neverwinter lost its steam

zalenex323 · January 2013

anyone else feel that this game was really trending towards greatness a few months ago but the vagueness about when the beta might even come out already killed the game a bit? its not even in the top 10 upcoming mmos on mmorpg.com. ive wanted a forgotten realms mmo for the better part of a decade but if this game even launches im afraid not enough people are going to even be around enough to care still.

ranncore · January 2013

There was a point that I felt like that but I feel like in the last 30 days or so they've really made an effort to reach out to the community both here and through other mediums, like the pc gamer thing and the new trailer.

chaddiwicker · January 2013

zalenex323 wrote: »

anyone else feel that this game was really trending towards greatness a few months ago but the vagueness about when the beta might even come out already killed the game a bit? its not even in the top 10 upcoming mmos on mmorpg.com. ive wanted a forgotten realms mmo for the better part of a decade but if this game even launches im afraid not enough people are going to even be around enough to care still.

Neverwinter is #5 on the top voted development games list on mmorpg.com and is #6 for the most popular games for the last week.

I do think Neverwinter/PW could use some work in the pr department. The confusion about the PC Gamer mount giveaway also allowing access to the beta is the latest example of this. However, I have seen an uptick in participation by members of the development team and there seems to be new information more often. My interest in this game has increased recently and I think buzz will continue to increase. As to whether or not it is great, I can only wait and see.

iamtruthseeker · January 2013

The connectivity to other locations in some places needs to be rebuilt. Months of little new information will do that. But this uptick in publicity and the promise of more developer feedback on a weekly level is a great start to this, and I hope it's reflecting a go-ahead to a near beta date!

Oh, and giving all forum members pirate hates in-game for the delay wouldn't hurt either

chaddiwicker · January 2013

iamtruthseeker wrote: »

Oh, and giving all forum members pirate hates in-game for the delay wouldn't hurt either

Forget a pirate hat, I want a pony. Oh wait, they just gave us a pony.

devoteoftempus · January 2013

That's with any game, there are ebbs and flows just like the tide.

runamonk · January 2013

What surprises me most is the how quiet the boards are here. I think people are skeptical at this point, after being burned by so many next gen mmos it's taking longer and more to get people really excited. I've also noticed that there seems to be a stigma associated with the PWE name which might be causing people to be even more cautious.

uglybugger · January 2013

I don't think these forums have EVER really been rocking and rolling. Overall, I don't think that Neverwinter has ever entered into the spotlight as much as the uber-hyped games (such as WAR, back in the day) were. There definitely seems to be a lack of marketing leadership.

Oh, there's marketing, no doubt. All of the class videos are nice, but at this point we're pretty much getting tired of them. The major questline videos are also nice, but they don't give us a real feel for the gameplay. All of the interviews are VERY nice, and that's where they should be spending more of their marketing time, really.

There hasn't been any huge push to get Neverwinter out there, and their beta info has been extremely hush-hush. I think it would almost have been better to keep things zipped up until they were ready for beta, rather than going to all of those gaming shows and showing the parts of the game they felt were already fairly polished. I remember that we hadn't known almost anything about Rift until it was in open beta, and then we could actually play it and see what it was like. That had to be my favorite "wait for beta" experience ever, because there was no wait. The hype actually started with open beta and good reviews from it.

gillrmn · January 2013

I think it was Feb 29, 2012 when I last felt like that.

But right now the Hype Train has left the station so it would be foolish to think like that. Basically the site is most active than it has ever been in two years.

So what you are saying is not true.

iamtruthseeker · January 2013

Well October 2011 before the merger and delay announcement for MMO, it was pretty active, then lowered, and by the time it got to the PWE crossover forum merge for April/May 2012, it dropped for many many months to an exceptional quiet.

gillrmn · January 2013

iamtruthseeker wrote: »

Well October 2011 before the merger and delay announcement for MMO, it was pretty active, then lowered, and by the time it got to the PWE crossover forum merge for April/May 2012, it dropped for many many months to an exceptional quiet.

Yeah, but you remember a sudden peak which lasted five days? I remember you even making a thread about that

But that was a temporary boost only before next delay.

cosmictimber · January 2013

I'm sure there are also others who are like me... long time forum lurkers, but I just started posting today.

bitterwinter · January 2013

Actually the post made by mapolis in the Meet the Developer forum yesterday really reassured me he says that they are looking at having weekly involvement in the forums from the devs they are just ironing it out.

k44mos · January 2013

I want beta....

xlebonil · January 2013

I Don't want beta i want them to release the cracken.:p

deathssickle · January 2013

iamtruthseeker wrote: »

Well October 2011 before the merger and delay announcement for MMO, it was pretty active, then lowered, and by the time it got to the PWE crossover forum merge for April/May 2012, it dropped for many many months to an exceptional quiet.

I think if Aandre and I were allowed interviews and given some universal download codes for a free pet to give away we could bring in a lot more, say I get a code that gives you a pet Dire Squirrel and Aandre Im not sure maybe a fire bat.

mnatic · January 2013

deathssickle wrote: »

I think if Aandre and I were allowed interviews and given some universal download codes for a free pet to give away we could bring in a lot more, say I get a code that gives you a pet Dire Squirrel and Aandre Im not sure maybe a fire bat.

That sound awesome with the ampunt of free stuff going there will be a huge serge in interest, although i personally belive its currently peaking or at least starting to.

deathssickle · January 2013

Wow I expected a Willy Wonka reference by now...

gillrmn · January 2013

xlebonil wrote: »

I Don't want beta i want them to release the cracken.:p

I think I read about Kraken somewhere in NW campaign book. It has now completely skipped my mind where, but facing a Kraken may very much be possible.

xlebonil · January 2013

Iam sure it will be there gillrmn. Can wait....

tinypyro · January 2013

There could be more. Oh so much more. The interaction by the devs on the Meet the Devs thread plus PC gamer article plus new vids and class info certainly is an increase in activity. BUT there are perhaps millions of D&D junkies as well as MMO junkies just waiting for a game like this and marketing has CLEARLY dropped the ball here. It boggles the mind. Simply from a business perspective it just doesn't make any sense NOT to do everything in your power to sell your product.

I have specualted that PWE simply has no idea what a monster this game could be. I suspect that they are marketing this game just like all their other games expecting the same old stale market without fully understanding the potential this game has.

elemberq333 · January 2013

gillrmn wrote: »

I think I read about Kraken somewhere in NW campaign book. It has now completely skipped my mind where, but facing a Kraken may very much be possible.

Does this mean we need the head of the medusa to kill it?

elemberq333 · January 2013

tinypyro wrote: »

There could be more. Oh so much more. The interaction by the devs on the Meet the Devs thread plus PC gamer article plus new vids and class info certainly is an increase in activity. BUT there are perhaps millions of D&D junkies as well as MMO junkies just waiting for a game like this and marketing has CLEARLY dropped the ball here. It boggles the mind. Simply from a business perspective it just doesn't make any sense NOT to do everything in your power to sell your product.

I have specualted that PWE simply has no idea what a monster this game could be. I suspect that they are marketing this game just like all their other games expecting the same old stale market without fully understanding the potential this game has.

Mostly it is because if they let it all out of the bag now and then when they do launch something changes they have to explain why to angry fans who were counting on certain features. That and the fact that if they let all of their secrets out then some other developer that is close to release puts that feature in their game and beats them to the market with it.

It is probably really hard for devs not to come on the forums and post away, don't kid yourself they want to tell us rabid fans everything we want to know but when they do that they get themselves into all kinds of situations that are just not worth it.

ranncore · January 2013

I think it's mostly because it's hard to justify spending money advertising an F2P game. Advertising is expensive, and Neverwinter won't have so much as a box cost to provide immediate income to relegate those pre-launch expenditures. A LOT of money has already gone into making this game, and it won't be providing an immediate cash flow like Buy-to-play or sub based games would.

tinypyro · January 2013

elemberq333 wrote: »

Mostly it is because if they let it all out of the bag now and then when they do launch something changes they have to explain why to angry fans who were counting on certain features. That and the fact that if they let all of their secrets out then some other developer that is close to release puts that feature in their game and beats them to the market with it.

It is probably really hard for devs not to come on the forums and post away, don't kid yourself they want to tell us rabid fans everything we want to know but when they do that they get themselves into all kinds of situations that are just not worth it.

With all due respect, I just don't buy that theory. I have followed along with the launch of several big time MMos like SWTOR and GW2. Just to use both of those games as an example, they had intense marketing and interaction and news updates months and months ahead of beta. Both those games had at least 5 active podcasts as well as ads, commercials, promotions and several other types of marketing hype actively pitching their product way in advance of beta and launch. The gaming community was abuzz with excitement.

Of course any changes or setbacks disappoint people, but the loss doesn't nearly equal the gain.

tinypyro · January 2013

ranncore wrote: »

I think it's mostly because it's hard to justify spending money advertising an F2P game. Advertising is expensive, and Neverwinter won't have so much as a box cost to provide immediate income to relegate those pre-launch expenditures. A LOT of money has already gone into making this game, and it won't be providing an immediate cash flow like Buy-to-play or sub based games would.

This however, I do agree with and is a very good point.

devoteoftempus · January 2013

ranncore wrote: »

I think it's mostly because it's hard to justify spending money advertising an F2P game. Advertising is expensive, and Neverwinter won't have so much as a box cost to provide immediate income to relegate those pre-launch expenditures. A LOT of money has already gone into making this game, and it won't be providing an immediate cash flow like Buy-to-play or sub based games would.

Interesting...

Which is why I have been silent with the latest magazine promos. I feel like it will be a necessity to advertise that way but I just wish that they would throw out a bone to their long time followers with something as simple as beta access instead of this dead silence approach but then say "Hey... buy this and you will get beta access!"

kamaliicious · January 2013

ranncore wrote: »

I think it's mostly because it's hard to justify spending money advertising an F2P game. Advertising is expensive, and Neverwinter won't have so much as a box cost to provide immediate income to relegate those pre-launch expenditures. A LOT of money has already gone into making this game, and it won't be providing an immediate cash flow like Buy-to-play or sub based games would.

Giving interviews and releasing screenshots/information to get press is essentially free. The PR people are already employees, and PR is their job.

ranncore · January 2013

bitterwinter wrote: »

Actually the post made by mapolis in the Meet the Developer forum yesterday really reassured me he says that they are looking at having weekly involvement in the forums from the devs they are just ironing it out.

Send him a PM and let him know. If we want the devs to remain as involved as they have been with us over the past few weeks it's important that they know we're appreciative.

stormdrag0n · January 2013

well everyone was hoping for a beta announcement when the PCgamer article was released...but like all the other times when we have been hopeful we get silence.

As I said before I don't expect any movement whatsoever until late autumn now, with launch between dec 2013 and feb 2014.

deathssickle · January 2013

kamaliicious wrote: »

Giving interviews and releasing screenshots/information to get press is essentially free. The PR people are already employees, and PR is their job.

like I said

deathssickle wrote: »

I think if Aandre and I were allowed interviews and given some universal download codes for a free pet to give away we could bring in a lot more, say I get a code that gives you a pet Dire Squirrel and Aandre Im not sure maybe a fire bat.

neverwinter lost its steam

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