Developer Letter: State of the Game

strumslinger

Executive Producer, Rob Overmeyer has written a letter to all Neverwinter adventurers on the state of the game and our journey from launch until now.

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/9811113

fatguns

Promising, hope the devs can pull the things they vow with a boom

darkstarcrash

I appreciate that they admit they made mistakes in Mod 6 and with the AD changes.

And I'm very excited to see Respen's Game come back in April!

ghoulz66

What's bothering me greatly is the disregard for focusing time on class balance lately. It doesn't matter if you add a new dungeon or new content to play. When you have terrible balancing in classes, you cannot truly experience new content to run when you have broken classes in play trivializing the experience.

mrvincent1959

Thank you for the letter. I hope you guys are VERY careful with any class balancing/re-works coming up. Many players post on these forums with a limited field of view and want things changed that benefit them and their classes.

An example is the AP Gain that many of us DCs worked very very hard to accomplish. We give up alot in return for this extra AP gain. Some players complained about AP gain, because to be honest, they dont need it, so they want it limited. If it receives a hard cooldown or something like that, it will put many of us in a very bad place.

arabatur

It's a mighty big hill that needs to be climbed, with Mod 6 firmly rooted at the bottom; that debacle will long be remembered. I really do hope we will see the significant improvements as spun by Rob, but I am still fearful of what will be actually delivered.

Neverwinter in 2016 is going to be great!

Only time and what remains of the playerbase will be the judge of this, not Cryptic.

Edit: An after thought . . .

Another key area for us is communication with our community. We are looking at additional ways to show our progress or create direct lines of communication back to our players whether it be through additional dev blogs or in-game activities. We will be working on a way to give the community a clearer picture of what we are working on and what we understand the top issues to be.

Dev tracker? Will this actually happen now or just sit on someone's to do list but never be done?

santralafax

I appreciate a full note on the state of the game, discussion about what has and has not worked, along with some idea of what the future holds.

I play both PVE and PVP almost interchangeably, and I noticed little or no discussion about the terrible state PVP is in. It may be time to give up that side of the game. It really needs an overhaul at this point, fixing probably can't be done. The PVP playerbase is very thin, and there is virtually no point in playing unless you are at 3K item level and already (??) have PVP gear. Unfortunately, you need to earn the PVP gear by playing it. Catch 22.

I'm afraid that whole section of the game is about lost.

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rayrdan

at this point i will log back after the first half of 2016. thanks for saying it.. I will try to write a postit for it.
Class balance is definitely not limited to the classes mentioned (see oneshot Guardian fighters, see gwf damage, see lostmauth set) and is already passed 1 year and some months since the last balance pass. To be fair the last major changes were done in mod 5 !!
6 months more, IF, is not something i can still wait for, Well probably is just me but the lack of posts here is a bit alarming.
2015 was not a great year, we lost 80% of content and 50% of players..and 50% of the devs...but hei your game your numbers.

bring the class changes on preview asap, at least we can dream

soltasword

" 2015 was an amazing year for Neverwinter. "


So amazing that I quit playing and so did many many others. I am not sure what he is smoking but maybe if he shared it with the rest of us, there might be more people playing instead of leaving.

nealbeat

Alright i cannot stand this.
Many times i have share my opinion but containing myself, cuz i know the ones behind all this is the guys in the suits who only listen to the big "S" with some bars stucked into it. Now the amount of cynism is just too much to tolerate.

First of all :
"Right after launching on Xbox One, we released Elemental Evil – our sixth expansion on PC.
We raised the level cap, added the Paladin class and quite a bit of content. "

No the only thing you did was adding 1 map (spinward) and reskin 3 previous maps with different enemies
without adding any kind of group content at least mod 4 added Lai of Lostmauth and shores of Tuern, mod 5 manage to create the first raid Tiamat
But EE was just a bunch of dailies with no real payoff.You can say it was the art. gear but that alwasy gets replaced anyway.

"The communities were growing and getting stronger than ever. Forged in fire, we came through some tough times a bit stronger and set to work on rolling out plans for the second half of the year. In mid-August, we were finally ready to release Strongholds. It had a focus on in-game communities and guilds more than on story and standard progression.
Strongholds also offered some new and exciting ways to advance your characters,
but in a collective way that could help build on player communities that were always growing and ever changing."

Sorry but the only thing Strongholds did was destroying guilds, more accurate the small guilds formed by friends.
And make guild forming another job with some guilds requesting daily donations.
Not all surviving guilds are like that, and i gotta admit is also players fault for leaving and joining the others only for some shiny little rewards.
But after the EE failure Guilds were already suffering with members leaving the game in waves, so Strongholds was the killing blow.

The way this is manage is just too much to bear. And the Forums happen to have a problem at the same time you post that is such a big "coincidence".

If you wanna play that way then fine, players can dance all night; just look how many pages trade bars change discussion has. Decoys like your "new trailer" won't do.

Elemntal Evil
Opps Sorry we removed 10 dungeons cuz we didnt like them, sorry we also didnt add any kind of new dungeon or skirmish
(Cloak Tower, Throne of Idris, Lair of the Mad Dragon, Frozen Heart, Pirate King, Spellplague Caverns, Caverns of Karrundax, Dread Vault, Castle Never, Gaungrym Dungeons(2)
were removed and yeah we still remeber them)


StrongHolds
Oops Sorry we make your efforst of restoring your guild members useless just give up.
By the way there is this nice new Bells that happens to sound like Female Dragons wanting to copulate on the Zen Market, they are really Fancy.


Underdark
Oops Sorry We gated stronghold weapons with yet another paywall called Master Work proffesions. You heard about this Orange girs? Yeah me neither.

Maze Engine

Oops sorry you missed those 1 year old fashion dungeons?
Don't worry we have upgrade them with this trendy yellow skin and make them only for low levels enjoyment, glad you waited this long for it.

Oops Sorry You closed the other post? Well do what you most i don't care if this post gets deleted.

santralafax

rayrdan said:

Well probably is just me but the lack of posts here is a bit alarming.
2015 was not a great year, we lost 80% of content and 80% of players..but hei your game your numbers.

It does seem like crickets are chirping...,

freshour

Now that we have the right support in place for an improved class review, it is on the top of our list.
I hope this will be an objective review. For example, the TR has never got any improvements in the past based on such reviews. It merely got nerfs based on certain loud-mouth PvPers complaining about their own willingness to use the right strategy to counter the class effectively, depicting the TR as the god of all classes. As a result the TR has been struggling to remain useful and fun in PvE since mod3. The same thing is currently happening with the many ways of AP gain that's causing "problems" with the OP and several other classes in certain gear combinations. I hope you can remain objective in fixing these issues. Many people have spent a serious amount of time, money and effort into keeping their characters alive.

- You do realize that from the start of the game TR in pvp had the largest advantage of any class ever made... STEALTH! It could slot first strike and stealth up to anyone and one shot lashing blade anyone... no matter who... who matter why... That got nerfed. Next impact shot was nerfed b/c it was also OP, next up atwills took a hit since it did so much damage was being abused to proc .... errr.... can't remember the enchant... acid looking feller... well I can't remember anyway... it was exploited. What else got hit, I think shocking got nerfed too. POTB was nerfed indirectly. Whirlwind was nerfed as well. BILETHORN IT WAS BILETHORN I REMEMBERED!

Dude. It was nerfed because no other class in the game was ever on its level. Take GF for example before elven was fixed. A TR could jump in the air and do a dazing strike, upon doing that WHICH WAS UNBLOCKABLE by the way... he would then shock us and roll away and stealth... play keep away a little since all we had then was in combat regen, and then do it again, and this was the method of TR until now with elven. BB was huge, perma stealth daggers was also huge. What you don't realize is that their damage never really fit into PVP very well, it was stupid high burst from an invisible target, who could pop ITC if he got caught...

TR's for the majority of this game have had every offensive and defensive tool in the game.

1. Stealth
2. Insanely high burst damage
3. ITC
4. god-like AP gain to the point now that you can courage breaker, smoke bomb and before the smoke bomb is up shocking...

I rest my case. But PVE/PVP should never be adjusted together. I know TR's who have any idea how to play can do an insane amount of damage in PVE doing 1 move over and over again. I'm sure that is boring. But you must realize that TR's being nerfed in pvp had to happen as they dominated every single class pretty much until mod 5? I know HR"s had a few moments in the sun vs them, and now I can literally **** on any TR on my GF no problem.. But TR's exploiting every single little bug (and there were a lot) is what caused the unreal QQ on the forums mod after mod... You guys did this to yourselves, and yeah a few bad eggs brought the rest down with them.

You should 100% ask for TR buffs and since you are clearly PVE focused, I would make sure to mention that they should separate the two as they have on multiple occasions but for some reason don't understand that all changes should be that way, not just some.

zman81420

Not buying it, even from a Xbox players point of view. I will never trust this company again. I will play the game as I see fit and never investing toward Neverwinter again. Thanks for the long explanation that will most likely or luckily be half followed through with.

hmdq

ionvnegativo

yaaa...finally shocking execution will be nerfed, but i hope encounter damage will be buffed,
-2k-15k dazing strikes is a joke,
-almost zero damage from shadow strike is a joke,
-1k-3k ticks smoke bombs is a joke,
-24 secs base cooldown for lashing blade when critical severity is nerfed by pvp gear is a joke,
-CoS spamming is boring,
-useless powers like impact shot/PotB/WReminder/deft strike/and all the rest must be fixed, so the current "i stack recovery, AP gain i SE/CB/BB you and i win" disappear, all of this specially when tanks hit for +100k+prone on a 12 secs powers.
remove stealth if needed but raise the burst damage in encounter powers, put charges back in CoS.

solbergx

I think things are starting to look better for NW!!

urabask

blog said:

The economy on Xbox One is very different than what PC had seen, so the changes are specific to the Xbox One community. At times we are able to make changes in the same way on both platforms, but as many similarities as there are between the 2 communities, there are just as many differences. PC has an older economy and needs to be treated much differently than the economy on Xbox One.

Christ, wish you had realized this before you slapped us with their tradebar store changes.

lwedar

Ill just put this here.

Any class balance discussion that doesn't involve a fix for GF survivability vs damage in PVP right now, is missing the mark. (Hint: its very nice to be GF right now in pvp). Ill leave the GWFs out right now because they might actually fix the insane damage that lostmouth sets give them and balance that way

As for TR "fixes", if you are indeed looking at the class as whole then I more than welcome changes. Currently all of our damage in pvp comes from Shocking Execution. It is a lame mechanic that makes TRs one dimensional. Hint: It would be nice to have 3 paths to choose from again. For PvE just know that TRs are strikers, we want to do damage and lots of it. Nobody is bringing us into dungeons for our healing or control or "trickster" part.

I would recommend looking at the list of TR bugs compiled by the old TR Player Representative

Also the Underdark rings that a)Give stealth to every class and b) allow every class to see stealth have received a TON of negative feedback. It totally mitigates our class mechanic (10secs of vision every 30 seconds???!! really?) I hope your targeted fixes keep the fact that everyone can now see us in mind.

tripsofthrymr

Like many players, I used to enjoy PVP but no longer play. The game is dominated by well-funded guilds that understand "edge cases" in the class and power mechanics.

There is such a vast power divide between BIS players and those coming up through the ranks that running into a guild premade means you might as well sit at the campfire. Since so few players attempt PVP these days, it happens all too often to run into that frustrating, time wasting experience.

The fresh method of looking at class balance will hopefully clear up some of the "edge cases", making PVP play more about tactics and a sound understanding of how powers are supposed to work, and less about understanding what highly specific combinations of gear and powers are exponentially stronger than probably intended.

The new queue system may also remove some of the "Welcome to PVP. You can make progress toward your first PVP gear set by winning this match. Your opponent is EofA." syndrome, as I suspect top PVP guilds will tend to arrange dom matches against each other over pouncing on helpless new players.

For PVP to become meaningful to the broad player base, something needs to be done to encourage re-engagement. Once you have class balance under control, clearly and broadly communicate to the players why PVP is fun again and worth their time. Be honest about what the problems were and clear about how you have addressed them.

DEV CHALLENGE

Devs, put together your best PVP team using your full understanding of current class mechanics. Do this soon, before you plan significant class changes. Give yourself BIS gear. Livestream matches against the top PVP guilds. Use that experience as input in your class rebalancing process.

After you have introduced changes, repeat the challenge. If you have done well, your second round of matches will be close and entertaining.

soullesslords

One of the major problems is Nerf Nerf Nerf stop with the Nerf you can't balance PVE and PVP together just separate the two and be done with it.

PVP and PVE are two totally different games with different mindsets when you balance one side you destroy the other that's the biggest problem with the game right now.

hustin1

The post is a good start--a very good start. That said, I expect 2017 to give the Foundry its due. We are already seeing authors leaving due to its neglect.

On another note...

As we continue to review our content and systems we will be making some adjustments to the Elemental Evil story. The goal is to streamline the experience and increase the rewards. There will also be a personal campaign attached to the four zones that should act as a helper to show you what there is to do in the Elemental Evil story arc, and see what rewards are earned by playing it. Like the other campaigns there will be some cool rewards like unique armor pieces and new boons. Don’t worry about having to replay it if you have already made a bunch of progress. Our goal is to make sure the campaign reflects your previous adventures in the Elemental Evil story.

One thing that you really, really, REALLY need to be aware of is the unplayability of Fiery Pit for a lot of players. It's loaded with Heroic-Encounter-difficulty enemies (i.e. thick HP bars). They show up everywhere, seemingly at random, not only when there is no HE, but even in places where there is never an HE. A couple nights ago I had to shepherd one of our new guild members through nearly all 24 quests there because there was no way she could have handled those enemies alone--nor should she have been expected to.

That zone is a major impediment for new players. I've raised the issue ad nauseam already, but I am now raising it again. It needs to be fixed.

As a side note, I've seen this phenomenon in only one other zone: in the Monsters on Ice area in Twilight Tor. There as well, monsters would randomly appear with thick HP bars and the accompanying difficulty. Somewhere, a bug is lurking in your code.

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mrgiggles651

santralafax said:

rayrdan said:

Well probably is just me but the lack of posts here is a bit alarming.
2015 was not a great year, we lost 80% of content and 80% of players..but hei your game your numbers.

It does seem like crickets are chirping...,

Well the forum has been showing a maintenance message, so I'd bet a lot of people aren't actually seeing this thread rightr now.

l0th4ri0

Do you guys know what particular road is paved with good intentions?

Bah. Memories are short. We've been told "just wait, we got this fixed soon" so many times.

And now a new crop of players with stars in their eyes imagines the possibilities. Things are gonna get better.

I very strongly suggest biding your time and not getting your hopes up, newer folks. Not trying to be a downer here, just realistic.

xreverusx

Thanks for the well written address to the players. I appreciate it, and reading this makes me get more excited for the year ahead. Seeing multiple guilds of players vanish after mod 6 and the big AD (still stings) "changes" to Leadership, I was feeling less than secure about the future of the game. This address has dispelled that concern and replaced it with an eager spirit to explore content old and new in the coming year.
Thank you. ; )

kemnimtarkas

No word on a new class yet. That's what I was really hoping to hear about.

matthiasthehun76

If i may add my 2 cents to the topic.

I like the words coming from the Producer, but as we here in old Europe have by Goethe, Kaiser Franz Joseph an many others, words are fine, but deeds count more.

What i would really like to see personally is the rebirth of PVP for the crowds (!) and not just for a privileged class, that has many decent and sadly many foul apples amongst them. Now 1 thing i really miss in this game is an effective anti cheat detection tool. I know, many won't be happy about it or will call me all names, but as long as PVP is full of exploits and cheats, the introduction of a proper matchmaking would be only a one armed boxer. (He he cool old flicks. )

Sadly the utterly bad decisions since Mod 6 really scared away the majority of the player base and mainly the decent folks. Exploiters stayed, they can adapt very fast, not like a legit player.

The recent Trade Bar rework only hurts the decent folks and sadly emptied the guilds again. Tsk tsk...

Exploiters have all the goodies by now, they will stay and play their little games further. Now this is a double edged sword, not only does it hurt the decent players, but the companies pocket too, so i would really think about it now to clean the game from them and start the new gaming year with a fresh and clean slate. So many good folks left and it is so sad to see these individuals still lurk here. They feel very safe behind the curtain called "no shaming", which tbh only encourages them.

Also sadly nor Customer support, nor some part of the game staff is on top, when it comes to catch those exploiters. My advise would be to train them in the fundamentals of the game. When i have reported some major cheats in PVP with dozens of screenshots and the member of the game staff asked back, "is this about PVP", then sorry i had to smile, but not in an exuberant joy.

So yeah gather some talents and if necessary come down play with us, talk with us, BUT please for God's sake, not just with some preferred folks as you do, but with random average Joe's, this way you could get a way better and not biased picture about the entire truth.

P.S: You would be amazed to see my screenshot collection of cheaters, it is nearly as big as Kolat's GIF collection, oh well not so big , but huge none the less.

mordockbr

Here are my suggestions to start balancing pvp:

TR:
- Shocking Execution actualy can hitkill anyone in pvp... Remove the skill feature which make it ignore all the enemy defences... If needed improve the damage of another tr skills, but having a hitkill skill is too much for any class...
- PermaStealth + Impossible to chatch + 75% deflection severity + A lot of dodges make smart TRs unkilable, just see the domination logs and you are going to notice that tr's almost don't die in pvp... TRs defences should be nerfed a bit.

Paladin:
- The class has to many damage reduction, it should be reduced.
- The bubble skill adds too many defences to the paladin and its party, it should be nerfed!

Healer Paladins and DCs:
- Actualy they are unkillable even in a 2x1 situation, this should be reviewed

GF:
- Their Damage buf skill is too much, you guys should take a look on it. Have this ability and the skield feature which makes then almost invulnerable is too much.

For me those are the biggest problens in pvp which must be fixed asap!