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Town sieges right at the beginning are way too hard

Discussion in 'Release 38 Feedback Forum' started by Lord_Darkmoon, Feb 14, 2017.

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  1. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    So I started a new offline character and played through the Solace Bridge tutorial which I think is still the best part of the game so far. After doing a few quests in Soltown I went to Ardoris. The town was under siege so I tried to lift the siege which is basically impossible to do right at the beginning of the game when you are alone. I didn't stand a chance against the enemies.

    What was strange: when I went to the online mode, Ardoris was under siege as well. After this siege had been lifted by other players it suddenly was gone in the offline mode, too... So I was wondering if this was just coincidence or if the online mode somehow affects the offline mode.

    Anyway, it is not fun being prevented from continuing the story by suddenly facing a situation that is impossible to solve right at the beginning of the game. Balancing needs some serious adjustments.
     
  2. Stundorn

    Stundorn Avatar

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    Bad assumption: offline means SPO with offline from the chat server.
    Didn't check it , but do you see other players vendors and towns etc???
    What is it about this in offline SP are they all gone, maybe I should try for myself.
     
  3. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    There are no player vendors in offline mode.

    But right now I had the same situation again. A siege of Ardoris in online and offline mode...
     
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  4. Lars vonDrachental

    Lars vonDrachental Avatar

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    Well I am quite sure your new avatar can also enter more difficult areas like the east veiled swamp (T3) and might die right after entering the scene.
    I think in offline mode it will be not any different than it is in online mode and that way you are not forced to lift the siege as there is always an “easy” way to bypass the siege and enter the town. It is your decision and if you think you can handle some of the end contend right from the start you are free to try your luck. ;)
     
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  5. Lars vonDrachental

    Lars vonDrachental Avatar

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    I think this is based on the movement of the celestial bodies…that way it is normal that in offline and online mode sieges appear and disappear at the same time as both modes use the same timeframe.
     
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  6. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    It is strange having endgame content right at the beginning of the game. A siege is great the beginning but I think it should be scaled or balanced for beginners.

    But doesn't this mean the clocks in online and offline modes are synchronized? From other online games I am used to quit the game and when I play again no time has passed.
     
  7. Lars vonDrachental

    Lars vonDrachental Avatar

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    Wouldn’t it be more strange if there would appear from out of nowhere some evil just because you are now strong enough to fight them? (Maybe this would be reasonable if you would be the cause of this evil. :p)

    No the time is running regardless of the mode or if you are online or not. (at least currently but I do not heard that they will change that)
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2017
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  8. Lord_Darkmoon

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    The problem is that I got this one quest to go to Ardoris. So when I want to follow the main quest I get into this frustrating situation. What to do? There are no other quests to do. So all I can do is grind in a "fantasy role-playing game that will focus more on player choices and discovery than on level grinding".

    I believe that many players who want to play SotA as an offline single player RPG will be very confused by this.
     
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  9. Stundorn

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    Confused is even nice, frustrated describes it maybe better.
    But, to be honest, there is a way to circumvent the siege isn't it, I do not remember exactly but Sewers?
    It's not a Themenpark where you were lead from ? to ! it's part of the game to find out how to do that.
    Of course there have to be ways to do it.
    I stucked at Necropolis for the first time and later I tryed the path of courage and ended with a buggy NPC Essen (i read it's fixed, but decided to maintain questing, because it's not ready polished at all. Waiting for first people sayinf that the path of XYZ is ready
    and then will try to do it.)
     
  10. Lars vonDrachental

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    I do not know the siege of Ardoris but e.g. in Brookside you can follow the main road to some strong enemies or turns left and follow a forest path with just some weak enemies to a defenders camp and the entrance to the besieged town.
    And I think in all siege scenes there is such a possibility to bypass the too strong enemies…as Stundorn described you simply have to find this "easy" way. ;)
     
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  11. DarkStarr

    DarkStarr Executive Producer SOTA Developer

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    The siege does not block your progress in the quest in any way. The siege is specifically designed in fact to allow you to move through a side path if you are lower level. Lifting the siege is specifically designed for higher level characters and something to aspire to later in the game.
     
  12. Gix

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    @DarkStarr While @Lord_Darkmoon 's concerns are slightly misplaced because (as you said it) low level characters can easily bypass the sieges, it might be worth looking into the NPC's dialogue and see if there's any ambiguity in how he explains your options.

    I haven't talked to him in a long time... so I don't know exactly how he describes the siege in front of you.

    On that note, I wonder if the map designer(s) had a number in mind when setting up the difficulty of the sieges. With my character at adventure level 40, it's still borderline impossible.
     
  13. DarkStarr

    DarkStarr Executive Producer SOTA Developer

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    Are you trying it by yourself?
     
  14. Dirk Hammerstrike

    Dirk Hammerstrike Avatar

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    I was able to complete it last night... Essen is finally talking. PoC is rather short compared to the Love quest and had some visual bugs, but mechanics wise it was fine.
     
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  15. Arya Stoneheart

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    I am waiting on that one till the end reward is in.
     
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  16. Arya Stoneheart

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    I still buff up and sprint through these. The catapults can be rough.
     
  17. Gix

    Gix Avatar

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    Yes but I doubt a group could withstand a catapult volley either.

    I think there might be an issue with conveying intended difficulty in content like this.
    • If a new player, for example, tries to go straight, he'll find enemies that are too strong for him and might not expect to have enemies that are weaker in a different path. This is because scenes tend to be segregated by "difficulty rank". @Lord_Darkmoon just experienced this and he's certainly not going to be the last one to get this impression.
    • A mid-level player will more or less understand the different paths (by virtue of personal experience) but, upon mustering enough courage to test whenever he should be able to tackle the obstacle or not, he'll only see enemies (one or two) that are labeled as "yellow" in difficulty. If said player can tackle one or two "yellow" enemies in normal situations, why shouldn't he expect to tackle siege content?
    ... it's only until you get to the Necropolis do you realize that the game is trying to mix both "new players" and "5-skulls + players" into the same scene. Even there, I believe, there's some improvement to be made when it comes to avoiding sending the players off to their deaths. If you miss any of the "newbies go here!" signs, you're S.o.L.

    Whenever or not it's intended, that's up to you guys.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2017
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  18. Dirk Hammerstrike

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    Yes 20 gp was a bit... meager for a reward.
     
  19. Arya Stoneheart

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    Maybe a group of archers could do it if they shoot and keep moving.
     
  20. runicpaine

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    I normally solo sieges when I encounter them. There's ways to avoid catapults if you attack strategically. The biggest obstacle on the canyon siege is the INSANELY fast respawn rate in the camp areas. It has me burning through potions like crazy and still running away to recuperate frequently. I usually don't get hit by catapults at all as long as I'm paying attention to their line of sight and distance. Even if you get in their firing arc, as long as you are careful about which catapults can see you and when, you can easily set your camera angle to keep an eye on it so you can move if it fires at you.
     
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