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M21 Vaulted Content

The removal of some zones will be covered in an upcoming blog but it will be a major topic for a lot of players so I wanted to take the chance to provide some direct information here.
These are the zones we have removed from the leveling flow:

Blacklake District
Tower District
Blackdagger Ruins
Helm's Hold
Pirate's Skyhold
Rothe Valley
Mount Hotenow

We did not make this decision lightly and we know there are players out there that enjoyed each of these spaces, so here are some of the reasons behind this selection. Some of these zones were selected because they are later reused in the Elemental Evil content, which is now a more accessible Adventure. Some, like Pirate's Skyhold, were selected because we didn't feel the visual fidelity and content flow were up to standards and there was real potential to reimagine these spaces in the future. And others showed that many players would not complete them according to our analytics.

With the new Adventure system, it will be much easier for us to reintroduce content as we identify the opportunity or need. Compared to the new Sharandar, bringing these zones back would look more like a new Epic Adventure at level 20 that has refreshed rewards, a smoother questing experience, various fixes, and more polished visuals. We currently have no plans to evolve other existing adventure zones the way we did with Sharandar.

We understand these kinds of changes have a cost, but we believe we are moving the game in a positive direction for all of our players.

Thank you for playing!
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Comments

  • admiralwarlord#3792 admiralwarlord Member Posts: 611 Arc User
    Isn't it Blacklake or Blackdagger that has the quest where you choose the artifact of the class or another quest that has the option to choose the lantern among others?

    Besides, I don't even remember when I walked on these maps, that everything you planned was pleasant.

  • kreatyvekreatyve Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 10,545 Community Moderator

    Question:
    How will this impact Maze Engine and Tyranny of Dragons? Rothe Valley is one of five key areas for the Tyranny of Dragons campaign, and Maze Engine relies on visiting at least one of these locations (Blacklake).

    Additionally, I would like to agree with Emese regarding the graphics note you provide above. SKYHOLD IS VISUALLY STUNNING. It's the example I use of the high point of what Neverwinter is capable of showing us. It's also got a complex plotline that goes from pillaging natural resources to breaking the curse of an undead pirate captain, and it does it all without resorting to the same repetition of quests that plague the four chapters of Elemental Evil or...shudder...New Sharandar.

    To echo Esme's question--and at the risk of never getting an answer to my questions above--it feels as though the reasons above were manufactured in the hope that people won't care enough to call them out as outright lies. None of the regions listed above fit into the reasons you provided, excepting of course the fact that we cannot access the analytics that you reference. All I can say regarding analytics is that I have personally completed every one of the adventure zones listed and found them to be among my favorites.

    The ones you're keeping - especially Whispering Caverns and Vellosk - are among the least visually appealing, the weakest in terms of overall narrative, and the most combat intensive. It genuinely feels like your true motivations are far removed from those you list.

    The Tyranny of Dragon campaign got reworked to only require the Well of Dragons content. I haven't checked the Maze Engine stuff yet. All the dragons from the leveling zones are gone.
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  • emese#4731 emese Member Posts: 72 Arc User
    edited June 2021
    kreatyve said:

    Question:
    How will this impact Maze Engine and Tyranny of Dragons? Rothe Valley is one of five key areas for the Tyranny of Dragons campaign, and Maze Engine relies on visiting at least one of these locations (Blacklake).

    Additionally, I would like to agree with Emese regarding the graphics note you provide above. SKYHOLD IS VISUALLY STUNNING. It's the example I use of the high point of what Neverwinter is capable of showing us. It's also got a complex plotline that goes from pillaging natural resources to breaking the curse of an undead pirate captain, and it does it all without resorting to the same repetition of quests that plague the four chapters of Elemental Evil or...shudder...New Sharandar.

    To echo Esme's question--and at the risk of never getting an answer to my questions above--it feels as though the reasons above were manufactured in the hope that people won't care enough to call them out as outright lies. None of the regions listed above fit into the reasons you provided, excepting of course the fact that we cannot access the analytics that you reference. All I can say regarding analytics is that I have personally completed every one of the adventure zones listed and found them to be among my favorites.

    The ones you're keeping - especially Whispering Caverns and Vellosk - are among the least visually appealing, the weakest in terms of overall narrative, and the most combat intensive. It genuinely feels like your true motivations are far removed from those you list.

    The Tyranny of Dragon campaign got reworked to only require the Well of Dragons content. I haven't checked the Maze Engine stuff yet. All the dragons from the leveling zones are gone.
    Now I ROFL -- They removed the dragons too??? WHYYYYYY????? Why on earth anyone would do that ??????

  • I am most concerned with the loss of the Explorer Case resources that Mount Hotenow and Pirates Skyhold currently represent. Please make sure these resources are addressed as part of the restructuring. Breaking parts of the game just to retire older content is short-sighted.
  • armadeonxarmadeonx Member Posts: 4,952 Arc User
    Vellosk is an area you should've removed, it has no ties to anything else and feels like a waste of time - which is one reason it's usually empty.
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  • blargskullblargskull Member Posts: 514 Arc User
    Whoa, I thought I was pretty good at cheesing players off with my trolling, but I must bend the knee to @eminnerdev#8159 :trollface:

    Here is my serious FAQ for you.

    Does this mean module 15 "Heart of Fire" aka Acquisitions Incorporated is gone or just broken? The reason I ask, this campaign uses Blacklake as the starting point. Without Blacklake, new players have no exposition of this area. This removal kills an otherwise humorous historical point of the plot. The Nashers are pivotal in Cloaked Ascendancy as they attack the celebration. New players again have no exposition to understand their connection to the crown of Neverwinter and what their objection to Lord Neverember has to do with the plot. In short, I think you are digging plot holes you just cannot fill.

    Why is Vellosk not on that list of vaulted content? I think that is maybe the only one I never fully played even 10%. I did return several times to do Maze Engine, but never to complete the werewolf versus Netherese campaign. This content appeals to someone, I don't desire to play it, but someone out there does. If you based this vaulted content solely according to your analytics, Stardock should be gone too. I haven't seen more than 5 to 10 players in that broom closet you call a campaign. As small and unattractive as it is, I would not wish it to be deleted.

    I think I will reserve the remainder of any questions for a later date. At this point, I seriously believe Champions Online will out number the population of all 3 platforms, once players get back from summer vacation, and find this steaming pile you plan to pass off as something better.

    Good job, I bet anything everyone at Cryptic Studios is posting their resumes about now.

    Just killing time...
  • sagakaiyume#0847 sagakaiyume Member Posts: 402 Arc User
    I have two characters at specific points in Rothe valley's story quest to help people get the lolth crown and armor. These are cosmetics that people really like and with the removal of Rothe valley, the exact armor piece for fighter no longer drops anywhere, unsure of the crown. There is a different version of the armor in temple of the spider, but 1 its different, two its rare. One version only some classes can wear..
  • fritz#8093 fritz Member Posts: 439 Arc User
    Bug:

    - The Explorer's Charts for Pirate's Skyhold and Mount Hotenow still point to the now removed content.
  • polysatyr81polysatyr81 Member Posts: 154 Arc User
    I see there isn't any Bounty drops. What do you do with the old bounties?
  • blargskullblargskull Member Posts: 514 Arc User

    I see there isn't any Bounty drops. What do you do with the old bounties?

    They will probably have the Antiquity Dealer collect them for massive amounts of AD, driving the economy further out of control? :trollface:

    Just killing time...
  • rikitakirikitaki Member Posts: 926 Arc User

    Compared to the new Sharandar, bringing these zones back would look more like a new Epic Adventure at level 20 that has refreshed rewards, a smoother questing experience, various fixes, and more polished visuals.

    Please, no more of those "more polished" visuals.
    Avernus introduced a very nice and polished dust storm - and ever since my game looks ugly as hell because I was forced to switch all the graphic settings to minimum just to enable my sight to barely function in that location.
    It perfectly reflects the fact that in a real dust storm you cannot see a hamster even if it stands right in front of you... however...

    What I wanted to say: The whole game graphics are now completely desolated just because you introduced "more polished visuals". No more grass, no more shadows, no more anything at all... it is bare - because you decided to enrich the visual experience. That improvement had completely opposite effect for me.

    May be less is more sometimes?
  • duurduur Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 112 Arc User
    edited June 2021
    Do we get as many hours of storyline game play back in other regions?
    If not, this game is more and more turning into an another 13 in in a dozen hack and slash game....

    D&D can be that, but that is not the game I want to spend money on or even play.

    oh and just a thought, what happens to all the class and race specific quests in those areas?
    Post edited by duur on
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