The problem with Sota from a casual players point of view

Whether Portalarium literally claim that this game is a successor to mothers of all games is relevant to the OP. The debate on the definition between casual/hardcore/nerdcore gamers are kinda borderline off topic as well. Let's focus on how can casual player experience be improved, shall we?

Right now I still see big gap between those who just start the game and those who are well verse in it. I do see many players who never player UO nor Ultima games and are able to enjoy the game just fine. However, that only comes after they are being helped by Hospitallers, some guilds who like to help out/recruit people, or some plain good Samaritan. Without these folks, it will be very difficult for players to learn the rope and stick around. A simple conversion with other players could make a huge difference.

Would it be good enough to rely on someone who are actively willing to help out new players or should it be the game features that help people getting their feet wet?

 

Well, you still have to port from Novia to Hidden vale then enter Kingsport and walk a ways over to the red boat there on the doc. Im really not use its faster, but its a lot less mind an mouse consuming since you spend most of it zoning.

 

Let me rephrase since im on mobile.
Your slow on average for exp gain obviously. Not actual gameplay.

I too have done literally everything on that list except were bigger then that now. And i did NOT run hospit tag as i found most new people dont know what that is. So i do a lot of 1 on 1.

But yea i was regarding your actual .. adv level compared to an average player. ( going off of the majority ive played with and taken in in sota as reference ).
I assumed u fell under the hardcore player with me when it regarded time hehehe

Ontopic..
Ive posted entirely too many things about making the casual game better. Not going to sit and repeat. Maybe ill have time to re list later. But honestly.. just g through old forum posts.. there is years of dev implementation of good ideas there.

 

Yeah that's what I'm thinking...maybe the same amount of time, but not as annoying as trying to wiggle my way through the streets of Central Brit! I'm going to try this out later, thanks for all who told me about it

 

aye, I never walk through cBrit myself either.

 

When I say I'm an hospitaller, that means more than just play the game and help a new player chatting for 10 min. I attend hospitaller meetings every week, I speak with other hospitallers, I spent hours just standing in Soltown helping them, etc. And like me, others did the same.

And this is just an example. Same with my own guild, no need to tell you how many game time I used to make this happen and not just looking for my own benefit. This is time others are using for farming xp, not me.

I'm not talking about xp or adv level, but you did and its ok (because is important to you I guess). For me being a a good/efficient player is not all about how much xp I can farm, that min/max is something I try to avoid since looong time ago in MMOs. Is not one of my goals and I don't need that to be able to join the game. And with this all, I still consider myself a hardcore player

 

The journey is part of the enjoyment. I travelled to Xenos from Brittany today via Soltown, Ardoris and a few instances along the way. I made some gold, got some resources and levelled a few points in fishing.

Don't let other games influence and expectations of similarity affect how you enjoy this one.

Happy adventuring.

 

I've removed posts that immediately start with attacking another player's point of view by name calling them, instead of just talking about the view. You know who you are... please don't do it again.

 

Oh i agree.
And im not taking away from the time put into the other stuff. ( trust me im fully aware ).
Doesnt change the fact that as an average , 6 months to hit end game is more then a stretch.
Take the average time mmo players usually put into a game, x the average amount the standard player spends grinding in this game, and im guessing its around 2 months to hit end game.

I know from personal experiance of those i worked with, play with, leveld with, and take in, its usually less then that.
Myself im dwn to about 80% time sp3nt with lower leveld players. But i also grossly outplayed the content erly on.

Heheh

Getting back on topic though, i think op s point is real. There is a lack of exciting everyday content. The best part of sota so far is community driven.. and thats feeling more and more forced around bad mechanics evrryday imo.

I keep putting off a PvP day with whole guile due to bugs, broken skills, and lag.
All will be resolved with time, true.. but how many non goal orientated pvp days can i host?

Vallo is dead on lately about adding sieges n such. Making guild wars an actual fun function.
THATS the stuff that will keep my casual players around. Not dressing up and dancing.

( i think im off topic now tho hahah )

 

@Lao Yang

Sorry I stopped reading when the thread derailed. Lol.

You can bypass the control points in some cases giving you access to Novia without the long load times.

Brightbone Pass: if you are on the south side of Brightbone Pass keep moving west aling the mountain chain and there is another valley through the mountain you can use that will bring you close to Etceter and the ferry to Elysium.

From there you can hit most of Novia without going through a control point.

The ferry at Etceter, Elysium and Aerie will give you access to the rest of Novia without the control points if you don't mind a few extra minutes of travel and exploring.

 

Aha, interesting.
So saying to someone that he has an false picture of an "player type" such as "hardcore players" is nowadays considered as an attack?

My post/reply was 100% legit and 100% correct.
I simply described the difference between "hardcores", "casuals" and "elitists".

 

Interesting.. i read that post... i didnt think it was offensive?
Yeesh. Touchy people. Maybe ill have to start spammin report when someone disagrees with me.

 

And don't forget avatars,

The game may be persistent but we are still (IMHO) in a alpha like state.

I want to play to but we are all here to develope a game. Some are programmers and some are testers.

 

Yeah it wasn't. There was no name calling at all...
I wouldn't even consider doing this, Stundorn (i replied to) is in the same guild and a good guy.

Oh well

good idea

 

Playable states (simple):

Alpha: Game is still being designed and built. Players play the game to help developers with this, test new tech, new designs and fix bugs
Beta: Game is in a near complete state. Players play the game to help fix bugs before release.

People may define persistence any way they wish but the devs have been clear and the crowd source model is also clear. They have allowed people to play the game in alpha and even enable persistence to continue bringing money in the complete the project which they need.

 

Thinking of games like Guild Wars 2... they have waypoints that you discover along your journey through zones that act as teleportation nodes. They do cost a bit of coin, and the further you teleport, the more it costs... but SotA could do something similar with the moongates. Increase the number of moongates throughout the land, and even if it's a short stroll to a nearby moongate, the option of 'porting across the map to another moongate near your destination would still be worlds better that having to walk absolutely everywhere.

 

Yes.

I think that after I get home I will start another thread about this subject. I have an idea.

 

... but so when is beta ?
With your logic they are going right from their loose version of alpha into release.
Is release their beta then?
Becsuse then if they are skipping beta all together.. the state of the alpha description has to be adjusted..
But thats just how i see it.
*shrug* i hate arguing logistics of the fine print.
5 years. 11 mil. Release date is X. Heres the state now, heres whats promised for release. Is it up to where you think it should be. Some say yes. Some say no. Some are on fence giving it till release to include the missing stuff.

 

I've heard them discuss such things in many of their videos. You seem to be in a lot of confusion about the topic so I would suggest you watch some of the videos with them talking about it as well as submit these questions to them in their next group discussions to clarify this for you. Im not nearly in as much confusion about the topic that you are.

But you cant rage against the details without being informed and you may have to spend some time out there to get informed.

 

I really could throw now tons of things at you about this topic, but i don't feel like further discussing here on theese forums since posts get randomly deleted...