Character models themselves look like holdovers from the PlayStation 2 era, though they’re extensively customizable and the world itself is full of little surprises. Who needs raids in a fantasy MMO when you can create scenarios like this?Ĭryptic certainly gets the high-fantasy ambiance of Dungeons & Dragons right, at least, but Neverwinter isn’t an overtly pretty game outside of a few breathtaking vistas. For all of the flaws springing from Neverwinter's dogged linearity, its high-priced cash shop, and over-reliance on instances, developer Cryptic gives all of us the tools to create more memorable dungeon experiences than you'll find in its big-budget cousins. And here's the really surprising thing: I was playing a user-created dungeon called Tired of Being the Hero. (I've no idea what I would have dropped.) It was awesome, silly fun you just don’t find in most other MMORPGs, particularly not free-to-play ones. Like Michael Douglas in Falling Down, I'd somehow become the bad guy – the boss even – prompting five-man groups of adventurers to rush in and try to take me down. I'd grown sick of the tank's inability to hold aggro and the mage's smartass commentary, and so I slew them and took their loot.

And suddenly it hit me: I couldn't stand these people.

I discovered my favorite quest in Neverwinter about 30 levels in, when I stood overlooking a fiery pit with my dungeon group scattered around me.

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