Dismiss Notice
This Section is READ ONLY - All Posts Are Archived

Awkward Things That Should Be Addressed For An Officially Released Game.

Discussion in 'Release 52 Feedback Forum' started by Punkte, Mar 30, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I've made some points in earlier posts about the way I felt about the status of the game pre-release.
    Unfortunately, the major concern I had, which was character movement fluidity and animation are still yet to be addressed.

    The following along with the movement fluidity and animation are small things, that go a long way.

    Item Display Popup Boxes UI:
    [​IMG]

    I know this is small and not a big deal, but add more padding on the left and right side, furthermore, why can't you break that into 2 boxes. One for the equipped if there's 2 its fine to keep 1 box, but the left box should just be one. One whole black part on the left looks sloppy.


    Jumping:
    Please remove the hold to jump. It serves NO purpose at all and makes the game feel artificially laggy because its on button release instead of button press. Furthermore, like in any mmorpg, when u jump while in motion, you should stay in motion with the jump, here, when you jump and let go of forward, it stops you immediately. People are naturally "jumpy" in MMOs.

    Movement:
    I've said it many times... PLEASE re-work movement. Its clunky, poorly animated, and just generally makes the game feel so boring. Take a look at how other games animate movement. The characters movement feels so awkward. This is the first thing someone in the game sees, and I would very much like to see strives on getting this right. Your first impression is everything, especially in a game that just launched. You don't want to turn away potential players in the first 20 minutes of the game.

    Voice acting:
    While I understand that the budget does not call for being able to spend money on voice actors, perhaps you can gain assistance from dev+ members or volunteers that would like to submit entries of the Main Questline for voice acting. I've been playing for a little bit and already I find myself just quick clicking the help buttons on the button and skipping reading anything. I have no idea what parts the main quest-line are, nor am I reading all of that. I understand this is the type of game you were going for when you implemented that, and its something I can live with, but it would just immerse you into the story that much more with some audio.

    Slowing down when passing an NPC... I'm not sure why, its just an inconvenience.

    From watching completely new to the game streamers, these are the things I notice the most:

    Upset they can't play a mage.. I don't know why you'd limit them, if the trial is a certain period long. Let them try out and play whatever they'd like.

    People don't understand that you can Dual Wield from the get-go, many people don't understand that you can drag and place one handed weapons into your weapon slots. Perhaps if you have a 1 handed wep equipped, and you right click another one, it equips a second one as well, as long as nothing else is equipped.

    Hair and look:
    Customization of your character has gotten stale, and compared to other games out there (even old ones), the amount of customization that is available to you for your character is nill. The hair looks like store purchased asset hair.

    Stuck:
    Opening a door while standing on it near a wall will get you stuck. Not a big deal because you can close it, but something nonetheless. You can jump onto barricades and float into the air the entire time.

    Ability Charging and Cooldowns:
    Players were confused on why the timer on cooldowns has multiple timers. Perhaps an in game early explanation of charging abilities would help them understand this better.

    Attacking monsters:
    Sometimes its as though your attacks just stop and you have to re-position yourself oddly around the target to keep melee wep attacking. It feels wierd.


    All in all, these are just a few of the things I noticed at first glance before I genuinely just wanted to stop playing. I am looking for a reason to continue to log in and have fun, and I have had and still do have extremely high hopes for this game. But IMO, it is not currently at the state it should have been for a launch, as harsh as that sounds.

    I have been a backer since the beginning and have been following the ultima series and especially ultima online for 20+ years already, and this game has left a sour taste in my mouth.

    I hope these suggestions and criticisms don't fall on deaf ears. I feel as if some of the veteran players have already come accustomed to and aren't aware of these things, and as much as you've built this game to hit a niche market, you don't want it to become to "niche".

    People like games that function as they expect them to function, and for a new game just released, its not living up to the expectation at the moment.

    Again, I SO want this game to be great and invest my time in it, and that's why I'm writing this post, instead of just not playing and never coming back to it.

    Regards,

    Punkte
     
    Hurricane, Tirello, Berek and 14 others like this.
  2. Kabalyero Kidd

    Kabalyero Kidd Avatar

    Messages:
    2,054
    Likes Received:
    5,437
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Location:
    Beran's Reach, Beregost and Whyte Roc
    why can't they play as a Mage... as far as I know... all Paths are open to Free Trial Players... (unless that was changed the last time they changed it)
     
  3. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    8
    They can't, at least as far as the "path" you take when you get your questline in the beginning when you make your char. It says trial accounts cannot do this.
     
  4. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

    Messages:
    6,331
    Likes Received:
    12,109
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
  5. Kabalyero Kidd

    Kabalyero Kidd Avatar

    Messages:
    2,054
    Likes Received:
    5,437
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Location:
    Beran's Reach, Beregost and Whyte Roc
    hmmm... must be a bug??? because according to this...

     
  6. Halfwitte

    Halfwitte Avatar

    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    240
    Trophy Points:
    18
    You can equip two weapons at once without training, but you don't attack with your off hand/second weapon unless you pick up Off-hand attack from the tactics tree and train it up. So effectually you can't do dual wield right from the beginning. You can do dual equipping, but you only attack with one weapon, the second only serves to boost your stats on main weapon provided it has any stats at all that help.
     
  7. tc91101

    tc91101 Avatar

    Messages:
    131
    Likes Received:
    85
    Trophy Points:
    18
    The movement reminds me of Ultima IX including the jump if I remember correctly. Last time I reloaded was probably 2005 though. Maybe it’s as intended?
     
  8. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I'd hope its not intended, It just serves no real purpose other than making artificial lag.
    I've yet to encounter terrain where I need to "charge" my jump.

    It's not even realistic if thats the angle they are going with. You want a SEAMLESS moving transition. That's just one step toward getting that right.
    Remove the charging jump aspect, put jump on button press, not release. Also, make it so you can stay in motion when jumping while moving.
     
    Elwyn and Mykll like this.
  9. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Example... 9k people have viewed this guys video. These are the type of people that give u the BEST kind of advertising. Free and hitting the market that YOU want.


    Again, the first thing they notice, clunky movement. no options for char customization with hair, also delay on jumping.
    These are REAL things that turn people off quickly, this is just video of dozens I've seen and streams I've seen.

    Please work on this, it should have been done before launch.
     
  10. Diab Blackbow

    Diab Blackbow Avatar

    Messages:
    824
    Likes Received:
    1,080
    Trophy Points:
    93
    There is a spot I go to daily that requires me to charge my jump. There are also spots where the jump artifact is required.
     
  11. Numa

    Numa Avatar

    Messages:
    2,891
    Likes Received:
    5,620
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Breaker's Landing
    http://sotawiki.net/sota/Ring_of_the_Frogkin

    I need to get myself one of those :)
     
    Nelzie likes this.
  12. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

    Messages:
    4,542
    Likes Received:
    8,100
    Trophy Points:
    153
    I gind myself needing to charge my jump to clear everyday things like short walls and fences.

    Holding space in preparation for clearing obstacles feels natural to me
     
    JohnL, Bigg, LoneStranger and 2 others like this.
  13. Black Tortoise

    Black Tortoise Avatar

    Messages:
    1,961
    Likes Received:
    3,655
    Trophy Points:
    125
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Storm's Reach
    I love this feature! I need this to escape packs of obsidian bears! My avatar is quite athletic, and sprints fast, jumps high, and lands well. The charged jump is yet another way for my avatar to express this part of his character. Id like even more enhancements to it, especially skill based ones. Dont take it away!

    Also, I stay in motion with my jump when I use it. Its how I combine it with Dash/Sprint to evade huge mobs of tough opponents.
     
    Bigg, Ataniiq and Nelzie like this.
  14. Gurney2

    Gurney2 Avatar

    Messages:
    225
    Likes Received:
    380
    Trophy Points:
    18
    @Punkte Devs are aware of all you said since first release of the game. All that was wrong has been addressed already by numbers of dedicated players and reviewers.Many of them (the players) abandonned the game because the were discouraged of repeating the same things over and over again. Devs did what they did for whatever reason but the clunkyness is still there (among other things)
    Game has launched now. The game will have the reputation (good or bad) it deserves after years of developpement and millions of dollars spend.
    It looks bitter but it is like it is, unfortunately. Many players tried to motivate the devs to change those things but ..... yeah.....
    Dont get me wrong im not a sota hater, im just sad when i see those reviews talking about the same things of 2 or 3 years ago.
     
  15. Animosh

    Animosh Avatar

    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    278
    Trophy Points:
    18
    My issue with this, is that none of this is new feedback. Some of these have players saying the same things........for YEARS
     
    zyxe, 3devious, Ataniiq and 2 others like this.
  16. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Nice, totally worth the artificial lag and inconvenience of holding down space. Can easily still just have jump arty.
     
    3devious likes this.
  17. Nelzie

    Nelzie Avatar

    Messages:
    884
    Likes Received:
    1,140
    Trophy Points:
    93
    My fiance logged into the game with me for the first time last night.

    We both made "Mage" characters, we both started with all the same kit and skills open and unlocked. She's on a Free Trial Account.

    She also likes what she sees so far and was really getting into it, so... she and I might be playing this on the regular together and getting her a full account.

    Anyway.... I don't know why you are talking about non-existent issues there.

    Also... with regards to voice acting... Volunteer and Community voice actors would be the most amateur hour presentation that would do FAR more harm than good to the game. How many of these volunteers and community voice actors have all the kit and sound rooms for this? How would they all submit everything using the same levels? How could consistently be tested for?
     
    Elwyn likes this.
  18. Diab Blackbow

    Diab Blackbow Avatar

    Messages:
    824
    Likes Received:
    1,080
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Never experienced the lag or inconvenience that you are talking about.
     
    JohnL and Ataniiq like this.
  19. Knight Commander Tyncale

    Knight Commander Tyncale Avatar

    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    237
    Trophy Points:
    18
    I started a list of annoyances like yours once but stopped because they were too numerous.

    Here is a major one of mine, actually its 5 packed into one.

    Interacting with an object in sota:
    • Need to hover mousepointer over object untill you hit the sweet spot where it turns green;
    • Needs to *doubleclick* instead of single click for it to react; everything needs doubleclicking;
    • then a small/medium delay before the action commences; especially annoying with vendors/NPC's;
    • then often a slow-poke animation like the door swinging open, or the worst one, the locked animation when skinning a corpse;
    • As a bonus, getting stuck behind the door because it stays an unpassable object during the animation; unfun and unrealistic: I never wedge myself behind the door that I am opening IRL.

    I also dislike the slow animation of the Combat bar popping up and stuff like that. Game feels like molasses. (I know you can have the Combat bar up permanently) Is this Unity? Or just bad design choices? OP mentioned a few more that I really dislike like the stupid "jump on release": this is just lazy coding imo.

    This developer team needs a dedicated expert on how to put the flow into the UI and how you handle stuff in the game.

    Typical example: when you have a window open with several Tabs, simply clicking the tab will not suffice to change to that tab: you have to find (again) the sweet spot of that tab (which is about 1/3 of the size of the tab, and slightly offcenter to the right) before it reacts. Instead of cranking out store-item after store-item for the past 3 years, they should have put some developer time into that stuff.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2018
  20. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    99
    Trophy Points:
    8
    There's videos of people trying to go the path of the mage and that was blocked for trial accounts, (not the actual skill but when u create a new character and choose the path u go on). My friend and I tried to play the game together and go on the same path and he was trial and he couldn't, so I switched mine instead.
    These issues aren't "non-existent", they are an over abundance of stupid issues that DETER people from playing the game. They aren't just my "expectations" in a game. They are game "am I going to play or not because of this" issues. If devs don't care that these things are literally causing people to not want to play or give this game a chance, then I'll count kickstarting it as a "Ultima Online was fun, here's a donation for bringing it out.", and never touch this game ever again.

    I'm not talking about slapping in random audio from people who don't have the proper set up. Just like they didn't "throw in" people's music that they had made. I'm sure there are some good voice actors or people who do a good enough job at it. A slew of audio can be obtained and sorted through and applied if it passes or exceeds expectations.

    Because it's indirect lag. Your not actually lagging, but it registers the jump on key release instead of key press like every other game out there. There's a reason why people don't do it then way its done here, because its stupid and doesn't work well, and makes the actual system feel slow.

    You stay in motion because you have to continually hold the forward key while jumping in order to do so. Jump while moving forward and release the forward key right away. You should continue to jump in motion, but it halts you immediately and you fall back to the ground in the same spot you let go over the forward key over. These aren't just annoyances on my part, this is how games are created.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

    At any rate, some people enjoy settling.

    At the end of the day, and after reading the numerous posts saying "this has been brought up time and time again", I guess the real problem is that gamers like ourselves feel inclined to settle, and give devs like these money for a game over and over again for cosmetics when they should be putting that money fixing core issues that a released mmorpg should not have, and game developers feel inclined to take advance of our collective stupidity, and continue to do what only makes them money. This is a RELEASED game. It feels in alpha state right now besides the world aesthetic. They have completed ignored everything major that should be in an mmorpg like movement fluidity, combat animations in general. The guy in the video i posted sums it up great.

    I'm not going to sit here and say, "well the game is good enough for a released game", that we all crowdfunded, through tens of millions of dollars at. They are clearly holding more importance towards mass creating cosmetics items to sell and generate revenue rather than actually doing things games should be doing.

    Look around...
    Look at the general consensus of people reviewing the game and logging in for the first time. This isn't just my gripes, This game could have been great but the developers apparently do not care about actually making it into a good game. Instead, we are stuck with a game with seemingly generic unity movement assets, uninspiring combat and movement fluidity, and a UI lacking any real sophistication.

    I had such high hopes for this game, but jesus... I can't even get my friends who played UO with me and had an absolute blast to even consider playing here. Because the general consesus is "this game feels terrible".

    I've offered my expertise with C# programming to pms to the devs with specific things to die in Discord and the game, and even cosmetic upgrades to make to their website where there was things that didn't look good, and I've addressed my concern for combat and movement multiple times now throughout the last 2 years.

    Anyways, all I came here to do was point out issues in hopes of their being some hope that they would be fixed and reworked, I left feeling uninspired and generally uninterested now.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2018
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.