Aesthetically and thematically jumping the gun. (No Spoilers)

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Jekyll, Jan 10, 2019.

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  1. Sketch_

    Sketch_ Avatar

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    With all the fan-fare and rabble rousing about Shroud of the Avatar being the spiritual successor to Ultima Online and/or the next crowd-funded Ultima game whatsoever its easy to bring a lot of assumptions to the table as to thematic guidelines and aesthetic choices.

    When I first started playing back in R12 or so I was kind of upset that there were even automatons wandering about and giving us hat quests and the like.

    As time went on and I continued to play I kind of embraced the weird steam-punkesque inclusions and went about my business.

    It's dawned on me since the fish-mask thread, though, that there are lot of art choices that rub people the wrong way.. and this got me thinking along the lines of my "things I wish I knew before I butchered act 1" thread in regards to facing the game as it is rather than as one presumes it to be.

    I'm probably preaching to the choir, and also pissing off others who are getting more than they bargained for lets say , but its in our best interest to approach Novia with a fresh perspective and adapt to the adversities we face - gameplay, art, or otherwise - Than to rely on our old experiences and memories, or our thematic presumptions about the game.

    If you see someone dressed in a sparkling fish mask and flaming imp wings with no pants on or something and it ejects you from your immersion rather than steeping you further into your own immersion you're being a bit over-reactive and need to take a step back and re-center yourself. Imho.
     
  2. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    People need to base their immersion on what the game is rather than what they want or expect based on external things.
     
  3. dcyumyum

    dcyumyum Avatar

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    You are a little correct, but I think the main issue people had with those fish masks are that they took time to make and no one wants them or likes them. Same with the fish pavers since we already have so many varieties of pavers why was precious bandwidth spent on making them when no one will ever use them

    Immersion was just another aspect to the argument about how ugly and ridiculous they look and that no one will use them and the artists time could have been spent better elsewhere.
     
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  4. Sketch_

    Sketch_ Avatar

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    yeah, I mean this exactly, but its very hard to edify with language know what I mean? Like, its kinda tricky to understand just what kind of experience is happening here.


    If they're ugly and ridiculous I don't think the artists really spent much time on them at all, you know? I think the artists and devs are having fun with this and being expressive and releasing some steam.
     
  5. macnlos

    macnlos Avatar

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    Portalarium needs a task master. Someone there that is cracking a whip on everyone. If their head pops up and they are not working on the quest system or something related to the economy then the whip gets cracked. Fish mask... don't get me started.
     
  6. Titania Xylia

    Titania Xylia Avatar

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    The game isn't all that fun or creative, if it's filled with stuff only you like. I for one don't like much of the aesthetics (the overall style, effects, etc) in the game. However, I get excited when people are able to mash these crazy pieces together and make something beautiful, immersive or useful out of them.

    Fish masks are just another color in the palette. Port gives you the colors; you paint with what you like. I doubt the time expenditure was all that massive. We're lucky that this is the type of game this is. We aren't all going to wear fairy wings, dragon masks or backpacks. However, I don't know of any other game where I get much more than a skin for my character after paying like $5 or outright have to pay to be competitive in combat, so WTH.

    I'm ready to be wow'ed by the player that pulls off the fish mask in a cool way.
     
  7. Sketch_

    Sketch_ Avatar

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    Wut?
     
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  8. evillego6

    evillego6 Avatar

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    You are my favorite.
     
  9. Floors

    Floors Avatar

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    The fish mask stuff was kind of tongue in cheek. Nobody really cares. They are dumb tho.

    Attracting UO fans is the last thing we wanna do IMO. UO fans are the problem. Go look at LoA, same behavior over there.

    It's UO. It's PK. Reds. Wrong type of folks.... Not saying all UO fans are like this, but the vast majority get frustrated here quickly from what I've seen .
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2019
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  10. Sketch_

    Sketch_ Avatar

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    Silence! Poseidon laughs at your insolence! You will feel the flaps of fifty ferocious fish!
     
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  11. Elwyn

    Elwyn Avatar

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  12. Anpu

    Anpu Avatar

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    If only we could do that with the masks. :D
     
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  13. Xee

    Xee Bug Hunter

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    Well , I look at it this way. no matter what world you live in there will be and always Crazy people that run around naked and in attire that is questionable. That said You can take that and consider those that choose to dress so as a crazy. Just like the real world if you see one of them usually you smile then turn and walk away saying WOW that person lol.
     
  14. DavidDC

    DavidDC Programmer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    Personally, i think the "story" of the game is going in every sense and have no real meaning. Final fantasy was a steam punk game that worked very well on story and didnt try to go in every way they could. They followed their path and their story had a sense we could compare with real life in many aspect. Even 15 year later, i still remember perfectly Final Fantasy stories and find in my real life some sense that was behind the general idea of FF and im still amazed, without even playing it. (When i think of mako/essense, how we should take care of the earth in general and many other aspect). Sota story, i dont even know what it is after playing 2 year. The oracle come from no where in my head, not sure why its there. There are all kind of god, colossus, anapa, what are they all doing here and what is their purpose exactly, not totally sure. I cant reference anything from the game in real life, no real conscience act or nothing. Its really empty.

    Now for deco, sheesh, most of the item we get as rewards each month goes directly into the bank or stay in the reward tabs without ever using it. I dont see a ton of people running around with torn and tattered bloody wedding dress. Not counting all other wedding stuff. Was there even 1 single mariage in sota? Cant remember. And thats just one of many items there is. I think its a big waste of time to make such assets and could probably get more money or attention if giving people what they really want. (PVP Gear, a working Obsidian trial, fluffy gear for girls cause they always like that, castle defense, fixing bugs, and the list is freaking long im not gonna name it all here but you know what i mean).

    Thats my 2 cent. ;)
     
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  15. Sketch_

    Sketch_ Avatar

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    Well, if you're making a game out in the open like SOTA, its important to get your foot in the door regarding art direction early. So when I first started and was irked by the giant tesla towers for example, its more important that they open the door for potential even if they don't quite have the ideas fully fleshed out yet. Now, im not exactly saying Port is simply playing it safe - for all intents and purposes it seems like they've got lore to back it all up at some point.. like they're not simply just jumping the gun and covering their bases... Kobold city for instance, not to spoil anything.

    And maybe its purposefully mysterious at this point, I don't know, like why do fish masks even exist?
     
  16. Floors

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    Yes, there's been several marriages in game.

    Not all the items are gonna be useful. But at the very least they are nice rares to get and sell to the great unwashed.
     
  17. Paladin Michael

    Paladin Michael Bug Hunter

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    Posted this in a similar thread, so just another opinion here ;)

    Well, I think all of us could participate in another kind of view ...

    Which one? The view others have. For sure, there are often about 70/80% thinking the same way, but there are also the other 20-30%.

    For example(!)
    1. People who love Ultima
    2. People who love Ultima online
    3. People who love fantasy roleplaying
    4. People (not only girls!) who just wanna have fun ;)

    And what kind of solution could there be not to annoy people who wants to have also fun (in definition of 1-3) ?

    1. Giving back the private online mode - this was and is a great feature promised from beginning. (I don't say make it the default option, but give players the possibility to use it how it was explained ...).

    2. Also/Instead restrictions in different ways would be helpful, for example:
    2.1 Seasonable items get a timeline where they will be loaded/shown - after that they will not (like christmas trees or easter egss or Pumpkin head or Krampus ...)
    2.2 Not directly suitable stuff (wings, masks, deco) to the original realm created by @Lord British could be toggled on/off.

    2.3 Besides: Vendors having NO items to sell shouldn't be loaded!
    ----> Think about the load deco times we face every day of playing for deco some people dropped 30 days before and forgot, christmas is over?
    ----> Also think about the load times for planting stuff. Is it necessary, everbody must see them?


    So imagine this scenario, please:
    A player likes to play online, because of houses and friends - (s)he loves fantasy role playing and feels "home" in good old Ultima (online).
    Therefor (s)he will play in "open" mode.
    Now it occurs, (s)he encounters the fish pirates, an order living next to her/his home town. And assume, (s)he won't like (facing) fish!

    Having a simple option:
    x toggle non Lord British story related items off (wearables like masks, wings)
    x toggle non Lord British story related items off (deco like rainbow colors or other items)


    - and (s)he would be so happy, while the order of the fish pirates could wear their fish masks and having fish parties all the time! (S)he never gets bothered by them any more!

    This would be a great solution and another great game feature for everybody to use the own game style and following the own path of fun definition :)
    Never have to see any masks and wearables we won't ...


    And if we have this nice feature implemented:
    Sell those fishmasks! And of course Alienmasks next time! And Bunnymasks, whatever our heart is asking for ...
    If 10% like to buy and wear it and enjoy it - let them enjoy it without annoying the other 90% of players ...
    [I would be happy about a fantastic looking -game related- Werewolf mask for a nice dungeon story ;)]

    80-90% will not care any longer about, because they can
    x toggle non Lord British story related items off


    BUT: If someone creates a special themed dungeon it should be shown (like a kind of PvP place!) how it was created!
    So if the Order of the Fishmen presents their creepy fishy dungeon, you will know what you can expect in there! ENTER if you dare! ;)
    AND: an owner of an Outlander owned/founded Town*
    should have this Option for his whole town (so he haven't to care about to inspect houses and deco stuff around and nobody must be banned!)

    [*Yes, I mean POT ;) Well, I really would appreciate the OOT or OFT more (in game!), because it would sound more story related to @Lord British's story: Outlander came to Novia and founded / owned towns ... and still do ...
    Telling not to change it because it was in for so long sounds strange - so many things were in and changed more than once ... Had to say this, if we're talking about sharing another view ;)]
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2019
  18. Paladin Michael

    Paladin Michael Bug Hunter

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    Just laughing about this - well, I saw this in my mind ...
    So I really don't hope this happens ...
    And besides:
    imagine, if there would be someone who likes those whip cracking?
    And may be it's the one who creates all those fish mask and similar stuff? ;)

    I would prefer the solution I wrote above:
    x toggle non Ultima fantasy / non Lord British story related items off

    That would be a great feature for individual play style :)
     
  19. Elwyn

    Elwyn Avatar

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    I don't expect any serious interest in such things until the game takes off. That's kind of the point of them as rares, not for someone to want them now, but for a year or two or three from now. There have been a few rewards items with some interest, but not many. Yet.

    These items generally take minor art work to make. Any new tech would be something they were already working on anyhow. They're not going to suddenly add castle defense or treasure maps as a monthly stretch goal, and those require work from different devs than the rewards items.
     
  20. DavidDC

    DavidDC Programmer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    No but they could add gear that people are actually gonna wear. Since we are in the steam-punk kind of game some gothic or steam-punk related gear would probably fit more here than many item standing our walls. I dont see many running around with darth vader helm or full ice set. PvP people want hardcore looking gear and would care less of the flower dress, too much fluffy not enough blood! ;p

    The only set that really worked are the obsidian and darkstarr gear so far. Both gothic looks. It give a hint. (yes there probably more set but thats the only 2 i can remember really)
     
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