What in this game need to be improved and what can be done about it.

Water. It needs to be more transparent. Right now it all looks like black oil.

 

I understand your concerns, there but like you said Crafting and adventuring are two different things, we have 2 different wants, i dont want to get to end game in the blink of an eye, but i do want the leveling to move faster, that doesnt mean the end game has to move faster, but it would be nice to be able to have a good challenging adventure (like you want a good challenging crafting experience) So if we raise the leveling speed, it does not mean that you have to move the end game as fast. More monsters, tougher monsters, that have stuff on them that you and i need for both of our experiences, like rare resource for you to make something great, and a weapon that i love to use. Just becuase there are weapons and armor that are great doesnt mena your out of business, ill need repairs, and better stuff in the long run. (so say i get a kick butt sword, but after a few more levels that sword is no longer kick butt there is something better, perhaps ill find in a loot or you will make it either or i would be good with.

 

Presumably, the value of that weapon is equivalent to the effort you put into clearing the dungeon for the phat loot. I'm sure there's some logic to this effort vs. reward, but it needs to be tested and balanced...which I'm guessing we're still quite a ways off from doing.

I think we're still waiting to hear how the offline mechanics will work. I know originally they talked about seeding the offline game with gear we create in the online modes post-Beta, but that will be of limited value and problematic in many ways that have yet to be discussed. They'd need to continually re-seed or have a long enough Beta for players to create "end-game" / "uber" content to properly seed the toughest experiences. Or, they could just create random gear. We just don't know yet.

And I'd imagine any loot from the main storyline quest is not player-generated.

Indeed.

 

Instead of the use base system skills can be earned through challenges/quests. Minor quests can give partial skill points, while large quests, group quest, that are more difficult like clearing a dungeon. clearing the same dungeon again can give partial skill points so players would be willing to assist others after completing the quest. Just an idea instead of having people grind for hours. will also help people explore and make leveling different then many other mmo's, give every dungeon/quest a valuable reward that anyone would want. Also no need for decay then, keeping it friendly for casual players.

Questing can have the same setup, where vendors offer quests to crafters. People would then go town to town to do quests to unlock new crafting skills or recipes. Allow crafters to travel and achieve something from their travels.

 

--There should be wizard levels. Levels above level 5 skulls.. ( Not like control points ) I agree with "Sara Dreygon" about having some reason to go into a lower level... perhaps for Apprentices!!! To get up in the Wizard levels you need to get Apprentices at a lower level where there is a special reward thats needed for you to level up each time your apprentice learns.

This should not be too hard to implement has its already sort of in the game now. as when you are in party with a grandmaster your skill levels up quick.. so this would be a spin in the same direction..
both Grandmaster and the Apprentice need to be rewarded for this to work.

--Also I would like to see a Mailbox system both Public and private mailboxs. I hate having to go online just to look up where the next trainer is located or find where the next hat is . so why not bring it into the game! If you want to let everyone know where the next hat is located just look into the Public mailbox to see if there is a letter there from someone! OR is you need to know where to find a trainer for Death Magic then just look for a letter in the Public mailbox..
Public mailboxs should be in every NPC town and Pot even for the Smallest Pot..

Private should be obtainable with status ( in game ) or in store. this can be used to send a specific info to any user..

--Every Level should have something for everyone,, Even a 1 skull area should have a small spot guarded by an obsidian Wolf for instances that holds a random treat/clue.. and user at a lower level should be able to fight in some spots in some higher level areas.......This way the lower levels get to see or even work with the higher level users creating a Unity/link for the Wizardry idea I posted at the beginning of this post..

At the moment there seems to be little interact needed between lower level players and higher level players. also PvP PvE do not need to interact either.. but There should be some inessential Event and/or goal that unites them every so often ( Other than the control points and the hats )

Its hard to point out things now as the game is still in development and we do not have all the goals and plans either, so perhaps some of the above is already planned or perhaps its already going to be corrected..
Since there is no final word on when the end of development ( End of Pre-Alpha ) is going to be there is no way of knowing whether some or all of the issues mentioned are going to be changed/added/corrected/fixed/etc....

 

sounds perfectly feasible

i agree

Well, they did go on record saying that ALL major loot in the game was to be player crafted, in response to my question about this very issue, which would negate these. Of course that was a long time ago, so....

 

You know what would be awesome? An Offline/Single player focused hangout.

 

One thing I would like to add. I like this adage : A easy game to play but difficult to Master

1: Wizard levels should take a Very Very Long time to level up..!!! ( about 2 years of every day playing to be the Lord Wizard ) and must be helping endless people in a multiple of different ways to obtain leveling..
2: Some of which makes the Wizards special is Handy caped in PVP Areas and towns.. So a Grandmaster Swords men can still fight/compete with a user at a wizard level..
3: Wizards come with special gifts and spells that makes them not only good for themselves but others as well.. good to have around..
4: Maintaining Wizard should also be a task in its self.. you need to keep active or you decay as well and may even slip to a lower level..

5: Each level has something big offer. ( Just one of the advantages.. Example below )
5a: Level 1 Wizard can teleport himself to any given location once per 30 min..
5b: Level 2 Wizard can teleport himself and 1 other person once per 1 hour..
5c: Level 3 Wizard can teleport himself and 3 other person once per 1 hour
5d: Level 4 Wizard can teleport himself and 5 other person once per 1 hour
5e: Level 5 Wizard can teleport himself and 7 other person once per 1 hour.

Other things could be :
1: Can Heal Multiple targets.
2: Casting an indestructible shield around your friend ( for a limited time ) during battle ( Handy capped in PVP )
3: Can cast things into your inventory without trade window.
4: Can turn Night into Day and Day into Night..( temporally )
5: Can cast a spell that turns wild life into your alleys and friends that will fight with you side by side against the undead...( for a limited time of course )
6: Can cast a spell that turns the undead against themselves.. ( they start fighting each other )( for a limited time of course )
7: Can cast a spell that turns bandits and Kabold and Trolls/etc... to get confused and start wondering around in a passive trance..( for a limited time of course )
8: Mimic spell that can make you or a friend look like the enemy your trying to fool..( for a limited time of course )
9: Fetch spell can instruct any animal to go collect regents for you..such as Garlic/nightshade/mandrake and any other in game grown on ground regent..( for a limited time of course )
10: Can cast imaginary objects to make foe things theirs an object and stops/slows down there attack. ( Does not work with all enemies )
11: Can turn dead animals carcasses into edible meals in an instant without the need of a workstation: ( only good for a short time and for small amounts needed for an upcoming fight)
12: Special control points or areas in control points has Evil Lord Wizards so it would be needed for anyone who wants to cross that area of the control point.
13: Can cast a brighter and larger light that hovers further above the heads to light up a greater areas.. ( reduces/degrades Mana )
14: Can cast a Grandmaster spell on a person making any magic or weapon the use be at the level of a grandmaster ( Drastically reduces Mana/Focus from both Wizard and user and at a Ratio depending on users present level ) ( Handy capped in PVP )
Meaning if a user is at at level 10 in Fireball and a wizard cast a grandmaster spell on him then the users fireball with be at Grandmaster level but will also Drain almost all focus for that casting due to him being at such a low level..

Of course not all of the above is at the same wizard level and can be progressive ( meaning time/delays gets increased/decreased the higher the level ) but you get where I am headed with this..
I can think of many and I am sure you guys can too..

This would make the game still interesting for higher levels as they it would take a very long time ( Years to top level ) to get to and a task to keep...

 

One other thing that might help the game out as far as getting going is reward/object that's volatile and will decay if not used in a certain amount of time..
For instance the above Wizard spells would basically use a special power eg: "Wizard Orb Shard" ( Wizard orb shard glows and is like a rock and decay from the moment you pick up ) this rock is invisible to the rest of us and only visible to once you start Wizard training.. Once you have rock then you have a limited time to use it to benefit yourself or someone else but it must be used or it will decay to nothing.. ( Maybe 24 hours of actual playing to decide before there is nothing left )

Balance: Each time the Orb Shard is used there is a meter ( If you wish ) showing how much you gave versus how much you took for yourself. A balance is necessary to level up..You must give as much as you take or an unbalance in the orb light will prevent you from moving forward..

Anyways this is just some of my ideas at the spare of the moment to make the game better or at least give some more desire to get to a higher level without distancing the lower and higher end users from each other..

 

Just dropped in to see what things people are saying about the game. I stopped playing some time ago but I'm one of those people who dropped a fair amount of money on it but left in disappointment. Still, I keep hoping so I keep checking back and keeping patched, hoping things have gotten better.

From the looks of the messages in the forum, at least, that's a negative. I, too, was expecting a game, not a social network of player events and table dancing. Even as a social network it's not very social, the chat is always quiet and makes the game world feel so empty.

Will check back again later.

 

Being able to test the single player (offline) version of the game would have been nice.

 

I think your wrong, no one is leaving... This is not a complete game, so many of your points are mute because nothing is in a final stage yet, what do expect for a pre-alpha? Don't you watch any of the Dev hang outs? They've been saying all along what their plans are and being quite open about it too...

Since the game isn't finished yet, there really is no point to discuss this any farther... I dis-agree with all your points, this game is doing fine just the way it is...

 

I agree with most of the concerns raised here, and i can understand people that have stepped out of the testing and developing process because they simply can't see the game they want in current implementation, mostly because the same thing happens to me from time to time. But even with all the time that have passed, the game is still taking shape and we still can focus on what the game needs, so we're not still pass the point of no return. I like to think that most of the times when i talk about SotA i tend to do so in an optimistic way, that's because i focus on what's been done at that moment, thinking that the rest of issues will be solved later because my trust is placed on the dev team. But on the other hand trust is usually reinforced by facts, and looking at Q1 2016 Schedule and not seeing the things that worries me specifically mentioned is something that makes my trust dwindle.

So in short, I like a lot how the game is being developed nor i do have plans of leaving until release, but not all fronts can be faced at once and i feel some important things are not being treated with the priority they should. That, in turn, makes me wonder if things are going to be left that way and that's when the gloomy thoughts come in. I apologize in advance for the long post, tried to split it in different points so people can skip through what they're not interested in... just hope it's useful for somebody.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO SUCCEED: here are the points of the game i find lacking, and that in my opinion should've been fixed by this stage. Mostly core mechanics of the game.
Major combat Overhaul
I think of myself as a supporter of the combat mechanics implemented, but i can't deny that even with all the randomness and spellweaving, the system is nowhere near of being something new. In fact, it currently feels the same way that the standard WoW-like MMO, but even duller because we have less skills. It kind of gives the impression that we tried lots of directions but in the end it stayed where it was; we're somewhere between aiming and targeting. We have a passive way of attacking and an active way of attacking that ends up being somewhat passive (i use free attack and whenever i fight i just keep the LMB pushed, then releasing it when i want to use a skill). We have some optional elements in combat (arrows and reagents) whose only significant effect is to reduce focus instead of adding something meaningful (because they're optional) or just being plain mandatory and accounting them when balancing skills.

Combat system was advertised as something new and different and i'm afraid it's not; what we currently have is a different way of handling combat skills and for some that's not even part of combat, so go figure. And i'm not saying is not functional or fun, i'm saying that it's not new nor different. Still what we can expect is balance and polishing.... IMO having meaningful combat is not matter of balance or polishing; it needs to be developed further so it ends up looking like something really unique, to reach its full potential. Let's focus on spellweave. Let's decide whether we aim or target. Let's settle upon active or passive combat and change skills accordingly. Let's focus on exploiting what's really new on the combat system and push it forward.

If it was me, i'd look into this and never stop until i'm satisfied. What most people do in RPG's is fighting; whether it's Single player or MMO, Whether is PVE or PVP, most of the playerbase will play adventurers that seek fights, and to do so in a half baked system like this one is even worse than just having a cloned WoW system. Sorry for being blunt but this is my biggest concern, and thinking about current combat as the "final foundation" of it is something that really frightens me.

Crafting and Gathering system
This one has been delayed for too long... now we're looking at something of it, and i'd say it's not half bad. But once again, it's just "drag a ton of material to an UI, click, and if you fail click again". Where are the elements that were supposed to make crafting something entertaining? And once again i just read about resource and polish and balance... are we looking at the foundation of crafting? if that's the case i'm truly disappointed.

Also why do we need that incredible amount of resources to put something together? the only factor that's affected by that is time. We already have time spent refining, time spent crafting pieces, and finally getting the element together. Why not change the fundamental way of gathering so we make resource nodes less abundant but in a way that gathering one is really meaningful, and not a little step towards the final objective?

UI management
Lots of people complain a lot because of the existence of UI element in the game. I'm not that radical, and i'm sure we need some kind of UI elements because as much as we'd love to, we're not competely in the game and there is information that can only reach me via UI... but having less of those couldn't hurt either. I think that one of the things that make the deck system so puzzling is having it distributed along 3 to 4 different UI elements. UI unification/reduction should also be a priority looking at the foundations of the game.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE: some things to focus on so the game experience get closer to what i'd expect.
Character & Enemy Progression
I'd love to see level gone as a concept. Away with the extra health and focus because of level, and everything else that it implies. The way it is now, a character ends up being able to forever tank a bunch of enemies, when at first he wasn't able to kill even one of them. I'd love to see that factor reduced, so our characters are able to fight through at earlier stages, and i'd say that just reducing the health pool of everything is a good start for achieving that. Also, groups of enemies should never be easy to handle. I'm all in for people that wants to push their character to the limit, trying to be the very best. But what i fail to understand is why having a sense of progression requires a hard level gating. Wouldn't be in the end boring if you can just kill everything except bosses without sweating?

The use based system is fairly new so i don't include it in the previous category, but it needs to be closely watched. XP earning is somewhat odd; for example since melees are able to aoe kill with their auto attack their experience earning is much more efficent that ranged... The only way i have (ranger) to keep my xp pool filled is to lock skills pretty early, but a skilled melee player can increase it even further because spending the same amount of xp, he kills more.

Overland Map interaction
What allows me to build my own path is for things to happen as i travel it. I'd like to see random encounters developed and i'm happy to see roving monsters announced (again). Town sieges sounds great as well! We need more of that. This game will never get enough of that. We need more random encounters so we thrill everytime we got pulled into one thinking "oh my what will i find this time?".

We have an incredibly beautiful overland map that currently serves to go from A to B by speed running through control point C. There's so much potential on the map i feel like we're just trowing it away. Things like treasure hunting or camping have been discussed, And i'd love to see atherer looking for resources pulled into scenes with the kind of resource they're looking for. Random encounters and Roving monsters could make the map feel more part of the game, but it's a point of this game's originality. We should exploit it instead of doing nothing with it.

Less cramped scenes, more dynamic content
All scenes are gorgeous, and the way they are laid out, feel more or less unique. But without taking in consideration the scenario, they're just packed zones where you can find everything. Some of them have so much monsters they look like a crowded monster ghetto junction, and no matter where you are, there are always cotton bushes and trees and reagents and whatnot. I get that we want to make people to bump at each other in scenes, but scenes should be more specific. Instead of having everything everywhere, why not having harvestable trees in forest, cotton bushes in plains, and minning nodes in mountains? Then explore or get the desired nodes via Overland Map Interaction.

Regarding monsters I think the reason for having scenes crowded with them is so parties can grind them up without changing scenes... why is that a good thing? It seems more logical to make combat a bit more challenging when fighting groups (see first point) and less level gated. Then depopulate scenes a bit so monster distribution is more logical, but not so much that they look barren.

Now once we have the static elements sorted out, we dinamically populate them so every time we travel there we find something has changed. Like undeads walking across the scene. Or some elves camping on their way to their hometown. A miner that was surprised by a pack of wolves, climbed to a hill and need our help defeating them so he can climb down. How can that be comparable to go inside an instance and fight enemies until i run out of arrows? How do we expect people to go into dungeons when it's easier to just bodypull the whole ghetto junction scene and AOE kill it?

Once again i apologize for the long post, but i had lots to say regarding improvements and direction... And that's not even all of it. I still trust Portalarium will do the right thing in the long run, but it's good to get this things off the chest from time to time. Sorry if the "solutions" are vague, but i don't like to expand this even futher. Hope it's worth reading.

 

While I won't say nobody is leaving, people are making it seem as though the game has taken a turn for the worst which I just don't see.

It'd be one thing if the game isn't getting better every month or not getting better fast enough but I don't see how these points can be argued.

What I can say is that people seem to be leaving for specific things that aren't the way they want to be, which is understandable. I for one just am not worried about any specific thing and just want to play a great game which is why I'm not going anywhere.

I'll be back tomorrow and the next day - that I can guarantee .

 

Well.. thank you for telling us what you think is wrong and some kind of fix for it! I dont think anything youve said here has anything to do with the topic, honestly "What in this game needs to be improved and what can be done about it?" If your satisfied with everything there was really no need to respond to the topic. Right? anyhow thanks for trying to derail this.

 

... as far as equipment goes.... what if the 'higher level' crafted stuff and the 'looted' stuff were equal in quality (based on the complexity of the dungeon of course) ... BUT the 'looted' stuff had a different/SPECIAL appearance? to me that would seem to make delving deep into a dungeon for a special look worth the trip.. yes?

~i

 

What can be done to improve the game probably resides in making sure there are enough gameplay elements so that everywhere he looks there will be something for him to do and that the sandbox will be enough to let players consider the game a good experience worth the time to play it.
What needs to be done is pretty obvious - far more zones to explore that are quality and not just empty template city zones ( i realize they will become better after launch or whenever we go live with that).
A complete overworld gameplay scene that has more going on there on many levels.
A rethink of party's/guilds / solo player / PvP zone / etc synnergy - why doe the PvP zones exist on a player-player basis as well as facilitate group play
Role Play stuff but something more apparent such as being able to some zones that are in a state of warfare or something - building castles/defenses??
Heck something that let players self-manage a overall warfront campaign would be ideal... That way players would want to join some Guild just to get to take part in that campaign?
Combat is missing something that combines Reagents + meticulous fighting/meticulous casting?
Camp scene that others can/cannot see
More skills including social and party based ones
Become a hostile party and roam the OW as a encounter seen by others as a means to promote more encounters
Implement awesome maps and map overlays

it would take a while but I think all this stuff should come eventually

 

The single player aspect.
What can be done? Remove everything that is MMO-related from the offline mode and create a new UI (without any MMO elements), a new dialogue system, as well as a new combat and spell system. Remove respawning where it doesn't make sense, create unique loot and create a world that does make sense from a single player perspective.

 

How making (almost) a whole new game is an improvement to the current one?

 

Because then it could be a true and good single player RPG and not just an MMO that you play alone which is what at least I fear.