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 Have you finished Neverwinter Nights? Do you still lust for adventure? Neverwinter Nights is far more than just the official campaign. An entire universe of quests, treasure, danger, and monsters await you in the many persistent worlds that have been created by the community. Not sure what persistent worlds are? Lycius, founder and owner of Brynsaar, explains what a persistent world is and how you can continue your endless adventures.
1. Where can I find a list of PWs that are accepting players?
Lycius: There are numerous locations where one can find a full list of servers being hosted.
2. What is a Persistent World (PW)?
Lycius: A world you can log into 24/7 with plots and events evolving as time passes. There's no pause key nor save option; what you do has consequences you can't undo with a click of a button.
3. When you say 'world' what does that mean a large area or group of areas?
Lycius: Because of NWN game engine limitations, you can't have single, big areas as most of the new MMORPGs now have. This means a world will consist of more than one big area. The 'world' will have several 'small' areas linked together to give an illusion of either one big area or several area groups linked together with portals. Some worlds even use several servers. For example, you take the boat from the island you started on to the mainland. During that boat-trip you might have changed servers. I guess the definition would be, regardless of how many areas or servers the creators have used, that a single world is the community that has formed around the idea, history, and events of a region.
4. Can I affect the world I am playing in?
Lycius: Definitely! Without the actions of players, PWs would be dull and boring. Just think, you could be the hero that saves day or the mastermind behind a major conflict. Most worlds run on events engineered by staff members of that world. Most likely you could change the outcome of these events through roleplay, actions, or great ideas. It all depends on what kind of persistent world you're playing on; RP or action. I would think most of the staff members have an open mind to new suggestions and twists that their 'pre-scripted' events might take.
5. Where do I get my character? Do you create it, or do I? Can I use an existing character I have?
Lycius: Most likely you'll have to create it yourself. How this is done depends on the world. Some you can join and create a character, others might have application system. Those that require applications might also require that you create that character to fit in their world. This means you most likely have to read some of the history and lore you might find about that world. This information you can find on the world's website. If the world uses localvault, you can log into it with one of your pre-made characters, though most worlds have server vault, which means you need to create the character when you join. Character concepts are easily transferred from one world to another.
6. Where is my character stored when I am finished playing for the day? Do I get to save my games?
Lycius: Your character is either stored on the server vault or on your own local vault (depending on what vault type the world you play on uses). You cannot save your games as a persistent world is continuing even if you're not there. Your character progress will, however, be saved.
7. Are there quests?
 Lycius: Most worlds have pre-scripted quests designed for either groups of characters or soloing. The best quests, however, are those that are led by a dungeon master. In those quests your actions will count for more. You can play the character as you want it and not be stuck to answering with pre-set conversations and doing the quest as the author has written it.
8. Is there some sort of DM or is everything already scripting into the world?
Lycius: Scripts normally handle the tedious jobs required by PWs. DMs add the unexpected events and story lines to PWs. Without DMs, PWs would be very boring. The great feature with NwN is that some players can be dungeon masters, making the world interact with each character and not the other way around.
9. Do you have any tips on how to get the best experience out of playing in a PW?
Lycius: First off, find out more about a PW you are interested in. Each PW normally has its own forum or write-up. If the PW has what you're looking for, join and play. The best experience you can get out of a PW is based on what you put in.
10. What are some special considerations (problems, things to look out for, etc.) for playing in a persistent world?
Lycius: Research the world in which you are interested in playing! Countless players take no effort to do a little homework before jumping on an RP server. Try and remember that the server you are logging into was built and is maintained by someone or a group of someone's who did not get paid. These people spent thousands of hours immersed in the toolset to bring life to an idea in their head. These people do not charge a single penny to play on their creations (alert Bioware if you are charged to play on any Neverwinter Nights game server). I could expound on the various types of PWs based on rulesets that are more common, but the most direct thing to say would be some simple research. Most well-developed worlds have a website. Use it BEFORE you play.
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