Ideas to Make Random Queues Better

After compiling all sorts of issues with random queues yesterday, I’d like to follow-up with some ideas on how to make life better for everyone. Let me start by saying that I personally think the idea of random queues isn’t all too bad. Neverwinter had lots of wasted dungeons that nobody would touch. So including them in the daily routine and giving players a little bit more diversity in their runs is a good approach. Additionally I still think most lowbies overall should have an easier time to get ADs. On sub-level 70s you only have to run one dungeon now to get the same ADs as before. Additionally the XP gain is substantial and offers a way to level up to 60 just using random queues.

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Not Everything Is Bad

Also it’s undeniable that queues fire faster than before, which is probably a plus for most players. We tend to see the world through our “3k” glasses all too much. New players that might have switched from another MMO expect the queue system to work. Assume you are trying a game for the first time, queue for a dungeon and wait for 30 minutes. What would your initial reaction be? “Oh hey, probably stuff works differently around here” or “this game is so dead…” ? Neverwinter simply needs a functional pug queue based on how other games work.

Suggestions

This is admittedly a short list of “pros” versus the stuff we listed yesterday. But I think with some tweaks the random queues could actually fill their purpose for all tiers of players. So let’s work through my list of suggestions.

Fangbreaker Island and Master Spellplague to Hero’s Accord

In my opinion FBI and mSP are not dungeons that should be included in the daily AD routine. They were never designed for that purpose, which is why they are by far the worst thing that you can queue into. I personally don’t think they fit the Hero’s Accord too well either. But if the devs absolutely want to have all content featured in the system, I could live with them there. Otherwise I’d just exclude them altogether.

Because here’s the thing: Think about under what circumstances do you queue into FBI and mSP today? AD is probably not on the list. I didn’t mind running them on characters that were adequately geared, because they do net more salvage and some other stuff. But in random queues they exclude too many players, either because they can’t or don’t want to run them.

You can make the same case for Master Svardborg by the way. It’s the worst thing to run inside the trial queue and people probably only enter it when they specifically want to go after the marks.

Add Rewards to Hero’s Accord

I literally don’t know why you would run Hero’s Accord. The rewards are crap, even if mSVA, mSP and FBI would be included. What you should do is at least double the end chest rewards when using random queues.

Move Dungeon Unlocks in Campaigns

With random queues, the dungeon unlocks in campaigns should be moved so that they can be completed right at the start. That way players that do not like campaigns and want to skip them at least only have to compile enough currency to unlock the dungeons that they need for the queues. I know this messes with the story, but it’s not like the game is super meticulous in that regard anyway. The dungeon reworks messed with several story lines already.

I see why you would exclude the latest campaign, but there’s no point for older ones.

Add More Stronghold Quests

This one is pretty straight forward. Add shard quests inside Strongholds for the normal dungeon queue and trials. That way players can always at least complete one to help out guild progression. If you’re scared that players might be able to get too many shards per day, you could simply require them to complete any random queue.

Make an Universal Dungeon Chest Key

This is something I proposed a loooooong time ago (twice actually) and it’s more valid than ever. With random queues, the dungeon key system is just broke. You almost have to farm every single key, because you never know what content you’ll get. So you either invest more time or might lose out on salvage in your runs. It’s a lose-lose. Let’s make one key for skirmishes, one for epic dungeons, one for trials and one for Hero’s Accord. If you’re concerned that players might rack up too many keys from older campaigns, you could very well switch the type of key for Hero’s Accord with each module. Currently that would be the Chultan Key for example.

You could also go with a layered approach in which keys open every chest up their own module. That way you could use M11 keys for all content except Tomb of the Nine Gods and Merchant Prince’s Folly etc.

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Switch AD Rewards for Epic and Normal Dungeon Queue

The normal dungeon queue handing out more rewards than the epic one doesn’t make much sense. High-end players are swarming the queue and disturb the dungeon experience of those that might enter for the first time. Instead of getting a solid run-through, level 70s just rush through the end. I don’t think switching rewards will get rid of that issues completely, but it’s a start.

Make First-Timers Aware What They Are Getting Into

Handing out bonus AD if the group features a first-timer is a nice idea. But I don’t think most players care enough. You take the extra AD in case, but it’s not like you would pay more attention or guide a newbie through a dungeon. I think it’s important to realize that random queues are AD generation first. So first-timers in the queue window have to be made aware that they are entering farm content. If you want to go with a group to get to know the dungeon, random queues are the wrong place for that.

What I would do is relocate the new player bonus to the normal queue, and make it much more substantial. That way guildies and friends can still help out each other and get a nice reward, but it happens outside the craziness of the random queue.

Conclusion

I think these set of changes would improve the quality of play for everyone. People that farm for ADs can now conveniently queue for normal dungeons, epic dungeons, skirmishes and trials without having to deal with the hardest content. Moving up the ranks from normal to epic dungeons to Hero’s Accord also is closer to the natural progression, although it’s still not perfect.

The proposed system would also separate new players from the AD farm, which is important in my eyes. Both worlds don’t work well together even with the new player bonus.


Do you agree with my suggestions or do you have other ideas how to tweak random queues? Share your thoughts in the comments below and visit the corresponding thread on our message board!

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j0Shi

j0Shi plays the Neverwinter MMORPG since the open BETA in 2013 and is a regular contributor to the blog and the whole UN:Project. Originally a Guardian Fighter, he has built up ALTs of all classes and plays on BIS/near-BIS level.

4 thoughts on “Ideas to Make Random Queues Better

  • November 4, 2017 at 10:54 am
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    > Switch AD Rewards for Epic and Normal Dungeon Queue

    Bad idea, underleveled need AD more and epic queue gives more total RAD because of salvage and seals.

  • November 5, 2017 at 12:53 am
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    Random Epic Queve can take 30 min + to fill on certain classes like GWF. The role restrictions besides being asinine and ignoring the actual role of templocks and dps GFs add to the queve fill lag

  • November 6, 2017 at 10:25 am
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    Yes, please take FBI and MSP out of epic random queue. Those two in there are killing the epic dungeon run in this game, and defeating the purpose of random queues. Put them in their own category and add some extra rewards to encourage properly geared parties to run them.

  • November 7, 2017 at 12:00 pm
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    I still think they could have layered random queue onto the older system rather than replacing it. That would have been a happy medium.

    If they insist on keeping FBI and MSP in the epic dungeon queue, they should kill the frost resist (FR) requirement from FBI as that removal will expand who can actually queue. For example, my crappy DC alts can queue for Hero’s Accord, but not for Epic Dungeon because I didn’t do the initial SOMI quests on them (I hate doing any dailies on my DCs, even with loadouts) for the FR trinket and really see no point in acquiring FR gear now that Chult/T9G gear is available and often better. It’s not like it is really needed in FBI anyway unless you are brand new to the dungeon and don’t understand the fight mechanics as it helps build a learning cushion. They could also just kill frost damage entirely as it was a silly idea they rehashed from IWD despite player grumblings that we didn’t like it then and don’t like it now.

    However, I’ll still pass if MSP/FBI pop in epic dungeon queue. I don’t care how awesome people think they are, there are better uses of my time as the rewards aren’t worth the effort. I only run MSP/FBI if I’m in a pre-made and want to dedicate the time to running it with people I know will meaningfully contribute to the run. I still know a lot of people running both, just not via random queue. Moving or removing both dungeons would increase queue firing and lead to less abandoned runs. I’m curious if they are capturing metrics on completed runs vs. firing of queues.

    The main gains of the new system appear to be in the firing of the leveling dungeons. That does directly help new/leveling players and avoids some of the solo runners in the past. I now run alts through the leveling dungeons, which is something I did not do before the change.

    My anecdotal impression of epic queues is that queue times appear to have actually increased rather than decreased with healer role being the one with the role bonus the most often. That may be because tanks and healers were needed in the past, whereas healers are what is needed now. The lack of healers may be because of the FBI queue requirements, but there could be any number of other factors (like not accounting for templocks or most viable DCs getting sucked into content other than random queue).

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