I was immediately gripped by a couple things. At the time I had enjoyed other video games set in the Forgotten Realms, particularly the Dark Alliance games, but I had never played Dungeons & Dragons nor read any novel set in the Realms. What really gripped me was the action in the gameplay. I’ve played many MMORPGs throughout the years, from RuneScape to World of Warcraft to EverQuest and things more far afield. I had never played one that had a limited number of attacks, that made combat fast but engaging rather than tab based. It was new and exciting! Not to mention the first time I had spent many hours on a MMO for a console, though I had tried Phantasy Star, DCUO, etc.
Besides being mechanically fun, I really became engrossed in the story. Going in the different districts of the Jewel of the North, going without to Icespire Peak, the Underdark, Helm’s Hold, and so forth. It was all a grand adventure. It was alive. By time I read my first novel in the Forgotten Realms it was a story connected to Neverwinter, and the ones afterwards were too! These were Brimstone Angels, Cold Steel and Secrets, and I even tried Gauntlgrym (before realizing that is a bad place to start with Drizzt).
It wasn’t my introduction to the Realms, but it was like puberty, pardon the analogy. It led to so much more. Reading, playing, writing this. I loved that the recent movie was set largely in Neverwinter!
It’s because of this love that I sadly feel obliged to share my disappointment. More than a year ago I tweeted this video from Josh Strife Hayes, it is too accurate:
2015-2019 were my golden days in the game. I got married and started having children and the game took a backseat. My first room was named Hemvar and we explored things together. In 2017 I made Farideh, recognize the name? This was the first character I got to end game with. I’ll admit, I was never a big fan of how the story was handled once level 60 was hit. Or 70 for that matter. It is also free to play and has too many microtransactions, though I never spent money on the game.
My disappointment started to blossom in 2022, when I returned to the game a little. The game had made some big changes. While it was built around 4e, a huge overhaul brought it more inline with 5e. Bard was introduced as a class, the other classes were renamed (scourge warlock became simply warlock, for example), the intro quest was revamped, and the max level became only 20. Exciting enough right?
Sure. But while most games keep adding content as they get older, this large overhaul saw much content shuttered. I realize this happens some in MMOs, I get it. But the leveling before endgame (the endgame I didn’t like much anyhow) became shorter. We lost several zones: Blackdagger Keep, Pirate’s Skyhold, Tower District, Blacklake District, and even more! I didn’t understand it or enjoy it. Some has been added back in in pieces or enhanced but only intermittently and for endgame. I don’t appreciate chopping up your game so you can make “development” easier by just using old material.
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| Helm's Hold |
In January, almost ten years after the beta release on Xbox, I noticed I was close to getting an achievement for slaying dragons. So naturally I go to Neverdeath Graveyard, still in the game. Imagine my surprise when the green dragon, Charthraxis, wasn’t there. Just his bones. So I went to Icespire Peak, another zone still in the game. Was Merothrax (not to be confused with Cryovain) there? Just his corpse.
I feel like I’m walking in the corpse of something once great. It is depressing. The only thing I can experience of these things are my memories. I feel I must say amarast to it
But not all is bad. While frustrating, the game still is pretty and my girls enjoy playing it. I think I’ll play it as long as the servers are up, but I can easily say I’d be there more often, like an old home, if it felt like what I remember. And that’s not just the nostalgia speaking.
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| Charthraxis |
That being said, I will keep on playing. It’s still fun in levels 1-20. I’m sad they cut it short, but I’ll enjoy the journey. I’ve always been a journey person in MMOs, it’s why I never really liked WoW (which is very endgame heavy even if you can max out in a day). Lord of the Rings Online, EverQuest, RuneScape: all have lovely journeys, where I can take my time and enjoy the beauty and the story, not so much the mechanics. Neverwinter is there too, just not as much as it used to be.
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| Tower District |
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