How many hours should you invest to be part of an online world?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Vyrin, Aug 12, 2013.

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  1. Vyrin

    Vyrin Avatar

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    I have generally shunned MMO's because of the time commitment. Dislike the feeling of being "left behind" because I can't log in every day and spend all my waking hours on gaming. Therefore, I've always played more single player RPG's I can complete at my own pace.

    So I'm asking for other's experience because I really would like to be a regular part of the SoTA online world. How many hours per week do you think that will take? Does it require being there every day? What are the advantages/disadvantages of spending more/less time... do games have a "sweet spot" of time investment, ie when you get to a certain point any additional time spend does not really help your progress in game and is perhaps just social.

    Please give me your opinion...
     
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  2. Bowen Bloodgood

    Bowen Bloodgood Avatar

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    This maybe over simplified but.. how ever many as it takes for you to enjoy it.

    As for being part of the community I think it's more important to find people you enjoy playing with who are understanding of your schedule and life outside of the game.
     
  3. Erth

    Erth Legend of the Hearth

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    I think you'll be pretty safe with SotA. LB has mentioned on numerous occasions that he wants to have a game that allows mechanics based largely off player skill. There will be levels or other advancement type mechanics, but someone with a level spread of 10+ different from another player should still be able to hold their own in adventuring, pvp, and the like.

    In other words, this game might be right up your alley!
     
  4. LoneStranger

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    Just play to have fun. Don't worry about keeping pace with anyone. Experiment with different play styles. Don't be a jerk. Talk to strangers. No matter how fast you go, there will always be someone who is doing something better or faster than you. If you try to keep up, you might miss something interesting. Did I mention have fun?
     
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  5. rild

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    I have suffered from the same affliction, Vyrinor, and I hope you won't be discouraged by it. There will be so many different things to explore in SotA. The investment in RP infrastructure is crucial to making all types of play fun. Obviously, time investment will be a factor in success. However, RG has said from the beginning one of his goals is to let both the fanatics and the casual players be involved.

    With the selective population options, you may even be able to find a group of folks who have similar schedules or time allowances as you. I imagine there will be out-of-game resources that will act similarly to the group-finders on WoW, and you can find people to add to your friends list, even if only for temporary adventuring.

    Of course, even hardcore players appreciate seeing a friend. Especially one they don't see every day! Double-especially if he's the only one who grows those magic beans!! I won't hold it against you.
     
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  6. LORD CHAOS

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    Yes, playing to have fun should be your main goal!!! I've had the most fun playing RPG's at my own pace and helping others like me rather than spending countless hours per day trying to appease some guilds requirement, thus feeling burned out. The more you go at your pace, the more you are bound to love it.
     
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  7. licemeat

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    I am going to grind 9 - 16 hours a day. It's going to be awesome.
     
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  8. Owain

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    You are not in competition with anyone but yourself. If someone advances faster than you, why should you care? Maybe you are getting more out of the game than they. There will be people who may have more time to invest, and advance faster than you, but there will be people who start after you as well. Should they resent you because you started before they did?

    Associate with people at your own level. If you advance faster than them, or they advance faster than you, you should still remain friends with them, but you can then meet other people at your same level.

    There will always be people in the game who are at the same stage of the game as you, and there will be people behind you, and people ahead of you. There is no ideal time to spend, other than the time that matches your individual schedule and player style.
     
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  9. Mystic

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    This is the nice part about the way that SotA is setup. It's got more of a single player game feel than an MMO in many aspects so you really can decide for yourself how many hours a week you want to play. The only thing I really see "falling behind" in is house placement and getting the really good spots.
     
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  10. Vyrin

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    It hadn't occurred to me to play this game for fun or enjoyment... :p

    Question still stands as to how much time people invest to make the fun or enjoyment happen. Too little it feels like you miss too much and are not part of the world, too much and real life starts to suffer. I know it's different per person. Was just curious.
     
  11. LoneStranger

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    You're right. It's up to the person. It's not really a question you can ask others, unless you're trying to figure out if you're normal.

    I'll answer that right now... no one is normal here. :)
     
  12. licemeat

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    You want to place a castle? You better grind to have those skills to have the most money first. Skill train your toon for a ton of hours! Put on Joe Esposito's "You're the best around" and get a big bag of meth. You'll be there no time, champs!
     
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  13. Dame Lori

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    What is too little or too much translates into different hours for different people. Investing 1-2 hours every day for me would probably make my real life suffer. The same can't be said for school age kids or folks that have more time allotted to the hobby of gaming. When the game is new, I will likely assign more free time to it and it will taper off.

    It also depends on what you consider fun, if you are planning to be a fighter or crafter, what your goals in the game are, if you are happy just playing or you can not be happy unless you are famous/the best carpenter/etc... if you will be playing with friends or in a guild, how often THOSE people are playing, etc etc.

    It will also depend on the game itself and we are too early in development to make calls based on that.
     
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  14. rild

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    With my schedule I tend to eek out a little social check-in time daily, but serious play comes in 4-8+ hour stretches when I find a day off I can really devote to questing and such. Occasional all-nighters. In other games, I'll get my stuff set up for crafting ahead of time and use my short sessions to craft and buy/sell. I feel more productive that way.
     
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  15. Vyrin

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    Thanks for the couple real examples... it helps since my friends don't play mmo's either.
     
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