This is where Neverwinter’s best hope for longevity lies, as the ability to make your
own content – and play and vote on content made by passionate fans – far outstrips
waiting around for official content patches. Alas, Cryptic placed some odd limits on
the Foundry creation process, such as not allowing enemies to drop specific items for
use later on in the dungeon, which ruins the sense of immersion and good
storytelling. Somewhat humorously, it also includes few safeguards against “leveling
dungeons,” which allow you to beat up Neverwinter’s deadliest NPCs and leech off
their XP while they just stand there motionless.
Player-versus-player combat also suffers from some strange deficiencies, as it offers
only two five-versus-five battleground maps and one giant 20-versus-20 battlefield at
launch. Even with the pleasures of the action combat, the variety grows sale long
before the level cap – particularly when you throw in lingering class imbalances. As
for crafting, it’s just not that engaging. You technically don’t even take part in
the actual process; much as in EVE Online (and Star Wars: The Old Republic, for that
matter), you hire specialized workers who run out in get the materials and make armor
or potions over the course of mere minutes or many. The design keeps you in the
action, sure, but few things in Neverwinter hurt so much as reaching the high levels
of the crafting skills and realizing that, unless you have the luck of Neverwinter’s
Tymora, you’ll likely need to spend premium currency in the markets for rare
components.
Which begs the question: what does it cost to play Neverwinter? On one hand, it
doesn’t pressure you to invest money in it for much (if any) of the leveling process;
on the other, the cash shop starts to make its presence known around the endgame. For
me, it was respecs that first sparked some worry. Although you can technically earn
enough cash for respecs by earning premium astral diamonds through daily quests and
the auction house, the going rate is such that you’ll usually end up spending around
six bucks for convenience when you want to respec. Some of the other prices are more
frightening than Neverwinter’s dungeon bosses. Certain companion characters (which
you’ll need if you were foolish enough to choose a non-healing companion for a melee
class) cost $30, and epic mounts will drain around $40 from your bank account. Still
– and here’s the kicker – you can play Neverwinter entirely for free if you have
the patience to grind out premium currency or don’t mind limiting yourself to
severely limited inventory space. Everything else is for convenience.
Neverwinter isn’t a hardcore MMORPG, nor is it likely to compel you to cast aside
your current favorite MMO to devote your full attention to it. But taken in small
doses, it’s a generally fun and free romp through one of fantasy’s most beloved
universes, and the player-generated Foundry missions occasionally yield more
memorable moments than fantasy MMOs with massive budgets.