Event Review - Hell or Highwinter (December 2019 Highwinter event)

[Brondulf Elricson]

This game was a huge surprise for myself, as I was honestly expecting a fairly meh game but was treated to something far beyond my expectations, so first off thanks to all the wonderful new shapers and NPC's who made it possible, if this is a sign of whats to come I am more than excited to see the rest of the season.

Pros:
-LOTS OF LOOT!!! I felt like our actions were being constantly rewarded throughout event, and the amount going out felt manageable enough that it could be reasonable split among those participating in activities and mods. Would love to see the same amount of positive reinforcement happen from encounters, even if it needs to be tweaked a little for full weekend events.
-Variety of mods and mechanics were for the most part simple and easy to understand and incorporate into our strategies. I'm a huge fan of environmental mechanics being used to add an extra layer to combat encounters (though sparingly and with a deft hand), and seeing effects like rising water and burning stoves that cause damage is a cool way to spice up simple encounters.
-The variety of equipment/weapons on mobs is a breath of fresh air. It gets tiring fighting double sticks/claws constantly, and seeing a shield or two mixed into the fights is an excellent way of getting people to approach a fight even slightly differently. MORE OF THIS PLEASE!
-While they way into the veteran mod is a bit questionable (see the reviews above) the actual mod itself was a blast! I was thoroughly surprised and thankful to see a "difficult" mod not boil down to magic thresholds and untouchable monsters. Resources were definitely consumed (a few life spells and a bunch of shatters on my mastercrafted shield) and the monsters remained dangerous even though I could still fight and kill them. The mod proved to me that higher level content can and should still exist without resorting to separating those with and without magic weapons/abilities, and I hope this philosophy makes it's way into more of the encounters this year.


Gripes/Suggestions:
-As mentioned above, the stealth mod felt very clunky and impossible to accomplish via the means the shapers intended. Stealth mods can be one of the funnest around, but they require a clear sense of what should be done. The shaper suggested we throw a rock to distract the mobs but there was nothing immediately available to do so with, and trying to sneak past the NPC's seemed out of the question considering they were all looking in our direction and weren't patrolling/moving about in a semi-predictable manner. Overall I love the idea of the mod but it felt very clumsy an throw together without much thought or consideration (also the pc's walking through the mod and forcing us oog wasn't very helpful)
-I was looking forward to (and dreading) the outcome of the toy solders vs. witch plot line, especially since I took a stance for my goddess Sybil to defend the witch and the trees. I know having the plot line disrupted made it hard to continue but it still would have been nice to see the PC's actions have a reaction, if even just to give a short conclusion.
-That's kinda it for complaints, all my other suggestions are in the pro's section so... curse you guys for not giving me more cons I guess???

Overall, I hope Hell or Highwinter is a sign of things to come, an I'm lloking forward to what comes next! 10/10 would defend a witch again (holy shit the rhymes xD)