[Suggestion + Poll] Things I Would Prefer Were out of the Game

These are the things I suggest should be gutted out with a spade from Neverwinter, why they should be gutted out, and what they should be replaced with. Please vote in the poll and add in your two cents on what you think Neverwinter could do without (or which of my ideas you support/hate).


1. Power Ranking System

Sorry developers but the power ranking system is a boring piece of history from MMOs that were designed to lock players into specific builds so companies could wring more money out of character slots and pad out dull gameplay. This type of system just has no place in a game based on Dungeons and Dragons which emphasized versatility and choice. Assuming Cryptic will some day work on better monsters that have actual D&D resistances and vulnerabilities, I don't want to be a Master of Flame CW fighting off an elder fire elemental with a rank 1 Icy Rays encounter. I also don't want to be a Storm Mage fighting off an air elemental with only 1 rank in shard of the avalanche (air elemental elders sometimes carried resistances to cold as well as lightning, yes I'm that much of a nerd!).

What I recommend done is just make the spells and powers strengthen the way they're meant to, based on our player level. If we had a grab bag of powers to choose from in PvP, it wouldn't get so monotonous! Being able to adjust your lineup in between matches is what made games like Guild Wars so interesting.


2. These Strange Events

I'm not talking about the mini events that happen every day (though those could use quite a bit of work too), I'm talking about the Challenge of the Gods and the Winter Festival. The most common argument in favor of these events is that I "should be happy Cryptic even makes these events!". Sorry, but not buying that... that's like saying I should be happy that I'm not on fire in the middle of a corporate conference. Maybe so, but at least being on fire would make it less boring.

These events reek of the "we had some good ideas and didn't follow through with them" virus. The winter festival could've been good if the twilight run was actually a viable way to get lights of simril and something actually happened on the cliff with all those dwarves that was just crying out for "something" to be there. The challenge of the gods could've been interesting if any of the challenges was actually something I didn't already do to pass the time in between Gauntylgrim events (or had some level of challenge to them). Could have, would have, didn't. All I'm left with is the counter argument that I would've been happier if they spent the time used on these events fixing bugs and implementing new core game mechanics.

These things need to be tested well beforehand or just not implemented at all. Events that leave an unsatisfied taste in my mouth, like a winter festival without any snowball fights and a challenge of the gods without any challenge, don't keep me interested in the game. In fact the challenge of the gods was almost a nail in the coffin for my experience with this game. Missed the mark by about 1 cm.


3. All these stupid currencies!

Copper, Silver, Gold, Astral Diamonds, Glory, Rough Astral Diamonds, Gauntylgrim Coins, etc. etc. etc. down the line. Am I playing a game or doing data entry?

There is no reason to have so many pointless currencies. Why do we have so many types of seals that can't even be traded up? Specifically to be annoying? This could be so simply rectified by making only one type of seal but making it so that you can only get it from monsters at your level or greater (removing the need for this bounty weirdness). Balance the drop rate, increase the cost of items, and you're done.

As for everything else... you're on your own Cryptic. I can't even imagine how gold could be reintroduced as a useful currency when everything you can buy with it can be more cheaply purchased at the AH with some AD. But there needs to be something to make currencies more concise. It's just the CPA exam all over again at the moment.