Rock, Paper, Shotgun

This is a depressing year to be on the internet. And a doubly-depressing one to be a newswriter on the internet. The latest (but, let’s not bloody kid ourselves, not last) game company to suffer the peculiar ire/amusement of hackers is Bioware. Fortunately, only a very specific bit of Bioware, so don’t panic too much: their 10-year-old Neverwinter Nights forum. It actually happened a little earlier this month, but now Bioware are alerting everyone affected and opening up about exactly what details were compromised. You may have thought, following the initial talk of this hack, that it was no big deal for you, but if you used to play NwN you might well have left passwords, email addresses, phone numbers or CD keys in the information these imps have made off with. Credit card details are apparently safe, however. Full Bioware statement below.
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In the realm of rumour right now, but Variety are reporting that sources have told them that the now Atari-owned Crytic are working on a Neverwinter Nights MMO for a 2011 release. In fact – I quote – “this reportedly was the primary reason Atari was interested in acquiring Cryptic late last year”. This would make three MMOs currently in development at Cryptic, which is quite the workload. This doesn’t actually surprise me that much, as last year when interviewing Jack Emmert about Champions, he talked about how it’s totally possible to make an MMO in 2 years – just not from scratch. He talks about lessons learned and knowledge, but here’s an interesting quote: “Here’s a business tip. Don’t keep building new engines. Take an engine, and improve it. Make three, four, five games out of it before you need to reboot. That’s a business thing”. More as it emerges, but it’s an interesting one to speculate on. NWN was never just a D&D RPG – level creation and virtual DMing was very much part of it. If they’re developing it, surely Cryptic will have to push this angle?

A long time ago, I used to work with a chap called Tim Fletcher (aka Dungard) on a Deus Ex mod called the Cassandra Project. We finished what was basically a demo and then died. Tim went off to do a Phd in games-related stuff and work on a Neverwinter Nights mod called Maugeter. He released the demo in (eek) 2002. I played it, and it was a smart, literate-leaning chatty slice of RPGing with a natty line in interactive dream sequences. Clearly, much like Cassandra, I never expected the full 10-30 hour mod to be completed – being text heavy, it’s a ridiculous undertaking. As time goes by, I became more certain, when I thought about it. Which wasn’t often.

I was totally wrong. I’ve yet to play it, but – as an old comrade in arms – I have to give him a round of applause. Fucking hell. Well done, Tim.

Yes, fantasy RPG sequels are inbound. It’s pretty much a dead cert that Bioware won’t be involved, as they’re busy being owned by EA these days, and Atari seem to have clung on the Dungeons & Dragons license without ‘em. Infogrames-in-disguise are definitely planning to revisit these two seminal roleplaying names however, though a developer’s not been announced. Neither has a release date. Maybe not next year, according to Atari’s Phil Harrison, but soon, and for the rest of your life. Or at least as long as Wizards of the Coast keep on letting ‘em make D&D games, anyway.
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