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The Game Archaeologist and the Nights of Old Winter
Here's a question for you: How much do you really, really have to love a game to pay $8.00 an hour to play it? Considering how much we tend to whine about a flat $15/month fee, I'm guessing the answer is, "Only if it loved me long time." And yet, in 1991 this wasn't considered crazy extortionist practices -- it was dubbed "Being a pioneer." While online RPGs were nothing new by then, nobody had tackled the jump from text-based RPGs (MUDs and BBS doors) to graphical games due to the technology (limited modem speeds and access) and funding involved. It took the efforts of a Superfriends-style team to make this happen with Neverwinter Nights: Stormfront Studios developed the game, TSR provided the Dungeons & Dragons license, SSI published it under its Gold Box series, and Aol handled the online operations. Thus, 19 years ago -- six years before Ultima Online and 13 before World of Warcraft -- the first multiplayer graphical RPG went online and helped forge a path that would lead to where we are today. With only 50 to 500 players per server, Neverwinter Nights may not have been "massively," but it deserves a spot of honor as one of the key ancestors to the modern MMO.
Dragonlance: A property ripe for the pillaging
I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet. In the Dragonlance series of novels, published by Wizards of the Coast (having bought it from TSR), the world of Ansalon is full to bursting with the standard Fantasy tropes: wizards, warriors, monsters, etc. In fact, the first series of books, beginning with Dragons of Autumn Twilight, could easily make a fine quest storyline, if you make allowances for picking up new characters along the way.There's a decent selection of races to play (humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, kender) and classes (barbarian, cleric, thief, fighter, mage), but I imagine the draw of such an MMO would be in getting to meet and even play alongside famous characters from the novels themselves, like Raistlin Majere, Tanis Half-Elven, and Tasslehoff Burrfoot. Now, I'm not saying we here at Massively have any inside knowledge of a Dragonlance MMO coming out in the future, but the series is so popular, a developer could certainly do worse than to work on this ... I'm just sayin'.
Metareview - Neverwinter Nights 2 [Update 1]
Obsidian Entertainment and dungeon masters the world over can breathe a collective sigh of relief now that the scores for Neverwinter Nights 2 are in. The single player campaign has been well received by the gaming press, and the revamped toolset is expected to afford NWN2 a shelf life comparable to its predecessor. However, not all is well in the Forgotten Realms. The 1UP reviewer seems to have overlooked the fact that Oblivion and NWN represent different styles of roleplaying. Bethesda emphasizes aesthetic presentation and open-ended adventuring, while BioWare and Obsidian have focused on a tighter combat system (hence the rules) and an extendable architecture befitting of the classic Dungeons & Dragons experience. Keeping this in mind, both franchises excel at what they were designed for. GameDaily (100/100) cites several improvements over the original NWN: "There are plenty of things about NWN2 that are different from its precursor. Better graphics, a much more robust and option-filled character creation process, plus deeper plotlines, with more twists and better villains help add to an already stellar feature list. Neverwinter Nights 2 is truly one of the most epic adventures found on a PC, and it should be purchased without hesitation." GameSpot (86/100) considers NWN2 the most authentic D&D experience to date: "If you're willing to look past a few relatively minor technical issues, you'll have a great time exploring the world of NWN2. The excellent story, characters, and quests will appeal to your sense of adventure without getting overly convoluted. When you factor in the multiplayer and the editing tools, you'll find that NWN2 is a fantastic value and a thoroughly enjoyable game." 1UP (50/100) fired a 3d6 Melf's Acid Arrow right at the heart of the D&D community: "With all the added rule-shuffling, NWN2 seems like it's working twice as hard to accomplish half as much. Worse -- and blame this on games like Oblivion -- NWN2's levels feel pint-sized. As if the pencil and paper 'module' approach were a virtue that computers -- by now demonstrably capable of simulating entire worlds with considerably more depth -- should emulate." Update 1: 1UP has pulled their damning review of NWN2, so I guess there is justice in the world. Here are a few new scores: Yahoo! Games (90/100), IGN (85/100).
