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A game designed around a cash shop
FomaldehydeJim
Member UncommonPosts: 673
I like this game, I like the combat, the graphics, the quests, the people and the general feel of the game.
I dislike the publisher. It seems that the most fixable of bugs remain unfixed while one cash shop item is introduced after another. The gates are raised for content and gear and the time locks are increased time after time, but with a paid option to by-pass them. To say it is Pay for Advantage is the politest way I can describe the monetisation system; even if it is perhaps not the most honest. Without a doubt the advantage paying members gain skirts "P2W" territory.
It is a shame, it is a game that is being slowly destroyed by the greed of its publisher, and it is a game I am imminently likely to leave for that very reason (despite having spent a sum of money at least equivalent to a subscription on it historically).
The final straw is that the much neglected foundry creator has been all but destroyed by the knock-on effects of attempts to create cash / excessive time gates in the PVE content.
It is ashame, the game had so much potential.
Comments
Perfect world at is best, one fo the many reasons why i scratched them and all their games from my list, even future ones...
Do you really want the guys that make fancy hats playing in the codebase?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I'd rather they had a few more people in the bug-fix team and a few less in the fancy hat team... although I do wish the cash shop was restricted to fancy hats and boosts.
Every single day one F2P is built around the cash shop. Its is the foundation of the game and all content, gear and crafting systems are built around the cash shop. Every single one of them without exception.
ITs like a stink somewhere in your house you cant find. ITs just there the moment you log in, hovering over every action you take. Which is the reason I cant and wont play them.
If you spend enough time playing them its like the smoker that doesn't smell the cigarette smoke on him when he walks into a room. But everyone that doesn't smoke instantly does.
There is no cure for it and there never ever will be. It is the foundation of the game and therefore drives every component. There are just various degrees of stink. Some are really really bad others are less bad so that you don't notice so much, but its always there.
You will notice that whenever people review a F2P game they really like, its always that the Cash Shop isn't THAT bad and that you hardly notice it. You don't need to use it if you don't want to. But if you do everything can be up to 25% easier to do, etc. or 300% more expensive than a sub game. And in most F2P games that's PER CHARACTER. Its like saying I only stepped in a little pile of poop that is now stuck on just the bottom of my shoe not a big pile that went up the side.
SO I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!
To take it one step further, every single product or service a company offers is built around how it will generate revenue. It has something to do with those mysterious texts of alien concepts that so few here are familiar with. I believe it's called a business plan.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
LOL! When I play APB and those broadcasts pop up about limited time sales on Joker Boxes, the first thing that comes to mind is 'blue light special'. It seems so cheesy when games do that.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Yeah
Subtle marketing is not their strength.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I played Neverwinter for some time, until shortly after the latest Module release on the PC version (Module 6)
The only money I spent was on a sale item for a mount - and that was it.
Did I have the best gear - nope. Did I have sufficient gear to handle all the content - yes.
The combat mechanics and UI set up are excellent. I'm consistent in saying that the UI is one of the best around for the reduced skill slots / action type of mmo - in my opinion.
Some of the player created Foundry adventures are really well done, and reflect hours and hours of work put in by these players.
And then we get to the reason I stopped. The game was always pushing cash purchases, but you could get by if you didn't want to spend megabucks on it. It was never brilliant, but you could manage ok.
However, their more recent approach has been - spend money or don't go anywhere in the game.
That wasn't the only thing. Their reduction in staff really hit home in bug resolution. Every change seemed to come complete with yet more bugs, as though this was somehow a necessary part of the game.
They are pushing new content again, but I fear for the future of Neverwinter, a game that did bring me quite a time of enjoyment. I feel that the current workforce is woefully unequipped - either in experience or numbers - to handle the pressures of maintaining an active playerbase.
The worst part about this game -- the thing that made me leave -- is that I got coupons as loot for the cash shop. On top of that, it had a timer on it, expires in one hour! I know some people hate the term "immersion" but getting a coupon as loot has got to be the worst immersion breaker that I have ever seen. This game is as close to a f2p phone app as you can get.
The first time I got one I was surprised, tried to sell it (it's bound to you), then kept playing. One day later I got another one and decided to quit. Free to play is designed to tempt people to pay money, I get that... but a timed coupon? Don't support that garbage.
Edit - I can't believe I didn't remember the expiration being one hour and not one day, but it is... even worse!
But to make a comparison with films: You have Micheal Bay and you have Christopher Nolan. Both generate huge sums of money, but you get the feeling one of them at least has a love for the industry he works in while the other only has a love for box office receipts. Neverwinter feels like Micheal Bay.
You mean,
"A cashshop with minigames"?
Those only come in the free boxes you automatically get from levelling up, so I don't see the problem. They're good discounts on the most popular store items.
I've levelled up to 68 without having to use the cash shop and I've done plenty of quests, skirmishes, PvP and dungeons and barely any grinding.
R.I.P. Neverwinter
Greed kills.
Once at 70 try to get a competitive gearscore, refine your runestones to a good level, or hold your own in pvp as a free player. To remain on par with paying members you will need to treat the game as a full-time job and grind endlessly... and you will lose an awful lot (about 90% as runestones hit higher levels) of what you grind in failed refinements.
Don't get me wrong, I believe people should pay for the entertainment they use, but as I said, this game is Pay for Advantage bordering on P2W. The cash shop is thrust in your face at every turn to the point where barely five minutes of gameplay passes without some game mechanic or item beckoning your wallet.
I can't comment on the end game yet, but certainly the hours I've spent levelling up have been good, not grindy and haven't involved the cash shop. People who make out the game is a cash shop thing from the start are completely wrong. So far the only p2w elements have been in PvP, absolutely nothing outside.
So basically your saying if your okay with being an underachiever, as well as not participating in all aspects of the game, its fine. Ya I had no problems with grade school either it wasn't until college that I really had to apply myself to know more and to be better prepaid than the next guy........
The I don't really care about building the best character I can is why F2P games do so well, a huge part of the MMO market is just cruising through F2P games with poor to average gear, and dipping into the cash shop once in awhile for a hat or the "cool" mount they are offering. Then jumping to the next F2P again wading around in the kiddie pool saying this is great, I'm swimming like everyone else!!
F2P games work well for casuals. F2P games are a nightmare for a hardcore player, you either have to learn to take advantage of other players, drop plies of cash, or make a career out of building your end game character. Want to roll a new toon? Be prepared to do one of the above all over again.
The only exceptions I have found are F2P games that were formerly box plus sub that still have a subscription option available.
I quit playing shortly after the coupons came out. It may have changed since then, but the coupons used to drop from mobs. As for the problem with it, I liken it to going to the movies. Having an advertisement in the middle of the movie lessens my enjoyment of it. It disconnects me from the story and any emotion or investment I have in it. I then have to try to re-immerse myself into the the game/movie until the next advertisement/coupon.