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The Main Problem With Neverwinter
hiddenfate
Banned Users Posts: 0 Arc User
Before I say what the main problem is let me say that the players are to blame as well, yes you! No not you the one behind you. You're partly to blame for the state Neverwinter is currently in as well.
Cryptic is currently suffering from what I like to call the "Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2" syndrome. Players are complaining about wanting more content NOW like a spoiled child. When the game developers deliver whatever they can in the short amount of time allotted, the players gripe and moan that they should've spent more time on it or that it's buggy and not well thought out and yadda yadda (and since this is the service industry they can't just give us the middle finger).
I spent a good week nailing the developers to a cross after all the bugs with HR came to light, but after taking a good look at the previous posts on the forums I'm seriously considering taking the nails out and redirecting targets. Guess who the lucky people are. If you want an example about how this process goes just look at the PvP threads currently on the forums. "Fix this, add this, subtract this, repair this, this is imba fix it now."
Cryptic just doesn't have a chance. It's like they're creating a necklace for us, they're polishing each stone about halfway before we smack them on the head and say "more gems!", then we complain about how dirty the gem they just slotted in is. Whenever they consider going back and polishing up that old gem we're right behind them smacking them and shouting "more gems!". This is what leads to a really poor game in the long run... and a really crappy necklace.
The simple way this could be fixed is if Cryptic just said "well screw this noise" and cut module 3 back a year. This way they could fix all of the bugs, glitches, and exploits currently in the game and polish every stone of it to a silver shine. This would alienate the entire playerbase though, so it's not really a good option.
The other way is for players to stop begging for new stuff when the old stuff is broken. Yes I'm guilty of it too but I've already banged my head against the wall in penance... does Cryptic take blood sacrifices? Anyway, this is directed at the players. I know you guys want new PvP options and PvE quests, and Foundry stuff. I truly know, I want it too, all of it. But if we don't chill out and stop pestering the developers for new content they'll never get around to polishing all the old stuff they already slotted in.
Just something for everyone to think about before they make that next post on the forums asking for something new. Or flood a bug report with unnecessary information.
Cryptic is currently suffering from what I like to call the "Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2" syndrome. Players are complaining about wanting more content NOW like a spoiled child. When the game developers deliver whatever they can in the short amount of time allotted, the players gripe and moan that they should've spent more time on it or that it's buggy and not well thought out and yadda yadda (and since this is the service industry they can't just give us the middle finger).
I spent a good week nailing the developers to a cross after all the bugs with HR came to light, but after taking a good look at the previous posts on the forums I'm seriously considering taking the nails out and redirecting targets. Guess who the lucky people are. If you want an example about how this process goes just look at the PvP threads currently on the forums. "Fix this, add this, subtract this, repair this, this is imba fix it now."
Cryptic just doesn't have a chance. It's like they're creating a necklace for us, they're polishing each stone about halfway before we smack them on the head and say "more gems!", then we complain about how dirty the gem they just slotted in is. Whenever they consider going back and polishing up that old gem we're right behind them smacking them and shouting "more gems!". This is what leads to a really poor game in the long run... and a really crappy necklace.
The simple way this could be fixed is if Cryptic just said "well screw this noise" and cut module 3 back a year. This way they could fix all of the bugs, glitches, and exploits currently in the game and polish every stone of it to a silver shine. This would alienate the entire playerbase though, so it's not really a good option.
The other way is for players to stop begging for new stuff when the old stuff is broken. Yes I'm guilty of it too but I've already banged my head against the wall in penance... does Cryptic take blood sacrifices? Anyway, this is directed at the players. I know you guys want new PvP options and PvE quests, and Foundry stuff. I truly know, I want it too, all of it. But if we don't chill out and stop pestering the developers for new content they'll never get around to polishing all the old stuff they already slotted in.
Just something for everyone to think about before they make that next post on the forums asking for something new. Or flood a bug report with unnecessary information.
Post edited by hiddenfate on
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Comments
Its true that the majority of MMO communities are terrible people who will complain about the game they play REGARDLESS! However, its also true that there have been bugs from other Cryptic properties get ported into this game, and many other preventable issues.
- JailBreak (in development)
I will say that it tends to be worse for F2P games than for subscription based games. Free games need to balance marketing and getting players to spend money, which means that resources have to be diverted from pure content development.
Anyway hurry up with module 3 oh and fix all the "broken" stuff :P
I didn't say that the entire blame lies with the players :P just that the players are partly to blame for it. It is also cryptic's fault for not taking advice and listening to reports during the preview if it would delay their precious deadline for new content.
While I appreciate that making new content generally brings in more money, if they make new content but don't polish the old stuff players will just feel cheated, or that what they previously bought is broken and therefore worthless, and stop spending their cash altogether. That's an easy way to ensure that your game is a short term investment that won't pay much past a small threshold.
Finally, from what I understand the Cryptic team isn't that huge. It only has 100-200 people in total and has to split that manpower between Champions Online, Star Trek Online, and Neverwinter. If they split it evenly (which would be very presumptuous) that's a maximum of 67 people per MMO. That's not counting the fact that some of these are in management, accounting, advertising, marketing, and other positions that have nothing to do with the games. So I don't know exactly what % of Cryptic's manpower is in the actual development and what % of these developers are on the Neverwinter team. So there might be 5 teams of 4 people each to work on every aspect (in which case, take an hour tomorrow and play the game you created) but I wouldn't be surprised to find that the total Neverwinter team comprised of 10 or so game developers.
My YouTube Channel
A Comprehensive Review of Neverwinter <-- Read it!
Perfect examples for mod2 include the refining system (blue mark availability) and HR (seismic shot glitch) that they knew of at least a month before release and yet it went live with those problems still intact. Honestly, they couldn't push the release date back a month to at least fix the 2 biggest issues with mod2? Sure, many players would have been unhappy but for those of us that played on the test server, I think most of us would have understood and been fine with it, after all, that is the whole point of the test server isn't it? To find problems and suggest fixes.
And mark my words, for all the players making post after post about more pvp content and balancing classes for pvp and fixing the queue system so pugs don't fight premades. Mod3 is supposed to be pvp centric but that don't mean you'll be happy once its released. Im going to go out on a limb here and say that I foresee at least a months worth of complaint posts after its released.
And lets not over look the fact that cryptic does make changes (ninja patches) to the game without any statements as to what they changed until we figure them out. So its not like they need ever want the full support of the community to do whatever they want. Hell, its even in the ToS of all games that the devs can change anything whenever they want...including release dates.
That's even more reason to make sure the content is absolutely perfect and shiny. The biggest cash inflow you're going to get from new content is the day it comes out. If the very same day the forums and servers are filled with complaints, nobody's going to buy after the first few people discover how bugged and glitchy it is.
Also they have the Zen/AD exchange set up to ensure they at least get "some" cash inflow even without coming up with new content. People would be a lot more willing to use it if the game was more stable and less glitch-filled. I'm not even bothering with it until I can be guarenteed it won't glitch on me and eat all my AD/Zen (which is a very real possibility considering all the other things they have that are bugged).
My YouTube Channel
A Comprehensive Review of Neverwinter <-- Read it!
I don't get that, FR to me has always been the most bland and boring out of the dnd settings.
You're going to be waiting on that game for a long, long time.
Were there bugs for many of these? Yes, but it's also unrealistic to expect things to be 100% bug free, given the tight schedule...
Overall, I feel that the good has far outweighed the bad. I can understand getting burnt out, though - in those cases I tend to stick to invoking on my characters and maybe only run 1 set of dailies on 1 or 2 characters, then call it a day...
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
P.S I keep saying ignorant/ arrogant devs, but its all of cryptic and pwe.
:cool: So I think adding new content little by little is good, but they need to do some more polishing. To me fixing auction house and getting rid of botters might be in their best interests... if not it might hurt their money maker. Just IMO.
We have to look at things in a more realistic light - they are NEVER going to halt the release of new content in favor of bug fixes - new content generates income, while bug fixes cost money, (a generalization I know, but it gets the point across).
The best we, as players, can do is to provide constructive and detailed feedback via the ticketing system, and "vote with our wallets" - don't spend if bugs persist for too long if they go unaddressed.
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
The combat engine is fun, its what keeps me here.
Well, they sort of have the beginnings of this via zone events and with how some zones have quests you can get by randomly defeating an enemy or by stumbling upon some interactive object. It would be nice to see them add more of these - some could even be intentionally hidden!
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
Your insane. Forgotten Realms is classic, timeless adventure.
9200 gs to complete CN with less than 3 CW's? Nah, not happening 99.9% of the time.
Arcane coffer/VT/MC artifact drop rate? Well what can I say, it's hilarious really!
Having people use the same glitches to kill bosses for months and months without fixing it? Uhm, it has gone so far as a "normal" party now is a cheating party, and that is so very very sad!
Lack of reward for grinding, ANY GRINDING! MC/VT/GG/campaign seals/coins, utterly useless except to buy gear to salvage! Add more things to buy for all the <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> that clutters your inventory. I have 800 seals from VT that I do not need. See the problem? I have 500 scrips from campaign that is useless, etc etc etc.
Diablo 3 had difficulty levels, and when players grew too strong for them, they added "monster levels". From 1-10. You could set the monster level yourself and grind on YOUR difficulty level for better loot and a better time spent playing! As a loyal player to NW and having 15k+ gs there is no content that is not WAY TOO EASY! I could actually enjoy doing sharandar dailys etc if I could boost up a "monster level" and get better loot for it. MAYBE even have to DIE once in a while instead of facerolling every single enemy I see to pick up a greater health pot and 20 copper! (monster lvl 5 = major health/buff pots and more gold, maybe other stuff as well, like chance for purples)
Oh man I could go on but these things are right infront of you, and adding a vendor or a scaleable difficulty setting can't take THAT LONG! (or to add some more invisible walls for the glitchers..........)
Personally none of the other settings is to my taste for various reasons, but to each his own. While I think FR is the best setting he doesn't, don't knock him for it, he is still here playing the game.
You seem to be labouring under the delusion that this game is run on a charitable basis. It isn't, it's run by a business in a very competitive market segment. If it is to be a regular revenue stream, it's not an either/or proposition with more content excluding the possibility of the current stuff working properly. If they can't manage that, they lose players.
It's still extremely buggy, but less so than it was. Content drops have been of increasing quality. It's headed in the right direction, for now. As ever, there's a tension between publisher and developer, designing a good and sustainable game sometimes being at odds with designing a game to be balanced around a cash shop. It's a balancing act. We'll see how it shakes out, but certainly, your fascinating whiteknighting is as wide of the mark as the ranting of the doomsayers. The truth, as often is the case, lies somewhere in the middle.
You (and a few thousand others) are still in PWE's grap, available to spend money.
They have only lost you once you turn your back on the game.
i have had fun playing this Freeeeeee game made friends & enjoyed events with out paying in real money.....
farmed for everything i needed, the AD events helped me a lot , it dosnt mean i didnt have problems with lag, runs, gear not working etc etc
but who cares i didn't pay a cent..... I just enjoyed the game & made friends. Cant wait 4 warlock & druid....
any devs, programmers or what ever need any ideas for game go 2 u tube & look up Black Desert//////////////////////////////
If Cryptic could leverage the community in a similar fashion, they could take the best of the community created content and push it into the game. They could task the community with creating new areas, cities etc. Take user created story lines and characters, add in some voice acting and spend most of their time polishing and testing instead of creating.
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ Gankdalf The Icehole █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁
You know you are talking about Cryptic, and not a 4-person garage developer team that can't work on A if they are doing B?
Creating new content is mostly a job for artists: 3d modelers, writers, game designers... Fixing broken code or unexpected interactions is, well, job for coders. There are different teams working on different things. And there should always be a team dedicated to tackling the most annoying (and often quite simple to fix) bugs. Especially if they are still reported after several weeks.
cryptic has never released and will never release the number of their developers, designers, producers, artists, etc. they've always been vague in their numbers, although they do claim to be a small shop. making assumptions about their workload and its simplicity or difficulty is conjecture. no one knows what the internal bug fix list looks like and how often it's shuffled around by priority. however since this is all proprietary information, they're not required to make any of it public information and for anyone to expect that from any company is unrealistic.