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BioWare Community Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 1, Published October 28, 2002

"With Baldur's Gate, we sparked a role-playing renaissance; with Neverwinter Nights, a revolution."

Taken from one of our early promotional videos, those words are now becoming a reality. With an active, registered community of over 500,000 strong, Neverwinter Nights has been taking the gaming world by storm. At the time of this writing, there are over 1,500 player-made modules available on the Web, some of those achieving over 50,000 downloads each.

According to GameRankings.com, only four PC RPGs in history have achieved an average review score of over 91%. Three out of those four (Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Neverwinter Nights) were developed right here at BioWare and the other (Planescape: Torment) was powered by the BioWare Infinity Engine.

If you haven't picked up your copy of Neverwinter Nights yet, there's no better time than the present. Live the 100+ hour Official Campaign by yourself or with a party of your friends. Continue your adventures by weaving your own story with the powerful BioWare Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset or by adventuring in worlds created by other members of the fan community.

If you already own the game, make sure you create an account on BioWare's Official Neverwinter Nights Community Site: http://nwn.bioware.com/ so you can stay involved in the community and make the most of the Neverwinter Nights revolution!

Newsletter Features

BioWare Bits
Latest News
BioWare Live Team Projects
Neverwinter Community Project Highlights
BioWare is Committed to Neverwinter
More BioWare Game News: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

BioWare Bits

Welcome to the BioWare Newsletter and thank you - we appreciate your continued support over the past years. Our hard-working staff at BioWare have some great projects in development and this newsletter is one way you'll get more information about us and our projects in the pipe, like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and our 'secret' projects in-development for the Xbox and for PC.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter, and look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions.

-Dr. Ray Muzyka
-Dr. Greg Zeschuk
Joint CEOs & Co-Executive Producers,
BioWare

Greetings and on behalf of the BioWare Live Team, welcome to BioWare's Official Neverwinter Nights Newsletter. Our goal is to provide you, our fans, with information about Neverwinter Nights, BioWare's current and upcoming game titles and other important information relating to our games. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the Neverwinter Nights and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic communities for their support and participation in one of the best on-line communities in gaming.

-Derek French, BioWare Live Team Producer

Latest News

Offical Chat - Neverwinter Producer Trent Oster and members of the BioWare Live Team met to answer questions in the first official chat since Neverwinter Nights was released. Check out the chat logs at Neverwinter Vault:

http://nwvault.ign.com/community/chatlogs/Chat101002.shtml

100 Nights of Neverwinter - The 28th of September marked the first 100 Nights of Neverwinter Nights being out in the public eye and we wanted to celebrate! Over a five-day period, the Neverwinter Nights Community Site profiled leading members of the community. These people are leaders in their own right, be it as a conduit to the fan community, as a resource for other fans, as a calm and understanding community moderator, as a technical expert in a particular area, or simply as a very friendly supporter of everything Neverwinter…BioWare thanks you!

For the complete list of community leaders and bios of each check out:

http://nwn.bioware.com/news/100nights.html

NWN in Different Languages - NWN was shipped with English and German at first but now fans can enjoy this revolutionary game in French, Italian, Spanish and Korean. These localized versions recently hit store shelves and sales have been amazing. In addition, BioWare's Official Neverwinter Nights Community Site is adding language selection for German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Recent Updates: 1.25 and 1.26 - These patches introduced official new content for Neverwinter. Included in these patches were the addition of two brand new monsters to the Neverwinter Nights universe- the cunning but somewhat mashable Kobold and the deadly Malar Panther! For the content makers out there we have included The NWN Content Installer Creator (NWNCIC) which will package up all your new content into one, self-installing bundle. Finally, we also managed to stuff secret doors, along with a huge number of fixes to game issues. Check out the Kobold and Malar Panther profiles at:

Linux Client -The work continues on this much-anticipated release. Head over to the Linux Client update page where we track the progress as it draws closer to completion.

http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/linuxclient.html

Mac Version - Mac users can peruse our brand new Mac Version update page with all the latest news and screenshots on the progress of the Mac version:

http://nwn.bioware.com/about/macversion.html

Modules - NW Vault and NW Stratics continue to add more and more Neverwinter Nights modules created by the fans. Currently on their sites you can find over 1500 modules ready to download and play. Get the very latest info at:

http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/modules.html

Neverwinter Frenzy - Check out the massive amount of BioWare-created add-ons for Neverwinter Nights created by BioWare staff: tutorials, modules, new content, wallpapers, groovy scripting demos and more at:

http://nwn.bioware.com/

BioWare Live Team Projects

BioWare is one of the first developers to extensively plan for the support of a game post-ship before it has been released. The BioWare Live Team is a group of professionals that will ensure that all aspects of support for our games are easily available for fans. The BioWare Live Team has several projects in development that the fans have asked for.

Witchworks - BioWare designer Rob Bartel has begun writing an ambitious series of story-based modules that will include several leading utilities and modifications created by the fan community as well as completely new content produced by BioWare. The fans were asked what they would like to see from BioWare and the response was very clear- story-driven modules with a real role-playing focus. Rob has created a whole new world for players and DMs to explore.

"I have always believed that story lies at the heart of my favorite RPGs. We want our experience points, our accumulation of items, our tactical combat to serve some deeper meaning. We want to be surprised by what our alter-egos can accomplish in the game and by how the world responds to us. The Witchwork Series is my gift to the Neverwinter Night community, my thanks for the life that they've breathed into this game. Onwards, then, with the revolution..."

-Rob Bartel, BioWare Designer

Witchworks: Fields of Battle in beta testing - Rob Bartel opened up the testing of his highly anticipated module to NWN community members and got a flood of responses from fans wanting to help.

For all the latest Witchwork news:

http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/module_witchwork.html

Registry System - We opened this service to the fans of Neverwinter Nights out there looking for quality players, DMs, servers from among the many thousands of great Neverwinter Nights owners. The current number of people registered in our system is over 8400 and climbing.

Are you a registered game owner? Then check out the facts on the Registry:

http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/

Haven't registered your game yet? You're missing some great stuff! Follow the link below:

http://nwn.bioware.com/my_account/edit.html

Guilds - In conjunction with the Registry System we have developed a mighty fine Guild System. We can get your guild rolling by giving you a personal forum for your members, the ability to search for new members among the Registry and send out personal invitations to join your guild to Players, DMs and Builders of your choice and even schedule events on your very own guild calendar for all your members to see. We have over 1000 guilds covering every aspect of Neverwinter Nights.

More information on Guilds for registered game owners:

http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/

Neverwinter Community Project Highlights

There are literally thousands of modules, modifications and utilities that have been created in the short period of time since the release of Neverwinter Nights.

Archaegeo's very impressive Hard Core Ruleset, a massive change to the rules within Neverwinter Nights and replaces them with all the merciless fun of take-no-prisoners 3rd edition rules. Check out the HCR update the HardCore Modular system that features easier installation and use.

http://nwn.darkemud.com/~darke/HC/

BioModerator and boy-genius Polyhedral's Beholder project, among his many other great projects, for those who wish to encounter a giant, angry, floating eye in their campaign.

http://www.hakpaks.com/index.php

DM Helper: Designed by Joseph Hardesty (Doppleganger), Richard Scheepstra (Jhenne). This is a must for Neverwinter DMs. It adds a whole bunch of functions and features to the DM Client to expand your powers as a Dungeon Master:

http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/module_witchworkprof1.html

NW Connections - BioWare is working with this excellent matching service to make scheduling games, getting into games, and getting together with like-minded individuals to destroy evil/good where it lurks/flourishes. Be sure to check out their site at:

http://www.neverwinterconnections.com/

We have also made a little home for NW connections right on our own Neverwinter Nights Community Site:

http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/nwconnections.html

Random Name Generator: Not directly related to Neverwinter Nights, but an excellent resource for RPG fans:

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

BioWare is Committed to Neverwinter

Neverwinter Nights is changing, evolving and growing in several thousand different directions as a result of some exceptional work by the community. BioWare is here to support their efforts and encourage fans to get the most out of the Official Campaign and the Aurora Toolset.

A community is only as good as those who take the lead and continually keep the vast energy and enthusiasm focused on making Neverwinter Nights the best experience for each fan possible. We are fortunate to have some truly exceptional people helping us make this happen.

BioWare is committed to stretching Neverwinter Nights into whatever this community wants to see. BioWare's Live Team is a group of professional programmers, designers, writers and artists who are responsible for supporting the games that BioWare develops.

More BioWare Game News

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (SW:KotOR) - BioWare is hard at work with LucasArts on the first RPG set in the Star Wars universe. Set 4000 years before the events of the films. This vast adventure is coming out for the Xbox first and then PC soon after. Light sabers, furry sidekicks, bleeping droids and nameless evil henchmen all working for a shadowy villain in a complex tale of revenge, salvation, and glory. Check out the official site:

http://www.lucasarts.com/products/swkotor/default.htm

SW: KoTOR Project Director and Producer Casey Hudson and LucasArts Producer Mike Gallo will be making an appearance on BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic forums every Wednesday to discuss the game with fans. In addition, two Thursdays a month fans can expect a featurette on some part of the SW: KotOR universe such as a planet, character or special item.

Check out the first featurette on a mysterious old Jedi named Jolee Bindo:

http://www.lucasarts.com/products/swkotor/characters.htm

Interested in evil? Maybe you should visit the planet Korriban…

http://www.lucasarts.com/products/swkotor/worlds.htm

Xbox Canada interviews Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founders of BioWare.

Xbox Canada: What's going to be the single coolest thing about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic?

Greg: It's really hard to think of only one great thing to say about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - I'm torn between the great story, amazing graphics, and silky-smooth gameplay. We're putting everything we've learned in the last eight years into the game, and we're quite confident it's going to be amazing. The team is working really hard on the title, and they're coming up with some excellent results.

Xbox Canada: What's the secret to being a great developer?

Ray: Our employees at BioWare are smart, creative, hard-working and passionate about what they do. They love video games and are continually challenging themselves to outdo the last games they worked on - each game here needs to be better than the last.