Cryptic Undecided On Neverwinter's Payment Model

[Tom Goldman]

Cryptic Undecided On Neverwinter's Payment Model

Cryptic Studios' upcoming Neverwinter won't be an MMORPG, but it will probably still require a unique payment model.

Atari and Cryptic Studios announced Neverwinter [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102961-Atari-and-Cryptic-Head-Back-to-Neverwinter] this week, a Dungeons & Dragons licensed game rumored to be an MMOG before its announcement, but revealed as an online co-op game instead. Despite the change, Cryptic says the game isn't planned as the type of product it can put a retail price on and forget about.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Cryptic co-founder Jack Emmert compares Neverwinter's mechanics to huge amount [http://www.amazon.com/Borderlands-Pc/dp/B000WQ1XIA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1283017388&sr=8-3] of resources.

Emmert still plans for Neverwinter to constantly grow as Cryptic adds to the experience, and may offer a microtransaction or subscription model to support its expansion. Emmert says Cryptic hasn't announced a final business model for Neverwinter yet, but when asked if he was going to "slap a price on the box and forget about it" he replied: "No." Emmert indicates his resistance to a subscription model, as he believes it's "extremely demanding" because "gamers are very picky, and they should be.

"We envision this as an online product that will continue to grow over time, that we continue to add content to," Emmert revealed. "So whether it's subscription fee, whether it's free-to-play, whether it's microtransactions, whether it's pay-by-the-minute [laughs], whether it's some sort of Ponzi scheme that I haven't figured out, I don't know. None of that has been announced."

RPG fans looking forward to Neverwinter might see a regular payment model as a negative, but it really isn't. This only means that Cryptic plans to make Neverwinter a game that will continue to provide content to players, and it can't work for free. Emmert says Neverwinter is a "new direction" for Cryptic, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it comes up with. We'll find out more as the game gets closer to its 2011 release on the PC.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6041/not_so_cryptic_neverwinter_and_a_.php]

Permalink

 

[Korten12]

I hope they just make it, you buy the game and then its free.

 

[Hammer_Wizard]

You know, I think they have Bill Roper on staff (it may have changed, I dunno) but old bill was apart of another game where the payment methodology was undecided. Hellgate: London, anyone? Pick a payment model and make sure everyone knows it early. They should stop faffing about and decide already.

 

[oranger]

At the moment a subscription based neverwinter nights would be competing with the various other DnD based games, not to mention DnD itself.
Why pay a fee to play this when you could pay for something else that has been doing it for longer? And microtransactions for nwn?! THAT won't be abused, noooo.
Horse armor.

 

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

The strength of the NWN games have been the community that builds adventures for them all for free. I mean we've had persistent player run worlds for free. Hundreds of mods that add anything from classes to monsters to items to fully fledged campaigns that equal or outdo the ones it is shipped with. Why can't they just craft an extremely well made single player campaign instead of going this pseudo MMO crap?

 

[More Fun To Compute]

How about they put it on a box in game shops which you can then play without logging onto the internet. No creating ten linked user accounts. No tech support department that is halfway between the Stazi and McDonalds. No monthly payments. No paywalls in the middle of the game. No charging extra for digital "items" that are literally worthless and are only in the game because 1% of people are stupid enough to buy them.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Cryptic butchered Star Trek with Star Trek Online and they are microtransaction crazy so I am disappointed they have anything to do with a Neverwinter Nights game since they've always been a favorite of mine.

 

[adrakonis]

I don't see why it should be a subscription model. There is another way to add content and make you pay for it. It's called an expansion pack. I don't like the idea of a subscription based single player RPG.

 

[Naheal]

At the moment a subscription based neverwinter nights would be competing with the various other DnD based games, not to mention DnD itself.
Why pay a fee to play this when you could pay for something else that has been doing it for longer? And microtransactions for nwn?! THAT won't be abused, noooo.
Horse armor.

And it would lose to DnD itself. Sorry, but you can take DnD and make it digital, but you miss ~75% of a campaign when you're not with an actual group.

 

[oranger]

At the moment a subscription based neverwinter nights would be competing with the various other DnD based games, not to mention DnD itself.
Why pay a fee to play this when you could pay for something else that has been doing it for longer? And microtransactions for nwn?! THAT won't be abused, noooo.
Horse armor.

And it would lose to DnD itself. Sorry, but you can take DnD and make it digital, but you miss ~75% of a campaign when you're not with an actual group.

Absolutely, nwn didn't really come alive till I played it online, with some of the cleverer DM mods.

edit: by that I meant in a more traditional DnD setting/style, online with nwn.

double edit: Has anyone ever noticed how irritating it is to dual wield two katanas in nwn? I can do it effectively in RL, with low str/dex stats, why can't my nwn character do it? is it a balance thing?
I can't see 2 1d8 weapons doing an extreme amount of damage, especially later on in the game when your basically going up against a horde of golems, liches and other supposedly rare monsters.

 

[Jandau]

For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, every time I hear about this game, I like it less and less. I generally dislike games focused on co-op, since they tend to be weaker for single players, I dislike the whole "can't make up our minds if it's an MMO or something else" thing, now the talk about payment models, small self-contained quests instead of a large epic story... It all just rubs me the wrong way somehow. I'm all for fantasy RPGs and I'd love to see 4th ed DnD in action, but somehow I've got a bad feeling about this game...

 

[ayanematrix]

Honestly, the best route for them would be to go the way of Guild Wars 1/2 - box the final and well TESTED game, charge nothing for it, make sure all of the player created content is part of a good voting and delivery system, then charge NOMINAL fees for developer created story content like Bioware did for Neverwinter Nights. Think about it, it worked out for Bioware for years and there should be no reason for them to divert from that sort of setup, online or not!

 

[Bobzer77]

Cryptic please do the gaming world a favour and let someone else develop this.

 

[obisean]

Cryptic should just change it's name to "Cashing in on MMO's". Seriously, have they ever made a non-MMO? Seems like they will do just about anything to charge you a sub.

 

[JaredXE]

"In an interview with Gamasutra, Cryptic co-founder Jack Emmert compares Neverwinter's mechanics to Borderlands, which made co-op an easy experience..."


I'm sorry, which Borderlands was he playing? The one that fucked PC gamers over?

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Cryptic countinues to miss the point. Sigh.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

"In an interview with Gamasutra, Cryptic co-founder Jack Emmert compares Neverwinter's mechanics to Borderlands, which made co-op an easy experience..."


I'm sorry, which Borderlands was he playing? The one that fucked PC gamers over?

Can you explain how it....err, "fucked" PC gamers over? I am not saying you are wrong, I am just curious beacuse I didn't play Borderlands.

Anyway, the more I hear about this game, the more I think it is an MMO in everything but name. Notice how he didn't even mention a retail release with payable DLC, a model which would fit the kind of game they are describing the best, as a possibility. It clearly shows that they are looking into more permanent types of payments....types that are used by MMO's.

Honestly, this almost reeks of damage control; an attempt (albeit a poor one) to call it something other than an MMO in order to not anger long-time fans of the series. It kind of reminds me of the time Blizzard proclaimed StarCraft: Ghost to be "indefinitely postponed" instead of cancelled, even though everyone and their dog realised that nothing is going to come out of the project.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

"In an interview with Gamasutra, Cryptic co-founder Jack Emmert compares Neverwinter's mechanics to Borderlands, which made co-op an easy experience..."


I'm sorry, which Borderlands was he playing? The one that fucked PC gamers over?

Can you explain how it....err, "fucked" PC gamers over? I am not saying you are wrong, I am just curious beacuse I didn't play Borderlands.

Anyway, the more I hear about this game, the more I think it is an MMO in everything but name. Notice how he didn't even mention a retail release with payable DLC, a model which would fit the kind of game they are describing the best, as a possibility. It clearly shows that they are looking into more permanent types of payments....types that are used by MMO's.

Honestly, this almost reeks of damage control; an attempt (albeit a poor one) to call it something other than an MMO in order to not anger long-time fans of the series. It kind of reminds me of the time Blizzard proclaimed StarCraft: Ghost to be "indefinitely postponed" instead of cancelled, even though everyone and their dog realised that nothing is going to come out of the project.

YOU SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH, STARCRAFT GHOST WILL COME OUT ANY DAY NOW, IT'S GONNA..gonna..*sobs and curles up in corner*

Sorry. I still have vietnam flashbacks. WHY NOVA, WHHHYY ;_____;

 

[ravensshade]

"In an interview with Gamasutra, Cryptic co-founder Jack Emmert compares Neverwinter's mechanics to Borderlands, which made co-op an easy experience..."


I'm sorry, which Borderlands was he playing? The one that fucked PC gamers over?

never played pc borderlands but xbox borderlands i saw at a friends house seemed pretty easy

also is that piro in your avatar?

 

[Tydanubus]

Eh, it might be too early to pass judgment on this game, but I think I'll just stick with playing the first Neverwinter Nights.