EQ vs. NWN

[Draggar]

I haven't logged onto EQ in almost a month.
I got bored with it (like I have in the past), and it just wasn't filling my "need".

A co-worker friend of mine introduced me to NeverWinter Nights. I picked up a copy and started playing, it does have a lot of plusses over EQ, but it also has a lot of "minuses".

The plusses:
I'm on a free server, no monthly charge.
It follows the Dungeons and Dragons rules, mainly Forgotten Realms (although it is 3E ).
I can group with anyone and still get EXP.
It can be played locally if I don't want to join a server
Runs a lot smoother
Patches and expansion packs are optional
You can create your own campaign and host your own server easily (and legally)

The minuses:
Tradeskills are hard
At most 4 people on the server (I feel lonely)
UI takes a lot of getting used to
I feel out of place
No backstab, AAs (but there are feats), discs, etc..
It's harder to level (close to a plus, though)
No zone to zone maps
No online resources, except for the main game (you have to figure the quests out for yourself, also close to a plus)

My EQ subscription was just renewed, so I'm active until December. Maybe I'll log onto EQ this weekend (since i"m home and the wife is away) and see how I've bene missing it, but I feel I haven't been missing it.

Also, I do apologize to the mods if this is out of place, I figured OOC was a good place to do this, and it's not a one is better than the other B&M (*whine* and moan) session, just more like a "I don't know if I've missed EQ or not" post).

[Sanna]

Hehe. I have base NWN that i picked up to play with the BF and his friends at one of their lans... poor guys nearly went bugnuts trying to get me to learn how to cast spells...

The small server size is a thing to ... get used to? We played on a server with max of 20 and avg pop was 16... so trying to get all 6 of us in there was occasionally difficult.

Getting used to the camera angle took me a while : P But I LOVE the arrows that point in the direction of your group members when you're in the same zone. I wish i wish i wish EQ would/could do that. Their way of dealing with xp is also nice (both the numbers and the group-with-anyone).

Come back to EQ and see if it still beats NWN. Personally, I can't stay away from EQ (I know it well now, and too much of NWN still confuses me, including/especially the single-player game). But see how it goes. ^_^

-- Sanna

[Draggar]

Come back to EQ and see if it still beats NWN.

Peer pressure at it's best.

[Alkee]

Nwn

I also have Neverwinter Nights and love the game.
To me NWN and EQ are totally different but I love them both.

Cheers

[Turlo Lomon]

Wow. The combination of games I play the most. Some interesting pros and cons. I'd like to comment on some, if I may.

The minuses:
Tradeskills are hard
I don't agree with this statement. I guess it would depend on which tradeskill mod you used, but the better written ones are superior to EQ imo.

At most 4 people on the server (I feel lonely)
This would depend on the server you were on. Back in the day when Safehouse had its own NWN server, there were times where there was over 100 people on at a time. It was a blast. Several other perpetual worlds support clientale of 30 plus. Try to shop around. nwnvault has links to perpetual worlds, and you will see more people on those then on pickup servers.

No backstab, AAs (but there are feats), discs, etc..
Sneak attack = backstab. It is actually a superior skill then backstab (combines backstab with chaotic stab). Yah, no disciplines, but if you really wanted them, you could probably design them yourself.

It's harder to level (close to a plus, though)
Default on the game is 10% of tabletop xp for the same fights, because the game is so combat oriented. This can be adjusted.

No zone to zone maps
Would depend on the designer. The stand alone NWN game has these built in.

No online resources, except for the main game (you have to figure the quests out for yourself, also close to a plus)
Thus the coolness of original work.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I hope these comments will help guide you down a new path with NWN to get more enjoyment out of the game. It is great to play during patch days.

[Draggar]

Well, I logged onto EQ a fee times this weekend, each time the lag was unbearable, and it asn't just me, friends of mine mentioned it, too. Last time it was consistently this bad I took 6 months off.

The NWN server I was on does have some lag, but not anywhere near as much. At least I got my Rogue from 7 to 10, now I'm using (and kicking butt) with some stone weapons (server specific, perhaps?).

Although I feel lonely, the low population of the server does have it's advantages, it's close nit. I was new, was given some money to get some gear, and now (about a week later) we're all buds.

Sneak attack - ah, yes, I'm learning that now, when I wrote this I didn't have many successes, but now that I'm higher in levels I do see the advantages. (But it still doesn't match to double backstab!).

XP - Maybe I'm paying too much attention at the numbers instead of a bar.

But - NWN, each server is completely different, different maps, towns, quests, encounters, etc. which is good and bad. It gives variety, but takes away the familiarity.

Well, at least most of the servers are free, I can't get HotU because my computer isn't powerful enough, but there are many non-HotU servers out there.

I'm still on the fence, but I intend on doing both, EQ for long hauls (when I can) NWN for short 1-3 hour sessions.

[LadyAnnaAnna]

I have played both and I defenately like EQ better.
I used to be in with the Baldur's Gate2 crowd back in the day and from what I can see the NWN people seem to be the same group, or at least of the same vein. The percentage of rude, snobbish, and generally mean and disagreable people there is highly disportionate to those who are tolorable. The small server size there too severely limits your chances to run into a good person too. Not to say that there aren't people like that on EQ too, but there are just so many people that its easy to run into someone agreeable. Even as messed up as sony can be at times, I do like the support they can give their customers (which is something NWN also lacks).

Ok, so I'm a corpie. (just a little bit). I handed my summer over to a giant rodent for crying out loud hehe