Neverwinter Nights 2: NWN 2: MotB Preview

Gamespot editors had a chance to interview Obsidian lead designer Kevin Saunders. The interview/preview focuses on the story, characters and improvements:

GS: This sounds like it's a high-level expansion for existing players, rather than something that newcomers can jump into and play. Can you transfer your existing NWN2 character into the expansion? Can you create a new character and start from level one in the new campaign, or is that a recipe for disaster?

KS: It is a high-level campaign, and you will be able to transfer your existing NWN2 character. You can also create a new character if you want, especially if you're interested in trying out some of the new race and class options. In both cases, if your character is lower than a certain level, we'll give you enough experience points to level up to where the Mask of the Betrayer expects you to be.

NX1 is intended to provide a continuation of the character from NWN2, but it isn't really a continuation of the NWN2 story and no NWN2 knowledge is necessary to fully enjoy it.

And...

GS: Finally, what enhancements to the mod-making tools are being made in the expansion? How about changes or enhancements to multiplayer?

KS: Obsidian, Atari, Wizards of the Coast, and Hasbro all fully recognize the importance of the mod community and are continuously working to improve NWN2 in this regard. Mask of the Betrayer's lead programmer, Rich Taylor, is especially dedicated to improving NWN2 for modders, persistent world creators, and multiplayer gamers. Improvements to the toolset are continuously underway and are available through patches to NWN2. You'll need NX1 to get the new creatures, tilesets, and other content, but we didn't want the community to have to wait for toolset enhancements.

We've been adding many usability features, such as undo for terrain sculpting (courtesy of the aforementioned Adam Brennecke) and a creature appearance wizard (implemented by NX1 programmer Josh Verall) that make it much easier to try out different armor appearances, among other things. Our lead scripter, Charles Mead, who hails from the NWN1 mod community, is constantly adding to NWN2's impressive library of global scripts. We'll continue improving upon the toolset, with most of the enhancements coming directly from the feedback we receive from the various NWN2 communities.

We're designing the campaign in NX1 to be more multiplayer-friendly through various design decisions (fewer cutscenes, for example, which can be disruptive in cooperative multiplayer). And, like with the toolset improvements, we're enhancing various aspects of the multiplayer experience through the ongoing NWN2 updates.

Head over to the link above to read the rest. All in all a decent read with a couple of new screens to boot.