Wendersnaven.com (a resource for nwn2 builders)

sgt_why asked a great question about writing conversations that are multiplayer friendly. Check it out for yourself here:

http://nwcitadel.forgottenrealmsweave.org/showthread.php?t=1175

A decent amount of this comes down to the options on a conversation. Open a conversation and check the options window and you'll see several items of interest. The mains ones here are Multiplayer Cutscene and NWN1 style.

Here is a response that I wrote up for that thread and decided to repost here: 

The multi-player flag got a bad wrap because it was over used in the OC. If you don't have it set to multi-player, you should have it set to use the NWN1 style of conversation. A good rule of thumb seems to be:

• If it's a cut scene where you want everyone to stay in place because people are moving around and there's a lot of scripting (or just because it's an important plot point and you want everyone to pay attention), use NWN2 style and make it a multi-player conversation.
• If it's a standard dialog where you don't have scripting and don't need to "pause the game", leave multi-player set to false and use the NWN1 style.

Here is a good description by Nimdolf a while back on how multiplayer works in the OC:

"Well after playing the OC with my friend online, it works like this. Whoever triggers the cutscene gets to control it, pick what to say, etc. and all of the other players see the cutscene also and what choices you choose. If you join the game midway through a cutscene however you must wait until it is over to do anything."

Again, that is with the options set to NWN2 style and multi-player. If you don't have multi-player set to TRUE, they are not involved, but I think they are stuck in limbo. If you have the style set to NWN1 and multi-player set to FALSE, players can run around and talk to whomever they want.

Another point is to watch your conversation triggers. All too often you end up with rogues and rangers doing the talking because they are scouting ahead and there is no way to "hand off" the conversation. Usually this is fine. In important conversations where a party might elect a different PC to do the talking, however, let them start it on their terms and you'll take care of a lot of this.