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NWO Expansion already in talks!
zebular
Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 15,270 Community Moderator
Craig Zinkievich @CrypticZinc
Sketching out expansion plans for #Neverwinter. Probably all gonna change after launch and you guys play, but you gotta have a plan, right?
So cool. I think this is a sign of good things to come. I feel this because the game isn't even in Beta yet and they are already making long-term plans for upcoming expansions. To me, this shows a very good level of commitment by both Cryptic and PWE, a commitment for Neverwinter's longevity.
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PSY Gives Thumbs Up to K-Town's "Gangnam Style" Restaurant
From pirate-themed bars to coffee shops shaped like the Titanic, Koreatown has always been known for it's gimmicky...
What I really hope to see is that each Expansion would further move the Timeline along getting it closer and in-line with the upcoming D&D Next (Third Sundering) timeline. I'll be really disappointed if NWO remains in the "past" and doesn't stay current.
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
How do I put this...
They don't talk about jack here in Cryptic until it's at a state to be considered what they are talking about so they really must have a large amount of content they are actually working with! Not saying we'll see all of it very soon, but looking at the Cryptic speaking times on this project which for development is infrequent to put it nicely, this is a potentially bright spot. Sorry Cryptic if I was impolite saying you don't talk enough about your stuff in development. But it's true oh ones who market...
(Ah I love that avatar...)
*wants the underdark first*
There are so many great places in the realms I really would end up having to roll two d10's in order to choose which to build first if I was in charge of development...
But the underdark...That's limitless potential. It's like D&D's Version of Land of the Lost or Journey to the Center of the Earth. Anything goes!
The imagination's the limit.
I hope we see Cryptic tackle that most wonderful of locations sooner, rather than later.
P.S. It's great to see you posting on the forums more often again Crypticmapolis! You have been missed!
Plan gradual steps up in power with what you expect would be more powerful mobs. Dont want to fight a dragon, then next expansion find that a new breed of rabits are some how more powerful than a dragon! plan those mobs in order of what you would expect difficulty
In Season 6 we got Fleet Starbases that everyone can contribute resources towards building and advancing through different branches of options. There are no missions of substance. You have to play other parts of the game to obtain the resources needed to contribute and there are steep costs associated with it (in time and game currency, not necessarily real world money) and players find themselves engaging in the same old boring content that they've already become burnt out on. And so far, I do not see any real use for starbases other than a massive progressive trophy that players and their fellow fleet members can look at and say, "We grinded for MONTHS to get this. Yay!"
Season 7 added a new area to the game to explore and filled it with a bunch of repeatable objectives associated with a daily mission. They also gave us a new social hub planet with an embassy that out fleets can get involved with (I call it Starbase Grind II). This new planet, New Romulus has a story associated with it, but you must complete Tiers of reputation progression that take a lot of repeatable dailies to advance. The story is rolled out at the start of each new Tier through fully-voiced cutscenes. The plots are well written and do sort of give you a feeling that there is more going on than just what you are doing. Season 7 also brought a reworking of the payouts for the game-currency used to advance through the Starbase and Embassy progression. The game now produces less of that currency requiring the player to participate in more varried content.
The fact that this model has been applied to the past two seasons indicates it is a direction that PWE likes, and it may be the direction they take Neverwinter's core game development. Now with Foundry being emphasized over here as a core element of gameplay more than it is over there in STO, even if they go with the gated progression mechanic for their core story arcs, there should be plenty of variety for us to enjoy in terms of quest content. But I think we need to accept the very real possibility that if we want meaningful and diverse quests we can enjoy when we want to enjoy them, we will have to look to our own Foundry authors for it, not to Cryptic.
I'm not slamming them over that. For a D&D setting, I would prefer that the bulk of the storytelling be done by creative players, as is the case for the overwhelming majority of the pen-and-paper incarnation of D&D. I just wanted to prepare the MMO-oriented players who are used to the word "expansion" being associated with a content pack that contains tons of new quests and art assets for what they can likely expect from Cryptic, for whom it has been like pulling teeth to get any meaningful mission content for STO over the past nearly three years.
So don't get your hopes up or set your expectations too high. As with any MMO, not just Cryptic's work, you will likely be disappointed if you do.
but I play one on the forums...
:P
Neverwinter Thieves Guild
Now why would you go and say that rabbits are some how not more powerful then dragons? look at the bones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCI18qAoKq4
Considering how much effort and money has already been put into building NWO, one must assume the development team, Cryptic, and PWE plans on a long-term game, hopefully decades. Starting a new character five years after release will be almost like starting a new game.
I'm not too fond of it myself. But I really don't see that they have much real choice. I have yet to see a developer who can release enough quest content to stay ahead of, or even on pace with, how fast that the community can consume it and start demanding more. Whatever they release has to stretch according to their deployment cycle. Use of daily grinds that pay out a currency or token towards unlocking the next tier of the current storyline, with the number of tokens required at each tier set high enough that the content would be completed just ahead of the release of the next content expansion is really the best thing that they can do.
The Foundry is what will be carrying this game in terms of questing. Ideally, with each season we will see the addition of new core-world areas which can serve as portals into Foundry missions, as well as new assets to use in the creation of Foundry quests. As long as the foundry elements are kept fresh and functional, it won't matter how Cryptic goes about gating the progression through their core content.
In all honesty, Cryptic's quests should be more of a showcase of what Foundry authors can do with the tools, and to show off vanity items that we can buy off the cash shop. Of course they can have a solid storyline they wrap all that around and they could have enough pre-made missions for launch that can see players through at least half of the leveling process (enough time for foundry quests to populate the game and make up for the rest of progression.
It's end-level content expansions that I feel they should use the gate-and-padding method on. Cryptic is not all that great when it comes to being able to deliver quest content of significant quantity on a regular basis.
One thing I would like to suggest is to not play this game like it is some sort of race you need to run to try to get to some finish line as quickly as possible. Try pacing yourself. It's going to be free to play, so it's not like you won't be able to play other games at the same time. Look for elements in it that you enjoy and just play them. Don't worry about how far you are progressing or how fast. Just have fun.
Cryptic's MMOs are the bane of hardcore gamers who just have to get to the end first. Once you reach the end, you'll be at the end, and will likely have to wait a while before the next new thing comes.
If it was a sandbox MMO, it would be different, because then you have the community and world interaction that produces emergent content to keep you engaged, so you don't notice the void of official content as badly. Unless you are asocial and hate the notion of creating your own experiences in an MMO.
All I am trying to get across really is that for the most part, the community's notion of expansions and Cryptic's notion thereof are two different things that do not reconcile with each other. One need only read the vitriol spewed all over Cryptic by the STO community concerning what they want as opposed to what they are given.
We can do our part here to avoid the angst that exists over there by understanding how Cryptic operates, especially since Perfect World bought them. Their model is an east-meets-west amalgamation of MMO concepts. We need to accept that truth first and foremost, or we will not enjoy Neverwinter when it comes out.
Best advice I can give to anyone who is awaiting the release of a new MMO:
Abandon all your preconceptions and expectations. The game is going to be what it will be, not what you think it ought to be. Don't read anything into any developer communications. If it is not on the page, do not expect it to be on the stagte. People complain about how much BioWare left out of TOR. Well, BioWare has always been a "we don't talk about it unless we know it's going to be in" type of developer. All the stuff people complained about being left out of the game was stuff that they didn't talk about. We tried to warn them, but we had only been playing BioWare games for many years, so what did we know?
Anyway. Don't get your hopes up or set your expectations too high over Cryptic's expansion delivery.
but I play one on the forums...
:P
Champions Online, on the other hand, has had 3 Expansion Packs and after that just Content Updates.
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I have my espectations high as they can be due to the fact that Cryptic are taking on an remake of my favorite game. In fact i think its the historic moment in gaming after the publishing of NWN. I am well aware of the fact that our whining will do little to sway the devteam in any way, but still want to bring my own experience in to the development process. So i agree with you that the discussion has been rather lopsided and overemotional. Still it did a lot for me in a way that i feel much more involved and improves my social skill i guess.
I hear ya...
But seriously, you really should lower your expectations. This is not a remake of NwN. Frankly I wish they would have called it "Forgotten Realms Online" and still start you in the city of Neverwinter. The Neverwinter name is going to have very mant people expecting at least NwN2-level functionality with the toolset, and a lot expecting NwN1 functionality, and the truth is, while it will let us do some pretty awesome stuff, it will still fall drastically short of either of those titles.
As I understand it, we will not be able to set up persistant worlds, and the Foundry will not have scripting capability. That right there lowers the bar considerably. But hey. The Foundry over on STO currently has less functionality that we have been shown for what NW's foundry will have, and over there, foundry authors manage to turn out some amazing missions. So it's really more about understanding how it all works and how things can be combined for interesting effect.
but I play one on the forums...
:P
And here's the problem. It's not a remake. It's not even a reboot. It's a wholly new game using a new system both in edition and in game-play Only the lore remains and that's about 115 years past the edition that even did NWN.
Personally, I like "NWO" better for it fits with proper abbreviation rules and is reminiscent of a "New World Order" for the Forgotten Realms in an MMO environment. We just need to dispel any remaining notions that Neverwinter is "NWN3," for it is most assuredly not.
It is actually based upon the Paper & Pencil production called "Neverwinter Campaign Setting," a 4th edition source book for the Forgotten Realms, as well as R.A. Salvatore's "Neverwinter Saga" novel series - both published by the famed Wizards of the Coast.
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My work: Heroes Blacksmith - Library
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?21051-Heroes-Blacksmith-Library
It would be TOO cool if the game were to keep up with and create lore. It would make the game SO much more fun to actually take place in current events and be part of them. I was already sad about getting sat-net and not playing this game, but there are ALREADY expansion plans? I'm breakin into charter and running their cables to my house. Lookin for anyone willing to help, will return the favor!
*Looks over stuff....*
It's been mentioned a lot of stuff developed is what changed the D&D Neverwinter Campaign Book. I really really really can't say anything more from my trusted sources, but a lot of stuff allegedly in the game is lore that is not in other books and comes after events in the 4e Neverwinter Campaign listing. So allegedly, it does.