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NWO desperately needs to go DLC
overdriver13
Member Posts: 1,521 Arc User
DLC is a monetization model where the cash shop (zen market) sells only aesthetic items and the company makes its money by selling new content (mods) to players in the form of DLC.
A DLC game doesn't sell items that could help players significantly in overcoming pve or PvP challenges because it is well established that by doing so, you throw the game all out of whack. Instead, better gear is acquired by players as loot rewards for overcoming challenges present in the purchased DLC content.
Any of us who have been here since before mod 6 knows that Never winter is losing content over time and not gaining it, while cash shop items (stuff you buy with zen that you've converted to AD) has increased exponentially.
Each mod is simply a further exploitation of the games monetization system (micro transactions via the cash shop) with some tedious grind campaign to camouflage the deepened monetization system as "new content".
NWO as a micro transaction powered "mmo", is flying to its destiny at break neck speed. That destiny being the kind of game you find in Facebook, like mobsters. Those games also using the same micro transaction model as NWO.
The advantage of DLC is that the players pay for the DLC, so each one HAS TO have actual content or players won't buy it. NWO devs are, because of the business model, focused entirely on the further monetization of the game. Every line of code that is written, has to be written to be maximally profitable. Otherwise it is a waste.
In a DLC system, devs do not have to focus on further monetization. Their energy is directed to creating content of high enough quality that the players can't hand over their money fast enough when a new DLC comes out.
This is the answer to everything wrong with NWO. From higher quality, FUN, pve content, to a PvP system that is not embarrassingly broken. Last but not least, DLC is how you get return customers and grow your player base. Steam rankings alone show that NWO is slowly dying, riding a looong swan song downward curve into the kind of tiny player base you get with a micro transaction monetization model.
Here is an excellent article on the subject: http://www.gamedonia.com/blog/what-does-dlc-mean-your-games
I say all of this with the best interests of the game at heart. I recognize the challenge that the devs face in these circumstances and applaud them for their creative efforts in what must be an incredibly stifling environment.
PWE, want to increase your profits by %250 over the next three years? Hit me up in private. This info so far was free cause I love the game. The rest, not so much. ;-P
A DLC game doesn't sell items that could help players significantly in overcoming pve or PvP challenges because it is well established that by doing so, you throw the game all out of whack. Instead, better gear is acquired by players as loot rewards for overcoming challenges present in the purchased DLC content.
Any of us who have been here since before mod 6 knows that Never winter is losing content over time and not gaining it, while cash shop items (stuff you buy with zen that you've converted to AD) has increased exponentially.
Each mod is simply a further exploitation of the games monetization system (micro transactions via the cash shop) with some tedious grind campaign to camouflage the deepened monetization system as "new content".
NWO as a micro transaction powered "mmo", is flying to its destiny at break neck speed. That destiny being the kind of game you find in Facebook, like mobsters. Those games also using the same micro transaction model as NWO.
The advantage of DLC is that the players pay for the DLC, so each one HAS TO have actual content or players won't buy it. NWO devs are, because of the business model, focused entirely on the further monetization of the game. Every line of code that is written, has to be written to be maximally profitable. Otherwise it is a waste.
In a DLC system, devs do not have to focus on further monetization. Their energy is directed to creating content of high enough quality that the players can't hand over their money fast enough when a new DLC comes out.
This is the answer to everything wrong with NWO. From higher quality, FUN, pve content, to a PvP system that is not embarrassingly broken. Last but not least, DLC is how you get return customers and grow your player base. Steam rankings alone show that NWO is slowly dying, riding a looong swan song downward curve into the kind of tiny player base you get with a micro transaction monetization model.
Here is an excellent article on the subject: http://www.gamedonia.com/blog/what-does-dlc-mean-your-games
I say all of this with the best interests of the game at heart. I recognize the challenge that the devs face in these circumstances and applaud them for their creative efforts in what must be an incredibly stifling environment.
PWE, want to increase your profits by %250 over the next three years? Hit me up in private. This info so far was free cause I love the game. The rest, not so much. ;-P
3
Comments
Neverwinter basically has an 'all content free' model, which makes it possible to play the entire game without spending money. That should attract more (free)players than a DLC model, where you MUST spend money to be competitive. Forced money spending will by itself scare away some users, so the model NW uses is more friendly to the customers.
NW of course need to make money, so the challenge is to turn that increased player activity into revenue.
They also need to be very careful to not make the game pay to win, which WILL scare players away, at least in the Western
markets.
The OPs arguments comes off a bit loopsided. If you want to discuss DLC vs. free-content monetization models, you should at least present the arguments pro and con for both models.
There probably is room for both models in the marketplace, and hard to tell which one is the 'best'. But I would not make the basic assumption that the PWE marketing/product people do not know what they are doing.
Also.. the link provided leads to a site selling commercial software for game development.
Could the OP please state that he is in no way affiliated with this site, or is the entire post an effort at advertising?
I pointed out what I feel are problems in NWO as a micro transaction game and suggested a DLC model as a solution to those problems.
To reiterate: Less and less content as time goes on rather than more. Lower quality (grindy) new content. Ridiculously imbalanced classes. A mess of a PvP system which is broken in so many ways that it is pointless to list them. A shrinking player population.
Here is a comparative analysis of NWO and ESO (a DLC game)player populations over time: http://steamcharts.com/cmp/109600,306130#All
This in addition to the plethora of current builds and ESO discussion across the web compared to the small and shrinking amount of current builds and NWO discussion.
It is also important to point out that a DLC game like ESO is also free to play. It is the new content that players pay for.
I have played NWO (with some breaks) since mod 3. The problems of back then have only gotten worse over time and this is reflected in a shrinking player population. As NWO's population shrinks, ESO's grows. Neverwinter has THE license (the Dnd license), which means compitent execution of the mmo would result in stellar player population. It's monetization system hamstrings it's growth, making that license not the goldmine it should be, but rather the only reason it is profitable at all.
This would mean that VIP enables you to do whatever activities you want, rather than having the same daily grind to max your rAD.
I don't want to hijack the thread, but just speaking on VIP. I would also like to see VIP increased more ranks. Adding more dungeon keys, an extra enchantment key, and one C-Ward every 30-days of VIP (which would be distributed every 30-days the account is active in VIP - not all at one time). I also wouldn't mind seeing a legendary mount become available for VIP subscribers, where we can pick the mount we want and as long as we keep VIP active we get to use the mount. Kind of what TERA and other mmo's do or just let us try out a different legendary mount every 30-days through a rotation.
I don't agree with all of their pricing model, but the general form of it I find acceptable, and it's their game so they can do the odd thing I disagree with without me jumping ship. Keep it as is - I've made it pretty darned high without doing more than a one time purchase of 6 months ViP, which I could have got without paying in a bit over a month. I can also see a clear course to the very top of the game without paying a dime. I like that system.
Maybe its there, but I really just dont see it. Take into account that basically everything can be bought by converting AD to zen...and I don't see the problem.
DLCs I don't think would have the impact you expect. We would jut be buying the same content we already get....with less people around to run it.
Beyond that, there are a number of QoL items that are zen purchases (bags, trowels / picks, acct-unlock mounts) but I think that's probably a reasonable avenue to monetize a F2P game.
"The odd thing is, I look at the Zen market, and I don't really see anything any sane person would buy that would be considered Pay to win. Sure, if you have a ton of cash to blow, you could buy a ton of refinement items to level your gear - if you do this, please become my friend because this is the biggest waste of cash I've even seen. Buying a mount? Not game breaking. Buying refinement items - not real game breaking because of the amount you'd have to spend to make progress. Buy companions? Not game breaking.
Maybe its there, but I really just dont see it. Take into account that basically everything can be bought by converting AD to zen...and I don't see the problem.
DLCs I don't think would have the impact you expect. We would jut be buying the same content we already get....with less people around to run it."
Because you can convert zen to ad, the entire auction house IS the cash shop/zen store.
The entire refinement system is a massive expansion of items that significantly boost character power, available to be bought by zen. Every mod we get more of it. Check the player population sharp decline since late 2014 when the refinement system dropped.
As concerns the AD cap, capping AD is critical to their monetization model. Because if you earn all the ad you want by playing the game you lose the incentive to buy AD for zen. A DLC (like ESO), has no such hamster. You buy the current DLC and all the items you could want are available through playing the game.
It is not in NWO's financial interest to create engaging end game content. If you enjoy the grind you are less likely to buy zen to acquire the things that you could earn by playing the game. The whole point of this monetization system is to max out zen sales.
This is why we have lost engaging and fun dungeons and have gained campaigns. The whole game is shifting towards campaigns that are designed to be so tedious that you say heck with it, buy the zen to purchase the items that you got tired of grinding for.
A micro transaction model needs tedious content to survive. A DLC model needs fun content to survive.
The problems of NWO are fairly obvious.
It's just the nature of PWE games - they're just reskinned junk games intended to make as much as possible with as little as possible. Anyone play STO? Notice any similarities in NWO and STO? Similar junk with different skins. New mods are pretty light in substance but time gated to last more than an hour. Oh but hey, you can spend some Zen for some HAMSTER bonus to make it go a wee bit faster if it's not tied into some random RNG junk of course. People have been clamoring for changes to loot, changes to lame Heroic Encounters and equally lame time gated junk campaigns and all to little to no avail.
It is what it is. This is the nature of F2P games. Now before you start talking about "well such and such f2p games aren't as stingy as this one!", well you're right, but that's PWE/Cryptic and their perogative. It's the way they do business and it's likely not going to change. Ever. The other argument is that "they do great with what little dev hours, manpower they have blah blah" - My reply there is simply that the reason they have limited resources is because they seem to constantly be sending said resources to spew out new reskinned junk games.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a hate rant or anything, just observations over the past few years. It is what it is. If you enjoy the game then great, play it. If you don't then find something you do enjoy. As far as them doing such and such to save a sinking ship - The ship wasn't meant to stay afloat all that long. It's probably too easy for them to spit out new disposable ships and target new "suckers" who aren't familiar with F2P tactics yet.
WoTC and ultimately Hasbro doesn't care enough about its flagship brand to even ensure that it is licensing to monetization models that are proven to result in a high quality product. But when we look at train wrecks such as 4ed, we see problems go way deeper than licensing.
There is the ultimate pathology of the sickness plaguing NWO.
I only say this because I used to really enjoy NWO. Truly amazing high speed action combat. By some fluke of luck, the original NWO dev team pioneered this amazing combat system for their RPG heavy mmo license.
So they had the DnD license AND a really really fun combat system. And some fairly good starting content. Oh the dungeons! Before you had to pay for a hamster dungeon key.
They took what could have been a goldmine and turned it into a sewage processing plant. Still profitable but at the end of the day you have unhappy people and everything smells like hamster.
Think about dungeon chest keys alone in the microtransaction model: First stage: no keys needed. Beat the boss, get the loot. Second stage: beat the boss and get the loot IF YOU BOUGHT A KEY. Third stage: Beat theboss and, if you bought a key, you get a CHANCE at getting the loot.
DLC model: buy the DLC, get multiple dungeons to play, beat the boss of each, get the loot.
People are complaining that their chance of getting the loot (after buying a key and beating the boss) is too small, when they should be complaining about having to buy keys in the first place.
And yes, you get "SOME" loot for beating a boss regardless of anything, but let's face the fact: what you are getting is garbage unless you get lucky.
I will bet that PWE suits blame the devs for player population decline when ultimately, it is the monetization model its self that is to blame. So we should go easy on Devs, I am grateful for the occasional glint of creative gameplay brilliance that somehow manages to survive the hamster plant.
http://steamcharts.com/cmp/109600,306130,230410,215280#All
Warframe is F2P and has been steamrolling ESO because they have a top notch dev team that cares about their game and have the resources to back it up. The Secret World has been DLC since launch and is cratering so hard they're switching to F2P.
The issue isn't the monetization; it's the studio that's making the game.
"""The difference is that ESO transitioned from subscription based monetization to a DLC based monetization. Subscription based models prioritize getting a fixed amount of revenue per player in exchange for having fewer customers. Transitioning to DLC means they're gaining the players that would otherwise quit the game when their subscription lapses. Neverwinter doesn't really have that option because free to play games are already maximizing their player population."""
...and yet the ESO population steadily grows and the NWO population steadily shrinks. ESO has more players than NWO, check the Steam analytics that I linked to above.
So the f2p monetization format that NWO is using is causing it to have less players than DLC format ESO. This despite NWO having THE dnd brand, and the awesome action combat system that serves as the example after which ESO's own combat system is based.
It is like Bethesda said, "Let's do what NWO is doing (high fantasy action mmorpg), but let's do it right. We'll be rich". And they are. They are even expanding to console. They are kind of using PWE as the test dummy to figure out what works really well and what just doesn't.
DEVs and management are still far off from that.
Dunno wth there is to do in that dreaded world of cartoon craft that's kept it a paid subscription for so long, but they must be doing something right.
Whether you are paying for keys to hopefully win the lottery and get the new gear after you complete a new dungeon, or whether you paid for the new content, complete the dungeon and get the new gear without buying keys, you are still paying for that new gear. It comes down to whether you want to buy a ton of keys and beat the dungeon a few dozen times to get that gear or whether you want to buy the DLC, complete the dungeon once and get the gear.
I personally HATE grinding. I work to have money to spend in part on a game that will entertain me. I don't work to spend money on a game that will just require me to work even more.
Each to their own.
http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Astral_Diamond_Exchange
1. Buy zen from PWE
2. Use the zen to buy astral diamonds from a player in the astral diamond exchange.
The system is set up to make it unlikely if not impossible to sell ad for substantially more zen than you bought it for. Yes you can put 40 hours a week into grinding gear that you put into the ah to make ad which can then be transfered into zen but the $ value of each of those hours is a couple of dollars per hour at best. In other words, your better off getting a part time job at $7.00 an hour and spending your pay on zen that you transfer into ad for gear. That is a far more efficient use of your time.
PWE has it set up that way because it is far more profitable for them to just receive your $$$ rather than for you to grind gear on their servers. And even if you do grind gear on their servers, everything is set up so that they profit from it, not you or your characters.
The whole thing is a goldmine for exploits and gold sellers. THE most efficient system is a player setting up an entire account that is nothing but a ton of bots. So about two days of ILLEGAL and BAD work to get thousands of hours worth of grinding done automatically. And if you can't be bothered with that, there's always the gold sellers who do exactly what I pointed out.
Exploits and gold sellers are horrible for a game and NO ONE should use them. But exploits and gold sellers THRIVE in a game where you can buy everything with game currency that you bought with real currency. A DLC system removes the financial incentive that gold sellers have.