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Neverwinter: For the Collector in All of Us
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Collections are something that have become the norm in most MMOs. For those who are completionists (or just avid collectors), the Neverwinter team has a new collection system coming with the arrival of Module 2 in December. A new developer diary has been posted on the official site to lay out more details about the feature.
Did you hear the exciting news? Module 2: Shadowmantle will be live on December 5, 2013! Along with a new adventure zone, the Dread Ring Campaign, Artifacts, new Paragon Paths for existing classes, the Hunter Ranger playable class, Neverwinter will also be introducing the Collections System.
What is the Collections System? Great question! It's a new system designed for you to keep track of all the loot you've obtained during your journey as well as point out loot you may be missing in your, ahem, collection. Along with tracking Epic equipment, the Collections System will also track how many companions, artifacts, and zone rewards you've obtained. If you're a collector and a completionist, then the Collections System is for you!
Read more on the Neverwinter site.
Comments
And I'm sure items that need diamonds to buy or upgrade will be in here as well. I don't begrudge PWI making money on their games but Neverwinter is one of the worst examples of F2P gone bad I have seen and systems like this are little more than ways for them to "encourage" their player base to spend more real money on the game. At least with games like SWTOR, EQ2 or LOTR's I can choose to subscribe and remove the hassle of F2P from my game. These games don't even offer that option because they know they make more money by not offering it than by doing so.
When a developers primary goal stops being making a fun game and starts to become maximizing profit per player it really turns me off from games like this even when the underlying game is pretty enjoyable.
Who said this won't be perfect after all we know what is right
And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry.
You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right.
And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.
In LotRO's defense, everything there is for subscribers to buy was added with (or after) the f2p switch, and only convenience items. Yep, I know, there are a lot of stuff as well which are way beyond convenience, that's why they erased that famous comment from everywhere
but it doesn't change the fact that in LotRO vips get everything they had before the f2p switch. And a couple of those stuff too, which were added later - a couple, but not all. And the expansions weren't free before the switch either (Moria and Mirkwood)
To the topic, it's a nice addition. Every game is logging truckloads of data, they're usually release a chunk of those to the players as well, Neverwinter already had a system like STO's Accolades. Now they simply add a new window with the loot statistics. Personally I don't really care about it and probably won't use it (I'm a completionist and a title-hoarder, but don't give a [bleep] about loot so I'm not interested in loot collecting), but I welcome it anyways.
I think EQ2 was the first game to really get the concept of collections...people love collecting things.. but there was one thing they forgot, people are like dragons and they love to hoard the shiny things they collected too..
I think no developer by his right mind would leave collectable stuff out of his game...
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)
As far as LotRO goes In the past I've always bought the expacks with my saved up stipend, and I have never felt handicapped without spending any money. Granted I have lifetime, I'm not sure about regular subs. Also I really don't play much anymore, it is possible I would feel differently if I played more.
LOL! Do you even read what you are saying?
Ofcourse EverQuest 2 (and WoW or any other MMO) charges for expansions that add substantial amount of New content to the game.
But at least when you subscribe, you have Access to the ENTIRE game and it´s features without having to use a Cash Shop.
In SWTOR, when I subscribe I have no limitations whatsoever anymore.
PWE´s games are a Complete dirty cash grab With a horribly overpriced store! And let´s not even start about their games being blatant casino´s With their stupid Lock boxes!
Just playing Lotro earns you plenty of points to spend on things. My one account has subbed just a couple months and has all the quest packages, and all the expansions. So I might have spent $60 on the game for that account. So your argument is ridiculous.
As to Neverwinter, not a bad game, BUT the item shop is the worst example of f2p gone bad. They could cut prices by 2/3 and it still would be extremely overpriced compared to other f2p games. That is PW in a nutshell, gouge the player base as much as you can. The entire focus of this company is on extracting the most money they can from you.
Just playing the game can earn you plenty of AD to buy things with, since AD can be exchanged for Zen to buy cash shop stuff.
Overall, I like the addition of collections - it's one of those systems I enjoy in a game.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
though I agree that the items in NW's cash shop are over priced and that the lock boxes are horible, I wouldn't call it a dirty cash grab. I have spent less money in the equivalent amount of time then I have on SWToR, and I am having twice as much fun in NW. I sub to SWToR and have since the launch, and even with the coin allotment that they give you are constently being pushed to spend real money. If you have more than one toon you are forced to buy the same buffs over and over (ones that you have even before they went f2p) even though you are buying them in the legacy area (you know that area that is supposed to be for all your toons).
Besides NW puts stuff on sale so, if you are inclined to spend real money, you can wait and get it for a better price (though now only slightly over priced). Or you can use the auction house to buy the gear, keys or special items you want [proviede people aren't foolishly over paying for them (I'm looking at you people who spend 50,000+ ADs on an Item that will only at max give you 50,000 in return)]
So if anything I would say that SWToR has more of a dirty cash grab mentality.
I don't tend to count expansions in sub games as they are pretty much expected but your right in that if you are going to compare these games revenue models side by side you really should.
I pay about $12 a month for EQ2 with a 6 month sub plus lets say $40 a year in expansions. That come's out to around $16 a month by rounding up minus $5 a month in cash shop cash to spend on vanity items or XP pots if you need them. Even if you go month to month your around $19 a month.
Neverwinters model is much harder to average because the cash shop is built around annoying the crap our of you with walls until you just break down and buy AD's instead of grinding for them. Also I'm sure some players like the ones that farm elite gear are able to generate AD's in game a lot easier than others. Having said that I wouldn't doubt for a second that the "average" revenue per player is much closer to $30 a month as I have seen that number thrown around a few times and it seems to be a benchmark for F2P games.
At the end of the day for me it's about personal perception of the cash shop in the game I play more than the revenue model. If I can play a game and not feel like I have to open the marketplace every game session to keep pushing forward and advancing than I can live with the cash shop. EQ2 with a SUB feels that way and the game I have been actually spending the most time in lately, TSW feels that way. Neverwinter doesn't, the game integrates the cash shop and it's currency so deeply into the game that you have no choice but to interact with it. That's a big turn off to me in what would otherwise be a pretty good game.
Well, since I posted before in LotRO's defense it's only fair to post one in Neverwinter's one as well
Torvaldr and Rohn already stated that in Cryptic's games you can also earn store currency, I just want to add, that in a way their system is better than LotRO's.
In LotRO the only way you can earn TP is through grinding. With regular play, following the story and leveling up you only get a handful, mostly from basic tier slayer deeds, the easier class deeds, a couple tiers of reputations, and occasionally a few exploration deeds (if you never go off from the questing path). And the questing deeds of course. There are no daily limits like in Cryptic's games, so the TP farmer no-lifers are more or less happy, but for the average player it's mostly just some additional fluff.
With the 3 Cryptic games it's quite the opposite. AD / Dilly / Questionite farming is possible, but there's a daily limit anyways so it's not as effective as LotRO's. On the other hand, without any grind you can earn some too, which is great for the average players. For example in Neverwinter I have currently ~2mill on my 3 mains, after 6-7 months in the game, without any grind ofc since I loathe grinding. And I don't even play massively, there were weeks when I only logged in for a few minutes, just to say hi. And I already spent a couple hundred k's during these months. (btw that 2mill was around 5000 Zen a few weeks before, but lately the supply went up, prices down, so currently it's only like 4500 Zen. That's about 40-45 bucks worth of Zen)
It's not much, but since I mostly leveling up, goofing with the builds, and playing the Foundry, it's a nice free gift from the game
And if you try to earn the same 4500-5000 TP in LotRO without farming, just with casually logging in and leveling up ... well, good luck with that, we'll be waiting for you in Mordor by then, a few years from now 
edit: or more simplier, in LotRO: average play - few TPs, farming - much more TPs, massive farming - very much more TPs
in Neverwinter: average play - decent amount of Zen, farming - more Zen, massive farming - a bit more Zen.
I like this method better, down with the farmers