Thank you. This is a well thought out first step at dealing with the new situation. Next: solo AD, other sinks like companion upgrades and fixing leadership to make sense?
Indeed solo AD should be addressed. I am still leveling my first toons and the only way to get at AD is to hope my HAMSTER pickups sell on the AH, or to step away from leveling and do the dungeon runs over and over. Regular play (read: leveling) should generate AD.
You could do what I did before I become a paying customer, run blacklake skrishmish during the skrishish time and get the AD
There is no skirmish time anymore. And I fail to see how mindlessly farming Blacklake is a viable solution. It just seems to be exchanging one type of mindless farming for another. And in this new mindset, not something that will remain untouched.
Indeed. Since they took away the "times" and made them all PvP, skirmishes like the L28 one I just leveled into take forever to happen. The playerbase is simply too spread out.
However, that does not make up for the 5 steps in the wrong direction. You're still a little off course so keep making these positive moves and our faith in the developers will start to be restored.
I will take incremental steps over comprehensive every day of the week.
Figures that now that changes have been made (exactly what the complainers and whiners requested), it's not good enough. All of these changes, including the removal of AD from Leadership, help casual, new, and low-level players immensely, and all other players marginally. The only ones these changes hurt are hoarders and abusers of the systems of the game, and bot sellers.
So thanks again for making positive change.
I shall now return to crafting many, many pairs of pants.
In addition, we are changing some of the upgrade requirements on higher end Enchantments and Runestones. Weapon and Armor Enhancement gems will not be changed at this time.
Going from Rank 10->11 will now cost 2 Superior Marks of Potency, instead of 5 Greater Marks of Potency
Going from Rank 11->12 will now cost 4 Superior Marks of Potency, instead of 5 Greater Marks of Potency
Bit of self-contradiction here @goatshark, and you should probably edit to clarify that monetary upgrade costs for weapon/armor enchants are being left the same, because what you've written implies that it's the needed materials which will remain the same.
Reduction in MoPs is a very small start in the right direction in my opinion. I will admit that I feel a sense of dread for Mod 8 with the mention of SMoPs, but if this is only the first of many steps taken within a reasonable time span then I might be around to see if my fears are well founded.
You still need to balance tasks in the Leadership profession so that they progress smoothly. Since you made no mention of any cost reduction to upgrading our Strongholds, might I suggest that you insert BoA or BoP vouchers for both AD, Influence, and faction tokens in their place (rather then just making them yield more RP items with an increased bag count).
If you're really worried about people generating items too much rAD by invoking with numerous alt armies, then might I also suggest that you remove the ability to reclaim ZAX trades on any character on the account that did not directly place the transaction. This would allow people to generate rAD for leveling characters, but not make it as viable for invoking armies to be used for rAD generation. Those who will try to continue to use the AH for AD transfer (1,000,000 AD for a common harvest node item) need to be actively investigated and banned. Please also shut down the obvious bot locations such as Graveyard that allow scripted toons to harvest a single node then cancel out of the instance and enter a fresh instance.
You also need to add a way for the great majority of solo players (who choose not to PvP, Skirmish, etc) to generate rAD. I would suggest creating a soft cap to the amount of rAD that can be generated per character by any method of playing, then let the player decide how they wish to choose to play the game rather than being forced into someone else's narrow view).
Also you need to further adjust the fixed AD costs of services and WB items in game. As was stated many times such things as mount upgrades, companion upgrades, etc. While we realize that you still wish people to buy Zen direct items to help fund the game, allow a viable path for those who do not have that luxury (people will still be impatient if you dangle the carrot still out of reach, but in sight, and pay for the Zen if they choose to speed up the process.
Artifacts are not changing material needs to upgrade. That is, they will still use Greater Marks of Potency (GMoPs). This makes it significantly cheaper to upgrade artifacts.
All gems (Enchantments, Runestones, Weapon, and Armor Enhancements) will require Superior Marks of Potency (SMoPs) to upgrade from 10->12. Because of their power increase, it will still cost the same to rank a Weapon or Armor Enhancement from 10->12. All of the ranks prior to (and leading up to) 10 will benefit from the GMoP price reduction.
As mentioned in the original post, Enchantments and Runestones are now 40% cheaper to upgrade from 10-12, and Weapon/Armor Enhancements will cost the same as before.
It's a good first step to be sure, addressing one of the biggest AD sinks in the game. However, the rest of the fixed costs need to be re-examined as well and not only for how much they cost but why those costs were set that way in the first place.
A pity this and many other balancing changes weren't made at the same time leadership was stripped of Astral Diamonds, but at least it is a step back in the right direction - and hopefully these changes keep coming before real damage is done - and you don't repeat this mistake. I still don't see any direct engagement with the community however - often admitting you were wrong in the way you went about things and are making amends goes a long way to restoring trust and confidence. We all make mistakes, those that won't admit them can't be trusted to learn from them.
I'm not so easily placated as some of you seem to be. This is a tiny, infinitessimal, step... Once soloing issues for earning AD are addressed; once many of the excellent ideas generated in the last week have been addressed; once a TIMELINE for implemenation has been published, THEN will I consider that game design is back on track. Until then, I'm not a happy customer who wants to play and enjoy the game. Until then I await ACTION not words on behalf of the developers and management.
So when can I expect my refund for the GMoPs I bought over the last few weeks? Since they cost most of my ADs, lowering the price doesn't help. Especially with no decent way to make more.
In addition, we are changing some of the upgrade requirements on higher end Enchantments and Runestones. Weapon and Armor Enhancement gems will not be changed at this time.
Going from Rank 10->11 will now cost 2 Superior Marks of Potency, instead of 5 Greater Marks of Potency
Going from Rank 11->12 will now cost 4 Superior Marks of Potency, instead of 5 Greater Marks of Potency
Bit of self-contradiction here @goatshark, and you should probably edit to clarify that monetary upgrade costs for weapon/armor enchants are being left the same, because what you've written implies that it's the needed materials which will remain the same.
Hmmm! I read that as Weapon and Armor materials for upgrade are the same. What they need is a copy of the same gem. That is the same. No?
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
As a reminder, we are currently investigating AD sources for players who don't want to run queued content.
I am skeptical, since the only reason to remove the leadership AD was to eliminate the ability to earn AD without paying real money. Why would you add that ability back in?
As a reminder, we are currently investigating AD sources for players who don't want to run queued content.
I tried running eLoL just right now, and i'm being rubberbanded into those nice "red" areas all the time right from the start.
It's not that i don't want to run dungeons, but that i can't run them without having some barf bag right next to my Notebook. Not to mention, that my group would have vote kicked me anyway, with kissing the floor every few minutes. And i'm not that kind of person, that just hangs back and let the other do the work for him.
I'm not into PvP either, which leaves only some skirmishes for some rAD... and that is by far not enough to make 24k rAD per day within some reasonable amount of time.
Therefore, as allready mentioned, it would be nice to see Stronghold Vouchers in the place of rAD in Leadership. And it would also be nice to see some rAD rewarded for playing campaign quests.
Ok, I just bought 20 gmops this morning, how will I be compensated for this massive loss of game capital?!!!!!!
Obviously, no. I guess I was wrong to think in this "recession" time, nobody would open the wallet that way. Did you plan to sell for a profit?
No, was planning to upgrade enchants from Rank 10 to 12. I'm totally screwed!
I am sorry for you but opening wallet in this recession time is always risky. By the way, I bought 17 GMoP during 2xRP. So, many of us are in similar boat. The difference is just less than one week.
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
So when can I expect my refund for the GMoPs I bought over the last few weeks? Since they cost most of my ADs, lowering the price doesn't help. Especially with no decent way to make more.
Oops. You converted the "official" currency into another type of currency, and it bit you. Same thing happened to people using Enchanted Keys and CWards to get around the official currency limitations.
If you read the forums much, you knew this was coming already...this was being chatted about in PE a lot also.
If they compensate the people who started using GMOPs as currency for their lack of foresight, then I want the 20 or so GMOPs I used last 2xRP to upgrade my enchants - in fact, I want it all back for all the enchants I upgraded. Makes about as much sense.
Better start selling now - at least you have some recourse to get money back.
So when can I expect my refund for the GMoPs I bought over the last few weeks? Since they cost most of my ADs, lowering the price doesn't help. Especially with no decent way to make more.
Oops. You converted the "official" currency into another type of currency, and it bit you. Same thing happened to people using Enchanted Keys and CWards to get around the official currency limitations.
If you read the forums much, you knew this was coming already...this was being chatted about in PE a lot also.
If they compensate the people who started using GMOPs as currency for their lack of foresight, then I want the 20 or so GMOPs I used last 2xRP to upgrade my enchants - in fact, I want it all back for all the enchants I upgraded. Makes about as much sense.
Better start selling now - at least you have some recourse to get money back.
No, not using as a currency. Using as intended. Got my wallet picked but good...thanks Cryptic.
Comments
So thanks again for making positive change.
I shall now return to crafting many, many pairs of pants.
Neverwinter Census 2017
All posts pending disapproval by Cecilia
You still need to balance tasks in the Leadership profession so that they progress smoothly. Since you made no mention of any cost reduction to upgrading our Strongholds, might I suggest that you insert BoA or BoP vouchers for both AD, Influence, and faction tokens in their place (rather then just making them yield more RP items with an increased bag count).
If you're really worried about people generating items too much rAD by invoking with numerous alt armies, then might I also suggest that you remove the ability to reclaim ZAX trades on any character on the account that did not directly place the transaction. This would allow people to generate rAD for leveling characters, but not make it as viable for invoking armies to be used for rAD generation. Those who will try to continue to use the AH for AD transfer (1,000,000 AD for a common harvest node item) need to be actively investigated and banned. Please also shut down the obvious bot locations such as Graveyard that allow scripted toons to harvest a single node then cancel out of the instance and enter a fresh instance.
You also need to add a way for the great majority of solo players (who choose not to PvP, Skirmish, etc) to generate rAD. I would suggest creating a soft cap to the amount of rAD that can be generated per character by any method of playing, then let the player decide how they wish to choose to play the game rather than being forced into someone else's narrow view).
Also you need to further adjust the fixed AD costs of services and WB items in game. As was stated many times such things as mount upgrades, companion upgrades, etc. While we realize that you still wish people to buy Zen direct items to help fund the game, allow a viable path for those who do not have that luxury (people will still be impatient if you dangle the carrot still out of reach, but in sight, and pay for the Zen if they choose to speed up the process.
it would be easier to have new Superior "Universal" mark.
No matter how you do it, it will end up the same.
It's not that i don't want to run dungeons, but that i can't run them without having some barf bag right next to my Notebook.
Not to mention, that my group would have vote kicked me anyway, with kissing the floor every few minutes. And i'm not that kind of person, that just hangs back and let the other do the work for him.
I'm not into PvP either, which leaves only some skirmishes for some rAD... and that is by far not enough to make 24k rAD per day within some reasonable amount of time.
Therefore, as allready mentioned, it would be nice to see Stronghold Vouchers in the place of rAD in Leadership.
And it would also be nice to see some rAD rewarded for playing campaign quests.
The change is a step in the right direction, but all of the above issues must be addressed as well.
By the way, I bought 17 GMoP during 2xRP. So, many of us are in similar boat. The difference is just less than one week.
If you read the forums much, you knew this was coming already...this was being chatted about in PE a lot also.
If they compensate the people who started using GMOPs as currency for their lack of foresight, then I want the 20 or so GMOPs I used last 2xRP to upgrade my enchants - in fact, I want it all back for all the enchants I upgraded. Makes about as much sense.
Better start selling now - at least you have some recourse to get money back.