I should RTFM... Also, the character models are goofy looking and the opening bit was corny as hell.

I am assuming it gets better though! It was pretty awkward being the drow son of a nobleman....

[Sartori]

Some more for Canelek:

Fallout 3 http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/home/ho ... fbid=xhxbV
Rise of the Argonauts http://www.rise-of-the-argonauts.com/index.php#/home/

[Xatrei]

Let me know if/when you do try it.
I've been curious to try it out to see what they have done with it

I started my demo last night, and messed around with a few of the newbie quests so far. It's OK, so far, but nothing about it really sets itself apart from any of the other fantasy MMOs out there (now or at the time of its release). It's no wonder that it never really got much of the market. Nothing about it so far makes me want to spend a dime on it.