Cryptic's Neverwinter morphs into a MMO and goes F2P

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue May 20, 2014 6:10 am

GreenGoo wrote:Oh, the gauntlets for chillwrights are now going for ~400-500k AD for the green ones, so I guess I missed out on that window of opportunity.

And do I understand this correctly? The only way to get a second (or 3d, etc) set of gauntlets is to buy a professions pack (or buy 1 on the AH from someone who bought a prof pack)? That's obnoxious even for PWE.

I don't know where they come from, but those aren't the tools I was referring to. The gauntlets are rare enough and immediately useful enough that they were expensive right out of the gate. But there are two types of black ice tools - the gauntlets and "gravers" (which looks like a chisel of some kind). It's the green graver that currently appears to be undervalued. But yeah, without additional gauntlets, you're limited in how many black ice tasks you can do at one time.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 20, 2014 10:24 am

Thanks for the info. Bought 5 Iron Gravers (green). They are under valued compared to the blue ones. We'll see how the market moves in the future.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 20, 2014 1:43 pm

GreenGoo wrote:For the record, after the module was released, I ran my ranged HR (I also have a melee one) through the normal solo grinder content (Sharandar and Dread Ring) and didn't notice any difference. Maybe splitshot was under performing but if it was, I didn't notice. Was the nerf rolled back/never released?

As far as I know, it went live with a 25% damage reduction, which basically seems able to still one-shot the same stuff it used to, though I never parsed actual damage or anything.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 20, 2014 1:59 pm

silverjon wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:For the record, after the module was released, I ran my ranged HR (I also have a melee one) through the normal solo grinder content (Sharandar and Dread Ring) and didn't notice any difference. Maybe splitshot was under performing but if it was, I didn't notice. Was the nerf rolled back/never released?
As far as I know, it went live with a 25% damage reduction, which basically seems able to still one-shot the same stuff it used to, though I never parsed actual damage or anything.

I can see it being a 25% nerf. I only fire it once or twice per solo encounter anyway. If I parsed a dungeon run I could probably see the difference.

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Tue May 20, 2014 4:01 pm

does anybody else think they announced the next module ~WAY~ too early ... I mean, that's something you hold off, to stir up excitement during a lull ... like maybe, JULY

we have the usual forum stampede of: "this new stuff is broke" .. and, oh by the way, the old stuff is still broke, or broke differently". All they've accomplished is telling us they'll be too busy crunch-timing new content to fix anything in a timely manner.

you don't suppose it's a ZEN price thing, do you? I think the timing is a bit odd even for that

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 20, 2014 4:05 pm

No idea.

Might just be a "see, we've got lots of plans for the game" sorta thing.

Really, I have no idea. Haven't even thought about it to be honest.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Tue May 20, 2014 4:55 pm

It seems like the preview server for module 3 was up for several months before it launched. Perhaps they want to do the same for Module 4.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 20, 2014 7:01 pm

Mod 4 announcement appears to be primarily driven by the fact that it will tie in directly with WotC's stuff, therefore it is not actually in Cryptic/PWE's hands when they get to announce, and possibly not even when they launch.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 20, 2014 9:35 pm

Oh? Some tie-in with actual D&D stuff?

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Wed May 21, 2014 12:03 pm

Yar.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx ... yofdragons

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:50 am

Been busy. Barely got in my sword coast adventures and invocations last night. Exactly zero actual play was achieved.

They need to fix the performance issues in Icewind pass. Some of my characters aren't even playable if I can't dodge charges and such.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Fri May 23, 2014 1:41 pm

I turned down max debris particle settings from 300 to 150 and that fixed most of the performance issues that I had experienced post-Mod 3. I also have shadows off as a holdover from what I had to do to make Malabog Castle playable before.

There was one Black Ice Beholder fight that turned into a slideshow nightmare and the instance stayed like that until I went to town and came back. On return to Dwarven Valley, I could actually dodge and use potions and stuff (which does very much help).

I gather that you can basically blame the mixed pvp and pve environments. In layperson terms, the game is putting in a lot of effort to track all the movements of players-that-aren't-you. Moving to a lower pop instance has been an effective way to address lag in the past, but with this option disabled in the IWD combat areas, leaving and returning only means you can hope you'll pop back into somewhere playable.

The big heroic encounters are also taxing the rendering budgets, which is why the bosses tend to disappear if you move a few steps away.

Still, I've been able to get things mostly under control with those few graphic adjustments.

The epic heroics are the first thing that's ever made me wish for toggle-able specs. I've never minded switching from solo to party or dungeon clearing to boss loadouts because it takes mere moments to swap out the necessary powers, and you're usually at a fire. It's really just my DC that ends up feeling like I'm not contributing since I switch her to total damage mode for dailies. I should probably get used to swapping back in Astral Seal and Shield on the fly, since those are the bulk of her "healing" even when playing full-on support.

Dwarven Valley actually feels easier for questing in a lot of ways than Icewind Pass because control powers seem more effective against more things.

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Mon May 26, 2014 11:54 pm

In case you haven't found him .. there's a curious little chap in Protector's Enclave by the moniker of Disheveled Madman. He is a vendor trading a "Slayer Belt of Xvim" (matching the amulet of similar title) for a single "Ancient Curio"

He is listed in the Map Legend (M) ... by the "sleeping dragon gate" (to the right of the Invoker fire) in the sewer-grate alcove

his blah-blah-blah says something about saving somebody, and you can help by bringing him curios, which can be found around PE during "events"

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 27, 2014 2:29 am

Yeah, the curio this time around was an uber-rare drop from the biggest Waukeen box. Not sure if you had to be opening them while the event was live to find one. The text implied you did (from talking to the madman during).

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:38 am

Man, I do not have enough time in the day for the gaming I'm trying to do right now.

Since my time was heavily split across multiple games, I only got 30ish of the little purses while running my dailies. I haven't even traded them in yet, or even sure the vendor is still in PE.

I'm hoping they put up a new sale on a 110% mount. I've finally had enough of this 50% nonsense.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 27, 2014 1:20 pm

I got a coupon drop for 15% off any mount purchase, but they're bound drops and expire an hour after picking them up (and they auto-loot, so you have to actually notice them too).

Did I rant about this here? Since they introduced the coupons, there have been no weekly sales.

There was supposed to be some Q&A in a recent stream event, but the CM apparently got distracted and ran out of time, and the question regarding the demise of weekly sales was not one that got answered after the fact in the original thread where questions for the stream were solicited.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue May 27, 2014 2:17 pm

Oh God.

A friend mentioned that he found a coupon. I never tied that to the lack of weekly sales, I just assumed that with the demand for Zen being so high that there was enough buying going on that they didn't feel the need to stimulate spending via sales.

If they've switched to a coupon model (and yes, 1 hour expiration time is dumb. Binding it is dumb too) then chances are slim I will buy another thing from the Zen market. Not so much from a principled stance, but from the probability that I will not find a coupon for something I want that I'm ready to buy within an hour.

I am doubtful that the weekly sales are gone for good, anecdotal evidence aside. Have you heard specifics about this?

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue May 27, 2014 6:16 pm

That was why it was posed as a question. Not that two weeks is really sufficient to draw any permanent conclusions, but it's an odd coincidence for the sales to vanish at the same time as coupons were implemented, and when weekly sales were introduced, they were not posed as "weekly sales unless we don't happen to feel like it". It was, "from now on, we'll have weekly sales".

The coupons specify that they cannot be combined with other discounts (lowest price applies), but there always have been the weekend flash deals too.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue May 27, 2014 6:24 pm

I play a fair amount. I have not seen a single one of these alleged coupons. That's a pretty piss-poor drop rate.

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Thu May 29, 2014 9:30 pm

As far as I can tell, they removed the option of selling your trash to the wondrous bazaar

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu May 29, 2014 9:37 pm

KDH wrote:As far as I can tell, they removed the option of selling your trash to the wondrous bazaar

Oh, I had no idea that you could do that!!

Heh. Too late, I learn this.

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:56 pm

Not the world's best kept secret, but the next class to appear will be the Scourge Warlock with module 4.

http://community.arcgames.com/en/news/n ... n-module-4

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:52 pm

Hamlet3145 wrote:Not the world's best kept secret, but the next class to appear will be the Scourge Warlock with module 4.

http://community.arcgames.com/en/news/n ... n-module-4

The introduction of a Warlock "pet class" was one of many reasons why D&D 4.0 felt like World of Warcraft to me. I'm not saying it won't be fun to play, just that it's a big reason why I don't/won't play D&D 4.0.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:56 pm

I jumped in today, curious about some of the new races they have said are available. Hey, look - Dragonborn! They look fun. Oh. Locked. Guess you have to pay for them.

Click the link (can I afford 14.99 or so this month?)... doo de doo... webpage says... $75.

For a race in an MMO?

Yeah, I think I'll find something else to spend to time with.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 1:29 am

That's crazy. I'd heard people complain that buying a horse with zen cost like $40+, but since I've never even considered spending actual money on a FTP game, I never really had a feel for what stuff costs.

I hopped back in for a bit and made a warlock and it's been fun enough. It feels good to finally be able to throw a fireball. One of the things that bugs me about playing a game that's supposed to be D&D is that many the defining "wizard" spells are missing - no web, no fireball. Ugh. I also like that the NWO warlock feels very little like a WoW warlock. Which is surprising, because reading the 4.0 rulebooks, it really felt to me like they were shamelessly stealing from WoW. So you'd figure a MMO based on a PNP ruleset that was itself based on a MMO would feel fairly similar.

I start my new job in a week so I expect my gameplay to drop off to nil again like it did over the summer, but I definitely enjoyed the warlock, and the Tyranny of Dragons campaign wasn't bad (though neither was it outstanding, IMO - it basically adds new chunks of real estate to five of the existing maps and you have to go kill dragons in some of them (or all of them) every day to progress. There's a new skirmish and a new dungeon of course, but since I don't play either of those they don't mean anything to me).

I think you'd probably get more fun/value out of those than out of the race, as race doesn't really affect game mechanics or gameplay all that much. You could play a froghemoth and it would still be pretty much the same game. If you decide to give it a go, look me up (@vordraxian) and I'll lend a hand any way I can.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:47 am

I thought you must have made some kind of mistake and checked it out myself, and... holy crap, you're right! These guys seem to have completely missed the idea of microtransactions. These are megatransactions!

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:44 am

Closed Beta for XBOX-One Announcement

For over a year, Neverwinter has provided adventurers from around the world a window into the Forgotten Realms universe. Until now, this experience has been limited to the PC, but on February 5th, adventurers on Xbox One will have a chance to set foot on the Sword Coast for the first time ever.

All great journeys have their first steps and Xbox Live Gold members will be able to take theirs in Neverwinter’s closed beta from February 5th – February 8th. Adventurers will be able to experience the captivating Tyranny of Dragons storyline as they battle against the Cult of the Dragon to save the city of Neverwinter. Those who participate in the beta will get to experience the same fast-paced combat as Neverwinter’s PC incarnation, complete with all of the game’s diverse classes. To better optimize the translation from PC to console, Neverwinter will utilize Xbox One’s friends list integration and streamlined control scheme to provide players with an experience as engaging as the PC's.

Are you ready to begin your Forgotten Realms journey on Xbox One? Sign up now at www.playneverwinter.com/xbox for Neverwinter’s closed beta!

Teggy · Post by **Teggy** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:28 pm

I loaded up the Xbone beta today. Looks like they added a lot of classes since I last played the game on PC. Pretty neat playing with a controller. Performance is pretty awful, though, especially in the town.

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 6:05 pm

I don't have an XBone, so I can't judge, but the lag in town can be VERY bad ... it seems to me that participation by hardcore\money-spending folk has died off since the start of the year, based on the way "salvage" candidates back up and the influx of lockbox\profession pack contents have slowed down in the auction house

I assume that there will be a ca$h shop avenue for consoleers, which will give a shot-in-the-arm to the bean counters

Teggy · Post by **Teggy** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 6:47 pm

KDH wrote:I don't have an XBone, so I can't judge, but the lag in town can be VERY bad ... it seems to me that participation by hardcore\money-spending folk has died off since the start of the year, based on the way "salvage" candidates back up and the influx of lockbox\profession pack contents have slowed down in the auction house

I assume that there will be a ca$h shop avenue for consoleers, which will give a shot-in-the-arm to the bean counters

Yeah, it looks to be the same system I remember from pc, zen and the diamonds.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 7:37 pm

For anyone who may be interested, Neverwinter came out on PS4 last week. It's been over 3 years since I last played it, so I'm looking forward to giving it another shot. Between the time and all the changes, it basically feels like a whole new game.

Spent an hour this afternoon, and found it controls remarkably well with a PS4 controller once you get used to it.

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 3:34 pm

I realize that most of you are not playing this .. but

they finally closed the "Gateway" webpage access to the game for good ... probably the only reason I still played the game for as long as I did. Gateway made it easier\faster to reset professions, and interact with the auction house and, while I don't play a lot of MMO type games, I felt it was unique to neverwinter.

Gateway Closing Down

this is last in a long line of player convenience\quality of life NERFS that cryptic has rolled out in the last year or so

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:38 pm

Oh hey, this thread got bumped a few times.

The dragonborn thing... the race by itself was released as a $25 purchase. Maybe still a bit steep as I have no point of comparison.

The $75 pack was contentious for a bunch of other reasons I won't get into in depth, to do with lack of advertising disclosure. But... you get a bag and an epic artifact you can claim on every character, and some other incidentals. Those two account unlocks are a lot of value added and make the purchase price ultimately justifiable depending on how many alts you've started.

Anyway... RIP Gateway.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sat Sep 17, 2016 10:10 am

I got up to about the mid levels on PS4, but got hit with the bug where I accidentally logged out while in a zone, and now my character is stuck there. I kinda drifted away instead of bothering to get it fixed, but have a bit of an itch to go back and revisit. Maybe I'll actually submit a support ticket today...

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 6:29 pm

I think they fixed that, or it was possible to fix by logging in with an alt.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:11 pm

Anyone want a "Neverwinter Adventurer's Helper Pack + Exclusive Lord of the Labyrinth Title" before it expires on Friday? It's a code from the Humble E3 2016 Digital Ticket that I haven't gotten around to using.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 10:02 am

silverjon wrote:I think they fixed that, or it was possible to fix by logging in with an alt.

I finally got it fixed, and ran up to level 62 (of 70). The grinding slog finally got to me and I threw in the towel last weekend.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:02 am

Sudy Nym wrote:Anyone want a "Neverwinter Adventurer's Helper Pack + Exclusive Lord of the Labyrinth Title" before it expires on Friday? It's a code from the Humble E3 2016 Digital Ticket that I haven't gotten around to using.

Bumping just in case....

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:48 pm

Hey Sudy. I can try your code on J's account, and he won't mind either way if it works or not. They don't always expire when they say they'll expire.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 10:30 pm

Sure! PM sent.