Double reviews for review - NW-DNRBBXZK3

katah1969

Trading double reviews (my kid has agreed to run quests with me!) for review of my new quest. If interested details are below. Will run quests in order they show up on quest review and as fast as we can, but we are going to play and experience what you have created so we can provide good constructive feedback where needed. Will appreciate honest and fair reviews in return. Our reviews will show as @ValorusContego and @DragonRexWolf.


Exarah's Tomb: The Forgotten
NW-DNRBBXZK3

For generations, the people of Neverwinter have passed down stories about the lost Tomb of Exarah and the sad tale of a long ago Princess. Dismissed as a mere legend, the story of Exarah is one that should have never been forgotten as the events surrounding her life, while tragic, hold historical significance. You have decided to embark on a journey to finally answer the questions surrounding the myth of Exarah's Tomb.

Average run time: ~20 minutes @ level 24
Difficulty level: Easy encounters used, no stacking. Boss mobs are used.

==========

Will review these and any new requests in the morning.

In Progress:

rdxcyclo (NW-DEZSTNUT7)


Next in Line:

POST TO SIGN UP



Completed Reviews:

eskarine - (NW-DIIXJX4ES)

Just reviewed. Good story, but check spelling. Not a ton of errors, but the ones found do kind of stand out. The end boss was his name Leech or did you mean Lich? Kid is having to run it again as he moved the character during the review part and the screen went away. Both reviews complete.


dagrin7 - (NW-DOPFEI3YP)

I like the story and as far as I could see spelling was spot on. Some areas had a little too much fog or smoke as it really taxed the computer and I'm running a nice Alienware PC so lots of power. I soloed the dungeon with no pots (forgot to buy some) but slow and steady won the day. Adjust your traps though. Hardly any of them allowed me disarm.


myrmecoleon - (NW-DGZ9J6Y2M)

Great story... followed it all the way through. If I were to offer any suggestions is that you might want to tone down your encounters. From what I am reading so far in reviews for my quest, I thought I was doing easy (and I was for my level) but post 50 I guess it takes on a whole other realm of difficulty. Didn't dock any stars for this because I was able to solo it.


meysa - (NW-DEH6FU5KB)

Great quest. Funny parts and even jokes about the gnolls. Not sure how it will play higher levels but at level 25 was able to solo with only a few potions.


belberk - (NW-DO335J3SZ)

Nice quest. It bugged out for me and would not let me finish so I will have to run again to give stars, but my dad and son were able to complete so they reviewed. Pretty good story... was well thought out. I think at the start you may need to update the name of the Cleric you go see... confused us when the trail ended at a different NPC. I actually don't mind running it again to review as it was good.


silithas97 - (NW-DD9NYO9ZP)

We all liked your quest, but some suggestions would be to add a little more detail to the forest and keep. Entering it looked a bit like a box with trees all around and the opening cleared of anything. Lighting the first was a little confusing as it took a bit to figure out you had to use the teleport and then once teleported the second objective to light the fire resulted in going to the crypt. Good use of Foundry mechanics with the dancing skeletons. They were cool. We all like the story, but you may want to run it through a spell check as very minor errors in the spelling.


hflord1 - (NW-DONEPB9CK)

Good story and well placed environments. Suggest using a rock or stone to fill in gaps between doorways as one of the party members I was fell through. Some of the foggy areas can be taxing - I have a high end PC and lagged a little - lower end PCs would crawl I think. Some encounters at level 32 are tough even with a small group. Loved the environments as can tell you spent a lot of time placing everything.


xhrit - (NW-DADOERMFX)

Going to run your quest again in a few and change my star rating. Been bugging me that I may have taken a star for the pathing with the pixie trail. Not your fault so it should not reflect your stars. Give me a few and I'll update this as well.

Great story line and you could tell you spent some time setting the place up. Some encounters were difficult with two people and the Red Dragons were just frustrating as they were really hard. Pathing was a bit confusing as you had so many doors and the pixie trail was all over the place. Might be best to disable on areas such as this.


voivodak - (NW-DNUZSYEEY)

Story was good and engaging. Loved the effects you used (share with me how you got the area to shake?) Just a suggestion - remove the books and option to leave your quest because it is difficult. I think any quest regardless of level of encounters will be difficult post 50. At 27 with a friend we sailed through it. A simple warning in your opening text or description should be good. Just my thoughts though. We enjoyed it.


mrthebozer - (NW-DBFUDMT8L)

Loved every bit of your quest. Very well thought out and excellent use of effects and objects to help tell your story. We both 5 stared it! The kid was laughing the whole way so you really impressed him! Think he liked yours better than mine!


lostcharta - (NW-DIRYOWUKY)

Was an interesting quest. The story seems to be well though out and while I was looking for misspelled words I didn't find any. Will have to run your next in the series and see how it turns out. Thanks for the quote we both really enjoyed it.


ravenspire1 - (NWS-DHFZYUPJS)

Just ran your quest and overall it was pretty good. A lot of elements I liked when running a short story. Few pointers would be that some of the encounters were hard. I got through them but had to pot as fast as I could in a few spots. Balancing is difficult since every level tier combat at even easy levels gets harder. The invisible walls used to get me to DM your quest is a good idea, but the first one I noticed in the tavern I did not realize you wanted me to click something and after a few moments of jumping around I was able to bypass it. Was not until later in the quest I realized what you were doing. Not sure how to advise on this one as I know you want to get your mood set.

Lastly you had some items floating in the air. The barricade was all pretty much floating.


zuviele - (NWS-DG3ALMAAC)

Great quest! Took some time to get the path going up the scaffolding right I'll bet. Your "cut scene" was pretty cool. Would be interest to see how that was done. Lots of cool ideas can be done with the process. Your story was well written and enjoyable. Great quest!


mosby1 - (NW-DEZAK4QPA)

Mosby I don't know if it was a glitch or not, but in the cave, the 2/2 to clear the area is a Ogre and he was way up on the side of the wall. I tried to climb up and use my ranged ability, but only got a message saying I need a target. I almost gave up but tried to range it again and was able to hit it and he came down. Maybe just a game glitch. In the cave area you used an invisible wall to keep me from going down, but of course because I was not supposed to go down I went down. Was not sure I could get back up. Love the cave and the story.

eskarine

I will review yours. Would be great if you could review my first quest in return (link in signature).

Will probably edit this post once I am done.

katah1969

Awesome. We will start it right now and let ya know!

dagrin7

I wouldn't mind a review of mine as well. NW-DOPFEI3YP. The Siege of Narthrond: Prologue. I have made many upgrades and additions after my first two reviews and a private message from talli0. The new version is in much need of review and comment. I will run your shortly and leave a review here and in game. Thanks for doing this!

katah1969

Will review these and any new requests in the morning.

In Progress:

belberk


Next in Line:

silithas97
hflord1
xhrit


Completed Reviews:

eskarine -

Just reviewed. Good story, but check spelling. Not a ton of errors, but the ones found do kind of stand out. The end boss was his name Leech or did you mean Lich? Kid is having to run it again as he moved the character during the review part and the screen went away. Both reviews complete.


dagrin7 -

I like the story and as far as I could see spelling was spot on. Some areas had a little too much fog or smoke as it really taxed the computer and I'm running a nice Alienware PC so lots of power. I soloed the dungeon with no pots (forgot to buy some) but slow and steady won the day. Adjust your traps though. Hardly any of them allowed me disarm.


myrmecoleon - (NW-DGZ9J6Y2M)

Great story... followed it all the way through. If I were to offer any suggestions is that you might want to tone down your encounters. From what I am reading so far in reviews for my quest, I thought I was doing easy (and I was for my level) but post 50 I guess it takes on a whole other realm of difficulty. Didn't dock any stars for this because I was able to solo it.


meysa -

Great quest. Funny parts and even jokes about the gnolls. Not sure how it will play higher levels but at level 25 was able to solo with only a few potions.

myrmecoleon

Would love to trade - short code is in my sig. I'll give it a spin in just a second (eating!).

eskarine

katah1969 wrote: »

eskarine -

Just reviewed. Good story, but check spelling. Not a ton of errors, but the ones found do kind of stand out. The end boss was his name Leech or did you mean Lich? Kid is having to run it again as he moved the character during the review part and the screen went away.

Nope, I meant Leech Grammar and spelling is not my strongest point - not a native speaker - which is why I appreciate when people point out the mistakes.

Ok, so I played through yours and here's my main points - I've been writing them down as I played, so sorry if I seem to be nitpicking too much. Overall I enjoyed it a lot.

- The description you gave on forum is somehow misleading - it was definitely not 20 minutes and I found some encounters HARD. At least at my lv50-ish cleric, the waves of kobolds in the cave without time to rest in between kind of annoyed me, as did the horde of skeletons - those were crazy, man. I barely made out of it alive, after throwing my companion at them like a meat shield. Did you mean to make them that hard? The foundry difficulty is higher for people after lv50 (no idea what lv character you have).

- The lore building was nice. There was a LOT of text - I personally like to read the dialogues and world-building, but I know a part of general audience doesn't give a squat about text.

- There was no interaction animation for breaking the lattice and freeing Exarah - intentional?

- In the caves, there was a moment where "This would be reach text" appeared on the screen

- In general, the amount of text that appears on the screen is a bit too long when compared to time you have for reading it, but that's a minor pet peeve of mine

- The first corridors in which you fight kobolds in are kind of narrow

- Reskinning Ogre as Kobold is decieving - you think it won't have very long reach when you avoid the big attack and suddenly you find yourself smacked into a wall (Again, intentional?)

- No markers (areas, points) on the maps actually adds some difficulty, which is nice

- Maybe it's the fault of my screen setting, but some areas (especially in the caves) were extremly dark

- Very nice touch with three doors - I actually picked correct one on the first try - what happens with other two?

- Nice effects on the last fight.

katah1969

Thanks for the feedback! All good information. I've play tested with all levels of character in the Foundry, but that really doesn't mean anything as in the game everything seems to change. Difficulty seems to be the big one out there - all encounters were easy. Not a single middle or hard encounter is in the entire dungeon with the exception of the bosses. I'll move the Kobold waves a little further apart to give a bigger chance for a shrine or some type of healing. The skeleton wall is meant to be difficult, but since I do not have a 50+ character I need to error on the side of caution.

Thanks for the comments and will put it all together for an update after some additional feedback.

Just made changes. At level 24 everything seems easy or at least doable... 2 reviews saying some encounters are hard so removed the skeleton encounter to just one group.

myrmecoleon

Just completed the quest. I enjoyed it a lot - it was very well put together. I had a few further comments which I couldn't fit into the review pane below.

- In Guard Frinko's introductory dialogue, "Protectors Enclave" should read "Protector's Enclave"; "nevermind" should be two words; and "over looked" should be one word.

- I really liked the first scene in the sewer, with the lighting and the water drip. I also thought the waterfall in the caves was a nice touch, and the spider cave was very good too. The feign death skeletons are an oldie, but I still enjoyed that encounter.

- I can see the attraction of using quest objective text as a narrative link, and it worked well, but it does lead to some unusual yellow on-screen prompts (e.g. "" completed!).

- One of the kobold waves has the chat test "Get her! Don't let her escape", which is I assume is a reference to the girl you rescue. However, that particular encounter spawned after I led her to the entrance, which confused me slightly (since my character is male).

- I'd echo the comments on combat difficulty from other commentators - I'd say, as it currently stands, it would be medium rather than easy. I ran using a 60 Guardian Fighter with a common cleric companion; I potted once on the kobold leader gauntlet.

- The large spiders in the spider cave are reskinned from a creature which appears to use different animations. This means the spider won't be seen to be doing anything, but will still cause damage - it also means I can't dodge or block attacks which would normally be telegraphed. It might be worth considering using another base encounter type.

- In Frinko's last dialogue, should "Insistent" be lower case?

eskarine

The foundry quests were quite easy at lower levels, but the closer you get to 60, the harder they get. I used to have no problem with multiple stacked encounters - but after 50 they can sometimes be insane.

Overall I enjoyed it a lot and I am looking forward to more

meysa

I'll review yours now.

Please return the favor:

Storming Monte Hall
NW-DEH6FU5KB
Duration: 30 minutes, or so
Solo: yes
Story, combat

belberk

My Wife and I will run within the next few minutes. Please review mine as well. I would recommend not using the quest npc help if there will be a group. The help is there for solo runs, but that is up to you.

katah1969

Great feedback myrmecoleon. I appreciate it. Already made changes to the skeleton encounter and not only thinned them out but made more of a static room area. The idea was to have a wall of skeletons running towards you, but yeah at level 24 it is very doable but I'm hearing past 50 forget it - or at least become frustrated.

Will change the spider right away as you need to be able to have some type of defense against it. Since it is insect not sure any of the boss types will work so I'll just make it a regular spider encounter.

Thanks for the spell check. Been through MS Word and 4 other people - 5 now lol. Will make those changes.

This quest at the beginning was insane - was three times longer and everything was hard - no level 50s when I started. I scrapped about 60% of it and started again. That Kobold part must be remnants, but will come out.

I think I disguised things a little too well though because no one is commenting on my hidden areas. Not pass through walls, but actual spots in the quest... one spot even holds the answer to what door out of the three is best! I'll wait a bit longer and if no comments on it I'll add some light to some areas.

Thanks for the feedback.

silithas97

I'll review your quest now, Mine is
"An Adventure To Die For"
NW-DD9NYO9ZP
avg time : 20mins
It's a light story with medium combat and a good bit of light humor

eskarine

On the technical side, how did you make the entrance to the tomb? I know there were drow statues, but I don't think I recognized the plants? Or maybe I haven't explored foundry well enough, lol.

katah1969

The entrance to the tomb is all me. Just placement of plants, statues and lights. Was quite the labor of love actually lol

dagrin7

The review is much appreciated! I had done the traps that way on purpose, to put all classes on a more even footing. I had considered the fog as well. I want the room with the pipe to be difficult to see in due to the steam issuing from the broken pipe. I intentionally left it just in that room to reduce the frame loss that it may cause. I will surely revisit it to try and reduce the amount of steam in there to allow for lower end systems to run better.


dagrin7 -

I like the story and as far as I could see spelling was spot on. Some areas had a little too much fog or smoke as it really taxed the computer and I'm running a nice Alienware PC so lots of power. I soloed the dungeon with no pots (forgot to buy some) but slow and steady won the day. Adjust your traps though. Hardly any of them allowed me disarm.

silithas97

Very nice quest! 4/5 stars. I loved the joke about the kobold and the quest. I liked the way the quest appeared on the side, kinda like an adventure being dm'ed. I enjoyed it very much. All I would say is too maybe add a light or two, cause it was kind of dark. The foulspawn hulk as a guardian also threw me off.(since foulspawn are aberrants and he wasn't renamed or anything)

katah1969

Thanks silithas97...

Two things will rule the night - torch placement!! I wanted to give it a nice and dark feeling since it is a forgotten cave and all, but the masses are demanding more light so it shall be done. Thanks for playing it and reviewing!

eskarine

katah1969 wrote: »

Thanks silithas97...

Two things will rule the night - torch placement!! I wanted to give it a nice and dark feeling since it is a forgotten cave and all, but the masses are demanding more light so it shall be done. Thanks for playing it and reviewing!

It IS kind of hard to play when you squint at your monitor all the time

Kudos at the tomb entrance though, really nice piece of work.

hflord1

Katah1969 - my son and I will review yours tomorrow morning. Mine is:
NW-DONEPB9CK

xhrit

I'll bite... check my quest in my sig.

katah1969

Thanks for all the reviews. Will pick up where I left off in the morning. Really is refreshing to see so many talented people.

voivodak

katah1969, i'm going to play your quest in the next hour
My adventure is in the signature
Greetings

belberk

belberk wrote: »

My Wife and I will run within the next few minutes. Please review mine as well. I would recommend not using the quest npc help if there will be a group. The help is there for solo runs, but that is up to you.

Finished your quest @Dovian and @lassie1964
We both liked the flow of your story line and the maps were interesting. Only a few issues we had,

1. It was very dark. I know it is a crypt, but a little more light would have helped for navigation and visual presentation.
2. During the escort section; being able to see the next set of mobs but not engage them because of the invisible wall element made it feel more linear. Maybe put a door or portcullis in front of the invisible wall?
3. The lack of a quest path (or pixie trail as my wife likes to call it) had us turned around a few times.

All in all a very fine quest 4/5 stars.

voivodak

Just played it. As I said your quest is beautiful and well designed. I liked the comments of the dm, very useful to create atmosphere and the right feeling with the story. I found some really immersive areas, such as the sewers at the beginning or the cave before killing the Kobolds Leaders.

The only two suggestions I can make are:

1) put a couple of "surprise" encounters when you return to the cave entrance with the girl
2) embellish the tomb with a few more details

Oh, I forgot .. very nice also the last battle

Good job. 5 stars

I'm curious to hear comments on my quest.

katah1969

Thank you so much for the feedback belberk. Before going to be last night I started adding more light... I really want to keep the dark dungeon feel, but I agree too much dark is not fun, but frustrating. The escort can be a bit boring and I think a surprise encounter would work well. Thanks for the input. I am going to turn on the pixie trails as well in most areas as well and see if that helps.

Thanks again!

katah1969

voivodak wrote: »

Just played it. As I said your quest is beautiful and well designed. I liked the comments of the dm, very useful to create atmosphere and the right feeling with the story. I found some really immersive areas, such as the sewers at the beginning or the cave before killing the Kobolds Leaders.

The only two suggestions I can make are:

1) put a couple of "surprise" encounters when you return to the cave entrance with the girl
2) embellish the tomb with a few more details

Oh, I forgot .. very nice also the last battle

Good job. 5 stars

I'm curious to hear comments on my quest.

Thanks for the review and comments, voivodak! Much appreciated! I've got you on the list and will run yours as soon as make a few changes and publish mine. Thanks for the 5 stars!

mrthebozer

Hey Katah,

If you are still taking trades, the link to my quest is in my signature. I should be free to run yours in a few hours.

Thanks!

katah1969

Running review for review if anyone is interested. Post to the thread and I'll add your name. Just updated mine with various updates and changes. Still more changes to come.

katah1969

mrthebozer wrote: »

Hey Katah,

If you are still taking trades, the link to my quest is in my signature. I should be free to run yours in a few hours.

Thanks!

Sure! added you to the queue I'll be running. Got my dad and kid running them so should be 3 reviews for a bit!