Over a decade after its launch, Old School RuneScape remains one of the biggest MMOs in the world. Jagex's MMO is great, b?ut sometimes, it's good to take a break and try something new.

We're looking at 8 MMOs to play if you like Old School RuneScape. Each title on this list has something to offer that will remind players of OSRS, while remaining great games in their own right.

8. Lost Ark

Much like Old School RuneScape, Lost Ark features a point-and-click movement system, which is pretty rare to find in a modern MMO. That's largely where the similarities stop, but fans of the genre will undoubtedly have a blast with Lost Ark.

The game's art style is pretty unique, and it's got your standard MMO fare with questing, crafting, and endgame raids. Overall though, Lost Ark's combat is the star of the show. It's reminiscent of something like Diablo, where you must chain skills to deal huge damage. These skills are unique depending on your class, offering a ton of replayability to Lost Ark.

7. New World: Aeternum

If the traditional MMO structure is a little stale to you, New World: Aeternum might not change your thoughts much. You know exactly what you're getting into here if you've played games like WoW,?? but it does it all with such a high production quality that you simply can't discount it.

The visuals are gorgeous, the combat is free-flowing and engaging, and the main quest is a winner, too. New World: Aeternum also rewards crafting so heavily that its hard to remember any MMO like it. If you put the time in to gather your resources, that's how you'll get your ??endgame gear - no grinding tough bosses and hoping for a random drop here.

6. Palia

If you like the skilling side of Old School RuneScape, then Palia is sure to appeal to your interests. Part life simulator, part MMO, Palia is a cozy game about living off the land in a world alongside your friends??.

Fishing, farming, cooking, constructing a home - these gameplay concepts are at the heart of Palia. While RuneScape's offerings are more point-and-click and Palia's require a more hands-on approach, they're the same core ideas. If you're looking for a relaxing MMO, you can do a lot worse than starting a virtual life in Palia.

5. Guild Wars 2

Don't let Guild Wars 2's age fool you. It's still an MMO well worth trying in 2024, offering plent?y of unique ??experiences you won't find anywhere else in the genre.

I largely want to hone in on Guild Wars 2's Dynamic Events system. It's such a huge part of the game, replacing the traditional quests you might find in other MMOs. Around the game world, things just... happen. This can be as big as an enormous monster threatening an entire town, for which you'll need a big group of players to defeat, or it can be as small as a suspicious NPC in a city who leads you to their hidden treasure. Guild Wars 2 is dynamic storytelling at its finest.

4. RuneScape 3

Well, yeah. Obviously. If you're a fan of Old School RuneScape, there's a good chance you'll like RuneScape 3, too. While many series fans are vehemently against the newer game's modernized combat and aggressive microtransactions, the core gameplay still evokes the classic RuneScape feeling.

The two games have taken different paths, meaning RuneScape 3 has tons of great quests that Old School RuneScape players will have never seen. There are even a few exclusive skills, like Summoning, Divination, Invention, Archaeology, and Necromancy. XP comes much easier in RuneScape 3, too, removing much of the grind aspect of Old School RuneScape skills. Whether that's a ??good thing o??r not is personal preference.

3. Neverwinter

Neverwinter is a classic Dungeons & Dragons MMO, with a huge focus on its engrossing narrative. Sadly, much of the conversation about Neverwinter in recent ye?ars has turned to its monetization strategy. It's a shame, really. As far as MMOs go, few have such an epic main questline, and that deserves to be celebrated.

Many long-time fans of the game have complained about its grind. That word, "grind," is music to the ears of Old School RuneScape players. They live for the grind. Yearn for it. Yeah, I reckon OSRS players would love Neverwinter.

2. The Elder Scrolls Online

Over 10 years after its launch, The Elder Scrolls Online remains as popular as ever. Its game world of Tamriel evokes serious Old School RuneScape vibes, as do its quests, which are some o?f the most interesting you'll find in an MMO.

Elder Scrolls Online's world is its biggest strength. Tamriel has so much to see and do, whether that be exploring locations previously seen in the series, grinding levels, or completing Trials, which are ESO's 12-player raid dungeons. If you like Old School RuneScape, I feel pretty safe in saying you'll? enjo?y this one.

1. Albion Online

It only takes a cursory glance at Albion Online to see why it might appeal to fans of Old School RuneScape. Visually, its graphics style draws an immediate comparison to OSRS, but the similarities aren't just surface level.

Albion Online is classless, just like Old School RuneScape. This means that your character's strengths are defined by your actions rather than an arbitrary choice you make at the start of the game. There's also the player-driven economy, with all items in the game being gathered or created by players. This is perfect for Old School RuneScape Ironman players who don't mind facing a grind.

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As an MMORPG fanatic, I try to dip my toes into still-running games in the genre at least once every couple of years to see how they're doing in the rather tumultuous landscape that is MMORPGs. One of my more memorable experiences in the genre dates all the way back to 2013 and the release of Neverwinter, a D&D 4th Edition action MMO set in, well, the world of Neverwinter.

Over a decade later, Neverwinter is still going strong, getting an all-new expansion module just last month titled Mountain of Flame. I recently had the opportunity to jump into the latest expansion and take a look at the new content released with the Mountain of Flame expansion module, and get a little bit of insight into the overall direction of Neverwinter.

Into the Mountain of Flame

My glimpse into the Mountain of Flame put me in the shoes of a Bard, a class that didn't even exist when I last played Neverwinter. To catch me up to speed a bit, my character was already max-level and rocking some late-game gear so I'd get a similar experience to those who are actively playing Neverwinter. Assisting me in my journey into the new expansion content was Brett Norton, Neverwinter Executive Producer, and Christopher Frenton, Neverwinter Art Director.

In Neverwinter, old content that is a bit dated and not as relevant due to recent expansions is vaulted away. While at a glance this may seem like a negative—content disappearing from the game—it actually makes a lot of sense with Neverwinter. The MMORPG is constantly getting vast amounts of content added through its expansi?ons and seasonal updates, and in order to keep the MMORPG moving forward, it's simply a necessity.

The main feature of Neverwinter: Mountain of Flame is the revamping and rework of a classic vaulted zone, Mount Hotenow. The fiery volcano was actually a release zone all the way back when Neverwinter launched in 2013, and while I very loosely remembered the zone somewhat, the rework the zone received in this expansion has completely changed it. Not only has Mount Hotenow rece??ived a fresh coat of paint in the form of visual upgrades, the zone itself is completely reworked to feature new quest hubs, enemies, and all sorts of new activiti??es for new and returning players.

Action Combat that still holds up

One of my biggest realizations throughout playing the Mountain of Flame expansion was just how fun the combat in Neverwinter is. Even over a decade later, the action combat system still felt fresh, fun, and rewarding. As I cycled through my rotation, telegraphed attacks of my enemies would show areas and cones of attacks where incoming damage was about to hit. Using the Alt-Key I could tumble out of the way. It felt like a hybrid of Final Fantasy XIV boss fights with Tera-style real-time action co??mbat. It's a great system and the more I played the more I wanted to k?eep going, learning the nuances of the Bard and exploring the harder content Mount Hotenow had to offer.

As we traversed the mountain, exploring the fiery rivers running down its surface and the massive crevasses between, an alarming sound began to play. I wasn't sure what it meant, ?but it was ominous. The developers told me this meant that Gommoth, the m??ad Fire Giant, had unleashed his mighty lieutenants in the area that would wreak havoc on any adventurers passing by them.

Gommoth sends his regards

Determined to?? quell this threat, we ventured out from the nea?rby quest hub into an area of Mount Hotenow we hadn't been questing in and came across one of the lieutenants. The developers were very upfront with me from the start: this is typically a fight everyone in the zone would have to work together to defeat, not just our small group.

They weren't kidding. At first, I felt confi??dent, carefully saving my dodge to move out of the lieutenant's telegraphed attacks, while throwing what damage I had at the enemy when I could. Slowly its health bar was depleted, but the health bar of our tank was dropping a lot quicker. The attacks got quicker, and harder, to the point I found myself panic tumbling around like a buffoon. I began to see why exactly this was intended to be a larger group effort as opposed to the small team we had.

After some divine (developer) intervention, the enemy was defeated and we were rewarded with some spoils of war. I had a lot of fun over the roughly one-hour slice of the Neverwinter: Mountain of Flame expansion I got to experience. Surprisingly, this was only a small part of the re?vamped Mount Hotenow, and the expansion also features a reworked and improved dungeon that had also been vaulted, the Lair of the Mad Dr??agon.

With so many MMORPG's out there today, it can be easy to look past one due to its age. But you'd be doing yourself a disservice in the case of Neverwinter. At its core, its gameplay is simply fun, which is such an important part of getting involved in an MMORPG knowing it will require some serious playtime. And, the Mountain of Flame expansion seems like as good a time as any to sink yourself into the massive world of Neverwinter.

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Featuring a mount and a spooky ghost friend

In today's contest you can win a Pack of the Carmine Bulette for Neverwinter!

MMOs are off putting to me because of one?? simple thing -- the "ma??ssive" part. Way, way too many people for me and my anxiety to deal with! I stick with single player games out of necessity.

That's good for you, though, because that's one less person who can win this Pack of the Carmine Bulette set for Neverwinter! T?hough that ghost co?mpanion is pretty tempting...

A little about Neverwinter, and its most recent DLC The Redeemed Citadel:

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter, the Sword Coast, and beyond, learning ??the vivid history of the iconic city in the Forgotten Realms and battling i?ts many enemies.

To access The Redeemed Citadel, a level 80 character and the completion of the Avernus campaign and Mote of Virtue storyline is required. For Redeemed Citadel progression, Neverwinter players had to work together to reach four major mi?lestones and reforge the citadel. Players contributed to the reco?nstruction of the bastion of angelic strength by assisting Zariel with slaying fiends, completing Heroic Encounters in Avernus, completing Holy Register of the Deputation Quests and by doing Weekly Challenges. Weekly Challenges had players slaying demons, locating treasure, or traveling to past dungeons in an effort to gain Zariel’s Favor, a currency that can be exchanged for various goods.

I ma??y not play this game, but I'm def?initely a level 100 character at procrastinating.

We're giving away the Pack of the Carmine Bulette, whi??ch features:

• Carmine Bulette Mount
• Ghost Companion

To enter to win, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily. Click around for bonus entries, and be sure to hit up PC Invasion to double your odds!

We have 15 keys to give away??, to be used on the PC version, only; winners will be drawn next Tuesday.

Neverwinter is out now as a free-to-play title.

Dtoid Contest: Win a Neverwinter Pack of the C?armine Bulette set for PC

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Console MMO fun!

In today's giveaway you can claim a Gift of the Noble Guard key for Neverwinter PS4 or Xbox One!

It's giveaway time again! Today we've got console keys for Neverwinter: Avernus contest, giving you exclusive content and a boost in XP for your adventures, so claim one before they're gon??e!

About Neverwinter: Avernus.

Following the events of Infernal Descent, the previous major update for Neverwinter, Avernus sends players on a thrilling journey across the wastelands of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. In the remains of ??the Vallenhas stronghold, players meet Lulu, a curious hollyphant and Archdevil Zariel’s old ??companion. With a locked infernal puzzle box in the player’s possession, Lulu offers aid in opening it; the only problem is, Lulu has lost her memories. The only hope of restoring her memories is an odyssey through Avernus, where players team up with two unlikely companions: Makos and the opportunistic merchant, Mahadi.

Along the way, players explore the sprawling Adventure Zone of Avernus as they fight their way through hordes of demons and devils and challenge the powerful ruler of Avernus, Archdevil Zariel. This epic journey also lets players take part in the brand new Path of the Fallen campaign to earn new rewards, drive infernal war machines and experienc??e how their actions directly impact and evolve the world of Avernus.

I don't know what's happening here, but chances are if you're reading this, ?you do!

Here's what's included ??in your Gift of the No?ble Guard content:

• Cape of the Noble Guard
• Stone of Health
• Adventurer's XP Booster
• 5 Injury Kits

Claim a key from the corresponding widget below -- just be quick, because we only have 25 keys for each platform! Once they'r?e gone, they're gone baby, gone.

Neverwinter is available to play now -- for free! -- on PS4 and Xbox One.

PS4 key:

Giveaway: Take a Gift of the Noble Guard for N??ev?erwinter on PS4

Xbox One key:

Giveaway: Tak??e a Gift of the?? Noble Guard for Neverwinter on Xbox One

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It's free, just take it!

In today's giveaway, you can take a key for the Gift of the Twisted Noble pack for Neverwinter Avernus expansion!

The best time to get free stuff ?is around the launch of a new game or DLC. You probably already knew that from the sheer amount of brand new stuff we give out, but still. The more you know.

Neverwinter just launched its Avernus expansion, fea??t?uring brand new missions and content. And you know what that means -- free stuff!

Deets on the expansion below.

Following the events of Infernal Descent, the previous major update for Neverwinter, Avernus sends players on a thrilling journey across the Wastes of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, where players will meet Lulu, a curious hollyphant and Archd?evil Zariel’s old companion, who arrives in what remains of the Vallenhas stronghold. With a locked infernal puzzle box in the player’s possession, Lulu o??ffers aid in opening it, the only problem is, she’s lost her memories. With the only hope of restoring her memories being to take an odyssey through Avernus, players must team up with two unlikely companions, Makos and the opportunistic merchant, Mahadi, to take on this dire quest.

Along the way, players can expect to explore new story content as they fight their way through hordes of demons to continue the Descent Into Avernus storyline a??nd take part in a brand? new Path of the Fallen campaign. This new journey also lets players drive infernal war machines, unravel the mysterious past of the Archdevil Zariel and experience how their actions directly impact and evolve the world of Avernus.

And here's what we're giving away!

Gift of the Twisted Noble Content (PC)

• Cape of the Twisted Noble
• Stone of Health
• Adventurer's XP Booster
• 5 Injury Kits

Claiming a key is simple as requesting one from the widget below. We've only got 50 keys (for the PC versio?n, only), so grab yours now! Once they're gone, they're gone.

Neverwinter and its newest expansion, Avernus, is free to play and available now.

Dtoid Giveaway: Take a Gift of the Twisted?? Noble key for Neverwinter Avernus

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Beats the hell out of a meth hound

We're giving away Packs of the Yeth Hound for Neverwinter in today's contest!

You know who doesn't like free stuff? Jerks! And rich people. There are interesting correlations between those two ??sets of people (while not necessarily any causation), to say the least.

Don't be a jerk, though -- take some free stuff from us. Today we've got some rare Pack of the Yeth Hound bundles to give away to deck out your character in Neverwinter. So try to win one, jerks!

I don't know what I'm doing, so I'll let the experts tell you wha??t's going on.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the? iconic city in the Forgotten Realms and battling its many enemies.

Neverwinter: Infernal Descent is now available on PC, and will launch on Xbox One and PlayStation4 on February 25. The latest major update for the free-to-play MMORPG set in the Forgotten Realms has Neverwinter players experience an epic adventure based on Wizards of the Coast;s latest Dungeons & Dragons tabletop adventure, Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus. Infernal Descent introduces new features to Neverwinter, including a new endgame campaign specifically crafted for level 80 characters, a vast adventure zone with heroic encounters and a new challenging endgame dungeon set in a devil's cita?del, and more.

While I may not know what any of that means, I'm sure you do! So don't ?be a jerk about it!

To celebrate th?e new content, we're giving away Packs of the Yeth Hound, featuring a Yeth Hound mount and Yeth Hound companion. To enter to win, tell me in the comments below what all of this means. Make sure I can understand it -- I have no clue what's happening!

We've got 15 Pack of the Yeth Hound keys to give away -- keys are redeemable on the PC version of the game, only. Winners will be drawn Thursday, February 6. New to the site? Sign up here to explain video games to someone who writes about video games on the ?internet!

Neverwinter is free to play, and available now. Hit up PC Invasion for more chances to nab a key.

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The gift that keeps on giving

We've got a giveaway today! Get your free Gift of the Couturier Pack for Neverwinter: Uprising!

What's better than a contest? A giveaway, of course! Today we've got the latte??r, since we've got a bunch of keys and there's no way in hell I'm giving them out manually. I did that once. Never ag??ain.

Neverwinter just celebrated its launch of the Uprising expansion, and we'?ve got a bunch of keys to get you?? free in-game items! What could be better? A hot dog, probably. We don't have any of those, but at least we've got keys.

I've been banned ?from the local library due to excessive noise complaints, so read this info from the devs.

Neverwinter: Uprising is now available on PC allowing players to join an epic new update set in the domain of the Mad Mage, Halaster Blackcloak. The free-to-play MMORPG set in the Forgotten Realms welcomes the gith as an all-new playable race; as they continue their never-ending struggle with the tyrannical illithid, aka mind flayers, in the? depths of Undermounta??in. Uprising introduces new features to Neverwinter, including an all-new 10-player endgame Trial, new PvP content including gear and a map, a refresh of Protector's Enclave, recrafted tutorial and early-game experience and much more.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic cit?y i??n the Forgotten Realms and battling its many enemies.

You can check out more updates added to the expansion here.

So, free stuff! W?e're giving away a Gift of the Couturier Pack, which includes:

• Couturier's Filigree Cloak
• Stone of Health
• Adventurer's XP Booster
• Injury Kit (x5)

To claim a ??key, simply redeem one from the widget below. Redemption instructions will be sent to you.

We have 50 keys to give away -- once they're gone, they're gone! Keys are for the PC version of the?? game, only. Give your mother a hug.

Neverwinter is free to play and available now.

The post Giveaway: Take a free Gift of the Couturier Pack fo?r Neverwinter: Uprising appeared first on Destructoid.

Exclusive to giveaways!

[UPDATE: We're out of keys, but our sister site PC Invasion still has some!]

Take one of our keys in this exclusive giveaway for Neverwinter on PC!

Popular MMO Neverwinter has just launched its biggest expansion to date, making the already massive online game even massive-er! Are you going to venture into the Undermountain?

If so, then ?take one o??f these cloaks. It's on the house :)

MMOs confuse and terrify me, so I'll ?let Cryptic Studios tell you what's new!

• Undermountain Campaign - The many levels of Undermountain hold secrets, exceptional rewards, wondrous beasts and remarkable experiences. The Mad Mage has called adventurers to the cavernous halls below Waterdeep, but for what purpose? Players must survive five brand new Adventure Zones to find out.
• New Expedition Feature - This all-new feature introduced in Undermountain highlights the unknowable nature of the levels beneath Waterdeep. Expeditions will challenge adventurers with scaling, dynamic, repeatable quests in the search for magic relics, lost routes and some of the expansion's greatest rewards.
• Class Revamps - All eight of Neverwinter's classes will receive varying levels of balance and adjustments in this expansion. Each class has also been renamed to align with Fifth Edition. The goal with these changes is to align classes with their roles and make customization within each path viable, fun and more straightforward.
• Rewards Overhaul - The most notorious dungeon in all of Faerun will reward adventurers with the best loot in all of Neverwinter. With a level cap increase to 80, new sources of powerful loot including tiered artifact sets can be earned throughout Undermountain and from its caverns' inhabitants.
• Endgame Challenge Campaign - Neverwinter's many older and non-leveling-zone campaigns now offer three weekly bounties earning currency for rewards that are in-line with their endgame characters, regardless of whether the zone these quests were completed in are considered "Endgame," e.g., Underdark or Sharandar.
• Redesigned Companions System - Player Companions now fall into one of five categories. The more companions owned within each category, the stronger active companions will be with power upgrades. Synergy will create the biggest bonuses, however, the goal of these changes is to ensure all players can use whichever companions that they want, without punishment.
• Halaster Encounters - The Mad Mage's influence can be felt throughout Undermountain, with unpredictable appearances presenting opportunities to witness his full control over this domain. After all, it is his home.

To celebrate the new contest update, we've been given 100 keys for you to grab a Clock of the Vine cloak transmute, which grants your character the power to change their appearance. This is an item you can only get v??ia this giveaway -- you can't buy or earn it any other way!

Use the widget below to grab your key. You'll be sent redemption instruc?tions via email after you've hit the button. This is a first-come, first-served sit?uation, so once our 100 keys are gone, you're outta luck, buddy.

These keys are for the PC version of?? the game, only. Please note that these are Bind-on-Pickup and are limited to one key per account.

Neverwinter: Undermountain is available to play for free on PC. The content comes to consoles on June 11.

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Took 'em a while

Back when the news broke that Star Trek Online was heading over to both PS4 and Xbox One, a few folks were curious as to the status of Neverwinter, an??other free-to-play MMO designed by Cryptic Studios that was already present on Xbox One. That question has officially been answered, as the game is now making its way to PS4 as well. 

Perfect World has announced that the PS4 edition of Neverwinter, with nine expansions worth of content, will be appearing on PS4 this summer, and will also feature? bespoke control adaptations to use the PS4's touchpad and party chat integration, among other things.

And more folks will be able to try the game, as it will not require a PlayStation Plus subscription to access, so even the relative minority of PS4 owners that don't maintain one can dip their toe into the Sword Coast. I tried the game myself for a time on PC, and the combat certainly seemed more involved and engaging than what Cryptic had come up with for Champions Online and Star Trek Online.

The post Neverwinter achieve??s platform parity by going to PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

This is a weird one, that's for sure

Neverwinter’s newest event is uh… a tad strange.

Portobello’s Campaign is a series of missions inspired by Acquisition Inc.’s live Dungeons & Dragons sessions at PAX Prime 2015.

If you’ve never heard of Acquisition Inc. before today, it’s a live, annual one-shot D&D campaign run by Dungeons & Dragons story designer Chris Perkins at each PAX Prime event. You can watch last year’s game on YouTube, and it’s pretty dang entertaining.

Portobello’s Campaign sees Perkins and his alter ego Portobello DaVinci rope players in for an incredibly meta series of missions set in the actual table-top game. Your characters, enemies, maps, and bosses all become pieces on a huge table, with a behemoth Portobello looming over you like something from Attack on Titan.

As much as I love Neverwinter, it still took me a few watches of this trailer to get on board. The writing in the trailer isn’t exactly stellar, but it is incredibly camp, and reminiscent of what your average person thinks of when they hear ‘Dungeons & Dragons.' Neverwinter’s always been self-aware of how daft a lot of D&D stuff can sound, so seeing it delve completely in??to cheesy territory should be entertaining.

While there is, unfortunately, no word of it coming to the Xbox One version, Portobello’s Campaign is a month-long event that will be start??ing on March 31 fo??r PC.

The post Acquisitions Inc. is coming to Neverwinter’s newest event appeared first on Destructoid.

No Scrooges are allowed to take part

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Mince pies, gingerbread men, last-minute panic buying of presents, and, of ??course, shutting yourself away from your family for the entire time to take part in some of the many in-game events happening at the moment.

To save you the time and effort of having to hunt them out, here are some of the best events going down over the holiday?s.

Neverwinter: The Winter Festival

The Dungeons & Dragons MMO for PC and Xbox One has already launched its winter event on December 17. This year sees the retur??n of the Winter Festival of Simril, a lovely little snowy fair full of mini-games and prizes. Claiming a present each day from the Giftmaster in Twilight Tor will nab you a whole load of free stuff, including new mounts and clothing, without having to do much work.

While this event also ran last year, some new quests and areas have been added to celebrate the recent-ish release of the Underdark expansion, so there’s more to check ?out if yo?u thought you’d done everything last year.

The Winter Festival will run until January 7.

World of Warcraft: Feast of Winter Veil

Feast of the Winter Veil is a long-standing tradition in World of Warcraft, and once ??again the event brings with it new quests and loot up for grabs.

If you’re Allianc??e head to? Ironforge, and if you’re Horde head to Orgrimmar. There, you’ll find a whole load of characters needing help setting up the festivities. Greatfather Winter needs help doing his totally-not-Santa thing, and the Jinglepocket Goblins want you to go and save Metzen the Reindeer.

But best of all is some dungeon bosses will be wearing little hats which you can take for yourself. Little. Freaking. Hats.

Some of the others rewards you can get include new pets, such the Clockwor??k Rocket Bot and the Tiny Snowman, as well as new toys ?like the Train Set.

The Feast of Winter Veil started on D??ecember 16, and will be running through to January 2.

Hearthstone: Winter Veil

World of Warcraft isn’t the only one who gets the Winter Veil festival, as it’s also come to everybody’s favourite collectible card time-sink, Hearthstone. The boards have been all decked up with snow, fireplaces and fancy lights, and even the heroes are getting a bit festive with their new holiday greetings emotes. 

However, the big thing is the Gift Exchange Tavern Brawl mode. Greatfather Winter drops presents and crates onto the board, and whichever player manages to destroy them will get a new 1-mana card that will grant them a card either for their own or for their opponents' class. Winning a game of Gift Exchange will net you a very festive Winter Veil Wreath c??ard?? back.

Unfortunately, you don’t have much longer left with the Gift Exchange, as it ends on December 21, which at the time of writing is tomorrow. If you’ve missed that though, don’t worry. The wintery boards and a holiday sale offering 50 classic packs for $50 will be r?un??ning until January 6.

Rift: Fae Yule

Rift’s winter event is probably one of the longest ones this year. It started on December 10, and will be running all the way through?? to January 6.

The Fae Yule event returns once again with everything players are used to from previous yea??rs, with quests being found in Sanctum, Meridian, Iron Pine Peak, and Draumheim. However, this year there’??s some pretty big changes to the proceedings. There’s a new instant adventure in the Iron Pike Peaks, a new questline for the Minions, as well as a reworking of the Sparkle Quest.

There’s a??lso a sale running on the in-game store, featuring weapon and item skins, mounts, and backpacks. Depending on how much in-game credit you buy, you can also nab either a J?olly Hellbug Pet or an adorable Jolly Hellbug Mount.

RiftGrate has a great (heh) guide on?? getting the most out of the event too, for those who don’t want to miss? anything.

Final Fantasy XIV: The Starlight Celebration

If you head to the upper deck of Limsa Lominsa and talk to Collys? before December 31, you’ll be roped into a fairly long questline to help her set right the celebration plans f?or the Starlight festival.

If helping save Starlight out of the goodness of your heart wasn’t enough, you can also nab some goodies t??oo: Christmas trees and glowing wall decoration?s, as well as costume pieces to make you look like Santa or his Reindeer.

This isn’t the biggest or longest event running, but it’s definitely one of ??the most adorable that I’ve seen.

Rocket League: Snow Day

Probably one of the best multiplayer games to come out this year, Rocket League introduced a hockey mode to its roster. It comes as part of a mutator called Snow Day that? replaces the usual ball with a huge puck, which changes the game almost c??ompletely.

As well as the new mode, a variety of cosmetic drops are available until January 4, ?including the ‘Xmas’ rocket trail, various toppers, and two new antennae.

Azure Striker GUNVOLT: Christmas in Gunvolt Land

Indie platformer Azure Striker GUNVOLT went?? full-out this year and added in a whole new ?mode for its winter event.

Christmas Mode gives the game a wintery makeover, and tasks p??layers with collective as many presents as they can on the slippery ice. The mode also has its own leaderboards too, for those who want to prove t?hey’re officially the best at Christmas.

Christmas NiGHTS

Okay, this isn’t technically an event in the same way the other games are because it’s been available for almost 20 y??ears now, but it’s still totally worth checking out.

If you have a copy of either the PC or PS2 rereleases of NiGHTS into Dreams, you’ll currently find the menus have taken a much more festive tone. NiGHTS is decked out in red, there’s an awesome version of Joy to the World blaring, and even Dream Dreams, the game’s main theme, has a lovely a capella cover. It’s all one big reference to one of the coolest demos ever released for a game, Christmas NiGHTS. 

Christmas NiGHTS was a demo released NiGHTS back in 1996 on the Sega Sat?urn. If you played for nine months of the year, it was just a standard preview of the game, showing off Spring Valley and the boss Gillwing pretty much exactly how you’d find them in the full game.

However, if you played it ??from November to January, the entire thing took on a festive vibe. Spring Valley is covered in snow, NiGHT’s podium turns into a giant cake, and the Ideya containers are transformed into Christmas tree??s. Even Gillwing changes, turning his lair into a glittery Santa’s grotto around a huge Christmas tree.

The whole thing w?as really cool. I always play whatever version I can find at this time of year, and so should you.

That should be more than enough gaming to tide you over the next couple of weeks. However, remember that this week sees the start of Christmas sale?s on Origin, Green Man Gaming and Steam, as well as basically every console’s digital store too!

The post Here are some of th?e best in-game ??winter events running right now appeared first on Destructoid.

A questline written by R.A. Salvatore

Jeeze, it doesn’t seem five minutes since Perfect World released Strongholds, the last expansion to their pretty great MMO Neverwinter. Now they’re already preparing to release the next major expansion for the game, Underdark.

One of the main points of Underdark is the inclusion of a story questline written by R. A. Salvatore, a fantasy author known for his work in Dungeons & Dragons and Kingdoms of Amalur.

The expansion also sees the return of popular D&D characters such as Drizzt Do’Urden and Bruenor Battlehammer in a new 10-player raid against a two-headed demon lord known as Demogorgon. For a lot of people those are just words that have no meaning, but for Dungeons & Dragons fans it might be a bit more exciting.

There will also be new dynamic ??content, though we’re not entirely sure what that is yet, and there will be some new content for the Strongholds that were introduced in the? previous expansion. For the few fans of the game's massively unbalanced PvP, there will be a new PvP tower available too.

Admittedly, this expansion so far seems a bit of a step down from the sheer scale of Strongholds, with its massive dynamic events and guild-based questing. But Underdark really feels like it might be placing more of an emphasis on the story and world-building that Neverwinter has so desperately needed up to now, especially after more gameplay-focused expansions like Strongholds.

Neverwinter: Underdark releases on November 17 for?? PC, and in early 2016 for Xbox One.

Disclosure: An ex-PR rep for Perfect World gave me a piece of DLC for Neverwinter a few weeks ago, however there was no expectation from either of us that this would lead to further coverage.

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Slowly catching up to the PC version

It was only a month ago when Rise of Tiamat, the fifth expansion for the free-to-play MMO Neverwinter, was released on Xbox One. At the time, I noted that while it was a decent update, it still meant the Xbox One version of the game was really far behind its PC counterpart, which will be releasing its seventh expansion next week.

Apparently Perfect World was listening, as they have now announced that expansion number six, Elemental Evil, will be coming to the Xbox One in September. Elemental Evil on Xbox One will incorporate the additions of four smaller expansions from PC: Elemental Evil, Fury of the Feywild, Shadowmantle, and Curse of Icewind Dale.

This is going to be a really, really big expansion for Neverwinter: raising the level cap?? to 70, adding in a whole new questline fighting against elemental cults, and Icewind Dale was added as a new zone to explore too.

There is still no word on when the upcoming Strongholds expansion will make the jump to the console, but considering I haven’t finished the Elemental Evil content yet????, it should be enough to keep people going into it fresh interested.

If you want to read more about the additions Elemental Evil includes, you can do so?? on the Arc? Games website. 

I really like Neverwinter. Considering two million people play it on Xbox One (according to Perfect World), it's nice to see the game slowly trying to get some sort of parity between versions. It's a shame Strongholds won't be getting a simultaneous release though.

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An in-depth look at all the new stuff

On August 11, Perfect World will be releasing the latest expansion to their Dungeons & Dragons-based MMO Neverwinter, Strongholds. With its action-based combat, fantastic locations, and relatively simple mechanics, Neverwinter managed to hold me enough to get to the endgame, but unfortunately it was there when I stopped playing. Fortunately, with Strongholds I might finally have a reason to get back to the game. I was shown about 30 minutes of ?gameplay, and walked through it by Neverwinter’s executive producer Rob Overmyer.

Strongholds’ main focus is on the guild system in the game. Guilds will be able to make a keep to share and work together to upgrade. Strongholds have been a part of Dungeons & Dragons since the original release, allowing players to create and own their own space. This feature was then improved upon for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, introducing large-scale combat. AD&D is the basis for the Strongholds expansion.

The premise sounds familiar to World of Warcraft players, as the latest expansion Warlords of Draenor introduced guild housing as well. However, Rift, Guild Wars 2, and WildStar have all had an increased focus on their guild mechanics recently too. Perfect World argues Neverwinter Strongholds is more part of a big change in the MMO as a genre, rather than simply following in WoW’s footsteps. Whether you believe that or not is completely up to you, and I personally believe if there is a big change in MMOs right now, Draenor was the spark.

Building your Stronghold

With the goal of providing “interesting and meaningful experiences to guilds”, the process of c?reating and upgrading your guild’s stronghol??d is at the heart of the expansion. All buildable structures and upgrades are ultimately decided by the leaders of the guild, but those goals are worked towards by every member through the “Coffers” system.

Coffers are the total resources available to a guild to help build up their stronghold, and they’re separated into three categories: materials, which are found in the lands surrounding your stronghold such as lumb??er; treasures, which are earned by playing through the campaign zones of the wider game such as the Dread Ring campaign; and stockpiles, the normal loot, gold, and astral diamonds playe?rs earn throughout the game.

Finding these resources ensures creating a good stronghold for your guild isn’t just a case of the leaders fiddling with the UI; every member of the guild would have a role to play, be it collecting resources or planning out where structures will go.  Once there are enough resources to build a new structure in the stronghold, or to upgrade an already existing one, the guild leaders can then start the work of upgrading, while also sett?ing the next goal for the guild to work towards.

However, the amount of upgrades you can apply to a structure depends on th?e overall level of the guild’s keep. While structures have a maximum level of 10, the keep can grow up to level 20. However, structures can’t out-level the keep, so sometimes an effort must be made to upgrade the keep rather than simply rushing for all the new and shiny buildings.

As players donate these hard-earned resources to their guild’s coffers, they are awarded guild marks with which they can buy new gear and items for themse??lves at the marketplace. It’s a way of incentivising altruism among the guild, and is one of the few ti??mes in the game players can make decisions for themselves that aren’t directly linked to the decisions of their wider guild.

Another way the guild must coordinate in building their stronghold is in the new added boons. Boons are passive bonuses granted to players, and in Strongholds, structures ??can be built to grant the entire guild specific types of boons. There are currently f??our categories: offense, defense, utility, and Player vs. Player (PvP).

The catch is not every type of boon would available for a guild at the same time, as there are only a limited number of boon structures that can be made. This requires decisions to be made about how players within the guild will be buffed. An example given would be a raiding guild may put more emphasis into PvP or offensive boons to increase their power. The boons in each category would be optional for each individual player, however what type of boon is available is up to the guild.

It’s a neat mechanic, as now other players who you’d regularly play with have an active impact on how your character works, and how these buffs influence your character may well change in the future. Should the guild decide to change an offensive boon structure to a defensive one, the boons you previous??ly had would no longer apply. It’s interesting, however I could also see it causing some conflict within guilds.

The area given to a guild to build its stronghold on is the biggest zone Neverwinter has ever seen: it is three times bigger than the biggest p??revious one. The zone is split into multiple, smaller themed areas, each with their own enemies and quests.

For example, there may be faetouched areas, or there may be areas that are more desolate, and different enemies may be encountered in each one. It’s nice to see some variance in the zone, as Neverwinter does have a problem of each zone being its own themed thing that gets boring sometimes: the snowy zone, the desert zone, or the city zone and nothing but that.

Some areas will be sealed off and hidden u??ntil the stronghold has been built up and expanded on, but what’s interesting is that the future of the zone isn’t entirely ??known even to Perfect World yet.

The strongholds system is planned to be expanded upon over the course of at least the next two expansions: Strongholds and a currently unannounced expansion after that. According to them, being “done” with building a stronghold simply isn’t possible, as new structures and boons will be made available in future updates.  While there is a storyline planned out for Strongholds and the expansion after that, the specifics of what sort of boons and structures will be included in ?them are apparently down to player feedback and community suggestion??s.

New Player vs. Environment Content

Building up a guild’s stronghold isn’t the only new addition to Neverwinter. Alongside it comes a new range of player vs. environment co??ntent, much like in the previous expansions before it. However, a lot of this wi??ll still directly help your stronghold grow.

Firstly, the act of actually acquiring your guild’s ?new keep will be part of a quest line that changes as the stronghold grows. At first, your guild and a travelling band of Orcs will both arrive at the same time, causing the?re to be multiple skirmishes and missions available. Finding guards, protecting farms, and driving off Orcs to ensure that your keep is safe in the early days.

As the keep levels up, new enemies will start to appear in the zone. For example, the second phase of the zone involves mercenaries appearing to try and steal?? the keep from you, giving you multiple quests involving dealing with them.

The zone’s campaign appears to play out in much the same way as previous campaign zones such as the Dread Ring have, however there is also the added dimension of it being dependent on your kee?p’s level. Of course, there will also be a series of daily quests available from your stronghold’s steward too, and they will also help guide players to the next of their campaign quests.

Greed of the Dragonflight

That’s all pretty standard expansion stuff: more of what Neverwinter players will be used to. What’s particularly interesting is the major new boss fight that occurs in the Strongholds zone.

Dubbed Greed of the Dragonflight, the boss is designed to be played by guilds of 40 or more players who must?? coordinate?? and plan out how to take down four powerful dragons simultaneously across the map.

If one dragon is killed, the other ?three will flee shortly afterwards, requiring guilds to figure out which players are best suited to take on each dragon, and make sure all four of them die at the same time. Doing so will net the guild huge rewards, some of the most powerful items in the game, according to Perfect World.

However, failu??re to nab all for dragons doesn’t mean ??nothing was gained. Due to some guilds not having enough players to take down all four dragons, there is a sliding scale of what rewards are given. The more dragons the guild can kill, the better the loot given.

What I saw of this event reminded me of my favourite bit of Neverwinter: the timed boss events. Instances are great, questing is fun, but seeing the alert to head to an area of the map to slay as big-as-hell lizard was always really cool to me. It’s involving, it’s hectic, and it looks as though adding in the extra e??lement of needing to size up who takes on which dragon will make it all the more satisf??ying when the guild succeeds.

The difference between normal timed events and Greed of the Dragonflight is that it isn’t only a timed event. Due to a large amount of player requests, Perfect World is allowing guilds to trigger the event manually whenever they like, and so it could become a pretty big part of guild so?cial life somewhere down the line.

A New PvP mode inspired by MOBAs

Player vs. Player in Neverwinter has been the centre of Perfect World’s attention for a while now: originally offering a fairly basic 5v5 arena mode, an open-world PvP was later added in Icewind Dale, and of course Strongholds will? be adding even more for those who like stomping other players.

The PvP added to Strongholds is a 20v20 Guild vs. Guild mode, which when I first heard about it reminded me a lot of Guild Wars 2’s World vs. World feature. However, it appears as though the new mode is being more inspired by the likes of Dota and League of Legends.

This isn’t a compulsory feature, guilds must queue up to enter the mo?de. Once in the game, guilds will find their strongholds and surrounding lands “glued together”, with a river separating the two. The MOBA inspiration comes on the emphasis of controlling the various lanes between the two strongholds, while pushing forward and sieging the enemy guild.

Perfect World has also catered to smaller guilds that might not have 20 players online at a time. When in queueing, if a guild has enough pla?yers to spare, they will be transferred?? temporarily to the other guild and fight for them instead. It’s a nice way of evening the playing field, but it will also be interesting to see where their alliances lie once the match is underway.

It’s worth noting I didn’t get to actually see any PvP in action, due to the problems setting up a game with 40 players just to show me it woul??d’ve caused. As such, all of this is only how it was described to me by Overmyer.

Final Thoughts

As previously mentioned, I’ve got a fair amount of experience with Neverwinter, however the lack of something to keep me interested once I’d finished the story quests meant I dropped out ?of the game soon after. Guilds have always been something in MMOs I’ve had an interest in, but never found the right match – I always ended up in quiet, inactive guilds where nothing ever?? happened.

Strongholds looks like it wants to solve both of my problems, while giving me more of the solo content that got me i??nto the game at first. I’m somewhat concerned that finding decent guilds might still be tricky, but maybe the new toys guilds can play with will convince people to give ?running guilds a go.

PvP has never been a big interest of mine. I got into Rift’s quite a bit, but still eventually found myself going back to questing. Neverwinter in particular has been quite notorious for equipment you can buy in the store being perceived to be more powerful than stuff you can earn in-game, which always put me off PvP. However, if it’s true that the rewards from Greed of the Dragonflight are some of the strongest in the game, it could go a??? way to fix that problem.

Overall, I’m excited. I’m definitely going to be going back into it just to see how all of these new mechanics change how people interact within guilds, if at all. Plus Dragonflight is a condensed version of everything I like about Neverwinter, which is great. Neverwinter: Strongholds will be released on August 11 as the next free expansion on PC. Neverwinter is free-to-play on both Xbox One and PC.

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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! L-L-L-LIVE!

I’m excited for the newest Neverwinter expansion, Strongholds. Guilds have never really been all that important in Neverwinter, with most players blasting through the solo content and then going into the admittedly pay-to-win PvP or just quitting outright. By including guild housing, Strongholds looks like it could really?? bolster guilds in the game and make them more worthwhile to join.

We’ve now been given a trailer explaining some of the new additions coming with the expansion. It includes what is being billed the “largest zone ever created”, which will be accessible for those just starting out as well as those at the level cap, as well as the ability to build and defend your Guild Hall. It also explains the new 20v20 player PvP, which looks like it’s taking a page from Guild Wars 2’s World vs World.

The trailer’s voice over does sound like a Monster-truck advert, but if you’re interested in what&rsq?uo;s coming with the newest update you may as well check it out.

Strongholds is coming on August 11 as a free update for the game on PC. We don’t know for sure if it’s coming to Xbox One at the same time yet, but seeing as that&rsquo?;s a few expansions behind, I severely doubt it.

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Rise of Tiamat has just launched

While the PC version of the pretty dang good MMO Neverwinter is ??waiting for news about its newest expansion, the Xbox One port unfortunately is playing catchup.

Perfect World have announced that Rise of Tiamat, the? fifth module for t??he game released back in 2014, is now available on Xbox One. The expansion adds more to the Tyranny of Dragons campaign, a new area for Level 70 players called Well of Dragons, and a new raid, Temple of Tiamat.

Rise of Tiamat was when I started playing Neverwinter, so it’s nice to know I’ll be in familiar territory should I?? find myself on the Xbox version. I genuinely am excited to see the Xbox One version get up to date, as it seems like a perfect fit for an MMO on a console.

The full patch list for the PC version of Rise of Tiamat was huge, but there’s also a v??ideo below specific to the Xbox One version to help you familiarise you?rself with the changes.

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With just a hint of Draenor

Dang, Cryptic and Perfect World sure are pumping out the expansions for Their pretty awesome MMO Neverwinter pretty fast. Hot on the heels of Elemental Evil and the Xbox One release of the game, Cryptic has announced their seventh expansion is Neverwinter: Strongholds.

The expansion is pulling a bit of a Warlords of Draenor on us, focusing on guild-run strongholds you can fight for and against. Speaking about ?the ex?pansion, Cryptic said:

Guilds have been a cornerstone of Neverwinter since its inception, which provided players the opportunity to unite under a single name, socialize with like-minded adventurers and aid each other in times of need. It is only fitting that the walls of a mighty stronghold would house the very members?? of your guild, or fall to crush them. 

Reminiscent of early Dungeons & Dragons lore, Neverwinter: Strongholds empowers guilds to reclaim a keep and its surrounding areas that have been overrun by the wild. As the lands are cleared, guilds will build defenses both in and around their strongholds using structures like barracks and additional troops armed to protect the keep. Once the keep has been secured, guilds will have to battle against the environment as well as other players to ensure they maintain control of their lands. 

Turns out Cryptic sneakily put out the announcement when no one was looking back at t?he end of May, but in their Steam Community update posted on June 9 they reaffirm that we will?? hear more information on it in the next few weeks.

Honestly, guilds have been dying a slow death in Neverwinter. I’ve never been able to find one I’d be interested in joining, so hopefully Strongholds really kicks that back into gear and give?s the game some much-needed endgame content. I’m pretty excited.

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It's a net gain when the price is free

Back in 2013, Neverwinter hit the PC. No, it's not a continuation of Neverwinter Nights, that awesome RPG from BioWare. It's an MMO developed by Cryptic Studios that's light on the "massive" bit, but far more fun than the poorly crafted Dungeons & Dragons Online.

As of this week, Neverwinter has come to the Xbox One as the first MMO to hit the platform. It has some issues, most nota?bly ones that stem from the free-to-play scheme, but it's worth spending an afternoon with to see if it's your thing.

Neverwinter (PC, Xbox One [tested])
Developer: Cryptic Studios
Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment
Released: June 20, 2013 (PC), March 31, 2015 (Xbox One)
MSRP: Free-to-play

As you might have gleaned, Neverwinter denotes the fictional city-state that has shown up in countless tabletop campaigns and videogames over the years as part of the D&D universe. This project is its own jam however, hosting major storyline arcs such as the Tyranny of Dragons narrative. Although most people think of complex systems when MMOs come to mind, Neverwinter is extremely easy to pickup from the get-g?o, especiall??y on Xbox One.

The main mechanic that is going to delight people who are easily confused is the divisive breadcrumb trail, made popular by Fable II. While I know some people love it, I personally find it mindless in an RPG like this that's built on exploration, and unfortunately, it's not optional. In many cases it outright ruins the fun of finding things like hidden bookcases, which are outright spoiled during some missions by the trail. It reminds me of when Fi spoiled a puzzle solution for the final dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Combat isn't as action-oriented as say, TERA Online, but it is more arcade-like than most M??MOs. There's some strategy involved and the controls are automatically mapped for the most part (with slight customization), but it's fun to go in swinging and feel like you aren't in a turn-based affair. There's a bit of depth mostly by way of group fights, with crowd-control (CC) abilities available to stun or take out casters or heavy-hitters, and area-of-effect powers to hit multiple enemies. You know, standard stuff, but in tandem it all comes together.

The user interface is a bit more clunky, even on a console. It feels cheaply made, and although it works, it can be a pain to navigate or locate specifi?c options. It's mostly because there aren't many as??pects you can actually change. The visuals are in the same vein, with some frame-rate issues, and lots and lots of pop-in, as well as some lag. It's playable, but it's not ideal, particularly since it doesn't quite look like a current-generation MMO.

The story isn't terrible, but you really have to dig the lore or at least dig the D&D universe to care about it. You'll constantly find locations or characters with titles like "[X character] of Baldur's Gate," and without having ??a "I know where that is!" reaction you'll probably pass by most of the flavor text and fluff without blinking.

While serviceable for a short amount of time, the free-to-play element and lack of endgame outside of the dungeon generator tool really hurt its long term appeal. The "Zen Market" is how the developer has chosen to sell its free-to-play wares, and purchases consist of typical MMO transactions li?ke cosmetic options, renaming services, and mounts. But like a lot of other F2P titles it goes a bit overboard, selling items, bags, craft??ing materials, experience boosts, more bank slots, and other in-game tweaks that should have been in the base game to locate. Everything is really pricey too, ranging from $5 to $10 for minor upgrades.

I know a F2P game has to make money, especially if it requires server upkeep, but things like bank slots, extra character slots, and other essential items don't sit well with me. The main reason is that the games are inherent??ly designed for an? investment of time, and they can just incrementally add in any number of upgrades they want to keep people paying, and likewise keep them from full ownership, whereas subscription-based MMOs generally give you access to everything. There is a way to earn premium items by way of in-game currency (Astral Diamonds), but it's not really user-friendly and requires a lot of hoops to jump through.

Neverwinter is a bit of shallow fun, but as a long-term MMO that I would invest my time in, it doesn't hit the mark. Since it's free on Xbox One, it would be a great idea to spend an afternoon trying out the initial questline and either picking it? up or tossing it asid??e, as you really don't have a lot to lose.

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Is Neverwinter about living in Los Angeles?

If you've got an Xbox One and have been hankering to play the Dungeons and Dragons MMO Neverwinter on a console, you might want to go ahead and register for the Xbox One closed beta. Registration begins today and the beta will run from February 5 - 8.

There's currently no word as to whether the beta will be an Xbox Live Gold perk, but the full game will be free-to-play for Gold members when it launches. Neverwinter on Xbox will have "optimized controls," which likely means t?hey'??ve found a way to fit the game's combat system on a controller.

As somebody who's never played a second of this game, I went to a trusted source: my friend Desi, who's played "over 100" hours of Neverwinter. According to he?r, there's a lot of grinding involved if yo??u don't feel like shelling out the big bucks.

"It kind of is free to play, but you need to have loads of money if you want to cheat your way through," she told me over Facebook in an 'interview.' "It's very hierarchical, conside?ring that the top players have the ?best (real money bought) equipment and companions."

Just going to throw this out there, if you need to subscribe to a paying service to play this MMO and it relies heavily on microtransactions, maybe "free-to-play" isn't the right term? The Xbox One version of Neverwinter will launch sometime in Early 201??5, along with just about everything e?lse.

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Perfect World's stepping outside the PC crowd

Xbox One has a handful of free-to-play titles, and all of them were built specifically for the console. That'll change in the first half of 2015 as Neverwinter, a popular PC action MMO role-playing game, hits ??the Microsoft pla?tform.

Neverwinter's set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe, to which it provides new and s?upplemental narratives. For publisher Perfect World, it marks the ??first time venturing from the PC audience and into the console market.

As is the case with these things, Neverwinter isn't purely free in the sense that an Xbox Live Gold subscription is still required. Also, there are no details yet as to whether any sort of cross-platform saves will be available. But, for anyone looking to scratch that MMO itch from their couch, 2015 and Neverwinter are right around the corner.

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The first 30 levels

There sure are a lot of free-to-play MMORPGs out ther??e vying for everyone's attention these days. Even MMOs that begin with a subscription-based model tend to eventually offer some free-to-play version down the line. It's definitely proven to be effective and lucrative at times, however it's also proven to be downright scummy and sleazy at o?thers.

Neverwinter is hard to classify as belonging to either of the two camps. Early on, you'll likely hardly notice that it's a free-to-play title at all. It plays well, doesn't overtly beg anyone for money, and it even has decent quests and voice acting! However, the stories I've read about the late-game free-to-play shenanigans have put me off a bi??t from experiencing any sort of end-game content.

I'd be? lying, however, if I said I wasn't enjoying myself so ?far.

Neverwinter (PC)
Developer: Cryptic Studios
Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment
Release Date: June 20, 2013
MSRP: Free-to-play 
Rig: AMD 7850 Dual-Core 2.80 GHz,  4 GB of RAM, GeForce GTX 560 Ti, and Windows 7 64-bit.  

I've been playing Neverwinter since it officially released in June at a rather casual pace. I've leveled a Control Wizard into the mid-30s, so I don't have any hands-on experience with the end game. I am by no means a Neverwinter expert, but I feel as i?f I can answer some questions you probably don't have:

What are the classes?

There are a disappointingly small amount of classes in Neverwinter, but they do at least play very differently from each other. The issue is that none of the classes are anything interesting; they all have a bad case of "been there, done that." There are currently a total of five classes: Control Wizard, who is best at disables; Great Weapon Fighter, who can dish out the damage but dies from a mer??e sneeze; Guardian Fighter, equipped with a block button and a lack of mobility; Devoted Cleric, who can hit a lot of people for a little bit of damage while also healing; and the Trickster Rogue, who can sneak around and backstab people. I've spent most of my time with the Control Wizard, but have also dabbled in the Great Weapon Fighter and Guardian Fighter a bit.

My biggest disappointment is how little variation there is between players of the same class. The first 30 levels of Control Wizard will look almost exactly the same on me as it does on anyone else. There may be a very slight deviation on which skills I've leveled up more, but chances are we have and use the same spells. At level 30, "Paragon Paths" unlock with the promise of greater character diversity, however there is only one Paragon Path available for Control Wizards right now, meaning that everyone ??will have the same powers as me the entire way through. To say I was bummed when I saw?? that would be a huge understatement.

How does it play?

Neverwinter is not a typical tab-select MMO. It is, however, a typical action game. There is a reticule in the center of the screen, but most skills still require a target to be used. In other words, if you're not looking at something, you can't use skills. Area of Effect (AoE) spells in particular have a large target on the ground where they will be used while the player manipulates its position ?wit??h the mouse before activating.

It's a decent change of pace from the normal MMO battle system, but as I ??hit the incorrect target more and more often, I found myself wishing I could just select targets automatically with tab (the old fashioned way). Sometimes a target will move a sliver to the right and the reticule will choose another enemy to attack, which can be very frustrating when using big-damage spells. I suppose that's the "point" of the battle system, but it's still annoying.

Perhaps my favorite thing about Neverwinter is how great the spells feel to use. While the description and actual effects of many of the spells seem simple, the animations make them feel lik?e they could take out the title character in a "Dragon Ball Z" saga. Giant sword swings connect with a swift "shink!" and magic spells alter the camera to give them a very strong sense of power and impact, pretty much forcing me to shout "booya!" when  landing a big blow on an even bigger enemy.

What are quests like?

Yes, there are going to be plenty of "kill X of Y" quests, but not to the point of insanity. Plus, doing those quests isn't all that terrible when you actually like the game's core battle mechanics,?? which I do. Many of the quests do take place in ??instanced areas, though they all follow the same pattern. Enter the area, clear the dudes, watch the intro of the boss man, kill the boss man, collect the treasure, and get out.

In fact, each new area follows the same patterns as well, with very little deviation. It's incredibly easy to predict what's going to happen when arriving at a new area because you've done it bef??ore. Again though, it's a bit less irritating because the core gameplay is rock solid?.

What about leveling up?

Leveling up occurs at a nice and steady pace. It isn't necessary to play for long hours to feel a sense of progress; a casual rate of play will still get you places. It can feel a bit underwhelming to level up and have only one skill get? slightly better, but that is the case in pretty much any MMO ever. The "milestone levels" do feel great, though: getting a mount or unlocking a new set of skills is pretty exciting.

Can you solo or is it necessary to team?

This is, as usual, largely dependent on what class you pick. A Cleric will take a much longer time to solo than say, a?? Rogue, but it is definitely possible. I had a lot of trouble soloing with a Great Weapons Fighter without potions, which completely turned me away from the class. I was digging the massive swings and big blows, but chugging a healing potion 10 times in a boss fight was way too much maintenance for me. Soloing with my Control Wizard was much easier, as the damage output was just fine and the damage mitigation was huge thanks to the disabling powers at my disposal.

I did spend a lot of time partying with a buddy and had a great time doing so. It was sort of painfully easy??, but that might have been because the Wizard and Cleric combination is borderline untouchable. Between my disables and his heals and AoE, we breezed through everything we encountered.

Bigger ??missions like Dungeons or Skirmishes have an auto-party search function that works as intended. It may take a while to pair you up with a team, but it'll get you there eventually.

What is The Foundry?

The Foundry is Neverwinter's way of making the game feel more Dungeons & Dragons-esque. Players can create and publish their very own m??issions with dialogue and boss fights for other players to enjoy. The tools are a bit limited though, which ??results in a lot of bland missions, even though they were made with love.

In fact, most people seem to use The Foundry by searching "?exp" in the search bar and then choosing one of the very quick missions meant to give a good amount of experience for the time committed. So it is at least good for that, I suppose. It's a neat idea, but its execution has fallen a bit flat.

How is PvP?

I played one match of 5v5 PvP. It was terrible.

I'm not really into MMO PvP in general, but I thought Neverwinter's might be better since it was a more action-y game. All it consisted of were three capture points and 10 people. For way too long. The match went on for what felt li??ke forever o??f doing the same things over and over again. Back and forth between capture points on a very lackluster "battle ground" for pretty much no reward isn't exactly my idea of a riveting good time.

What's the free-to-play model?

Neverwinter uses the Zen currency that all of t??he Perfect World free-to-play games use. The conversion rate is a simple 100 Zen = $1.00.

Each account starts with two character slots, and additional slots can be purchased in pairs for $5. There is no option to purchase one additional character slot. Each character will start with one free skill "respec" in order to re-assign skills, but any respecs after the first will cost $3. There's a cash shop that has things like mounts, AI companions, fashionable attire (no stats), and crafting supply packs, but nothing that you absolutely need to have.

Also, there's the classic copper/silver/gold currency in-game that can be used to buy potions, crafting supplies, armor, and all that good stuff. Finally, in addition to this cur??rency and the previously explained Zen, ?there's Astral Diamonds.

Astral Diamonds can be directly exchanged for Zen, which can then be used to purchase things from the in-game cash shop. Many people also sell items on the Auction House for Astral Diamonds; it's the currency-of-choice in Neverwinter. It is not easy to get Astral Diamonds through normal play, however. Each character can worship their deity every hour and gain Astral Diamonds for doing so the first three times per day. Astral Diamonds are also awarded for doing Daily missions like PvP matches and Dungeons, each of which can be completed once per day. If you were to really work hard at gathering Astral Diamonds, you could proba??bly get around 10,000 per day.

Which equates to about 33 cents.

The problem is that there is no set conversion rate for Astral Diamonds to Zen, and the economy is currently fucking broken. The market has already been flooded with Astral Diamonds, thanks to one of the Founders Pack packages that awarded players two million Astral Diamonds for contributin??g $200. So the conversion rate is pretty borked right now, and it will take some time before it comes close to normalizing.

Does it feel like a scummy model?

Despite the crappy Zen to Astral Diamonds conversion rate, the game does a decent job of not imploring the player for money. At least, not until the endgame, and even then it depends on your play style. If you're not one to care about min/maxing and getting the best gear with the best enchantments, then chances are you'll never feel the need to buy anything with real money. However, getting the best enchantments in your items will either take forever or require some burned cash.

Weapon and armor enchantments are very rare drops from high-level dungeons that have some pretty great effects when imbued into weapons, and can even be fused together up to three stages. However, fusing these enchantments together has a success rate of ~1%. One percent! How do you get around this? By buying a Coalescent Ward for $10 or around 120,000 Astral Diamonds (currently), which turns the success rate into? 100%. It is also possible to invoke your deity for 7 days, which awards one Celestial Coin each day, and purchase a Ward with those.

So? yes, it is totally possible to not spend money and get Coalescent Wards through other means, but it will take a long time and become one huge pain in the butt, essentially encouraging you to pay money to guarantee your chance of success. Or, you could be like me and give literally no hoots as to whether or not your weapons and armor have the best enchantments in them.

Overall thoughts

I will probably keep playing Neverwinter for a while, even if it is at a super-casual pace.?? The action-oriented combat isn't necessarily better than the traditional tab-selecting that most MMOs use, but it is diffe??rent enough to make the predictable and standard quests go by relatively unnoticed. It doesn't feel like a slog to play through, which is still better than most free-to-play MMOs out there these days.

The free-to-play model will certainly be offensive to some, namely those who want to min/max their character for the end game, but if you're not hardcore about being super amazing, it won't be much of a bother since you can slowly get the required currency through simply playing the game. Neverwinter is a solid experience and can easily hold you over until something?? newer and shinier comes along, whatever that may be.

And hey, it's free-to-play, so why not just give it a shot? It's?? not so bad.

The post Everything you need to know about Neverwinter appeared first on Destructoid.

The expansion is green!

You should go play Neverwinter -- it's awesome. Right now it's in open beta, but on June 20 it will be officially released. Part of this release includes a new end-game area that will combine "PvE, PvP and dungeon delving into one epic gameplay experience," which sounds completely amazing. Launch day will also feat??ure a big patch addressing tons of balancing issues found during the beta period.

The first expansion, called Fury of the Feywild will come out this summer. All we officially know about it is right on that page. It'??s going to be green, have glowing trees, and Sharandar will be un??der siege. It's not much of an announcement, but it is comforting to know that new content will be coming out quickly after release. 

The post Neverwi??nter out on June 20, first expansion revealed appeared first on Destructoid.

With one more closed beta event on the way

Apparently a lot of you like Neverwinter, the upcoming free-to-play MMORPG. Seriously, we ran out of closed beta codes for the game within minutes! Well for those of you who missed the special clo??sed beta weekend events, you're in luck as the open beta begins on April 30.

There's going to be one more closed beta event though, taking place on April 12 just for Founders. Everyone that bought the Founders pack for Neverwinter will get the special access starting at 12PM.

The post Neverwinter goes into open beta on April 30 appeared first on Destructoid.

Grab a key for Beta Weekend 2, courtesy of Dtoid!

[Update 2: We're giving away five more on Twitter this Saturday??, March 9. After that, you'll have to wait for Beta Weekend 3!]

[Update: They're gone! Boy, that was fast. Follow us on Twitter; we might get more!]

Destructoid has partnered with our friends at Perfect World to bring you 2,000 codes for this weekend's leg of the Neverwinter beta! Set in The Forgotten Realms campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, this free-to-play action-MMO sees players exploring the ruins of the great city of Neverwinter in search of delicious treasure. (Check out our full preview from last month for more details!)

The beta begins tomorrow, March 8, at 12 PM Pacific, and lasts until March 10 at 11:59 PM Pacific. To claim your code from Dtoid, just head on over to our beta giveaways page and push the big red button! For redemp??tion instructions, read on!

Neverwinter key redemption instructions:

1. Go to www.playneverwinter.com
2. For new accounts: Create your account information and submit
   For existing accounts: Login to your account
3. Enter your key here - //my.perfectworld.com/nw/redeemkey
4. Download the game client here - //nw.perfectworld.com/download
5. Install and play!

Once you've put in some time with the game, be sure to ?share your experience in the comments below! Have fun!

_{Note - Codes not redeemable in the following regions: China, Egypt, Russia, Hong Kong, North and South Korea, Macao, Taiwan, and Vietnam.}

The post Here are 2,000 beta codes for the D&D MMO Neverwinter! appeared first on Destructoid.

Impressions of the Neverwinter beta

There are a lot of massively-multiplayer online games on the market today, many of which are still very similar to World of Warcraft. While the graphics, setting, and characters may change, the core gameplay often feels the same. Hotkeys and a screen full of action bars have become the normal way to play MMOs, but there are a few games like TERA that have tried to break away and bring more action into the mix. TERA did a pretty good job with the action, but the setting and quest design was to?o generic and most? people found it to be lackluster.

Cryptic is stepping into the "action-MMO" space with Neverwinter, which is somewhat of a follow-up to the classic Neverwinter Nights series. Based on the popular Forgotten Realms setting from Dungeons & Dragons and the Fourth Edition ruleset, this has the potential to be an interesting free-to-play title. I had the chance to jump into an early beta event with the developers and run a qu?ick raid, and from what I have seen so far, this one might be able to deliver some good times.

Neverwinter  (PC)
Developer: Cryptic Studios
Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment
Releases: Early 2013

The biggest thing that makes Neverwinter stand out from other MMOs is its tiny abilities bar on the bottom of the screen. It works a lot like the abilities system from a typical action-RPG game and it's easily usable with keys like Q, E, and R. You'll only have to reach up to 1 and 2 to use your daily powers, which won't be too often. A total of eleven abilities can be hot-keyed, and that includes the mous?e buttons.

The abilities you decide to map can be swapped out at just about any time, not unlike, say, Diablo III. The combat is almost identical to a hack-n-slash role-playing game. Imagine if Diablo III and EverQuest had a baby: combat works by clicking a lot while pointing at monsters and dodging out of the way of their attacks. It is??n't anything new, but it's a nice point of differentiation for an MMO. It's very responsive and I noticed only minimal impact from lag -- even in?? this early beta version.

The foundry system of player-created content from Cryptic's other games like Star Trek Online will be making its way into Neverwinter. Players will be able to make their own quests and they are easily ??accessed from a bulletin board in-game. Any user-created content ca?n be rated so you don't have to worry about wading through piles of garbage to find anything worthwhile. It won't cost anything to access the Foundry, but it will have to be unlocked in the game somehow. Cryptic will have more details on this later.

At launch, there will be five classes that are based on Fourth Edition D&D class arc?hetypes: Trickster Rogue, Great Weapon Fighter, Guardian Fighter, Control Wizard, and Devo??ted Cleric. There are plans to add more classes after release, and there's no word yet on if any of these will cost money to unlock. The developers did say that they don't want to lock content out from anyone, but things like unique races might be offered to premium players.

I'm sure some of you are wondering what makes this different from Dungeons & Dragons Online. Well, it plays a lot differently for one thing. DDO is a classically-structured MMO that is strongly based on the 3.5 edition of D&D's rules, which is a long way of saying that it's slower paced and a lot like EverQuest and World of Warcraft.

Neverwinter is based on new rules for D&D and it's built as an action game. Plus it's based on the more well-known Forgotten Realms as opposed to the Eberron setting and is being designed as a free-to-play game from the ground up. I like DDO, but I can see some people switching over to Neverwinter because ?it has more engaging combat. Of course, they are both free, so no one really has to choose one over the other.&??nbsp;

I've enjoyed what I've played so far and am looking forward to diving into the beta over the coming weeks. The MMO space needs some diversity in what's available, and while Neverwinter doesn't stray too far from the familiar questing formula, it does ??offer entertaining combat, and having fun -- if still familiar -- gameplay is sometimes all it takes to make a good?? game.

The post D&D MMO Neverwinter plays like a good action-RPG appeared first on Destructoid.

For the lucky chosen ones

This weekend, beginning February 8, the free-to-play Neverwinter MMO will be opening its doors to select beta testers and will run until the February 10. You can sign up for a chance to get in on the official website, or you can buy a Founder's Pack and be guaranteed access.? Founder's Packs begin at $19.99, and go all the way up to $199.99, with various benefit??s.

The beta weekend will include three playable classes, the Rogue, Cleric, and Fighter -- staples of the fantasy universe. Content up to level 30 can be accessed, including companions and mounts, which sounds like plenty for a weekend. I'm pretty excited for Neverwinter, so long as it resembles the older Neverwinter titles I've come to know and love. 

The post Neverwinter MMO beta weekend begins Friday appeared first on Destructoid.

If you have a fabulous memory you may recall that way back in 2009, there was a rumor floating around that Cryptic Studios might be handling a Neverwinter Nights MMO. You may also remember that there was a cooperative RPG Neverwinter coming from Cryptic Studios around the same time. Well, today we've found out that both of these ideas have merged together to form the upcoming free-to-play MMORPG Neverwinter. 

According to IGN, the game will not play like the Neverwinter Nights games but instead be more action oriented while still maintaining its Dungeons and Dragons roots. While the focus on action is definitely an interesting choice, I'm remaining cautiously optimistic on this one because I have a special attachment to the Neverwinter Nights series. As long as the game doesn't ??get too "Korean MMO," I think it coul??d be a good distraction for a while.

You can watch the new story trailer over on IGN and keep up with news about the game on the official site. Neverwinter is scheduled to release in late 2012.

Big Changes to Cryptic's Neverwinter [IGN]

The post Neverwinter co-op RPG becomes Neverwinter MMO appeared first on Destructoid.

Cryptic Studios (City of Heroes, Champions Online, Star Trek Online) has revealed some slivers of information and a trailer for the upcoming multiplayer game Neverwinter.

Set in the well-known city in the Forgotten Realms universe, Neverwinter is dubbed as a co-op RPG and attempts to take the pen & paper experience to the PC. Again. If you don't have any friends to co-op with, you can still solo the game with AI companions. So far, so Neverwinter Nights.

However, it does seem to have a more confined and action-oriented feel to it, as well as some better graphics. Perhaps they're trying to turn the NWN experience into more of a full 3D environment type of game? There's also something called "The Foundry" ??that will give dungeon masters all the tools they need to build dungeons, castles, entire cities, and basically craft a small world for a party to quest in.

That sounds pretty sweet actually, and perhaps this is what will become the go-to videogame version of classic tabletop D&D for those people who don't care about the free-to-play Dungeon & Dragons: Online? If Neverwinter does away with the MMO aspects and offers players the ability to just play?????????????????????????? D&D with premade quests and dungeons, while offering ?the ability to craft your own D&D experience, that might just work.

The post E3: Neverwinter defrosts a trailer and so?me detai?ls appeared first on Destructoid.