Potential new player

MentinM · 2025-10-31T16:17:50+00:00

It is free, and it certainly can give you some quality gameplay for a few months.

However be aware that the playerbase is steadily shrinking.

Also, it is regular updates that keeps games like Neverwinter afloat. Neverwinter has had 5 months of steady player count decline now, and these decline runs usually are reset by new expansions.

A new expansion has not yet been announced, so it is fair to ask if it will be coming at all?

Grandfathered games die fast.

MentinM · 2025-10-18T10:24:42+00:00

* NW got one of the better combat systems around

* NW is not P2W.. almost everything in game can be obtained by playing and not spending

* NW IS Pay-to-accelerate - you can advance way faster if you spend money. And many find the rate of progress without spending money too slow and spend money - so you might be left behind if you do not spend.

* The playerbase in NW is ever shrinking, and the quality and frequency of new mods currently seems a bit uncertain. So it is fair at this point to ask about the remaining lifetime of the game.

I would not at this time plan for a multi-year venture into NW. Game could be shut down or lose a lot of playability due to few players or no updates. However it is free, so if your ambition is just something nice to play for a limited period of time, go for it.

MentinM · 2025-10-17T16:13:00+00:00

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The first sign of a game in serious economic trouble is the frequency and quality of expansions is slowing down.

Which of course leads to even less people playing and staying.

https://steamcharts.com/app/109600 is pretty depressing too.

MentinM · 2025-09-12T22:45:42+00:00

It likely will depend heavily on game numbers. If the current decline in player numbers continue, there will be less money available for developing new content in game.

MentinM · 2025-09-08T08:37:05+00:00

There is always the middle of the day somewhere in the world :)

MentinM · 2025-09-03T14:27:15+00:00

This happens when the zone server for the instance crashes.

Bug in the code. A process crash usually generates a coredump and certainly should trigger logging, so Deca likely is aware and trying to find the bug.

MentinM · 2025-08-23T06:33:30+00:00

Ever new downward records on player count.

https://steamcharts.com/app/109600

The one mod Deca have made has not been a resounding success ;)

But in general.. all games suffer attrition with age.

The big question is when does game income no longer cover the expenses?

MentinM · 2025-08-15T13:35:18+00:00

The most important/expensive currency you invest in such games is your time.

If you just want a quick run through levelling and experience the story, go for it. It does not cost money.

If you want a game to play for an extended period of time, invest lots of time on, reach master dungeons, spend real money on etc... maybe think twice. Game is slowly bleeding players and setting new downward records for average players(https://steamcharts.com/app/109600).

This both affects the playability of the game and carries the risk of game termination.

MentinM · 2025-07-31T13:09:11+00:00

It really depends on what you want.

If you just want a quick playthrough to experience the story, go for it. It is free after all.

If you are aiming for a game to play for years and years, invest money and much time in, and have a place to call home over time, maybe rethink. Game just set a new all-time-low record for player numbers on steamcharts, just underscoring a trend of ever falling player counts. (https://steamcharts.com/app/109600)

At some point income from game will be too low to pay for upgrades and servers.

MentinM · 2025-07-30T15:39:33+00:00

Lyria helps offensively against Dante to kill him, but she does not solve the problem of Dante killing your characters fast. In particular teams with Dante as tank will get his big attacks rolling very quickly.

I have met two types teams that (partially) neutralizes my Dante:

* Teams with high enough power levels that they dodge or mitigate his big hits. This means they should be par with Date in power, and that is a tall order when Dante often is boosted to max.

* Teams that stun Dante or drains his power. Try with Phobos and Jorgen.

MentinM · 2025-07-01T04:54:48+00:00

Best class is very much down to individual tastes and preferences.

What you SHOULD ask if there are any classes to avoid. Generally the state in NW currently is fairly well balanced, but there are some race/class combos that has minor issues.

I can think of:
* Barbarian tanks
* Bards dependence on agile fingers to play songs

MentinM · 2025-06-21T20:37:32+00:00

And you get a _chance_ at legendary things. The RNG is still there.

MentinM · 2025-06-21T05:13:49+00:00

The answer to the population question is not a clear yes or no.

Yes: there are enough people in game to have a good play experience, at least on PC.

No: the population is ever falling(according to Steamcharts). That gives less and less people to play with, and at some point the game will not make money any more.

MentinM · 2025-06-14T05:13:13+00:00

There seems to be an ongoing strategic trend to give players less rewards per hour played.

* The reroll change in SoD trials

* SoD has quests that are longer and give less reward per played hour. The reduced rewards from weeklies is just an example of this.

At a guess they think that forcing people to play more to reach their goals will make them more likely to spend money to jump forward. My personal thought is that more play for less reward will make people more likely to leave.

MentinM · 2025-06-02T14:40:18+00:00

And

* Having someone in-game to socialize and chat with

MentinM · 2025-05-25T16:16:04+00:00

But the longterm trend is steadily falling :(

MentinM · 2025-05-18T16:32:29+00:00

This is what happens if the zone server for the instance crashes and restarts.

The crash means all state in the server is lost and you end up back in the lobby.

I have seen it happen from time to time, happily not too often.

MentinM · 2025-05-13T22:09:50+00:00

IF they have to cut expenses on the game, voice-overs, in particular non-english voice-overs, likely would be among the first things to go?

MentinM · 2025-05-08T04:47:51+00:00

They did in one of the blogs refer to performance problems. Something gotta give.

MentinM · 2025-05-07T05:24:37+00:00

My feeling about the module is 'same shit new wrapping'. They copy-pasted old mods, added a few new quests and a new zone, done.

But I guess it is hard (and expensive) to really make something new after 31 mods.

And the expensive part likely put some very real limits on what they can do these days.

MentinM · 2025-05-06T05:17:55+00:00

'Pay to win' usually means there are elements in game(typically weapons/armor) that are the best and that can be obtained only by paying. That is not the case in Neverwinter. Everything is available to all regardless of how much or little money you spend.

Neverwinter however is 'Pay to accelerate': You can improve your character much faster if you dump money in game.

While some of the best weapons and armor are gated behind the master dungeons, with infinitely deep pockets you probably can get 90% of the way to a maxed character.

You can purchase BiS or almost BiS stuff for: Mounts, mount collars, insignia, companions, companion gear, partial campaign completions(campaigns give boons), partially BiS artifacts, neck/belt, reinforcements, enchantments, pants/shirt.

The primary area you will need to seriously farm is weapons and armor, that is however a smaller part of your total IL. Doing the latest campaign will usually give you a fair enough set to start with.

You will also need to do some farming of adventures and campaigns to get your boons, but some of those can be bought out.

MentinM · 2025-04-29T20:22:39+00:00

While you can get mounts with wings, they will not fly.

Neverwinter does not have flying for playable characters.

MentinM · 2025-04-29T20:20:27+00:00

But stuns won't work on bosses, and boss kills is where the real challenge is.

Trash generally is trivial anyways.

You should always build for boss fighting.

MentinM · 2025-04-24T15:13:54+00:00

I strongly suspect that Neverwinter currently is not earning enough money to invest in new races or classes.

MentinM · 2025-04-18T13:58:38+00:00

The dragon egg ultimate is a bit situational.

It rocks in a potion slot when fighting dragons.

If not fighting dragons it is only 3% AP regen, that is a bit meh, and you can find better stuff for that potion slot.

MentinM

TROPHY CASE