I will never understand why people care about comparing one class next to another in a D&D game. Neverwinter is not an E-sport (and PVP is wildly out of place in this game). There is no reason for damage meters or for any competitive UI displays at all. The game should focus on small scale group play; overcoming obstacles together.
Neverwinter would be so much more fun and so much less aggravating if it got out the usual MMO traps.
Long story short, +1 for storytelling.
Nobody minds a good story I'm sure - In my opinion a storyline is a one time thing, after the big reveal you don't care If you see it again. In a game that lacks content and character / build progression I wasn't something that is going to keep me social and busy which generally isn't on offer with cutscenes and in some cases Cheesy stories (remember AI)
What I want to know is, are these topics that WILL be discussed and this is to prioritize them? Because each of these need to be managed, not just the most popular ones.
Also, there is a lot of doubt about the sincerity of this project in the community at large. A show of good faith might be in order. Players like surprises! But not with things like this. From my experience from playing the game, the devs seem to just find new ways to keep things the same. How are things going to be different from what they were before?
Also, will there be an initiative to attract players that quit the game? Some incentive to bring back older players to the fold?
Also, will there be more of an effort to bring the game closer to the table top D&D? For example will we see more paragon paths to each class? Will our choices of background and faith during character creation be brought into play? Will we get more role-play options and have the game become a little less murder-hobo-ish? Will we get more dungeon diversity rather than just "Run through the halls till you get to the end then wail on the boss till he cheap shots you or he dies"?
For me these are some of the QOL stuff I would like to see.
Better voice acting and animation. And make it all skip-able or minimizable (To where the mini map is. Cut-scene can still play out.) And no more stock animation. If I have to watch something make it cinematic, dramatic and NOT a placeholder (Like the first cutscene in CN and anything involving Valindra). Also, this can be a place where other animations (Like daily powers that can be made to look cool) can be played.
Look, I am not saying it has to be Witcher 3. But I would love to see as much attention put into cut scenes as is put in things like dungeon and enemy design.
Another suggestion for QOL... If it is in the game it should have some sort of impact on the game. Take weapon enchantments... Each has a attack type, but that attack type doesn't really have an impact on play. Red Dragons should have a damage resistance to fire and a weakness to ice, for example. Undead might have a higher damage resistance to Necrotic, but a lower resistance (and take more damage) against Radiant.
Another thing that I would like to see, no more raising the stat cap for EVERY piece of new content. Maybe once a year... but not ever few months. If you want players to chase new equipment, make something amazing and fun, not just a pile of stats. I am an end game player and I don't want to have to grind and refine new gear every 3-4 months.
Also, can we get a photo mode, pretty please? I want to show off how awesome the game looks, or dramatic scenes to set as my wall paper, without the clutter.
As for story telling, It's bad. Time gating makes it even worse. Obsolete campaigns shouldn't take weeks or even longer to complete. Time gating breaks the immersion. Stock animation when talking to NPCs (Especially them just standing around) is annoying to me too.
Also, can we get a photo mode, pretty please? I want to show off how awesome the game looks, or dramatic scenes to set as my wall paper, without the clutter.
by presing 'B' you go in inspection mode, where there is no hub, no mouse, no text, here u can get your photo. or do you meant something else?
Also, can we get a photo mode, pretty please? I want to show off how awesome the game looks, or dramatic scenes to set as my wall paper, without the clutter.
by presing 'B' you go in inspection mode, where there is no hub, no mouse, no text, here u can get your photo. or do you meant something else?
Ah. You must be on PC. Console doesn't get all the fancy bells and whistles you get, which is another QOL thing we need. We never got foundry either. We also can't get rid of the annoying "X got X reward" or clouds of numbers that block what we are fighting, red zones, or CA zones (at times). And no I am not willing to play on PC. I spend enough on the game as it is without going out to buy a gaming computer for one game then spending time and money to get a toon to end game. I understand there are limitations to what consoles can do, but COME ON. At least try to give console players some of the nicer bells and whistles PC has.
On the class balance thing, don't want to be too negative, just my honest opinion on the matter, but don't bother if ya'll aren't going to rework the whole system with more complexity, diversity, and synergies available to all classes. Their is little point in continuously working on an old, rusted, broken down thing, sorry, but m16 totally got it wrong, that aspect of it was a big waste then and forever moving forward.
If there is less than 5% variance in dps performance in the current system, don't waste your time, otherwise do minor tweaks and work on something better.
Would love to see improvements in console GUI too, the rotating buff bar and nose up against the television to see buff stacks is pretty annoying. Storm spell since last week's NERF no longer displays on screen when it proves, you now have to scroll through the comat logs.. etc etc
PVP No PvP matches, because queuing for pvp takes hours. Not a lot of people want to farm extra pvp (balanced enchantments) and adjustments. Farming for PVE gear is already time-consuming and grindy. Not a lot of people have the confident to do pvp, since companions don't work in queued pvp, which means you need to shift your resources to balance stats for pvp. Also in terms of User-Interface, PvP is really not easy accessible, some are not even aware of existing pvp. PvP rewards are also not worth the effort. Solutions > Make PVE gears (enchantments and companions) more useful in pvp, rewards that are worth the effort, add dueling function between 2 players in open world. add a small open world arena in cities and add spectator slots and give spectators some entertaining interactions.
Storytelling Storytelling and lvl exp go hand in hand, I was always bored by the story in most mmo's. Stiff, generic animations and dialogues make it less compelling. Story feels repetitive with every chapter. No outstanding/remarkable NPC characters or character arcs. The ingame Lore book does tell storyline, but nobody really wants to read that much text. Solutions > Add some quest choices and more dynamic story paths for the players. Maybe 2-3 differnet outcomes for players, which then can be tied to open world pvp. Add more dynamic animations in cut scenes and more meaningful dialogues. Add an interesting npc character that has a plot twist and some character arcs. Make it so that the player emotionally connects to that npc for a longer period and maybe add some REALLY dramatic moments. Give the antagonist a more remarkable storyline and reason. Adding player-character voices makes it more personal as well!
Cosmetics We might think that it wouldn't matter, but it does. A lot of people are ready to spent tons of micro-transactions when it comes to player cosmetics. In every game People go crazy for individual look. Whether it is a western mmo like wow or eastern mmo like blade and soul, or any other genre like overwatch etc. Adding more possibilities in outfits, fashion and visual appearance will always sell. The thing is, the prop and 3D character designers are stuck with repetitive designs. Meshes/armor models are re-used over and over again just with a different color texture. And I gotta be honest those armors look outdated and poorly designed. Sorry design department Some light armor pieces look like heavy armor pieces and vice versa. Solutions > Hire atleast 1-2 outsource character designers, let them design up to date outfits and armors. Either let every class eligible for heavy armors or split them distinctively in visuals. You could also add movement speed modifiers and proper defense stats to armor types if you go for classless armor system.
Combat system and Combat Stats One thing that I like most about Neverwinter is the direct combat system. Yet so simple, but also well structured. But other games are catching up and went further. The combat stats never made much sense to me. For example Accuracy and Deflect are completely unnecessary. Awareness does make sense, but it could be simplified further. So a lot of these stats like awareness, deflect etc. are getting ignored by most players, except crit avoidance for some healers. Making it completely obsolete. Solutions > Removing accuracy and deflection would give players more room to breathe, Less confusion and better gear management, as accuracy and deflection could be just interpreted as critical hit and crit avoidance. Awareness could be merged into overall defense. Deflection could be made into a separated mechanic below the main stats. Like adding a deflection equip bonus in armors and shields, e.g 15% Deflection chance when getting struck. Also magic elements like radiant, frost, fire, poison dmg are kinda obsolete. There is no resistance for those. Adding poison, fire, ice resistance would give it much more reason and dynamic. The rest of the stat-types are perfectly fine. If inside the budget and time plan, add one more mechanics for dodging, like dodging special boss attacks and certain attacks, or slow motions, or a counter attack animation as sort of quick time events. Examples in mmo game: black desert, blade and soul.
Don't know where to post this, fine if it gets moved. The problem: Weapon set artifact modifications. Currently, if you have a shared weapon set between loadouts, like in my case tank and dps-blademaster, you are forced to choose only one artifact modification bonus or pay 5k AD every time you wish to change it. Instead, the code should be that: you purchased the cubes of augmentation, you spent the 5k once PER loadout to have that mod on that loadout.. and that is that. The only solution right now is to either have an entirely extra set of upgraded weapons per loadout, or spend the 5k AD every time if you want the bonus for that loadout. Neither one of those is fair and I'm sure nearly every current player would appreciate this being fixed.
Comments
Seriously though, I know a revitalized Foundry is not going to ever happen.
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
Also, there is a lot of doubt about the sincerity of this project in the community at large. A show of good faith might be in order. Players like surprises! But not with things like this. From my experience from playing the game, the devs seem to just find new ways to keep things the same. How are things going to be different from what they were before?
Also, will there be an initiative to attract players that quit the game? Some incentive to bring back older players to the fold?
Also, will there be more of an effort to bring the game closer to the table top D&D? For example will we see more paragon paths to each class? Will our choices of background and faith during character creation be brought into play? Will we get more role-play options and have the game become a little less murder-hobo-ish? Will we get more dungeon diversity rather than just "Run through the halls till you get to the end then wail on the boss till he cheap shots you or he dies"?
For me these are some of the QOL stuff I would like to see.
Better voice acting and animation. And make it all skip-able or minimizable (To where the mini map is. Cut-scene can still play out.) And no more stock animation. If I have to watch something make it cinematic, dramatic and NOT a placeholder (Like the first cutscene in CN and anything involving Valindra). Also, this can be a place where other animations (Like daily powers that can be made to look cool) can be played.
Look, I am not saying it has to be Witcher 3. But I would love to see as much attention put into cut scenes as is put in things like dungeon and enemy design.
Another suggestion for QOL... If it is in the game it should have some sort of impact on the game. Take weapon enchantments... Each has a attack type, but that attack type doesn't really have an impact on play. Red Dragons should have a damage resistance to fire and a weakness to ice, for example. Undead might have a higher damage resistance to Necrotic, but a lower resistance (and take more damage) against Radiant.
Another thing that I would like to see, no more raising the stat cap for EVERY piece of new content. Maybe once a year... but not ever few months. If you want players to chase new equipment, make something amazing and fun, not just a pile of stats. I am an end game player and I don't want to have to grind and refine new gear every 3-4 months.
Also, can we get a photo mode, pretty please? I want to show off how awesome the game looks, or dramatic scenes to set as my wall paper, without the clutter.
As for story telling, It's bad. Time gating makes it even worse. Obsolete campaigns shouldn't take weeks or even longer to complete. Time gating breaks the immersion. Stock animation when talking to NPCs (Especially them just standing around) is annoying to me too.
or do you meant something else?
If there is less than 5% variance in dps performance in the current system, don't waste your time, otherwise do minor tweaks and work on something better.
No PvP matches, because queuing for pvp takes hours. Not a lot of people want to farm extra pvp (balanced enchantments) and adjustments. Farming for PVE gear is already time-consuming and grindy. Not a lot of people have the confident to do pvp, since companions don't work in queued pvp, which means you need to shift your resources to balance stats for pvp. Also in terms of User-Interface, PvP is really not easy accessible, some are not even aware of existing pvp. PvP rewards are also not worth the effort.
Solutions > Make PVE gears (enchantments and companions) more useful in pvp, rewards that are worth the effort, add dueling function between 2 players in open world. add a small open world arena in cities and add spectator slots and give spectators some entertaining interactions.
Storytelling
Storytelling and lvl exp go hand in hand, I was always bored by the story in most mmo's. Stiff, generic animations and dialogues make it less compelling. Story feels repetitive with every chapter. No outstanding/remarkable NPC characters or character arcs. The ingame Lore book does tell storyline, but nobody really wants to read that much text.
Solutions > Add some quest choices and more dynamic story paths for the players. Maybe 2-3 differnet outcomes for players, which then can be tied to open world pvp. Add more dynamic animations in cut scenes and more meaningful dialogues. Add an interesting npc character that has a plot twist and some character arcs. Make it so that the player emotionally connects to that npc for a longer period and maybe add some REALLY dramatic moments. Give the antagonist a more remarkable storyline and reason. Adding player-character voices makes it more personal as well!
Cosmetics
We might think that it wouldn't matter, but it does. A lot of people are ready to spent tons of micro-transactions when it comes to player cosmetics. In every game People go crazy for individual look. Whether it is a western mmo like wow or eastern mmo like blade and soul, or any other genre like overwatch etc. Adding more possibilities in outfits, fashion and visual appearance will always sell. The thing is, the prop and 3D character designers are stuck with repetitive designs. Meshes/armor models are re-used over and over again just with a different color texture. And I gotta be honest those armors look outdated and poorly designed. Sorry design department
Solutions > Hire atleast 1-2 outsource character designers, let them design up to date outfits and armors. Either let every class eligible for heavy armors or split them distinctively in visuals. You could also add movement speed modifiers and proper defense stats to armor types if you go for classless armor system.
Combat system and Combat Stats
One thing that I like most about Neverwinter is the direct combat system. Yet so simple, but also well structured. But other games are catching up and went further. The combat stats never made much sense to me.
For example Accuracy and Deflect are completely unnecessary. Awareness does make sense, but it could be simplified further.
So a lot of these stats like awareness, deflect etc. are getting ignored by most players, except crit avoidance for some healers. Making it completely obsolete.
Solutions > Removing accuracy and deflection would give players more room to breathe, Less confusion and better gear management, as accuracy and deflection could be just interpreted as critical hit and crit avoidance. Awareness could be merged into overall defense. Deflection could be made into a separated mechanic below the main stats. Like adding a deflection equip bonus in armors and shields, e.g 15% Deflection chance when getting struck. Also magic elements like radiant, frost, fire, poison dmg are kinda obsolete. There is no resistance for those. Adding poison, fire, ice resistance would give it much more reason and dynamic. The rest of the stat-types are perfectly fine. If inside the budget and time plan, add one more mechanics for dodging, like dodging special boss attacks and certain attacks, or slow motions, or a counter attack animation as sort of quick time events. Examples in mmo game: black desert, blade and soul.
The problem: Weapon set artifact modifications. Currently, if you have a shared weapon set between loadouts, like in my case tank and dps-blademaster, you are forced to choose only one artifact modification bonus or pay 5k AD every time you wish to change it. Instead, the code should be that: you purchased the cubes of augmentation, you spent the 5k once PER loadout to have that mod on that loadout.. and that is that. The only solution right now is to either have an entirely extra set of upgraded weapons per loadout, or spend the 5k AD every time if you want the bonus for that loadout. Neither one of those is fair and I'm sure nearly every current player would appreciate this being fixed.