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Leafy · 06-18-2001, 04:41 PM

I agree; they do seem to be dangling something. I recall, BG was first but it only went to 9th level. Swords Coast was pathetic in that it only gave you one more level (it should have been to at least 15 or 20) but it did correct things like giving you more scimitars and stuff. Then IWD came out with it's 17th level max and a real action oriented feel. Then BG2 came along; the awesome engine with a 17-21 level max and new class kits! and the dual weapon dilema from IWD was resolved in BG2! Which is why i was sorely upset with the IWD expansion which came out months late and didn't even resemble the BG2 engine! I wanted class kits! i wanted dual wielded weapons! why didn;t they give us that? it's like making a 2001 Pontiac and then next year's 2002 model is exactly like 1999's. Why didn't they give us the benefit of technology already implimented by Interplay? was it too much... work? pppffftt.. it's too much... money, if you ask me.
What's worse, is that the expansion was too expensive. and is soooo slow! what's up with the sluggishness in the new areas? are they just extremely fat or what? even the level with the seer is soooo slow! and i know there can;t be a lot of complex computations going on cuz there are no containers and only one NPC on that whole area. The 'expansion' was basically another case of the "swords coast" in a way; except they got it right and gave us 10 more Exp levels; that and it's like the 'OFFICIAL, official patch upgrade.' But patches are freely downloaded from their site. And IWD is just an engine that anyone should be able to create areas and adventures for (why haven't they relenquished control to the user so they can create their own multiplayer adventures? sure, you'd have to create new areas; or maybe you could just change NPC's and quests and such within the limits of preexisting areas and items. ) Neverwinter Nights promises such freedom; but last year they said it was to be released in May. but it wasn;t until sometime in mid to late May that they decided it would not be out until September. so i'm guessing January of next year it will be available.
So Interplay is trying to save some face in light of the terrible reviews of HoW and are offering downloadable expansions. but they came up with the idea and announced it simply to combat the negative publicity of a poorly packaged and under developed "expansion" so that die hard fans would not feel they were taken advantage of. But have they completedthe expansions? have they even started? and what about those who cannot download or have no interent but have purchased copies of IWD and HOW? will they mail CDs to these people as they should? probably not. right now, i think they're just trying not to get angry mobs tarnishing their name.
I even went to RedQueen once. that's where the interplay game designers hang out and chat. i made one negative message complaining about the shortness of the expansion and about the bugs in it (with thieves and such) and they simply erased my message and deleted the account! Nowe, i was upset and i mentioned how i felt ripped off, but i was not flaming or insulting anyone. though i suppose those programmers probably took offence to someone on THEIR message board knocking on their product. They struck me as arrogant or suspicious when that happened. So, i think they KNOW what they're doing when they dangle these half assed products in front of us. Their just trying to wait us out and see what we'll put up with. Heck, if they gave us a quality product all in one package, how could they make any followup money on the people who are already hooked? Heck, even drug dealers are smarter than that; so these 'geniuses' must have figured that part of the game out. They're playing us right now.

of course, there may be other more beaurocratic things behind this. Perhaps the IWD crew of the Interplay team is being diverted to this Throne of Baahl expansion cuz BG2 was so successfull? They might WANT to give us more IWD, but have put it on the backburner so they can promote the already popular game as opposed to the unpleasant task of digging themselves out of a 'i want more, you ripped me off' hole in IWD.

06-18-2001, 04:41 PM	#6
Leafy Zhentarim Guard Join Date: March 5, 2001 Location: The leafy, green forests of Wisconsin Posts: 315	I agree; they do seem to be dangling something. I recall, BG was first but it only went to 9th level. Swords Coast was pathetic in that it only gave you one more level (it should have been to at least 15 or 20) but it did correct things like giving you more scimitars and stuff. Then IWD came out with it's 17th level max and a real action oriented feel. Then BG2 came along; the awesome engine with a 17-21 level max and new class kits! and the dual weapon dilema from IWD was resolved in BG2! Which is why i was sorely upset with the IWD expansion which came out months late and didn't even resemble the BG2 engine! I wanted class kits! i wanted dual wielded weapons! why didn;t they give us that? it's like making a 2001 Pontiac and then next year's 2002 model is exactly like 1999's. Why didn't they give us the benefit of technology already implimented by Interplay? was it too much... work? pppffftt.. it's too much... money, if you ask me. What's worse, is that the expansion was too expensive. and is soooo slow! what's up with the sluggishness in the new areas? are they just extremely fat or what? even the level with the seer is soooo slow! and i know there can;t be a lot of complex computations going on cuz there are no containers and only one NPC on that whole area. The 'expansion' was basically another case of the "swords coast" in a way; except they got it right and gave us 10 more Exp levels; that and it's like the 'OFFICIAL, official patch upgrade.' But patches are freely downloaded from their site. And IWD is just an engine that anyone should be able to create areas and adventures for (why haven't they relenquished control to the user so they can create their own multiplayer adventures? sure, you'd have to create new areas; or maybe you could just change NPC's and quests and such within the limits of preexisting areas and items. ) Neverwinter Nights promises such freedom; but last year they said it was to be released in May. but it wasn;t until sometime in mid to late May that they decided it would not be out until September. so i'm guessing January of next year it will be available. So Interplay is trying to save some face in light of the terrible reviews of HoW and are offering downloadable expansions. but they came up with the idea and announced it simply to combat the negative publicity of a poorly packaged and under developed "expansion" so that die hard fans would not feel they were taken advantage of. But have they completedthe expansions? have they even started? and what about those who cannot download or have no interent but have purchased copies of IWD and HOW? will they mail CDs to these people as they should? probably not. right now, i think they're just trying not to get angry mobs tarnishing their name. I even went to RedQueen once. that's where the interplay game designers hang out and chat. i made one negative message complaining about the shortness of the expansion and about the bugs in it (with thieves and such) and they simply erased my message and deleted the account! Nowe, i was upset and i mentioned how i felt ripped off, but i was not flaming or insulting anyone. though i suppose those programmers probably took offence to someone on THEIR message board knocking on their product. They struck me as arrogant or suspicious when that happened. So, i think they KNOW what they're doing when they dangle these half assed products in front of us. Their just trying to wait us out and see what we'll put up with. Heck, if they gave us a quality product all in one package, how could they make any followup money on the people who are already hooked? Heck, even drug dealers are smarter than that; so these 'geniuses' must have figured that part of the game out. They're playing us right now. of course, there may be other more beaurocratic things behind this. Perhaps the IWD crew of the Interplay team is being diverted to this Throne of Baahl expansion cuz BG2 was so successfull? They might WANT to give us more IWD, but have put it on the backburner so they can promote the already popular game as opposed to the unpleasant task of digging themselves out of a 'i want more, you ripped me off' hole in IWD.