The most anticipated free MMORPG of 2013, Dungeons & Dragons® Neverwinter, is officially in Open Beta. Join millions of other adventurers in the Forgotten Realms as they combat beasts and vile creatures on Faerûn to defend the city of Neverwinter against Valindra Shadowmantle and other iconic creatures in Dungeons & Dragons®.
There will be unrestricted access to new content including:
- Increased level cap of 60.
- Explore past The Chasm including Mount Hotenow for only the bravest and most experienced adventurers.
- Hundreds of new and playable user-generated content available immediately in the Foundry.
- Access to Gateway, a web portal that allows players to remotely access in-game status information via their desktops, tablets, or smartphones. In its initial state, players can craft, view their characters, buy and sell in the Auction House, monitor guild activity and daily events, and access their mailboxes.
- And, much more!
Log in now and create your own unforgettable memories in Neverwinter. Don’t forget to discuss your excitement on the official Neverwinter forums. And, be sure to share your personal tales of victory – or defeat – with other adventures. Strategize the most optimal dungeon delve route, share PvP and PvE tactics, discuss class roles, and anything else that may be on your mind!
We’re so, so incredibly thankful and honored to have the best fans a team could ever ask for. We can’t wait to see every one of you in game enjoying Neverwinter in Open Beta!
Sincerely,
The Neverwinter Team
Dunno if anyone's participating. I'll wait and see, myself. Not enough money or a working desktop anyway at the moment.
Melissia wrote: Can you give a description of the gameplay? The videos,trailers, screenshots, etc don't help much for me.
It's a lot more...
Dynamic?
Combat is far more fluid and mobile than something like WoW or its clones...
It's more like an Action RPG than an MMO in terms of how the combat works...
Yeah but most MMO's use that kind of combat system...
At any rate this far more fun than most MMO's I've played so i'm gonna be playing it, probably as a Rogue since that was my closed Beta character.
Every single mmorpg since wow has had combat that is "nothing like wow", and always is. I got duped by kotor online (how they had the gall to use that name, I don't know) and I will not be duped again.
BryllCream wrote: Every single mmorpg since wow has had combat that is "nothing like wow", and always is. I got duped by kotor online (how they had the gall to use that name, I don't know) and I will not be duped again.
I know exactly what you mean but this is different...
Try it for yourself, it's an open beta you don't need to pay to play it...
It seems to me they are using a Guild Wars 2 style of combat, which I very much appreciate. I hadn't heard of this game until today. I plan to try it even just for a day or 2.
No one has said there won't be micro-transactions. The question is whether or not it will be pay to win or not.
Apparently not, at least while levelling. Star Trek Online is made by the same company , it uses the same payment methods and you can happily reach the end game without paying a penny.
The problem with STO though is that the top tier ships all cost real cash and can't be bought with in game currency (well technically they can be if you really want to spend 6 months grinding dilithium for several hours a day); literal pay to win. I hope that a similar situation doesn't occur with Neverwinter, obviously the game needs to be paid for but there are better ways to go about it.
The game itself really starts getting quite hard at about level 10, those Orc mini bosses are really tough and numerous, healing potions are really expensive and guardians have no way to heal themselves until about level 15.
No one has said there won't be micro-transactions. The question is whether or not it will be pay to win or not.
Apparently not, at least while levelling. Star Trek Online is made by the same company , it uses the same payment methods and you can happily reach the end game without paying a penny.
The problem with STO though is that the top tier ships all cost real cash and can't be bought with in game currency (well technically they can be if you really want to spend 6 months grinding dilithium for several hours a day); literal pay to win. I hope that a similar situation doesn't occur with Neverwinter, obviously the game needs to be paid for but there are better ways to go about it.
The game itself really starts getting quite hard at about level 10, those Orc mini bosses are really tough and numerous, healing potions are really expensive and guardians have no way to heal themselves until about level 15.
Star Wars: The Old Republic's Cartel Store is actually pretty good about this. It is almost entirely cosmetic, with stuff to help level (xp boosts, unlock some content for free players that want to do it), but not to much that effects end game.
I've been on NWNO at the 2nd beta, and since Tuesday.
The game is more point-and-shoot than WOW-type games, and there's no targetting involved. You point at a mob, and press a button to throw powers at it.
It is based very heavily on 4th-ed DnD, so at-will powers are the left- and right-click mouse buttons. You learn 'encounter' powers with a short time-out (10 seconds or so), and daily powers, which you charge up by hitting baddies. These use the keyboard to use.
Personally been a big fan of the NwN series in particular, and D&D in general, really looking forward to this and have the beta enroute
I like the free to play supported by micro transactions,
discourages fancy marketing dropping a pile of plop in our laps for 60$, this way we play for free and decide if we want to reward the developer, and ourselves, with paid items.
So long as its not pay to win ofc, should always be a free way to do everything in game.
purplefood wrote: Advertising!
Actually an MMO with product placement would be... odd.
Pretty sure it was Planetside or Matrix Online but some MMO that I played had adverts for Nvidia or ATi or something for a time in it ALONGSIDE a monthly fee. It was not a very popular decision IIRC.
AOL had an hourly fee.. I think it was like $6 an hour. When Neverwinter came out on there, I played till my card got maxed, then had to get mom to pay it off for me and made up some dumb lie about needing something for college.
I like how the crafting system is basically a cleaned up version of STO Duty officer missions. Basically you hire a minion (later minions) who will then go off and mine/gather/whatever you need and make items for you. Each task gives crafting exp, standard exp and other small bonuses and takes a while (early missions takes between 5 mins and 4 hours although if its anything like STO the later ones will take days).
It really takes the grind out of crafting and makes it a plesant little mini game that goes on in the background while you are smiting beasties. The only problem with it that I can see is that the actual crafted items are worse than drops but it is free experience so I can't complain too much.
I'm trying out a rogue currently and the gameplay reminds me of diablo quite a bit.
Its more action orentated than guild wars 2 is and the combat animations look pretty nice.
Not sure what dungeons or pvp is like, the game about melts my poor laptop when I play it even on low settings. Which isn't aying much since minecraft causes my latop to overheat.
I say try it out, you get a few cool abilities pretty quickly so combat is fun right off the bat.
Tried it, hated it. Shallow game play, Pay to win x1000. Boring combat.
Back to DDO (atleast until turbine feths it up with the 'new enchantment pass, and you guys thought GW where shooting them selves in the foot, they ain't got nothing on turbines level of sillyness.)
Have they even instituted the store? I haven't seen any 'pay to win' at this point, but I wouldn't rule it out. I've just run the tutorial and slightly after it at this point.
AOL had an hourly fee.. I think it was like $6 an hour. When Neverwinter came out on there, I played till my card got maxed, then had to get mom to pay it off for me and made up some dumb lie about needing something for college.
You are aware that apart from setting these games have absolutely no relation right? The way you said it was like it was the same game.
Played it. I'm level 22 now, and I can say that if you like the setting, it is definitely something you should play. If you like free MMOs, you should give it a try. Sure gameplay could be better, but it is completely free. But not pay to win. In fact, the only stuff in the store is cosmetics and mounts/companions. And you can get those for in game money too.
Is it anything different? I know you guys said the combat isn't exactly like WoW, but my brother has been harping at me to get to play an MMO with him, and since this one's free, we might as well check it out.
But I really don't want to waste my time if it's the same old same old, you know?
As for Adverts in the game, Shadowbane had them towards the end of it's existence. It wasn't bad, and just gave you more incentive to not die
Tazz Azrael wrote: Well I have never seen a game with such a horrible download speed.... it's downloading at a breakneck speed of .01 KB/s. feth this game
Yeah well, good luck patching or logging in. Still can't even load the game, it just hangs whenever I try to load it.
But good to hear at least some people are enjoying it. I'd love to be able to actually play it, but between the patcher lagging out, and once I actually patched it the game hangs at the loading screen. Love me some DnD, but yeah, patience isn't infinite for MMOs.
Tazz Azrael wrote: Well I have never seen a game with such a horrible download speed.... it's downloading at a breakneck speed of .01 KB/s. feth this game
Yeah well, good luck patching or logging in. Still can't even load the game, it just hangs whenever I try to load it.
But good to hear at least some people are enjoying it. I'd love to be able to actually play it, but between the patcher lagging out, and once I actually patched it the game hangs at the loading screen. Love me some DnD, but yeah, patience isn't infinite for MMOs.
Yeah, had no issues whatsover. Downloaded and patched it in about 20 mins. More likely it's an issue on your side.
purplefood wrote: There's a class or two yet to be released/announced I think...
What do you usually play out of interest?
I would like to see Monk or Sorcerer. I like Evoker Wizards, and the Control Wizard is close, but this one is almost entirely Ice based with a few Arcana extras. It was fun, but didn't quite scratch that itch only throwing a lightning bolt can.
Corpsesarefun wrote: And it seems odd that there are two fighter classes but no ranger or warlock?
Missing:
Ranger
Warlock
Sorcerer
Monk
Warden
Shaman
Druid
Battlemind
Runepriest
Warlord
Paladin
Swordmage
Psion Leader I can't think of the name of.
Divine Controller I can't think of the name of.
That is just going by Players Handbooks 1-3 and not any of the "Heroes of X" classes, or Essentials.
Corpsesarefun wrote: And it seems odd that there are two fighter classes but no ranger or warlock?
Missing:
Ranger
Warlock
Sorcerer
Monk
Warden
Shaman
Druid
Battlemind
Runepriest
Warlord
Paladin
Swordmage
Psion Leader I can't think of the name of.
Divine Controller I can't think of the name of.
That is just going by Players Handbooks 1-3 and not any of the "Heroes of X" classes, or Essentials.
It'd be unreasonable to expect them all in the game but you'd expect to have at least the core classes in the game at release.
Corpsesarefun wrote: It'd be unreasonable to expect them all in the game but you'd expect to have at least the core classes in the game at release.
I don't think anyone expects them all, but it does seem fairly narrow at the moment. I just listed all the core classes they had to pull from because not everyone plays pnp D&D and would know what classes were in the core books.
Corpsesarefun wrote: I would've expected the release list to be wizard, warlock, cleric, fighter, ranger and paladin.
Same. The lineup they currently have is kind of pathetic.
I've criticized fourth edition before, but I stlil had a lot of fun with it. If they only had four classes available, though, and only THOSE four classes... I think I'd have dropped it faster than one drops a turd they unexpectedly picked up.
Cheesecat wrote: Yeah, having 2 fighter classes seems like a waste why not just let the players choose if they want to dual wield, go 2 handed or sword and board.
Or even just make the sword+shield class a paladin. Same general idea (defensively-minded warrior type), but more variety in gameplay and graphics, since the class would also have access to some divine magics.
Corpsesarefun wrote: I would've expected the release list to be wizard, warlock, cleric, fighter, ranger and paladin.
The next classes to come are going to be the ranged classes from what I've heard. But the lack of paladin is a bit of a downer. I'm sure they will be releasing a paladin at some point though. Else there will be angry players. EVERYWHERE.
Well I let the game download while I was at work today, thing took forever to download but patched in at least 5 min. Decided to run the great weapon fighter and a priest (going to switch it out for a rogue most likely) and I will say this, for an MMO It has the most enjoyable combat I have ever tried out. The graphics are nice (have not set them to max yet as I forgot to) and I've experienced no lag during the game which is great considering how long it took to download lol. Overall I think this will be a re placer for most of my time spent on WoT
I'm playing in it, it's a lot of fun. The combat is a bit like a FPS, no tab targeting and very fluid. You get a companion at lvl 16 and your gear has a gradual change as you level up. PVP is great, it teamwork and not a zerg rush to win. The crafting system works by you hiring npcs to do the work, everything gathering mats to upgrading items. The game is based on 4th ed DnD rules and set about 10 or 20 years after something called the spellplague.
Corpsesarefun wrote: I would've expected the release list to be wizard, warlock, cleric, fighter, ranger and paladin.
No D&D game is launching without a rogue/thief. It's one of the Big Four iconic classes of D&D. Still, I agree that the current Neverwinter class selection is grossly limited, but then, the game IS in beta still.
Rumors have Warlock and Ranger being the next classes to be released.
My honest guess it that they tested 2 things with this line up:
1. Role selection. In the Fighter, Cleric, Rogue and Wizard you have your Tank, Healer, DPS and Control. The 4 main roles of the game.
2. Class variation. You have two "classes" building off the same base class: Fighter. This allows them to see how hard or easy it is to vary within a base build for a class.
Although one thing that surprised me was the racial selection. The Genasi were introduced to D&D through Forgotten Realms, so it surprised me to not see them in a video game SET in Forgotten Realms. Ah well. Perhaps they're the next race. (Though all I really want is to be able to roll up a Dragonborn Paladin...)
Combat is more fluid and seems to have more depth.
Uses a combo system where your skills can completely change based on the sequence of use.
It also has a pokemon-ish element to it. The world is full of dragons, right now I think there's about 300 different ones. These can all be tamed. Once tamed they function somewhat like a WoW hunter pet, but they are also your mount. You can train your dragons, you can have your dragons train each other to get different skill sets, that kind of stuff.
There are also sky island instances where you can build a house(in a modular fashion). Each sky island is governed from a castle, whoever owns the castle can set taxes for the entire island and lots of other fun stuff to either be a benevolent king or horrible tyrant . Guild PVP involves sieging and taking these castles.
Well I've been playing this as much as I'm able to and it's been a blast. They have taken the game down several time to increase the server capacity but at launch there will be only one shard to connect to, they're planing to merge them at some point, existing chars will not be deleted. They have adding new features to it with each patch.
They are also doing another overhaul to Star Trek Online by adding romulans to the game.
I've been enjoying it quite a bit, the much more involved combat system from many MMOs is nice (although I realise it's becoming more popular to do systems like that). It's interesting to wander around Neverwinter and see what's happened to it.
The server population is high enough that the city seems really busy, but not so high that I have to cue for quests, and quest areas never feel packed.
I've never managed to get into a fantasy MMO, they always bore me, but Neverwinter has managed to keep my attention.
I tested it yesterday for the first time, Control Wizard.
Pretty fun combat and good graphics. I didn't play that much, but I like what I saw, it's way better than the previous DDO and it's free, but, for me, the biggest selling point of this game is the Forge. MMO with tools to create your own adventures?! I can actually level up characters with completely different quests every single time (if we assume there's enough custom built quests).
Seriously, best idea ever for PvE guys like me.
P.S: The daily power is awesome. I'm not a fan like before, but I couldn't help but feel like a Ninja from Naruto when I used it for the first time . Doing a quick series of complicated hand-signs, arcane runes popping up in mid-air with each sign, presses both hands on the floor and BOOM, explosion of ice around me. Man, the animations of this game are awesome.
Ah, can you actually get experience from the Foundry? When Star Trek Online (from which the idea stems) first opened you couldn't (for reasons of balance I believe) so I've avoided it since then.
BryllCream wrote: Can the combat be paused? For me that is the hallmark of tactical rpg combat
Uhm, well, since this isn't a tactical rpg, no. As said above, this is close to an action RPG. Can you imagine trying to play a game with 4 or 5 other people, excluding raids, where everyone could pause the game? Two turns would take 3 hours.
not all MMOs have the same gameplay. WoW and SWTOR are similar but games like Project Entropia require you to actually aim at stuff to shoot and hitting specific spots on your target has different results. (a headshot crits and a legshot slows).
Then you have games like Terra which is more an action style MMO that requires less random button smashing due to the skill chain system and yet still challenges the player with gameplay as they have to actively select multiple targets for some spells/abilities.
Ahtman wrote: This has to be one of the most obtuse reasons I've seen for not even trying a game.
if your gaming background is forgotten realms rpgs, then its not that unusual.
Heaven forbid trying OTHER TYPES OF GAMES
I play lots of games. The entire Civ franchise 2 through 5, Red alert 1 2 and 3, all the fallouts, Theme Hospital, most Paradox games, Saint's Row, Call of Duty, Hidden and Dangerous 2...I could go on.
Point is, we're talking about an RPG set in the Forgotten Realms. So when making comparisons, looking at other RPGs set in the Forgotten Realms is not unusual. If I don't have the time to play tactically then that's important to me.
Ahtman wrote: This has to be one of the most obtuse reasons I've seen for not even trying a game.
if your gaming background is forgotten realms rpgs, then its not that unusual.
I didn't say that pausing the action was unusual, I said that completely dismissing a game because it doesn't pause is obtuse. My gaming background is the Forgotten Realms rpgs, and lots of other games. You might as well say you would never try Baldur's Gate because it has real time elements, and you only play turn based only because your gaming background is Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds.
Ahtman wrote: This has to be one of the most obtuse reasons I've seen for not even trying a game.
if your gaming background is forgotten realms rpgs, then its not that unusual.
I didn't say that pausing the action was unusual, I said that completely dismissing a game because it doesn't pause is obtuse. My gaming background is the Forgotten Realms rpgs, and lots of other games. You might as well say you would never try Baldur's Gate because it has real time elements, and you only play turn based only because your gaming background is Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds.
I say that all the time. Sometimes twelve or thirteen times a day. My coworkers won't talk to me any more.
Ahtman wrote: This has to be one of the most obtuse reasons I've seen for not even trying a game.
if your gaming background is forgotten realms rpgs, then its not that unusual.
Heaven forbid trying OTHER TYPES OF GAMES
I play lots of games. The entire Civ franchise 2 through 5, Red alert 1 2 and 3, all the fallouts, Theme Hospital, most Paradox games, Saint's Row, Call of Duty, Hidden and Dangerous 2...I could go on.
Point is, we're talking about an RPG set in the Forgotten Realms. So when making comparisons, looking at other RPGs set in the Forgotten Realms is not unusual. If I don't have the time to play tactically then that's important to me.
Setting is just a backdrop really, when it comes to games. Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate are comparable not because they're both set in Forgotten Realms, but because they're both isometric tactical RPGs. You could just as easily compare Baldur's Gate or NWN to Dragon Age: Origins. They're all fantastic games. Comparing them to Dragon Age II, however, would be pointless.
Ahtman wrote: This has to be one of the most obtuse reasons I've seen for not even trying a game.
if your gaming background is forgotten realms rpgs, then its not that unusual.
Heaven forbid trying OTHER TYPES OF GAMES
I play lots of games. The entire Civ franchise 2 through 5, Red alert 1 2 and 3, all the fallouts, Theme Hospital, most Paradox games, Saint's Row, Call of Duty, Hidden and Dangerous 2...I could go on.
Point is, we're talking about an RPG set in the Forgotten Realms. So when making comparisons, looking at other RPGs set in the Forgotten Realms is not unusual. If I don't have the time to play tactically then that's important to me.
Setting is just a backdrop really, when it comes to games. Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate are comparable not because they're both set in Forgotten Realms, but because they're both isometric tactical RPGs. You could just as easily compare Baldur's Gate or NWN to Dragon Age: Origins. They're all fantastic games. Comparing them to Dragon Age II, however, would be pointless.
Comparing anything to Dragon Age II is generally an insult to the other game
Melissia wrote: Gameplay was mentioned to be similar to GW2?
I might try it now that I have my computer back.
A few things in the world like loot are similar, but otherwise its more WoW or TOR.
Quests: Quest hubs ala WoW rather than GW2's map system. Turn in usually requires returning to the quest giver instead of just getting rewards in the mail.
Crafting: More similar to TOR in that you dont do anything directly. You hire craftsmen and they do stuff hsing materials you've collected.
Loot: money is shared, but each person gets their own items from bosses and chests. There are loot nodes (mostly yielding crafting materials) that are first come first serve however.
Abilities: not like any above games. Main At-Wills are tied to left and right click. Encounter powers (abilities on a cooldown) are on Q, E and R. Daily powers (which simply require you have built up action points ala a super meter) are on 1 and 2. You also have two slots for passive powers.
Companions: sort of like TOR except not class specific. Anyone can pay gold to buy a companion to fight with them. There are a few higher quality companions to be found/purchased.
Uh... think that's it really? My Trickster Rogue is 42, so I havent hit end game or anything.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Append: the dodge system is similar to GW2 though.
For info, some stuff can be done from a browser now.
I got an email telling me that http://gateway.playneverwinter.com lets you kick off crafting tasks, get at the auction house, and similar.
For 10-minute crafting jobs, this is great.
For those worried about security, you need to register and confirm every browser you use. It's a pain for the first use of each, but a good idea.
Melissia wrote:Huh. Seems almost like a step back in comparison then.
Beyond having to return to quest givers, the more limited abilities and just the way the plays actually feel nothing like WoW. I just couldnt find many things to directly relate to GW2 specifically.
GW2 has the beginning "all about you story line" while NW doesnt. You learn weapon based abilities in GW2 while NW uses essentially skill points. You gather and craft things yourself in GW2, while that only sort of half or quarter applies to NW.
WoW's quest giving method (and by extension TOR's system) is used in NW, but far more localized in terms of zone flow and NPC location. It doesnt feel like WoW's system as much, but nor is it the 'walk into an area and get a quest' that GW2 uses.
Overall I think the game flows and plays well, if a bit (read: extremely) limited in scope right now. I would say give it a shot. Game itself is free, so you really dont have anything but time and bandwidth to lose.
Skinnereal wrote:For info, some stuff can be done from a browser now.
I got an email telling me that http://gateway.playneverwinter.com lets you kick off crafting tasks, get at the auction house, and similar.
For 10-minute crafting jobs, this is great.
For those worried about security, you need to register and confirm every browser you use. It's a pain for the first use of each, but a good idea.
I am on this near constantly. Given that you can gather almost all the basic raw materials you need through short tasks, its a good way to get stuff done without having to deal with it while questing. I even use it while playing League or other games.
