Neverwinter: PC

Sir Funk

Molten Core Raider
1,251
155
Been playing a while now and having a blast. The game will be a lot of fun for a while, but I doubt there's much to do at 60. Will be nice to play through a few times and then to do Foundry quests at 60.

I think the user-generated content is going to be a huge success in this game.
 

Disp_sl

shitlord
1,544
1
What shard are you playing on Sir Funk? Probably be good to get a consensus on a good shard for people to start with for grouping.
 

axeman_sl

shitlord
592
0
I don't see how that's any different than buying gold or gear in Diablo 3 off the RMAH, and that game didn't suffer because of it.
Are you kidding? It's mentioned by pretty much everybody as one of the top three reasons the game failed. Even so, D3 is not an MMORPG, but it has survived exclusively by being a Blizzard game that a lot of fans waited years and years for. The RMAH is widely regarded as its downfall, and is what kept it from being taken seriously by anybody who is remotely competitive.

Name a widely succesful MMORPG with a long lifespan where it has been possible to mastercard your way to the best gear that can be obtained. There's a reason everybody hates it: it completely destroys a game's integrity and eliminates the reason most people play MMORPGs. The very thing that makes a succesful MMORPG is competitive integrity and incentive to excel. Allowing people to RMT their way to the top means the competitive integrity of the game is literally zero. Who would care about WoW if you could pay Blizzard for a full set of BiS gear? Who would care to work hard and beat the content?

Who would take pride in accomplishing something if there was no way for them to distinguish themselves from those who did it by opening their wallets? Indeed, games are increasingly starting to cater specifically to those who mastercard their way to the top, making this the most rewarding and celebrated way to "play" the game. Not coincidentally, we're also in a time where games have a lifespan of like three months before people can't possibly force themselves to care anymore and move on, hoping the next title is more satisfying. It's sad for gaming that these days it's a matter of "woah, that guy has the really expensive vanity pet" rather than "woah, that guy killed the hardest dragon and got the Holy Avenger +5!"

EQ had competitive integrity. DAoC had competitive integrity. WoW has competitive integrity, though it's starting to crack a little with the introduction of shit like the black market AH that obviously serves as a currency sink for people who RMT. Expect the next WoW expansion to have Blizzard-sanctioned Cash For Gold and even more high end gear on the BMAH, and expect that to be what kills WoW. It'll be their last cash grab before they turn their full focus on whatever Titan turns out to be.

An MMORPG where you can literally pull out your credit card and purchase the best gear in the game will be forgotten three months down the line as nobody will give a single fuck about anything that goes on in said game and will have no qualms moving on after two weeks when they realize that there's no incentive to work hard and no recognition for doing so.

It's a bit different in ARPGs where you play mostly by and for yourself, but the appeal and root of success of the MMORPG genre has always been the look-at-what-I've-got factor. Removing this element alienates every fan of traditional MMORPGs, as seen in GW2 and many other lesser titles that few even really know about because they failed so resoundingly that they didn't even cause a ripple in the dead sea of the MMORPG genre.

The games that survive for a long time, and are still remembered fondly even after they've died naturally of old age, are the games where you couldn't buy success and could be fairly sure that the guy with the awesome axe had actually earned it. Nobody remembers all those shitty games where you leveled to max in a day, discovered that there was no point doing anything since a third of the playerbase just bought the things you'd have to work hard for, and then quit without ever looking back. If Neverwinter really lets you RMT the best gear in the game, it will be another one of those games.

The gaming industry has become like the McDonalds of restaurants: it's strangely lucrative to serve people absolute garbage. Unfortunately, unlike the real world's food industry, every MMORPG is now trying to be McDonalds and there's no way to get a proper meal anywhere. People argue that it must be what the paying customers want if it's what's most profitable for the developers, but one wouldn't try to argue that a Big Mac is good food just because it generates a lot of cash.
 

Disp_sl

shitlord
1,544
1
Are you kidding? It's mentioned by pretty much everybody as one of the top three reasons the game failed. Even so, D3 is not an MMORPG.
I'm not gonna get into a pissing war with you because I don't give half a shit. Play it if you want, don't play it if you don't want. This game is more like Diablo than it is EQ.
 

Qhue

Tranny Chaser
7,610
4,564
Here's the thing : You can do a lot of things with money but you cant just go to a webpage or an auction house and plunk down your Visa card for the best gear in the game.

Money gets you:

Better companions, better mounts, fancy clothes, tradeskill materials, respec vouchers and such.

You can use money to buy Astral Diamonds which you can use to buy high level armor and weapons...but this is just the same quality shit you get from levelling up and doing dungeons / quests.

All the really nice stuff at level 60 is obtained by doing dungeons and getting seals which are used to buy gear. Since the uber gear is BoE it IS possible for someone to buy the uber stuff and then put that on the auction house to sell for a huge number of astral diamonds...but that is not anywhere near the same as the RMAH on Diablo 3. If anything it is similar to a guild selling off loot for gold in any other MMO, only in this case the gold is actually sold directly by the game company instead of a chinese third party.

You won't be plunking down $20 for 733t purpz or anything of the sort.
 

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
I heard it doesn't matter in the long run, they will be merging all 3 shards for launch. Everything is already instanced anyways.
 

Qhue

Tranny Chaser
7,610
4,564
Correct. The game is intended to be only one server like Champions and STO are, but they divided into three for the launch to try and control the massive hit on the servers caused by launch. After things settle down they will all merge, this is why guild names have to be unique across all three servers.


Quick newbie guide for launch:

Cleric: Forgemaster's Flame is your main healing spell. It doesn't look like it, but trust me it is. If you ever cast this spell without Divinity active god murder's a kitten. You also want Recovery as much as you can possibly get so that you can cast this again ASAP

Guardian Fighter: You are a meat shield, you also have an ACTUAL SHIELD. You should seriously consider using it as much as you can. Keep the biggest mobs on you.

Control Wizard: Your job is to use your big AE spells to control / kill all the trash and adds that come. Don't worry about aggro, there is no way in hell yer getting aggro over the Cleric and the Guardian Fighter. Also just because they are called 'daily' spells you don't have to restrict yourself to only casting them once per day. Use them fuckers liberally, they aint doing you a damn bit of good just sitting in your hotbar. You aren't DPS... you are control. ITS IN YOUR NAME GODDAMNIT SO DO IT.

Trickster Rogue: You are the DPS. Sure everyone else is attacking, but you are the only one that actually matters. If you aren't doing half the groups DPS by yourself then you are doing it wrong. (Exception only if there are two Trickster Rogues)

Great Weapon Fighter: Your job is to go to Dunkin Donuts and get everyone lattes, no foam on mine thanks.


It really is still a BETA. There are lots of abilities that are just pointlessly underpowered as well as some fundamental issues, but I hope this will be rectified in short order.
 

Tide27_sl

shitlord
124
0
And here I was thinking Defiance was bad...this game is garbage. Graphics came straight from the PS1 era and youve got basically only 1 class thats needed and thats the trickster rogue. Rest of the classes may as well not be in the game.

No wonder there was very little posted about this game in these forums and other gaming forums, its pure garbage.
 

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
I wouldn't go that far, it's about a 6 out of 10.

Graphics PS1 level? Not sure what type of PC you're playing it on, graphics don't matter for an MMO to be successful though.
 

Faltigoth

Bronze Knight of the Realm
1,380
212
And here I was thinking Defiance was bad...this game is garbage. Graphics came straight from the PS1 era and youve got basically only 1 class thats needed and thats the trickster rogue. Rest of the classes may as well not be in the game.

No wonder there was very little posted about this game in these forums and other gaming forums, its pure garbage.
There is no doubt that there are going to be people who love it, because it's DnD and Forgotten Realms and kind of action-y and it's free and if you paid enough money you got a shiny black panther companion, yadda yadda.

You are right though, it is not a very good game. The only real draw is that it is free*. There is another DnD MMO that has tons of content (all hand-crafted), is also free*, uses the far superior 3.5 ed rules, is moving into the Forgotten Realms, is also kind of action-y, and still has a pretty significant playerbase - and that is DDO.

DDO ain't perfect by a damn sight, but it is still light-years ahead of this in nearly every way. If you get sick of Neverwinter after 2 hours - as most of the folks who read these boards no doubt will - but still have a DnD itch to crave, download DDO. You won't be sorry.
 

Man0warr

Molten Core Raider
2,265
171
DDO is turning more Neverwinter/WoWish to try to keep players, though.

Honestly, neither are amazing games, but I think most people can get 2-3 months worth of play out of them. That's all we can really ask for an MMO at this point, sadly.
 

Tide27_sl

shitlord
124
0
I wouldn't go that far, it's about a 6 out of 10.

Graphics PS1 level? Not sure what type of PC you're playing it on, graphics don't matter for an MMO to be successful though.
I have a top of the line PC. Dual 7970s running with a 3x 27 inch monitor system in 5760 x 1080 reso. While graphics dont necessarly make a good MMO, they sure can make a bad one worse.

As far as PS1 goes. Fable 1 has better graphics than this. As far as MMOs are concerned, this is probably the worse looking of all big name titles.

Neverwinter Nights deserves so much more than this. Its down right criminal that they wasted this IP on this title.
 

Zindan

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
6,953
4,596
The OB launch is a failure, just like all other MMO's on day one (at least those who didn't prepare). There are about 3300 people looking at the thread dealing with the launcher / account server issue. It is pretty funny reading how forgiving the fanboys are about this issue.
 

earthfell

Golden Knight of the Realm
730
145
oh is it the standard "guys relax its launch day what do u expect?" or are they still using the "its beta" line?