YouTube Content Creator Spotlight: Rainer

In our spotlight series, we want to highlight content creators, theorycrafters, and other known faces of the Neverwinter community. Today we are present you “Rainer”, who regularly creates content for the game on YouTube. He is probably best known for his RNG tests, but also does general guides, news, and info videos. Next to sharing as much personal information as he liked, he answered some general questions about his D&D, Neverwinter and gaming career. Have fun reading through!

Profile

  • Nickname: Rainer
  • Main Platform: PC (Dragon)
  • Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RainerNW
  • Classes: DC, HR
  • Ingame Handle: @rainer#8575
  • Guild / Alliance: Civil Anarchy
  • Name: Rainer Wolf
  • Country: Germany
  • Age: 34

History of Your Gaming, D&D, Neverwinter Career

I’ve been playing D&D for almost five years now with a fixed group of friends. A little over two years ago (21-4-2016 according to my installation folder) I found this game and started out as a Hunter Ranger. At that time I was actually also playing a ranger in our D&D group. From that moment on, I pretty much played Neverwinter on a daily basis after work. I really liked the gameplay and the atmosphere, as I could recognize some of the stories from D&D and also the other way around.

I’ve always liked the Hunter Ranger class the most, especially ever since I turned it into a trapper (I made the classic “error” of starting archery). The combat style is just lovely. Because it was quite difficult to get into dungeons with a DPS class, I also brought up a Devoted Cleric. You could say this is my second main.

I’ve always played on PC, since I don’t really own a PS4 or Xbox One. But from time to time I do get the urge to look at PS4 deals – so who knows, maybe one day I’ll start on PS4 as well

Your History, Goals and Thoughts About Creating Content for Neverwinter

Before I started making videos on YouTube I actually was a big consumer of content on the platform. I mostly like looking at opening videos to be honest, trying to figure out how big the chance was for that legendary mount. This search actually also led me to the Neverwinter Uncensored website which features a lovely RNG toolbox. However, I want to actually SEE the drops with my own eyes. As my YouTube profile states: “My motto is: I have to see it to believe it. This does not mean I don’t trust anyone, but people make assumptions all the time – usually unconsciously. On this channel I try to give as much visual proof of my analysis as possible. Facts only!”

So I started making mostly opening videos, and somehow it started to pick up quite fast. I really like the community feedback and interest that is shown and it motivates me more and more. I really try to answer every single question I get on my videos for as long as I can. What I’ve also learned while playing is that efficiency is quite an important factor in Neverwinter due to all the 2x events it features, and I don’t mind sharing my insights on how to optimize the gains from these events. This way other people can also benefit from it. This is the reason why I started to make a guide for everything which is worth a guide.

I guess over time my goals have turned two-fold:

  1. Making drop rates transparent as they should be (in my opinion)
  2. Helping (mostly) newer players up to speed with the game

In the near future I hope to be able to start streaming as well, to get an even better connection with the audience and be able to help people even more. Things for now will not get super serious though (streaming full days for example) since I do have a full time job.

What’s the Funniest, Weirdest, Most Annoying, or Frustrating Thing That Happened to You While Covering the Game?

When I started out making videos I had a really bad microphone and when I got a better one, it took me quite some time to get the volume to a decent level. I hope I finally resolved that one 🙂 The most frustrating thing up until now must be my opening of the 6k+ quartermaster packs. I spent so many hours preparing and recording that video – and I got not a single legendary tool in return. I was seriously bummed after that one.

I was very excited about the fashion bag. I’m not really into fashion at all, but when the news came out about this I got all kinds of crazy ideas in my head about fashion unlocks and fashion libraries. When it turned out to be just another specific bag I was quite disappointed – and my interest in fashion has completely disappeared again by the way.

It is quite weird to me still that more and more I get contacted in the game with “Hey are you Rainer from Youtube?” I’m way too down to earth for this haha!

What Do You like / Dislike About Neverwinter and Its Community as a Player?

The game has its positives and negatives, of course. Negative sides are for example item level and class discrimination that you see on a regular basis. I understand this is partly due to the state of the game where having a very specific group composition makes the content easier – but it’s not necessary in my opinion. Why does every run have to be those 5-10 minutes faster? It is especially silly if it takes those exact 5-10 minutes to find a ‘more suitable’ party member. I know this is a very difficult subject to tackle, but somehow the content should cater to the compositions which suit the player base (which is mostly DPS classes).

Another negative part is in my opinion that the developers don’t seem to be sufficiently connected to the player base. They do hear the player base, but it seems that they don’t entirely understand them (e.g. just look at the fashion bag that I mentioned before) and they don’t really give enough feedback on what they are doing with our feedback on the game. This leads to almost constant complaints from the player base. I’ve seen it for two years straight, and I would not be surprised if it didn’t start there and continue until the game finally dies out. There’s always something to complain about 🙂

I do understand the need for the developers to somehow remove AD influx in the game. There is indeed just too much AD. My many alts are losing some of their power due to some of the changes, but I can live with that if in return the changes have a positive effect as well. We will see whether the steps which are being taken will have a positive effect on the AD issue. They have more data then we have and we basically have no choice but to live with their decisions anyway.

Lastly, some of the grinds in the game are extremely excessive and not fun. Relic gear for example is not required anymore and that’s a good thing. Getting those up to speed was no fun at all… Doing the same thing every day for weeks basically isn’t fun either…

On the other hand I do see some very obvious quality of life improvements coming to the game. Campaigns are becoming more alt friendly for example, and things like the upcoming companion tokens and AD shared bank space are something I look really forward to. Another improvement is the fact that a lot of +4 rings have two offensive or defensive slots now. And they can be crafted now. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is. It removes 90% of the reason to grind for jewelry – which is one of the most excessive ones.

Although most events are really outdated, they really outdid themselves on the recent Jubilee event. I hope this is a sign for more event updates, although they don’t all have to be as extreme as this one of course. We will see what happens with the summer event. Other than that, I really see the teamwork within guilds and alliances. People are very helpful and it does motivate me to also be helpful to others. I’ve met some really cool people along the way.


We hope you liked getting to know Rainer! Make sure to visit and subscribe to his YouTube channel so he continues to provide quality information and data for the game! You can also leave questions and remarks in the comments below, on our social channels, or the corresponding thread on our message board!

Neverwinter UN:Blogged is always looking for writers to contribute to the blog. If you are an active player and search for a way to spread your opinions, analysis, diaries or reviews to more than 50,000 regular visitors, then don’t hesitate and get in touch with us on our contact page or message board! We are currently especially looking for console and PVP content, but that’s not exclusive. There is no frequency requirement, you post how often you want.

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We are always looking for people that contribute to this blog. For more information contact us via blog@nwo-uncensored.com or check the forum.

3 thoughts on “YouTube Content Creator Spotlight: Rainer

  • July 6, 2018 at 5:54 am
    Permalink

    Very interesting 🙂 I didn’t know you are from Germany

  • July 6, 2018 at 12:21 pm
    Permalink

    I can’t thank you enough for the awesome job you do with testing all the containers in Neverwinter, and the invaluable information from all your rng-tests.

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