Sword Coast Chronicle Official Feedback Thread

dextructoid

Howdy all, this week brings an early look at the Sword Coast Chronicle. The goal of the Sword Coast Chronicle is to act as a guide to the flow of content in the game, particularly the campaigns. It also chronicles your hero’s progress through the game and provides bonus rewards for completing content.

Access
Any player can access the Sword Coast Chronicle via the Campaigns window. The Chronicle interface is still very much a work in progress, but it will replace the old campaign screen.

In addition, there is a new introductory campaign, The Benign Order of the Third Eye, available to all characters level 10 and higher. The mission to start this campaign can be found by talking to Sergeant Knox in Protector’s Enclave.

Features

• The Benign Order of the Third Eye Campaign is a new campaign that introduces you to Sybella, She is a seer and a follower of the god Savras. She enlists your aid to sharpen her ability to see the future and locate the Staff of Savras. Sybella is the author of the Sword Coast Chronicle and the point of contact for rewards associated with it.
  
• Deeds. Deeds represent important milestones in your character’s career. In the final version of the Chronicle they will be arranged to show the progression of both adventure zones and campaigns your character can participate in.
  
• When a deed is completed, you can claim the deed for rewards and a summary of the storyline your hero was involved in to earn the deed. You are also awarded some Symbols of Savras. These can be used to purchase rewards in Sybella’s store.
  
• In the final UI, campaigns will appear in the order in which they become available to your character and also in order of difficulty.
  

Known Issues

• Chronicle UI is not final.
  
• Benign Order of the Third Eye campaign UI is not final.
  
• Benign Order of the Third Eye repeatable task Assemble Orb Quadrants takes 10 seconds. The final version will take 15 minutes.
  

Feedback Desired

As mentioned above, the user interface is still under construction and will be changing dramatically.
This week we’d like to get some feedback on the Benign Order of the Third Eye campaign. Characters level 20 and above should have no problem getting through it, as it was designed to start at level 10 and be an activity you interact with over time while completing the Tower District, the Spellplague storyline, and Blackdagger Ruins.
Also claim any deeds you character is eligible for, visit Sybella, and browse her store.

• Does the campaign story make sense?
  
• Does it work as a simple introduction to playing a campaign?
  
• Are the rewards in Sybella’s store worthwhile?
  

To report a bug (or just give your opinion):

• Respond to this forum post.
  
• Type: Bug/Feedback (Please only choose one)
  
• Spec: (Please enter the spec that you are providing feedback for here)
  
• Format: Please use “Bold” face text for the Type & Spec then type your feedback in the body of your post. If you are listing a bug please have this text in RED, if you are posting an opinion or feedback please use BLUE.
  
• (Bonus: Concise Feedback & Screen Shots are much appreciated)
  

Examples:

Bug: Sword Coast Chronicle
I completed the necessary missions but could not claim the Chasm deed.

Feedback: Sword Coast Chronicle
I’d like to see different rewards in Sybella’s store.

Unknown

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valwryn

Sharandar is not on my Campaign list......or I'm goin blind and senile!!!

two30

Bug: "Doer of Deeds" & "Great Deeds" achievements
The "Doer of Deeds" & "Great Deeds" achievements are awarding zero achievement points. Also, they don't have (0/11) and (0/21) counters.

valwryn

The Scrying Orb used in Blackdagger work'd great. Had no idea I was standing near a node til I used the orb. These nodes could be added to current dungeons with special prizes that only can be found using this orb. The orb is very bright...so you can make certain areas very very very dark and dangerous in the future.

two30

Bug: Quest: Searching the Present
The hidden caches say "emptied" in green before you open them. After opening them, they say "emptied" in red as they should.

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foxxy

Feedback: Benign orden campaign
Does the campaign story make sense?
A: No, it doesn't. I don't know how it fits the whole content of neverwinter. It is more like something to fill than something interesting that could ever engage new players.
Does it work as a simple introduction to playing a campaign?
A: It is a simple, yet an understanble way to introduce new player to the campaigns era. However, I would reconsider to build a more insteresting story.
- I suggest to add rewards in each task of the campaign, fashionable items or enchantments for new players would work more, rather than campaign items to used for the next task, as it tends to be repetitive, boring and not encouraging.
- I advise to make every task last 30 secs, 15 minutes sounds tedious for the new player.
- A daily repeatable task could be interesting, like giving r5 enchantments or potions, kits. (as for new players)
- Shards drop rate from orcs is very low, low.
Are the rewards in Sybella’s store worthwhile?
A: The companion is decent, the retraining token is AWESOME, the mount is decent. Does the artifact go up to mythic? if yes, then awesome, if not (only works like illusionist mask) then meh. The rest of items are decent.
- I suggest to reward a savral seal after completing a random daily dungeon.

The chronicle campaign is annoying and confusing.
Is there a different way to gain savras seals? after completing zones?

two30

Feedback: Sybella's Store

• I don't like that each item can only be purchased once. The items aren't bound to character. Why shouldn't I be able to buy 2 Grey Horses or 2 Minstrels or 2 Retraining Token Packs?
  
• [Globe of the Third Eye]: This artifact has no collections entry, so it's difficult to judge its upgraded stats. Its first stat is Critical Strike (good). Its second is Maximum Hit Points (meh). It doesn't have an activatable power. Experienced players will consider it junk. Beginners may get some use, maybe.
  
• [Grey Horse]: Again, experienced players will consider this junk. It's visually plain and because it's an uncommon mount, it only has 2 insignia slots. Beginners may get some use, maybe.
  
• [Minstrel]: Again, experienced players will consider this junk. It has a weak Active Bonus, its combat powers don't provide any damage boosts, and its combat powers are very slow for activating bonding runestones. Beginners may appreciate the healing.
  
• [Retraining Token Pack]: Useful for both experienced players and beginners.
  
• [Stone of Health]: I don't generally use these, but I assume that they're useful for some playstyles.
  

two30

Bug: Sybella's Store
The "only purchasable once" aspect of Sybella's Store is bugged. The Gray Horse is Bind on Equip. I purchased it on character A and mailed it to character B. Character B mailed it to character C. Now none of them can purchase the Grey Horse from Sybella, despite only one of them actually purchasing the Grey Horse.

valwryn

foxxycleopatra said:

Feedback: Benign orden campaign
- Shards drop rate from orcs is very low, low.

I thought that at first too. Then when ya factor in all the quests in Towers area, drop rate is about right. About halfway collecting the shards, I discover'd the nodes which quickly filled up the other half. 5 shards was the most I got out of these nodes.

Drop Rate is fine.

valwryn

The Campaign page always defaults to the bottom of the page when selected. Most of the sections I use are at the top. It's a good thing I have a mouse wheel or this could be annoyin!!!

scathias

I feel the rewards for finishing the zones are very unbalanced. A BoA Illuminated insignia is an awesome reward (for finishing one of the lower zone maps) since it represents significant progress to completing an insignia set, but the blue mark of power for finishing either it was hotenow or whispering caverns feels very lame in comparison. Things like a blue union/stability stone are also sort of lame from the view point of both a maxed player and a new player since they are 1 and done rewards and give you virtually no progress. It is progress for sure, but very little.

I very much like the fact that rewards here are tagged a BoA. This is what you need to go back and do with the EE campaign rewards (and make them reclaimable)

valwryn

I was able to recieve and turn in quests from Boon structures in other guilds that my guild also has but was unable to recieve quests from Boon structures that my guild doesn't have. Not sure how ya wanted to work this but it would be nice to get those other Boon quests.



Oooops, wrong topic!!!

beckylunatic

Overall, this update does some very good things.

Feedback: Sybella's Store
I'm not actually all that bothered that each reward can be purchased once, assuming that the quantity of currency you can earn and spend is an exact match (which I am not certain it currently is). That makes it such that the design indicates you're meant to earn all the rewards, but you get to pick what order you collect them. I wouldn't really ask it to be any different than that. (Just check those quantities.)

In my opinion, the rewards are decent. I don't use health stones, but don't deny their usefulness. A way to earn a retraining token for free is great. I actually like green mounts; the versatility of multiple 2-slot bonuses is really good if you don't own a lot of mounts, and every free mount adds to your storage capacity for extra insignia you might need later. I also think more access to artifacts for starting players is always welcome. As for the companion, I think he's a poor man's version of the Harper Bard (and currently using the same costume?). It's an accessible healer and a change from Mr. Leeches. From the perspective of a new player and not one who already has it all, the rewards here are solid and welcome.

Feedback: Benign Order Campaign
This quest line was straightforward enough. If running concurrently with taking a new character through the Tower District and beyond, I think it will mesh well enough. Getting enough shards with a level 70 was an exercise in tedium. I think there could be a few more caches (thank you for making them a shared objective). Having explored the tower district long ago, it was hard for me to not keep futilely going over the same ground. I'm ok with the middle tasks taking 15 minutes (lower to 10 if you feel generous). They're meant to run in the background while you keep adventuring, and should be done by the time you actually reach Blackdagger, and level 20. The idea of the longer duration is only annoying on preview because the testers are level 70 and just want to get on with it.

The inconclusive conclusion indicates intent to add more with this NPC in the future. (I foresee it.)

The one thing I would beg for with the final reward is to make the bag bound-to-account and not to character. Adding another bag from questing is certainly overdue, even if it's gotta be a rinky-dinky one. But with all the other added rewards being account-bound, this one being character-bound stands out like a sore thumb. Account-bound makes it at least possible to shuffle to alt characters without all their slots already full of bigger bags. As it stands, I cannot use the 12-slot bag from my Hero of the North Pack on any character I actively play, because I have nowhere to equip it.

Feedback: Deeds Rewards
I suspect the weird order of claiming these was the known issue referenced in the patch notes.

While they are a little uneven through the adventurer's career, I commend some of these choices, and making everything account-bound gives the player the option of moving items to where they can do the most good (see: BtA bag please!). The scrolls of life, I will pile up with the others from various gifts and continue to forget I even have them. I'll blow the reinforcement kits on somebody's armor simply because they're free, but I'm glad to be able to do all HP on one character and all recovery on another. BtA insignias are what we all wish they were all the time. The profession assets though... wow. Wow, would this have been a serious something to have when Neverwinter started out. Assets have become way more accessible in the last few months because of changes to lockboxes, but this is another firm push in that general direction. It's good for players, but the profession packs in the Zen store are very much the worse for wear from these changes, and y'all need to take a hard look at the poor (I mean, appallingly bad) value they offer in this day and age.

Feedback: Campaign UI
Since this is a work in progress, I won't waste a lot of time commenting on the raw state. I really hope that the ability to leave the UI set to open on a particular campaign returns, as I'm already not enjoying all the extra scrolling and clicking to get to things I want to interact with. I'd like to see the UI include prompts as to which campaigns have tasks waiting to claim, rather than having to hunt them down if you started making a bunch of different items the previous day and don't recall who was doing what. I would really love for campaign tasks to have a CANCEL option that refunds consumed items, just like professions already have. It would make things more user-friendly.

I agree with Valwryn that constantly being sent to the bottom of the interface when the stuff you need is all at the top is inconvenient.

I didn't notice if Respen and Portobello were missing in addition to Sharandar.

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torontodave

feedback

- so Im going thru all the old campaign tasks, finishing whatever I missed (my current main was originally an alt)
- Can't get the quest givers to give me the quests I need .. example Pirate's Skyhold 3 quests are - Scoundrel's Retreat, Pirate King's Retreat, and Beneath Skull Fortress .. I can queue for PK, but the other two, I've scoured the zone and spoken to everyone, no one will give me the quests. =(

beckylunatic

torontodave said:

feedback

- so Im going thru all the old campaign tasks, finishing whatever I missed (my current main was originally an alt)
- Can't get the quest givers to give me the quests I need .. example Pirate's Skyhold 3 quests are - Scoundrel's Retreat, Pirate King's Retreat, and Beneath Skull Fortress .. I can queue for PK, but the other two, I've scoured the zone and spoken to everyone, no one will give me the quests. =(

@torontodave
Beneath Skull Fortress is from Shaben Shortcloak (halfling by himself at a campfire), but he won't have anything for you if you didn't do Lili Huntinghawk's quest(s) and people tend to miss her. She's the incredibly shrill one at the campfire before Shortcloak.

Scoundrel's Retreat is the final lair. Captain Yargo gives it out, but you won't have the prerequisites yet.

Find Lili and you should be able to get yourself sorted.

torontodave

tyty. For anyone wondering about Mount Hotenow, its the warrior guy in heartleaf's garden (not heartleaf) who gives the first lair

torontodave

feedback

- sybella TAKES THE SCRYING ORB AWAY?! ... It's cool though. It lights up the dark corridors of castle never. Can't we keep it aNd get the bag? ;D

torontodave

@beckylunatic Any chance you know which NPC in the chasm starts "quenching the flames" -> cathedral of madness -> source of corruption?

i've talked to everyone in both camps.

beckylunatic

@torontodave

Mmmm, Chasm has a lot of sidequests, and I'm not certain which are required.

http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/List_of_quests#The_Chasm

Markrath and Sethrun*
Markrath sends you to Trell
Trell, Blackforge, and Emrys*
Trell sends you to Quorthon
Olliver's quest only comes available as you make your way to Quorthon (optional anyway)
Each Scar Company soldier has a quest as Quorthon sends you through the gate they guard
Cordi Nimblefingers is trapped on one of those areas (optional)
Quorthon sends you to his astral projection
There is only one side quest in the final area

*Places you could be off track if you can't find Quenching the Flames

Racial quests for being human and half-orc are also in Chasm. Can't remember if there are class quests.

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beckylunatic

Actually, having all the Deeds collectively in an interface like Elemental Evil's would have been ideal.

Instead of slapping dungeon requirements onto some of them depending if the zone's dungeon actually exists right now or not (making the entire structure inconsistent), each Deed could have completed from fulfilling the "[Zone Name]: Lairs" achievement. Sweet and simple, and easy to ignore after you're done with it instead of two-thirds of the UI being junked up with things you never need to look at again.

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beckylunatic

People who are adamantly solo players are complaining as well about the dungeons being shoehorned into Deeds. It really should have just been each zone's Lairs achievement.

two30

beckylunatic said:

People who are adamantly solo players are complaining as well about the dungeons being shoehorned into Deeds. It really should have just been each zone's Lairs achievement.

Or remove the 3-player requirement for leveling dungeons. Let players solo them or duo them with their partner.

beckylunatic

Yup, removing party restrictions for dungeons would also work, and is certainly requested often enough.

Just more thoughts on the UI overall... the banners are attractive, but I'd have probably tried to offer more feedback about usability (we are... *cough* skeptical... about how much our feedback can realistically affect a pending release) if I'd realized the work-in-progress aspect of it was pretty much exclusively adding unique banner art for each deed/campaign.

I like the way the event campaigns are tucked away at the bottom, out of the way but easy to find.

I strongly dislike the amount of real estate taken up by Deeds, which are a one-and-done activity per character. Even at a slow pace, a player can finish with all these levelling zones in a matter of weeks. Longer than this is exceptional on any character actually being played and not just invoked on. It's very common for a player to complete the 1-60 content in a few days. The additional guidance through the content isn't entirely unwelcome, though the bonus Deed rewards have certainly emphasized the obnoxiousness of outlevelled quest markers, and there is zero guidance for finding quests that are prerequisites for Deed-required quests. On the whole, Sword Coast Chronicles for 1-60 duplicates the function of Sgt. Knox as a touchstone, but doesn't provide much assistance in picking up dropped threads from when player levels are out-of-sync with quests they want to do.

UI-wise, Elemental Evil and Maze Engine are a large part of 60-70 content, but each displayed on a single interface. There are a lot of boxes, but the layout for each part is linear and logical to follow. Elemental Evil would have been a particularly good model for organizing the Deeds in a consolidated fashion.

Campaigns are something you need to revisit over a long period, and as a max-level character, are going to be going back into over and over again to access repeatable tasks, even when all boons are unlocked. This is why it makes no sense that they occupy such a smaller fraction of the UI than the Deeds which there is little, if any, cause to revisit.

While there was never a prompt as to which specific campaign had tasks to tend in the old UI, this would have been an opportune time to build one in, which didn't happen, and all the additional visual clutter doesn't help players figure out where their finished key or voucher or whatever is located. I also still want an option to cancel an incomplete campaign task, just like professions. Leaving the UI open to a specific campaign also no longer persists across characters, which was a helpful alt-management feature on the old UI. For that matter, so was leaving the UI open on a specific campaign for a single character, rather than having to open the campaign UI and then open a specific campaign for every single interaction or status check. More clicks = more frustration.

I do not like that I am constantly being bounced to the bottom of the UI. I don't know if this only happens because of restarting the client, or if it's because I have incomplete low-level deeds in some cases due to not having run Cloak Tower, but I don't need to be reminded. I'll get around to it, or not, without the prompting. Again, all that scrolling up to see the stuff I actually need to see is more built-in frustration.

TL;DR - The interface is prettier than the old one, but not user-friendly.

codex

FEEDBACK - I've finished the Benign Order campaign but still have the documents in my inventory. Do I need to keep them, for possible future storylines, or can I discard them?