Neverwinter Goes Live, First Expansion Already In The Works

It’s time to get your D&D on, “Neverwinter” style. The free-to-play MMORPG from Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment has completed its journey from beta to official launch as of June 20, throwing open the virtual gates to the newest version of one of the most well known Dungeons & Dragons locales ever created.

To prove they aren’t messing around, the developers have already unveiled the name of the game’s first expansion, Fury of the Feywild. Along with the new zone Sharandar – complete with a dungeon, new instances and lore – the expansion will introduce additional gear, races (think elves) and professions. Look for it sometime this summer.

Except for the seriously obsessed and the power levelers out there, players shouldn’t find themselves lacking for things to do in “Neverwinter” in the meantime. Beta participants will be pleased to know that the launch has brought with it the Alchemy profession, allowing the crafting of potions. There’s also a new end-game event called Gauntlgrym designed for two teams of 20 players and granting the winners of PvP and PvE competitions the chance to raid an exclusive dungeon filled with some very nice loot.

For anyone who hasn’t already checked out “Neverwinter,” it’s worth a look for its action-oriented combat as well as its Forgotten Realms setting. The character classes are familiar yet different enough to be interesting, and The Foundry raises all kinds of possibilities for extra adventures or even complete campaigns created by other players. It’s not the first user-generated content system in an MMO, but it’s shaping up to be the most ambitious one to date.

Plus it’s free. You can’t ask for a better price than that for some multiplayer D&D goodness.