Neverwinter - Interview @ VE3D

Jack Emmert continues to spruik Neverwinter, with a new interview online at VoodooExtreme. They discuss the five classes and at least three starting races and he continues to press the "Oblivion meets Dragon Age" paradigm. A snip on gameplay:

VE: We also asked our readers to send in their questions so here they are. (From [XII]CoRRaN) How much Dungeons and Dragons is there in the actual gameplay? Is the goal to have it play with dice rolling in the background (like DnD Online) or is the goal to find a different way to handle things that makes it more action RPG oriented (Like Sacred or Diablo)?
Jack Emmert: We're using the rules as a starting point. There won't be any dice rolling because we want to immerse people in the setting and the more obvious you make the ruleset, the less immersive the game becomes. But we are basing everything we do on DnD 4th Edition. The mechanics have been changed but they'll be familiar. By and large, we're trying to keep as faithful as we could to 4th edition rules.

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Thanks, Lucky Day.
More information.

Dhruin said:

Jack Emmert continues to spruik Neverwinter

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You just made that word, spruik. Its not the least bit cromulent.

There's quite a bit of reveals in this interview that Emmert hadn't said before including the three above. The last one is pretty scary - at least with NWN1 you could actually watch the dice rolls or turn them off accordingly - the animation would be chosen to match them and it was pretty synchronous.

Other big reveals is that its very likely a standalone server could be built - Emmert says its not in the official plans yet but it would be very easy.

It will definitely use the same tools they made ST: O, CoH, and Champions with (much of the Bio's NWN code was modified from BG you might remember). Not a big surprise but its a definite.

This means it will likely use a lobby system like ST: O has already.

Biggest of all is the lack of PvP. This does not make me happy. What about for private areas? What about friendly fire? What about deathmatches or have arena duels? I don't like the reasons he gives either.

"There won't be any dice rolling because we want to immerse people in the setting and the more obvious you make the ruleset, the less immersive the game becomes."

Whaaaat... THIS is who we have making the first 4th ed. CRPG?

Tell that to pen and paper players....

I was reading the comments and site mod TrinityDivine followed up with more specifics on the question thanks to CoRRaNs complaint that Jack left room to wiggle out:

TrinityDivine said:

Here's Jack Emmert's response:

/quote
Right now, there is an invisible die roll that determines the level of damage. So if you hit something with your sword, you’ll do some damage, but the exact amount is determined by digital dice.
/endquote

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I think there is still room to wiggle out (thanks to the "right now" comment) but at least its in there for now. We'll have to watch and see. Starting with EQ this under the hood statistical dice rolling has been looked at with disfavour. Not to derail this thread but lately I've been thinking of ways to merge stats with gameplay in a way that's different, and the ideas came from me of all places the computer NHL games.

Dang I got excited until I realized its just another MMO.....

Or is it more of a multiplayer single player game?

"In Neverwinter, players choose to become one of five classic D&D classes and team up with friends or computer-controlled allies to form five-person co-op groups. Players also create their own storylines and quests utilizing an extremely user-friendly content generation system, tentatively codenamed Forge"

Saxon1974 said:

Dang I got excited until I realized its just another MMO…..

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Well..

Gamesultra said:

He now is helping to guide the developer into a new era, he says, focused on quality and, in a surprise move, a new title that's not an MMO at all: the Dungeons & Dragons license-based PC co-op RPG Neverwinter.

JE:In an MMO, it's really hard to thread in "Go collect 10 orc pelts" in a setting within a really compelling storyline. So we just thought we were not going to use that format.

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tentonhammer said:

The next topic that came up was why the game was being made as a co-operative RPG and not really an MMO. Jack said that the concept is much easier than an MMO and there are a lot of things they can work on differently.

The other thing Jack mentioned is that the game will follow the play style of something like Borderlands with a Dragon Age/ Oblivion feel to it. The game won’t have to live up to the MMO expectations that have become so widespread in online gaming. Instead of having a full on MMO, Cryptic wants the game to be a place where old D&D groups can get together no matter where they are and play a night of gaming without having to deal with grinding monsters or endless repetition. They want the game to be a fun experience to have with your friends.

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post is too short

SirJames said:

"There won't be any dice rolling because we want to immerse people in the setting and the more obvious you make the ruleset, the less immersive the game becomes."

Whaaaat… THIS is who we have making the first 4th ed. CRPG?

Tell that to pen and paper players….

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This comment really jarred me as well... I immediately thought of D&D sessions as well as Baldur's Gate.

Between this and Bill Roper still being with them, I'm very leery. In addition, they've been incredibly vague on on just how exactly their multiplayer is set up. Is it a Guild Wars architecture or what?

kalniel said:

Well..




post is too short

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Hmm...Call me intruiged, sounds interesting at least. I like how it said you can play with friends or computer controlled friends...so if I can play it like a D&D module type thing by myself I think that could be fun.

Lets hope since I dont have any friends that are RPG gamers.

Drithius said:

This comment really jarred me as well… I immediately thought of D&D sessions as well as Baldur's Gate.

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see my above post for further clarification from Jack Emmert

Saxon1974 said:

Hmm…Call me intruiged, sounds interesting at least. I like how it said you can play with friends or computer controlled friends…so if I can play it like a D&D module type thing by myself I think that could be fun.

Lets hope since I dont have any friends that are RPG gamers.

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This is true, just like the first two. Although you are required to be online you will be able to play by yourself and Emmert is saying you can host yoru own servers or somesuch. At first he said it was a lobby thing (like ST: O or CoH?)but in the Jeux interview he says custom content will be tied to an NPC quest and hosts will be able to lock servers. It soudns like he hasn't made his mind up yet or maybe something like Guildwars wher you run around in a lobby/city with your character OOC.