test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Options
An Ugly Truth: Voninblod a Players Perspective.
uptondarkdiamond
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 169 Arc User
Voninblod (Vblod) has a problem, some may understand some may not. I know many well respected players of the community have pointed out the whole empowerment system was not something we desired.
Besides being undesirable the real problem is here:
IT DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MULTIPLAYER PART IN MMO
Here is what I mean. I usually do the smart thing when it comes to farming Vblod, look for a quite zone. Though this is not always a guarantee that you will be able to farm it without running into anyone else doing the same, it usually works out that you can do it. Let's just say I don't get all excited to see a fellow Neverwinter Traveler farming Vblod in the same zone i'm framing in.
Maybe the light is turning on for some folks……
Wait what did you say? You look for a quite zone to farm Vblod? Why would you do that aren’t you playing a MMO, where large groups of players normally gather to take on big dragons and the like as a team?
Well, that is definitely true but Vblod, which is central to the current MOD, has to be harvested as solo experience. There is absolutely no benefit to grouping up and harvesting in the same zone.....
But wait, it gets even better.
So today, after completing an FBI, I finally got my first armor drop. Wouldn’t you know it, I got lucky and it was a piece that I had a desire to restore. Unfortunately, I did not have enough Vblod to do this because I was spending it all on making keys.
No problem, port in Bryn Shandar, suck down a pot and get to farming. I hit my third node and while I was in process of harvesting a barbarians stray ax put me into combat and halted my harvesting progress. Again, not problem, I quickly dispatch the barbarians and turn around to continue harvesting the node.
This is were I have an immediate problem as I couldn’t believe it someone else just completed harvesting that very node, OMG it a fellow guildie…. DO YOU SEE IT NOW????
Initially, I wanted to be pissed at him/her and have a few choice words. Then I thought about it. The problem was not them. The problem was not me. The problem is actually with the game mechanics and the fact that we have no MULTIPLAYER way to get Vblod at same rate as solo farming. As, a mater of fact the only multiplayer option is FBI, and lets just say the the Vblod that comes out of that dungeon is on the same level as "I can't believe I just spent 45+ minutes in this dungeon and got some purple salvage and a saphire, maybe a rank 8", yeah that level... so no there is no multiplayer option for harvesting Vblod.
So the only good option we have to meet the BAD Vblod requirements for MOD 10 and 10b is through solo play. This pits player against player and when one or more players is trying to meet the requirements of this whole new empowerment process it pit them against one another and completely eliminates the MULTIPLAYER aspect this MMO is supposed to have. It generally leaves players angry and even more dissatisfied with the whole Vblod and empowerment experience, indeed the whole game in general because this is the new content and this is where you would expect to see a majority of your player base.
DON’T YOU SEE YOU HAVE PIT PLAYERS AGAINST EACH OTHER WITH YOUR RIDICULOUS REQUIREMENTS IN A NONPVP ARENA.
IF I WAS IN CHARGE
I would love nothing more than to see the whole Vblod/empowerment gear go the way of the old Black Ice gear. This probably won’t happen though because for whatever reason Cryptic (probably looking at some database numbers and coming up with conclusion based on those numbers) has decided we are utilizing this system, therefore we must like and enjoy the process. I would strongly urge the Devs to find away to get some concrete data (in game survey that hits most of the player base) on how much we really like the Vblod/empowerment system.
I would not be shocked if they find out that most players FIND THE EMPOWERMENT SYSTEM UNDESIRABLE and UNNECESSARILY TEDIOUS.
A PROPOSAL
If the DEV’s are unwilling to scrap the whole system, they should at least give us a MULTIPLAYER way to met our Vblod requirements. It could be a skirmish or a small style dungeon, similar to the old GG dungeons (FC and DK). They would have mobs that drop relics and relics that could be harvested and at the end of the dungeon all relics obtained are immediately converted to Vblod and split evenly between all players.
Even simpler, have FBI have the same drop rate of Vblod as if you were farming it.... Just think about it.....Multiple birds with one stone......
By implementing my system or a system similar to my proposal it will do 2 things:
1. (Probably the most important) It give players a Multiplayer option for meeting our very demanding Vblod requirements.
2. It will minimize the some the bad experiences that players currently have with the new/not new empowerment system.
@strumslinger I honestly think this is a player concern that should be brought to the Devs attention because it is definitely frustrating trying to met the empowerment requirements, that is if someone were to choose to immerse themselves in the new content.
Community, what do you think. Did I miss the mark here? Am I just being to critical of the whole empowerment system. Do my proposal have merit? Do you have your own proposal. I look forward to reading your comments.
Thanks for reading.
Besides being undesirable the real problem is here:
IT DOES NOT SUPPORT THE MULTIPLAYER PART IN MMO
Here is what I mean. I usually do the smart thing when it comes to farming Vblod, look for a quite zone. Though this is not always a guarantee that you will be able to farm it without running into anyone else doing the same, it usually works out that you can do it. Let's just say I don't get all excited to see a fellow Neverwinter Traveler farming Vblod in the same zone i'm framing in.
Maybe the light is turning on for some folks……
Wait what did you say? You look for a quite zone to farm Vblod? Why would you do that aren’t you playing a MMO, where large groups of players normally gather to take on big dragons and the like as a team?
Well, that is definitely true but Vblod, which is central to the current MOD, has to be harvested as solo experience. There is absolutely no benefit to grouping up and harvesting in the same zone.....
But wait, it gets even better.
So today, after completing an FBI, I finally got my first armor drop. Wouldn’t you know it, I got lucky and it was a piece that I had a desire to restore. Unfortunately, I did not have enough Vblod to do this because I was spending it all on making keys.
No problem, port in Bryn Shandar, suck down a pot and get to farming. I hit my third node and while I was in process of harvesting a barbarians stray ax put me into combat and halted my harvesting progress. Again, not problem, I quickly dispatch the barbarians and turn around to continue harvesting the node.
This is were I have an immediate problem as I couldn’t believe it someone else just completed harvesting that very node, OMG it a fellow guildie…. DO YOU SEE IT NOW????
Initially, I wanted to be pissed at him/her and have a few choice words. Then I thought about it. The problem was not them. The problem was not me. The problem is actually with the game mechanics and the fact that we have no MULTIPLAYER way to get Vblod at same rate as solo farming. As, a mater of fact the only multiplayer option is FBI, and lets just say the the Vblod that comes out of that dungeon is on the same level as "I can't believe I just spent 45+ minutes in this dungeon and got some purple salvage and a saphire, maybe a rank 8", yeah that level... so no there is no multiplayer option for harvesting Vblod.
So the only good option we have to meet the BAD Vblod requirements for MOD 10 and 10b is through solo play. This pits player against player and when one or more players is trying to meet the requirements of this whole new empowerment process it pit them against one another and completely eliminates the MULTIPLAYER aspect this MMO is supposed to have. It generally leaves players angry and even more dissatisfied with the whole Vblod and empowerment experience, indeed the whole game in general because this is the new content and this is where you would expect to see a majority of your player base.
DON’T YOU SEE YOU HAVE PIT PLAYERS AGAINST EACH OTHER WITH YOUR RIDICULOUS REQUIREMENTS IN A NONPVP ARENA.
IF I WAS IN CHARGE
I would love nothing more than to see the whole Vblod/empowerment gear go the way of the old Black Ice gear. This probably won’t happen though because for whatever reason Cryptic (probably looking at some database numbers and coming up with conclusion based on those numbers) has decided we are utilizing this system, therefore we must like and enjoy the process. I would strongly urge the Devs to find away to get some concrete data (in game survey that hits most of the player base) on how much we really like the Vblod/empowerment system.
I would not be shocked if they find out that most players FIND THE EMPOWERMENT SYSTEM UNDESIRABLE and UNNECESSARILY TEDIOUS.
A PROPOSAL
If the DEV’s are unwilling to scrap the whole system, they should at least give us a MULTIPLAYER way to met our Vblod requirements. It could be a skirmish or a small style dungeon, similar to the old GG dungeons (FC and DK). They would have mobs that drop relics and relics that could be harvested and at the end of the dungeon all relics obtained are immediately converted to Vblod and split evenly between all players.
Even simpler, have FBI have the same drop rate of Vblod as if you were farming it.... Just think about it.....Multiple birds with one stone......
By implementing my system or a system similar to my proposal it will do 2 things:
1. (Probably the most important) It give players a Multiplayer option for meeting our very demanding Vblod requirements.
2. It will minimize the some the bad experiences that players currently have with the new/not new empowerment system.
@strumslinger I honestly think this is a player concern that should be brought to the Devs attention because it is definitely frustrating trying to met the empowerment requirements, that is if someone were to choose to immerse themselves in the new content.
Community, what do you think. Did I miss the mark here? Am I just being to critical of the whole empowerment system. Do my proposal have merit? Do you have your own proposal. I look forward to reading your comments.
Thanks for reading.
Post edited by uptondarkdiamond on
0
Comments
They are not on the same level....unless of course you consider running circles... ohh wait you run in circles for both so maybe they are about similiar as far as the entire experience goes.....but one gives you a lot more Vblod....
Anyway, for the most part most will agree that new HE's are also a unwelcome addition to neverwinter. Simply put, we need more and varied dungeon experiences not more HE experiences.
'@terramak said:
Sea of Moving Ice
The spawn rate of Ostorian Relic nodes in this zone has been reduced by 50%.
One question: Why ? Seriously, you have received any number of complaints from people about how hard it is to obtain enough Voninblod to empower gear, pay for items in the campaign shops and simply to progress through the Storm King Campaign and yet here you are making a significant reduction in the availability of the principal source of VB in this zone. It makes absolutely no sense from a player Quality of Life point of view. QoL is supposed to be one of the failings that are to be addressed in this and future mods, so why this move that will reduce it for an awful lot of players ?
Oh, and please do not say it is an anti-bot measure >:)'
A couple of other players posted a similar question. To date, there has been no reponse from @terramak , @asterdahl, @mimicking#6533 or any of the other devs regarding this unnecessary change. Clearly, the only conclusion to be drawn is that they want Vblod to remain as hard to obtain in the future as it is now.
Look on the bright side. Unless the next mod is also set in IWD or another similar frozen location, there will be no further need for Vblod farming or empowerment once it drops in around 3 months time. In the meantime, just skip the SKT content or maybe complete the campaign to pass the time. Skipping the content will create a more meaningful message in the devs data tracking, so that might be the better option
Other solution could be up the relic value from
50->100
100->200
250->500
500->1000
And still will not be enough to
Feed the campaign
Make keys
Buy the items (kits etc)
Restore the armor
Empower the armor
Restore the new weapon (mod 10.5)
the only thing is that players are FRUSTRATED with this as it is now. A game should give you fun, not frustration.
Caturday Survivor
Elemental Evil Survivor
Undermontain Survivor
Mod20 Combat rework Survivor
Mod22 Refinement rework Survivor
What I find amazing is the fact that the system still sucks HAMSTER when you have bought all the additional goodies. I farm with purple trowel and Frostborn and still think Voninblod drains way too fast. There's literally no way I'd be even attempting to maintain a full 4-set. I'll probably slowly
workRNG my way up to vivified gear and then call it a day at item level 150.And yeah, pretty much every task should give more Voninblod. FBI, dailies, Relics. Seriously HAMSTER this HAMSTER.
--
I'll never retrace my steps.
Some of my best friends are Imaginary.
Many key points of OP have been relayed on.
Its overly grindy, but thats not the worst part, its the boring aspect .
Players have spoken, often and rather loudly about having to do HEs, we have done them, many times, over the course of a couple of years.
Please just let it go.
Also , they dont really care about our feedback, just their metrics and thier cash flow. If they see poeple doing the content, even if players dont really enjoy it, they dont care, as long as cash flow comes in.
That is the only thing that matters.
Do I wish they were not a bunch of super LAZY designers that rehashed old mechanics all the time? Sure .
Is that going to change?
Probably not.
I also get really fed up with poeple claiming im somehow lazy or elitist or other such nonsense.
I have 8 toons with like 80-90% of the boons, I got 5 twisted sets, have run tens of thousands of dungeons, put in my daily influence on 3-4 toons a day for months upon months.. did tiamat like 500 times.
To be called lazy is a insult, Im quite willing to grind away.. I am not however willing to bother grind and play REALLY stupid boring, terribly designed content.
There is a vast difference between the two.
So gratz you are, willing to do that.. Im not, and thousands of players like me are tired of it as well.
These mods are a complete failure on the BIGGEST aspect any game should be able to provide.. FUN. This game isnt fun with these types of grind/gating wall involved.
The continuation of marketing to only one toon , also hurts them.
But yes, you are right as well.
@qexotic , I did read you post on the preview forums and also saw the responses (or lack of). This is exactly what burns me about the whole empowerment system. Maybe the uproar wasn't as big as the key debacle but a vast majority of comments on the empowerment system were negative. The responses that were not negative were more along the lines lets see how the system works before we say we don't like it, you know give it the ole college try.... As the system stands atm, I am of the opinion that it can be quite toxic to players and puts them at odds with one another. This type of system does not belong in a MMO (especially one that is based on a D&D universe many people are familiar with) it does nothing to support the game and in fact drives people away from even given MOD 10 and 10b a college try.
@loboguild , I to have the same experience with the purple trowel and pet (zen items that are supposed to enhance the Vblod experience), I find them lack luster at best and generally frustrating. They do not behave anything like the purple pick for the IWD module and often times the pet/trowel/frostburn combo even give you the same reward as if you have just a regular trowel...how is this even good??? These items that are used to Enhance Our Game Play should sell themselves, but they don't because they don't actually enhance it that much... just terrible I would have a hard time telling a friend they are a worthwhile investment....
@urabask , I do not care for HE's no matter what kind of AD I could gain from playing them. In fact all my lanolin that I get I use, I have 1 main and 2 alts that I regularly play.... that adds up to a lot of lanolin. I'm not alone in the fact that I dislike HE's or the fact that it is basically the only option for getting lanolin. I have added a few comments in this forum on how Lanolin should have been introduced and obtained. Cryptic has one of the best gaming platforms I have ever experienced, they don't always need to give us new stuff to enhance and introduce new stuff. The crafting experience in this game is good but for the most part there only a few crafters that make for a worthwhile investment, this is just wrong. I think it would be easier/cost efficient for Cryptic to introduce a new recipes instead of creating a whole new campaign and campaign vendor. Then they can focus on introducing or reintroducing all the great dungeon content that was available prior to MOD 6. How many times will they have to hear from the player base that we DONT WANT MORE HE's, WE WANT MORE DUNGEONs, before they get it through there heads... WE DO NOT LIKE HE's BEING A CENTRAL PART OF OUR NEVERWINTER EXPERIENCE, we want more T1/T2 dungeons or at least the same amount as we available prior to MOD 6.
@silverkelt , I know your frustrated, I have read probably +1 many of your posts. I'm really frustrated also, this is literally the first MMO wear i'm actually trying to like it. I have played a few MMO's and once I have seen a door it usually didn't take me this long to walk through it, i.e. just stopped playing. The problem I have with this one, beside being in one of my favorite pen and paper worlds, is the fact that the platform its built upon has some really great potential. For me there are now 2 versions of Neverwinter. Version 1, MOD 1 through MOD 5. So much to do so much to see and so many different ways to see it. You had dungeons, so many dungeons, very few campaigns, HE's were not central to our playing experience, and the game was more alt friendly. Version 2, MOD 6+.... So many campaigns, too many HE's(they are central to Neverwinter advancement), less dungeons(this one still got me scratching my head), and definitely more alt unfriendly that ever.
I mean what other game out that has moved the level cap while at the same time removing old content??? How does this ever become a good idea??? They have been saying for 1.5 years now that we will get dungeon content back... what we got so far are the same 3 T1 and 3 T2's that we have had since mod 6, and some of our old dungeons back as leveling dungeons.... PLEASE.
Yeah I'm definitely frustrated with my neverwinter gaming experience atm, Vblod is part of that problem....
The door is open and eventually i'm going to get sick of trying to fit that square peg in the round hole no matter how much potential this game may have.