You lost me - feedback

I have to agree here. We have one class, Avatar. There's no specialization, it's just a race to see who can get the most XP to throw into the most skills.

Still love the game, but having a classless system shouldn't mean that we can't have specialized roles. Currently we just have varying degrees of "tank mage", which is very hard to balance for PVE or PVP.

 

If there would be enough of you, Portalarium could lean back I guess. But there obviously aren't I am glad you like it, but if you haven't been forced by the game to take certain skills, you very very likely haven't seen much of it yet.

 

That's right, i have reached the point where my playstyle cannot do more than to give this feedback.
I do not leave the project until Release, but i also wont play or test further as there is nothing more for me to test about gameplay. I recognized the things that are flaws imho and cannot give more than this feedback.

 

A lot of people here didn't play the game enough and advanced into the game enough to see that yet. I guess it is sometimes our fault to explain it enough to them. And also Portalarium's fault in never clearing up or commenting valid criticism about the general and specific design of the game and gameplay elements. Over PM I get a lot of Feedback by them though...

 

I certainly hope that Portalarium doesn't lean back - regardless. It certainly isn't perfect.. lol.

What I enjoy about the game is it can be played or enjoyed in a whole variety of ways... I enjoy it one way... you enjoy it another.

I was simply pointing out that while I don't agree with the statement that was originally made, I respect the opinion.. and hope that everyone can find a game to enjoy the way THEY want to...

 

Don't you think that a "role playing" game should have mechanics which encourage (or at least not discourage) role play ? If you do, then, people should not have to train most of the skills to be competitive in most situations.

 

It is hard... I have come with a lot of solutions and I have seen even more by other members but alas it falls on deaf ears, I do not share your opinion that port listens, maybe they do but not on any of the ideas I have seen and liked. I will say tho that they have added things to the game they said they wouldnt, on community request so obviously they listen to some.

I CAN just complain its my right as a paying backer

 

A lot of solutions have already been posted by some people including @Vallo Frostbane and @Stundorn . Unlike @Stundorn, I don't think that hard caps are a solution to this situation at all and I posted my own suggestion, at least twice.

 

UO did it better... The slogan the MMO Part of SotA could rightfully claim

In UO I played a thief and tinkerer. My main thing was stealing etc, which didn't work without "Roleplay". The game even got me involved in various RP events etc. without me changing my general play. It eased me into RPing as it probably eased a lot of people into pvp combat and a more "realistic" medieval fantasy world.

SotA lacks all this. Because it is not very deep and a lot of features seem like placeholders. I can totally understand that for a Paladin it doesn't feel right to use Death Magic, just to avoid physical dmg. If there would be other skills that to the deed as good as death shield, problem solved. But SotA doesn't offer that yet. Just one example. The whole magic resistance issue is another story.

 

Thank for your polite comment and i also accept your/ others way to play and have fun and i also grant you that!!!

The quote above is the huge difference imho about RP between roleplayers.

Some do Tavern / Danceparty RP and express themself through words only.
They undock RP from capabilities.
While doing larps some years ago i was for dkwddk german: du kannst was du darstellen kannst = you can what you can represent.
If someone want to be a Mighty King with only 5 peasants what run for 3 vikings, well you cannot represent a mighty King, but maybe a poor country noble

Same for Online RPG, i'm also a fan of RPvP.
What it seem most people dont associate with roleplayers, because the think it's only about Tavern talk and Danceparties.

To me it's more and the game doesnt not only not support it, it discourages me to play that way.

 

One could change the perception of how mages in this game work with a classless system by looking at it as all mages have a basic understanding of the other trees (Skills at or <80) and the specialization in their school of choice would come in the trees they push above 80. Specializations would come later for most casual players but power grinders would always blow through it.

I do agree with two concepts:
Damage output for mages at the cost of focus almost require a weapon skill due to the imbalance.
And
Training trees of magic to 80 just for a passive resistance should go away

 

Having specialization is part of feedback I've been giving since R9 when PVP first came out. That feedback was met with strong resistance from players that enjoy "not having to make choices" and "endless grinding". Many of those players are not even here playing the game anymore because they burned through all the content and got bored. Which is exactly what happens to your player base whenever you try to satisfy any playing style extreme.

I'm not blaming these players for wanting a game centered almost completely on the things they enjoy, I'm blaming the developers for continuing to listen to them. This in part, I believe is because one of the core aspects of the game is having a "classless system". It's something that Richard Garriott believes very strongly in, and something that players have come to expect when playing a Richard Garriott game. Somewhere between Richard's original design and the vocal power gamers that love it, the rest of the community lost out to this extreme version of an advancement system.

It doesn't matter why this happened though, it's all water under the bridge.

There are a number of ways this could be fixed. But the most eloquent way (imo) would be to do the following. Make armor impact magical resistance the way that it does fizzle rates. Plate Armor would have the largest penalty to magic resistance, chain next, then leather, and lastly cloth. What this would do is make everyone pick a lane. Do you want to be a tank? Great, put on plate armor and be extremely resistant to physical attack. But regardless of how high your magic attunement is, you're always going to have a disadvantage against magical attacks. Want to be a pure mage? Great, put some robes on and get 100% of whatever your magical attunement gives you. But of course you're going to be a glass cannon that can't take a hit from physical attacks.

I've proposed this privately and publicly, but so far I've not gotten a response back. I know this will not fix every problem we have, but it would make "tank mages" near impossible to build, and I think that would be a very good step in the right direction.

 

Ever try a harder zone with no healing? You play how you need to survive. For me that means picking the fight and controlling the situation so I don't get overwhelmed.. and at times.. knowing when to leave.

I don't see how that's so different for a pure mage. You fight what you can.

I am of the opinion that realm conflict in DAoC had nothing to do with RP. It was simply PvP framed in a context. Though it did work pretty well as is something SotA could use. People are keen on factions and a reason to fight because having a reason brings the PvPers together and concentrates the action. Whether any of that actually becomes RP is up you. But your average player just wanted to go out and fight or get inside that dungeon that opened up when their side had the most castles.
One of the biggest problems with PvP here is there's nothing to effectively concentrate PvP activity.. but also the low population.

Perfectly understandable.. but in many ways you're a victim of bad timing. There are a lot of RP events I've wanted to do for a long time but they require features that while planned haven't gone in yet. I've been waiting years for really good food décor for example. What you need, if more people at that will require commercial launch. Or.. a whole lot of effort by you (or somebody) to get more people are your side of the water to start play testing the game.

Imagine fighting solo with no healing. I don't really get the context for being 'banned' because of death ray but I don't get the sense that a lot of people would do that. (Not saying you're wrong.. only that I haven't seen it).

I am well aware of what I can't fight due to the lack of magic. I don't particularly like it either. The only way I'm going to overcome that is either 1: non-magical healing skills are introduced.. which won't be for awhile yet.. or 2: get strong enough to overcome that problem. Which also won't be for a good long while. Especially true bosses.

Pretty much already the case. As for most bosses I'm aware of.

We obviously have not been in the same groups.

First one here is a choice. I have in the past expressed how the SotA storyline and set up is not truly RP friendly. But again, that's mechanics. I'd say most of the time game mechanics are never really RP friendly. But it's your choice to compromise or not. The game can't make you do it. If I want to fight bosses I just have to find a group.. I don't get to play that much during the week so it's not practical. So I am alone most of the time. But I know when groups are doing things during times I DO have the time to play and I take advantage of that.

Plain fact here.. very few games.. no matter how good they are.. are going to hold anyone's attention for a long time without something more. There are two things that hold my interest. The first I think is true of most people and one you're having a hard time with. That is people. It's not the mechanics.. it's not the leveling up or any of that.. it's people you want to play with. Fun gameplay is always a good thing.. but fun people will keep playing even a bad game because the people make it fun.

The other thing.. is personal goals. These I set for myself. What do I want to achieve? How much can I do with what I have? I have plenty to do.

What I'd recommend for you right now.. apart from thinking about what it is you really want.. stop playing for awhile.. take a breather.. but stick around. Think what is it you'd really like to see.. in detail. and come discuss it. But wait awhile and see what changes and new content get added. Maybe pop in game once in awhile to test things out.. and keep providing feedback, but mainly take a couple steps back from the game itself and see how it goes.

If things aren't better by launch or shortly after.. reevaluate.

 

I'm amazed at how often someone says something like this.. and then it doesn't happen.

 

I agree with your comments but RM allowed you to play an Archmage with Transcend Armor and forceblades
That said I like MERP (or low level RM) campaigns in pen & paper. And agree to your comments on SotA

 

People DON'T have to be competitive. That is something they choose to do.

 

I’m sorry that you have so much trouble with the game Stundorn as your presence and contribution was always welcome.
Yes currently it seems to be true that the game stays the way it is and that you will need to train most skills to be able to fit best into the environment. Incentives to specialize instead of generalize are not visible and thus the progress of nearly all avatars is to be a jack of all trades. Maybe this will change…maybe not…I think it mostly depends on our feedback but at least my impression is that most avatars are satisfied with this one class system with minor variations and just a few like you complain about it…but generally I too would like to see a need or at least a possible equivalent way to play specialized.

 

Not really. I mean yes, to a certain degree, but eventually if developers and community members have gone well out of their way enough times to help satisfy someone, but they still aren't satisfied and even start hijacking other players threads to complain etc, it becomes obvious to everyone that the person's problem is actually stemming from outside the game and moderators may take action to protect the community from being vented on.

Not that Stundorn is like that at all, in fact quite the opposite. Sure, his feedback isn't constructive, but what he's basically saying is that he isn't going to be vocal and vent on the community, but wants us to remember that just because he isn't being loud doesn't mean he's necessarily satisfied. More people should be like Stundorn in my opinion.

It's also not within every players capability to be able to be constructive. Maybe they themselves can't come up with a solution for whatever problem they may have, and are looking to us to find one. Bowen pretty much has the all around right answer on this thread.

 

Picking a design and saying “this sucks” is complaining.

Picking a design and pointing out how it shuts down a play style is feedback. Very productive.

Solutions are dev responsibility.

 

You don't get what I mean. Role play and competitivity should not be alternatives. Try to role play a character like Gregor Clegan. I would bet that you will be competitive in a large scale of situations... In SotA, a character like this is just not possible. Every mage will be able to tank his attacks with a combination of heals and buffs while he won't get any resistance to their spells.

In the minds of many people, roleplaying seems to be a very limited notion when it comes to simply embodying someone else.

People should be able to be competitive and to choose their playstyle freely.

THAT is roleplay.