I've played Neverwinter since day 1, but quit shortly after the Gauntlgyrm release. Hated how painfully boring the whole thing was.
But now I've been thinking about how much the game has changed since then, and I've been reading a bunch of reviews, both on steam, reddit and on other websites as well. The majority of those reviews state that this game is bad now, and that its P2W with a lot of Cash-grabbing tactics and an overwhelming emphasis on buying Zen. One example is the nerf of ingame self-heal via potions and lifesteal, and the introduction of Healing stones via the Zen market, or by purchasing them with Tarmalune trade bars. And the Astral diamond gain nerf. And the new VIP status. And the increased dungeon difficulty, and so on so forth.
So my question is, apart from the combat, is Neverwinter really worth getting back into?
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B.. if you like the base mechanics.. sure, its "better" then it was last junish time frame, when they REALLY messed up the game.
C.. if you do come back, I would suggest getting VIP (either grind AD or buy it)
and D.. its still too grindy, and they havent found a better balance with that yet.
Ok, thinking I undertand where you're coming from, DPS is currently out of control relative to PvE content difficulty.
A lot of great work has been done on the queues/broken item mechanics/performance (barring recent DOS attacks?). Much better.
The focus appears to be playable stability, with caution on class nerfs (all good, as we pour a lot into our chosen class primary).
Class-wise, we have "anointed DPS" that can pretty much ignore support classes and rush ahead to tear up mobs ahead, leaving lower geared to fend for themselves. That's the worst of it, and historically typical of any situation where a class is allowed to dominate beyond the need for party support. We're not talking BIS characters. We're talking a class 1000+ less gear score than other BIS DPS classes.
There will never be perfect balance, but this one is somewhat extreme. It's a big negative, in the context of your question.
That said, it's not a big issue right now (apart from social party dynamics and role respect), - as the content is currently easy.
Now, the next module is around the corner. We cry out for class balance. We cry out for real dungeons (and they're coming!). Will they balance class roles with new dungeon content? Nobody here can be really sure.
We think the Devs understand, and we (I hope) understand that it's not a simple problem for them to solve.
I'd just encourage encourage you to rejoin us, and bring/keep faith. It's still a great game, and, of course, it still has challenges.
We'll see.
PS: If you like PvP, I've no idea. I gave up on PvP balance several modules ago, hoping that the rule sets would become more disparate and that attempts to balance the two forms would stop breaking each other.
Now that I am back the game is basically the same but has changed a bunch at the same time. There is a lot more things to do. And yes the grind is real. However most people do not understand the grind has to be part of a f2p mmo. You put walls up in a f2p mmo so players have two options: (1) pay to get past them as fast as possible or (2) spend time to get past them for freeeee. There are other ways to squeeze money out of f2p games but those two are the basic framework currency.
I personally am glad to be back. Lots of fun things to do. And if for some reason I get tired or frustrated with the game i can look for something else to do until I get that itch that only Neverwinter can scratch.
Expect to grind.
In any mmorpg.
Not only is there grind so you can pay to bypass it, but also the players consume content WAY faster than the devs can make new content. So using repetitive play is the only way to keep the players busy really.
I have played dozens of mmos since 1999..
This one takes the cake in sheer content of grind..
Most other games encourage alt play, this one discourages it.. WAY too much.
and no.. I care less about some obscure korean grinder.. please for the love of everything dont bring them up.
Until they can reset some of the balance in grind they are not doing it right.
There is simply no reason to have the sheer amount of RP gated bottlenecked as they do.
It adds nothing really positive for the game, I dont stay here because of RP! I promise you that.
The ability for those to pay to empower themselves that have less time to play helps support the game for those that have the time to play with less capacity to pay...and therefore is win -win and win. (payers players and game investors)
I choose not to experience repetitive playing as grinding, but that's not everyone's choice; therefore i look forward to re-engaging IWD, Shar, Dred Ring etc to earn currencies that are all now relevant and as my toon grows in power i feel that power through the game-mob feedback
(Please do something about the IWD lag though)
I was so pleasantly surprised that strongholds were not all about PVP ... Hugely so in fact.
All those conveniences in VIP ! Cheers!
Positive change is in the air comrads...and its spreading.