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Just speaking my piece....

Discussion in 'Release 53 Feedback Forum' started by Punkte, May 4, 2018.

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  1. Punkte

    Punkte Avatar

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    I just want to clarify and remind all of you, that there is no game without you. Being that this is a crowdfunded project and its success RIDES on you guys continuing to pay them money.

    I've spoke my mind on multiple posts on here, and the only thing that got fixed was jumping. Was a great first step and it already feels better, but sadly, the game's feel just isn't there. Its not marketable, not exciting to watch or play, movement is still off, animations are still off, nothing captures your attention at the start or brings you in attentively or emotionally, and it doesn't seem like bringing in the masses is a priority to the development team.

    When it comes to actively trying to make this game a better place and more attractive for the masses, it seems that all the diehard sota fans answer, is to battle the thoughts of those who knock the current problems that the game has, that make the game less appealing.

    This is what needs to be worked on in order to make the game directly more appealing:

    Character Directional Movement And Animation:
    The character is too stiff when moving, he seems like hes marching and it makes it look uncomfortable and unbearable to watch/play. In addition, movement animations to not seem fluid, and when animations come together, for some reason, it seems as if they are forced to "snap" in place. Remove the re-jump delay. The moment the player hits the floor after a jump, they should be able to rejump, instead of a 2 second delay.
    Strafing left and right and movement backward and forward should be more seamless and the animations between them should tie in better.

    Combat And Spell Animations
    I know there has been some recent work on spell effects, but they need more work in general and as a whole, which i'm sure is coming over time. Combat and especially weapon swinging animations should be worked on and be more realistic. I shouldn't be able to swing a halberd like its a sword, just slashing away super fast. The animations should make weight a more realistic effect. The halberd should be a heavier weapon attack effect, and it should feel heavy when swinging it and more punishing when landing a hit. Same goes for most 2 handed weapons as well. Have specific animations for specific spell casts. Something like arms up and channeling a firestorm spell or a blizzard spell, etc, or reaching back and conjuring a fireball or a animation special to fire arrow or earth punch or whatever its called, etc.

    New Player Experience / Tutorials / Quests
    Although this game is known for not holding your hand.. It should, in some aspects. Teaching someone about stacking, leveling abilities, charging abilities, where to buy new skills, etc, should all be something that is taught to the player from the moment they log in (if they opt into learning it).
    There is absolutely nothing that draws you into the story at all, from the moment you log into until several quests in. While it sounded cool at the time, the chat based quest system is just very underwhelming. I've made the suggestion that we should have crowdsourced voice overs for specific main quests in the game and again, the community has shot that down saying it will be terrible audio samples, etc. Well again, this is why you accept only exceptional samples and approve them internally. Other games like Bless Online have just begun to do this and they have dozens of people contributing.

    User Interface (UI)
    I'm not even sure where to begin with this one... Its so many different things, all the UI in this game is lacking severely. Item UI, deck and ability UI, system UI, etc. Just make it all look cleaner, function better, look better. Remove unnecessary UI areas where so much black area is exposed. Where there is some normal semi-transparent black background, perhaps create a artsy semi-transparent graphic and throw it on the background there, like on the decks, and other areas.

    Add padding to stuff so its not all sitting directly on the border of all the UI boxes.

    I hope it turns around and something comes of it, I will read the release notes every month to see if anything has changed, but I'm not going to be spending any time logged in until then.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 5, 2018
  2. Onyx

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    Best of luck in your future gaming. For me, I'm rather fond of Shroud of the Avatar and the way it is progressing.
     
  3. Jenshae

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    Ditto
     
  4. Barugon

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    Same.
     
  5. Xkillerz

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    I am more totally the opposite I like the way how they are raising money its a very smart strategy to do as well and player likes the items they get. Yes, the game needs tweaks here and there but in this game, they bring out more content every month than in most other MMOs that only have a huge patch 2 times a year. Here we get 2 to 3 new scenes almost a month.

    Promotion? Well, they are releasing a physical box of the game and all kinds of cool psysical items its all part of the promotion they are planning and more. I feel they are doing everything they can with the team capacity. Have trust in the future.
     
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  6. rpgmaniac82

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    Good luck on your endevours mate we hope you come back when you think the game is better for YOU;) again good luck and safe travels on other adventures!
     
  7. Steevodeevo

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    I'm enjoying Shroud, its gotten (and is getting) way better release by release. I actually like the old Jump and switched back to it after trying the new 'standard MMO jump'. The old one is tricky to master, can let you down if you don;tget it just right, but is far more sensitive and accurate.

    As for marketing, I think given SOTA is a small(er) budget crowd funded game they have this just about right. They have 'soft launched' and I'm sure we will see more confident and aggressive marketing as the game continues to develop.

    SOTA isn't perfect, but it is a very immersive and addictive game with a top notch community and talented and imaginative developers who do seem committed to the 'long game'. On that basis personally I think the future bodes well.
     
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  8. Kpopgurl

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    This is not the place to improve the game. Talk to the devs directly with your criticism, they are far more appreciative of the feedback. This here is more of a safe space. :)
     
  9. Roycestein Kaelstrom

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    Back to manage free UO shards, eh?
     
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  10. Sher Shadowleaf

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    As I've said before, for me, I'm enjoying the journey and seeing the changes made each month.

    That doesn't mean there aren't things we'd like to change. In fact, I'm whining in another thread about the inconvenience of SO many friggin' sieges.

    But, really, the constant ebb and flow *is* the game for me. I also enjoy most all the elements of the game, whereas some people come here for one or two things they specifically want to experience.

    We each have our own agendas and desires that aren't the same. Obviously there are people who like the emotes and cosmetic items, even though such things don't interest you.

    We're all adults. No one is forcing us to puchase from the add on store or spend money. For me, I've already gotten my money's worth of enjoyment from the town I puchased. Even if everything disappears tomorrow.

    I wish you luck in finding a world that fits your own criteria.
     
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  11. Helvig Ingvildsdottir

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    I agree with (almost) everyone here.

    While I, too, love the game and enjoy it already as it is, and see great (I mean incredibly great) advancement every release, I am with the OP in my fears that this game is not going to attract a sufficient number of new blood to keep up this (insanely high) pace of improvements and new developments that we are currently seeing,

    Because that needs money, and while the fundraising livestreams are fun and still working to get that money, there is only so much that a veteran player still wants or needs in regards to eye candy. Yes, we are lucky, being one of the oldest and richest gaming communities, demographically speaking. But that also comes with risks: a new baby or other changes in the family, a promotion in the job, or simply a midlife crisis inspired change of priorities in life, and people break away. We cannot rely only on the player base we have (plus a few stragglers dropping in here and there).

    I know and totally appreciate that the development team is working very hard on that, but like the OP I often wish priorities were set differently. Don't take your current player base as the measuring unit when deciding which features shall make it into the release. Instead, I suggest to do a goal oriented approach. Answer the questions "How many new players do we want to acquire this release? How high a percentage of the new players from the last two releases do we want to log on for at least X hours this release? Who are they? (create personas) What is going to appeal to them? What might they consider to be a major turn-off? How can we win their hearts?"

    Thing is, it is time for us hardcore fans to take a step back and be neglected for a few releases, in order to put all development ressources into lowering the threshold for new players (including a solution for the performance issues) and making the game so "wow" to the casual onlooker, that despite all negative press in the past, more people will want to give it a try.

    Then we'll still be here 5 years from now, having fun with our rares from 2016, our POTs, our toons into which we invested a significant part of our daily freetime, and our many new friends. And that's what we want, don't we?
     
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  12. Rufus D`Asperdi

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    Good luck to you. Safe Travels. I hope you find something more to your liking.
    Personally, I see the game get better release after release... There are several revisions I await, and have been awaiting for some time now.
    They will arrive.
     
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  13. Floors

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    Seriously. WIth so many badasses with shrouds running around one hit killing people in PVP, one would think the cabalists would have been finished already :)
     
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  14. Arkah EMPstrike

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    Wait till they fix magic resistances >.>. Might get loud up in hurr
     
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  15. Animosh

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    so you think they actually work on animations and not just directly buy them from the Unity store?
     
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  16. Arkah EMPstrike

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    They work on animations.
     
  17. Lord Tachys al`Fahn

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    I’ve WATCHED while they work on animation.
     
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  18. Dermott

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    Having been around since Release 1 (although I DID take some time away for other things both gaming and life-wise), I have seen releases that were great and some that were fairly unplayable. Later on, just prior to Persistence, the desire to play was much less because of the constant wiping. I also had the misfortune of being out of town when Persistence was put into play and the land rush was on, so I had to (for a time) settle for a piece of land in a town that only now has been given its own identity.

    Fast forward to now, and what I see is a game that's not complete, but at the same time VERY enjoyable. The ability to play either as an effective single player RPG one night and as an MMO the next has been a huge win in my book. Having just finished the main storyline, to me it felt like an Ultima story, and where the world has been fleshed out, it feels like a proper Ultima game.

    Sure there have been changes since the Kickstarter (for one, the removal of the "hex" = "scene" idea, but I don't think those changes have hurt things. There are also plenty of issues that need to be resolved, but I think they will come in time and when they do crop up, I'll be sure to put my thoughts in, hopefully with a proposed solution/enhancement.

    For me, the game has become well worth the time and investment and I hope it continues to grow.
     
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  19. Elwyn

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    PVP players give better loot. >_>
     
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  20. digriz

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    This is actually the place. Its a feedback forum. If this isn't a suitable location to express displeasure with something, then how is it feedback exactly?

    If it isn't a 'feedback' forum, maybe rename it to something more suitable. Feedback by definition is a response, or a reaction used as a basis for improvement.

    So you have to privately message a developer if you don't like something about a release? This implies any commentary that is complementary is really what people are looking for. Not feedback.

    Thanks.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2018
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