For those of use who came in very early, Neverwinter Nights, was released in 2002 and re-released as an Enhanced Edition in 2018. It should have died off years ago, but it has a strong gaming community which kept it up to date.

Neverwinter Nights (NN) Enhanced Edition (on Steam and GOG) now boasts anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering, major networking code improvements, and over 100 other enhancements.

PC Gamer points out that NN was built for single-core CPUs, so it may seem odd to seek major performance improvements for such an old RPG. Yet, it’s a testament to the game's flexibility and dedicated fanbase. In 2023, a similar fan-led patch was described as "a year-long love effort."

The game's "persistent worlds," tiny MMOs run by people with DM-like powers, have kept it from feeling abandoned. Fantasy author Luke Scull credits NN with launching his career and is working on an unofficial sequel, The Blades of Netheril, with plans extending to at least 2027.

Unfortunately, its sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2, did not do so well and its future is bleaker. Developed by Obsidian and entangled in complex rights between multiple companies.

With online services provided through GameSpy, which shut down in 2014, the sequel remains disconnected from the wider web. In the Complete Edition available on GOG, fans can still connect to fan-made servers, but it doesn't have the same fan-driven immortality as its predecessor.