After many months, I have decided to name the good and bad of the game. Just to give a perspective of where it stands.
I have probably spent well over 500 USD funding different things. I bought alot of companions; stone all you need for group, rest is for solo laughs.
I have played GWF primarily, but also have a cleric that can make purples, and run GG, or any T2.
The good; 8/10 rank for Improvements i give The game has become more friendly since launch, and enhancements can be removed for gold; which of course makes it more useful.
There are many more crafts now than there were. YOu can literally make a side game of crafting and never leave PRotectors. I do this on my cleric.
Companions all have a bonus they give now, and overall seem a little less meaningless.
Gateway; A unique method to play the game by remote. Very interesting, and to see in game results for quest that are 'diced by companion.' very unique and cool.
The random que is often broken. In terms of a modern mmo; it really seems the group finder needs to be improved.
No penalty for up and leaving a group. This promotes a situation where people will bail on wipe 1, instead of figuring out where things went wrong. This adds to the feeling that whatever we are doing is meaningless anyhow, so why should i care about these people??
The Ugly; 0/10 Rating for an MMO Social
Timed events tell us all what we should be doing.. for the Bonus Plan. Because yes, we all need a computer telling us what we should be doing. Timing the events make it where people 'feel compelled to rush."
I'm a gamer, I'm not at work. So rushing to get to a goal set by a PC, aint gonna happen. Last time I checked; if you were gonna time how fast you can get stuff done, do it in sports~! This is not the armchair olympics!
The Scorekeeper; if ever there was a 'how does my %%% measure up?" in an mmo; this is the fail. Something about privacy rules here. Plus I NEVER got the impression that the goal of any WotC or D&D style was to try to compete with the guy next to me.
Impersonal Nature of the game. I dont think Ive ever played 5 hours with people in an mmo untill now, where this occurred; the overall feeling that nothing we did in the past 5 hours makes a bit of difference in the grand scheme of things. We are stuck together to get this goal, it was crappy anyhow, but we made it yay (or we didnt). We finish "okay cya boom" never see those peoples again. THE SAME WHETHER IT WAS A GOOD OR BAD THING? I hope this isnt going to be the trend. Because from a social aspect, this situation is a complete and utter meaningless fail.
I would add few things from my "Good, Bad* & Ugly" list:
-enemies doesn't have "types"
As in undead are not "undead" (necrotic), frost giant are not actually "frost", flame creatures are not "fire", etc.
There is no interaction on using elemental spells/attcks/enchants with any enemy to be honest, it's no deffrence to use frost/flame/thunder spell on enemy (of any sort) same as there's no diffrence if you use necrotic/holy attacks/spell on undead.
In essence: everything is just cannon fodder that needs to be DPSed by any means w/o thinking "should I really use that spell/attack/enchant on that without any consequences?" side note: rimfire effect from CW Master of the Flame paragon path is a good start
-no allegiance to anything
Player doesn't have any choice to join anything, actually player doesn't even have choice to be neither good or evil.
It may bother me a bit more since I played this game after NN 2 and SW:TOR and lack of choices here really upsets me.
Why doesn't I have a choice to either kill Blackdagger on spot or take him into custody or perhaps "sink" his ship and leave him at mercy of the gods; why can't we just let Marrowslake go insane from her powers or strip her off her powers (and of course choice to kill her, perhaps saving her from the torment of insanity<-lawful evil).
Such wasted potential here side note: I didn't want to make it too long so I skipped whining about any organizations player could join
-almost no tactics needed, no interactions with bosses
While this is changing pretty fast (MC&VT) you can still do most dungeons with pure power/might (and in some you need that power).
There are many ways players could use enviroment to their advantage:
-attacking/poisoning/debuffing mobs that Syndrith wants to "consume" would give her negative effects
-Hrimnir got some fancy stalactites to drop on his (or adds) head
-Blackdagger could have cannons on his ship that could be used against him (or barrels with explosives)
-Karrundax may have geysers that might pop and damage some enemies (considering their "type" it should be frozen to add sweet rimfire effect to affect them)
I could think of few more but I think anyone who would read this will get the point.
Of course that's just my opinion on what could make this game a bit more exciting
*I'm skipping "Good & Ugly" part because everyone knows what's good and for ugly:
-mount upgrade costs
-green mounts/companions in zen store
-AD prices on some things
-Loot tables on some instances (+ BoP drop for class that's not even in group)
-bugs
WUT ? for most dungeons a cleric is nice to have, GF ? forgot we had that class. you dont need them for dungeons, maybe cleric for VT and CN, but i think i could do VT without one no problems, thats it
at "upper tiers" you can run 5x gwf, or any class for that matter, it just will be slower without cw/gwf
WUT ? for most dungeons a cleric is nice to have, GF ? forgot we had that class. you dont need them for dungeons, maybe cleric for VT and CN, but i think i could do VT without one no problems, thats it
at "upper tiers" you can run 5x gwf, or any class for that matter, it just will be slower without cw/gwf
Kurrandax and a few other exceptions, but not many. I was 'tanking' these because our guild didnt have GF. Lots of fails. 0 aggro control.
If I ran in first and hit boss hard, I might hold aggro for a bit. Maybe moreso now, but only if they gave me about 1 min of nothing but cleric healing me.
And anyhow, if what you say is true; then why cant I que as a tank?? The answer is simple; GWF aint a tank, period. Dont matter how I feat, any fight where I am supposed to do aggro control; it is a fail.
It all comes back to the 0 score Rating I give this game as a social mmo;
I always thought working together to overcome was the ultimate goal; in Neverwinter Online it is "can we make the perfect group with the perfect gear, that can run the challenge within the time limit!"
Any other top tier mmo, I would say I had a meaningful online experience. In this one, I just don't.
0
pandapaulMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 424Bounty Hunter
edited January 2014
Lol are you saying you need a tank or you don't run dungeons????
I haven't run with a tank in a party for months.. This game doesn't need a tank whatsoever as stacking CWs is the most efficient way to tank
0
beckylunaticMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 14,231Arc User
edited January 2014
I *think* it might be a comment on queuing, as the group-maker-tool for dungeon queues still won't form a party that doesn't include both a GF and DC, no?
I *think* it might be a comment on queuing, as the group-maker-tool for dungeon queues still won't form a party that doesn't include both a GF and DC, no?
The queue disregards all that now as far as I know, though if it can do a mix, it will. Assuming dungeons work the same as skirms, anyway -- I did Pit Fight on my GF earlier and got dropped into a CW+TR+HR+HR+GF party, it was hilarious. After that it was nice mixes of DCs, HRs, CWs, and TRs (still just me as the GF, though).
bioshrikeMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,729Arc User
edited January 2014
My hopes are that, eventually, there will be more classes to properly fill the "leader" and "defender" roles, (right now we only have DCs and GFs, respectively). As more classes are added to bolster each role-slot in the queue system, forming a team should be faster. That being said, I'd love to see some fine tuning options added - like maybe some sort of maximum wait time, after which the next 5 players in the queue are presented with some sort of popup - like "We can place you in a team now but it won't have a DC [Y/N]". If you choose yes, the team is formed. If you choose no, you're placed back into the queue right where you were.
I'd also like to see something that shows how many of each class or role-slot are currently waiting for each dungeon - that could affect which I choose to queue for...
<::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::)xxxxxxxx(:::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> "Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
There is no need for a Cleric/GF in any dungeon all of them can be completed assuming your party is very well geared. I've done them ALL. A cleric makes for way more smooth runs but its quicker to just go with pure DPS. GWFs should not be tanking ever. A well geared Destroyer GWF can/will out dps a lot of CW's and be a little more sturdy.
A GF is handy in some situations and not in others. GF's are pointless in VT/MC especially. A good GF will make a run much easier for a not BiS geared group though so don't underestimate them. With the advent of extra stat slots (Artifacts) it is now easier for players to become self-sustaining (regen/lifesteal) and as such Clerics arent as necessary as before.
All of what I have said is in relation to pugs as well; so many of us are in guilds who bailed for better mmos. Thus we are forced to pug.
1. You cannot que for dungeon until all slots are filled; ive spent days with our people just waiting for the GF to pop. When all you have is that magic hour for DD; it makes the 'timed' situation even more frustrating.
2. If you have good dps slots, and a cleric... there is NO other class that is better to round out the group than GF. Seen a party go from FAILED to WOW AMAZING, with just 1 char; a GF. Granted, they were good players, and not newbie.
3. As GFW I can tank, but cannot hold aggro. I have had several instances wherein the whole party died. But I alone lived to finish the fight. Took a while too.
4. Any Destroyer that knows will swallow their pride and tell you; a sent can out dps them. To me that means 40% dmg resist and 35k health.
In the end, you have a failure of a social mmo. We have a party que that does not work. We have a world of empty and dead guilds. We are relegated to Everquest 1 style Chat Browing "LFG GFW LF ANY T2! 14k GS!~!!" Circa 1999. Except one thing; Everquest 1 had more choices for main tank - Neverwinter is not a step ahead for the genre. There may be some very cool things about it yes, but overall it is two steps back.
GWFs should not be tanking ever. A well geared Destroyer GWF can/will out dps a lot of CW's and be a little more sturdy.
gwf SHOULD tank, he should focus on dps instead of aggro but he should run in and facetank everything that moves and push the stuff that doesnt move. with 20k hp 32% dr +unstoppable and 10+% life steal(any gwf should have ~10% life steal) you can facetank every dungeon and every boss, the only thing u should be careful is getting oneshot or ccd outside of unstoppable
and so what if you have only 20k hp if u can heal yourself for 40k+ with a single IBS
Paladin Master Race
0
beckylunaticMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 14,231Arc User
The queue disregards all that now as far as I know, though if it can do a mix, it will. Assuming dungeons work the same as skirms, anyway -- I did Pit Fight on my GF earlier and got dropped into a CW+TR+HR+HR+GF party, it was hilarious. After that it was nice mixes of DCs, HRs, CWs, and TRs (still just me as the GF, though).
Skirmish queues were reprogrammed to allow a party of 5 of any class. I'm pretty sure the dungeon queues are still pickier.
The devs chose to make a game where CCs replaced the need to use elements of the scenario to attack or defend against mobs. As soon as I started playing NW remember that constantly wore the trappings of the setting to kill the mobs around me. I found it very interesting.
In veritable D & D, pillars and stones help against AoE able to reach an area which is impossible to get away with a dodge; Stalactites could be broken and felled against targets; Geisers the volcano could be timed to destroy mobs near; land with cracks could be broken to create chasms.
The final content of this game can be less elaborate than the beginning. It's striking the number of elaborate quests decreases instead of increasing on leveling.
Comments
-enemies doesn't have "types"
As in undead are not "undead" (necrotic), frost giant are not actually "frost", flame creatures are not "fire", etc.
There is no interaction on using elemental spells/attcks/enchants with any enemy to be honest, it's no deffrence to use frost/flame/thunder spell on enemy (of any sort) same as there's no diffrence if you use necrotic/holy attacks/spell on undead.
In essence: everything is just cannon fodder that needs to be DPSed by any means w/o thinking "should I really use that spell/attack/enchant on that without any consequences?"
side note: rimfire effect from CW Master of the Flame paragon path is a good start
-no allegiance to anything
Player doesn't have any choice to join anything, actually player doesn't even have choice to be neither good or evil.
It may bother me a bit more since I played this game after NN 2 and SW:TOR and lack of choices here really upsets me.
Why doesn't I have a choice to either kill Blackdagger on spot or take him into custody or perhaps "sink" his ship and leave him at mercy of the gods; why can't we just let Marrowslake go insane from her powers or strip her off her powers (and of course choice to kill her, perhaps saving her from the torment of insanity<-lawful evil).
Such wasted potential here
side note: I didn't want to make it too long so I skipped whining about any organizations player could join
-almost no tactics needed, no interactions with bosses
While this is changing pretty fast (MC&VT) you can still do most dungeons with pure power/might (and in some you need that power).
There are many ways players could use enviroment to their advantage:
-attacking/poisoning/debuffing mobs that Syndrith wants to "consume" would give her negative effects
-Hrimnir got some fancy stalactites to drop on his (or adds) head
-Blackdagger could have cannons on his ship that could be used against him (or barrels with explosives)
-Karrundax may have geysers that might pop and damage some enemies (considering their "type" it should be frozen to add sweet rimfire effect to affect them)
I could think of few more but I think anyone who would read this will get the point.
Of course that's just my opinion on what could make this game a bit more exciting
*I'm skipping "Good & Ugly" part because everyone knows what's good and for ugly:
-mount upgrade costs
-green mounts/companions in zen store
-AD prices on some things
-Loot tables on some instances (+ BoP drop for class that's not even in group)
-bugs
WUT ? for most dungeons a cleric is nice to have, GF ? forgot we had that class. you dont need them for dungeons, maybe cleric for VT and CN, but i think i could do VT without one no problems, thats it
at "upper tiers" you can run 5x gwf, or any class for that matter, it just will be slower without cw/gwf
Kurrandax and a few other exceptions, but not many. I was 'tanking' these because our guild didnt have GF. Lots of fails. 0 aggro control.
If I ran in first and hit boss hard, I might hold aggro for a bit. Maybe moreso now, but only if they gave me about 1 min of nothing but cleric healing me.
And anyhow, if what you say is true; then why cant I que as a tank?? The answer is simple; GWF aint a tank, period. Dont matter how I feat, any fight where I am supposed to do aggro control; it is a fail.
It all comes back to the 0 score Rating I give this game as a social mmo;
I always thought working together to overcome was the ultimate goal; in Neverwinter Online it is "can we make the perfect group with the perfect gear, that can run the challenge within the time limit!"
Any other top tier mmo, I would say I had a meaningful online experience. In this one, I just don't.
I haven't run with a tank in a party for months.. This game doesn't need a tank whatsoever as stacking CWs is the most efficient way to tank
Neverwinter Census 2017
All posts pending disapproval by Cecilia
The queue disregards all that now as far as I know, though if it can do a mix, it will. Assuming dungeons work the same as skirms, anyway -- I did Pit Fight on my GF earlier and got dropped into a CW+TR+HR+HR+GF party, it was hilarious. After that it was nice mixes of DCs, HRs, CWs, and TRs (still just me as the GF, though).
Kaylee Krankenwagen, level 60 GF | Tavandruil Wayfinder, level 49 GWF | Aldith Langley, level 51 HR
I'd also like to see something that shows how many of each class or role-slot are currently waiting for each dungeon - that could affect which I choose to queue for...
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
A GF is handy in some situations and not in others. GF's are pointless in VT/MC especially. A good GF will make a run much easier for a not BiS geared group though so don't underestimate them. With the advent of extra stat slots (Artifacts) it is now easier for players to become self-sustaining (regen/lifesteal) and as such Clerics arent as necessary as before.
1. You cannot que for dungeon until all slots are filled; ive spent days with our people just waiting for the GF to pop. When all you have is that magic hour for DD; it makes the 'timed' situation even more frustrating.
2. If you have good dps slots, and a cleric... there is NO other class that is better to round out the group than GF. Seen a party go from FAILED to WOW AMAZING, with just 1 char; a GF. Granted, they were good players, and not newbie.
3. As GFW I can tank, but cannot hold aggro. I have had several instances wherein the whole party died. But I alone lived to finish the fight. Took a while too.
4. Any Destroyer that knows will swallow their pride and tell you; a sent can out dps them. To me that means 40% dmg resist and 35k health.
In the end, you have a failure of a social mmo. We have a party que that does not work. We have a world of empty and dead guilds. We are relegated to Everquest 1 style Chat Browing "LFG GFW LF ANY T2! 14k GS!~!!" Circa 1999. Except one thing; Everquest 1 had more choices for main tank - Neverwinter is not a step ahead for the genre. There may be some very cool things about it yes, but overall it is two steps back.
gwf SHOULD tank, he should focus on dps instead of aggro but he should run in and facetank everything that moves and push the stuff that doesnt move. with 20k hp 32% dr +unstoppable and 10+% life steal(any gwf should have ~10% life steal) you can facetank every dungeon and every boss, the only thing u should be careful is getting oneshot or ccd outside of unstoppable
and so what if you have only 20k hp if u can heal yourself for 40k+ with a single IBS
Skirmish queues were reprogrammed to allow a party of 5 of any class. I'm pretty sure the dungeon queues are still pickier.
Neverwinter Census 2017
All posts pending disapproval by Cecilia
In veritable D & D, pillars and stones help against AoE able to reach an area which is impossible to get away with a dodge; Stalactites could be broken and felled against targets; Geisers the volcano could be timed to destroy mobs near; land with cracks could be broken to create chasms.
The final content of this game can be less elaborate than the beginning. It's striking the number of elaborate quests decreases instead of increasing on leveling.