Neverwinter Nights is really not a computer game in the traditional sense.  It's more of an electronic version of the pen and paper role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.  If you are an avid D&D player who can't get your group together at your own house, you now have the internet to do it.  While this is fine for pen and paper D&D groupies, the rest of us are left out in the cold.
Basically, Neverwinter Nights is set up in the hopes that a community will help it grow.  The game comes with a sample campaign to play but it also comes with a complete editor that lets anyone design their own D&D adventures.  Either with the official campaign included in box or some of the community made mods (there are already 500+ available online), you can play Neverwinter Nights by yourself or online with a group of players.  To further enhance the pen and paper D&D experience, there is even a dungeon master client in the game.  If you don't know what a dungeon master is I can already tell you you're purchasing the wrong game.  Basically, a DM watches over the mod and controls the adventure to hopefully provide a better game for the players.  Sort of like an invisible referee.
This all sounds great when reading it on the back of the box but I'm not sure it really works.  For one thing, while the editor has a lot of capabilities, every map has that same square-look to it to fit in the D&D grid system.  Nothing looks natural and after playing a few mods you've seen everything the game has to offer and it all starts to repeat itself.  Also, for a game that relies on the community to invent new adventures, the editor is more difficult than it should be.  If you don't know programming basics, you're going to have a difficult time with the editor as every simple action has to be scripted which is basically simple C+ programming.  To accomodate this new system and catch up with its competitors, Neverwinter Nights also has a new 3-D system that reminds me of hack and slash games like Diablo more than the company's previous classic release Baldur's Gate I and II.  In fact, the official campaign included in the game is NOTHING compared to the Baldur's Gate games and I would recommend that you not buy this game if the official campaign is the only thing you will play.  The included campaign is boring, linear and not that creative, it's more of a sample for the editor rather than an epic adventure.
If you plan on only playing online, be careful if you only have a 56K modem.  You'll never be able to host more than 3 players on your computer without lag.  Also, you'll have a difficult time joining the large servers with 20+ players if your connection is slow.  Neverwinter Nights comes with an ingame browser that divides online games by category.  You can join the action channel, the roleplaying channel, etc.  Most of these games are called persistent worlds and are basically smaller versions of Everquest. While they can be for awhile because of their small size and limited equipment, quests, etc., they never provide much fun.  The best way to play the game is to get together with a group of friends and meet on a weekly basis just like you would the pen and paper D&D.  While you can find people to play with through online fan sites, you'll have a much better time with this game if you already know people that own it and are willing to play the same mod with you at scheduled times.
After trying this game for a month, frankly, I feel cheated.  I bought the game because it promised gamers that even if they didn't want to play online or use the editor they could play the official campaign included in the game by themselves and have just as much fun as they did with the company's other epic releases Baldur's Gate I and II.  That's a misleading claim because the new mechanics of Neverwinter Nights and the boring campaign included are pitiful attempts to live up to the company's previous PC D&D games.  This game is really only for people that want to enjoy an electronic pen and paper version of D&D, the rest of us should move on to Icewind Dale II or Morrowind or hope that another company manages to design a great singleplayer RPG as fantastic as the Baldur's Gate series.
Neverwinter Nights is really not a computer game in the traditional sense. It's more of an electronic version of the pen and paper role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. If you are an avid D&D player who can't get your group together at your own house, you now have the internet to do it. While this is fine for pen and paper D&D groupies, the rest of us are left out in the cold. Basically, Neverwinter Nights is set up in the hopes that a community will help it grow. The game comes with a sample campaign to play but it also comes with a complete editor that lets anyone design their own D&D adventures. Either with the official campaign included in box or some of the community made mods (there are already 500+ available online), you can play Neverwinter Nights by yourself or online with a group of players. To further enhance the pen and paper D&D experience, there is even a dungeon master client in the game. If you don't know what a dungeon master is I can already tell you you're purchasing the wrong game. Basically, a DM watches over the mod and controls the adventure to hopefully provide a better game for the players. Sort of like an invisible referee. This all sounds great when reading it on the back of the box but I'm not sure it really works. For one thing, while the editor has a lot of capabilities, every map has that same square-look to it to fit in the D&D grid system. Nothing looks natural and after playing a few mods you've seen everything the game has to offer and it all starts to repeat itself. Also, for a game that relies on the community to invent new adventures, the editor is more difficult than it should be. If you don't know programming basics, you're going to have a difficult time with the editor as every simple action has to be scripted which is basically simple C+ programming. To accomodate this new system and catch up with its competitors, Neverwinter Nights also has a new 3-D system that reminds me of hack and slash games like Diablo more than the company's previous classic release Baldur's Gate I and II. In fact, the official campaign included in the game is NOTHING compared to the Baldur's Gate games and I would recommend that you not buy this game if the official campaign is the only thing you will play. The included campaign is boring, linear and not that creative, it's more of a sample for the editor rather than an epic adventure. If you plan on only playing online, be careful if you only have a 56K modem. You'll never be able to host more than 3 players on your computer without lag. Also, you'll have a difficult time joining the large servers with 20+ players if your connection is slow. Neverwinter Nights comes with an ingame browser that divides online games by category. You can join the action channel, the roleplaying channel, etc. Most of these games are called persistent worlds and are basically smaller versions of Everquest. While they can be for awhile because of their small size and limited equipment, quests, etc. , they never provide much fun. The best way to play the game is to get together with a group of friends and meet on a weekly basis just like you would the pen and paper D&D. While you can find people to play with through online fan sites, you'll have a much better time with this game if you already know people that own it and are willing to play the same mod with you at scheduled times. After trying this game for a month, frankly, I feel cheated. I bought the game because it promised gamers that even if they didn't want to play online or use the editor they could play the official campaign included in the game by themselves and have just as much fun as they did with the company's other epic releases Baldur's Gate I and II. That's a misleading claim because the new mechanics of Neverwinter Nights and the boring campaign included are pitiful attempts to live up to the company's previous PC D&D games. This game is really only for people that want to enjoy an electronic pen and paper version of D&D, the rest of us should move on to Icewind Dale II or Morrowind or hope that another company manages to design a great singleplayer RPG as fantastic as the Baldur's Gate series.