I was horrifed to read about
50 reasons why NWN1 is better than NWN2.
Here is my explanation for this dismal piece of software:
1) Bioware create and Atari distribute NWN - who we can all agree kicked some ass, and lost me a lot of man hours.
2) Fan-base becomes huge. Potentially a LOT bigger than what they had in mind.
3) Large fan-base = large number of people to mention issues and irregularities in the game = large amount of bugs to fix
4) Bioware are forced into producing expanions in order to fund bug-fixing and keep face with Atari.
5) Biowares profit margins are reduced, and are potentially pissed off with the amount of support they have had to do for their software (there were a LOT of patches for a non-subscription game)
6) They refuse to do another one, and are forced into a solution, for financial purposes in one way or the other
7) Obsidian knows the problems, but they are the only ones who are willing / stupid enough to take on this behemoth project.
Obsidian do it with a realistic budget. Meaning either new 'features', or spending money on the stuff we REALLY enjoy - like armour types! Oh - and making sure they put in at least what was in the original.
I think that sums it up.