You enter the room and see...

... an adventure!

Are you playing Neverwinter yet? I went in to this open beta expecting to complain about all of the things wrong with it. Instead I find myself excited about all the things right with it!

From a MMO view:
If you want to level by crafting, you can.
If you want to level by following the official story, you can.
If you want to level by killing mobs left and right, you can.
If you want to level by completing player generated content, you can.

From a RPG view:
This is a visual representation of the D&D I grew up with and love.
Want to go solo and experience a new world? You can.
Want to group with others and take on harder content? You can.

From a RP view:
Well, role-playing is a bit of a challenge in any MMO. Too many people don't understand it and seem to enjoy making it harder for others. No real difference here. As I understand it the unofficial RP server is Mindflayer. Check out Neverwinter RP for more information.

I really enjoy The Foundry. This is where other players create D&D based adventures for people to play. Just like the old days when an inspired GM would create an adventure and then guide a group of players through it. Now you don't need dice, paper, pencils or a group to do it. This also provides great access to D&D for those that didn't/don't have others to play with. We don't all have time to schedule a weekly gaming session to complete an adventure for weeks on end. With this we can jump in whenever we have time to spare.

The game is free to play and you can enjoy it without spending a cent. However, Perfect World will be more than happy to take your money should you wish to spend any. I haven't seen anything in the money store that you must have to play but I've come across a few nice things. One of the spending motivators Perfect World has is locked boxes. Boxes with great, rare and super rare loot drop in game as you kill things. Not all the time but often enough. If you want to open the box you need to buy a key from the money store. What if you don't want to spend the money to open the box though? (what's in the box? what's in the booox?!) You can buy them from the Auction House in game for game currency. It will take longer to get them this way but you will have way more adventure. If Perfect World does the boxes in Neverwinter as they have in other games each type of box will be a limited release. Once they are gone the company won't drop any more like it. This would be your only chance to get _____mount / item / whatever the super rare is.

I'm having a great time playing this game and I look forward to many more adventures.

Go On An Adventure

There was a time that when you sat down to play a game, video or pencil & paper, that you had no idea where you were going to end up. You only knew that you were about to go on an adventure. What happened to that?

Playing Neverwinter over the past week I've come to realize there are people out there that either don't care for the adventure or have never been on one. One of the features of the game is a sparkling path that will lead you to the next point on the map for you current quest. Following a sparkling path is not going on an adventure. It is simply following the easiest route from A to B. If you look at some of the Neverwinter videos I have posted you will see it. Yes, you can turn it on and off. I've gotten to the point I don't even realize it is there any more. I want to go on an adventure. I want to see every nook and cranny of the map. I want to climb the rocks that weren't supposed to be climbed. I want to wade across the river others see as a barrier. I want to experience the entire game world. Maybe I'm just odd in that regard.

So when did we lose our sense of adventure? I don't know. I think it has slowly crept up on us. Maybe it started with the Game Shark or the Contra Code. People began looking for easier ways to get to the end of the game. I admit I'm guilty of this myself. When World of Warcraft came out people began making add ons that would show you where to go, what to click, when to do something, you name it. The game was no longer about playing it was about clicking the right thing at the right time to get the right reward. There are animal behavior studies that have done the same thing. Neverwinter has really made it obvious though with this sparkling trail. However! The developers make you pay a price, so to speak, for taking the easy path to the goal. You miss most of the resource nodes, treasure chests and a number encounters that provide loot. To ignore the sparkling trail means finding better loot, more resources and having more fun in game.

Don't worry about reaching level X. Don't be concerned with what the next quest may have. Don't be in such a rush to reach the end. Enjoy the game and take the advice offered by +Shawna Mac.

Image by Shawna Mac. Click to embiggen.

Forbes Covers Gaming?

I had no idea that Forbes covered gaming. Maybe I should read it more often. Good article here on the new Neverwinter MMO.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/04/30/the-surprising-excellence-of-the-new-neverwinter-mmorpg-open-beta-launches-today/

I'm enjoying the game. It gives me the solo D&D experience I wished for as a kid and allows me to group with friends for the party D&D experience I've always enjoyed. Great game.

Once you finish the game article be sure to check out the conversation piece with R. A. Salvatore. I've finally forgiven him for killing Chewie. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/03/05/a-conversation-with-r-a-salvatore-part-one-the-last-threshold-forgotten-realms-and-dungeons-dragons/

Black Gold, Dwarven Tea

The Neverwinter MMO has a Foundry system that works like the one in Star Trek Online. Not surprising consider both games were made and distributed by the same companies. The Foundry system allows players to create their own events, quests, stories, etc... and share them with other players. This is something more MMOs could benefit from.

Do you remember creating your own dungeons and adventures in D&D back in the day? Now you can do it digitally.

Luckily for the players there have been people steadily working on Foundry missions so they would be ready at launch time. The video below is the first part of a long story told through the Foundry system.

Play Neverwinter.