We also had a guild formed of mostly drow players, with only a couple of us having purchased Hero of the North packs (most just got Guardians). It sucks, and I wish it would have been made known at the start of the founder pack sales.. but it's not the end of the world.
I've been RPing drow in MMOs since UO (I know, lulz) and in NWN1 (old school ALFA vet).. so here is my suggestion to you drow RPers that will not be able to play for 60 days. Make an alternate "slave/servant" character who comes to Neverwinter ahead of your drow character to set things up for you. In the meantime you'll get used to the game play, make some astral diamonds, and maybe in 60 days they'll have new builds released to play class-wise.
Anyway, just try to look on the bright side.
Still mourning the loss of Vhaeraun and Mask, and they won't be back in 60 days,
Vixi
ALFA is still around in nwn2, and would probably build your guild an entire drow server if you brought that many people.
I never really liked NWN2, but beyond that we don't have the time/desire to upkeep an entire private server anymore.
The appeal of a MMO is that it requires none of that, and if we did have some spare time we can create some short adventures on the Foundry. In the end, none of us are /ragequit over this, we're too old and jaded these days... but it remains annoying none the less.
Imagine if the Ranger was announced last year as a one of the starting classes avaliable at release and countless plans were made by many to be able to play. Also many interviews were done and videos hyping the class as an avaliable class at release. Then several months before release the company does a 180 and says...ooops nope, we're using the class as a marketing tactic and will not be avaliable for the first 60 days.
Tell me you wouldnt be pissed as hell! I dare you.
Countless plans? For a class that no one even at that point would even know what they do? That's like planning today for a Scourge Warlock. No one has any idea what any of the powers of that class will do/will be(for the most part.) So what exactly would you be doing when you're planning? Hoping to play? That's not planning anything, that's a desire. Or do you mean they came up with a background story for? If its that, I really don't feel sorry for anyone who spend hours and hours of their lives plotting out a character for a game that wasn't coming out for months to years in the future and won't get to use their idea for a couple extra months. Its not like a real roleplayer couldn't find countless other outlets for their creative endeavors involving a drow or that their effort for this game will be wasted if they have to wait two months to enact their concept.
Quick clarification regarding Drow in the Hero of the North Packs.
Taken straight from the newly clarified and shinily posted Extended FAQ:
"The Menzo-Renegade look, tattoo, racial background, racial ability, and special companion will remain permanently exclusive to Hero of the North Pack purchases. The vanilla, non-Menzoberranzan Renegade Drow race will be unavailable for at least first 60 days after release. We are currently planning to do a future update that will allow all players will be able to create a regular Drow character."
Edit: How can you change all this on people after they pay all this money?
This means that Hero of the North Pack purchasers will have exclusive access to the Menzoberranzan Renegade Drow, but everyone will be able to create regular drow after 60 days post-launch.
Hope this is clear, and we apologize for any prior confusion.
That does not clear anything up, are you telling me I can't play as a Drow for 2 months after the game comes out even though i gave you 200 dollars? Or that my Drow guild's members that aren't heroes will have to wait 60 days? The Menzo Renegade only has that lame brown look and that I can't roll a dark skin Drow? Can someone making a Menzo Renegade roll a traditional dark skin Drow? How does that clear anything up?
dreadshepardMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
Everyone that payed the 200 thinking they could play a wizard and now you can't... so many things wrong with this... I'm worried because Cryptic has doomed the game before it's ever released and now so many of us have spent money on a dying game... It's not even out... If your going to delay a class or a race because it's not ready you have to delay the game. SWTOR was released with many features missing and they lost all their players before they had a chance to put out the features that should have been there at launch... You can't release an mmo without your spell caster.... you just can't do it.
where does this sense of entitlement come from? the sense that cryptic has to give YOU what YOU want? i want a ranger like many others but hey, that's the breaks. i'll have to wait and roll a character when it becomes available. it sucks yeah, but the whole FR universe isn't going to be available to everyone when they want it. despite being a F2P game it is still a business and has to be viewed as such.
i'm not saying people don't have a right to be disappointed, by no means am i implying that, but we don't always get what we want when we want it. that's just a fact of life.
What? Just don't say your going to do something, If people pay you money based on something you say your going to do and then not do it... Also don't sneak this information into the FAQs. People that don't read the forums still think they will have a wizard and drow day one because the website says otherwise.
Everyone that payed the 200 thinking they could play a wizard and now you can't... so many things wrong with this... I'm worried because Cryptic has doomed the game before it's ever released and now so many of us have spent money on a dying game... It's not even out... If your going to delay a class or a race because it's not ready you have to delay the game. SWTOR was released with many features missing and they lost all their players before they had a chance to put out the features that should have been there at launch... You can't release an mmo without your spell caster.... you just can't do it.
No one has officially said there won't be a wizard at launch. It's most likely just an oversight on the FAQ, but everyone just assumes and cries "Doom!".
0
doctorcomicsMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Silverstars, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
Not exactly. We have asked the new community relations mod, and his answer was, "we've not announced any classes besides those on the FAQ, but stay tuned!"
Then, because he did not say, "Oops, the Control Wizard is in for launch, like we've been saying for a month," then that's when we started to say WTF.
I'll admit I failed this call - and logically speaking, it's a wrong call as it was pretty clear that both the Guardian and Hero are both considered "Founders".
However, some of the whining had also become rather shrill (I agree: "whining" might be over the top for most comments, but not all, if you are offended I use that word, then it might likely apply to you - no offense intended, even though you'll take it anyway).
First and foremost: I have never, ever seen anywhere that Cryptic has officially or even unofficially announced (commercially, outside the forums) that "Drow" will be a playable race (I am first to admit I have not seen or read everything, so they may have - *I* have never seen it). Anyway, this whole brouhaha amounts to people screaming and shouting over one little thing: a particular set of character stats.
That's it: stats, nothing more. Cryptic more or less has to allow a "Drow" playable race because the Hero pack comes with a Drow skin and armor and tattoo and that stuff's kind of useless unless it is applied to a playable Elf character... WAIT! ZOMG! And "Elf" with "dark skin" and "light hair"... wouldn't that be, for all intents and purposes, a "DROW"?
Pah-leese. People are shrill over what their freebie *cartoon* will look like. It wreaks of childish behavior.
Don;t get me wrong; I *know* playing a Drow character is ferociously important to a lot of people and I understand that, and I certainly do not wish to belittle that. But that fact is, until a Drow, *any* Drow playable race was ever announced, you already know you "game plan" was to create an Elf and apply dark skin/light hair. And this is what you are going to do at launch *anyway*.
The only, singular difference between "regular" Elf in costume of a Drow and a Drow playable character is a couple of stats and maybe the sparkly look of a power or two. Seriously. Either way you have three options if this Drow Elf is so important to you: buy the Hero pack, wait 60-days, or roll a vanilla Elf with a Drow look. Oh hey! Option 3 is doable at launch and won;t cost a single penny!
Here's the thing ( and my main point in this post): Cryptic has put a LOT of hours into creating this world, a lot of development and research and let us not forget the (likely not very inexpensive) LICENSING costs involved. Cryptic is laying this thing out and allowing you to play on their trampoline without ever twisting your arm one iota for a single cent of real money. And yet the entitlement crowd are whining and crying about it. The world, much less Cryptic owes you nothing; zip, zilch, nada. You're already getting a helluvalot more than your money's worth.
NOW I'd like to Clarify that I believe those who have purchased the GUARDIAN packs *should* be allowed to roll a "system Drow" from launch (the above rant is toward those who have not purchased anything, but still go shrill in their whining). I think that's only fair and right. They have invested into the system unknown just as the Hero-level investors have and yes: I say "investors" because that's what we are. At least the good news is that all other perks are still a go, and let us not forget an all-important perk ALL Founders get: priority access.
I have experienced in STO when the servers were clogged and people waited for as much as ten minutes in queue before login, where-as I always saw "Login time 10 minutes" - then it would flash away in a half-second and boom! I was in, then see all the zone chatter about how it was a nightmare-wait to get into the system.
This is D&D-themed and it WILL be crowded and the servers will balance loads by queueing all logins. Guardians and Hero's get bumped to the front of the queue - THAT is a worthy value in addition to all the other stuff. Remember that.
As for all of you shrill people (and I'm only referring to the shrill ones here) who have not purchased Founder packs: wow.
And I agree that guardians should get drow. That at least makes sense. Opening the game up to those that have already helped you, instead of biting the hand that has fed.
I'll admit I failed this call - and logically speaking, it's a wrong call as it was pretty clear that both the Guardian and Hero are both considered "Founders".
However, some of the whining had also become rather shrill (I agree: "whining" might be over the top for most comments, but not all, if you are offended I use that word, then it might likely apply to you - no offense intended, even though you'll take it anyway).
First and foremost: I have never, ever seen anywhere that Cryptic has officially or even unofficially announced (commercially, outside the forums) that "Drow" will be a playable race (I am first to admit I have not seen or read everything, so they may have - *I* have never seen it). Anyway, this whole brouhaha amounts to people screaming and shouting over one little thing: a particular set of character stats.
That's it: stats, nothing more. Cryptic more or less has to allow a "Drow" playable race because the Hero pack comes with a Drow skin and armor and tattoo and that stuff's kind of useless unless it is applied to a playable Elf character... WAIT! ZOMG! And "Elf" with "dark skin" and "light hair"... wouldn't that be, for all intents and purposes, a "DROW"?
Pah-leese. People are shrill over what their freebie *cartoon* will look like. It wreaks of childish behavior.
Don;t get me wrong; I *know* playing a Drow character is ferociously important to a lot of people and I understand that, and I certainly do not wish to belittle that. But that fact is, until a Drow, *any* Drow playable race was ever announced, you already know you "game plan" was to create an Elf and apply dark skin/light hair. And this is what you are going to do at launch *anyway*.
The only, singular difference between "regular" Elf in costume of a Drow and a Drow playable character is a couple of stats and maybe the sparkly look of a power or two. Seriously. Either way you have three options if this Drow Elf is so important to you: buy the Hero pack, wait 60-days, or roll a vanilla Elf with a Drow look. Oh hey! Option 3 is doable at launch and won;t cost a single penny!
Here's the thing ( and my main point in this post): Cryptic has put a LOT of hours into creating this world, a lot of development and research and let us not forget the (likely not very inexpensive) LICENSING costs involved. Cryptic is laying this thing out and allowing you to play on their trampoline without ever twisting your arm one iota for a single cent of real money. And yet the entitlement crowd are whining and crying about it. The world, much less Cryptic owes you nothing; zip, zilch, nada. You're already getting a helluvalot more than your money's worth.
NOW I'd like to Clarify that I believe those who have purchased the GUARDIAN packs *should* be allowed to roll a "system Drow" from launch. I think that's only fair and right. They have invested into the system unknown just as the Hero-level investors have and yes: I say "investors" because that's what we are. At least the good news is that all other perks are still a go, and let us not forget an all-important perk ALL Founders get: priority access.
I have experienced in STO when the servers were clogged and people waited for as much as ten minutes in queue before login, where-as I always saw "Login time 10 minutes" - then it would flash away in a half-second and boom! I was in, then see all the zone chatter about how it was a nightmare-wait to get into the system.
This is D&D-themed and it WILL be crowded and the servers will balance loads by queueing all logins. Guardians and Hero's get bumped to the front of the queue - THAT is a worthy value in addition to all the other stuff. Remember that.
As for all of you shrill people (and I'm only referring to the shrill ones here) who have not purchased Founder packs: wow.
Just... wow.
/rant off
If it were possible to make an elf that looks like a drow I'd probably do it. Drow have greyish skin and red eyes which to my knowledge were not available for the elf.
And the makers of this game did say that drow will be a playable race. They are on the "Races" page, even when halflings and half-orcs aren't : http://nw.perfectworld.com/about/races
I'm not going to abandon the game. I'll wait but I am rather irritated since I DID invest money as you say, and since I joined a drow-based guild already. I want the game to succeed and all that but I'm wary of giving them more money at the moment.
And yes some people ARE overreacting, I agree. But I do think this is a legitimate concern.
Not exactly. We have asked the new community relations mod, and his answer was, "we've not announced any classes besides those on the FAQ, but stay tuned!"
Then, because he did not say, "Oops, the Control Wizard is in for launch, like we've been saying for a month," then that's when we started to say WTF.
You can bet they are going to be even more tight lipped about what they say after the drow fiasco. Unless they are very sure about something you will see these non-committal answers to things even more.
Not exactly. We have asked the new community relations mod, and his answer was, "we've not announced any classes besides those on the FAQ, but stay tuned!"
Then, because he did not say, "Oops, the Control Wizard is in for launch, like we've been saying for a month," then that's when we started to say WTF.
doctorcomicsMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Silverstars, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
I hope you are right. I read Facebook too. I, too, know the wizard is supposed to be in the next beta.
But, if you read the current, "recently updated FAQ", the wizard is not included. Community mods were asked yesterday if this was an error, and they could not say that it was.
Players are left to decide for themselves what Cryptic means. And that is exactly where Cryptic is messing up.
Speaking as a Hero of the North purchaser, I think this was a poor decision. I vote for a reversal of it. Go ahead and let everyone play Drow at launch. It'll be better that way.
I think we all can agree on the point that this restriction on the Drow race should had communicated before they sold any packs...
/agreed.
I don't even plan on playing a drow. I'm pretty laid back and patient, especially when it comes to all things beta. And I've been telling people to calm down, take a "wait and see" attitude. But this topic, and the somewhat "stealthy" manner in which this was quietly updated in the FAQ...makes me wonder what other "clarifications" are in store for us down the road.
Now, I am a bit concerned...and, for the first time, feeling a bit uncomfortable about my early support of the game.
I hope you are right. I read Facebook too. I, too, know the wizard is supposed to be in the next beta.
But, if you read the current, "recently updated FAQ", the wizard is not included. Community mods were asked yesterday if this was an error, and they could not say that it was.
Players are left to decide for themselves what Cryptic means. And that is exactly where Cryptic is messing up.
I disagree. If Cryptic says now "the control wizard will be in at launch" putting it on the FAQ and they have some issue with actually getting it in at launch, the drow outrage will be nothing compared to the wizard outrage that will start with the "You lied to us" screams being heard to the highest mountain tops. They have already stated they were having some trouble with the class and had to do some redesigning. That presumably is why it was not in the last beta. Now some people will say, oh their is a tech problem ok. But the vast majority will scream tthat they lied and a smaller subset will scream they didn't put in the class because they want to put it in as a "cash grab".
And I agree that guardians should get drow. That at least makes sense. Opening the game up to those that have already helped you, instead of biting the hand that has fed.
All he says in that video is that drow will be a playable race at launch. Guess what? They will be!
All he says in that video is that drow will be a playable race at launch. Guess what? They will be!
If you pay for it. Which contradicts the All races will be free statement. Either it's free, or it's available to launch. Can't be both. Either way cryptic won't be getting the initial money I was going to lay down as soon as the game starts. I'll wait until I see how they're marketing system goes. Just my opinion though.
If you pay for it. Which contradicts the All races will be free statement. Either it's free, or it's available to launch. Can't be both. Either way cryptic won't be getting the initial money I was going to lay down as soon as the game starts. I'll wait until I see how they're marketing system goes. Just my opinion though.
Well, seeing as how they will be free after at least 60 days, it doesn't contradict the all races will be free statement.
Well, seeing as how they will be free after at least 60 days, it doesn't contradict the all races will be free statement.
It does if you're going to stick to the "they'll be available at launch" arguement. Either A You buy the pack and drow are available at launch. At what point drow weren't free. Or B you don't buy the pack and drow aren't available at launch. Either way one of the two statements is false.
It does if you're going to stick to the "they'll be available at launch" arguement. Either A You buy the pack and drow are available at launch. At what point drow weren't free. Or B you don't buy the pack and drow aren't available at launch. Either way one of the two statements is false.
I think the key word here is "WILL". They said all races WILL be free and that's true. They also said drow are a playable race at launch, which they are. He didn't specify by who.
To the people who think that the Founder's Pack buyers deserve exclusive access to the Drow, THAT WAS NEVER WHAT WAS PROMISED TO THEM! They were only promised exclusive access to the Menzoberonzan renegade background, NOT the regular Drow race!
Also, what is up with Halflings and Control Wizards not being in at launch?
There wasn't any founders pack for him to specify the who. There was only the player base as a whole. Therefore they would have to be the who. Unless of course games now have to specify when they offer things. "This game will be an open world sandbox game that offers many classes!! But only to 12 random people out of everyone.
And what about all the people that bought the $60 packs, thinking they would be able to play an ordinary Drow at launch? Do their feelings and their money not count?
I'm 100% willing to upgrade to Hero if it's the only way to get proper, dark skinned drow.
If there's absolutely no way to play a standard drow until two months after launch then not only am I not interesting in giving Cryptic an extra $200 ... I'll lose a whole lot of my drive to play this game. "Cosmetic" maybe, and I'm sure it sound dumb to a non-RPer, but it's a huge deal for a lot of people. If I'm told I can't play the race I want to play, expected to play, at launch I'm just going to be killing time with an alt for two months. And then why am I playing?
At the very least give us the character creation options to make "proper" drow with the Renegade
To the people who think that the Founder's Pack buyers deserve exclusive access to the Drow, THAT WAS NEVER WHAT WAS PROMISED TO THEM! They were only promised exclusive access to the Menzoberonzan renegade background, NOT the regular Drow race!
Also, what is up with Halflings and Control Wizards not being in at launch?
For some reason, they backpedaled on their word , just to try and get more $200 pack buyers who don't want to wait more than 2 months for the drow. I won't give Cryptic any money now, as my willingness to spend money on this game and play it, has dropped significantly. I thought about getting the $60 pack, but now i'm glad i didn't. I don't feel like smiling, unlike Sominator, who apparently thinks this is funny, based on the smiley in his Original Post. I don't, as this kind of thing reminds me far too much of the shadey Chinese MMO i once trusted, and got burned with exactly this kind of attitude i see happening now on Cryptic's part.
If it were possible to make an elf that looks like a drow I'd probably do it. Drow have greyish skin and red eyes which to my knowledge were not available for the elf.
And the makers of this game did say that drow will be a playable race. They are on the "Races" page, even when halflings and half-orcs aren't : http://nw.perfectworld.com/about/races
I'm not going to abandon the game. I'll wait but I am rather irritated since I DID invest money as you say, and since I joined a drow-based guild already. I want the game to succeed and all that but I'm wary of giving them more money at the moment.
And yes some people ARE overreacting, I agree. But I do think this is a legitimate concern.
And you know what? I agree with you entirely and completely. At the same time, as frustrating as it is, the best we can all do is adapt. I would go so far as to use the word "unfair" for the primary reason that the difference in the "costume" pieces the "Hero" level gets versus the "vanilla" Drow are enough difference that the levels of "value" are significant enough between them; that Cryptic should allow thew Guardians to have immediate access.
To anyone else in the same situation as above, I am hopeful you understand my rant is not directed at you. But rather to the entitlement crowd with the most shrill voices proclaiming "it's $200 for race!!!1!11 ZOMG!" etc. Those who have invested real money thus far, I believe, should be afforded this simple perk. As for those who have NOT invested money, I say put your money where your mouth is or keep it toned-down.
As a rule Cryptic has always been a fair company in my experience and the developers and staff are great people working hard and taking pride in their creation. If it were easy we'd all be doing it and building it our way. As for this Drow availability thing, it's likely someone in Public Relations management or sales making the call. And if you stop and think about it with logic and reasoning, can you blame them? That does not mean it's a wise or right decision. It's more than likely they are not and never were aware of how furiously popular the race is to D&D fans. *I* haven't played D&D in 30 years, don;t have a clue what "4th Edition" is and, yet, even *I* know how popular this race is. It's a mistake on Cryptic's part, not an intentional offense. It's a marketing ploy by marketers who don;t have a clue or perspective of people actually participating in their product and this problem is with most companies, not just Cryptic.
*** edit to add this paragraph ***
So the proper way to sway Cryptic is to be loud (not shrill) and clear with tact and respectful argument why this is a mistaken move on their part. Silly "threats" of "I'm not going to play the game" are nonsense. Each of us is one in a million and don;t matter. Cryptic simply needs to understand that not only is it the right thing to do, but that everyone supports the idea: allow ALL Founders immediate access to the "vanilla Drow" and make the rest of the playing population wait their 60 days. Do this, I'm sure would actually cause a bump in Guardian pack sales.
*** end edit ***
I say again: the differences between the "vanilla Drow" and the fancy-shmancy costumed Drow are enough differences that the Hero level still have more perk than the Guardian in this regard, and so I see no reason Guardians should be denied immediate access to the playable race.
Shouting at Cryptic will do nothing, and it only agitates other members of the community. We must not raise our voices when we should reinforce our argument. And to Cryptic: that is my argument: Guardians paid real money, too. And in this economy $60 is nothing to sneeze at. The "Vanilla" Drow doesn't come close enough to the Mezzowhatnot to justify not allowing the Guardian level founders to have access.
With that, I ask the Community Moderators and Managers to please take this simple argument to the powers that be for consideration.
Comments
The appeal of a MMO is that it requires none of that, and if we did have some spare time we can create some short adventures on the Foundry. In the end, none of us are /ragequit over this, we're too old and jaded these days... but it remains annoying none the less.
Countless plans? For a class that no one even at that point would even know what they do? That's like planning today for a Scourge Warlock. No one has any idea what any of the powers of that class will do/will be(for the most part.) So what exactly would you be doing when you're planning? Hoping to play? That's not planning anything, that's a desire. Or do you mean they came up with a background story for? If its that, I really don't feel sorry for anyone who spend hours and hours of their lives plotting out a character for a game that wasn't coming out for months to years in the future and won't get to use their idea for a couple extra months. Its not like a real roleplayer couldn't find countless other outlets for their creative endeavors involving a drow or that their effort for this game will be wasted if they have to wait two months to enact their concept.
Neverwinter Official Wiki - http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/
That does not clear anything up, are you telling me I can't play as a Drow for 2 months after the game comes out even though i gave you 200 dollars? Or that my Drow guild's members that aren't heroes will have to wait 60 days? The Menzo Renegade only has that lame brown look and that I can't roll a dark skin Drow? Can someone making a Menzo Renegade roll a traditional dark skin Drow? How does that clear anything up?
www.zinzerena.com
www.zinzerena.com
What? Just don't say your going to do something, If people pay you money based on something you say your going to do and then not do it... Also don't sneak this information into the FAQs. People that don't read the forums still think they will have a wizard and drow day one because the website says otherwise.
Calming down... Returning to the shadows...
www.zinzerena.com
No one has officially said there won't be a wizard at launch. It's most likely just an oversight on the FAQ, but everyone just assumes and cries "Doom!".
Then, because he did not say, "Oops, the Control Wizard is in for launch, like we've been saying for a month," then that's when we started to say WTF.
Seven Against Thay: An RP-Focused Guild for all Races and Classes
However, some of the whining had also become rather shrill (I agree: "whining" might be over the top for most comments, but not all, if you are offended I use that word, then it might likely apply to you - no offense intended, even though you'll take it anyway).
First and foremost: I have never, ever seen anywhere that Cryptic has officially or even unofficially announced (commercially, outside the forums) that "Drow" will be a playable race (I am first to admit I have not seen or read everything, so they may have - *I* have never seen it). Anyway, this whole brouhaha amounts to people screaming and shouting over one little thing: a particular set of character stats.
That's it: stats, nothing more. Cryptic more or less has to allow a "Drow" playable race because the Hero pack comes with a Drow skin and armor and tattoo and that stuff's kind of useless unless it is applied to a playable Elf character... WAIT! ZOMG! And "Elf" with "dark skin" and "light hair"... wouldn't that be, for all intents and purposes, a "DROW"?
Pah-leese. People are shrill over what their freebie *cartoon* will look like. It wreaks of childish behavior.
Don;t get me wrong; I *know* playing a Drow character is ferociously important to a lot of people and I understand that, and I certainly do not wish to belittle that. But that fact is, until a Drow, *any* Drow playable race was ever announced, you already know you "game plan" was to create an Elf and apply dark skin/light hair. And this is what you are going to do at launch *anyway*.
The only, singular difference between "regular" Elf in costume of a Drow and a Drow playable character is a couple of stats and maybe the sparkly look of a power or two. Seriously. Either way you have three options if this Drow Elf is so important to you: buy the Hero pack, wait 60-days, or roll a vanilla Elf with a Drow look. Oh hey! Option 3 is doable at launch and won;t cost a single penny!
Here's the thing ( and my main point in this post): Cryptic has put a LOT of hours into creating this world, a lot of development and research and let us not forget the (likely not very inexpensive) LICENSING costs involved. Cryptic is laying this thing out and allowing you to play on their trampoline without ever twisting your arm one iota for a single cent of real money. And yet the entitlement crowd are whining and crying about it. The world, much less Cryptic owes you nothing; zip, zilch, nada. You're already getting a helluvalot more than your money's worth.
NOW I'd like to Clarify that I believe those who have purchased the GUARDIAN packs *should* be allowed to roll a "system Drow" from launch (the above rant is toward those who have not purchased anything, but still go shrill in their whining). I think that's only fair and right. They have invested into the system unknown just as the Hero-level investors have and yes: I say "investors" because that's what we are. At least the good news is that all other perks are still a go, and let us not forget an all-important perk ALL Founders get: priority access.
I have experienced in STO when the servers were clogged and people waited for as much as ten minutes in queue before login, where-as I always saw "Login time 10 minutes" - then it would flash away in a half-second and boom! I was in, then see all the zone chatter about how it was a nightmare-wait to get into the system.
This is D&D-themed and it WILL be crowded and the servers will balance loads by queueing all logins. Guardians and Hero's get bumped to the front of the queue - THAT is a worthy value in addition to all the other stuff. Remember that.
As for all of you shrill people (and I'm only referring to the shrill ones here) who have not purchased Founder packs: wow.
Just... wow.
/rant off
Now you've seen it.
And I agree that guardians should get drow. That at least makes sense. Opening the game up to those that have already helped you, instead of biting the hand that has fed.
If it were possible to make an elf that looks like a drow I'd probably do it. Drow have greyish skin and red eyes which to my knowledge were not available for the elf.
And the makers of this game did say that drow will be a playable race. They are on the "Races" page, even when halflings and half-orcs aren't : http://nw.perfectworld.com/about/races
I'm not going to abandon the game. I'll wait but I am rather irritated since I DID invest money as you say, and since I joined a drow-based guild already. I want the game to succeed and all that but I'm wary of giving them more money at the moment.
And yes some people ARE overreacting, I agree. But I do think this is a legitimate concern.
You can bet they are going to be even more tight lipped about what they say after the drow fiasco. Unless they are very sure about something you will see these non-committal answers to things even more.
Control Wizard will be in for launch.
This shows that they will be in beta weekend 2 as well.
http://www.facebook.com/questions/530548026985728/
But, if you read the current, "recently updated FAQ", the wizard is not included. Community mods were asked yesterday if this was an error, and they could not say that it was.
Players are left to decide for themselves what Cryptic means. And that is exactly where Cryptic is messing up.
Seven Against Thay: An RP-Focused Guild for all Races and Classes
/agreed.
/agreed.
I don't even plan on playing a drow. I'm pretty laid back and patient, especially when it comes to all things beta. And I've been telling people to calm down, take a "wait and see" attitude. But this topic, and the somewhat "stealthy" manner in which this was quietly updated in the FAQ...makes me wonder what other "clarifications" are in store for us down the road.
Now, I am a bit concerned...and, for the first time, feeling a bit uncomfortable about my early support of the game.
I disagree. If Cryptic says now "the control wizard will be in at launch" putting it on the FAQ and they have some issue with actually getting it in at launch, the drow outrage will be nothing compared to the wizard outrage that will start with the "You lied to us" screams being heard to the highest mountain tops. They have already stated they were having some trouble with the class and had to do some redesigning. That presumably is why it was not in the last beta. Now some people will say, oh their is a tech problem ok. But the vast majority will scream tthat they lied and a smaller subset will scream they didn't put in the class because they want to put it in as a "cash grab".
All he says in that video is that drow will be a playable race at launch. Guess what? They will be!
If you pay for it. Which contradicts the All races will be free statement. Either it's free, or it's available to launch. Can't be both. Either way cryptic won't be getting the initial money I was going to lay down as soon as the game starts. I'll wait until I see how they're marketing system goes. Just my opinion though.
Well, seeing as how they will be free after at least 60 days, it doesn't contradict the all races will be free statement.
It does if you're going to stick to the "they'll be available at launch" arguement. Either A You buy the pack and drow are available at launch. At what point drow weren't free. Or B you don't buy the pack and drow aren't available at launch. Either way one of the two statements is false.
I think the key word here is "WILL". They said all races WILL be free and that's true. They also said drow are a playable race at launch, which they are. He didn't specify by who.
Also, what is up with Halflings and Control Wizards not being in at launch?
If there's absolutely no way to play a standard drow until two months after launch then not only am I not interesting in giving Cryptic an extra $200 ... I'll lose a whole lot of my drive to play this game. "Cosmetic" maybe, and I'm sure it sound dumb to a non-RPer, but it's a huge deal for a lot of people. If I'm told I can't play the race I want to play, expected to play, at launch I'm just going to be killing time with an alt for two months. And then why am I playing?
At the very least give us the character creation options to make "proper" drow with the Renegade
Website ★ Recruitment ★ Video
For some reason, they backpedaled on their word , just to try and get more $200 pack buyers who don't want to wait more than 2 months for the drow. I won't give Cryptic any money now, as my willingness to spend money on this game and play it, has dropped significantly. I thought about getting the $60 pack, but now i'm glad i didn't. I don't feel like smiling, unlike Sominator, who apparently thinks this is funny, based on the smiley in his Original Post. I don't, as this kind of thing reminds me far too much of the shadey Chinese MMO i once trusted, and got burned with exactly this kind of attitude i see happening now on Cryptic's part.
And you know what? I agree with you entirely and completely. At the same time, as frustrating as it is, the best we can all do is adapt. I would go so far as to use the word "unfair" for the primary reason that the difference in the "costume" pieces the "Hero" level gets versus the "vanilla" Drow are enough difference that the levels of "value" are significant enough between them; that Cryptic should allow thew Guardians to have immediate access.
To anyone else in the same situation as above, I am hopeful you understand my rant is not directed at you. But rather to the entitlement crowd with the most shrill voices proclaiming "it's $200 for race!!!1!11 ZOMG!" etc. Those who have invested real money thus far, I believe, should be afforded this simple perk. As for those who have NOT invested money, I say put your money where your mouth is or keep it toned-down.
As a rule Cryptic has always been a fair company in my experience and the developers and staff are great people working hard and taking pride in their creation. If it were easy we'd all be doing it and building it our way. As for this Drow availability thing, it's likely someone in Public Relations management or sales making the call. And if you stop and think about it with logic and reasoning, can you blame them? That does not mean it's a wise or right decision. It's more than likely they are not and never were aware of how furiously popular the race is to D&D fans. *I* haven't played D&D in 30 years, don;t have a clue what "4th Edition" is and, yet, even *I* know how popular this race is. It's a mistake on Cryptic's part, not an intentional offense. It's a marketing ploy by marketers who don;t have a clue or perspective of people actually participating in their product and this problem is with most companies, not just Cryptic.
*** edit to add this paragraph ***
So the proper way to sway Cryptic is to be loud (not shrill) and clear with tact and respectful argument why this is a mistaken move on their part. Silly "threats" of "I'm not going to play the game" are nonsense. Each of us is one in a million and don;t matter. Cryptic simply needs to understand that not only is it the right thing to do, but that everyone supports the idea: allow ALL Founders immediate access to the "vanilla Drow" and make the rest of the playing population wait their 60 days. Do this, I'm sure would actually cause a bump in Guardian pack sales.
*** end edit ***
I say again: the differences between the "vanilla Drow" and the fancy-shmancy costumed Drow are enough differences that the Hero level still have more perk than the Guardian in this regard, and so I see no reason Guardians should be denied immediate access to the playable race.
Shouting at Cryptic will do nothing, and it only agitates other members of the community. We must not raise our voices when we should reinforce our argument. And to Cryptic: that is my argument: Guardians paid real money, too. And in this economy $60 is nothing to sneeze at. The "Vanilla" Drow doesn't come close enough to the Mezzowhatnot to justify not allowing the Guardian level founders to have access.
With that, I ask the Community Moderators and Managers to please take this simple argument to the powers that be for consideration.