An Ode to Mod 1

odnnauq

I think the golden age of this game is mod 1. I have been playing since beta. Gone through a few characters (and finally settled on a DC as my favorite main) and had witnessed the game gradually changed from an enjoyable game to a grinding fest. I wish all the new players have a chance to play mod 1. All the dungeons were fun and challenging. There are groups who knew all the short-cuts and skipped through all the way to the end and then there are legit groups that strategized to fight each of the mini boss all the way to the end. It feels like D&D. Whether you have 2 hours of game time each day or 6 hours each day, you have fun! No artifact equipment (and artifacts) means that you don't have to worry and farm refining. But you still need to do tough dungeons for gears and each dungeon will only provide 1 type of gears - boot, helmet, armor etc... - so you have to eventually do them all and as a result enjoy the fruits of the dev's labors. It may take time to grow into higher and more difficult dungeons but you actually enjoy the journey. And there is nothing like discussing or explaining strategy to get to know one another and make new friends. "Wow, I did not know we can do it that way. I am going to let my friends know!"

Once well geared, you can get a few good players together and do Castle Never, spend an hour if you are good and get the ancient set and sell them for 1mm in the AH and that would sustain you for a while (after splitting 5 ways). For weaker players or less dedicated ones, you run pirate king, which is small, fast and easier but the loots are also much cheaper - 6k to 10k but you can do multiple runs. The important thing is it is not grindy. And you can supplement your income with leadership (mules) or not. And back then, making 24k-50k AD each day is good enough.

So I miss the days that when a friend or guild pm me asking for help with this or that, and I would leap immediately to their aid. But these days I am a bit resentful because of the need to cycle through professions, invoking and other dailies that I have to do. To collect refining, xp for power points etc... I used to have a CW, 2 DCs, GWF, GF, TR with purple gears and I can switch class based on what my guild need for dungeons. Now I only have a DC and grinding up my OP and the only way that I can afford to level up the OP is because I have had my DC since mod 1 and so she needs less dailies.

That's what I recall of mod 1 or mod zero I guess.

So here is a suggestion. Not sure if it is a good idea but it's a thought:
1. Get rid of the refining system. We still can have more and more powerful artifacts/weapons/sets etc...with each mod. But we should get them by doing new/tougher contents. And I mean real contents. Not grinding those vigilant quests over and over to waste our time and numb our senses. Make them drop from Draco Lich or whatever the flavor of the month villain is. And to those who want the convenience of pay to win, accessible on the zen market also. I understand the dev needs to get paid. These AD sinks are a terrible strategies since it makes all player dedicate 200% of their available gaming time to it and it is never enough so we neglect the contents. They also make players feel that they are falling further and further behind because no amount of grinding is enough, then it's profession mules and then gold sellers, and then it gets too expensive and real life says you must quit.

2. Stop the grinding contents. New contents are always welcome. And recycling map is not a problem for me either. There are so many side rooms in Caste Never that people never explore. Like the one with endless undead pouring out that my friends and I decided stray off the main path one time. I thought it was fun but my friends did not. But the repeat 16 time quests like the vigilant quest for the new zones in Mod 6 was torture. And sometimes you have to wait for the quest to show up because someone just did it and waste more time. At least make it on all the time! I still went through it because I want the gear at the end. So I do not argue that there is good rewards at the end. But why not make it an enjoyable journey? And it does not have to be long or take forever. Make it short even if you want to time gate it. Return tomorrow for part 2 etc... And again sell by-pass packages in zen market like you are doing now for those who do not have time. Because I took one toon through it already, I can choose to take another one or pay to skip.

I think if we get rid of the refining/AD sink - people will enjoy the game again. The contents will no longer be a distraction. And being able to play more than 1 class is part of that content. Right now it is a nightmare. Either you are crazy rich or spend 15 minutes to move enchant around even if you are dedicated enough to spend time to get boons and level them all up. Each time you do it, it eats into game time. And then maybe I may even have time to try and explore a few foundries and collect the rough AD. With the AD needs in the 10s of million each mod for each toon (for items that are bound!), why do you think I have enough time to spend 30 minutes each day to do 1 foundry (and I need 4) to get the 4k AD?

henry404

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
They are not going to remove refining. The best we can hope for is that it will become quicker/easier.
And even if they did revert to exactly Mod 1, you would not be happy because it would not be as you remember it....

d4rthd00fus

I'm afraid those days are long since behind us. I too remember the good old days, but not too often as it becomes really depressing. Things were kept simple back then in order to build a player base, before the screws begin to turn so the game can be monetized. Unfortunately Cryptic made several mistakes along the way that pushed things too far, too fast and that drove many of us old timers away from the game. It hurts seeing our friends get fed up and leave. Money must be made to keep the doors open, but cash shop items should never be considered essential. PWE/Cryptic has followed that rule less and less as the game has worn on and it has hurt them and the players. Many of us still see the potential in the game, but more and more it seems we are deluding ourselves the current path will change.

beckylunatic

*Pours one on the curb for Testament, Xanthus, Lost, Will, Chad, Lucky, Daive, Mav, Rex....*

odnnauq

Well, you either milk an old cow to death or you let her get babies. Anyway, it's their game and they can do as they please.

odnnauq

Oh, and if they do not have enough resources, why don't they crowd source the contents? the foundries is effectively that but if you incorporate it into side quests of the main story line, let people submit them...and eventually make it into part of contents/daily contents etc...

quspiv

Let me explain a bit. At the begining game must be enjoyable and relatively easy, so you can get more players and make them spend $ in the game. Once enough players spend $ you can stop making quality product because the $ which they've spent will keep them playing even if the content is below average.

putzboy78

Remember when we used to donate gear to new end gamers because it wasn't bound... Everyone looked forward to the hourly events because they meant something... and you felt like you had enough free gaming time to help new players chase gear...

I think that's where the game lost its path because the constant grind ate into the time available to help/build a community. Community is what keeps players around between modules when the content becomes dry. Without community your player base shrinks, people are less willing to contribute RL money to what is felt like a short term investment (i.e. I'm just playing this until X comes out). I cannot encourage new players to put RL money into this game or even bother trying to cheer them up when they get depressed about the pay wall.

Mod 2 was the beginning of the end (although Mod 1 was a start with the salvage system). The day they started the new refinement system and added artifacts. By Mod 3 most of my guild was gone

nanners

+1

I agree with everything op said its exactly how i feel too, nw was a fun game in the begining and also during sharandar mod, all the contents were diverse, challenging and well-designed, alot to do in game too. Unfortunately ever since artifacts were introduced the game went downhills.

balorin

For me the golden age stoped when they brought into the game the HE mechanic system in module 3, first module without a true dungeon.
It wasn't so bad because mod 4 gave us a really good Dungeon with LOL.
But now, it is a dungeon desert with mod 5-6 and now the 7 and of course i don't speak about the lost of 80% of the core dungeons with mod 6 making content worster than ever.

locksanpockets

Boon grinding mods makes for a player unfriendly/alternate hostile environment. Boons, while nice, need rethinking.

Sharandar: A boon grind. Wouldn't be too bad if it were the only one.
Dread Ring: Another boon grind. Still not too bad if it were just two.
IWD: The third boon grind. Getting a little old, and now it starts to get alternate unfriendly.
WoD: The fourth boon grind. . Gets old fast, and the alternate unfriendliness is getting worse.
ToD: The fifth boon grind. Now the player unfriendliness sets in and it becomes outright alternate hostile. 80 Linu's to complete the ToD boons? Just for 1 character???

EE: Not a boon grind, just The Ultimate Grind! Player unfriendliness and alternate hostilities were taken to a new level.

The poster laments that he once had numerous characters fully geared and ready to run any dungeon.

Combine the difficulty of Boon Grind Mods with the difficulty of RP's and you have a sure fire recipe for failure.

putzboy78

Exactly, i had one of each class. So i could alternate my fun and help out however needed. All BIS gear (not BIS enchants obviously). Even farming all the boons on all the toons wasn't bad.

The guild and I would party up and zerg through them.

Then came the new refinement system. You can move enchants between toons, but not artifacts which are far more expensive. I don't mind BOA artifacts but BOC/refinement killed the game.

silverkelt

I started the game in mod 1 and I enjoyed mod 2 just about the same, in fact I still like dread ring alot.

Mod 3.. was "fine" other then those effing bracers, in fact if they just had found a better way of introducing bracers the mod wouldve been much better remembered as well.

This whole grind fest started in mod 4.. with running dailies for boons over and over and over and over.. Many of us warned of this path, seeing it in other games, but there wasnt enough voices to help scale it down, now the road is forever ruined by allowing such heavy grind into the game.
Mod 5 = running Tiamat over and over and over (which compared to mod 4, I was OK with, since it was at least group effort, even if poorly implemented group effort.
Mod 6 = disaster in almost every scale imaginable.

The plummet to the game was this last mod.

I do remember the first time I beat SP , FH and Karrundux in mod 1, it was quite thrilling at the time. For all of the hardiness level of mobs hitting you for 600k now.. those old DDS were much more fun honestly, the first time I kited SP with my GWF, I still remember, as the first time I kited and healed FH with my DC.

khimera906

I'd be happy with purple artifact gear if the second enchantment slot would unlock at epic quality instead of legendary, especially for belts and neck.

The current state of the game reminds me of another MMO I used to play - not very happy memories. I thought Neverwinter would be different. For a while, it looked like it was gonna be different. For me it all started to go downhill the momment they made Coalescent Wards bound. It was clear in whinch direction they were gonna take the game. It's like with every new module they find a new and exciting way to ruin the game again. And yeah, I know, I'm not being constructive, but at this point, what is there left to say. Everyone knows what's wrong with this game.

theycallmetomu

I spent a while running through the Elemental Evil zones earlier today. It was actually pretty fun just nuking cultists and stuff, since I'm a relatively well geared level 70 character and the "You're now level 64!" stuff doesn't really downlevel you enough. But other than just being fun murderizing things, it's not like it accomplished much...

kemi1984

quspiv wrote: »

Let me explain a bit. At the begining game must be enjoyable and relatively easy, so you can get more players and make them spend $ in the game. Once enough players spend $ you can stop making quality product because the $ which they've spent will keep them playing even if the content is below average.

This!