kimli

I've been using Namecheap for personal domains for around 10 years now. Since a few years back, privacy guard is included in the domain price (at least for .com domains) so your name, address, ... won't appear directly on whois queries.

As it's just one domain, (longterm) pricewise I don't think there'll be a big difference with any of them. 1 or 2 € per year, maybe. It'll be more important to check longterm price of the domain (.com / .io / ...), as you'll probably find some offer for the first year.

FWIW, namecheap publishes a recurrent offer around 10th October (apart from some random offers every once in a while) If you go with them, you can register for one year and renew the domain for a longer period when you find an offer.

(the following applies to enhanced edition)

Playerwise, the main servers (main as in where most players connect, not necessarily the best) are Arelith and Ravenloft, but you can check status and playercount here: https://nwn.beamdog.net/

Both of them are role-playing servers, you act/speak as your character at all times (it's far less daunting than what it might seem)

Ravenloft is gothic horror themed, think Curse of Strahd from pen and paper. https://www.nwnravenloft.com/

Arelith is based on Forgotten Realms, in/around an island far in the west. https://nwnarelith.com/

Both of them have a lot of custom mechanics, classes, ... not found on the base game. Also, both of them are big. They are probably over 1000 different areas (as a reference, the full base campaign, The Wailing Death has less than 100 areas (from the top of my head))

In case you want to try Arelith, it's split between a few (interconnected) servers. You probably want to check the Distant Shores one. It's designed for new players / low level characters.

There are also some action oriented, no RP required, just kill & loot if that's more of your thing. There's one I personally liked but it's been offline for a while, hometown diablo. I also tried one based on middle earth for a while.

Just check a few (smaller servers might seem "less lively" but DM run events might be more custom tailored) and see which one you like most.

To connect, just click on multiplayer and connect to a server. It might take a while as the game will download all the custom content used in the server.

But then you decide you need a well, or some magna forges. FUN always find a way :)

As an RPG game I think Neverwinter Nights is worth taking a look (you might have even played it when it was brand new) There is an enhanced edition that was first published a few years back that among other things, brought back online gaming without having to mess around. I think the community fits the bill nicely and in some groups you might not even be among the oldest.

Although you can play it solo, it's at multiplayer where it shines. Also, apart from official content, there's a ton of community content, some of it far better than official one.

Factorio has been also mentioned. Think of puzzle / problem solving / logistics / base building kind of game. There's a playable demo (probably >10 hours worth of content but I can't say for sure, I didn't need so long to decide it was my thing) so you can check it out before purchasing.

Additional info :

• First game, try to go in as blind as possible (no tutorial/videos, walkthroughs, ...) You can only beat the game for the first time /without prior knowledge once
• You can find the game referred as cracktorio. For many, the main cost of the game is not the purchase, but the electricity needed to run it for so long
• You can play it without bitters (enemies) so there's no rush in completing it. You just build as you see fit

I would also add Minecraft, Terraria, Stardew Valley for the chill factor.

You shouldn't have problems with any of these games on your laptop.