Tired of all the talk of how the negative is only from outside the community

Not true. There is plenty of criticism that happens here and it is allowed.

Criticism isn't the same as tearing down the game years after you quit, on every public forum you have access to, after having bragged about making a profit from selling your stuff off pre-launch.

Steam reviews are at +/-50%. Press actually does report on the positive as well. Comments on those posts are usually 95% negative, all from the same people, sharing usernames across multiple platforms, usually appearing after its been mentioned on reddit. Occams razor would say what then? That 95% is going above and beyond at hurting the game, even though they cashed out long ago.

They literally posted that they Killed Port the other day. They claim it, so what does Occam say about that?

It'll be nice to have better reviews, but 1 in 2 are happy with it right now.

Yet every comment on every news item (except for two hard core holds out right now, I salute you two) is negative, and as the owner of MOP said just now:

Spoiler: NSFW quote from Bree

And I dunno about coordinated attacks – but we definitely get a lot of people down here slinging ****. I don’t enjoy covering SOTA both for the mess that the game is and the mess that the comments become.

 

Nope, I beg to differ. More so recently then ever things are being moderated overly too much.

 

I guess we can disagree then. From my reading (and posting) there has been some quite harsh criticism lately, and it has gone unmoderated.

Until it gets into personal attacks and such, then it does, and should.

 

I remember under Berek there was a lot of moderation and locking/deletion of threads. I have seen less since he left, but maybe a recent small uptick. If you talk about the book, those seem to get deleted and locked, but otherwise I haven't personally noticed it getting worse.

 

What I mean here is that if these had been available from Port, I would have given them the money over third party given the choice and close price point. So they lost out on a new income from a second sale. So I can see his point to a certain level. I get the loss and generally RMT has an ugly image in MMOs due to botters and the like. It is not encouraged in just about any game I have played, if not outright a bannable offense. However, this game was started that way, it was stated that everything would always be re-sellable. I think it was Richard that said it was put in place because Port could not afford to give refunds. This was a way of getting your money back if you were unsatisfied with the game. It is rather hard to pull that out of the game now, after the expectation was made. I have to admit if I purchased a game specifically to make my pledge money back or to be in the buy/sell market; then this change would create an environment where I don't want to play/support the game just as much as if it went full PvP after the fact for anyone PVE. I think we need a better option to answer RMT over Heritage items. I am okay with them, but clearly there are issues with placement of some of them and pickup, we can't store them on property, we can't even trade with our accounts, they have issues with POT placement.... clearly they aren't the answer if you have to code to make them work. Just go the way of the government and tax all re-sales and make items less expensive so you can't be undercut by a large margin.

I should add that I love you RMT guys; without you I would not have been able to re-aquire stuff when I came back. Thank you to those of you that have given me a great deal too

 

Agreed. If they had had reasonable prices up front, the RMT market would have been largely negated as it was except for expired items (which they couldn't get a second sale on anyway until they introduced the (once again overpriced) vault). It's not clear to me exactly how Botters in SOTA at least would really have a negative impact on the secondary market. They could theoretically buy COTO's with gold, but someone bought those COTO's already with selling them for gold in mind (and this is another thing that Port itself encourages...), so it's not like Port lost a sale there.

Seconded! The RMT market was great for my wife and I as people who lost out on the Founder level. Although that of course brings to mind the way in which many people who contributed at the Benefactor level were impacted detrimentally by a decision by Port. Specifically, at the time I learned of SOTA and went to back the game, only benefactor was listed as available on the website. So, fool that I am, I took Port at their word and pledged for both myself and my wife. Then I joined the (then IRC) SOTA channel and was talking with people there, and they said WAIT! Before you pledge, what's your email? We'll send you a referral and you'll get royal founder status! And that, right there, was what should have been my first warning about how not everything was above board in how things were being handled. And when this double standard was brought to Ports attention, did they rectify it for those people who backed at Benefactor but should have been able to get a higher level? Nope. So sad, too bad.

 

Oh, and when I contacted Richard about it... Crickets. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

 

I heard he was busy doing something else so maybe he missed that one email.

 

It was via the forums. Always possible though. He did respond very quickly when I completed the Shroud quest (also notified via the forums, as a contrast).

 

I popped over to check that out after reading your post, I'd have to say you're twisting that somewhat. It's quite clear they were joking / not being serious. Though yes, they were happy about it.

 

Let's see, we have an accusation that the Team does not really care for the COMMUNITY, of bribery for influence by "big Wales", followed by a clarification that there is no intent to Rip anyone, cause grief, and certainly no Doom and Gloom.

We seem to have followed that up with a claim that Port defrauded and burned people, and polished it off with a signature stating "Semi Rant Over".

And after an incredibly supportive PS of 16 words, we closed with an indictment of CICI and the deal that was made, (where arguably there should be a way for CICI to do this and there is not); where a 50K coto loss by CICI was couched as impropriety.

Let me say, I enjoy playing this game.

I think things are changing, and I think that the constant parading of negativity is certainly within everyone's rights, but unfortunate.

I hope that people that truly wish for good things to come, innovation and proactive change; are savvy enough to realize that beating the dog publicly is not going to help it in any way.

I want to drag these guys kicking and screaming into success if possible...and I think we need to give them the benefit of the doubt for the next 6 months, and hopefully taper off on our impatient attacks. Me included...

 

Yes to suggest that it's only outside "unfair" criticism that holds the game back is unhelpful at best.

Alot ofthat criticism is justified and even if it isn't the only way to expand the games population in a sustainable way is to make the game itself better ! It's current state has nothing to do with "noises off".

Also SOTA is a "niche game" because it doesn't appeal to enough people. It was never intended to be "niche" and to peddle that line is again just an excuse for its current failings.

 

What would make it not appeal to people? It has combat, crafting, housing, it's a sandbox, has adventure areas, quests, player-made content, pretty much what a lot of other MMOs do. It's definitely not a "themepark" MMO but most MMOs are not like that. Just a few big names are.

Perhaps the marketing they will be doing will show that it could appeal to enough people.

So I still wonder what niche stuff is only in Shroud to make it a niche game?

 

Load of horse manure. It's how you say things, not what you say.

 

Industry standard term in Gambling, in these forums it has ALWAYS been used as a negative term for those that want to paint someone in a bad way. Fact

 

I agree that it should not be seen as niche in any way but there are those who describe it as such to explain why the player count is low.

SOTA does have all the things you describe and in theory should be far more well liked and with a healthier population. My argument is not that the game should be seen as niche but should improve what it has already - finishing and polishing systems, vastly improving the quest system and adding things it still lacks.

My personal disappointment/frustration with SOTA is that is has all the ingredients for a successful game but too many of those ingredients are lacking or muddled in their execution. Add that to the various elements the game still lacks and the game is where it is.

 

It's too sandboxy. Be what ever, do what ever does not appeal to masses ( apparently ). There's no clear roles. Everyone is one man army.
Early pushing for immersion, sucked the fun out. ( Immersion is not for masses )
Overly complicated crafting, for immersion ofc.
It was started as ultima product ( already aimed to small part of global playerbase ).

Something like this I guess, but good question.

 

I used it as past tense, and you ALL made it negative. Take it how you want, I am sick of being the bad guy for the truth, I really wish i could sell it all and walk away you people SUCK!

 

I did not post that people with money INFLUENCED THE GAME, PORT DID. Who uses streams to make money? NOT ME But Chris sure does.... If he does something on stream, and says im sorry guys i didnt know, and walks it back with its ok, but then people are arguing over it for the next who cares. It just looks bad. I wanted to dialog with people and see If we could come up with something. But once again, victim shame and blame the guy that just spoke up against the LIARS, and the people who did push the game the way they wanted but WHATEVER!!!

 

I'd also say the fact the game doesn't follow modern norms, like

• An old-school free-type NPC dialog system
• The complete lack of any storyline cinematics
• The fact there's things like having to talk to the town crier to get a list of free lots, or to have a gate opened
• The fact the game isn't a "theme park" and doesn't "hold your hand"
• The old-school non-interactive combat (for lack of a better way of putting it)

Things like that. Aside from whether they're good or bad, they do contribute to being a niche game, because they don't have widespread appeal.