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It seems Beamdog has quitted on the idea of NWN:EE for now

JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
edited June 2014 in Off-Topic
It seems to be a known fact Trent Oster has a habit of acquiring domains just in case

For e.g., see http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/29946/icewind-dale-domain-registered-to-trent-oster-hint-hint

For some period of time, Trent was an owner of neverwinternightshd.com and nwnhd.com domains. It was probably due to the fact Trent had led the development of Neverwinter Nights in the past.

In an interview at the very start of Beamdog, he said: "I loved Neverwinter Nights, devoting seven years of my life to development on it and the expansions". (http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/06/29/interview-bioware-co-founder-talks-about-launching-beamdog-and/)

But these two domains have recently gone through the redemption period (that occurs when a domain name is deleted after having expired unrenewed) and now are in the pending delete phase (when no one is allowed to renew the domain and it cannot be yet registered because its still not returned to the public domain pool, after this period the domain name will be back into the public pool of available domain names enabling fresh registration).

http://www.whois.com/whois/neverwinternightshd.com

http://www.whois.com/whois/nwnhd.com

The fact that Trent hasn't renewed the neverwinternightshd.com and nwnhd.com domains means that at least right now the idea of Neverwinter Nights HD is abandoned.

This opinion is confirmed by this link.
Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
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Comments

  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    Shucks
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    Whaaaaat!?!?

    No! Nononono!

    Man this sucks! I'm gonna be an old man before they ever make a NWN:EE!
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    I would think the graphics would be a big hassle. Even KOTOR feels like watching a vhs from tv recording, nwn is older still. BG other than the hideous (and fixable/fixed) interface, and the dated cutscenes, the game isnt directly competing with anything newer. Isometric rpgs havent done much since the infinity engine afaik, while tons compete with NWN.

    Also, if you fixed some art from nwn, it'd probably stick out like a booth babe does at cons.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    Confirmed: the time estimate of forum people coming into a one-off off-topic thread is 6 days;)
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    And now we have an official confirmation of my presumption:

  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    My mould reading divination revealed to me that a NwN:HD:EE won't be released prior to 2026. And even then it's very likely that the source art, source code, and all of its premium modules will be lost in time.
  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    Perhaps if we prod Trent with a pointy stick?
  • WalstafaWalstafa Member Posts: 116
    CaloNord said:

    Perhaps if we prod Trent with a pointy stick?

    More likely if you prodded him with a big pile of money so he could hire the staff necessary. Face it, nearly two years after launch, they're *still* working on BG:EE, chuck in the love that BGII:EE needs and it'll be a long ways before they can think of updating another game.

    Shame, I'd love to play NWN on a tablet, but at this rate I'd be better waiting for windows tablets to become affordable.
  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    If I had a dump truck full of cash I'd hire him myself. :) Still, I think they'll get to it eventually. It's better they do BG properly before going near anything else anyway. :) One thing at a time. :) Do it once, do it right and it won't bite you in the ass.
  • lolienlolien Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,108
    We are just a little closer now.
  • NWN_babaYagaNWN_babaYaga Member Posts: 732
    Wow that statement from Mr. Oster is sad. Patience for a few more years... well. I would love to know what the real problem is or what who and if and when... ah damn it man. The only game i have biten like a pitbull and now i have to keep it in my jaws for a few more years. nonono... it´s like with the buses here. Whenever i have to go to catch the bus in winter the damn bus driver leaves in sight !
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    That's too bad.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Hopefully he was trying to find a way to revive the lost premium modules. Never got a chance to play even half of them.
  • mangamusclemangamuscle Member Posts: 30
    I think that if the Neverwinter online game is atm blocking the creation Neverwinter HD it is a blessing in disguise.

    I do not mean to say I do not want an enhanced version of NWN, quite the opposite. Unlike Baldur's Gate, what made NWN a remarkable game was not the built in module/adventure. It was the release of the toolset (plus a stand alone program to create a server for a module) and the 3rd edition D&D rules.

    Truth be told, if an enhanced version of NWN appears in the market, many people will want compatibility with prior modules and hakpaks of NWN out of the box and that can be troublesome. But if a games appears without the NWN name but includes a superior toolset and an option to convert (most) resources to the new (enhanced) format, nobody would complain.

    As for the ruleset, there is already a game (Knight of the Chalice) which uses the D&D 3.5 ruleset without having signed a contract with hasbro/WotC. Why? Because D&D 3rd edition (3.0 and 3.5) has the Open Gaming Licence (OGL) which opens the door for such use, you cant use some terms (like neverwinter) but most of the ruleset is fair game. There is even the OSRIC ruleset for 1st edition AD&D rules (for those nostalgic for the original NWN). There is even an OGL for Pathfinder (aka D&D 3.75). So it would be feasible to convert/upgrade the gameworld neutral modules done for NWN by bioware and include them as adventure modules done with the upgraded toolset. As an added bonus, the hardcoding in the original NWN was probably a requirement from WotC (to thwart the possibility that another ruleset could be adapted to use in NWN) so now the ruleset could be softcoded (in xml or whatever beamdog programmers choose).

    If down the line the neverwinter IP becomes available again, it could be released as an add-on which would include the modules, plus material not included in the OGL (some monsters, deities, etc.). Beamdog owners could wait, but imo if they start TODAY from scratch (which is the best method to create better code in the long run) to create an upgraded toolset they will finish in several years, so it would be better if they started now so that we can see an upgraded toolset asap. Remember that if cryptic continues to be succesful with NWN online, then might never release said intellectual property.

    As an added bonus, there would be a possibility that another game company might get interested in releasing modules with the new toolset.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    I think I should include an update of information about NWNEE from the latest AMA:

    TxSurfer: Any hope for NWN:EE? I still play it to this day and I havent found a multiplayer experience like it since, the human DM aspect adds so much and has never properly been redone, I play with a group of 8 people on the weekends and our characters have been there since 2002. Aurora toolset was great.

    Trent: We've talked to the fine fellows at the Wizards of the Coast about such a thing. The sheer number of people involved in the contractual side of all things Neverwinter is mind-boggling. As such, we are not making much in the way of progress. It currently sits in my "waiting on external approval" pile. We did some work with the Aurora Engine a couple years ago, as a possible platform for a new project, but it died when we could no longer acquire a license to the engine.

    Noldofinwe: Any chance for a Neverwinter Nights Enhanced edition? I love that game to death!

    Trent: We've talked with Wizards about it. At the moment the issues around the Neverwinter property ownership are quite thick.
  • TomarctusTomarctus Member Posts: 49
    Didn't they quit on the idea of iwd:ee at some point as well though? Beamdog seems to be the little engine that could, so I have good hope. We'll have to wait and see how it goes =).
  • CoryNewbCoryNewb Member Posts: 1,330
    Tomarctus said:

    Didn't they quit on the idea of iwd:ee at some point as well though? Beamdog seems to be the little engine that could, so I have good hope. We'll have to wait and see how it goes =).

    There were always doubts about IWD2, but as far back as I remember IWD was a natural progression they wanted after bg1&2.
  • TeflonTeflon Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 515
    No hard feelings but lil bit sad.
    I will wait for return of the king.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    Teflon said:

    No hard feelings but lil bit sad.
    I will wait for return of the king.

    All this post did was remind me how long I've been waiting for Pat Rothfuss to finish his last Kingkiller book...
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    I don't think this is strong enough, but maybe there's some (increased) tendency in mentioning NWN again by Trent.

    First, in the known podcast Oster names as possible future project not only IWD2EE or PSTEE but also NWN.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t6xqEHdBWw#t=1612

    And now he says "if we did anything with NWN"



    I'd say there's a chance (of Beamdog working on NWN next after the Adventure Y)
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    For posterity:

    Apparently, there was an attempt from Beamdog to get a permission to work on NWN, in Spring, 2015. http://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/41456/theres-a-hint-that-the-next-project-for-beamdog-will-be-nwn covers it.

    But it turned out the code still was the property of BioWare. Although Trent left the door a little bit open for the future.





  • AedanAedan Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 8,551
    I think that Trent is a great mediator. Eventually, he will work this out, I am sure :)
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    After he managed to navigate his way through legal hell and resurrect baldur's gate I certainly wouldn't put it past him.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    Someone mentioned in another thread that KoTOR might be a viable option. That might be cool, at least until the legal stuff can get worked out for NWN. And with New Star Wars movies coming out, I'd think that would be a really good coat tail to ride on.
This discussion has been closed.

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