31
Why BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights still has thousands of active players (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 hour ago by FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world
7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Today you would expect this to be a calculated attempt to bring more long-term, always-on, multiplayer-as-a-service to an RPG franchise that has mostly appealed to solo players. You might imagine it would be about selling cosmetics, a subscription, or a battle pass, or maybe you would think it was about nabbing appealing engagement numbers.

But it’s clear from playing it today that Neverwinter Nights wasn’t primarily made for those reasons. Instead, it came from a passion for tabletop role-playing and a desire to get closer to that in video game form than ever before.

Yes, the BioWare team noted in some interviews that they saw this as a trial run for exploring the idea of making a massively multiplayer game (MMO)—something that, in the year 2000, was seen by many as the hot new business opportunity in gaming, and which was in many ways the precursor to the games-as-a-service we see today. They then indicated they realized that an MMO was harder to make than they had assumed and abandoned that ambition well before Neverwinter Nights shipped.

top 7 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 13 points 1 hour ago

If you're into D&D, pick up NWN:EE during a sale some time and try out the persistent worlds that have been human-made, with love, care, and lots of custom cool scripting for decades now.

I DM'd a campaign for four years on NWN until I got burnt out, and it's low key one of the coolest D&D experiences one can find on the web. Every persistent world is different, so try a few and see if there's one that fits your tastes as a player.

[-] jtrek@startrek.website 3 points 1 hour ago

I recently reinstalled nwn enhanced to see if I would enjoy it so many years later. The answer is no. DND 3rd is a bad system and nwn is slow and clunky. So much time is spent just watching animations. No tactical decisions. Just watch animations as it rolls dice.

It doesn't help that the original campaign is bad.

Maybe it's better in multiplayer, which admittedly is the main topic here. But the single player was so bad I can't imagine wanting more.

[-] Davel23@fedia.io 2 points 13 minutes ago

Yeah, the original campaign is pretty weak, but both Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark are good, epecially the latter.

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

The single player is bad and hasn't aged well, but the persistent worlds are 100% a different and massively (no pun intended) improved experience.

That's especially true if you're doing a scheduled campaign run by a human. When I was running my campaign, the players' actions could actually have a permanent effect on the game world, and if they discovered a hidden area, the builders would work with me to construct it and put it in the game permanently.

Multiplayer is a whole different, improved experience.

[-] jtrek@startrek.website 1 points 38 minutes ago

I feel like if I was playing a scheduled game, I'd rather just play a tabletop RPG than be tied down to this game engine. But I guess the scale is different here and that might be interesting.

I did recently start a tabletop game, though with a system I like a thousand times more than DND.

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 points 28 minutes ago

That's okay.

Not everyone feels the way you do, and being able to find a game online is nice.

this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2026
31 points (100.0% liked)

Games

51281 readers
1130 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Dremor@lemmy.world
JonsJava@lemmy.world
Dremor@jlai.lu
PerfectDark@lemmy.world