What is going on?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Aldo, Feb 3, 2021.

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  1. Cora Cuz'avich

    Cora Cuz'avich Avatar

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    Not to mention, new players. If somebody starts playing now, how long until they can set foot in Spindelskog? If I started playing a game, and was told "episode one is free, you can get through that in a month, but it'll be about three years before you can play episode two" I don't know that I would bother with episode one.

    The simplest solution is to convert existing ep1 scenes to multi-tier scenes, so that there's more to do to bridge that gap.
     
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  2. AzazelReborn

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    World of War Craft, ESO, GW2 and any MMO that introduce new episode, continent, area or expansion. That place is always for end game players, the only reason they will have low level areas is when they introduce new Class or Race.

    Any expansion is always for end game content, why would you release an expansion for low level players?

    In this game they release a new class Bard, they also made Bard very strong because it is for a new expansion. They should never release a low level area for a new expansion. Scaling old episode one content is the only thing they should do for low level players.

    Sitting at your lot all day will not level your character you need to get out there and not complain you can not do new content. Scaling will help you then you can do a harder version of a t1 zone.
     
  3. FrostII

    FrostII Bug Hunter

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    EXACTLY !
     
  4. Cora Cuz'avich

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    Didn't you read the opposing argument!? We just need to get gud! AL 118 is just a low level n00b!

    The hat goes on the head! It's so obvious now!
     
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  5. Cora Cuz'avich

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    ...and I can only speak to ESO, but much of their content, including new stuff, scales to players. A fresh-faced adventurer isn't going to be able to jump into a group dungeon, but they will typically he able to handle the story content in every zone in the game, new or old. And even if they can't, you can hit the level cap in a week if you want to, which is more than enough for the questlines. So, pretty much exactly what we're asking for. Thanks for agreeing with me!
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2021
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  6. Dinsoo

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    First, When all of those release new content, they release a story. This game lacks a story.

    Second, Ep 1 isn't even finished and the idea of EP 2 being here at all is short sighted and premature.

    Third, this is a classless game, right? Bard isn't a class, it is a skill.

    Lastly, sitting at your lot all day is what happens when there is no story to follow. There is only grinding beyond completing the 'storyline'.

    Of course this is all my opinion.
     
  7. Barugon

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    I agree with this. The SotA team has spent most of their time implementing systems so that players can do their own content and hasn't focused much on developing their own story. They need to develop their own story to attract more players before they can rely more on player-made content.
    This I disagree with. The Episode 1 story line is complete, there are just bugs in some of the quests.
    Yes, I think a lot of people get confused about this and think that they have to follow some template, like fighter or mage or bard. That's actually hobbling your character. The game is designed so that you can just use whatever you like.
    Yup. This is what usually happens to me:
    • I log in and collect my oracle handout.
    • If my three-day buffs are about to wear off then I go get those again.
    • I try think about what I could do that's fun.
    • I realize that everything I could do is just more grinding.
    • I log out.
     
  8. Anpu

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    Guess we could just ask Chris to rename Episode 2: Shroud of the Avatar: Episode 2: get gud or get out!
     
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  9. Cora Cuz'avich

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    Ep1 - Forsaken Virtues
    Ep2 - Get Gud
    Ep3 - Shut Up, N00b
    Ep4 - Where'd Everyone Go?
    Ep 5 - Chapter 11
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2021
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  10. Cirsee

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    I disagree with that statement heavily. Even WoW has adjusted level zones. ESO has One Tamriel, you can go to any zone at any level and do fine. Do remember SoTA also introduced a bard class for episode 2. Now add to the fact that those other games do also create new content for new systems playable at any level; archeology, etc. Our second problem, in a low population game, is finding groups. Yes you can create your own, but are there enough non already engage people of the right level to join you?

    If you want to talk about end game play, it is usually involves raids and hard dungeons. Overland is generally the easier stuff.
     
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  11. Angelique DeVailly

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    I'm level 120 the 2 artys i use are rare fire rings or none on on my alts and i can do spidelskog hard without much of a hassle . I dont grind but i have been here a long time though first 4 years i mostly killed wolves brigands and the occasionnal Satyr. I was AV level 68 at this point then joined a guild got mentored and did a few xp speed runs and jumped to level 100 within 3 months at this point i could earn enough gold to but what i needed. Then i made alts usually takes a few days to get to lvl 80. i dont like to do repetetive stuff . Probably why im still low compared to most but i figure every episode will give xp exponentially like all other games do so no rush to get higher. Anyways i ramble... I'm just saying maybe a bit of mentoring or seeing how others do it might help?
     
  12. Arkah EMPstrike

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    [​IMG]
     
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  13. kaeshiva

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    We see more and more often that new content releases in games are usually scalable. The difference is there's been a shift in the last 10 years or so toward self sufficiency in MMOs, with innovations like "everyone gets their own loot drop" rather than rolling/splitting - in fact most games I've tried recently have this as the default. Even older games that still have roll mechanics have adopted "everyone gets something" methods - clear a dungeon, roll on drops, but everyone gets some sort of currency for the clear that can ultimately buy what they need eventually through persistent effort and putting in the time.

    "Group content" in other games typically either cannot be soloed easily (there's always the youtube heroes who can, of course) but doing it with a group is still more efficient and/or desirable. Or, doing it solo is usually possible but more time consuming, thus grouping is encouraged and beneficial, but not required. This methodology adapts well to all playstyles and results in higher player pop/retention as a result. While SotA has some areas that can be called dungeons, they tend to just be adventure scenes that happen to be underground, rather than progressive dungeons that can be "finished" and then repeated - its typically a case of rush to whatever the thing is you want to kill, buff, kill it, scene flip - repeat 30 times, you "might" get something worthwhile. And chances are the 'buff' stage is where the most time is spent. This tends to be a lot less satisfying.

    We've seen a lot of older games have to adjust their mindset to deal with dwindling populations and interest over the years, by implementing systems so that content can still be done by less and less people or by people with a lot less time invested in grinding, else even more will lose interest. If you look at some of the games that have been around for 15+ years you'll always find a very healthy helping of rewarding solo content and progression with some high end group stuff beyond that which nobody can solo because of the mechanics involved or due to time limits / dps check mechanics. Nowadays, "requiring" a group to get together and stay together for long periods is not viable - even less so if most of the people in that group they know at the end they're walking away empty handed due to the itemisation issues.
     
  14. Arkah EMPstrike

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    The scaling in what im doing atm scales both your level and your “gear score” when you do lower end content so that it is never less challenging beyond a certain point. It also offers rewards for end game players to team up with low levels to do low end content once a day so there is never a shortage of anyone at any level to run the group stuff with.

    Ive always liked level scaling because it doesnt leave the bulk of the game in the dust, but the idea of end game rewards for end-gamers doing low tier content is kinda new, and ive been enjoying that
     
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  15. Cora Cuz'avich

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    Scaling isn't the be-all end-all, but it's a huge help. It can also be very boring when all the content is always the exact same difficulty. I like the SotA implementation, where you can select your difficulty, instead of being locked into where the game puts you.

    I think the main issue here has gotten a little diluted. I expect that eventually I will be able to do the newer content. But with progression past 100 slowing to a crawl (doubly or triply so for someone who only plays a few hours a week) that's going to be a while. Not only is it going to be a while, it has already been a while. So the frustration is a combination of new content being too hard for where I am, old content being boring as hell after five years, and no content between the two. Compounded by the fact that the tech for scaled difficulty scenes (loot aside) already exists, but is so far (with the exception of Lamech's) only used to make things scale up from t10. And not used at all in the most recent two scenes added to the game.

    And if someone thinks that the solution is to spend another two years in the same four scenes running loops "getting gud" instead of maybe occasionally throwing us a t7-t8 option in a scaled scene, then I suppose we're never going to agree, as we want completely different games to play.
     
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  16. Joe Zhudarak

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    The fact is SOTA still have a hundred soloable tier 3 - 8 scenes for casuals and non hardcore players.... and high end/hard group content still few that i can name in one hand: Spindelskog, Lamech Bzaar, The Breach, Myrkur and Well of aldur (two of those have scalable options). All other places can be soloable for avatars in 100/ 115 advl level range with decent gear and understanding of game mechanics.

    I help a lot of players in this level range because my guild is the only portuguese speak active, when i teach them usually i saw the same issues: they don´t have defensive skills raised, don´t buff charging skills, don´t use potions, bad deck building and have gear without synergy.

    I agree that all those scenes should have and normal/hard and extreme versions
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2021
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  17. Tirrag

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    yes ^. survivability == success. the philosophy of "kill them faster than they kill you" is very effective, but difficult to attain at lower levels. learn how to survive first, everything else becomes much easier after that. my SotA mentor taught me to spend long amounts of time just testing survivability without attacking. tweak your defense until you can survive then add in the offense. good advice that has held strong :)
     
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  18. Cora Cuz'avich

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    Very true. The issue at hand, however, is that the makeup of those 100 scenes is more like 92 tier 3-5 scenes, and 8 tier 6-8 scenes. If it were more like 70 tier 3-5 scenes, ad 30 tier 6-8 scenes, I'd be a happy little bunny and wouldn't be participating in this discussion.
     
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  19. Barugon

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    Is there really that many? I though it was more like 3.
     
  20. Gravidy

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    I think it is 3: "East Sanctus Forest" and "Northwest Blackblade Mountains" are Tier 6 and the new "Ulfheim" is Tier 8. I definitely might be missing some.
     
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