Frog in the Water

One of my favorite illustrations to explain the human psychological reaction to change is the frog in a pot of water. Whether it is a scientific fact is not the point. But, here it is:

There are two scenarios with a frog in a pot of boiling water.

Scenario #1: A frog is placed in a pot of cold water. The pot is put on the stove. The water is slowly heated until the water is boiling hot. The frog never jumps out because the frog is not able to perceive the smaller incremental changes to the heat. The frog dies because it boils to death in the water.

Scenario #2: A pot of cold water is placed on a stove. The water is brought up to boiling. A frog is thrown into the water and immediately jumps out because it can perceive the temperature difference. The frog lives.

Now, this is not a doom-and-gloom post that is saying that being used to discuss the historical modulation of Neverwinter. Nor, am I attempting to encourage players to jump out of the boiling water, if it is so perceived. Such comparisons are not the point, and are not helpful.

Rather, I am pointing out is that mod 6 (apart from all the bugs, recycled content, removal of older content, etc) is really a shift in the way the game is played, and this change was so sudden that the reaction against it (mostly) has been overwhelming, while some (mostly players who utilize preview and knew what the module would entail) prepared for its change.

Fundamentally, Neverwinter modules 1-5 were very friendly to solo PvE for all levels. End-game dungeons and PvP were much more relaxed to randomization in participation, which meant that the player base that is composed of new to casual players could participate and gain a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment from the game. High-paying players could become BiS and dominate PvP and dungeons, and gain what they want out of the game. However, there was a tedium for those that hit end-game and a clear lack of motivation to do much.

Cryptic attempted to listen to end-game players who had maxed out on most everything and put in the works to release mod 6, which at its heart is designed to make end-game very difficult. Difficulty means it takes more time to complete something. Difficulty means that reaching maxed BiS will not be so easily done. Difficulty, in this sense, is good...to an extent. However, the difficulty integrated into the game reformulated the idea that solo PvE at end game is now impossible in the usual progression from 1-69. And, there do not seem to be options for players to make their beloved characters better apart from a single path that requires grinding, for which Neverwinter (before mod 6) was NOT known for, until end game farming. So, the changes of 1) adding difficulty, 2) removing pathways to improvement prior to end-game, 3) adding an XP grinding mechanism for levelling, and 4) removing the style of play for mostly solo PvE are points at which the reaction is contrary. It seems to be so because it all came in one release, not slowly. And, along with it came the usual bugs, problems. But, I digress...

Calls for rollback and putting the game back to premod 6 100% are a lack of perspective. As a player from open beta and onwards, I can tell you that the player base that had been in endgame for a long time had grown bored with the ease of dungeons, HEs, campaign rewards, running WoD dragons, and Tiamat raid.

For the developers (and I expect no kind of feedback), I humbly request that the changes you have designed in mod 6 be more incrementally installed over several modules.

Of the 4 major changes to the game with module 6, I offer one suggestion each:

1) FOR DIFFICULTY: Formulate the stats from lvl 61-70 so that it is linear in respect to the same formulas in mod 5. Then, after mods 7 and/or 8, when you release alternate means of gaining achievements/armor sets or whatever, you can slightly tweak the difficulty back up. This has the advantage of including the new and casual player right now who do not want to feel they are getting weaker with no option for improvement as they increase in level, and it has the advantage of making the high-end payers feel even more dominate, which motivates them to play. In essence, it re-establishes solo PvE to an extent.

2) FOR PATHWAYS TO ACHIEVEMENT PRIOR TO END-GAME: Curerntly campaign zones are really end-game, and they should be (scaling up or down aside). However, in-between functionally running these campaign zones are the new zones for mod 6. Dungeons have been removed and reformulated to match end game. I suggest adding the smorgasboard of dungeons that were in mod 5 back into the game for all those not at end game, with requirements adjusted to match their gear abilities. This helps the new to casual player proceed with advancement, and does nothing to prohibit high end players from farming the top epic dungeons with high difficulty. Keep the dungeons you have, but add on the ones you removed. Put an end result in the dungeons of less difficulty something that can be a stepping stone to end game participation (but not BiS).

3) XP FOR LEVELLING: This one seems a little moot, as the complaint against XP has more to do with being locked into the one zone, rather than the amount of XP necessary to level. With the 2xXP events, methods to boost XP, this one seems a little silly to ask for more XP. But really, the reaction is against the appearance of being forced to do the same thing over and over (from lvl 61-70) in order to progress in quest missions, whereas from 1-60, each quest seemlessly flowed into the next, so that repetitive questing (grinding) was not necessary. I do not know whether this can be changed without major modifications, but the player-base grew accustomed to the ability to level without repetition. It might be that adding changing #1 and #2 might add the variety necessary for players so that the repetition for questing is better masked. But, with that in mind, it could be easier to reduce the number of quests that need to be repeated (with larger XP bonuses) so that progression to the next level is faster. There I said it...moving on.

4) RE-ESTABLISHING SOLO PVE: Variety, foundry, protector dailies, etc. These can add variety to the play style. Together with #1-#3, the integration of plans for guild housing/raids, the level cap and higher end game will be more seemless, more like developers are merely adding on a new floor to an already existing structure, than demolishing the upper floors. Basically, make progression from level 1-69 be even and linear, and let 70 be the new end game. Right now, it feels like 1-60 is seemless, 61-69 is impossible (for casual and new players), and 70 is mixed (great for longtime players with BiS gear already, and too difficult for new and/or casual players). Integrate the same means of progression for the new and casual player base in a linear fashion up to end game. And keep all of the super hard difficulty for the high end players. They need the challenge.

In any case, if anyone does reply, please be respectful.