Sold off and letting go.

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by rune_74, Oct 30, 2015.

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  1. Beaumaris

    Beaumaris Avatar

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    The point of the song, Galdrmadhr, is that if one does try to be open minded when you want something, sometimes you do get what you need. That is not a negative. You just chose to take it that way, my friend. But if you found that insulting, then my sincere apologies. There was a point to it. We all can offer developers our many post with personal wants. And it all may be great input. But RG remains the expert at building Ultima-like experiences. At the end of the day, just because our input is not acted on does not mean that RG is not still listening and still building a great Ultima-like game. I feel bad that some are disappointed. But we have not even begun to see the story unfold, and so I cannot agree with blaming RG for not turning out a good Ultima experience. Because that remains to be seen.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2015
  2. Greyfox

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    Take a break from the forums and the game. Come back with the Beta RC. You may be pleasantly surprised and able to make an informed decision on what will likely be the final released game.

    Keep emotions out of the decision. Know that many would like you to stay. Who cares? The choice is up to you, stay or go, keep it drama free.

    Check out Underworld Ascension might be more of the single player experience you are seeking. Personally I rarely play single play games, no challenge and bore me to tears. Perhaps give the game a chance either way. Always doing the same is no fun, you might find something you hate turns into the most loved.

    If you decide to sell, let me know, happy to take your account off your hands if the price is right.

    I have asked for customer service assistance about five times now. Only once did the outcome resolve in my favor. They have always been extremely professional, prompt considering the amount of work, and fair. I personally find the quality of customer service with Portalarium to be exceptional.

    Remember, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find, you get what you need.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2015
  3. Wagram

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    @rune_74 I also hope to get an Ultima experience from the single player offline game, and find it difficult to know why we have not been shown even a gameplay trailer showing the look of the NPC towns without all the empty lots, how the NPC conversation will look and the Companions we can expect in game, If they have not even started to get those elements fleshed out yet, were exactly are they in the development cycle for the Offline RPG.

    I think If they had concentrated on getting the core elements of the game finished and left the Housing completely out of the pre alpha we may now have been seeing something close to a finished game.
    They should have left the housing on the QA server until Alpha.
    POT's should not have been introduced but been up for discussion on the general forums after the game had officially launched and if the response was favourable added in episode 2, (but only on the current map) once most players had a chance to at least complete the story online if they wished, not dragging them into the testing cycle.
    I was a long time UO player (still use account occasionally) and can anyone honestly say SotA compares in any way to early UO.
    Chaos is not a good tool when trying to develop anything.
     
  4. Dinsoo

    Dinsoo Avatar

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    You could lend a hand or an arm or a head...come on, give a cannibal a break. I promise I will honor your sacrifice. In fact Cannibalasylum will house you while you recover. It's a win win!!
     
  5. Lord_Darkmoon

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    I think that it is sad that we have come to a point at which people quit and lose faith in the game.
    I think that some of the reasons for this is that we single player fans feel like second class customers. Take a look at the hangouts. There are next to no single player features discussed aside from the story. Most discussions revolve around housing, PvP and player economy.
    If you take a look at the Kickstarter campaign SotA made the impression of a story-driven single player game with the option to play with friends or strangers online. Now the game makes the impression of a MMORPG that you can play alone and offline. At least for me those are two fundamentally different types of games.
    Many of the gameplay elements are made for an MMORPG. The conversation system which is nothing like an IRC chat, the hotbar-combat system and the spell system. Those are elements that work well in a MMO but not so well in a single player game.
    We know nothing about the companion system. How will combat with companions work? Will it be like in Dragon Age where we can pause the game and issue commands to the companions? Will we be able to manage the skills and equipment of the companions? If not, why is it more important to have POTs, immersive-breaking decorations and endless discussions and changes about Open PvP and full loot than having a robust companion system in the game?
    What about sleeping and advancement of time in single player? What about a cool NPC economy? What about NPC schedules? Haven't heared about those for a long time. What about lots in offline mode? What about filler-NPCs versus fleshed-out NPCs with their own personalities, backgrounds and agendas?
    What about dropping and moving items everywhere in the world? This is problematic in an online environment but would be possible in the offline mode. So why is the online mode more important than the offline mode?
    We know so very few things about single player (offline) although this mode is mentioned on the website of SotA at the top! The offline features are not even discussed in hangouts. If there is a single player hangout it always revolves around the story. But there is so much more to the single player than just the story.
    I can understand that people get frustrated and it is sad to see that we have reached a point at which this frustration leads to losing interest in the game...
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2015
  6. Epona

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    I don't want you to go.
     
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  7. StrangerDiamond

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    Awh common Rune, who's gonna argue with me ? :p
     
  8. Bubonic

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    Farewell, Rune. If you return, you will find an open seat at the single player Ultima table waiting.
     
  9. High Baron O`Sullivan

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    is everything.
    Hope to see you again in the future. Although I have much different views than you, you've always been a respected voice in the community. Maybe after stepping away for a while you will return and find that spark again. May the road rise up to meet you friend.
     
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  10. Satan Himself

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    I understand Rune's frustrations but let's acknowledge that this group of devs tries their damndest to balance everything about the game and does a wonderful job IMO with the impossible task of making everyone happy while juggling game mechanics, pay-to-win issues, fundraising, adherence to vision, listening to players, adopting player suggestions,etc. It is freaking impossible, but they do a good job. So while I'm sorry to see Rune go, because he has always cared about the way this game has been developed, I think we will inevitably lose some players now and then. Without POTs, our population would be smaller, the game would be less funded, and the game would be much less interesting.

    Those unsatisfied with the SPO experience should consider how this game would have developed, financially and otherwise, in the absence of focus on multi-player. Meanwhile SPO can and will improve.

    Rune, stick with it, there's too much cool stuff here to abandon.
     
  11. Miracle Dragon

    Miracle Dragon Legend of the Hearth

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    Hi Rune! :D

    I think the single player experience is very important. I also think many core systems will have to be designed differently from the ground up to make the single-player version of the game worthy of the 'Spiritual Successor to Ultima' name.

    I think a business strategy needs to be implemented to figure out how to make the single-player development integrate with our open-development structure. They say this game is being developed openly, and we haven't heard anything concrete yet, so we have no choice but to assume it just hasn't been worked on yet.

    I have high hopes. Portalarium says their funding projections are doing well, so I can only assume it's coming in time.
     
  12. Duke Death-Knell

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    I've seen it and I think it's a betrayal more then anything. My skill set has nothing to do with my virtue, at least not at first. This first part is a direct contradiction to what RG's vision of the game was. And yet they wave that excuse any time it's convenient when the players ask for something different.
     
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  13. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    But in classic Ultima games, virtue determined your class, thusly starting equipment, etc.
     
  14. Duke Death-Knell

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    But this isn't Ultima. This is RG's interpretation of Ultima's, he wants us to answer questions as our real world self would. The way it's set I will be answering the questions to get the class I want, not what I think would be right.
     
  15. Enfo

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    Rune - I enjoyed reading your posts. They always got people angry and upset and were each carefully crafted to get the most impact. Kinda like this whole thread. Whatever moderator called you a troll probably meant it in the internet-sense of causing a rise out of people verse living under a bridge. For some reason, I know you know that and enjoy playing it off and feeding from it so I salute you.

    The best part is, I know you will be back and stick around, its just super funny and I enjoy your shenanigans.

    I look forward to many more of them in the future! Maybe you can do one of mages and how they need to be nerfed. Or how POT owners should only pick the grass color of their towns and the each POT has to vote on a mayor every month who then takes over and owns the town. Something else that is super silly and really sets people off.
     
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  16. Bowen Bloodgood

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    This isn't Ultima it's RG's interpretation of Ultima's? There's a difference?

    Anyway, how you choose to answer the questions is entirely up to you. The game cannot force you to answer honestly anymore than it forced you to do otherwise. Think about what you're basically saying here. (If I'm understanding the dialogue) You have the option to answer any way you like.. but you're unhappy because you're going to choose to answer differently than what you would have otherwise? Over some very minor, short term starting conditions despite having complete flexibility to adapt your play style regardless.

    I answered the way I thought I should. I didn't get the starting gear or skills I wanted. The game didn't force me to answer a certain way. I played the way I wanted anyway and it didn't really hold me back at all. I was given a bunch of reagents.. I picked up a sword and started swinging.

    If you're so willing to abandon the concept of the game examining your behavior over the starting skills and gear it gives you when you answer honestly.. then maybe that's not as important to you as you think?
     
  17. Duke Death-Knell

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    Yes, there is a difference. The Ultima's before were part of RG's vision but also greatly influenced by the publisher to get a product out. That's why RG went with kickstarter. BIG DIFFERENCE!

    Yes. You're right about how you answer the question, but the class I play is more important to me, so making it part of the path of virtues like that makes the part the virtues play more or less useless. And that's not what RG wanted.

    And yes, my skill set is more important. Each character I play will have a specific skill set for crafting as well as adventuring if they want to screw up the virtue part of the game by connecting it to another mechanic that has nothing to do with it, well that's not my problem.
     
  18. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    You are mistaken. He was his own publisher as the owner of Origin Systems. It wasn't really until UO and Ultima 9 that EA owned them and was the publisher.
     
  19. Bowen Bloodgood

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    Slight correction.. Ultima 8 was the first one for EA. Also Ultima I and II I believe had other publishers.. but the particular innovation we're talking about didn't come into play until Origin and Ultima IV so who published I & II isn't important.

    But it is correct that the virtue test has always influenced how you started out and it's something Richard has saw fit to keep doing since Ultima IV. Is SotA however, how can we say it effects your class when you have total freedom to develop your skills as you see it? It's only effecting how you enter the world.. I would claim my 'class' is important to me too, but in no way do I feel hindered by how it starts me off.
     
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  20. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    Pre-production Ultima VIII had started earlier and it takes a while for an acquisition to settle. We can't blame EA for VIII even though people like to.

    Edit: As far as I recall, the only real impact EA had on VIII was not paying to animate a female Avatar and not paying to ship the expansion.
     
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