Raising The Game Platform Reasonable?

elforen · May 2018

I was browsing the Neverwinter backstory over the internet, was wondering if @wd1966 is right about stepping up the level of Neverwinter for current endgame players, and let the current Neverwinter platform remain on the side for the "true blue" newbies.

The "City of Neverwinter" included a Peninsula District, Arcanist Quarter, Dock District, and the Villages (my choice of word). These places connect around the out ring of the current map of Neverwinter, then the PC's could start at Level 71 or 80 to expand on a fresh PC window with new touches for a whole new host of monsters and select accesses like the Stronghold, PVP queues, PVE map queues to hold PVP spots like Caer Koenig with Icewind Pass and Dale Drop Valley. The Zen system can be tweaked for streamlining.

Since Forgotten Realms isn't a vacuum, The Lords' Alliance can open the door to wider ranging stories, and be expansive to include The Moonshae Isles, the expanse between Luskan and Waterdeep.

Thoughts?

mentinmindmaker · May 2018

The problem is not what Cryptic CAN do within the IP.

The problem is how much people Cryptic have to do said changes.

This late in the lifecycle of a game the development staff usually is considerably smaller than when the game launched, since game income usually has declined and staffing must adapt. A game with negative earnings will be terminated.

There are several big projects that have been proposed:
* Increase max level to 80
* Add a new class
* Add a new race

Time will show whether we ever see the realization of one of those. I am not certain Cryptic got enough development power assigned to NW to do such big tasks.

wd1966 · May 2018

"Lifecycle" is an interesting perspective. 6 years, with 13+ modules, sounds like a very strong game world to me. Since no company out there will share such numbers on their income, it will probably take posts and comments like these to get the dev, admin, and content folks to carry our inspirations to the powers that be.

We all appreciate the work of those that can do, and I view the Neverwinter credits block to revere everyone from R.A. Salvatore across that list.

callumf · May 2018

^^ This above is a great post.

Also there are millions of console players playing Neverwinter so the game should be in a strong position financially

cdnbison · May 2018

I'm not a big fan of 'level-creep', personally, so am not keen to see an increase in level cap. I do like how Cryptic has addressed 'power-creep' to date - making decent gear available for alts, at a very reasonable cost, via a variety of currencies. Any raise in level cap means reworking the whole power tree, and gear, as well as setting up new zones with the content to support it. Plus the testing for all that (See below re: classes).

A new race - I'm indifferent. The basics are already covered, so I'm happy. There isn't any particular race that I *have* to see added. It's easier than adding a class, but I don't think it adds a whole lot to the mix.

That being said, I would LOVE to see a new class added. A new class, though? I'd love to see at least one/year until we complete the basic group of D&D classes (Bard, Druid, Monk being the ones we need to add). The classes would do more to change the landscape than anything, I think - a whole new set of powers / DPS / buffs to try and theorycraft for, new combos to work with, and offers players more options to play with.

Unfortunately, that also means a lot more time needs to be put into the design and testing of powers, and how they work with other combinations of powers, and that means money spent on QA and devs. So - it likely becomes a question of new content (always good) vs. working on the next class, and since most players aren't about to swap their main (especially those at an endgame level), but *will* play new content, the decision is easier from a mgmt perspective - you add the content to keep the players active.

It's a good sign, though, that we are still getting regular updates to content, so I'm not really worried about the state of the game, tbh. I don't think there is any need to splinter things off - the campaigns as they are do a good job of setting progression goals, and can readily determine just how 'level 70' a lvl 70 character is...

hustin1 · May 2018

IIRC, the Arcanist Quarter was located in Upper Blacklake, which heretofore has been an inaccessible part of the Blacklake map. The Academy of Magic burned down under mysterious circumstances (*cough* Qara *cough*), but surely there must be all sorts of buried secrets, magic, and lore at the site. Who knows what the wizards stored beneath the Academy or what other mages stored elsewhere in the Quarter?

sandukutupu · May 2018

Separation of elite players and new players is never the answer. The whole idea of "social gaming" is lost when you start dividing the player base. All my characters are at level 70 and there is no point to raising the level. Just as there was no point to raising the level up from 60 to 70 two years ago. It would be silly to do this and 2 more years we do 90, 100, 120, where does it end? So now because I am the awesome sauce, I can one shot a dragon in Well of the Dragons? That is not fun, I like to revisit previous areas, but NW won't allow us to reduce our level so I can go fight in the Blacklake Skirmish or other places. Few maps offer leveling down, but even then they are no longer the challenge they were before thanks to advanced gear. I have no desire to grind more just for the sake of level cap.

wd1966 · May 2018

sandukutupu said:
Separation of elite players and new players is never the answer. The whole idea of "social gaming" is lost when you start dividing the player base. All my characters are at level 70 and there is no point to raising the level. Just as there was no point to raising the level up from 60 to 70 two years ago.

Have to disagree here. The spreading from Level 6o upward opened the door for new story content and modules 6 through 10, if I remember correctly. There was and is a level of comffusion in all those changes/tweaks, including attack level changes to item levels, AC references to gear level, total item level ratings. So, your comment on not raising from level 60 to 70 doesn't carry a lot of merit on the key of keeping the story content fun and engaging to players, as the game has for the past two years.

sandukutupu said:
It would be silly to do this and 2 more years we do 90, 100, 120, where does it end? So now because I am the awesome sauce, I can one shot a dragon in Well of the Dragons? That is not fun, I like to revisit previous areas, but NW won't allow us to reduce our level so I can go fight in the Blacklake Skirmish or other places. Few maps offer leveling down, but even then they are no longer the challenge they were before thanks to advanced gear. I have no desire to grind more just for the sake of level cap.

This part strikes the "separation of elite players and new players" as a question and not an answer at all. If elite players are bringing in new players, then the "social gaming" is working perfectly. If that is not the case, then there is a different issue at hand in those regards.

Separately, dungeon queueing characters of comparable TIL suggest that ability of complete strangers to adventure together without knowing each other, or making one another feel abandoned or dragged along. On the same dilemma, cycling experience point levels to collect all power points does not provide a long term solution in-game either. What happens when all of the power points are acquired?

A max-level group of characters need a challenge to overcome, and pretty much demands new content reaching an appropriate challenge. To this idea, I have noted elsewhere that there are maps that should be leveling to the characters not leveling the characters to Level 70, where the currect gear doesn't sync right aka getting 8500 healing when 10K+ is really needed. Specifically, Neverdeath Ghost Stories, Ebon Downs Barrow Demolition, Icespre Peaks A Mine Problem/Mithral Mines, Rothe Valley Camp Raid(?), and Whispering Caverns Treasure Seekers unlock at Level 60 for all characters, then bumps characters to Level 70 instead of making the maps from 1 to 3 levels over the characters. To me, an easier situation that waiting until reaching Level 70.

Looking purely at the tech, raising the character level over 70 must carry the merit that the story content, monster level, gear level, and TIL move in a commensurate fashion. This would allow additions of opponents like Ariakas, Asmodeous, Lolth, and resurrections like Baphomet, Pwent, Valindra to be possible without or at least fewer of the problems proclaimed.

Raising The Game Platform Reasonable?

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