What is the multiplayer like?

[Albi]

I was thinking about buying this so I could play with a friend but I can't figure out how multiplayer is like. What is there to do?

[Messsucher]

Good.

[DrLoboto]

AFAIK, there are three different possibilities to play multiplayer:

1. You and your friend play through the official campaign and/or and the first expansion Shadows of Undrentide, or a user-made adventure that specifically allows for multiplayer (not all of them do). The second expansion Hordes of the Underdark might be possible to play through in multiplayer, too, but I heard there are some issues. Of the DLC, I think only Pirates of the Sword Coast and Infinite Dungeons officially support multiplayer.
2. You and your friend log onto a so called Persistant World (PW), which is like a mini MMO, an online world created and hosted by users which is usually accessible to everyone, so you might run into and interact with other players. Some of these are more action-oriented with pre-scripted quests, others are strictly roleplay, meaning you are meant to stay in character and not talk about meta stuff while playing. Sometimes administrators may take on the role of NPCs or monsters and entertain you.
3. You and your friend either join another group or run your own game in which one of the users assumes the role of a dungeon master, taking control of NPCs and monsters and creating an adventure for the other player(s).

The more common options would be 1. and 2. In those case, you will both control your own character and you can form a party and fight together, but theoretically you can also split up whenever you want to (even while remaining in the same party) and explore on your own. In case 1. one of you will open an online game and host it for the other player to join (anyone who owns NWN can do this, you don't need anything else or any particular knowledge), in case 2. you will both join the server of the according PW team. Note that in case 1. the pre-written adventures will often assume that the NPCs are always talking to the same character as the hero of the story; it's not perfect but it works if you agree that one of you is the main character doing most of the talking for the main quests, or if you can live with the occasional confusion now and then. ;)

[StrayBullet]

Check out the multiplayer servers: most have their own websites also. https://nwn.beamdog.net/

[Zuluhed]

Sorry for stupid question, but do the achievements work for guests in coop? I tried with friend , we finished prologue, but i didnt get any achievement for that. Same thing with Baldurs Gate:EE, achievements work only for host. Also, we dont use any mods, if it might be a reason.

[Ninja]

Originally posted by Albi:

I was thinking about buying this so I could play with a friend but I can't figure out how multiplayer is like. What is there to do?

I guess maybe to clarify for me, are you asking what multiplayer is like when you know about Neverwinter Nights' mechanics/gameplay already or are you coming into the game fresh with no knowledge about it and asking how multiplayer is because you just want to play a coop game with a friend?

If you're coming into the game knowing how to play already then DrLoboto pretty much summed up what the possibilities are: Playing through the official campaigns and/or DLC privately or publicly, playing in a custom player-made world/server (which needs a whole section of explanation itself because there's SO many different types of servers), and playing as a Dungeon Master to lead your own server/story.

If you're coming into the game NOT knowing anything about the game itself, then just imagine playing a top-down fantasy RPG like Pillars Of Eternity or Divinity: Original Sin (but real-time combat instead of turn-based), or even something like Diablo (not as fast-paced or action-y but way more customization) but with friends and/or strangers. There's different races to choose from, classes to mix and match with, loot to gather, quests to complete, etc...

Originally posted by Zuluhed:

Sorry for stupid question, but do the achievements work for guests in coop? I tried with friend , we finished prologue, but i didnt get any achievement for that. Same thing with Baldurs Gate:EE, achievements work only for host. Also, we dont use any mods, if it might be a reason.

Can't say for sure how the achievements work since I originally played NWN through the Beamdog Client and not Steam. I'd assume achievements would work in coop. Did your friend get an achievement after the prologue but you didn't?