NeverWinter

[Mistress Urd]

Ew, no, it's based off 4e. I have no issue with others enjoying it, but I'm gonna wait for the Pathfinder MMO.

You should give Eve Online a whirl if you want a peek at what PO will be like. It may not be to your liking.

[Aggelakis]

Yeah. 4E is basically 'MMO on paper' so why wouldn't 4E work in an MMO?

[Mistress Urd]

Lone Wolf types don't like how 4E rams teamwork down your throat. I played some 4E and it did seem a bit weird at first but its certainly acceptable. Of course I am someone who played Basic D&D and 1E. I didn't really care for the money grab when 2E came out and moved on to point based systems. 4E really balances (mostly) DPR between the classes but we are getting into a tangent on game design.

[General Idiot]

A lot of people don't like how MMOs ram teamwork down your throat, too. Just a thought.

Also, anyone know anything about the teaming mechanics in this game? Given that any edition of D&D of in fact any tabletop game period are usually played in groups, I wonder if the game might be designed with the option of teaming all the time much like CoH was? A foolish hope perhaps, but I'm hoping all the same.

[Knightslayer]

A lot of people don't like how MMOs ram teamwork down your throat, too. Just a thought.

Also, anyone know anything about the teaming mechanics in this game? Given that any edition of D&D of in fact any tabletop game period are usually played in groups, I wonder if the game might be designed with the option of teaming all the time much like CoH was? A foolish hope perhaps, but I'm hoping all the same.

Considering how forcing people to team all the time was one of the things that nearly killed DDO when it was still a sub-based game, I highly doubt they'll make that mistake...

[Tenzhi]

Considering how forcing people to team all the time was one of the things that nearly killed DDO when it was still a sub-based game, I highly doubt they'll make that mistake...

I dunno, each of the class preview videos enjoys poking at you with ideas about proper party formation.

[Knightslayer]

I found this on their website;

Gameplay/Mechanics:
-4th Edition ruleset
-"Powers" will be as similar to normal 4th edition rules as they can be while running in realtime
-Action MMO style play, but NOT an MMO
-Brag: Some of the best traps you'll ever see in a game
-Some powers feature knockback abilities which can knock enemies into traps, presumably traps can harm monsters as well as players
-Henchmen will be in the game and can be used to make up your party if you're solo, some of these will be lore characters.
-Gear Customisation is not yet set in stone
-Character appearance will have lots of customisation
-Unique and different from NWN1/2, different environment, different feel, with some familiarity.

Edit: Found it on their forums actually, just figured I'd add that since a forum post is less official than it being on their site. Neverwinter Forums

[Tenzhi]

Putting aside that teaming with AI is still teaming, I've yet to see a decent henchman system.  They tend to be pretty annoying, like in Guild Wars.  If I can't get my friends to play, I'll probably be trying to solo.

[Knightslayer]

Putting aside that teaming with AI is still teaming, I've yet to see a decent henchman system.  They tend to be pretty annoying, like in Guild Wars.  If I can't get my friends to play, I'll probably be trying to solo.

I found them decent enough on DDO and SWTOR.
Granted, AI can never replace a good player even if it gets certain bonuses, but they sure make better team mates than some of the PuGs* I've seen! (DDO's NPC clerics had insane amounts of mana, SWTOR's companion bonuses depend on your Legacy).

* Not to mention they never ninja loot, the darlings! 

[Tenzhi]

I have friends who ninja loot (and then frequently complain that they don't have enough inventory space).  Luckily, I tend to remain unconcerned by loot while teaming.  If I happen upon something I personally need for the character I'm playing I'll pick it up, but other than that I'll leave it lie.  And I get to laugh at my ninja looting friends about their inventory management difficulties.

I didn't mess with DDO's henchmen (didn't even notice their existence when I played, actually).  But DDO also added a Solo difficulty to their dungeons which was nice.

The last annoying henchman system I dealt with was in Dragon's Dogma.

[Lily Barclay]

I found this on their website;

Edit: Found it on their forums actually, just figured I'd add that since a forum post is less official than it being on their site. Neverwinter Forums

That game's forums are pretty official actually. If the post is from a Cryptic or PW employee, which that sounds like it is, it's probably better info than the site itself.

Also, I will spill about the game after the beta this weekend and let you guys know how the teaming is. I know Cryptic had said they want this to be the kind of game that people make part of their lives, and that they are designing it with the idea it will be around for 10+ years. I'm really hopeful

[Mistress Urd]

A lot of people don't like how MMOs ram teamwork down your throat, too. Just a thought.

Also, anyone know anything about the teaming mechanics in this game? Given that any edition of D&D of in fact any tabletop game period are usually played in groups, I wonder if the game might be designed with the option of teaming all the time much like CoH was? A foolish hope perhaps, but I'm hoping all the same.

That seems to be the direction of MMOs these days, Single player game in a persistant world.

Teaming was so bad in DDO I found I could solo most dungeons faster than teams because PUGs were so lol awful.

While I did team lots in CoH, I mostly teamed with good players. When there were events like Dr Kane or Summer Blockbuster  I got stuck with some really awful players. I started to filter teams by making it from the global channels, that made a big difference.

[General Idiot]

Considering how forcing people to team all the time was one of the things that nearly killed DDO when it was still a sub-based game, I highly doubt they'll make that mistake...

Personally I was meaning something more like CoH does where missions scaled from solo to full team and everything in between. D&D itself has mechanics for doing exactly that, too. But like I said, maybe I'm being overly hopeful.

[Lily Barclay]

Personally I was meaning something more like CoH does where missions scaled from solo to full team and everything in between. D&D itself has mechanics for doing exactly that, too. But like I said, maybe I'm being overly hopeful.

Most MMOs these days are not as instanced as CoH was, so you just don't see that kind of scaling.

[General Idiot]

Interestingly, Cryptic's previous game (Star Trek Online) is about the only one that is that I know of that's still running, and it does scale to my knowledge. And CoH was their work originally too, so.

Just seems there's a lot added up to say they should do it, is all. Whether they will is entirely another matter, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out it's exactly the same WoW clone almost every other fantasy game is these days.

[Lily Barclay]

Interestingly, Cryptic's previous game (Star Trek Online) is about the only one that is that I know of that's still running, and it does scale to my knowledge. And CoH was their work originally too, so.

Just seems there's a lot added up to say they should do it, is all. Whether they will is entirely another matter, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out it's exactly the same WoW clone almost every other fantasy game is these days.

Champions scales in instances, too.

[General Idiot]

It has the capability, yes, but many of its instanced missions don't scale and the vast majority of its content isn't instanced so I don't really think it counts.

And the scaling there is wonky, on a full team of 5 you get about twice what CoH would throw at the same number, and the average Champions character isn't built to cut through piles of guys like CoH characters were.

[Maressa]

My husband got a chance to get a second look at the game. (Our first look was at Gamescom last year) He wrote his thoughts on the game. http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/DD-Neverwinter/review/Early-Access-Neverwinter

[MindBlender]

My email showed up yesterday.  I'll have to check into it more before I decide if it is worth it.  Still holding out hope for a HERO I guess...

[Tenzhi]

My husband got a chance to get a second look at the game. (Our first look was at Gamescom last year) He wrote his thoughts on the game. http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/DD-Neverwinter/review/Early-Access-Neverwinter

There's not just a "chest" slider - there's one specifically for "breast size"...  I'm sold.  Well, not really.  I personally gravitate towards male dwarves (or gnomes, when available).  Now, a proper beard size slider -  THAT would impress me.