Honestly, how does this compare to the older Ultima games.

Why not? Why are we allowed to test online features and give feedback but offline features should not be tested?
What if some of those offline features are not what people expect or want and are disappointed with when they are implemented without testing?
I would compare this to say PvP. If the PvP part of SotA would not be shown up until close to release would the PvP fans be ok with that? I doubt it so why should the offline fans be ok with not being able to test and give feedback about the offline features?

 

Those features will have to be tested in time, but the moment you open the door to offline play, you lose valuable data you need in the mean time, so that should come later logically.

 

Not necessarily...they could have the game send reports back to the server...easy enough to do....hell it could even operate as an online version of the offline game just at this time to collect data.

At release if the game doesn't have significant more features, lore and quest lines many will be disappointed.

 

No one is saying the game is feature or content complete. So there will be more features and content.

 

I know, neither did I.

 

The former. There are stories that are in PoTs but they are those of the people who live there and will not be reflected back into the main storyline (which has for the most part been written already anyway). PaxLair is very popular and occasionally you may see a player-submitted NPC (such as the one in Ardoris) who refers to it, but those are not part of the main storyline.

(Whether or not they are part of the lore of the game depends on who is asking and what is important to them; their answer is as valid as yours, but that is more a cultural question and less one of implementation.)

 

Well, mainly, because at the moment they're horribly broken. (NPC AI simply doesn't work, for example) Until we can work on that, testing it is kind of pointless?

(Rest assured the QA team has been doing a pretty good job of cataloguing the broken-ness.)

 

Actually, no. Offline is simply a mode. They can build all the telemetry they want into offline mode even so they get their metrics and simply turn all that off at launch. So I also urge the devs to release a pseudo-offline mode for testing, because offline mechanics are different than SPO/FPO/OPO. When those mechanics are in place, they should enable offline mode which still sends telemetry. At launch, turn off the telemetry and any requirement to be online. Any story elements can still be held back just as they do now.

I'm quite surprised and disappointed by this. As POTs don't exist in the offline mode, does it make any sense for an NPC in Ardoris to refer to user-generated-content, which is at its core what a POT is? I do hope you change your mind on this and remove any references to things like that.

 

I'm of the mind that lore of the game should be held exclusively by portalarium, this allows you guys to control what is out there and make a world a bit more believable then a collage of popular pulp fiction.

For reference...see the extended starwars lore that got redacted by Disney(smartly). Though there was some really good stuff in there, there was a lot more Chaff.

 

Yo did say earlier in this thread that you would be playing online, or am I mistaken?
If so I'm curious as to why... you don't seem to want anything to do with online play

Ps I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm actually curious

 

Are we still getting the Friends Only multi-player mode? That is honestly one of the primary reasons I joined up in the first place. For true multi-player, not mass. That to me will restore more of an Ultima feel. I used to stay at my best friend's house growing up and we'd take turns playing and figuring stuff out together while nomming on ramen and Swedish fish. His mom would make us go to bed eventually (i was practically like his sister so I had my "own" room). We'd quietly sneak back to the computer and resume playing, trying not to chatter too loudly. That nostalgia is what I seek. If I had the option of playing with only the people I felt that playing with in more of an offline type mode, that would be amazing. I do enjoy the online, MMO aspects...but yeah. What sold me was the idea of having several ways to play the game. Friends Only would be great.

 

You guys know that I'm all about the single player. But honestly, what does it really matter if one or two random npcs happen to mention the name of a POT in their random, non storyline based dialogue? NPCs talking about locations the Player cannot go to is a tried and true method of extending the lore of the gameworld, of making the world of an RPG feel bigger than it really is.

I do, however, agree that we should be seeing some sort of offline mode to test, after more than two years of development... 'completely broken' NPC AI at this point is not incredibly inspiring.

EDIT: Unless, of course (I just thought of this) the NPC dialogue TELLS the player to go to the POT location! That could lead the player on a wild goose chase, and would be unacceptable

 

I like the idea of a changing world, but under the control of portalarium not the players for lore related stuff...I also like the idea of online vendors and I do like playing with people when I feel like it.

 

It won't be only one or two NPCs, just as it wasn't only a dozen POTs they thought they'd sell in total. POTs are not a permanent feature of the game and can go away at any time. Some might even be DOA at launch and won't ever have existed in the game or in its world. It's not like people aren't prone to buying things they never use or forget about, despite the cost. And yes, some might even tell the player to go visit it, perhaps even as a filler quest that said player can't distinguish from proper canon vs UCG, for there is no transparency into the guidelines for NPC filler dialog or its vetting process or its submission process.

But yeah, I get your point, and I think it's fine for the online modes. Just hide them in offline mode.

 

Yes, that is unacceptable and won't happen!

I think I wasn't entirely clear. The lore/backstory of the game itself is entirely written by Richard and Tracy.

However the players will have their own lore for things they do and for many of them that will be as important, if not more important, than the lore of the game. That was what I was referring to. It doesn't mean that we'll change the game's backstory based on what any given group of players do.

 

Vetting process: is reviewed by a developer (me)
Submission process: is sent to a developer (me)
Bar to clear for vetting/submission: really darn high (both in terms of quality of writing and availability of developer time to review)
Current status of said process: on hold as I'm already far behind on review/addition of already submitted content (mainly because I also am responsibile for dialog for non-filler NPCs...)

Transparent enough?

 

But will any dialog referring to POTs (and other UGC) be hidden in the offline game, as they don't exist there?

Thanks, Lum

 

Yeah.. I'm disappointed.. we don't have space ships and laser guns like Ultima had...

 

No. NPC dialogs will be identical between the two versions.

 

Haha, a Dimension Portal to Star Citizen would be awesome =D (and I already get my SotA crossbow in Star Citizen; so there's already a crossover )