Sunday, May 12, 2013

Neverwinter

Who wouldn't like a D&D game from a major publisher as an action RPG with WoW-like questing?

Well, I wouldn't.

The core of Neverwinter (combat) is not D&D at all and the MMO part is an inferior single player game. Moreover, Neverwinter is extremely gamey: did your D&D campaigns have ever been about rewards - literally? Because Neverwinter tells me literally what rewards I get for doing what. Of course, the rewards have no connection to the story or what is happening whatsoever. Just like treasure chests that pop up out of nowhere and don't make sense in any way.

If anything, D&D is about a credible world and a credible story in that world. It is absolutely not about rewards, flashy magic at every step or about about WoW-like questing. At the very least the rewards should not be called rewards: I like the illusion of a desireable item with a history instead of a "reward".

See, it's not even necessary to talk about the microtransactions ...

5 comments:

  1. I agree that I would never run or want to play in a pen and paper RPG campaign that was even remotely as loot obsessed as MMORPGs tend to be.

    I do enjoy playing this incarnation of Neverwinter (NWO?), not because it's a great simulation of D&D, but simply because I find it a fun game to play. It has replaced the story-lite Tera as my action MMO of choice very smoothly. Why? It has just enough lore, story and world immersion to keep me happy.

    I would say that expecting any computer game in the near future to simulate the experience of even an average pen and paper RPG is asking too much. I'd be interested in what you think of the Pathfinder sandbox game in this context? It's based on 3.5 D&D but is eschewing levels and otehr core trappings of D&D to offer a player-directed experience...

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    1. thats interesting. A game without levels. I know this is replying to an older psot, but besides what Nil doesn't like, how else is NWO, Gamingsf? And how do I find Pathfinder sandbox game? Thanks in advance.

      stay frosty...
      -roo

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  2. Sorry Roo, only just saw this!

    Pathfinder Online is here: https://goblinworks.com/
    I find some aspects of the game interesting but I'm not at all keen on free for all PVP and corpse-looting. Sounds very DAOC/Darkfall to me.

    Neverwinter is a pretty good game, although I'm not playing it as much as I thought since several friends decided just now to get into SWTOR and have dragged me back there. Neverwinter's take on action combat is good. the 4th edition D&D mechanics (at will powers, encounter powers etc) seem to work well enough in the MMO context. I'm not so sure of the economy and the very visible presence of 'daily chores' and lootboxes. Time will tell. Really I'm waiting on the release of Ranger or Druid as I want a nature-focused character to play.

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    1. ah, no problem at all gamingsf! Thank you for your reply. I have never played a "free to play" game before and really concern at how much access these folks might have to my computer. I play WOW and only WOW on my one system, and take great pains to keep it clean from the various people who want to bust in and grab access codes, etc.

      Plus if you play a FtP game, money has to be spent somewhere. I mean it is really not free. Besides the official web site do you nkow of any fan sites on NWN Online?

      Yes, pathfinder - I found their kickstarter page and missed it by a few months. You know they raised over 1,000,000 bucks to develope this. WOW! That is a huge amount of money for something like this. Heck that is more than the GNP for some small countries. But it sounds like something interesting, though too, I don't care for free for all pvp or the looting of players corpses.

      Have a good one and thanks again for the reply!

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  3. NWO isn't D&D, but it is pretty fun as an MMORPG. I especially like the Foundry and that they have an in-built voice chat function for your party.

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