Improving 60-70 and endgame

jrfbrunet

Here’s how I see endgame currently:
Run T1 or T2 dungeons for the fun of it. There’s a really small chance that an actual gear upgrade will drop for your character. The rest of the drops have to be painstakingly funneled through the guild donations or vendors or refining artifacts or enchants. All of this progression is so miniscule that the feeling of “grind” really comes out.
I’m all about the fun, but my friends and guildies won’t keep coming back to run T2 if they get burnt out by the grind.

Here’s how I see endgame improving:
Change the drop rate and loot tables. Each dungeon boss kill should award at least 1 piece of gear that someone in the party considers an upgrade. Each party member should receive at least 1 item that is an upgrade of sorts (it could be a rank 8 enchantment stone, a mount, a blue or purple companion, a green artifact, etc).
This idea of rewarding the players’ successful dungeon runs with a tangible piece of worthwhile loot is implemented in some way by all successful MMOs for good reason.
The feeling of “grind” is inversely proportional to how much the player is rewarded.
The amount of items in the cash shop doesn’t need to change at all. Those highly-valued items are still there for the player's convenience/OCD if he/she is not lucky enough to have them drop in a dungeon.

Here’s how I see the route from lvl 60 to 70 currently:
Choose among 8/16 tasks (aka uncreative miniquests) to be repeated over and over for the same amount of xp you’d expect from a quest/task. Once you’ve gained 2-3 lvls after all this repetitive tasking, move to the next area and repeat the process. Rinse and repeat until 70. (Who at Cryptic/PWI thought that the IWD model was a good Idea ?!)
I understand that Cryptic is understaffed and forced to work on the next expansion and other things that don’t improve CURRENT gameplay.

Here’s how I see the route from 60 to 70 improving:
Change the xp requirements to level up back to the linear model used from 1-60. There is currently an exponential ramp-up from 60-70 that forces players to repeat the tasks 5x more than necessary. Yes, I said 5x. (many players have reported the time on the forums: 1-60 ~ 60-70)
It shouldn’t take me any longer (or very little longer) to lvl from 60 to 61 than it did to lvl from 59 to 60. The grind-lengthening serves no good purpose. Players won’t play Neverwinter for longer (or purchase zen) just because you artificially extended the time it takes for them to reach endgame. In fact, it probably induces just the opposite effect in most players.
Finally, connect the tasks in the EE zones using a creative story-arc that is obvious. Quests could revolve around chasing Minsc for all I care, but connect them all together somehow. AND, give some actual gear or enchant rewards for most of them; otherwise, they truly are grindy tasks.

angrysprite

I've been saying it since Mod 6 Launch: They need to readjust ALL levels from 5 to 70 to even-out the leveling curve; it should not take literally as long to go from 61 to 70 as it did you go from 5 to 60.

Realizing the entire leveling process from level 5 all the way to 70 is the best way to do it (5-60 take longer; 61-70 shorter). I suspect they'll eventually get to this by the end of 2016. By then all we hysterical loudmouths will have stopped shouting about it.

santralafax

jrfbrunet said:

Here’s how I see the route from 60 to 70 improving:
Change the xp requirements to level up back to the linear model used from 1-60. There is currently an exponential ramp-up from 60-70 that forces players to repeat the tasks 5x more than necessary. Yes, I said 5x. (many players have reported the time on the forums: 1-60 ~ 60-70)
It shouldn’t take me any longer (or very little longer) to lvl from 60 to 61 than it did to lvl from 59 to 60. The grind-lengthening serves no good purpose. Players won’t play Neverwinter for longer (or purchase zen) just because you artificially extended the time it takes for them to reach endgame. In fact, it probably induces just the opposite effect in most players.
Finally, connect the tasks in the EE zones using a creative story-arc that is obvious. Quests could revolve around chasing Minsc for all I care, but connect them all together somehow. AND, give some actual gear or enchant rewards for most of them; otherwise, they truly are grindy tasks.

The level 70 trap that was laid out is frustrating at best, game-killing at worst. It seems to be a way to sell XP boosters, at least that is all I can think of, please tell me that I'm wrong. Prior to Mod 6, you levelled quickly to endgame. Now they have been futzing with that 60-70 "gray area" (why should it be a gray area?) for 6 months.