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An open letter to Beamdog (RUS, ENG)

Ratibor92Ratibor92 Member Posts: 149
Our community has written an open letter
Dear Trent Oster and the Beamdog Team,

Nowadays we often hear Neverwinter Nights is all about multiplayer and the toolset. The toolset has been granting players and modders the opportunity to create brand new modules. It goes without saying - the Community have made a great progress and produced a lot of true masterpieces. But there is also another important thing about NWN, which actually has inspired us for further adventures.
We are talking about the Original Campaign (OC). This story has become the ''main childhood adventure'' for us. It has showed us true love and fierce war, it has turned our dreams true. The world of Faerun has become our second birthplace. Lady Aribeth, Sharveen, Natirra, Valen, Deeken, even Mephistopheles - all of them are not just NPCs for us. They have become a part of our sweet memories, and we are grateful for that! But we're trying to draw attention to the following.
Many people have been inspired by the news about NWN:EE development. ''What about the Hero of Neverwinter then? Is there a chance he will meet his old friends and Lady Aribeth once again?''. We have had reliance upon that, based on the work you as a team had shown in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and other Infinty Engine EE games of yours. We have enjoyed the new characters as part of the original stories and have been impressed greatly by your work on Siege of Dragonspear.
Unfortunately, we are deeply concerned about your position on the Director's Cut version of the NWN' OC. You have mentioned your vision of the Director's Cut version would suppose cutting the old and not adding the new. The story of the Hero of Neverwinter was interrupted and remains unfinished. We suppose this story should have a continuation with the Enhanced Edition. The last scenes of the OC told us of a dark prophecy, but alas the fate of the Hero of Neverwinter was undeservingly forgotten, as well as the certain number of the quests, on which you had given us hints (a Valsharess romance, an unfinished Enserrik's quest, to name a few).
You have a unique chance to make the OC and the addons even more interesting and appealing than they are now. You have plenty of time, and we trust you. Each of us wants to make the project of ''NWN:EE'' even better. We want this game to be remembered and played by the generations to come.

Best wishes, your community https://vk.com/nwnbeamdogfangroup

P.S.
We have initiated a survey at one of the Russian fan-community boards, where we asked people ''Do you want the Original Campaign to be continued?''. You may see the results below. 273 out of 318 answered ''Да'' (''Yes''). It should also be noted that many of those who answered ''Нет'' (''No'') admitted they have chosen such variant because they are afraid of the OC to be ''cut'', as it was mentioned by Trent Oster during one of the livestreams.

The request for the ''New content for the OC, SotU and HotU'' is at the top of the Trello Board with 226 votes. We suppose that this demonstrates the true desire of fans for the game to be ''enhanced'' in that way as well.

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Comments

  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    I wholeheartedly agree with @Andarian. Also while it is not my place I would ask that the moderators move this particular thread to the General Discussion section where it both truly belongs and where it will receive greater scrutiny from the wider members of these boards.

    TR
  • StaranStaran Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 295
    I don’t see an open letter. I see a forum post. Where is the letter? I am confused
  • joluvjoluv Member Posts: 2,137
    It's a letter because it has a salutation, a complimentary closing, and a signature.

    Other open letters: cfhijklmnrstuvwxyzCEFGHIJKLMNSTUVWXYZ.
  • FreshLemonBunFreshLemonBun Member Posts: 909
    I think the current demands show a certain split in a segment of players in a particular community and region demanding things not necessarily seen as useful or productive to others. In terms of perception it seems that there are two starkly different perceptions of what the NWN game actually is and what it is not. No doubt it's also possible to get enough votes to turn NWN into a first person shooting game but whether that is a good decision or not is left up to interpretation. A quick scan of votes on the trello cards in question and a comparison of other cards for decades long outstanding issues and cards to really "enhance the game in ways only a developer can" shows a large portion of voters don't overlap with the rest. Therefore I agree with Andarian's statement.
  • Lex23Lex23 Member Posts: 34
    I will add my name to the list of dissenters. I have nothing against a retooling / "Director's Cut" of the OC, or a continuation of that storyline which takes the same PC into epic levels ... but I wholeheartedly agree that modernizing the gameplay in general, and the toolset in particular, is a *MUCH* higher priority.

    Everyone who grew up with CRPGs has their favorite, which is mostly a matter of taste. As a standard single-player CRPG, NWN was okay ... I personally didn't like the OC nearly as well as the campaigns in BG1-2, IWD1-2, Planescape: Torment, etc. But again, that's a matter of taste. I got my Enhanced Editions of my favorite games, so I don't have a problem with people wanting an EE of the NWN OC ... or SOU, HOTU, their favorite premium module, whatever.

    BUT .... the thing that made NWN unique, the thing that other games tried to duplicate but never really matched, was the Toolset. Along with the DM's client, the Toolset brought NWN closer to real, open-ended, tabletop RPGs than any CRPG before or since (including NWN2). And it brought together a community of talented gamers and creators, who *continue* to produce top-notch content for free, just for the love of the game. Just imagine what they could do with a better set of tools!

    So sure. Let's have a Director's Cut of the OC, maybe even a *real* sequel which continues the same storyline for those who want it. But let's wait to spend Beamdog's precious time and resources on that, until they have finished modernizing and polishing the elements of NWN that we can only get from NWN.

    Then, at the same time that Beamdog is retooling the OC or writing its sequels (using their new-and-improved toolset to make it even better than before), we can put the newly revamped tools into the hands of the community -- and watch what wonders they create!
  • FreshLemonBunFreshLemonBun Member Posts: 909
    It's not a mountain out of anything, it's a pretty good analogy if you really consider the situation here.

    It seems you folks want to argue what NWN is really about but I think it's pretty settled. Even on the official D&D channel where they have mentioned NWN regularly they never talk about Aribeth, they never talk about the hero of never winter. They do talk about Minsc and Boo however, hmmm can you figure out what the difference is?

    Your passion is admirable but you are asking those without a fraction of your love and passion for the OC and old content to primarily spend their time on revamping it and reiterating the development again. Whether you like it or not you are asking those far less enthusiastic than you to make your passion project for you, does that really sound like a good idea?
  • TarotRedhandTarotRedhand Member Posts: 1,481
    Here's a little thought for you. Of those 10240 (you did say 10k) people in your group just how many have actually voted on the trello board? I definitely do not see anywhere near that amount of enthusiasm over there. And that is where it counts.

    TR
  • FreshLemonBunFreshLemonBun Member Posts: 909
    Well good luck getting ppl to like and be as enthusiastic as you are about something that's uninteresting to them.
  • raz651raz651 Member Posts: 175
    Ratibor92 said:

    Here's a little thought for you. Of those 10240 (you did say 10k) people in your group just how many have actually voted on the trello board? I definitely do not see anywhere near that amount of enthusiasm over there. And that is where it counts.

    TR

    yes, manny people not voted. But new content for OC, SoU and HOTU is top 1 for trello, whether you like it or not.
    While this may be true. How many of those is for the OC? I see SoU and HoTU in those votes also? If we divide it up that would be 75 votes for OC, 75 votes for SoU and 75 votes for HoTU and one vote to give to whomever.

    Point is New content for the OC is not the most asked for on the Trello board.
  • DerpCityDerpCity Member, Moderator Posts: 303
    edited February 2018
    Andarian said:

    Re-making it’s content to 2018 standards would be prohibitively expensive.

    The rest of your post is fine, but one of the livestream recaps said that Trent confirmed that they're planning on refreshing the game's graphics in the same way they did for Aribeth, and that she was a sneak peak of whats to come. Unless you meant remaking/revamping the OC, to which I agree with you.
  • AndarianAndarian Member Posts: 185
    I haven’t had time to listen to the recent livestreams, but what I heard was that they’re doing it for character models. He was very clear in his early comments that doing it across the board would be prohibitively expensive.
  • DerpCityDerpCity Member, Moderator Posts: 303
    edited February 2018
    After rereading the recap, it seems that you're correct in that it is just for character models. My mistake. This is what I get for reading things too quickly.
  • Sylvus_MoonbowSylvus_Moonbow Member Posts: 1,085
    It may happen and it would be nice to happen.

    Before Beamdog considers new content for the OC, SOU, HOTU or Premium Modules, I'd rather know the engine has been updated for full modern computer support, the toolset has all the added features required for Beamdog to create new content, and that the full potential of the shaders and graphical upgrades are complete.
  • AndarianAndarian Member Posts: 185
    edited February 2018
    JFK said:

    As much as we can get might be that if BD pursues an exclusive path to please one faction, they won't have the resources to pursue the other. This is why, I think, Andarian wants to make sure he voices an opposing view - so that things BD alone can get done, will have the resources (Zots, anyone?) to get done. And those things, once done, will allow for the very things your group wants to happen...

    Precisely -- thank you.
  • XorinaXorina Member Posts: 138
    I loved the OC, and could never understand all those that thought it wasn't a good plot, it was a fantastically mythical plotscape, yet, maybe I'm easily pleased. In saying that, I'd suggest the ethos with NWN is not to see the OC as the be all and end all of the title in the round, but perhaps to encourage those that invested in it to venture forth with their own adventures and of others via the toolkit.
  • mlkent22mlkent22 Member Posts: 41
    Way back when NWN was released, I played through the OC once. To be honest, when NWN came out there was another D&D game released about the same time, Pool of Radiance, Ruins of Myth Dranor. That game had an amazing story to play through, and I played through it several times. Once that story became to easy, I went back to NWN, and opened the toolset, and connected for multi-player. I have since then be hooked on NWN, multi-player, and the toolset, and have been on several build teams for a few servers over the years. When SoU, and HotU were released, I also played those included modules, I admit more than once. Those mods were better stories with improved capabilities. Most of the improvement came not from the new content, but the improved scripting and engine upgrades.

    The most important thing about the OC of NWN, SoU, And HotU, was that these mods were created to show what could be done with the toolset. The focus of NWN has always been multi-player- the simple idea that NWN is essentially D&D in a computer for multi-play.

    The OC is not what many want upgraded as it is simply considered a tutorial on what can be made with the toolset.

    good luck with the request, I think it's a waste of resource time, but to each their own...
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