Neverwinter Nights 2 Post-Release Interview

Now that Neverwinter Nights 2 has been on store shelves for a couple of months, we thought it would be a good time to check in with the guys at Obsidian Entertainment to see what they think of the community response so far and to find out what their plans are for supporting the sequel in the coming months and years.  Answering our questions this time around is senior producer Ryan Rucinski:

GB: What sort of feedback have you received from the community since the release of Neverwinter Nights 2?

RR: As with the release of any sequel there are positives and negatives. I think the biggest qualm that the customers have had was the beefy system requirements. Even the negative responses are from folks that want NWN2 to be a success and it is our goal to continue supporting it for these people.

GB: Have the folks at BioWare expressed any opinions about the sequel?

RR: They did ask for some copies, so that is a good thing. Bioware has always been supportive of Obsidian and we take their advice and opinions very seriously.

GB: Have you been impressed by the NWN2 modules released by the community so far?

RR: I am definitely impressed by some of the modules out there. We are taking in any issues they may have faced during creation and implementing new features into our patches so that future modders will have an easier time of it.

GB: Are there any particular fan-made projects that have really caught your attention?

RR: I wouldn’t know where to begin. Sometimes I am really amazed at the creativity and time it must have taken to generate things we didn’t know was even possible. One indivual addressed our water height over multiple tiles by basically making it a texture then putting the water effect on it. They were able make streams down mountains or have flowing lava from a volcano. It was awesome.

GB: What are your plans for supporting NWN2 over the next month, year, and beyond?

RR: Beyond. We don’t have a set date but we are continuing to support the title and the fans that purchased this game. I know at the time of this writing we are putting up a patch right now, and working out the plans for the next two patches.

GB: Aside from bug fixes, do you plan on adding any new content (equipment, feats, spells, etc.) in future patches?

RR: We have been doing a bit of that already. It is mainly features though. I don’t want to get expectations too high, but we are still creating content, now it is a matter of how and when we want to get it out there.

GB: Looking back, is there anything about the development of Neverwinter Nights 2 that you would have liked to change?

RR: There are always things in development that people would have changed even on the most successful of titles. I personally wish I could have been on the title from its inception – I love watching the creation process.

GB: Were you forced to remove features or cut any content due to cost or time constraints?

RR: Yes… We make sad faces about it all the time. However, we are continuing to work on the game and its patches. We are addressing more and more of the features we wanted to ship with and fixing the OC a bit.

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!