New Neverwinter Nights Game Probably On Its Way

Jools · Aug 9, 2010

It looks that way. Consider these three points:

1. At Gencon this weekend wizards announced that Atari are just about to unveil a new D&D video game.

2. Wizards announced that they are reviving their support of the Forgotten Realms universe next year.

3. Games.on.net did some digging and found that Atari just registered a number of Neverwinter Nights related web domains (neverwinter-game.com, for instance). Link: here.

So it looks quite likely. I've never played the first, was it any good? How's Atari's form right now; are they making good games? It'll be interesting to see if it'll incorporate 4e game mechanics.

Mournblade94 · Aug 9, 2010

Jools said:
It looks that way. Consider these three points:

1. At Gencon this weekend wizards announced that Atari are just about to unveil a new D&D video game.

2. Wizards announced that they are reviving their support of the Forgotten Realms universe next year.

3. Games.on.net did some digging and found that Atari just registered a number of Neverwinter Nights related web domains (neverwinter-game.com, for instance). Link: here.

So it looks quite likely. I've never played the first, was it any good? How's Atari's form right now; are they making good games? It'll be interesting to see if it'll incorporate 4e game mechanics.

If Atari is doing it, it probably will not be done by Bioware, so the legacy of those games will be wanting. I also know through gaming press that bioware declined D&D license renewal.

Hella_Tellah · Aug 9, 2010

I thought Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 were okay, but they had some serious issues. The engine was really clunky and poorly optimized, so even on today's gaming rigs it's still ridiculously slow. Also, the writing was really not up to the high standards Black Isle set with Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate. The Mask of the Betrayer expansion for NW2 had a pretty interesting story, however.

Atari has released some excellent games recently, but like most companies, they tend to phone it in on licensed properties.

Festivus · Aug 9, 2010

NWN1 was unique in that it had a full toolset for building your own adventures PLUS a GM client you could take a group through. The single player game was okay, but what really gave that game legs was the custom content and GM client.

I would LOVE to see a 4e version that did similar to NWN1... complete with a GM client.

Sunseeker · Aug 9, 2010

Mournblade94 said:
If Atari is doing it, it probably will not be done by Bioware, so the legacy of those games will be wanting. I also know through gaming press that bioware declined D&D license renewal.

This is probably due to their current involvement in the Dragon Age series, Mass Effect line, and SWTOR. Also might be due to being bought by EA, but you'd think that EA would fall all over itsself to crank out sub-par dnd DLC.

Hella_Tellah said:
The Mask of the Betrayer expansion for NW2 had a pretty interesting story, however.

That's partly because it was written by Obsidian, not BioWare. Which is strange because 9/10 times, BioWare is the one who's awesome, Obsidian is not.

Atari has released some excellent games recently, but like most companies, they tend to phone it in on licensed properties.

Atari is a company I can never figure out, half the time their games are amazing, the other half, it's like they didn't try at all. *shrug*

knightofround · Aug 9, 2010

NWN1 was pretty good...the story wasn't that great, but it was bioware, so it will still a good game. NWN2 was a royal pain in the arse, I couldn't force myself to play more than an hour or two before stabbing my eyes in frustration over both the UI and camera.

I didn't care much for the NWN storylines...if you want a good story, you really need to go back to baulder's gate 1/2 and planescape: torment.

Silverblade The Ench · Aug 9, 2010

Atari is just a publisher, and IMHO, a bad one at that (maybe it's improved, I'll give 'em benefit of the doubt)
check what "atari" actually is, Interplay rebranded is all
they forced Troika into pushing out unfinished games, ruining them
Arcanium, Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines are threee of the BEST games ever made for the PC. They jsut needed 3+ months more bug testing. When patched, they rule.
Atai forced 'em out ealry
then see the mess with Pool of Radiance 2...same thing.

yes I'd adore for Bioware to make more Neverwinter nights games, but, TURN BASED, 4th ed won't work well otherwise, think about it.
Also WOTC nuked Neverwinter almost out of existance in 4th ed Realms...gonna be hard to make it logical to call it a "Neverwinter Nights" game, eh?

Bioware recently have been AWESOME for the quality of their games, man, Dragon Age origins, if it had been D&D rules...*quivers in ecstasy*

EDIT
"Neverwinter Campaign Guide"...now if that isn't a spoiler, what is?

Mustrum_Ridcully · Aug 9, 2010

There are some rumours that it might be an NWN MMO done by Cryptic, actually. Cryptic has announcned/admitted/indicated that they are doing a third MMO a while back, and some things seemed to have indicated it might be NWN. Cryptic also seems to be working on a UGC system for its engine (that runs Champions and Startrek Online). Unfortunately, I am only talking about rumors I've heard, and don't have actually reliable sources.

I am kinda meh on Forgotten Realms, admittedly.

filthgrinder · Aug 9, 2010

Mournblade94 said:
If Atari is doing it, it probably will not be done by Bioware, so the legacy of those games will be wanting. I also know through gaming press that bioware declined D&D license renewal.

Bioware stated that they'd rather spend the time and effort to work on their in house brands, than licensed material. Which is why they went from the Knights of the Old Republic to Mass Effect, and D&D to Dragon Age. Of course, then Lucas Film made them an offer they couldn't refuse and now they are doing the Knights of the Old Republic MMO

Silverblade The Ench said:
Arcanium, Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines are threee of the BEST games ever made for the PC. They jsut needed 3+ months more bug testing. When patched, they rule.

Those are some rose colored glasses

Temple of Elemental Evil is basically unplayable.

Festivus · Aug 9, 2010

Silverblade The Ench said:
Atari is just a publisher, and IMHO, a bad one at that (maybe it's improved, I'll give 'em benefit of the doubt)
check what "atari" actually is, Interplay rebranded is all
they forced Troika into pushing out unfinished games, ruining them
Arcanium, Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines are threee of the BEST games ever made for the PC. They jsut needed 3+ months more bug testing. When patched, they rule.
Atai forced 'em out ealry
then see the mess with Pool of Radiance 2...same thing.

(snip)

Bioware recently have been AWESOME for the quality of their games, man, Dragon Age origins, if it had been D&D rules...*quivers in ecstasy*

And thus you can see why Bioware decided to develop Dragon Age without the use of the D&D licensed stuff and make their own game... which totally rocks. There was an article way back when about their decision on this, and licensing problems (Atari?) was a part of that decision if I recall correctly.

I wish they would drop Atari and their stupid requirement to have a disc in the player while you play the game thing.