It has alot of landscape, and is very well built. It has a good community of dedicated RP players, and DM's alike. Their official website is www.nwnravenloft.com
Just thought I would get that out to whomever might be interested!
More information can be found below in more detail in my replies!
The sad thing is I only own NWN2 and can't get into NWN anymore (overplayed and dated look...)
But maybe i'll retry it with this Ravenloft PW!
I really hope you do give it a shot. Heck, I hope every fan of Ravenloft gives this Persistant World a try. It has been around for a little over 5 years now, and is consistantly being updated to this day. When a few patches are downloaded from their website, music, and things like that. You really come into this world feeling like it's the Ravenloft you know and love.
The community, DM's and players alike, truly strive to make everyone's experience great. Any fan of Ravenloft would be doing themselves a complete injustice by not giving this a go.
As in Ravenloft, in this world. You truly do have to fear the night. And be concious of your actions. One great thing is how it's not simply a hack and slash adventure, ever. Because at anytime, something you think you know, could be instantly changed due to DM interaction.
When it comes down to a "dated look". As NWN was a very crisp game when released, and years later, when playing in a world developed by people who share your same love for Ravenloft, and want you to enjoy it to it's fullest, you'll hardly notice.
So, I hope you'll check out their website, and give it a shot.
I am wondering, is there a "hot" time to be on when the most players are on? Does the game world have functionality without a player DM present? I.e. can I wander off and complete a quest solo? Can you elaborate more on what to expect as I would need to acquire the game and clean up my computer some to run it.
I have another question. In the NWN system can you character actually die for good? I know in the one player mode you would just load your save etc. I understand why this is for those, but when a DM is present, can you actually die for good? This is a major pet peeve for me because I have played many pen and paper campaigns where the DM would simply not allow you to die. It completely kills the atmosphere of the game for me. I know my brother hosted a NWN game (probably dragonlance or forgotten realms I forget) and he said they had to be liberal with the raise dead type options because it was too easy for characters to be run down by a pack of enemies due to the nature of it being hosted through a computer game.
First off, I'd like to say. I'm glad your showing interest!
People are expected to play their characters how -they- would play their characters, and a little of how they -should- be played. Native Ravenloft PC's would obviously have fear of the night. As they grown up, being taught to fear it. And perhaps, have seen some unexplaned things themselves. Even being that as it may, you are a PC, and mostly, an adventurer. So no one is expected you to not venture out at night. Just a warning however, there is reason to fear the night, because any manner of creature can and well lurk. By that I mean, higher scaled monsters will spawn at night. Just because your level one, does not mean in the slightest you will not run into a level 7 or whatever Ware-creature.
And yes, there are quite a few DMs, on various time zones.
I would assume most of the players are around EST in time zone. However, there are always players around. Even at 5-6am EST. There are still likely to be a good 20 people or so around. And that I believe is about as off hours as it gets.
The game is completely functional without any sort of DM interaction period. The world is yours. There is not alot of "Questing" as it is. The quest is what -you- as the players, make it. There are odd jobs certain NPCs will offer in exchange for coin however. Such as, by hunting Minks for the Vistani, and returning the fur, or even rats in the sewers for the crazy old "Ratter", in the Vallaki slums.
DM's do however regularly run "Plots" these can involve anyone. And the DM's even have special restricted access areas they can then allow you access to, to run the plot. One such place is Castle Ravenloft. While you may approach the main gates, they can only be opened by a DM. "No one simply walks into Castle Ravenloft".
To run the game you'll need the NWN base game + expansions. The CEP (Community Expansion Pack) Which includes thousands of new tilesets, placeables, ect. That the NWN Community has put together to allow Persistant World creators more tools to give their world the best "living" world feeling possible. And the Ravenloft patch files. Every link to download these and instructions can be found on the website.
There are other "Optional" things you can download and install, such as, the custom Ravenloft music, and skybox, or even GUI.
The total size of my NWN installation is 13.3GB.
When it comes to Prisoners of the Mist.. Death, should be feared. In short, can your character die for good? Yes, yes they can. However, this is only through a DM, and sometimes, at a players discression. There are many options involving "Perma-Death". And the short answer is, It can happen.
If you die from a monster however, while simply out fighting, or even another player, under the right circumstances. You die, from there you are in the fungal plane I believe it is called, where you travel as a spirit. From there, you can...
Return to the living automatically. This comes with -extremely- harsh repercussions, in the form of -Massive- XP loss. And at higher levels, perhaps even multiple levels. It is not meant to be used lightly. At very low level, there penaties are light. (Levels 2-3) But, they are still there.
Return to the world of the living, to wander as a spirit. You move very slowly, and to return to the living, a player must cast Raise Dead or Ressurection on your corpse that you leave behind. Or, your corpse picked up, and carried to an NPC for ressurrection. At the cost of.. 100GP per level I believe, no small fee.
I hope I've answered most of your questions, and if you have any others, simply reply.
I have to say, I am quite dismayed by so little response. I was hoping to gather together some Ravenloft fans for good gaming in one place. As I've said before though, iaf nyone has any questions, feel free.
I am also throughly bothered by how dead this forum is. The fun I had playing Ravenloft in AD&D2e I could only put on par with watching your favorite movie or going on your favorite rollercoaster ride. Coming across the official forum like this I expected more users. I have to wonder if pen and paper rpgs will really last on any relevant scale. The game stores are filled with card games being played, and games like WOW have sucked a lot of people into the fake virtual world of online gaming, a world where most players will not make any true lasting friendships like you can over a table rolling dice.
The Ravenloft server I was mentioning has been seeing quite a few new players, and I hope some of them learned about it from here or one of the various other sources I posted at.
Have you looked into it any further, Ron?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJz9PdC1c4w