Wendersnaven.com (a resource for nwn2 builders)

Working for a fine group like Thieves Guild is a great way to get involved in the NWN 2 community. Here's their "ad":

Once again folks the TG is putting out a call for help. We're looking for a couple of moderators right now. It's a pretty easy job, as we're a pretty friendly community. Just answer a few posts here and there.

Also we're looking for some one who likes to travel. LOL We need someone to browse the internet for NWN news and make up a news report for Sunday. Actually, it's a pretty easy job too.

If your interested or have questions, contact cal1s, kgambit, or lurchman.

Head to the link above and apply today!

The Houston Chronicle has posted a review of Mask of the Betrayer penned by Dwight Odelius. It's a short but very positive review:

Last year's Neverwinter Nights 2, a role-playing game for Windows PCs, released to critical fanfare and player enthusiasm.

That enthusiasm was shortly muted, however, by technical and game design bugs. By the time these got fixed, many attention-deficit gamers had already been lured away to the next shiny new game.

Read the conclusion.

Rob McGinnis has updated the Obsidian Community Blog. As always, it's a terrific read, jam-packed with tons of information. Among other things, the community created content site Neverwinter Citadel is profiled:

The NeverWinter Citadel Project is a gathering place of members of the NWN/2 Community. It is a place founded on the principle of people helping people with module building in mind. The Citadel's premise is that, for our Community to remain strong, vibrant and healthy, there must be a place where anyone can go to learn about, teach, discuss and collect knowledge on all aspects of NeverWinter Nights 2 and it's predecessor: NeverWinter Nights.

The Citadel isn't like any other fan-related site. We don't require you to be a module builder, a roleplayer or a custom content creator -- or even to be able to use or run the toolset. All we really focus on is providing a place where anyone is welcome to talk about all aspects of NWN/2. If you have need of a tutorial, we can direct and assist you. If you are looking for a Persistent World (PW) or Roleplaying (RP) site, we probably know of it and might even have a link to it.

One of the things that sets the Citadel apart from most sites is what we do for our members. We provide not just general forums -- we can provide you with your own forum space to work on your module, project, idea or type of custom content. We have many members who will be more than happy to assist with just about any aspect of module building, custom content scripts and even some really decent modeling talent. What we have for our members isn't fancy -- it does work and it is free.

Click below for more in the blog.

We received this today from our pals at Thieves Guild It sounds like they have another top-notch offering for the community:

Thanks to the efforts of our very own Lurchman,Thieve's Guild has finished all three Acts of the Mask of the Betrayer walkthrough, complete with maps.

We plan to "tweak" it a bit with additional info thatgot glossed over on the first pass. Stay tuned.

Click below for the direct links.

Game Tap has posted a review of Mask of the Betrayer and handed it a score of 7/10 and a "try it" rating. Handing the game some high praise, the reviewer said:

Instead of saving the world from a massive menace, you'll find yourself figuring out who's placed a nasty curse on you and why. In the process you'll explore people's dreams (which are a shadow version of the normal NWN2 universe), try to cut in line in a sort of interdimensonal version of the DMV, and even take part of a sort of Paradise Lost-style uprising. Simply put, Mask of the Betrayer is quite possibly the most original, and best, Dungeons & Dragons game since the days of Baldur's Gate II and PlaneScape: Torment.

Heady stuff indeed. Click below for some of the "cons" of MotB.

French site, Neverwinter Nights 2 posted an announcement from Atari about a premium module program beginning with the release of "Mysteries of
Westgate" being developed by [a href="http://www.ossianstudios.com"]Ossian Studios:

LYON, FRANCE - 22 October 2007 - Atari today announced the forthcoming launch of the first Neverwinter Nights™ 2 Adventure Pack to be available exclusively via digital download, bringing a wealth of new content to the Neverwinter Nights 2 experience and growing the franchise still further. Created by Atari and some of the most prominent members of the Neverwinter Nights 2 communities, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate provides hours of additional entertainment with all new engrossing storylines, professional voice acting, enchanting musical scores, new in-game content, and much more. Neverwinter Nights 2 is set in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Forgotten Realms® universe created by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS). DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from HPG, the licensing division of Hasbro.

Click below for more.

The latest version of NWN Podcast is available for download. Here's the agenda:

And NOW, without further A DO! Your next episode of the Neverwinter Nights podcast!

Once again there is lots of news, and for the main topic we have a Toolset Round Table Discussion led by renowned artist and NWN modeler, Jonny Ree. He is joined by Bruce Nielson famous for his Light Reborn series and story-telling; Jason Roy, the winner of the Obsidian NWN2 Module Contest with Grimm Brigade; and Zachary Holbrook, second place winner of the contest with his module called the Birthday.

Gamespot has posted a comprehensive game guide for Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer. Sections include:

• Followers
• Spirit-Eating Tips
• Act I Walkthrough

Click below to see what else is included.

IGN has assigned Mask of the Betrayer a "great" rating of 8.5/10.00. Editors had this to say:

Meter issues aside, you'll find Mask of the Betrayer's narrative to be well done overall. You don't spend loads of time dungeon crawling mostly because there aren't that many huge dungeons to crawl around in. Most combat areas are smaller and feature less enemies than you might expect with a game like this, keeping the focus on plot and character development. A notable exception is the Academy, which requires a surprising amount of problem solving skills to complete. It can be an enjoyable diversion, featuring a number of side-quests to absorb your time like a golem boxing match. It really jumps out of nowhere, however, and slows down the game's otherwise high-tempo progression. It isn't really a problem, just unexpected. When you do head out into the field to fight, expect some challenging resistance, as many foes in the game will easily shred an improperly buffed party.

Read the conclusion by clicking below.

Eurogamer has posted the latest review of Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer. Scoring MotB at 7/10, the reviewer opined:

Of course, Neverwinter Nights' "thing" is the integrated level-creation system, and an attraction of the content is that you can use all of it in your own adventures. So, for people who just like new content, this add-on pack is attractive even if you never have to play. Also, the manual is much nicer than the one that came with NWN2, which counts for a lot in these lands of lore.

What's it like? Well, the new material's welcome and pretty damn neat. The two new classes are Favoured Soul and Spirit Shaman. The former is basically a Cleric who doesn't do the work - God Just Loves Them - and basically acts like Sorcerer to the Cleric's Mage. Those who don't know what polyhedral dice are will be a little lost by now, but not as lost as they'll be when I say that the Spirit Shamans are a bit like the Favoured Soul to the Druid's Shaman, except with digging spirits instead of trees.

Click below for the conclusion.

Assigning Mask of the Betrayer a "good" rating of 3.5 stars out of 5, Gamespy has posted their review. The quick pros and cons:

Pros

Great storyline and characters; fun quests; new classes; terrific additions to Toolkit; epic feats and spells; excellent use of lighting.

Cons

Poor camera; confusing and chaotic combat; bugs and gameplay glitches; issues with spirit meter.

Click for the conclusion.

Shane DeFreest has posted the final community update, this time focusing on prestige classes in Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer. Kevin Saunders takes on the task:

We had hoped to get this out prior to the release. But as most of you can guess this week has been a little crazy. However, we did want to answer your questions. So this week Lead Designer and Producer Kevin Saunders gives some insight into Prestige Classes!

Hope everyone is enjoying the expansion!

-Shane

Question: Is there any chance of shifter being implemented eventually?

Obsidian: Well, the shifter isn't part of D&D 3.5, but it would be possible for another shapeshifting-oriented PrC to be implemented in the future.

Click below to read the rest.

Action Trip has the second of today's reviews of Mask of the Betrayer. Scoring games on a 100 point scale, the reviewer gave MotB 86, a "Very Good" rating:

Also, with all the NWN 2 patches applied, everything mostly works better than before; but alas still not without errors. Certain bugs are present and may spoil your experience on a number of occasions. Personally, during one of my quests I couldn't pass through one of the shadow portals. Getting back to a saved game solved the problem, albeit I did experience the issue one more time.

Read the conclusion.

Gamespot has posted its review of NWN 2: Mask of the Betrayer. The review scores MotB at 8.0/10.00 with the qualifier that it's "GREAT":

Mask of the Betrayer brings a lot of exciting new things to Neverwinter Nights. First off, there are new races in the form of the elemental genasi and wood elves, as well as new character and prestige classes. If you want to play the original NWN2 with these new races and classes, you can. The setting of spirit-infested Rashemen is a refreshing change of pace from the Sword Coast, which has been the subject of countless D&D games. Rashemen makes for a much more haunted setting, particularly when you take into account the shadow plane, an alternate mirror dimension that feels as if you're trapped in a nightmare. Mask of the Betrayer introduces some cool new characters and companions, and even more intriguingly, the companions you have access to depend on key decisions you make throughout the game. For instance, if you spare the spirit of a bear god during a pivotal battle, he'll accompany you on your travels and open up quests that you would have otherwise not had access to. These decisions basically fall in good and evil categories, so there's not a lot of moral gray area in the game.

WAIT! There's more!

Atari representative, MattLab announced in this forum thread that a digital download of Mask of the Betrayer is available at Atari.com:

Atari, Inc. is pleased to announce that the Digital Download version of Neverwinter Nights™ 2: Mask of the Betrayer for the Windows platform is now available on http://www.Atari.com/us.

Neverwinter Nights™ 2: Mask of the Betrayer will present players with an
exciting new campaign, epic levels, dozens of new feats and spells, new races, base classes and prestige classes, new companions, new weapons, armor and crafting options, hordes of new monsters, and enhanced modding tools. This is an expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights™ 2 and requires the original NWN2 game to play.

For More Information on Neverwinter Nights™ 2: Mask of the Betrayer please
click HERE

Read more!

Titled "Flirting With Greatness", Game Informer Online has posted a short but stellar review of Mask of the Betrayer. Handing MotB a 9/10 score, the reviewer says:

Forget about the problems that the original NWN 2 shipped with. That game's frustrating AI bugs, crappy interface design, and questionable performance have all been fixed in the year since its release. Mask of the Betrayer (and the latest patch for the base game as well) plays like NWN 2 always ought to have. The difference is massive.

Thieve's Guild Content Staff member kgambit sent over the following excellent news:

What's New at Thieve's Guild?

Over the last few weeks, the staff at Thieve's Guild has been busy getting the site in shape for the release of Mask of the Betrayer. We have done a major overhaul of the content, adding over 100 pages of new content, most of it related to MotB. The OC hasn't been forgotten either.

In addition to the new content, we have also added a lot of new graphics and artwork to dress up the site. So here is a summary of what we've done so far:

First of all, we've re-arranged the site layout slightly with the three main menus on the left side now running sequentially from Character creation to the Original Campaign and then to Mask of the Betrayer. Makes it easier to find things.

The Character Creation section has a lot of new content from Mask of the Betrayer in it. After some feedback by our members we decided to provide dual links from this section and the Mask of the Betrayer section to that content. Why? Simply because a lot of the new content can also be accessed in the OC and can directly impact your character choices. It didn't make sense to us to separate it from similar content. We've made additions to the Races, Domains, Base Class and Prestige class sections to include the new content added by the Expansion. The biggest addition is the Epic level character section which details Epic level character progression past level 20 and includes a link to a page devoted entirely to epic level feats.

But wait! There's more so click "permalink".

1Up has posted one of the first US reviews of Mask of the Betrayer. It is an extremely short review (as compared to the excellent and thorough NW Vault review) and the editors hand MotB a score of 8.0 out of 10:

Mask is not without problems, though. Even all these patches later, with two new "modes" to play in, NWN2's still got one of the most annoying, impossible-to-use cameras ever. (Obsidian: Please ditch this engine, for all our sakes, next time out.) The new NPCs are a fine, but mostly humorless, bunch.

A review of Mask of the Betrayer has popped up at Neverwinter Vault. The writer, Dormammu, assigned MotB a score of 8.86 out of a possible 10 with very high marks in role playing, atmosphere and storytelling:

One of the first things gamers will notice is the expansion to playable races, classes, and prestige classes. The Sacred Fist PRC intrigued me and I was quite impressed with how well it worked out in the game. Being able to use the Wisdom score in a multifaceted way for both Monk and Clerics made for an extremely gratifying build that played very sensibly.

The choice of Half-Drow may have been somewhat lackluster on my part, being that there are more attractive offerings in this expansion, like the various Genasi, but I felt I wanted to give a voice to "the little guy". In fact, I feel that monks and half-elves are overlooked a lot (close personal friends notwithstanding). The Half-Drow offers little more than the average half-elf, however, one really neat little function the Half Drow gets is the ability to switch between low-light vision and darkvision. It may not sound like much, but it actually comes in handy for those that like to see in dark places. I thought it was fun that they made the distinction.

Read a bit more.

Atari and Obsidian Entertainment announced to day that Mask of the Betrayer, the first expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2, has shipped to retail markets across the United States. Already receiving favorable European reviews due to last week's release, gamers are anticipating the continuance of the adventure!

Click below to read the official press release.