The Future of NWN Round Table Discussion,
Part 1

By Jay Watamaniuk

As part of the 2 Million Member Celebration bonanza event this month, we asked a group of Neverwinter Nights community contributors to share their thoughts about BioWare's community and what they expect in the future.

Introductions

Folks, please introduce yourselves and talk about how you are connected to NWN.

Maximus: Maximus here. I'm in my mid-30s, married, with one beautiful baby girl and another baby on the way this December. Being part of the NWN community is truly what motivates me and I get to do that every day running Neverwinter Vault.

Steelwind: rtrifts, otherwise known as Steelwind, project lead at DragonLance Adventures ("DLA").

Lycius: Hello, my name is Mike Posey a.k.a Lycius. I am the founder, builder, and administrator of the Brynsaar persistent world.

Rizzen: I'm Rizzen, the creator of NeverwinterConnections.com. When Neverwinter Nights was still in development, from everything I heard, I knew that the game would not have the type of matchmaking a game like this would thrive on. I felt there was a definite need to create a mechanism to bring DMs and Players together with similar gaming styles. It's hard enough in a pen and paper game, let alone in a computer game, and Neverwinter Nights had the potential to be just as good as a pen and paper game.

Papermonk: I'm Travis Addington (Papermonk) and the Project Director of the City of Doors Initiative, which I founded as a group to do Planescape content shortly after NWN was released. My stalwart companions and I have been poking at the guts of this game ever since.

Poetic Colossus: Hi there! My name's Matt, aka Poetic Colossus, or the less ego-assuaging version, Poetic C. I purchased NWN when it first came out and was introduced to multiplayer NWN via a rather disastrous foray into the 674th layer of the Abyss known as the "Arena" channel. After a narrow escape from the fiends and devils that inhabited that rather unscrupulous segment of GameSpy, I found the nerve to sign up for a game on Neverwinter Connections and have been hooked ever since. My 15 minutes of NWN fame? I guess it would be for "A Requiem for Jander", a one-shot multiplayer mod I built and DMed through NWC, set in the AD&D world of Ravenloft.

LadyRolePlay: My online handle is LadyRolePlay, or LRP as I most prefer. My rl name is Martha Mc Dermott. *Grins* My connection to NWN depends on which hat I am wearing at the time: player, DM, or writer of plot and narrative for myself, other DMs, and Persistent Worlds. I certainly claim no corner on all facets of the game and know mine aren't the only good observations. Hence, as with the first article I wrote (being an award winning player - Jay W.), I went to some other folk I consider top notch players, DMs, and persistent world landlords. Happily, I do a great many of these, hence this input involves not only my own input but those of others as well that I felt germane to the discussion below.

About The Future Of Multiplayer Games

Multiplayer games have been dominated by first person shooters. With the persistence of NWN in the top ten multiplayer games at GameSpy, do you think this is the start of a new trend or is it a flash in the pan?

Maximus: It's definitely a new trend, but one where we probably won't see any other players except for BioWare. While MMORPGs could be considered a roleplaying game and would dwarf even the biggest first person shooters, unfortunately I don't think we're going to see other developers put the time, effort, and money into quality LSORPGs (Large Scale Online Role Playing Games). The investment is just simply too large if it is to be done well. Most would rather focus on the single player aspect with no/minimal multiplayer support or go all out and attack the MMORPG market.

Along with supporting a large number of players, the DM client is a very important tool to improve the gaming experience of those people. You don't need a DM client for a first person shooter, but I'd go so far as to say it's mandatory for an LSORPG type game and just another obstacle for a developer trying to get into this market.

BioWare will own the LSORPG market for a long time, in my opinion. Unless, of course, they created Dragon Age in such a way as to make it easy for other developers to create their own LSORPGs as a license. If the economics were right, then we could see all kinds of genres take hold.

Rizzen: I personally think that depends on BioWare and on other game developers, not on the players. Neverwinter Nights has a unique game play style and engine that works well for multiplayer games. No other roleplaying game (or strategy game for that matter) has the level of replay value or the depth/ease of customization. So, I think it's up to the gaming companies to continue to have grandiose visions and create games with these attributes.

For years, it has seemed that most games are being increasingly dumbed down for a broader range of players, which is unfortunate. I believe a major part of this formula is the ability to DM a game. I'm concerned that future games won't have this feature and it will be for the wrong reasons. An example is assuming that many people aren't DMing because they aren't interested in the feature. I don't think that's the case at all. I think it's because of a lack of training and the intimidation factor. If we can bring easy and natural ways of DMing to the game, a lot more people would use it.

Steelwind: I think the remarkably strong presence in multiplayer use of NWN on GameSpy has been due to a relatively small but extremely dedicated group of mostly PW fans. A trend? No. I think of it as a unique product appealing to a niche group of fans. (I mean niche in an objective sense, not in a derogatory one.)

Lycius: I think that Neverwinter Nights is what D&D geeks have been dreaming of for decades. The beauty of this game is that it can easily and almost fully support all types of gamers. Neverwinter Nights was the first of its type and the community has spoken. Hopefully, in an industry dominated by the frame of thought, "Single player is what sells games," this game will open marketing eyes to the reality of the modern computer gamer. If it doesn't have multiplayer, I'm not buying it.

Papermonk: It depends really on what happens with the industry. Not a lot of good RPGs are really being developed (outside of BioWare), and a lot of those with multiplayer focus are actually being pushed into the MMORPGs, which tend to be RPGs in only tradition and style. I think there is certainly a niche, I hope other companies take up the gauntlet and produce some quality products to help fill it.

Poetic Colossus: I would think, hopefully, the start of a new trend. Maybe with too many elves running around with pink hair, wings, and tails, but I'll take it.

LadyRolePlay: The single greatest reason I feel it is the start of a trend is because a person is able to recreate a new experience for themselves. The reason for buying any game is to do something new, like watching a movie, and if it's good enough, more than once. Still, once done it's done, and the repetitive nature sets in.

It is not the start of a hot new trend though, at least entirely. Earlier RPGs that offered multiplayer tacked on, such as Baldur's Gate and Diablo, have pointed the way. And both of these communities are still viable after all these years. And many people have wanted SP only games like Morrowind to have a multiplayer component. The demand has always been there and, at times, answered in part. I think that the RPG format has been the big unknown and whether that would fly in the same way the first person shooter games have.

I think BioWare showed a lot of moxie and great deal of farsightedness and confidence in bringing NWN to the market. This game took years to develop, and while a single player aspect was there, let's face it, it was the more self-perpetuating aspects that have been groundbreaking and where most of the attention was lavished: toolsets, DM client, and so on. I think BioWare correctly read the market and took a "calculated" leap of faith that paid off spectacularly. BioWare has pointed the way and proven there is another market as valid and strong as the one that supports the first person shooters. No words can begin to convey my admiration for that leap of faith in giving such creative power as NWN has given to players, story writers, DMs, and builders.

Much as D&D lead the way for pen and paper RPGs, I think, BioWare is likewise doing the same in the genre with its multiplayer online component coupled with the ability to create new content through the tool set. I think others will try to follow and the competition is likely to get stiff, but as long as BioWare does not get complacent and continues to break new ground, they've got an awesome lead and structure in place that will be hard to overcome.

Go to Page (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - Next Page)

Want to comment on this article or read what others have to say about it? Join the official discussion!