You can run solo but don't expect any AD doing that. If you want to level up your gear or get better gear, you need AD which at the moment you have to group up to get. You might get a little here and there but not enough to even mention it. And if you don't have very long to play every day or can play every day, you just spend what time you have in game just running dungeons/skirmishes/pvp/weekly quests to get any AD at all really. When are casual/solo players supposed to play the rest of the game if we have to group up to make AD. I for one would like to play the rest of the game but can't because doing so doesn't make me any AD. Every quest in game needs to give AD, even HE's need to give AD. But they don't.
Yeah, but the whining about this is ridiculous. On one side, people are want more dungeon content and asking where are the old dungeons. On the other side is the "I only want to solo!" people. They want make as much AD as everyone else and experience all of the game without having to group up. Isn't that an unreasonable expectation when you are playing an MMO? There are so many single player games that provide much better single player experience than any MMO.
I think it's not unreasonable that group content gives more rewards than solo content, most MMOs do it this way; but that doesn't mean solo content should not have any rewards, where are the rewards for the foundry quests? where are the rewards for the campaign dailies? solo players can barely get any AD at all. If group content is what we're supposed to do to get AD then we should have lots and lots of group content available, and I don't think that's the case either.
I haven't played in months hoping that Cryptic would get the game back in some sort of working order for the solo casual gamer but they continue to show mod after mod they don't want those people in their game.
Then you should actually come back and try the new Module. It's very solo friendly, and a good place for new people to get back in to the game.
The new campaign is extremely friendly to the solo casual gamer now.
I would LOVE to try and do some solo-friendly stuff and maybe see this game as redeemed......but becuase it's so freaking laggy and squishy unfriendly doing the intro quest, I can't get past that hurdle to even do so...I mean I can't get past the vampire with a L64 fair geared CW...it's so slide showish I can't dodge the red zone attacks...pitiful.
AS to OP's questions? It's like the old 60's tune....
Say hello to the...............And we won't get fooled again! Don't waste your time.
All the other posts and more^ should tell you not to come back. They have taken content away, stopped any AD generation for progression from anything but grindfest limited content. They have antagonized the casual/solo players with their shenanigans to the point that players abjure this crapfest game in droves. they have gated access to any "new" content behind high walls of guild action and antagonized the guilds as well. Locked all casual players from that "new" content.
They keep tossing "tidbits" of promise that they never deliver....the only non-group AD generation possible is: invoking. Yes, invoking, that's it. Oh wait, there are 2 others...rare leadership have a occasional measy amount (nothing you can count on). And If you can even get to L70 you can grind the campaigns for a weekly cooldown amount. So, nothing but invoke for other than someone that has a lower than L70 (does that make a progression sense?) I guess invoke is "prayer" and that's all you got with this gaming company, a prayer.
Yeah, but the whining about this is ridiculous. On one side, people are want more dungeon content and asking where are the old dungeons. On the other side is the "I only want to solo!" people. They want make as much AD as everyone else and experience all of the game without having to group up. Isn't that an unreasonable expectation when you are playing an MMO? There are so many single player games that provide much better single player experience than any MMO.
This argument would only be valid if the game started off how it is now. It didn't. It started off much differently. Cryptic games have ALWAYS been very solo/casual friendly, even before there was a Neverwinter. Champions and STO are both still very casual friendly. Neverwinter used to be. It was one of the main reasons I have been drawn to, and have played Cryptic games for so long. So, it's not a case of being drawn to the wrong game. It's a case of the game changing and leaving a segment of its players behind.
I have never once been in Malabog's dungeon. But I have completed the Sharandar campaign, and enjoyed it. I didn't need to do the dungeon to progress or be entertained. I have never once been in Valindra's Tower, but I have completed the dread ring. The solo lairs where awesome and challenging enough to keep me entertained. I didn't even have a problem with Tyranny of Dragons. The dragons could be skipped, and you could still progress. You didn't even need to fight Tiamat (I tried it twice and both times was awful) because you could still get the silly pizza slices another way. Sure it was longer and harder, but it was still another option. At least that option was viable before Well of Dragons became a murder zone for the undergeared and the lairs became group content.
Gear has changed to be impossible to buy. Not that it matters because without leadership AD or income from Neverember dailies my ability to generate cash has evaporated. There are no more solo options, there are no more ways to progress as before. I wont be able to complete these new campaigns like I could before.
So no, its not unreasonable to expect a solo experience from an MMO that has delivered it for years now. And from a company that has done so for much longer. Its one of the things Cryptic is best known for. I'm not demanding the game to change, to be something it could never be. I simply want back what players like myself already had, and have lost.
I am not saying I don't like group content or that group content shouldn't be more rewarding, all I am saying is that the only way to get any AD at the moment is group content. I have a limited amount of time to play everyday and I don't want to spend all my time in game just running dungeons and skirmishes to make the AD needed to progress. I want to play all the content in the game which I can not do because that content does not reward AD meaning I can not progress because I have no AD to do so. Dungeons are great and we need more of them but they shouldn't be the only way to make AD in the game. Reward more AD, yes indeed, but not be the only way to make AD ( for the most part ). I used to run a dungeon if the hourly time for dungeon runs came up when I was on, but not everyday because I didn't use to need to. And I grouped up every day to run the daily dungeon in Dread Ring, didn't need to but I did, cuz I liked it. But every quest should provide some AD as a reward. If I want more AD, then I do a dungeon. If I want to play the rest of the game, I can and still get some AD for actually playing the game. So, as it stands, if you are a solo player or have limited in game time, you get very little or no AD at all. And that isn't fair, especially when Cryptic themselves said they were going to make sure the solo player was taken care of as well when they took AD out of leadership. Which they have not done.
So I took my truck to the mechanic the other day...the same one I had for years. It thought I could trust "my" mechanic, so after paying my bill i just took the truck home without inspecting it. The next day however...I started to notice some problems, there were small things at first that I noticed as problems, like my windshield wiper blades were missing, and there was a new crack in the tail light and it seemed the radio didn't work now, mere cosmetics true, but I really needed those blades/tail lights/ radio in certain situations. So back to the mechanic I go to get it rectified. when confronted about the new problems he made light of it..maybe there was a pebble chip on my way home and the blades just took then to peter out. o.k. plausable, but what about the radio?
So I left the truck and returned the next day...this time I inspected it a little more closely. WTH?! Now a headlight was burned out, a tire was flat, there was a paint scrape..and that wiper blade? It was fixed..but the washer fluid was now empty...the tank leaked! Now how the hell did all that happen? It wasn't that way when dropped off! He reassured me there must be some mistake, that maybe one of his "guys" was playing a joke and he would get to the bottom of it and it would all be fixed..not to worry!
So back I go on day three and another inspection...not only was none of it fixed, but now the freaking engine was gone and so were the seats! Now there is no way it was that way and it is WAY past a prank for an engine to get up and walk away let alone the seats...So what was the mechanics explaination? It was my imagination, yes it was MY fault! He further explained that it was all good, that nothing was wrong, why was I complaining? I said helllooo..the engine? How could it be all right, nothing wrong, there is no engine! He countered, no, it's good, everything is WAI..and by the way would I like to join their prefered customer club? For a modest $600 in annul fees all service was 1/2 off......
ARE you kidding me? Well, no, just substitute "my mechanic" with "cryptic" and all the progressively worse problems of automotive nature as like game dynamic problems...THAT'S what cryptic has done, sabotage the former great relationship they had with casual players. They ruined their game play, then insist there is nothing wrong and tell us it's "us" that is the problem not them...finger firmly in ears when we proceeded to inform them differently, then they have the gaul to tell us about these great "deals" and "offers" and the great new wizzbang content they have coming out (glossing over that we can't actually play it..but they got it!) And hey why don't you go to social media and tell everyone how great it is....if you do we will give the "community" some trifle.
It seems the new spin on these HEs is that they're solo friendly. They're not. They're cheap lazy grind. You can't run in and do them solo (unless you already have the best gear in the game), you have to rely on random other players to be there, or sit and wait until some turn up. There's no way around that. And then it's just a DPS zerg with no skill required.
The game up to level 60 is solo friendly. You get new completely different zones to explore for every 4-5 levels, all packed with quests, new mobs, and mini instanced areas that are completely soloable.
It has changed the game for me for good. You'll always find people to party up for dungeon runs, skirmishes etc and nobody will look into your items ilvl or whatever. All you'll have to do is play your calls the way it's supposed to be played and be a team player. Got through many T2 dungeons with a lot of people this way, dungeons which seemed impossible to do in any other way, simply because people know what they're doing and paying attention to the game's mechanics.
Just try it. You'll get all the help and tips/info you need. Plus bring you back into the game more smoothly.
Other than that it just missing some of the old dungeons, which are being reworked and on their way back to us.
Peace.
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lantern22Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,111Arc User
So I took my truck to the mechanic the other day...the same one I had for years. It thought I could trust "my" mechanic, so after paying my bill i just took the truck home without inspecting it. The next day however...I started to notice some problems, there were small things at first that I noticed as problems, like my windshield wiper blades were missing, and there was a new crack in the tail light and it seemed the radio didn't work now, mere cosmetics true, but I really needed those blades/tail lights/ radio in certain situations. So back to the mechanic I go to get it rectified. when confronted about the new problems he made light of it..maybe there was a pebble chip on my way home and the blades just took then to peter out. o.k. plausable, but what about the radio?
So I left the truck and returned the next day...this time I inspected it a little more closely. WTH?! Now a headlight was burned out, a tire was flat, there was a paint scrape..and that wiper blade? It was fixed..but the washer fluid was now empty...the tank leaked! Now how the hell did all that happen? It wasn't that way when dropped off! He reassured me there must be some mistake, that maybe one of his "guys" was playing a joke and he would get to the bottom of it and it would all be fixed..not to worry!
So back I go on day three and another inspection...not only was none of it fixed, but now the freaking engine was gone and so were the seats! Now there is no way it was that way and it is WAY past a prank for an engine to get up and walk away let alone the seats...So what was the mechanics explaination? It was my imagination, yes it was MY fault! He further explained that it was all good, that nothing was wrong, why was I complaining? I said helllooo..the engine? How could it be all right, nothing wrong, there is no engine! He countered, no, it's good, everything is WAI..and by the way would I like to join their prefered customer club? For a modest $600 in annul fees all service was 1/2 off......
ARE you kidding me? Well, no, just substitute "my mechanic" with "cryptic" and all the progressively worse problems of automotive nature as like game dynamic problems...THAT'S what cryptic has done, sabotage the former great relationship they had with casual players. They ruined their game play, then insist there is nothing wrong and tell us it's "us" that is the problem not them...finger firmly in ears when we proceeded to inform them differently, then they have the gaul to tell us about these great "deals" and "offers" and the great new wizzbang content they have coming out (glossing over that we can't actually play it..but they got it!) And hey why don't you go to social media and tell everyone how great it is....if you do we will give the "community" some trifle.
Fair enough, but you probably should point out that your taking your truck back to the dealer and you don't own the truck, you are hiring it, and for the base model they aren't charging you anything for the truck hire or maintenance and that you only have to pay for added extras that you can do without. And he bits and pieces they have removed aren't mandatory items, they just make the journey more comfortable.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
edited November 2015
MMOs are and should be designed for people who want at least some semblance of multiplayer. You can have content that's more friendly to people who don't want to form organized groups or guilds, but at some point its going to involve playing with other people in at least some loose fashion.
That's why we have all kinds of different games. Multiplayer. MMO. Single player...each offer different experiences. If you hate playing with other people and absolutely want to be alone, try games like Fallout 4 or Witcher 3.
MMOs are and should be designed for people who want at least some semblance of multiplayer. You can have content that's more friendly to people who don't want to form organized groups or guilds, but at some point its going to involve playing with other people in at least some loose fashion.
That's why we have all kinds of different games. Multiplayer. MMO. Single player...each offer different experiences. If you hate playing with other people and absolutely want to be alone, try games like Fallout 4 or Witcher 3.
This is simply ignorant.
First of all, the game was solo friendly for most of its life. It has only turned away from that in the last 9 months or so. Players enjoyed what the game was, and it changed. It is not the case of players demanding the game to be something its not, only what it was. The game proved it can be both solo friendly and offer group content. One does not have to come at the expense of the other. Both play styles can coexist. Why is that such a bad thing to want?
Secondly MMOs are more then just grouping for quests. Some like to play alone, but enjoy chatting with others while doing their own thing. Some like to play alone but compete in the market. Some might not like grouping at all, but love PVP. Being around other players and grouping with them are completely different things and should not be lumped into the same definition how players should play an MMO. MMOs offer gameplay that single player games cant, even if the player chooses to play alone.
Your entire argument is flawed anyhow. There are better games for PVP, are you really trying to tell people to go play them instead? There are better games with player created content. Are you, a mod, telling people to abandon the game? How is telling the soloists to leave, any different?
The real irony here is, while extolling the virtues of grouping and playing together. You are being anti-group by telling players, people who have supported and enjoyed what the game way it was, to go away. I guess anyone who doesn't play your way, don't belong in the group. And you wonder why some might wanna play alone. funny that.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
First of all, the game was solo friendly for most of its life. It has only turned away from that in the last 9 months or so.
What do you mean that it turned away? All the campaigns are still there. All the daily quests. All the lair questions. Level from one to 70. Foundry is still there. There's more solo content then ever in Neverwinter right now. Now, if you don't like it...or feel it's too repetitive or grindy, then that's fine. But to say this game isn't "solo" friendly is a bit silly.
And with Module 8, you can actually earn BiS (or near BiS) gear via the campaign, which you can technically do completely solo, although it's faster with other players. Can you name another mainstream MMO that allows solo players to earn BiS main weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear without ever having to form a group?
But I understand what Sock is saying, and I understand what zerg is saying. They are looking at things from different perspectives.
Anyways to OP. The game reward structure is completely different than 2 years ago. Time vs Reward was drastically reduced. The basic mechanics of the combat is the same, which I will completely agree is one of the simplest but funnest combat systems out there (disregard all balance especially pvp, except at its basic function). It's the time vs reward that has tanked. Some people dont mind, some do. New players will never know the difference but vets will.
As a f2p game, expect what every other f2p company does; just come back and give it a shot. If the activites in game are fun to you. Enjoy. If not there are hundreds of MMOs out there. Might I suggest World of Fishing.
First of all, the game was solo friendly for most of its life. It has only turned away from that in the last 9 months or so.
What do you mean that it turned away? All the campaigns are still there. All the daily quests. All the lair questions. Level from one to 70. Foundry is still there. There's more solo content then ever in Neverwinter right now. Now, if you don't like it...or feel it's too repetitive or grindy, then that's fine. But to say this game isn't "solo" friendly is a bit silly.
And with Module 8, you can actually earn BiS (or near BiS) gear via the campaign, which you can technically do completely solo, although it's faster with other players. Can you name another mainstream MMO that allows solo players to earn BiS main weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear without ever having to form a group?
We are going in circles. You can not consider HEs as solo content. What happens with the next module? What happens when the HEs are no longer packed? They will no longer be an option. You simply can not get gear without groups, its just not possible.
Before I was able to get T2 gear, I was able to earn AD, I was able to progress campaigns. I have all my sharandar, DR, and IWD boons and have never been in MC, VT, KR. I was able to play in WoD and progress that campaign for a time, I was even able to earn favors without fighting Tiamat. I had options. I don't anymore. I can no longer earn the gear to run the content. I cant even buy the gear because its not even an option like it was before. Even if it was my sources of AD have been removed with leadership and the Neverember dailies.
The game changed, I didn't. Its not unfair to ask for options back. I'm not the one telling people to leave, or to change. Im not the one trying to judge people for their play style. I simply want back what we had.
...and I understand they took my fun out of the game, then they took my income away, and then they gave me two extra-fat helpings of infiniGrind(TM).
I'm on sockmunkey's side, even though I actually doe enjoy party content. But even that has been massively castrated, reduced to 5 dungeons, 4 (or now 6) skirmishes and a zillion one-like-most-others HEs, the more complex and challenging of which nobody ever plays - because all across the game the income is reduced to a pittance, with the tiny <1% lottery chance for a big hit in a wee few places. Or, even worse, playing StockMarketSimulator(TM), or watching endless animations of rolling polyhedral dice in a browsergame for the 3%-ish chance for a big hit...
Solo friendly? Whom do you think you're kidding here? Unless you're referring to "Grind the RP infiniGrind(TM) in HEs with people you don't even have to bother to care about"...
Then you should actually come back and try the new Module. It's very solo friendly, and a good place for new people to get back in to the game.
The new campaign is extremely friendly to the solo casual gamer now.
It is NOT solo friendly, please stop saying that. Once the rush is over those HE's will quickly become empty again. Leaving anyone who missed the rush without any options. You can not call it solo content if it is completely dependent on following a hoard of other players.
The difficulty of the new HE's don't change depending on how many players are doing it? Read that the new HE's would do this.
As for ad. U can make a decent amount via being a VIP. I stopped doing the dungeons, skirmishes, pvping, in favor of grinding for my artifact weapon and doing campaigns. Haven't been hurting for ad, but I expect I will be in the future. Anyway, being a VIP helps with ad a lot. The stuff you get from lockboxes sometimes is what I am referring too. So, if you have 10 bucks to spend a month and enjoy the game, might be worth it. However you will need to also buy bags imo. I can't imagine playing this game without buying 36 slot bags. I have two along with the other bags you get from playing and my bags STILL over flows. It's absurd, the refinement system, which we were told would free up inv space. Yeah, right. Bound character, bound account, non bound items don't stack together etc. Oh, if you do buy 1 or more bags, wait for a coupon from invoking, or sale. They are way over priced.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
Let's be honest here. The usual suspects are going to complain either way. When a new campaign was announced, people were complaining that it would just be more daily quests to grind through. So instead, you just have resources you need to collect via a variety of different methods at your leisure during the week.
They also made the HE's solo-able, too. If you show up to a zone and no one's there, they can still be done solo by a good player. Sounds like the perfect challenge for a solo player, right? And if people show up, you don't have to organize or group up. You just keep doing your thing, and the rewards improve.
And now people are complaining about that.
So honest question. What is the ideal set up for the "solo" player? What are you guys looking for?
The difficulty of the new HE's don't change depending on how many players are doing it? Read that the new HE's would do this.
And the chance of getting motes in the solo encounters is appalling. The current average seems to be 6 to 8 encounters for one mote. That is 600 to 800 encounters, that is abysmal. The only encounters that guarantee a drop are the epic ones. How do you intend to do those when they are no longer popular? People are having a difficult time right now, simply getting Earth, Air, or Fire motes because they are currently less popular. What do you think it will be like a few months from now? or next module?
So honest question. What is the ideal set up for the "solo" player? What are you guys looking for?
I think what players are looking for is simply more lairs (and no more HEs). We got several during each module up to IWD. Then just 1 in IWD, but 6 (be them limited to 2 max a day and 1 weekly) in ToD. Since then nothing was added that doesn't require more than 1 person. And really, HEs are not the best alternative for lairs. There's no immersion in those. They are just work. People want to crawl dungeons in a DnD game. They want to immerse themselves in a story, progressing though something. And they want some to solo in case they don't want to (or at that moment cannot) group for as well as some they can team up for. Obviously in every MMO the emphasis will be on the grouping thing. But not everyone has a guild large enough -or the desire- to group for everything at any given moment.
And before you say it: Yes. If the foundry got the attention it requires, it could take care of a lot of those solo moments.
And everything Nubbie says is completely correct. Hopefully this will be heard. I have been adamantly saying that mods 1, 2, and 3 where great. But I have a feeling I'm being ignored for being one of the "usual suspects". That's funny, because it wasn't all that long ago I was lumped into the Cryptic fan club. I guess I'll have to turn in my membership card. Complain about one issue and suddenly the labels fly freely.
Anyhow, everything Nubbie says here goes double for me. +1
If the foudry got any attention at all, things would be drastically different. Specially for us looking for some story immersion in a dnd game. (Crazy, right?)
So honest question. What is the ideal set up for the "solo" player? What are you guys looking for?
I think what players are looking for is simply more lairs (and no more HEs). [...] HEs are not the best alternative for lairs. There's no immersion in those. They are just work. People want to crawl dungeons in a DnD game. They want to immerse themselves in a story, progressing though something. And they want some to solo in case they don't want to (or at that moment cannot) group for as well as some they can team up for.[...]
QFT.
Add: No HE can ever have a tactical depth lair or even a dungeon has. And it doesn't matter if this goes for soloing or for group play. HEs are just same-ole-same-ole kill-the-three-to-five-spawnwaves, more often than not only reskinned or restaffed, mostly all-the-same throughout any zone. I'd like to exempt the IwD ones to some extent, but there few people do much else but the solo-ables, because the reward doesn't scale with the time demand and difficulty...
And before you say it: Yes. If the foundry got the attention it requires, it could take care of a lot of those solo moments.
...the thing the foundry lacks the most is anything resembling a reward.
Put some 3k AD in the golden end chest, same diminishing return scheme as the Dungeons have if you wish, and the game will be lightyears better...
Implementing this might need some arbitration to avoid a revival of the good ole "Portal Farm!!!"-type exploitation foundries and similar ventures, but...
Just put 3k in a chest at the end of a foundry quest only for quests that qualify for the daily. (Only quests that take longer than 15 mins to complete)with the same diminishing returning scheme than group content.
As for ad. U can make a decent amount via being a VIP. I stopped doing the dungeons, skirmishes, pvping, in favor of grinding for my artifact weapon and doing campaigns. Haven't been hurting for ad, but I expect I will be in the future. Anyway, being a VIP helps with ad a lot. The stuff you get from lockboxes sometimes is what I am referring too. So, if you have 10 bucks to spend a month and enjoy the game, might be worth it. However you will need to also buy bags imo. I can't imagine playing this game without buying 36 slot bags. I have two along with the other bags you get from playing and my bags STILL over flows. It's absurd, the refinement system, which we were told would free up inv space. Yeah, right. Bound character, bound account, non bound items don't stack together etc. Oh, if you do buy 1 or more bags, wait for a coupon from invoking, or sale. They are way over priced.
I have been vip since the day it came out. Actually I am level 7 of vip. And I have opened a lockbox everyday since and have only gotten 1 item that made any AD at the AH and that was the very first lockbox I opened. Since then, it has been nothing but absolute junk. Nothing worth any AD at the AH. Go figure.
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lirithielMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 2,482Arc User
And with Module 8, you can actually earn BiS (or near BiS) gear via the campaign, which you can technically do completely solo, although it's faster with other players. Can you name another mainstream MMO that allows solo players to earn BiS main weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear without ever having to form a group?
Lolwut? Please don't tell me you are referring to the new Elemental weapons, which are DEFINITELY NOT acquired through solo play. Also where do we earn these 'BiS accessories, artifacts and gear' without group play? If only BiS artifacts were available without us pumping 10 million RP into to actually get it to BiS.
Our pain is self chosen.
The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
You can run solo but don't expect any AD doing that. If you want to level up your gear or get better gear, you need AD which at the moment you have to group up to get. You might get a little here and there but not enough to even mention it. And if you don't have very long to play every day or can play every day, you just spend what time you have in game just running dungeons/skirmishes/pvp/weekly quests to get any AD at all really. When are casual/solo players supposed to play the rest of the game if we have to group up to make AD. I for one would like to play the rest of the game but can't because doing so doesn't make me any AD. Every quest in game needs to give AD, even HE's need to give AD. But they don't.
Yeah, but the whining about this is ridiculous. On one side, people are want more dungeon content and asking where are the old dungeons. On the other side is the "I only want to solo!" people. They want make as much AD as everyone else and experience all of the game without having to group up. Isn't that an unreasonable expectation when you are playing an MMO? There are so many single player games that provide much better single player experience than any MMO.
MMOs are and should be designed for people who want at least some semblance of multiplayer. You can have content that's more friendly to people who don't want to form organized groups or guilds, but at some point its going to involve playing with other people in at least some loose fashion.
That's why we have all kinds of different games. Multiplayer. MMO. Single player...each offer different experiences. If you hate playing with other people and absolutely want to be alone, try games like Fallout 4 or Witcher 3.
This makes no sense, because 1-70 is a basically solo game.
When I talk about solo play here, it isn't so much about the ability to play by your self, it is about the fact that you do not make any AD if you do. Sure there is a lot of the game I can play by myself and many can as well, but that gains us no AD doing so. All or almost all AD gain is rewarded only for group content i.e. dungeons/skirmishes/pvp. Weekly quests really don't count as you can only do them once a week. And the good weapons and armor ( for the most part - don't know anything about the new mod as I don't play the game anymore ) being gated behind being in a guild or having to do group content to acquire. So people that don't group up are basically kicked to the curb. So if you want AD in the game now, you either have to group up or you have to pay up. Which means, if you play solo, you will have to always pay up or always be left in the dust and will be any way thanks to gating a lot if not all the best stuff in the game behind group content. That is why every quest and HE in the game should give AD so even the player that doesn't care to group up can earn AD. You still need millions of AD at the moment.
And as far as playing the game, solo or not, people play because they like the game. Not because it is an mmo, not because it is a solo game only, but because of the game itself. And this game was fun once, back when they tried or seemed to me anyway, to cater to everyone. For me, that stopped with mod 6, when they all but eliminated casual/solo play in the game. And that trend continued with mod 7 and now in most part it seems as well with mod 8.
MMOs are and should be designed for people who want at least some semblance of multiplayer. You can have content that's more friendly to people who don't want to form organized groups or guilds, but at some point its going to involve playing with other people in at least some loose fashion.
That's why we have all kinds of different games. Multiplayer. MMO. Single player...each offer different experiences. If you hate playing with other people and absolutely want to be alone, try games like Fallout 4 or Witcher 3.
This is simply ignorant.
First of all, the game was solo friendly for most of its life. It has only turned away from that in the last 9 months or so. Players enjoyed what the game was, and it changed. It is not the case of players demanding the game to be something its not, only what it was. The game proved it can be both solo friendly and offer group content. One does not have to come at the expense of the other. Both play styles can coexist. Why is that such a bad thing to want?
Secondly MMOs are more then just grouping for quests. Some like to play alone, but enjoy chatting with others while doing their own thing. Some like to play alone but compete in the market. Some might not like grouping at all, but love PVP. Being around other players and grouping with them are completely different things and should not be lumped into the same definition how players should play an MMO. MMOs offer gameplay that single player games cant, even if the player chooses to play alone.
Your entire argument is flawed anyhow. There are better games for PVP, are you really trying to tell people to go play them instead? There are better games with player created content. Are you, a mod, telling people to abandon the game? How is telling the soloists to leave, any different?
The real irony here is, while extolling the virtues of grouping and playing together. You are being anti-group by telling players, people who have supported and enjoyed what the game way it was, to go away. I guess anyone who doesn't play your way, don't belong in the group. And you wonder why some might wanna play alone. funny that.
Anyone that actually wants to play this game for PvP should go running for a game that's actually competitive with devs that care about it. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to play PvP in a game like this with the barrier to entry and poor balance.
And with Module 8, you can actually earn BiS (or near BiS) gear via the campaign, which you can technically do completely solo, although it's faster with other players. Can you name another mainstream MMO that allows solo players to earn BiS main weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear without ever having to form a group?
Lolwut? Please don't tell me you are referring to the new Elemental weapons, which are DEFINITELY NOT acquired through solo play. Also where do we earn these 'BiS accessories, artifacts and gear' without group play? If only BiS artifacts were available without us pumping 10 million RP into to actually get it to BiS.
He's probably talking about drowcraft armor and the new rings.
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vaporwalkerMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 19Arc User
First of all, the game was solo friendly for most of its life. It has only turned away from that in the last 9 months or so.
What do you mean that it turned away? All the campaigns are still there. All the daily quests. All the lair questions. Level from one to 70. Foundry is still there. There's more solo content then ever in Neverwinter right now. Now, if you don't like it...or feel it's too repetitive or grindy, then that's fine. But to say this game isn't "solo" friendly is a bit silly.
And with Module 8, you can actually earn BiS (or near BiS) gear via the campaign, which you can technically do completely solo, although it's faster with other players. Can you name another mainstream MMO that allows solo players to earn BiS main weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear without ever having to form a group?
what BiS weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear are you talking about? doing comparisons, my mod 7 gears that are fully upgraded have better stats than the new mod 8 gear. out of the new weapons, BiS for my set up would be the new artifact weps (fully upgraded) available from a vendor in mantil tirith. as far as i am aware, you cannot solo epic demogorgon for the drops you need to buy it. The new rings (even at legendary) are not BiS at all. The only new artifact i came across so far was the one you get for completing the introductory questline to underdark. it was bound to my character so i did the only thing i could with it... vendored for 1gold and change since its garbage (BiS yeah?)
lack of any group content, solo content or pvp content is pretty blatant. new skirmishes and demogorgon are nothing more than 1 room heroic encounters. pvp in this game is a joke.
there is no real compelling reason to progress your character anyways in this game as there is no end-game content that requires it.
Comments
If group content is what we're supposed to do to get AD then we should have lots and lots of group content available, and I don't think that's the case either.
AS to OP's questions?
It's like the old 60's tune....
Say hello to the...............And we won't get fooled again!
Don't waste your time.
All the other posts and more^ should tell you not to come back. They have taken content away, stopped any AD generation for progression from anything but grindfest limited content. They have antagonized the casual/solo players with their shenanigans to the point that players abjure this crapfest game in droves. they have gated access to any "new" content behind high walls of guild action and antagonized the guilds as well. Locked all casual players from that "new" content.
They keep tossing "tidbits" of promise that they never deliver....the only non-group AD generation possible is: invoking. Yes, invoking, that's it. Oh wait, there are 2 others...rare leadership have a occasional measy amount (nothing you can count on). And If you can even get to L70 you can grind the campaigns for a weekly cooldown amount. So, nothing but invoke for other than someone that has a lower than L70 (does that make a progression sense?) I guess invoke is "prayer" and that's all you got with this gaming company, a prayer.
I have never once been in Malabog's dungeon. But I have completed the Sharandar campaign, and enjoyed it. I didn't need to do the dungeon to progress or be entertained. I have never once been in Valindra's Tower, but I have completed the dread ring. The solo lairs where awesome and challenging enough to keep me entertained. I didn't even have a problem with Tyranny of Dragons. The dragons could be skipped, and you could still progress. You didn't even need to fight Tiamat (I tried it twice and both times was awful) because you could still get the silly pizza slices another way. Sure it was longer and harder, but it was still another option. At least that option was viable before Well of Dragons became a murder zone for the undergeared and the lairs became group content.
Gear has changed to be impossible to buy. Not that it matters because without leadership AD or income from Neverember dailies my ability to generate cash has evaporated. There are no more solo options, there are no more ways to progress as before. I wont be able to complete these new campaigns like I could before.
So no, its not unreasonable to expect a solo experience from an MMO that has delivered it for years now. And from a company that has done so for much longer. Its one of the things Cryptic is best known for. I'm not demanding the game to change, to be something it could never be. I simply want back what players like myself already had, and have lost.
So I left the truck and returned the next day...this time I inspected it a little more closely. WTH?! Now a headlight was burned out, a tire was flat, there was a paint scrape..and that wiper blade? It was fixed..but the washer fluid was now empty...the tank leaked! Now how the hell did all that happen? It wasn't that way when dropped off! He reassured me there must be some mistake, that maybe one of his "guys" was playing a joke and he would get to the bottom of it and it would all be fixed..not to worry!
So back I go on day three and another inspection...not only was none of it fixed, but now the freaking engine was gone and so were the seats! Now there is no way it was that way and it is WAY past a prank for an engine to get up and walk away let alone the seats...So what was the mechanics explaination? It was my imagination, yes it was MY fault! He further explained that it was all good, that nothing was wrong, why was I complaining? I said helllooo..the engine? How could it be all right, nothing wrong, there is no engine! He countered, no, it's good, everything is WAI..and by the way would I like to join their prefered customer club? For a modest $600 in annul fees all service was 1/2 off......
ARE you kidding me? Well, no, just substitute "my mechanic" with "cryptic" and all the progressively worse problems of automotive nature as like game dynamic problems...THAT'S what cryptic has done, sabotage the former great relationship they had with casual players. They ruined their game play, then insist there is nothing wrong and tell us it's "us" that is the problem not them...finger firmly in ears when we proceeded to inform them differently, then they have the gaul to tell us about these great "deals" and "offers" and the great new wizzbang content they have coming out (glossing over that we can't actually play it..but they got it!) And hey why don't you go to social media and tell everyone how great it is....if you do we will give the "community" some trifle.
The game up to level 60 is solo friendly. You get new completely different zones to explore for every 4-5 levels, all packed with quests, new mobs, and mini instanced areas that are completely soloable.
I think the game is on a good path. Give it a shot.
Several of the stuff that made a lot of people call it quits (including me) have been revised and somewhat fixed.
Yes its grindy but so is every other f2p mmo. you either use cash or cash in your time.
I do the later.
Onto ilvl and elitists.
Please. Join neverwinter legit community channel: http://nwlegitcommunity.shivtr.com/
It has changed the game for me for good. You'll always find people to party up for dungeon runs, skirmishes etc and nobody will look into your items ilvl or whatever. All you'll have to do is play your calls the way it's supposed to be played and be a team player.
Got through many T2 dungeons with a lot of people this way, dungeons which seemed impossible to do in any other way, simply because people know what they're doing and paying attention to the game's mechanics.
Just try it. You'll get all the help and tips/info you need. Plus bring you back into the game more smoothly.
Other than that it just missing some of the old dungeons, which are being reworked and on their way back to us.
Peace.
That's why we have all kinds of different games. Multiplayer. MMO. Single player...each offer different experiences. If you hate playing with other people and absolutely want to be alone, try games like Fallout 4 or Witcher 3.
First of all, the game was solo friendly for most of its life. It has only turned away from that in the last 9 months or so. Players enjoyed what the game was, and it changed. It is not the case of players demanding the game to be something its not, only what it was. The game proved it can be both solo friendly and offer group content. One does not have to come at the expense of the other. Both play styles can coexist. Why is that such a bad thing to want?
Secondly MMOs are more then just grouping for quests. Some like to play alone, but enjoy chatting with others while doing their own thing. Some like to play alone but compete in the market. Some might not like grouping at all, but love PVP. Being around other players and grouping with them are completely different things and should not be lumped into the same definition how players should play an MMO. MMOs offer gameplay that single player games cant, even if the player chooses to play alone.
Your entire argument is flawed anyhow. There are better games for PVP, are you really trying to tell people to go play them instead? There are better games with player created content. Are you, a mod, telling people to abandon the game? How is telling the soloists to leave, any different?
The real irony here is, while extolling the virtues of grouping and playing together. You are being anti-group by telling players, people who have supported and enjoyed what the game way it was, to go away. I guess anyone who doesn't play your way, don't belong in the group. And you wonder why some might wanna play alone. funny that.
And with Module 8, you can actually earn BiS (or near BiS) gear via the campaign, which you can technically do completely solo, although it's faster with other players. Can you name another mainstream MMO that allows solo players to earn BiS main weapons, accessories, artifacts and gear without ever having to form a group?
But I understand what Sock is saying, and I understand what zerg is saying. They are looking at things from different perspectives.
Anyways to OP. The game reward structure is completely different than 2 years ago. Time vs Reward was drastically reduced. The basic mechanics of the combat is the same, which I will completely agree is one of the simplest but funnest combat systems out there (disregard all balance especially pvp, except at its basic function). It's the time vs reward that has tanked. Some people dont mind, some do. New players will never know the difference but vets will.
As a f2p game, expect what every other f2p company does; just come back and give it a shot. If the activites in game are fun to you. Enjoy. If not there are hundreds of MMOs out there. Might I suggest World of Fishing.
Fox Stevenson - Sandblast
Oh Wonder - Without You
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas
Before I was able to get T2 gear, I was able to earn AD, I was able to progress campaigns. I have all my sharandar, DR, and IWD boons and have never been in MC, VT, KR. I was able to play in WoD and progress that campaign for a time, I was even able to earn favors without fighting Tiamat. I had options. I don't anymore. I can no longer earn the gear to run the content. I cant even buy the gear because its not even an option like it was before. Even if it was my sources of AD have been removed with leadership and the Neverember dailies.
The game changed, I didn't. Its not unfair to ask for options back. I'm not the one telling people to leave, or to change. Im not the one trying to judge people for their play style. I simply want back what we had.
I'm on sockmunkey's side, even though I actually doe enjoy party content. But even that has been massively castrated, reduced to 5 dungeons, 4 (or now 6) skirmishes and a zillion one-like-most-others HEs, the more complex and challenging of which nobody ever plays - because all across the game the income is reduced to a pittance, with the tiny <1% lottery chance for a big hit in a wee few places. Or, even worse, playing StockMarketSimulator(TM), or watching endless animations of rolling polyhedral dice in a browsergame for the 3%-ish chance for a big hit...
Solo friendly? Whom do you think you're kidding here? Unless you're referring to "Grind the RP infiniGrind(TM) in HEs with people you don't even have to bother to care about"...
They also made the HE's solo-able, too. If you show up to a zone and no one's there, they can still be done solo by a good player. Sounds like the perfect challenge for a solo player, right? And if people show up, you don't have to organize or group up. You just keep doing your thing, and the rewards improve.
And now people are complaining about that.
So honest question. What is the ideal set up for the "solo" player? What are you guys looking for?
Anyhow, everything Nubbie says here goes double for me. +1
Add: No HE can ever have a tactical depth lair or even a dungeon has. And it doesn't matter if this goes for soloing or for group play. HEs are just same-ole-same-ole kill-the-three-to-five-spawnwaves, more often than not only reskinned or restaffed, mostly all-the-same throughout any zone. I'd like to exempt the IwD ones to some extent, but there few people do much else but the solo-ables, because the reward doesn't scale with the time demand and difficulty...
...the thing the foundry lacks the most is anything resembling a reward.
Put some 3k AD in the golden end chest, same diminishing return scheme as the Dungeons have if you wish, and the game will be lightyears better...
Implementing this might need some arbitration to avoid a revival of the good ole "Portal Farm!!!"-type exploitation foundries and similar ventures, but...
I have been vip since the day it came out. Actually I am level 7 of vip. And I have opened a lockbox everyday since and have only gotten 1 item that made any AD at the AH and that was the very first lockbox I opened. Since then, it has been nothing but absolute junk. Nothing worth any AD at the AH. Go figure.
The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
And as far as playing the game, solo or not, people play because they like the game. Not because it is an mmo, not because it is a solo game only, but because of the game itself. And this game was fun once, back when they tried or seemed to me anyway, to cater to everyone. For me, that stopped with mod 6, when they all but eliminated casual/solo play in the game. And that trend continued with mod 7 and now in most part it seems as well with mod 8.
doing comparisons, my mod 7 gears that are fully upgraded have better stats than the new mod 8 gear.
out of the new weapons, BiS for my set up would be the new artifact weps (fully upgraded) available from a vendor in mantil tirith. as far as i am aware, you cannot solo epic demogorgon for the drops you need to buy it.
The new rings (even at legendary) are not BiS at all.
The only new artifact i came across so far was the one you get for completing the introductory questline to underdark.
it was bound to my character so i did the only thing i could with it... vendored for 1gold and change since its garbage (BiS yeah?)
lack of any group content, solo content or pvp content is pretty blatant.
new skirmishes and demogorgon are nothing more than 1 room heroic encounters.
pvp in this game is a joke.
there is no real compelling reason to progress your character anyways in this game as there is no end-game content that requires it.