NWN Online?

[Mangala]

9 Atari’s secret weapon – Neverwinter Nights A couple of weeks ago, we posted word that recent Atari acquisition Cryptic Studios was working on breathing life into several Atari legacy titles. Now we’ve got a few more details to share.


Sources tell us that the developer is working on a massively multiplayer online (MMO) version of “Neverwinter Nights” with an eyed 2011 release.


Details about the project are unavailable, naturally, as it is an unannounced title. But this reportedly was the primary reason Atari was interested in acquiring Cryptic late last year. (The developer is currently working on “Champions Online” and “Star Trek Online”.)


Based on the third edition Dungeon and Dragons rules, “NWN” is a well-loved franchise. The first installment of the role-playing game was developed by fan-favorite Bioware in 2002. A sequel, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, came out in 2006 to slightly less favorable, but still solid, reviews.


Part of what made the game unique was its robust multiplayer component. Many players built persistent worlds, capable of hosting up to 75 players – in essence, mini MMOs of their own.


The new game represents a very big bet for Atari – perhaps as big as the company’s continued existence.


MMOs take a lot of time to develop properly and cost a lot of money to create. And Atari’s cashflow problems are well known. The company could currently be financing the game with the recent sale of its of a sales, marketing and retail distribution business to Namco Bandai.


Once it’s finished, though, things get even harder, as the “Neverwinter Nights” MMO will face some stiff competition.


“World of Warcraft” holds the dominant position in the MMO genre by a country mile, with over 10 million subscribers. The MMO graveyard is filled with titles that have tried to go up against it (see “The Matrix Online,” “Tabula Rasa,” etc.)


Additionally, with Bioware now owned by Electronic Arts, the company will not have any hand in the game’s creation, which could cause doubt among the franchise’s fans.

http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2009/06/ataris-secret-weapon-neverwinter-nights.html


Would certainly be interesting, especially how Wizards of the Coast are only licensing 4th ed. rules nowadays which are pretty much a spastic proof set of rules , however without Bioware at the helm, it could all go horribly wrong...

*Would prefer 3 or 3.5 rule set though - along with something like CoH's recent Architect thing - become an MMO DM

[Taith]

Personally I'm a convert to 4th edition. The pen and paper games run faster and even the people who put no thought whatsoever into what their next action will be until the DM calls on them are limited in how much they can stuff around.

The division of abilities into At-Wills, Encounters and Dailies I would think would translate well into cooldowns.

[Jarkko]

Personally I'm a convert to 4th edition. The pen and paper games run faster and even the people who put no thought whatsoever into what their next action will be until the DM calls on them are limited in how much they can stuff around.

I too like 4th edition better. A streamlined game-system (especially I like the speed of how combats are resolved; there are lots of tactical choices to be made, but less skimming-through-the-rulebook than ever before in D&D) gives more opportunities for actual role-playing. Never thought I'd say that... Still remember doing characters for systems like HARN or Rolemaster; it took hours to just create the character, and  a five minute combat could take an hour to resolve... I must be getting old

I've been playing D&D since 1983, and I think 4th ed D&D is the best edition so far.

[Gunnarr]

Rollmaster

Fixed. 

[Jarkko]

Rollmaster

Fixed. 

Ah, I see you too are familiar with the system!