Post by rhapsodae on Sept 18, 2013 23:38:42 GMT
It's probably not a secret to anyone even remotely related to NWN. But NWn and it's succesor ended up vanishing from the web, servers closing and official support denied and deleted.
I'm searching in the darkness of what actually might have happend on business level but i came across a good speculation on a forum unknown:
I'm searching in the darkness of what actually might have happend on business level but i came across a good speculation on a forum unknown:
"All of this is speculation on my part. But, since no one involved is talking these are the best guesses I can make about why NWN1/2 has nearly vanished from retailers and commercial websites.
Something has gone terribly wrong with the terms of a Atari - Hasbro settlement, particularly with the sale of Cryptic Studios. Personally, I believe Atari, and all the studios involved in the production of "Neverwinter" based IP have lost the right to use the name retroactively. Specifically when Atari sold Cryptic to that Chinese MMO sweatshop company, which was holding the current license to use the name. IANAL but somehow, my best guess is that someone in legal wasn't paying attention and didn't realize the retroactive use of the name was being given up.
Why do I think this? Look at what has happened in the last year: Atari settles with Hasbro, Atari sells Cryptic to Perfect World, 6 months later all Neverwinter Nights related products disappear from Atari's site. All US based digital content distributors (GoG, Steam, etc.), pull the titles and will only say "no further information is available" when inquiries are made. All studios involved in Neverwinter Nights content suddenly remove almost all WoTC artwork and references to Neverwinter Nights not shown in plain text fonts: Obsidian, EA Bioware, and even Ossian's MoG home page is reduced to plain text.
I ran across all this because, somewhere along the lines of the last 6 years, I never got around to buying NWN2. I went looking about a month ago and let me tell you it has been a headache. The web is littered by a metaphorical fallout of broken links to places that sell "NWN2" or the expansions. The platinum edition has risen to over $100 on eBay and Amazon.
What went wrong? I don't exactly know. Either part of the Atari-Hasbro settlement involved no further use of the name or when Atari sold Cryptic the retroactive use of the name mistakenly went with that sale. Either way, this is bad, especially for Hasbro. Obviously, a lot of work goes into game development. Developers and publishers will not want to work with an IP owner that has a history of pulling rug out from under them on future sales of existing work. Especially now, in the era of digital downloads where things can become popular in retro gaming years after release. Even if Atari made the mistake during their sale of Cryptic, the appearance to me, and a lot of other people, is that Hasbro yanked the rights to sell a finished and shipped game. Not just one, but 2 games with 2 expansions and other DLC in the process.
Yea I know, that didn't answer your question... but I'm hoping that it will shed light on the problem. Here is how I managed to finally purchase NWN2, the expansions and Mysteries of Westgate: Call up your local Gamestop and ask them to if they have "Neverwinter Nights Complete". And, if they don't, ask them to search inventories of nearby stores. I got one marked down to twenty-something dollars and it includes Mysteries of Westgate.
The box warns you it won't run on 64 bit systems, but that's incorrect. Here's how I made mine run on Windows 7 Ultimate: First, download and install DirectX 9.xC for Windows 7. No, it doesn't come with version 9 natively installed, but if you have Steam and any older games installed it's already likely to be on your system. Next, install NWN2 from the DVD. When it's finished right click the NWN2 icon and select properties. Click the Compatibility tab, click the first checkbox and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3), and then click okay. The game runs for me glitch free this way.
Cheers...
Edited by Luridis, 21 December 2012 - 08:03 PM. "
