What is a Shard?
A shard is a copy of the game world that has its own unique set of characters and guilds. You may team up and play with other characters on the same shard, but not with characters on other shards. Many MMOs have the concept of a shard, and there are several different terms in use for the same concept including Server, World and Realm.
Will Neverwinter have shards?
Yes, Neverwinter will have three shards at launch. The shards will be named:
• Beholder
• Dragon
• Mindflayer
Why will Neverwinter have multiple shards when Cryptic's other games run on a single shard?
We believe that having all players in a single game world provides for the best user experience because it allows players to play, interact and trade with others without having to worry about which shard they are on. Launching a new online game is an exciting time, where new hardware and new software meet a large user population for the first time. Hence, we have decided to launch Neverwinter with three shards, to reduce the risk of players having a negative experience due to servers overloading. Our goal is to continue to optimize our software and hardware so that we can merge the three shards into a single seamless game world soon after launch, and we have built our multi-shard technology with this in mind. For example, we are requiring guild names to be unique across all shards, so that when we do merge the shards nobody will have to change their guild name due to a naming conflict.
So you plan on merging the shards into one game world soon after launch. Do you know exactly when?
We don’t have a target date set right now; we want to allow our infrastructure and operations team an open schedule to support launch. We’ll definitely announce and give the community significant warning.
Will the Neverwinter shards have different rule sets (RP, PVP, etc.)?
No, all the shards will be the same so that they can be seamlessly merged soon after launch.
Will there be a shard selection screen?
There will be no shard selector in the game launcher or character select screen. The launcher will log you in to Neverwinter and the character selection screen will show you all of your characters from all shards. The shard you play on will be the one that the character you select is on. The only place you will have to select a shard is at the beginning of character creation.
Can the same guild exist on multiple shards?
No, a guild can only exist on a single shard. Guild names must be unique across all shards so that no guild will have to be renamed when the shards are merged.
Can I create characters on more than one shard?
Yes, you can create characters on any of the shards up to your limit of character slots.
How do character slots work with multiple shards?
You have a single pool of character slots (for example, players who have purchased the Hero of the North pack will have 5 character slots) and any slot can be used to create a character on any shard. You can have all your characters on one shard or have some on each shard.
Can I team up and play with people who are on different shards?
No, you may only team up and play with characters on the same shard.
How does the Auction House work with shards?
Each shard has its own auction house. You will not be able to trade items between characters on different shards.
How does Zen work with shards?
You will have a single account-wide Zen balance for Neverwinter. When you buy Zen and transfer it into Neverwinter it can be spent in the Zen Market by any of your characters on any of the shards.
How does the Astral Diamond exchange work with shards?
Each shard has its own Astral Diamond exchange. However, Zen that is traded for on the Astral Diamond exchange is part of your account Zen balance and can be used on any shard.
What about account-wide unlocks purchased in the Zen Market?
Any account-wide unlocks that you purchase in the Zen Market will be unlocked on all shards.
How does the Foundry work with shards?
Quests and Campaigns created in the Foundry are playable on all shards.
How does chat work with shards?
Our chat system works across shards and even other cryptic games. Friends lists, private messages (/tell) and player created chat channels all work across multiple shards and even across different cryptic games. You can send a private message (/tell) to a friend playing on another Neverwinter shard, or even friends who are playing Champions Online or Star Trek Online. If you already have a player-created channel in Star Trek Online, your Neverwinter characters will also be in that channel.
Can I transfer a character from one shard to another?
No; because the shards will be merged into one seamless game world soon after launch, character transfers across shards will not be offered.
Do I need to reserve my characters’ unique names?
No; much like other Cryptic games, all of your characters’ names are unique to your @handle (account name), so there is no need to reserve character names.
