Worries about the end Product.

this thread is set up for things that worry us about the game when its finally ready to play. This is not a game/person bashing thread. its here to try to help those of us that think alot is going to be missing in the game, that we either look forward to, or are used too, in the past, present, and future of this game. I personally will still play it and see if everything does or doesnt work out in the end, but i want to talk about what we as a whole, are looking for and not looking forward too in the game thus far.

 

ok here we go, heres what we have been told so far, we wont have,

MMORPG - Massivley Multiplayer.
elves, dwarves or other fantasy playable races.( for a fantasy game that sounds kind of less appealing)
not alot of housing opportunities.
No talk of ships (i dont think) thus far.
No wilderness housing.
No campsites (even if temporary).
No mounts as of yet


Things I want (opinion)
different playable races
Ships for us
mounts all kinds
wilderness housing
more housing
more people playing at one time
coming from RG i thought it would be more like UO with better graphics and game play, thats probably the main factor in me backing this game, after all UO has outlasted most online games on the market!


Feel free to add to the things we wont have and things we want to have...and lets discuss what we all really want to make it what we want it to be.

 

Hmm, a few notes:

1. Vertas elves were introduced in the story sneak peek from the 10/25/13 update. No word yet whether or not they will be a playable character race. My guess is no, since Lord British has made it clear we are all humans from Earth.

2. Player ships and mounts have been mentioned as further additions (possibly for Episode 2). The Forgotten Vale, which is an island that must be traveled to - presumably with a NPC boat, is introduced in Episode 1.

3. Definitely no inns or wilderness housing in Episode 1 - I've haven't heard anything definitive yet about campsites. Makes me wonder why you would need tents, sleeping bags and beds in the game if you can't use them... Of course, they haven't really definitely said whether you actually need to eat or sleep at all to avoid fatigue, recover health and mana, etc....I would think this would be a necessity (i.e., why devote an entire skill tree to cooking if it serves no meaningful purpose) , but without inns or campsites, non-homeowners would have a problem with this...Also, what would you do if are low on healing potions, spells, etc. (typically after a long and fierce battle with monsters) and are not near a village, town, or city to restock

4. Unfortunately, we probably won't be seeing be any more lots added until Episode 2

5. Graphics seem fine to me so far - now that they have corrected for the lighting issue inside of houses. In my opinion, lots of flashy CGI is not neccessary - jusr good, clean graphics at an acceptable frame rate. Better to concentrate on perfecting the game mechanics and storyline with the limited resources they have.

 

They could do what is pretty standard and have cooked food provide a buff or improved healing or something. So cooking would have a meaningful purpose, but wouldn't be required, i.e. eating periodically to stay alive.

 

Good point, although I would prefer they make it a requirement (i.e., more realistic)

 

They did actually talk about Campsites. They talked about the Skills needed in making them, and how they would effect the world around them.. i.e. would they bee seen on the overhead map... Who would join you... Thieves? Comrades? Could it be a mechanism used for finding a party.

We never really got details if it would be in episode 1, but they certainly did discuss the posibility and what could grow from it.

 

Thanks for that bit of info! I must have missed that. Can you direct me to the specific post or video?

 

What do you mean with that. The only thing that is limited is the number of players (80 as far as I remember) you will see in a hex. But it is only limited because we are running the servers on our machines.

 

It was a in some of the early Hangout of the Avatar's. Hopeully they wioll find the time to do some more of them... they were awesome Q&A sessions...

Other things about Boats and Mounts.. It's not that they are not going to have them, but they are going to put them in once they are needed more, when the land mass grows in EP's 2-5 and you need to get around more quickly. They want to keep the feel of journey for now. It also gives them time to get in other needed systems.

They also said although housing would be limited they would release more in later Episodes. Many of the early founders have village homes. Over time, these people will probably be the first to upgrade to Town/City and village lots will become open for others to buy as well.

They also briefly mentioned a town underground, in the cavern areas as a possibility.

Everything is very young right now, all the basic sytems are getting put in place. I really think many of the things you mentioned will find thier place in SotA over the course of it's 5 episodes. Still, getting these ideas down are important, so keep going! Hopefully you can rest at ease a little more that they do have a deep vision for SotA that extends beyond some of the surface systems we've been talking about more heavily.

 

i was talking like a regular MMORPG like UO thousands playing, i just want to have alot of players playing at once. I know it would cost them more to have that but i wish they could do that

 

This is more based on the Ultima games, not UO; UO turned into something very strange with Ninja and Pirates and Gargoyles, at least they skipped Pandas (yes??). This is at the core another series of Ultima stories with the bonus of persistence for players. I think that only UO players have called it the next generation of UO, which it isn't.

Many will be playing the game "at one time" but you will only see a slice AND that slice will be the kinds of people you WANT to see. To me that's a bonus on top of a bonus. They are trying to minimize back-end infrastructure so the need for incoming money is greatly reduced.

More housing will be added for each Episode, I think it'll still be a only a small percentage of folks that actually find a lot, but having a house doesn't keep you from running the game quest.

The intent with SotA is that YOU are the avatar and YOU are really not a dwarf or elf (I hope); this is one of the reasons that the "current" plan is to allow just ONE character because that character is YOU Not sure this really fits with the spirit of the game.

Ships maybe in a later Episode, long talks about this during the KS and it's really a matter of priority in getting the base game working first.
Mounts have also been mentioned as maybe later Episodes, same as above.
Wilderness housing is the same since it has implications on the hex instancing and how town hexes are treated differently.

I like the thread and hope it generates some good discussion/ideas but this has been done before. Most answers come down to one of two things: 1) this is NOT UO, move along, nothing to see here or 2) we have priorities that we are work toward, look to future episodes for that. Remember that Episodes 2 - 5 are NOT just mini-expasions, they are really more like getting Ultima II and then Ultima III and then Ultima IV and then Ultima V (with an internally consistent storyline). Houses will expand, land will double/expand, skills will be added, etc. All kinds of fun stuff is possible.

 

Im hoping that devs take a look at what people want and can somehow give people what they want, I want it to be a peaceful thread! (lol) Just a bunch of ideas in one place, like a brainstorming area because i think that "our" wants as a whole are somtimes over looked. I appreciate the info you put down here for me as well as others.

 

They're already doing this stuff. They're just managing scope and expectations for ep1. Not sure what you're missing.

 

Not all of us have Dev Discussion access so this is the closest thing we have to it. Im getting everything, just beginning to wonder whether its going to be as good as it seems and hoping for the best!

 

SotA doesn't look at all to me like an attempt to make an MMO or to make the next UO. At least for me, thats clear given what they've said so far. It seems much more like a spiritual successor to the Ultima games but with the 'selective multiplayer' component. They're going for a new kind of game here so thinking about it as purely an Ultima game or as the next UO isn't accurate and isn't going to match what they're making.

Well, gargoyles were part of the original Ultima games so they're not that strange if you're considering Ultima. Of course, the Ultima games also had space travel with dog fighting, a blaster weapon, time travel, etc

 

Grand Theft Auto in Middle Earth. That's what I want. Just kidding

 

Good point, but I'm talking more from a "playing the part of" POV. I think it's good to have various types of NPCs, just not really playable races and all if the storyline is that we are the Avatar coming from real Earth, etc. *shrugs*

 

Likes:
Player housing
Graphics
Housing Rent
Crafting
No auction house
Vendors

Dislikes:
Combat system (so far)
Seeing a limited amount of players
The lack of pvp it seems there will be
Lack of horses
Lack of randomly placed houses in the world map
No player Sea transport?!?
The Wizards house.
Buying in game item add-ons, I would much rather pay a monthly fee and have a MMORPG

Things I fear:
Items - will everyone be running round with the same items because they are "the best"?
Combat system - I want something that takes skill not luck.
Will pvp be forced PVP?

 

Awesome! Nothing better than doing a drive-by on a wandering Balrog!

 

From everything every Dev has said - No. There will be SOME level of "consent" to all PvP, whether that means choosing to go into a PvP possible area, taking a PvP possible quest or joining a PvP enabled guild.

(Those are some assumptions of how one could choose PvP - not a comprehensive list)