So... What is the plan ?

ase · May 2017

Hi all,

After yesterday's patch, I am wondering where Cryptic is going to lead us. Let me explain...
They sent us a nice free item that gives us a big 30% everfrost resist. Allowing everybody to go FBI without buying potion or any kind of gear.
They nerfed Orcus to Oblivion, allowing the tank to do his job and to be able to keep chatting while doing it...
They pretty much give everybody a purple mount with the wanderer bonus.

What is happening here ?
I mean, Neverwinter never was a hard game and everything can pretty much be done by the vast majority of players.
I understand that guildless people or undergear newbies might have bad times sometimes, but well... get your toon in a guild and meet people. You are in an mmo, not in Skyrim

So, I was wondering... what do you guys think of all this ?
I am not really complaining, you see... just surprised.

Is that for some mod12 incoming ? Is that just because a lot of people whinned on forums ?

eion311 · May 2017

Just like Black Ice, Everfrost is running its course.
CN is an older instance, but besides brand new players it hasn't been difficult for awhile.
Where/what is this free purple mount you speak of? Free mounts are always good for the collection.

silence1x · May 2017

eion311 said:
Where/what is this free purple mount you speak of? Free mounts are always good for the collection.

Doing the Siege event daily quest (PC) each day gives you a token. 14 writs of commendation and you can purchase the Siegebreaker Griffon (epic mount - 1000 Defense and 1000 Deflection). You have to do the event's daily quest each day for the entire time to earn enough writs unless you have some left over from last year (my DC already has 10). I wish they'd pad it by a day or two in case real life intrudes but whatever.

I can't remember all of the insignia bonuses but one of them is Wanderer's Fortune which is great for RP farming.

dread4moor · May 2017

Everfrost was a mistake. They know it but cannot admit it.
So to save face they quietly neutrilized it.
If they didn't, FBI and SVA would be adandoned completely as soon as the next gear set is released.
Nothing more sinister then that.

Don't agree with the Orcus change, but it is an old dungeon. If we actually had several newer dungeons to do no one would care.

Why blame new players and the unguided? Has nothing to do with them.
But that bad attitude is why NW has so FEW new players. Our community has a well earned reputation for toxic el33tism.

Games without new players die a slow death of attrition... and the stench of death is in the air already. Lighten up on the new people.

urabask · May 2017

dread4moor said:
Everfrost was a mistake. They know it but cannot admit it.

So to save face they quietly neutrilized it.

If they didn't, FBI and SVA would be adandoned completely as soon as the next gear set is released.

Nothing more sinister then that.

Don't agree with the Orcus change, but it is an old dungeon. If we actually had several newer dungeons to do no one would care.

Why blame new players and the unguided? Has nothing to do with them.

But that bad attitude is why NW has so FEW new players. Our community has a well earned reputation for toxic el33tism.

Games without new players die a slow death of attrition... and the stench of death is in the air already. Lighten up on the new people.

FBI/SVA will be abandoned anyways. I can't imagine newer players slogging through a few months of dailies to unlock a dungeon and trial very few people will bother with. While the free ER is nice and all they really need to revamp old campaigns again so that players aren't looking at months upon months of dailies to gain access to boons and dungeons.

pitshade · May 2017

My guess is that the devs are attempting to address the huge gulf between newer less geared players and long time geared ones. The divide is so great that some people can't complete Kessel's Retreat and others can solo it. It has led to a game where there is no real progression. The people who need to do t1s can't get invited to groups. The people who need SVA marks can't get groups. There is no progression.

Lowering the top would lead to rage so instead they are bringing the bottom up - at least those who are there from lack of opportunity and not incompetence. The Griffon doesn't have a game breaking equip bonus and Wanderer's is most useful to those starting out. With 14 day's investment of a mere 2 HEs a day, an industrious but undergeared player can get a 110 speed mount, a defensive buff and a route to upgrading their refinable gear.

The recent IL changes resulted in a lot od people commenting that Orcus was too tough for what they had set it as, both the old and new IL. The dev's responded to this, just not in the way people expected. It seems their intention for the dungeon is different than that of the geared players. Instead of adjusting the IL to the content, they decided what difficulty they wanted it to be and adjusted the content.

Looking at the big picture, it makes sense to do it like this instead of nerfing everything. Hopefully they will reconsider the rewards for the dungeons that are actually supposed to be endgame (and the lag in MSP)

The Periapt and the Griffon are useful to those who need them without being overbalancing for those with gear. Orcus will be less a challenge for those of us who were farming CN but more doable for those who need to.

ase · May 2017

> @dread4moor said:
> Everfrost was a mistake. They know it but cannot admit it.
> So to save face they quietly neutrilized it.
> If they didn't, FBI and SVA would be adandoned completely as soon as the next gear set is released.
> Nothing more sinister then that.
>
> Don't agree with the Orcus change, but it is an old dungeon. If we actually had several newer dungeons to do no one would care.
>
> Why blame new players and the unguided? Has nothing to do with them.
> But that bad attitude is why NW has so FEW new players. Our community has a well earned reputation for toxic el33tism.
>
> Games without new players die a slow death of attrition... and the stench of death is in the air already. Lighten up on the new people.

I think you misunderstood me. I am not blaming the new players. But I still think guildless people are missing the point here.
But let's be honest, the vast majority of us are in a guild and we play with friends and all. And we are the people talking in channels, creating content when foundry was still there, talking in the forums, etc...
We are the community

And i don't think a lot.of.these people complained about Orcus for example.
I don't think I have a bad attitude, and again, I have nothing against casual players or players with no guild.
And i think that you are totally wrong about something : if NW has so few new players, it has nothing to do with the community. It is a problem of content, p2w reputation, cryptic communication plan, etc...
Don't blame the community.
I've been playing a lot of online games and mmos for years now, and our community is far to be the worst one.

Cheers !

robzilla45 · May 2017

The problem is that the stupid game does not even begin to resemble Dungeons and Dragons in any way other than the name...

kolatmaster · May 2017

ase#2329 said:

So, I was wondering... what do you guys think of all this ?

plasticbat · May 2017

silence1x said:
You have to do the event's daily quest each day for the entire time to earn enough writs unless you have some left over from last year (my DC already has 10). I wish they'd pad it by a day or two in case real life intrudes but whatever.

There are other ways to get writ such as using defense supply to get a box and a chance to get a writ. I also believe event HE can drop writ. Don't forget you can get 5 defense supply by doing a simple SH quest everyday. Of course, that assumes your toon is in a guild. You can craft that too. I have about 1000 altars piled up.

pterias · May 2017

That's an unnecessary and misdirected swipe at non-guilded players, but to answer a couple of your questions:

Orcus either needed to hit a bit lighter to be in line with IL reqs, or the IL needed to be raised 1000-2000 points. Either would get the job done. It was a nice gear check for tanks, but tanks that met the IL reqs were hopelessly outmatched unless they had massive support. If they raised the IL reqs, it would make it all the harder for said tanks to gear up. Lowering it helps all lower geared characters gear up (who need it a lot more than we need +5 rings), which is probably the ideal, because:

A level cap increase is coming in the not-too-distant future. I don't *think* it'll be Mod 12, but I think it will definitely be by Mod 13. I've been smelling it in the air for a while. They are trying to get most characters caught up and at a decent power level just like they did in Mods 4 and 5. That's why they're trying to make SOMI easier to access, and are giving out purple mounts during the Siege and upcoming Summer Fest. That's also why they're trying (poorly) to help smaller guilds get bigger. Heck, that might even be why mSP drops are so insulting, to slow down top end progression.

In Mod 12, I suspect they'll make Relic-level gear easily obtainable just in time to be obsoleted, just like they did in Mod 5. Orange Sva marks will likely be easier to get, in-game trading for them or making them unbound most likely. There will be a cheap and easy way to get Relic-level armor. Giving away Wanderer's Fortune like they are now will also help. Basically, anyone who wants it will be able to get T3 gear in time for it to become the new T0 gear. I also figure they would like to wait until they get through all the class reworks before doing it too, which they should be able to easily get through by Mod 13.

It'll be rough (again), but if they give Lightning Bolt to SS CWs and Fireball to MoF CWs, I could live with it

arcanjo86 · May 2017

P2W reputation, were?, most of ingame content is easily aquired with ingame currencies, please stop saying P2w, its more pay to aquire AD nothing more.
Mentioning P2W in this game most definetly comes from lazy players who dont want to have alts to boost your progress in game, remenber that "More heads think better than one solo head".

matthattr · May 2017

Maybe they are trying to include and try to entice back those that left. This game was advertised as a casual and solo friendly game, then they had some psyco-ologist them that game longevity needed reinforced grouping dynamics (read: forced grouping). So in rolled SH and out rolled 1/2 the players. They been tweaking that pile-of-HAMSTER ever since. Every mod since has tried to meld grouping into it and been at least a partial if not total fail mod.

This game suffers from what all long term games suffer from, content rot and end game gap. Once high end players get through older content, they need nothing there anymore, so they never go back. Why would they go grind old content...there is no reward or drops they need. But newer players still have to slog/grind through that HAMSTER for the boons etc. Top enders not needing it aren't around to group and help the newers out. Newers seeing just how mountainous the content wall is they need to grind through, and seeing what a ghost town it is un-install.

Games need new blood to survive (and new victims to fleece). To get players to stay they have to shorten the gap somehow, this looks like an attempt at a first in that, to lighten the pain a little for mid-content players so they will stick it out. While at the same time not having end content players (and their elitist attitudes) whine too much about nerfing difficulties.

Why is it that those in end content settings or huge guilds etc. whine about things being handouts rather than hand ups? They look down their noses at soloist and/or casual players? Enjoy your journey, I will mine, even more so if I can do it without snide remarks from others.

tornnomar · May 2017

What do I think? I don't really know as there are so many ways to look at why they did all this.

So I'll settle on it being an apology for the disaster that Storm Kings Thunder was/is.

dread4moor · May 2017

@ase#2329
"I think you misunderstood me. I am not blaming the new players. "

No misunderstanding friend.
Yes, you did blame guildless and new players. Don't backtrack. At least be wrong with conviction. Own it.
"I understand that guildless people or undergear newbies might have bad times sometimes, but well... get your toon in a guild and meet people... "
As @pterias said..
"That's an unnecessary and misdirected swipe at non-guilded players."

No one mentioned guilds/no guilds noobs/old so please do not flamebait.
The community is not just guilds. It is everyone. Cheers.

Back on the topic you proposed, in addition to all the good answers given by others, it could be a retention ploy. Whenever a new play mechanism is introduced it increases play time in players who are bored.
Many of my friends are dusting off unused toons to try FBI with the new EF Resist artifact.

ase · May 2017

Well, really, I didn't want to be mean or something. That really was not my point.
Maybe it is because my english is not as good as I would like and I can't express things as I think them.
If I was offending people, I apologize. That was not the purpose.

Thanks all for the answers

putzboy78 · May 2017

Remember module 5?

☑️ Artifact Gear became super cheap and easy to obtain
☑️ RP and enchant leveling became super cheap
☑️ BIS and near BIS gear became cheap/super easy to maintain
☑️ Path to high levels became easier for lower gear scores in a hurry
☑️ All content became super trivial

I think the recipe is clear, either we are being prep'd for a lvl increase or we should be getting a lvl increase

demonmonger · May 2017

More levels just add to the gap... all f2p games should have content that you get from dungeons that you can upgrade....

100% chance to get that gear from completing the dungeon once.

Same with enchantments.

minotaur2857 · May 2017

They've gated T3 mastercrafting behind people doing FBI/mSVA so people are going to need to do it, so they open it up to more people, and people with lower IL because they can just make a loadout with the antifreeze underwear/ring and have an easy 60%ish frost resist with a potion.

reefriednunt · May 2017

Yay, they finally fixed the yeti

clericalist · May 2017

pitshade said:
The divide is so great that some people can't complete Kessel's Retreat and others can solo it. It has led to a game where there is no real progression

Agree with this, but what can be done about this, with each module this is going to get worse.

Unknown · May 2017

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pitshade · May 2017

> @clericalist said:
>
>
> Agree with this, but what can be done about this, with each module this is going to get worse.

-----

It's the Catch 22 of a game with no end. To keep the players occupied, they make things grindy but to entice players into the grind, they wave more and more powerful items that trivialize the old content. So the next expansion does the same thing and so on and so on. Nothing really is going to change this, it is part of the game for good or bad. This is where level cap raises come in - but all that is required is some way of making people start over. In a non-persistent game, one not tied to a server and a cash shop, the studio would just stop doing expansions and release a sequel. But doing that in an MMO would deter people from investing in the cash shop for the most part.

So we get a level cap increase, people grind out new gear and fight mobs balanced for that new gear. Problem items get dumped, everything gets nerfed basically so the game itself gets refreshed.

But... we run into an issue with this game. Two of them, really. One is that the first time didn't go so well. I was on an extended break but by most accounts it was a fiasco and the playerbase shank greatly. This isn't good for profits.

The second issue is that it is clear the studio lacks the funds to do major project. In the past, we got mods with all sorts of things bundled in. Now we get small updates, less intensive rebalancing, minir fixes. A cap increase would be a huge undertaking and as stated above, a major risk.

It is possible that they will raise the cap again, but IMO it seems unlikely. A better bet is that they nurse this game along, as cheaply as they can until it becomes unprofitable to maintain whatever licencing agreement that they have.

lowendus · May 2017

pitshade said:
> @clericalist said:

>

>

> Agree with this, but what can be done about this, with each module this is going to get worse.

-----

It's the Catch 22 of a game with no end. To keep the players occupied, they make things grindy but to entice players into the grind, they wave more and more powerful items that trivialize the old content. So the next expansion does the same thing and so on and so on. Nothing really is going to change this, it is part of the game for good or bad. This is where level cap raises come in - but all that is required is some way of making people start over. In a non-persistent game, one not tied to a server and a cash shop, the studio would just stop doing expansions and release a sequel. But doing that in an MMO would deter people from investing in the cash shop for the most part.

So we get a level cap increase, people grind out new gear and fight mobs balanced for that new gear. Problem items get dumped, everything gets nerfed basically so the game itself gets refreshed.

But... we run into an issue with this game. Two of them, really. One is that the first time didn't go so well. I was on an extended break but by most accounts it was a fiasco and the playerbase shank greatly. This isn't good for profits.

The second issue is that it is clear the studio lacks the funds to do major project. In the past, we got mods with all sorts of things bundled in. Now we get small updates, less intensive rebalancing, minir fixes. A cap increase would be a huge undertaking and as stated above, a major risk.

It is possible that they will raise the cap again, but IMO it seems unlikely. A better bet is that they nurse this game along, as cheaply as they can until it becomes unprofitable to maintain whatever licencing agreement that they have.

As much as it saddens me, I 100% agree with that last statement of yours...feels like that's what's being done, and don't forget we're two half mods in full of rehashed old assets, old dungeons that never came back etc etc.

Looks like they are indeed maintaining the game with as little resources as possible, till it sadly goes bust.

minotaur2857 · May 2017

I also think there is an issue that the people who claim the game is too easy don't see. Cryptic will know which demographic spends real money on the game. I'd be prepared to bet that it's the people who DON'T grind all the best gear, are time poor, cash rich so can't fill up their relic gear with vonins, aren't going to refine SVA weapons and are looking for stuff they can achieve in their limited playtime to get a feeling of progression, helping with cash where necessary.

These are the people Cryptic has to keep happy for the game to function. This is a move in that direction, as were the mastercrafting changes, allowing them to essentially buy good gear with RM->ADs.

Unknown · June 2017

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tripsofthrymr · June 2017

tigercatgirl said:

I've spent 4 months trying to restore the relic from Storm Kings....its impossible because the true end game for cryptic in all there games is just to punish the players. This is though what you get when people that make a game and never play it.

Players that tried to get the elemental weapons after the initial rush were in the same boat. Cryptic eventually made the weapons craftable. I would imagine they'll do something to make the relic weapons more attainable. @mimicking#6533 is this on your radar?

lantern22 · June 2017

clericalist said:

pitshade said:
The divide is so great that some people can't complete Kessel's Retreat and others can solo it. It has led to a game where there is no real progression
Agree with this, but what can be done about this, with each module this is going to get worse.

It is easier than ever to level up a toon.

Loadouts now, so everyone can have a DPS option for dailies = faster to grind out boons

Rank 8's are now 30-40K 12 months ago they were 80K

Artifacts are way cheaper now, way cheaper - some are 25% of what they were 12 months ago.

RP is cheaper, except for R5 stacks but now artefact feeders are way cheaper, so that balances out.

So... What is the plan ?

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