Newish Player

Here goes my experience so far, for what it is worth. Before I begin, remember that is was MY experiences playing through the game. While your experience may had differed depending when you started, it shouldn’t diminish what I say as opposed to anyone else. I see others always disagree with what other people write, but remember everyone has different views and opinions, right, wrong or indifferent. Please be civil.

First, I was drawn to the game when I saw the advertised line that the choices you make have consequences. The only time your choices matter is when you start answering the questions which will start you on one of the paths first. Since you need to do each of the virtue quests to obtain your shroud, you really are not choosing one of the paths, since you must go through them all anyways.

Also, the only other choice you have that has an actual consequence is the test the Oracle gives you every day for your free gold and experience. If you choose NO to the test question than you must wait a time before you can go back and choose YES. Than every day after that you know to always choose YES. This is not really a test in my opinion.

The following areas are what sort of turned me off about the game, but this game does have a ton of strong points too.

The virtue quests follow a cool story line. It keeps you captivated and wondering where it is going to lead next. The story is pretty cool and reminiscing of the old Ultima days. But the execution of the quests is just bad. There were times when the NPCs wouldn’t take the items needed. I had to repeat it over and over until they took it. There were other occasions where the NPCs choices didn’t work. I had to look up older posts on the forums for others who had the same problem before I could solve it. The quest system has potential but is a hinderance in wanting to keep playing through them for someone new. After reading through some of the older posts in the forums for help, I see these issues have been known for a long time. Not sure why they are not fixed since each release note and the daily Standup Corner show they are working on bugs and quest bugs. Perhaps they should show which bugs they fixed so I know which quests I can go back and try to finish.

I asked early on if there were any repeatable or daily quests. Quests tied to the new fishing or even quests tied to crafting where you must make a certain amount of something and turn it in for materials or receipts. One answer I got was that the Oracle gives you gold and xp if you take her test daily.

The journal system should probably be disabled. I saw that they are not going to fix this until sometime in the future, to have it in game now just shows how broke things are. It might be better just to disable it. I would have had an easier time if I wrote down what and where I had to go next. The journal is just BAD!!

I love the graphics and the scenery. Sometimes when the sun is setting and the light hits certain aspects of a scene it looks so fantastic! I give credit to the art department for this. It is beautiful. Than you go to places that are “under construction” and the NPCs have no names or just stand there like a statue. Some places have nothing in it, nothing to do, no quests, etc. They should just be taken out. It’s fun to adventure, but not when you come across so many places that are void of things to do or lore to learn. After reading that they are working on another Episode with new lands, it made me question, why? There are still a lot of places that seem unfinished and very underutilized. Maybe the new episode will complete the current lands as well??

With regards to the issues I have with glyphs all you have to do is look up @Black FjP post. He hit the nail on the head. Like him I found out the descriptions of skills/spells is way off on some. Now after the hours of putting exp points in them I now have to use the new unlearning tool. Nope never again!!

When my daughter and I first joined we opened the LFG box to see what everyone was doing. At that time it seems everyone was fishing as it was new to the game. We joined a few groups and people taught us how and what fishing was all about. This would have been another great area to put daily, weekly or any type of quest in. After about a week of fishing in different parts we wanted to do some other things. We looked at the LFG que and there were about 3 or 4 groups for Upper Tears. We joined them and fought our way through the waves. It seems this is the place to come if you only want experience. The first two or three rounds were fun, but after that it gets boring and monotonous. I can’t believe people do that round after round day after day. I would gouge my eyes out. That is the definition of grind! I asked some others we meet if there is any other place that was a bit longer and more fun than UT. I was looking for something that incorporated quests and progression and different mobs and various bosses to fight along the way. I was told the only other place was The Rise.

We tried The Rise only to find out that it is pretty much just like UT, but with different harder mobs, but the same four walls are throughout the whole scene. I was pretty disappointed. Some walls did have paintings on it and some rooms had a crafting table or bookshelf, but each room looked just like that last room we were in already.

We did find a bunch of places in Hidden Vale that fill the adventure & dungeon aspect we were looking for, but after a few hours each day of waiting for others to join our party we didn’t have any luck. One person who did join told us that the loot vs speed of fights is why most people only do UT runs. So a bit disappointed we just ventured out and explored and fought on our own.

Crafting seems like it will take me years to be able to craft something worth wild. With endless hours of grinding for materials and time to try and build up my level I quit crafting since I calculated how long it would take my crafting skill to rise at the same speed as my adventure skill. Since nothing good drops as loot I have to buy from others which will take the gold I would use to buy materials to level up my crafting. There is UT for fast adventure xp but there is no place for fast producer xp.

I bought the boxed version of the game and I wish it had come with a decent quest & journal system that was either working or that I had held out to play until the next episode when a new system was in place.

The first day we had joined was during a Friday release party. My daughter loved the dancing, music, fireworks and emotes. The next Friday there was another party which she attended without me. She had a blast. I found that she was having fun with the “party” scene and the crafting of deco, the many choices in dye-able outfits and traveling around to see how other people decorated their towns, homes, and lots was what she enjoyed. I am almost finished through the main storyline quests so that we can get the lot deed and house so she can enjoy decorating it. She wanted a house right away, but the prices in the store is way more than I will ever pay for digital items. Even with the 50% off it is way over my budget. Perhaps I will let her buy a few things if she gets good grades in school etc.

Looking at the Standup Corner shows that the developers are working hard on putting in new seasonal and regular items that my daughter will love. She even pointed out to me that the game’s Executive Director “Darkstar” DJs and attends parties quite regularly. She is hoping to see him and listen to his music lists.

While the game doesn’t really hold my interest as there are not much in the way of dungeons runs, raids, quality loot, interesting continuing quests, and too much of a grind, it has certainly caught hold of my daughter. Seems like the direction the game is more toward that of a Maplestory/sim/decoration social type game and not what I hoped was going to be the next UO or Ultima successor. I may try again when the next episode comes out and I’m sure my daughter will keep me updated on all changes. Especially when new deco items come out that she wants me to purchase for her. Thanks to those that helped us with questions, grouping, and the fun!

 

Thanks for your honest feedback, and thanks for the mention. I agree that the end game content is very lacking, I have stopped grinding completely except for a few couple hour runs in lost vale with guildmates each week, and a few events that we run as a guild each week to go check out other content. I do enjoy the pvp in this game and most of my SOTA time these days is focused on that. There is stuff out there to do that is enjoyable for small parties, and I encourage you to join one of the more active guilds, like our EVL, to get involved with stuff like that. I frankly can't stand Upper Tears and it's hard to get people out of there to do other stuff, but if you get a good social network going it can be done. As far as difficult end-game content like raids, they don't really have the architecture for complex encounters as far as I can tell, but hopefully someday they will. For now I enjoy trying to solo group content and small partys of 2 or 3 people doing high level stuff.

 

Thanks, this games does have a lot of helpful players!!

 

Thanks so much @dcyumyum. You put into words so much of what is wrong with the game and that is not saying some things are not right at all just that I do agree with so much you said. Especially this imo:

"I asked early on if there were any repeatable or daily quests. Quests tied to the new fishing or even quests tied to crafting where you must make a certain amount of something and turn it in for materials or receipts. One answer I got was that the Oracle gives you gold and xp if you take her test daily."

and when you said this:

"I love the graphics and the scenery. Sometimes when the sun is setting and the light hits certain aspects of a scene it looks so fantastic! I give credit to the art department for this. It is beautiful. Than you go to places that are “under construction” and the NPCs have no names or just stand there like a statue. Some places have nothing in it, nothing to do, no quests, etc. They should just be taken out. It’s fun to adventure, but not when you come across so many places that are void of things to do or lore to learn. After reading that they are working on another Episode with new lands, it made me question, why? There are still a lot of places that seem unfinished and very underutilized. Maybe the new episode will complete the current lands as well??"

Again adding content to the game is great but disregarding that so many scenes well most scenes have so much less meaning than they could or should. We have mostly a world of empty and meaningless scenes that do not tell a story or involve you in them as a whole picture. We have a broken up world of places to gather resources or grind. Nothing hints at the world as a whole. The achievement system, tasks, lore and basic soul is missing to tie it all together.

And we do have lots of wonderful but our soul is very missing. Adding more difficult areas for the achievers is fine and I do understand the need for this and it is only One part of the equation for those type of players but it does not cover the missing and I do hope that we know this and have plans to address it. @DarkStarr @Lord British. Pictures just as examples.

I know we wanted to be different but in the process we miss out. We are trying to be a something for everyone and yet we are not. If we are taking down the walls to cover it all don't forget this part that has a chance to address the missing lore and ties the world together in meaningful ways. It is way to separate feeling. Scenes are still missing things to find and discover, even hidden quest givers like a dying miner who wants you to catch his killer or find something. He will maybe give you a treasure map .

Fishing vendors offer daily "Catch of the day" which rewards you with a few rare bait, fishing hat, or special pole. Dailies can have progression like complete 3 times gives a reward too or 10 days in a row even better.


edited to add ideas

 

That is the point of forums tho. To discuss it. Which doesn't always mean agreeing.

The main issue is alot of people can't handle when others disagree

Totally understand where you are coming from on your post tho. It's not a game for everyone. It's not a theme park and not a game where you can win or be at the top after 4o hours.

Joe Casual gamer and Jimmy Millenial gamer, who jump from game to game and want instant grat... prolly not a game for those folks. I guess that's what Fortnite and Overwatch are for.

It takes a lot of dedication, grinding and yes, we are still waiting on 2019's content as well. Content is always going to be the issue. But it is fun if you can get past all that. Many can't. Oh well.

At least your gripes with the game are about gameplay and not being upset because you can't have your personal head in the game

 

Not really wrong, just should be fixed or addressed. Loved your examples. It would go along way of taking the grind out of the game if those were around. Good suggestions!

 

Hello @dcyumyum. Belated welcome to New Britannia! I'm glad to hear that you're (somewhat) enjoying the game.

I agree with many of your points. I've been playing since release and have established my own rythm/routine in the game. It really helps if you join a guild that matches the big 3 criteria:

1) Active (of course!) at the same time as you;

2) Similar to your level or are at least interested in doing avtivities appropriate for your level;

3) Interested in doing more than just grinding....

My guild is out there every night doing a wide variety of different activities, and I can tell you that that makes a big difference.

Eventually, inevitably, there won't be any more quests (they get added sporadically)... and you'll have to make your own fun.

The good news is that there are some good guilds out there that will surely meet the 3 criteria for you. Number one is the question: my guild is on European time, more or less, though our American and Chinese members are around at various times. That's a key consideration.

Please pardon the ramble If you get bored, you can look me up in game: Jason Moryn

 

I agree here. The choices that we do get to make only impact ourselves (what skills to start with, what skills to learn, etc), but not the world. There's no real regional trade system that we can influence, no political system for us to participate in (LB vs DS, Virtue vs Obsidians are obvious choices here). We can free towns from being under siege, or we just skip it and pretend that someone lifted the siege. It's impossible to be immersed in a static, unchanging world.

The game shines in the areas above, and the devs have put a lot of time into the role-playing aspect of it. The demand for very high priced houses and decorations is what funded the game. The trouble is that the other areas of the game, as you noted, are not up to par with the competition. I'm hopeful that as they see more and more of the players saying the same thing, the developers will prioritize all of the things you mentioned above. Better quest/journal system, daily quests, achievements, impacting the world, dungeons, and such.

As a KS backer, I've had a lot of fun in the game. I've taken two long breaks and I'm jumping back into the game now. It still feels soulless, but it still looks like it has a lot of great potential. My biggest worry is that from most of the livestream's I've watched, the playerbase doesn't seem to care that much about the systems that are broken or subpar. I fear that there's a loop here, that people who want those things have left and no longer participate in the community, the devs only hear questions like "will you ever add mesh tank tops to the game" and continue to focus on that, leaving the other systems still broken, causing more players to leave, resulting in fewer questions about those system, making the devs think those systems are fine, etc.

Despite the negativity of the above, I am still hopeful.

 

It does look like it has a lot of potential, but I won't be putting any money or time into until I see some movement in a better direction. Perhaps the next episode will.

 

Understandable. Sounds like your daughter should come check out our crafted furniture store though. We've got tons of crafted furniture on display so she can get an idea of the scope of stuff she can build.

I can teach a bunch of recipes to her as well if she's here when I am. S Mart Factorium, near Resolute.