Salvage Nerf Might Look Bad for Now, but Could Turn out Decent in the Future

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The Salvage and and Dungeon Key changes were one of the first things that got announced for Module 15 and naturally quickly became a hot topic. Whenever players see something taken away from them, there will be some sort of outrage. This is a pretty classic example. There is a lot of discussion of the system’s impact, but in my opinion this definitely projects as a nerf. Some comments in the preview thread indicate that dungeons still hand out a nice amount of RADs, but the missing currency from other activities will definitely hurt and the new sources don’t seem to cover what you make with Salvage right now.

Nerfs are Never Great

I guess we’ll do some math in our upcoming preview article, but logically it doesn’t make sense that the devs change the AD economy to hand out even more currency to players. It would surprise me if this wasn’t a designed nerf for some players. Those that do benefit are non-VIPs because they can now run dungeons and always get a free chest. That group, which probably isn’t that small in a casual game like Neverwinter will definitely profit. Everyone else however will have an overall harder time to get to the daily cap.

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Even if you don’t mind the change, nerfs are never great. It’s tough to sell them to players and they do, to some extent, hint at a design failure or not anticipating the development of the economy properly. Sometimes stuff happens, but the devs struggling to adjust to the players’ ability and creativity to find ways to maximize RAD earn rates is almost comical. The only solution Cryptic seems to have is nerfing the best possible way of amassing wealth. Nerfs are indeed an effective way to generate results. But after countless tweaks in the past it’s valid to ask whether you might be fighting symptoms only. There are obviously other ways of devaluing ADs. You could strengthen ZEN, or add meaningful sinks. So either that has been discussed internally and discarded, or the devs just like to take the fastest possible route.

It Might Not Be Too Bad Long-Term

Either way, we have to live with the change. And good news, it could also turn out to be an asset for the game going forward. Sure having less RAD sucks for now, but the system definitely has some upsides. I already mentioned the free chest and its benefits for non-VIPs, but separating AD and gear progression makes sense as well. It might sound like a made-up argument that the devs now can more freely hand out gear, but it’s definitely a factor.

Also, if taking away RADs from players means that the game might be moving towards more unbound loot from dungeons, I’d be all for it. At least the re-roll tokens seem to be a system that would naturally support that. Sure, prices for items like Ultimate Enchanting Stones will just plummet because people have so many tokens to spend from leftover keys. But once that’s over, I think real rewards from dungeons could become more of a possibility. It also seems like the devs want to make RAD something that you accumulate doing a wider range of activities while Salvage, not only made it a necessity to focus on dungeons, but also keep them farmable. Without that, you could move into a different direction for content, like challenge. Not that it’s super likely, but shows that the system will be more flexible.

More Changes Need to Be Done

This definitely sounds promising, but comes with the caveat that Cryptic is historically slow to follow-up on their systems and mechanics. The Salvage and Dungeon Changes for now simply seem to be a nerf and need more fine-tuning and additions to turn into something beneficial for the players. When that’ll happen is completely up for speculation and I can totally understand those that are naturally careful with being overly optimistic. But the changes could definitely become a solid foundation for a more flexible and advantageous reward structure.


What’s your take on this topic ? Is it only a nerf or do you see potential as well? Share your thoughts on our social channels, in the comments below, or visit 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.

6 thoughts on “Salvage Nerf Might Look Bad for Now, but Could Turn out Decent in the Future

  • September 26, 2018 at 11:15 am
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    So, the inexperienced, poor and clueless, free-loading newbies will be better off, while the experienced, skilled and heavily-invested old-timers will be worse off?

    PWE are Chinese, aren’t they?

    As Putz might say:

    “Gawd-Damned little Communists!”

    😀

    • September 26, 2018 at 11:57 pm
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      speechless

  • September 27, 2018 at 2:57 am
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    It might turn out all right if they do this and that and the other. Have they promised any of these things? What is their track record of following through? Why do you wonder that they go for the punishment route every time a problem arises. A/ it is easier and they are lazy/short of resources (depending how charitable you are; and, B/ the control/enforce/punish faction has had the upper hand over the enable/reward faction for a long time so the automatic response is to punish.

  • September 27, 2018 at 7:29 am
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    Nerf is never good, by definition. It’s a negation. Give or allow people something, then take it away. Why?!? Total bullshit. You can’t take things away and expect people to accept or be happy with it. If something is wrong or needs adjusting, then rectify that by reinforcing other aspects. For example- class dps. Cryptic- “oh shit, TR is outclassing others. Let’s take something away. Well, fuck. Now dps gf is winning that battle. Let’s negate something they are doing. Son of a bitch, another one is doing better. Find something to take away from them.” Same old story. People earning too much ad. Gotta kill it. Wake the fuck up. Instead of taking things away, improve the other classes. Or make zen more expensive. Quit killing the players’ abilities and respond with something….idfk, positive?!?

  • October 1, 2018 at 6:29 pm
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    I can see this as a good thing . many of us VIP have endless keys to dungeons but no time to run a dungeon 500+ runs. I belive if the re roll is a decent and fair amount to VIP plays vs free players like 10 keys VIP vs 30 free players. I think it’s only fair VIP players get more chance at the loot and a choice of three times to open chest not just a re roll but chances for many chest to open and re roll to each chest.

  • November 21, 2018 at 5:40 pm
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    I started playing Neverwinter 6 months ago and recently decided to try VIP for one month. Of course, during that month the dungeon keys I’ve been getting became worthless and the rewards from the lockboxes were reduced…. meaning I now have zero incentive whatsoever to register as VIP again. I’m not opposed to paying money for the game. In fact I enjoy the game enough that I’d have no problem paying a monthly fee… but I’m not interested in paying money for laughably pitiful rewards or a one in a thousand shot to get something I’d actually use. In my one attempt to pay ARC Games, I’ve learned one very important lesson: There is no legitimate reason to give money to ARC Games.

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