If I want to play with just my family, do I have to play "online?"

Well, mainly with the wife more than the daughter, though it would be fun if we can all play together. My wife will be major into crafting and decorating a house if she plays! So it would be kind of a must.

Also, re: "stay in an inn," I believe there are no "inns" or other temporary housing in the game. (per the FAQ) https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?page_id=19#faq_69

You either have land and a house, or you lie down in the street! Kinda tough, but that's the way it goes. Land will be an extremely hot commodity (if the game takes off, of course, and I sincerely hope it does!)

But in general of course you're right - it's smarter to try the game first and see if we all enjoy it.

As sane as that is, the problems with that approach are (1) then it will be too late to secure a rent-free plot of land (or probably ANY land, since it will likely all be claimed) and (B) less support for LB and his merry band as they develop the game.

To be honest, I'm leaning toward the monthly payment plan just to support the game's ongoing development. LB gave me a swell childhood, and I want to give something back.

 

I suppose to each their own, but for myself, with an entire new world to explore, a house is among the least of my concerns.

 

For myself, I absolutely agree! As I said in the original post, though, I am looking at this game as a possible way to spend some time with my family, sharing a common activity. I don't know if you have a wife and kids, but it becomes difficult sometimes to find an activity that everyone can enjoy together. I have plenty of video games that take me away from them; my hope is that this one will bring us closer.

A house would mean a greater interest level for them, that's all. I'm content with questing, exploring, and slaying monsters, but my wife is generally more interested in 'casual' gaming. She's spent innumerable hours playing games like Farmville, Viva Pinata, and recently something called 'Candy Crush.' I don't think that adventuring and exploring would really be her thing. As for my daughter, she'll be 6 1/2 years old; gathering wood in the forest with daddy so we can build furniture together is a lot more age-appropriate than killing trolls and so forth.

The game will be one of two things for me, depending on whether or not they're interested in playing. If they are, it will be a cozy family simulator, and yes, we'll need land and a house. If not, then I shall once again become the lonely adventurer making my own way in the world. In that case, my current pledge level (Collector) is more than enough to meet my needs. (I'll be playing solo in that case.)

 

Well, based on my experience in LotRO, they will have about 10 minutes of playing time in that house before they start asking themselves, "Why am I doing this again?" You'd better hope they have an interest in the game beyond that house, or yeah, you'll be hoofing it solo a lot.

 

My theory is that the devs know how useless instanced housing is, like that of LotrO as stated by Owain, and that is exactly why they aren't using instanced housing.

It has also been said that faimly members can share the same house, so no problems there. I also can't imagine the upkeep on a house would be so terrible that four casual players, or maybe one higher time and three casuals, couldn't afford the upkeep/tax or what ever you wish to call it.

 

Bdo7, you and I are on the same wavelength. I hope we both get enjoyment from this game, whatever that enjoyment is.

 

Indeed! I replied to your message.

Well, I got around to telling my family about the game. They seem interested, so I guess it's time to plunk down for a homestead. To be honest, I'm just happy for an excuse to hurl some money at LB.

Oh, and ON TOPIC:

I got an official response from our dear community manager about playing with people in my household: we will indeed need to create "online" characters. There will not be support for any sort of private LAN play. Of course, we can still play in privacy by using 'friends mode,' but we will need to play on SotA's official server in order to have any sort of multiplayer.

Makes sense, as anything else would constitute a private server and lead to all sorts of shenenigans.

 

Which brings up the question of private servers oops looks like the answer to bdo7 would indicate there won't be private servers...

 

Well, normally I would say it's only a matter of time before someone gets them going, but since SotA won't have a monthly fee, there's not as much impetus for anyone to go to the trouble.

If they exist at all, it will just be to feed someone's power trip ("I HAVE MY OWN WORLD!! BWAHAHA! BOW TO MY RULES!") Servers like that usually self-destruct for obvious reasons.

I'd rather play on official servers anyway, given the choice. I ran a WoW server for a little while (as in: a day or two) just for me and my wife to mess around in, but it was HORRIBLY buggy and broken compared to the real thing. As we both had real accounts and were paying our fees every month, I didn't feel bad for giving it a try. But... it sucked.

 

You know...hmmmm...

You wish to play with your family which includes a young daughter. Explorer Hygard Jels expressed the same thing. You now learned that you have to play online using "friends mode." Have you perhaps given any thought to creating a guild specifically for parents with younger children that wish to play? This way, you can expand your friend's list with like-minded people who share similar goals. With more people, perhaps your children can venture further from town (in a group with parents). You can set up scavenger hunts. Poetry contests (since I think we can write in books). Maybe get the kids into animal taming and start a little farm on your property. Really...options are limitless. And since there will be parents around, it may give individuals a little more time to strike out on their own for a bit. Maybe hit the tavern for a beer or three.

The game is what you make of it...so, just food for thought...

 

That isn't a bad idea Knoxinn...my kids are grown but, Ill bet there are parents with kids at home who would like to play together for sure.

 

Being that Shroud isn't a monthly fee game, I don't really see private servers really being much of an issue. Plus, with the client itself being programmed a certain way so that all clients work as the server, not sure it would be easy to change. I actually really like the idea of being able to host over a LAN though.

 

Wow, you laid down some amazing ideas there. My initial purpose is to spend more time with the family I already have, lol... but if we get bored and want to meet some more people and expand our circle, your suggestion has some amazing potential. I never would have thought of that!

Online play group... online version of moms' day out (shopping! hide the gold, lol)... online field trips... even day care! Maybe some people could even make a cottage industry out of that... if they put some effort into designing activities that would keep kids engaged and entertained while mom & dad go off to loot a dungeon somewhere, it would definitely be worth some coin! I'll bet there are some RL teachers who will be playing. Whether or not they want to 'work' on the weekends or the evenings might be another story, haha. But gold is gold, and this gives an additional group of real-life skills a way to translate into in-game profit. I like it!

Now for the icky bit, though:

The reality is that there is always the risk of predators creeping into anything like that... some monster multi-boxing so as to appear to have his own kids, then he's sending private messages to yours... ick. I wish I didn't think of things like that, but when I think of my kids + the word "online" anything, I can't help it. I wonder if there will be private messaging (I'm sure there must be) and whether it can be disabled for an account. Hmm. I would love to say that there will never be people like that playing our glorious game, but I'm just not that young and stupid. There will be.

Sorry for the gloomy rain cloud!! It really is a great idea, just something which would require an excess of caution, that's all. Just like the rest of parenting, really.

Great idea, mate. Mentally bookmarked for later development.

 

Yeah, Knoxinn, that's a cool idea! I agree with what bdo7 said about caution, and I think like you said it would take monitoring. But that is the same as with anything our kids do - online or offline.

2nd mental bookmark.

 

Oh man...I didn't even think of that. Wow, that is a bunch of creepiness. But you and Explorer Hygard Jels are right...can't be too safe when it comes to your children. *shakes his head and thinks "...sometimes this is a dark world in which we live..."*

On the brighter side (because my SotA glass is half full), we are at least a year from launch. There's still the Alpha and Beta. And the community here, overall, seems pretty cool. So, you know, plenty of time and ways to meet people and get a sense if they're on the level and if they're "kid-worthy." And the more that I think about it...you two guys shouldn't have much of a problem. Thinking ahead and considering how to protect your children and making sure that they have positive experiences shows character. Good people gravitate towards people with character. You two should be golden. I'm sure you'll find plenty of families just like yourselves.

Also...don't forget to hit up the strong RP guilds closer to launch. I'm sure they would be willing to work with family-orientated groups. You know, put on a little play, bring a traveling circus through, a magic act, a petting zoo, etc. RPers are creative. Mention you want to give your kids a great positive experience and I'm sure they'll bend over backwards.

 

Another great idea. Yeah, my SotA glass is half full, more than that, with goodness. We just gotta protect our kiddos.

 

Thank you for that! Appropriately, it was an Ultima game that first made me decide, way back at a young age, to try to live the kind of life you describe. I wouldn't call myself "good," because I'm as human as the next one, but it's all about trying. To me, "virtue," as I learned it from Lord British, is all about living intentionally. BUT I digress! (Sorry! What a windbag I am.)

Another great idea. What, did you find the tree that they grow on or something?

 

I agree. I was mildly disappointed when I found out that local multiplayer isn't supported; I would love to be able to invite other Avatars to my own offline world.

 

I think part of the problem would be that we'll be able to mod single player. That can lead to aspects of cheating in the game and since you wouldn't be able to connect to through the main server to detect cheating... not that it would matter as much on a LAN game because you'd likely be limited with the number of people using it, but still...

 

...but there is software that lets anyone, anywhere connect to a LAN (i.e. Hamachi).

So basically, someone could start a private server and lure people away from Portalarium's official world, which would hurt revenue for whatever kind of cash shop or whatever their business model turns out to be.

Probably not going to happen officially, although I'm sure someone will create a hack sooner or later. (It's not officially possible to run WoW on a private server, but people do it.)

For me, I'm staying faaaar away from anything not endorsed (and more importantly, supported) by Portalarium. It probably won't work right anyway.