Another server out there claims it will be offering custom spells, customs races, custom feats and custom prestige classes. I have seen the list, and it quite large and impressive to say the least, with a Dimension Door teleportation spell and a feat that channels Turn Undead attacks into a damaging bolt.
Now whether or not these will function properly, or will unbalance the game remains to be seen. My question is, will anything like this be seen in ALFA, or is it even possible?
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AcadiusLost
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Certainly, many things are possible in terms of customizations of the engine. They tend to be very time consuming to implement and test, to ensure they work reliably and in a way that doesn't unbalance the game experience for our players.
ALFA has traditionally tried to recreate FR Pen-and-paper 3.5E D&D, so we've not spent time (as some other PWs have) on supporting wacky playable races like pixies, ogres, trolls, vampires, half-celestials, kobolds, etc. It would be difficult for such PCs to "fit" into ALFA's servers in an in-character fashion, so it's not worth the effort to try to accommodate them. Our focus is more on the standard playable races and classes.
Custom spells are something we've supported in NWN1-ALFA, and will continue to develop in NWN2-ALFA. The ACR includes some framework to support scripted scrying, teleportation, and non-detection spells, though these systems are still experimental and unfinished due to a major shortage in scripting expertise of late. I'd certainly like to continue their development, but it has to take a lower priority than other critical scripting projects. The next NWN2 patch (due out in a few weeks) is said to have more than 70 spell changes, so better to wait till the dust settles from those before we do much heavy modding of the spell system.
Prestige classes are another area yet to be determined- if we follow the NWN1-ALFA mode, each will receive careful scrutiny and have custom guidelines and RP requirements, some will be disallowed or modified if they are deemed unbalancing. The same will go for addition of new PrCs- they will need to be weighed to make sure they do not detract from the overall balance and atmosphere of the campaign world before they are introduced. Since prestige classes are not available until further into PC's development, they are not critical to have ready for day one of Live.
Custom skills are something we're dedicated to, I've personally spent countless hours implementing them for ALFA, to have in from day 1 of Live- however currently the NWN2 code isn't able to handle them without a lot of crashes- hopefully this will change in the next patch or two- but once it's resolved, we'll have nearly every skill in the D&D 3.5E Player's Handbook available to take with your character.
Custom feats are also in our interest- especially to add flexibility to the combat system, but again- we're shorthanded in developer skills. Simple things can be added easily, but broad implementations take more time, and these aren't, strictly speaking, a prerequisite for Live.
Hope this helps put ALFA's stance on these things in context- we're definitely adding some things, but we're always going to be more selective about our additions than some other NWN2 communities. Where we can benefit from well-developed content released via nwvault, we will try to do so- but we're not going to add huge lists of feats/race/spells wholesale.
ALFA has traditionally tried to recreate FR Pen-and-paper 3.5E D&D, so we've not spent time (as some other PWs have) on supporting wacky playable races like pixies, ogres, trolls, vampires, half-celestials, kobolds, etc. It would be difficult for such PCs to "fit" into ALFA's servers in an in-character fashion, so it's not worth the effort to try to accommodate them. Our focus is more on the standard playable races and classes.
Custom spells are something we've supported in NWN1-ALFA, and will continue to develop in NWN2-ALFA. The ACR includes some framework to support scripted scrying, teleportation, and non-detection spells, though these systems are still experimental and unfinished due to a major shortage in scripting expertise of late. I'd certainly like to continue their development, but it has to take a lower priority than other critical scripting projects. The next NWN2 patch (due out in a few weeks) is said to have more than 70 spell changes, so better to wait till the dust settles from those before we do much heavy modding of the spell system.
Prestige classes are another area yet to be determined- if we follow the NWN1-ALFA mode, each will receive careful scrutiny and have custom guidelines and RP requirements, some will be disallowed or modified if they are deemed unbalancing. The same will go for addition of new PrCs- they will need to be weighed to make sure they do not detract from the overall balance and atmosphere of the campaign world before they are introduced. Since prestige classes are not available until further into PC's development, they are not critical to have ready for day one of Live.
Custom skills are something we're dedicated to, I've personally spent countless hours implementing them for ALFA, to have in from day 1 of Live- however currently the NWN2 code isn't able to handle them without a lot of crashes- hopefully this will change in the next patch or two- but once it's resolved, we'll have nearly every skill in the D&D 3.5E Player's Handbook available to take with your character.
Custom feats are also in our interest- especially to add flexibility to the combat system, but again- we're shorthanded in developer skills. Simple things can be added easily, but broad implementations take more time, and these aren't, strictly speaking, a prerequisite for Live.
Hope this helps put ALFA's stance on these things in context- we're definitely adding some things, but we're always going to be more selective about our additions than some other NWN2 communities. Where we can benefit from well-developed content released via nwvault, we will try to do so- but we're not going to add huge lists of feats/race/spells wholesale.
Cool, thanks for the informative response. I am glad the team is putting quality before quantity. 
Content of that nature would of course be meaningless if not done properly.
As for the other server I get the feeling that all this new stuff is going to greatly unbalance it, and just make it wacky, if it works at all. So 3 cheers for moderation!
Thanks again for the clear response.
Content of that nature would of course be meaningless if not done properly. As for the other server I get the feeling that all this new stuff is going to greatly unbalance it, and just make it wacky, if it works at all. So 3 cheers for moderation!
Thanks again for the clear response.
Ive been working on a Pnp version of summoning spells. I always liked being able to summon more than one creature type and number in BG1.
Just need to create the individual creature blue prints and clean up some scripting and test it. Need to also decide on a summoning limit and make sure that the AI Alfa ends up using makes some sort of an Int check on a hostile creature so that depending it doesnt focus mainly on attacking summonings. Some should probably even decide to charge the caster.
I would also like to take a crack at Teleportation if i can find the time have a decent idea on how to do along and the GUI interface mapped out.
If youd like to take a look at what i have for summoning so far heres a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqdLCXcatio
Just need to create the individual creature blue prints and clean up some scripting and test it. Need to also decide on a summoning limit and make sure that the AI Alfa ends up using makes some sort of an Int check on a hostile creature so that depending it doesnt focus mainly on attacking summonings. Some should probably even decide to charge the caster.
I would also like to take a crack at Teleportation if i can find the time have a decent idea on how to do along and the GUI interface mapped out.
If youd like to take a look at what i have for summoning so far heres a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqdLCXcatio