Neverwinter Nights 2 Post-Release Interview

Article Index

Eschalon: Book II

Publisher:Atari
Developer:Obsidian Entertainment
Release Date:2006-10-31
Genre:
  • Role-Playing
Platforms: Theme: Perspective:
  • Isometric,Third-Person
Buy this Game: Amazon ebay
GB: On the flip side, what aspects of Neverwinter Nights 2 are you most proud of?

RR: The team and how they worked together. It is amazing the extreme passion these folks have. Being a jaded old man, I see the passion and excitement and want to punch them in the face. But seriously, I can't think of a better group of dedicated and intelligent people to work with.


GB: What do you feel are the game's greatest strengths?

RR: The power to create worlds is very clearly a huge boon, but I guess the greatest strength would be the people who continue to create those worlds. That's not just pillow-talk either.


GB: Aside from Deekin, we didn't notice any other original NWN companions making an appearance in the sequel. Any chance we might see others as Neverwinter Nights 2 continues to evolve?

RR: We aren't going to change the OC for NWN2 enough to introduce additional NWN1 companions but if I were a betting person, I wouldn't bet against 'ever' seeing the return of past characters in future installments.


GB: Surprisingly, there were very few secret doors in the campaign. Was this by design, or were you required to limit them for some reason?

RR: The secret doors functionality came in late on the project. In fact, doors in general were a problem child for the longest time - This problem child wasn't something you could just put on "Time Out" either, we had to bust out the phonebook and beat it silly. I digress, the fucntionality for normal door finally came online and a side effect was the Secret Doors. It was too cool of a feature to not use but most of the modules were thoroughly designed at that stage so they only got limited use.


GB: Are there any plans to pursue a premium module program similar to what we saw with BioWare's original Neverwinter Nights?

RR: The program itself continually crops up, it's a matter of making it work for all parties involved though. I am certain that once a decision is made either way, there will be an announcement.


GB: Neverwinter Nights 2 offers more races and classes than the original NWN and its expansion packs combined. Does this hinder the ability to add new content in an expansion pack or any other premium content releases?

RR: Nope! There is a metric ton of things we could add for an expansion or a premium module. Thus far, people have been so creative and found ways to work in new content using existing rules that it boggles the mind.


GB: Should a Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion be given the green light (if it hasn't already), what content would you personally like to see added to the game?

RR: I personally would want epic levels, new races, new classes, more beasties, more crafting... I could continue to speculate, but hopefully soon, I won't have to. /wink


Err... so does that cryptic answer mean an expansion is currently being developed? Only time will tell, I guess. Thanks Ryan!