Pay-to-Win, Grind, rich people..Am I doing something wrong?

I have been following the development of SOTA since Kickstarter and I am a modest Royal Founder Artisan.
During the development I have seen a small but steady improvements and the mechanics now are somehow similar to UO which is in my opinion very good for this game.

On the other hands I am noticing that the game became extremely unbalanced between who's willing to invest real money into the game and who's not. I see people already with 100k or 1000k of gold and even more, then I check the store and I understand that I can buy gold COTO sell it in game (1 COTO=1000GP) and basically have the best gear, houses, rares, all resources to macro all the crafting skills without any effort.

Furthermore almost all lots are already taken, this means that I will not be able to get one even if I bought long time ago a house from the store. To make it even worst there is a steep daily price to pay in gold, which I cannot afford.

Now, my question is am I doing something wrong? I have a family and I am working my ass off during the week. I can play several hours during the weekend. This means that I cannot enjoy SOTA? Should I sell my account? (I'd like to hear your suggestion). I can make maybe 1000GP in 1 hour with some cotton and skin collected, this would mean that even if one day I would be able to get a land lot I would have to play to pay taxes? I am already working to pay taxes, I would rather enjoy the game.

It looks to me that or you play multiple hours a day + invest real money or you cannot really fully enjoy and experience this game. Please do correct me if I am wrong. Thank you if you read until here and if you will answer with some suggestions on how can I improve my SOTA experience or just sell the account.

 

It's easy to make 1000's of gold per hour. You can buy anything you want with in-game gold. If you can play for a few hours a week, what's not to enjoy?

 

If you play the game to play the game your amount of gold in your bank is irrelevant. True you need some to advance and get resources to continue on but you can do this thru normal game play.

Now if you meaning in the game is a huge house on your own private island then you will not be able to achieve this without a larger investment.

Playing the game alone is more than enough to maintain you char and advance.

I suggest you go out and train some skills, explore the lands around you. Make some friends who can help you out in exploring and adventuring, and not worry about who has what size house or how much gold they have in their bank.

 

In a game where nothing matters except the size of your house, the only way to have fun is to not care. But then, I'm not sure what you'd do with the rest of your time. Perhaps this is not the game for you (or the majority of sane people...)

 

I think it will help a great deal when more of the content is released and there are actually things to do besides grind, shop, craft, or socialize.

 

There is still pleanty of fun to be had for the have-nots.

You do not need a home to enjoy the game. You don't even need gold to have a great time exploring, questing, etc.

I work and have a family to raise, too. I don't think about giving up just because my boss has a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood. I just enjoy what I do have. I feel like the same applies here.

Just go have fun! You have a RF account and a beautiful new world to explore.

 

I don't care that someone has a bigger house or better armor. I care that there exists a sizable population of hungry people. People who want more and better stuff. People who will drive crafting, PvP, and exploration.

My concern isn't pay-to-win. It's pay to opt out of the game and sit around in a big doll house.

 

My friend, your SOTA experience is just that; your SOTA experience. What I have, or the next avatar has, is not relevant to your experience. You can do PvP if you like; or never do PvP. You can do PvE; or never, if you like. Be a crafter! Be a ????

Neither a house nor fancy armor makes your SOTA experience relevant. What you make of it, does. In my opinion.

 

I'm going to side with ilcongentis here. I bought in early and got a village deed add on with a 2 story - now it's 1,000 GP a day to pay my taxes? I'm getting 10-15gp per drop in Highvale, 1,000 a day is going to be an hour or two A DAY just to pay my taxes. At this point I'm thinking it's smart to just wait out the first wave of house placers / delinquent tax payers and get a spot when a lot of houses get repossessed.

 

Personally still struggling to earn at this rate.

 

Yea, especially since the wipe, how is a new player going to afford taxes for add on lots? Am I going to lose my house/lot asap? What is going on with these tax rates?

I paid something like $200 USD for this lot & house. What happens if I go on vacation and can't pay? What happens to my deed and stuff in my house?

 

?

 

We're not sure yet I think, because the system isn't in game yet. However I do know for sure that if you lose your house due to unpaid taxes, all your stuff including the house and deed will be put into the bank for the city the house is located in so you don't lose any of that.

 

I'm hoping and expecting that as players become more familiar with the game, as one's character matures and as Portalarium rounds out and balances SotA's systems that earning maintenance gold will become easier. I'm guessing that most players are still pretty low level characters and earning should be hard at first else it's too easy later.

 

My bank is already full, and my character is a week old?

 

Man, this is tough to take in. I have to farm, at minimum, one hour a day to keep my $200 USD house? I don't know lads, this may be the last straw. Thanks for the answers.

 

Alternatively, you buy 1 COTO from in-game or from the add-on store (or use the one that come with the pledge) to pay off one week tax for Row lot.

It's a bit a pain that they increase the tax rate and also nerf some of the gold generating locations (thanks to those who bragged about making too much money).

The volatile tax rate is the reason why I upgrade my pledge to the tax free lot, so that I don't have to worry about it.

 

Well, can you enjoy life without having several racing yachts, your own diamond mine in Africa, your own fashion line, a personal harem, and enough money to buy a couple members of congress?

Do you have to be in the top tier of wealth to enjoy something?

Even will 1mm gold in game, you couldnt do anything with lots of houses without lot deeds. Lot deeds in game will be auctioned from this point on. Nothing stops you from getting a Player Owned Town deed, and living in a PoT. Also, I dont see how having lots of money automagically lets you "macro all the crafting skills without any effort." That actually sounds like you'd get the banhammer.

Again, you can live in a PoT. In fact, there is likely way more housing available via PoTs than there are players to fill them. There will also be roughly 30% more NPC town space available than there were lots sold, once the land rush ends. While this aspect is still being balanced, Port claims to always ensure only a few hours of gameplay are required to pay lot taxes.

Again, does housing in SotA = happiness to you? Or does playing the game make you happy?

Nope.

Nope! Remain active and a member of this outstanding community!

Feel free to enjoy the game! Dont burden yourself with game mechanics you dont enjoy.

I believe this is untrue. Well, you do have to invest $45. You do have to play the game to enjoy it. Otherwise, you dont have to devote as much personal resources as you think to have fun. If you care about nothing beyond housing (which in itself is reasonable), perhaps you would like The Sims or Second Life better. Housing is but one aspect of the game. Killing undead is actually more central to the game, give that a try instead, then reflect on your perspective of what you enjoy.

Youre welcome, and were glad youre considering your position, and considering staying in game! A tip I would suggest: get very social, meet some people, join a guild, check out the Hospitaller's program, and its likely someone will friend you to a house you can use. Interacting with other players > decorating a house.

 

Agree with what others have already said. Someone with limited time obviously won't be able to keep up with everyone in areas where time is a vital component to progression, but that doesn't mean that you can't still have fun when you play if you aren't worried about keeping up with the Joneses.

I do think there is an extra layer of disadvantage for casual and time limited players that comes with real time mechanics. Potions that give buffs with durations based in real time are a better value for people who play more, because they will get more actual buff time in game. The same goes for tax payments that grant property benefits in real time increments. In the case of property taxes, there might not be much choice since property has a lot of benefits that the owner doesn't have to be logged on to enjoy, but I think that having as few things as possible with benefits that scale to play time would be good.

 

This.

@ilcontegis you're right and not doing anything wrong. The game is severely incomplete and this is the problem with bringing in a persistent world so early. All that's in the game right now is a few quests, crafting and housing. The devs focused on what will bring in more money first to have capital to design and develop the rest.

I think once the storyline is playable and there is steady, planned, character progression, you could enjoy that and once done be in a good place skill wise and on your way to financial wealth and development.

Right now the only thing to do is spend money and craft, both things clearly not for everyone.

Personally I have great faith in the devs. I think they are aware and working on completing a great game. I'd say be patient until "official" release and play then.