Neverwinter - Now a F2P MMO

Dhruin

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Big Changes to Cryptic's Neverwinter is the title of an article at IGN that explains Perfect World's purchase of Cryptic Studios a while back has resulted in the game changing from co-op focused to a full-blown free-to-play MMO. So, this probably marks the end of our coverage but here's a closing snip on their new direction:
This new home for Cryptic has allowed the developer to continue their MMO-development tradition with Neverwinter. That's right, Neverwinter is shifting from the co-operative multiplayer game that was announced last year and into full-fledged, free-to-play MMO territory. In fact, it's shifting towards the action end of the MMO spectrum. Transferring a Dungeons & Dragons universe into an action setting might sound strange to D&D veterans, but it's been done before with some of the Baldur's Gate games. The 4th Edition of D&D also has some new rules that lend itself well to action games, which is exactly why Neverwinter is using 4th Edition as its ruleset.
More information.
 
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What a festering pile of turds..

Don't believe it? Just wait..
 
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Sadly FTP (free to play) is really an acronym for PTW (pay to win).
 
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They didn't cover the name change.

I'ts now called "Perfect Neverwinter International Evony."

Lineage was arguably the start of this type of game and that may be appealing to a lot of people but it's really crap to me.

Oversized weapons, androgynous character models and frenzied clicking with a licensed D&D name slapped on. Off my radar.
 
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Sadly FTP (free to play) is really an acronym for PTW (pay to win).

That is only 1 form, usually the Asian grinders are like that. But the western MMOs have not been like that.
 
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DDO is like that. They make you pay for certain races and classes, but the free ones are just as fun as well. The items you buy as well didn't seem like overpowered items that you have to have in order to continue. I can't remember exactly everything they had for sale, but I do remember being impressed with the fact that they didn't have a bunch of ultra loot for you to buy. It was more like extra storage space or certain other things that you can take it or leave it without it affecting your game.

I haven't played in quite a while, but when I did play I found enough items/gold through exploration to keep up with the quests. That silly little game impressed this "hardcore" singleplayer only gamer. :)
 
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Coincidentally, this weekend DDO will have +3 stat tomes for sale in its store :p Ie., items you normally repeat a raid every three days, 20 times over just for a chance at getting one (1) at the end of those 20x.
 
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But +3 tomes are often useless since stats need an even number to show a major improvement and most people build with that in mind.
 
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The fact Cryptic were making it already had me completely uninterested. Now that it's a real MMO I'm doubly uninterested.

That said since it's free to play I will probably try it, just because it's (supposedly) D&D. I won't spend any money on it though.
 
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Sadly FTP (free to play) is really an acronym for PTW (pay to win).

That is only 1 form, usually the Asian grinders are like that. But the western MMOs have not been like that.

It depends on your definition of "winning".

I broadly agree with MadGamer that "free to play" is pay to win. For majority of the players, even in a "pure PvE" MMOs, the real end game is still PvP. Its PvP *against* other gamers. It's like "who killed the mob first", "who got to max level first", "who has the cool armour", "who has most vanity pets", "who got lot of money", "who did most quests" etc.

You may not part take in many of them (for example, like I don't care about vanity pets but I do care about who killed what first) but others do and you can "win" in all of them by paying more money even in a so called "free to play game".
 
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For majority of the players, even in a "pure PvE" MMOs, the real end game is still PvP. Its PvP *against* other gamers. It's like "who killed the mob first", "who got to max level first", "who has the cool armour", "who has most vanity pets", "who got lot of money", "who did most quests" etc.

Whatever happened to "experiencing content" as a goal for "winning"? I never really cared for being better than other players in anything, really, except clearing that dungeon, defeating that boss, reaching that level or winning that item. *shrug*
 
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The fact Cryptic were making it already had me completely uninterested. Now that it's a real MMO I'm doubly uninterested.

That said since it's free to play I will probably try it, just because it's (supposedly) D&D. I won't spend any money on it though.

On the Neverwinter forum, a Cryptic dev says that if you played NWN (BioWare game) on a persistence server with more than 5 people you were playing a MMO.

It thinks this is just PR to try to attract more people to the game personally, they haven't changed how it work, beside making it totally F2P with item malls like other Perfect Worlds games (and all of Cryptic MMOs are now F2P too, so that's no surprise).
 
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I know the devs have to hype the game and a lot of their jobs depend on the success of this thing, but that is just sad.

Curiosity will drive me to play this game, but I don't expect to find anything other than a few hours of 'meh'.
 
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Sadly FTP (free to play) is really an acronym for PTW (pay to win).

According to a few German reviews, Drakensang Online has become one of the probably worst examples for that.
Although the devs of it apparently actually seem to listen to fans ...
 
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On the Neverwinter forum, a Cryptic dev says that if you played NWN (BioWare game) on a persistence server with more than 5 people you were playing a MMO.

Oh brother... They don't need to plug their game with this kind of stuff. There are plenty of people out there who want to play a free-to-play D&D MMO. They don't need to start shoveling this PR stuff at us. Saying a new Neverwinter F2P MMO is just like a NWN persistent world is VERY cheeky of them.
 
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First off, we've known it will F2P for a few months now.

This article is actually pretty vague about what, if any changes. A forum member I believe says it best:

FoxBat_

I'm not really clear how much this is a change in direction vs. a change in marketing. It may well be the Wizards settlement with Atari that now frees them to use the label "MMO" which they probably wanted to use all along.

I'm also not clear how this is suddenly not "co-op", or is the assumption that MMOs are really about a solo experience? Or just an indication that we aren't forced to drag NPCs to fill in when fellow players are absent? Whatever it is by talking about Vindictus, and in line with their past games, it's still likely a hub game branching into instances, not a sprawling persistant overworld.

That's the big thing I see out of it - they can stop dancing around the legal term of an "OMG" it has Co-Op and can call it a MMOG finally.

The IGN article hints that you control swings in this new "action" version of the game but it goes on to claim mouse clicks are needed. NWN its always been real time combat - mouse clicks needed to hit - so nothing different from the previous two iterations.

There is no mention that PvP is now enabled (which I hope to God it will be - but doubt it except for in dueling arenas). There is no mention that you can no longer play the OC it solo but with henchmen.

h2orat sums up a few things here
http://forums.playneverwinter.com/showpost.php?p=86975&postcount=12
 
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Well thats just save me some money, not because its F2P but because I now won't need to go anywhere near it!
 
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