Population Concerns

I don't personally think AOE grinding is the most effective way to get multiple GM skills in the most efficient manner, but that may have changed significantly since I was last pushing grinding to max levels instead of just building the character I want. It is a great way to build up massive amounts of exp, but that's different than the most efficient use of time to GM lots of skills. Gustballing skills with massive amounts of xp is not very efficient (not assuming you are gustballing, I just know there aren't 40+ AOE spells/attacks).

 

1. Everyone here has mentioned some really good and valid explanations for "player absence".

2. However, we should also consider there are some "industry standards" for player absence... these standards give known and predictable NORMS for EXACTLY how much gamers are likely to game, and how often, and for how long.

Some of these issues of "player absence" may be due to development issues, but some of the numbers are just due to NORMAL gaming statistics. Not everyone plays all the time, and people get bored, and people take breaks etc. etc.

Right now I would expect the devs are continually comparing these industry standards against the daily numbers they see in SotA.

3. Since it is NORMATIVE to have player absence, we have all the more reason to be concerned with bringing in new players, and seeing a game developed that will have a broad appeal.

* So... it isn't a huge concern if we have people missing. But it IS a concern if those numbers are drastically different than industry norms.

* It's also a concern if we ever take the game in directions that will have no appeal to new players... as a game always needs new players.


On the other hand... some players may be missing because the devs are actually just a secret tribe of modern cannibals who use the player accounts to track down victims at home and eat them after baking them into enormous pies with a frilly crust. But ya know... that's just a theory.

 

And I doubt that SotA's numbers are drastically differening from industry norms at this point. I said it back on page one, the fall is not a good time to be judging a game that (launched) in the summer or speculating the reasons behind it. Although if I had to make a couple guesses I'd say the biggest problems right now are lack of content, which is acceptable, and excessive trolling warding off new playerbase.

 

That could be.

We really have no way to know unless the devs want to release activity numbers.

It's fair for all of us to have subjective opinions, and to voice our concerns if the game seems empty... that's all fair and good.

We just have no way to know where we really stand unless the devs release the numbers.
And the devs aren't necessarily obligated to do that.

 

There's really nothing to compare SotA to in some ways, given that it has instances, single player online, etc etc. And tbh I can't even run the multiplayer mode without crashing on this laptop so I hardly use it. But my estimate is based on map size, forum activity and discord activity as well as some information obtained in this thread, and content that requires larger population, which there isn't much aside from a few bosses. As far as it goes for PvP, it's again hard for me to judge, but at this point there's many players who aren't established yet, or don't know where the hotspots are. So you're right, there's no way to know, but it doesn't seem that bleak to me for fall. Just seems like some people are getting the wrong impression about a sharp decline after a summer launch.

 

I have the same problem. I go "home" about 1/week. Once the death penalty is active...I'm not sure what will happen. It will likely be less attractive to live there. Vauban Pass sucks. There is no other way to put it.

 

There is an alternate route through the Graff Gem Mines. Or was. I haven't taken it since late R32 or early R33. I run through Vauban Pass, spamming self heal, if I want to go to my main home in Broochash.

Edit: Some time passed. Yep. Still there.

 

FWIW I would be willing to bet the powerlevelers all gain massive amounts of exp and then train a skill they want. I frequently hear the 1Mil pool remark... which to me is insane. I leveled to 50 or so with everything turned on (pool of 5K) and was really balanced but was missing alot of the passives because it was so slow to open the requirements. I then switched to grinding 1-2 skills (pool of 50-80K) which enabled me to get every skill in the game but maybe 3 currently. And all of those skills are generally 50+ or locked at 75 for my main trees (850+ in air). Hands down the best way to level in this game is turn off all your skills, stockpile exp and then turn on 1-2 skills that you really need (whether that be gustball or just macroing). It makes your character extremely powerful in a very short time which makes grinding more exp even easier. But there is a reason why people says 1Mil exp, its because you need fewer ticks to level up which if you are casting reg spells means less regs needed and it makes a terrible grind from 90-100 very fast.

In terms of single or AOE killing, that depends on your build and more importantly the mobs. I searched and searched for a good AOE spot with quick spawning mobs; melee mobs preferred or terrain that makes a ranged mob act like a melee (my spot has since been nerfed). After I raised all my bolts and their passives to 85+, I switched to single target spamming on 750HP mobs and they melt. But that was mostly because I was unable to find a new AOE spot that would come close to my old one. And I will add this: in almost every single MMO game I have played without question the fastest way to level has been to kill by AOE. You use the same mana to kill multiple enemies as you do one, the only key is whether you can survive the fight.

 

They would never do *burps* that for those of us who have invested large amounts of money *why yes another serving of long pork would be lovely*. I don't quite understand where rumors like this keep coming from. *stares at you closely and licks his lips with a disturbing smile*

Besides, they prefer a crimped crust over a frilly crust as it helps contain the juices slightly better.

 

My curiosity would be is it as effective total time wise. Yes the individual skill increases quicker when turned on, but are you taking into account the time to actually gain the upfront exp with skills off in addition to the skill on training time? No question on it being better for gaining xp, I'm just curious if it is significantly faster/effective for our skill use based design (as I said its been a few releases since I actually pushed for GM in anything).

**EDIT** Thanks for the good info, its always appreciated. 8^)

 

That is why you build very specifically up front and the rest just falls into place. My first weapon was polearm which hits 4 things at once. My primary skills for polearm was STR, the polearm AOE, discharge in lightning and that's all you really need. If I did it again, I might do 2H sword and use the blades AOE instead since blades is higher DPS. But really, those 2 skills and auto attack opened up every other skill in the game for me after I switched over to pool building.

Don't forget, the larger your pool, the higher your skill tick. So you might get 1/10 a bar at 10K pool and 8/10 a bar at 100K. There also seems to be a bonus in there for having a larger pool which is why people push for 1Mil.

To answer your time question, I could build up a pool of 40-50K in like 10-15 mins. I could then take that exp and raise a skill from 0-60 in like 10 mins. So 30 mins. later I have a skill now on my character that can be providing significant improvement. And don't forget that every point in a spell skill adds to attunement (every 10 points in a skill = 1 attunement). So quickly get your entire tree up and the whole tree is buffed... Do you see now how people can get incredibly strong over others and nerfing the mid-ranged people now is going to KEEP those people with a major advantage.

 

I don't play as much anymore because the grind is no longer fun, and that all I really have at the moment. I'm an archer and it just takes so much work to kill mobs when mining with all the misses and reduced crit. I could probably stomach that, except that the silver I mine is gobbled up like nothing when mastercraft training, which levels slower than it used to be, meaning I have to grind more.... and since mining is slower.... I'm not motivated. I spend a chunk of time milling around my house debating whether I want to bother with it all right now.

That's only half of it. My adventuring friends have moved on to other games for now. I know they'll come back when some new content or big changes hit, but there isn't any immediate pressure to grind for gold for raffle tickets this time around. But until then, my most trusted compatriots are missing, leading to less adventuring, fewer logins and a reduced amount of time in game in general.

 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the break down. It's appreciated.

 

I can't speak for others but only give my reasoning for not playing Sota at the moment.
Sadly, it's not a fun game to me. I feel like I'm playing some F2P app game with a store to get me to buy coto's for potions to make it barely bearable and playable. Having to watch a movie or play another game while I played Sota to keep myself from being bored to death got old. There's just no immersion and things to make one get lost in the game itself. The only thing I find fun is the housing aspect of the game. The core game mechanics such as combat, pve, pvp, loot, crafting, gathering, fishing....the constant grind no matter what you're doing, and the lack of real meaty content is concerning at this stage of the game and it's just plain bad design and implementation to me. I don't feel even a year more of work on the game will be able to fix the multitude problems Sota has. Do I wish and hope it would be better, aye I do, I spent thousands hoping it would be a good game in the end so I'm not here to put it down or wish it bad luck. I would like it to be a good game and see it succeed. It's neither a good RPG or Mmorp game. Some will say it's still alpha, but in my eyes Sota is released with persistence and what we have right now is the core game and we'll get some polishes here and there until they decide to market it as released. What we have, to me, is really disappointing and not fun. I will still check in from time to time, but I don't see it improving much. It's just not the game I think it could have been and what I feel Ultima and Ultima Online fans like myself were sold on and was expecting.

 

I think this is the downside to such early release.

Some people have been playing the game for years (in various stages) .. and by the time it is fully "released" they will just be done with it .. having done everything already several times over.

 

http://steamcharts.com/app/326160

The trend is downwards there and it correlates with my observation. EU timezone is a wasteland. Just like the OP said the guild I am in is hardly active anymore.

The only people left playing there are guys that pledged 2k or more. All "normal" level pledges left the game or some never have started playing it and friends gave me their accounts to share them around. It is really sad but maybe a commercial release with lots of adverts can change it in the future, presumed the current reviews get a lot better. No need to advertise until steam reviews or reviews on other MMO Sites get a more positive feedback.

Frankly I am just here because I got lots of money in this. Otherwise I wouldn't care and jump ship like most seem to have according to statistics On the positive the experience cured me from the fanboy feelings I had towards LB and Darkstarr. Chris is my new hero here and keeps the hope alive

 

True the core game is being made here, that has to happen before the rest can be added to it. That is perhaps the most difficult thing to fathom. We aint seen nothin' yet and all the while people forget, yes me included at times, that this isn't it. The process of making this game has to get from here to there. Imagine after the core systems are in when the freedom to just go back and add, add, add. There is no way in a zillion years I would take back my investment. I gave it freely for a dream of a game that could be 'the' game. Now realistic or not realistic who knows, but I still stand by Shroud of the Avatar. So no matter where people are mentally during the developing of this game is truly ok for where they are in life atm. This is just where I am.

 

This.

 

The thing that gets me is there is so much discussion about population decline. YET....there are massive amounts of people grabbing up and cashing in on their land plots....placing houses and such. Tons of people buying up tickets to get lot deeds. From what I see majority of the POTS are empty. PRTs are empty for the most part as well. NPC towns are filled up. So if there is such a decline in population where are all these people that have placed, bought or what not . I usually stay in SPF mode but recently started playing in multi. Yes I dont see alot of people out and about but i do see some. Everyone has their niche of what they want to do, live and adventure. So to say there is a decline is not totatlly true. Just they dont go where you go. If folks are taking time off and waiting for the BIG reveal then so be it. I will not worry about it. Never have never will. I play for myself and the few friends i have. If they choose not to play then its their deal.
Not my circus...not my monkeys

 

Only reason I placed my house is because I spent ~$550 on this game. Placing my house is the most I've played in months. That really doesn't signify much. But on the other hand, if all you care about in this game are you are your few friends, that's good. Many people, however, wanted to play a bigger game with a large population to meet new people and adventure with.