I think the problem is that we all have our own head-canon version of these NPCs and those differ for each of us. No mod that adds to those NPCs will ever manage to match every player's expectations.
Agree with you there, extending existing written work is very tricky even for accomplished professional writers.
Well, there are evil options at least. Honestly, a lot of the vanilla BG2 quests have far less and much worse 'evil options'.
Yeah, vanilla had more than a few moments that made no sense for an evil party. I was just pointing out I didn't feel the mod did particularly well there either.
My personal issue with the mod is how it basically forces all of it's exposition dialogue onto you, without giving your character a say in it.
There are a few dialogue options like 'I don't care' and 'I don't want to know' but using those does nothing, the NPCs will just ignore you and go on with their tales.
This isn't so obvious on your first play-through, especially when you play as a bard (for which this mod was very obviously written) but if you've played it a few times and play a character that wouldn't really care too much about the sad and oh-so-ambiguous back story it can get a bit grating.
(In my personal installation I actually add a few more dialogue options so I can give those NPCs a piece of my mind.)
It seemed to me that the author intended to expand a bit on the options, but couldn't get to it. It's a lot of work, so understandable.
All in all though TWQ is a very, very well done mod and I'd strongly recommend it to anyone.
It is indeed. Re-reading my previous message I feel I dwelled too much on the negatives, despite the fact that I enjoyed the mod.
Thanks for taking the time to reply, I frankly didn't expect this community to be very active, so positively surpised here.
...but there is another thing that stops me from that (and from updating the dialogue lines). The mod is now translated into 7 different languages and EVERY change would mean conctacting 7 different representantives of those translations and testing of 7 versions and STILL the mod would be something that's not like "wow". That's mostly why I am only doing some bugfixing when I have no other choice. This mod is... well... old. And I made it when I was less experienced. Compare it to Southern Edge and Ooze's Lounge and you will know what I mean.
Sounds like a lot of work. If you ever get to work on the mod for whatever reason it be great if you'd consider these thoughts, but no expectations, really. Wouldn't want you to take time from other things for this. We all have lives, after all.
@Murissokah@Ulb
Anyway, thanks for playing. I am not saying I will ignore those comments, I am seriously considering some changes, but I can't promise them as I have no idea how much work and time some stuff require and I am unsure if that's worth it. But let me think about it for another while.
I hope there are some other mods I made that let you have some joy from playing and that you will enjoy my new work when it's released.
Cheers!
I did enjoy the mod, I guess my overly critical side got the better of me when posting. It's among the best quest mods out there.
Hey, it's ok! I am still an active modder, even though it gets harder and harder considering that I can no longer just write new stuff, because I have to update old mods once in a while... Anyway, as I said, this is not my favorite mod so I don't mind people not liking some stuff here as even I don't like a thing or two... or five :P
I recently completed a BG2:SoA playthrough with a number of NPC mods installed (including THREE that I romanced almost simultaneously), and I figured I'd leave reviews of the ones that I spent significant lengths of time with. Since quality is often subjective and people look for different things in mods, instead of simply grading the mods as "good/bad," I'll try to focus more on providing details and insight into the mod so that people can judge for themselves whether it may be one that they want.
NEPHELE:
I was pleasantly surprised by this mod. Despite what the readme says about her, I did NOT find her to be "annoying" at all - quite the contrary, I found her dialogue to be very engaging and insightful as reflections on a storied life from old age. I also like that she's very stern and disapproving toward characters that are dishonest or deceitful in some way, be it the Shadow thieves, vampires, or even Seldarine elves. I strongly recommend this mod to anyone who's looking for a cleric alternative to Viconia's usual antagonism and b!tchiness.
Sadly (if the readme is any indication), it appears the mod's own creator wasn't particularly high on his or her work and basically dismissed it as a throwaway mod. I would love to see it expanded even further, perhaps even with an offbeat May-December romance added. As much as I enjoyed the mod as is, I feel it also leaves a lot of untapped potential.
SIRENE (BG2 version only):
I enjoyed this mod, but I would advise caution for anyone who's looking for a colorful or flamboyant character and/or "an easy lay," as Sirene is neither. She's kind-hearted, humble, and even a bit timid and shy. This is a slow-boiling, "coming out of her shell" kind of romance. On one hand, it felt refreshing to romance a character who wasn't an emotional roller coaster, but on the other, it could feel like I was pulling teeth just to get her to express her feelings even a bit. On a definite plus side, she has a very extensive backstory and a lot of interjections (often with some helpful guidance or warnings). I especially like how she will respond to particular situations, such as when your character is injured or fatigued. If you choose to install her custom paladin kit (Martyr of Ilmater), she'll also come with a number of unique and useful abilities. This mod is most ideal (and rewarding) for someone who wants to invest in a single romance over the long haul.
If you do play this mod (and especially if you romance her), it is HIGHLY recommended that you visit the Umar Hills area. Given how crowded the inn there is, you might want to consider resting just outside of it and enjoying the cool night air (hint, hint).
TYRIS FLARE:
This mod is basically the polar opposite of Sirene - she's quirky, outgoing, horny, and will basically throw herself at a viable romance option from the moment you meet her. She offers some fun and witty interactions, but you can cycle through basically the entirety of her romance dialogue fairly quickly (for comparison, I picked her up after Sirene had already been in my party for quite some time, and cycled through Tyris' romance before I'd ever slept with Sirene even once). As a fighter-dualed-to-mage with grand mastery in long swords, she makes for a respectable tank once she gets access to Stoneskin and is equipped with one of the quality LSs in the game (like Daystar).
FADE:
This mod seemingly combines the best aspects of the Sirene and Tyris mods. If there is an NPC mod that proverbially "has it all," I'd say this is it. She has a fun and engaging personality, a dark and very detailed backstory, and a LOT of expanded content and dialogue for quests like the Guarded compound, the Underdark, Firkraag's lair, and especially the Bodhi abduction. Functionally, she can be an able sharpshooter, but is probably most ideally suited to be a backstabber (especially if you choose the option to make her a shadowdancer).
A few potential drawbacks with this mod:
-You can't pick her up until Chapt. 3, and you MUST side with the Shadow Thieves in order to get her.
-I've seen some people complain that the dialogue responses offered to your character are sometimes too wordy and perhaps won't entirely fit your own imagined persona - although I didn't run into any glaring issues myself, I can see how some people might.
MINYAE (The Beaurin Legacy):
A fairly recent mod, but one of the best I've played. She's evil, and she isn't shy about reminding you of that. Her backstory neatly ties into the encounter with the lich beneath the Crooked Crane. Functionally, she's a triple threat - a thief, an enchantress, and a sharpshooter (thanks to her 19 dext and elven genetics) all rolled into one. But I think the most impressive aspect of her is the writing, which continually teases that, beneath the character's apparent heart of stone, there's a soft spot somewhere just waiting for you to unearth. Be warned that you won't be able to romance her, but you may be left continually wishing that you could.
Unless you have RP reasons for avoiding evil characters at all cost, I highly recommend this mod.
This post is getting a bit too long for my liking, so I think I'll end it here and continue in a second post...
KETO:
If you're looking to create a functionally optimized party, this mod may not be for you - she's a vanilla bard with mediocre stats. BUT if you're looking for an NPC that provides seemingly endless fun and witty injections, this is probably one of the very best mods you could find.
YASRAENA:
This mod is the polar opposite of Keto - she's a dual-wielding drow badass with poison blades and high magic resistance. Imagine having a female Drizzt in your party and you get the idea. In terms of personality though, well... she has very little, but that's largely by design.
I know a lot of people criticize this mod, but I actually enjoy it. Many people will complain that she's OP'd, and... well, she probably is, but I like that that gives me the leeway to include one or more sub-optimized party members (like Keto) in a game that's otherwise very unforgiving. Others will complain about her cold and aloof personality, but I think it conveys the extent to which drow are devoid of base human emotions. It also leads to some humorous and awkward moments, like her confusion when you wink at her or her presumption that Jaheira must've had her husband murdered. I also enjoyed her tales of drow life and culture, although she seemed to be more forthcoming with those when I played with a female charname than with a male - I don't know if that's by design or just a coincidence.
I think my biggest complaint about her is that her backstory is presented piecemeal throughout the game and still doesn't seem wholly explained. But watching her turn enemies into chunk-soup more than compensates for that, LOL.
ANISHAI
A seldom spoken-of mod that was apparently put together as part of a "one-day mod" contest, this mod allows Anishai, the seductive monk on the 2nd floor of Mae'Var's guildhouse, to join your party while you're in the process of cleaning out the guild. She doesn't really offer much dialogue or content, but she does have some unique advantages. For one thing, she uses the vanilla BG-style of weapon proficiencies (i.e.: "large sword," "blunt weapons") and so is at least proficient in just about any weapon a monk can use. She also has 3 prof points in dagger as well as her own custom +3 poison dagger. The big downside to this mod (other than the lack of content) is that, despite being level 10 when you meet her, she has 0 XP - meaning that it will be a long time, if ever, before she can even level-up just once. Ultimately, I found that she was versatile and useful enough to be in my party for some time, but the inability to level-up means she likely isn't viable for taking all the way through the game.
Ultimately, I enjoyed all the mods I've described above and felt each one contributed something positive to my playthrough experience.
this mod adds a new quest after jan's official one where he deals with lissa's husband by sabotaging his operations. it was originally in french and the writing does show. jan is written oddly as unlike his official quest he is still going on about his story.
his stories in general also never felt that in character it felt less janish and more like something jole bindo from kotor would tell.
they are also not in a wall of text like in vanilla and other mods and it's very noticeable. cn also seems to be more annoyed by jan''s long winded stories in ther choices which never really happend in vanilla.
none of the new areas are in the game world and the mod has you teleport to most of them that arnt two bars. and the mod over all has alot of script trigger issues and forced me to reload twice.
overall i found this mod not that great. it's nice that jan is given new content but the quest overall is very short and basic with a long cutscene near the end where you have no imput.
if anything it made me wish jan had his own expansion mod [ like all things mazzy] to flesh out his character.
Comments
Thanks for taking the time to reply, I frankly didn't expect this community to be very active, so positively surpised here.
Sounds like a lot of work. If you ever get to work on the mod for whatever reason it be great if you'd consider these thoughts, but no expectations, really. Wouldn't want you to take time from other things for this. We all have lives, after all.
I did enjoy the mod, I guess my overly critical side got the better of me when posting. It's among the best quest mods out there.
I recently completed a BG2:SoA playthrough with a number of NPC mods installed (including THREE that I romanced almost simultaneously), and I figured I'd leave reviews of the ones that I spent significant lengths of time with. Since quality is often subjective and people look for different things in mods, instead of simply grading the mods as "good/bad," I'll try to focus more on providing details and insight into the mod so that people can judge for themselves whether it may be one that they want.
NEPHELE:
I was pleasantly surprised by this mod. Despite what the readme says about her, I did NOT find her to be "annoying" at all - quite the contrary, I found her dialogue to be very engaging and insightful as reflections on a storied life from old age. I also like that she's very stern and disapproving toward characters that are dishonest or deceitful in some way, be it the Shadow thieves, vampires, or even Seldarine elves. I strongly recommend this mod to anyone who's looking for a cleric alternative to Viconia's usual antagonism and b!tchiness.
Sadly (if the readme is any indication), it appears the mod's own creator wasn't particularly high on his or her work and basically dismissed it as a throwaway mod. I would love to see it expanded even further, perhaps even with an offbeat May-December romance added. As much as I enjoyed the mod as is, I feel it also leaves a lot of untapped potential.
SIRENE (BG2 version only):
I enjoyed this mod, but I would advise caution for anyone who's looking for a colorful or flamboyant character and/or "an easy lay," as Sirene is neither. She's kind-hearted, humble, and even a bit timid and shy. This is a slow-boiling, "coming out of her shell" kind of romance. On one hand, it felt refreshing to romance a character who wasn't an emotional roller coaster, but on the other, it could feel like I was pulling teeth just to get her to express her feelings even a bit. On a definite plus side, she has a very extensive backstory and a lot of interjections (often with some helpful guidance or warnings). I especially like how she will respond to particular situations, such as when your character is injured or fatigued. If you choose to install her custom paladin kit (Martyr of Ilmater), she'll also come with a number of unique and useful abilities. This mod is most ideal (and rewarding) for someone who wants to invest in a single romance over the long haul.
If you do play this mod (and especially if you romance her), it is HIGHLY recommended that you visit the Umar Hills area. Given how crowded the inn there is, you might want to consider resting just outside of it and enjoying the cool night air (hint, hint).
TYRIS FLARE:
This mod is basically the polar opposite of Sirene - she's quirky, outgoing, horny, and will basically throw herself at a viable romance option from the moment you meet her. She offers some fun and witty interactions, but you can cycle through basically the entirety of her romance dialogue fairly quickly (for comparison, I picked her up after Sirene had already been in my party for quite some time, and cycled through Tyris' romance before I'd ever slept with Sirene even once). As a fighter-dualed-to-mage with grand mastery in long swords, she makes for a respectable tank once she gets access to Stoneskin and is equipped with one of the quality LSs in the game (like Daystar).
FADE:
This mod seemingly combines the best aspects of the Sirene and Tyris mods. If there is an NPC mod that proverbially "has it all," I'd say this is it. She has a fun and engaging personality, a dark and very detailed backstory, and a LOT of expanded content and dialogue for quests like the Guarded compound, the Underdark, Firkraag's lair, and especially the Bodhi abduction. Functionally, she can be an able sharpshooter, but is probably most ideally suited to be a backstabber (especially if you choose the option to make her a shadowdancer).
A few potential drawbacks with this mod:
-You can't pick her up until Chapt. 3, and you MUST side with the Shadow Thieves in order to get her.
-I've seen some people complain that the dialogue responses offered to your character are sometimes too wordy and perhaps won't entirely fit your own imagined persona - although I didn't run into any glaring issues myself, I can see how some people might.
MINYAE (The Beaurin Legacy):
A fairly recent mod, but one of the best I've played. She's evil, and she isn't shy about reminding you of that. Her backstory neatly ties into the encounter with the lich beneath the Crooked Crane. Functionally, she's a triple threat - a thief, an enchantress, and a sharpshooter (thanks to her 19 dext and elven genetics) all rolled into one. But I think the most impressive aspect of her is the writing, which continually teases that, beneath the character's apparent heart of stone, there's a soft spot somewhere just waiting for you to unearth. Be warned that you won't be able to romance her, but you may be left continually wishing that you could.
Unless you have RP reasons for avoiding evil characters at all cost, I highly recommend this mod.
This post is getting a bit too long for my liking, so I think I'll end it here and continue in a second post...
KETO:
If you're looking to create a functionally optimized party, this mod may not be for you - she's a vanilla bard with mediocre stats. BUT if you're looking for an NPC that provides seemingly endless fun and witty injections, this is probably one of the very best mods you could find.
YASRAENA:
This mod is the polar opposite of Keto - she's a dual-wielding drow badass with poison blades and high magic resistance. Imagine having a female Drizzt in your party and you get the idea. In terms of personality though, well... she has very little, but that's largely by design.
I know a lot of people criticize this mod, but I actually enjoy it. Many people will complain that she's OP'd, and... well, she probably is, but I like that that gives me the leeway to include one or more sub-optimized party members (like Keto) in a game that's otherwise very unforgiving. Others will complain about her cold and aloof personality, but I think it conveys the extent to which drow are devoid of base human emotions. It also leads to some humorous and awkward moments, like her confusion when you wink at her or her presumption that Jaheira must've had her husband murdered. I also enjoyed her tales of drow life and culture, although she seemed to be more forthcoming with those when I played with a female charname than with a male - I don't know if that's by design or just a coincidence.
I think my biggest complaint about her is that her backstory is presented piecemeal throughout the game and still doesn't seem wholly explained. But watching her turn enemies into chunk-soup more than compensates for that, LOL.
ANISHAI
A seldom spoken-of mod that was apparently put together as part of a "one-day mod" contest, this mod allows Anishai, the seductive monk on the 2nd floor of Mae'Var's guildhouse, to join your party while you're in the process of cleaning out the guild. She doesn't really offer much dialogue or content, but she does have some unique advantages. For one thing, she uses the vanilla BG-style of weapon proficiencies (i.e.: "large sword," "blunt weapons") and so is at least proficient in just about any weapon a monk can use. She also has 3 prof points in dagger as well as her own custom +3 poison dagger. The big downside to this mod (other than the lack of content) is that, despite being level 10 when you meet her, she has 0 XP - meaning that it will be a long time, if ever, before she can even level-up just once. Ultimately, I found that she was versatile and useful enough to be in my party for some time, but the inability to level-up means she likely isn't viable for taking all the way through the game.
Ultimately, I enjoyed all the mods I've described above and felt each one contributed something positive to my playthrough experience.
this mod adds a new quest after jan's official one where he deals with lissa's husband by sabotaging his operations. it was originally in french and the writing does show. jan is written oddly as unlike his official quest he is still going on about his story.
his stories in general also never felt that in character it felt less janish and more like something jole bindo from kotor would tell.
they are also not in a wall of text like in vanilla and other mods and it's very noticeable. cn also seems to be more annoyed by jan''s long winded stories in ther choices which never really happend in vanilla.
none of the new areas are in the game world and the mod has you teleport to most of them that arnt two bars. and the mod over all has alot of script trigger issues and forced me to reload twice.
overall i found this mod not that great. it's nice that jan is given new content but the quest overall is very short and basic with a long cutscene near the end where you have no imput.
if anything it made me wish jan had his own expansion mod [ like all things mazzy] to flesh out his character.