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Rumor: Atari close to announcing a Neverwinter Nights MMO

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, Rumors

If you're getting a strong sense of deja vu at the title up above, we can't blame you -- after all, we've been covering this supposed MMO announcement for a couple years now. However, a pair of recent developments have led us to believe that Atari is on the verge of announcing the long-anticipated Neverwinter Nights MMO.

The first piece of concrete news is a brief statement from the recent GenCon Indy, where Critical-Hits.com went to a D&D products seminar and heard the representatives state that Atari has an upcoming D&D video game. Unfortunately, they were unable to obtain any further information about it at the convention.

Following up on this statement, Superannuation did a bit of digging and discovered that Atari recently purchased a slew of domain names, including visitneverwinter.com, playneverwinter.com and neverwintergame.com. Add these facts together with the promised announcement of Cryptic's new MMO this summer, and we could be hearing official confirmation of a Neverwinter Nights MMO any day now. Stay tuned!

Rumor: Atari close to announcing a Neverwinter Nights MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: How would you make a D&D MMO?

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

We've made it no secret here at the Massively offices that we love us some Dungeons & Dragons Online (especially with our regular Wednesday evening guild play), but we'd be naive to think that DDO is the last D&D MMO we'll ever see. Considering that the franchise has a long tradition of console titles, PC games and MMOs (dating back to 1991's Neverwinter Nights), we'd go as far as saying that another D&D MMO is probably closer than we'd expect.

So if you could define the parameters of this theoretical new game, what would you choose? What studio would handle it? What D&D setting would you like to play in the most? What edition of the rules? How would you overcome the difficulties of transitioning the pen-and-paper game into a MMORPG? Would it follow DDO's highly instanced format, or be something else entirely?

Cast your level one spell of Creative Thought, and let us know: how would you make a D&D MMO?

The Daily Grind: How would you make a D&D MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 26 May 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cryptic to announce new MMO later this summer

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Rumors

With Star Trek Online and Champions Online chewing the scenery and igniting passions on both sides of the aisle, it's sometimes easy to forget that Cryptic Studios has a third project brewing in secrecy. Long rumored to be a D&D MMO -- perhaps even Neverwinter Nights -- the Cryptic folks have been, well, cryptic about the title.

It looks like we may find out in a few months, however. In a recent MMORPG.com interview with Bill Roper, Cryptic's Chief Creative Officer cracked a small window into this upcoming announcement:

"I can't speak to the specifics of what we're doing, but it's true that we have another game in the works. We won't be making an announcement until late summer, and we're still a ways off from launch. I can say that this is a game and a franchise we're very excited about. I think people are going to pleased and a bit surprised with what we're doing in terms of the game, how we make it, and even how we sell and support it. The game is being developed around new design principles merged with Cryptic's community-first approach to ongoing development."

Continue reading Cryptic to announce new MMO later this summer

Cryptic to announce new MMO later this summer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Impressions: Alganon

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Launches, New titles, First Impressions, Alganon

Today's First Impressions could use a little bit of external reading before you go too deeply into it. So I'm going to start by linking an article that's nearly seven years old but still excellent -- Fantasy Heartbreakers.

Now that you've all clicked "Back" in some confusion or just avoided the link in the first place, some explanation. The article is the origin of a term that pen-and-paper RPG fans have come to use to describe a certain type of game referenced in the article. It's referring to the countless game companies who thought they could make a game that was better at being Dungeons and Dragons than, well, Dungeons and Dragons. Many of the games in question weren't bad games -- sometimes even good ones -- but they were built on the fundamental premise that they would be "like D&D but with X."

Some of you probably see where this is going, or got it as soon as you saw the term. Because we're all very aware of how predominant World of Warcraft has become in the MMO marketplace, to the point where it's the essential standard that other MMOs are judged against. Alganon, then, could be seen as our genre's first fantasy heartbreaker. Because it's genuinely tough not to play the game and see that there's some really good stuff in here.

Continue reading First Impressions: Alganon

First Impressions: Alganon originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Player vs. Everything: The quirks of D&D Online

Cameron Sorden — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Dungeons and Dragons Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Player vs. Everything

From the first time I stepped into Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, I was amazed by how well it managed to capture the dungeon crawling feel of the franchise that I knew, loved, and grew up with. With its fast-paced, pulse-pounding, and thoroughly satisfying combat, clever use of hidden doors and traps, and resource management mini-game of health, spells, and abilities, D&D Online provides a unique gameplay experience that no other MMOG can provide right now. One only has to listen to the vehement and impassioned discussion of the hardcore fans, found in any pick-up dungeon group, to realize that Turbine has something special here---something that World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online, EverQuest and Age of Conan, or even EVE Online simply can't offer.

However, is being unique and interesting enough to justify the price? On a recent Massively podcast, I mentioned that I've always felt like DDO wasn't worth the monthly fee, despite how much I love the game. The standard $15 per month pricing model is a one-size-fits-all label that looks a little too bulky on the city of Stormreach, for a number of reasons. Today I'm going to examine some of the reasons why a game which I find so interesting, exciting, and fun can't manage to crack my wallet open, and what I think Turbine could do to push the game a little further into the competitive territory of its gaming peers.

Continue reading Player vs. Everything: The quirks of D&D Online

Player vs. Everything: The quirks of D&D Online originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively previews Dungeons & Dragons Online's Module 7

Mike Schramm — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Classes, Events, in-game, Patches, Endgame, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Dungeons & Dragons Online continues to hold their own in a quickly-growing MMO world. When DDO first showed up as a licensed MMO of the grandaddy of roleplaying games, their main goal was just to meet expectations -- so many people have been a fan of the pen-and-paper game for so long that putting it into MMO form was no easy task. But since release, the DDO team has made improvement after improvement, and added so much content to the game that it's moved beyond the license to stand on its own as a very singular kind of MMO.

Massively got a chance to sit down with the team and take a look at the latest update, Module 7, due out on June 3, and currently in public testing. In addition to some extended playtime with the new Monk class, we got to see updates to the lower level Three Barrel Cove area, a shrine to recently passed-on D&D creator Gary Gygax, and the new raid area under the destroyed Marketplace tent, as well as a few new monsters and raid bosses that can be found down there.

To start your tour through Module 7, just roll a d20 and click on through. To jump to any section of the walkthrough (including directly to our exclusive video preview, if that's what you're looking for), hit the links after the break.

Gallery: Dungeons & Dragons Online: Module 7 Walkthrough

Continue reading Massively previews Dungeons & Dragons Online's Module 7

Massively previews Dungeons & Dragons Online's Module 7 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 May 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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