RPG Codex Review

Also if you feel there’s something factually wrong with the article, feel free to post comments on the review discussion.

But keep in mind: is the information factual based on the date and release number when it was written?

Also, even if the author didn’t understand something in game, is it explained very clearly in game?

Also, you could possibly bug the author to do an updated review.

 

Linked his name...

Based upon what I have read, he knows he was linked.

So yes, ask away...

Maybe he will answer?

 

Your pithy comment is going meta to @Preachyr trying to review the reviews about the review, I just thought I'd make a comment on it.

 

PvP is going to be a boon to the game if done right. This could provide an influx of revenue.

Then they can meld RG's vision of having a single-player RPG within an MMO.

I know it sounds counterintuitive to each of our personal thoughts, but fostering/cheering/helping in any aspect of the game you like, and understanding this is a multi-faceted game that can appeal to multiple facets of the game population, can only be good all around. I don't RPG too much, but I know that wanting it to succeed can only benefit the game as a whole.

 

I had to read your post twice, to be sure, honestly.

There are people in the community around me who are (or were) very involved in PvP activities in many games, including people who have been part of national FPS games tournaments or who have played very PvP oriented RPG games at a high level, such as DAOC. None of them are interested in SotA and the castle defense scenarios won't change anything to that. What is sorely lacking for now is the "if done right". PvP is nonexistent in this game and it's not the few dozen players struggling in Blood Bay or the Fall who will change anything. Everything has to be built from scratch and many of the mechanisms in the combat system have to be changed. It's not me who say that, but the innumerable PvP players who are absent from this game.

It's something I'd like to see one day, but it should have been done from the beginning. I know that they said that the MMO aspect of the game had to be developed first for technical reasons, but there are MMOs out there whose solo storyline is much better staged. The budgets are not the same, of course, but the fact remains that the public expects a certain standard, now.

Except that this counter-intuitive method only divided our community and showed that it was not viable for the entire project. Moreover, it is funny and singular to see that we are asked to simulate a state of mind, when the game itself praises the Truth, as a virtue. If the game as a whole does not evoke positive feelings by itself, all of this is pointless. The goal is to attract people around us, not to force them to think like you. It's an inevitably losing strategy. Plain and simple.

On the opposite, if people see real awareness on these forums, perhaps (and this is a meager eventuality) they could be led to give a chance to this game.

 

Look at how many towns / NPC's are in the game

To get them all or even a large portion into proper RPG standards?

Add to that fully functioning virtue system, all the basic quest frameworks, + way too many other things to be listed

Good luck



If they want to keep with this RPG element they would be better off wiping out every single NPC that is unfinished.

Never mind endless place holders with maybe 1 in 100 that turns out interesting. This only frustrates players and makes the game look amateur/unpolished.


If there were less NPC's but each of them had something memorable or a decent chance of leading to something interesting,

it would go far in improving the quest experience.



For my opinion this game is far closer to being a successful sandbox MMO.

 

A great article. Enjoyed reading it. He hits many nails on the head, regardless of how comfortable that makes people who like the game when they read it. I think it's a pretty fair comment, honestly.

One thing I urge people to consider when reading a review like this is, if your first inclination is to say, "That's not my experience..." or "That's not what my guild did..." that's great, but it doesn't change the review.

The guy's experiences are his own and if he experienced this, it's fair to say that others experienced it. Indeed, when we have 10s of 1000s of people not playing, it's clear the game didn't hit the spot for many out there.

 

I think there's a great idea buried here. The ratio of clone npcs to npcs with a story or a quest is very high (10 to 1 at a guess). I know that work to customise npcs to make them interesting is well underway (I have one I contributed in Brittany , but right now it's largely a waste of time and pretty demoralising engaging with these props in hope of finding a gem of an rpg element, even if it's just flavour or context (a comment on the comet for example). Also, with the bugs with blue quest sparkles, where some npcs don't sparkle despite having quests or do sparkle when they don't (or rather the quest is completed), it all gets a bit pointless.

With current staffing levels and priorities, plus Lum's departure, I can't see this being addressed any time soon..

So to the idea, or rather taking forward @Rook Strife 's idea... Why not identify the npcs that have have had their custom back stores added wear different garb. I'm not talking about a quest log fix here, which is long term, just when they update the npcs dialogue, they also update their outfit, maybe just a belt, or a hat, or boots, so we can in the short to medium term know which npcs have been enriched and seek them out for a chat. The remainder, rather than delete them, can stay wandering around to fill the space and make it seem less empty.

 

This never truly was and never will be an open pvp game. The latest direction to make PVP minigames clearly made it more WoW like... so I can understand the WoW comparison by the reviewer and the issues @Hornpipe raised. If SotA survives and gets mote development time maybe we see more UO felucca stuff someday... but right now for me it doesnt look like it. They scaled down drastically to keep the game and company alive, and properly the goal is to cater to the few big supporters they can keep attracted. 50k playerbase cant be reached with the current goals, systems and team anymore, so their focus changed now.

 

Except that there are few big supporters who apparently quited the game or reduced their support not so long ago.

 

Yea I agreed with this. While I have played many MMOs over the years. I feel this game should promote its unique sandbox abilities more. The housing system is more advanced than other MMOs currently. Yes, the game wanted too much at the same time and this is the result of it. But they took action reduced the team size and gonna focus in fixing most things towards episode 2 and in episode 2.

They might want to consider scrapping some things with the major episode 2 patch in-game systems that people don't use and take to much time to develop honest advice. Text based questings I did it all but it does not really feel right anno 2018. This could be a personal opinion. Newer mmo players are often confused about systems like this. I know it because I played older MMOs as well. Graphics go to a simpler style that is quicker to develop. Some people might hate twitch based graphics but the reality is that a small team can't produce high-quality graphics at a high rate otherwise. It can still look nice it just depends on the overall style.

The pvp focus? A lot of people don't like the loss of items in pvp. While pvp purists love it currently the majority in this game are not pvpers. While I have personally no problem in crafting a pvp set I can lose. There is not much reward gain from pvp yet so I hope the castle scenarios will change that. My opinion is neutral about the current developments on PVP overall something should be done to pull more pvpers to this game. I will try out the defense scenarios when they come out.

I like more PVE endgame content with the guild and grouped content. Solo content gets bored quickly if I must be honest unless you are grinding for loot. Upper Tears is a good example of a zone where people keep returning to with open parties. I hope the game keeps producing quality likes this. So if I talk about group content you need 10 to 15 people to kill. Introduce a raid group system for raiding bosses much harder than the ancient dragons put unique crafting resources on them for new endgame gear they can never be killed solo because of regen. Maybe with a high-end lv group of 5.

My personal view and opinion on what they are doing right now. They are making the game polished for Gamescom as accurate as possible. Then get a new player influx and then start crowdfunding episode 2. We as a community can help them go in the right direction. They do listen to constructive feedback that can improve the game overall in my opinion. Further, I hope Unity gets some upgrades as well in the future to support improving this game on the engine side. I would like loading times only for regions not for separate scenes anymore.

I have personally sold some of my assets after my interest got a bit less after 700 hours of playing. But hey 40$ game gives me 700 hours of fun? Many AAA titles don't do that. I will still be around to give feedback towards episode 2 and play it of course as I find the game very unique and that's it's not pay to win. I trust that towards the end of the year the game can be polished enough to make the experience better.

 

Thanks for posting the RPG Codex article.

The write up was thoughtful enough. But it spent too much time revealing its skepticism of the game's premise from the start, which made the remainder feel less objective. Reading it, I realized I could write a similar critique of any game I've played (even the 'best ever' RPGs) using the same formula: start with skeptism, ask if its even relevant, focus on the game's foibles rather than strengths to make a case it's not, then end again with skepticism. That's not to say the article is not on point. Just that its use of a formula to transfer the writer's skepticism to readers is apparent. It made me read it more as 'color commentary' than as a review.

The good news is that there's heck of a lot of very poor games out there. And SOTA is not one of them. SOTA is a good game getting better by the month. Which is why you are still here reading.

 

Not sure if I misunderstood, but my whole point is that we don't think alike, but that doesn't mean we can't cheer on what the other likes if as a whole it makes the game better. For example, I don't farm, but to me, systems that make farming viable can only help the game for those that do like farming. This game is not any one thing, and I guess that's its problem. But if things like PvP would bring people into the game, then that is great. I don't expect people who play hardcore FPS games to ever come to an MMO and finding a permanent home. But I do expect people who like a sandbox with different things to do, including PvP (among others), to find a place in a game like this IF things are done right. I am not arguing that all things were, I know they were not. But combat is combat here. It ain't going to change much. And the new PvP zone can get people to come out and at least enjoy that aspect of the game.

 

I get it, and yes, there are things people like or do not like in the game. The problem is that people will judge it as a whole in the end, and they will quit or stay according to whether they think that it is attractive for them enough or not, even if the game allow other people to have fun.

Personaly, I do. Some of my friends are playing a FPS one day/week/month, and go into a MMORPG the other day/week/month. Borders are porous for many of us. And besides, traditional MMOs are trying to get closer to the Action RPG style because publishers have probably noticed that a large majority of people prefer to spend time on a game where their actions matter, rather than on a game where the grind matters. If games like TESO have relatively good results despite the global MMORPG decline that the press mentions, it's not a coincidence. And if games like Fortnite or PUBG are very successful, it's not a coincidence either.

I can agree with this.

Let me disagree with this. From a developper perspective, there are solutions that do not seem very complex to implement, that could radically change the combat system. Developers have already made bigger changes in less than a quarter. The question is: Will these changes be welcomed? I must be frank, I don't know for sure. According to a lot of people on these forums, I would say it's very likely. But there are many other aspects of the game to fix. And I do not have infused science in my mind. I only know that it does not work well as it is now and that the game is mostly repulsive as it is, despite very good aspects. And it's a shame.

Do you really believe that his skepticism is self-generated ? Like an infinite loop of anger ?

 

They did offer to allow the community to request a personizled NPC for Brittany Ally or any of the Brittany zones really since you can also name which Brittany zone. You can propose a name, location, and a back story including what they might respond with when interracting with an avatar.

My hope is that this will get rid of some of those god awful jumpy glitched out npcs running around Central Brittany Docks.

 

The reviewer makes some good points about where the game falls short, but when he says that it's a "bad WoW clone" I really have to wonder at his ability to actually review games. I'm not saying that to dismiss his valid negative points on the game, I am just truly amazed that anyone would think SotA is a knockoff of WoW. Also...calling the Ultima series "trash"? Sure 8 and 9 were bad, but geez...what game does he actually like?

Poor optimization: Yep, I agree with him here. I have no issues running it on my computer, but I know a few friends who can't play the game on their computer that can run other MMORPGs without problem. This is shrinking their potential market size.

Artwork consistency: He's right. Some areas look beautiful, some areas look like a mess. I know that they're busy replacing assets, but the game isn't in alpha/beta anymore. It should be polished.

Loading screens: He's right again. Too many of them. It would be helpful if there were more scenes the size of the Outskirts, but most of the scenes are very small where you won't stay in there for hours completing quests. I will give Port credit though, they have reduced the loading times significantly. Because of the nature of the overworld/scene aspect of this game (which I really like) loading screens will always be there.

Game crashes because someone hit the wrong button: No clue what this about. Game rarely crashes for me, and when it does, it was the 98% loading screen bug. I'm guessing he was playing when the devs shut the server down for a new update?

Maps - Good point. If the maps are going to be integrated into the game, they MUST be accurate. I'd rather see a cartography skill where we can make and annotate our own maps, sell them to other players, and have them stored in an "Atlas" similar to our recipe book. Would create a nice little feature that players could use to make better maps, with spawn locations marked, etc.

Generic NPCs - Not sure what his point is. Most games either have sparsely populated towns but everyone there is important, or they have a lot of filler NPCs to make the town feel more alive. Shroud did the latter. Not every guard you meet is going to send you on an epic quest.

Quest bugs - Agree with him here.

Dirae Prophecy (and other "I don't know what's going on" stuff - In the beginning of his review he said the first conversation with the Oracle was pointless, then later on he complains that he has no idea what the Dirae Prophecy is. The first part he glossed over tells you to pick up the Dirae Prophecy book next to you and read it. It's comments like these that make me think that the reviewer is not quite cut out to properly review RPGs. When you fast forward through dialog and then complain that you don't know what's going on in the world, that's all on you. Now, you could make a good point here about lack of voice acting, or that you don't like the way the dialogue is delievered, or many other valid criticisms - but this ultimately comes down to him skipping over parts that aren't hack and slash. I'd expect a site focused on role-playing to have reviewers that aren't opposed to reading.

"....a major center of politics and power in that region of the world, populated by a grand total of two NPCs." - Okay, just had to laugh here. He complains about the game having too many NPCs and then complains about too few NPCs in a castle (if he read the dialog, he'd understand why the castle was so underpopulated).

"From Tier 1 zones to Tier 5 zones in no time. I would like to be wined and dined next time." - If he had read the dialog, or talked to the NPC in this control point, he would have been swiftly taken to the other side, avoiding the Tier 5 monsters. There is a pattern here.

"You'll get to fight bandits with green hoods, skeletons, slimes, wolves, bears, and… that's it. No really, that's really it. I've just given you a list of 95% of the enemies you will ever fight in this game" Elves, Kobolds, Satyrs, Crocodiles, Boars, Spiders, Reapers, Zombies, Earth/Water/Fire/Ice/Air elementals, Cabalists, Liches, Ghosts, Man-eating plants, etc. What's odd is that he claimed to have completed the Courage quest line where the main enemy are kobolds.

"Stuck on an island. Obviously, nothing happens if you talk to this NPC “tomorrow”. I had to teleport myself out of this zone to a “friendly” player." This is the caption of a picture the reviewer posted. Right in front of him, behind the NPC's shoulder, is the boat with the red sail that would take him to the over world map. I can't make this stuff up!

"In private conversations, some rejoice that they can finally buy their way out of a game's difficult moments instead of having to “pass exams” all the time." - Huh?

"Asking that players pay for the right to work for [Portalarium]" - Huh?

There are legitimate issues here that he brings up, but then he goes off the deep end. I hope that the devs take note of the legitimate issues.

 

That is the PROBLEM!!! Half of all review's out there hate SoTA. That is a huge issue because we always know that their are more who do not like it that won't take the time to even review it. LET'S FIX THIS GAME!!! Make it more like UO and let people come. Stop the community and forum moderations that is so damn strict. Listen to us. Please. This game is going to crash if you don't'. Please.

@DarkStarr please review the critiques on reddit. Please. Even if you don't agree. Just see what people are saying. Please let us save the game by getting the mases in!!! Chris.. Read, and disagree, but think. This is the perception. Can we change that?

@Chris

 

A

As much as I don't like the snarky comments from negative reviews, the bad reviews will help bring those issues to the forefront. Especially if those issues have been on the back burner. They need to know why people don't like it.

I would absolutely love to see some independent posts from the lead dev team talking about the positive progression in the game. They don't have to respond to those reviews to defend their game.

 

So what do you suggest to save the game as a whole?

 

This was a pledge reward.