I am very proud to bring to you all an interview with Trent Oster, the Producer for Bioware's Neverwinter Nights (NWN). This game is curently in development and is expected out sometime around 1st quarter 2001. It is a role playing game that attempts to take the classic, but newly updated, Dungeons & Dragons and bring it to life over the internet. Unlike many other online RPGs, Bioware plans not to be hosting servers but to allow anyone who wants to, to create there own D&D world by using a "wizard-tool" and run a campaign. Trent was gracious enough to give me a few moments of his time and answer a few questions.

TSNOI: When did the concept for Neverwinter Nights originate? How quickly did it take off?

TRENT: The concept for Neverwinter Nights was born sometime during the development of Baldur's Gate. Like everyone else at the time, we were tossing around ideas about doing a massively multiplayer online game. Our discussions kept on coming back to issues of story and of meaningful interaction between the players, though, and it quickly became apparent that the game we really wanted to create would focus on small-group play and infinite, story-based replayability. From there, it didn't take us long to realize that we were simply reinventing the wheel - pen and paper D&D has been doing precisely that for years. We haven't looked back since.

TSNOI: Were the multiplayer and solstice toolset features in the original plan or did they evolve along the way?

TRENT: As soon as we figured out that we wanted to design a game for small groups, the need for the Solstice Toolset became pretty clear. D&D isn't about the sourcebooks, it's about being able to tell your own story and create your own meaning. Five years from now, people won't be playing through the campaign that ships with the game, but they will be playing each other's. NWN is something we've each been dreaming of, in our own way, for a long, long time now.

TSNOI: Where is the project at now?

TRENT: We are starting to sink our teeth into final game content now. The major game systems are falling into place, with all the support code completed. We are also doing a re-work of the graphics engine (to make it look even better and run even faster than it does now) and updating the art creation tools. The concept artists are busy defining the look of the world and characters for the modelers and texture artists to work on. Design-wise, the plot's been fleshed out and the individual modules have all been defined and are now being broken down into individual implementation plans. In other words, we've got a lot of work ahead of us but everything is progressing according to schedule.

TSNOI: Are you surprised by the response from the fans for a game so far away from being launched?

TRENT: Yes, the fan response has been great. We anticipated a strong following, but the fans are surprising us with the level of their enthusiasm. I think there are already 25+ fan sites out there already, and it's only been six months since our announcement at GenCon. Honestly, that announcement was one of the best moments in my life. When we first started talking about the game, there was this eerie silence. As we started laying out our vision for NWN, however, you could tell that the audience was getting excited. There was even this big wave of applause when it was all over. I was pretty overwhelmed.

TSNOI: How much time can you actually spend at the NWN boards? It would seem like a full time job if someone were trying to read every post that came in.

TRENT: A rule of thumb for me is to cruise the boards for at least half and hour every day. If I find some interesting threads I'll hang around longer. I try to read every post, but I'm quite sure I miss a few. The rest of the team visit the boards whenever they can and you can see from the posts that Rob and Marc spend a good deal of time there. The first priority for all of us is getting the game done, though. When crunch time hits, we probably won't be up for air near as often.

TSNOI: How much of the information that you encounter on the board is useful at this stage of development?

TRENT: All the ideas on the board are valuable. Every post shows us a little more of what the people who will play this game are looking for. Sometimes, for instance, someone will take a recently announced game feature and suggest an entirely new way to make use of it. That's what's so exciting about working on NWN - we're constantly being surprised by the talent and innovation of our fan base. So yes, the message boards are extremely useful and, while we can't reply to every question or suggestion, each one of them gets read and taken seriously.

TSNOI: What do you think is the biggest misconception among fans about the project?

TRENT: I think the fans don't have too many misconceptions. There's a bit of a learning curve but everyone who is interested in the game usually takes the time to lurk on the boards awhile, read the FAQ, and generally get a solid understanding of what we are trying to do. To be honest, it's the general gaming public that tends to misunderstand the project the most - there's an understandable tendency to treat NWN either as a traditional RPG or as a persistent, centralized, massively multiplayer world. These are the two dominant paradigms in the industry and, in the short time that people spend reading about the project, it's often difficult to convince them that we represent a third. Things are getting much better, however, and, as the public become more familiar with us and with our vision, they get a better understanding of what Neverwinter is all about. I think the toughest part of communicating the concept is over now.

TSNOI: Drawing a line as to what will be in the game and what won't be has got to be hard. What criteria do you use when these tough decisions have to made?

TRENT: We find ourselves always going back to our original vision of a story-based multiplayer game. If the proposed addition or revision threatens that vision, then we drop it. After that, we look to the pen and paper game as a working model of what we're trying to achieve. How does D&D approach the issue and is that approach transferable or relevant to the computer? Ultimately, however, the really tough decisions will always come down to a cost/benefit analysis in terms of person-hours of work. How important is the proposed feature compared to how much time will be taken in implementing it? If we can add a major feature in just a few weeks of work, we'll do it. If it will take a few months or the actual benefit to gameplay seems questionable, we have to examine it much more closely.

TSNOI: Was there anything that you had really wanted to get into the game that you ultimately had to cut out for one reason or another?

TRENT: Climbing walls, hands down. I loved the idea of thieves climbing walls and entering houses through second story windows. I fought hard to keep that in, we all did, but ultimately we had to kill it due to pathfinding and AI considerations.

TSNOI: NWN has a lot of potential in various multiplayer settings, but which style of server do you think will best showcase NWN?

TRENT: Like pen and paper D&D, we feel the best NWN experiences are going to be extended, user-made campaigns played with a small group of friends under the direction of a live DM. The reasons for this have a lot more to do with gameplay and player involvement than they do with framerates and network architecture, though. The best way to showcase NWN is to showcase the people who play it. Build a story not only *for* them but also *about,* *around,* and *with* them. As the DM, make your world respond to your players in all their complexity, let nothing pull them out of the reality that they have made their own. This is without a doubt going to be the best way to play Neverwinter. All the other modes will be a ton of fun, but the pen and paper gameplay model will be amazing.

TSNOI: For people who are planning to use the wizard to create a world, how unique will they be able to make it? Will there be a random generator (such as random shops within a town) or will it be basically a template with the user choosing certain element ?

TRENT: World creation will be very simple. Every building template will come with generic inhabitants, should you want to make use of them. Our script library will not only include every script in the official NWN campaign but also a full complement of generic behavioral, combat, and plot scripts. All you will have to do is change the occasional value (rescue 'Biff the Barman' from the 'Drunk Gladiator' rather than the 'Fair Maiden' from the 'Evil Dragon,' for instance). Beyond what we provide, there will no doubt be plenty of user-made scripts, areas, characters, plots, etc. on the internet within a week of our release. In other words, people that don't feel comfortable with the scripting language will still be able to put their own twist on their modules. Those that have a better understanding of the language will be able to go even further.

With regards to area creation, we'd like to implement some form of random area generator. It's not a very high priority feature right now, however, so it may not make it into the initial release. We'll have to see.

TSNOI: How much contact have you had with WotC's 3e people? Have you had to deal with constant changes in the core rules or were they pretty much all finished by the time the project started?

TRENT: We have had a good deal of interaction with the core 3rd Edition designers and the various brand managers. A group of them came down for a grueling all-day rules meeting a while back and it was a great experience. The people heading up the 3e design team are very talented and a joy to work with. As for the state of the rules, I'm afraid that's one of those taboo topics I probably shouldn't talk about. Sorry.

TSNOI: I know 3e is all hush-hush so I won't ask you to break any confidentiality agreements, but since you've had a good look at the new system, I'm curious what your initial reaction is.

TRENT: I love it. I was a player of the original D&D basic set and then the expert set. 3rd Edition D&D is the heart and soul of what the original system was all about.

TSNOI: One question that always comes up in gaming circles is why can't anyone develop an original concept? Recently a rather anticipated MMORPG was "rethought" largely because many of their ideas weren't in line with current best selling games. Is it a matter of the "suits" not wanting to take chances, or is there other elements that prevents the producing a game which has too many new concepts from being feasible?

TRENT: Part of the issue is undoubtedly financial, with a MMORPG costing a very tidy sum to develop. Other issues come from the nature of game development - unless you have an unlimited timeline you can only research a few new ideas. Too many concepts *can* sink a game, regardless of the 'suits.' With NWN, we've chosen to innovate in a few key areas but the bulk of what's going on is still familiar territory both to our future players and to us as developers. There have been cooperative multiplayer games before, for instance, but few with our emphasis on story. There have been game editors before but few designed to build RPGs. There have been games with a DM client before but few that have been accessible to the public or that have had the intimacy of our small group focus. And behind it all is the proven pen and paper tradition, which has stood the test of time and remains popular today. Personally, I don't think innovation can flourish in a vacuum. Like any art or science, it has to grow out of what has come before it.

TSNOI: I must say I'm impressed with Bioware and what they've done with the D&D license. If you were inclined to give advice to one of your competitors, what would you tell them to emulate from your company?

TRENT: Thanks! Here at BioWare, we view licenses as extremely valuable properties. With "Baldur's Gate" we worked as hard as we could to implement every rule to the letter and we are working just as hard with NWN. If I had to give advice to any company working on a licensed property, it would be this: A license is not a marketing tool, it is a familiar environment to the fans. If you change the system radically, you have broken that familiarity and probably lost the interest and loyalty of the fans who could have been your best supporters.

In conclusion I'd like to say thanks to Dan [Tsnoi] for the great questions. I love talking about NWN and wish I had time to answer more interviews, but our largest priority is getting this game finished as soon as possible.

Hope to see everyone on the message boards,

TSNOI: And thank you Trent, it was a pleasure to interview you.

If you want to find out more about NWN you can go to their official site. You can of course look here also, I have links to their main site at my LINKS page and to their message boards on the header of my message board. I encourage everyone to check it out.

All stories contained here are works of fiction. Besides coincidental, any relationship to actual places, people, and events has my sympathy. (After all being an egotistical, practical joking, magic weilding, know-it-all gnome must be hard.) Tsnoi, other characters, and all distinct likenesses thereof are trademarks of Dan Carreker. Tsnoi's Taunts and all articles, lists, and other text attributed to the author at this site is © 1998,1999 Dan C. Carreker. ALl rights reserved. Any reproduction or unlawful use of the material or artwork contained at this site (Tsnoi's Taunt) is prohibited without express written permission of Dan C. Carreker. See Tsnoi's FAQs for more information in obtaining written permission to reproduce information from this site.