Will you be part of a Kickstarter/Pledge for the next Episode release?

Ask me in Q1 2017 when the game gets released.


I know LB is working on this stuff himself. Let me give you a little secret I learned.

You know this game will be in trouble when Richard starts backing off it and kinda moving on. That seems like his M.O. in games that have failed. Right now the guy is out their working hit buttox off still for Shroud doing interviews all over the place and non stop talking about it in social media. This tells me absolutely great things about the future of this game very much against all the complainers.

Then finally, people really should stop complaining about this game. Complainers are losers. Provide solutions to issues you are having instead of complaining. The Dev's want to here SOLUTIONS to help. They are absolutely open to any solutions 24x7 and I hammer them myself more then any one.

I hammer these guys more then anyone and I have actually seem my hammering making dents and changing things in game. The dev's listen.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0/description

Since I was part of the original kickstarter and have a fairly high royal founder pledge, I 'may' consider it should there be some benefit. Anyone who pledged EXPLORER or higher expected to receive all 5 full episodes of the game. According to the above kickstarter page, there were at least 669 people at that level (not counting those in higher pledge tiers).

So hopefully there will be more incentives to those of us who have been taking the risk from the beginning

 

"We're still in alpha..." is such a great catch-all, isn't it?

The game is advanced and in a persistent state. To still call it alpha... not even beta... does a disservice to all the games out there which use the terms correctly during their development.

Of course, anyone with a pair of eyes can see why. When you're 'still in alpha', you can get away with anything in the eyes of some... broken stuff... awful combat... whatever. It just goes on and on.

"But, but, but... they're still adding stuff..." quote the true believers. Indeed, but what MMO, even those in a RELEASED state, isn't doing that? That's about all the answer that line of argument needs.

 

That's your opinion. I think the game is coming around perfectly fine. Combat is great (have you not seen the great PvP battles that people have?), I dont see much broken stuff at all that interferes with my happy game play.

You can claim whatever you would like to claim as to what the actual state of the game is but it does not change the fact.

 

Indeed, and you seem to say that a lot in replies so hopefully you realise that your responses are just your opinion, as well? So the same thing you use to put down my posts, applies to yours equally.

Combat, to me, is a hot mess. I've never seen worse combat in an MMO... and I've played quite a few from UO onwards. I find it clunky as hell. There's no fluidity. It really takes you out of the game.

Change what fact? That Port says the game is still in alpha? See, that isn't a "fact". That's marketing. That's a way to keep heat off their backs. The game is clearly beyond alpha by industry standards.

The move to a persistent world should have signalled a move to beta, at the very least. It's a fact that the game world is extensively built out and the game is persistent. To most, I believe, that's beyond alpha.

 

I would love to hear your opinion on what "good" combat is then...so far Shroud combat feels pretty similar to other successful games.

 

For starters, games with good combat give you access to your stats like evasion, crit rate, parry, and so on.

SOTA gives obscure stat bonuses, no total for crit % or crit power and also a poor feedback mechanic in the the combat log.

 

But we're not in Alpha anymore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often

Sounds like our current state and Portalariums strategy. I think we're doing fine. Despite the problems. Anyone who's had any experience with development will know it takes a LOT of work to get it right.

 

Can you tell that to the people who keep throwing it at me everytime I query why the game's not a hell of a lot better by now? TIA!

 

Lol. It doesn't really matter how many times anyone including the developers state that we are no longer in Alpha (and make no mistake, they have said with no uncertain terms that we are no longer using Alpha and Beta as game states... therefore we are no longer in alpha), there are certain community members who will continue brandishing that as a defense mechanism.

Even though we are now in a permanent live state and any player without a tax-free lot has to grind to pay taxes or risk losing their lot. And characters will no longer be wiped.

 

Been here since 2013 and it's a hell of a lot better. I guarantee that.

I remember it being so bad that I couldn't launch or FPS was so horrible I was better off playing CS:GO or Team Fortress 2. After release 10 things started to get better. And it's been consistently improving over the years since.

If you've only been around for a few months or a year, it's harder to see how far this has come.

 

Well, I've been around for years, too. While you can say the game has improved -- and I can agree with that -- my question is why it's not better than it is, right now. Regardless of any incremental changes over time.

 

Been here since the count down announcement. I'd have liked the game to be a lot more playable then it is now

 

All fine questions. I know they are a bit behind schedule. Perhaps we then should help guide them by letting them know as a community what we'd like to see next. They have worked on stuff when there is sufficient interest

BTW, I mean giving them specific things we're interested in not these broad generic comments which help guide nobody

 

Oh and I"m still not interested in a second kickstarter without seeing the carrot first. Already Episodes 1-5 were part of the kickstarter package at a certain level. There needs to be something more...

 

The episodes wont be their own games though right? I mean all these addons they have, would that just be "lost" when we move on the next episode? This game still seem to have a hard time deciding if it wants to be a growing online game or a single player episodic game.. which make me worried to get stuff from the addon store if ill just lose my investment when episode 2 comes out.

 

Hmmm, would be an interestion monetization opportunity. Everyone would have to buy everything again for each Episode!

 

I invested initially in the game years ago and increased my pledges over time because I could see what the game was, the form it was taking and the direction it was heading, and thought it would be something I'd enjoy for years to come, and I wanted to be a part of making that happen.

On that basis, as things stand now I will not be investing in a second kickstarter, as the direction things are heading now is toward increased grind & tedium, not something I'd see myself sticking with for years. If that changes, then I will certainly be throwing more money at it.

 

I gave a stupid amount of money in the first pledge, much more than I have ever spent on any other game and more than I am expecting to get back from the game in the near future. No, I wont be paying again, and then again next release and again the release after that. I was expecting when I invested early on that it would pay my way for the life of the game, from memory there was an option for cheaper access to only the first release and had I wanted partial access I could have bought that.

That said, if the pledge setup is different and adds real value I might buy a bundle of something that catches my eye.
If they are simply rebundling similar things to those I already have, that will be more useful to newer players than myself, and that is OK.
If however like an earlier post suggested new releases would include ocean battles or something interesting, then I might be very interested in a bundle that included a ship, or I might save up and buy a ship from a player that owned one.

If later in the games life there was a need for a reinvestment to cover a server upgrade or something I would be more likeley to throw some money in the hat with a specific aim in mind than I would be for access to the new content I am expecting.

 

No no. Let him do it. He has decided he wants to learn that way.Let him.