One of the challenges faced in MMO Development today is finding new ways to spice up the journey a character takes from the time they first create their character, to the time they reach maximum level, and begin work on “end game” content.

We really wanted to do something which would break up the normal progression path of an MMO, and eventually decided that offering special events at specific times for players to participate in, on top of their normal adventuring activities, could do a lot to alleviate that feeling of always doing the “same thing”.

To that end, we offer several different types of events:

Instanced Events

Instanced Events are queued, instanced content which are only available for a short amount of time. Players can sign up for these events from anywhere within the zone the events are in, and will be teamed up with a group of 4 other players to attempt to conquer the challenge set before them. You may find yourself fighting off hordes of orcs attempting to claim control of a special location in the zone, in a “horde mode” type event. Or, you may find yourself storming the stronghold of a bandit lord. Regardless of what challenge you face, it’s a short break from “the usual” questing in MMOs, and when you’re done, you’ll earn some great loot, and then travel right back to where you were when you entered the event.

Contests

While instanced events are nice, and allow us to change things up in ways we couldn’t necessarily do without an instance, we wanted something that you could do along the normal progression path without needing to load into an instance. Contests allow us to introduce a competitive element to an adventure zone for a short time. Players can choose to participate in the event as it’s happening at a multitude of levels. You can choose to only participate should you happen across an objective, or actively compete throughout the duration of the event. Regardless, you’ll be rewarded according to your participation level, and rank at the end of the contest.

You may find yourself hunting down a pack of Spirit Wolves, subduing bandit spies, or even searching for lost relics in a contest event.

Rewards

Rewards for completing these events are varied and powerful, from special currency which can be used to purchase new gear for your class, to temporary buffs and bonuses which will assist you in your adventures throughout the City of Neverwinter. Some events even feature special, unique enemies which can drop cool and unusual looking weapons and armor pieces. Of course, there is always the prestige of seeing your name at the top of an event’s leaderboard as well.

Finding Events

Having fun and exciting things to do in Neverwinter is only a part of the puzzle. Players also should be able to easily find out what’s happening. To help with that, we’ve made sure that there are several ways you can check to see what events are happening at any given time.

To start, any upcoming events which will be happening in the zone you are currently in can be found in a list attached to your mini-map. These banners also allow you to queue for instanced events, on top of serving as reminders that an event is due to happen soon.

You’ll also be able to find all upcoming events, and when they’ll be running, listed on an in-game calendar. The calendar will be easily accessible on Neverwinter’s in-game landing page, and will let you know the schedule of events not only for the day, but also for the week to come!

We’ve only talked about two of several different planned event types for Neverwinter’s release, and we’ll be able to introduce more events after the game launches, with the goal of always providing you with something new and exciting to do while you’re playing Neverwinter.

Please make sure to let us know what you think of Neverwinter’s Events system in the forums, and of course, make sure to let us know what kind of events you’d like to see in Neverwinter as well!