All of the stuff I want from NWN2 most likely won't happen.
-Two modes for worldbuilding: the old "duh" level map creator with the drag-n-drop landscaping, and a robust map creator similar to UnrealEd/CryEngine Sandbox so people can carve their own maps out with unique textures, models, and dungeon designs without having to make half-assed hacks of old tilesets. If someone wants they should be able to recreate Baldur's Gate 1/2 in 3d.
-Support for a fuller range of DnD skills, like oh...CLIMB AND JUMP.
-Mounts.
-Support for some of the more unusual DnD spells (like the one that creates a phantom mansion for your party to eat and rest in).
-Physics.
-Actual documentation for the scripting calls so the community doesn't have to figure out everything.
-Support for much larger areas, seamless indoor/outdoor transition, loadless transitions.
Naturally, almost none of that is happening.
"The world is populated in the main by people who should not exist." - George Bernard Shaw
Hmmm, so they are going to add in mini-MMO creation features?
Well, then this should have no trouble making it to market in 2008. Or 2009.
Or that will be the first feature cut from the design.
NWN already supports "mini-MMOs" or "persistent worlds" in NWN-speak. The problem is, though, it requires a third party add on to allow you to store things in an ODBC database and lots of clever scripting to make it work. Since the community has already identified most if not all of the limitations in the existing engine for supporting persistent worlds it's not like the developers are going to have to figure out how to do this from scrtach.
Sure, it might have been figured out. But I would not be surprised if the NBH syndrome affects the design team. As in, Not Built Here, so can't be as good.
OTOH, I could just be incredibly pessimistic. The RunUO guys figured this stuff out, as has the NWN community, but that hardly means a dev team will really let Pandora out of her box when a restrictive license like the D&D one is hanging over their heads.
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