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Q: Have you played any of BioWare's Premium Neverwinter Nights modules?
(373
votes total)
No and I don't intend to in the future (117) 31%
Yes, 1-3 of them (96) 26%
I don't own NWN and/or the required expansions (55) 15%
No, but I intend to in the future (50) 13%
Yes, all of them (35) 9%
Yes, 4-5 of them (20) 5%
Nearly a third of those who have voted (31%) haven't played any of BioWare's Premium NWN modules.
Slightly more than a quarter (26%) of the poll participants, however, have played 1-3 Premium NWN modules.
15% of the participants in the poll don't own NWN and/or the required expansions for the premium modules, so naturally they haven't played any of them. Only a couple of percents fewer votes (13%) have been contributed by those who haven't played any Premium NWN modules yet, but intend to play them in the future.
9% of those who have voted have played all 6 of the Premium NWN modules, followed by the remaining 5% of those who have played 4-5 of the modules.
Q: Do you use prestige classes in D&D CRPGs where they are available, or prefer core classes?
(433
votes total)
I use both prestige and core classes (310) 72%
I use only core classes (123) 28%
Not surprisingly, the majority of those who have voted (72%) use both prestige and core classes in D&D CRPGs where they are available.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, more than a quarter of the poll participants (28%) stick only to the core classes and never use any prestige ones in D&D CRPGs that they play.
Q: On a scale of 1-5, how excited are you about the upcoming NWN2 expansion, Mask of the Betrayer?
(518
votes total)
1 (don't care) (183) 35%
5 (very) (128) 25%
4 (91) 18%
3 (73) 14%
2 (43) 8%
The relative majority of the poll participants (35%) don't care about Mask of the Betrayer NWN2 expansion at all.
A quarter of those who have voted (25%), however, are very much excited about the upcoming expansion.
Another 18% of the poll participants rate their excitement 4/5, 14% 3/5 and 8% 2/5.
All in all, there's quite a bit of excitement about the Mask of the Betrayer expansion.
Q: If you could live anywhere in a D&D fantasy world, which one would you pick?
(1098
votes total)
Forgotten Realms (679) 62%
Planescape (213) 19%
Dragonlance (77) 7%
Greyhawk (51) 5%
Ravenloft (31) 3%
Eberron (28) 3%
Other (19) 2%
We ran a nearly identical poll here on SP 6 years ago (boy, was the Internet a different place then), and since I've thought that this would be one of the rare few worth repeating, I've added the Eberron setting which has been born since the original poll has been run, and the results are quite interesting to observe and compare with the original poll results.
The Forgotten Realms setting is still the perennial favourite (and probably will be until the end of time - its popularity is only growing), with 62% of votes the D&D fantasy setting the majority of our visitors would like to live in. In 2001, 56% of our visitors have picked this setting.
Planescape is a bit more popular as the fantasy setting to live in now (19%) than it was in 2001 (16%).
Interestingly, Dragonlance at the present has only been picked by 7% of our visitors as the D&D fantasy world they'd like to live in the most, whereas in 2001 16% of the poll participants have picked it as their favourite, and the setting was evenly matched with Planescape. There are probably several contributing factors to this marked decline in Dragonlance's popularity, with the fact that there haven't been any new Dragonlance PC games in years likely in the forefront.
Greyhawk is still just as popular as in 2001, with 5% of votes both times.
Ravenloft's popularity has slightly declined, from 4% in 2001 to the current 3%. Eberron, WotC's (failed?) rival to the behemoth FR setting is equally (un)popular, with only 3% of votes from people who have chosen it as the D&D fantasy world they'd like to live in the most.
Finally, WotC's other abandoned settings (Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Mystara, Birthright...) have managed to accumulate a mere 2% of votes, a slight decline from 3% seen in 2001.
Q: Have you played any fan-made Neverwinter Nights 2 modules yet?
(416
votes total)
I don't own NWN2 (198) 48%
No (160) 38%
Yes (58) 14%
Nearly half of the poll participants (48%) don't own Neverwinter Nights 2 (yet), so naturally, they haven't been able to play any fan-made NWN2 modules.
The large majority (around 75%) of our visitors who do own the game, however, haven't played any fan-made NWN2 modules yet.
The remaining 25% of our visitors who do own the game have already played at least one fan-made NWN2 module.
Q: Which of the Icewind Dale games did you like best?
(844
votes total)
Icewind Dale II (241) 29%
Icewind Dale (207) 25%
I liked both equally (149) 18%
I haven't played either of them (89) 11%
I've only played IWD2 (85) 10%
I've only played the original IWD (73) 9%
Much to my surprise, the relative majority of the poll participants (29%) have voted for Icewind Dale II as their favourite game in the series. The original Icewind Dale came in as the favourite of a quarter (25%) of our visitors.
Interestingly, 18% of those who have voted like both Icewind Dale games equally.
Only 11% of the poll participants haven't played either the original Icewind Dale or the sequel, followed by 10% of those who have only played Icewind Dale II and 9% of those who have only played the original Icewind Dale.
Q: Roughly how many different Baldur's Gate 2 NPC mods have you tried out?
(691
votes total)
None (260) 38%
4-6 (94) 14%
I haven't played BG2 (57) 8%
7-9 (52) 8%
2 (46) 7%
40+ (46) 7%
1 (35) 5%
10-14 (34) 5%
3 (30) 4%
15-19 (17) 2%
20-24 (10) 1%
25-29 (4) 1%
30-34 (3) 0%
35-39 (3) 0%
The relative majority of those who have voted in the poll (38%) haven't played any BG2 NPC mods whatsoever.
14% of those who have voted have played between 4-6 NPC mods, followed by 8% of those haven't played Baldur's Gate 2 at all.
Another 8% of the poll participants have played between 7-9 Baldur's Gate 2 NPC mods, followed by 7% of those who have played 2 NPC mods and another 7% of hardcore BG2 NPC mod junkies who have played over 40 such mods.
5% of those who have voted in the poll have tried out only 1 BG2 NPC mod, and another 5% have tried between 10-14 such mods.
The remaining 9% are divided among those of our visitors who have played 3 BG2 NPC mods (4%), 15-19 of them (2%) and 20-39 BG2 NPC mods (3%).
Q: In CRPGs, do you prefer to have classic, painted portraits of your characters, or "portraits" generated from the characters' 3D models, like in Neverwinter Nights 2?
(654
votes total)
I prefer classic portraits (508) 78%
I prefer 3D model-based portraits (79) 12%
I have no preference (67) 10%
Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of the poll participants (78%) prefer classic portraits of their characters in CRPGs over the fake "portraits" generated on the cheap from character 3D models.
3D model-generated portraits are not quite without fans, however, since 12% of those who have voted actually prefer them over the classic, painted portraits.
10% of all who have voted are not at all choosy, having no preference for classic or model-based portraits in the CRPGs they play.
Q: On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the graphics in Neverwinter Nights 2?
(386
votes total)
4 (162) 42%
3 (126) 33%
5 (best) (38) 10%
2 (32) 8%
1 (worst) (28) 7%
Interestingly enough, the relative majority of those who have voted (42%) rate Neverwinter Nights 2 a 4 in the graphics department, which is pretty good.
A clear third of the poll participants (33%) rate the NWN2 graphics 3/5, followed by 10% of those who think that the graphics in Neverwinter Nights 2 are excellent, rating them 5/5.
8% of all who have voted consider the graphics in NWN2 to be only worth 2/5, followed closely by 7% of those who consider the NWN2 graphics horrible, rating them 1/5.
Q: Are you currently accessing this site via a dial-up (regular modem, ISDN) or broadband (cable, DSL, fiber...) Internet connection?
(393
votes total)
Broadband (339) 86%
Dial-up (44) 11%
Not sure (10) 3%
Whoa... It looks like dial-up is on the fast track to extinction. I knew that most of our visitors were on broadband, but 86%...! No wonder MMORPGs are so popular. :D
Only 11% of those who have participated in our poll are still using dial-up, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of them were still using it simply because broadband is not available at their location.
The remaining 3% of poll participants weren't sure if they were accessing SP via a dial-up or a broadband connection.
Q: Do you generally prefer classic (boxed) or digital (downloadable) distribution of computer games?
(554
votes total)
I prefer to buy games boxed (441) 80%
I'm happy with either distribution method (91) 16%
I prefer to buy games in downloadable form (22) 4%
Quite obviously, digital distribution is not nearly as popular as its proponents would like us to believe - at least not in our community. The vast majority of those who have voted in our poll (80%) still prefer to buy their games in good old boxes. Or rather bad new DVD cases in Europe, but that's a whole different story...
16% of the poll participants are, interestingly, happy with either classic or digital distribution of the games they'd like to play.
Only a minute percentage of our visitors who have voted in the poll (4%) prefer to buy computer games in downloadable form.
Q: Do you listen to any gaming podcasts?
(279
votes total)
Never (217) 78%
Almost never (23) 8%
Rarely (15) 5%
Sometimes (13) 5%
Regularly (11) 4%
Considering the ridiculously low number of votes in this poll, I should obviously have also included a "What's a podcast?" option, since podcasts are apparently not very popular with our visitors. At all.
Nearly 80% (78%) of those who have voted never listen to any gaming podcasts.
Another 8% of poll participants almost never listen to any gaming podcasts, followed by 5% of those who only do it rarely, and another 5% of those who sometimes listen to them.
A mere 4% of our visitors who have voted in the poll regularly listen to gaming podcasts.
Q: Have you played any Infinity Engine games (PS:T, BG & IWD series) in the last 6 months?
(655
votes total)
Yes (555) 85%
No (100) 15%
Just in case anyone thought that people visiting SP aren't playing IE games any more... ;)
Q: Have you finished the original campaign in Neverwinter Nights 2 yet?
(594
votes total)
No, I haven't played the game (yet) (240) 40%
No, not yet (146) 25%
Yes, once (93) 16%
Yes, more than once (62) 10%
No, I don't intend to finish or play through it (53) 9%
A significant number of our visitors (40%) haven't even played Neverwinter Nights 2 yet.
A quarter of those who have voted (25%) have played Neverwinter Nights 2, but haven't finished the original campaign yet.
16% of the poll participants have finished the NWN2 OC once already, while another 10% have already finished it more than once.
The remaining 9% of our visitors who have voted in the poll have no intention to finish the NWN2 OC, or even play through (some of) it.
Q: Do you intend to switch the OS on your gaming rig to Microsoft's new OS, Windows Vista?
(786
votes total)
Unless I'm forced to, I won't be switching to Vista at all (411) 52%
I don't (and won't) use Microsoft's Vista on my gaming computer (144) 18%
I won't switch over until the first service pack (75) 10%
I won't switch over until the second service pack (61) 8%
I intend to switch this year (49) 6%
I'm already running Vista (46) 6%
More than half of the poll participants (52%) will not be switching to Windows Vista as their gaming platform unless they're forced to, which shows a high degree of satisfaction with the users' current operating systems.
Surprisingly, 18% of those who have voted go so far as to say that they currently don't use Vista for gaming and never will.
10% of the poll participants are going to wait until the first Vista service pack is released before switching the OS on their gaming rig to Vista, followed by 8% of those who will wait for the second service pack.
Lastly, 6% of all who have voted intend to switch to Vista for gaming this year, followed by another 6% of those who are already running Vista on their gaming computer.
Q: Are you going to buy the inevitable (first) expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2?
(441
votes total)
Yes, definitely (234) 53%
Maybe, I'm not sure yet (113) 26%
No, never (94) 21%
The majority of those who have voted (53%) intend to buy the first upcoming expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2. Place your bets on how long before it's announced...
A bit more than a quarter of those who have voted (26%) are not yet decided on whether they'll be buying the first expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 or not.
Finally, 21% of the poll participants have voted that they are never going to buy the inevitable first expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2.
Q: What kind of computer display(s) do you most often use for PC gaming?
(533
votes total)
Liquid crystal display (LCD) - regular (213) 40%
Cathode ray tube (CRT) (211) 40%
Liquid crystal display (LCD) - widescreen (109) 20%
We haven't seen such a neat outcome in quite a while...
The poll results clearly show that the percentages of our visitors using regular LCDs and old CRTs for PC gaming are virtually identical - 40% each.
However, in addition to the above, 20% of those of our visitors who have voted use widescreen LCDs for PC gaming. This brings the total percentage of our visitors who use LCDs when gaming to 60%, and the remaining 40% still use CRTs when playing games.
Q: Given the option, would you prefer Baldur's Gate 3 to use the 2nd edition D&D rules instead of the latest available?
(977
votes total)
No, never (402) 41%
Yes, definitely (358) 37%
Maybe, I'm not sure (217) 22%
With nearly a thousand of our visitors polled, we can see that the nostalgia over the old second edition D&D rules (AD&D) is starting to give way to the liking of the latest, 3.5e D&D edition.
Most of the participants in the poll (41%) would never prefer Baldur's Gate 3 to use the the 2nd edition D&D rules instead of the latest available.
37% of those who have voted, however, would definitely prefer BG3 to use the 2nd edition D&D rules instead of the latest available.
A relatively high percentage of those who have participated in the poll (22%) couldn't decide whether they'd prefer Baldur's Gate 3 to use the old or the new D&D ruleset.
Q: How important is it to you that D&D computer games follow the pen & paper rules as closely as possible?
(842
votes total)
Extremely important (234) 28%
Very important (227) 27%
Quite important (155) 18%
Not important (120) 14%
Somewhat important (106) 13%
To a few percent more than a quarter of our visitors who've voted in the poll (28%), it is extremely important that D&D computer games follow the pen & paper rules as closely as possible. Only one percent less of those who have voted (27%) feel that it is very important that D&D computer games strictly adhere to the pen & paper rules.
18% of all the poll participants think that it is quite important for D&D computer games to stay true to the pen & paper rules, followed by 14% of those who believe that it is not important that D&D computer games follow the pen & paper rules as closely as possible.
Lastly, 13% of all who have feel that it is only somewhat important that D&D computer games strictly adhere to the pen & paper rules.
Q: Do you own any printed 3/3.5e pen & paper D&D books?
(667
votes total)
No, none (268) 40%
Yes, 1-5 (177) 27%
Yes, 20+ (100) 15%
Yes, 6-10 (75) 11%
Yes, 11-15 (33) 5%
Yes, 16-20 (14) 2%
The relative majority of those who have voted (40%) don't own any 3/3.5e pen & paper D&D books.
A bit more than a quarter of the poll participants (27%) own 1-5 pen & paper D&D books of the new editions, followed by the 15% of those who own more than 20 books!
11% of our visitors who have voted own 6-10 3/3.5e pen & paper D&D books, followed by the 5% of those who own 11-15 of them.
The remaining 2% of those who have voted own 16-20 pen & paper D&D books of the new editions.
Q: In (A)D&D computer games, do you ever create and play a main character of the opposite gender than you are in real life?
(1425
votes total)
Yes, sometimes (463) 32%
No, never (386) 27%
Yes, but rarely (311) 22%
Yes, most of the time (205) 14%
Yes, always (60) 4%
In CRPGs, almost a third of the poll participants (32%) sometimes play a main character of the opposite gender than they are in real life.
A bit more than a quarter of those who have voted (27%), however, never play a character of the opposite gender.
22% of those who have participated in the poll rarely play main characters of the opposite gender than their own, followed by 14% of those who do it most of the time, and lastly 4% of those who always play a main character of the opposite gender than they are in real life.
Q:
Now that Neverwinter Nights 2 has been released in North America
and Europe, have you bought it, or intend to do so?
(1196
votes total)
I
have it (or will buy it as soon as it's available here) (760) 64%
I'll wait for the price to drop before buying it (186) 16%
I probably won't get it (102) 9%
I haven't decided yet if I'll buy it (91) 8%
I'll ask for it as a gift (57) 5%
Nearly two thirds of our visitors who have voted in the poll (64%) already had Neverwinter Nights 2 at the time of voting, or intended to buy it as soon as it became available.
16% of those who have voted plan on waiting for the price of the game to drop before buying it, followed by 9% of those who will most likely not buy the game.
Only 8% of the poll participants were undecided about buying NWN2 when they voted.
Finally, the remaining 5% of the people participating in the poll will ask for Neverwinter Nights 2 as a gift and hopefully get it that way.
Q:
Do you miss teleportation or instantaneous travel in (A)D&D
games covered by Sorcerer's Place?
(322
votes total)
Sometimes
yes, sometimes no (133) 41%
Yes, always (131) 41%
No, never (58) 18%
Interestingly enough, almost the same number of people at times miss teleportation or instantaneous travel in (A)D&D games covered on Sorcerer's Place (41%) as there are those who always miss it, another 41%.
Only 18% of those who have voted in the poll never miss teleportation or instantaneous travel.
Q:
How much RAM does your gaming machine have? (Click on My Computer
on your desktop, then hold Alt and press Enter to look it up.)
(1161
votes total)
1GB
(418) 36%
2GB (219) 19%
512MB (209) 18%
Less than 512MB (86) 7%
More than 512MB and less than 1GB (82) 7%
More than 1GB and less than 2GB (76) 7%
More than 4GB (29) 2%
4GB (16) 1%
More than 2GB and less than 3GB (14) 1%
3GB (7) 1%
More than 3GB and less than 4GB (5) 0%
More than a third of our visitors (36%) have 1GB of RAM in their gaming machines, followed by 19% of those who have 2GB.
Close behind are the 18% of our visitors with 512MB of RAM in their gaming machines, followed by 7% of those who have less than 512MB of RAM to play games with.
Another 7% of our visitors have more than 512MB and less than 1GB in their gaming machines, followed by yet another 7%; this time of those with more than 1GB and less than 2GB of RAM.
2% of our visitors are heavily equipped in the RAM department, having more than 4GB of RAM in their gaming machines.
The remaining 3% of voters (approximately) have 4GB of RAM (1%), more than 2GB and less than 3GB (1%), 3GB (about 0,5%) and more than 3GB and less than 4GB (about 0,5%).
Q:
What's the average number of hours that you've spent playing any
kind of computer games (including Flash and online games) per week
over the last 6 months?
(649
votes total)
51+
(167) 26%
21-30 (94) 14%
16-20 (90) 14%
6-10 (78) 12%
11-15 (71) 11%
0-5 (68) 10%
31-40 (56) 9%
41-50 (25) 4%
I believe the phrase rhymes with "clucking bell"... More than a quarter of our visitors (26%) spend more than 51 hours a week playing computer games, i.e. more than 7,3 hours a day on average. When I think about it, I'm not quite sure which feeling is prevalent here in my case, but it's something of a mix between utter disbelief, incredulity and horrendous envy. I don't think I've had enough free time to play computer games for over 50 hours in the last YEAR, and here a quarter of our visitors spend this much time playing every week? The results of this poll have really floored me. Keep in mind that time spent playing games on consoles was not even included in the poll!
Slightly fewer poll participants (14%) play computer games around 21-30 hours a week (about 3-4 hours a day on average), followed by a nearly identical number of people (again 14%), who play computer games around 16-20 hours a week (about 2-3 hours a day on average).
From here on it goes down by a percent over the next four poll results: 12% of our visitors play computer games 6-10 hours a week (about 1-1,5 hours a day on average), 11% play 11-15 hours a week (about 1,5-2 hours a day on average), 10% play 0-5 hours a week (under 1 hour a day on average), and 9% play 31-40 hours a week (about 4,5-5,7 hours a day on average).
Finally, 4% of those who have voted play computer games 41-50 hours a week (about 6-7 hours a day on average).
Q:
In CRPGs, do you generally strive to do all the available side-quests
in your first run through the game?
(636
votes total)
Yes,
always (437) 69%
Sometimes yes, sometimes no (173) 27%
No, never (26) 4%
Nearly 70% of our visitors generally strive to complete all of the available side-quests in their first run through the game.
27% of the poll participants sometimes do all of the available side-quests in their first run, and sometimes don't, depending on a variety of factors.
Only 4% of those who have voted never strive to complete all the available side-quests in their first run through the game.
Q:
How many operable PCs and/or laptops are there in your household?
(792
votes total)
2
(225) 28%
3 (186) 23%
1 (133) 17%
4 (111) 14%
5 (58) 7%
6-9 (45) 6%
10 or more (29) 4%
None (5) 1%
The relative majority of the poll participants (28%) have 2 operable PCs and/or laptops in their household.
There are slightly fewer of those who have 3 (23%), followed by 17% of those of our visitors who have only 1 operable PC and/or laptop in their household.
The percentage of our visitors who have voted in the poll and have 4 operable PCs and/or laptops in their household is still a relatively high 14%, while there are already half less of those who have 5 PCs and/or laptops around at home (7%).
Now here is where the weirdness slowly starts. 6% of our visitors who have voted in our poll apparently have 6-9 operable PCs and/or laptops in their household. But wait... another 4% of the participants in our poll supposedly have 10 or more working PCs and/or laptops in the household. Large households aside, I really have to wonder here if the people with 10+ computers in the house actually put half of those computers to any use, or simply have them lying around.
Merely 1% of those who have voted in our poll don't have any operable PCs and/or laptops in their household.
Q:
Do you own or have access to a PSP (PlayStation Portable) so you
could potentially play the upcoming PSP game Dungeons & Dragons:
Tactics?
(500
votes total)
No,
I don't own a PSP, and am not considering buying one (385) 77%
Yes, I own a PSP (66) 13%
No, I don't own a PSP, but am considering buying one (42) 8%
Yes, I have access to a PSP (7) 1%
Not surprisingly, more than three quarters (77%) of our visitors who have voted in the poll do not own a PSP and are not considering buying one.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, 13% of those who have voted in our poll do own a PSP.
8% of the remaining poll participants don't own a PSP, but are considering buying one.
The final 1% of votes left goes to the people who don't own a PSP but have access to it (via a friend, relative, sibling, etc.). I guess these days sharing is not "in" when it comes to handheld consoles... But then again, was it ever?
Q:
Do you intend to create any modules with the Neverwinter Nights
2 toolset?
(395
votes total)
Maybe,
I'm not sure yet (132) 33%
Yes, definitely (107) 27%
No, never (92) 23%
I don't intend on buying NWN2 at all (64) 16%
Exactly a third of the people who have voted in the poll (33%) have not yet decided whether they will be creating any modules with the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset.
27% of those who have voted, however, are already determined that they will create Neverwinter Nights 2 modules.
23% of the poll participants have voted that they will never create any modules with the NWN2 toolset, but here we can add another 16% of those who do not intend to buy Neverwinter Nights 2 at all, for a total of 39% of our visitors who are very unlikely to ever build any Neverwinter Nights 2 modules.
Q:
Do you read any of the Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach
news that we post on the front page of Sorcerer's Place?
(304
votes total)
No,
DDO: Stormreach news in particular doesn't interest me (170) 56%
No, most of the gaming news posted on Sorcerer's Place doesn't interest
me (63) 21%
Yes, but rarely (28) 9%
Yes, regularly (22) 7%
Yes, occasionally (21) 7%
More than half of those who have voted in the poll (56%) don't read any of the Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach news that we post on the front page of Sorcerer's Place (because DDO: Stormreach news in particular doesn't interest them), followed by 21% of our visitors who also don't read any of our DDO news, because most of the gaming news posted on Sorcerer's Place doesn't interest them.
Of those who do read our Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach news coverage, 9% of them do it rarely, 7% regularly, and another 7% occasionally.
We've also had a couple of slightly relevant poll comments on MMORPGs vs. the other games covered on SP, so I'm reposting them here if anyone wants to comment on this further:
"What do players (like me) want from RPGs, is what i call "epicness", awesome (singleplayer) gameplay/intriguing (especially when nonlinear) plot/interesting quests/"smart" NPC's etc. And nowadays most MMORPGs (sadly) lack all (or most) of the listed above... --Th0R"
"Right on, Th0R. Unfortunately, by the necessity of having thousands of players in the world at a time, the game world must remain quite static. MMORPG players can never really have the impact on events, story, and NPCs that are possible in a single player game. The appeal of great games such as BG, ID, NWN, (Well, just about every game here on Sorcerer's Place), is that the game world literally revolves around the player. This is not done merely to inflate the player's ego, but to truly immerse the player in a appealing world that adapts to the actions and choices you make. No MMORPG could ever match the thrill of finally meeting Sarevok, the intrigue of romancing Jaheira, the multiple ways to defeat Zuggtmoy, or the discovery the Nameless One's past (or the relief of finally getting the drudgery of getting to Pelendralaar over with). Sadly, MMORPGs can never have that "epicness." --Seeker of the Holy Avenger"
Q:
Do you ever perform any outdoor live action role-playing (LARP)?
(539
votes total)
No,
never (412) 76%
I used to, but don't any more (52) 10%
Yes, regularly (27) 5%
Yes, but rarely (26) 5%
Yes, occasionally (22) 4%
The wide majority of the people who have voted in the poll (76%) never do any outdoor LARP-ing.
10% of those who have voted have participated in outdoor live action role-playing in the past, but do not any more.
5% of all the people who have voted regularly participate in outdoor LARP-ing, followed by another 5% of those who also do outdoor LARP, but rarely.
Lastly, 4% of all the poll participants occasionally participate in outdoor live action role-playing.
Q:
In Neverwinter Nights 2, are you going to play the same base class(es)
as you have in the original Neverwinter Nights?
(475
votes total)
Maybe,
I'm not sure yet (220) 46%
Yes (193) 41%
No (62) 13%
At the time of voting, nearly half of the poll participants (46%) haven't been sure if in the sequel they will also be playing the same base class(es) as they have in the original Neverwinter Nights.
41% of those who have voted, however, are certain that in Neverwinter Nights 2 they will play the same base class(es) as they have in the original Neverwinter Nights.
Only 13% of the people who have voted are determined not to play the same base class(es) as they have in the original Neverwinter Nights also in Neverwinter Nights 2.
Q:
If they were made, would you buy any action figures of various characters
from the Baldur's Gate series?
(713
votes total)
Maybe,
depends on the characters / figure make quality (313) 44%
No, never (221) 31%
Yes, definitely (179) 25%
Just in case anyone else is wondering, this poll is pure wishful thinking on our part... As I've explained in the poll comments, there's next to no chance of us ever seeing Baldur's Gate action figures. Still, we thought it'd be fun asking people how they felt about the idea.
Relatively close to half of the poll participants (44%) have been quite guarded when it came to the idea of BG action figures, voting that they would reserve their opinion on buying until they actually saw what the action figures were like, character and figure make quality-wise.
Nearly a third of those who voted (31%) would never buy any Baldur's Gate action figures.
Finally, a quarter of our visitors who have voted in the poll (25%) would definitely buy action figures of various characters from the Baldur's Gate series.
Q:
Will you upgrade your computer to be able to (better) play Neverwinter
Nights 2?
(592
votes total)
No,
I don't need to upgrade, my computer is good enough for NWN2 (220)
37%
No, I won't be upgrading for NWN2 (126) 21%
Maybe, depends on the reviews of the game (77) 13%
Yes, I'm going to upgrade before the release of NWN2 (65) 11%
Yes, I'm going to upgrade after the release of NWN2 (56) 9%
I've already upgraded it with NWN2 in mind (48) 8%
A bit more than a third of the poll participants (37%) won't be upgrading their computers for Neverwinter Nights 2, because they already meet the requirements to play it.
21% of our visitors won't be upgrading their machines for Neverwinter Nights 2 at all.
13% of those who have voted might upgrade their computers for NWN2, depending on the reviews the game will receive.
11% of all who have voted are going to upgrade before the release of NWN2, followed by 9% of those who will upgrade their computers after the release of Neverwinter Nights 2.
8% of our visitors who have participated in the poll have already upgraded their computers with NWN2 in mind.
Q:
On a scale of 1 to 5, how excited are you about the upcoming Neverwinter
Nights 2?
(684
votes total)
5
(most) (333) 49%
4 (159) 23%
3 (78) 11%
1 (least) (69) 10%
2 (45) 7%
Practically half of the poll participants (49%) are most excited about the upcoming release of Neverwinter Nights 2, rating their excitement 5/5.
23% of those who have voted are still quite excited about NWN2 (4/5), followed by the 11% of those who are somewhat excited about the upcoming release of NWN2 (3/5).
10% of the participants in our poll are not at all excited about NWN (1/5), followed by the last 7% who are only slightly excited about NWN2 (2/5).
Q:
Have you ever taken one character through the entire Baldur's Gate
saga?
(830
votes total)
Yes,
more than once (241) 29%
Yes, once (206) 25%
Not yet, but I'm working on it (181) 22%
No, and I don't intend to (122) 15%
No, but I was close (80) 10%
29% of our visitors who have voted in the poll have taken one character through the entire Baldur's Gate saga (BG1, TotSC, BG2, ToB) more than once.
A quarter of those who have voted (25%) have taken one character through the BG saga once.
22% of all the poll participants haven't taken one character through the entire Baldur's Gate saga yet, but they're working on it.
15% of the people who have voted have never taken a character through the entire BG saga, and don't intend to do so either.
Lastly, 10% of our poll-participating visitors have never taken one character through the entire Baldur's Gate saga, but they were close to doing it.
Q:
How do you feel about Obsidian's decision to replace the radial
menu used in the original Neverwinter Nights with a context-sensitive
drop-down menu (ala Fallout and modern OS's) in Neverwinter Nights
2?
(560
votes total)
Mostly
supportive; I got used to the radial menu already, but I'd rather
use something better (177) 32%
Very supportive; the radial menu was cumbersome to use (162) 29%
Indifferent (100) 18%
Mostly opposed; I don't think there was much need to go changing
the menu (70) 13%
Very opposed; the radial menu was easy to use (51) 9%
The considerable majority of those who have voted (61% combined) supports Obsidian's decision to replace the good (bad) old radial menu we grew to love (hate) in the original Neverwinter Nights and its expansions.
18% of the poll participants, however, are indifferent to the planned interface change.
Only 22% of our voters combined are opposed to scrapping the radial menu.
Q:
Do you listen to any game music outside of playing the game(s)?
(623
votes total)
No,
never (229) 37%
Yes, but rarely (166) 27%
Yes, from time to time (146) 23%
Yes, all the time (82) 13%
The relative majority of those who have voted (37%) never listen to any game music (soundtracks) outside of playing the games.
A bit more than a quarter of those who have voted (27%) listen to music outside of the games, but rarely.
23% of all the poll participants listen to game music outside of the games from time to time.
Finally, 13% of all who have voted listen to game music outside of playing the games all the time.
Q:
What is your opinion on Obsidian's decision to not include rideable
horses in Neverwinter Nights 2?
(869
votes total)
Rideable
horses would have been a nice addition, but nothing essential (381)
44%
All my hopes and dreams have been shattered (175) 20%
It's good that Obsidian is not wasting any more time implementing
rideable horses (121) 14%
I would have preferred something else to be cut, so I'm not too
happy (100) 12%
It doesn't matter to me if rideable horses are in or not (92) 11%
The relative majority of those who have voted (44%) feel that Obsidian's decision to cut horses from Neverwinter Nights 2 is not worth getting upset about.
A fifth (20%) of the people who have voted, however, are sorely disappointed, possibly even angry about this omission.
14% of the poll participants are actually happy that Obsidian is not wasting any more time trying to get mounts into Neverwinter Nights 2.
Slightly fewer voters (12%) would have preferred something else to be cut and horses left in, but frankly, there's not much more left that hasn't been cut alongside horses...
Lastly, 11% of our visitors who have voted don't really care if mounts are in Neverwinter Nights 2 or not.
Here's a comment on the poll by our illustrious Sir Belisarius, echoing the thoughts of the minority:
What a weak turn of events! One of the staples of DnD is having a horse to get around on - especially if you're a pally!
Yet another poor game production full of cut corners. If there's nothing significantly new and innovative in NWN2 - Why not just make another NWN expansion? That's what NWN2 is starting to sound like, anyway.
Q:
When playing the Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate games, how many members
does your party usually have?
(1369
votes total)
Six
(819) 60%
It varies with each game (199) 15%
I only play solo (127) 9%
Four (96) 7%
Five (75) 5%
Two (30) 2%
Three (23) 2%
According to the results, exactly 60% of the people who've voted usually play the Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate series of games with a full party of 6 members.
The next largest group of people are those who have voted that their party size varies with each game (15%).
9% of all the poll participants claim that they only play solo. Do we believe that?
7% of those who have voted usually play with 4 party members, followed by the 5% of those whose party usually consists of 5 members.
The remaining people usually play the Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate series of games with a party of 2 members (2%), and another 2% (with slightly fewer votes) with a party of 3.
Q:
Characters of which alignment do you prefer to play in CRPGs?
(1267
votes total)
Good
(654) 52%
Neutral (304) 24%
Evil (233) 18%
No alignment preference (76) 6%
Since the results came out in the same order as listed, I'm going to post two poll comments, which do a pretty god job of analysing the results:
Nchurmdaz
wrote: "As you can see, 52 percent of voters stated
that they prefer playing characters of good alignment. Together
with 24 percent of neutrals that would make an overwhelming majority
over those 19 who voted for evil.
As a kind of conclusion to this vote I can presume, that these results
show us several things:
1. computer games drawn as a steam crank for maniacs is a sci-fi.
Players (well, most of them) prefer roleplaying non-maniacal characters.
2. As a depiction of our society's base these results also show
the amount of people, who at least in *some* situations tend to
be 'evil'. Roleplaying a villain is not a casual thing to do for
a person who has no 'vile' tendencies in other aspects of life.
Therefore, my friends, I'd like to be optimistic, and state that we aren't yet that doomed.
Thank you for attention."
Eskobar wrote: "The truth of the matter is that a lot of RPGs tend to favor characters of good alignment. For example the Baldur's Gate -series: a positive reputation (gained by doing good, selfless deeds) leads to better reactions from NPCs, better rewards and cheaper prices in stores. Being evil has little or no benefits, because even the recruitable evil NPCs will side with the goody-two-shoes protagonist to almost no limit. Being truly evil in BG (thus ultimately gaining a low rep.) simply makes the game harder for no good reason. I think the same applies to many if not all D&D based RPGs (perhaps excluding Planescape: Torment).
Fallout 1 & 2, on the other hand, offer a lot of delicious opportunities for would-be evil-doers. It's possible to be nasty to your heart's content and still enjoy the game. But then again Fallouts contain a helluva lot more of roleplaying options than BG.
Being an evil character in KOTOR is something I believe most have at least tried. It's as plausible a path as being a good character but there's a wee problem with implementation. The evil options are usually in the category of 'dumb thug flexing muscles' with no intrigue. Being an evil manipulator or puppet master would have been right up the Star Wars universe's alley.
But I digress. This long rant did have a point somewhere. I think most people voted 'good' on the basis that most of the time a good character, when playing a game for the first time, offers a more thorough and often an easier gaming experience.
Perhaps the game industry collectively tries to convey the message that being good beats being bad."
Whoever you two are, you should be posting on our message boards.
