The World of Neverwinter.

Just dug this up.

This was written a little over a year ago, on June 2nd, 2013.

It was for a friend/co-worker’s gaming site that never took off.

The world of Neverwinter has changed. The Cataclysm has sundered the world and brought chaos where there was once peace. Now it is time for me, and those like me, to go forth and right all that has been wronged. To bring peace, where there is war. I pray to the gods that I have the strength and faith to stand strong against the shadows that loom over us all, and that I may be the guiding light for those who follow me. – Ravenflight, Hero of Neverwinter.

The latest free to play MMO by Cryptic and Perfect World is Neverwinter. Neverwinter is an MMO based on Dungeons & Dragons, which involves plenty of fantasy roleplaying, action combat, and epic story lines that thrust your character into the world of Neverwinter. Based on the Forgotten Realms setting, Neverwinter is full of plenty of lore, action, and adventure. One not need be familiar with Forgotten Realms to enjoy Neverwinter, however. The game does a wonderful job through the NPCs (non playable characters) filling the players in on the various lore, as the adventurers throughout the land.

For those not familiar with MMO’s, Neverwinter does a brilliant job of teaching players. From the very beginning, the players are washed ashore, with nothing to their name – no armor, no weapons – barely their lives, for that matter! An NPC then instructs the players how to go about and loot crates that have also washed ashore; which contain weapons and armor, then teaches the players how to equip them. The players then move up to a camp where they’re instructed how to attack the zombies that have risen up. From there, at the next area, they’re instructed how to loot items and give it to other NPCs.

The game masterfully moves you through until you should, but the time you complete the introduction, have a fairly good grasp of the most basic mechanics of the game.

In terms of character creation; Neverwinter allows a number of Races that are available (Human, Half-Elf, Wood Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Half-Orc, Tiefling, and the option for Drow elves is said to be available after 60 days when Neverwinter goes officially live). Each race has their own benefits and strengths that the others may not have. Along with the fairly wide selection of Races available to Neverwinter, there is also an assortment of Classes (Guardian Fighter, Great Weapon Fighter, Devoted Cleric, Trickster Rogue, and Control Wizard, which rumors of a new “Ranged” class yet to be announced). There is no right or wrong combination between Race and Class, though some do play better into others (for example Halflings have a higher Dexterity bonus, which may play nicely with being a Rogue; or a Tiefling’s arcane magic may play better to the Control Wizard), but there is nothing stopping the enjoyment of mixing it up and making a Halfling Guardian Fighter or something of the like.

Despite the fact that Neverwinter is an MMO, it does not mean that you are forced to group to complete specific missions. Almost 95% of the missions your character will be given, can be completed with just yourself. There are a few areas that require 5 man teams to usually complete (for example, in your Teen-Levels, you will get a quest for the Cloak Tower; venturing in there without a full party of five will typically not go well). However, for things like Cloak Tower, you can join a cue automatically and continue to adventure about; until your turn is up to join a random party also cued up for those areas. You have the option to accept or decline when your turn comes up, in the event you are in the middle of something. (Declining, however, takes you out of the cue and you must re-enter the cue again).

As you progress through the game, however, it does naturally become increasingly more difficult, even as you level up. However, at Level 16, you’re able to go and hire a Companion NPC that follows you around faithfully and does its best to keep you alive, depending on its role. The initial companions available are: Wayward Wizard (excellent for blasting things with Magic and helping control when you’re being swarmed), Man At Arms (your typical sell sword who cleaves things with his sword and might), Cleric Disciple (your priest who follows you around and tries desperately to keep you alive with her healing abilities), Sellsword (much like the Man At Arms, but far more aggressive), and the Dog (who attacks viciously to defend you, and has the ability to knock down enemies and knock them prone).

While you can only have one Companion active at a time, they gain experience as you do, and can level up to level 15. Higher level Companions become available to you later in the game.

Questing within Neverwinter is also quite nice. You can “track” your quests in Neverwinter, where there is a light, sparkling path that will lead you to the areas you need to go to, to get things done. This can be turned off and on by pressing “Z”.

Like all MMO’s Neverwinter has the ability to create Guilds, with ease. You need only 5 people, in your party, in the same zone, to be Level 15 or higher to initially create the Guild of your choice. Once the Guild is created, there is no level limit (other than what the Guild Owner sets).

Another aspect of Neverwinter is the Professions. You have Leadership, Platesmithing, Mailsmithing, Leatherworking and Tailoring. The wonderful thing about the professions in Neverwinter is that you don’t need to be in the game to improve them. Neverwinter has a web interface that you can log into from anywhere, to do your professions.

Another fascinating feature of Neverwinter is the Foundry. Once one of your characters reaches Level 15, the Foundry opens up to you. But what is the Foundry? On the character select screen you can go in and create your own adventures, dungeons and quests within Neverwinter. The Foundry system is fairly simple to use and guides you in completing the area you have created. You can do everything from Dungeon Crawls, to NPC conversations, quests to kill specific monsters – virtually anything within the game can be created within your own quest! Players can then go to the “Job Board” and accept the Foundry quest you have created, and venture into the adventure you have made! (Be aware, that Foundry quests can take some time – as they are first by in game reviewers before being officially published and available, to prevent anything unsavory making itself into the game).

Neverwinter, over all, accommodates experienced and new players to the world of MMO’s.

There is, however, one down side. There isn’t much replayability. For example, whether you make a Dwarf Guardian Fighter or a Halfing Control Wizard; you have the same starting areas, and the same quests. It’s not until around Level 20, where you will have more than one place to visit to complete quests in different areas. You can venture into “new” areas until you have unlocked those areas with the current character you’re playing. So creating a new character may seem somewhat repetitive as you’re going to end up doing the same quests you had done with your previous character.

As of April 30, 2013 – Neverwinter went into Open Beta for everyone to come and play. When the game officially releases, there will be no character wipes. The levels you earn are what you keep when the game goes “officially live.”

You can sign up for a free account here:
https://register.perfectworld.com/nw_splash

You can find out more information by visiting the Official Neverwinter Wiki: http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Neverwinter_Wiki

Neverwinter video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D_Uzka-2Mz8#!