Atari - Announce Neverwinter

I probably won't be getting this for various reasons including that I never play with the standard classes in D&D, killing midnight and destroying Neverwinter, and only having Human, Elf, and Dwarf for races.

what I have always hoped for is the next Baldurs Gate. I want a top down view, a combination of Diablo III and Temple of Elemental Evil. A hardcore D&D game with tactical combat. I doubt if we will ever even get close to that…

Originally Posted by kalniel
There was something in the gamespot Q&A where I thought they distanced themselves from that idea, but I think it would be awesome. Imagine a hub where you could choose to play official modules or instead take an adventure created by other users with the toolset, as you fancy.

here is the quote that I was looking for. Its nice to know it will have some sort of toolset for multiplayer, unlike Dragon Age

GS: We understand that Neverwinter will use a system codenamed "Forge" that will let players build their own content. Can you explain how this will work in practice? Also, what kind of content will players be able to make?

JE: Forge (tentative name) will enable players to write adventures, to create maps, and to attach their quests to in-game entrances and NPCs. Our key philosophy is that Forge needs to be accessible (i.e. usable to many people) and that user-generated content is an optional form of content. In other words, a player knows that he's playing UGC and not the game.

But I agree, this game sounds like Titan's Quest and that game, nor its toolset didn't interest me. However, I will reserve judgement. All this time I feared we'd never see a "real" NWN game (well this is a NW game technically) but I may be happily wrong.

As for all this discussion on 4th Ed character classes, correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't 4th ed use some sort of archetype system? And when is a Ranger considered a basic class? I suppose people will want to play another Drizzt..we kicked 100's of people off my NWN server named that.

more news from Massively

http://www.massively.com/2010/08/23/…rwinter-and-a/

with this !

Can the Forge tools work on the fly, like the old Aurora engine where there's a DM behind the scenes working things?

That's an interesting extension of the toolset. We've talked about it, but I'm not sure whether that will make it in or not.

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.

but even Bio said that, however their focus on playability was small group first before they switched to single player first - leaving features such as persistent death something for builders to fix.

Originally Posted by wolfing
Meh. After Champions Online and Star Trek Online, I'm not touching this with a 10' pole

Those two games got a bit screwed over by the whole XBox thing. They were supposed to come out on that system as well as the PC - then didn't. That's a lot of development time wasted and a lot of planned sales/subscriptions that never happened.

City of Heroes, on the other hand, is still cranking along very nicely after six years.

I'll be watching to see what happens with this game. With Jack at the helm, I expect no less than 50,000 costume options per class per gender per race.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
Doesn't DDO already cater to the small-party-MMO thing for D&D?

In Eberron, and the ruleset they ignored was 3.5ed. Plus it was getting long in the tooth and had no ability to create or play user generated content. But apparently it was a blast for co-op gaming.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
I suppose people will want to play another Drizzt..we kicked 100's of people off my NWN server named that.

We created a special hell for them and auto-filtered so that they were put there on log in. Yes, you can relive however many years of underdark dwelling first if you like

Originally Posted by JDR13
They were variations that many people liked to roleplay. Part of the appeal of D&D has always been the large variety of classes, even if some of them were similar.

Yes, but giving the required effort of coding every class, I can see why they would like to focus on the most iconic and popular. I remember the days when "Elf" was a class. Incidently, D&D4 only have 8 classes, Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, Warlord and Wizard. I can see why Warlock and Warlord aren't in, so the only one really missing is Paladin. That said, 4th edition allows greater customization within a class, so fewer classes doesn't necessary mean less diversity. SAGA Edition have only 5 heroic classes and outshine 3.5 in variation with ease.

Originally Posted by JemyM
Incidently, D&D4 only have 8 classes, Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, Warlord and Wizard.

That is not correct, the 4th Edition includes a lot more classes than that. The classes you list are only from the first handbook. There are 10+ additional classes besides those.

I can't list them all off the top of my head, but I know there is Monk, Druid, Barbarian, Bard, + at least 5 or 6 more.

Ah, what a shame! I'm busy replaying MoTB and enjoying it… I'd love another game set in Faerun, but one in the same vein as NW2 MotB. Even better would be to have a Pathfinder DnD game in Golarion etc - I wonder why no one has done that? I don't know about licensing etc, but their tweaks to DnD 3.5 rules are intertesting and the world seem intriguing too. I suppose "old style" rpg's are just too much effort.

Originally Posted by kalniel
In Eberron, and the ruleset they ignored was 3.5ed. Plus it was getting long in the tooth and had no ability to create or play user generated content. But apparently it was a blast for co-op gaming.

Thanks for the answer. Details aside, these two seem to address the same market in a similar way.

I am so fed up with games set in Central Faerun (especially along Sword Coast). This got to be the most banal and cliché part of the Forgotten Realms setting. (nothing tops Kryyn in triviality though)

Originally Posted by Dhruin
Thanks for the answer. Details aside, these two seem to address the same market in a similar way.

That's presumably what genre is The only reason we play one game over another in the same genre is those very details, and I think there's room for an improved experience over DDO these days

Originally Posted by idiocracy
I am so fed up with games set in Central Faerun (especially along Sword Coast). This got to be the most banal and cliché part of the Forgotten Realms setting. (nothing tops Kryyn in triviality though)

Presumably a game called Neverwinter set in Narfell would just be confusing.

Originally Posted by kalniel
Presumably a game called Neverwinter set in Narfell would just be confusing.

You are aware that the game will be set in 4th edition FR?
Well, surprise, Neverwinter technically no longer exists.

Well we know from the interview that Neverwinter is long buried, but surprise, the dead refuse to rest. This game is being set in some future Neverwinter ruins that RA Salvatore is writing. Let's just hope that if Drizzt is still alive Catie Brie is long buried as well. And maybe that stupid cat.

from the gamespot interview, my bold:

GS: Cryptic has made a name for itself by making online games with powerful, flexible character customization tools that let players make very distinctive-looking characters. Can you talk about how this will come into play in Neverwinter? For instance, can you share which fantasy races will be playable in the game and to what extent you can customize each?

JE: We'll be using the same Cryptic technology and philosophy with our Neverwinter characters that we have in all our games. Namely, players can create just about any look they imagine. In our first release, we'll be doing the classic humans, elves, and dwarves—as well as a few special ones that I won't mention just now.

now I did that to emphasize the playable races, but what do they mean by "first release" ?

"First release" = Add-Ons or similar stuff.

@MMORPG critics:

Don' t forget that the first Neverwinter Nights game (not the Bioware but the AOL/SSI one) was an MMO!

(Only as a historical note. I don't play MMOs myself.)

Originally Posted by JemyM
Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Mage and Cleric.

Barbarian and Paladin were just variations of the Fighter, Sorcerer of the Mage and Monk and Druid were weird offshots. Those four mentioned were the distinct ones.

Being an avid player of the Paladin class in D&D, calling the class a different variation of a fighter couldn't be much further from the truth.

Stat allocation, feat usage, special bonuses, restrictions and minor spells made the Paladin an entirely different class from the fighter both in and out of combat.

Incidently, D&D4 only have 8 classes, Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, Warlord and Wizard.

Only if you look at the first PHB. New PHB's are no longer considered as additions, but as part of the main ruleset.

Originally Posted by bkrueger
Don' t forget that the first Neverwinter Nights game (not the Bioware but the AOL/SSI one) was an MMO!

That's something I'd rather not think about.