I am kind of surprised at how many NWN servers are still up and running. Good for us :)

I wonder how much selling the game here will add to that? Hmmmmm

Well the key reason for NWN's classic status is it's moddability and multiplayer. The OC was, if not horrible, than at least utterly forgettable. The multiplayer was designed to allow Battlefield series numbers of players however, and the mod tools hey included were both user friendly and powerful.

I bought NWN when the Diamon package was first released. I didn't think the OP was that bad, but I did think the expansion packs were great. I billed it as one of the best packages for the money.

Yet time and people move on.

I was just surprised that there is still a pretty sizable MP community for the game, 8 years after it's release. That is a pretty rare feat.

Well like I said, the moddability was the main reason for it's success. Also, and I'm not sure how much this matters, it was Bioware's last PC game.

Really? I was under the impresson I played Dragon Age Origins on the PC :) weird that, heh.

Yes, all of Bioware's console games have been ported to PC. NWN was the last of Bioware's games designed for PC.

Dragon Age was originally going to be a PC game but Bioware sold themselves to EA and so it was made "multiplatform" which in today's industry means developed for consoles and then made PC compatible except in very rare instances.

Yah I figured you meant that. I don't totally agree, btw.

Anyway I still think having many people still devoted to NWN is awesome.

Dragon Age still was PCish in many respects. The way combat was handled, for instance, lends itself to a keyboard/mouse much more than a controller. However, from what I have read, Dragon Age 2 will be much more "console-friendly". Bioware has said that they are only changing the interface for the console, but leaving the PC interface largely the same; I'll believe it when I see it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/dragon-age-2-gameplay-video/350296

Dragon Age was built from the ground up for the PC and adapted for consoles, not the other way around, and the console interface, controls and performance most certainly suffered for it, while the PC version was a wonderful mouse-and-keyboard party-based PC RPG. It is most certainly one of those rare circumstances you're referring to.

Yup I agree :) Dragon Age is an awesome game...

It also has a good toolset.

I wonder if it'll be around in 8 years?

That is the gameplay for the console version, if I am not mistaken. They still haven't shown the PC version yet, to my knowledge. What is in that link above is extremely console-friendly, but kinda ditches the pause-and-move strategic element that the original had. Bioware has stated that the PC version will be very similar to Dragon Age: Origins gameplay, but, as far as I know, they have failed to give any evidence. Hence, I will believe it when I see it :).

And Halo was a Mac game. Ok, it's true I haven't played it and don't intend to since I lost interest in Bioware games after KotOR but when a company is making a computer exclusive game and then get's bought out and the game suddenly becomes multiplatform that's generally a pretty good indication that it's going console focused (Halo and Far Cry 2 are similar examples), and all the DLC and everything else I've read about it hasn't done much to make me think otherwise. And of course the fact that this is Bioware and EA we're talking about.

Then the rest of what you're saying is pretty worthless, isn't it?

Yes, I understand the theory behind what you're saying and all that, but the fact remains the PC and console versions of Dragon Age played EXTREMELY different. Just because what you're saying is almost always true doesn't negate the times when it isn't, and in the case of Dragon Age they really did feel like two completely different games, and I'm telling you this as someone who actually played both.

I mean... really, I know what you're saying but it just didn't apply to Dragon Age. You're picking pretty much the worst possible game to make this example with. Mass Effect, sure. Oblivion, go ahead. Gothic 4, knock yourself out. But it doesn't apply to Dragon Age, where the mechanics and interface are COMPLETELY different between the two platforms and universally considered better on the PC to the point where the console version might as well be a different game.

And in case you don't actually know what the difference is, I'll sum it up in a single comparison: the PC version plays like Baldur's Gate, the console version plays like KotOR. And when you play it, it's REALLY obvious that the game was designed for an isometric view and mouse controls rather than the over-the-shoulder view and awkward finger gymnastics of trying to get the console version to do what you want.

What amazes me is I hear people say that PC gaming is dead. Or isn't like "it used to be." Or that PC gaming is just another form of console now. Or they have to dumb down their games for consoles, etc.

My arguement is that PC gaming is alive and well and has the usual good game to bad game ratio it has always had - gaming is just a bigger market then it used to be.

Dragon Age is an awesome PC style game - even comes with a great toolset to make more games with. It's been out a little over a year and Dragon Age 2 is coming out in Jan. I can see *why* they made the attempt to focus DA2 with that console feel - DA:O sitll has years and years of use left in it. Judging from NWN 1 and 2, the DA:O community will be around for at *least* 8 years.

Also the PC haven't just been the bastion of good RPG games, it is the place where games like Call of Duty, the Battlefield Series, and other franchises started. The gameplay in those games have not changed very much on the transtion to consoles. In fact, outside of Modern Warefare 2, PC gamers tend to be treated better then their console counterparts. The games tend to be cheaper, the DLC tends to be cheaper (Which, to be quite honest, I've seen expansion packs for PC games with less in them then many pieces of DLC.) and quite often level editors and the like are given to us.

Let's not forget the Indie game scene. How many cool independent games have come out in the last 5 years? Many of them have made an apperance on consoles, true, but many times it is only after having the game released on PC's to wide acclaim, most of the time for *free.*

I'll be honest, Sometimes i think PC gamers sound like spoiled elitist snobs. We have one of the most robust and active open platforms ever, a platform that always seems to be *dead* yet never really dies, and we whine about how gaming used to be? Despite all evidence to the contrary that games with those types of sensibilities we pine for still exist.

I love good old games, or else I woudln't be on this site. But we shouldn't use our love for older games to ferment disdain for anything new. So what, a sequel to a game didn't live up to your memories of the previous one? Welcome to to life. That has been happening as long as gaming has been out (and movies, and books, and music...) Heck I bet the people that Loved Oedipus Rex hated Oedipus at Colonus. They probably went to the forums of Athens and were like "OMG it sukz LOL!" when describing it.

The thing is games like Dragon Age origins and Fallout 3 have brought in more people to the fold. They have asked "What do you mean by "LIke Baldur's Gate?" or "Fallout 3? What are the first two like?" This has lead to sites like this getting people to play the older games. So don't begrudge the sequels just because they may not live up to what you want them to be. At the very least they will get people thinking about the games that spawned them.

And you hate how things are going? Look on the internet - I'm sure you can find someone, some where, making an old school type game that you'll love.

LIke this: Click here

That is what is really cool about the PC platform. It's open and anyone, at any time, can start up making games and release it. So if you hate how games are going? Make one yourself like you want it to be. I'm sure it'll find an audience if it is good enough.