Lucky Day writes that Neverwinter was "almost ready to ship" when the decision was taken to change into a full MMO. Full story via Strategy Informer.

A little bit unusual, but not unheard of, I think, there's a thread about Skyrim at Justadventure.
In it, Lucien 21 points to a Quick Look:TESV at Giant Bomb which takes about 28 minutes. As far I can see, it covers a few of the areas with some area jumps in between.

In other, but similar news, Niten Ruy from the Obsidian forums points to a Let's Play Skyrim video on youtube made by Costin. This video features about 20 minutes in length and is on master difficulty. It seems this let's play starts at the beginning of the game.

Spoilers abound, so watch at your own risk.

Big Changes to Cryptic's Neverwinter is the title of an article at IGN that explains Perfect World's purchase of Cryptic Studios a while back has resulted in the game changing from co-op focused to a full-blown free-to-play MMO. So, this probably marks the end of our coverage but here's a closing snip on their new direction:

This new home for Cryptic has allowed the developer to continue their MMO-development tradition with Neverwinter. That's right, Neverwinter is shifting from the co-operative multiplayer game that was announced last year and into full-fledged, free-to-play MMO territory. In fact, it's shifting towards the action end of the MMO spectrum. Transferring a Dungeons & Dragons universe into an action setting might sound strange to D&D veterans, but it's been done before with some of the Baldur's Gate games. The 4th Edition of D&D also has some new rules that lend itself well to action games, which is exactly why Neverwinter is using 4th Edition as its ruleset.

I've posted this under the game Neverwinter because this book series from R.A. Salvatore is based on the video game property...Kuki sends word that Neverwinter: Book II is now available.

We have a new contest. This time not for a game, but for a movie: Krabat and the legend of the Satanic Mill. This German original movie is released on the 19th of September 2011 in the United Kingdom (in the English language). For more information on the movie you can visit our overview page and watch a preview on Youtube.

We can give away 3 DVDs and 3 books which have been reprinted as a film tie-in edition by Harpers Collins. You could win one of these prizes by simply adding a comment to this newsbit. The contest will end on Monday the 26th of September at which point 6 people are randomly selected.

Edit: The contest is closed now.

Lucky Day sends us a comprehensive update on Neverwinter.

First, the acquisition of Cryptic by Perfect World has pushed the release date back to 2012. From GameSpot:

Neverwinter was revealed last August with a generic 2011 release date attached. As a result of the Cryptic Studios sale, the game is now set for release in late 2012, with Perfect World "investing in a more immersive experience" for the game.

• The official forums confirm a F2P model.
• Screenshot gallery as of June.
• Executive Producer Shane Hensley is interviewed in the NWN Podcast (and a forum summary of the conversation).

Hooked Gamers has a preview of Neverwinter, although it doesn't offer anything new. A snip on the Foundry toolset:

Not only will creating modules be easier using The Foundry, uploading and sharing them will be as well. A quick button press will upload your mod to Cryptic’s server, which will host all of the game’s content, and finding it will involve simply browsing for it through a built-in search feature. Velasquez promises that when the game launches there will be enough assets available (monster packs, environment packs, exteriors, interiors, etc.) to create a whole bunch of adventures. The developers also plan on supporting the game post-launch with even more tile sets, monster packs and player classes, although there is no word yet on whether these things will be available through free updates or paid DLC. 

Some changes have been made to the DNS settings for RPGWatch, as a result you might encounter some hickups in visiting RPGWatch in the next 48 hours.

Lucky Day sends in a roundup of Neverwinter previews with a focus on the Foundry toolset from around the 'net.

• http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=26674
• http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6318607/e3-2011-neverwinter-preview-first-look-and-tools
• http://www.neowin.net/news/e3-2011-eyes-on-with-neverwinters-editing-tools
• http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110876-E3-Neverwinter
• http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-neverwinter/715881
• http://kotaku.com/5809694/even-the-giant-flesh+hungry-spiders-look-pretty-in-neverwinter/gallery/

Here's a snip from The Escapist article:

On the story tab, you can set missions and associate them with particular NPCs you've placed on the map. Our demo had a guard at the start of the level who asked the players to kill some undead deeper in the crypt. You add dialogue with a simple text editor and can give the player multiple responses that branch off into new conversations. There are also options to limit a player's choices based on different criteria. You might have a particular conversation option that's only available to certain classes, or certain Charisma levels. Through the creation process, a handy wizard will tell you if you have any loose ends or uncompleted elements in your story. Once the conversation is in place, you can assign a task outside of it for the player to accomplish. In this case, it's killing the undead in the rest of the crypt. The mobs of enemies are placed with their own unique states and aggro ranges. What's more interesting is that, like with the Aurora engine, you can simply label a monster spawn along a scale of "easy" to "hard" and the game will automatically scale the encounter to the ability and size of the player's party.

The Neowin article also has some small screens.

TenTonHammer has a look at the toolset part of Neverwinter, known as The Foundry. The article seems optimisric, which might be a good sign:

The available assets may appear somewhat daunting at first, but everything is neatly categorized into various kits based on a general theme. For example, in the span of 15 minutes we were able to open The Foundry, dig into the crypt-themed kit and piece together a fully playable mini-adventure complete with progressively difficult encounters, key NPC contacts, and get a feel for how easy it is to build out naturally flowing conversations. All great stuff so far.

The second major standout element for me is the fact that, if you’re a more experienced mod maker or have worked with content creation tools in the past, there’s enough depth to the system for you to genuinely make something highly unique. I was also happy to learn that dual monitor setups will be fully supported, so that’s another giant green checkmark in The Foundry’s win column in my books.

IGN has an E3 preview of Neverwinter with substantial input from Cryptic's Jack Emmert and Any Velasquez:

There's a reason Cryptic's Neverwinter isn't called Neverwinter Nights 3. According to Jack Emmert, CEO of Cryptic, "Neverwinter represents a different style of game than the others. This is an online, co-operative RPG with a large focus on the online aspect. Therefore it is different than the other two. Also, I'm a big believer in simplicity. As far as I can figure, Neverwinter Nights games were about Neverwinter -- I have no idea why it was night time. So why not just call it Neverwinter."

A majority of the game's action will take place within and in the sewers below the city of Neverwinter, and occasionally bleed out into the nearby environs. Andy Velasquez, producer at Cryptic, explains the story setup. "It's about 100 years past what most players are familiar with from Neverwinter Night and Neverwinter Nights 2." Things have been hectic around Neverwinter, as they tend to be. A volcano blew up, taking most of the city with it. Foreign powers then entered the city to try and put the pieces back together. It's in this period of rebuilding that the game begins, where there's a clashing of interests as those who cling to the old ways of the city lock horns with the newcomers. Emmert added, "To sum up, you're going to kill monsters and get loot."

Thanks, Lucky Day, who notes "Andy gives more insight into the actual SP game and mentions new classes such as Artificer and Beastmaster Ranger without saying whether or they will be available at launch".

In related news, Blue's has some screens and a FAQ, although much of the document is "TBA".

Looks like we have the answer on the impact of the Cryptic sale on the development of Neverwinter, with the launch of an official site suggesting its full steam ahead. There's a trailer with a bunch of in-game shots but very little actual gameplay and not much else.

Darkwind: War on Wheels is a turn-based 3D persistent-world multiplayer car combat rpg. At first I was skeptical about this game, but the way they have done the online turn-based system is an innovative way of bringing true physics to a turn-based game.

At its heart Darkwind tries to emulate, improve and bring to the PC the RPG boardgame Car Wars.

You can read more about the game at the homepage. It's constantly being updated and is free to play. You can subscribe to get some additional features like owning factories, access to a lockup in each town to store your equipment and things along that nature.

There have been quite a few improvements to the game since I last played. Here are the most recent ones:

A new deathrace: point-to-point rallys through randomly positioned sets of gates

Player created narrative missions

New wild creatures added

New car (tractor)

3D gravestones and other minor features

Cars on fire get more love

Hall of Fame added

I understand this type of game won't be for everyone, but it is surprisingly fun. Best of all are the lack of players online who are only there to wreck havoc. You'll get a few, but nothing like what you would get when playing WAR or WOW.

Thanks UDM!

It's great to have a brand new year. Unfortunately a new year also adds new costs, so after a year I'm back again to point your attention to our donations page.

You have been very generous in 2010, which allowed us to keep ads to a minimum. I hope we will again be able to cover the operational cost for 2011 from the ads and the donations.

Thanks for your help!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a fantastic New Year and I hope it will bring you and all your loved ones everything you ever wanted.

Thank you for being with us in 2010, I hope you will continue to visit us in 2011. Especially as this year marks the 5th anniversary of RPGWatch which we will celebrate later this year.
My thanks especially goes to the staff and moderators of RPGWatch who make this site such a special place and without who this endeavor would be impossible.

I hope you have lots of gaming fun in 2011!! 

The move to the new server has been completed. Welcome!

Both RPGWatch and the forums should be working again. Enjoy!

Eurogamer joins the crush of Neverwinter interviews but they manage to tease a bit more information out of Jack Emmert.  He reveals The Forge toolset won't allow the creation of items or weapons to avoid cheating and there will definitely be some sort of fee to play.  A sample:

Eurogamer: But you're adding classes after launch.

Jack Emmert: We will, you're absolutely right. But what we're saying is we're committed to making five great character classes. I'm going to be upfront and tell you exactly how it is. We'll add more afterwards. But I'd rather have a game that had five rock solid character classes than a game with 15 mediocre ones. That mediocrity sticks with the game, it just does.

Thanks, Luck Day!