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unbinding companion
nightspiritg
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 102 Arc User
can companions be unbound? I was sure I read that they could be but when i tried a message said companion could not be unbound at this time. I have a green stone and upgraded to blue and want to use the green with my other toon.
doesn't make any sense wasting it after all tarlune bars they cost.
Thank for any info, Greywolf Dragonsbane
doesn't make any sense wasting it after all tarlune bars they cost.
Thank for any info, Greywolf Dragonsbane
Post edited by nightspiritg on
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at the present time, they cannot be unbound. as to the future of this option, we do not have any information concerning un-binding companions or making them account wide. since the shard merge just happened, i would say this is more a possibility now than it was before the merge.
OP......Do not put your hopes in a change that will allow you to unbind companions. MANY of us were waiting for it to be added and about two months ago the developers clearly say they decided it against it. Of course they may change their minds in the future, but I doubt it. They could also make them account bound, but I have not heard anything from the development team that even mentioned they were thinking about it. I do know they were looking into things that would make non-augment companions more attractive to players by increasing their usefulness, but beyond that there is no real information available.
if it was stated, can you provide a link to the exact quote?
I can at the very least offer my own confirmation that yea, it was said. They changed their minds on unbinding companions. The in game mention of it was changed shortly after this.
Unbinding companions will never happen.
Account bounding is a very very remote possiblity because it will cost them substantial sales. So, in practice, it will never happen.
Took me 5 seconds to find it and another 5 seconds to post it. Guess my Search skills must be elite then...
http://raptr.com/zsparkes/news/51f0234dcf20f94c37/raptr-q-a-neverwinter-developers?comment_id=51f2dbc406064d7166
now that that has been established, i would suggest asking for this to be reconsidered. if there is enough interest then perhaps it could be revisited. even if the companions themselves were account bound.
you can never say never.
These are the reasons why they need to allow unbinding. At a minimum they should implement a token in the game that can make your companion unbind once for those whose accounts were made during the time they were advertising that the companions could be unbound to fix their bait and switch tactic. The other alternative is that they could make companions account bound the same way mounts and founder's packs companions are, but I don't expect that to happen in a million years. I am sure there are a multitude of others who feel ripped off, and who even spent their 2 million AD from their original founders pack purchasing things that would "hold value" over the long run and help their toons forever. I basically purchased two things, a ghaleb dhur for leveling, and a cat for level 60 dungeon delving. The value of those is lost forever. I don't purchase anything anymore because I don't trust that I will get what I think I'm buying due to this bait and switch as well as others I have observed in the game.
From my understanding it's why they're asking for (or were asking for) feedback on how to make the non-augment companions worth using.
I still use my augment and non-augment companions in PvE outside DD/T2, I actually occasionally pull them in T2s when it's trash mobs and I know the healing companion I have will help ease any stress on the healer. I've been in since beta and expected the ability to unbind to be taken away because of the pets in the store - not surprising, they did.
I am not saying any of this to dissuade anyone from trying to get a change put in place. I am only posting it because many people in this thread must have missed this issue when it came up a few months ago. It has been a while now and we have not heard anything and I think this topic needs some more attention. They definitely need to make some kind of change to companions because I don't think too many people are buying them anymore. I know I will not be buying any and I used to buy quite a few when I thought I would be able to move them to my alts in the future. I don't think they will make unbinding companions a reality but I hope they make some kind of change soon.
Remember that scene where the goblin cuts-off the horn of the Unicorn, KILLING it?
That's what the Devs did when they removed all possibility of unbinding Zen Store companions in-game. Just like the Goblin in the movie, they were probably directed to do so by their bosses, but they swung the blade just the same.
Remember in the movie how the Unicorn is now a dead horse now that the horn was cut off?
We are now officially beating a dead Unicorn.
Unbinding and becoming Account-Bound for Z-Store companions just isn't in the foreseeable future. And Cryptic (official channels or otherwise) have been shrill MUM about the entire subject in a shrieking sort of way. Ah, the roar of silence can be a rather definitive thing.
i'm not quite sure what to say after such a dramatic reply.
if people can come here and post thread after thread about nerfs, buffs, perma-stealth, pvp grief, lockbox grief, any griefing in general, the "hey devs read this" posts, the "here's my list of changes/class balance/bug fix priority" posts, doom/gloom/complaints, etc... then i don't see why this thread is any different. since there was one response to this question back in july, i don't see why people can't ask them to revisit this idea. the statement was that they "don't plan on letting companions be unbound. it was something we tried during development but didn't think it fit the game quite right"... exactly what those underlying reasons were, we don't know. but it's not like when unpopular changes are made in-game, people are just going to accept them and not voice their opinions.
personally, if companions won't be made account-wide like mounts, i don't see why they can't be account bound and un-bindable per character.
it's a fair suggestion. all we can do is ask.
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
Fair statement.
Though I should have stated: I totally agree with this thread and wish a thousand more were created to *force* Cryptic to give an official response. I cannot say how livid this whole scenario has turned me against Cryptic in general (and maybe my anger is misdirected and should be aimed at PWE in general, but I doubt that).
Through FOUR YEARS of all the ups-and-downs of Champions Online, Star Trek Online and even Neverwinter - up to the day they made this "change" (in Neverwinter) - I have always been sympathetic toward Cryptic as a general rule of thumb, supported them by spending big money on their optional expansion packs (such as Hero of the North, Knight of the Feywild, Legacy of Romulus, Lifetime accounts in STO and CO, not to mention regular monthly purchases through all three Z-Stores).
However (and this is directed specifically at Cryptic, and more specifically: who the hell ever it is calling the shot with regard to Z-Store Companion pricing with relation to Account-Bound versus Character-Bound status: Screw you). This is the straw that breaks the camel's back for me.
Sure, I'll continue to spend money in the NW Z-Store, but consumables ONLY. I'll just save my large purchases (average $50 a month) for the STO and CO Z-Store (if CO Z-Store ever adds new stuff - it's hanging on a thread at this point).
Neverwinter is fun. But it could fold and fizzle away into the MMO also-ran to disappear forever at this point and I probably wouldn't care much less - I'd miss it for a couple weeks then move on with a chuckle (I know this won't happen: NW is here to stay and that's fine by me, too). My bet is on STO at this point. Equally as much fun as Neverwinter, but a helluvalot more reasonable when asking for my money.
Z-Store companions should be made ACCOUNT-BOUND - if for no other reason than to "make it right" by everyone who purchased them with the clear understanding they could be unbound and transferred at a later time. It doesn't matter whether Cryptic announced this ability or not. The simple fact that the option was clearly an option in the client software for four MONTHS after official release (and "live" status) is enough that Cryptic was misleading it's customer.
There are consumer-protection laws in the U.S. against this kind of stuff. No, it's not worth the time, effort or money to actually sue over something as silly as this. But Cryptic could still make moves to make things right by their paying customers. That's my point.
I've said all this before, and I'll say it again and again and again like a broken record every single time a thread on this subject comes up. I want to be that irritating noisy squeaky wheel Cryptic hates and I'll continue being that until they make an official and definitive announcement on the subject.
@CRYPTIC: ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!?
At this stage of the beta the only way it'll happen is if there's a zen token made for it. And yes I'm calling the current game beta as there's still chunks missing like paragon paths that should have been in a full release.
" UPDATE: Zen Store Companions are no longer able to be unbound per Cryptic Studios policy change as of August 15, 2013. Astral Diamonds can still be transferred between players as described."
src: http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Economy_FAQ
I wish there will be an option to unbind the companion and trade it to your alts or sell it. If not for all, then at least for purple companion, doesn't matter if you buy it from zen store or get it on drop box. Maybe charge some AD depending upon the companion level to unbind or have a scroll on zen store so that its not abused a lot??
Anyway, its definitely my wish list and +1 vote for this.
It's legitimate. Origianlly, Z-Store companions were character-bound with the ability to unbind them (for a crazy Astral Diamond price) which would make them transferrable. I purchased a $35 purple companion for THIS reason (now sells for $30), because $35 is about $25 too much for anything that is only character-bound.
This unbinding functionality was built into the game client, but was broken (it never worked). Then suddenly, one day, <the Developers said they changed their mind back in Alpha and didn't think it fit well in the game>.
By changing this policy it becomes a bait-and-switch after the fact.
THIS is why these threads exist. We're not just asking Cryptic to make Z-Store companions Account-bound because we'd like to see that. We're asking Cryptic to make Z-Store companions account-bound to DO RIGHT BY THEIR (bait-and-switched) CUSTOMERS.
This is the manifest of the 'argument' to either convert them to account-bound -OR- lower their pricing.
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Perhaps after module two hits and they see that people STILL aren't willing enough to drop cash on a single companion that is only available to one player, they will consider this to boost sales.
Guilds could even have dedicated "Companion Trainers" to 'gift' companions to new members (a good job for more casual/time restricted players, who can't always be there for scheduled runs due to RL, but do have the time to run maps and level up companions)
To make it fair, you could not 'gift' a level 5 player an "un-bound" Purple companion (or be allowed to buy them from the AH), you would restrict it to say player level 1<->10 = Max White, 11<->20 = Max Green, 21<->40 = Max Blue and 41<->60 = Max Purple.
Conceivably a lone lvl 19 player might be able to have a "bound" companion that is blue, if they work hard/smart and 'train' the companion properly, but they could only buy or be gifted a 'Green' "Un-Bound" companion.
Just my $0.02 ... Hat 'n' Coat --> 'Outta here
Sorry, I lost the point. What do you mean by "fair"? You can already on live start with any set of companions you like from level 4, i.e. immediately after leaving the tutorial, including Zen companions or companions purched on alts or sent to you.
Oddly enough, the most powerful companions at such low levels are the combat companions, including the white vendor companions, which have literally a magnitude more HP than you and up to 5x your DPS (plus powerful aoe spells which most classes are sorely lacking at that level). Not even starting with an Augment with one runestone and a level 60 item for one or two inflated stats can compare.
Fair as in you couldn't "gift" or send an 'unbound' purple companion to a lower level player, but you could certainly buy one from the Z-Sstore, 'fair' in this case would mean fair to people who paid for Z-Store higher level companions rather than sticking with the 'free' white ones. Considering the number of CD's and MaA's running around at lvl 15->20 and some few 25 (and the occasional 30) it seems the 'free' companions are still somewhat useful even in late game.
So why not offer an "unbinding' token for leveled up companions? Make them roughly the same or perhaps a little less than buying a Z-Store companion of equivalent quality?
Maybe it's just me though, I RP myself fairly heavily, and I won't use equipment I can't find in random drops or boss drops on the map, and I only ever use Z-Store bought stuff for purely cosmtic things.
http://raptr.com/zsparkes/news/51f0234dcf20f94c37/raptr-q-a-neverwinter-developers?comment_id=51f2dbc406064d7166
and here is the exact quote from zeke sparks, lead designer:
the way this still existed and was "broken" in the game was that you could drag and drop a companion to an open slot in mail and a prompt would come up telling you that it would cost x amount of AD to unbind your companion, and asking if you wanted to proceed. if you agreed, it wouldn't work. but it gave people hope that at some point, it would be available in game. that is until they actually fixed it.
considering the upcoming changes in module 2, it makes sense that this won't ever be an option. the collections section along with active companion bonuses would indicate they knew this was coming and unbinding companions wouldn't fit with this system.
as of now, the official word is that there will not be an option to unbind companions. thank you.