One of the greatest MMORPG YouTubers tears up his favorite game: “It hurts me so much”
YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes has been making videos into MMORPGs for years. In his series “Worst MMO Ever” he tests games that many don’t even have on their screen to see whether they are really that bad. In the latest edition, it was the turn of the game Neverwinter, in which he himself invested thousands of hours.
What is the video about? Hayes tests new MMORPGs for his video series for 8 to 10 hours of play and then summarizes his opinion in 30 to 60 minutes and at some point also fades in current Steam reviews. But the latest edition is a very special one.
Because the YouTuber has gambled Neverwinter for many years and called it his favorite MMORPG. In fact, Hayes originally started his YouTube channel to share guides on Neverwinter.
But now there are so many things bothering him about the MMORPG that he can no longer recommend it with a clear conscience. The reasons for this are the so-called content vault and Pay2Win, which is said to have gained the upper hand in Neverwinter.
At the beginning of the video he says: “This video hurts me so much because Neverwinter Online was my main MMORPG for many years. Difficult years and it has helped me through that time. I was addicted to the game. “
Illogical story content and Pay2Win are the big problems
Was stört Hayes am Content? At the beginning, the YouTuber shows some nice sides of the game. For example, there is praise for the action-packed combat system, the good introduction to the first missions and for the challenging opponents and bosses that are there right from the start.
At the beginning, he also praised the mounts, which offer various bonuses and a unique attack, because once they have been unlocked, these bonuses can be mixed and matched to suit your mood.
But the mood changes as the video progresses. For example, Hayes is bothered by the leveling adjustments that were made in the summer of 2021:
- The max level has been reduced from 80 to 20
- There are no more experience points, but you level up via progress in the story
- A new training room has been introduced that Hayes doesn’t like at all because you get torn from the game and the story
- Some old campaigns have been removed so that players simply cannot experience them anymore
Hayes is also bothered by the fact that some characters have been replaced with the update. New players are unlikely to notice the problems, but those who dig deeper into the story and know the old content would be surprised why these changes were made in the first place.
What’s the biggest criticism of Neverwinter? The YouTuber is most bothered by the Pay2Win aspect. It’s supposed to be huge right now in Neverwinter. Hayes himself says: “You can buy real power in the shop. I’ll show you how you can buy yourselves straight into the endgame. “
At the beginning of the video, Hayes was already showing the different races in the game. Each of them offer a different bonus. That is why there is, objectively, a best people, but Zen must be used to pay for them. The price for this is 3,500 zen.
Zen is available in-game and for real money. 3,500 zen are equivalent to around 28 euros.
You also need buffs that you get for completing various campaigns. However, there are also campaign tokens to match. They immediately complete a campaign without playing so that you can bag the rewards. Such a degree costs 700 Zen (5.50 euros).
There are also the following useful items in the shop:
- A boost directly to the max level
- Enchantments for your weapon that make it stronger
- Equipment can break when upgrading, but there are items in the shop
- There are companions that you can get in the game, but also in the shop
- There are the strongest mounts in the shop that have their own bonuses
- There are loot boxes with equipment in them
There are also items that revive you on the spot before the dungeon boss generates life. So you can theoretically defeat bosses by using real money, no matter how much skill you have.
Premium membership to top it off: In addition to the content in the shop, there is also a premium membership. That brings you more bonuses, the more months you pay in one fell swoop.
Those who buy directly for 12 months receive, among other things, +1% additional life points for the entire group, more in-game currency, no penalties in the event of death and access to the bank from anywhere in the world.
Currency packages are good for the seller: Another big criticism from Hayes is how Zen is sold. There is a package that offers 3,450 Zen for 27 euros. For the people, however, you need 3,500 Zen and have to either buy another package for 4.50 euros or the more expensive version for 45 euros.
You can see the full review here:
Zen can be bought for in-game currency, but first you have to spend 500,000 euros
What about the exchange of currencies? Hayes explains how exchanging in-game currency for Zen works:
- You can exchange Astral Diamonds for Zen.
- However, there are currently over 65 million listings eager to buy Zen for Astral Diamonds.
- This means that 65 million Zen will go to other players before it is your turn to offer the latest offer. That’s 2,742 times the most expensive Zen package in the game.
- In plain language: Other players would have to spend the equivalent of just under 500,000 euros and want to convert all of that into diamonds before it would be your turn to offer the latest exchange offer.
Since this is unlikely to happen in the next few weeks, you will have to spend real money on the many bonuses.
At the end of the video, Hayes looks very depressed. You can tell that he actually likes Neverwinter, but is dissatisfied with the latest decisions and, above all, with the development of the shop. That’s why PvP in Neverwinter is said to be pretty dead by now.
Hayes ends his video with the rating: “This review costs 3,500 Zen / out of 10.”
What do you think of Neverwinter and the shop system? Have you had a similar experience or haven’t you had Neverwinter on your radar so far? And which MMORPG has the worst shop system? Feel free to write it in the comments.
We already looked at the shop of the upcoming game Lost Ark in the beta. There is also some criticism here:
Is Lost Ark Pay2Win? This is in the shop of the western version
Reference-mein-mmo.de
