A plea for the single player experience.

Hey tekka long time no see...

I agree, though I see they are working on combat every day.

 

Agreed with the first post, here. It would be nice to find out what both the single-player-offline and single-player-online will be offering to draw in customers.
So far, not getting that U1-U9 'vibe' from what's been demonstrated to date.

 

What exactly is the U1-U9 vibe?

 

Pretty much the opposite of UO.

 

Being 30 years younger, living with your parents, and playing with this fancy new thing called a "computer."

 

There is a lot of overlap between MMO systems and Single Player systems, so as far as interactivity and NPC chat and combat, I'm not worried. (Well, I'm worried about the planned combat system, but I'm not worried that SOMETHING will get done, even if I don't like it).

I get the feeling that the biggest work done to date on the single player stuff is the story, and meanwhile, the rest of the team tries to implement as many systems as they can. When the story is done there will be a mad scramble to create the mainland cities, scenarios, map, NPCs, story-related/single-use models, etc.

I worry that what will end up happening is that we'll get the single-player story in bite-sized releases every month or so because they won't have time to get it all ready before launch in October, December, Early 2015 or whenever it is. But the story chapter-by-chapter in game isn't what we signed up for. I expect that kind of stuff in MMOs where you kind of want to keep the players in lock-step, and give them enough time to complete the content before you do things to give the illusion of the world being changed by the group's actions. Single player, however, should go at your pace.

 

Bubonic: Completely agree. What was promised should be delivered, and at this point, all we have seen them deliver is a lot of houses, a lot of tools for crafting that isn't quite up to par, and a pretty map that looks like they went back to the U3 drawing board.

Aartemis: Its funny you mention that, because I was thinking the same thing about that topic as I read through the thread. All in all, a very minor change to how player-NPC conversations would be handled, as opposed to how they are now, and everything about the style of conversation can remain unchanged by keeping the text input window, but instead placing it in the pop-up vice tying it to the area chat.

Tekkamansoul: I've raised this point a few times... we're roughly 6 months out from the projected RELEASE date, and all of what you say is true, with 4 more ALPHA releases to go that take us 3 and a half months closer to that release date. So BETA is going to be what... 4 months? I really doubt it. Look back at UO... that took two years to go from concept to release, at least, and probably a cost commensurate with what Richard is looking at for this project (don't know for sure, couldn't find any hard data on that). I look at what was available to test a few weeks back, and then at what they are wanting to present a completed product, and I don't see it being done in that time frame. Maybe I'm wrong and the next few releases will show they can crank up the juice when it comes down to it, but in all honesty, I just don't see it happening.

I, like most others, only want what Ultima first gave me when I was younger: a world that I could explore, characters that seemed to live and that I cared about, goals I could strive for and values in which I could personally invest myself. All of these were accomplished in much simpler systems and engines than the one currently being used, doing so now should not present such a major challenge that those that were initially promised cannot be delivered.

 

Thing is...what we get to test isn't what is actually done....there is a lot they haven't put into the test build I'm sure, since that's how games are basically built.

That doesn't however give me a warm feeling that the single player side is getting the same attention as the multiplayer side.

Yes a lot of systems overlap, but if they are designed first for MMO use then tacked onto the singleplayer side it will suffer.


Now, if you don't know what the feeling of Ultima is....sit down with U7 and dig in for a bit, you may get the idea.

 

So I haven't been worried personally. I think when they say that single player comes free with many of the systems going into multiplayer is true. However, I can understand the worry. Honestly I do expect companions will work the same way as they did in previous Ultimas. I don't expect this to be at the level some of the newer games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, which took this idea to great levels, but having some variation of this in SOTA should be possible. This might depend on how many companions they put in the game as the more AI's the more involved it would be. Now they have already said NPCs in general will not have the same interactivity, but they would improve this after launch. I take this to mean we might be lucky to have a work/sleep schedule, but there could still a few NPCs could have the easter egg of having an affair or boarding a Star Citizen ship in the woods.

As for the story, I think it will be there. I think side missions would suffer before they skip not releasing the content for the full story at launch. Of course, a few Kickstarters have done part 1 and part 2 (Broken Age and Broken Sword off the top of my head), but I think that depends on whether they want to try to release on time or delay the launch. Personally, I hope they delay the launch if they are not ready as I did not like the other games being broken up.

In the end, I wanted to post my support for the single player needs. I will be spending a good deal of time there myself since my life will probably not allow for the multiplayer involvement I would prefer. Having something to fill that Ultima void would be nice.

 

I really think a lot of people are confused as to what we want in the single player side, it's all about the feel of a complete game and not some single player MMO.


It has to feel like you are actually playing the game as the hero...the Avatar as you will.

It is a bit eye opening the amount of negativity viewed towards these threads some give this....there are very few single player threads compared to say...PVP threads.

I personally think it is due to the difference in wants between the UO crowd and the old ultima crowd....

That's not to say I'm all negative on the game, I'm heavily invested in it monatarily and time wise. I like the graphics personaly, they look good to me...character models could use work sure but overall I'm ok with things. Map doesn't bother me as I know it can be cleaned up.

For the record: I haven't played since alpha, but I have read everything I can on the forums. This is due to me being deployed. This doesn't mean I cannot have an opinion on facts that the developers have said ei Companions will be simple. I don't make comments on control of the characters...well not that i can remember since I haven't played the newer releases. Still, I think it is relevant to at least have these discussions and get the Devs in here as well talking to us about some of these issues.

 

I think what it basically boils down to is people want to feel as if they can escape from the real world, traverse the portal, and connect to the game, and this is achieved by a more lifelike environment, world, people than with just material (or in this case immaterial) possessions.

Why do people have/feel a connection to the Ultima series? It wasn't/isn't due to the cutting edge graphics, or housing, or crafting or combat, and while I can't speak for others, for me at least it was because the Ultimas I've played presented a world that felt alive. It was the feeling of a literary masterpiece that was finally interactive, as if you were not just an observer of the story, but a part of it. It sucked you in, and captivated you.

For a lot of the Ultima series, it's still very playable today, once you convince people the story and immersion will captivate them too if they'll let it.

I guess that's part of what I'm looking for in SotA, a timeless piece that years from now will still have a compelling enough reason to pull it out, dust it off, and show all the young kids what a real masterpiece of a game is capable of being, not just some Call of Warcraft Battlefield Haloquest Creed or such graphic knockoff with housing(yeah I know it's not that... but... sometimes...).

 

Greetings!
First, know that I am listening and reading all of this important thread.
Second, me and the team agree with most of the concerns raised here, and feel we are mostly on top of these things... (though not entirely).
Third, while most of the team is building code, art and maps... it has been MY task to write the story (with Tracy) including the challenge / reward / and cost for playing "well" or straying from the path.

On this point, I feel we are on track, with the usual development cycle where the story concept comes 1st, then the systems get in second, and the story is refined to best take advantage of the systems as implemented.

- Richard / LB

 

Great to hear, My Liege!

 

Please let us know how/when we can help! We are only wanting the best possible game world to live and breathe in

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I am sure everyone appreciates it.

Now I must revert back to my "forum" personality and be the bad cop.

How does anything of what you just posted address the original questions over the concerns of the SP experience being overshadowed versus the MP experience?

You say the team "are mostly on top of these things", how? In what way?

The latest information we have on the topics @Bubonic brought up were addressed partially in a few of the week long standups but are the actual reason this thread exists: the sound of the direction of things like Companions was being downplayed and put on a back burner of sorts.

How does that resolve the SP experience concerns as we grow towards release?

 

I have a lot of faith in you guys, it's why I backed you.

I grew up on ultima, they weremy defining games as a child.

Don't take my complaints(and I assume others) as us being overly critical or being nay sayer. I'm currently over seas on a military deployment and following every juicey new bit that gets put out to us.

All I am doing here is showing my candle light for an area of the game that is very important to me.

Please don't forget to bring back a version of the virtues for us oldtimers...shrines and all.

 

*Falls to his knees, arms raised to the sides, palms up* My Liege!

Seriously. Thank you Richard. It feels good to get one of these "hey, we're listening" posts every once in a while. It puts a great deal of my fear to rest, just knowing that you are aware and looking at the issues.

 

This is why I love this mode of game development that SOTA and SC have going, the big names get down in the forum trenches every now and then to pass on gems of valuable information, to let people know that they are listening, and to put out fires when chaos is running amok in the forums.

 

I don't see this thread as chaos...I see it as a good collection of fears that should be noted by the devs so they don't lose focus on what some of us really want.

 

This thread is far from chaos. I was making a generalized statement in response to the man himself losing in it.

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