Neverwinter MMO

[Nexus6]

Our own General_Electric brought this new MMO to my attention in the Star Trek Online thread, and I thought it deserved it's own thread. I've been seeing the Cryptic adds for Neverwinter before playing STO, and the game has rapidly been getting my attention. Cryptic does beautiful visuals and player avatars as good or better than anyone (including Bethesda and Bioware), and it looks like Neverwinter is every bit as gorgeous looking as STO. I don't know, I had planned on waiting for Elder Scrolls online, but Cryptic's founder/beta access packages (as low as $20) may be a bit too good a deal to pass up. I'm maybe a tad concerned that the game might be one-dimensionally focused on ground combat, which is probably what soured me on the Star Wars: TOR mmo. But then again, I would expect Cryptic would draw on their now extensive mmo experience to make the game as multidimensional as possible. In fact STO has a wonderful player-based economic system, and I assume Neverwinter will be no different. Anyway, the more I look and read about this game the more it's drawing me in. If anyone else has started playing the beta please do post your impressions here. If I don't read anything bad I may take the plunge this weekend. I just wish I had played the original Neverwinter Nights games back in the day so that I would know more of the back story. I know those game were wildly popular. Oh well, add NWN to the list of great old games I never played, which also includes Baldur's Gate, Half-Life, XCOM, Diablo, and MOO. Also, I must be the only gamer on earth who never played D&D.

http://nw.perfectworld.com/

 

[kawaiku]

Also, I must be the only gamer on earth who never played D&D.

That is a big NO:smoke: there are a few more of us about these parts

 

[Nexus6]

Well guys, I just made the biggest game purchase I've done in months by buying the Neverwinter Guardian founders pack for $60. I maybe took a small risk, but for one thing I do mostly like Cryptic's Star Trek Online and have to believe that NW will be even better. Also, the buzz from the first beta weekend has all been very favorable. And as I mentioned in another post, I'm feeling like I'm getting more bang for my buck and longevity out of a decent MMO than I do with most single player games, saving me money in the long run.

Check out what Pokket had to say about it. Her Neverwinter beta weekend bit is right after her sort of 'meh' pre-review of Aliens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuBTvhhPHYk

BTW, I detect a trend here: attractive women doing video game reviews. I don't know, Pokket is maybe not quite as entertaining as Angry Joe, but she's a lot easier on the eyes. I will give Pockket one thing though, she is absolutely right in that it can be a very fine and tenuous tightrope act when trying to make a free-to-play game not pay-to-win, but hopefully Cryptic has succeeded with Neverwinter. Anyways, I'm definitely looking forward to the second beta weekend on March 8th. I may have to take that Friday off.

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[Nexus6]

Anyone else doing this second Beta weekend that starts tomorrow (Friday)? I'm ready to give Secret World a rest for a few days while I try Neverwinter. Anyway, I'll probably post some comments on it sometime over the weekend. Happy gaming.

 

[Nexus6]

Hey guys, I played Neverwinter for about three hours last night, and although it was not a bad game, it just didn't rock my world the way I'd hoped it would. First of all, in a market full to overflowing with sword and sorcery RPG's, Cryptic really needed to raise the bar, but I feel they failed to do so. Secondly, Secret World has kind of spoiled me, as in my opinion it has set the standard for really good MMORPG's. Having said that, I feel Neverwinter is purely minor league stuff by comparison. I don't know, I'll give Neverwinter another try after official release (late this month or early April I think), but for now the amazing Secret World has me totally mesmerized.

 

[Nexus6]

In the past I've sometimes been overly optimistic about a new game, but this time I think was being maybe a bit hard on one. I revisited Neverwinter for a few hours this afternoon and have to admit that it has kind of grown on me. For one thing the leveling system is a bit better than I had originally thought, and for another the fast-paced combat is kind of fun. Also, for a Beta it is not in bad shape at all. Finally, the game does seem to have a certain lighthearted charm to it, as opposed to the dark and mostly serious sword and sorcery milieus of Skyrim and Game of Thrones. I actually see myself coming back to Neverwinter every now and again when I feel like I need a break from the complex and sometimes draining Secret World.

 

[kawaiku]

So I take it it's more subtle in presentation, nothing big and flashy.

 

[Nexus6]

So I take it it's more subtle in presentation, nothing big and flashy.

Not sure if subtle is the word I'd use, but anyway, here's my quick review of the beta:

Highs:
1) Relatively mild learning curve.
2) The two character classes I've tried (Wizard and Paladin) where both very different and fun.
3) Combat is fast-paced and fun.
4) An excellent player-creation tool that is a bit streamlined from the one Cryptic created for STO.

Lows:
1) Game looks nice, but the graphics are far from state of the art. Player 'toons' (I hate that term don't look quite as good as they do in Cryptic's STO.
2) Game has the usual MMO bad guy respawn areas, and unlike Secret World where you can often outrun them, they'll follow you to the death if they detect you.
3) The storytelling is adequate, but no where near as good as games like Skyrim or Secret World.
4) The usual subtle attempts by Cryptic to get you to buy Zen.

Bottom Line: In its current beta state Neverwinter is a good, not great game. To be fair though, as someone noted in the chat, Guild Wars 2 was vastly improved from Beta to official release. In any case if you're a sword and sorcery RPG fan who is sick of WoW and doesn't feel like waiting for Elder Scrolls Online. by all means give this one a try. Anyway, I'll probably have more to say about it after the final beta weekend (in two weeks I think).

 

[kawaiku]

Thanks for the brief review. I think I'll go over and take a looksee. Also, I'm not even acknowledging the Elder Scrolls MMO, I would have prefered something more akin to the original Neverwinter Nights multiplayer.

 

[Nexus6]

Thanks for the brief review. I think I'll go over and take a looksee. Also, I'm not even acknowledging the Elder Scrolls MMO, I would have prefered something more akin to the original Neverwinter Nights multiplayer.

There's one more beta weekend on March 22nd, but I've seen nothing in the way of an official release date. I would expect it would be soon after though. Anyway, if you want to participate in this final beta weekend you need to sign up ASAP, though access isn't guaranteed unless you buy one of the founder packages.

BTW, one thing common to all MMO's I've played is the tank, dps, healer paradigm, and to be honest I think that narrow concept is getting a bit old and tiresome. Wish someone would think outside the box to come up with something different.

 

[Nexus6]

FYI all, the final Neverwinter beta weekend starts this Friday at 12 Noon PST. I imagine I'll take a break from Guild Wars 2 to play it a bit more, though I really don't see it beating out GW2 for my current mmo home. Still in all, there are a few character classes I haven't tried, and I did find the sort of old school rpg flavor of it not without its appeal.

 

[Nexus6]

Guys, to my mind Cryptic has done something decidedly unusual with Neverwinter, even in this strange age of open betas and Kickstarter. Over the past two months they had four semi-Public beta weekends, and they've announced that the full-public open beta starts April 30th. The difference though is that unlike other mmo betas, player avatars were wiped after the final beta weekend and everything created as of the 30th will be for keeps even though it is not the official launch date. Not exactly sure what to make of this, I mean, usually player beta avatars are wiped just prior to official launch. I would add though that to my cynical way of thinking, open betas are basically game publishers getting greedy and trying to bring in revenue as soon as possible. Scott and guys, I'd be curious to hear your take.

Having said that, I spent about ten hours with the game over the course of two of the beta weekends, and have to admit that the combat system was a blast, the warrior classes were very different, and overall the game had a certain old-school charm to it. My only quibble was that although it's a nice looking game, to my eye it falls well short of the beauty of Guild Wars 2, or for that matter Cryptic's own Star Trek Online. I guess it's a good sign though that I am looking forward to revisiting it shortly.

Run away! Run away! :laugh:

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[kawaiku]

Thanks for the updates Nexus!

And I think me and the skeleton would most likely have the same thing in mind if one were to come across such a person as her

 

[Nexus6]

Thanks for the updates Nexus!

And I think me and the skeleton would most likely have the same thing in mind if one were to come across such a person as her

Funny guy!

BTW all, I think, at least for me, times have changed. I"m currently playing an MMO (GW2), will be hitting two more mmo's shortly (Neverwinter this weekend, and Star Trek Online when the playable Romulans are launched late next month), but only have two single player games possibly on my radar scope this year: StarDrive and Age of Wonders 3.

 

[kawaiku]

Funny guy!

BTW all, I think, at least for me, times have changed. I"m currently playing an MMO (GW2), will be hitting two more mmo's shortly (Neverwinter this weekend, and Star Trek Online when the playable Romulans are launched late next month), but only have two single player games possibly on my radar scope this year: StarDrive and Age of Wonders 3.

What's been happening with STO anyways? I was big when it first came out and then... nothing. I figured an update like that would catch people's attentions.

 

[Nexus6]

Well guys, I'm sorry to say that I gave up on this one. I was sort of enjoying it, but by the fourth major map had grown tired of it. For one thing, it is not a good-looking game by current standards, and looks about five years old. The big thing with me, however, is that as sword and sorcery games go, Guild Wars 2 blows Neverwinter away. Not only is it a much better looking game, but the gameplay and story are far more compelling. It's odd though. I mean, with Star Trek Online, Cryptic made one of the most beautiful looking games on the market, so what happened with Neverwinter?

FYI Kawaiku, STO will have the playable Romulans ready in less than two weeks. I'm jazzed! Of course as always with STO, it will remain to be seen how long I hang around after reaching level cap. I guess after all is said and done I must like STO though, as it will be the third time I've revisited it in two years.

 

[Nexus6]

OK, my man Mr. VanOrd at Gamespot nailed it with Neverwinter, giving it a 6.0 (Fair) rating: http://www.gamespot.com/neverwinter/
He summed up exactly how I felt about the game after spending about 25 hours with it: Neverwinter's combat is very good, but not quite good enough to carry the thin game built around it.

It's also interesting to note that Neverwinter is a case in point of one of the current bad trends in PC gaming. That is, it had 4-5 beta weekends over the course of about 2.5 months, then it spent another two months in open beta before finally being officially released. If I said it once I've said it a million times, I don't like playing buggy, unfinished, and broken betas. I guess the companies think they can start seeing profits from a game sooner, but the down side is that, irregardless of whether or not the core game is any good, playing a buggy beta will turn many players off, never to return for the final release.