Neverwinter - Interview @ CapsuleComputers

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.