Most of the Zen store items are overpriced (and i'm saying that as a Founder who bought all 3 founders packs.).
However the game is f2p. You don't have to spend a dime to be able to download the game and level a character to max level and to take part in every quest & foundry quest the game has to offer. The only thing that you will lose by playing the game without spending your own money is your own time. It will take you along time to grind up enough Astral Diamonds (in game currency) to trade on the Zen exchange for the Zen you need to buy cash shop items. That is the case with F2p games. To want every item from the store within a week or two, without paying any money, isn't realistic & reasonable people know this.
I'll be up front and admit that I was somewhat desperate to play a new MMO, I had been a huge fan of Cryptic games in the past, but I couldn't get my friends to play with me on non-fantasy MMOs. When I heard Neverwinter was coming out and it would have action combat and free to play, I was sold.
This post is really just my impressions of the game, it was never meant to be taken comprehensively, but if you have any specific questions about the cash shop I can link you to more detailed posts other than mine. I'm just here to confirm the fears of the many players here that Neverwinter is nothing more than a generic cash grab MMO with a D&D IP.
Even though I do like Cryptic, they have made a lot of mistakes in the past with their previous MMOs, and they have a bad reputation within the MMO community. I was very willing to give them a second chance to redeem themselves, but it seems that Perfect World Entertainment is the new (old?) EA and they ruined Cryptic's game with their absurd cash shop prices. That's why I said I would never play anything they make again, they used up all their chances with me.
If you're a huge fan of the game I could care less, but if you are a player like me hoping that Cryptic would do right with Neverwinter IP and expecting a truly free to play MMO experience like Tera, or at least B2P like GW2. You need to learn from my mistake and stay away from this game.
Edit: For people saying that you can get stuff in the game for free that's irrelevant. I like buying stuf from the cash shop, I don't want to grind for things, I have money. I just believe that if I should get the value that I am paying for.
Originally posted by Bigbadwlf I'm going to try to summarize my feelings of playing Neverwinter. I was actually a huge Champions Online fan, I thought that game's design was pure genius and innovative. The combat was great, the open ended class system was great, the hero customization was great. Public quests were fun, crafting wasn't that good, but it was passable. What I was hoping Neverwinter would turn out be a fantasy MMO with CO's level of character customization, all in a nice free to play package. I was truly excited.
What I got was basically D&D Cash Shop Online, the sequel to Star Trek Cash Shop Online. I don't blame Cryptic, I blame Perfect World, I feel that the developer really wanted to make a great game, but were force to gate the content through the Zen store and it's absurd prices. I'm going to rate my impressions in 5 categories compared to other games that I have played.
Graphics: 5 easily the most ugliest modern MMO I have ever played. I want you to keep in mind that when I played Beta 3 for free I didn't mind the graphics at all, but when I had to plop down $60 to try out beta 4, I really had to take notice of what I was paying for. And this game is really ugly compared to pretty much every MMO released in the last 5 years.
Story Presentation: 6 Voice acting is nice, I actually like the fact that the voice acting continues even when you have left the NPC. You basically get to do the quest while given context of what you're actually doing. Unfortunately it turns out that maybe less than half the quests I get are actually voice acted, which is disappointing. There was one quest line that I absolutely loved where this evil Elf was turning people into demons. But overall I really had no idea what was going on, and this game didn't see interested in spending production dollars making me care compared to other MMOs. Even Guild Wars 2.
Progression: 5 Dungeon Finder is a joke, I got grouped with two tanks and no healer. Luckily I had a Cleric companion so my GF didn't die. Exp for the dungeon is a joke, I could have soloed 3 regular quests and have gotten better exp. Also the green dungeon drops were a joke, green armor upgrades drop like rain, and you can buy blue armor from the NPCs in town. If the dungeons are worthless that automatically makes the Foundry worthless. Questing is alright, the exp is great, but the missions are pretty linear, no alternative leveling zones or anything to make questing interesting. Exp from crafting is worthless. Everything from crafting is worthless. PvP was pretty fun, but once again the exp is poor.
Combat:8 Easily the best feature in this game, combat was exciting, the classes seem pretty balance, except for the Great Weapon Fighter, but I haven't tried him. I like the feature where you can choose which abilities you want while leveling, even though it ultimately doesn't matter much. What hurts the combat is the severe lack of buttons. I thought GW2 was smoking something when they restricted players to 10-15 abilities, but you only get 7 Max in Neverwinter? I took a gamble and was hoping that the companions would make up for the lack of abilities and play a bigger role in the combat. Especially if PW was charging $10-$30 for these creatures, but they weren't worth the price tag.
Exploration: 4 Is there anything fun to do in this game besides kill stuff? Nope. Crafting is garbage, you can just look at any other post on the official forums to see what I mean. I guess you can work on the Foundry, but that strongly depends on if the foundry missions are actually worth doing in this game, and if it doesn't drop blue quality or higher armor, then the answer is no.
My User average: 5.6
Let's see the score after I factor in that I had already spent $80 on this game because of insane Z-Store prices. Total score: 0
let's see the score if this game was actually a truly free to play game without the Z-Store Total Score: 7.5
Conclusion: If you can figure out a way to play this game without having to ever spend a single cent in the Z-Store, then this game is pretty decent. However I was not one of those people. I do feel that I did not get my money's worth from this game, the Z-store prices are too high. I feel I have been robbed and I will not play this game ever again, nor will I play any other game PW / Cryptic makes.
Graphics: 5 Personally I have no idea what your talking about cause when I played the graphic are quite nice, ok its not Guildwars 2 or A Single player Graphics but a 5 ??? This make me wonder how far you have gotten and how high your resolution is at. My rating on the Graphic is definitly a 7.5-8
Story Presentation: 6 On this matter I agree on 1 fact and I disagree on the other. Foundy is a great aspec given to the players to make there own story. I would give this also 6-7
Progression: 5 Progression for me is pretty much nothing about what you wrote you only complained about the dungeon finder and some other stuff regarding exp, in my opinion Progression is al about your charachter development, as I do find that there is no really indept about this fact my rating would still be 6 as they changed the way of the talent tree working and this should give them more future posibilities which im quite sure they will use and change
Combat:8 Hands down sweet combat system definitly worth imo 9 !!!
Exploration: 4 I havent done much of this myself so im gonna leave this rating out, still tho rating of 4 seems quite little ...
My global score for everyone wanting to try out Neverwinter will be a rating 7.5, the game has some great stuff inside it and is definitly worth trying out.
I myself bought the North of the Hero Pack of 200$ and I still dont regret it. In the guild im in we are already with 8 ppl that have bought the Hero pack and some more the neverwinter.
This is a personal choice and everyone should make a decision for themself.
I do admit that the shop price are way to expensive but they are not necessary and overtime you can get them just by playing and exchaning diamonds for zen !!!
GL and have fun for those that are about to join the world of Neverwinter :-)
Originally posted by Aerowyn Taken from official forums.. only one I see people having issues with are the life scrolls
doesnt seem bad to me
the LOTRO cash shop is worse -- LOTRO sells tradeskill components too
yea played many f2p games with far worse CS than this one...
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
Originally posted by Aerowyn i'm curious for graphics.. now I know they aren't the best but honestly look a lot better than say Swtor or Rift imho.. i'm curious if people upped the sliders all the way.. going to max on the bar doesn't actually max out the graphics.. you can move most the sliders under advanced up to 200-300%.. also if you click troubleshooting at the bottom of the graphics tab you can enable directx 11 support(although havent' noticed much difference doing that)
Graphics are highly tweakable, tough going above 100% with the sliders felt kind of strange,... but it added a lot of nice views to the game..
I think the graphics are quite good, tough in some open world zones they where underwhelming... Dungeons however where top knotch and annimations first class
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
I actually think the graphics are really nice...maybe Im alone on that, but the atmosphere and graphics work really well together....
As another poster said and as is blatantly obvious in your post, you only see to care about the loot drops?? Personally, I've had better loot drops in this game than most modern MMORPG's.
Please dont compare GW2's skills to this one...at least you have a choice in this game which ones you'd like to set up on your hotbar...with GW2 you are stuck with what your weapon gives you...Also, just my personal opinion but the skills in Neverwinter all compliment each other quite well...no "useless" skills that you are forced to invest in
as for the cash shop, yes, prices are steep, but they could be lowered....who knows. either way, you can easily survive without the cash shop...nothing in it is a necessity.
Dungeons were alot of fun for me....loved the built in damage meter as well...the loot drops on the first actual dungeon (not skirmish) were pretty awesome...got new shoulders that had spikes on them....was very badass lookin.
The only thing I dont like in game is the crafting, but I that's something i dont care much about for this game...
I'll be up front and admit that I was somewhat desperate to play a new MMO, I had been a huge fan of Cryptic games in the past, but I couldn't get my friends to play with me on non-fantasy MMOs. When I heard Neverwinter was coming out and it would have action combat and free to play, I was sold.
This post is really just my impressions of the game, it was never meant to be taken comprehensively, but if you have any specific questions about the cash shop I can link you to more detailed posts other than mine. I'm just here to confirm the fears of the many players here that Neverwinter is nothing more than a generic cash grab MMO with a D&D IP.
Even though I do like Cryptic, they have made a lot of mistakes in the past with their previous MMOs, and they have a bad reputation within the MMO community. I was very willing to give them a second chance to redeem themselves, but it seems that Perfect World Entertainment is the new (old?) EA and they ruined Cryptic's game with their absurd cash shop prices. That's why I said I would never play anything they make again, they used up all their chances with me.
If you're a huge fan of the game I could care less, but if you are a player like me hoping that Cryptic would do right with Neverwinter IP and expecting a truly free to play MMO experience like Tera, or at least B2P like GW2. You need to learn from my mistake and stay away from this game.
Edit: For people saying that you can get stuff in the game for free that's irrelevant. I like buying stuf from the cash shop, I don't want to grind for things, I have money. I just believe that if I should get the value that I am paying for.
your review title is cash shop ruins everything yet nothing in your review explains why it ruins anything.. you mention the prices are to high, which i agree with but what do you need from the shop? nothing on there from my experience is needed to enjoy the game.. so far this is one of the more reasonable(not in terms of price but items offered) f2p cash shops I have seen.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
I'll be up front and admit that I was somewhat desperate to play a new MMO, I had been a huge fan of Cryptic games in the past, but I couldn't get my friends to play with me on non-fantasy MMOs. When I heard Neverwinter was coming out and it would have action combat and free to play, I was sold.
This post is really just my impressions of the game, it was never meant to be taken comprehensively, but if you have any specific questions about the cash shop I can link you to more detailed posts other than mine. I'm just here to confirm the fears of the many players here that Neverwinter is nothing more than a generic cash grab MMO with a D&D IP.
Even though I do like Cryptic, they have made a lot of mistakes in the past with their previous MMOs, and they have a bad reputation within the MMO community. I was very willing to give them a second chance to redeem themselves, but it seems that Perfect World Entertainment is the new (old?) EA and they ruined Cryptic's game with their absurd cash shop prices. That's why I said I would never play anything they make again, they used up all their chances with me.
If you're a huge fan of the game I could care less, but if you are a player like me hoping that Cryptic would do right with Neverwinter IP and expecting a truly free to play MMO experience like Tera, or at least B2P like GW2. You need to learn from my mistake and stay away from this game.
Edit: For people saying that you can get stuff in the game for free that's irrelevant. I like buying stuf from the cash shop, I don't want to grind for things, I have money. I just believe that if I should get the value that I am paying for.
your review title is cash shop ruins everything yet nothing in your review explains why it ruins anything.. you mention the prices are to high, which i agree with but what do you need from the shop? nothing on there from my experience is needed to enjoy the game.. so far this is one of the more reasonable(not in terms of price but items offered) f2p cash shops I have seen.
That was my take away as well from the beta weekends.
My two biggest gripes with the cash shop in this game is it has stupid random drop boxes which I hate in games. I would rather pay $40 for a mount than some mystery amount of $1 keys for the chance at a mount. And two the way that Zen is inserted into the converstion process of gold to diamonds.
Having said that I still don't find anything in the cash shop as manadatory in any way.
I just want to give an update that I contacted Perfect World International support and was able to get a full refund on the game, and all my in-game purchases, so I do give them respect for that.
There customer service is really good, and quick and I really do appreciate this. My trust with the company has been restored, but I stand by what I posted earlier. The cash shop prices need to come down drastically.
Originally posted by Logansan Sounds like a good honest review. I didn't get into Beta so I can agree or disagree with anything, but you have (sadly) confirmed what I expected the game I would end up like. I'll likely still end up trying it as a few of my friends are looking forward to it, but it's starting to looks like it may be one of those short one month visits to a MMORPG that seems to the trend these day.
and you believe him???
First of all the founder pack is $40 not $60 and since you don't need anything after that how in the hell did he spend $80? I call bullshit.
Neverwinter does have some bugs in beta, and it will no doubt have other problems but graphics and cash shop were not problems to me. The graphics were better then most MMO's out currently (wow, LoTRO, SW:Tor etc) sure maybe not terra quality but then terra's quests are just gruesomely dull..
As i said other then the $40 founders pack i didn't have to spend money on anything and didn't feel i needed to. the founders pack also comes with a mount, a companion and astral diamonds should i ever feel i need those things. I seriously have to question the OP's comments about the cash shop at least as of beta 4 as it didn't even figure in needed way.
Now as to the dungeon finder i can't say if your expecting to it to put together a balanced group for you with a cleric, mage, tank, and rogue i'd say your expecting too much.
So you played beta 3 and said graphics were fine for free but didnt cut it for paid but went and paid for beta 4 rather than waiting for the 30th when its free again?
And as far as zen you can buy zen from other players with ingame gold(at least its that way in pwe's games, dont know if they incorporated it into the cryptic games they took over though) granted it takes alot of grinding to get said gold.
I thought it was AD and Zen transactions not gold and Zen. Gold is about totally and utterly worthless it seems like, no use whatsoever practically beyond buying you start mounts (lvl 20, 40 and 60 ones) even though you have to buy training in AD, cross proffession gatering tool, and pots (even though one should never need to buy em since they drop like crazy).
I agree that the cash shop is a bit extreme. Having to pay AD stuff left n right is not the way to do buisness. They should have taken notes from DDO's cash shop. Had high hopes for Neverwitner, but overall feel that it'll just be another meh typtical F2P MMO.
As a player of both DDO is very pay to win. Want extra stats you have to pay for them, want better classes (and yes the druid and artificer are more powerfull then the standard classes) you have to pay for them. Died on that run guess you better pay for some spirit cakes.
neverwinter on the other hand i didn't have to pay for anything. If i died i was rez'd at the nearest camp, there was no pay for better stats etc. there maybe at a later date a need to pay for new classes, but as of this betta other then paying for the actual founders pack which gives a mount, astral diamonds, and a companion which evidently I will get upon release i didn't feel i needed to buy anything. heck i didn't even have the items the found pack gives for free and felt no need for them..
Its possible that Neverwinter cash shop maybe worse after release but so far it miles better then DDO's in you don't pay for power nore do you have to pay to uinlock dungeons/areas. Its better then EQ2's for sure as your not paying just to be able to equipe better items.
Can anyone actually stat how they spent any money besides the founders pack in Neverwinter and if so on what?? (One would also have to ask who would be stupid enough to buy anything in beta when it was gonna be wiped at the end?)
Originally posted by Logansan Sounds like a good honest review. I didn't get into Beta so I can agree or disagree with anything, but you have (sadly) confirmed what I expected the game I would end up like. I'll likely still end up trying it as a few of my friends are looking forward to it, but it's starting to looks like it may be one of those short one month visits to a MMORPG that seems to the trend these day.
and you believe him???
First of all the founder pack is $40 not $60 and since you don't need anything after that how in the hell did he spend $80? I call bullshit.
Neverwinter does have some bugs in beta, and it will no doubt have other problems but graphics and cash shop were not problems to me. The graphics were better then most MMO's out currently (wow, LoTRO, SW:Tor etc) sure maybe not terra quality but then terra's quests are just gruesomely dull..
As i said other then the $40 founders pack i didn't have to spend money on anything and didn't feel i needed to. the founders pack also comes with a mount, a companion and astral diamonds should i ever feel i need those things. I seriously have to question the OP's comments about the cash shop at least as of beta 4 as it didn't even figure in needed way.
Now as to the dungeon finder i can't say if your expecting to it to put together a balanced group for you with a cleric, mage, tank, and rogue i'd say your expecting too much.
pack is $60 always has been.. you thinking of dragons prophet maybe?
but i do agree the CS is nothing to get up and arms about.. you really need nothing on there to play and enjoy the game unlike some other f2p games cash shops...
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
Sorry, but I think I am a little late to the party on this one. I had fully intended to come and enjoy Neverwinter but all this talk withing the thread about the pay2win stuff etc has made me somewhat wary.
Would anyone who has played please give me an example of the pay2win situation going on? Like, what exactly do you 'have' to pay for in order to succeed?
Thank you for your time, I am a big DnD fan and this sounds potentially a deal breaker for me >.<
Nothing, as the Op is posting incorrect information
Pplayed didn't have to spend anything had complete acess to all classes and all areas. Unlike EQ2 or DDO there was nothing I could see the cash shop sold that would increase my stats or that I needed to equipe better items. While i expect one may have to pay to get the new classes when they are released there is nothing currently one needs to spend cash on. I didn't fwwl any real need for a mount or companion both of which one gets with the founders pack on releaase and both of which can be gotten in game via quests or gold.
Ask yourself this easy question who spends money on items in beta that will be wiped at the end of the weekend? the Op says he spent $80 doesn't say on what just claims he spent that much even though it will all be wiped by the 25Th. Does that make sense? Do you believe him? theres a certain lack of reasoning there that smells of troll
Enough said.. Its from PWE so you can buy power with real money that is almost impossible to get without spending anything.
Huh? What power can you buy? I've been in all 4 beta weekends and have looked at the cash shop each time. The prices are way too high, but there is no power for sale. Please shut up if you haven't even played the game.
Sorry, but I think I am a little late to the party on this one. I had fully intended to come and enjoy Neverwinter but all this talk withing the thread about the pay2win stuff etc has made me somewhat wary.
Would anyone who has played please give me an example of the pay2win situation going on? Like, what exactly do you 'have' to pay for in order to succeed?
Thank you for your time, I am a big DnD fan and this sounds potentially a deal breaker for me >.<
Nothing, as the Op is posting incorrect information
Pplayed didn't have to spend anything had complete acess to all classes and all areas. Unlike EQ2 or DDO there was nothing I could see the cash shop sold that would increase my stats or that I needed to equipe better items. While i expect one may have to pay to get the new classes when they are released there is nothing currently one needs to spend cash on. I didn't fwwl any real need for a mount or companion both of which one gets with the founders pack on releaase and both of which can be gotten in game via quests or gold.
Ask yourself this easy question who spends money on items in beta that will be wiped at the end of the weekend? the Op says he spent $80 doesn't say on what just claims he spent that much even though it will all be wiped by the 25Th. Does that make sense? Do you believe him? theres a certain lack of reasoning there that smells of troll
The only one spreading incorrect information is you. You still think the founder's pack is $40? Go away troll.
The CS seems fine to me. I'm actually a bit relieved since before I got to check it out I was cringing what it might entail. If the game was P2P or B2p and had this design I would be irritated but considering it doesn't and there are even in game ways to earn what you want if you're patient enough it works for me.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Originally posted by Logansan Sounds like a good honest review. I didn't get into Beta so I can agree or disagree with anything, but you have (sadly) confirmed what I expected the game I would end up like. I'll likely still end up trying it as a few of my friends are looking forward to it, but it's starting to looks like it may be one of those short one month visits to a MMORPG that seems to the trend these day.
It's a highly biased review from someone who had pretty much unrealistic expectations from the onset. There was no way that this was going to be a game with free form classes nor was there any chance that this game would match the level of production value recently launched games that cost millions more to make. If a fool gave a review, this would be what it looks like.
The game is fun to play. The dungeons are cool. The foundry stuff can really be amazing. The graphics are actually very well done within the chosen art styling. There could be a great deal of "replay value" here for a free to play game. You don't need to put any money at all into the cash shop to get the full game. You don't need to buy a founder pack either if you choose not to. If I had to give it criticism I'd say it would be nice if there were 1) more character appearance options; 2) a wider visual variety of gear and weapons; and 3) more of the core classes from the players handbook at the start of open beta. But all those things can get addressed throughout the open beta (soft launch).
If you are only interested in quick xp, getting to max level so you can start in on tier end game content then you should concentrate on the mainstream game in the genre that has that stuff in spades plus has cute pandas, built-in farmland, and built-in pokemon challenges too.
As a long time player of a pwe game I can tell you first hand that even if it isn't apparent at the moment that it will be a pay2win game it will be without any doubt in my mind. Only reason I still even have the original game I played by them still installed on my comp is cause of long time friends from the game that I occasionally get on and bullshit with from time to time.
PWE has become infamous for this in the majority of their games other than the maybe very select few that you buy outright paying a one time only fee for. Take Perfect World International for instance (this is the game I've played by them for nearly 4 years now) the game was a great game pre genie patch and was even fairly balanced in terms of pvp and pve. Now its extremely pay to win. The only way to get the best armor in game is from items from the cash shop granted you can buy the real cash currency with the in game currency via a gold buying/selling function in their auction house however, the items needed to get the best end game equipment is only attainable through cash shopping. Be it from buying the items required from some other player with ingame currency or spending your own cash. If in all fairness you actually farmed the items attainable in game there may be (and I do mean may be) have been enough time for maybe one person per server to actually have farmed the required items through in game events.
I'll put it this way,
Item requirements are for the full set
300,000 reputation- by the time your around end game lvl you may have about 10k unless you've spent a few thousand hours grinding mobs that drop items that can give 10-25 reputation and the 2-5 rep you can get by grinding repeatable quests.This alone would literally take years had they not put stacks of 10-25-50 of the items that give you 25 reputation in the cash shop.
Medals of glory 32 needed over all I beleive- 25$ a peice in the catshop or the 1 that is given to a random territory owned by any specific faction 1 time a month or something like that.
General summers tokens around 190 are needed in all- can be made with an item called mysterious chips takes 9999 chips to make 1 GST. you can if your good and the cube event farm probably 50-100 a day (given you get 55 each day from the daily bounty hunter quest you would get that many) Again this item is sold in large stacks in the cash shop just like the rep badges. Inexpensive to a degree (basically you get about 500 for 10-15 cents) but add up how many you need to get the final product and it gets to be over 600$ easy for the most part.
The fact is pwe has gotten extremely happy with power selling as they have a few ppl on certain servers with pretty much endless cash flow they can dump into the game Theres one person with a character that is well known for having spent probably close to 40-50 thousand dollars on this game to be one of the top elite built characters and this isn't a lie he really just has enough money to throw away like that. Furthermore even after you get that set you'll spend months farming the other stuff in game to go through the process of recasting it into its better stated set 2 more times after you even get it. If you spent just the cash for this set of armor it'd cost you nearly around 2k usd You'd also be amazed at how many people have actually been brainwashed into getting it cause basically you will not be competitive in any end game aspect without it anymore there is no set of gear that is attainable without using some form of the cash shop (be it purchasing it from another player with ingame currency or your own real life cash) that is even close to being on par.
Pw was pwe's biggest starter basically as well it was their headliner game i mean its pretty much named directly after the company. Thankfully they have somewhat of a decent Community manager at the moment others in the past were horrible alls they ever told us when there was an issue that needed fixing is "Soon" this was pretty much the anwser for when we could expect game breaking bugs to be fixed/eploiters/botters go untouched as most of them are pretty much large csers as well as possibly staff members of the company.
My suggestion is if you see a game being hosted by this company even if it looks pretty and polished and fun be wary of it cause in the long run they'll ruin it alls you'd have to do is visit the F2p forums of any one of their games and see how much of it is issues vs happiness of the consumers.
I feel like I've been baited an switched. The title gives off a negative and bias approach to "reviewing" a game, and pretty much sets the stage of what to expect. All the while it has no actual evidence to warrant such a title other than people seeing, potentially not reading it to see that it's all opinions, and come off as negative to a game that isn't even out and will be free to try.
I'm not even sure if this is a serious post in all honesty. I feel the fool for even responding to it, so I won't go into the myriad of reasons that I can't get away from the feeling that it just seems like a bias or disgruntled troll. Honestly, it just seems like the OP wants to force feed us opinions what with the inappropriate (in the sense that he doesn't even try to justify it by going into detail in the actual post) title to be seen by people who may not actually read the thread (almost in a "hey, look at me and how I'm right without actually proving it" kind've way).
If you're serious with this post, then I apologize for the harsh critique and how I'm of the persuasion you're a troll. I would suggest not "setting the mood" with the title without going into ample reasons as to why you did it with your actual text in the future. It just gives that vibe that you didn't even try to be unbias and are just taking a jab at potential fans, or intentially trying to scare off potential customers of a free game that someone may in fact actually joy other than yourself. Thank you for your well intentions if you were sincere in this post, and please try to post more responsibly in the future if you weren't.
Due to frequent travel in my youth, English isn't something I consider my primary language (and thus I obtained quirky ways of writing). German and French were always easier for me despite my family being U.S. citizens for over a century. Spanish I learned as a requirement in school, Japanese and Korean I acquired for my youthful desire of anime and gaming (and also work now). I only debate in English to help me work with it (and limit things). In addition, I'm not smart enough to remain fluent in everything and typically need exposure to get in the groove of things again if I haven't heard it in a while. If you understand Mandarin, I know a little, but it has actually been a challenge and could use some help.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy debates and have accounts on over a dozen sites for this. If you wish to engage in such, please put effort in a post and provide sources -- I will then do the same with what I already wrote (if I didn't) as well as with my responses to your own. Expanding my information on a subject makes my stance either change or strengthen the next time I speak of it or write a thesis. Allow me to thank you sincerely for your time.
Originally posted by Logansan Sounds like a good honest review. I didn't get into Beta so I can agree or disagree with anything, but you have (sadly) confirmed what I expected the game I would end up like. I'll likely still end up trying it as a few of my friends are looking forward to it, but it's starting to looks like it may be one of those short one month visits to a MMORPG that seems to the trend these day.
It's a highly biased review from someone who had pretty much unrealistic expectations from the onset. There was no way that this was going to be a game with free form classes nor was there any chance that this game would match the level of production value recently launched games that cost millions more to make. If a fool gave a review, this would be what it looks like.
The game is fun to play. The dungeons are cool. The foundry stuff can really be amazing. The graphics are actually very well done within the chosen art styling. There could be a great deal of "replay value" here for a free to play game. You don't need to put any money at all into the cash shop to get the full game. You don't need to buy a founder pack either if you choose not to. If I had to give it criticism I'd say it would be nice if there were 1) more character appearance options; 2) a wider visual variety of gear and weapons; and 3) more of the core classes from the players handbook at the start of open beta. But all those things can get addressed throughout the open beta (soft launch).
If you are only interested in quick xp, getting to max level so you can start in on tier end game content then you should concentrate on the mainstream game in the genre that has that stuff in spades plus has cute pandas, built-in farmland, and built-in pokemon challenges too.
i watched the developer videos, the footages from game conventions, what i saw and heard was that the devs were all excited over what they were making, i saw combat that actually looked awesomely fun, i saw dungeons and dragons neverwinter, and i invested in a hero of the north pack. i cant wait to waist a few hundred hours on this game
I played to level 24 or so, and never felt I needed to buy anything from the cash shop. What exactly did you think you NEED to buy from the Zen Shop? I really don't understand what you mean.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Pretty much all being said about the cash shop selling items to power up your char is all wrong, all those that wanne believe the troll do so the real neverwinter players know this aint true so enjoy all
Originally posted by Logansan Sounds like a good honest review. I didn't get into Beta so I can agree or disagree with anything, but you have (sadly) confirmed what I expected the game I would end up like. I'll likely still end up trying it as a few of my friends are looking forward to it, but it's starting to looks like it may be one of those short one month visits to a MMORPG that seems to the trend these day.
and you believe him???
First of all the founder pack is $40 not $60 and since you don't need anything after that how in the hell did he spend $80? I call bullshit.
Neverwinter does have some bugs in beta, and it will no doubt have other problems but graphics and cash shop were not problems to me. The graphics were better then most MMO's out currently (wow, LoTRO, SW:Tor etc) sure maybe not terra quality but then terra's quests are just gruesomely dull..
As i said other then the $40 founders pack i didn't have to spend money on anything and didn't feel i needed to. the founders pack also comes with a mount, a companion and astral diamonds should i ever feel i need those things. I seriously have to question the OP's comments about the cash shop at least as of beta 4 as it didn't even figure in needed way.
Now as to the dungeon finder i can't say if your expecting to it to put together a balanced group for you with a cleric, mage, tank, and rogue i'd say your expecting too much.
pack is $60 always has been.. you thinking of dragons prophet maybe?
but i do agree the CS is nothing to get up and arms about.. you really need nothing on there to play and enjoy the game unlike some other f2p games cash shops...
My bad to many beta's. Sad i can't remmeber the correct information my apologies to the Op and anyone else for the mix up in founder pack price.
Still as far as F2P goes Neverwinter seems better then most (better then Lortho, DDO, or Eq2) Op's arguement seems to be not that one is required to buy anything to play at this point anyway, but that he wants to buy the extra cosmetic suff and its too expensive,.
Think i'd rather play in a F2P game where i don't have to pay for stats or to use items or open up areas, or have a functional UI that had expensive comsetic items then a F2P game where the comestics were cheap, but i had to pay everytime i wanted to equipe a better item, or go to a new area, or have more then 2 hot bars etc.
Comments
Most of the Zen store items are overpriced (and i'm saying that as a Founder who bought all 3 founders packs.).
However the game is f2p. You don't have to spend a dime to be able to download the game and level a character to max level and to take part in every quest & foundry quest the game has to offer. The only thing that you will lose by playing the game without spending your own money is your own time. It will take you along time to grind up enough Astral Diamonds (in game currency) to trade on the Zen exchange for the Zen you need to buy cash shop items. That is the case with F2p games. To want every item from the store within a week or two, without paying any money, isn't realistic & reasonable people know this.
I'll be up front and admit that I was somewhat desperate to play a new MMO, I had been a huge fan of Cryptic games in the past, but I couldn't get my friends to play with me on non-fantasy MMOs. When I heard Neverwinter was coming out and it would have action combat and free to play, I was sold.
This post is really just my impressions of the game, it was never meant to be taken comprehensively, but if you have any specific questions about the cash shop I can link you to more detailed posts other than mine. I'm just here to confirm the fears of the many players here that Neverwinter is nothing more than a generic cash grab MMO with a D&D IP.
Even though I do like Cryptic, they have made a lot of mistakes in the past with their previous MMOs, and they have a bad reputation within the MMO community. I was very willing to give them a second chance to redeem themselves, but it seems that Perfect World Entertainment is the new (old?) EA and they ruined Cryptic's game with their absurd cash shop prices. That's why I said I would never play anything they make again, they used up all their chances with me.
If you're a huge fan of the game I could care less, but if you are a player like me hoping that Cryptic would do right with Neverwinter IP and expecting a truly free to play MMO experience like Tera, or at least B2P like GW2. You need to learn from my mistake and stay away from this game.
Edit: For people saying that you can get stuff in the game for free that's irrelevant. I like buying stuf from the cash shop, I don't want to grind for things, I have money. I just believe that if I should get the value that I am paying for.
doesnt seem bad to me
the LOTRO cash shop is worse -- LOTRO sells tradeskill components too
EQ2 fan sites
Graphics: 5
Personally I have no idea what your talking about cause when I played the graphic are quite nice, ok its not Guildwars 2 or A Single player Graphics but a 5 ??? This make me wonder how far you have gotten and how high your resolution is at. My rating on the Graphic is definitly a 7.5-8
Story Presentation: 6
On this matter I agree on 1 fact and I disagree on the other. Foundy is a great aspec given to the players to make there own story. I would give this also 6-7
Progression: 5
Progression for me is pretty much nothing about what you wrote you only complained about the dungeon finder and some other stuff regarding exp, in my opinion Progression is al about your charachter development, as I do find that there is no really indept about this fact my rating would still be 6 as they changed the way of the talent tree working and this should give them more future posibilities which im quite sure they will use and change
Combat:8
Hands down sweet combat system definitly worth imo 9 !!!
Exploration: 4
I havent done much of this myself so im gonna leave this rating out, still tho rating of 4 seems quite little ...
My global score for everyone wanting to try out Neverwinter will be a rating 7.5, the game has some great stuff inside it and is definitly worth trying out.
I myself bought the North of the Hero Pack of 200$ and I still dont regret it. In the guild im in we are already with 8 ppl that have bought the Hero pack and some more the neverwinter.
This is a personal choice and everyone should make a decision for themself.
I do admit that the shop price are way to expensive but they are not necessary and overtime you can get them just by playing and exchaning diamonds for zen !!!
GL and have fun for those that are about to join the world of Neverwinter :-)
doesnt seem bad to me
the LOTRO cash shop is worse -- LOTRO sells tradeskill components too
yea played many f2p games with far worse CS than this one...I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
Graphics are highly tweakable, tough going above 100% with the sliders felt kind of strange,... but it added a lot of nice views to the game..
I think the graphics are quite good, tough in some open world zones they where underwhelming... Dungeons however where top knotch and annimations first class
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
I actually think the graphics are really nice...maybe Im alone on that, but the atmosphere and graphics work really well together....
As another poster said and as is blatantly obvious in your post, you only see to care about the loot drops?? Personally, I've had better loot drops in this game than most modern MMORPG's.
Please dont compare GW2's skills to this one...at least you have a choice in this game which ones you'd like to set up on your hotbar...with GW2 you are stuck with what your weapon gives you...Also, just my personal opinion but the skills in Neverwinter all compliment each other quite well...no "useless" skills that you are forced to invest in
as for the cash shop, yes, prices are steep, but they could be lowered....who knows. either way, you can easily survive without the cash shop...nothing in it is a necessity.
Dungeons were alot of fun for me....loved the built in damage meter as well...the loot drops on the first actual dungeon (not skirmish) were pretty awesome...got new shoulders that had spikes on them....was very badass lookin.
The only thing I dont like in game is the crafting, but I that's something i dont care much about for this game...
your review title is cash shop ruins everything yet nothing in your review explains why it ruins anything.. you mention the prices are to high, which i agree with but what do you need from the shop? nothing on there from my experience is needed to enjoy the game.. so far this is one of the more reasonable(not in terms of price but items offered) f2p cash shops I have seen.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
That was my take away as well from the beta weekends.
My two biggest gripes with the cash shop in this game is it has stupid random drop boxes which I hate in games. I would rather pay $40 for a mount than some mystery amount of $1 keys for the chance at a mount. And two the way that Zen is inserted into the converstion process of gold to diamonds.
Having said that I still don't find anything in the cash shop as manadatory in any way.
There customer service is really good, and quick and I really do appreciate this. My trust with the company has been restored, but I stand by what I posted earlier. The cash shop prices need to come down drastically.
and you believe him???
First of all the founder pack is $40 not $60 and since you don't need anything after that how in the hell did he spend $80? I call bullshit.
Neverwinter does have some bugs in beta, and it will no doubt have other problems but graphics and cash shop were not problems to me. The graphics were better then most MMO's out currently (wow, LoTRO, SW:Tor etc) sure maybe not terra quality but then terra's quests are just gruesomely dull..
As i said other then the $40 founders pack i didn't have to spend money on anything and didn't feel i needed to. the founders pack also comes with a mount, a companion and astral diamonds should i ever feel i need those things. I seriously have to question the OP's comments about the cash shop at least as of beta 4 as it didn't even figure in needed way.
Now as to the dungeon finder i can't say if your expecting to it to put together a balanced group for you with a cleric, mage, tank, and rogue i'd say your expecting too much.
As a player of both DDO is very pay to win. Want extra stats you have to pay for them, want better classes (and yes the druid and artificer are more powerfull then the standard classes) you have to pay for them. Died on that run guess you better pay for some spirit cakes.
neverwinter on the other hand i didn't have to pay for anything. If i died i was rez'd at the nearest camp, there was no pay for better stats etc. there maybe at a later date a need to pay for new classes, but as of this betta other then paying for the actual founders pack which gives a mount, astral diamonds, and a companion which evidently I will get upon release i didn't feel i needed to buy anything. heck i didn't even have the items the found pack gives for free and felt no need for them..
Its possible that Neverwinter cash shop maybe worse after release but so far it miles better then DDO's in you don't pay for power nore do you have to pay to uinlock dungeons/areas. Its better then EQ2's for sure as your not paying just to be able to equipe better items.
Can anyone actually stat how they spent any money besides the founders pack in Neverwinter and if so on what?? (One would also have to ask who would be stupid enough to buy anything in beta when it was gonna be wiped at the end?)
pack is $60 always has been.. you thinking of dragons prophet maybe?
http://nw.perfectworld.com/founderspack
but i do agree the CS is nothing to get up and arms about.. you really need nothing on there to play and enjoy the game unlike some other f2p games cash shops...
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
Nothing, as the Op is posting incorrect information
Pplayed didn't have to spend anything had complete acess to all classes and all areas. Unlike EQ2 or DDO there was nothing I could see the cash shop sold that would increase my stats or that I needed to equipe better items. While i expect one may have to pay to get the new classes when they are released there is nothing currently one needs to spend cash on. I didn't fwwl any real need for a mount or companion both of which one gets with the founders pack on releaase and both of which can be gotten in game via quests or gold.
Ask yourself this easy question who spends money on items in beta that will be wiped at the end of the weekend? the Op says he spent $80 doesn't say on what just claims he spent that much even though it will all be wiped by the 25Th. Does that make sense? Do you believe him? theres a certain lack of reasoning there that smells of troll
Huh? What power can you buy? I've been in all 4 beta weekends and have looked at the cash shop each time. The prices are way too high, but there is no power for sale. Please shut up if you haven't even played the game.
The only one spreading incorrect information is you. You still think the founder's pack is $40? Go away troll.
/shrug
The CS seems fine to me. I'm actually a bit relieved since before I got to check it out I was cringing what it might entail. If the game was P2P or B2p and had this design I would be irritated but considering it doesn't and there are even in game ways to earn what you want if you're patient enough it works for me.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Boobs are LIFE, Boobs are LOVE, Boobs are JUSTICE, Boobs are mankind's HOPES and DREAMS. People who complain about boobs have lost their humanity.
It's a highly biased review from someone who had pretty much unrealistic expectations from the onset. There was no way that this was going to be a game with free form classes nor was there any chance that this game would match the level of production value recently launched games that cost millions more to make. If a fool gave a review, this would be what it looks like.
The game is fun to play. The dungeons are cool. The foundry stuff can really be amazing. The graphics are actually very well done within the chosen art styling. There could be a great deal of "replay value" here for a free to play game. You don't need to put any money at all into the cash shop to get the full game. You don't need to buy a founder pack either if you choose not to. If I had to give it criticism I'd say it would be nice if there were 1) more character appearance options; 2) a wider visual variety of gear and weapons; and 3) more of the core classes from the players handbook at the start of open beta. But all those things can get addressed throughout the open beta (soft launch).
If you are only interested in quick xp, getting to max level so you can start in on tier end game content then you should concentrate on the mainstream game in the genre that has that stuff in spades plus has cute pandas, built-in farmland, and built-in pokemon challenges too.
As a long time player of a pwe game I can tell you first hand that even if it isn't apparent at the moment that it will be a pay2win game it will be without any doubt in my mind. Only reason I still even have the original game I played by them still installed on my comp is cause of long time friends from the game that I occasionally get on and bullshit with from time to time.
PWE has become infamous for this in the majority of their games other than the maybe very select few that you buy outright paying a one time only fee for. Take Perfect World International for instance (this is the game I've played by them for nearly 4 years now) the game was a great game pre genie patch and was even fairly balanced in terms of pvp and pve. Now its extremely pay to win. The only way to get the best armor in game is from items from the cash shop granted you can buy the real cash currency with the in game currency via a gold buying/selling function in their auction house however, the items needed to get the best end game equipment is only attainable through cash shopping. Be it from buying the items required from some other player with ingame currency or spending your own cash. If in all fairness you actually farmed the items attainable in game there may be (and I do mean may be) have been enough time for maybe one person per server to actually have farmed the required items through in game events.
I'll put it this way,
Item requirements are for the full set
300,000 reputation- by the time your around end game lvl you may have about 10k unless you've spent a few thousand hours grinding mobs that drop items that can give 10-25 reputation and the 2-5 rep you can get by grinding repeatable quests.This alone would literally take years had they not put stacks of 10-25-50 of the items that give you 25 reputation in the cash shop.
Medals of glory 32 needed over all I beleive- 25$ a peice in the catshop or the 1 that is given to a random territory owned by any specific faction 1 time a month or something like that.
General summers tokens around 190 are needed in all- can be made with an item called mysterious chips takes 9999 chips to make 1 GST. you can if your good and the cube event farm probably 50-100 a day (given you get 55 each day from the daily bounty hunter quest you would get that many) Again this item is sold in large stacks in the cash shop just like the rep badges. Inexpensive to a degree (basically you get about 500 for 10-15 cents) but add up how many you need to get the final product and it gets to be over 600$ easy for the most part.
The fact is pwe has gotten extremely happy with power selling as they have a few ppl on certain servers with pretty much endless cash flow they can dump into the game Theres one person with a character that is well known for having spent probably close to 40-50 thousand dollars on this game to be one of the top elite built characters and this isn't a lie he really just has enough money to throw away like that. Furthermore even after you get that set you'll spend months farming the other stuff in game to go through the process of recasting it into its better stated set 2 more times after you even get it. If you spent just the cash for this set of armor it'd cost you nearly around 2k usd You'd also be amazed at how many people have actually been brainwashed into getting it cause basically you will not be competitive in any end game aspect without it anymore there is no set of gear that is attainable without using some form of the cash shop (be it purchasing it from another player with ingame currency or your own real life cash) that is even close to being on par.
Pw was pwe's biggest starter basically as well it was their headliner game i mean its pretty much named directly after the company. Thankfully they have somewhat of a decent Community manager at the moment others in the past were horrible alls they ever told us when there was an issue that needed fixing is "Soon" this was pretty much the anwser for when we could expect game breaking bugs to be fixed/eploiters/botters go untouched as most of them are pretty much large csers as well as possibly staff members of the company.
My suggestion is if you see a game being hosted by this company even if it looks pretty and polished and fun be wary of it cause in the long run they'll ruin it alls you'd have to do is visit the F2p forums of any one of their games and see how much of it is issues vs happiness of the consumers.
I feel like I've been baited an switched. The title gives off a negative and bias approach to "reviewing" a game, and pretty much sets the stage of what to expect. All the while it has no actual evidence to warrant such a title other than people seeing, potentially not reading it to see that it's all opinions, and come off as negative to a game that isn't even out and will be free to try.
I'm not even sure if this is a serious post in all honesty. I feel the fool for even responding to it, so I won't go into the myriad of reasons that I can't get away from the feeling that it just seems like a bias or disgruntled troll. Honestly, it just seems like the OP wants to force feed us opinions what with the inappropriate (in the sense that he doesn't even try to justify it by going into detail in the actual post) title to be seen by people who may not actually read the thread (almost in a "hey, look at me and how I'm right without actually proving it" kind've way).
If you're serious with this post, then I apologize for the harsh critique and how I'm of the persuasion you're a troll. I would suggest not "setting the mood" with the title without going into ample reasons as to why you did it with your actual text in the future. It just gives that vibe that you didn't even try to be unbias and are just taking a jab at potential fans, or intentially trying to scare off potential customers of a free game that someone may in fact actually joy other than yourself. Thank you for your well intentions if you were sincere in this post, and please try to post more responsibly in the future if you weren't.
i watched the developer videos, the footages from game conventions, what i saw and heard was that the devs were all excited over what they were making, i saw combat that actually looked awesomely fun, i saw dungeons and dragons neverwinter, and i invested in a hero of the north pack. i cant wait to waist a few hundred hours on this game
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
My bad to many beta's. Sad i can't remmeber the correct information my apologies to the Op and anyone else for the mix up in founder pack price.
Still as far as F2P goes Neverwinter seems better then most (better then Lortho, DDO, or Eq2) Op's arguement seems to be not that one is required to buy anything to play at this point anyway, but that he wants to buy the extra cosmetic suff and its too expensive,.
Think i'd rather play in a F2P game where i don't have to pay for stats or to use items or open up areas, or have a functional UI that had expensive comsetic items then a F2P game where the comestics were cheap, but i had to pay everytime i wanted to equipe a better item, or go to a new area, or have more then 2 hot bars etc.