Are there any post-launch reviews/news stories?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Vyrin, Apr 6, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Cock of the North

    Cock of the North Avatar

    Messages:
    184
    Likes Received:
    254
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Well you don't have to worry about that because it is I who am the super duper chosen one. The Oracle told me so.
     
    Vyrin likes this.
  2. WrathPhoenix

    WrathPhoenix Avatar

    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    4,407
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Most AAA game companies try to coordinate releases and reviews before launch. But Portalarium has largely let the game's momentum speak for itself. I actually ran into a new player i was helping who told me that they were from some european magazine and putting together a review. I roamed them around, showed them equal measure of community stuff and content like dungeons / encounters / seiges etc. The good, bad and ugly. Seemed pretty excited by the end.

    All of Richards games have had a pretty mediocre critical reception tbh. They are cult classics. The following has always been strong - but rarely if ever mainstream. I doubt thatll change here. I have seen a few reviews that kind of said "It's ambitious but too soon to tell if it will pay off" (paraphrased) - i think that's kind of the feeling i get from most folks. Those that hate it hate it, those that love it love it. Those that are on the fence probably will stay that way until more drastic enhancements are made.
     
    Humbert_Humbert, Jaesun and Sorthious like this.
  3. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Cordelayne likes this.
  4. Elwyn

    Elwyn Avatar

    Messages:
    3,617
    Likes Received:
    4,783
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    One thing about SotA is that it doesn't tell you where to find anything, other than the next step of some quests you might have stumbled on by accident. So all people see is a bunch of towns and random adventuring areas, with very little context. If you are used to having a game hold your hand through everything, you won't find much.

    I think there was even a review linked to recently (maybe this thread) where the person who wrote it died, and just hung around until the timer expired. He apparently didn't know about the ankhs, which are actually mentioned in the instructions. This is the kind of person who reviews games?
     
  5. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    3,333
    Likes Received:
    11,010
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.

    Seriously though, she does raise some valid points. I enjoy SotA, but it does need a lot of work still. I have helped a number of frustrated new players who have become exasperated over how hard it is to find NPCs and/or how when you ask an NPC where "NPC X" is their response is completely unhelpful. The game shouldn't require players to come to the forums to figure out basic game mechanics. I'm sure this is being addressed and hopefully will be rectified soon.
     
    Gorthyn likes this.
  6. Elwyn

    Elwyn Avatar

    Messages:
    3,617
    Likes Received:
    4,783
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Montaigne likes this.
  7. 2112Starman

    2112Starman Avatar

    Messages:
    3,613
    Likes Received:
    7,989
    Trophy Points:
    165
    agreed, the social engineers have been saying for 3 years "this game is failing any second, it will never release... here is a ton of conspiracy theory to prove it"... yet here we still are.
     
  8. WrathPhoenix

    WrathPhoenix Avatar

    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    4,407
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The trolls always will. There are a certain type of people who will always find the things that fit their narrative and only their narrative. Those that dislike the game are going to find all the negative reviews, those that like the game are going to find all the positive ones. I just take note of where these are coming from, and what they say. Such as this last one who says that it doesnt have a working map. Which i find ironic because i most certainly have the map pulled up quite often wherever i go....
     
  9. Jens_T

    Jens_T Avatar

    Messages:
    641
    Likes Received:
    1,483
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Zurich
    Unless you're using Linux or are in a Black Sun licensed area. Also the map might be slow to respond...

    But claiming bad reviews or criticism is just coming from trolls that want to spoil your fun is at best naive. The "trolls" are certainly not driving the criticism in the press / review sites. Many points of critique such as UI, performance and quest have been discussed and critically mentioned here for years. And while a lot of work has been put especially into performance it is far from good for a wide audience.
    This game needs a big audience that is willing to pay - for this it needs not only favourable reviews but also add fun & value to a wider group of gamers. Otherwise the game has no economic future and that is not because of some "trolls".
    With regards to "positive" reviews - most reviews have positive aspects but I haven't seen a single outright positive review. If there are such, please post them here.
     
    Gorthyn, Myrcello, MrBlight and 3 others like this.
  10. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Sooo... the problem is not that the game has gotten a negative review, the problem is that people who don't like the game are talking about said negative review?

    Not only does that not actually make any actual sense, it also has nothing to do with the purpose of this thread, which is collecting press reviews.

    Backing away now to avoid further derailment.
     
  11. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

    Messages:
    15,678
    Likes Received:
    24,293
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Yeah, I'm still not going to worry about it.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2018
  12. Sorthious

    Sorthious Avatar

    Messages:
    1,135
    Likes Received:
    1,354
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Again, another review that makes you wonder if they are even playing the same game, and when they actually played it. She mentions, "Nearly two million dollars was raised for this game. Two. Million. Dollars." Maybe she's only mentioning the Kickstarter contributors. She also says, "I did a lot of research as I eked out this review to make sure I wasn’t missing something..." Apparently, she didn't do much research into the funding of the game, or any other aspect of the game for that matter. The funding information is available via the SOTA Website. In addition, on the main page you can find the Players Guide. Even if she tested that game prior to launch, she could have checked this to see if any fixes had been made since last she played it.

    In another section she says, "Shroud of the Avatar does not currently have a working map. Let that sink in for a while. If you need to know where you are, where your goal is, or where key NPCs are, good luck. Seriously. NPCs are also not labelled in the HUD until you interact with them, which wouldn’t be too bad if everyone didn’t look so damned similar!"

    I use Linux, so, yes, in my case I have no map. Maybe she only tested it on a Linux based system, but even so, given the 'lot of research' she eked out, she could have discovered that Windows players do have a mapping system. I know some maps aren't fully implemented yet, but that could have been mentioned. As far as NPC's not being labeled, if she had bothered to look in the game settings, she would have easily found the setting to cut on NPC names. Additionally, there are settings to cut on/off the blue sparkles, which I thought were on by default. The Journal would also help her out with remembering details about quests/conversations with NPC's.

    She states, "At least the load screens are pretty. Granted, they should be. You’re certainly looking at them long enough."

    This issue was addressed long ago, and possibly is still an issue for some, but if you have a decent system and an SSD drive, load times, in most cases, are less than 15secs. Some areas, my basement for instance, loads in about 5secs. You would figure a game reviewer would use appropriate equipment to review the game.

    For as much research as she did on the game, it's surprising that she didn't find/make use of the online manual. I totally agree with her take on performance, and the issues with NPC's, quests, and dialogue. Well, except for her complaint, "If I would have encountered one more person that used “thou” and “thee” over modern pronouns I’d have punched my computer monitor to death." She also says, "Look guys, RPGs are my thing. My. Thing." I also am a big fan of RPG's and specifically medieval type RPG's. I expect to "...wade through some of the most infuriating, flowery old timey English imaginable." I really wonder how much time she actually spent playing the game. It doesn't seem that she put much effort at all into finding out how to play the game. As I said, she has valid points as far as performance and quests go, but to give the game a 1 out of 5 is a little harsh. I wouldn't consider this a fair review.
     
    K1000, Montaigne, Elwyn and 1 other person like this.
  13. Gorthyn

    Gorthyn Avatar

    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1,497
    Trophy Points:
    93
    I agree, while the game has plenty of issues that Heypoorplayer review is at best ill informed nonsense and at worst a deliberate hatchet job.

    Some of the other reviews are much fairer while pointing out valid concerns and criticisms.
     
    Ronni and Sorthious like this.
  14. 2112Starman

    2112Starman Avatar

    Messages:
    3,613
    Likes Received:
    7,989
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Your comments dont match what I said in any way. My comment was about "social engineers saying this game would fold 3 years ago" and you are talking about negative reviews.
     
  15. Unseen [ONBE]

    Unseen [ONBE] Avatar

    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    26
    Trophy Points:
    3
    This may be the case with his more recent releases, but Ultima 2-7 were released to critical praise and commercial success. Most (all?) were on their years Top-X list. It was a big deal when a new Ultima came out.

    Unseen
     
  16. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    You're right, it was. However, the poster above you said the things I was referring to, and you immediately jumped on the bandwagon and agreed with him, thereby derailing the thread further. So I included you in my response.

    Whatevs :cool:
     
    3devious likes this.
  17. Bubonic

    Bubonic Avatar

    Messages:
    2,455
    Likes Received:
    7,975
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    er... those have already been posted, and most a couple of weeks ago. and the pcGamer article wasn't even a review. And I posted the IGN link myself... it was for IGN italia. But again, whatevs.
     
  18. WrathPhoenix

    WrathPhoenix Avatar

    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    4,407
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I chose those specifically because they had been mentioned in this thread. The big names have had articles about it, and probably will alter but not in such a short span. But its silly to say no first rate/big name/whatever places are reviewing or talking about the game in the same thread where we have multiple examples of the exact opposite being true.
     
  19. CarlNZ

    CarlNZ Avatar

    Messages:
    333
    Likes Received:
    771
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Unlikely to be a hatchet job since port gave her a key.
     
  20. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

    Messages:
    3,957
    Likes Received:
    12,761
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Removed the "third rate sites" comments.
     
    CarlNZ, Cordelayne and 3devious like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.