ZAX - A little controversy

groo · January 2020

Without wanting the stabbed in a dark alley for asking this, but why is there an AD-Zen conversion option?

Whilst it is great for players, I don't understand it from a business perspective. Without wanting to comment on the Zen store itself, Cryptic want to encourage people to put their hands in their pockets and yet they provide an option in game for people to purchase Zen without having to pay a dime of real money.

I could understand if they sold AD packs on the Zen market so people who pay real money could get AD from it, but providing an option to convert the other way, just doesn't make sense to me (again, from a business perspective).

Like a say, I don't want to get flamed and I'm not trying to get player benefits removed, I am just curious as to the logic?

groo · January 2020

That was meant to say "Without wanting to be stabbed", not "wanting the stabbed".

quickfoot · January 2020

It's a way to make the game free-to-play. F2P is a business model, and while there are certain aspects of P2W (Pay-to-Win) in NW, and they want people to spend money on the game, F2P players do provide value to the game, they farm and create items to sell to P2W players and keep the in-game economy in flux. Also, F2P players may not always be F2P, there's a good chance they'll eventually spend some money on the game, even if it's only $10-100.

The flip side of the ZAX is that people spent IRL $ to buy AD to spend in-game, so it's also a way to make the game P2W.

The real problem with the ZAX right now is that it's backlogged with people wanting to by ZEN with AD, this keeps the in-game economy stagnate to a certain extent and is a sign that something is wrong. They've said before that there is too much "free floating" AD in the game and have looked for various gimmicks as AD sinks, like the legendary Knox companion in the AH a while back. The new Companion System is also more of an AD sink than the old one.

I don't know what their corporate side of things would say about this idea, or if there are any legal obstacles to it, but one thing they could do to both remove a large amount if "free floating" ad from the game, and remove the backlog in the ZAX is to "buy" the AD themselves and delete it, like create a fake account with a bunch of zen, buy all the ad, and then delete the account, but I think they have easier ways of doing it programmatically in their database most likely. This would remove 13+ billion ad from the game on PC and remove the backlog, however it would create a sudden influx of Zen. They could also trickle the Zen in and the AD out over the course of a month or two.

greywynd · January 2020

You aren't buying from the company, but from other players.

carloswartune · January 2020

They could provide "AD packs" in the Zen market, yes. But that would be "creating AD out of thin air". The reason ZAX exists is to provide a direct way to get AD spending Zen without creating new currency, thus preventing rampant inflation.

Of course, it's kinda pointless since there's an indirect way to get more AD from Zen than what the ZAX currently provides (namely, buying things from Zen store and selling them). This is the major reason for the ZAX backlog IMO.

groo · January 2020

I get you are buying it from others. I only meant that from a purely business perspective, it doesn't make sense to me. i.e. Cryptic want you to purchase Zen with cash as that's their business model, so why willingly provide a means not to.

It's interesting @quickfoot mentioned F2P. I had a search around on the internet a while back about 'Free-to-play' games and from what I could find, F2P is actually just a coined phrase that eventually caught on and not an official business term at all. There is no industry standard for the phrase F2P from what I could find. Therefore, even the simplest demo, if it lets you play even a tiny part of a game, still correctly fits the term F2P.

I only mention this (and am honestly happy to be corrected) because as far as I can tell, it is up to the individual company how they interpret F2P and what they actually provide free and what requires payment. Then it is up to the players whether or not they accept it by paying/playing or going elsewhere.

Just saying :-)

groo · January 2020

That's an interesting comment about the market and inflation. It strikes me that the very nature of an in-game currency like AD, that can be earned by completing quests and selling items that drop, is always going to be in a state of being introduced into the economy out of thin air and hence will inevitably lead to inflation. It's not like the AD has to come from somewhere else in the economy to pay you for completing quests or that there a cost to producing the item drops that end on in the market place. How do other games cope with economy?

plasticbat · January 2020

1. It allows the game to label itself to be free to play.
2. If everyone has to pay to get certain item, it is not free to play.
3. Free to play means you can have everything essential the cash player have. It is not what the industry thinks F2P means matters. It is what we think matters.

How to sell the item in Zen store and still claim to be free to play?

1. sell the same item in the game using game currency. Well, will anyone pay money to buy anything from Zen store anymore?
2. allow rich player A to pay another player B something so that player B can use that something to get stuff from Zen store. In other words, player A pays 2 shares to allow player A and B to play. In the meanwhile, player B is free to play.
3. Cryptics wants players to give them money. It can be player A gives $N and player B gives $N. Or, player A gives $2N and player B pays $0. Latter is the same result but it can claim free to play. Cryptic does not really care who pays that $2N as long as somebody does.

groo · January 2020

But that's my point. Free-to-Play is not an official term; it has no recognised legal standing (to my knowledge). i.e. it is a popularised term created by the industry that supplies those sorts of games, not from a recognised standards organisation. Therefore, it's meaning is open to interpretation.

Just a simple wiki (ok, wiki is not necessarily the best source, but just for example) mentions:

"There are several kinds of free-to-play business models. The most common is based on the freemium software model; thus, free-to-play games are oftentimes not entirely free."

Another site mentions "some or all" in respect to free to play content.

I get what you are saying and in a lot of ways it is just semantics, but at the end of the day the term "free to play" in and of itself is non-specific and has no officially recognised definition. All it indicates is that something (non-specific) is playable at no cost. In that respect, a simple one level playable demo is technically 'free to play'.

thefiresidecat · January 2020

quickfoot#7851 said:

I don't know what their corporate side of things would say about this idea, or if there are any legal obstacles to it, but one thing they could do to both remove a large amount if "free floating" ad from the game, and remove the backlog in the ZAX is to "buy" the AD themselves and delete it, like create a fake account with a bunch of zen, buy all the ad, and then delete the account, but I think they have easier ways of doing it programmatically in their database most likely. This would remove 13+ billion ad from the game on PC and remove the backlog, however it would create a sudden influx of Zen. They could also trickle the Zen in and the AD out over the course of a month or two.

I think there is some reason this is a bad idea.. but I don't know what it is. I think this sounds like a good idea. but pretty sure it's not in reality. dunno maybe some kind of every few month giant sale where they offer zen store items for large amounts of ad but less than the current exchange rate that lasts for a few days, would probably have the same effect. so like a 20 percent off xax sale. even doing a straight up sale where they take ad instead of zen at a straight 750 conversion for a couple days every few months would probably really help pc. no one would bite on xbox though. dunno if ps4 has backlog.

callumf · January 2020

groo#6243 said:
Without wanting the stabbed in a dark alley for asking this, but why is there an AD-Zen conversion option?

Whilst it is great for players, I don't understand it from a business perspective. Without wanting to comment on the Zen store itself, Cryptic want to encourage people to put their hands in their pockets and yet they provide an option in game for people to purchase Zen without having to pay a dime of real money.

I could understand if they sold AD packs on the Zen market so people who pay real money could get AD from it, but providing an option to convert the other way, just doesn't make sense to me (again, from a business perspective).

Like a say, I don't want to get flamed and I'm not trying to get player benefits removed, I am just curious as to the logic?

I was thinking more or less the exact thing only a couple of hours ago.

From a money making point of view, allowing players to play/grind to buy VIP [a type of subscription kind of] doesn't make any business sense to me whatsoever

nooneatza · January 2020

One more thing no one is mentioning, tying the in-game currency to a real world currency is a good way to prevent ridiculous amounts of inflation. Meaning AD will always have a value.

groo · January 2020

Thanks for your comments. I was curious about whether there was more to it than my little brain could comprehend. lol. I've always thought that Cryptic would do better if they re-hashed the Zen market and maybe include some unique items that you could literally only get on the Zen market (and importantly, items people would actually want). But of course, being able to convert AD to Zen removes the option to make items unique to paying customers only.

Like I said before, I'm not looking for player benefits to be removed, but it is interesting to ponder when you look at it from a business perspective and we do like to try and second guess what goes on behind the walls at Cryptic. I don't know how other F2P games manage on the financial side, but some definitely handle it more subtly than others.

What sparked the question really was the CPD the discussion currently is on VIP. Ever since I got into Neverwinter, VIP has been one of those things seen as a must-have by players. But reading different forums and watching streams over the time I've played and I'm left with the impression that a lot of savvy players keep VIP going through AD to Zen conversion rather than dropping real cash. From a purely business perspective, that would feel like lost revenue to me if I was in the developers position and I'm a little surprised they have left things as they are (bearing in mind Neverwinter has been going for over six years).

milehighxr · January 2020

I think the biggest issue with the backog on PC is the scammers that multi box and go afk for rad farming on multiple accounts simultaneously. Unfrotunately they have no way of stopping the practice for good, that won't harm the legit players.

plasticbat · January 2020

callumf#9018 said:

groo#6243 said:
Without wanting the stabbed in a dark alley for asking this, but why is there an AD-Zen conversion option?

Whilst it is great for players, I don't understand it from a business perspective. Without wanting to comment on the Zen store itself, Cryptic want to encourage people to put their hands in their pockets and yet they provide an option in game for people to purchase Zen without having to pay a dime of real money.

I could understand if they sold AD packs on the Zen market so people who pay real money could get AD from it, but providing an option to convert the other way, just doesn't make sense to me (again, from a business perspective).

Like a say, I don't want to get flamed and I'm not trying to get player benefits removed, I am just curious as to the logic?
I was thinking more or less the exact thing only a couple of hours ago.

From a money making point of view, allowing players to play/grind to buy VIP [a type of subscription kind of] doesn't make any business sense to me whatsoever

Except your grinding may not give you VIP if nobody wants to buy your AD.
Your AD can be exchanged to Zen only because somebody already spend money to buy that Zen and is willing to buy your AD. Once, the Zen is used to buy stuff from Zen store, it evaporates. If someone wants to buy another month of VIP, somebody (himself or somebody else) must spend money to get the Zen.
If Cryptic wants to get $20 for selling 2 month of VIP, they will get that $20. Does Cryptic really care whose pocket that $20 came from?

wintersmoke · January 2020

groo#6243 said:
That's an interesting comment about the market and inflation. It strikes me that the very nature of an in-game currency like AD, that can be earned by completing quests and selling items that drop, is always going to be in a state of being introduced into the economy out of thin air and hence will inevitably lead to inflation. It's not like the AD has to come from somewhere else in the economy to pay you for completing quests or that there a cost to producing the item drops that end on in the market place. How do other games cope with economy?

This has not been the case on the consoles...

dionchi · January 2020

Neverwinter could still be "Free to Play" even if Cryptic totally did away with the Zen Exchange...

There might not be so many players walking around with BIS everything and all kinds of in game bonuses but just about every part of the game can be played without BIS gear - it's just easier with better gear.

No one needs VIP to be able to successfully play Neverwinter, particularly since so many of the things attributed to VIP have very little or nothing at all relating to actual game play.

For instance VIP Sign Post, Bank, Mail, AD Bonus, AH Fee Waiver and a lot of other things have absolutely no direct effect on game play, they're just short cuts to already in game features and the AH Fee Waiver and AD Bonus doesn't give any benefits to a players stats or ability to play Neverwinter it just allows players to keep or make a little in game currency...

All well and good for those who want to spend Zen for those benefits but as I said not vital or required to be able to play the game.

Game buy out tokens help players finish various areas quicker, but those areas can still be cleared with time and perseverance.

Likewise Legendary items, Enchantments, Runestones, Gear, Companions and Mounts are undeniably items that make game play easier, but again not necessarily vital or required to be able to play most of the game.

I've always been an advocate of doing away with the Zen Exchange entirely...

Instead of selling things like buy out tokens, VIP Lock Box Keys and Legendary items from the Zen market, put an actual real world currency value on those items and sell them for actual cash revenue.

All items of common or uncommon value (White and Green) should be available to be purchased using the in game Gold standard (of course this would require reclassification of some items like (Green) artifacts), Epic (Blue) items should be available for purchase with Astral Diamonds, and in addition to collecting actual real world revenue for the purchase of Legendary Items, Neverwinter can also sell bundles of Astral Diamonds instead of Zen, removing Zen entirely from the Neverwinter economy. I suspect the only reason they don't is because some people have a mindset where they don't mind spending 5,700 Zen for an item - but they might balk at having to spend $57 for that same item.

At some point PWE and Neverwinter are going to have to decide whether they want to have their game generate revenue - or keep some of the long time players who probably already have stockpiles of in game currency and thus usually spend very little real world cash to support the game since they can usually use the Exchange and Auction House procure just about anything they want.

sandukutupu · January 2020

This is not a Cryptic "thing" at all, it is the model the company took from the Chinese owned publisher, and parent company, Perfect World Entertainment. PWE offers you Zen not Cryptic. Cryptic games, when they were owned by Atari, were all monthly subscriptions. As soon as PWE got them, they became Free to Grind and payment is optional. Take a look at the zen store for Champions Online, it is still called the C store and not the Zen Store. Cryptic coins were something they sold.

This pattern began with the original Guild Wars, sold for $50 and was Free to Play after the initial purchase. This was a Korean model of an MMO created by ArenaNet here in the US, but funded by NCSoft. The Asian model of Free to Play was the next rung on the ladder. Under pressure GW2 and WoW made Free to Play models but limited to the first campaign or partial level cap.

Personally I have no love for the Zen exchange. However I am fairly sure, but not certain, they are not allowed to remove it or make much alterations without permission from PWE first. My thoughts would be, remove the Zax, replace both stores with better versions, AD store selling the same items as the Zen Store at a fixed price. Also it would not be the Zen Store but a cash only store. For example you could buy a coalescent ward for 400K AD (grind it free) or pay $4 for one. And yes, I cannot see paying $10 for a coalescent ward any day of the week. People who flip items wouldn't like it.

thefiresidecat · January 2020

sandukutupu said:
This is not a Cryptic "thing" at all, it is the model the company took from the Chinese owned publisher, and parent company, Perfect World Entertainment. PWE offers you Zen not Cryptic. Cryptic games, when they were owned by Atari, were all monthly subscriptions. As soon as PWE got them, they became Free to Grind and payment is optional. Take a look at the zen store for Champions Online, it is still called the C store and not the Zen Store. Cryptic coins were something they sold.

This pattern began with the original Guild Wars, sold for $50 and was Free to Play after the initial purchase. This was a Korean model of an MMO created by ArenaNet here in the US, but funded by NCSoft. The Asian model of Free to Play was the next rung on the ladder. Under pressure GW2 and WoW made Free to Play models but limited to the first campaign or partial level cap.

Personally I have no love for the Zen exchange. However I am fairly sure, but not certain, they are not allowed to remove it or make much alterations without permission from PWE first. My thoughts would be, remove the Zax, replace both stores with better versions, AD store selling the same items as the Zen Store at a fixed price. Also it would not be the Zen Store but a cash only store. For example you could buy a coalescent ward for 400K AD (grind it free) or pay $4 for one. And yes, I cannot see paying $10 for a coalescent ward any day of the week. People who flip items wouldn't like it.

the exchange, the auction, and what not are the fun a lot of people find in this game. honestly if it changed much i'd quit playing. it is one of the only aspects of this game I really have fun with anymore.
ofc, it's a long way from capped on xbox

groo · January 2020

plasticbat said:

callumf#9018 said:

groo#6243 said:
Without wanting the stabbed in a dark alley for asking this, but why is there an AD-Zen conversion option?

Whilst it is great for players, I don't understand it from a business perspective. Without wanting to comment on the Zen store itself, Cryptic want to encourage people to put their hands in their pockets and yet they provide an option in game for people to purchase Zen without having to pay a dime of real money.

I could understand if they sold AD packs on the Zen market so people who pay real money could get AD from it, but providing an option to convert the other way, just doesn't make sense to me (again, from a business perspective).

Like a say, I don't want to get flamed and I'm not trying to get player benefits removed, I am just curious as to the logic?
I was thinking more or less the exact thing only a couple of hours ago.

From a money making point of view, allowing players to play/grind to buy VIP [a type of subscription kind of] doesn't make any business sense to me whatsoever
Except your grinding may not give you VIP if nobody wants to buy your AD.
Your AD can be exchanged to Zen only because somebody already spend money to buy that Zen and is willing to buy your AD. Once, the Zen is used to buy stuff from Zen store, it evaporates. If someone wants to buy another month of VIP, somebody (himself or somebody else) must spend money to get the Zen.
If Cryptic wants to get $20 for selling 2 month of VIP, they will get that $20. Does Cryptic really care whose pocket that $20 came from?

Actually, this answers my question, so thanks. I was only thinking about the fact you could exchange AD for Zen and not actually where that Zen comes from. As pointed out, Zen needs to have been purchased in order to be on the Zax in the first place, so from a business perspective, at least Zen is being purchased somewhere along the line.

I guess in that case, as the ZAX is always active on all three platforms, there should be a steady amount of cash going to Cryptic/PWE/WotC. I wonder what the split is?

groo · January 2020

sandukutupu said:
This is not a Cryptic "thing" at all, it is the model the company took from the Chinese owned publisher, and parent company, Perfect World Entertainment. PWE offers you Zen not Cryptic. Cryptic games, when they were owned by Atari, were all monthly subscriptions. As soon as PWE got them, they became Free to Grind and payment is optional. Take a look at the zen store for Champions Online, it is still called the C store and not the Zen Store. Cryptic coins were something they sold.

This pattern began with the original Guild Wars, sold for $50 and was Free to Play after the initial purchase. This was a Korean model of an MMO created by ArenaNet here in the US, but funded by NCSoft. The Asian model of Free to Play was the next rung on the ladder. Under pressure GW2 and WoW made Free to Play models but limited to the first campaign or partial level cap.

Personally I have no love for the Zen exchange. However I am fairly sure, but not certain, they are not allowed to remove it or make much alterations without permission from PWE first. My thoughts would be, remove the Zax, replace both stores with better versions, AD store selling the same items as the Zen Store at a fixed price. Also it would not be the Zen Store but a cash only store. For example you could buy a coalescent ward for 400K AD (grind it free) or pay $4 for one. And yes, I cannot see paying $10 for a coalescent ward any day of the week. People who flip items wouldn't like it.

I know it is not Cryptic specific as there is the parent company and the license for D&D involved. I'm not suggesting it be removed either as there has to be some payment scheme in place and at least F2P gives you (the player) a choice whilst still being able to play the game.

When first playing NW, knowing it was F2P, I was surprised that it was actually possible to access the entire game without dropping real money. I assumed that I'd be locked out of certain content or I'd only be able to reach a certain level before hitting a pay wall of some description.

I have dropped cash, but only because it seemed fair and not because I ever felt I needed to and only to the amount of buying a boxed game off the shelf. Being completely honest, I don't really understand what it is that people keep finding to spend money on? I bought character slots and bank/bag space that was useful, but everything else I've got just through playing. I know people rave about VIP, but I tried it and just don't rate it personally (not knocking those that find it useful).

callumf · January 2020

What @sandukutupu said mostly.

Coal Ward for sale @ $5 each makes sense all round.

MOP rank 6 x 5 pack $10

etc

Now that iL 1225/1250 are going to be an easy thing due to APE, players really would spend some cash to get those enchants/runestones up to rank 15

sandukutupu · January 2020

One other thing I forgot to add. I would sell in the cash store a "Donation to Server Time" which would allow users to simply give from their heart. Their donation would be converted into the cost that would spotlight the user as keeping the servers up and running. Instead of seeing what a player opened and won from a lock box, you would get an Admin Notice;

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!

I don't know how much a single hour of server time would cost, but I sure Cryptic's accountants can figure it out.

groo · January 2020

sandukutupu said:
One other thing I forgot to add. I would sell in the cash store a "Donation to Server Time" which would allow users to simply give from their heart. Their donation would be converted into the cost that would spotlight the user as keeping the servers up and running. Instead of seeing what a player opened and won from a lock box, you would get an Admin Notice;

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!
I don't know how much a single hour of server time would cost, but I sure Cryptic's accountants can figure it out.

"For the love of Neverwinter", I like it ;-) There could be a status thing associated, say like a coat of arms logo next to your health bar on your character (that other players can see in game) or a cool fashion item or visual effect or something. It would have to be unique and desirable as you are essentially donating to keep the game going. It could be active for a period of time or something after donation (depending on the amount donated).

How about purchasing "Developer Time"? You get to choose from a list of categories or areas of the game and if a minimum donation level is reached then Cryptic have to commit to a certain number of hours being spent in during that month developing that area. Ok, may not be easy to manage on a practical level (ensuring development resource availability, quantifying results, etc), but would be cool way of influencing development direction. I'd vote for certain bug fixes!

darthpotater · January 2020

sandukutupu said:
One other thing I forgot to add. I would sell in the cash store a "Donation to Server Time" which would allow users to simply give from their heart. Their donation would be converted into the cost that would spotlight the user as keeping the servers up and running. Instead of seeing what a player opened and won from a lock box, you would get an Admin Notice;

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!
I don't know how much a single hour of server time would cost, but I sure Cryptic's accountants can figure it out.

What about a progressing bar of donations to get a Month of bugfixes? Remember that october when they fixed lots of stuff. was fun.

methuselas · January 2020

Groo,

The problem with the ZaX is simply due to the fact that Cryptic created a market they can't control with the Auction House. For years, people have been exploiting this game in various ways, to gain AD. It started back in 2013 with the Astral Resonators. (You could activate one, throw the activated one on the AH, farm for the AD, then cancel the AH consignment and you had an Astral Resonator you could use again.)

Now Gold Sellers and exploiters have been around for years. They've got tens of millions in AD, they convert it to Zen on the ZaX and sit on it. They only post Zen when they need AD to sell. But, they never need AD, 'cos they have Zen.

Well, what do they do with that Zen? They flip it.

At current prices, a Coal Ward costs 750,000 AD or 1000 Zen. Now, if you get a 20% off Refinement Item Coupon, that cost drops to 600,000 AD or 800 Zen. Coals are selling on the AH for 700,399, currently. That means if you sold one, you've gotten your money back, saved 200 Zen AND made 100k in profit, but it's still LESS than what you would pay in Zen.

The cost for a 10x Pres Wards is 100 Zen. Same rule applies. A stack of 99 Pres Wards sells for 780,110 on the AH, but if you used a 20% off Coupon, that same stack is 594,000 in AD, or roughly 800 Zen. You've just made 180k in profit. Now, in the case of Pres Wards, this stack is cheaper if you bought it off the Zen Market, but if you need it "now" and don't have Zen, you pay the higher price on the AH.

The seller then takes his investment, plus the profit and re-invests it in the ZaX.

That's why it takes 5 weeks to get an exchange done and why the backlog is so high.

methuselas · January 2020

sandukutupu said:
One other thing I forgot to add. I would sell in the cash store a "Donation to Server Time" which would allow users to simply give from their heart. Their donation would be converted into the cost that would spotlight the user as keeping the servers up and running. Instead of seeing what a player opened and won from a lock box, you would get an Admin Notice;

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!
I don't know how much a single hour of server time would cost, but I sure Cryptic's accountants can figure it out.

LMAO!

@sandukutupu,

I'm still waiting on Neverember to make good on his Promissory Notes. Guy sold me Beachfront Property in Dread Ring. XD

groo · January 2020

methuselas said:
Groo,

The problem with the ZaX is simply due to the fact that Cryptic created a market they can't control with the Auction House. For years, people have been exploiting this game in various ways, to gain AD. It started back in 2013 with the Astral Resonators. (You could activate one, throw the activated one on the AH, farm for the AD, then cancel the AH consignment and you had an Astral Resonator you could use again.)

Now Gold Sellers and exploiters have been around for years. They've got tens of millions in AD, they convert it to Zen on the ZaX and sit on it. They only post Zen when they need AD to sell. But, they never need AD, 'cos they have Zen.

Well, what do they do with that Zen? They flip it.

At current prices, a Coal Ward costs 750,000 AD or 1000 Zen. Now, if you get a 20% off Refinement Item Coupon, that cost drops to 600,000 AD or 800 Zen. Coals are selling on the AH for 700,399, currently. That means if you sold one, you've gotten your money back, saved 200 Zen AND made 100k in profit, but it's still LESS than what you would pay in Zen.

The cost for a 10x Pres Wards is 100 Zen. Same rule applies. A stack of 99 Pres Wards sells for 780,110 on the AH, but if you used a 20% off Coupon, that same stack is 594,000 in AD, or roughly 800 Zen. You've just made 180k in profit. Now, in the case of Pres Wards, this stack is cheaper if you bought it off the Zen Market, but if you need it "now" and don't have Zen, you pay the higher price on the AH.

The seller then takes his investment, plus the profit and re-invests it in the ZaX.

That's why it takes 5 weeks to get an exchange done and why the backlog is so high.

As usual, money leads to money; the joys of capitalism! I always thought Neverwinter was about playing and enjoying D&D, not creative accountancy. It feels like some people have too much time on their hands.

In any case, I don't see how Cryptic will deal with this situation that will be effective without HAMSTER innocent players over? I confess, I've never used the ZAX other than in the old days to pass AD from one alt to another. I've only ever played to have fun, but it's difficult not to get pulled into the politics of it the longer you play.

pitshade · January 2020

Resonator was 2014, but Caturday was 2013.

methuselas · January 2020

pitshade said:
Resonator was 2014, but Caturday was 2013.

Backwards, the Resonator came first. Then came Caturday. I remember logging in, seeing everyone with cats, going "WTF?" and like 5 minutes later the server went down on a Saturday for like 5 hours to do a roll back.

I was so pissed.
Wait.... this just happened on Mod 18's release to me, as well, sans the cats. This time it was legendary mounts. XD

ZAX - A little controversy

Comments

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!

Llorna Zorg@sandukutupu has donated 12 hours of server time to this game!