Castle Ryback - Need reviews & feedback

frankish · July 2013

Looking for reviews on this quest: NW-DRO7XJAKE

The synopsis:

Player hears from an orphan in Protector's enclave that his village had been destroyed by orcs, and his Lord was maybe still under siege at Castle Ryback.

It is meant to be a skirmish-like wargame, with playtime aiming between 15 and 20 minutes
The player is presented with a few optional encounters, and then participate in large scale battles, helped by friendly NPCs.

I mixed in some interaction, like having to destroy catapults and extinguish fires. I tried to give a good "warfare" feeling.

The ending suggests there will be a sequel, which I am working on.

Comments, recommendations, all welcome. Thanks.

lolsorhand · July 2013

I'll give this ago later

frankish · July 2013

I am ancient in storytelling, and had some experience with other builders like this, but Cryptic's engine is really awesome! This is my first "polished" quest for neverwinter, and I see there is a lot of "competition!"

This community seems friendly enough too, so I hope I'll get some constructive comments!

baronvonboom · July 2013

If this has nothing to do with Steven Seagals Casey Ryback then im not interested:p

frankish · July 2013

Oh snap.

lolsorhand · July 2013

frankish wrote: »

Oh snap.

LOL

10/c

frankish · July 2013

It seems the challenge with encounters is to size it all to get within the time you want, taking into account lvl 60 full t2 wizards

Some will run it in 10 minutes, some in 25.

I need more cleric testers to balance!

lolsorhand · July 2013

frankish wrote: »

It seems the challenge with encounters is to size it all to get within the time you want, taking into account lvl 60 full t2 wizards
Some will run it in 10 minutes, some in 25. I need more cleric testers to balance!

I'll play it with my cleric, though, clerics are far far stronger than what people give them credit for. (I run a custom spec on mine, I have lvl 30 gear and still at 53 I have no problems.)

lolsorhand · July 2013

Though I would suggest you attempt to increase the playtime, it's 13 min in testing. (Beta phase) People will slam the time down I think. Just my initial thoughts before I try it out.

lolsorhand · July 2013

Reviewed and tipped, posted details in PM. Fun combat and good xp, might be too hard for some though so difficulty sliders would be nice. Good work.

frankish · July 2013

I think the 13 minutes comes from the average... first 4-5 plays were short (8 minutes?) then I added many things... but yet I'm stuck with the average.

How do I reset that? I was thinking of unpublishing, then duplicating the quest and publishing the new one instead, to reset the time average. Would that work?

pris23 · July 2013

Nice quest. I will leave more detailed feedback in a PM so as not to spoil anything. I enjoyed this one.

If you have time to play mine, Part 3 needs reviews the most. You don't have to have played my entire campaign to enjoy and understand the story. Although, I will take reviews on any of them happily. The shortcodes are located in my ignature. My forum feedback thread is http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?407831-Part-3-Wind-of-the-North-The-Secret-to-Paradise-Will-trade-as-always

Cheers!

docsc00ter · July 2013

Reviewed and tipped. Sending you a PM with notes. I agree with lolsorhand that difficulty sliders would make the combat more appealing to a wider group of players. Looking forward to revisiting the quest as you tweak it, and definitely looking forward to the next adventure. (I'm all ready to go hunt for that Orc encampment in the woods now!)

(And if you get a chance to give my quest a run, that'd be great. I always appreciate the feedback!)

yipykaye · July 2013

Nice quest. First one today that I feel like I knew the whole story as to what was happening without reading a library of information.
I like the simple ideas that build. No need for 100 items that are all interactable telling you useless information.
There were quite a few small details that I noticed. Forgot to be writing them here as I played lol. Things like interact text say go to next map etc. Some details are positioned poorly.

Overall I was really happy with where this started because I know that with feedback you could make this into a great quest.
Little tweaks each play and you will eventually have it really good. Well Done.

My quests are in the Sig. First one has a few plays second and third could do with more.

thalazar1 · July 2013

not a bad little skirmish. I think the first wave of mobs right after entering the keep (inside the keep itself not the courtyard) was a bit much. as soon as i was done the dialog they spawned on top of me and dropped me just below half life then killed me (lvl 60 CW, HAMSTER gear) maybe start with a small easy group then drop the ones you had so player has a chance to react. only thing i found out of place was the water barrels. defaulted to wooden barrel 01.
was a challenge but not impossible (died twice once was my fault, other was at that door), good job.
if you wouldn't mind giving mine a swing, it's in the sig.

frankish · July 2013

Many thanks for the reviews folks! Very insightful. I'll be updating it and update this thread when I do!
Also, do not think I'm ingrate. Camping trip with my son will keep me away from the game, but I do intend to give your own quests a swing and return the favor.

frankish · July 2013

New update released. Thanks all for suggestions and comments.

In this version...
- Fixed some props and wall placements (there's probably more to fix still.
- Added a group of guards to follow the player (on demand) at some point in the first map.
- Added forest, grass and other decorations to the first outside map
- Corrected some typoes in dialogs
- Entering the keep no longer says "Get to the door"
- Changed how you interact with the dead orc.
- Some interactable item names fixed.

Have fun!