Bluesnews reports that Neverwinter: Undermountain has been announced for this Spring.

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Neverwinter's biggest expansion arrives this Spring! Team up with Durnan, the proprietor of the famed Yawning Portal to seek the truth behind the mysterious visions and forces beckoning Faerûnians to the halls of Undermountain. Neverwinter: Undermountain introduces a new level 80 cap, a complete overhaul of class powers and feats, new Adventure Zones, a new Endgame dungeon, and a much more! Are you ready to enter the realm of the Mad Mage?

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city in the Forgotten Realms and battling its many enemies. Neverwinter is currently available on PC, PlayStation®4, and Xbox One, available free-to-play with Gold*.

For more information about Neverwinter, and to play now for free visit
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/nev...
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*On Xbox, Xbox Live Gold membership (sold separately) required.

@Gamebanshee A new update for Neverwinter which continues the story in 'Storm King's Thunder' called 'Sea of Moving Ice' will launch November 8th.

New Update for Neverwinter: Storm King's Thunder on PC Launches November 8

The fate of the world is uncertain. Neverwinter's adventurers must scramble to break through giant defenses and stop all of Faerûn from turning to ice. Launching on November 8, Storm King's Thunder - Sea of Moving Ice introduces several new features including an adventuring zone, new ways to travel, a fishing mini game, artifact weaponry, treasure hunting and an epic assault on Svardborg.

Picking up where Storm King's Thunder ended, the Sea of Moving Ice update sends players to battle the overwhelming defenses of the Jarl Storvald, who has nearly deciphered the Ring of Winter's secrets and threatens to blanket the lands in permafrost. Players can hop in their new nautical vessel and travel through the Sea to gather support for the battle ahead. Along the way, they'll be able try their luck at a newly built fishing system, go hunting for scraps of a treasure map, and uncover lost relics to earn artifact weapons far stronger than any before.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city in the Forgotten Realms and battling its many enemies. Neverwinter is available on PC and is free to play digitally on Xbox One (with Xbox Live Gold) and PlayStation®4 (PlayStation®Plus not required).

A new in-game campaign for Neverwinter's Portobello's Campaign, will be available at the end of the month.

A New Dungeon Master Enters Neverwinter!

Portobello DaVinci now joins Respen Durothil with his own “marvelous” game in Neverwinter’s newest event – Portobello’s Campaign. Chris Perkins, principal story designer for Dungeons & Dragons, joins the cast of Neverwinter as adventurers play through an all-new Dungeons & Dragons tabletop experience inspired by the popular Acquisitions Inc. live games presented by Wizards of the Coast and Penny Arcade. This brand new event will be available for Neverwinter PC on March 31.

In the effort to bring the best Dungeons & Dragons tabletop experiences to the digital space, the content in Portobello’s Campaign is heavily inspired by the Acquisitions Inc. live game from PAX Prime 2015. Dungeon master Portobello DaVinci brings adventurers to the Burrow Dawn Inn to participate in a brand-new, super-meta tabletop adventure. The new MMORPG campaign brings a cast of new characters including Flabbergast and his cat, Mr Snibbly, as well as two gargoyles that appeared in the live game. A full replay of the PAX Prime 2015 live game can be found here.

Cryptic Studios has included a full-fledged, in-game campaign for the month-long Portobello’s Campaign that will give players progression through the content and more rewards than previous iterations of the event. These rewards include a new artifact item and companion, including the Apocalypse Dagger artifact and Staldorf modeled after the items from the live game.

Perfect World Entertainment Inc & Cryptic Studios announced yesterday the Neverwinter: Elemental Evil expansion has now been released after its short delay.

Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leading publisher of free-to-play MMORPGs, and Cryptic Studios announced Neverwinter: Elemental Evil – the newest expansion for the action MMORPG set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast – is now available on PC, followed by Xbox One later this year.

In the largest update to the game yet, Neverwinter: Elemental Evil brings a new playable class – the Paladin – increasing the playable class count to eight. Players creating a Paladin will be able to choose between focusing on healing or tanking builds. Neverwinter: Elemental Evil also brings the iconic hero Minsc & his miniature giant space hamster Boo to the city of Neverwinter as they pursue the true nature of four elemental cults dedicated to seeding destruction and instability throughout the Forgotten Realms. The new module increases the level cap from 60 to 70, which brings a new set of quests, feats and slottable class feature powers.

Neverwinter: Elemental Evil continues the partnership with Wizards of the Coast as Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment maintain a one-to-one release cadence with official D&D storylines. Neverwinter players will journey through new adventures as they fight the newest threat to Protector’s Enclave – the Cults of Elemental Evil – which are also present in the upcoming tabletop adventure release, Princes of the Apocalypse.

Perfect World Entertainment announced the Neverwinter: Elemental Evil expansion module for the MMORPG Neverwinter: Elemental Evil is being delayed to April 7th.

Neverwinter: Elemental Evil Release Date Moved to April 7

Below is a message from Rob Overmeyer, executive producer for Neverwinter, announcing the new April 7 release date for Neverwinter: Elemental Evil.

When we first announced Neverwinter: Elemental Evil in January, our team was excited to introduce the community to our biggest expansion launch for Neverwinter to-date. With our efforts to revamp nearly all of our in-game systems, including the introduction of the level cap increase and the new Oathbound Paladin class, our plan was more ambitious than we had anticipated.

Our Neverwinter team wants to ensure that we deliver our promise of a high quality expansion, and in order to do so, we need a few more weeks to fine tune the Neverwinter: Elemental Evil experience. Consequently, we have made the decision to delay the launch of Neverwinter: Elemental Evil to April 7.

We appreciate your patience as we take this extra time to make sure the Neverwinter: Elemental Evil experience lives up to our expectations. Our team is extremely excited for players to experience the new story, zones, critter groups and additional new changes coming to our game in April. Stay tuned to our blog and social channels as we continue to share additional details for Neverwinter: Elemental Evil.

If any of you still play the F2P Neverwinter MMO the developer has announced the games next expansion called Elemental Evil will be released on March 17th.

Neverwinter: Elemental Evil Launching March 17

The Forgotten Realms will soon be overrun with the Elemental Evil cults when Neverwinter: Elemental Evil launches for PC on March 17.

Along with the new Paladin playable class and level cap increase, Neverwinter: Elemental Evil’s storyline will see the return of Minsc & Boo – the ranger and miniature giant space hamster from the Baldur’s Gate series. The fan-favorite duo will be assisting players on their journey to discover the true nature of the Elemental Evil cults.

With the largest update to-date, Neverwinter: Elemental Evil brings a new playable class – the Paladin – that increases the playable classes count to eight. Players looking to create Paladins will be able to choose a focus on healing or tanking builds. The new module will also increase the level cap from 60 to 70, which brings a new set of quests, feats and slottable class feature powers.

Neverwinter: Elemental Evil also continues the partnership with Wizards of the Coast as Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment maintain a one-to-one release cadence with the official Dungeons & Dragons storylines. Neverwinter players will journey through new adventures as they fight the newest threat to Protector’s Enclave – the Cults of Elemental Evil – which are also present in the upcoming tabletop adventure release, Princes of the Apocalypse.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. Neverwinter is currently available on PC and will be launching for Xbox One, available free-to-play with Gold in early 2015.

For more information about Neverwinter , and to play now for free, visit http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter

MMO Games posted a new preview of two new game zones for Neverwinter.

Perfect World Entertainment give us some insight on a couple of the new zones coming to the Neverwinter module called Elemental Evil. The two new zones each hold their own beauties and terrors. They stand in stark contract to each other, Drowned Shore is a foggy seaside location that embodies a sense of ambiance and excitement. Reclamation Rock on the other hand, is a war torn city attempting to build in the wake of the destruction. in a desert like wasteland.

Perfect World Entertainment announced Neverwinter: Elemental Evil a new expansion module for the MMORPG Neverwinter: Elemental Evil. Here is the new information.

NEVERWINTER: ELEMENTAL EVIL COMING EARLY 2015

Additional Updates in 2015 Bring Anticipated Features Including New Classes and Strongholds

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – January 20, 2015 – Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leading publisher of free-to-play MMORPGs, and Cryptic Studios announced Neverwinter: Elemental Evil – the newest module for the action MMORPG set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast. Following the launch of Neverwinter: Elemental Evil, Cryptic Studios will release modules later in 2015 with highly requested additions including Strongholds and well-known characters from Dungeons & Dragons lore.

With the largest update to-date, Neverwinter: Elemental Evil brings a new playable class – the Paladin – that increases the playable classes count to eight. Players looking to create Paladins will be able to choose a focus on healing or tanking builds. The new module will also increase the level cap from 60 to 70, which brings a new set of quests, feats and slottable class feature powers.

Neverwinter: Elemental Evil also continues the partnership with Wizards of the Coast as Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment maintain a one-to-one release cadence with the official D&D storylines. Neverwinter players will journey through new adventures as they fight the newest threat to Protector’s Enclave – the Cults of Elemental Evil – which are also present in the upcoming tabletop adventure release, Princes of the Apocalypse.

Cryptic studios will be integrating several anticipated features and content updates through future module releases in 2015. Within the calendar year, players will interact with iconic characters from Dungeons & Dragons lore and step foot into their own Strongholds – the Neverwinter version of guild housing. Cryptic will also be launching Neverwinter on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, planned in early 2015. More details on these game features and the Xbox One release will be shared at a later date.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. Neverwinter is currently available on PC.

For more information about Neverwinter , and to play now for free, visit http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter

The deliciously playable and ever-popular Neverwinter launched its Rise of Tiamat expansion, including a 25-player instance and an iconic Forgotten Realms villain.

In the culmination of the Season of Dragons, Rise of Tiamat follows the events of the fourth Neverwinter module – Tyranny of Dragons – and the Siege of Neverwinter event. Starting today, adventurers will venture to the Well of Dragons, a new adventure zone that has been ransacked by the Cult of the Dragon. With the summoning of Tiamat from the Nine Hells looming over the land of Faerûn, adventurers must band together to battle one of Dungeons & Dragons most fearsome villains.

“Our team is extremely pleased to bring Tiamat to Neverwinter, as she is one of the most iconic villains in Dungeons & Dragons lore,” said Rob Overmeyer, executive producer of Neverwinter. “In order to have her live up to expectations, we created one of the largest in-game encounters ever made for our game. It’s a testament to our team’s goal of delivering a quality Dungeons & Dragons and gameplay experience.”

More information.

Perfect World Entertainment sent over a new press releases with news the next expansion for the F2P RPG Neverwinter called Tyranny of Dragons has been released.

CULT OF THE DRAGON INVADE FAERÛN WITH NEVERWINTER: TYRANNY OF DRAGONS

New Expansion Brings Scourge Warlock; Dragonborn to Epic Encounters with Dragons

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – August 14, 2014 – Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leading publisher of widely-acclaimed free-to-play MMORPGs, announced that Neverwinter’s newest content update – Tyranny of Dragons – has officially launched in North America and Europe. Neverwinter: Tyranny of Dragons brings forth one of the largest content updates for the Dungeon & Dragons MMORPG, including a new playable class, a new playable race, new heroic encounters and a new dungeon and skirmish for adventurers to explore.

Starting today, players can play as the Scourge Warlock class. Offered as part of the free update, the Scourge Warlock focuses on ranged damage and curse mechanics, making it an excellent support role for parties. The new Scourge Warlock adds unique options for teams of players as they battle through regions overrun with the Cult of the Dragon, culminating in new heroic encounters with several dragons from Dungeons & Dragons lore.

Neverwinter: Tyranny of Dragons also brings a new skirmish and dungeon that puts the teamwork skills of Neverwinter players to the test. These new instances take players on a journey through unfamiliar environments including Lostmouth and Tuern as they uncover storylines from Dungeons & Dragons fiction. Also available is the new Dragonborn premium race, allowing players to step into the role of the dangerous and powerful Dragonborn.

“As fans of the series, we are constantly looking at ways to build on our players’ Neverwinter experiences, and ensuring that they live up to the lore of Dungeons & Dragons and the core D&D experience we all love,” says Rob Overmeyer, Executive Producer of Neverwinter. “It’s not possible to have too many dragons in Neverwinter and our team has heard the calls from our community. We work tirelessly to continue to bring great gameplay, good times and epic moments to our game. We look forward to watching our players take on the onslaught of dragons in Neverwinter: Tyranny of Dragons.”

Watch the Official Gameplay Walkthrough Trailer here: youtu.be/zY5EbnifL0k?list=PL27253BF6D727E4D4

Perfect World Entertainment & Cryptic Studios released a new gameplay trailer for the next expansion for Neverwinter called Tyranny of Dragons.

Season of Dragons roars on with the brand new Official Gameplay Walkthrough for Tyranny of Dragons! Experience the new Dragonborn player race, get guided through the powerful dark magic abilities of the new Scourge Warlock class, and get prepared for the invasion of Faerûn by dragons & the nefarious Cult of the Dragon.

Perfect World Entertainment & Cryptic Studios announced in a new press release that Neverwinter will be released on the Xbox One for console players.

NEVERWINTER COMING TO XBOX ONE

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios to Bring Acclaimed Free-to-Play MMORPG to Console Gamers

(Redwood City, CA) July 30, 2014 - Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leader and publisher of widely-acclaimed free-to-play MMORPGs, announced today that Cryptic Studios is bringing popular free-to-play MMORPG Neverwinter to consoles. Available first, free-to-play with Gold* on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Neverwinter – set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast – is the first free-to-play title from Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios that will be launched on both PC and console platforms.

Players in North America and Europe can expect Neverwinter for consoles in the first half of 2015.

"Neverwinter is our premier title to bring to console players,” said Perfect World Entertainment CEO, Alan Chen. “Consoles are a perfect fit for action-oriented MMORPGs like Neverwinter, and we are thrilled to be one of the first publishers to bring premium free-to-play titles to leading next-gen platforms. Being able to bring Neverwinter to the Xbox One is a critical achievement for Perfect World. It is our first step taking our games beyond the PC market.”

Entering its fourth module on August 14, 2014 with Tyranny of Dragons, Neverwinter continues to provide authentic Dungeons & Dragons narratives and gameplay opportunities since launching in Summer 2013, and continues to grow with the D&D fan base.

“The addition of the new platforms is another piece of exciting news for Dungeons & Dragons fans in this pivotal year,” said Nathan Stewart, Dungeons & Dragons Brand Director. “We continue to work closely with Perfect World and Cryptic Studios to bring exciting new stories to players around the world.”

So if any of you still play the F2P game Neverwinter Perfect World Entertainment sent over a new press releases about a new playable race they call the Dragonborn.

DRAGONBORN PLAYER RACE ANNOUNCED

Players Can Play as the Legendary New Heroes on August 14!

(Redwood City, CA) July 24, 2014 – Perfect World Entertainment’s “Season of Dragons” continues with the announcement of the scaly new player race coming to Neverwinter: Tryanny of Dragons – the Dragonborn! The first time playable in Neverwinter, the Dragonborn are a steadfast and honorable people who have thrown off the shackles of their former dragon masters. The Dragonborn joins the new Scourge Warlock class as the newest features coming to the world of Faerûn. It’s never been better to join Neverwinter!

The Dragonborn is the keystone to the Dragonborn Legend Pack. More details can be found HERE: www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/game-pack/detail/495

Included in the Dragonborn Legend Pack are:

·         The Dragonborn Race – An account-wide unlock that grants players full access to the Dragonborn
·         A Race Change Token – A one-time account-wide unlock that lets players change their existing characters to Dragonborn while retaining their level and in-game items
·         Heart of the Dragon – A new artifact allowing players to breath fire, and Dragonborn players do extra damage
·         Ring of Dragon Slaying – An enchanted ring that allows players to do extra damage against dragon foes
·         The Gemfinder Enchantment – An enchantment with draconic essence that summons Will O’ the Wisps that find valuable gemstones as players fight
·         Dragon Glyphs – Two overload enchantments that power weapons with elemental fury and heightened defenses
·         Dragonborn Ceremonial Fashion – Gold flecked fashion items used for special occasions
·         Dragonborn Warrior Fashion – A roughen leather fashion set for epic battles
·         The Draconic Enchantment – A powerful enchantment that adds three separate stats in either an offensive or defensive enchantment slot.
·         One Character Slot
·         A 30 Slot Bag
·         Bahamut Regalia – Normally obtainable by attending real-world events, the Bahamut Regalia is five pieces of extra powerful gear granted by the metallic dragon god Bahamut

Watch the recently released Scourge Warlock trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2VggvvZeOo

“Season of Dragons” continues on the Neverwinter official website with further exciting announcements in 2014, including more information on the Scourge Warlock, the Dragonborn, and new regions coming to the world of Faerûn through the end of 2014.

Neverwinter is an action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. Tyranny of Dragons is the fourth module for the widely-acclaimed free-to-play action MMORPG Neverwinter, set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast.

For more information about Neverwinter, and to play now for free, visit the official website at: www.PlayNeverwinter.com

Perfect World Entertainment & Cryptic Studios sent a new press release that announces the next Neverwinter expansion called Tyranny Of Dragons.

NEVERWINTER TYRANNY OF DRAGONS ANNOUNCED

Fourth Module for Acclaimed MMO Coming August 14, 2014

(Redwood City, CA) May 19, 2014 – Today, Perfect World Entertainment, Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that Neverwinter: Tyranny of Dragons will launch on August 14, 2014 . Tyranny of Dragons is the fourth module for the widely-acclaimed free-to-play action MMORPG Neverwinter, set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast, and is featured as the premier Tyranny of Dragons interactive digital experience.

The Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe is beloved by tabletop players everywhere, and Neverwinter: Tyranny of Dragons will provide players with a compelling and vibrant Dungeons & Dragons experience, bridging characters and narrative between the MMO and tabletop game through the Tyranny of Dragons storyline.

“This is a pivotal year for Dungeons & Dragons and we are thrilled to have Perfect World and Cryptic on board to make Neverwinter a key part of the D&D experience as we transition to the future,” said Nathan Stewart, Dungeons & Dragons Brand Director. “The new Tyranny of Dragons module is just the beginning of us bringing our new serialized entertainment to the fans of both tabletop and digital games.”

Currently on its third module, Neverwinter: Curse of Icewind Dale, Neverwinter has grown its playerbase and continues to create authentic D&D narratives and gameplay experiences since its launch in Summer 2013, and continues to grow with the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

Neverwinter is an action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. In Neverwinter, players can create their own quests and campaigns with the Foundry, a powerful content creation tool that allows players to seamlessly integrate their adventures in to the live game world.

For more information about Neverwinter, and to play now for free, visit the official website at: http://www.PlayNeverwinter.com

Perfect World Entertainment & Cryptic Studios sent a new press release that announces the next Neverwinter expansion Curse Of Icewind Dale now live.

NEVERWINTER CURSE OF ICEWIND DALE NOW LIVE

Acclaimed Action MMORPG Launches Third Free Module

(Redwood City, CA) May 13, 2014 - Perfect World Entertainment, Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that the widely-acclaimed free-to-play action MMORPG Neverwinter, set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast, has launched its third free Module, Curse of Icewind Dale. In this latest free update, players explore iconic Icewind Dale locations, participate in open world PvP, mine the land for Black Ice, and experience all new quests known as Heroic Encounters while working for one of the new opposing groups, the Ten-Towners or the Arcane Brotherhood.

"Releasing our third major update less than a year after launch is substantial achievement” said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. "Many compelling new features have been added into this latest Module, including new open world PvP and PvE content. We’re committed to continually bringing our Neverwinter players high-quality and engaging new content, and our players will discover great new gameplay and story content in Curse of Icewind Dale."

Curse of Icewind Dale, the third Module for Neverwinter, is a free content expansion that introduces all new open world PvP and PvE content, while incentivizing players to battle over Black Ice, a new resource necessary to craft some of the most powerful items in the game. Found throughout the Icewind Dale region, players may risk their life to earn this resource faster in the dangerous open world PvP areas. Join one of the two new opposing groups, the steadfast Ten-Towners or the ambitious Arcane Brotherhood, and take on new bosses, new encounters, and new iconic locations. Players will also have new end-game advancement opportunities with the new Hunter Ranger Paragon Path, offering enhanced survivability and utility.

Neverwinter is an action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. In Neverwinter, players can create their own quests and campaigns with the Foundry, a powerful content creation tool that allows players to seamlessly integrate their adventures in to the live game world.

For more information about Neverwinter Curse of Icewind Dale, and to begin playing now for free, please visit the official website: http://www.PlayNeverwinter.com

Perfect World Entertainment announce the next expansion for their F2P MMO Neverwinter is called Curse of Icewind Dale, and it will be launching on May 19th.

We’re proud to announce that Module 3: Curse of Icewind Dale, the third free content expansion for Neverwinter, will be live on May 13, 2014. We’re excited for you to experience all the new features being introduced with Module 3 including two new adventure zones, Dwarven Valley and Icewind Pass, and all new open world PvP.

Cryptic Studios have released a new development diary video for Neverwinter about the changes to PvP combat. So if your interested here is the video.

Nvidia has a new advertisement video showing how TXAA Anti-Aliasing works in the F2P MMO Neverwinter. Feel free to skip though as I know many of you hate MMO's.

Jagged edges and temporal aliasing in Cryptic Studios' Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter are now a thing of the past thanks to NVIDIA's advanced, GeForce GTX-exclusive TXAA Anti-Aliasing technique.

Perfect World Entertainment has released a new interactive trailer for te new ranger class from the just released Shadowmantle module.

Module 2: Shadowmantle, the second free content expansion for Neverwinter, is now live!

Log in to explore the new adventure zone, the Dread Ring, and face Valindra Shadowmantle herself. We've also introduced many new in-game systems, features, and the free Hunter Ranger class!

Check out some of the things that you can do as a Hunter Ranger with this interactive video! Please make sure your annotations settings are on and click a power on the video when prompted.

Steam announces that you can now download the F2P MMO Neverwinter.

Now Available on Steam - Neverwinter

Neverwinter is Now Available on Steam and is Free to Play!

Neverwinter is a free, action MMORPG based on the acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Epic stories, action combat and classic roleplaying await those heroes courageous enough to enter the fantastic world of Neverwinter!

Explore and defend one of the most beloved cities from the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting as it rises from the ashes of destruction. This immersive MMORPG will take you from the besieged walls of the city to subterranean passageways in search of forgotten secrets and lost treasure.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios announce the release of it's second free module Shadowmantle for Neverwinter. Here are the details.

Acclaimed Action MMORPG Launches Second Free Module

(Redwood City, CA) December 5, 2013 - Perfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that the widely acclaimed free action MMORPG Neverwinter, set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast, has launched its second free Module, Shadowmantle. In this Module expansion, players can travel to Neverwinter Wood's' deepest region and fight through the Dread Ring campaign, play as the new Hunter Ranger class, explore a whole new Paragon Path and collect artifacts on their way to glory.

"Delivering new free content to our players is and always will be our highest priority,” said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. “To see Shadowmantle, go live less than six months after official launch, is incredible, and we couldn't be more excited to release this new content to our players. We also want to hear feedback about the highly anticipated Hunter Ranger class, so we encourage fans to try it and let us know what they think.”

Shadowmantle, the second Module for Neverwinter, is a free content expansion in which players tackle the Dread Ring campaign. Deep within the Neverwinter Wood lays the Dread Ring, a massive structure built for ritual magic. Players explore this broken but still powerful region and fight Valindra Shadowmantle's army, including an epic battle with the lich herself. In addition to the Hunter Ranger class and new playable content, Shadowmantle features new collections, artifacts, and Paragon Paths.

Neverwinter is an action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. In Neverwinter, players can create their own quests and campaigns with the Foundry, a powerful content creation tool that allows players to seamlessly integrate their adventures into the live game world.

For more information about Neverwinter Shadowmantle, and to begin playing now for free, please visit the official website: http://www.PlayNeverwinter.com

Unigamesity has a new article for the F2P RPG Neverwinter dissusing why the end- game content is stale. Give it a read then discuss in the comment section

Neverwinter, a MMORPG based on the popular role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons, has been out for almost 6 months now, and it’s developed a loyal fan base among the MMORPG community. Along with the Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts out there, Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment has propelled the success of this MMORPG immensely through the integration of their unique combat system, relatively in-depth character customization, and leveling scheme. However, there have been a lot of questions on why this game has been met with so much criticism.

One of the main issues that I’ve noticed in the general gaming community for Neverwinter is their lack of end-gamee. Now, I’m sure that I’ll be met with an army of people that disagree with this, saying that that’s why the Foundry, Gauntlgrym, and two separate tiers of dungeon delves are available. But with that, is it really enough? Understandably, everyone has their own definition of what makes a good end-game, but in a game that’s following the MMORPG build, it seems necessary to have a little more end-game content for all players to enjoy. So let’s address each of these end-game activities. Now remember, all of these points are based on my opinions. Everyone is subject to their own likes and dislikes.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios announce in this new press release that the free content update Shadowmantle will launch on December 5th.

Second Free Expansion to Popular Action MMORPG Introduces Hunter Ranger Class and Dread Ring Zone

(Redwood City, CA) November 21, 2013 - Perfect World Entertainment, Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that the widely-praised free action MMORPG Neverwinter, set in the Dungeons & Dragons® Forgotten Realms^® universe from Wizards of the Coast, will launch Shadowmatle, its second expansion, on December 5, 2013. This free content update introduces the Hunter Ranger as a new character class, and an entirely new zone, the Dread Ring, an ashen field buried deep within the Neverwinter Woods.

“We’re incredibly excited to share the release date of Shadowmantle - our second free expansion”, said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. “With Neverwinter, our plan has always been to release massive regular updates that provide new unique online experiences with exciting new content for players to explore.”

“Shadowmantle continues to fuel excitement and great adventures for D&D fans.  Supporting great storytelling through our digital partners continues to be a priority for the brand and this latest module delivers on that promise,” said Nathan Stewart, Brand Director for D&D at Wizards of the Coast. 

Shadowmantle, the second Module for Neverwinter, is a free content expansion in which players tackle the Dread Ring campaign. Within the Dread Ring is a massive structure built for ritual magic. Players explore the surroundings of this broken but still powerful structure and fight Valindra Shadowmantle's army, including an epic battle with the lich herself. In addition to the Hunter Ranger class and new playable content, Shadowmantle features new systems including Artifacts and Collections, and new Paragon Paths for the original classes.

Neverwinter is an action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. In Neverwinter, players can create their own quests and campaigns with the Foundry, a powerful content creation tool that allows players to seamlessly integrate their adventures in to the live game world.

For more information about Neverwinter Shadowmantle, and to begin playing now for free, please visit the official website: http://www.PlayNeverwinter.com

Cryptic Studios has a new post on the Neverwinter website about new paragon paths.

With the upcoming Module 2: Shadowmantle, Neverwinter will bring more gameplay options and choices for your character. Along with Artifacts and Collections, new Paragon Paths will be available for each of the original playable classes.

In case anyone is still intereted in Neverwinter Cryptic Studios posted a new developer blog about the games Item Progression System.

Since Neverwinter launched, we’ve received lots of feedback about the way our current Fusing system – and everything that surrounds it, like Enchantments, Runestones, Unslot costs, etc. – works, and where it… doesn’t quite work. We gathered it all up and took a look at what some of the major issues were, and looked at how we could address those issues. Some of the biggest issues we identified were:

• No one wanted to Unslot an Enchantment, pretty much ever. They did if they had really high end Enchants, but this wasn’t very common. This had an additional negative of making people not want to bother with the whole Enchantment system while leveling up – if you were unwilling to Unslot an Enchant, then putting one into an item meant it was lost forever, so a lot of people just opted to not bother until the end of the game.
• You couldn’t Fuse Enchants that were currently slotted. With people not wanting to Unslot Enchants, this was a particularly troublesome problem.
• So. Much. Bag space. Since you needed to gather 4 matching Enchants of the same exact rank in order to Fuse them to the next Rank, you ended up with 2 or 3 stacks of each Enchantment and Runestone, filling upwards of 30 slots in your bag.
• High barriers to high end Enchants. While the system stayed consistent in that you always needed 4 of a given Rank to get to the next Rank, it would become progressively harder to get 4 of the same Rank, with compounding costs of needing to Rank up many Enchants of lower level before you could even get close to making progress on your current Enchantment.

With these issues in mind, we set out to solve some problems. We also kept in mind our upcoming system – Artifacts – which would be using another “rank up” style system, but we’ll get to that in another Dev Blog.

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios announce Shadowmantle the second free expansion Module to Neverwinter.

Acclaimed Action MMORPG's New Module Includes Hunter Ranger Class

(Redwood City, CA) October 29, 2013 - Perfect World Entertainment, Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce Shadowmantle, the second free expansion Module to Neverwinter, the widely-acclaimed free-to-play action MMORPG set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast.  Featuring the new Hunter Ranger class, and currently available on Neverwinter's public test shard, Shadowmantle releases later this year. In this second free update, players travel to Neverwinter Wood's' deepest region, discover new artifacts, and even choose a second paragon path.

"We're so excited to reveal Shadowmantle. There has been great speculation about what our next class would be and we're thrilled to reveal the Hunter Ranger," said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer and COO, Craig Zinkievich. "Delivering new classes is something the team is committed to and this is just the first of many free classes to come in Neverwinter."

Shadowmantle, the second Module for Neverwinter, is a free content expansion in which players tackle the Dread Ring campaign. Deep within the Neverwinter Wood lays the Dread Ring, a massive structure built for ritual magic. Players explore this broken but still powerful region and fight Valindra Shadowmantle's army, including an epic battle with the lich herself. In addition to the Hunter Ranger class and new playable content, Shadowmantle features new collections, artifacts, and Paragon Paths.

For more information about Neverwinter Shadowmantle, and to begin playing now for free, please visit the official website: http://www.PlayNeverwinter.com

Gameranx interviewed Systems Designer Lindsay Haven about the development, and design of Neverwinter.

How successful has Neverwinter's launch been so far? What things did you think you were able to do right out the gate, and what did you wish you could have done better?

Neverwinter's launch generated a lot more interest than we anticipated it would, and for Cryptic It broke a lot of records in-terms of CCU (concurrent users) and the number of players logging in. This success speaks to the early game experience we created, our commitment to the Dungeons & Dragons emersion, and Cryptic's own experience in making MMOs. Of course when an MMO launches and the player base gets bigger it's easier to notice what experiences fall short. For Neverwinter our end-game content wasn't as compelling or as complete as it needed to be. That's why our first module, Fury of the Feywild, focused on delivering playable content to level capped players.

The Foundry has proven to be a popular part of the game. Do you plan to make any major improvements or changes to it in the near future? Why do you think fans.

Yes, The Foundry was an essential and popular part Neverwinter because it is based on Dungeons & Dragons, which players have a long history of creating their own adventures and campaigns for. Cryptic has a dedicated foundry team working to improve The Foundry every day to make it easier to generate content for Neverwinter. Every week we are fixing bugs and making improvements that go live, and when we released Fury of the Feywild we added a 3D editing, which allows authors a more immersive way to build their maps.

Perfect World announces that server upgrades are underway to consolidate all servers together in one shard.

For those who have been following Neverwinter since beta, you know that it’s always been our goal to allow all players in Neverwinter to play together on one shard.

Well, we’re almost there! In the very near future, we’ll be performing the long-anticipated server upgrade that will bring all players together in a single, unified shard. Information regarding the specific time and date will be coming soon. For more info about the technical details, check out our updated Extended FAQ on the forums.

NWNP has a new podcast interview with Community Manager Sominator of Neverwinter.

Please join Brian aka Sir Brian and Ben aka Aroen, from NWN2 Realms of Trinity, as they interview the Neverwinter Community Manager, Som aka Sominator. In this episode, they discuss the success of Neverwinter and the management of the player and UGC community and much more! You don’t want to miss out on this great interview, folks!

Gamasutra has posted a video from GDC Europe 2013 about balancing the F2P MMO Neverwinter.

At GDC Europe 2013, Perfect World Europe general manager Gabriel Hacker responds to an audience question about what he would have done differently leading up to the launch of F2P MMO Dungeon & Dragons Neverwinter.

In this free GDC Vault video, Hacker examines sales data and concludes that the biggest spikes he has seen were caused by content updates, not sales or discounts. He also examines a Neverwinter pre-order pack campaign where the $200 pack outsold the $20 and $60 packs, citing consumer value as a large reason for its success.

In case you have been living under a rock, or missed the other reviews you already know about Neverwinter. If not Gaming Nexus has a new review.

Money versus time

As Neverwinter is a free-to-play title, many potential players ask the same question regarding the game's microtransaction system. While the game does employ its fair share of occasions in which the completion of tasks could be accomplished quicker with the aid of purchasing premium points. Even with the continually advertised premium items such as special mounts or character apparel, none of the content creates disadvantages for other players. As with other free-to-play models, players themselves have to decide between the value of their time versus spending money for instant gratification. While a flaming horse mount may look spectacular in-game, it's not in any means required to experience the game's overall content.

Identity crisis

The visual presentation of Neverwinter isn't bad by any means, but the largest problem is simply its lack of identity. From the monsters to the locations, nothing seems unique or even that interesting. There isn't much variety to the exterior and interior environments either, which result in an overall lackluster appearance. Yet, some designs do stand out, such as the primary city hub and some of the various loot items.

Fortunately, the game's actual performance makes up for the design as the game runs smooth without any sort of crashes or server issues. The interface is one of the best around for free-to-play titles, with an overly simple layout to navigate, in addition to clear and minimal icons. Sparkly breadcrumb trails can also be toggled to make navigation between the city hub and quests a simple and quick process. The polished presentation and easy-to-use interface make for a dangerously-addictive experience for partaking in an array of quests.

Twenty-sided dice not included

Neverwinter enters a crowded market of free-to-play games, many of which have a similar fantasy theme. Yet, the Dungeon & Dragons-inspired Neverwinter is one of the more polished and content-rich online games available. The fluid combat combined with a near-endless amount of quests to complete ensure that players will be kept interested and busy for quite sometime. Neverwinter stands apart from other free-to-play games by not only providing a highly-polished gameplay experience, but one in which players can create their own adventures and ultimately become the dungeon masters themselves.

Perfect World and Cryptic Studios have announced the kickoff of their Summer Festival.

The Neverwinter Team is extremely excited and overjoyed from seeing so many players explore Sharandar in Fury of the Feywild. The Forgotten Realms is bustling with activity as players continue to unveil new secrets of each adventure zone and delve into the darkest dungeons in Neverwinter. To provide you with some rest and respite, we're introducing the in-game Summer Festival Event which will run for nearly three weeks. Log in, relax, and you could earn some amazing rewards!

Cryptic announces that Fury of the Feywild is now available to play on the games website.

The time is upon us, Neverwinter adventurers. Module 1: Fury of the Feywild, the new content expansion for Neverwinter, is now live! Prepare your adventure party to enter deep within Neverwinter Wood into the new zone of Sharandar. What awaits you? The fomorian king, Malabog, and his forces along with the ever-increasing threat of Valindra Shadowmantle and her dangerous influence. You must also face the formidable Red Caps and other iconic Dungeons & Dragons creatures to keep the elves of Illiyanbruen safe.

Also, there has been many updates and changes to Neverwinter since it went live this past June. Here are just some of the changes and additions to the game:

• New Campaign System. Unlock three distinct neighborhoods for Sharandar and be rewarded with some unique items for Neverwinter!
• New companion quality upgrade system. Strengthen your most trusted companions by boosting their stats with this new system.
• New Feywild Lockbox will be available. Ride a majestic Sylvan Stag and fight along a fearsome Aranea companion today! What other treasures will you unlock? Open one today!
• New Professions to master. Fury of the Feywild will introduce Weaponsmithing and Artificing for skilled Profession workers to learn. Weaponsmiths could create some of the best end-game weapons available!
• New Call to Arms System. Skirmishes will be more rewarding and more readily available for adventurers of all levels. Look out for any announcements of new Call to Arms Events.
• Many balance and gameplay changes based off our players' invaluable feedback and suggestions.
• New arsenal of items inspired by the unique aesthetic of the Feywild.
• Updates to the Foundry Editor to include Drag & Drop 3-D editing. Be as creative and imaginative as you want to create the best user-generated content for Neverwinter!
• The release of Gauntlgrym, the 20 vs. 20 PvP and PvE Event. Fight to protect your faction's honor!
• And much, much more!

If you have not seen Sharandar in all its glory and beauty, check out our Fury of the Feywild Lore Trailer!

Neverwinter has a new update from a few days ago going over the new balance, and gameplay updates from Fury of the Feywild.

Fury of the Feywild is coming up next Thursday, August 22, and we’re excited to give you a sneak peak of some of the balance and gameplay updates that are coming with the Module 1 launch!

A much-abbreviated list of the patch notes is below, and you can playtest these changes when they appear on NeverwinterPreview this week, alongside a host of Fury of the Feywild content!

Got Game has a new Q&A interview with Neverwinter's Lead Producer Andy Valasquez.

With over 2 million subscribers, would you say Neverwinter is a success? 

Yeah. Absolutely I would.

A lot of fans are looking forward to new classes. When can we expect to see a Ranger or Druid class?

Within the next few months you can expect to see the floodgates open with information about our next planned class. We have been developing it for a while and it is shaping up to be really awesome.

I know everyone is very anxious to get their hands on the next class and we are working hard to make that happen. Our classes are incredibly important to us and we want to make sure that when they come out they are AWESOME. So, we are taking the time we feel we need to in order to really make them feel unique, powerful, true to their D&D roots and most importantly FUN.

Hopefully you folks will agree once you finally get your hands on them that the time was worth it.

How often are we to expect new content?

Our goal is to get significant content and systems updates to ya’ll every few months.

If you look at our game since OBT which was only a few short months ago we put out Gauntlgrym, a brand new gameplay mode, and we already have another major release coming this month with Fury of the Feywild.

Fury of the Feywild isn’t even out yet and we are already getting plans rolling for our next module so you should expect more of the same dedication to new features from us.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a short teaser trailer for Neverwinter’s Furious Feywild

Neverwinter’s first big content update, Fury Of The Feywild, is with us in just a couple of weeks. The actually rather good free-to-play MMO peculiarly failed to gouge me of cash as I played through it, so I’m pretty tempted to head back in to look at the new bits and bobs – they’ll be free too. There is, at last, a trailer showing some footage of it, albeit very briefly.

Neverwinter seems to have more than two million players to celebrate an accolade trailer and demographic chart with info was released.

You can find the Infograph here.

PCGAMER has finally posted their review of Neverwinter and it's not excalty positive.

Mechanically, Neverwinter is solid, but its content is painfully behind the times and far too dull to stand up against the competition – especially when that includes (shudder) buy-to-play games rather than simply other free ones. Factor-in the chance for playercreated content to fill that gap, however, and for improved design features to enable that player creativity, and it seems likely things will feel much fresher in a few months’ time. Being this reliant on players to compensate for its lack of creativity isn’t exactly a point in Neverwinter’s favour. Giving them the power to do so, however, is. And that’s something other MMOs need to copy.

This is yesterday’s MMO by the merits of its own content, but compensates by potentially ushering in a DIY revolution.

Laser Lemming has a community interview with Rob Overmeyer of Cryptic Studios about Neverwinter.

Future of the Foundry – Boss fights, group content, PvP as user generated content?”

“Actually, we’re working on all of those, but I can’t give release timeframes. Just ahead in our next update we are improving the 3D editing tool, making our catalog search better and adding a ton of new assets for authors to use in their quests.

Past that we are going to continue the partnership we have with our author community and decide what the next major update for the Foundry should be. We already know that both the authors and the developers want to create team-sized content with bigger monsters and larger quests. We also know that branching stories is something that has been requested by nearly all our authors.

PVP is a hot topic internally and a much-anticipated feature.

With all this enthusiasm for the growth of what authors can do with the foundry, rest assured that we have a big list and a full plate of features that we can work on.”

Will foundry content ever be categorized as epic? Perhaps if it were submitted for the developers to look at? I feel like I won’t have a reason to do a foundry dungeon over an epic dungeon when I hit 60 and am trying to improve my gearscore.

“I admit I am biased when it comes to Foundry content. If you are a fan of the Foundry you already know that there are some truly epic quests out there already. We do have plans to add the ability to make team scaling foundry quests (team content) and with that we will be looking at difficulty, scaling and rewards.”

Do you have any control over the Zen shop prices, or is that purely Perfect World Entertainment? I find the prices to be a bit too steep, and I’d rather see things like EXP, crafting, gold and item drop rate boosters over scrolls and stones.”

“The Zen shop prices are controlled by both Cryptic and PWE. It’s a collaborative effort.  We try to find a balance of what we think is appropriate pricing but It’s something that we’re always looking at. We even recently did a round of price reductions.  We take feedback from the community very seriously, so if players think an item is too high then it’s something that we will look at and try to address. The reality of the business is that we do offer an unprecedented amount of content free and that content we do charge for is convenience or aesthetic, but it’s always up for discussion.

Cryptic Studios announces that Fury of the Feywild the first new campaign for Neverwinter will be released on August 22nd.

We're proud to announce that Fury of the Feywild, Neverwinter's first content expansion, will be live on August 22, 2013 – just a month away! We're extremely excited to bring you into the new adventure zone of Sharandar and introduce new game features like the Campaign System, new Professions, new loot, and much more! Click here to learn more about Fury of the Feywild's development direct from Cryptic Studios developers. 

To get players ready for the dangerous journey ahead, we're introducing two new packs filled with unique items including companions, fashion, and more!

Knight of the Feywild Pack – Here are just some of the items and unique items. Click here to learn more and purchase.

• Unique Moon Elf Race
• Unique Dawn Unicorn Mount
• Unique Sylph Companion
• Unique Moonsilver Regalia Fashion Set
• 600,000 Astral Diamonds
• PWE Games Gift Package
  
• And much more!

 

A new update on the Neverwinter website has details on a new campaign system being developed for release later this summer.

When we revealed the new content expansion Module, Fury of the Feywild, we revealed more details about Malabog Castle, an upcoming dungeon delve, and the Module's development in our dev blog. We're also ready to unveil new details about the Campaign System, a new meta-quest feature that allows players to unlock three distinct regions of Sharandar as you progress in Neverwinter.

Once Fury of the Feywild is live in Summer 2013, Sergeant Knox will advise players to travel to the new adventure zone of Sharandar where a new quest line will be introduced as well as the Campaign System. The system itself will be a new UI (user interface) window similar to the Queue or Professions window. In it, players will find Projects that they must complete in order to unlock Sharandar's other neighborhoods, the new Malabog Castle dungeon delve, and new passive powers for their characters.

How do players complete Projects and progress? The Sharandar zone itself will have many repeatable quests that give rewards which players will use in the Campaign System window. Also, players can complete solo instances and the five-man Malabog Castle to speed up progression within the Campaign System. Malabog Castle is unlocked via an early (and relatively quick) Campaign System Project before players are able to enter it. For solo instances, players can acquire a one-time use key that they can acquire while doing repeatable quests in the zone or purchase in game with a new currency that comes from the adventure zone.

Here is the second round of reviews for Neverwinter.

BagofGames - 8.5/10

Neverwinter is far more than just a simple nostalgia trip. While for the most part, it’s a fairly standard fantasy MMO, it’s one that uses those old tropes oh so well. If it seems a bit old school in tone, hey, it’s based on the game that started it all. Yes, you’ll spend a fair amount of time questing, hacking and slashing, but that’s what you came for, ain’t it?

GameRevolution - 3.5/5

The free-to-play allure of Neverwinter quickly loses its shine once you head into the cash shop for your first time. All items including mounts and companions are extremely expensive. Inventory space is painfully limited in the game unless you cough up $10 per additional bag. Respecs require real money as do bank slots. Although you can put up with the inconveniences, players having access to rare gear with real money is distasteful. Consequently, when you see other characters with powerful gear you have no idea if they earned it or just plopped real-world currency into the Zen Market.

If you’re in-between MMOs and looking for something to soak up time, Neverwinter is a good choice. Its action-oriented combat will make your stay memorable, and you might find yourself spending long nights in The Forge. Once you realize it doesn’t make an effort to build community and heavily rewards those who invest wallets full of money you may become turned off as quickly as you fell in love. If you’re a Dungeons & Dragons fan you may be willing to push aside the shortcomings. For everyone else it’s a great vacation spot but not the kind of place you’d want to live in.

Tentonhammer - 90/100

Pros

• The Foundry is awesome.
• D&D action in the Forgotten Realms.
• The Foundry gives players the ability to create the kind of content they want to play.
• Dynamic combat system makes for engaging gameplay..
• Did I mention the Foundry?

Cons

• F2P marketing in-game is aggressive and off-putting
• Players expecting a continuation of Atari's Neverwinter Nights series (and its powerful Aurora toolset) will be disappointed
• Players accustomed to traditional "Trinity"-style group play will need some adjustment time

Conclusion

I was happy to spend the 60 bucks on the Guardian of the North Founder's Pack many months ago. Even though the game is totally free to play, and I could have gotten almost all the same stuff (or equivalent to it) through the Zen Market for the cost of a few hours of gameplay, it still feels worth it. Neverwinter is fun and engaging, and well worth the time investment even if you don't want to spend the money.

Gamingtrend - 80/100

It’s hard to review an MMO. If we look at this same just 6 months from now I bet you a great deal of what I’ve said above will be changed. Chat could be segmented and improved. PvP could be expanded, new maps and modes added, and classes balanced. The ridiculous amounts of currencies could be consolidated, and the Astral and Zen markets will have settled by then. But what about what’s in the (virtual) box?

Neverwinter was purpose built to be free-to-play, but they have also made the pay aspects fairly non-intrusive. They’ve provided an incredible amount of content wrapped around character classes that are a great deal of fun to play. Sure there are some balancing issues in the PvP realm, but otherwise the game is pay-for-convenience, not pay-to-play. The team at Cryptic have worked very hard to take the pen and paper game and bring it to life, and without a doubt they’ve succeeded. The Foundry is a revolutionary step, and it extends this game infinitely. I’d like to take my hat off to TiLT from our Forums – he is consistently among the top of the highest-rated content creators, and I look forward to running more of his adventures. In my opinion, Neverwinter has taken the crown for F2P MMOs. You don’t have to take my word for it as you can download the game and join us in the world of Faerûn.

Neverwinter is now officially Live as announced by Cryptic Studios. We also have a few reviews to go along with the announcement.

We're so excited to announce that today marks the live launch of Neverwinter! After nearly two months of Open Beta testing, numerous feedback from players and fans, and many gameplay and balance changes, we are proud to be live. Today also marks the live release of Gauntlgrym, new end-game PvP and PvE content, and the new Alchemy profession.

Forbes

Despite some glaring open beta mishaps, Neverwinter has what it takes.  The combat is possibly the best in any MMORPG on the market today; it may have hit the elusive sweet spot between the old and the new.  There are a wide variety of options and activities that cater to both solo players and group enthusiasts.  Neverwinter offers experiences for players that normally wouldn’t play MMORPGs, and also provides a framework for core genre players.   Looking for action and adventure in the world of Forgotten Realms?  Neverwinter delivers.

GamingIllustrated

Neverwinter is not a perfect game, but it is definitely above average. With graphics that work on most machines and look great on high end machines, and decent gameplay, Neverwinter is surprisingly a breath of fresh air in an fairly stale genre. It’s future depends solely on how Cryptic intends to support the game and community. So far they’ve done a good job by releasing a massive balance patch rather quickly and they plan to release a bit of end game PvP/PvE in the form of a new even known as The Caverns of Gauntlgrym. If they’re able to keep it up, Neverwinter may just be an incredibly successful MMO. Only time will tell.

Venturebeat

Neverwinter is a fun game, and it’s an excellent introduction to the MMO genre. It doesn’t feel like you need to dump hundreds of hours into it, either, which may be a drawback for those concerned about endgame. However, I only made it so far through, and Cryptic seems prepared to support the game with new content like Gauntlgrym and the free expansion Fury of the Feywild, which is due this summer.

While the free-to-play system doesn’t cripple Neverwinter by any means, it will start to annoy some players because of its weird restrictions. “I hate those guys with the giant spider mounts,” one player told me in game. I agreed. Cryptic could benefit from lowering the value of Zen a bit or making it more accessible to players who don’t want to spend real money (maybe by allowing them to buy it with ADs?). In addition, the developer’s next focus should be to continue cleaning up the bugs, refining and adding more PvP modes, raising companion level caps, and definitely working on a more user-friendly Foundry Editor.

It may have its flaws, but Neverwinter is highly enjoyable and accessible to veteran, beginner, and casual players alike. I’ll see you in the city.

CapsuleComputers has an interview on Neverwinter with Systems Designer Lindsay Haven.

So far the races have been identified as elves, half-elves, dwarves, half-orcs, halflings, tieflings, and humans. With the coming release of the drow elves as a playable race, will Neverwinter acquire more races? Perhaps through a payment option?

There will absolutely be more playable races coming to Neverwinter. We aren’t quite sure if they will be monetized or not. Though I think we will be making that decision soon, so keep an eye out for new races on our website.

Can you explain the licensing process in making this game a reality considering an already licensed Wizards of the Coast product – Dungeons & Dragons Online? Was it hard to establish a need for a fresh MMO?

In terms of adding a new MMO to the market, we felt that there was a lot of space in the free-to-play (and free-to-download) game space. As for a new Dungeons & Dragons game, well, most of us were pretty excited about being able to work on that, and it was something that Wizards of the Coast was pushing for as well. I think all parties involved never doubted this game had potential in the market as it is now.

Classes are a bit few in number at the initial release of the open beta. Can we expect more free classes to generate new characters or will they need to be purchased? Any hints to what new classes may be in the making?

We are currently working on new classes. I can’t say what classes we are working on, but I can say that we are looking at the most popular class in D&D history and listening to the Neverwinter community. We have room to expand in that direction because there are a lot of classes available to us through the Dungeons & Dragons lore. At this time we don’t plan on charging players for playable classes.

How far is Neverwinter willing to go? The name seems to localize the title in the immediate area in Faerun. Beyond the Underdark, can we expect expansions to led us into the deserts of Calimport or into the heavy winters of the Ten Towns?

The Sword Coast is a fairly big place and there is a lot we have yet to explore, so we’re going to focus on that for now. We have no current plans to go beyond the Sword Coast, but that may change in the future.

According to IGN Cryptic has announced Neverwinter will launch on June 20. It will also have an expansion already available for free called Fury of the Feywild.

Cryptic has announced it's free-to-play MMORPG Neverwinter will launch on June 20 and beta progress will be carried over.

The game, set in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms, has been in open beta since April 30 but will shift into full release in a fortnight. When it does so, it'll coincide with the live release of Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter's free level 60 PvE and PvP content.

Additionally, the company has also announced the first free expansion pack for the game will be called Fury of the Feywild, and will be available sometime this summer. More details about the expansion will be released closer to launch, but for now we've been told It'll chronicle an attempt by Fomorian Giants to seize the Elven city of Sharandar.

Neverwinter’s beta was taken offline due to hackers exploiting, and cheating with the economy.  Perfect World promised to release a care package to try to make up for the losses and hardship. It looks like they delivered.

When we opened the doors of the Neverwinter Open Beta on April 30, we expected there to be all kinds of responses, from positive feedback and fun player stories to bug reports and constructive feedback…We’ve counted on these responses to make the game even better as we get closer and closer to our live launch.

What we did not expect, and should have, is how amazingly supportive and helpful our community would be during the brief snags that we might hit along the way.  We are sincerely overwhelmed by all of the positive comments and feedback that we’ve received from you over the past few weeks, and would like to express our deepest thanks for your ongoing support and willingness to help us make Neverwinter one of the best free-to-play MMORPGs around.

Case in point: this past weekend, the Neverwinter community helped us to identify a major exploit involving the Auction House and Astral Diamond Exchange, which we promptly addressed through a number of corrective actions, including permanent bans on exploitative accounts and a necessary rollback to the time before the exploit was initiated.  We realize the frustration that the rollback and related downtime may have caused and are deeply sorry for this inconvenience.  We’re also overwhelmed by your positive support and patience during the downtime, as well as your assistance in identifying the issue and helping us to develop and implement a solution as quickly as possible.

Cryptic Studios' Rob Overmeyer has written a new developer journal for MMORPG.com on Neverwinter.

There are very few limitations when it comes to the content an author can make in the Foundry. Whether it is a quick rescue of a drunken dwarf in the Chasm, or a deep delve into the history and lore of the Forgotten Realms, authors can create an array of different quests. We support this creativity with tools that allow you to customize the look and feel of everything, from friendly contacts to the critters players will fight. Our costume editor allows for nearly endless customization of every person or thing you’ll come across in a quest. Within the quests you can really tune the experience for players by having elements of your quest be special for players with specific skills. And this is just the start; there is so much more that can be done with the Foundry.

With the map editor, you can build both exterior and interior maps. Exterior maps come in a few varieties with lots of options to choose from. There are several sizes of detailed and prepopulated maps that are ready to be filled with content and some final details that support your story. There are also “canvas” maps that allow authors to customize every rock, tree, magic portal to Neverdeath, and blade of grass. The interior map editor allows for room-by-room customization of an instanced or interior map. You can build that unique tavern that has a secret door to the sewer that leads to a cave network that attaches to an ancient crypt that is under a castle and leads to the…well, you get the idea! There’s a lot you can build with the interior map editor, and you can add any detail pieces that you prefer, to make your quest feel areas exactly how you like them. In the map editor, you can also set the look of various background elements, like changing the sky or adding fog. You can even select the perfect ambient sounds for your maps to further customize your quest. There is so much you can do to make your world come alive and tell your story.

Every story needs a beginning, middle, and end. In video games, those points are often marked by encountering a contact, someone you might meet on your journey that changes your path. Our dialog editor allows for some truly amazing customization in this storytelling process. If you like, you can build a pretty straightforward dialog, but if you prefer something more complex, you can build an entire game within the contact dialog editor. Even better, this dialog can be ascribed to many more objects than simply a person or monster. You can place your dialog on any object available in the editor and turn your complex dialog into, say, a puzzle or riddle, that could potentially open a secret door. There is a lot of power in the contact dialog editor and we are eager to see what you do with it.

Here are a few previews for the F2P MMO Neverwinter.

Ten Ton Hammer

A game needs to be about far more than combat, especially one sporting “Dungeons and Dragons” in the title. Some of the most important staples of D&D are cool environments, extraordinary monsters, and epic quests. Neverwinter has all of these in spades. As you gain power, you’re given more important quests and missions to investigate. As you progress through the game, you begin to realize that the last dungeon you claimed was the coolest dungeon you’ve ever seen soloing (I’m looking at you Clocktower) is no longer the coolest...because the dungeon you’re in at that moment is now the coolest.

The further you go, the more monsters you encounter, each with their own special ways of dealing as much damage to your poor character as they can. I find myself regularly trying out different power combinations and methods of dispatching just as much pain and agony back at them. As you delve into Neverwinter dungeons, not only will you discover more methods of death, destruction, and dismemberment, you’ll be greeted by some old D&D classics. The Mimic and the enormous Gelatinous Cube that tried to eat me the other day were both brutal and welcome sights. They’re not overused and provide just enough flair and distraction to be a joy rather than an annoyance.

MMORPG.com

Questing in Neverwinter falls on the “kill 10 rats” / FedEx side of the MMO fence. There’s little reason to veer off the shining path except to find hidden caches of potions, enchantments, and money. I suppose that the game would feel much less linear if I turned off pathing but, then again maybe not. The quests and the lack of exploration will remain the same even if the sparkles are gone.

Oddly enough, quests in a party with like-leveled characters are not 'shareable' at times. For instance, Shelassa found a quest in a zone in which we were playing. She tried to share it and was unable to do so. This happened several times. I realize that there are quests that are class-specific but partied players should at least be able to obtain the quest, or simply see it, in order to tag along, if not to benefit.

LazyTechGuys

In this phase for the Neverwinter Open Beta, marked the first time in the game where I participated in an event where I participated in back-to-back Cloak Tower dungeon runs. While the loot from the run was insignificant since other players forgot about the dungeon keys, the fact that I was grinding for Astral Diamonds felt like I had been playing this game for a very long time. It felt like second nature as I immediately picked up daily quests, which also yield some unique rewards. While I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and look at the Foundry, just the initial glance into the way that the built-in feature works is sure to excite die-hard Dungeon & Dragons fans as well as any kind of player wanting to step into the DM role.

Combat in the Neverwinter Open Beta, for the most part felt unchanged as I progressed through the same quests found in previous beta sessions. While quests seemed to have been altered and tweaked for various reasons, it felt easier transitioning through quests as the Guardian Fighter by slowly whittling down enemies by soaking damage. Much of the interface seems to be unchanged, as well as the tree for one’s abilities. While the buddy system still uses the Star Trek Online means of adding friends, it feels like a hurdle that becomes easier after the first time.

GamesReviews has an interviw with Systems Designer Lindsay Haven of the F2P MMO Neverwinter.

Some of the biggest MMOs are dropping subscription fees but are taking on a single upfront cost. Can the free-to-play market continue to deliver AAA MMORPGs with no guarantee of money per person? Is there a better way of getting cash coming in?

We at Cryptic feel that free to play games are the future of MMOs, we wouldn’t have released Neverwinter as free to play and free to download if we didn’t feel that way. We also feel that free to play games can be AAA titles, we are looking to prove that with Neverwinter. It’s still too early to tell to if we succeeded or not, but we have a lot of faith in the model.

The battle system in Neverwinter seems so comfortable and intuitive. It seems crazy that it took so long for a developer to get rid of the more traditional 1-0 control system. Was it a big decision to go for something less traditional?

Yes, it was a big decision. We tried a lot of different control schemes, even developing multiple systems at the same time, knowing that some of the work wouldn’t ship with the game. But we don’t consider it a waste. It was important to explore all the options we had because there were many strong and valid pulls in different directions. It would have been easy for us to do the typical MMO style system, but with D&D a top down click systems seems so right, but we’ve been seeing the market move towards this action style combat for a while so it seemed right to explore that as well. In the end we went with what with action combat because we felt that made for a more visceral experience, which is something that players don’t get when playing table top D&D. To us it seemed the more innovative and wish fulfilment option we could take, and those things are a big part of the desire to play an MMO.

Were there things you wanted to do but couldn’t? How limited were you by the Dungeons and Dragons IP?

During development we didn’t feel very limited by Dungeons & Dragons. Like I said before, most of us are big fans of Dungeons & Dragons and so we were happy to work with the IP. If anything, there were things from Dungeons & Dragons we wanted to put in the game, but couldn’t because it didn’t transfer over to an MMO, real time combat, game well. For instance we couldn’t include a lot of the player power triggers and conditions, or use just the ability scores at a D&D scale. Those kinds are the kinds of things we struggled to get in the game, but eventually we felt like it just wasn’t going to work. Overall though, we are very happy with how the game came together.

I felt that the biggest fault of the beta was that the gameplay could become a little repetitive over time. Are you looking to try to eventually capture more general players, or is this one specifically for the folks that love dungeon running and loot?

 While I do think that combat specifically shines in group content (both dungeons and PvP), many people find combat fun for PvE content as well. At lower levels can it feel a little slow because we wanted to give players enough time to get the hang of combat before putting out too many tough challenges, but as you gain levels monsters begin to challenge your reaction skills more and more.

Game Trailers has a four minute video preview of Neverwinter.

What should you expect from the new free-to-play Dungeons and Dragons MMO? We raided the Neverwinter beta to find out what sort of beast this is.

This time a new preview of Neverwinter comes from Games.on.net. The preview this time is more positive, but still states some negatives of the game.

Let’s face it, if you’re thinking about playing Neverwinter, then you’re in one of two boats. Either you’re a complete MMO tragic and pretty much jump at the chance to dip your toes in yet another virtual world, or you’re a bit of a DND fanboy, secretly harboring fantasies about shooting magic missiles and shouting “Huzzah!” while you adjust your wizard hat. The good news is that both boats won’t be disappointed to dock at this port — Neverwinter is a remarkably polished and well-designed playground. Very little has been promised, in terms of majestic sandbox elements or siegeable guild halls, and so as a result, you don’t feel gazumped once you realize that these are the same old quests, you’re the same old warrior and that red dude over there probably wants to skewer you with his long sword.

For a game that almost came out of nowhere with very little fanfare, I’m very pleasantly surprised with Neverwinter. It does little to overhaul or revolutionize the MMO roadtrain, but where it excels is within its challenging and strategic combat system, that encourages players to mix up their parties and reduces the traditional disadvantage of healing or tank characters. The addition of the Foundry makes this title almost mandatory for gamers who enjoy customising and building their own experiences, and offers it in a manner that is very polished, user friendly and accessible. Sure, the quests aren’t much and the road to endgame is about as non-linear as Call of Duty, but who cares?

Maybe MMO developers need to stop promising the world when they can only offer a city, and instead focus on making what they have just plain, good old fun for everyone.

Well this time we have a small preview of NeverWinter from GameSkinny. The writer is not happy with the game and writes why.

Everything in Neverwinter feels empty and useless.

The truth is that the game feels hollow. A fun combat system can't make up for a lack of depth, nor can it make up for a game-and-business model that aims to squeeze as much from the player as possible. Cryptic deserves no praise in this release.

I've played around 60 to 70 hours of the game since open beta began, and I'm still not clear why the standard copper, silver, and gold currency is included in the game at all. While there are certainly several items you can purchase from NPCs with gold, often you can get those same items with Astral Diamonds.

Astral Diamonds are, in practice, the game's primary currency. You use them to exchange for Zen (cash shop currency), buy and sell things on the auction house, and some items can only be bought with Astral Diamonds. Identification scrolls are one example that is completely baffling. Aren't they common enough to just keep to gold currency? Why should I spent my hard-earned diamonds on identification scrolls, when every other supply can be purchased with gold?

The above is not to say that the Astral Diamond currency isn't common, but you need such massive amounts for anything worthwhile that I just feel like I'm being ripped off in-game.

I got 600k for purchasing a founder's pack, but that 600k's worth is undeniably low in-game. It costs 300k to 600k on the auction house to buy a bag. A bag! And let me tell you, those people selling bags on the AH didn't get them from playing the game, they got them from the cash shop. How is this good, non-predatory game design?

It's hard not to feel like Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment are taking us all for a ride. Their reputations in this field speak for themselves, and sadly Neverwinter has not proven to be the exception to the rule. The PvP is fun, but it's not fun enough to justify the mess that is the rest of the game. There is simply no excuse for the game's lack of depth, distinct void of challenge, or currency clusterbang.

The game had and has a lot of potential, but as it is now Neverwinter is not worth playing or investing even a few hours of time into. Five days in, I already found myself regretting the purchase of the Guardian of Neverwinter pack. This is not worthy of being related to Dungeons and Dragons, even the bastard child that is 4th Edition. If this is where the MMORPG genre is going, I think I may have to take a hiatus.

Perfect World and Cryptic released a two-minute trailer showcasing the Whispering Caverns.

Far below the city of Neverwinter are passages leading through the Underdark to the Whispering Caverns, an underground labyrinth of forgotten tunnels. The dark elves have returned here to reclaim their stronghold, evil dwarves work deep mines, and the illithid plot to unleash an ancient evil. Conquering the Whispering Caverns zone will be no easy adventure...

TheKoalition.com has a three part video series with The Foundry's Producer at Cryptic Studios Rob Overmeyer.

Part 1 - Overview, Story Structure and Dialogue

Part 2 - Maps, Mapping and Maps

Part 3 - More Maps, NPCs and Final Questions

Forbes has a small editorial that gives us two reasons why we should play Neverwinter. I guess they couldn't find more than two.

The Homepage/Landing Page

It’s a simple concept, but it makes a big difference.  With modern shifts in MMORPGs moving toward being able to find a group immediately and get right into an adventure beyond grinding or questing, the landing page gives players an excellent overview of what options they have at any given time.

Have around 10 minutes?  Queue up for a skirmish.  Have more time and want to go on a dungeon crawl with a group? Option is right there.  Looking for a solo experience?  Find an interesting quest to participate in.  All of the day’s special events and popular Foundry quests are also available for perusal.  It’s a great way to answer that quintessential MMORPG question of “What am I going to do today?” and provides a plethora of options that encompass play styles from casual to core.

The Foundry

We had a chance to see the Foundry at work and were impressed by the concept, but how does it really hold up?  While we didn’t have a chance to get to run anything truly epic in scope during closed beta, the experiences that were available in Foundry play were every bit the equivalent to traditional questing and in most cases far more interesting.

Players are able to sort Foundry content by popularity and a number of other factors as well as leave ratings and reviews.  The good stuff does rise to the top, and the system allows players to create multi-tiered adventures and quests that players can dive right into and completely eschew the “standard” game content if they so desire.

A single 20 minute Foundry quest had me taking on bandits in bar, driders in the darkness, and unraveling mysteries surrounding a cat.  The Foundry lets players wield developer tools to craft content, and once the game enters open beta there’s no doubt that talented and dedicated mapmakers will be putting their skills to work.

Gamereuphoria has an interview with Zeke Sparkes Lead Designer of Neverwinter.

Q: The Foundry has got a lot of people talking within the MMORPG community, how was the concept of the Foundry thought up to begin with?

A: Well, we’ve always loved giving players ways to tailor their experience in our games. We’ve been known for robust character customization and have worked on expanding that into player created missions in STO. When we started working on Neverwinter we knew we had a great opportunity to make the Foundry more powerful and accessible and deliver unparalleled ability for players to create their own stories integrated right into the Neverwinter world!

Q:Micro transactions have been in the spotlight recently, will Neverwinter be pay to win? Or has a balance been struck between free to play players and those willing to invest in micro transactions?

A: We want everyone who plays the game to have a great experience regardless of whether or not they have spent money. Our philosophy is the more people who play the game and enjoy it the more people want to be a part of the world. So we avoid barriers and pain points and focus on making the kinds of things that enthusiasts want to see. If the playing field isn’t level no one is happy so we’re careful to avoid that. You don’t have to spend a dime to enjoy the game or become powerful. In addition to that we have a system where you can trade in game currency to other players for micro-transaction currency so you can actually earn everything in the micro-transaction store without spending money!

Q: How key is the plot to Neverwinter? The MMORPG genre is known for having a tendency for telling weak stories. Does Neverwinter aim to change that stigma?

A: We have a good strong story that serves as the backbone for the entire game. It picks up right where the most recent source books and novels have left off and continues telling the tale of Neverwinter and the surrounding area. You can expect to see familiar faces and locations from the lore that expand on what’s happened.

Cryptic and publisher Perfect World have set the early access dates to their upcoming MMO Neverwinter for those who are part of the two pre-order programs.

Those who have become Heroes of the North will be able to start playing on April 25 at 9 AM Pacific Standard time.

The group of players who are Guardians of Neverwinter will also be able to play earlier than the rest, with their head start launching on April 27 at 9 AM PST.

The general public will gain access to Neverwinter on April 30 at the above mentioned time.

The open beta client can be downloaded by all those interested starting on April 20 and on launch, the MMO will deliver a patch to the final version.

Those who want early access can still pre-order Neverwinter, with the bonus packages detailed on the official site.

Cryptic has released a lore trailer for Neverwinter. The trailer gives you some background information on Drow infested the Rothe Valley region.

Follw this link for the screenshots.

I don't intend to follow Neverwinter but IGN has a preview and video, which might be worth a look if you want to see what happened with the MMO conversion following the sale of Cryptic to Perfect World:

All the powers come together to make combat that plays out more akin to an action-RPG like Kingdoms of Amalur or ArenaNet's upcoming Guild Wars 2. The rogue might start a fight against multiple enemies with by coming out of stealth with an Encounter ability, then switch up to their At-Will powers to get in some extra damage. Just as the enemy brings their sword down the rogue then uses their Utility power to roll away, perhaps finishing off the fight with their Daily, which quickly teleports them from target to target, dealing massive damage to each. Fights in Neverwinter are far more exciting than, say, World of Warcraft, and pay enough homage to D&D to (hopefully) hook its fans. Additionally you only ever have to worry about seven abilities at a time, making Neverwinter much more approachable than other MMOs.

Lucky Day writes that Neverwinter was "almost ready to ship" when the decision was taken to change into a full MMO. Full story via Strategy Informer.

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.

I've posted this under the game Neverwinter because this book series from R.A. Salvatore is based on the video game property...Kuki sends word that Neverwinter: Book II is now available.

Lucky Day sends us a comprehensive update on Neverwinter.

First, the acquisition of Cryptic by Perfect World has pushed the release date back to 2012. From GameSpot:

Neverwinter was revealed last August with a generic 2011 release date attached. As a result of the Cryptic Studios sale, the game is now set for release in late 2012, with Perfect World "investing in a more immersive experience" for the game.

• The official forums confirm a F2P model.
• Screenshot gallery as of June.
• Executive Producer Shane Hensley is interviewed in the NWN Podcast (and a forum summary of the conversation).

Hooked Gamers has a preview of Neverwinter, although it doesn't offer anything new. A snip on the Foundry toolset:

Not only will creating modules be easier using The Foundry, uploading and sharing them will be as well. A quick button press will upload your mod to Cryptic’s server, which will host all of the game’s content, and finding it will involve simply browsing for it through a built-in search feature. Velasquez promises that when the game launches there will be enough assets available (monster packs, environment packs, exteriors, interiors, etc.) to create a whole bunch of adventures. The developers also plan on supporting the game post-launch with even more tile sets, monster packs and player classes, although there is no word yet on whether these things will be available through free updates or paid DLC. 

Lucky Day sends in a roundup of Neverwinter previews with a focus on the Foundry toolset from around the 'net.

• http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=26674
• http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6318607/e3-2011-neverwinter-preview-first-look-and-tools
• http://www.neowin.net/news/e3-2011-eyes-on-with-neverwinters-editing-tools
• http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110876-E3-Neverwinter
• http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-neverwinter/715881
• http://kotaku.com/5809694/even-the-giant-flesh+hungry-spiders-look-pretty-in-neverwinter/gallery/

Here's a snip from The Escapist article:

On the story tab, you can set missions and associate them with particular NPCs you've placed on the map. Our demo had a guard at the start of the level who asked the players to kill some undead deeper in the crypt. You add dialogue with a simple text editor and can give the player multiple responses that branch off into new conversations. There are also options to limit a player's choices based on different criteria. You might have a particular conversation option that's only available to certain classes, or certain Charisma levels. Through the creation process, a handy wizard will tell you if you have any loose ends or uncompleted elements in your story. Once the conversation is in place, you can assign a task outside of it for the player to accomplish. In this case, it's killing the undead in the rest of the crypt. The mobs of enemies are placed with their own unique states and aggro ranges. What's more interesting is that, like with the Aurora engine, you can simply label a monster spawn along a scale of "easy" to "hard" and the game will automatically scale the encounter to the ability and size of the player's party.

The Neowin article also has some small screens.

TenTonHammer has a look at the toolset part of Neverwinter, known as The Foundry. The article seems optimisric, which might be a good sign:

The available assets may appear somewhat daunting at first, but everything is neatly categorized into various kits based on a general theme. For example, in the span of 15 minutes we were able to open The Foundry, dig into the crypt-themed kit and piece together a fully playable mini-adventure complete with progressively difficult encounters, key NPC contacts, and get a feel for how easy it is to build out naturally flowing conversations. All great stuff so far.

The second major standout element for me is the fact that, if you’re a more experienced mod maker or have worked with content creation tools in the past, there’s enough depth to the system for you to genuinely make something highly unique. I was also happy to learn that dual monitor setups will be fully supported, so that’s another giant green checkmark in The Foundry’s win column in my books.

IGN has an E3 preview of Neverwinter with substantial input from Cryptic's Jack Emmert and Any Velasquez:

There's a reason Cryptic's Neverwinter isn't called Neverwinter Nights 3. According to Jack Emmert, CEO of Cryptic, "Neverwinter represents a different style of game than the others. This is an online, co-operative RPG with a large focus on the online aspect. Therefore it is different than the other two. Also, I'm a big believer in simplicity. As far as I can figure, Neverwinter Nights games were about Neverwinter -- I have no idea why it was night time. So why not just call it Neverwinter."

A majority of the game's action will take place within and in the sewers below the city of Neverwinter, and occasionally bleed out into the nearby environs. Andy Velasquez, producer at Cryptic, explains the story setup. "It's about 100 years past what most players are familiar with from Neverwinter Night and Neverwinter Nights 2." Things have been hectic around Neverwinter, as they tend to be. A volcano blew up, taking most of the city with it. Foreign powers then entered the city to try and put the pieces back together. It's in this period of rebuilding that the game begins, where there's a clashing of interests as those who cling to the old ways of the city lock horns with the newcomers. Emmert added, "To sum up, you're going to kill monsters and get loot."

Thanks, Lucky Day, who notes "Andy gives more insight into the actual SP game and mentions new classes such as Artificer and Beastmaster Ranger without saying whether or they will be available at launch".

In related news, Blue's has some screens and a FAQ, although much of the document is "TBA".

Looks like we have the answer on the impact of the Cryptic sale on the development of Neverwinter, with the launch of an official site suggesting its full steam ahead. There's a trailer with a bunch of in-game shots but very little actual gameplay and not much else.

Eurogamer joins the crush of Neverwinter interviews but they manage to tease a bit more information out of Jack Emmert.  He reveals The Forge toolset won't allow the creation of items or weapons to avoid cheating and there will definitely be some sort of fee to play.  A sample:

Eurogamer: But you're adding classes after launch.

Jack Emmert: We will, you're absolutely right. But what we're saying is we're committed to making five great character classes. I'm going to be upfront and tell you exactly how it is. We'll add more afterwards. But I'd rather have a game that had five rock solid character classes than a game with 15 mediocre ones. That mediocrity sticks with the game, it just does.

Thanks, Luck Day!

Lucky Day talks to Cryptic's Jack Emmert about their upcoming D&D "Online Multiplayer Game", Neverwinter.  Here's a sample:

RPGWatch: What stage of development are you in?  Have you started coding?

Jack Emmert: Full on production.  Making content as close to shippable as possible.

RPGWatch: What involvement, if any, is Salvatore involved in the project and will there be any book crossover?

Jack Emmert: We worked closely with WotC to weave Salvatore's upcoming Neverwinter trilogy into the background of the game.

Read it all here.

Lucky Day let us know that R.A. Salvatore's Gauntlgrym - the first book from the game Neverwinter - will be released on Octover 5th.  This is the first time he has released a book based on a video game property (rather than the other way round), so it might be interesting.

Eurogamer has some quotes from Jack Emmert on Neverwinter:

Neverwinter may be an online multiplayer RPG, but what it aspires to be most is "a co-op Dragon Age with a touch of Oblivion's exploration", Cryptic's Jack Emmert has revealed.

"We aspire to that," said he to Eurogamer. "Ultimately it will be your judgement, but certainly that's what we're aiming for. This is an online RPG; a co-op Dragon Age with a touch of Oblivion's exploration. That is definitely our goal.

Thanks, Lucky Day.

There's a preview-slash-interview on Neverwinter at IGN.  Here's a sample:

Since we haven't yet had a chance to play the game, Emmert talked about how the gameplay will actually work. "Right now, it's an action-RPG, so there are no turns, no initiative rolls. We may add the pause feature that we have in Star Trek Online so that players can take a breath during combat, but that's not final. We're still playtesting." Brady added, "The moment to moment gameplay is all about teamwork and tactics. We're offering lots of ways for your powers to interact with those of your allies, and over time you'll learn to work together to use those powers to be a more effective team."

The Escapist has an article-format interview with Jack Emmert on Neverwinter.  I still get the feeling they haven't actually planned out a lot of things but it's nice to see talk about puzzles and non-combat play:

Part of what makes playing D&D around a table with your friends fun is the crazy things that you imagine you can do. I was worried that that magic would get lost in a game like Neverwinter, where the streamlined MMO story can feel really impersonal. Emmert addressed that concern for Neverwinter: "There's a lot of choices that you make depending upon the things that you learn along the way, that affects how you progress through the main storyline. Interacting with people, finding out about them. Really, it's a matter of exploring the world of Neverwinter. There are tons of things which you'll find out that are applicable to the main narrative storyline."

That idea of exploring the world and slowly learning the story is key to many a D&D campaign, but I was still worried that the focus might be more on combat in this type of game. "With Neverwinter, we're going to put puzzles in. We're going to put in things that you need to figure out. We're going to put in clues. Most certainly, Neverwinter is going to involve more than just combat," Emmert said. When I asked about how diplomacy and interaction with NPCs might work, he said that branching dialogue trees is the direction they are currently headed but that it may change. "You'll have to wait and see."

Thanks, Lucky Day.

GameBanshee is next along with a Neverwinter interview, featuring Jack Emmert and PR guy Ivan Sulic. Here's a snip on soloing, although Jack isn't keen to embrace solo play:

In the preliminary information you've released, you mention AI-controlled allies. Is there a minimum party size required in order to tackle any of the game's quests? Or can a player take on most or even all content solo if they choose to?

Jack: I'd like to emphasize that, while you can play solo, we're building the gameplay experience around party play (just like D&D 4e is), and henchmen fill the roles of missing friends in your party (so you can experience the cooperative aspects of the game etc.).

Lucky Day points out a couple of Neverwinter interviews from international sites.  German site OnlineWelten has both English and German versions, with Jack Emmert covering some new ground.  On how user-generated content will be accessed:

Onlinewelten: We’ve heard about a system codenamed ‘Forge’, which will allow players to literally forge their own content. Can you explain us how this system is going to work?

Jack Emmert: We’re translating versions of our internal design tools into something usable by the public. It’s a robust set of editors that allows people to layout their own adventures and quests. Most of the things we can do internally will be possible in forge.

Players will connect their adventures to a NPC in the persistent world and/or specially designated entrances (for example, a cave). Players will always know if they’re about to access user generated content. Naturally, we’ll also include rating tools so that players can sort content by what’s most popular, most recent, etc.

There's also a French article at JeuxVideo, and a Google translation here.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has the latest Jack Emmert interview on Neverwinter.  Contrary to the last article, this time he emphasises the old-school connection, though I get the feeling they haven't actually documented the entire design yet:

RPS: So what’s the philosophy for this new game? You’ve mentioned in other interviews how differently the company is approaching Neverwinter, so how does that manifest in the design?

Emmert: We want to make an old-school tactical Western RPG. We want to get back to the roots of Neverwinter and we want to taste the strategies of those D&D games where you have to manoeuvre around, select your abilities carefully, and so forth. It’s not turn-based, and it’s not isometric, but that old school model was our focus to start with. Secondly we wanted the game to be immersive, so we want the experience to be inspired by games like Oblivion and Dragon Age, and to take a cue from fantasy products that created incredible worlds to delve into. Thirdly we wanted it to genuinely represent a D&D experience! We looked at the 4th Edition rules and tried to make sure that we could bring that alive as much as was possible with our tools.

RPS: So tell me about the player experience. How different is it to previous Crpytic MMOs? Still got the splendid character creators?

Emmert: Well you start with character creation of course, and there are customisation tools for that, and character creation is based on D&D 4th Edition’s process. After that you will probably face a tutorial level, which we have yet to build! And then you will enter into the world of Neverwinter. Once you are through that you will enter one of a number of persistent zones. Now these are much smaller in terms of population, it won’t be the same numbers of people we’ve seen in previous games from us, it’ll be just a few score. So it’s enough that you will run into others, but it won’t feel crowded. The focus here is on the co-op RPG experience, so we want you to be able to meet new people, or meet with friends, but then get on with adventuring. You will get to that from the persistent zones, although these contain storylines too. Some missions will take you into instances off of these persistent zones, and sometimes you will just stumble across them. It depends.

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.

Thanks, Lucky Day.

The second part of Zam's Neverwinter interview with Jack Emmert is up:

ZAM: Finally, you've been taking a bit of flak in the media lately for some of your recent Neverwinter announcement interviews, in which you talk about learning from releases like Star Trek Online and Champions Online. The scuttlebutt around the blogosphere is that "Cryptic COO Jack Emmert admits releasing crap MMOs," to paraphrase some of the milder comments. What's your response to those accusations?

Emmert: I've been pretty honest about our faults in the past and people have accused us that I'm virtually admitting that we pushed out Star Trek and Champions as unpolished product. But as God as my witness, when we launched those games, we had zero idea that we thought they were anything less than excellent… When we launched those games, we felt they were superior to City of Heroes, which as you know was a big hit. And I still, to this day, say they are superior to City of Heroes—but, you know, the market changed. If we launched CoH now, oh my God; we'd be in the same boat as [Realtime Worlds'] All Points Bulletin. It would be a bad situation; the way people receive MMOs, it's just a completely different marketplace and I think that we need to change those expectations, and we need to listen.

The reason why I'm doing this interview—and not the guy running the Neverwinter project—is because Neverwinter the start of a completely different orientation to what we're trying to accomplish. I've been reading responses to various interviews, and I can understand people [asking], 'Why did you make Star Trek in 18 months?' Well, that's what it was… If somebody said, 'Hey, here's the Star Trek license.' You say, 'Great, I can't wait to make the game!' You've got 18 months. Do you say no? Of course not… we were full of ego and enthusiasm.

Thanks, Lucky Day.

Jack Emmert has been interviewed at Gamasutra, again spending a fair bit of time explaining what Neverwinter isn't and not so much explaining what it is:

So was Neverwinter originally conceived as a co-op RPG, or as an MMO?

JE: Neverwinter was, at least initially... I'll be honest, my initial version is far different. My initial version was a flat-out MMO that would essentially be different zones in Neverwinter, and there would be various entrances and critters scattered throughout. And my initial idea -- and again, we flushed this down the toilet because this was a while ago -- but it was essentially going to be a dungeon that would be instanced between you and your friends. Any real story, per se, was all about exploration.

And there would be stories you would stumble upon, like, "Oh hey, these goblins are trying to relocate the tribe," or "Oh hey, these bandits are trying to look for a particular artifact." But you wouldn't go to a contact to get a mission, per se, as you would in World of Warcraft or Champions Online or whatever. It would be more exploration. But we decided that it would be something else, and I'm entirely for that, because it makes sense.

Thanks, Lucky Day!

Lucky Day notes another interview with Jack Emmert on Neverwinter, this time at a site called Zam.  This is the first part of two, apparently.  A snip:

ZAM: What else will Neverwinter share in common with MMOs, and in what ways will it be completely different?

Emmert: I think in a typical MMO you go out and you'll get a mission to kill 10 rats or whatever; it's very difficult to create scripted quests for hundreds and hundreds of hours. We're not doing that; everything that we're doing [with Neverwinter] includes a storyline and narrative like Oblivion and Dragon Age… a more traditional RPG. There's a beginning, middle and an end. There are no killing fields and you're never requested to just go kill 10 orcs, or collect five torn pelts. We don't have traditional crafting with resource nodes that you click on to collect stuff. A lot of those mechanics are simply born of the fact that you want people continually playing hour after hour. We're looking for great gameplay with a great story that's [going to be] a lot of fun.

As a side note, the tension between Atari and Turbine - developers of Dungeons & Dragons Online, is increasing with a $30M lawsuit.

For a not-an-MMO, they sure do a lot of interviews with MMORPG sites.  Jack Emmert has popped up at MMORPG.com in an article-style interview, explaining how Neverwinter will work in such broad strokes, it doesn't reveal a lot.  Apparently we're in for Borderlands meets Dragon Age meets Oblivion, if you can get your head around that:

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.

Jack explained that after Champions and Star Trek they realized that the studio had to shift gears from the typical MMO template. This new style of game is working with a tested engine and allows Cryptic to make the games they want. After the feedback they got from their most recent MMOs Jack explained that the studio is now moving in a new direction, “It’s a brand new Cryptic.”

Thanks, Lucky Day!

Here's another Jack Emmert interview on Neverwinter, this time at MMO site TenTonHammer.  His answers are rather general but here's a snip on the Forge tools:

Ten Ton Hammer: Aside from the game reveal itself, the most intriguing thing about this press release is Forge, the ability for players to craft their own storylines and quests. What can you tell us about Forge?

Jack Emmert: Neverwinter, like the previous Neverwinter games, is not only a great RPG, but will also make it easy to create user-generated content. You’ll have the tools you need to effectively become a virtual dungeonmaster.

Ten Ton Hammer: Will players be able to progress in the core Neverwinter story with player-created content, or are these side quests? How extensive a story can players create?

Jack Emmert: They’re side quests, but frankly, somebody can build their own campaign within the Neverwinter setting. We’re really hoping that players can create their own set of content that runs parallel to ours, that interleaves with ours, however they want to do it… really bring their imagination to life.

Thanks, Lucky Day and Kalniel!

Lucky Day sends in this handful of Neverwinter items.  First, Massively has an interview with Cryptic's Jack Emmert.  Let's try to tie down what this game is:

You've described the game as not an MMO but a cooperative RPG.

(laughs) An OMG.

Right, an OMG, the online multiplayer game, yes. We also have these open spaces, public space, and privatized spaces. They aren't instances, and it's not an open world, and I'm trying to wrap my head around this, could you explain it a bit more?

We'll have worlds that are certainly cooperative. How many players will be in a particular area will be a little bit up in the air. There will be, for lack of a better word, dungeons, that you and your teammates go in, that will just be for you and your teammates, so more like a traditional instance would be in an MMO. Players will have lots of controls over whether something's public or private and so forth, and we're working on those various options now. As we go into beta and get feedback from people actually using the tools, we'll add more, but the idea of a large zone with hundreds of players, that isn't what Neverwinter is, no.

An example would be like Phantasy Star Online, perhaps, where players can meet up and play in these open spaces but move into privatized areas?

Yeah, that's not a bad analogy.

GameSpot also caught up with Jack:

GS: And along those lines, we understand that the game will let players choose to play as one of five character professions. Can you share which professions these will be? How closely will they approximate the 4th Edition rules? Will we see heroic feats, paragon paths/epic destinies…?

JE: Fighter. Wizard. Rogue. Ranger. Cleric. You'll see the powers, abilities, and spells from the latest Players' Handbook spring to life on the computer screen. Neverwinter is all about the heroic levels; the paragon paths and epic destinies will be something we add.

...and PC World's Matt Peckham (yes, that awful NWN2 review) weighs in with some general comments.