Neverwinter Nights 2: PW Spotlight: Zhentil Keep

As a new player, what does Zhentil Keep provide to help me get started?

We will provide more than enough information to make the new player feel at ease and familiar with what is going on in the server. Our site,
www.zhentilkeep.net, provides a lot of information about the region and will certainly help the player to find out where he should hang around for gaining his first coppers and his first experience. We are immersed in the process of building, not only a good-quality server, but also a friendly and open-minded community. The new player will certainly always find help from the operating staff or the other (older) players.

What kind of players will appreciate Zhentil Keep?

The player who is less amazed by the technical prowesses than by the quality of roleplay and of the settings will certainly appreciate Zhentil Keep. This doesn't mean that our server will be without technical performances, but we want to provide with more attention, as administrators, builders and dungeon masters, for the roleplay opportunities that our work can bring than for displaying a serie of technical skills for the simple fun of it. Our goal is really to create a world that will snap the player up for good, and where the character won't be something static, or uniquely determined by a XP score.

Can I find out more about the background to this world?

On www.zhentilkeep.net. The site is not yet completed, but we're adding content and information everyday. The visitor will find information related to the gameworld, but also the races and classes he will be able to choose, how our reputation system works and a lot more of useful information.

How long has Zhentil Keep been in existence?

Well, our project isn't new at all. On NwN1, a friend I had met in the NwN community, -Mask-, and I decided to create our own gameworld. We had been dissatisfied by several servers we were playing on, mainly because the little care they gave to the players, but also because we wanted to test the latest works the community had produced (like the Player's Resources Consortium). This was in the early 2004. Success came quite quickly, notably thanks to a good review made by the PrC staff, but also because we gave a lot of our time and dedication to the server. One year later, our server had around 500 areas to visit and around a 100 players. In September 2005, I took a break from Neverwinter Nights, notably because of the decreasing time my life allowed me to spend on it.

What are some of the highlights of Zhentil Keep?

• First, our cities will be places of choice where to start or to end your adventuring life. Two of those three cities (Phlan and Zhentil Keep) are partially in ruins, and who knows what has decided to inhabit those ruins now that humankind have been removed from there! Extra care will be given to settle up a large choice of quests, giving life to the gameworld and your character. Your actions will be taken in consideration.
• Secondly, we want a reliable and realistic reputation system - after all, the subtitle is well, Tales of Heroes and Villains! There are 4 factions planned out, that a player may choose: the Knights of the North, the Harpers, Hillsfar or Zhentil Keep. A unique, heavily scripted system of reputation will beacon the progression of the player towards those 4 factions, from open hostility to legendary fame, where the most fabulous rewards will be accessible.
  [li]Thirdly, we know how valuable would be a structured, well-concieved Player versus Player system. For years, Hillsfar, the Keep, the Harpers and the Knights are stuggling to man the small city of Yűlash. Our plan is to make Yűlash a battleground devoted to PvP. Two squads of players from different factions could challenge each other to take over the opponent's Hold.
  [li]A fourth idea we had is the presence of "legendary dungeons", that will provide some challenge to the players. There, the monsters will be unusualy tough, and the traps and puzzles, unusualy deadly. But rewards will meet the expectations of the poor adventurer.
  [li]Finally, we are planning to include new subraces on the server: [ul][li]Werewolves
  [li]Vampires.
[/ul]

It's quite hard to say. Admitting that the future has roots in the present, wonderful things can happen to our community, because our community is doing a wonderful job. We wouldn't mind at all to see it being enlarged, however. Building a persistant world is a long-breathed work, so the wittiest thing I can find for an answer is... the release of Zhentil Keep - Tales of Heroes & Villains will happen.

Would you consider Zhentil Keep more of a "hack-n-slash" world or an RP world?

Definitively, Zhentil Keep is a roleplay world. I should rather say a roleplay community. The operating staff, from DMs to builders and administrators will do their best to encourage roleplay, by providing the players topics to discuss about and an amazing dynamic world. On the NwN1 server we had created, we had taken the name of Influence Inc. because we wanted the roleplay of our players to influence the way the server was being built and the general plotlines were being conducted. This creed is even more a reality on the new server we are planning to create. We still want the players to know great adventures, with a lot of risks and rewards, so if a player wants some action, he will certainly find some.

Is this a closed server? If so, is a bio submission required for play?

Nope, Zhentil Keep will be open to anyone willing to stick with us and have some fun. We will have some restrictions over the selectable races. The Moonsea region being populated at 90% of humans, we can't let drow, tieflings and aasimar run by thousands across our server. Yet, the requisites for playing those races are not insuperable, since it simply asks the player to prove he is able to roleplay those races.

Thanks to Hoar and the staff of Zhentil Keep for their terrific answers and for taking the time for the interview.