Tag: Neverwinter

How To Get Into The Neverwinter Beta Free


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I know what you’re thinking: Omali, I want to play the Neverwinter beta, but I don’t want to buy some ridiculous copy of PC Gamer magazine just to take part in the beta. Well good news, you can accomplish both. All you have to do is follow the instructions below:

  1. Head over to play.google.com
  2. Click on Magazines and find PC Gamer
  3. Opt to subscribe with the 14 day free trial. You will not be charged.
  4. Go to promo.pcgamer.com/neverwinter
  5. Follow the instructions using the same billing information you provided to Google.
  6. You may have to answer a question related to the issue. The magazine can be viewed on your desktop.
  7. Get your key and use it at Playneverwinter.com
  8. Cancel your trial subscription to PC Gamer. You won’t be charged.

This way everyone is happy. You got your hands on a free copy of PC Gamer and a beta key for Neverwinter, and a free horse mount to top it off. Meanwhile PC Gamer gets the satisfaction of bringing joy to someone’s heart, even if they are doing it for free. Granted this means nothing if you already subscribe to PC Gamer.

Neverwinter Delayed To Early 2013


Neverwinter is still alive. Announced back in 2010, Neverwinter has been thrown out as the MMO that Champions Online and Star Trek Online never were (polished). With all of the past events at Cryptic Studios, being discontinued by Atari and then sold off to Perfect World Entertainment, having their new executives delay the title until late 2012 so the game could have some polish and content, and then revising the game to be a full fledged MMO, the idea of Neverwinter being delayed a couple of times isn’t all too alien.

So Neverwinter has been delayed once again, the new release date being “early 2013,” when it will launch with a free to play business model.

(Source: Eurogamer)

Video of the ___: Neverwinter Trailer


Is anyone else excited for Neverwinter primarily for the opportunity to create custom dungeons and stories? I hope Cryptic makes a trailer showing off the custom tools next.

Without Reservations: Neverwinter Will Be Full Fledged MMO


It’s amazing how time flies. Fourteen months ago, Cryptic announced what we all knew: A Neverwinter Nights non-MMO game that wasn’t an MMO was being developed as a completely non-MMO coop online, but not massively, multiplayer game that isn’t an MMO. With how in-your-face Cryptic was on reminding us that the upcoming game was not an MMO, a lot of questions were asked. With Atari just recently (at the time) coming out of a lawsuit against Turbine and the settlement papers locked behind closed doors, it appeared to make sense that Atari could continue its Neverwinter game, but could not call it an MMO.

Apparently Perfect World Entertainment, now that Atari doesn’t have the licensing rights to D&D anymore, does not have those same reservations, or the conditions are different, or some other factor we’ll never find out about, because following the news that Neverwinter will be delayed until 2012 to better adjust it, the game is now being touted as a full MMO. It will be an action-based MMO similar to Vindictus or (I’m going to be stabbed for this) Dungeons and Dragons Online, and will likely keep Cryptic’s original vision of session-based gameplay.

You can read the rest of the article here.

 

 

Why Buy Cryptic Studios?


I’ve said this before, but I believe Neverwinter to be the root cause behind Cryptic losing money, compounding the loss that Star Trek Online put on the revenue from Champions Online, alongside a less than stellar launch by both titles. I don’t believe that either of the two titles performed as well as Cryptic had hoped they would, and only recently did Champions Online start producing a substantial amount of money. Tracking the reaction that Champions Online and Star Trek Online received is rather easy. Both games were touted as being developed with a system that could easily create large amounts of content quickly and at a low cost. However, when both games released after a very short (by MMO standards) development period, they launched with very little to distinguish themselves from the competition. Players blasted both games for a lack of content, heavy focus on the cash shop (more so during Bill Roper’s phase as leader), and Cryptic’s general lack of attention to the userbase.

At first I joked that Gamersfirst might buy up the game, turn them both into free to play cash shops trashed by cheaters and gold farmers (similar to their other games), but I have a feeling that if Cryptic is bought up and it isn’t by Jack Emmert as rumored, the buyer will be a company none of us have heard of before. Still, that hasn’t stopped the major news websites from speculating on what big name company will pick up Cryptic.

Going by the big names, Sony has enough on their plate at the moment, and I think the acquisition of Vanguard was enough to end any future purchases of games hemorrhaging money. EA/Mythic/Bioware won’t pick up the studio because of their own problems with All Points Bulletin, Warhammer Online, and the major upcoming release of The Old Republic and the possibility of a Mass Effect MMO. EA can’t afford to take on a sinking ship, not when they are already having trouble securing investors over the performance of their past MMOs. NCsoft won’t pick up Cryptic Studios because…well it’s NCsoft. The company has no second thoughts toward severing a limb to save the rest of the body, and this acquisition would be like finding a rotten leg in a creek and asking your doctor to sew it back on. Funcom is a no go, and Blizzard also has enough on their plates with World Of Warcraft, Project Titan, and their other games.

It’s a shame, too, because I have a feeling the Neverwinter MMO won’t be leaving Atari with Cryptic wherever they go, meaning the lack of that development cost will lift a heavy financial burden off of Cryptic’s arms. Perhaps with moving Star Trek Online free to play, as hinted last year, Cryptic could bring themselves back into the green and have two decent if not necessarily heavy hitters in the MMO field.

I’d love to see Cryptic find a new home where they can continue improving upon Star Trek Online and Champions Online. I also hope they can finagle Neverwinter Online to move with them. As I’ve said before, I think Cryptic’s knowledge of instancing can play to their favor in a game that will revolve around heavy instancing.

Cryptic Studios Discontinued, Being Sold Off


But wait, Omali, you say. Wasn’t Cryptic Studios recording a one thousand percent increase in revenue from Champions Online? Why would Atari be writing the company off? Cryptic may be better of than they were in 2009 ($17.9 million loss) at a $7.5 million loss for 2010, but a loss is a loss, and it looks like Atari is jumping ship. Actually, according to the financial report, the company has been “discontinued” since March 31st. Atari plans on continuing support for Champions Online and Star Trek Online, until a buyer can be found.

“In line with the previously stated strategy of fewer but more profitable releases and further expansion into casual online and mobile games, the Company has determined that external development creates more flexibility in the changing marketplace,”

The development of Neverwinter is apparently not altered by this news, at least for the time being.

So the question remains: Who is the buyer? I have a feeling Atari already has a buyer, and rumors are floating around that Jack Emmert (Cryptic Studios co-founder) is looking to rebuy his company. On the other hand, GamersFirst could always buy up the studio and turn both games into cash shops with games attached, filled to the brim with cheaters and gold farmers.

Source: Gamasutra

Neverwinter Will Compete With D&D Online Directly


This article requires a bit of backstory, so if you are already in tune with the Atari Vs Turbine saga, feel free to skip ahead. To start, we must set the stage for the players in this ongoing drama. Wizards of the Coast owns the Dungeons and Dragons IP, and in turn license the video game creation to Atari, who in turn licensed the MMO rights to Turbine. Turbine creates Dungeons and Dragons Online, and pays royalties to Atari, who pay royalties to Wizards of the Coast. Atari owns Cryptic Studios, who were rumored to be creating a Neverwinter Nights MMO, in direct competition with Turbine.

Now this is where the story becomes shady. Turbine sued Atari, claiming that the company had plans to sabotage Dungeons and Dragons Online, in order to nullify the contract with Turbine, take over control of the MMO, and shut it down in preparation for release of a Neverwinter Nights MMO. Given Cryptic being Atari’s chief MMO studio, it was only a given that Bill Roper’s team would be leading the project in some secret underground base, likely in the middle of an active volcano. Although the lawsuit was settled and the terms kept secret, there was a distinct timing between the settlement and Cryptic announcing Neverwinter Online, specifically noting that the game was not an MMO. I theorized at the time that Atari agreed not to make any D&D MMOs as a result of the settlement.

[Backstory over]

I’m a little concerned over how quickly the public took this news and said “phew, at least Atari won’t be trying to destroy D&D Online,” and this raises the question: Is the fighting really over? Or is Atari still adamant in their attempts to shut down Turbine’s MMO, and set up a new title in an environment where they can benefit from more income? Consider this, if you will:

Dungeons and Dragons Online is an action-oriented cooperative combat role playing game where players meet up in a lobby, take quests, and raid dungeons in small groups. The game relies on class-based skills in order to accomplish feats such as disarming traps and finding secret passageways. Each class holds its own place in a team, and in solo will also require different means of play. The game is free to play and supported via VIP and cash shop revenue.

Neverwinter Online will be an action-oriented cooperative combat role playing game where players meet up in a lobby, take quests, and raid dungeons in small groups. The game relies on class-based skills in order to accomplish feats such as disarming traps and finding secret passageways. Each class holds its own place in a team, and in solo will also require different means of play. The game is free to play and supported via cash shop revenue and likely a VIP program. In addition, Neverwinter Online will also feature user-created dungeons and other yet-announced bits and pieces.

So when Cryptic stated that Neverwinter Online will not be an MMO, it’s important to remember that Dungeons and Dragons Online isn’t a true MMO either. The likelihood that the two titles will directly compete is high, simply because the mechanics in both games (at least as they are currently presented) are so similar.

Despite my past differences with Cryptic, I honestly believe that Neverwinter Online could be a great success because the fundamentals play to Cryptic’s strengths. Unlike Champions Online and Star Trek Online, both of which attempted to take a massive world and cram it into a tiny container, Neverwinter Online is in all train of thought built to be a small-scale cooperative game. Of course, given Cryptic’s choice of D&D rulesets to follow, they won’t be gathering in all of the Dungeons and Dragons fans, but if they stay true to the formula and bring the social experience to an online format, Neverwinter Online could be a real contender.

So I call bogus to the idea that Neverwinter won’t directly compete with Dungeons and Dragons Online, and feel that with the right developers behind the wheel, Neverwinter could wind up scooping a good amount of Turbine’s revenue.

Community Concerns #2: Cryptic Leaving The MMO Scene


Possibly Neverwinter Wonders

“The big change is the development philosophy. There are some more changes coming in terms of the games, but we’ll cover that in the months to come. The big change is that we’re not making MMOs, we’re making online multiplayer games.”
-Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios.

Things are really bustling over at Cryptic Studios. Bill Roper and Craig Zinkievich are gone, and the throne has been passed to Jack Emmert, who wow’ed us with the announcement that Star Trek Online would be putting less emphasis on cash shop items in the future. Both Champions Online and Star Trek Online boast healthy numbers, according to Emmert, which intrigues us (read: me) here at MMO Fallout all the more with Cryptic’s announcement that they are no longer developing MMOs.

I wanted to talk, today, about comments I’ve been seeing both in my own emails and on other forums, on Cryptic’s shift to these CORPG’s (Cooperative Online Role Playing Game), and why this is causing fear in a few players. Culminating in CEO Jack Emmert’s statement above that Cryptic is moving away from MMOs and onto online cooperative games with Neverwinter Wonders, the question inevitably comes up as to what this means for longevity in Star Trek Online and Champions Online. Cryptic’s two MMOs have come under fire in recent months with concerns that the games may not have much in terms of long term viability, and statements like the one I presented above just add fuel to the fire.

Jack Emmert refers to the status of Champions Online and Star Trek Online as “healthy” and “significant,” respectively, and really all we can do is take his word on it. Champions Online recently reached its first birthday, and is still receiving updates and booster packs (with Demonflame on its way). Star Trek Online has somewhat turned into Cryptic’s main product, and is still receiving regular content updates in the form of weekly episodes and occasional larger updates. Cryptic is set on getting in touch with their community with regular question and answer sessions, as well as monthly “state of the game” addresses.

So when I say that the concerns are understandable, and even justified, I want it to be clear that they are overreactions. Cryptic’s change in pace to non-MMO titles may actually be a good thing, as keeping Champions Online and Star Trek Online as their only two MMOs ensures that the titles won’t have to fight one another to the death in order to obtain attention from Emmert and crew. Remember, Sony and NCsoft may have major libraries of MMOs, but most of their games are being worked on by completely different developers. Cryptic has separate teams, but they are still one company. If Paragon Studios went under, for example, the Aion team would be unaffected.

I have my concerns about Champions Online passing the MMO Turing Test, but I have a lot more faith in Star Trek Online’s long term viability.

Remember, if I see any concern that something is going terribly wrong with any MMO, this website is the first place you will find it. I expressed my concerns greatly on All Points Bulletin, and on the flip side I said over a year ago that Star Wars Galaxies wasn’t going anywhere, and it is still trudging along with regular support. This wasn’t the greatest choice of words for Emmert, and he needs to address this quickly on the forums/website for both games.

More on Cryptic Studios as they appear.