15 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

Just found another preview of Mask of the Betrayer (found here that has some interesting new info. Here's a rundown:

-AI on/off switch

-New camera system

-Starts at 18th level

-Lots of new spells, feats, and the usual madness.

-New races, including all four genasi.

-Red Wizards, Spirit Shamans, and Favored Souls confirmed as prestige classes.

-Fewer but more detailed companions, none of whom are forced into the party at any point.

-Three companions previewed-a young Red Wizard, an aasimar cleric, and a weird undead called One of Many (apparently a collection of hundreds of evil souls forcibly imprisoned).

[whatbrick]

There's a fairly comprehensive FAQ on MotB on the NeverWinter Vault and the official forum for it can be found here.

It sounds like a big improvement over the NWN2 OC, and the story sounds more intriguing as well.

[Kellen]

-Red Wizards, Spirit Shamans, and Favored Souls confirmed as prestige classes

Spirit Shamans and Favored Souls are base classes. I've seen it in a few different movies for it. Hmm.

-Three companions previewed-a young Red Wizard, an aasimar cleric, and a weird undead called One of Many (apparently a collection of hundreds of evil souls forcibly imprisoned).

One of Many. Wasn't that also one of the Morning Stars?

And erm, it just hit me that it seems a little similar to BG2. You start in a dungeon. (Presumably) A wizard is trying/did take something from you. You're left with wounds to tell the tale of your capture. No idea who did it.

Or maybe I'm just stretching it.

Anyways, I'm quite looking forward to it. Just hope I'll have the money for it when it's released. (Yeah I'm planning on getting it immediately. The new base classes(Sorcerous clerics/druids!) and prestige classes look really interesting as do Red Wizards, and Genasi. And all sorts of tweakage. And they *gasp* "really listened to fan feedback." !!!





Erm,

[Bluenose]

The official website (US version):

http://www.atari.com...b/US/index.html

Edited by Bluenose, 13 September 2007 - 07:53 AM.

[Bluenose]

And it's out, at least in Europe - America seems to be later . Picked a copy up on the way home from work, so I'll install it and start playing around tonight to see what's changed.

[Tempest]

I'm envious-no official release date set for the US yet, as far as I know.

[Bluenose]

I'm envious-no official release date set for the US yet, as far as I know.

I believe it's October 8th. You'll have an advantage too, because the beta-testing will have already sorted out the worst problems.

[rpmaster]

The Mask of Betrayer is already in the web - check torrents and Emule. So if dont mind using barely legal and possibly buggy version you can try to download it.
However, i'd like to wait untill official release and several patches - you know that NWN2 became playable only since patch 1.03 and i think that first versions of MoB will have many bugs too.

Edited by rpmaster, 29 September 2007 - 10:28 AM.

[khay]

Yeah it`s pretty good. Runs slightly better too than the regular game, at least on my PC. Haven`t really played it yet, just started the expansion module out of curiosity and first impressions are great.

[Lord Ernie]

Got it in today, and I'm now hating my computer shop for not delivering my new computer system on time (the old one had a breakdown, and my laptop can't run NWN2 if its existence depended upon it). For those looking to install it: read this first. Apparently, Obsidian screwed up the patching process someplace, again.

[Kellen]

I believe it's to be out on October 9th. I'm playing with the idea of pre-ordering, but as it's a week away, not sure if there's much point.

[Bluenose]

Finished playing the expansion story late last night. I'm not going to give out spoilers here, but I think it's a big improvement on the original in many ways, and certainly worth buying and playing. All imo, of course.

The game seems to run significantly smoother than the original and I've had no problems with stability. I also haven't noticed any bugs, though I should note that installing directly over the latest patch has apparently caused serious problems for many people - luckily I was on 1.06something and didn't notice anything. This improvement works throughout and some rather large battles show no slowing down in the engine.

The storyline was quite interesting, with areas to explore that didn't feel like places I'd been before and some interesting opponents. However, some of the things you end up doing are less inspired, wandering around looking for x item to get out of area y isn't exactly original and probably won't be much fun if you have to spend too long at it.

The new companions - when you start the game all the peopleyou were with in the original are gone - are more interesting than the originals, probably because there are less of them and they've had more attention applied to each of them. They are quite a mixed bunch, one Red Wizard, one Spirit Shaman, one Aasimar cleric, and some other characters may be available depending on certain choices you have to make. In fact, I suspect if you do one thing differently to the way I did it you'll have a chance to pick up a different companion later.

For people who want to know what happened to your original companions, you have a chance to find out and even to influence it, which is nice. You may at the end of the game end up back in West Harbour meeting some of them, though that's not the only possible ending.

Though most people won't care as much, the toolset has altered slightly for the better, though I haven't explored it enough to identify more than small changes. And to be fair many of these have already appeared in part in previous patches.

Things I didn't like. I've already said some of the areas can bee tedious, and there's a lack of side-quests, which are things I always like. I suspect that some of the companions will grate on people's nerves (one in particular,

Spoiler

Gann

). And the camera has been changed, just when I'd finally got used to how the original worked Also, the game reset the keyboard commands and altered some of the defaults without telling me, which caused me a certain amount of irritation until I was able to restore my prefered options

As for buying it, I've got absolutely no regrets. Some existing mods don't work with it yet, but the changes needed aren't major. There's no show-stopping bugs except the one with the installation, and there are ways round that. With a little more attention to some areas and a little bit more to the companions I'd call it a great game, as opposed to a very good one.

[Kellen]

I'm buying it Tue if I can get to a mall or Walmart.

[Rastor]

I've got my copy on backorder (which I would strongly recommend doing, since most stores in my area have every single copy that they're getting in reserved for preorder customers) and will be picking it up on Tuesday.

The cost of the expansion is $30.

[Kellen]

We're a small place. Plus I'm not sure it's a lot of use to preorder it now (or more specifically tomorrow(need a card to preorder, I have but cash)).

And yeah, got the cost for the expansion, and theoretically another (cheap) game. Thinking of Dreamfall(not sure the price), PS:T or saving it for later use.

Edited by Kellen, 06 October 2007 - 03:59 PM.

[Rastor]

Okay, guys. I've got the expansion and have played it. Overall, I'd say it's definitely worth the $30.

There's a thread at RPGD detailing my initial impressions.