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Dawn of the Hunter Rangers: Touring Neverwinter's Shadowmantle module
Considering all of the exciting reveals of Neverwinter's second module, Shadowmantle, I think it's prudent to start with the unknowns. No, we don't have a specific date of release (although it will be "by the end of the year"). No, we don't know whether Druids or Warlocks or any other Dungeons and Dragons classes are in development for next year. And no, we can't tell whether there's a massive honey badger conspiracy in the city of Neverwinter. With that said, there's plenty that Lead Designer Andy Velasquez had to reveal to us for this upcoming module. For starters, it's 100% free, just in case you were wondering. Sure, Cryptic will continue to run a robust store (and doesn't seem to have any inclination to rein in the lockbox invasion), but all of the content of Shadowmantle will be available to the entire playerbase on day one. It's shaping up to be an even meatier update than Fury of the Faewild, believe it or not. The big star of Shadowmantle is the first new post-launch class: the Hunter Ranger. But this flexible fighter won't be hogging the entire spotlight; Neverwinter will also be adding a new zone, additional paragon paths, and a spiffy artifact skill system. So read on and prepare for the stampede of players rushing to be the next online Legolas-slash-Drizzt.
Why we're thankful for the Name Change service
The Name Change service is old news but I continue to be thankful for it every time I log into my hunter. He has a noble name that sounds very elf-like without being something silly like Lolegolas or McBlasty. But that wasn't always the case. I didn't think I'd enjoy playing a hunter and I had no expectation that he'd make it long. I rolled a night elf (I thought 'Dark Elf' at the time), realized he could use two weapons, and named him... Drizzsst. You know. Like Do'Urden. He may have had a Tauren lover that I also rolled named Cattlebree. We had a guild named Underdim. Don't judge me, man, I was only going to play them a little while. But it turned out that I really liked my hunter (including a bat named Bruce) and I played him bunches. And he quickly became my favorite character, even gaining the Lieutenant rank in the old battlegrounds. And I played on a RP server. So you can see the problem. Awesome character, horrible name. The Name Change service fixed all that for me. What about you? What horrible character decisions did you come to regret later in life? Was it a bad name? Or, perhaps, a beard that seemed noble on the dwarf, until you realize it stuck oddly through every helmet and chestpiece you would ever own. Share your painful, irony stories in the comments!
The Daily Grind: What's in a name?
We recently talked over some of the games we are playing amongst the team, and we found that everyone's take on names was quite varied. Some of our staff like to go for authenticity in regards to whatever character archetype they're making, and thus won't start characters until they have the perfect name. Others of the staff like making up silly names, and jump in with wild abandon. Some of the rest of us take names we've either used before, or names we've picked up along the way -- from popular culture, books, even history. For me, personally, I tend to be fond of names gleaned from books and history, with a particular leaning towards Egyptian names or cyberpunk novels. I have friends that I know who have carried the same names from game to game. On the other hand, there are those poor folks who use the most common elements in gaming/pop culture and name themselves one of the "new-player-alert" names, such as Sephiroth, Drizzt, Gimlii, or Legolas -- or any variants thereof. How about you? What's your favorite character's name, and where did you take the inspiration for it? Have you ever refused to group with someone due to an overused or goofy name (such as "Dethrouge" on a rogue) or have you found yourself complimenting people on using cool names? Is naming really that important to you, or do you just kind of smack whatever on your character so you can get into the game?
