Neverwinter: Development, Exploiters, and You

Yesterday was a hot mess for the fans and developers of Neverwinter alike.  Exploiters decided to take advantage of an in-game bug in a massive way that resulted in netting the exploiters real world money in-game and non-exploiting players with an in-game economy that quickly spiraled completely out of control.  Ultimate resolution was that when servers were brought back online characters had been rolled back seven hours and the auction house remains offline. 

Players, however, are reporting inconsistencies with the rollback, like losing characters progress and items earned but retaining all their Astral Diamonds earned during the affected hours.  Forums were on fire yesterday with claims that the exploit which caused the server shutdown has existed since closed beta and was repeatedly reported by multiple players many times.  Players were also reporting that the exploit is identical to the one to hit Star Trek Online a while back. 

I can’t confirm or deny the veracity of any of the forum claims, but if true then the developer is responsible for everything that occurred yesterday.  Alpha and beta testing exists to find and close bugs in software.  There appears to be a growing trend to push out games and content as quickly as possible and damn the consequences to the customer base if there are known bugs in the code.  If you have an open beta with a released cash shop, it is no longer a beta product especially in the free to play gaming market.  Developers may be on safer legal grounds by calling their product beta, but the only people they are fooling into believing that the game hasn’t launched are the legal system which cannot move at the speed of technology.

Personally, I was enjoying Neverwinter immensely when I found time to play.  However, after yesterday I doubt I will be going back unfortunately.  There are FAR too many games out there that are equally enjoyable that have developers and development teams that track down and close bugs when reported.  Had the servers been wiped completely, the game taken offline until the exploit bug which caused the mess yesterday, and the other mass reported exploit bugs surrounding the Foundry, then I would have enjoyed returning to play Neverwinter. 

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Neverwinter: Verdict so far

I’ve played each of the five available classes in Neverwinter through the beginning quests and they were all enjoyable.  I have my personal favorites but no class felt gimped in comparison to the others.  The one flaw of the five classes so far?  Quite simply the scales are tipped in far of those that prefer melee classes, there is currently only one pure ranged dps class and one healer class that is also ranged for dps.

The Classes

Control Wizard, who unfortunately none of my screen shots took during severe server lag yesterday afternoon, is ranged dps.  They appear to be an arch-typical mage class (imagine that, archetypes in a Dungeon and Dragons game!).  Game play was fun without feeling uber squishy those first couple of levels and enemies were pretty quickly dispatched.

The Great Weapon Fighter class is a two-hander melee dps class.  Extremely fun and powerful feeling from the very first weapon attack, no feeling gimped by heavy armor and a huge sword. 

The Guardian Fighter class is the tank class.  The play style, at least initially, is very similar to that of the Great Weapon Fighter except for the sword and shield.  Holding aggro was not a problem and killing enemies did not take much longer than the dps classes.

  Trickster Rogue is the archetypical rogue, massive burst damage followed by stealth.  Damage the rogue puts out is incredibly, to be honest it felt more like I was dual wielding claymores rather than daggers.  Enemies were dying fastest on the rogue, other classes feel slow in comparison.

Devote Cleric is the ranged healer for Neverwinter and the class I’ve played the most.  High survivability and decent damage output make for an incredible immersive and fun play style.

Summary

So far, truth is the game is a blast but it isn’t going to entertain those looking for an immersive social game.  The feel of the environment and the quests are all very reminiscent of the Neverwinter series.  However, so far I haven’t had a need to group with anyone to kill anything quest related, I haven’t died or even come close to dying.  Players have the ability to heal others as they run by or stop and help kill a mob.  Personally, I prefer my games this way.  I prefer questing at my own pace and play style rather than being forced to play in a manner that suits the group.  This is not true for all gamers however, and if you want that elusive “social” experience will gaming I can’t see Neverwinter being the game of choice.  Don’t misunderstand me, servers are packed and chat is never quiet.  There is plenty of opportunity for social interaction and joining a guild, but the overall feel of the game is that of a single player game set in a muliplayer world.

There is a cash shop and the cash shop currency is called Zen.  The conversion rate from Zen to dollars appears to be 1:1.  Thus buying extra bag spaces will cost you real world money.  So the cheapest, non-quest reward bag, will cost you $6.00 for 12 slots or $10.00 for 24 slots.  Yep if you want extra bags be prepared to pony up real life money for at least 2 extra bags per character.  The cash shop contains cosmetic items, mounts, dyes, and various other items.  There is no subscription fee to play the game.  The cash shop, which is normal for Perfect World Entertainment games, is pretty standard.  Extra bank space is also a real world expenditure, as are extra character slots.

I don’t have a problem with the cash shop model or the free to play model.  Would I think it wise if they offered a subscription model option in addition?  That’s a no brainer, it’s asinine not to offer the option of a subscription.  Need models that work, try any Sony Online game or Turbine game out there.  Bioware has implemented a model that works well also.  Why would any company only go strictly free to play when there is a chance to have a sustained, reliable revenue stream completely baffles me.

I have completely enjoyed my experience in Neverwinter so far.  It reminds me of Guild Wars 2 in many ways, minus all the hype and BS that accompanied that title.

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Neverwinter: Open Beta Starts Today – First Impressions

Neverwinter hit open beta today and I eagerly logged in and created a character.  Shockingly I created a Devoted Cleric , pictured above.  The servers are pretty laggy right now but that is in large part due to the sheer amount of people logging into the game.  Cryptic is aware of the issue and sends regular messages to chat channels announcing they are working on the issue.

Overall, first impression is extremely positive.  Game is beautiful, combat is intuitive and engaging, and so far, it feels like a Neverwinter game. 

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