im a casual player ive been playing from beta my max rank enchants were made before coal ward changes since then and the inflation that came with it it hasnt been worth it for me to spend $100 on a single virtual item, i have 15 chars so ive played cryptic games since coh/cov episode 6, cryptic used to be very good at providing to there niche of altaholic casual gamers that didnt enjoy grinding for weeks for a item but instead enjoyed having a diversity of items and paths to chose from and who enjoyed creating themed characters, enjoyed being able to bring whatever the party needed with a quick character switch. there is nothing that anoys me more then being forced into taking 1 spec 1 gear choice for a class when i have 2 chars or more of most classes. i have found working combos that work 4 or 5 fold beter then even a similar configuration for my 70 and they make it easy enuff to run any content ive tryed sofar (ELOL ect) but its kinda anoying that that theres is that much of a effect difernce especialy for those who havnt been here from start and know all the classes and have a inate understanding of how cryptic aranges combat multiplyers ect. plus theres 0 reason raely for me to take my other cw to 70 and replace ftf with ss and i difernt heroic feat 1 differnt paragon feat and 2 differnt class features. the same goes for GWF go destroyer or go home, its the same for about every class ive seen, tr has the most options/ diversity of play and is semi ok but most of the other classes you should remove most of the feats so that new people dont get confused as to what the only viable paths are.
IF I WANTED TO PLAY A KOREAN GRIND MMO .... id play a korean grind mmo if i play a game advertised as f2p casual friendly, i dont expect it to want me to spend $1000 plus to get a new character to a similar level to one of my old chars that cost maybe $50 to achive same thing, admitedly game economys always experience runaway inflation there designed that way(any economy were you create something out of nothing and it has no linkage to a finite resource this is true for) but to expect to have new players come in and pay $1000 dollars so they can start competing on same level as a legacy character, in a f2p game aimed at casuals, or at least used to be aimed at casuals boggles the mind, have non of your business people looked at the cost of geting a char fully upgeraded? do you guys also run those gold seller bots? if not why are you encouraging people to use them? 1 upgraded char purchasing from cryptic $1000+ same thing purchased from gold sellers $350 aprox which is still way more then 99% of casual gamers can afford none the less if its going to save you $600 its worth the time to go setup a throw away debit card. then theres the fact i havnt talked to a single friend that found that mod 6 code you sent out before it was disabled at the same time i know 1000s were claimed on bot acounts. i hope for your sake you do run the gold seller sites because the only people that did well from this mod are the gold sellers, if anyones still buying from them even. i stoped buying refinement, has become a bottomless pit just as you get it almost done after months of mind numbing grinding you make it obsolete. i used to spend 50$ a month on zen, mostly into NW sometimes STO some times CO although having life there and playing NW mostly i usualy have spare zen when i log in to play with. i bought founders fey pack ect to support further content development, i used to justify my 50$ on grounds id spend that much subing to 3 subscription games. now puting $50 into NW seems like a tiny drop in the ocean of refinement advancement, so i just dont waste my money and i buy a little more booze. some months in the early days when it was casual friendly id get so into game i wouldnt drink at all that fortnight and id put a extra $50 or $100 in. on a psychological level at the moment a perishable consumed substance like alcohol seems like a more tangible long term investment then spending that money on gaining 1 or 2 more levels on a item that will be obsolete sometime in near future. becuase lets face it for a long time you guys have been releasing a over powerd new class geting people to upgrade it then nurfing i and releasing a new one thats magicly also overpowered then nurfing it, its never been a underpowered class released then buffed always (apart from maybe the gf at launch then recent fixes) overpowered, pay in to get it up to speed, nurf, now you guys have also moved that model to refinement, it wasnt just the dragon waepons you made useless you also made radiants very sub par with your new stat curve, vorps were great, then you made it so most classes cant even get the critical rating to make them viable 5k crit for what 13% extra crit? once is a coincidence, this long ago became a patern. one that dosnt fill anyone with confidence for the long term viability of game or for the longevity of characters or gear. just wait for like 2 months guys once people have all forked out for negation, they will totaly change it make it useless and people will have to swap there enchants on all their characters again . can you re hire whoever designed game initialy please they made a awesome game since then it has been 1 step after another away from casual F2P action RPG to a pay to win korean grind mmo.
the one thing that is still apealing is the combat system, this dosnt mean i want you to change that although from my experince with feedback the response will be were looking at ways to slow down the speed of combat and no mention of anything to do with grind reduction or making it f2p possible without being a botter
You're doing it backwards. Sharandar is and always has been an end game zone. Therefore it is now a lvl 70 zone. If you talk to Sgt. Knox and pick up the quest line to 70 and follow it then come back to Sharandar (or DR or IWD) they will be much more manageable. As hard as they were when they were new zones to be sure, but much more manageable. It isn't the fault of the game if you skip the quest line to 70, go straight to endgame at 60, and get overwhelmed. How else should it be?
due to the way stats scale its easyer to do shand at lvl 61 with some lvl 61 blue gear then it is at 70 with lvl 70 blue gear your defence is higher then 70 your crit is higher your recovery speed and action point gain higher, the only thing thats lower depending on what your old arti weapon and new arti weapons ranks are is base weapon damage and that isnt as important as the synergies between crit and feats and power for spike damage.
if you watched your stats as you leveled up you would of found you lost 10% or so crit by 70 even if you swaped all azures for radiants you lost 1/3 of your power damage bonus, more if you tryed to preserve your crit rating. you lost life steal even though it was only procing rarely with change and you probably lost recharge time, your defence would of been cut in 1/2 or to 1/3 of what it was at lvl 60. the only thing you have more of at 70 then 60 is base wepon damage and base HPs and being fat is only so much use as a form of tank especialy when the new pot dose 20% more healing and most characters are being encouraged, even dps to take 2 to 3 times the hit points they used to have... a pot used to heal you for 30 of your life or so as a dps now if you fat tank its like 15%
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blackmagidMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 111Arc User
Have played a paladin up to level 64 and am enjoying the build – he almost made it through Ghost Story yesterday on his own. He had to team up to get through the whole of the level though (couldn’t get anywhere near the mob in the last tower before the stairs down to the last mob) and that felt less rewarding as most people seem to love to run.
Updating this as when I last tried Ghost Story I only just made it through the first mob of 3 and died at the next. I'm now level 70 (thank you for the double XP) but I now appear to be weaker?
I see "Overall difficulty" is top of the list, try and push that patch ASAP,
It just may bring some friends back so they stop calling it the death simulator.
Dear Mr Shicoff, I have been playing NWN for approx5 month's, clocked up over 566 hours and spent quite a bit of real money on ZEN. I prefer solo game play so was happy to pay for certain items I could not get by myself, plus paying for guard drake mount and good companions for my three characters was part of the fun. I had almost completed Icedale on my main and the other two were able to solo the first part. I enjoyed my dailies was a fun way to relax after work. Mod 6 arrived and like a lot of people I guess I hoped that the game would in some respects be put back the way it was ( the previous campaign areas returned to level 60 for instance. So while I waited to see what would happen I leveled my TR to 70, my HR and DC to 66 and the thought of trying to get those two to 70 was too much. My TR still had 16 quests to do, the weapon she received for hitting level 70, even refining it to legendary only had 1 stat better than the blade she was using...
My DC found her level auto reduced to 64 for the area she was in, oddly she did less damage than when she was a actual 64 and suddenly went to needing bulk healing potions and that was a Lillend companion... that was the final straw, realizing that the game I had enjoyed so much was now just a grinding nightmare. My disappointment led to 566 hrs worth of game play being deleted in under a minute. I am not the only one who has felt that the game has got to the point where it is no longer worth playing or hoping that it will get brought back to what it was. It seems better to keep what good memories I have of this game intact and walk away before they are all gone. NWN Online was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had, sadly it ended being one of the worse.
The difficulty is fine in most areas - some people are having a hard time adjusting to new strategies and getting the equipment required to remain alive.
Based on what I have heard, Tiamat may be too difficult now. Try to take a look at how many actually get "success" here - I'll bet it is an extremely small percentage.
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!" pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all." looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
You are in the 1% in this way of thinking. I have played this game since mod 2 and it is no longer the game it once was, not even close. To be able to solo a few "select" dungeons were a "GOAL" between me, my guild and others, AND always trying to better ourselves so that we could actually compete against each other to see who had most kill/damage etc. Now... it is based on PURE SURVIVAL. What the hell fun is that. I work 10 hr days... I get weekends off... I loved this game for it's competitive nature and it WAS a source of fun and relaxation..but now I find that cleaning my garage is actually more fun.
It is more than 1% who think the difficulty is fine (except for Tiamat). Just remember the early days of IWD when mobs wiped out most player pretty quickly. People made adjustments and it got better.
I am only moderately skilled and I don't die that often. Yes, I die more than I used to, but the prior difficulty was absolute cheese in PvE. I could cakewalk through all content. There was ZERO challenge. Again, I am only a moderately skilled player (still have to glance at keys on the keyboard from time to time) and enjoy the new challenge.
If you are going to reduce difficulty, don't make it too much, please!
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!" pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all." looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
I had 4 level 60 toons with a gear score of 1600 to 1800. Now I have 4 toons with an item score of 1750 to 2050. I was able to go into Sharandar, Dread Ring, Icewind Dale, and Well of Dragons and do the quests by myself at the high end, 1700+. Occasionaly, I would die (1 in 75, just guessing). I was able to run the dungeons in each region by myself, not so much for all of the dungeons in Well of Dragons. If my friend was online, we played together, laughed and had a good time. I played the game about 6-8 hours a day for a year. This Was Fun.
Now, I can do the new "Elemental" areas mostly. They require too much to complete a quest. They are overly difficult and my toons die 4-5 times per areas of 16 quests. There is no "gear" drop that will help me. Why should I do these? My friend does not want to play like this and he never laughs any more. We play about 2 hours a day. This is Not Fun.
It seems that the game has turned into PvP only. Or epic PvE. A lot of the players in this are high item score; tough to compete with. Some players kick other players from the party, so you hope you are "good" enough. Is this the intent of the game? If my toon's dying is a way for someone else to get ahead, then how do I compete? Some players after 2 weeks were near the max for their toon. How? Spend hundreds of dollars? Or did they cheat? (My guess is that 10% of the current players are cheaters in one way or another. Is something going to be done? I have an idea how to ban them.)
This whole game is like a better job position opening in your company where you work. You have worked hard to get it. But your boss hires in a new person and gives the job to them. And it happens all of the time. Are you staying with the company or moving on???
Please return Sharandar, Dread Ring, Icewind Dale, and Well of Dragons to like they were. Sprinkle a very few mobs of the current level here and there. Make the dungeons normal and epic *OR* have 2 different endings based on path taken. Use the new rating system for gear and remove the "down" leveling from everywhere; it only changes some of the stats and not all. (Fix it so you get experience based on your level if that is the intention. If the toon is below the level or at level+2, it is 1-to-1. Above the level a percentage.)
I am not going to spend hundreds of dollars and play a game that is not Fun.
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urlord283Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,084Arc User
edited May 2015
I too am a moderately skilled player
But
The Well and Ring have become too difficult...
The general walking around fighting is fine but the daily mini dungeons are death traps and I have no levels to attain to catch up
Again just queuing for T2 DDs have brought me success so no chance to better my gear.
Earlier this morning, I upgraded some enchantments and swapped a companion to boost defense some more. Pushed it to 14.6k, DR is 45.2%. iLvl is 3.9k.
I just finished helping a guildmate do Need for Mead. It was B-R-U-T-A-L. Maybe it's different for other classes, but HR's like mine really got the shaft this mod.
I can only push defense a tiny bit higher without sacrificing HP, and that would be to swap out a radiant R12 and azure R12 for two brutal R12's. Every enchantment and runestone that gives me defense is already R12 (yes, even the two bonding ones on my chicken). Well, I could move up from T1 to T2 for a really tiny defense boost -- my cryomancer is working on it.
You shouldn't have to go to extraordinary lengths like this to survive.
Harper Chronicles: Cap Snatchers (RELEASED) - NW-DPUTABC6X Blood Magic (RELEASED) - NW-DUU2P7HCO Children of the Fey (RELEASED) - NW-DKSSAPFPF Buried Under Blacklake (WIP) - NW-DEDV2PAEP The Redcap Rebels (WIP) - NW-DO23AFHFH
My Foundry playthrough channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruskaga/featured
I had finally reached 60, just a few days before mod6 came out. I used what AD and help I could to complete the Forest Warden Set and level my Lantern, Cloak & Belt of Seland to Blue. My weapons weren't artifacts, but dealt enough damage to hold up in my first epic dungeon (2nd DPS of party). I was excited enough about the prospect of playing a Paladin, I made a major investment and bought the Dragon Legend pack, so I could make a Dragonborn Pal.
Mod6 came out. Everything I was so happy to have put together to take on 60-70 was now <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>. I died constantly in areas I had been enjoying and moving through for completion. I was told to level up and invest in the new version of my Belt/Cloak and weapons. I was told to respec my character. Horribly beaten into submission and hoping that the game I had been playing was still there, I did what I was told. I reached level 70! Now, I die constantly in areas I had been enjoying. I'm having a hard time caring about the Paladin I started and reached 53 on. I know he's gonna end up sitting around in PE, next to my HR. I get a constant reminder of that fact, as he is leveled up and down and all the time I'm putting into gaining experience, boons, feats, powers - is all pointless, he's whatever the quest or area says he is. Worse: he can't help others. Playing as an HR, I used to jump in when I saw lower level players getting swarmed by enemies out of their league and at least buff them (and maybe engage directly if they were really hurting/needed reviving). Now, if I see someone getting hammered, the game has taught me to think twice with my Paladin - and sprint away with my Ranger, or be prepared to die.
Recommendations:
1. Remove the up/down-leveling. An area is only as tough as it needs to be in regular course of character development.
2. Reset Lifesteal and Regen. This change and the one above are killing off the heroic RP aspect of things. We like playing heroes, sometimes those heroes have time to struggle through a dungeon with other heroes and really challenge themselves. Other times, those heroes are looking for a low/zero challenge to just beat down an ogre or mob, or help new heroes survive and gain XP.
3. Fix the gear. Don't just say, you need the new version of the gear you worked your *** off for, let us level that old gear up. Further: you haven't created new gear using the existing approach, you just modded some stats, spit on us, and renamed it. You didn't even take the time to bother giving this new stuff new models or names. Come on, that's insulting and disheartening.
4. Roll back the enemy levels on the existing content (mod5), and reserve level 70 enemies for the new mod6 content.
5. Add mod6 content. Not just the leveling grinders and two side quests with a temp companion. Once we've completed our mod5 content then we can engage whoever these Elemental Cultists are and thwart whatever it is they are trying to do. BTW,what are they trying to do? Minsc seems like he should be a more interesting companion, in fact I think you even tell us he is in some exposition dialog, but he just comes off as a simpleton with nothing much going on.
I really want to keep playing. I loved the mod5 game, so much so I put my entire entertainment budget into it for the dragon born pack. Please help me stop regretting that decision. I'm taking the next couple weeks off and I'm hoping there's something to play when I get back - I just can't keep justifying the time I'm putting into this Paladin - and I've given up trying to justify the money I've spent in the last few months. I bought into a great game and it ended up being taken away within a week.
Playing my Healadin OP lately.. getting tired that normal groups keep wiping over and over on bosses, an example on the scorpions in eLoL. They just one shot everything, including tanks, me (with sanctuary up), any dps that can't dodge fast enough. It's ridiculous when you want people to play these dungeons to get gear yet fresh 70's can't even play or tank them. I'm running full T1 set close to 90k HP. It's like the dungeons are now designed to have a specific configuration. I.E. tank and DC since all the healadin can do is heal and slight DPS. We have no damage reductions or protections for the tank/other team members besides our useless sanctuary and heal version of bane, which needs to be targeted. We don't have damage reduction passives or aoe protection (astral shield). I am already starting to feel that people will desire a DC over a paladin since they can heal, buff and debuff.
I don't mind a challenge but this is just ridiculous. Spent over an hour in elol earlier playing roulette of players coming and going.
Playing my Healadin OP lately.. getting tired that normal groups keep wiping over and over on bosses, an example on the scorpions in eLoL. They just one shot everything, including tanks, me (with sanctuary up), any dps that can't dodge fast enough. It's ridiculous when you want people to play these dungeons to get gear yet fresh 70's can't even play or tank them. I'm running full T1 set close to 90k HP. It's like the dungeons are now designed to have a specific configuration. I.E. tank and DC since all the healadin can do is heal and slight DPS. We have no damage reductions or protections for the tank/other team members besides our useless sanctuary and heal version of bane, which needs to be targeted. We don't have damage reduction passives or aoe protection (astral shield).
I don't mind a challenge but this is just ridiculous. Spent over an hour in elol earlier playing roulette of players coming and going.
At least you got to play eLoL. I was immediately kicked at least half a dozen times from eLoL today just because I was an HR. Eventually I got a group willing to take me in, and we beat it after a couple of tries.
Harper Chronicles: Cap Snatchers (RELEASED) - NW-DPUTABC6X Blood Magic (RELEASED) - NW-DUU2P7HCO Children of the Fey (RELEASED) - NW-DKSSAPFPF Buried Under Blacklake (WIP) - NW-DEDV2PAEP The Redcap Rebels (WIP) - NW-DO23AFHFH
My Foundry playthrough channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruskaga/featured
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beastmasterrageMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 1Arc User
edited May 2015
Game keeps crashing when i access a vendor.....feat and power points i can't allocate....WTH guys...you just did a patch yesterday :mad:
At least you got to play eLoL. I was immediately kicked at least half a dozen times from eLoL today just because I was an HR. Eventually I got a group willing to take me in, and we beat it after a couple of tries.
I hate that. Sorry to hear it happened to you. There are many times I zone into a dungeon and get kicked on my HR because they automatically assume I am useless and dumb. My HR actually provides a ton of CC keeping everything rooted and dazed. Their loss.
Why are people kicking hr's? I'm usually top dps or 2nd if someone else already has t2 epics. Not to mention all the awesome cc. I've been kicked when I join pug at the boss in elol, but it's always by a group that has no heals or tank, so I understand. Honestly it's not the kicking I think pisses most people off. It's the way they do it. A simple we need a tank/healer would go a long ways.
It is more than 1% who think the difficulty is fine
Then they aren't playing this game.
Never, in a single player max level area, with high end equipment, has it taken over an hour to complete just the intro quest.
Never has an epic skirmish, with high end equipment, risked a full party kill with every single encounter.
Never has the difficulty curve been this broken. Not even in the alpha.
The game difficulty needs to be more consistent. You spend 1-60 being a god. 61-69 you slowly feel more and more pain. Then suddenly, at 70, you're a fly on the windshield of a Mack truck, and all the 61-69 areas get MORE difficult, rather than less.
And really, a tank/healer can't do nuttin for you in eLOL, once you reach that dragon. All the deaths are insta-kill (and the few that aren't bypass mitigation AND blocks). Playing mostly tank/healers, I find this infuriating, and would kill for a party with four HR's. Anything but DPS is pointless there.
Damage-wise my stormwarden is lovely. No complaints there really, especially since they added cordon of arrows/plant growth. Now, surviving long enough to DO damage is another thing entirely.
@ ajames127, at least you didn't get screwed by having faith in them and dropping $100 on NW, only to miss out on the sale
Good way to bend people over and boost sales. Make the game unplayable if we don't spec your way and give money and companions away to those on the fence. Is that really the message you wanted to send to people like me, who believed in you? 'Cause that's what you made ring loud and clear.
I'm getting angry, for what little it matters, the more I think about the events of the past few weeks (since I hit 60) and mod6 came out. But, I'd like to hold on to hope that it makes a difference. Maybe they are listening and reading this thread, but are so overwhelmed they can't respond. Maybe they are fixing mod 6 and can't devote the resources to say so. But, they violated my faith in them so severely, I'm hard pressed to continue, to put out for them (in spirit, I already got f'd on cash) while they prepare to f-over XBOne users.
I just want to grab the new players (on PC and XBOne) and shake them: "I loved this game and Cryptic F'd me! They don't care about you and you shouldn't spend a dime until they get their s*** together. Mod 6 will ruin your experience! stop playing now!" But, I know that means any chance of revisiting the pseudo-content and changes would be nullified.
I find myself at an ethical impasse. And no game should present this kind of situation, unless it is in the context of the content. You shouldn't ask me to lie for you and say it is "fun" when it isn't. In fact, this thread started with the admission that you screwed up. Severely. Not you personally, but as a company, you let the players down - you let your selves down. Why do we fall...
You have hundreds of maker/players and thousands of fans. We want to help you get back up. Listening is only the first step. You need to talk back to us. Communication is not a one-way street. I would buy a PS4 to play mod 5 on it. I would regret every cent spent on it, if I got mod 6, as I regret every cent spent on it now. Let us help you make gobs of money on this IP. It has potential, but you're actions and lack of words make us all feel like you don't care about either money or players. We are confused and angry. The first action you took, in light of people reporting insane difficulty, broken classes, etc... was to cut back the value of otherwise meaningful campaigns and fix bugs which could be exploited to survive the content you (Cryptic's NW team - not you personally) George Lucased.
Give us a more expansive world. Give us the ability to play with and help each other. Give us our heroes back. Let us be those people we can't be. Let us be the heroes we wish we could be.
Why are people kicking hr's? I'm usually top dps or 2nd if someone else already has t2 epics. Not to mention all the awesome cc. I've been kicked when I join pug at the boss in elol, but it's always by a group that has no heals or tank, so I understand. Honestly it's not the kicking I think pisses most people off. It's the way they do it. A simple we need a tank/healer would go a long ways.
Im just guessing here but most likely they're kicking you hoping that a DC or tank shows up. I've been in groups that have done that and I've also been the guy being kicked 20 times because I keep getting put into a parties waiting for a DC or tank lol. It sucks but what else can you do.
It never happened in mod 5. It's happening now because everyone knows that HR's are WiS in mod 6. Not enough defense to handle taking aggro from the DPS classes and not enough DPS to be considered one of them. The infuriating part is that the devs likely weren't even targeting HR's -- we're just collateral damage :mad:
Harper Chronicles: Cap Snatchers (RELEASED) - NW-DPUTABC6X Blood Magic (RELEASED) - NW-DUU2P7HCO Children of the Fey (RELEASED) - NW-DKSSAPFPF Buried Under Blacklake (WIP) - NW-DEDV2PAEP The Redcap Rebels (WIP) - NW-DO23AFHFH
My Foundry playthrough channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruskaga/featured
It never happened in mod 5. It's happening now because everyone knows that HR's are WiS in mod 6. Not enough defense to handle taking aggro from the DPS classes and not enough DPS to be considered one of them. The infuriating part is that the devs likely weren't even targeting HR's -- we're just collateral damage :mad:
Beg to differ on the damage there, sir. It would be fine if our survivability was better than say, a water balloon in a box of kittens. As it stands though, we'd need to be able to OSK everything to stay upright. Even then it would be dicey.
Im just guessing here but most likely they're kicking you hoping that a DC or tank shows up. I've been in groups that have done that and I've also been the guy being kicked 20 times because I keep getting put into a parties waiting for a DC or tank lol. It sucks but what else can you do.
If I random queue, that is normally when I see a kick, zoning in at the end boss. A few times at the start of a fresh one, never during the dungeon. Problem is that they don't even give me a chance. I could of been the very edge they needed to push for a win. I've done mod 6 elol and vt groups in all dps. It's possible and depends on the players.
Either way, the queue logic is all messed up right now. If the content is pushed to needing a tank and healer, then why drop in a random DPS to fill the slot? It's the same when I play on my OP. We could use a tank but they dump in a TR or other DPS class? Cryptic should just save everyone the headache and give a proper group composition if the queue system is used.
Something of a personal gripe of mine: the DPS cleric is persona non grata in group content.
Mind, before the inevitable "get outta the game, useless!" begins, the developers themselves gave the nod to the build. So much so that they reinvented the third feat path precisely for us, and to excellent effect (prior to Module 6, that is.)
While the damage is still good, there is one slot and one slot only available to clerics in a pug scenario: healer. Pure healer. We cannot assign ourselves or select an option to fill a DPS slot, thus whatever group we find ourselves with spots us and assumes (then later demands and screeches and yips like obnoxious small breeds of dog) that we are to serve them like AI companions.
I don't mind re-slotting powers to do more healing if the group composition calls for it or a group member requests it, however - after having my cleric play style finally supported by the game-given options during character creation and leveling - it's damnably frustrating to have a significant portion of endgame content effectively cordoned off because the difficulty level requires a prefabricated healbot (still, STILL!) wearing level-60 T1 gear from dungeons no longer in existence. (Yeah, there's still a huge call for full High Prophet-or-geeteeeffo.)
A good bit of the problem does stem from the difficulty issue, but it also represents a longer-standing bias clerics have faced since the game was in beta. Along the lengthy stretch of bugs, lag/client problems and imbalances, it'd be worth having a look at this'un.
I have the ability to heal you. A shield to protect you. Blades to slay your foes. Magic! So I'm a tiefling, so what? We have a common enemy, and a common goal. Here, you can put ornaments on my horns if it'll put you at ease.
Getting to 70 is fine, it's what to do AFTER 70 and all the new areas are done, is the real issue. The only way to get BiS gear is to pug dungeons, get your daily allotment of Seals, pvp for Glory, and you are done. There is no need to grind anything else, period. WoD? Rewards are junk, you already received your main/offhand. Likely had Linu pre-Mod 6 so you bought your Lostmauth or Greater items. Then, when you finally pug your way through a month's worth of dungeons, you buy the BiS gear from the Seal vendor and what, go to Icewind Dale? Well of Dragons? FOR WHAT! The goal of a game like this is no end game. If there was an endgame, there is no way to keep players. You need to add content, you need to add new maps, you need to add new gear, you need to add new GRINDS, new campaigns, new ideas, etc. with new rewards to give incentive to play as often as possible. Prior to Mod 6 I logged on daily, morning and night, took vacation when new mods were released, anxiously awaiting the new areas to explore. Now, less than a month after this new mod's release, I log in and don't know what to do. Can't hit IWD, as I get instakilled by a wolf. Can't go to WoD as the peon's there hit me for 30,000 damage at a time. And Yes, I have gear. I used Glory to create Burning Executioner Set. I used black ice gear to create new gear. I have new main/off purple, my 4 arties legendary (one green), trans negation, pure vorpal and terror. So what, is the Seal gear better than this? Not for the HR, it's just different stats...I pvp a few times, maybe run the two seed quests, then turn on my tv. I want to be obsessed with this game again people!
Yes, the new areas are neat, but they are re-made areas! I own hundreds of D&D books, there are tons of cities/towns that can be incorporated into this game. We need a progressive grind reward system to be set up for our daily incentive to play, and that is no longer there for us post-70 guys.
I think what these guys need to understand is that, if we have a game we love, we will spend our money on it. If the prices are cheap to buy zen transfer to AD and buy BoE rp's, we'll do that. But with everything being bound, prices are skyrocketing, and that is the causing the opposite of what they are trying to achieve. People are saying it's too expensive so they don't spend. Sure, some things need to be bound to account, but to the extent where they are tightening wallets is counter-intuitive to what they need to do. They need to give an incentive so people will spend their hard-earned money on a free-to-play game. They need each person to drop $5 or $10 every month or so, not exist only on those few that drop thousands. Just like real life, these games run parallel to real life economics, and their current pace is bankrupting themselves.
What players need, and I would think by now the major issues the players have are known is some word from the Devs on what they are prepared to change and what they are not, with at least a rough time frame. Whilst changing quest's etc would be impractical, I think most players would be happy if the Shar/DR/WOD/IWD were returned to pre mod 6, and the numbers used to calculate damage/gear/npc's were worked over to a similar pre Mod 6 structure. As khaymanbb1023 wrote above the Zen/AD price etc needs a overhaul so the average player wants to buy more. For instance often you get a piece of gear you really like, but its hugely expensive to modify appearances, plus you lose the original. If it was cheaper, and you did'nt lose the original, I expect it would happen way more often. Enchanting, a less than 1 percent chance once past a certain level... I have had multiple failures at 75 percent... and how much to protect your enchantments... a lot. There are so many areas you could do things differently, make all companions go to max level or at least do'nt make it insane amounts of AD. My Lillend was over a million to get her to max, 500k I would have considered it. People having a good time will spend money when it seems fair in both price and content. But right now the game it self needs triage. I want a reason to re-create my characters and possibly a few new ones.
It never happened in mod 5. It's happening now because everyone knows that HR's are WiS in mod 6. Not enough defense to handle taking aggro from the DPS classes and not enough DPS to be considered one of them. The infuriating part is that the devs likely weren't even targeting HR's -- we're just collateral damage :mad:
WiS? I beg to differ, SWs have been beaten yet again with the nerf stick, we had no way to mitigate damage before, but lifesteal made it oh so easy to catch up on the beatings we took so we were still on par with other classes; now with life steal being what it is, we drop dead like flies before we get to even start a rotation.
Comments
IF I WANTED TO PLAY A KOREAN GRIND MMO .... id play a korean grind mmo if i play a game advertised as f2p casual friendly, i dont expect it to want me to spend $1000 plus to get a new character to a similar level to one of my old chars that cost maybe $50 to achive same thing, admitedly game economys always experience runaway inflation there designed that way(any economy were you create something out of nothing and it has no linkage to a finite resource this is true for) but to expect to have new players come in and pay $1000 dollars so they can start competing on same level as a legacy character, in a f2p game aimed at casuals, or at least used to be aimed at casuals boggles the mind, have non of your business people looked at the cost of geting a char fully upgeraded? do you guys also run those gold seller bots? if not why are you encouraging people to use them? 1 upgraded char purchasing from cryptic $1000+ same thing purchased from gold sellers $350 aprox which is still way more then 99% of casual gamers can afford none the less if its going to save you $600 its worth the time to go setup a throw away debit card. then theres the fact i havnt talked to a single friend that found that mod 6 code you sent out before it was disabled at the same time i know 1000s were claimed on bot acounts. i hope for your sake you do run the gold seller sites because the only people that did well from this mod are the gold sellers, if anyones still buying from them even. i stoped buying refinement, has become a bottomless pit just as you get it almost done after months of mind numbing grinding you make it obsolete.
i used to spend 50$ a month on zen, mostly into NW sometimes STO some times CO although having life there and playing NW mostly i usualy have spare zen when i log in to play with. i bought founders fey pack ect to support further content development, i used to justify my 50$ on grounds id spend that much subing to 3 subscription games. now puting $50 into NW seems like a tiny drop in the ocean of refinement advancement, so i just dont waste my money and i buy a little more booze. some months in the early days when it was casual friendly id get so into game i wouldnt drink at all that fortnight and id put a extra $50 or $100 in. on a psychological level at the moment a perishable consumed substance like alcohol seems like a more tangible long term investment then spending that money on gaining 1 or 2 more levels on a item that will be obsolete sometime in near future. becuase lets face it for a long time you guys have been releasing a over powerd new class geting people to upgrade it then nurfing i and releasing a new one thats magicly also overpowered then nurfing it, its never been a underpowered class released then buffed always (apart from maybe the gf at launch then recent fixes) overpowered, pay in to get it up to speed, nurf, now you guys have also moved that model to refinement, it wasnt just the dragon waepons you made useless you also made radiants very sub par with your new stat curve, vorps were great, then you made it so most classes cant even get the critical rating to make them viable 5k crit for what 13% extra crit? once is a coincidence, this long ago became a patern. one that dosnt fill anyone with confidence for the long term viability of game or for the longevity of characters or gear. just wait for like 2 months guys once people have all forked out for negation, they will totaly change it make it useless and people will have to swap there enchants on all their characters again .
can you re hire whoever designed game initialy please they made a awesome game since then it has been 1 step after another away from casual F2P action RPG to a pay to win korean grind mmo.
the one thing that is still apealing is the combat system, this dosnt mean i want you to change that although from my experince with feedback the response will be were looking at ways to slow down the speed of combat and no mention of anything to do with grind reduction or making it f2p possible without being a botter
if you watched your stats as you leveled up you would of found you lost 10% or so crit by 70 even if you swaped all azures for radiants you lost 1/3 of your power damage bonus, more if you tryed to preserve your crit rating. you lost life steal even though it was only procing rarely with change and you probably lost recharge time, your defence would of been cut in 1/2 or to 1/3 of what it was at lvl 60. the only thing you have more of at 70 then 60 is base wepon damage and base HPs and being fat is only so much use as a form of tank especialy when the new pot dose 20% more healing and most characters are being encouraged, even dps to take 2 to 3 times the hit points they used to have... a pot used to heal you for 30 of your life or so as a dps now if you fat tank its like 15%
Updating this as when I last tried Ghost Story I only just made it through the first mob of 3 and died at the next. I'm now level 70 (thank you for the double XP) but I now appear to be weaker?
It just may bring some friends back so they stop calling it the death simulator.
My DC found her level auto reduced to 64 for the area she was in, oddly she did less damage than when she was a actual 64 and suddenly went to needing bulk healing potions and that was a Lillend companion... that was the final straw, realizing that the game I had enjoyed so much was now just a grinding nightmare. My disappointment led to 566 hrs worth of game play being deleted in under a minute. I am not the only one who has felt that the game has got to the point where it is no longer worth playing or hoping that it will get brought back to what it was. It seems better to keep what good memories I have of this game intact and walk away before they are all gone. NWN Online was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had, sadly it ended being one of the worse.
Based on what I have heard, Tiamat may be too difficult now. Try to take a look at how many actually get "success" here - I'll bet it is an extremely small percentage.
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!"
pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all."
looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
It is more than 1% who think the difficulty is fine (except for Tiamat). Just remember the early days of IWD when mobs wiped out most player pretty quickly. People made adjustments and it got better.
I am only moderately skilled and I don't die that often. Yes, I die more than I used to, but the prior difficulty was absolute cheese in PvE. I could cakewalk through all content. There was ZERO challenge. Again, I am only a moderately skilled player (still have to glance at keys on the keyboard from time to time) and enjoy the new challenge.
If you are going to reduce difficulty, don't make it too much, please!
myles08807 said, "Back in my day, we didn't have any of this fancy Mulhorand gear while we were leveling . . . we walked uphill both ways while dying once every five seconds while leveling, and we liked it fine!" . . . Now, get off my lawn, you kids!"
pointsman said, "I don't rue the game. In fact I don't feel any regret for the game at all."
looomis said, "I don't like people changing to alts and then bragging about their mains like schizophrenic role players."
Now, I can do the new "Elemental" areas mostly. They require too much to complete a quest. They are overly difficult and my toons die 4-5 times per areas of 16 quests. There is no "gear" drop that will help me. Why should I do these? My friend does not want to play like this and he never laughs any more. We play about 2 hours a day. This is Not Fun.
It seems that the game has turned into PvP only. Or epic PvE. A lot of the players in this are high item score; tough to compete with. Some players kick other players from the party, so you hope you are "good" enough. Is this the intent of the game? If my toon's dying is a way for someone else to get ahead, then how do I compete? Some players after 2 weeks were near the max for their toon. How? Spend hundreds of dollars? Or did they cheat? (My guess is that 10% of the current players are cheaters in one way or another. Is something going to be done? I have an idea how to ban them.)
This whole game is like a better job position opening in your company where you work. You have worked hard to get it. But your boss hires in a new person and gives the job to them. And it happens all of the time. Are you staying with the company or moving on???
Please return Sharandar, Dread Ring, Icewind Dale, and Well of Dragons to like they were. Sprinkle a very few mobs of the current level here and there. Make the dungeons normal and epic *OR* have 2 different endings based on path taken. Use the new rating system for gear and remove the "down" leveling from everywhere; it only changes some of the stats and not all. (Fix it so you get experience based on your level if that is the intention. If the toon is below the level or at level+2, it is 1-to-1. Above the level a percentage.)
I am not going to spend hundreds of dollars and play a game that is not Fun.
But
The Well and Ring have become too difficult...
The general walking around fighting is fine but the daily mini dungeons are death traps and I have no levels to attain to catch up
Again just queuing for T2 DDs have brought me success so no chance to better my gear.
IMO something needs to be done
I would even buy gear just to jumpstart my game
Urlord
I just finished helping a guildmate do Need for Mead. It was B-R-U-T-A-L. Maybe it's different for other classes, but HR's like mine really got the shaft this mod.
I can only push defense a tiny bit higher without sacrificing HP, and that would be to swap out a radiant R12 and azure R12 for two brutal R12's. Every enchantment and runestone that gives me defense is already R12 (yes, even the two bonding ones on my chicken). Well, I could move up from T1 to T2 for a really tiny defense boost -- my cryomancer is working on it.
You shouldn't have to go to extraordinary lengths like this to survive.
Blood Magic (RELEASED) - NW-DUU2P7HCO
Children of the Fey (RELEASED) - NW-DKSSAPFPF
Buried Under Blacklake (WIP) - NW-DEDV2PAEP
The Redcap Rebels (WIP) - NW-DO23AFHFH
My Foundry playthrough channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruskaga/featured
Mod6 came out. Everything I was so happy to have put together to take on 60-70 was now <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>. I died constantly in areas I had been enjoying and moving through for completion. I was told to level up and invest in the new version of my Belt/Cloak and weapons. I was told to respec my character. Horribly beaten into submission and hoping that the game I had been playing was still there, I did what I was told. I reached level 70! Now, I die constantly in areas I had been enjoying. I'm having a hard time caring about the Paladin I started and reached 53 on. I know he's gonna end up sitting around in PE, next to my HR. I get a constant reminder of that fact, as he is leveled up and down and all the time I'm putting into gaining experience, boons, feats, powers - is all pointless, he's whatever the quest or area says he is. Worse: he can't help others. Playing as an HR, I used to jump in when I saw lower level players getting swarmed by enemies out of their league and at least buff them (and maybe engage directly if they were really hurting/needed reviving). Now, if I see someone getting hammered, the game has taught me to think twice with my Paladin - and sprint away with my Ranger, or be prepared to die.
Recommendations:
1. Remove the up/down-leveling. An area is only as tough as it needs to be in regular course of character development.
2. Reset Lifesteal and Regen. This change and the one above are killing off the heroic RP aspect of things. We like playing heroes, sometimes those heroes have time to struggle through a dungeon with other heroes and really challenge themselves. Other times, those heroes are looking for a low/zero challenge to just beat down an ogre or mob, or help new heroes survive and gain XP.
3. Fix the gear. Don't just say, you need the new version of the gear you worked your *** off for, let us level that old gear up. Further: you haven't created new gear using the existing approach, you just modded some stats, spit on us, and renamed it. You didn't even take the time to bother giving this new stuff new models or names. Come on, that's insulting and disheartening.
4. Roll back the enemy levels on the existing content (mod5), and reserve level 70 enemies for the new mod6 content.
5. Add mod6 content. Not just the leveling grinders and two side quests with a temp companion. Once we've completed our mod5 content then we can engage whoever these Elemental Cultists are and thwart whatever it is they are trying to do. BTW,what are they trying to do? Minsc seems like he should be a more interesting companion, in fact I think you even tell us he is in some exposition dialog, but he just comes off as a simpleton with nothing much going on.
I really want to keep playing. I loved the mod5 game, so much so I put my entire entertainment budget into it for the dragon born pack. Please help me stop regretting that decision. I'm taking the next couple weeks off and I'm hoping there's something to play when I get back - I just can't keep justifying the time I'm putting into this Paladin - and I've given up trying to justify the money I've spent in the last few months. I bought into a great game and it ended up being taken away within a week.
I don't mind a challenge but this is just ridiculous. Spent over an hour in elol earlier playing roulette of players coming and going.
At least you got to play eLoL. I was immediately kicked at least half a dozen times from eLoL today just because I was an HR. Eventually I got a group willing to take me in, and we beat it after a couple of tries.
Blood Magic (RELEASED) - NW-DUU2P7HCO
Children of the Fey (RELEASED) - NW-DKSSAPFPF
Buried Under Blacklake (WIP) - NW-DEDV2PAEP
The Redcap Rebels (WIP) - NW-DO23AFHFH
My Foundry playthrough channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruskaga/featured
I hate that. Sorry to hear it happened to you. There are many times I zone into a dungeon and get kicked on my HR because they automatically assume I am useless and dumb. My HR actually provides a ton of CC keeping everything rooted and dazed. Their loss.
Never, in a single player max level area, with high end equipment, has it taken over an hour to complete just the intro quest.
Never has an epic skirmish, with high end equipment, risked a full party kill with every single encounter.
Never has the difficulty curve been this broken. Not even in the alpha.
The game difficulty needs to be more consistent. You spend 1-60 being a god. 61-69 you slowly feel more and more pain. Then suddenly, at 70, you're a fly on the windshield of a Mack truck, and all the 61-69 areas get MORE difficult, rather than less.
And really, a tank/healer can't do nuttin for you in eLOL, once you reach that dragon. All the deaths are insta-kill (and the few that aren't bypass mitigation AND blocks). Playing mostly tank/healers, I find this infuriating, and would kill for a party with four HR's. Anything but DPS is pointless there.
Back in the day, HR's lived in everyone's shadow. Nobody wanted a HR around. That mindset still floats around to this day.
Good way to bend people over and boost sales. Make the game unplayable if we don't spec your way and give money and companions away to those on the fence. Is that really the message you wanted to send to people like me, who believed in you? 'Cause that's what you made ring loud and clear.
I'm getting angry, for what little it matters, the more I think about the events of the past few weeks (since I hit 60) and mod6 came out. But, I'd like to hold on to hope that it makes a difference. Maybe they are listening and reading this thread, but are so overwhelmed they can't respond. Maybe they are fixing mod 6 and can't devote the resources to say so. But, they violated my faith in them so severely, I'm hard pressed to continue, to put out for them (in spirit, I already got f'd on cash) while they prepare to f-over XBOne users.
I just want to grab the new players (on PC and XBOne) and shake them: "I loved this game and Cryptic F'd me! They don't care about you and you shouldn't spend a dime until they get their s*** together. Mod 6 will ruin your experience! stop playing now!" But, I know that means any chance of revisiting the pseudo-content and changes would be nullified.
I find myself at an ethical impasse. And no game should present this kind of situation, unless it is in the context of the content. You shouldn't ask me to lie for you and say it is "fun" when it isn't. In fact, this thread started with the admission that you screwed up. Severely. Not you personally, but as a company, you let the players down - you let your selves down. Why do we fall...
You have hundreds of maker/players and thousands of fans. We want to help you get back up. Listening is only the first step. You need to talk back to us. Communication is not a one-way street. I would buy a PS4 to play mod 5 on it. I would regret every cent spent on it, if I got mod 6, as I regret every cent spent on it now. Let us help you make gobs of money on this IP. It has potential, but you're actions and lack of words make us all feel like you don't care about either money or players. We are confused and angry. The first action you took, in light of people reporting insane difficulty, broken classes, etc... was to cut back the value of otherwise meaningful campaigns and fix bugs which could be exploited to survive the content you (Cryptic's NW team - not you personally) George Lucased.
Give us a more expansive world. Give us the ability to play with and help each other. Give us our heroes back. Let us be those people we can't be. Let us be the heroes we wish we could be.
Give us D&D.
Im just guessing here but most likely they're kicking you hoping that a DC or tank shows up. I've been in groups that have done that and I've also been the guy being kicked 20 times because I keep getting put into a parties waiting for a DC or tank lol. It sucks but what else can you do.
Blood Magic (RELEASED) - NW-DUU2P7HCO
Children of the Fey (RELEASED) - NW-DKSSAPFPF
Buried Under Blacklake (WIP) - NW-DEDV2PAEP
The Redcap Rebels (WIP) - NW-DO23AFHFH
My Foundry playthrough channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruskaga/featured
Beg to differ on the damage there, sir. It would be fine if our survivability was better than say, a water balloon in a box of kittens. As it stands though, we'd need to be able to OSK everything to stay upright. Even then it would be dicey.
If I random queue, that is normally when I see a kick, zoning in at the end boss. A few times at the start of a fresh one, never during the dungeon. Problem is that they don't even give me a chance. I could of been the very edge they needed to push for a win. I've done mod 6 elol and vt groups in all dps. It's possible and depends on the players.
Either way, the queue logic is all messed up right now. If the content is pushed to needing a tank and healer, then why drop in a random DPS to fill the slot? It's the same when I play on my OP. We could use a tank but they dump in a TR or other DPS class? Cryptic should just save everyone the headache and give a proper group composition if the queue system is used.
Mind, before the inevitable "get outta the game, useless!" begins, the developers themselves gave the nod to the build. So much so that they reinvented the third feat path precisely for us, and to excellent effect (prior to Module 6, that is.)
While the damage is still good, there is one slot and one slot only available to clerics in a pug scenario: healer. Pure healer. We cannot assign ourselves or select an option to fill a DPS slot, thus whatever group we find ourselves with spots us and assumes (then later demands and screeches and yips like obnoxious small breeds of dog) that we are to serve them like AI companions.
I don't mind re-slotting powers to do more healing if the group composition calls for it or a group member requests it, however - after having my cleric play style finally supported by the game-given options during character creation and leveling - it's damnably frustrating to have a significant portion of endgame content effectively cordoned off because the difficulty level requires a prefabricated healbot (still, STILL!) wearing level-60 T1 gear from dungeons no longer in existence. (Yeah, there's still a huge call for full High Prophet-or-geeteeeffo.)
A good bit of the problem does stem from the difficulty issue, but it also represents a longer-standing bias clerics have faced since the game was in beta. Along the lengthy stretch of bugs, lag/client problems and imbalances, it'd be worth having a look at this'un.
Yes, the new areas are neat, but they are re-made areas! I own hundreds of D&D books, there are tons of cities/towns that can be incorporated into this game. We need a progressive grind reward system to be set up for our daily incentive to play, and that is no longer there for us post-70 guys.
I think what these guys need to understand is that, if we have a game we love, we will spend our money on it. If the prices are cheap to buy zen transfer to AD and buy BoE rp's, we'll do that. But with everything being bound, prices are skyrocketing, and that is the causing the opposite of what they are trying to achieve. People are saying it's too expensive so they don't spend. Sure, some things need to be bound to account, but to the extent where they are tightening wallets is counter-intuitive to what they need to do. They need to give an incentive so people will spend their hard-earned money on a free-to-play game. They need each person to drop $5 or $10 every month or so, not exist only on those few that drop thousands. Just like real life, these games run parallel to real life economics, and their current pace is bankrupting themselves.
WiS? I beg to differ, SWs have been beaten yet again with the nerf stick, we had no way to mitigate damage before, but lifesteal made it oh so easy to catch up on the beatings we took so we were still on par with other classes; now with life steal being what it is, we drop dead like flies before we get to even start a rotation.