So for the last few weeks been hopping between a bunch of PW servers and really enjoying the multiplayer experience. Each server is completly different and really new styles of play and people. So I thought I would point some people in the right direction if any of you are a bit confused to which multiplayer server is worth joining.

So I would imagine that the majority of people would prefer Action servers as they are more about extremely epic gear and hack and slach gameplay. Usually rather light on story but there is always a little bit to be discovered. I found most of the servers I tried to be rather confusing and everyone seems to start with some serious gear. Overall I enjoyed the ones I went on but found that they are almost identical to standard mmo style gameplay which was a bit of a turn off for me as Wow killed that style of mmo's a long time ago for me. so I didnt find them too interesting. But if you are interested in trying one of these out (as I know my opinion is certainly not shared by everyone) I would recommend two servers out of the lot that I tried.

- Land of Chaos - This was fun and is a very advanced server. Huge amounts of areas and equipment. Didnt really understand what there was to do but from the advancement of it I can imagine there is no shortage of bosses and dungeons to conquer.

- Higher Ground - This one was pretty fun. Large player base and certainly a lot of things to do. Really promotes team play and has an underlying story. Joined this server from a recomendation from this forum as it sounded interesting. More info on that topic then mine if you really want to know what thats like. My main problem with it was a similar problem I had to Land of Chaos. I generally found that as a newbie I had no idea where to go. Quests most of the time dont show up in ur quest log and you are required to jot down notes from conversations to do them. Which is interesting as each quest requires investigation but can turn off a new player with no buddies to play with. But on the plus side this server has an enormous amount of tools scripted to find a group and get into the action.

Those two are the ones that I would recommend above all (that I tried, Would love to hear recomendations for some other Action servers that you guys like.)

Now we get to what I have enjoyed the most out of my entire NWN experience. The roleplay servers. I personally (like many of you I would imagine) never cared much for the idea of roleplay. Always thought that it was a bit noob tbh. walking around instead of running and sitting down in the bloody tavern!!!! Why!?!?! I used to ask myself. Even if you are just chatting always thought that I play a game to play not to sit in a chat room. If i wanted that i would play second life. But with NWN I did a bit of research about the different servers and actually the Roleplay servers sounded quite cool. Even though I would have to abide by the stupid RP rules. But I joined a server made a Barbarian and logged onto one and boy was I suprised. Not only have I enjoyed the experience ten times more then I ever imagined but I generally care about what is going on in the game world. With the whole RP aspect and DM scripted quests etc. the world actually accomplishes things that I have never seen in any other game. The game world is litterally alive with world changing events left right and centre. Since my RP skills were so bad.... omg.... I rerolled and now am a living part of the server recognised by many. Alignment actually matters and I have genereally been intimidated but some evil characters in a dodgy part of town. Was even told to "get the F**k out of our bar!" was awesome.

I also found that the questing systems in place were a lot better implemented then the Action servers and had a much more fun vibe to them. The quests were actually interesting and worth doing rather then the usual "go kill 10 goblins" style quests. The fact that I can walk in a slum and feel intimdated is something I havent felt since the times when I played eve online.

So the servers I would recommend above all are:

-Escaped from Underdark - This is by far my favourite for the moment. Been having a great time on it and also happens to be the least forgiving server I have ever played on. PVP death is permanent unless resurrected by someone but it is controlled. (Usually need to have a DM present which is very easy to do and could very easily end up being a big server event sort of thing). The server is also very low magic and hard, which I enjoy a lot since when you see someone with amazing looking gear you know he is special, while on action servers everyone was amazing looking. Removed any feeling of cool i thought. The world is also constantly changing and for the first time I have ever seen in a game its really not static. The player factions litterally change the zones perminantly by their actions.

-Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist. - This is a very interesting server. By far one of the most advanced RP servers I have been on. This server i found was immeansly immersive and the freedom to do what you want was immeasurable. You can even be a cultist that eat BABIES!!! if you really want. Was a very strange and enjoyable server for me and one that I won't stop playing on anytime soon. Requires some downloads to get running but they are worth it since the enviorment is unmatched so far. This has a huge and dark gameworld that has a very good playerbase. If you every enjoyed either Ravenloft dos games (like me) or Pnp version of it or simply like bram stoker style vampire stories then this one is worth checking out.

There are many more out there but these are the few that I felt really stood out from the rest. Ofcourse there are many servers I havent tried yet but its hard to find time when there are so many options and what you find is so enjoyable. I hope that for some of you unsure of which PW server is worth checking out or simply confused about what to do will find my info usefull. Also for the people intimidated to try out the RP servers because of all the rules and having to stay IC dont worry about mistakes or being slow to respond. People are not only patient but also will see your new to it and really try and help you to learn how to do it correctly till it comes naturally (I was so bad in the first few days omg). I found that the RP players were some of the friendliest people I have ever played any game with. So just jump in create a character and see what happens. You can always start again when your comfortable.

Something that I did that I found very useful was to make batch files for each server I connected to that simply moved the custom content to the right places when launching the game and back into a storage folder when exiting. This allowed me to run each server without overriding a lot of the files as to not destroy my Original Campaign experience or effect other servers. I recomment doing it. Was a very easy procedure and makes playing multiple servers a lot more intuitive.

I would love hear thoughts about what you guys think aswell as perhaps some recomendations. Also perhaps my view on the Action servers are wrong so would love to hear your views on it and perhaps the best way to play them.

Thanks for the input I may have to give this a try. I just got the game and have mostly been messing around with mods and doing the single player campaign. I am interested in MP and these suggestions are going to be helpful.

If you have any questions about <span class="podkreslenie">Higher Ground</span>, feel free to ask--either me directly, through the forums, or through the inter-server messaging commands ingame. There is a lot of information to take in, but there are always people around to help you find what you need.

To the point of the thread, I would have to also recommend checking out The World of Aenea, it is a casual roleplay/action server that has a great basis of custom content and a detailed world.

http://www.avlis.org/portal.php

All play styles are welcome we cater more to the RP side of the game but if you want to grind dungeons and a world with over 3,000 areas you are welcomed also.

Feel free to pose any questions you have to me here or via the Avlis forums. My forum name is the same as it is here.

wolfwielder
Avlis Veteran DM

Wow. I used to play on a server called Orb of Abrogation years ago. I have not played NWN 1 in quite a long time and thought that there would not be anyone with any servers left out there, especially after NWN2. I am going to have to get the "key" and give it a shot. I actually miss playing on a decent rp server. Thank you for all the input. I guess NWN1 is still alive out there somewhere.

NWN1 is very much alive there are tons of servers still online. Some more populated than others but I see people online in the servers list every night.

PWs are nice, but the game really shines when you get yourself into a group of other players who have a dedicated DM orchestrating the adventure.

To find those games, head on over to www.neverwinterconnections.com and find yourself a game to join.

Okay, so Computer newb question.

Could anyone point me to an Article on how to create the "Batch File" thing for doing multiple servers? I know I'd like to try out a few different PW's and having to constantly change the files would get annoying.

Yes, I had this issue when I wanted to check out servers that were running different modifications of the CEP files. I created the following system to "load" the correct files for the server I wanted to play. After realizing my hacked together method was not sufficient for switching between any more than 2 sets of custom content, I decided to rewrite the batch file this morning to be smarter (read the currently loaded content and ask you what content to bring in) and more useful to a wider audience.

Requirements:
-.bat file created in the hak folder to load the custom content (_LoadServer.bat). You can create a shortcut to this batch file anywhere you please now that I've rewritten it to give you all the information you need to make the decision on what to load.
-Folders within the hak and tlk folders created for each server you want to play on with different custom content files (a folder for Server1, Server2, etc.).
-A text file to indicate which server's files are currently active--if starting with the files for Server1 loaded, this text file will be named __Server1_LOADED__.txt, where Server1 matches the name of the corresponding directory for that server.
-The very important step to initially set up the system correctly: Put the content files for Server1 into the hak and tlk directories. Put the content files for Server2, Server3, etc. in their appropriate subdirectories in the hak and tlk folders, so that it reflects the text file indicator mentioned above (only Server1 content is loaded into the base hak and tlk folders).

As part of the new edits I made in rewriting this batch file, I have added some echo lines reporting your current options for loaded content as well as a Note detailing what content you have currently loaded. I haven't bothered to idiot-proof it, so don't enter something that isn't on that list (if you space and try to load something already loaded though, it will still work due to the order of operations--you'll store the files only to immediately pull them back out).

_LoadServer.bat

@echo off

::Clear the variables we will be using
set ServerLoaded=
set Server1=
Set Server2=

set NL=^& echo.

::Find the currently loaded content (MUST be in the format __ServerLoaded_LOADED__.txt)
for %%f in (*LOADED*.txt) do set ServerLoaded=%%f
set Server1=%ServerLoaded:~2,-13%

::Prompt for the content to load, give the user a list of possibilities
echo Currently available content for loading...%NL%
dir /ad /b
echo NOTE: %Server1% is already loaded.%NL%
set /p Server2=What server do you want to play on?

::Perform the hak file content swap
move *.hak %Server1%
move %Server2%\*.hak %CD%

::Change the currently loaded content identifier before we leave the directory
ren __%Server1%_LOADED__.txt __%Server2%_LOADED__.txt

::Switch to the tlk directory and perform tlk file content swap
cd..
cd tlk
move *.tlk %Server1%
move %Server2%\*.tlk %CD%
cd..
cd hak

I used to play on a server call something Krynn. Basically about the Dragon Lance books.

It was the only host that had up to like 96 players, while everything else had half that. And it was constantly full of players.
Best thing about the server was there was basically no epic loot, and leveling was rare.And magic was low. So if you do see a guy with a flaming sword he was famous.

It was HC. The only way to reach past level 4 was to attend meetings on the weekend and roleplay in certain events. Best thing about it, ONE small town where you login. Not having 4 or 5 towns with 10 screens each, so as to seperate the small community of players. This meant i became familiar with lots of players and they became familiar with me. Even though i wasnt even level 8, i became famous rogue who people wanted to recruit all the time into their parties.

It was all about adventuring and it was risky. Not sure what happened to the server.
Anyways after that every online RPG experience from WOW to other NWN mods seems boring and aimed for people who want loot and crap.

This escape from the underdark looks good. Too bad i only see 22 players on a Sat at 1pm.

Does anyone know if NWN 2 is successful online? I have both games, but i dont like how NWN 2 looks.

I've been a member of Borgo Pass at ever since NWN first came out and the community there is still active. You will need [url=]http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/Download.php?id=147417 this CEP-23_Full_C.7z [755 MB] file to join the game. Here's how to join:

Direct Connect
1. Click Multiplayer
2. Click Join LAN Game
3. Click "Direct Connection"
4. type: sage.lattice.net
5. Press OK

Hope to see you there.

22 players is actually not bad at all. You shouldn't think that the server that has the most players is the best. It is that kind of "sheep" mentality that has brought servers that aren't really good at all to have the most players.

About Escape from Underdark....that is a long time server and a few years ago they rebuilt their server from ground up. Very nice. Unfortunately it feels a bit too hardcore roleplaying for me....people just like to sit around and chat....when they even removed the party system I was out of there...

What I wanted to say is...that if you like the sitting around and chatting style of servers it is really quite good....and don't just look at the amount of players. It is the quality of the server, players and DM's that count. You don't need to be teamed up with more than 2-3 other people...so 22 people is actually more than enough to allow several bands of adventurers simultaniously....this is not WoW....


Success is a relative measure. For me personally NWN2 was a disaster and I didn't play it much until I realised I need to get back to NWN1.

The cold facts has NWN1 much more successful still...despite being a lot older than its predecessor. In the online playing....NWN1 has at least double the amount of players on at any given time. There are also a lot more NWN1 servers.

For me...the choice is easy.

ya i tried NWN 2 many many times over the years. Finally they are catching up with good servers.

My problem with some of these "good servers" is they dont have the right balance of action and roleplaying.

One server gives you a flaming sword and a level every 10 minutes, the other just has people sitting and talking.

I would like to find a server that has low magic low levels, but also presents quests and people like to do these quests alot. If there is a DM event with no action that is fine. Its an event.

Plus i hate big starting cities. Ya lets build a huge city for 20 people to wonder around lost and socialize, and maybe see someone every 10 minutes. I think cities should be small, 1 screen, so these small servers can make it easier to socialize, and then go out for an adventure. Which explains why i gripe about low population servers.

Iplay mainly on a Wheel of time server patterned after Robert Jordans books

Currently there are three of them in the server Que
1) Wheel of Time: The True Source 2
This requires numerous hak paks downloaded from their forums
Also limited to 20 levels has special classes nothing like PRC content but designed with the lore of the books. The story is progressing from the point in the books around the time of the AIel War

2) Wheel of Time: The shadow Rising
No Hak Paks but the CEP 2.3 is required found a IGN NWN vault
Story line is shortly after the reuniting of the White Tower

3 ) Wheel of time : A New beginning
hak paks also required as like TTS2 they had modified the classes and spells to be more in line with the book lore

There is also another serve that will be starting fresh sometime in February

4) The Wheel of Time: The gathering Storm
No Hak paks required CEP 2.3 required

All very good with excellent Role play oppurtunities

Actually I'd gotten a physical copy of the game ages ago and just got around to actually trying it out a bit recently. The chargen is pretty exciting but I find that what they did to your henchmen versus the older games which were party style is... extremely annoying. Which is to say that this whole Persistent World business sounds mighty interesting by opposition to the OC.

However I have no experience at it. I'm a fine enough roleplayer, or at least so I'd like to believe, but when it comes to the actual gameplay I'm fairly inexperienced.

So to get to my question, I'm wondering if any of you guys could point me out to a server where there's good roleplaying to be had but also a willingness to show someone the ropes. What can I say, we all gotta start somewhere right?

Regardless, any recommendation shall be most appreciated. I've checked this thread and admitedly the Ravenloft server that the OP mentioned sounds kinda interesting. I'll probably try and hunt it down, see if they've got a site I can observe. But while I do that I'm still on the prowl.