The 3 reasons why I don't actually play

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by dayero, May 8, 2019.

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  1. Nevyn Waldail

    Nevyn Waldail Avatar

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    Google Mr Benn, it wasn't an insult
     
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  2. Nevyn Waldail

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    In response to your points though, you've just agreed with me, Sota allows you to be everything and outgrow content, UO limited you in such a way that your skills couldn't outgrow the content. At no point was it ever risk free.
     
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  3. Rada Torment

    Rada Torment Community Ambassador (ES)

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    He spent some minutes to come here and share his feedback/opinion about the game, my respect @dayero.

    We have seen lot of players who spent same money on this game or even more than some of us, supported this proyect from beginning and played hundreds of hours. Some of these quit time ago, but for me their opinion worth the same as mine.

    Hopefully one day the game will be bit better for all of us.
     
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  4. Sean Silverfoot

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    +1
     
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  5. Astirian

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    Pretty much this for me concerning the SP aspect of SotA and why I haven't dived into Offline yet. I'm desperate to play the next Ultima but the water's still too cold (I'm waiting for the new quest framework and with any luck, a better dialogue box). And I still have faith they'll deliver.

    Having said that, I still log in daily to the Online mode and play sandbox, for hours on end sometimes, and I love it. It feels like a modern UO to me with the Overworld being a throwback to the earlier Ultimas and succeeds in making the world feel big.

    ... But I still backed for a sequel to Ultima IX.

    I love this about SotA. I play Weird Tailor/Farmer Lightning Halberd Dude online.
     
  6. Arkah EMPstrike

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    I think it is the Stats not having a cap thats the biggest issue for outleveling stuff. You can get 200 strength just from skills but it takes lvl 120 in those skills and some are very expensive.

    Strength determines your health and weapon damage and the top folks strive to hit 300 strength. These are the folks you see hitting for well over 1000 damage with polearms and bows. At the same time they push for either 200 dex or 200 int.

    Folks with over 200 int also aim for over 200 attunment allowing thier AoE spells to nuke everything for at least a couple of hundred DPS if unresisted.

    The magic damage ignores armor so has a huge advatage in pvp. But in pve, because of the way magic resistance works different than physical resistance, super strong spells get mitigated WAY more than physical resistance because magic resistance is a % (or immunity) and physical resist is as well but its also hard capped. Usually at a lower number thanthe damage most high end weapon users do with a good hit.


    My point is, if they made all stats equally important for all builds (equal, but different) it would create a bigger diversity in powerful builds while also creating more weaknesses for existing ones.

    Its ALL in the stats.
     
  7. Jason_M

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    I'm still enjoying SotA albeit not as much as I used to. My interest in SotA was intense and frantic for the first several months I played. It wasn't until about AL100 when I kind of hit a wall: I've outgrown the content, gave up on crafting (time sink), and spend most of my time socializing or challenging myself by attempting content with smaller groups/solo.

    But was UO so different? Expectations were definitely different. But UO wasn't exactly a fountain of ever flowing new content, either. I think my SotA experience is very similar to my UO experience in this way: Came to builld a character and explore the world; stayed for the amigos and good times.
     
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  8. Kara Brae

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    I don't find steampunk non-immersive as long as the items are somehow linked to Kobold technology. However, generally speaking I don't find the game immersive unless I imagine myself in Wonderland. There I wouldn't be surprised to see people running around with fairy wings, fish heads or no heads at all. None of this bothers me, though. I'm glad to see people having fun with their weird stuff. :)
     
  9. Beaumaris

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    Good input in the opening post. My reaction to it is that story and grind can be matters of personal preference and are points of disagreement in practically every game. My general feeling is that SOTA does baseline story and grind well enough as a start to position it to be a good game, and instead needs much more focus now on its 'presentation.' My top presentation issues are:

    1. Overland Map - Its somehow lacking something to feel like a 'world'. It needs more 'life' to truly be compelling, feel more immersive, and be more than a connector to scenes. It stands apart a bit too much.

    2. NPC Dullness - Too many NPCs still say 'I dont have a name' or 'get out of my face outlander.' It makes talking to *any* NPC feel like a waste of time. Which kills interest in looking for quests.

    3. Quest Ambiance - Quest chat works mechanically but fails to convey 'ambiance'. SOTA could use screen text as is done in Isle of Storms (or like DDO) to much better effect to convey what we are supposed to sense or feel along the way on quests.

    4. 'Now What' - The problem with the baseline story is not that story. Its the near lack of set up after that on why it matters for the Avatar now dumped out into the world after being taught the value of the three principles. Other than the baseline story, SOTA feels like its lore fails at presenting a higher and grander purpose.

    5. 'Virtues' - I know the virtues are forsaken, but they seem nearly absent in this LB game after the baseline story. SOTA game systems could do a much better job of integrating the virtues.

    6. LB as a Character (or not) - The game lacks truly impactful central figures after the baseline story. I get that it is a fractured, recovering society, but perhaps a bit too much and it needs some larger personalities in game to give it more post-story flavor.

    My hope is that episode 2 addresses these kinds of items. We need way more of this than we do the endless ongoing tweaks to the existing skill system.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2019
  10. Astirian

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    As @Spoon pointed out before, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura did Steampunk wonderfully well! I came off of the Fallouts (1 & 2) into that game and I thought they did a really good world-building job.

    But yeah, that's why I wanna do the 'Ultima Quest' in SP mode. I tend to stay away from Vegas areas when I'm online but I'm happy that people can "do Vegas" if they so wish. Or Burning Man (statues) or what have you. Freedom and so on! Also, if there's one thing I've tended to notice about @Lord British in interviews and whatnot is that he loves dress-up, live theater, traps & tricks and curios, secret passages, viking longboats and so on (pirates too?), and like... It's his game... so yeah, I go along with it online.

    But I do like my Ultima VII-VIII vibe Offline, that stuff is sacred. :)

    Mad balancing act but it makes me love SotA a little bit more for its eccentricity.

    PS: I absolutely loved Starr's expression when he saw floating pavers on the deco stream. :D (If he was feeling what I think he was feeling, I felt the same way) - No offense to that decorator! If it's in the game, it's in the game. ;)
     
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  11. Astirian

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    +50 points to Gryffindor!

    1. Overworld - I say get little animated trade caravans and ships!
    2. NPC Dullness - Glad to hear @Atos is keen on getting more assets. Definitely also needs less "I don't share my personal details with PC Gamers" flavor.
    3. Quest Ambiance - Don't make me say the things about the dialogue box.
    4. 'Now What' - Keen to see how they build this as the game(s) progress.
    5. 'Virtues' - As per #4 I think...
     
  12. Spoon

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    That was nothing compared to what we used to be able to do, hehe.

    @Net
    and the 4B had these amazing labyrinths
    [​IMG]

    @parallelogram
    used to have a PVP tournament up in the air on chessboards.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]



    @Xeen Dread
    used to have a sky garden
    [​IMG]

    etc
     
  13. Vladamir Begemot

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    I was recently told by a friend that Upwork is full of cheap but great voice actors.
     
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  14. evillego6

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    If the world seemed more wonderlandlike I wouldn't bat an eye at any of those things. It's really the incongruity of the world and things in the world that makes it seem more silly than fantasy to me.

    I don't personally care if someone wants to wear a dragon mask and fairy wings. I would prefer that the world be a more fantastic place to match. Spoon's images are great examples.
     
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  15. Vladamir Begemot

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    Oh, and if you want to story to be a big win, a few more NPCs need character development through the course of the game.
     
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  16. Alley Oop

    Alley Oop Bug Hunter Bug Moderator

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    still there!
     
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  17. Arkah EMPstrike

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  18. redfish

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    @Beaumaris

    Presentation goes all the way down to the core mechanics of the game, though. Think of this from the perspective of a new player being dropped in the game world, and how everything in the game builds expectations for him as a player. Think of how the Ultima games worked, and how Shroud works differently. I just think the more the developers treat it as if things like immersion and grindiness don't matter all, the more these things will be difficult problems to deal with for the story elements. Making the presentation work isn't a matter of a few magic tricks, its about thinking about how the game works from the ground up.

    So, I'd also agree with you on your emphasis on improving the overland map. Adding things like travelling caravans, weather, camping, events, etc. But its also pointless the more you make travel feel useless; where all people want to do is teleport to a scene, grind for an hour or two, then go back.

    Yea, at any rate, as far as UO goes: I quit the game for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with PvP. I'm still in SotA because I have POT stuff to work on and I want to build player quests, and that's fun and all, but the devs still have to give me other reasons to stay in the game than the social stuff, otherwise, it increasingly feels like a waste of time to me. The social stuff needs to build on a solid game that works from a solo player's perspective. I've made this point in other threads. Most players will play solo most of the time: this is true for most MMOs. The more that developers avoid that fact, the more likely they'll create a niche game with a small audience.

    I still think there is a game they can build on to make all the things I'm talking about work. The story, the solo gameplay, etc. But I still believe they have to think about the game in a different way. The game at release was obviously half-baked in a lot of ways, players were frustrated and there were problems that needed solutions, but I think there were always solutions that would make everyone happy (UO fans, Ultima fans, etc), and I think that's the approach they need to aim for in the long run.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2019
  19. Kara Brae

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    Well Xeen Dread's Sky Garden is still standing in Rift's End, though Xeen hasn't been around for quite some time.
     
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  20. Elwyn

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    That is literally the response when an NPC hasn't yet been named. We need more NPC naming passes.
     
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