I tried to appeal to much the same sensibilities regarding the duration of summons spells that are otherwise useless in combat once. However it would seem that because you can take advantage of them, they were shortened to a duration exclusively useful in combat and not much so at that
Is proven time and time again that if it can be exploited, then its removed and altered. The behavior behind the problems is never addressed, the mechanics are altered instead.
I really get tired of people complaining about the change in duration for the summon spells, but it seems like some people will never drop it. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I'm a repeating record in every thread that pops up mentioning them, but I guess I'll say it one more time.
I made a Conjurer on this server. I played her to level 14. She was super uber strong and awesome, because she was a wizard. She used summon spells extensively. I'm not saying "oh, she prepared two uses of summon monster 3 and used it as a tank" no. at her peak I was preparing 2 uses of summon 7, 2 uses of summon six (plus one extended summon 6, and a fair mixture of the other summons on down to summon 1. (lower level summons were used as bait for aoe spells [Badgers are excellent at leading enemies into an empowered Evard's] mid level summons my fodder army for weaker fights so that fighters/tanks in our party weren't surrounded and overwhelmed, and I busted out the dire-bear/elementals when I either was fighting something really tough.... or was trying to scare the pants off of some bad guy.
They are good. People undervalue them. People complain about duration, but if you really think the duration is too short you can always *gasp* use extend spell, or prepare two of said spell. Not every spell has to last forever. Haste is one of the most powerful spells in the game, even with a short duration. Summons are good, even with a short duration. Also, a wizard that focuses on summoning is still stronger than nearly any other class on this server. (notable exceptions being cleric)
The change made summons way more interesting for me, because it was a tactical choice of when to bust one out. Summons that last for 24 hours just become another buff to throw out. Set it and forget it. Not to mention that if you bust out an appropriate level summon and buff it, it eliminates nearly all of the need to party with any fighter/barbarian/paladin/[insert tank]. God forbid you run into a cleric with the animal domain. The only reason why summons lasted 24 hours, was so that when playing through NwN as a
single player game wizards would have access to a solid tank no matter what. When you turn NwN into a
multi-player game it is a natural conclusion that those spells should be tweaked down so that everyone has a role in the party.
But since this is an online game that has a forum, any decision that makes anything weaker is bad. Gameplay balance be damned. Party encouragement be damned. Y'know what, lets just give wizards an "I win" spell. If they cast it, it empties out an entire dungeon and unlocks and detraps everything in a 15 foot aura around the wizard.
The -only- duration based issue that I have with summons are specifically summon monster 1, and summon monster 2. Because the summons are used as a combat spell, instead of a "I don't need a fighter, because I have an elemental that follows me everywhere, and is more durable than a fighter" the fact that the dire badger and the dire boar waste a round using rage and frenzy respectively, it can be a little frustrating to use them. The only change that I could see being okay would be if those abilities became free actions on them. (because watchign a badger/boar dawddle while using their first round to buff is annoying when you're a level 3 wizard who has an angry monster forcibly removing your innards.
P.S. Here are the stats of a dire wolf as compared to a level 3 tank for those who are curious:
54 hp (more hp than any level 3 tank could have unbuffed)
20 ac (= to a 12 dex fighter with splint mail and a tower shield[which is a very common starting loadout for heavy armor tanks fresh in the mist])
+9 ab (= to a 20 str weapon focused person lvl 3 tank)
2d6+7 damage 19-20/x2 crits(= to a greatsword user with 20 str)
Basically for one spell slot a level 3 animal domain cleric summons something that is slightly stronger than a level 3 half-orc Greatsword using fighter. You want them to have that as a perma-spell? That is silly. One spell to replace an entire person from a party is not a good idea. It is the opposite of a good idea, infact.
Overall the Dire wolf summon is a CR: 5, which means it will be a moderately difficult fight for a team or 4 level 5 pcs. (although with the AI that everyone complains about I'd knock it down to a CR4)