My top 3 have not really changed much. The 3 biggest issues I consider are:
Item Redundancy - too many items are useless as of the moment they are released.
Campaigns - Needs to be made more horizontal in my opinion in terms of progression.
Professions - These being largely dead is a problem.
I would add another point for the top of the list. Revising the skill palettes/feats so there aren't so many dumb/useless choices.
The skills are a player's main mechanism to interact with the game.
I wouldn't expect Neverwinter to be PoE, but there are so many skills that are obviously worse than other options. So many feat choices that make no sense. ... Neverwinter's skills are like a collection of random ideas. They lack any kind of logic or synergy.
Hey Chris and CDP family, my first of six posts will cover Daily Login Rewards. I plan to cover rewards from the following: Daily Logins, Zones, Dungeon Bosses/Chests, Strongholds Activities, Leveling Up & Overleveling, and Events.
Feedback Overview (short description of the proposed feedback) for Daily Logins The daily login rewards in Neverwinter are primarily tied to the Vault of Piety store and Invocation system. Players can invoke at level 11 after completing the quest Cornering Karzov. After the first invoke of each day, players earn 1 Ardent Coin and 1 Celestial Coin.
The layout of the VoP store and Invocation systems are structured. However, the rewards are outdated, and the Angel of Protection companion was one of the most disappointing rewards to receive at 360 days. It was a real letdown, and definitely could not compete with Fire Archon, Chultan Tiger, and now Bulette Pup or Xuna.
The VoP offers players two stores: Ardent Favor & Celestial Synergy
Proposed feedback:
1) Revamp Vault of Piety rewards in the Ardent Favor & Celestial Synergy Ardent Favor - Rotational themed rewards that change from month to month - Seasonal themed transmogrifications for weapons and gear - 30 min / 1 hr Boosters for Exp, Refinement, and Rough AD - Keep the Elixirs!!! End Gamers use them. - Several 360 day account bound rewards: Offer some Legendary items as choice rewards for players who commit to logging in and playing Neverwinter faithfully for 360 days. No one should play Neverwinter for a year or more and not experience a legendary mount or an exclusive (NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE AUCTION HOUSE) lol legendary mount.
2) Implement a Reward of the Day or Calendar. Warframe and Elder Scroll Online have awesome daily reward systems.
3) Revamp the Rewards of Devotion from Invoking - Add Mount Insignia choice packs (RARITY GREEN) at Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Blessings for green insignias
Feedback Goal (what this feedback would target and accomplish) This feedback targets all players that log on. If considered, it can boost morale, and give an incentive for logging on. The rotational rewards will keep everyone looking in VoP store for changes.
Risks & Concerns - Risk: Implementing some rewards as daily gifts could affect the economy and auction house. - Migation: If the rewards are epic or legendary, make sure they are not the same as items in lockboxes, or tradable. These items should be account bound and Exclusive only. 360 day rewards from the Invocation should not be in the auction house. It totally defeats the purpose of logging in for 360 days if I can buy the item on the auction house for 69,000 AD (Angel of Protection Auction House Buyout Price on PS4 as of 2/16/20)
I am pretty sure there are more risks but that would have to be discussed further. This is just my suggestion based on my experience in Neverwinter so far. Next post from me will cover Zone Rewards.
I would add another point for the top of the list. Revising the skill palettes/feats so there aren't so many dumb/useless choices.
The skills are a player's main mechanism to interact with the game.
I wouldn't expect Neverwinter to be PoE, but there are so many skills that are obviously worse than other options. So many feat choices that make no sense. ... Neverwinter's skills are like a collection of random ideas. They lack any kind of logic or synergy.
I agree that a CDP on the combat system/feats/powers/class balance should be done at some point, though I don't think talking about that topic should be done here.
The main reason I'd suggest an entire CDP thread dedicated to it is because there are some other problems with the combat system besides "our feat choices are boring and force us into restrictive skills". One example I'd give would be a redundant CC aspect: anything that can be CC'd is usually faster and easier to simply kill and anything I'd want to CC is immune because you're supposed to get a tank or something.
I would guess Chris hasn't announced a CDP on that specific topic mostly because of how ... divisive ... of a topic "balance" can be.
- 30 min / 1 hr Boosters for Exp, Refinement, and Rough AD - Keep the Elixirs!!! End Gamers use them. - Several 360 day account bound rewards: Offer some Legendary items as choice rewards for players who commit to logging in and playing Neverwinter faithfully for 360 days. No one should play Neverwinter for a year or more and not experience a legendary mount or an exclusive (NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE AUCTION HOUSE) lol legendary mount.
2) Implement a Reward of the Day or Calendar. Warframe and Elder Scroll Online have awesome daily reward systems.
I think it's a good idea, but, it seems to me, the legendary mount is too much. Don't you think so?:) Although if it is not a very strong / cool mount, then it’s good. Otherwise, many players who have a legendary mount were outraged.:) And I totally agree with you and these ideas. Such rewards would be an additional motivation and incentive for daily entry to the game and could attract new players.
What about implementing a mechanism to trade Coins and Currency with the game and with other players (ie. Gold to Astral Diamonds, but perhaps other currencies also)?
It's not very obvious in game, but you can already trade seals for bags of AD (usually under the misc tab) and if you buy gold bars at the pub, you can auction those for astral diamonds on the market (I think crafters buy them up, or used to - haven't done it for awhile). Having zone currency buy RAD would be nice though.
My top 3 are chosen with "to get people to end game quicker" in mind, as well as what I believe are the easiest / fastest ones to do:
1 - Remove time gates especially from non-current content. Any zone where the daily quests change based on the day should simply have all quests available every day. Shorten durations where Heroic Encounters are absent. Apply a discount on all Stronghold structures. Quadruple the base weekly max currency limit for campaigns that have it.
2 - Expand the Vault of Piety / Invoke shop (particularly for Ardent coins) to include things like character bound pres. wards, stones, maybe enchantments - whatever items new players who don't have an AD stream will need to upgrade themselves. If you are concerned about market rates, lock these items to only be available to those under level 80.
3 - Expand options for spending gold as that is the most common quest reward. Character bound temporary buffs, temporary mounts of various levels, temporary companions of various levels, stronghold components/vouchers etc. Or make gold bars more prevalent and push the suggestion to trade them on the AH, maybe by adding a tutorial quest of doing just that (manjusriyamantak's suggestion a little further down).
gabrieldourdenMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,212Arc User
edited February 2020
If all the proposals I've seen so far I like the one by @oremonger#9999 more than everything else. From my side the top 3 are:
1) For each area of progression clarify to all players what keeps value over time and what not, and assign value depending on the effort needed (skill, time, ...).
Clearly clarify what bonuses do and how they stack and apply, in order not to confuse and deceive players, wasting their time and resources and hindering their progression.
If I farm , craft or buy an item that gives 3% more damage to melee powers I don't want to discover retroactively that it doesn't stack with two similar items I already have. If the active power of an Owlbear Cub has a cooldown, I want to know what that cooldown is before I spend a couple of millions AD to buy it and bring it to legendary. If I stack the same insignia bonus buying certain companions and insignias, I want to know in advance that stacking has diminishing returns. If I use two rings with Manticore's Bite I want to know if the 30 seconds cooldown is applied separately or affects both of them before I farm TOMM or spend AD on the auction. If I'm a Ranger I want to know in advance that roots do not trigger any effect that does something when I deal damage before buying such items thinking that I can benefit from root ticks triggering them. I want to see in the description of weapon enchants if their damage instances stack or simply get refreshed before I invest millions AD on them.
2) Add race-based feats, powers and boons, D&D 4e has plenty of examples. This makes the choice of a race more important and adds depth to the game.
3) Increase the amount of variety in building and progressing your character. In particular rework boons so that they offer again more variety in building a character and rework crafted items so that they are orthogonal to dropped ones and keep value over time (reducing the need to update them every mod, which is clearly an issue for the dev team).
Post edited by gabrieldourden on
Le-Shan: HR level 80 (main)
Born of Black Wind: SW Level 80
helping people may be it's own reward but it does seem like there could be a stronger incentive for including them in dungeon runs. most dungeon runs are premades from guild alliance and depending on where you are probably do not included any lesser geared players. the small stipend they give for a new player (which I think is literally for people who haven't done the dungeon before, ) isn't enough for inclusion in runs. if they did a bonus drop for people running they'd probably go out of their way to find a low geared player to run thru.
that would be open to abuse though. I'm not a low geared player and I can't say I have any vested interest in this and even if they did something like I suggested, having free rerolls or an extra chest or double rewards wouldn't really motivate me personally. but it might be something to consider. (or not)
it seems like there is no good solution in reality. sometimes the best solution is no action. there are a lot of things that are higher in importance imo.
ACTUAL SOLUTION AS I SEE IT: the way I see it the lower geared players that are so rife in the game are a symptom rather than the source problem. the problem is the ecosystem that used to carry them to fully geared is mostly useless. events like the gods, waukeens etc where farming used to produce ad or good trade has no current value in the game. professions farming for mc base supplies is dead. drops in the dungeons are mostly worthless. the hunts and fishing used to have things for trade that could be used to gear up, now worthless and nothing tradable from me's, we's and fes that is worth trading..
there is no real viable way for total frosh to make ad other than daily rad and daily rad doesn't go far towards true end game. imo if the economy has some value added to it then you'll see more people gearing up and being ready to do end game things and be included naturally without help.
I would add another point for the top of the list. <b class="Bold">Revising the skill palettes/feats</b> so there aren't so many dumb/useless choices.
The skills are a player's main mechanism to interact with the game.
I wouldn't expect Neverwinter to be PoE, but there are so many skills that are obviously worse than other options. So many feat choices that make no sense. ... Neverwinter's skills are like a collection of random ideas. They lack any kind of logic or synergy.</blockquote>
I agree that a CDP on the combat system/feats/powers/class balance should be done at some point, though I don't think talking about that topic should be done here.
The main reason I'd suggest an entire CDP thread dedicated to it is because there are some other problems with the combat system besides "our feat choices are boring and force us into restrictive skills". One example I'd give would be a redundant CC aspect: anything that can be CC'd is usually faster and easier to simply kill and anything I'd want to CC is immune because you're supposed to get a tank or something.
I would guess Chris hasn't announced a CDP on that specific topic mostly because of how ... divisive ... of a topic "balance" can be.</blockquote>
This.... when mod 16 dropped so did my guild and most of the allianceI was in. I suffered through mod 16 lying to myself that I just needed to weather storm and eventually the combat system, powers, feats/paragons, buffs/debuffs, etc... would come back and the game would be fun again. I left 3-4 months ago and login once every few weeks and check the forums to see if Neverwinter is making any changes towards being the fast paced fun combat RPG that Myself and everyone that I knew liked very much.
I also think there should be a CDP specifically for this topic. This is what made Neverwinter so much fun before the abomination that was mod 16.
Feedback Overview (short description of the proposed feedback) for Zone Rewards
In Neverwinter, Zones are the linear progression for players starting with Blacklake District at level 5 until Whispering Caverns at level 58. They all share a common layout: A Problem which leads to story quests, and the Zone stores: Bounty Masters, Seal Traders, Underdark Merchants, and others.
As this part of the game is truly a fun experience, there are questionable rewards that could be more intentional and impactful for the current level of each zone. Some leveling zones have rewards that are way over the level of that area, and others were the rewards are too low or irrelevant at that zone level.
Proposed feedback:
- Add a Help Merchant for each Zone (one that answers commonly asked questions and directs players to see the other merchants for level appropiate weapons, gear, enchantments, refinement, and consumable options)
- Keep the Bounty Masters (NPCs that offers Treasure Caches and Assortment Packs for Zone Currencies). You can add Consumables to these merchants....
- Revamp or remove the "Merchants" that sell Magical Supplies.
As the consumbles are very useful for new players, the Magical Supplies are totally irrrelevant and ask for Astral Diamonds. Sadly, these NPCs have several names depending on which zone you are in (Underdark Merchant/Merchant & Seal Trader*). Example: the Merchant in Neverdeath, named "Merchant" sells the same thing as the Underdark Merchant in Whispering Cavern.... Are they Underdark Merchants? These vendors are confusing, lol.
- Separate the level appropiate gear from the Seal Traders, each Zone should have a level appropiate gear vendor.
The Seal Traders throughout the Zones are inconsistant. They are selling underleveled and overleveled gear at the same time depending on the zone (gear for levels 16-32, Level 36-42, and Level 49-58). They are asking for seal currencies that are outdated or require players to leave the zone (queue dungeons) to obtain them (Seal of the Lion in Ebon Downs, Seal of the Adventurer in Pirates Skyhold....).
- Add a Companions vendor to each Zone. This vendor will provide questing players with companion (RARITY GREEN) options that fit that zone. Similar Zones would share similar companions. Zone currencies, and gold required to purchase.
- Add a Mounts vendor to each Zone. This vendor will provide questing players with mount (RARITY GREEN) options that fit that zone. Similar Zones would share similar mounts. Zone currencies, and gold required to purchase.
- Update Icons on the mini map that show the location of merchants. This is a small change that can have a big impact on helping new/questing players.
Feedback Goal (what this feedback would target and accomplish)
The goal is to build Consistancy and Progression with the type of merchants and rewards that are offered to questing players at each Zone. Questing/New players should not have to guess who certain merchants are or the wares they sell. There should be a level of antipication for the new Zone and the new rewards they will offer. The addition of companions and mounts in the zones definitely will help give players options as they level, and expose them to different types of companions/mounts.
This feedback targets mostly new and questing players. If considered, each Zone will have a Help Merchant, Level appropiate Gear Vendor, Bounty Master, Companion Vendor, and Mount Vendor. This implementation would clean up the vendors in each zone, align them with level progression, expose players to more options for companions and mounts, and keep players from having to leave the zone. Each Zone should cater to the player needs for that level.
Risks & Concerns
- Risk: Moving mounts and companions to the zones can affect the mount and companion stores in the Protector Enclave.
- Migation: Truly, the mounts and companion vendors in the protectors enclave should encourage players to seek out mounts and companions from the World of Neverwinter (Zones & Campaigns). The Stores in the Protector Enclave should have purple companions and mounts only, Exclusive Mounts/Companions, Seasonal Mounts/Companions, and Event Mounts/Companions. If players do not want to explore to discover mount and companions, then the Zen Market or Auction House should be the alternative option for a reasonable price.
I am pretty sure there are more risks but that would have to be discussed further. This is just my suggestion based on my experience in Neverwinter so far. Next post from me will cover Dungeon Bosses/Chest Rewards.
I would add another point for the top of the list. Revising the skill palettes/feats so there aren't so many dumb/useless choices.
The skills are a player's main mechanism to interact with the game.
I wouldn't expect Neverwinter to be PoE, but there are so many skills that are obviously worse than other options. So many feat choices that make no sense. ... Neverwinter's skills are like a collection of random ideas. They lack any kind of logic or synergy.
I agree that a CDP on the combat system/feats/powers/class balance should be done at some point, though I don't think talking about that topic should be done here.
The main reason I'd suggest an entire CDP thread dedicated to it is because there are some other problems with the combat system besides "our feat choices are boring and force us into restrictive skills". One example I'd give would be a redundant CC aspect: anything that can be CC'd is usually faster and easier to simply kill and anything I'd want to CC is immune because you're supposed to get a tank or something.
I would guess Chris hasn't announced a CDP on that specific topic mostly because of how ... divisive ... of a topic "balance" can be.
I Agree, but I want to make sure it doesn't fall by the wayside as so many things do.
The skill palette is the foundation of horizontal progression. You can rework the boons, change campaigns, throw more items at the problem, but the root of the player experience will always be the skill palettes.
The problem I see isn't so much one of balance. There will always be a 'best' AoE loadout, a best single target, etc. There will always be a top dps class.
In most games you have choices when you pick your skills. In Neverwinter you have flat out Pitfalls. Those feats that no one should ever choose. The skills that shouldn't be in any loadout because they're just bad.
The Neverwinter paragons are riddled with Pitfalls and new players stumble into them every day.
About Mentor System idea Soo much fight on it, but no fight there is actually about the system, but about:
Group 1-> i want to get something for the time i spend training new players
Group 2->I dont want to be a tutor, but i need to be the "top player" so i feel that i would need to be one if the rewards are nice.
I do have my views about both groups, positive and negative, but this wont help here one thing i would propose is a solution for this dilema:
Since it looks like both groups are fighting for the rewards the only option would be a compromize in the rewards gives:
1-> The easy call, Astetic stuff, like green mounts for skin, and titles for mentors and mentee as well some pets and weapons and armor, even fashion could be placed here...
2-> Raw AD, since is locked by daily refining i dont see any warm here and is kind of obvious to anyone that spent time teaching new players (or old players in new places) that it takes a lot of time, time that you could be making ad...
3-> Seals, yeah Seals are already capped and have limited use these days, but is the kind of stuff you could get in that played time you spent teaching or learning so why not (of course it should not be the Top seal bu good enough for players to improve from that.
Again is just one idea, a way to find a mid way solution between both groups, we can all agree that both have theyr reasons and also theyr questionble own agendas (of course they have everyone have till a certain amount...).
I believe is an amazing idea that should be worked on, to refine it not scrap the whole idea because it have issues... The mentor system should work to "not penalize the eficience" of mentors but should still be done by vocation, so it shouldnt be tied to big rewards to avoid those that only seek the rewards...
Also the Multy account, boxing and Boot Problems must be a thing whille developing this...
PS. Sorry for any mistake my english is self taught...
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lordaeolosMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 167Arc User
My top 3:
1. Add more horizontal progression in multiple aspects of the game (from campaigns, boons, gear, to feats) 2. Revamp the multitude of currency stores to streamline that experience and give multiple avenues to item acquisition 3. Create a means to allows players to more easily connect with guilds earlier in the game (and explains the benefits), as well as a way for guilds to more easily seek folks that would fit into their guilds; so newer players have earlier access to mentoring/ support networks, which will help them on their journeys
Bonus #4: Remove useless "RP" gear drops from loot tables... these just waste inventory space because they don't stack, and have 0 value for players
"Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events."
In regards to an in-game help/mentor system relying on player created content. I would like to caution against posting links to external resources on the web for security reasons. For example, I know janne's site is full of great information, but what if the server it resides on was to be hijacked and malicious code placed into the pages that load on visitor's web-browsers? This happens, a lot more than people would think. If user's were allowed to post links to external resources in a public page in-game, it would open the door for people to create malicious servers and point a lot of people to them, these types of servers pop up and then go away as soon as they get "hot".
A well designed in-game help system is needed, but the content within it should maintained by the developers (authors can be whoever obviously) and there should be no links to external resources or videos, especially resources hosted on servers that PWE/Cryptic have no accountability for. The help system should have a look-and-feel consistent with the rest of the game including the fonts, formatting, icons, and other ui features, user create content in a dynamic help system would be too chaotic and could negatively impact the perceived integrity of the game.
Awesome to see folks already in with their top 3! What a pleasant surprise as I have for the last few days been taking a break to spend time with family and friends (I will be properly catching up tomorrow).
Meanwhile........
PHASE 3 PHASE 3 PHASE 3
Welcome to Phase 3 of the Rewards and Progression.
In Phase 3 having read the discussion we list our top 3 ideas from the CDP along with brief reasoning and any necessary commentary for each idea. Both Fabricant and Willow have done good examples of this on Page 19 and 20.
My take on the mentoring system is quite simple. Anyone that actually wants to mentor someone in the game probably already does. Anyone not currently doing mentoring, that needs a progression reward in order to undertake mentoring, would probably not be in it for anything but the rewards and therefore not make a great mentor.
Also, there are plenty of people I've met in this game that think they are a wealth of knowledge when they actually hand out bad information on a constant basis.
Do we really want a push towards spreading bad information, poor teaching methods, etc?
I'll add one last note on this and then I'm done.
I've known two types of new players over the years. Type A - soaks in the knowledge, hones in no mechanics, learns the ropes then goes off and continues their journey further growing.
Type B - latches on to the mentee train of thinking, never wants to learn anything for themselves, continually latches on to people to get carried through content while never trying to optimize/grow their build.
Type B has far outweighed Type A in this game.
I'll have to circle back around on top 3 votes because, to be honest, tracking 20 pages of this discussion is a mess and a new method really needs to be utilized. I fear you will see a slowdown in interaction from more players if only because of the sensory overload wading through all of this.
As always sorry in advance, my english is not that great.
I would suggest that you guys keeping comments based on topic, cuz now it's going in left and right without any decent guidance. There is still lot of room to talk about rerwads, either loot table, lockboxes, invocations and it's realated shop.
Hunt rewards and so one..
Remember that, once this topic will get closed, we will get same topic way latter, if we get at all.
Now main reason why I write here is that, I noted talks about mentor system.
First of all, from what I can see, non of you have encountered Game advisor(GA) or Mentor system in your previous mmo games.
Here is post from one of my previous played games, they have so called Game advisor system and here is small detail about it.
1.What is [GA] or Game Adviser? They serve as informers in game. They are obliged to give advices, directions, and information when someone asks them with regard in game concerns. Like: Guide in Creating Character, Skills, Stats, Quests, Maps, Monster Location and anything about the game itself.
2. Do They Have Special Items? “NO” they are normal players. But they can be awarded base on their performances.
3. Can They Ban Players? “NO” They are obliged to report abusive players but they can’t ban them.
4. Are they allowed to Swear or Speak Bad Words? “NO” That is one of our server’s rule and they must be a good example to our server.
5. Do They Need To Be Online Daily? “NO”, It's volunteered position, though it's required to be active in game, it's not job. Also, there are times even game advisor want to stay away, rest and how fun for himself.
6. Are They Required to Help Players By Means of Party, Killing Monster, Giving Free Items? This is optional, it depends upon them if they want it or not. Their duty is only to give advices, directions and information with regard to the game.
I just want add some extra lines to clarify hierarchy and who are in charage of Game advisors.
Regular/main Game advisor/mentors action are overlooked by Lead Game adviros/Mentor. He assure that mentors do not abuse their status. Thats mean, no links to third part/illegal websites, no demands/promoting to buy specific item/stuffs, no requests for personal or in game details( account ID or pasw).
Now lead mentor also have direct contant with staff, either QA or lead QA or developer or lead developer. The reason is that, game keep changing so it's impossible to know everything. And mentors would need calrifications from staff who x item or x power should work.
Usually to become mentor require knowledge about game, but same goes for classes. In one of previous games, some mentors where picked due their extensive knowledge about their played class.
As example would be,, When new warlock seek information about his class power/mechanic, he should as warlock player not wizard or cleric or Paladin. So usually there where mentor for each class.
Also, some may be mentors due their better understanding or having higher knowledge how solve some in game problems(visuals, sounds, or lag issues).
As what take to become lead Mentor? Group of mentors/advisors may select one of them to represent whole team, or staff may select one of member to act as lead mentor.
As for rewards, through my all previous times, I have receive no rewards.. But if you guys/girls realy want something. I think some vouchers with 100% discount for few account bound preservation wards or healt stones would not be big problem.
But one thing need to be clear, mentor/game advisor should not become extra game feature for gaining rare/specific items. That's mean no enchanting stones or mark of potency or something highly valuable items.
Also, how many of rewards you gain? Not much, actually, it's very minimal, after all game advisor/mentor are volunteered position.
Best regards: Hades
p.s if there any part which cause confusion or need clarification, just let me know, I will try explain it more properly..
======================================================================== “The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim. Gustave Le Bon. ==================================================
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rickcase276Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,404Arc User
My top 3 are:
1. Ability to get most items to all types of players: There should be a better mechanism in game to where all types of players have access to all the items that are deemed BIS. Yes, those that cant/don't run dungeons would not be able to get the items quickly but there should be a way that they can buy them with seals, just a lot of seals to do it.
2. Horizontal/vertical progression Enough has been said about this
3. Quest rewards: I feel all quest rewards need to be updated, as some are out of sync with the current game, as are some of the older items in game. Would also be nice to get a small amount of AD for quests, as this would help retain newer players
1:One aspect that has long hindered progression is quest timer cooldowns on required quests. Take Maze Engine. I need 12 tales of adventure to progress, but i can only get one every 15 hours. I have to work and grind and then wait around to continue a story-line. Do you know what this makes me do? Leave. I run a mission to get a tale of adventure then i quit for the day. I get that you are trying to force Buyouts or other such hamster pucker, but i am here for the stories, i want to play the game, experience the adventure, see the story, but you make it so tedious. It certainly doesn't ingratiate me to the company and want to spend money to support it. That brings me to point 2.
2: There is enough content that you don't need to keep in the padding, and getting rid of the padding means you don't have to truncate or cut down actual game content. I legit miss the old flow of some of the early missions. They have been cut down to a perfunctory "We aren't even trying, just hurry past all this so you can get to max level, maybe then you can have fun."
The entire philosophy behind the changes in progression since Mod 16 have been atrocious. It is more grindy, less engaging and less rewarding. The Quick satisfying combat of Pre-Mod16 made the grind more bearable.
PLEASE! Stop gutting the game of all that made it good while gleefully leaving in obnoxious padding. The gutting and truncating is more work than just turning off a timer. If the reason for this is something as asinine as the AD payout and how it effects the economy, then make that the thing limited by time, not the Campaign required materials.
Ego etiam cupo recrari et amari diu post mortem meam I too wish to be recreated, and to be loved long after my death.
- replace junk rewards in dungeons / instances / skirmishes with useful rewards - gear salvaging: instead of RP, give a moderate amount of seals (of the last or current mod) for outdated gear - tiered dungeons: three tiers for every new instance (and two tiers for some older instances), with tiered rewards
1. replace junk rewards in dungeons / instances / skirmishes with useful rewards 2. gear salvaging: instead of RP, give a moderate amount of seals (of the last or current mod) for outdated gear 3. tiered dungeons: three tiers for every new instance (and two tiers for some older instances), with tiered rewards
Reasoning:
1. Playing a game is supposed to be fun. It should be fun for the new players, the ascending players and the end-game players. But from the perspective of an "ascending" player it is no fun to run the instances in the random queues day after day (and a new player must run them for 1-2 years, to get the ~100 million AD required for a end-game ready character), and after all the effort receiving rewards that are not worth anything. Currently the only worthwhile reward is the rAD, but the rAD alone is not fun. The occasional drop of useful gear/equipment/companion etc. is fun. Getting vastly outdated gear/enchants etc. kills much of the fun running these dungeons (slowly increasing your amount of AD might be fun for an accountant, but not for most players)
2. salvaging gear -> rAD has been removed, because it was causing serious balancing problems. Although I understand why it was removed, the current situation is unsatisfactory, because it makes old gear totally worthless. There is a sense of attachment to the gear, we have been using for some time. Destroying it for a minuscule amount of RP is not fun. RP is so abundant, its not worth anything. Salvaging was fun, because it acknowledged that old gear had still some use, despite of (or because of) the continuous progression: You could salvage old gear for rAD, in order to buy new stuff. Giving seals instead of rAD will not cause balancing problems. If we get seals, we can only buy (account-bound) gear from the seal vendor. This will not hurt the economy, but it will help players in their progression.
3. tiered dungeons will help in many ways. Especially with the division between "experienced" and "new" players. I always see (some) experienced players complain, that they must constantly "carry new players through the RQs, that do not care to read a guide or watch a video". I also see (some) new players complaining about "elitist players, that only want to rush through the content". Tiered content gives new players a chance to learn the dungeon and to play with people that are about the same level.
1-profession: they are dead; would be nice if i could craft usable gear and unique potions and not only kit to augment stats, ring to make gold or an appearance item; i'm not only talking about MC that should craft end game stuff, but also normal crafting.
2-horizontal progression with a vertical one once in a while, it was discussed and it may also help the new player that don't keep seeing the goal going further away with every new mod (or middle tier player, not new nor end gamer) and being a means to keep the old maps alive
3-reward: a more meaningful reward for the content played, divide the dungeon by tier and assign every tier a specific type of drop (tier 1: rp, tier 2:mark and enchanting stones, tier 3: insignas and MC item) and make player choose the difficulty of the dungeon to select the possible highest rarity of such drop.
note the order is not by priority
personal opinion i played the campaign in order, that allowed me to understand the evolution of the character in the game a little (i somehow still miss some ending... chult: we got called to end the death curse, we understood where it came from, found makos, made acerorax flee.. then? what about the curse???) i really liked doing so, in my opinion that is an important thing to be kept. i understand that a new player can't play all the campaign in order to follow the story (they will be trapped for 5-7 month in bryn shander for SKT this way) and they wouldn't because the new campaign give more valuable and powerful stuff and with the maps full it's easyer to get a group to complete the quest. this is a problem and i don't see any solution.
guide i personally would like to have a section in game or in this forum for some guide for dungeon (every dungeon, even the old ones) quest or curiosity (like the maps in somi, chult, the hunts...) and it doesn't need to be exhaustive and it may also be a simple collection of observation done by the player about a topic, a mechanic or a finding, like a research diary (it need a moderator) can be rewarded with a title or a librarian attire if someone like to be rewarded for it.
mentoring i like the idea, it should not be forced to not fall in case were a mentor/apprentice ruin the fun of the apprentice/mentor,the only real problem is having not really prepared ppl mentoring new player and new player pretending stuff from the mentor. but i'm in the opinion that aesthetic stuff to be the best reward, a title, a green mount, some transmute (a novice teacher, veteran teacher, professor, distinguished doctor professor..)
My third of six posts are Dungeon Bosses/Chest Rewards.
Feedback Overview (short description of the proposed feedback) for Dungeon Bosses/Chest Rewards
Dungeons are arguably the heart of Neverwinter. They allow players to experience the climactic conclusion to a story in a zone, or the continual narrative of a villian encounter from a campaign. However, the quality and quantity of dungeons in Neverwinter has and continues to see major changes that has and continues to cause many rifts amongst players and expectations.
My feedback suggestions will focus on dungeon bosses, loot tables, dungeon chests, and dungeon end chests. As this part of the game is highly controversial, I want to bring attention to the current state of dungeon rewards and suggest rewards for dungeons that are intentional and meaningful for that current dungeon level.
Proposed feedback:
Suggestion #1: Share Loot Tables for dungeon bosses and dungeon end chests
Current State - Loot tables are undefined, very vague, sporadic, and unaligned with boss/dungeon difficulty. Loot tables are not shared with the players and creates uncertainty on where to go and what to farm. Dungeons have little to no replay value.
Revised State - Loot tables for bosses and dungeon end chests are defined and aligned with boss/dungeon difficulty. Loot tables are shared with players and updated to reflect any changes to them.
Suggestion #2: Loot Rewards from dungeon bosses and chests should be more than Refinement.
Current State - 1 random rarity piece of armor, 2 - 3 refinement, 1 unique item (possible artifact, mount, insignia, etc.)
Revised State:
All Dungeons under level 60 - END CHESTS: 2 random piece of GREEN armor, 2 - 3 refinement (100-2000 range), 2 guaranteed bags of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY GREEN). - EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 100% Chance to drop Rank 3 Enchanting Stones or Rank 2 Mark of Potency, possibly drops random legacy artifact or legacy artifact set piece rarity GREEN. - LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item
All Dungeons & Skirmishes level 60 - 70 - END CHESTS: 2 random piece of BLUE armor, 2 - 3 refinement (2000-5000 range), 2 guaranteed bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY BLUE). - EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 75% Chance to drop Rank 4 Enchanting Stones or Rank 3 Mark of Potency, possibly drops random legacy artifact or legacy artifact set piece rarity BLUE. - LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item, unique VANITY pet item RARITY BLUE.
All Dungeons, Skirmishes, and Trials level 70 - END CHESTS: 2 random piece of PURPLE armor, 2 - 3 refinement (5000-7000 range), 1 guaranteed bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY PURPLE). - EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 50% Chance to drop Rank 5 Enchanting Stones or Rank 4/5 Mark of Potency, possibly drops random legacy artifact or legacy artifact set piece rarity PURPLE. - LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item, unique VANITY pet item RARITY PURPLE.
All Dungeons & Trials level 80 - END CHESTS: 1 piece of TOP TIER PURPLE armor, 1 - 2 refinement (7000-10,000 range), 1 guaranteed bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY PURPLE). - EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 25% Chance to drop Rank 6 Enchanting Stones or Rank 6 Mark of Potency, possibly drops CURRENT artifact or artifact set piece rarity GREEN. - LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item, unique VANITY pet item RARITY LEGENDARY.
WEEKLY GALLANT DUNGEONS CHALLENGE REWARDS
Gallant Dungeons or K-Team Dungeons were private queue dungeons that must be completed under two conditions: No one can die, and Minimum Item Level. These challenges were introduced to players once they completed the Acquisition Incorporated campaign.
They provide capable groups with a meaningful challenge each week, and rewarded players with 1 Omin's IOU per week. The IOU could be used at the armor box downstairs in the basement.
I personally feel completing this challenge each week should reward capable groups with some of the MOST MEMORABLE REWARDS in the game. Successful groups found that build setups using artifacts, feats, powers, and class makeup mattered. You could even practice the dungeon under the conditions with your team before the weekly challenge.
Current State - Outdated Gear, No incentive to run HARDCORE DUNGEONS.
Revised State: Give the NO NAME armor box in the basement a NAME: MAGICAL MYSTERIES lol or turn it into a NPC.
Revised Vendor Wares:
- Choose 1 of the following with 4 IOUs: 1 piece of NEWLY CREATED, UNIQUE, TOP TIER PURPLE armor (ex: armor with 2 Equip bonuses) 1 piece of NEWLY CREATED, UNIQUE, APPEARANCE CHANGE ITEM (ex: Jarl's Gaze with Red Eyes)
- Choose 1 of the following with 8 IOUs: Bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY LEGENDARY) Unique VANITY pet item RARITY LEGENDARY
- Choose 1 of the following with 12 IOUs: 1 Newly Created, Unique, Purple Mount (only obtainable from this vendor) (ex: butterfly mount) 1 Rank 13 Enchantment or Runestone
- Choose 1 of the following with 16 IOUs: 1 Legendary Mount (Legacy mounts only) 1 Rank 15 Enchantment or Runestone
Feedback Goal (what this feedback would target and accomplish)
The goal is to build Consistency and Progression of dungeon rewards that are offered to players at different levels. All players should know what dungeons to farm to level up enchantments, mounts insignias, artifacts, etc. There should be a level of anticipation for the next dungeon tier, and the new rewards it will offer.
This feedback targets all players at different levels of the game. If considered, each dungeon will offer rewards that all players can benefit from. This implementation would move players in a linear progression through the dungeons and dungeon level tiers. It will provide players with other options for meaningful challenges and rewards.
Risks & Concerns
- Concern: The current setup of the queues really makes it hard to understand the progression of dungeons and the meaning of Epic and Master as it pertains to difficulty. Therefore, aligning the rewards would be an even greater task.
- Mitigation: Reorganize the Available Queue dungeons first, then implementing the appropriate rewards for that dungeons tier should be easier. This way, you can ensure that the rewards are appropriate for the players running that content.
- Risk: Adding insignias into the dungeons could affect the economy and auction house.
- Mitigation: Truly, the auction house should not be the MAIN SOURCE of reward in the game. Dungeon bosses and chest should empower players to invest in their characters. The auction house should be an AVAILABLE SOURCE to obtain items that are hard to obtain. Example: the TOMM rings, players should be able to make AD (and they do) from those rings and supply the auction house with them. This implementation of tradable rings helps everyone in the end.
Again, this is just an outline of unique suggestions for loot reworks as it pertains to dungeons that could definitely change the morale, progression, and replay-ability of dungeons in Neverwinter. I am pretty sure there are more risks and concerns, but that would have to be discussed further. This is just my suggestion based on my experience in Neverwinter so far. Next post from me will cover Stronghold Activity Rewards.
Sorry, I'm in the "No" camp for this one. People who want to help others are already doing that.
Having rewards tied to it will lead to either people ignoring it due to poor rewards, or people abusing it to get the rewards they want - then ignoring it once they have it. Both results are a waste of developer time that could be better spent on anything else.
How would it be abused? Easily. Master of Hunt or Temple of Spider grind, high lev takes his high lev buddy who is using a new character since making accounts is free. After x rounds they switch roles. Mentor points exchange program. People will always use the path of least resistance.
Also linking external info sites from within the game is risky for the business as they don't have control over the content there. I suppose they could put a disclaimer prior to letting people open links but I imagine they could still get into trouble should the link suddenly lead to anything with adult themes, political agendas, snuff/suicide/cat murdering videos etc.
Rewards from all content should be directly related to the stats, time and effort required to complete the content. Items should only be bound to account or unbound.
Campaigns - Boons should be worth the time/effort required to obtain them. Time gates should be removed from all but the most recent campaign. Rewards/Items should be relevant in the current game.
Professions - Time, investment and effort should be reflected in the value of items that are able to be produced. Crafting and playing the market "are" the game for some players. Professions should not be ignored for extended periods and should be updated with every MOD.
Final notes:
If rewards from any source are not able to be kept relevant from MOD to MOD maybe the rewards should be converted into things that do not require updating / developer effort. Universal currency, companion upgrade tokens, crafting ingredients and consumables could all be used to replace gear and items in older content. In the case of a universal currency only the store would require updating to keep rewards relevant across all legacy content.
1. Do something with Boons. Even if we're not talking about horizontal progression, the current system has reached end-of-life. I have all boons on a couple characters and they've obtained everything that really matters. Future campaigns will only give me stats I don't need and better healing potions. Pretty dull.
2. Fix bad Feats/Skills with no use. I'm not saying you need perfect balance. I'm saying some feats are so bad that there is no choice. Other feats don't affect your character in a meaningful way. Could use more synergies.
Most class features are useless for your paragon. Especially if you're playing a mixed-class. I suggest reworking this system of passives to be more logical.
Many skills have no place in any loadouts. They could use added utility to at least make them situationaly viable.
^ I'm not expecting the above to get addressed all at once. However, Skills/Feats are the foundation of every players' character and in-game experience. The longer issues go unaddressed, the harder they'll be to fix later.
3. Set up a Logical System for Items.
Some items should be chase items.
Some items should be transitional so you have a good enough build to run dungeons.
Equip bonuses are a random mess. Make them more logical. Maybe replace them completely.
Engage the crafting system into item development. At the very least for blue/green gear.
There should be some mechanism to upgrade old gear, but at a steep cost/risk.
Kinda hard to narrow things down, but those are my top three.
Comments
Revising the skill palettes/feats so there aren't so many dumb/useless choices.
The skills are a player's main mechanism to interact with the game.
I wouldn't expect Neverwinter to be PoE, but there are so many skills that are obviously worse than other options. So many feat choices that make no sense. ... Neverwinter's skills are like a collection of random ideas. They lack any kind of logic or synergy.
Feedback Overview (short description of the proposed feedback) for Daily Logins
The daily login rewards in Neverwinter are primarily tied to the Vault of Piety store and Invocation system. Players can invoke at level 11 after completing the quest Cornering Karzov. After the first invoke of each day, players earn 1 Ardent Coin and 1 Celestial Coin.
The layout of the VoP store and Invocation systems are structured. However, the rewards are outdated, and the Angel of Protection companion was one of the most disappointing rewards to receive at 360 days. It was a real letdown, and definitely could not compete with Fire Archon, Chultan Tiger, and now Bulette Pup or Xuna.
The VoP offers players two stores: Ardent Favor & Celestial Synergy
Proposed feedback:
1) Revamp Vault of Piety rewards in the Ardent Favor & Celestial Synergy
Ardent Favor
- Rotational themed rewards that change from month to month
- Seasonal themed transmogrifications for weapons and gear
- 30 min / 1 hr Boosters for Exp, Refinement, and Rough AD
- Keep the Elixirs!!! End Gamers use them.
- Several 360 day account bound rewards: Offer some Legendary items as choice rewards for players who commit to logging in and playing Neverwinter faithfully for 360 days. No one should play Neverwinter for a year or more and not experience a legendary mount or an exclusive (NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE AUCTION HOUSE) lol legendary mount.
2) Implement a Reward of the Day or Calendar. Warframe and Elder Scroll Online have awesome daily reward systems.
3) Revamp the Rewards of Devotion from Invoking
- Add Mount Insignia choice packs (RARITY GREEN) at Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Blessings for green insignias
Feedback Goal (what this feedback would target and accomplish)
This feedback targets all players that log on. If considered, it can boost morale, and give an incentive for logging on. The rotational rewards will keep everyone looking in VoP store for changes.
Risks & Concerns
- Risk: Implementing some rewards as daily gifts could affect the economy and auction house.
- Migation: If the rewards are epic or legendary, make sure they are not the same as items in lockboxes, or tradable. These items should be account bound and Exclusive only. 360 day rewards from the Invocation should not be in the auction house. It totally defeats the purpose of logging in for 360 days if I can buy the item on the auction house for 69,000 AD (Angel of Protection Auction House Buyout Price on PS4 as of 2/16/20)
I am pretty sure there are more risks but that would have to be discussed further. This is just my suggestion based on my experience in Neverwinter so far. Next post from me will cover Zone Rewards.
The main reason I'd suggest an entire CDP thread dedicated to it is because there are some other problems with the combat
system besides "our feat choices are boring and force us into restrictive skills". One example I'd give would be a redundant CC aspect: anything that can be CC'd is usually faster and easier to simply kill and anything I'd want to CC is immune because you're supposed to get a tank or something.
I would guess Chris hasn't announced a CDP on that specific topic mostly because of how ... divisive ... of a topic "balance" can be.
And I totally agree with you and these ideas. Such rewards would be an additional motivation and incentive for daily entry to the game and could attract new players.
1 - Remove time gates especially from non-current content. Any zone where the daily quests change based on the day should simply have all quests available every day. Shorten durations where Heroic Encounters are absent. Apply a discount on all Stronghold structures. Quadruple the base weekly max currency limit for campaigns that have it.
2 - Expand the Vault of Piety / Invoke shop (particularly for Ardent coins) to include things like character bound pres. wards, stones, maybe enchantments - whatever items new players who don't have an AD stream will need to upgrade themselves. If you are concerned about market rates, lock these items to only be available to those under level 80.
3 - Expand options for spending gold as that is the most common quest reward. Character bound temporary buffs, temporary mounts of various levels, temporary companions of various levels, stronghold components/vouchers etc. Or make gold bars more prevalent and push the suggestion to trade them on the AH, maybe by adding a tutorial quest of doing just that (manjusriyamantak's suggestion a little further down).
1) For each area of progression clarify to all players what keeps value over time and what not, and assign value depending on the effort needed (skill, time, ...).
Clearly clarify what bonuses do and how they stack and apply, in order not to confuse and deceive players, wasting their time and resources and hindering their progression.
If I farm , craft or buy an item that gives 3% more damage to melee powers I don't want to discover retroactively that it doesn't stack with two similar items I already have. If the active power of an Owlbear Cub has a cooldown, I want to know what that cooldown is before I spend a couple of millions AD to buy it and bring it to legendary. If I stack the same insignia bonus buying certain companions and insignias, I want to know in advance that stacking has diminishing returns. If I use two rings with Manticore's Bite I want to know if the 30 seconds cooldown is applied separately or affects both of them before I farm TOMM or spend AD on the auction. If I'm a Ranger I want to know in advance that roots do not trigger any effect that does something when I deal damage before buying such items thinking that I can benefit from root ticks triggering them.
I want to see in the description of weapon enchants if their damage instances stack or simply get refreshed before I invest millions AD on them.
2) Add race-based feats, powers and boons, D&D 4e has plenty of examples. This makes the choice of a race more important and adds depth to the game.
3) Increase the amount of variety in building and progressing your character. In particular rework boons so that they offer again more variety in building a character and rework crafted items so that they are orthogonal to dropped ones and keep value over time (reducing the need to update them every mod, which is clearly an issue for the dev team).
Born of Black Wind: SW Level 80
that would be open to abuse though. I'm not a low geared player and I can't say I have any vested interest in this and even if they did something like I suggested, having free rerolls or an extra chest or double rewards wouldn't really motivate me personally. but it might be something to consider. (or not)
it seems like there is no good solution in reality. sometimes the best solution is no action. there are a lot of things that are higher in importance imo.
ACTUAL SOLUTION AS I SEE IT:
the way I see it the lower geared players that are so rife in the game are a symptom rather than the source problem. the problem is the ecosystem that used to carry them to fully geared is mostly useless. events like the gods, waukeens etc where farming used to produce ad or good trade has no current value in the game. professions farming for mc base supplies is dead. drops in the dungeons are mostly worthless. the hunts and fishing used to have things for trade that could be used to gear up, now worthless and nothing tradable from me's, we's and fes that is worth trading..
there is no real viable way for total frosh to make ad other than daily rad and daily rad doesn't go far towards true end game. imo if the economy has some value added to it then you'll see more people gearing up and being ready to do end game things and be included naturally without help.
I would add another point for the top of the list.
<b class="Bold">Revising the skill palettes/feats</b> so there aren't so many dumb/useless choices.
The skills are a player's main mechanism to interact with the game.
I wouldn't expect Neverwinter to be PoE, but there are so many skills that are obviously worse than other options. So many feat choices that make no sense. ... Neverwinter's skills are like a collection of random ideas. They lack any kind of logic or synergy.</blockquote>
I agree that a CDP on the combat system/feats/powers/class balance should be done at some point, though I don't think talking about that topic should be done here.
The main reason I'd suggest an entire CDP thread dedicated to it is because there are some other problems with the combat
system besides "our feat choices are boring and force us into restrictive skills". One example I'd give would be a redundant CC aspect: anything that can be CC'd is usually faster and easier to simply kill and anything I'd want to CC is immune because you're supposed to get a tank or something.
I would guess Chris hasn't announced a CDP on that specific topic mostly because of how ... divisive ... of a topic "balance" can be.</blockquote>
This.... when mod 16 dropped so did my guild and most of the allianceI was in. I suffered through mod 16 lying to myself that I just needed to weather storm and eventually the combat system, powers, feats/paragons, buffs/debuffs, etc... would come back and the game would be fun again. I left 3-4 months ago and login once every few weeks and check the forums to see if Neverwinter is making any changes towards being the fast paced fun combat RPG that Myself and everyone that I knew liked very much.
I also think there should be a CDP specifically for this topic. This is what made Neverwinter so much fun before the abomination that was mod 16.
Feedback Overview (short description of the proposed feedback) for Zone Rewards
In Neverwinter, Zones are the linear progression for players starting with Blacklake District at level 5 until Whispering Caverns at level 58. They all share a common layout: A Problem which leads to story quests, and the Zone stores: Bounty Masters, Seal Traders, Underdark Merchants, and others.
As this part of the game is truly a fun experience, there are questionable rewards that could be more intentional and impactful for the current level of each zone. Some leveling zones have rewards that are way over the level of that area, and others were the rewards are too low or irrelevant at that zone level.
Proposed feedback:
- Add a Help Merchant for each Zone (one that answers commonly asked questions and directs players to see the other merchants for level appropiate weapons, gear, enchantments, refinement, and consumable options)
- Keep the Bounty Masters (NPCs that offers Treasure Caches and Assortment Packs for Zone Currencies). You can add Consumables to these merchants....
- Revamp or remove the "Merchants" that sell Magical Supplies.
As the consumbles are very useful for new players, the Magical Supplies are totally irrrelevant and ask for Astral Diamonds. Sadly, these NPCs have several names depending on which zone you are in (Underdark Merchant/Merchant & Seal Trader*). Example: the Merchant in Neverdeath, named "Merchant" sells the same thing as the Underdark Merchant in Whispering Cavern.... Are they Underdark Merchants? These vendors are confusing, lol.
- Separate the level appropiate gear from the Seal Traders, each Zone should have a level appropiate gear vendor.
The Seal Traders throughout the Zones are inconsistant. They are selling underleveled and overleveled gear at the same time depending on the zone (gear for levels 16-32, Level 36-42, and Level 49-58). They are asking for seal currencies that are outdated or require players to leave the zone (queue dungeons) to obtain them (Seal of the Lion in Ebon Downs, Seal of the Adventurer in Pirates Skyhold....).
- Add a Companions vendor to each Zone. This vendor will provide questing players with companion (RARITY GREEN) options that fit that zone. Similar Zones would share similar companions. Zone currencies, and gold required to purchase.
- Add a Mounts vendor to each Zone. This vendor will provide questing players with mount (RARITY GREEN) options that fit that zone. Similar Zones would share similar mounts. Zone currencies, and gold required to purchase.
- Update Icons on the mini map that show the location of merchants. This is a small change that can have a big impact on helping new/questing players.
Feedback Goal (what this feedback would target and accomplish)
The goal is to build Consistancy and Progression with the type of merchants and rewards that are offered to questing players at each Zone. Questing/New players should not have to guess who certain merchants are or the wares they sell. There should be a level of antipication for the new Zone and the new rewards they will offer. The addition of companions and mounts in the zones definitely will help give players options as they level, and expose them to different types of companions/mounts.
This feedback targets mostly new and questing players. If considered, each Zone will have a Help Merchant, Level appropiate Gear Vendor, Bounty Master, Companion Vendor, and Mount Vendor. This implementation would clean up the vendors in each zone, align them with level progression, expose players to more options for companions and mounts, and keep players from having to leave the zone. Each Zone should cater to the player needs for that level.
Risks & Concerns
- Risk: Moving mounts and companions to the zones can affect the mount and companion stores in the Protector Enclave.
- Migation: Truly, the mounts and companion vendors in the protectors enclave should encourage players to seek out mounts and companions from the World of Neverwinter (Zones & Campaigns). The Stores in the Protector Enclave should have purple companions and mounts only, Exclusive Mounts/Companions, Seasonal Mounts/Companions, and Event Mounts/Companions. If players do not want to explore to discover mount and companions, then the Zen Market or Auction House should be the alternative option for a reasonable price.
I am pretty sure there are more risks but that would have to be discussed further. This is just my suggestion based on my experience in Neverwinter so far. Next post from me will cover Dungeon Bosses/Chest Rewards.
I Agree, but I want to make sure it doesn't fall by the wayside as so many things do.
The skill palette is the foundation of horizontal progression.
You can rework the boons, change campaigns, throw more items at the problem, but the root of the player experience will always be the skill palettes.
The problem I see isn't so much one of balance.
There will always be a 'best' AoE loadout, a best single target, etc. There will always be a top dps class.
In most games you have choices when you pick your skills. In Neverwinter you have flat out Pitfalls.
Those feats that no one should ever choose. The skills that shouldn't be in any loadout because they're just bad.
The Neverwinter paragons are riddled with Pitfalls and new players stumble into them every day.
Soo much fight on it, but no fight there is actually about the system, but about:
Group 1-> i want to get something for the time i spend training new players
Group 2->I dont want to be a tutor, but i need to be the "top player" so i feel that i would need to be one if the rewards are nice.
I do have my views about both groups, positive and negative, but this wont help here one thing i would propose is a solution for this dilema:
Since it looks like both groups are fighting for the rewards the only option would be a compromize in the rewards gives:
1-> The easy call, Astetic stuff, like green mounts for skin, and titles for mentors and mentee as well some pets and weapons and armor, even fashion could be placed here...
2-> Raw AD, since is locked by daily refining i dont see any warm here and is kind of obvious to anyone that spent time teaching new players (or old players in new places) that it takes a lot of time, time that you could be making ad...
3-> Seals, yeah Seals are already capped and have limited use these days, but is the kind of stuff you could get in that played time you spent teaching or learning so why not (of course it should not be the Top seal bu good enough for players to improve from that.
Again is just one idea, a way to find a mid way solution between both groups, we can all agree that both have theyr reasons and also theyr questionble own agendas (of course they have everyone have till a certain amount...).
I believe is an amazing idea that should be worked on, to refine it not scrap the whole idea because it have issues...
The mentor system should work to "not penalize the eficience" of mentors but should still be done by vocation, so it shouldnt be tied to big rewards to avoid those that only seek the rewards...
Also the Multy account, boxing and Boot Problems must be a thing whille developing this...
PS. Sorry for any mistake my english is self taught...
1. Add more horizontal progression in multiple aspects of the game (from campaigns, boons, gear, to feats)
2. Revamp the multitude of currency stores to streamline that experience and give multiple avenues to item acquisition
3. Create a means to allows players to more easily connect with guilds earlier in the game (and explains the benefits), as well as a way for guilds to more easily seek folks that would fit into their guilds; so newer players have earlier access to mentoring/ support networks, which will help them on their journeys
Bonus #4: Remove useless "RP" gear drops from loot tables... these just waste inventory space because they don't stack, and have 0 value for players
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"Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events."
A well designed in-game help system is needed, but the content within it should maintained by the developers (authors can be whoever obviously) and there should be no links to external resources or videos, especially resources hosted on servers that PWE/Cryptic have no accountability for. The help system should have a look-and-feel consistent with the rest of the game including the fonts, formatting, icons, and other ui features, user create content in a dynamic help system would be too chaotic and could negatively impact the perceived integrity of the game.
Meanwhile........
PHASE 3 PHASE 3 PHASE 3
Welcome to Phase 3 of the Rewards and Progression.
In Phase 3 having read the discussion we list our top 3 ideas from the CDP along with brief reasoning and any necessary commentary for each idea. Both Fabricant and Willow have done good examples of this on Page 19 and 20.
Chris
Also, there are plenty of people I've met in this game that think they are a wealth of knowledge when they actually hand out bad information on a constant basis.
Do we really want a push towards spreading bad information, poor teaching methods, etc?
I'll add one last note on this and then I'm done.
I've known two types of new players over the years.
Type A - soaks in the knowledge, hones in no mechanics, learns the ropes then goes off and continues their journey further growing.
Type B - latches on to the mentee train of thinking, never wants to learn anything for themselves, continually latches on to people to get carried through content while never trying to optimize/grow their build.
Type B has far outweighed Type A in this game.
I'll have to circle back around on top 3 votes because, to be honest, tracking 20 pages of this discussion is a mess and a new method really needs to be utilized. I fear you will see a slowdown in interaction from more players if only because of the sensory overload wading through all of this.
As always sorry in advance, my english is not that great.
I would suggest that you guys keeping comments based on topic, cuz now it's going in left and right without any decent guidance.
There is still lot of room to talk about rerwads, either loot table, lockboxes, invocations and it's realated shop.
Hunt rewards and so one..
Remember that, once this topic will get closed, we will get same topic way latter, if we get at all.
Now main reason why I write here is that, I noted talks about mentor system.
First of all, from what I can see, non of you have encountered Game advisor(GA) or Mentor system in your previous mmo games.
Here is post from one of my previous played games, they have so called Game advisor system and here is small detail about it.
They serve as informers in game. They are obliged to give advices, directions, and information when someone asks them with regard in game concerns.
Like: Guide in Creating Character, Skills, Stats, Quests, Maps, Monster Location and anything about the game itself.
2. Do They Have Special Items?
“NO” they are normal players. But they can be awarded base on their performances.
3. Can They Ban Players?
“NO” They are obliged to report abusive players but they can’t ban them.
4. Are they allowed to Swear or Speak Bad Words?
“NO” That is one of our server’s rule and they must be a good example to our server.
5. Do They Need To Be Online Daily?
“NO”, It's volunteered position, though it's required to be active in game, it's not job.
Also, there are times even game advisor want to stay away, rest and how fun for himself.
6. Are They Required to Help Players By Means of Party, Killing Monster, Giving Free Items?
This is optional, it depends upon them if they want it or not. Their duty is only to give advices, directions and information with regard to the game.
I just want add some extra lines to clarify hierarchy and who are in charage of Game advisors.
Regular/main Game advisor/mentors action are overlooked by Lead Game adviros/Mentor.
He assure that mentors do not abuse their status. Thats mean, no links to third part/illegal websites, no demands/promoting to buy specific item/stuffs, no requests for personal or in game details( account ID or pasw).
Now lead mentor also have direct contant with staff, either QA or lead QA or developer or lead developer.
The reason is that, game keep changing so it's impossible to know everything. And mentors would need calrifications from staff who x item or x power should work.
Usually to become mentor require knowledge about game, but same goes for classes.
In one of previous games, some mentors where picked due their extensive knowledge about their played class.
As example would be,, When new warlock seek information about his class power/mechanic, he should as warlock player not wizard or cleric or Paladin. So usually there where mentor for each class.
Also, some may be mentors due their better understanding or having higher knowledge how solve some in game problems(visuals, sounds, or lag issues).
As what take to become lead Mentor? Group of mentors/advisors may select one of them to represent whole team, or staff may select one of member to act as lead mentor.
As for rewards, through my all previous times, I have receive no rewards.. But if you guys/girls realy want something.
I think some vouchers with 100% discount for few account bound preservation wards or healt stones would not be big problem.
But one thing need to be clear, mentor/game advisor should not become extra game feature for gaining rare/specific items.
That's mean no enchanting stones or mark of potency or something highly valuable items.
Also, how many of rewards you gain? Not much, actually, it's very minimal, after all game advisor/mentor are volunteered position.
Best regards: Hades
p.s if there any part which cause confusion or need clarification, just let me know, I will try explain it more properly..
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.
Gustave Le Bon.
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1. Ability to get most items to all types of players: There should be a better mechanism in game to where all types of players have access to all the items that are deemed BIS. Yes, those that cant/don't run dungeons would not be able to get the items quickly but there should be a way that they can buy them with seals, just a lot of seals to do it.
2. Horizontal/vertical progression Enough has been said about this
3. Quest rewards: I feel all quest rewards need to be updated, as some are out of sync with the current game, as are some of the older items in game. Would also be nice to get a small amount of AD for quests, as this would help retain newer players
I run a mission to get a tale of adventure then i quit for the day.
I get that you are trying to force Buyouts or other such hamster pucker, but i am here for the stories, i want to play the game, experience the adventure, see the story, but you make it so tedious. It certainly doesn't ingratiate me to the company and want to spend money to support it. That brings me to point 2.
2: There is enough content that you don't need to keep in the padding, and getting rid of the padding means you don't have to truncate or cut down actual game content. I legit miss the old flow of some of the early missions. They have been cut down to a perfunctory "We aren't even trying, just hurry past all this so you can get to max level, maybe then you can have fun."
The entire philosophy behind the changes in progression since Mod 16 have been atrocious. It is more grindy, less engaging and less rewarding. The Quick satisfying combat of Pre-Mod16 made the grind more bearable.
PLEASE! Stop gutting the game of all that made it good while gleefully leaving in obnoxious padding. The gutting and truncating is more work than just turning off a timer. If the reason for this is something as asinine as the AD payout and how it effects the economy, then make that the thing limited by time, not the Campaign required materials.
I too wish to be recreated, and to be loved long after my death.
- replace junk rewards in dungeons / instances / skirmishes with useful rewards
- gear salvaging: instead of RP, give a moderate amount of seals (of the last or current mod) for outdated gear
- tiered dungeons: three tiers for every new instance (and two tiers for some older instances), with tiered rewards
1. Playing a game is supposed to be fun. It should be fun for the new players, the ascending players and the end-game players. But from the perspective of an "ascending" player it is no fun to run the instances in the random queues day after day (and a new player must run them for 1-2 years, to get the ~100 million AD required for a end-game ready character), and after all the effort receiving rewards that are not worth anything. Currently the only worthwhile reward is the rAD, but the rAD alone is not fun. The occasional drop of useful gear/equipment/companion etc. is fun. Getting vastly outdated gear/enchants etc. kills much of the fun running these dungeons (slowly increasing your amount of AD might be fun for an accountant, but not for most players)
2. salvaging gear -> rAD has been removed, because it was causing serious balancing problems. Although I understand why it was removed, the current situation is unsatisfactory, because it makes old gear totally worthless. There is a sense of attachment to the gear, we have been using for some time. Destroying it for a minuscule amount of RP is not fun. RP is so abundant, its not worth anything. Salvaging was fun, because it acknowledged that old gear had still some use, despite of (or because of) the continuous progression: You could salvage old gear for rAD, in order to buy new stuff. Giving seals instead of rAD will not cause balancing problems. If we get seals, we can only buy (account-bound) gear from the seal vendor. This will not hurt the economy, but it will help players in their progression.
3. tiered dungeons will help in many ways. Especially with the division between "experienced" and "new" players. I always see (some) experienced players complain, that they must constantly "carry new players through the RQs, that do not care to read a guide or watch a video". I also see (some) new players complaining about "elitist players, that only want to rush through the content". Tiered content gives new players a chance to learn the dungeon and to play with people that are about the same level.
1-profession: they are dead; would be nice if i could craft usable gear and unique potions and not only kit to augment stats, ring to make gold
or an appearance item; i'm not only talking about MC that should craft end game stuff, but also normal crafting.
2-horizontal progression with a vertical one once in a while, it was discussed and it may also help the new player that don't keep seeing the goal going further away with every new mod (or middle tier player, not new nor end gamer) and being a means to keep the old maps alive
3-reward: a more meaningful reward for the content played, divide the dungeon by tier and assign every tier a specific type of drop (tier 1: rp, tier 2:mark and enchanting stones, tier 3: insignas and MC item) and make player choose the difficulty of the dungeon to select the possible highest rarity of such drop.
note
the order is not by priority
personal opinion
i played the campaign in order, that allowed me to understand the evolution of the character in the game a little (i somehow still miss some ending... chult: we got called to end the death curse, we understood where it came from, found makos, made acerorax flee.. then? what about the curse???) i really liked doing so, in my opinion that is an important thing to be kept.
i understand that a new player can't play all the campaign in order to follow the story (they will be trapped for 5-7 month in bryn shander for SKT this way) and they wouldn't because the new campaign give more valuable and powerful stuff and with the maps full it's easyer to get a group to complete the quest.
this is a problem and i don't see any solution.
guide
i personally would like to have a section in game or in this forum for some guide for dungeon (every dungeon, even the old ones) quest or curiosity (like the maps in somi, chult, the hunts...) and it doesn't need to be exhaustive and it may also be a simple collection of observation done by the player about a topic, a mechanic or a finding, like a research diary (it need a moderator) can be rewarded with a title or a librarian attire if someone like to be rewarded for it.
mentoring
i like the idea, it should not be forced to not fall in case were a mentor/apprentice ruin the fun of the apprentice/mentor,the only real problem is having not really prepared ppl mentoring new player and new player pretending stuff from the mentor.
but i'm in the opinion that aesthetic stuff to be the best reward, a title, a green mount, some transmute (a novice teacher, veteran teacher, professor, distinguished doctor professor..)
Feedback Overview (short description of the proposed feedback) for Dungeon Bosses/Chest Rewards
Dungeons are arguably the heart of Neverwinter. They allow players to experience the climactic conclusion to a story in a zone, or the continual narrative of a villian encounter from a campaign. However, the quality and quantity of dungeons in Neverwinter has and continues to see major changes that has and continues to cause many rifts amongst players and expectations.
My feedback suggestions will focus on dungeon bosses, loot tables, dungeon chests, and dungeon end chests.
As this part of the game is highly controversial, I want to bring attention to the current state of dungeon rewards and suggest rewards for dungeons that are intentional and meaningful for that current dungeon level.
Proposed feedback:
Suggestion #1: Share Loot Tables for dungeon bosses and dungeon end chests
Current State - Loot tables are undefined, very vague, sporadic, and unaligned with boss/dungeon difficulty. Loot tables are not shared with the players and creates uncertainty on where to go and what to farm. Dungeons have little to no replay value.
Revised State - Loot tables for bosses and dungeon end chests are defined and aligned with boss/dungeon difficulty. Loot tables are shared with players and updated to reflect any changes to them.
Suggestion #2: Loot Rewards from dungeon bosses and chests should be more than Refinement.
Current State - 1 random rarity piece of armor, 2 - 3 refinement, 1 unique item (possible artifact, mount, insignia, etc.)
Revised State:
All Dungeons under level 60
- END CHESTS: 2 random piece of GREEN armor, 2 - 3 refinement (100-2000 range), 2 guaranteed bags of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY GREEN).
- EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 100% Chance to drop Rank 3 Enchanting Stones or Rank 2 Mark of Potency, possibly drops random legacy artifact or legacy artifact set piece rarity GREEN.
- LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item
All Dungeons & Skirmishes level 60 - 70
- END CHESTS: 2 random piece of BLUE armor, 2 - 3 refinement (2000-5000 range), 2 guaranteed bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY BLUE).
- EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 75% Chance to drop Rank 4 Enchanting Stones or Rank 3 Mark of Potency, possibly drops random legacy artifact or legacy artifact set piece rarity BLUE.
- LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item, unique VANITY pet item RARITY BLUE.
All Dungeons, Skirmishes, and Trials level 70
- END CHESTS: 2 random piece of PURPLE armor, 2 - 3 refinement (5000-7000 range), 1 guaranteed bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY PURPLE).
- EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 50% Chance to drop Rank 5 Enchanting Stones or Rank 4/5 Mark of Potency, possibly drops random legacy artifact or legacy artifact set piece rarity PURPLE.
- LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item, unique VANITY pet item RARITY PURPLE.
All Dungeons & Trials level 80
- END CHESTS: 1 piece of TOP TIER PURPLE armor, 1 - 2 refinement (7000-10,000 range), 1 guaranteed bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY PURPLE).
- EACH BOSS in DUNGEON: 25% Chance to drop Rank 6 Enchanting Stones or Rank 6 Mark of Potency, possibly drops CURRENT artifact or artifact set piece rarity GREEN.
- LAST BOSS: Chance to drop a special boss appearance change item, unique VANITY pet item RARITY LEGENDARY.
WEEKLY GALLANT DUNGEONS CHALLENGE REWARDS
Gallant Dungeons or K-Team Dungeons were private queue dungeons that must be completed under two conditions: No one can die, and Minimum Item Level. These challenges were introduced to players once they completed the Acquisition Incorporated campaign.
They provide capable groups with a meaningful challenge each week, and rewarded players with 1 Omin's IOU per week. The IOU could be used at the armor box downstairs in the basement.
I personally feel completing this challenge each week should reward capable groups with some of the MOST MEMORABLE REWARDS in the game. Successful groups found that build setups using artifacts, feats, powers, and class makeup mattered. You could even practice the dungeon under the conditions with your team before the weekly challenge.
Current State - Outdated Gear, No incentive to run HARDCORE DUNGEONS.
Revised State: Give the NO NAME armor box in the basement a NAME: MAGICAL MYSTERIES lol or turn it into a NPC.
Revised Vendor Wares:
- Choose 1 of the following with 4 IOUs:
1 piece of NEWLY CREATED, UNIQUE, TOP TIER PURPLE armor (ex: armor with 2 Equip bonuses)
1 piece of NEWLY CREATED, UNIQUE, APPEARANCE CHANGE ITEM (ex: Jarl's Gaze with Red Eyes)
- Choose 1 of the following with 8 IOUs:
Bag of mount insignia CHOICE PACK (BOUND TO ACCOUNT, ALL mount insignias INCLUDED, RARITY LEGENDARY)
Unique VANITY pet item RARITY LEGENDARY
- Choose 1 of the following with 12 IOUs:
1 Newly Created, Unique, Purple Mount (only obtainable from this vendor) (ex: butterfly mount)
1 Rank 13 Enchantment or Runestone
- Choose 1 of the following with 16 IOUs:
1 Legendary Mount (Legacy mounts only)
1 Rank 15 Enchantment or Runestone
Feedback Goal (what this feedback would target and accomplish)
The goal is to build Consistency and Progression of dungeon rewards that are offered to players at different levels. All players should know what dungeons to farm to level up enchantments, mounts insignias, artifacts, etc. There should be a level of anticipation for the next dungeon tier, and the new rewards it will offer.
This feedback targets all players at different levels of the game. If considered, each dungeon will offer rewards that all players can benefit from. This implementation would move players in a linear progression through the dungeons and dungeon level tiers. It will provide players with other options for meaningful challenges and rewards.
Risks & Concerns
- Concern: The current setup of the queues really makes it hard to understand the progression of dungeons and the meaning of Epic and Master as it pertains to difficulty. Therefore, aligning the rewards would be an even greater task.
- Mitigation: Reorganize the Available Queue dungeons first, then implementing the appropriate rewards for that dungeons tier should be easier. This way, you can ensure that the rewards are appropriate for the players running that content.
- Risk: Adding insignias into the dungeons could affect the economy and auction house.
- Mitigation: Truly, the auction house should not be the MAIN SOURCE of reward in the game. Dungeon bosses and chest should empower players to invest in their characters. The auction house should be an AVAILABLE SOURCE to obtain items that are hard to obtain. Example: the TOMM rings, players should be able to make AD (and they do) from those rings and supply the auction house with them. This implementation of tradable rings helps everyone in the end.
Again, this is just an outline of unique suggestions for loot reworks as it pertains to dungeons that could definitely change the morale, progression, and replay-ability of dungeons in Neverwinter. I am pretty sure there are more risks and concerns, but that would have to be discussed further. This is just my suggestion based on my experience in Neverwinter so far. Next post from me will cover Stronghold Activity Rewards.
Sorry, I'm in the "No" camp for this one. People who want to help others are already doing that.
Having rewards tied to it will lead to either people ignoring it due to poor rewards, or people abusing it to get the rewards they want - then ignoring it once they have it. Both results are a waste of developer time that could be better spent on anything else.
How would it be abused? Easily. Master of Hunt or Temple of Spider grind, high lev takes his high lev buddy who is using a new character since making accounts is free. After x rounds they switch roles. Mentor points exchange program. People will always use the path of least resistance.
Also linking external info sites from within the game is risky for the business as they don't have control over the content there. I suppose they could put a disclaimer prior to letting people open links but I imagine they could still get into trouble should the link suddenly lead to anything with adult themes, political agendas, snuff/suicide/cat murdering videos etc.
My top three would be:
Final notes:
If rewards from any source are not able to be kept relevant from MOD to MOD maybe the rewards should be converted into things that do not require updating / developer effort. Universal currency, companion upgrade tokens, crafting ingredients and consumables could all be used to replace gear and items in older content. In the case of a universal currency only the store would require updating to keep rewards relevant across all legacy content.1. Do something with Boons.
Even if we're not talking about horizontal progression, the current system has reached end-of-life. I have all boons on a couple characters and they've obtained everything that really matters. Future campaigns will only give me stats I don't need and better healing potions. Pretty dull.
2. Fix bad Feats/Skills with no use.
I'm not saying you need perfect balance. I'm saying some feats are so bad that there is no choice. Other feats don't affect your character in a meaningful way. Could use more synergies.
Most class features are useless for your paragon. Especially if you're playing a mixed-class.
I suggest reworking this system of passives to be more logical.
Many skills have no place in any loadouts. They could use added utility to at least make them situationaly viable.
^ I'm not expecting the above to get addressed all at once.
However, Skills/Feats are the foundation of every players' character and in-game experience.
The longer issues go unaddressed, the harder they'll be to fix later.
3. Set up a Logical System for Items.
Kinda hard to narrow things down, but those are my top three.