Neverwinter Becomes an MMO

[Estelindis]

I'll just keep modding and playing Neverwinter Nights.

 

[Olrod]

At least the didn't call it The Neverwinter Scrolls.

 

[LordLundar]

My interest in this neverwinter game has went from lukewarm to ice cold.

My interest was ice cold the second it was announced Cryptic got the development rights.

 

[Warnolo]

Well, i don't care, i would play it anyway. The most important question is Are half orcs one of the player races? because if they decide to sell it apart like DDO did i'm gonna get REALLY pissed.

Also... anyone noticed that many animations are exactly like some emotes of champions online?

 

[Smooth Operator]

So this is just another random MMO laced with a sparkly new name they bought... how could it be anything but good.

 

[iblis666]

ive both nwn 1 and 2 and was hoping for a third but with this anouncement ill probably just play the backlog of dnd games i bought from the special that gog.com had

 

[LorienvArden]

Free to play MMO ? Ok, I can get behind that, IF....
...they stick to the D&D ruleset.
...they give us content creation tools.
...a DM mode.

If they do, cudos for bringing some innovation into the genre once more. It would be interesting.
With PWE at the Helm, I just can't see it happening.
Well, more time for other games at suppose.

 

[spartandude]

may i ask is the original Neverwinter Nights a good game?

 

[Fappy]

Meh, I'll stick to Dungeons & Dragons Online, no thanks.

Which begs the question... why have both a D&D and Neverwinter MMO? Are they not both set in the Forgotten Realms universe? Don't they both have Mind Flayers and Beholders??? Someone help me out over here D:

Well, the Neverwinter MMO is going to be based on the Forgotten Realms setting, like in Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights (wich I still think is a great game), but Dungeons & Dragons Online is based on the Eberron setting (hence it's subtitle of Eberron Unlimited), and I may get flamed for this, but personally I think that the Eberron setting is a tad bit better, because of it's heavy use of magic and science, almost to a steampunk degree.

But as far as I know, both Eberron and Forgotten Realms features lots of beholders and other nasties.

Now that I think about it... we desperately need a game with the Planescape setting ASAP.

The more you know! Honestly though, as long as there's of a human fighter, elf ranger, a rogue and a wizard facing off against a Red Dragon, does it really matter what D&D setting we are in?

 

[Silver PBall]

I'd honestly really hate to hear another D&D video game with just core races/classes. I'm so tired of that. I want non-standard, you jerks! Give me bugbears!

 

[Mortuorum]

I just died a little inside.

 

[hansari]

Because of all the changes, Neverwinter [http://www.playneverwinter.com/] now isn't expected to be out until the end of 2012. Hope it works out to be worth the wait.

Somehow, I'm not holding my breath.

You really have to wonder why all these studios are going out of their way to produce MMOs they know are gonna suck and fail. I mean, granted, we have the same thing happening in every other genre, but how is anyone willing to put the money and time required to build an MMO into something that's gonna be a failure?

Just a theory, but maybe the job situation in the video game industry is just that bad that they can't focus on the long-term.

That excuse doesn't apply well to publishers who are bankrolling the MMO's, but for the developer looking for a job in this market, working on an MMO might be better then nothing. And considering the time it takes to create an MMO and then the time a developer will be around while it goes live (however short that period may be) to do tweaks/updates...well that is a considerable amount of time someone can be employed.

 

[Michael Hirst]

I want to know more before I start bringing down a mighty hammer of judgement upon it.

I'll make this very clear though I am bored to hell of the standard MMO style, that is the copy/paste of World of Warcraft. Pages of text to read before and after each quest which soon get ignored that then spiral the game into a grind fest with little matter to the setting or story at all.

I hope Neverwinter can try something a bit more interesting and also change up the gameplay a little as well, probably too much to ask though.

To this day the only MMO I've really sunk my teeth into was Guild Wars even though it did a lot of what World of Warcraft did it's the only MMO where I've felt like I had to think during instances and make tactical decisions about how to use my limited skill slots best.

At least it will be free to play so I can actually try it instead of feeling like I have to ignore it completely.

 

[Vrach]

Because of all the changes, Neverwinter [http://www.playneverwinter.com/] now isn't expected to be out until the end of 2012. Hope it works out to be worth the wait.

Somehow, I'm not holding my breath.

You really have to wonder why all these studios are going out of their way to produce MMOs they know are gonna suck and fail. I mean, granted, we have the same thing happening in every other genre, but how is anyone willing to put the money and time required to build an MMO into something that's gonna be a failure?

Just a theory, but maybe the job situation in the video game industry is just that bad that they can't focus on the long-term.

That excuse doesn't apply well to publishers who are bankrolling the MMO's, but for the developer looking for a job in this market, working on an MMO might be better then nothing. And considering the time it takes to create an MMO and then the time a developer will be around while it goes live (however short that period may be) to do tweaks/updates...well that is a considerable amount of time someone can be employed.

Oh yeah, I get why the developers are in - I hear bread tastes nice with some water. But for someone to green light a project and put money behind it (and we're not talking small amounts, whatever the MMO), it's just silly. At least with single player titles you can hope to catch some crowd, even a niche one and get some profit back during holiday sales and stuff, but an MMO project's got none of those going for it, in fact, it's a money drain even after the launch to maintain servers and everything.

And you really can't win whatever you go with when you're small and insignificant (as a lot of these studios are, no offense to them, but talking relative to the major players). If you try to innovate, you're really likely to screw something up (there's a reason even the major players are hesitant to try something really new in the MMO market atm, there's just not much we can do with the current technology), not to mention new players will not feel at home as they do with the standard MMOs. And if you try to just copy paste the major players, they'll always do better than you and it's not like they charge a lot for those far superior services.

 

[adamtm]

Now that I think about it... we desperately need a game with the Planescape setting ASAP.

+1

And I'm going to let you finish but Planescape Torment was the best RPG of all time.

ALL TIME!!

The game-industry just doesn't feature enough flying skulls these days...

 

[Estelindis]

may i ask is the original Neverwinter Nights a good game?

Yes, it's excellent, but it's important to put its excellence in context.

The original single player campaign and the first expansion pack are nothing special in terms of plot or characters, but the second expansion pack is brilliant on both fronts. However, it's the modding community that makes NWN such an amazing game. NWN comes with a game toolset and a number of tools that allow you not just to modify the appearance and gameplay but also to create whole new adventures. There are thousands of these available on nwvault.ign.com just waiting to be played. You can see some of the most popular ones here. [http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/TopRated.php?content=modules] In addition, there's a vibrant and active multi-player community that runs what are called Persistent Worlds (like mini MMOs); there are lots of PWs catering to all kinds of tastes, from role-play-heavy to intense combat. Here are some of the top PWs on the Vault. [http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/TopRated.php?content=gameworld]

Anyway, the original NWN is a steal on gog.com, so it's well worth checking out. The graphics may be nothing to write home about, particularly considering how much it has aged, but with all the fan-made modules and custom content it's one of the best-value games one can buy anywhere.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I'm hoping it's similar to Neverwinter Nights...

Got about 5 pessimistic rage thoughts running through my mind atm, but I hope they don't make a mess of it like so many other MMOs...

may i ask is the original Neverwinter Nights a good game?

It is my personal favorite game of all time. Yes, yes it is.

 

[loc978]

I'm not so attached to Forgotten Realms video games that I'll take the setting minus the D20 system. I'd rather go fool around in Eberron.

Actually, scratch that. I'm off to replay Icewind Dale. Screw Neverwinter.