With the first Neverwinter beta weekend behind us, we take a look back at our experiences in the Forgotten Realms and review the answers to questions we had before we played. Of course, with every answer came three new questions. See what we came up with before adding your thoughts in the comments.

For good or ill, many of the Neverwinter community’s biggest pre-beta questions were answered. We know, for instance, that the game will ‘ship’ with only five classes: The Greatsword Fighter, the Guardian Fighter, the Dedicated Cleric, the Trickster Rogue and the Control Wizard. Of course, each class will feature both male and female versions so, at least on one level, this seems to be a decent number of classes....that is, until you get a look at the Forgotten Realms Wiki and you see how many more classes there are and how widely varied they can be. What about the Avenger, Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Invoker, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Shaman, Sorcerer, Swordmage, Warden, Warlock and Warlord. Each of those would also potentially have specialized subclasses as well.

Read more of Suzie Ford's Neverwinter: Off to a Good Start.

 Fair preview, though in parts it seemed a little "attacking" and biased, it is beta still. Comical you started this with a pros and cons line, then stuck to the cons.....is there a pros article coming later?  Companions can certainly use some work, alot of it. I haven't scourged the forums, but I didn't even know about alot of "stability" issues, I take it I was lucky for I didn't have a single disconnect or crash, there was a patched memory leak on saturday. I played a rogue to level 21 and cleric/warrior to levels 4 and 5 just to see how their combat felt.

I hope all the other classes do make it in the game, but fully expected very few classes at launch. You got to have something to buy in a F2P game, after all.

Originally posted by Abcynth
I personally cannot wait for this game!  I logged many hours in Neverwinter NIghts and all the expansions and it was the most fun I ever had playing single player and with others!  I really hope this succeeds, I can see myself getting lost in this game as well.

Don't get your hopes too high.  A lot of negative words are being thrown around the Neverwinter forums.  Most of what I have read amounts to this game not being anything like the NWN series.  From what I have seen in one official video, it looks more like a simplistic action-fighting game, similar to the Fable series.  If you're looking for the depth of DnD, you will probably be disappointed by this game.

Originally posted by SBFord
The pros pretty much were a feature of my Friday Preview though, in fairness, in today's article, I mentioned how great combat was, how much I liked companions, how much more expansive the world actually is than I initially thought and that the potential for a great game is there if, over time, Cryptic pays attention.

I will read up on it, thanks. I certainly agree if over time Cryptic pays attention, this could be an excellent game. I'm sad that i didn't spend more time just exploring the areas, the environment is very lively..........I was hoping in your pros I would have found the things I should have been looking for, I will read up on your Friday Preview.

I sure hope they let us toy with the foundry on the next weekend!

I had a nice Weekend, did not suffered from DC's, could play straight through. Havin active Blocking back in a Game feels just good. Overall Impression for their "First Beta Weekend" after switching from Alpha to Beta was very good. I have seen some Games which where just worse.

But there are also some downers tbh. Exp is going to fast, Dungeons are to easy by far, no challenge there. Sidekick/Tutor System was not in place and it seems that the "Dungeon Scaling to your/Grp LvL" is not Working at all. Not being able to enter a Dungen cause being some lvl's above is just not good. Also not be able to join a Guildmate because being to "high lvl" is a blocker.

But overall, i cant see things which can not be improved by the comming weeks, so looking forward to see Crafting System and so forth. It was great fun. Keep on good Work Cryptic.

Apparently I'm old. D&D doesn't have lots of classes. As of Greyhawk it had 4 main classes plus one specialty class which should only show up once in a blue moon. Other specialty classes showed up over time, but were still rare.

I realize later editions of the game added more classes and made them 'easier' to get, but these editions of the game messed so much with the core mechanics and base simplicity of the game, that they really ceased to be the same game.

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

Originally posted by Skuall

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

You just can't have too many skill options in an action game as most people would not be able to handle it.  Having to respond correctly to a situation or die instantly makes it harsh on having multiple choice combat.

Originally posted by Skuall

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

2 at-will attacks, 3 encounter skills, 2 daily skills, one "special" skill (tab button by default), 3 consumable item keys. You can also switch out the at-wills, encounter and daily skills if you're at a campfire. I may only have gotten to level 14 or so but having so few usable skills at any one time didn't bore me.

Originally posted by Skuall

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

If you do not need 20 skills to be successful.. why do you want 20 skills?

Mechanics are relative to the game you are playing. It takes 20 skills to kill things in one game.. it takes 10 skills in another to kill things.. the result is the same; dead stuff and the rewards. If it works with less skills and is still fun then it makes no difference.

Originally posted by Kaerigan

Originally posted by Skuall

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

2 at-will attacks, 3 encounter skills, 2 daily skills, one "special" skill (tab button by default), 3 consumable item keys. You can also switch out the at-wills, encounter and daily skills if you're at a campfire. I may only have gotten to level 14 or so but having so few usable skills at any one time didn't bore me.

 Also the 'special' skill changes all the base skills for at least the rogue and the cleric (didn't get around to trying guardian). In stealth all the rogue skills either have additional effects or they become different skills, same with the cleric stance.

The skills are enough given the pace of the combat, and the encounter / daily skill choices add enough variety / choice to combat.

Regarding the companions, I would like them beefed up a little, but make them take up a party slot (ie: undesirable in group situations).

Originally posted by evilastro

Originally posted by Kaerigan

Originally posted by Skuall

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

2 at-will attacks, 3 encounter skills, 2 daily skills, one "special" skill (tab button by default), 3 consumable item keys. You can also switch out the at-wills, encounter and daily skills if you're at a campfire. I may only have gotten to level 14 or so but having so few usable skills at any one time didn't bore me.

 Also the 'special' skill changes all the base skills for at least the rogue and the cleric (didn't get around to trying guardian). In stealth all the rogue skills either have additional effects or they become different skills, same with the cleric stance.

Oh, right. Forgot about that. The guardian fighter one does not change things around that much, it's kind of a taunt. It places a DoT on a foe which continues ticking until your foe attacks you.

Originally posted by Vorthanion

Originally posted by Skuall

3 skills + 2 mouse attacks +1 daily skill  :(

You just can't have too many skill options in an action game as most people would not be able to handle it.  Having to respond correctly to a situation or die instantly makes it harsh on having multiple choice combat.

This is completely untrue.  Look at Fighting Games.  You have roughly 20 or so different "moves" per character and it's definitely in the action game category.  An Elementalist in GW2 is another example where you have 20+ different abilities available to you during combat.

Still, I don't think the number of skills in a game has much to do with fun factor.  I've played games where essentially you only have LMB and RMB attacks and maybe 1 or 2 other abilities on top of that and it was just as fun as games with over 40 (WoW for example overwhelms you with situationally useful skills that usually sit on your hotbar used for long periods of time).  Also, Neverwinter has much more skills than this.  For example Guardian Fighter has:

• 2 At Will Attacks
• 3 Encounter Skills
• 1 Daily Skill
• Block (Shift)
• Tab to Mark Target
• LMB attack (Cleave)
• RMB attack (Shield Bash)
• Shift + LMB (Stab while Shield is up)

Originally posted by syntax42

Originally posted by Abcynth
I personally cannot wait for this game!  I logged many hours in Neverwinter NIghts and all the expansions and it was the most fun I ever had playing single player and with others!  I really hope this succeeds, I can see myself getting lost in this game as well.

Don't get your hopes too high.  A lot of negative words are being thrown around the Neverwinter forums.  Most of what I have read amounts to this game not being anything like the NWN series.  From what I have seen in one official video, it looks more like a simplistic action-fighting game, similar to the Fable series.  If you're looking for the depth of DnD, you will probably be disappointed by this game.

D&D used to be simple until 2nd and 3rd editions.  The convolutions and complexity of those editions didn't make D&D deep.  D&D was never a deep game.  It was simple fun with role-playing.

NWN doesn't define D&D. Hell, it doesn't even mirror 3/3.5 ed.  It's just another interpretation.

If you're looking for 3.5 D&D then you will probably be disappointed.  Hopefully that crap train has left the station never to return.