sanquin said:
Lyiat said:
On the subject of social interaction with the world, keep in mind that these things arn't really what D&D was designed to do. 3.5 was the best system for that, and skill checks were still kind of awkward to work out. 4.0 has backed away and focused more on the dungeon delving, making it fun for people of all classes. This game is based on the 4.0 system. That said, I will ask.
Also, its a f2p.
Sorry but that's just not true. D&D 4.0 only became more action-based and less social-based because it was taken over by another company. If you want to keep on playing the good old (3.5 and lower) style of D&D the makers of those series have continued as well, with an updated (and better imo) ruleset in Pathfinder. Which still focuses just as much on the social aspects as on the dungeon delving.
That being said, if it's based on 4.0 then we can be pretty sure that it will be a pretty generic action mmorpg. Standard style quests, basic action style combat, etc. Though from what I've seen the action style combat is at least done pretty well.
If this wasn't going to be F2P I wouldn't even consider trying it though...
Alright, this will probably slot some people off, but I wanted to point something out.
No RPG *system* favors role-playing or social interaction more than another. A set of RPG rules can only be used for task resolution within the game, such as combat, picking locks, performing athletic feats, casting spells, etc. Roleplaying and social interaction are something players bring themselves to the equasion. You can role-play with any system in effect, the mechanics don't matter as far as that's concerned.
In general RPGs with systems for social skills tend to be the anathema of what so called "real role-players" stand for. The idea of social skills in a game is so that a player who wants to have a charismatic character but happens to be really shy, or a bit of a jerk IRL, can play one. The idea being that what YOU say, do, or socialize, or how well you act or speak for your character becomes irrelevent before your charisma attribute and a skill role. So thus instead of actually acting out your meeting with say a Baron, you can just declare intent and say "My character will attempt to impress the Baron" and then roll a Diplomacy check or whatever and get a reaction bonus. "real role players" would prefer to have the players socialize more as their characters and play out exactly what their characters and the Baron say to each other and have things progress from there.
To be honest the whole idea of "getting away from who you really are" aspect of RPGs has traditionally favored the "roll" aspect to this kind of thing. After all some guy who IRL is a good actor shouldn't have an advantage over those who are not, any more than a guy who is stronger than the other gamers at the table should get a melee combat bonus based on what he can do IRL. As more recent/modern sentiments have become more prevelent, we've seen years long debates on the very relevency of having Charisma as an attribute (as interaction should always be the player), or social skills.
The less focused on social attributes, skills, etc... a game happens to be the more they generally seem to be taking the approach that it's all up to the players to work out, and instead the mechanics should entirely focus on representing the physical as opposed to the mental or social aspects of gaming.
I've oftentimes also heard it argued that characters in RPGs shouldn't have anything other than physical attributes because it's proper for things like problem solving and the like should entirely fall to the players. Intelligence and such oftentimes mostly turning into a magical power stat, as for a lot of gamers your character having godlike intelligence isn't going to help with a riddle (which conceptually your character should solve easily) if your slow or bad with riddles IRL. Some RPG systems incidently included skills like "cunning" and the like specifically for such situations so if a player couldn't solve something like a riddle but their character probably could they could pull a skill roll (some RPGs having scads of academic skills and such to apply to situations just like that).
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At any rate to address the central issue of "role playing" in Neverwinter, the answer is that it handles it like any other MMO. It's providing a set of mechanics and enviroments for people to do physical stuff with. There is no live GM sitting there making the world revolve around you, so it's not like you can have a random encounter and decide to chat up a Kobold before a fight even starts, or cast a continual light spell inside your mouth and use the creepy glow to try and convince people your a demon or energy being. No amount of programming short of devleoping a true AI could ever do that, so obviously we're not seeing it here, and it's not like anyone is paying enough to have a team of programmers sitting around 24/7 creating content for them in real time the way a live GM would do.
So basically, Neverwinter as a game itself is all about listening to some NPCs for backstory, and then hacking the crap out of monsters and stealing their stuff, which you use to hear more impressive backstories before whacking bigger monsters and stealing their slightly more impressive stuff, in an endless cycle until your level is maxxed and you have the most impressive stuff gained from the carcasses of the biggest mnonsters.
That said, like other MMOs nothing prevents you and your friends frome role-playing, talking in character, or doing other, similar things. Of course since this isn't a personal you-centric campaign, and there is no live GM keeping everything in check all the time, nobody is under any obligation to RP or humor you, or even be nice to you if your doing so. As much as I'd love to see live GMs involved enough to create a fully in character all the time MMO and enforce it with draconian tactics (like some MUDs did) I doubt we'll see one anytime soon, and Neverwinter certainly is not going to be that game, it simply couldn't support the staffing as FTP even if it wanted to.
While I can't talk about Alpha, I can talk about Beta, and what I'll say is that while I like this game (and got my $200 founders pack to prove it) it is not something you should expect to be entirely genere redefining, or some kind of "sim" of D&D the way the single player Neverwinter games were. It's pretty much what you'd expect an MMO to be nowadays based on others, with it's own tweaks and gameplay style, and Forgotten Realms lore holding the
backstories together.
Nobody needs a Dev to answer that, I can do it (at this point).
I myself wait for a substantial step in online MMORPG evolution, but like technology in general it creeps along like a glaciar. Some day the perfect version of this might appear for serious RPG geeks and/or those who want it to all be immersive and in character... but that's not today, and I doubt it will come for a while yet. When it does a lot of peopke, including me, will be screaming eureka.... until that day though I enjoy what we have for what it is, and Neverwinter is a pretty good MMORPG for the realities of the time in which it exists.
