A bit of feedback
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:15 pm
As a disclaimer: this is not a critique post, in fact I only hope to help the server. Still - feedback is a gift - that one that needs to be delivered right and accepted willingly. So apologies in advance if anything I post seems abrupt, it's not an intention in the slightest.
What You Do Right
First thing I want to describe are points that made me really, really like the server. I am not a veteran player on PW, nor am I an experienced NWN player, but I've tried some of the PWs available and Blackstone got a solid spot in my favourites. Here are the things I observed that makes it so:
1. Interesting sub-races not locked behind any "DM approval" / "Premium currency" / Whatnot. It's exciting to see the race you want to play in the list of what is available only to realize - nope, you can't actually get it. Your approach with letting players play their desired race at the start is great.
2. Balanced sub-races. I've seen them PWs where some sub-races get like +8 to stats and some frankly insane bonuses. Of course, it was counter-balanced by strong monsters, etc - but at the end it leads to some power creep and it's hard to make non-special sub-races competitive. You don't go overboard. There are some bonuses, but they are minor - maybe helping on first 5 levels, but that's it. I really like that.
3. Interesting socketing system. It allows for a quick ramp-up and explanations of it are context-sufficient. It's not overblown and doesn't require you to learn an entire new set of mechanics while still providing for variety and power spikes. Good job here.
4. Transfer system. Time is money, time is life. It looks like you understand that players are rather going there doing things and not walking from point A to point B. Good combination of portal stones and portals themselves. Many PWs are forgetting what matters in the pursuit of realism. I'm glad it's not the case here.
5. Solo-player friendly quests system. It allows to actually go there and immerse yourself in the world, do something and even RP within quests. When I was able to tell that extortion guy that I will not help him to hurt people .. which happened after I learned what is he actually doing - it was that feeling - aha, quests actually have a story and the choices matter!
6. Balanced progression and allowing for choice between those who want it faster and those who want to immerse themselves into the world. It is a good mix of both world with letting player to do their choice.
7. Free cosmetic changes! Finally it's possible to do the desired look on the armors / weapons. I know - few would care, but RP-wise it's really helpful. It's that little thing that made the server stand out a lot.
8. Similarly, the hide commands for some equipment. It was always bugging me that winged races lose their appearance should they wear any cloaks. And here it is no longer a problem. Again - small thing, huge win.
9. Unique monsters spawn! It somewhat reminds me of Diablo elite monsters implemented in DnD. And it makes sense - it is a way to introduce challenge to the "familiar" areas too.
What You Could Improve
Another disclaimer here: while I do not play on hardcore mode, I do believe in RP of the world, even if playing solo. As such, if a character dies without party and nobody is around to help - they are dead for good (unless some kind soul finds them while they're downed). And this is where the majority of improvements could be made in my opinion.
1. CR is not really reflecting the difficulty of the dungeon. It is especially critical on early levels. Example - kobolds are far easier to do than the farm, yet kobolds are marked CR: 2 and the farm is marked CR: 1. This misjudgement could prove to be fatal (see below)
2. Lack of options to ask for help. If you're down solo - you can't get help and nobody knows you're down. The system already notifies when say one player kills another. I think adding some notice that a character was downed by a monster in some location would be good. When you're downed, the "respawn" menu will block any interactions with the UI preventing from placing anything into the chat.
3. Death on a whim of a dice roll. My first character was perhaps unlucky (will explain below), but my second one was really careful. Yet still.. death at level 9 in a CR: 4 zone. How? Failed to roll a dice on a one-hit-kill ability from a water elemental. And the character was a Paladin + the best available gear, fortitude save was 16 - yet DC was 20, so.. unlucky roll = dead.
- First, I didn't even know a CR:4 zone can have creatures that can just one-hit-kill
- Second, if I understood this correctly, the server isn't even using hardcore settings - I never saw monsters doing critical hits on my characters. Yet.. one-hit kill abilities? Hm..
- Third, this means that if you play with RP in mind (as I've described, it's a "conventional hardcore", i.e. I agree to myself that the character is dead unless somebody helps) or - worse - on true hardcore - all bets are off. No matter how careful you are, no matter what you do - there will be a day and time when you fail that roll and you'll die. This just doesn't feel great as it's outside of your control.
- Next, the ability itself just seems too powerful. At least on level 9. It's an AoE death ability with no cast time. The DC and area is comparable effectively to implosion - a level 9 cleric spell. And there were several of said air elementals. Since my character was a paladin, save of 16 would likely be the highest in a party meaning 1-2 such creatures would likely instantly kill the entire crew.
- Finally, you've even changed some spammable death-like abilities to not cause instant kill (like devastating critical). So having such a thing on a monster seems.. odd.
4. Death on a whim of a spawn. This is about my first character death - he was level 7 and went to a CR: 7 zone (beetles), yet was greeted with two elite monsters + two ranged beetles + queen beetle right at the door. Failing both ranged checks he got 31 fire damage instantly and then the elites finished the job. I didn't even get to react there. Again - this doesn't feel like a death through my fault. Although this one can be mitigated somewhat if you only go to lower CR zones (but then again, CR isn't accurate, see point 1.)
5. Doors closing. Wow, this almost costed my first character life several times. If you try to run away and it closes right into your nose - yep. Annoying, unneeded and extremely dangerous. Seems to be a simple thing, but ruined my day many times.
6. Socketing levels increase with no information (perhaps I didn't find it)? Question is - how to know what will be a level requirement after socketing a gem into an item? Relevant at early levels because if you socket something and it becomes +3 levels from where you are - you might as well just sell the item as after that time you'll almost certainly find a better one.
7. Finding a party. I did it solo because I didn't find a way in-game to announce a party or any announcements of other parties. It could be because there just aren't many low-level players, but still. Some other PWs do a great job with such announcements.
So far that's it. I really had a blast - it was fun while it lasted, now my characters are both dead, that's several days of work I think. I need a break and maybe I will retry, but that issue with random deaths really turns me off for the moment. I just don't know what I can do to prevent that.
What You Do Right
First thing I want to describe are points that made me really, really like the server. I am not a veteran player on PW, nor am I an experienced NWN player, but I've tried some of the PWs available and Blackstone got a solid spot in my favourites. Here are the things I observed that makes it so:
1. Interesting sub-races not locked behind any "DM approval" / "Premium currency" / Whatnot. It's exciting to see the race you want to play in the list of what is available only to realize - nope, you can't actually get it. Your approach with letting players play their desired race at the start is great.
2. Balanced sub-races. I've seen them PWs where some sub-races get like +8 to stats and some frankly insane bonuses. Of course, it was counter-balanced by strong monsters, etc - but at the end it leads to some power creep and it's hard to make non-special sub-races competitive. You don't go overboard. There are some bonuses, but they are minor - maybe helping on first 5 levels, but that's it. I really like that.
3. Interesting socketing system. It allows for a quick ramp-up and explanations of it are context-sufficient. It's not overblown and doesn't require you to learn an entire new set of mechanics while still providing for variety and power spikes. Good job here.
4. Transfer system. Time is money, time is life. It looks like you understand that players are rather going there doing things and not walking from point A to point B. Good combination of portal stones and portals themselves. Many PWs are forgetting what matters in the pursuit of realism. I'm glad it's not the case here.
5. Solo-player friendly quests system. It allows to actually go there and immerse yourself in the world, do something and even RP within quests. When I was able to tell that extortion guy that I will not help him to hurt people .. which happened after I learned what is he actually doing - it was that feeling - aha, quests actually have a story and the choices matter!
6. Balanced progression and allowing for choice between those who want it faster and those who want to immerse themselves into the world. It is a good mix of both world with letting player to do their choice.
7. Free cosmetic changes! Finally it's possible to do the desired look on the armors / weapons. I know - few would care, but RP-wise it's really helpful. It's that little thing that made the server stand out a lot.
8. Similarly, the hide commands for some equipment. It was always bugging me that winged races lose their appearance should they wear any cloaks. And here it is no longer a problem. Again - small thing, huge win.
9. Unique monsters spawn! It somewhat reminds me of Diablo elite monsters implemented in DnD. And it makes sense - it is a way to introduce challenge to the "familiar" areas too.
What You Could Improve
Another disclaimer here: while I do not play on hardcore mode, I do believe in RP of the world, even if playing solo. As such, if a character dies without party and nobody is around to help - they are dead for good (unless some kind soul finds them while they're downed). And this is where the majority of improvements could be made in my opinion.
1. CR is not really reflecting the difficulty of the dungeon. It is especially critical on early levels. Example - kobolds are far easier to do than the farm, yet kobolds are marked CR: 2 and the farm is marked CR: 1. This misjudgement could prove to be fatal (see below)
2. Lack of options to ask for help. If you're down solo - you can't get help and nobody knows you're down. The system already notifies when say one player kills another. I think adding some notice that a character was downed by a monster in some location would be good. When you're downed, the "respawn" menu will block any interactions with the UI preventing from placing anything into the chat.
3. Death on a whim of a dice roll. My first character was perhaps unlucky (will explain below), but my second one was really careful. Yet still.. death at level 9 in a CR: 4 zone. How? Failed to roll a dice on a one-hit-kill ability from a water elemental. And the character was a Paladin + the best available gear, fortitude save was 16 - yet DC was 20, so.. unlucky roll = dead.
- First, I didn't even know a CR:4 zone can have creatures that can just one-hit-kill
- Second, if I understood this correctly, the server isn't even using hardcore settings - I never saw monsters doing critical hits on my characters. Yet.. one-hit kill abilities? Hm..
- Third, this means that if you play with RP in mind (as I've described, it's a "conventional hardcore", i.e. I agree to myself that the character is dead unless somebody helps) or - worse - on true hardcore - all bets are off. No matter how careful you are, no matter what you do - there will be a day and time when you fail that roll and you'll die. This just doesn't feel great as it's outside of your control.
- Next, the ability itself just seems too powerful. At least on level 9. It's an AoE death ability with no cast time. The DC and area is comparable effectively to implosion - a level 9 cleric spell. And there were several of said air elementals. Since my character was a paladin, save of 16 would likely be the highest in a party meaning 1-2 such creatures would likely instantly kill the entire crew.
- Finally, you've even changed some spammable death-like abilities to not cause instant kill (like devastating critical). So having such a thing on a monster seems.. odd.
4. Death on a whim of a spawn. This is about my first character death - he was level 7 and went to a CR: 7 zone (beetles), yet was greeted with two elite monsters + two ranged beetles + queen beetle right at the door. Failing both ranged checks he got 31 fire damage instantly and then the elites finished the job. I didn't even get to react there. Again - this doesn't feel like a death through my fault. Although this one can be mitigated somewhat if you only go to lower CR zones (but then again, CR isn't accurate, see point 1.)
5. Doors closing. Wow, this almost costed my first character life several times. If you try to run away and it closes right into your nose - yep. Annoying, unneeded and extremely dangerous. Seems to be a simple thing, but ruined my day many times.
6. Socketing levels increase with no information (perhaps I didn't find it)? Question is - how to know what will be a level requirement after socketing a gem into an item? Relevant at early levels because if you socket something and it becomes +3 levels from where you are - you might as well just sell the item as after that time you'll almost certainly find a better one.
7. Finding a party. I did it solo because I didn't find a way in-game to announce a party or any announcements of other parties. It could be because there just aren't many low-level players, but still. Some other PWs do a great job with such announcements.
So far that's it. I really had a blast - it was fun while it lasted, now my characters are both dead, that's several days of work I think. I need a break and maybe I will retry, but that issue with random deaths really turns me off for the moment. I just don't know what I can do to prevent that.