Portobello is done right

tripsofthrymr

When Neverwinter first launched, players quickly learned that all dungeons involved clearing armies of trash ads before facing mini-bosses then a final boss with very similar mechanics (other than the elder brain one that has been removed for so long that it's name escapes me).

Lostmauth added a bit of a twist in that the final boss stood on his own, they key being to avoid environmental hazards while burning down the dragon (hazards that unfortunately at times are completely invisible to players due to rendering glitches or lag).

Tiamat presents a new type of challenge, but unfortunately the meta is "zerg." It is less efficient to coordinate some sort of strategy and worry about party makeup per head than just to shout "/raid All go Black" usually followed by "/raid Stop. Stop stop stop! Don't kill the head."

The new CN added a little fun factor with the chains and the "dancing on the ceiling", but Orcus is perfectly willing to just stand still and let a pet tank him while ranged fighters just a few feet away burn him to a crisp. The death spheres are a nice, added twist. Mostly though CN is about trash clearing and an immobile boss.

Then came the Portobello dungeon that I just played. It's fun. There are unexpected things. There are traps that require dodging, bosses that have a little character, enemies that turn *me* into a block of ice. Probably a lot more that I'm not thinking to list right now. I walked away thinking "wow, that was fun. I want more."

Please, sirs, can we have some more?

Dungeons should have unexpected, chaotic elements. They should have the potential to throw a party into disarray, wreck the best-laid plans. They should have variety and character. I would love to see more of the thinking that went into creating the Portobello event find its way into future expansions.

On a side note, there is some terrific talent in the player community in terms of content ideas. I have seen it in the forums (along with all kinds of ... other ... stuff) and seen it in Foundries. Consider creating a mechanism to gather ideas from players that display the kind of creative bent that can make the game even better.

thefabricant

I hate this event. No rewards and silly quests. I am giving this campaign a skip, elol for me.

rayrdan

thefabricant said:

I hate this event. No rewards and silly quests. I am giving this campaign a skip, elol for me.

@thefabricant
thats exactly what i thought too.
1) books name to progress throught the campaign do drop in dungeons with names i could not find anywhere.
2) the rewards of said campaign, namely lathander's food, is the same regardless it being red, ice whatever. And is not permanent.
3)the second campaign is a total hassle with 0 rewards i would strive for.
4) you cant skip videos during minidungeons, like 3 minutes lost everytime.
5) mounts will never drop, i know when a fight is lost a priori. I m not looking for +5 rings, i m not looking to win any real life lottery, im not looking for an orange mount out of a chest from a not well specified minidungeon.

assuming my stardart playtime of 3-4 hours, soon to be reduced to 2 hours when i m lucky, i m not going to waste a month in this event. ADs are steady.

the chance for an orange mount is nice but the chances of wasting 30 days ending up with stacks of useless junks is way higher. i dare to say 1000x higher.

beckylunatic

rayrdan said:

assuming my stardart playtime of 3-4 hours, soon to be reduced to 2 hours when i m lucky

You've mentioned this a couple of times @rayrdan
Should we be congratulating you on becoming a parent? Sounds like it.

kreatyve

thefabricant said:

I hate this event. No rewards and silly quests. I am giving this campaign a skip, elol for me.

So you haven't seen the little hint about the legendary mount?

thefabricant

kreatyve said:

thefabricant said:

I hate this event. No rewards and silly quests. I am giving this campaign a skip, elol for me.

So you haven't seen the little hint about the legendary mount?

I have, I don't count it as a reward since however its going to drop, its going to have a 1/k where k>r drop chance.

silverkelt

I cant TYPE what I think of that cut screen.

THAT alone, less the convoluted mess of whatever intro someone thought they were presenting.

WHAT the heck is this.. respens was at least fun when it first came out and I mean I loved it..

you have ruined it!

rayrdan

beckylunatic said:

rayrdan said:

assuming my stardart playtime of 3-4 hours, soon to be reduced to 2 hours when i m lucky

You've mentioned this a couple of times @rayrdan
Should we be congratulating you on becoming a parent? Sounds like it.

@beckylunatic oh god no, i just took my degree and need to find a full time job asap to not end up under some random bridge living of fishing
btw ot aside, the event is nice but not remotely close to give me some reasons to run it intensively.

tripsofthrymr

Sorry you don't like the rewards of the event, but that's not what my post is about. It is about creating content in a fresh way.

rayrdan

tripsofthrymr said:

Sorry you don't like the rewards of the event, but that's not what my post is about. It is about creating content in a fresh way.

they 100% succeeded in doing so, those moving axes are 3x 4x times more challenging that reworked cn, and luring the drider into runes was a nice idea too

thefabricant

metalldjt said:

how do u get the mount ?

I got it already:
1) Step 1 open inventory.
2) Step 2 go to companions tab
3) Step 3 rename a legendary companion to "personal beholder tank"
4) Step 4, you have it!

beckylunatic

rayrdan said:

beckylunatic said:

rayrdan said:

assuming my stardart playtime of 3-4 hours, soon to be reduced to 2 hours when i m lucky

You've mentioned this a couple of times @rayrdan
Should we be congratulating you on becoming a parent? Sounds like it.

@beckylunatic oh god no, i just took my degree and need to find a full time job asap to not end up under some random bridge living of fishing

Ohhhh... congratulations on soon becoming a full-time adult then. @rayrdan

fizbad

beckylunatic said:

rayrdan said:

assuming my stardart playtime of 3-4 hours, soon to be reduced to 2 hours when i m lucky

You've mentioned this a couple of times @rayrdan
Should we be congratulating you on becoming a parent? Sounds like it.

If you have 2 hrs to sink in NWO as a parent, either (1) you don't sleep, or (2) your spouse hates you. Possibly both.

chtarbouille

It is a fun event to run once or twice but with the grindfest the campain is ......nope

kdawgenigma

what is lame is requiring tasks that you have to be max level just to complete to get the accreditation. not max = can't get the accreditation.

asterdahl

kdawgenigma said:

what is lame is requiring tasks that you have to be max level just to complete to get the accreditation. not max = can't get the accreditation.

It may not be immediately clear but you can only complete one of the "Heroic Feats of Heroism" in each category in a given day. You have the option of completing either but not both. We built the queues section so that one maximum level queue and one lower level queue should be available on any given day. Please let us know if you see two maximum level queues on a given day.

kacezet

@asterdahl

The Portobello's Wand of Sight turned me into a green eyeball and my companion into my clone!



Honestly, this is really neat. Finally I can talk with someone intelligent and who really undertstands me.

And GJ on the event, I love it! Can't wait for next week adventure \(*o*)/

EDIT: I'M A MATRIX GLITCH

solbergx

It looks good, im going to start playing tomorrow morning!!!

grimah

Its fun and different. But why have it only run for a month or so? Should be kept in the game

ironzerg79

I guess some people hate fun.

zakseven

I wish I could explore this, and the dungeons content that was re-added since Maze engine in fact, to share an opinion. But can't run nothing still. Glad some people are enjoying this and a bit of a change of pace. For me, even running Throne for the elusive Dwarven Spelunking is just a pipe dream at the moment.

wylonus

only thing i hate the most, some players are "speed pathing" to end-zone preventing anyone else getting the kills, they dont bother loot anything on the floor, i found few blue crystals along the way.

some players love my GF's buff, Into the fray to run pass all those swinging axes in trap maze. that was very well made table-top dungeon. i love it.

instynctive

I'm enjoying this event. It's different.. lots of creativity.

My first run through the first dungeon, yeah.. speedracers. Screw them. I went at my pace, opened all the "secret" doors, found some chests (got some peridots), freed a guy who tried to kill me later... I had fun with that. :-)

I wish the footrace would pop a little more often... Maneuvering on a coaster takes some getting used to.. lol

Also the "whack-a-pell" target dummies things.. would be nice to see your DPS at the end of them.

Looking forward to more of the dungeons/skirmishes/lairs things.

zibadawa

I like the look and feel of it. I would play an entire game that was designed to play and feel like this stuff.

litaaers

I like the new events... much like a carnival. Although I think the race queue is broken. Maybe the old instances aren't closing, so no new ones?

iandarksword

My only beef is the pose my ranger uses has me making airplane noises at random times... Otherwise, it captures the table top experience pretty well. I'm looking forward to the rest of the quests as they unlock.