Neverwinter E3 2011 Teaser Trailer
Neverwinter
Neverwinter is an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons Co-operative RPG (not MMO) in development by Cryptic Studios and is currently scheduled for a “late” 2012 release. The date was recently pushed back from a late 2011 release following the sale of Cryptic Studios to Perfect World Entertainment. This is due to a demand by Perfect World for Cryptic to work on a more immersive experience for Neverwinter.
The game is based around the city of Neverwinter as known from the Neverwinter Nights games and will be using a modified version of the D&D 4th edition rule-set.
By co-operative RPG, Cryptic means that they will focus on story and small-group gameplay and not big groups, raids and competing for spawns like conventional MMOs. Think Dragon Age, Oblivion and Dungeons and Dragons Online where all adventures are completed in private instances.
The game was originally meant to be released coinciding with the release of an upcoming trilogy of books by fantasy author R.A. Salvatore as well as an upcoming tabletop game from Wizards of the Coast. How the delay in release date will change this we’re unsure.
Neverwinter At A Glance
- Playable Classes will include the standard D&D classes Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Ranger and Cleric.
- Adventures will take place in private instances and support groups of up to 5 players. If players have problems finding a party to join they will be able to use NPC characters instead, similar to the DDO henchmen system. Neverwinter will be using real-time tactics combat instead of being turn-based.
- User created adventures can be made using the content creation tool, the Foundry.
The Foundry
Through the content creation-tool, the Foundry, players will be able to create their own adventures or full-fledged campaigns from the ground up to play with their friends and share with the entire Neverwinter community. Players have full control whether these areas will be private or public.
The Foundry gives you the tools to build dungeons, castles, cities, foreboding woods and everything in-between. Build NPCs the way you see them in your mind’s eye and populate your world with tavern keepers and soldiers, Queens and scullions. Lay the groundwork for an epic adventure that takes players into the depths of the earth in search of dwarven treasure, or pits them against near impossible odds to save the city of Neverwinter.
The Foundry will also feature a complete dynamic rating system so players can easily find the best user created adventures to play.
What will allow the user-generated content to stand out in Neverwinter is its overlap with the persistent PVE world. Creators will have the ability to choose an NPC character within the game to initiate their content. Check out this great post at mmorpg.com for more information on the Foundry.
Further information
The Neverwinter Nights series is one of my favourite roleplaying-game series, and hopefully the upcoming Neverwinter will live up to the level of story and content creation that these games have set.
There is still no information in regards to purchase cost, subscription cost or computer specifications.
Check out the official site for more information about Neverwinter, and to register and get more information about the release date and any future betas.
