ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
I hope so. I like it. 2 new skirmishes. 1 new big boss fight. New campaign. New boons. New HE encounters. And a really sweet quest line to kick it all off.
I feel like we are so used to being underwhelmed by this game, that we have come to a point in the game's life, where we accept whatever we get. The game just isn't Dungeons and Dragons. I mean , where are the dungeons?
It doesn't feel like D&D at all. There is no awe factor when entering the Underdark. There is no adventure. Nothing to explore, nothing to discover. I literally walked through the story like I was a god. I barely ever took any damage, and I only have 22% damage resist. I was excited about the new skirmishes, and yet they were so easy, it just left me in a state of confusion. I can stand in the middle of an entire pack of demons and just aoe them into oblivion in a few seconds. It's hard for me to try and believe they are any threat to Neverwinter, or the surface.
Demons are nothing. A demon prince dropped like lead to 10 adventurers. There is no fear, no trepidition, nothing. it's just another part of the game where you have to repeat the same thing over and over.
I don't know what the underdark is to other people, but to someone who has been a d&d enthusiast from the time when "elf" was a class, all I can say is this is not it. Where are the hook horrors, the Myconids, the sverfneblin. The whole concept of the underdark was, what is beyond the next corridor. What calls the next cavern home, and does it want to eat me or trade with me.
I guess what disappoints me the most ,is that we have a modue called "Underdark" and there is no underdark. there is only a trade hub. The developers got one of the most celibrated authors of the forgotten realms to write thier questline, and seem to have never even read a word of what the man wrote.
This module isn't the underdark...it's the underwhelmingdark.
Edit: and whats with the rings? they seem kinda useless to me. Sacrifice stats for some simple and quick thing? Like ring of fortress, even if I had he legendary one, dropping stats for1.1 sec of invulnerability every 30 sec seems dumb to me. So every battle im invulnerable for 2.2 sec a min, would be better if I can choose when that power fires off. Being invulnerable just after the boss fires off his skill wouldn't help much.
@snotty Some of those new rings are insane, maybe you just not seeing it but as someone who only player pve, the ring of sieging is basically a trans negation that doesn't have to build up stacks. I intend to use it on all my chars. Furthermore, all those stat buildup rings are also good and when the ring of natural order finally gets in game, ill test it as well. Sure, not all the rings are good but not all of them have to be. Any ring that has an insane upside (like invulnerability) also needs to, in its base state, have an insane downside, making them pretty much useless except in clutch moments. Personally though, I see the ring of sieging as far above the power curve and see it as a huge upside, its going on every single character I actively play, wizard included. A little more thinking in combat for 30% dr, thats a win-win situation for me (more bunny hopping in pve wohoo)
Making good games is hard work, takes a lot of time, takes a dedicated team of talented developers and costs a lot of money. Neverwinter is a F2P game with very short schedules to pump out modules in concert with WoTC releases. The current dev team is not the guys who built the game (are there ANY original team members anymore?) and that makes it more difficult for them to work on it. They also are just a few underpaid guys and maybe a few unpaid interns (who I suspect also double as VO actors). Most of the money they do make on the game gets sucked up the chain to pay management and not returned to the game.
They are always scrambling for new sources of income while walking that razor edge of going to far and pissing off the players. I feel bad for the guys working on the game because I know if they were given more resources this game would be leaps and bounds better than it is now, have more players (happy ones) and lead to better and better content. PWE is not that company though unfortunately. They have likely moved this title into their pump and dump pile while they work on new IPs.
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vinceent1Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,264Arc User
edited November 2015
these people expectations .... how many times needs to be said ... cryptic has no resources or manpower to create great modules anymore. The last great module at my opinion was first part of Tyranny or dragons (with elol dung), until then its only fillers and it will probably continue only another fillers, no matter how it named. I dont understand how can anyone expect really adventurous zones or smart hard dungeons or whatever. As i see the future ... either you like your character gameplay mechanics and you are not lazy go pug (beauty of randomness) not only premade so you can like the game or rather go away
OK, 2 rings may be usefull. That's what we got + some nice rework of the shop, 4 nice boons and a new ad refining cap. Thay's all and very poor: game experience is not addressed. It's again another module to consume time and keep the players busy in a world without ideas. At the end of our mod 8 grind, this game is a desert again with no place where your new rings make a real difference. I don't need them to run the current contents. Maybe a newbie fresh 70 has some (quick?) benefit to run this new campain.
Oltreverso guild leader Maga Othelma - DC | Svalvolo - SW | Dente Avvelenato- GWF
While i usually agree with 99% of all things you say and stand by mate, in this only tiny thing i have to say you are mistaken - sorry again mate!
If one visits Cryptic at LinkedIn and other programming or industry sites, you can clearly see, they have the manpower and the funds. I once talked with a Mod and even he said, they aren't a small company.
It is really a shame to see, that they lost the real passion for DnD somewhere, somehow. Since Mod 3/4 nothing new, just fillers, called HEs.
Where in God's name is the Dungeons? Underdark, sorry i have to cry, 1 tiny map is Underdark, where? Huge opportunity wasted. Underdark has such a hype thanks to Mr Salvatore's books, it could have been a bomb success.
Other aspect which makes me sad, the grind again, game becomes less alt friendly with each "new" Mod. Before Mod 6 i had 7 active toons, after it only 1 each time, but could bring back 4 in decent state. Now i don't know... I could fall into my knife, if i see what awaits me if i would want to keep those 4 toons active.
I just wish Cryptic would see, grinding the same recycled maps and HEs over and over doesn't make a real Mod ala DnD!
The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.
Robert E. Lee
I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself.
Winston Churchill
The human race is a herd. Here we are, unique, eternal aspects of consciousness with an infinity of potential, and we have allowed ourselves to become an unthinking, unquestioning blob of conformity and uniformity. A herd. Once we concede to the herd mentality, we can be controlled and directed by a tiny few. And we are.
David Icke
I think any unbiased person would say that this mod is very seriously lacking in content, compared to typical expansions from all other MMOs. For the people playing, it's a pain to see yet more lazy content (heroic encounters, re-used maps, etc.) and no return of the real content people want and persistently ask for - dungeons, complete new zones, full scale skirmishes (not running in circles around a small room killing the same mobs over and over again). We'd also normally expect major balancing, bug fixes, possibly a new class.
Given the amount we've got, it's clear very few resources have gone into the mod. That doesn't mean they're not available at Cryptic, but we're not seeing any evidence.
If the same occurs with mod 9, in my view the game would be approaching maintenance.
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vinceent1Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,264Arc User
While i usually agree with 99% of all things you say and stand by mate, in this only tiny thing i have to say you are mistaken - sorry again mate!
If one visits Cryptic at LinkedIn and other programming or industry sites, you can clearly see, they have the manpower and the funds. I once talked with a Mod and even he said, they aren't a small company.
It is really a shame to see, that they lost the real passion for DnD somewhere, somehow. Since Mod 3/4 nothing new, just fillers, called HEs.
Where in God's name is the Dungeons? Underdark, sorry i have to cry, 1 tiny map is Underdark, where? Huge opportunity wasted. Underdark has such a hype thanks to Mr Salvatore's books, it could have been a bomb success.
Other aspect which makes me sad, the grind again, game becomes less alt friendly with each "new" Mod. Before Mod 6 i had 7 active toons, after it only 1 each time, but could bring back 4 in decent state. Now i don't know... I could fall into my knife, if i see what awaits me if i would want to keep those 4 toons active.
I just wish Cryptic would see, grinding the same recycled maps and HEs over and over doesn't make a real Mod ala DnD!
no biggie. maybe they have resources but its longtermly visible they dont invest them here. they are probably working on new game right? Everyone spending cash here should rethink he maybe donate new game.
games fading over time happen. I know one game (AAA game and newer than neverwinter), which in reality abandon pvp content completely
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valynstarfireMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 100Arc User
Yes, so far, I too am really disappointed in "Underdark" and it's lack of content. People bragged about how large and expansive the actual Underdark really is, and we see no actual new adventure zone in the Underdark. Mentol is a very beautifully made town/stopover, but I was really looking forward to a zone like you saw in Skyrim's "Underdark", traveling around the caverns, seeing sights, with demons and other Underdark denizens lurking about.
Really, there isn't much really new to do. Yes, 2 skirmishes and a boss fight. These have some interesting and new mechanics, but I think time could have been better spent elsewhere. 2 hours in (and I am being generous) and basically you have completed everything new (except some of the Heroic Encounters, so take another hour and put all of those under your belt too). Really, that is IT? 3 hrs of gameplay for a whole "MODULE"?
If there is a problem with having to keep up with Wizards of the Coast release schedule, then I think you (Cryptic) have to make a serious decision. Either, hire enough people to produce real content, or get out of the contract you have with Wizards (sell the game/licensce back or to another interested company), even if that means shutting down the game. Continual release of sub-par expansions will only lead to a larger mass exodus than is already happening, with more negative word of mouth getting out about your entire COMPANY that there won't BE new players to replace everyone leaving, and will eventually affect your other games as well.
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ryoshinetteMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 488Arc User
Most of "features" were listed already. I would add: - absurdly long campaign - a month +/- few days if you do it regularly - broken quests - blocking each other - broken HE's for example only Crab droping quest items for a water weapon
And last simple question: Why should I do "new content"? What's the goal? Story? 20 minutes of story as a result of months of "work" - c'mon it's a joke.
NO more artifact, no more grind, We want dungeons and fun, as we had in mod 1.
Ryoshin GF (4.2k) .Suicide Squad.
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thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
I hope so. I like it. 2 new skirmishes. 1 new big boss fight. New campaign. New boons. New HE encounters. And a really sweet quest line to kick it all off.
@ironzerg79 I sort of like this mods structure and wouldn't mind it being repeated, so long as next time, its 2 dungeons, not 2 skirmishes, that get returned to us. I got uber nostalgic when running through parts of karrundax in 1 of the quests.
I hope so. I like it. 2 new skirmishes. 1 new big boss fight. New campaign. New boons. New HE encounters. And a really sweet quest line to kick it all off.
@ironzerg79 I sort of like this mods structure and wouldn't mind it being repeated, so long as next time, its 2 dungeons, not 2 skirmishes, that get returned to us. I got uber nostalgic when running through parts of karrundax in 1 of the quests.
Yes, psychedelic colored Karru part did make me sad, but nostalgic same time... maybe I ate wrong mshrooms on morning trip, .
...nine chapters, -How about NINE dungeons, what are missing.
These new skirmishes are not even that - they are just instanced HEs, nothing more. Abberant Assault, Defend the Village - now these I can call skirmishes! Sadly they're not available at 70...and they would fit so nicely in Mod 8.
I hope so. I like it. 2 new skirmishes. 1 new big boss fight. New campaign. New boons. New HE encounters. And a really sweet quest line to kick it all off.
@ironzerg79 I sort of like this mods structure and wouldn't mind it being repeated, so long as next time, its 2 dungeons, not 2 skirmishes, that get returned to us. I got uber nostalgic when running through parts of karrundax in 1 of the quests.
@thefabricant From the Reddit AMA answers, I'm almost 100% certain Module 9 will bring back some of the old dungeons.
I think it would be really cool if they incorporated the bronze/silver/gold scoring into the returning dungeon boss fights. Make bronze easy enough to achieve that your "entry level" iLevel players can beat it and get something, make silver your average rewards, and something very challenging for gold that gives high iLevel players something worth challenging themselves for.
or it would be awesome if the new dungeons will give us more and interesting mechanics and let us use for example the legendary rings for that... someth there is a part of the dungeon where you can't progress if u can't go in stealth or someth similar to that, now with the rings every class is able to do that..
I have to assume this is suppose to be some sort of back-handed, ironic comment, taking shots at some of the new "anti-rogue" rings.
ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
That would be a terrible decision. Now you're forcing players to have to grind for randomly dropping equipment just for a chance to complete unrelated dungeon encounters?
People had a hard enough time doing the last set of dungeons when they were released. Now you'll be requiring every party member to also have extremely specific equipment load-outs for each fight? That would be a nightmare.
But to your other point, the reason to do the current content should be for fun. Just like any part of the game, right?
My biggest hope for upcoming mods...more varying dungeon 'levels' to keep people entertained no matter how geared they are. Having a 1600 and 2000 iLvl dungeon now is nice but why not also include a 2400 and 2800 for example? We are losing guidlemates left and right because the content is way too easy and getting boring. Our typical dungeon team probably has an average of 3000 iLvl and smokes eTos in 15 minutes while on auto pilot. I would LOVE if they found a way to challenge everyone including BiS players.
Btw, I am on Xbox but follow the PC forums because it is like seeing into the future. Has allowed me to make lots of AD.
That would be a terrible decision. Now you're forcing players to have to grind for randomly dropping equipment just for a chance to complete unrelated dungeon encounters?
People had a hard enough time doing the last set of dungeons when they were released. Now you'll be requiring every party member to also have extremely specific equipment load-outs for each fight? That would be a nightmare.
But to your other point, the reason to do the current content should be for fun. Just like any part of the game, right?
how you force them? like makin items obsolete is not the same as forcing? nothing is gonna change... it will give atleast a reason to do the new and old content.
Meh. Nothing is obsolete for PvE content. There might be better alternatives but people are clearing stuff quickly enough with their current gear.
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matiagronxMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 251Arc User
Ironzerg I wasnt trolling or insulting, on the contrary dear Cryptic trolled us with this mod and insults our intelligence. I was just placing the facts straight down to words. That is NOT my opinion, that is just FACTS. And facts say that we had a raw diamond all these years and cryptic managed to polish it but AFTER it was transformed into a sterile plain stone.
We are HUMAN BEINGS, not robots. We give our precious TIME and/or MONEY into this game. The least we expect from Cryptic is our voices to be heard, before they get silenced completely. So i repost the good parts of my post, the ones not filled with rage, which cryptic created on the first place. Somehow, someone TOTALLY DESTROYED UNDERDARK...how can u do that? How can you rise expectations about the GLORIOUS UNDERDARK and introduce a plain trading hub thats literally EMPTY and call it UNDERDARK? Why this ignorance?
YOU CANNOT CREATE YOUR MONETARY BOUNDARIES AND CLOSE THE GAME INTO THEM, YOU CREATE THE GAME AS IT SHOULD BE AND MAKE MONETARY ADJUSTMENTS AFTERWARDS...
That would be a terrible decision. Now you're forcing players to have to grind for randomly dropping equipment just for a chance to complete unrelated dungeon encounters?
People had a hard enough time doing the last set of dungeons when they were released. Now you'll be requiring every party member to also have extremely specific equipment load-outs for each fight? That would be a nightmare.
But to your other point, the reason to do the current content should be for fun. Just like any part of the game, right?
I think it would be a great idea to add extra rooms in dungeons that could be accessible to users of those rings and give a special reward, like a specific transmute.
Comments
It doesn't feel like D&D at all. There is no awe factor when entering the Underdark. There is no adventure. Nothing to explore, nothing to discover. I literally walked through the story like I was a god. I barely ever took any damage, and I only have 22% damage resist. I was excited about the new skirmishes, and yet they were so easy, it just left me in a state of confusion. I can stand in the middle of an entire pack of demons and just aoe them into oblivion in a few seconds. It's hard for me to try and believe they are any threat to Neverwinter, or the surface.
Demons are nothing. A demon prince dropped like lead to 10 adventurers. There is no fear, no trepidition, nothing. it's just another part of the game where you have to repeat the same thing over and over.
I don't know what the underdark is to other people, but to someone who has been a d&d enthusiast from the time when "elf" was a class, all I can say is this is not it. Where are the hook horrors, the Myconids, the sverfneblin. The whole concept of the underdark was, what is beyond the next corridor. What calls the next cavern home, and does it want to eat me or trade with me.
I guess what disappoints me the most ,is that we have a modue called "Underdark" and there is no underdark. there is only a trade hub. The developers got one of the most celibrated authors of the forgotten realms to write thier questline, and seem to have never even read a word of what the man wrote.
This module isn't the underdark...it's the underwhelmingdark.
They are always scrambling for new sources of income while walking that razor edge of going to far and pissing off the players. I feel bad for the guys working on the game because I know if they were given more resources this game would be leaps and bounds better than it is now, have more players (happy ones) and lead to better and better content. PWE is not that company though unfortunately. They have likely moved this title into their pump and dump pile while they work on new IPs.
Thay's all and very poor: game experience is not addressed. It's again another module to consume time and keep the players busy in a world without ideas. At the end of our mod 8 grind, this game is a desert again with no place where your new rings make a real difference. I don't need them to run the current contents. Maybe a newbie fresh 70 has some (quick?) benefit to run this new campain.
Oltreverso guild leader
Maga Othelma - DC | Svalvolo - SW | Dente Avvelenato- GWF
While i usually agree with 99% of all things you say and stand by mate, in this only tiny thing i have to say you are mistaken - sorry again mate!
If one visits Cryptic at LinkedIn and other programming or industry sites, you can clearly see, they have the manpower and the funds. I once talked with a Mod and even he said, they aren't a small company.
It is really a shame to see, that they lost the real passion for DnD somewhere, somehow. Since Mod 3/4 nothing new, just fillers, called HEs.
Where in God's name is the Dungeons? Underdark, sorry i have to cry, 1 tiny map is Underdark, where? Huge opportunity wasted. Underdark has such a hype thanks to Mr Salvatore's books, it could have been a bomb success.
Other aspect which makes me sad, the grind again, game becomes less alt friendly with each "new" Mod. Before Mod 6 i had 7 active toons, after it only 1 each time, but could bring back 4 in decent state. Now i don't know... I could fall into my knife, if i see what awaits me if i would want to keep those 4 toons active.
I just wish Cryptic would see, grinding the same recycled maps and HEs over and over doesn't make a real Mod ala DnD!
Robert E. Lee
I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself.
Winston Churchill
The human race is a herd. Here we are, unique, eternal aspects of consciousness with an infinity of potential, and we have allowed ourselves to become an unthinking, unquestioning blob of conformity and uniformity. A herd. Once we concede to the herd mentality, we can be controlled and directed by a tiny few. And we are.
David Icke
Given the amount we've got, it's clear very few resources have gone into the mod. That doesn't mean they're not available at Cryptic, but we're not seeing any evidence.
If the same occurs with mod 9, in my view the game would be approaching maintenance.
games fading over time happen. I know one game (AAA game and newer than neverwinter), which in reality abandon pvp content completely
Really, there isn't much really new to do. Yes, 2 skirmishes and a boss fight. These have some interesting and new mechanics, but I think time could have been better spent elsewhere. 2 hours in (and I am being generous) and basically you have completed everything new (except some of the Heroic Encounters, so take another hour and put all of those under your belt too). Really, that is IT? 3 hrs of gameplay for a whole "MODULE"?
If there is a problem with having to keep up with Wizards of the Coast release schedule, then I think you (Cryptic) have to make a serious decision. Either, hire enough people to produce real content, or get out of the contract you have with Wizards (sell the game/licensce back or to another interested company), even if that means shutting down the game. Continual release of sub-par expansions will only lead to a larger mass exodus than is already happening, with more negative word of mouth getting out about your entire COMPANY that there won't BE new players to replace everyone leaving, and will eventually affect your other games as well.
I would add:
- absurdly long campaign - a month +/- few days if you do it regularly
- broken quests - blocking each other
- broken HE's for example only Crab droping quest items for a water weapon
And last simple question: Why should I do "new content"? What's the goal?
Story? 20 minutes of story as a result of months of "work" - c'mon it's a joke.
NO more artifact, no more grind, We want dungeons and fun, as we had in mod 1.
.Suicide Squad.
I sort of like this mods structure and wouldn't mind it being repeated, so long as next time, its 2 dungeons, not 2 skirmishes, that get returned to us. I got uber nostalgic when running through parts of karrundax in 1 of the quests.
...nine chapters, -How about NINE dungeons, what are missing.
..and game, fading to maintenance -mode...
for exemple, the story quests. to me that is the future... but i dont feel the immersion, or a reason to do again.
I think it would be really cool if they incorporated the bronze/silver/gold scoring into the returning dungeon boss fights. Make bronze easy enough to achieve that your "entry level" iLevel players can beat it and get something, make silver your average rewards, and something very challenging for gold that gives high iLevel players something worth challenging themselves for.
People had a hard enough time doing the last set of dungeons when they were released. Now you'll be requiring every party member to also have extremely specific equipment load-outs for each fight? That would be a nightmare.
But to your other point, the reason to do the current content should be for fun. Just like any part of the game, right?
Btw, I am on Xbox but follow the PC forums because it is like seeing into the future. Has allowed me to make lots of AD.
We are HUMAN BEINGS, not robots. We give our precious TIME and/or MONEY into this game. The least we expect from Cryptic is our voices to be heard, before they get silenced completely. So i repost the good parts of my post, the ones not filled with rage, which cryptic created on the first place.
Somehow, someone TOTALLY DESTROYED UNDERDARK...how can u do that? How can you rise expectations about the GLORIOUS UNDERDARK and introduce a plain trading hub thats literally EMPTY and call it UNDERDARK? Why this ignorance?
YOU CANNOT CREATE YOUR MONETARY BOUNDARIES AND CLOSE THE GAME INTO THEM, YOU CREATE THE GAME AS IT SHOULD BE AND MAKE MONETARY ADJUSTMENTS AFTERWARDS...
The Madness skirmish, I am already bored of, so boring. If it is going to be this dull could you halve the time this takes, please?
The HEs I see becoming tedious, and when the initial rush of people doing them has worn off it will be hard to find a group for them.
Where's the mod? (said in a little old lady from the 1980's voice)