iamdoctordeathMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
I think there is a good point for finding a middle ground- I don't like having three bars of abilities either, ability bloat is just painful... but having a handful of abilities isn't much better- it didn't work for GW2, though in fairness- GW2's problem was how streamlined it was and how fights at level 80 and 60 and 20 and 10 felt the exact freaking same since the progression was all but zilch.
I hope NWO will have more meaningful advancement- a smaller bar makes me crave 3.5... it wasn't perfect, but goodness, the variety you could get as a wizard or cleric was astounding.... the idea that warriors would have the same number of abilities as a wizard just makes no sense to me.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
kellax3Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 17Arc User
I just want to start off saying there's a lot I like from what I have seen so far, but patting Cryptic on the back isn't going to address my issues. This game has huge potential. Action MMO's are the future. So since this game is growing on me from all the streams and vids I've seen, I'd like to point out stuff that needs to be changed.
Limited character building:Just from what I've been reading from official responses and seen in videos, the character customization for powers/skills/abilities seems limited. Diversity is key. I haven't seen the Paragon paths but just looking at the initial framework, I'm praying its not a preview of what's to come. Players need to be a snowflake. Not cookie cutters. I may be 100% wrong on this since I haven't seen the higher level progression on the character sheet, but I think its a worthy concern. People want depth. Five classes at launch seems narrow. If these classes have a wide range of options beyond their initial layout through the Paragon system then it could work out.
Too little active skills:First off, I like a trim UI along with abilities. BUT, I think Cryptic went off the deep end. Two "at-wills", and 3 "encounter" cool downs, is a little short. Watching streams/videos demonstrated how monotonous combat is. I'm fine with the dailies. I understand why there's only 2 at-wills, b/c it ties into the mouse mechanic design. I would be more at ease if they added one or two more active encounter powers to your hotbar, AND put them on a shorter cd. From the looks of it most of the cds have a minimum 10 sec cd, but average in the 14-16 sec range. I read in the FAQ they were supposed to be on a 6-12 sec cd, but I've seen it different so far. Shorter cds will make the combat more interesting and exciting.
Claustrophobic environment:I've played 2 Cryptic games in the past, CoV and CO. I know how corralled and segregated their worlds can be. Over-instancing breaks immersion. I remember one of the major reason I quit SWTOR was b/c you got to a point where there was nothing left to do other than loiter the space station, and queue for pvp. That sucked. It was GW all over again. We didn't have a reason to go out in the world and interact with the beautiful landscapes. This problem can be fixed though. Having a large, robust end-game open world zone with dailies, world bosses, dynamic events, etc., would satisfy me. I'm not concerned with the low-level areas too much. They are just a part of the journey, not the destination.
The point is this: Cryptic is almost there. I realize this is still closed beta. Lots can change. But I saw an interview where a developer said "they don't need everything at launch". I disagree. Somethings are staples for launch. These, IMO, are some of them.
/rantoff
Historically, DnD games haven't had a massive open-world to explore, but I think it would enliven the game considerably. I had fun in FFXI just running around several zones and listening to the music - that aspect of the game really appealed to me. I can still hear the music as I farm crawlers for silk in Rolanberry Fields.
And as you said, it's just the first phase of beta, so there's nothing to actually worry about... yet.
Cryptic dropped the ball already.. But you could imagine PWE is at point to make own AAA titl, massive F2P AAA title could probably boost all their games. But keep in mind this is F2P game, not too bad at all.
Btw. I'd love to see PWE, Gamigo and G1 to combine their powers..
From the animations that I've seen, I think they're good, but I agree some of them are a bit stiff. What stands out is how each character and action has weight to it and how each skill has definite impact. That already puts animation above most other MMOs. My Greatweapon Fighter is going to have so much fun with the physics system.
I DON'T like the Wizard animations, though. It looks like they're doing Kung Fu. I figured they'd have a staff or something more Wizardy.
Usually, I would expect 2 or 3 animations for each attack which are switched out dynamically if the attack is repeated. Even WoW has multiple animations for it's base autoattacks for the most part. It all just looks very repetitive in Neverwinter. Maybe even take a page from DDO, those attacks don't look great but there's a looping series of different attacks even if you're a level 1 wizard holding a greatsword you get two different attacks in a chain.
Who me? Not at all. I am a total NW fanatic, don't you know?
And meet the army which is standing behind me.
*cleric casts summon dead and an army of undead mummies tear the ground and crawl up*
Who me? Not at all. I am a total NW fanatic, don't you know?
And meet the army which is standing behind me.
*cleric casts summon dead and an army of undead mummies tear the ground and crawl up*
I'm sorry, but due to Cryptic deciding for us that there are no evil deities, you cannot cast summon undead. Nor can you use any kind of negative energy spell. Only goody-two-shoes clerics allowed in Neverwinter.
I'm sorry, but due to Cryptic deciding for us that there are no evil deities, you cannot cast summon undead. Nor can you use any kind of negative energy spell. Only goody-two-shoes clerics allowed in Neverwinter.
*casts banish*
mumbles, "go back to CO realms where you came from with your angst and rage"
*keeps summoning undead*
Was watching a stream now with a rogue playing and she was spinning the weapons in her hands as the attacks were going out to match the movement of the hand and always hit with the blade part of the weapon as she was using multiple attack positions and patterns
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."
0
adymantMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 5Arc User
edited February 2013
I can only agree with your second point about "too little active skills". However, it doens't need to be overloaded with abilities where you have to fill up mutiple hotbars and then use a custom UI with <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> all over the screen to click. One or two more encounter abilites would be enough--more than that would slow down the combat and cause it to lose the "action RPG" aspect and would likely make combat less fun.
As far as being a claustophobic environment, I think the Foundry is intended to give the extra content we are looking for--especially for end game.
Overall, I've had a blast playing this first beta. I'm disappointed that the weekend is nealry over, and am already looking forward to Beta #2!
I'd have to agree with too little available abilities. TotalBiscuit did a wonderful WTF (on youtube) and one of the devs claims they went that way because in most cases even if you have several massive hotbars you only end up using the same set of a handful of skills.
If this is their real reasoning, why not give people the option to have them if they want to? I don't want to fluff around and change my UI for different encounters. I hate moving buttons.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
akslammerMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 5Arc User
edited February 2013
I truly think with these new AMMOs less skills is the way to go. In any older MMO that has many skills to use the player always ends up using the same rotation to achieve a goal be it DPS/Heal/DoTs or debuffing even tanking/guarding has rotations that always work better using a few skills out of the 20+ ones that the class has. Do we want cookie cutter builds heck no but sadly even in games that have many classes and skills the cookie build is usually the most efficient one to use look at RIFT for an example. Also D&D has always been known to be rather strict on the how to make a role good at what it does why would we mess with classic ideas of D&D. Maybe I am just an old head out here in the MMO lands but I always feel less is more
I truly think with these new AMMOs less skills is the way to go.
I can buy that, but what do you think then 7 or 8? Also have your actions also affect the skill. If I'm jumping and press a skill, I get another affect then standing and using the skill. That way you can double up. Moving backwards, another variation. If you did that, then we could even possibly go down to 5 and still feel we have lots of options.
0
shaigunjoeMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 6Arc User
edited February 2013
Completely agree with bullet number 3. I am very concerned that the game won't have the huge vistas and nice big landscape to explore, what fun is exploring Faerun if is just small zone after small zone? I really wish each zone ran into the next one, and yes, heavy instancing does kill immersion for me.
0
bluesteel8Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 0Arc User
Completely agree with bullet number 3. I am very concerned that the game won't have the huge vistas and nice big landscape to explore, what fun is exploring Faerun if is just small zone after small zone? I really wish each zone ran into the next one, and yes, heavy instancing does kill immersion for me.
This is a massive worry for me. I love this game but it did feel a tad "corridor". I hated SWTOR as it kinda felt so restricted. Everything else I found totally amazing.
From what i ve seen and read, when you start a combat move "attack swing" you loose control of your toon?. in DDO i can run around a monster and swing at the same time i like that. dont get me wrong ive been hyped about this game since before they opend the forums. and whats up with my join date it should say may 2012 i started this the day they opend the forums ? wtf
From what i ve seen and read, when you start a combat move "attack swing" you loose control of your toon?. in DDO i can run around a monster and swing at the same time i like that. dont get me wrong ive been hyped about this game since before they opend the forums. and whats up with my join date it should say may 2012 i started this the day they opend the forums ? wtf
Actually this was adressed recently.
They can remove this rooting - their engine has the capability. However, they decided not to because they feel it is more realistic this way as the power of a strike has to come from legs. There are some moves which do not require rooting, but most moves do.
For example, the whirlwind move of GWF, you can move the fighter while he is in tasmanian devil mode by using direction keys (pokket's review).
Item #1 is being felt by many. The choice to have the classes as Templates is a real bummer to me. The lack of class/character customization is going to hurt the game in the long run IMO. Many players who currently play DDO will look at the total LACK of customization as a major game flaw. Even in 4th Edition you have options and choices almost every level. Not just which ability to slot. It is like playing a premade character.
Item #2 is actually pretty far off. Depending on your class abilities, slot loadout, etc. you are pretty active most of the time. I find the actual combat to be really fun (now it may get tedious with time, but the newness is still there and thus it is a hoot to me).
Item #3 is also incorrect. Areas are opening up as we level up. Granted, I still am waiting to be able to just wander the sword coast or neverwinter woods, but so far it does seem to be less and less compact.
From what i ve seen and read, when you start a combat move "attack swing" you loose control of your toon?. in DDO i can run around a monster and swing at the same time i like that. dont get me wrong ive been hyped about this game since before they opend the forums. and whats up with my join date it should say may 2012 i started this the day they opend the forums ? wtf
Some times you are rooted until the attack animation is over. Most times you are able to move freely.
0
menajMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 2Arc User
edited February 2013
I also think that there are too few ability buttons. I was playing a cleric and I can see this (pressing the same combat buttons) getting VERY repitive over the long haul. I'm not advocating 6 rows of 12 bars, but I do think sometimes less is too less!
As for the lack of skills, the # of active skills can be ok, but if they haven't they should check out C9/Dragons Nest. There you have limited hot key skills but when you jump and use a skill that is something different. Moving left/right on some skills they work differently. So Lets say one is a Sword Swing. Jump and 1 is a Bash. Left and 1 is a slice. Right and 1 is a hook swing. Things like that. To me that is the next step in action combat, more towards old school fighting games.
I agree with this. It would make a GREAT action MMO if you had different attack combos. Nothing massive, just minor changes. I don't see how this works for casters or archers though. If I jump and use Magic missile, it's still magic missile. Although if they gave mages/clerics a few more ability slots that would work. Would make sense with wizards at least. Battle clerics aren't as hard for abilities, but for a wizard 5-7 abilities seems kind of low. Not saying to give them 30, but maybe 10-12? Even just 10 would make for a MUCH more diverse wizard. Instead of people going for only the main damage abilities, some might go for boost abilities, morphing abilities, etc. As to rangers, I've got nothing. No matter how you cut it, a bow shooting arrows is just that. Getting special arrows is the only answer to that.
Completely agree with bullet number 3. I am very concerned that the game won't have the huge vistas and nice big landscape to explore, what fun is exploring Faerun if is just small zone after small zone? I really wish each zone ran into the next one, and yes, heavy instancing does kill immersion for me.
Yeah. There's something grounding about playing in a virtual world that is nearly seamless. The landmarks have more impact. If a game is too instanced it feels like I'm participating in an X-men danger room session lol. It feels fake and generated.
NW-DT4OV7EXH
Every time they idiot-proof something...they make better idiots.
Item #1 is being felt by many. The choice to have the classes as Templates is a real bummer to me. The lack of class/character customization is going to hurt the game in the long run IMO. Many players who currently play DDO will look at the total LACK of customization as a major game flaw. Even in 4th Edition you have options and choices almost every level. Not just which ability to slot. It is like playing a premade character.
Item #2 is actually pretty far off. Depending on your class abilities, slot loadout, etc. you are pretty active most of the time. I find the actual combat to be really fun (now it may get tedious with time, but the newness is still there and thus it is a hoot to me).
Item #3 is also incorrect. Areas are opening up as we level up. Granted, I still am waiting to be able to just wander the sword coast or neverwinter woods, but so far it does seem to be less and less compact.
Premade characters are a good description. Players want their builds to stand out. Nobody creative or competitive wants to be homogenized. Most of the fun in MMO's is trying to crack the code on the perfect build for your class. I've spend countless hours in games spinning my wheels with just that. Look what happened to WoW's new talent tree change. It was a catastrophe.
With skills, I stand by what I said. GW2 had more actives and that felt restrictive. I hope you're right about the world opening up later on. Cryptic's record worries me.
NW-DT4OV7EXH
Every time they idiot-proof something...they make better idiots.
0
gouldan1Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 4Arc User
I just want to start off saying there's a lot I like from what I have seen so far, but patting Cryptic on the back isn't going to address my issues. This game has huge potential. Action MMO's are the future. So since this game is growing on me from all the streams and vids I've seen, I'd like to point out stuff that needs to be changed.
Limited character building:Just from what I've been reading from official responses and seen in videos, the character customization for powers/skills/abilities seems limited. Diversity is key. I haven't seen the Paragon paths but just looking at the initial framework, I'm praying its not a preview of what's to come. Players need to be a snowflake. Not cookie cutters. I may be 100% wrong on this since I haven't seen the higher level progression on the character sheet, but I think its a worthy concern. People want depth. Five classes at launch seems narrow. If these classes have a wide range of options beyond their initial layout through the Paragon system then it could work out.
Too little active skills:First off, I like a trim UI along with abilities. BUT, I think Cryptic went off the deep end. Two "at-wills", and 3 "encounter" cool downs, is a little short. Watching streams/videos demonstrated how monotonous combat is. I'm fine with the dailies. I understand why there's only 2 at-wills, b/c it ties into the mouse mechanic design. I would be more at ease if they added one or two more active encounter powers to your hotbar, AND put them on a shorter cd. From the looks of it most of the cds have a minimum 10 sec cd, but average in the 14-16 sec range. I read in the FAQ they were supposed to be on a 6-12 sec cd, but I've seen it different so far. Shorter cds will make the combat more interesting and exciting.
Claustrophobic environment:I've played 2 Cryptic games in the past, CoV and CO. I know how corralled and segregated their worlds can be. Over-instancing breaks immersion. I remember one of the major reason I quit SWTOR was b/c you got to a point where there was nothing left to do other than loiter the space station, and queue for pvp. That sucked. It was GW all over again. We didn't have a reason to go out in the world and interact with the beautiful landscapes. This problem can be fixed though. Having a large, robust end-game open world zone with dailies, world bosses, dynamic events, etc., would satisfy me. I'm not concerned with the low-level areas too much. They are just a part of the journey, not the destination.
The point is this: Cryptic is almost there. I realize this is still closed beta. Lots can change. But I saw an interview where a developer said "they don't need everything at launch". I disagree. Somethings are staples for launch. These, IMO, are some of them.
/rantoff
After 2 full days of play in Beta, so far I would have to agree with pretty well the entire post. The limited character building and progression, as well as a clear lack of useful skills is going to really be a sore point for me and many like me moving forward. I will not base my final decision until final release, so I am hoping for a bit more on the character side upon the release to keep my interest going.
As for the world, I hope all of the Forgotten Realms world is eventually opened up, but like others have said, the name is Neverwinter - but one could only hope. I did find the inability to access areas without progressing with the storyline annoying, but there is the storyline element that is to be followed, so I understand the reasons.
Just judging from the closed beta it looks like Paragon Paths will be the way you customize your character. Right now they're aren't a lot of them, but I can see there being multiple build-outs once you hit L30.
I also think that there are too few ability buttons. I was playing a cleric and I can see this (pressing the same combat buttons) getting VERY repitive over the long haul. I'm not advocating 6 rows of 12 bars, but I do think sometimes less is too less!
The issue is not the number of buttons you can click. It actually have the right numbers. The problem is the lack of at-will to select. Once I got to level 20 I got tired of Lance of Faith and Astral Seal, but I could only switch one of them to use the 3rd unlocked at-will. If there was more variety and players actually did change once in a while, it wouldn't feel so repetitive.
The issue is not the number of buttons you can click. It actually have the right numbers. The problem is the lack of at-will to select. Once I got to level 20 I got tired of Lance of Faith and Astral Seal, but I could only switch one of them to use the 3rd unlocked at-will. If there was more variety and players actually did change once in a will, it wouldn't feel so repetitive.
Ya, its not really the ammount of buttons. Nverwinter seems to use most of the keys I normally bind in an MMO so that's not an issue. The issue would be too long cooldowns and lack of variety. Spamming auto-attack while waiting on CDs isn't action. CDs shouldn't exceed the 5-10 sec range. The long CD "oh <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>/big DPS" legendary type skills are already covered by the daily skills which are handled perfectly by being tied to class specific mechanics.
There should also be more skills than default. GW 2 got dull because it was the same skills for 80 levels, no choice in attack skills. Having the classes split up into specific roles like Guardian Fighter and Greatweapon Fighter should mean they get a greater variety in skill choice.
Guardian Fighter seemed very well differentiated. There were several choices that improved my ability to tank, and several that improved my DPS, so I felt like I could choose the mix I wanted. I found myself making slight changes every few levels to adjust my strengths/weaknesses for leveling, and had in my head what I'd slot for teaming if I needed to tank or DPS. All it was missing was a widget for setting up those builds in advance to switch with a single button, but it's the first weekend of beta.
From what I have played and seen, I agree with the posters about the monotonous combat. 5 Skills are not enough, if they aim to please the "x-box controller" crowd then so be it, however don't label this as MMORPG. 5 different actions make this an x-box console hack-and-slash game.
This game is on PC, not on a console. I'm looking forward to this game soooooooo much, and I would hate to have it ruined because they tweak the UI to cater to console gamers. GW2 flopped in a few months, because the combat never changed from 10-80. Stale, boring old 1-2-3-4-5-auto attack until CDs then 1-2-3-4-5 rinse repeat rotation <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>.
This is shaping up to be the exact same thing. Please make this game into a hack-and-slash clone because people want to play with a remote. We want skill bars, we want situational skills that you use as contingencies. We want customization, where you can figure out how to maximize your DPS by using the proper skill rotations.
Or, make console versions and PC versions. It's clear many people are opting to play with a remote control, but this game is still a PC game. True PC gamers will not use remote controls, and will feel very limited when all they do is point, click, use 5 skills and dodge. I think Cryptic should take a step back and look at what made other MMO's so successful, and realize that the 'less-is-more' crowd is less popular than the legacy crowd.
Please take notes from what made GW2 and D3 so damned terrible. 5 SKILLS! Please don't go down the same path...
I agree with the OP for the most part. Neverwinter is a fun game on its base but is far from a MMO. I constanly need to remind myself the game was originally devolped as a co op multiplayer game not a full fledged MMO. The game lacks depth and alot of other things that i think are just not attainable with having the foundry sytem. I just dont think you can craft a True MMO with having toolsets that are understandable to the general user. That being said the game is tons of fun, trickster Rogue was by far the most enjoyable . Cleric was horrible.
Comments
I hope NWO will have more meaningful advancement- a smaller bar makes me crave 3.5... it wasn't perfect, but goodness, the variety you could get as a wizard or cleric was astounding.... the idea that warriors would have the same number of abilities as a wizard just makes no sense to me.
Historically, DnD games haven't had a massive open-world to explore, but I think it would enliven the game considerably. I had fun in FFXI just running around several zones and listening to the music - that aspect of the game really appealed to me. I can still hear the music as I farm crawlers for silk in Rolanberry Fields.
And as you said, it's just the first phase of beta, so there's nothing to actually worry about... yet.
Btw. I'd love to see PWE, Gamigo and G1 to combine their powers..
Usually, I would expect 2 or 3 animations for each attack which are switched out dynamically if the attack is repeated. Even WoW has multiple animations for it's base autoattacks for the most part. It all just looks very repetitive in Neverwinter. Maybe even take a page from DDO, those attacks don't look great but there's a looping series of different attacks even if you're a level 1 wizard holding a greatsword you get two different attacks in a chain.
Who me? Not at all. I am a total NW fanatic, don't you know?
And meet the army which is standing behind me.
*cleric casts summon dead and an army of undead mummies tear the ground and crawl up*
I'm sorry, but due to Cryptic deciding for us that there are no evil deities, you cannot cast summon undead. Nor can you use any kind of negative energy spell. Only goody-two-shoes clerics allowed in Neverwinter.
Occam's Razor makes the cutting clean.
*casts banish*
mumbles, "go back to CO realms where you came from with your angst and rage"
*keeps summoning undead*
Then it is not in Neverwinter you are casting.
Occam's Razor makes the cutting clean.
Was watching a stream now with a rogue playing and she was spinning the weapons in her hands as the attacks were going out to match the movement of the hand and always hit with the blade part of the weapon as she was using multiple attack positions and patterns
As far as being a claustophobic environment, I think the Foundry is intended to give the extra content we are looking for--especially for end game.
Overall, I've had a blast playing this first beta. I'm disappointed that the weekend is nealry over, and am already looking forward to Beta #2!
If this is their real reasoning, why not give people the option to have them if they want to? I don't want to fluff around and change my UI for different encounters. I hate moving buttons.
I can buy that, but what do you think then 7 or 8? Also have your actions also affect the skill. If I'm jumping and press a skill, I get another affect then standing and using the skill. That way you can double up. Moving backwards, another variation. If you did that, then we could even possibly go down to 5 and still feel we have lots of options.
This is a massive worry for me. I love this game but it did feel a tad "corridor". I hated SWTOR as it kinda felt so restricted. Everything else I found totally amazing.
[/SIGPIC]
The Older Gamers (25+) - Never too old to play games
Actually this was adressed recently.
They can remove this rooting - their engine has the capability. However, they decided not to because they feel it is more realistic this way as the power of a strike has to come from legs. There are some moves which do not require rooting, but most moves do.
For example, the whirlwind move of GWF, you can move the fighter while he is in tasmanian devil mode by using direction keys (pokket's review).
Item #2 is actually pretty far off. Depending on your class abilities, slot loadout, etc. you are pretty active most of the time. I find the actual combat to be really fun (now it may get tedious with time, but the newness is still there and thus it is a hoot to me).
Item #3 is also incorrect. Areas are opening up as we level up. Granted, I still am waiting to be able to just wander the sword coast or neverwinter woods, but so far it does seem to be less and less compact.
Some times you are rooted until the attack animation is over. Most times you are able to move freely.
I agree with this. It would make a GREAT action MMO if you had different attack combos. Nothing massive, just minor changes. I don't see how this works for casters or archers though. If I jump and use Magic missile, it's still magic missile. Although if they gave mages/clerics a few more ability slots that would work. Would make sense with wizards at least. Battle clerics aren't as hard for abilities, but for a wizard 5-7 abilities seems kind of low. Not saying to give them 30, but maybe 10-12? Even just 10 would make for a MUCH more diverse wizard. Instead of people going for only the main damage abilities, some might go for boost abilities, morphing abilities, etc. As to rangers, I've got nothing. No matter how you cut it, a bow shooting arrows is just that. Getting special arrows is the only answer to that.
Yeah. There's something grounding about playing in a virtual world that is nearly seamless. The landmarks have more impact. If a game is too instanced it feels like I'm participating in an X-men danger room session lol. It feels fake and generated.
Every time they idiot-proof something...they make better idiots.
Premade characters are a good description. Players want their builds to stand out. Nobody creative or competitive wants to be homogenized. Most of the fun in MMO's is trying to crack the code on the perfect build for your class. I've spend countless hours in games spinning my wheels with just that. Look what happened to WoW's new talent tree change. It was a catastrophe.
With skills, I stand by what I said. GW2 had more actives and that felt restrictive. I hope you're right about the world opening up later on. Cryptic's record worries me.
Every time they idiot-proof something...they make better idiots.
After 2 full days of play in Beta, so far I would have to agree with pretty well the entire post. The limited character building and progression, as well as a clear lack of useful skills is going to really be a sore point for me and many like me moving forward. I will not base my final decision until final release, so I am hoping for a bit more on the character side upon the release to keep my interest going.
As for the world, I hope all of the Forgotten Realms world is eventually opened up, but like others have said, the name is Neverwinter - but one could only hope. I did find the inability to access areas without progressing with the storyline annoying, but there is the storyline element that is to be followed, so I understand the reasons.
Neverwinter Official Wiki - http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/
The issue is not the number of buttons you can click. It actually have the right numbers. The problem is the lack of at-will to select. Once I got to level 20 I got tired of Lance of Faith and Astral Seal, but I could only switch one of them to use the 3rd unlocked at-will. If there was more variety and players actually did change once in a while, it wouldn't feel so repetitive.
Ya, its not really the ammount of buttons. Nverwinter seems to use most of the keys I normally bind in an MMO so that's not an issue. The issue would be too long cooldowns and lack of variety. Spamming auto-attack while waiting on CDs isn't action. CDs shouldn't exceed the 5-10 sec range. The long CD "oh <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>/big DPS" legendary type skills are already covered by the daily skills which are handled perfectly by being tied to class specific mechanics.
There should also be more skills than default. GW 2 got dull because it was the same skills for 80 levels, no choice in attack skills. Having the classes split up into specific roles like Guardian Fighter and Greatweapon Fighter should mean they get a greater variety in skill choice.
This game is on PC, not on a console. I'm looking forward to this game soooooooo much, and I would hate to have it ruined because they tweak the UI to cater to console gamers. GW2 flopped in a few months, because the combat never changed from 10-80. Stale, boring old 1-2-3-4-5-auto attack until CDs then 1-2-3-4-5 rinse repeat rotation <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>.
This is shaping up to be the exact same thing. Please make this game into a hack-and-slash clone because people want to play with a remote. We want skill bars, we want situational skills that you use as contingencies. We want customization, where you can figure out how to maximize your DPS by using the proper skill rotations.
Or, make console versions and PC versions. It's clear many people are opting to play with a remote control, but this game is still a PC game. True PC gamers will not use remote controls, and will feel very limited when all they do is point, click, use 5 skills and dodge. I think Cryptic should take a step back and look at what made other MMO's so successful, and realize that the 'less-is-more' crowd is less popular than the legacy crowd.
Please take notes from what made GW2 and D3 so damned terrible. 5 SKILLS! Please don't go down the same path...