And why is that a bad thing? I'm not bringing my archer specced HR to IWD either. Well, truth be told, I did bring him, just to see what it was like for him. The word "nightmare" comes to mind. Frost Giants are just not funny if you're an archer. So I'll just be doing it with my TR and CW. I don't mind. The HR was basically just for fun anyway. And now he's usful as a leadership bot till I get either better gear for him, or bother to respec to combat or the new paragon path.
Anyway, your "I must read the last chapter in the 2nd book of a trilogy 21 times before I can start reading the third book." doesn't fly here. It's a new character. What do you expect? Free boons because you already done them with another character? that's not how it works.
I will be happy to help you in game on your archer spec...it is what I use on my HR, if you would like tell @cayapp
I really don't see what all the fuss is about - those boons are an amazing bonus to your character, I couldn't have been more excited than when I reached last boon in sharandar and dread ring, and I can't wait to do the same in Icewind Dale.
Do people not see the feats these boons give? +250 power (or defence) for only the first sharandar boon, +250 crit (or deflect) for second, 2% faster action point gain (or +700 HP) for third
Or you can go for Dread ring;
boon one gives +125 power(or crit) AND +125 movement, two gives +250 life steal (or regen) and three gives +250 arpen (or 2% deflection severity)
Why not grind a little bit to win such neat bonuses? Not everything will be served on a silver platter.
It's also silly that Castle Never and Malabog's Castle have lower GS requirements than Icewind Dale. An under-geared player can queue for these dungeons and frustrate fellow group members, but can't visit Icewind Dale, bothering nobody.
Then you kick them out.
I wrote this in the other complaint thread about it: it doesn't make sense to whine about requiring 3 boons for each character when you have alts. If you're spending your time grinding your alts to get them to level 60, why would you whine about having to grind each one for 3 boons in Dread Ring. Where do people get off thinking that they're so entitled as to think that all the content should have low requirements as to allow them to progress as fast as they want? I just made it to Icewind Dale last night and it is much harder than either Sharandar or Dread Ring solo. You NEED those boons and gearscore to survive there and it's a challenge if you're even on the edge of those requirements. If these requirements were not in place, I suspect many lower gearscore characters visiting Icewind Dale would turn around, leave, and quit the game after their first try.
There's nothing wrong with challenging content for players who want to put in the effort to progress that far. There's still plenty to do even without Icewind Dale for those folks who don't want to put in the effort.
Having to qualify with something before you can move on is par for course in these games, yes?
Besides, it keeps the Dread Ring, and to a lesser extent Sharendar, active. It would be a ghost town now with everyone in the new area.
I know people want to see the new area but it won't be long before its not new anymore and just an area so that's not a proper reason to change the requirements.
I'm fine with it, having the 3 first boons from dread ring doesn't take more than 10 mins a day for 2 weeks or so. For those who have several alts, well, of course it's going to take more time to have them ready than if it was just 1 char, but that's like complaining that getting to lv 60 is too long because I have 10 chars. If I make an alt I make it knowing that all the work I do for 1 character must be doubled or tripled to have them both at the same level as 1 character.
Also I don't think it's bad to have a requirement to play previous modules to play the new ones, it' like tiered content, I want to do malablog castle, but to do that I have to do t1 dungeons before and get myself some equip. it's the same in here.
Personally, I found it quite a waste of time for no reason. It forced me to repetitively play the same content I'd already played, over, and over, and over, and over again for roughly 3 total hours of my life over nearly a month.
3 hours wasted and annoyed for ridiculous (no reason).
As I've mentioned in other posts, I used to repeatedly adventure in zones several levels higher than suggested. I think it made me more clearly understand my characters strengths and weaknesses.
I wouldn't mind say an 11k gearscore, or a minimal defense score or something.
It's like telling me I must read the last chapter in the 2nd book of a trilogy 21 times before I can start reading the third book. Oh, and you can only read that last chapter once a day.
Just stupid. IMHO.
...multiply by every alt. Nope, sorry, not gonna happen. You pretty much guaranteed I will most likely only have my main.
Getting 3 boons from Dread Ring isn't very grindy at all. You pretty much only need to do the lairs and maybe the weekly from Sgt Knox to keep up the supply of scrolls/scripts (although these are available through alternative methods if you have the AD). None of the three lairs will take you more than 10 minutes to solo. And boons are far from useless.
You NEED those boons and gearscore to survive there and it's a challenge if you're even on the edge of those requirements. If these requirements were not in place, I suspect many lower gearscore characters visiting Icewind Dale would turn around, leave, and quit the game after their first try.
Which is a frustrating waste of time, so you're agreeing with me?
Not necessarily. If you want to run dungeons with people you know are geared properly for your taste and you trust, then form a group with guildmates or friends. You always take the chance with the queue system, both on gear and class. I don't know what people expect from it, honestly.
I wrote that I consider the boon requirement fair, so the rest of your tirade appears to be addressed to someone else. However, this is hyperbole:
I don't consider it a tirade but yet, it was addressed to someone else whom I did not quote. I see nothing wrong with a little hyperbole, especially since it composes most threads like this by people whining about the requirements.
0
ladymythosMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 637Bounty Hunter
Long story short, 5/5 boons is too much of a requirement while 3/5 is fine since the time frame to do so isn't horrible. It can't be lower than 3 simply because anyone can get 2/5 boons for sharandar in a day if you kill mobs for a while for their bounty (or just buy it for dirt cheap).
You are missing the point. I'm not complaining about the number of boons we need to get, or the number of days it takes to grind them all. What I am complaining about is having to grind. Period. We didn't have to do that to get to Sharandar, and we didn't have to do that to get to Dread Ring. We just need to be level 60, and that's it. That's all it takes. Don't like Sharandar? Go to Dread Ring. Don't like Dread Ring? Go to Sharandar. So why on earth did they have such a ridiculous restriction for Icewind Dale? Why couldn't they just require a GS of 10k or something? Most of you seem to agree the restrictions is to make sure our characters are prepared, but isn't that what the GS is for? Epic Dungeons don't have a stupid boon requirement at all, and the only GS recommendation is just that. Recommendation. You can go to an epic with less GS than what's recommended, and you might be able to finish it anyway. Icewind Dale really should have been like that. I don't mind if it's tricky. The worst case scenario is I'll grab a few others and form a group. Or I'll go back to old content and find better gear.
If you all don't mind me asking, how many characters do you have in Icewind Dale? One? Five? If it's just one, consider taking another one there and see how fun the endless grinding is. And for that matter, what about new players? The whole "what did you do before it was launched?"-thing is irrelevant for new players. You can't assume everyone who ever will be lvl 60 is that level now. New players do show up, and they will be stuck grinding Dread Ring and Sharandar forever to get to the new content. The result is I'm pretty sure a lot of them won't bother.
But all in all, I've said several times that I'm would be ok with the boon requirements if they were account wide. That way I could grinding a bit with one character, then keep grinding with another one when she gets to 60. Get bored of that one? Take a third up to 60 and get the final boon. But three boons for five characters? If it "only" takes two weeks, that's still ten weeks of grinding the same content over and over and over. And if Icewind Dale is a hint of what's to come, that's what we are going to have to do to get to the next area after Icewind Dale. Might as well start to grind the hell out of every area and get all boons from all areas right away, so you are prepared for what's next after Icewind Dale. Sure you are all ok with that, right?
And why wouldn't someone want to do those two areas? Those boons are awesome in both PvE AND PvP.
As I've said many times, what do you do if you have more than one character? Simply grinding for two weeks for each of your five or six characters? That's what people are saying, and that's only for the quickest three boons you can get. Want all five boons for both Sharandar and Dread Ring? Good luck with that. If you start with all five characters now, I guess we'll see you again around 2016 or something. Of course, by then we have more areas, which means even more grinding. Since when is it ok for MMORPGs to be reduced to endless grinding? How can anyone possibly say the actually enjoy it? And compared to all the fun we had before that? Heck, even when I reached lvl 60, I still had a lot of fun in the old content before I even went to Sharandar and Dread Ring.
Like I said, it's like tiered content, want to do T2 dungeons, you have to do T1 dungeons first.
Want to do T2 campaign? You have to do T1 campaign before.
I guess devs want players to play the content they make.
I think requiring 10 mins a day for 2 weeks isn't much requirement, it's just 140 mins in total. The 10K GS is probably longer to get.
0
bioshrikeMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,729Arc User
edited May 2014
The 6-day invocation box for DR is worth like 3 day's worth of dailies there, so it's a big help as well...
<::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::)xxxxxxxx(:::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> "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
0
ladymythosMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 637Bounty Hunter
Like I said, it's like tiered content, want to do T2 dungeons, you have to do T1 dungeons first.
Want to do T2 campaign? You have to do T1 campaign before.
I guess devs want players to play the content they make.
I think requiring 10 mins a day for 2 weeks isn't much requirement, it's just 140 mins in total. The 10K GS is probably longer to get.
Want to do a T2 dungeon? No problem, just do the same T1 dungeon every day for two weeks first - for each character, of course. You really don't see the problem?
It's a very short dungeon though. a regular dungeon run takes around 30 mins to an hour or more.
Besides there's 3 different dungeons in dread ring, so even if you have to do it for 2 weeks, you do each one around 5 times. It still doesn't sound too bad. Doing 3 dungeons that take 10 mins, 5 times each, I just did them in some free mins.
Want to do a T2 dungeon? No problem, just do the same T1 dungeon every day for two weeks first - for each character, of course. You really don't see the problem?
First it's not the same dungeon. Second, the FW or DR dungeons are nowhere as long or as difficult as even T1's. Heck, if you run them with even 1 other person, I doubt the total time it takes for all the campaign lairs run to even adds up to a single T1 dungeon.
<::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::::)xxxo <::::::::::::)xxxxxxxx(:::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> oxxx(::::::::::::::> "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
Ladymythos - fyi, I have 4 chars in IWD so far, and within 2 weeks will have 2 more for a total of 6. But if you don't enjoy playing RPG endgame, you don't. Simple as that really.
I think the 10K GS should be at least 12 to go to IWD, and the three boon requirement is very reasonable. It is an area where you will find combat regularly that is equivalent to sub bosses or final bosses in a T2 dungeon - your char needs to be well geared and fairly powerful in it's class abilities to survive there.
I like the requirements , finally a town to sit and chill out in where there isn't gold spam .
Yeah that's actually pretty nice too
Although any zone that requires lv 60 will be free from goldspam most of the time.
0
ambisinisterrMember, Neverwinter ModeratorPosts: 10,462Community Moderator
edited May 2014
This thread shows exactly why posts alone don't make changes.
There were a lot of threads over the last two days which complained about the changes and it seemed very one sided even within the threads. Looking at the posts and the poll in this thread it seems like people just didn't want to take the time to defend their positions.
As I've said many times, what do you do if you have more than one character? Simply grinding for two weeks for each of your five or six characters?
What is the point in making another character if you are simply going to level to 60 and stop? Isnt that what you are saying? Why would anyone level any character to 60 and NOT do the boons? What would be the point? If its a character you honestly intend to play and enjoy, why would you leave all those bonuses and potential unused?
I play all 6 classes, with 5 currently IWD qualified, 4 currently have all 10 boons. Because I enjoy how each class feels and plays differently. I enjoy the different strengths and weaknesses in each class. And I hope to be able to play each one at a decent enough level to enjoy ALL the content the game has to offer. The boons are just part of that.
The requirements are just fine and might even be a tad low.
All I see so far from the complaints are that a few players don't want to put the extra time into their alts. Fine, then don't ... but don't expect anyone to feel sympathy for your QQ about it.
An analogous claim would be to complain about not being able to do Dread Ring with your level 50 alts even though you feel you are experienced enough and geared enough to handle it. I've been playing these games a very long time and the advancement requirements here are quite lenient. They easily could have made us complete all regular content for each character before being allowed into any end-game content, but they didn't, it's just a level 60 requirement (and GS levels for T2 dungeons, etc).
I've heard no rational complaints yet, just expressions of entitlement.
0
ladymythosMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 637Bounty Hunter
Ladymythos - fyi, I have 4 chars in IWD so far, and within 2 weeks will have 2 more for a total of 6. But if you don't enjoy playing RPG endgame, you don't. Simple as that really.
I think the 10K GS should be at least 12 to go to IWD, and the three boon requirement is very reasonable. It is an area where you will find combat regularly that is equivalent to sub bosses or final bosses in a T2 dungeon - your char needs to be well geared and fairly powerful in it's class abilities to survive there.
"End game" and "endless grinding" is not the same. Some of us don't have time or interest to grind for weeks pr character, and it should NEVER be a requirement. As I already said, I played quite a bit of the old content after lvl 60, and I mean questing and stuff like that. I tried Sharandar and Dread Ring a few hours, but got bored of the endless grind rather quickly. Still made it to the dungeon in Sharandar with my TR, but I'm not going to open it to any of my other character. I want to do more quests. I want to explore new areas. I want to have FUN. Endless grinding is not fun.
And btw, as I already said, making the game harder is no excuse for the grinding requirement. The GS is bad enough, but not that hard too get. But if I think I can handle it, I should be able to go there. If I can't go solo, I should at least be able to go with a group. What if my friends are there, but i'm left behind for two weeks as I haven't grinded enough? Why is it ok to reduce the game to mundane chores rather than focus on having fun? End game should not be for the few elite players who don't mind a month of grinding. It should be for everyone, as "everyone" are the players who want to spend money on the game. The few playes you have, the less money you get.
What is the point in making another character if you are simply going to level to 60 and stop? Isnt that what you are saying?
No, that's not at all what I am saying. I love the game, but I despise endless grinding. Why on earth is all the end game in this game endless grinding? Why can't we get more fun quests, and fun areas to explore? You don't need to gain XP for every quest. All you need is the quest itself and some useful rewards. In end game, it could be anything from ADs to gear to money to unique pets or mounts. I don't care. I understand we will eventually run out of quests (though why can't they add more queets in the old areas?), but that doesn't mean every new area consist of grinding from the start.
And for that matter, I don't intend to stop at 60. I'm rather waiting for more content. That's why I stopped playing for months, and that's why I am already considering leaving again until we get a new area to play it. I thought I could go to Icewind Dale, but apparently that area is forever locked to me. That why I really want the devs to confirm whether we will have a stupid grinding-requirement for future areas. If we will, I'm uninstalling right away. If we won't, I'll be continuing playing, and, more importantly, I'll continue to spend real money on the game. And in the end, making money is what everything comes down to. If they don't make money, they can't keep the game running, or even keep their jobs. So why lock out most of ghe players once they reach max level and don't want to grind? Why lock us out of all future new areas?
BTW keep in mind I never bother with PVP. This is PVE ONLY. I get the PvP requirements, but this is for the PvE stuff.
Somebody said something earlier that initially I thought made good sense. If they increased the level cap to 65 and required you to be 65 to enter, what's the difference between waiting until you're level 65 and waiting until you get to the 3rd boon.
But those first few boons only add to your gear score and there's already a gearscore requirement. It's redundant to require the boons because two people could have the same stats with the same gear score with or without the boons. It serves no purpose other than to make you wait.
I guess my question would be, what do they hope to gain by making people wait? It's likely not making anyone more prepared for the new content because the boons are redundant. What it is ensuring though that returning or new players can't rush to the new content, run it a few times, and then leave. They have to have spent at least X amount of time in the game and maybe they'll be more likely to stick around (or spend money) the longer they spend playing (over time, not just in bursts).
If I'm more or less right about that, then whether they do something similar with mod 4 will probably be based on how much (or how long) it increases or stabilizes player retention in mod 3. If they are really just trying to make sure people are prepared, GS seems like it's good enough and perhaps requiring the player to have completed some piece of difficult content. For example, it could require someone to have completed MC or VT. That both creates a wait and tests them somewhat, but given the nature of the neverwinter community atm and problems with class balance right now, I don't think that's a good idea and it excludes solo players as well.
0
ambisinisterrMember, Neverwinter ModeratorPosts: 10,462Community Moderator
edited May 2014
Yes you have to spend a couple weeks on previous content in order to access Icewind Dale.
It is called a time gate. They really have to exist in order to not have people just burn through all of the content within days.
But we're not talking about months of time gates, we're talking one or two weeks tops if you spend an hour or two every day in the game. That's nothing to complain about especially since you really should want to get those boons anyway.
But we're not talking about months of time gates, we're talking one or two weeks tops if you spend an hour or two every day in the game. That's nothing to complain about especially since you really should want to get those boons anyway.
Well, some people are really busy and it is a change from how the previous modules worked. I can understand how someone might be a little miffed. If someone has only a couple of times a week to play--and a lot of people do--then it could end up being months potentially.
You'll find far worse in every other MMO.
Just because they are bad doesn't mean Neverwinter has to be too. /devil's advocate
0
zebularMember, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 15,270Community Moderator
This thread shows exactly why posts alone don't make changes.
There were a lot of threads over the last two days which complained about the changes and it seemed very one sided even within the threads. Looking at the posts and the poll in this thread it seems like people just didn't want to take the time to defend their positions.
Yeah, I gave my opinion and felt that was enough as I don't care to argue opinions.
This totally made me realize why I love this game . I had been playing other games and only using my GWF for nighttime PvP and had not played either of the two previous expansions . Combat in this game just rocks , even with barely a 10k gear score my GWF is a beast in PvE , its not gear its play style that makes you competent in this game . I am enjoying this game again , the PvE parts I have never stopped the PvP .
Thanks without this requirement to get the new crafter I would of never tried it .
0
slaaneshihorrorMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 88
You are missing the point. I'm not complaining about the number of boons we need to get, or the number of days it takes to grind them all. What I am complaining about is having to grind. Period. We didn't have to do that to get to Sharandar, and we didn't have to do that to get to Dread Ring. We just need to be level 60, and that's it. That's all it takes. Don't like Sharandar? Go to Dread Ring. Don't like Dread Ring? Go to Sharandar. So why on earth did they have such a ridiculous restriction for Icewind Dale? Why couldn't they just require a GS of 10k or something? Most of you seem to agree the restrictions is to make sure our characters are prepared, but isn't that what the GS is for? Epic Dungeons don't have a stupid boon requirement at all, and the only GS recommendation is just that. Recommendation. You can go to an epic with less GS than what's recommended, and you might be able to finish it anyway. Icewind Dale really should have been like that. I don't mind if it's tricky. The worst case scenario is I'll grab a few others and form a group. Or I'll go back to old content and find better gear.
If you all don't mind me asking, how many characters do you have in Icewind Dale? One? Five? If it's just one, consider taking another one there and see how fun the endless grinding is. And for that matter, what about new players? The whole "what did you do before it was launched?"-thing is irrelevant for new players. You can't assume everyone who ever will be lvl 60 is that level now. New players do show up, and they will be stuck grinding Dread Ring and Sharandar forever to get to the new content. The result is I'm pretty sure a lot of them won't bother.
But all in all, I've said several times that I'm would be ok with the boon requirements if they were account wide. That way I could grinding a bit with one character, then keep grinding with another one when she gets to 60. Get bored of that one? Take a third up to 60 and get the final boon. But three boons for five characters? If it "only" takes two weeks, that's still ten weeks of grinding the same content over and over and over. And if Icewind Dale is a hint of what's to come, that's what we are going to have to do to get to the next area after Icewind Dale. Might as well start to grind the hell out of every area and get all boons from all areas right away, so you are prepared for what's next after Icewind Dale. Sure you are all ok with that, right?
As I've said many times, what do you do if you have more than one character? Simply grinding for two weeks for each of your five or six characters? That's what people are saying, and that's only for the quickest three boons you can get. Want all five boons for both Sharandar and Dread Ring? Good luck with that. If you start with all five characters now, I guess we'll see you again around 2016 or something. Of course, by then we have more areas, which means even more grinding. Since when is it ok for MMORPGs to be reduced to endless grinding? How can anyone possibly say the actually enjoy it? And compared to all the fun we had before that? Heck, even when I reached lvl 60, I still had a lot of fun in the old content before I even went to Sharandar and Dread Ring.
As someone with six characters, all of whom can get to IWD, I think you're complaining for a whole lot of nothing.
It takes maybe ten minutes for me to do the DR dailies per character.
Even across six characters, some of whom are completely done with boons, that's still only an hour or play a day.
If managing an hour a day is that tough for you for 13 days, you probably don't have much time to game as it is.
And so the difficulty level of IWD would mean you'd never get to play it.
Because you're talking as though getting three boons is some massively time consuming obstacle.
If 10 minutes a day per character is a chore for you, you definitely don't have time to get the necessary gear.
Oh, and as an ending statement, I have all five boons on 3 of those characters.
And close to finishing the last three.
It took me maybe two months total.
You really like to heavily exaggerate, don't you?
Greycloaks Bank Manager - Malanael Corventus.
0
slaaneshihorrorMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 88
So why lock out most of ghe players once they reach max level and don't want to grind?
Just an FYI, most level 60s can get in because most level 60s take a few minutes out of each day to do something easy for bonus stats.
Juuust saying, you're the minority here.
Greycloaks Bank Manager - Malanael Corventus.
0
slaaneshihorrorMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 88
If they are really just trying to make sure people are prepared, GS seems like it's good enough and perhaps requiring the player to have completed some piece of difficult content.
The problem with this mentality is, GS can be purchased.
It's very easy for people to just buy their way into IWD if it was purely a GS requirement.
And for anyone who's run any dungeon, GS is not an end all.
Even with a 14k GS, IWD can prove challenging.
The Devs want to make sure people are actually playing some level of end game content so they have some manner of preparation for the more difficult mobs in IWD.
And as for requiring VT or MC, those are considerably harder than 3 boons.
That'd be a far more strict requirement than what is currently in place, which in all honestly is easy.
Comments
I will be happy to help you in game on your archer spec...it is what I use on my HR, if you would like tell @cayapp
Do people not see the feats these boons give? +250 power (or defence) for only the first sharandar boon, +250 crit (or deflect) for second, 2% faster action point gain (or +700 HP) for third
Or you can go for Dread ring;
boon one gives +125 power(or crit) AND +125 movement, two gives +250 life steal (or regen) and three gives +250 arpen (or 2% deflection severity)
Why not grind a little bit to win such neat bonuses? Not everything will be served on a silver platter.
Then you kick them out.
I wrote this in the other complaint thread about it: it doesn't make sense to whine about requiring 3 boons for each character when you have alts. If you're spending your time grinding your alts to get them to level 60, why would you whine about having to grind each one for 3 boons in Dread Ring. Where do people get off thinking that they're so entitled as to think that all the content should have low requirements as to allow them to progress as fast as they want? I just made it to Icewind Dale last night and it is much harder than either Sharandar or Dread Ring solo. You NEED those boons and gearscore to survive there and it's a challenge if you're even on the edge of those requirements. If these requirements were not in place, I suspect many lower gearscore characters visiting Icewind Dale would turn around, leave, and quit the game after their first try.
There's nothing wrong with challenging content for players who want to put in the effort to progress that far. There's still plenty to do even without Icewind Dale for those folks who don't want to put in the effort.
Having to qualify with something before you can move on is par for course in these games, yes?
Besides, it keeps the Dread Ring, and to a lesser extent Sharendar, active. It would be a ghost town now with everyone in the new area.
I know people want to see the new area but it won't be long before its not new anymore and just an area so that's not a proper reason to change the requirements.
Also I don't think it's bad to have a requirement to play previous modules to play the new ones, it' like tiered content, I want to do malablog castle, but to do that I have to do t1 dungeons before and get myself some equip. it's the same in here.
Aelar Hawkwind - Archer
Karrin Feywinter - Mistress of Flame
Errin Duskwalker - Executioner
Darquess - Soulbinder
And why wouldn't someone want to do those two areas? Those boons are awesome in both PvE AND PvP.
Which is a frustrating waste of time, so you're agreeing with me?
I wrote that I consider the boon requirement fair, so the rest of your tirade appears to be addressed to someone else. However, this is hyperbole:
Not necessarily. If you want to run dungeons with people you know are geared properly for your taste and you trust, then form a group with guildmates or friends. You always take the chance with the queue system, both on gear and class. I don't know what people expect from it, honestly.
I don't consider it a tirade but yet, it was addressed to someone else whom I did not quote. I see nothing wrong with a little hyperbole, especially since it composes most threads like this by people whining about the requirements.
If you all don't mind me asking, how many characters do you have in Icewind Dale? One? Five? If it's just one, consider taking another one there and see how fun the endless grinding is. And for that matter, what about new players? The whole "what did you do before it was launched?"-thing is irrelevant for new players. You can't assume everyone who ever will be lvl 60 is that level now. New players do show up, and they will be stuck grinding Dread Ring and Sharandar forever to get to the new content. The result is I'm pretty sure a lot of them won't bother.
But all in all, I've said several times that I'm would be ok with the boon requirements if they were account wide. That way I could grinding a bit with one character, then keep grinding with another one when she gets to 60. Get bored of that one? Take a third up to 60 and get the final boon. But three boons for five characters? If it "only" takes two weeks, that's still ten weeks of grinding the same content over and over and over. And if Icewind Dale is a hint of what's to come, that's what we are going to have to do to get to the next area after Icewind Dale. Might as well start to grind the hell out of every area and get all boons from all areas right away, so you are prepared for what's next after Icewind Dale. Sure you are all ok with that, right?
As I've said many times, what do you do if you have more than one character? Simply grinding for two weeks for each of your five or six characters? That's what people are saying, and that's only for the quickest three boons you can get. Want all five boons for both Sharandar and Dread Ring? Good luck with that. If you start with all five characters now, I guess we'll see you again around 2016 or something. Of course, by then we have more areas, which means even more grinding. Since when is it ok for MMORPGs to be reduced to endless grinding? How can anyone possibly say the actually enjoy it? And compared to all the fun we had before that? Heck, even when I reached lvl 60, I still had a lot of fun in the old content before I even went to Sharandar and Dread Ring.
Want to do T2 campaign? You have to do T1 campaign before.
I guess devs want players to play the content they make.
I think requiring 10 mins a day for 2 weeks isn't much requirement, it's just 140 mins in total. The 10K GS is probably longer to get.
"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
Besides there's 3 different dungeons in dread ring, so even if you have to do it for 2 weeks, you do each one around 5 times. It still doesn't sound too bad. Doing 3 dungeons that take 10 mins, 5 times each, I just did them in some free mins.
First it's not the same dungeon. Second, the FW or DR dungeons are nowhere as long or as difficult as even T1's. Heck, if you run them with even 1 other person, I doubt the total time it takes for all the campaign lairs run to even adds up to a single T1 dungeon.
"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
I think the 10K GS should be at least 12 to go to IWD, and the three boon requirement is very reasonable. It is an area where you will find combat regularly that is equivalent to sub bosses or final bosses in a T2 dungeon - your char needs to be well geared and fairly powerful in it's class abilities to survive there.
Although any zone that requires lv 60 will be free from goldspam most of the time.
There were a lot of threads over the last two days which complained about the changes and it seemed very one sided even within the threads. Looking at the posts and the poll in this thread it seems like people just didn't want to take the time to defend their positions.
What is the point in making another character if you are simply going to level to 60 and stop? Isnt that what you are saying? Why would anyone level any character to 60 and NOT do the boons? What would be the point? If its a character you honestly intend to play and enjoy, why would you leave all those bonuses and potential unused?
I play all 6 classes, with 5 currently IWD qualified, 4 currently have all 10 boons. Because I enjoy how each class feels and plays differently. I enjoy the different strengths and weaknesses in each class. And I hope to be able to play each one at a decent enough level to enjoy ALL the content the game has to offer. The boons are just part of that.
All I see so far from the complaints are that a few players don't want to put the extra time into their alts. Fine, then don't ... but don't expect anyone to feel sympathy for your QQ about it.
An analogous claim would be to complain about not being able to do Dread Ring with your level 50 alts even though you feel you are experienced enough and geared enough to handle it. I've been playing these games a very long time and the advancement requirements here are quite lenient. They easily could have made us complete all regular content for each character before being allowed into any end-game content, but they didn't, it's just a level 60 requirement (and GS levels for T2 dungeons, etc).
I've heard no rational complaints yet, just expressions of entitlement.
And btw, as I already said, making the game harder is no excuse for the grinding requirement. The GS is bad enough, but not that hard too get. But if I think I can handle it, I should be able to go there. If I can't go solo, I should at least be able to go with a group. What if my friends are there, but i'm left behind for two weeks as I haven't grinded enough? Why is it ok to reduce the game to mundane chores rather than focus on having fun? End game should not be for the few elite players who don't mind a month of grinding. It should be for everyone, as "everyone" are the players who want to spend money on the game. The few playes you have, the less money you get.
No, that's not at all what I am saying. I love the game, but I despise endless grinding. Why on earth is all the end game in this game endless grinding? Why can't we get more fun quests, and fun areas to explore? You don't need to gain XP for every quest. All you need is the quest itself and some useful rewards. In end game, it could be anything from ADs to gear to money to unique pets or mounts. I don't care. I understand we will eventually run out of quests (though why can't they add more queets in the old areas?), but that doesn't mean every new area consist of grinding from the start.
And for that matter, I don't intend to stop at 60. I'm rather waiting for more content. That's why I stopped playing for months, and that's why I am already considering leaving again until we get a new area to play it. I thought I could go to Icewind Dale, but apparently that area is forever locked to me. That why I really want the devs to confirm whether we will have a stupid grinding-requirement for future areas. If we will, I'm uninstalling right away. If we won't, I'll be continuing playing, and, more importantly, I'll continue to spend real money on the game. And in the end, making money is what everything comes down to. If they don't make money, they can't keep the game running, or even keep their jobs. So why lock out most of ghe players once they reach max level and don't want to grind? Why lock us out of all future new areas?
BTW keep in mind I never bother with PVP. This is PVE ONLY. I get the PvP requirements, but this is for the PvE stuff.
But those first few boons only add to your gear score and there's already a gearscore requirement. It's redundant to require the boons because two people could have the same stats with the same gear score with or without the boons. It serves no purpose other than to make you wait.
I guess my question would be, what do they hope to gain by making people wait? It's likely not making anyone more prepared for the new content because the boons are redundant. What it is ensuring though that returning or new players can't rush to the new content, run it a few times, and then leave. They have to have spent at least X amount of time in the game and maybe they'll be more likely to stick around (or spend money) the longer they spend playing (over time, not just in bursts).
If I'm more or less right about that, then whether they do something similar with mod 4 will probably be based on how much (or how long) it increases or stabilizes player retention in mod 3. If they are really just trying to make sure people are prepared, GS seems like it's good enough and perhaps requiring the player to have completed some piece of difficult content. For example, it could require someone to have completed MC or VT. That both creates a wait and tests them somewhat, but given the nature of the neverwinter community atm and problems with class balance right now, I don't think that's a good idea and it excludes solo players as well.
It is called a time gate. They really have to exist in order to not have people just burn through all of the content within days.
But we're not talking about months of time gates, we're talking one or two weeks tops if you spend an hour or two every day in the game. That's nothing to complain about especially since you really should want to get those boons anyway.
You'll find far worse in every other MMO.
Well, some people are really busy and it is a change from how the previous modules worked. I can understand how someone might be a little miffed. If someone has only a couple of times a week to play--and a lot of people do--then it could end up being months potentially.
Just because they are bad doesn't mean Neverwinter has to be too. /devil's advocate
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
Thanks without this requirement to get the new crafter I would of never tried it .
It takes maybe ten minutes for me to do the DR dailies per character.
Even across six characters, some of whom are completely done with boons, that's still only an hour or play a day.
If managing an hour a day is that tough for you for 13 days, you probably don't have much time to game as it is.
And so the difficulty level of IWD would mean you'd never get to play it.
Because you're talking as though getting three boons is some massively time consuming obstacle.
If 10 minutes a day per character is a chore for you, you definitely don't have time to get the necessary gear.
Oh, and as an ending statement, I have all five boons on 3 of those characters.
And close to finishing the last three.
It took me maybe two months total.
You really like to heavily exaggerate, don't you?
Just an FYI, most level 60s can get in because most level 60s take a few minutes out of each day to do something easy for bonus stats.
Juuust saying, you're the minority here.
It's very easy for people to just buy their way into IWD if it was purely a GS requirement.
And for anyone who's run any dungeon, GS is not an end all.
Even with a 14k GS, IWD can prove challenging.
The Devs want to make sure people are actually playing some level of end game content so they have some manner of preparation for the more difficult mobs in IWD.
And as for requiring VT or MC, those are considerably harder than 3 boons.
That'd be a far more strict requirement than what is currently in place, which in all honestly is easy.