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Neverwinter MMO: Is it worth playing?
linyive
Member Posts: 1,086 Arc User
Neverwinter MMO: Is it worth playing?
Approximately two days ago, I attempted to download Neverwinter. While the downloading was taking place, I decided to read online reviews and the forums. I ended up stopping the download. I got the impression that the game was a money pit.
Is the game worth playing?
Can someone confirm the money pit conundrum?
I read that you have to buy character customization options with zen. Is that true?
Approximately two days ago, I attempted to download Neverwinter. While the downloading was taking place, I decided to read online reviews and the forums. I ended up stopping the download. I got the impression that the game was a money pit.
Is the game worth playing?
Can someone confirm the money pit conundrum?
I read that you have to buy character customization options with zen. Is that true?
Post edited by linyive on
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If you're jonesing for an MMO set in a D&D-lite world, and DDO isn't cutting it for you, it might be worth your time.
PvP is better.
Definitely a good game to have a break from STO, every once in a while.
Hope that helps.
I hope STO get's better ...
Everyone's feedback is helpful. Thank you.
How different is it to Neverwinter Nights II?
Apparently there's also some serious dungeon exploiting going on. It's so bad that it seems a portion of the player base had to create a custom chat channel in order to organize legit/non-exploit dungeon runs. That's never a good thing.
It may have the "Cryptic" name on it, but don't be fooled. It's a PWE game through and through.
Mine Trap Supporter
It's an MMO instead of a story-driven RPG. Do the math.
Setting-wise, it's about 100 years later during 4E. Nasher's dead, Neverwinter itself is mostly in ruins because Mount Hotenow erupted a couple decades ago.
Stick with NWN2. Better story, less restrictions on fan modules (and there are some damn good ones out there; I've got 20GB of community content in my install). Biggest downside with NWN2 is that WOTC and Atari had a spat over the license agreement before Obsidian could finish fixing all the bugs, so there's some annoying ones left. But there's nothing really game-breaking, unlike some games I could mention.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
This is the main thing that baffles me about this game, they already had a great character creation system in D&D that has been successfully ported to other PC games and they thought it would be a good idea to through that all out the window and make up their own classes.
Their games are low res, rushed, unsupported garbage PERIOD
they bought into STO to have a cash cow and have relatively ruined the game, Atari and Cryptic were doing a decent job, But money talks and everything else walks.
This game should be the Primary attention of 100% of PWE staff for it is the only thing they've gotten their grubby little hands on that is worth a minute of anyone's time AT ALL.
Hope- maybe they will listen to the community that fattens their wallets, and give US the STO gaming experience we constantly scream for. PWE is an amateur effort, at least they still have Cryptic to hold their hand and keep this game (at least partially) playable.
It's worth trying out. Doesn't cost anything to try and maybe you'll like it.
For me it didn't work.
It's even further from D&D than STO is from Trek, and when looking at the big number of cheap or free fantasy RPGs out there, both online and single-player, there are just way to many games that I enjoy more, that have better graphics, better story, better gameplay, that have a bigger and more developed world, better options for customization or immersion, better endgame options, better support etc...
I do play Neverwinter. I do like its controls. It's more actiony that other fantasy MMOs I've played. And that's fine with me. I never liked having to deal with knowing what each of the 100+ icons on my screen does.
Basically it's point and shoot/cast/swing/etc... You have your "At Wills" tied to your left and right mouse button. Around the WASD controls for strafing/moving forward are your encounter keys. You can only slot five encounters at a time, but you can slot them anytime you're not in combat.
Then your "dailies" (I like to call them "Limit Breaks") are tied to your 1 and 2 keys. And your consumables are at 3, 4, and 5. And your mounts are at 6.
It is worth checking out if only to see if you will like it or not. Or you could just take the words others give you and not touch it. It's up to you.
I try not to look at it as another D&D MMO (it's not that hard actually since I've never played the newest edition ruleset). It's nice to have fun with when you get burnt out of using laser guns and starships.
For now I'll go and play a bit. Managed to get 12 character slots without buying any Zen (the Leadership Profession is great for passive Astral Diamond grinding once you level it up quite a bit).
K'Tana Warblade with her Dusk Unicorn Mount
Yep. After a few weeks of passive grinding I managed to grab my account wide Dusk Unicorn. And got a dress and dyed it so everything matches. Too bad I can't get a black 2 handed sword anywhere...
"Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
You may try it and you may even like it. But imho it's the weakest of all Cryptic games. Others have something unique and NW is just generic, very class-restricted fantasy mmo.
It is semi-action, but only semi, since many of your attacks roots you in place, so it doens't play as fluent as DCUO. It has however much, much better UI than DCUO.
It has little to do with Dungeons and Dragons, even with fourth edition, save for names and models. Game rules and mechanic are generic mmo, nothing like you can find in 4th ed handbooks.
Character customisation is limited and there are only few costume packs, you aren't also free to dye your clothes as you fancy (unlike STO or CO). Dyes are limited and either cash store, or auction house.
Gameplay is repetitive, even by mmo standards. There is only one quest line, but, unlike STO, you can not replay episodes.
It has better Foundry toolset, that's all. I would never exchange STO DOFF assignments for generic and lifeless NW crafting - which works on similar principle.
About as worth it as STO. It's an action RPG. More Zelda than WoW.
Real money? I haven't spent a penny. Game currency? Heal potions, a companion, and a mount. Astral diamonds? Ehn. I use it here and there but I've not focused on it and I don't feel as if I'm missing anything. Drops pretty much keep you competitive as far as gear goes.
Just vanity costumes and dye packs as far as I could tell. It's not Champions Online by any stretch of the imagination. If customization is your bag, play that instead.
I like the controls. They pretty much mirror how I do it in other games anyway (Only using a couple of key powers. Choosing my travel direction via pointing the mouse.)
The main failing is that the content is thin, even in the Foundry. And there's no reason to make a second character beyond feeding resources and Astral Diamonds to your main. Maybe in a couple of years you'll have a lot to do in Neverwinter, but right now, there's no replay value beyond seeing how the other character classes work.
If you're one of those tedious types who demand the game feel like you're sitting around a table drinking Mountain Dew with your dice, character sheets, and friends, you wont be happy. If you just enjoy some fantasy choppity chop, it's fine.
But it's hideously repetitive with little in the way of payoff.
I have a group of friends, all 20-year veterans of roleplaying and group gaming online. We've dabbled in a few MMO's, and all have done the ******** dance of shame.
Neverwinter bored the heck out of us after the first week.
Holey Moley Batman: the edit out the names of w a r c r a f t : ******** dance of shame.
You'll find that almost any non-Cryptic game gets its name edited if typed out in full. You can use initials, although I understand that Age of A Certain Hyborean Warrior gets edited even in initial format.
(Actually, let's test that... ***.)
(Yep, it sure does...)
Its a shame that a "Neverwinter" title was converted into a generic mmo.
most damning thing of all? i was offered early beta access a year ago to play NWO, i was never interested in the fantasy based mmos.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
If you want a fantasy MMO, I would recommend either Rift or Everquest II (Everquest Next, when it comes out sometime next year). In addition, both games have a better F2P option than the PWE games. If you are into futuristic FPS-style games, try Warframe.
As much as I love STO overall, I have to agree with others that since PWE has taken over, this game has turned into a money-sink and grind fest. In the beginning, PWE announced that they would not interfere with STO's development, but if you know anything about PWE's other games, you can see their handy work all over STO.
Though, there have been some nice additions over the past couple years, they have also thrown in a lot of brutally monotonous content and I am not seeing any desire on their end to fix the numerous bugs with the game as it is today. It's a shame, really, as this game still has so much potential and it could be even better if the staff at PWE/Cryptic would take better care of and show some pride in STO.
Join Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Which, IMHO, is not very D&D-ish at all.
If you must play a D&D MMORPG, play DDO. It's got a lot of issues, but it's still the best as far as character customization and combat goes.
But, as a 3 year veteran of said game...it's very damn grindy.
Then again, grindi-ness never bothered me, so feel free to ignore this one's opinion if you feel so inclined.
I would probably keep playing it if I didn't have a huge backlog of unplayed games, plus a decent lot of folks to play STO with.
Still, it was a fun ride to level cap. I think it's going to be yet another Cryptic MMO that'll need a good bit of time in the oven to get better. Who knows? They might've already made progress in that department but my opinion overall will take some time to un-sour enough for me to give it another try.
Mounts. Now that is some tech that could be cool in STO! Imagine riding a dinosaur or a hover bike like in Trek 2009. Or if the Gorn rode attack saurs! It looks like they have the tech already there.
Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
The Zen Store in Neverwinter is ridiculously over priced but I do like that the prices of their lock box keys are in 40k to 50k AD range. However, you cannot delete the lock boxes.
It really feels like a console game to me.
I happen to enjoy the simplicity of those kinds of games, so I like Neverwinter. It doesn't really give me an MMO fix at all, but it's good for light fun with friends.
Just my opinion.
The downsides are what has been mentioned, it's repetitive. Dungeons lead you from enemy group to enemy group to a bossfight that uses a bunch of powerful aoe Attacks while dozens of Minions chase you around and outside of that content relegates you to enclosed areas where you hunt down monster mobs to kill x amount of monster y and collect B amount of Item A with little variety in-between.
Also, Cashgrap. Everything costs -copious- amounts of money and there aren't really any alternatives to that, In STO, there are ways to get a good spaceship without investing real money with fleet stores, events like the upcoming one, mirror boxes, saving EC etc. In NW, the only way to get a Fast mount or a powerful companion is the Z store.
Another example is the enchanting system. Getting a lesser enchantment requires you to collect 4 shards in Dungeons and purchase a "Coalescent Ward" for 10 euro. You need 4 lessers and another 10 euro ward for a normal one, 4 normals for a greater and 4 greater for a Perfect enchantment, do the math.
There is a currency similar to STOs Dilithium called Astral diamonds that can be traded for zen, but chances to obtain those are spread surprisingly thin. For example, out of all epic dungeon, only one gives you a daily AD reward, and it's not one you can do with a pug. Foundry missions only give some AD after running 4 of them and no bonus depending on how long you took like in STO. There are also a lot of systems to pull AD from the economy and the Auction house used AD as well (Of course that means if you have a group for epic dungeons, you can earn a lot of AD by selling epic loot to people who bought their AD)
Overall though, I still like the occasional delve into NWO, some parts are seriously fun, the foundry missions often tell good stories and I like the style of the graphical presentation. It's just not a game to keep my attention for long and especially not one to play "seriously" and gun for endgame content, unless you are willing to shell out a lot of money.
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Boldly go where no man has gone before,
Meet interesting new species, and Kill them!
Thanks to the double XP weekend they had recently, I hit cap with my (supposedly OP) Control Wizard after a few weeks of playing the game. Let me tell you my thoughts on NWO via a wall of text I fully expect you'll skip and I won't think poorly of you for doing so.
The Good
- The controls fit in with the action RPG vibe really well. This can be a problem if you're used to the controls of STO and can't switch mental gears, but once you get used to using your left hand fingers for everything, it flows well.
- Like Cryptic's other games, you can go from level 1 to cap without spending a dime to play. You don't get the best gear ever, but only babies demand that without a grind/ cash payment attached.
- Random drops tend to give you better gear than the shops and quest rewards. YMMV on this being "good" since it gives you little reason to do the missions aside from needing something to do. And the player economy seems dead to me.
- A lot of the Foundry missions are pretty good.
The So-So
- The maps are very linear and all have the same mission progression: Collect X number, kill X number, Cross a dungeon to kill a boss. This makes the game seem like it's thin on content since you just did the same thing on a different map.
- Like Cryptic's other games, the story you're introduced to gets pushed into the corner and ignored. And when you meet the big bad again, you're like, "Oh, I remember you from the opening animation"
The Bad
- The Cleric, Great Weapon Fighter, and Guardian Defender classes are far too underpowered for their jobs. The heals don't heal much. The giant sword doesn't do near as much damage as it should. The stamina needed to hold up the shield against huge attacks is insufficient due to the large number of them constantly coming in. As a result the challenge is the only reason to not play a Wizard or Rogue.
- Boss fights are incredibly unfair with the constant summoning of sub-boss level mooks during the fight. It might make sense with some bosses, but when the mooks pop out of the ground right in front of you, it starts to seem like how Mario Kart used to give you a challenge: By cheating.
- Your companion becomes useless at a certain point unless you spend a pile of Astral Diamonds to upgrade them. This would be fine with me if there were more ways to get Astral Diamonds aside from PUGs and PvP, both of which I despise in an MMO though you may feel differently. The Foundry is of limited use in gathering Astral Diamonds since, as you level, you have to play more missions to gain the reward. It becomes hugely time consuming and you'll be at level cap before you get anywhere with it.
- You out-level any gear you may get from Crafting by the time the crafting assingment is done. Since you get better drops, selling what you make on the Exchange is pointless as well. Leadership is about the only crafting job worth doing because you get a lot of goodies and XP from it, but reading the NWO forum suggests that this will be nerfed at some point.
- Same problem as all MMOs at level cap. Nothing to do but grind for some better gear so you can do dungeons for better gear.
Using Forum comments as my guide: Everything you may not like about STO is in Neverwinter. Things you may like about STO are not. As a new game, it's a bit thin. But if they keep up with regular updates, in a year or two it might be a meatier play.
If you want an action MMORPG set in something vaguely resembling a D&D campaign setting, Neverwinter is probably more your speed.
To the people saying "wizards are OP": They were like that in pen-and-paper D&D, too.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/