Can we have a Project Update that is not trying to sell me something."

The only reason it seems like this is the focus, is because this is what players care about at the moment.


I want to know what my lord tier house will look like, and I want to know what sort of bells/whistles will be available to make it so I can be how I want to be on the game.



The combat / gameplay mechanics take a backseat to being able to properly tweak myself.

 

I hope you're right. I must say that all indications have been otherwise up to this point.

 

@Joviex
No, I am saying that based on the scope of their business they can use all the money they can get. If you feel they are shoving it down your throat then that is fine. I'm just saying that for a startup company trying to do what they are trying to do, they are far from "greedy" or "money hungry" as some people around here seem to be implying. Keep in mind, they haven't reached the point of making a "profit" yet as a company, atleast not on SotA I mean. The crowd funding is to replace the contribution a publisher would give them as a startup company creating a game, and btw a publisher would have invested quite a lot more than 2.6 mil for a game of this size and scope. Who are any of us to try and dictate what their needs may be as a company? The creation of SotA is only one facet of it.


Until seeing the complaints on the forums, it never even crossed my mind that they were pushing for more money. Showing houses is something that alot of people have asked for, plain and simple, and a fishing pole that I swear I didn't even notice they mentioned. At no point did they pitch for people to go donate for the houses they were showing. I think that it was done very respectfully, if not unintentionally.



I just don't see it. Probably going to have to just agree to disagree with people for now. Like I said when we start seeing pay to win features ,then lets talk.

 

It's easier to show off housing and player-choice-related stuff than it is to show off the combat mechanics in detail at this point, since it's only 6 months in.



besides, if the game is just all combat and no fluff, I don't really want to play, anyways.

There are enough 3D clicky killy RPG-like games out there already. I need something different.

 

*yawn* No worries! It's fund-raising time! See same type of link reply below.
Concerned About Housing

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/concerned-about-housing.3301/#post-52026

 

How about they SELL THE GAME? How about that for a plan to make money, they got the money they said they needed to make the game so now how about instead of turning it into a fee to pay game and acting like EA they make the game an sell the game?

 

I agree up to a point that they have been pushing housing a little too hard... as has been said, they've been giving a very mixed message about housing. One minute they have said that only about 20% of players will have housing, that it's just a "shiny" extra... then the next they say that housing will be a major part of the game. If it's the former, then the add-on store direction doesn't bother me at all. If it is a major part of the game, however, it does trouble me a bit.

I think, however, that it's just a case of "this is what they're working on right now, so it is what they have available to push". We are not yet used to seeing the cyclical nature of game development as it happens. Keep in mind, SotA (and Star Citizen) are essentially trail blazing an entirely new process/approach to creating a game. They deserve a little slack. They will make mistakes; it's inevitable. They are all human, and this is a whole new area. But we put our money behind them for a reason; because we believe they are capable of meeting the challenge.

As such, yes, if we see something we think is problematic, it bears pointing out. However, it doesn't mean we should get nasty, or condescending, and certainly not personally insulting. To the Portalarium folks, or each other.

 

What's the big deal about a company trying to fund their game ... Either buy something, or not, your choice.

What is it with people talking about a "fee to play game" etc. they offer optional add-ons, nothing more... Oh wow a $10 fishing pole that doesn't need repair (outragous advantage, pay to win blah blah blah).

An optional house, an optional whatever... This is so far away from pay to win, fee to play and whatnot it's not even in the same universe.

*edited for content* ~ FireLotus

 

If you don't want it, don't buy it. I backed the game at 'founder' level, but I'm not angry over buying housing and basements etc... I've posted before that I played UO without housing and I loved the game. I haven't bought a property in SotA and I still plan to enjoy the game. There's enough real life issues I deal with I'm not going to worry about what they are charging for in the game.

 

This has been a big problem lately. So many people are willing to argue about speculation and it doesn't make sense to me. Everytime I feel my tone getting aggressive I have to take a moment of pause. Type what you mean or think, but try not to make it personal.

 

My personal take on the housing thing is to realize the main benefits to the higher level tiers is bigger lots and better houses. This creates a prime market and means to get folks to buy into the game this early. This is why housing has been at the front of the punchlist; doesn't mean the mundain things like network architecture and game save schemes aren't being worked on, it's just that those things are required for a game and really aren't all that sexy.

Housing is mysterious, we really don't know what the overall availability is going to be, right? Do you wait for the numbers to be announced or do you take the risk and pay the cash now? It's been stated over and over that it's NOT required to enjoy the main plotline and if the current "guesses" are accurate, that will have to do for the 80% (20,000+ people) that won't get a lot for Ep 1. We'll have banks and places to store out junk for crafting, we'll have expert public crafting facilities, we'll have public vendors of some sort; a house is above and beyond.

And yet there are some that feel a house is "needed" to really be part of a persistent world (yes, that's me!) so for me it was the Dev+ enticement AND getting to own real in-game property (sounds silly, I know).

Did you also notice that we are now unsure about limits on certain tier levels? Baron sold out and was extended. Not sure what to read into that. If I'm eyeballing a jump to Lord level, how soon do I need to pull the trigger? Will I miss the opportunity or will they open a Lord 2 tier? This all feels very calculated to me, they are continuing to push for additional monies. I have no problem with that, it's all part of the "investment" game we are playing here. And it's all optional. If you don't like it, wait for the game to release, read the reviews, decide then and get in when you feel comfy.

Anyway, I will continue to hope for more Dev+ involvement in the coming months. As always, we offer our services to make this a better game for all.

 

Most of the posts on MMORPG.com forums reference misconstrued, misrepresented, outdated or just plain wrong information, all with a healthy heaping of animosity and residual hatred for RG over Tabula Rasa (still).

I wouldn't worry about what is being said over there. SotA is still in good hands.

 

You misunderstood me. In fact, I don't even think you read my post correctly. Obviously RG's personal finances have nothing to do with the business, I was pointing out that some financial transparency on the part of the company isn't asking too much, in contrast to the obviously ridiculous hypothetical demand that someone provide their personal ledger to the internet. My point is this: it would be nice, as "investors", if we were given a more revealing look at how our money is being used. It doesn't seem like a lot to ask, it would assuage any doubts most reasonable people might have, and it would foster trust on the part of backers who might be willing to contribute more in order to see the game through to completion. In fact, "microtransactions" (if we can call these that) wouldn't even bother me that much if this were the case, as it would more clearly show that the reward for purchases is not only a house ingame, but the existential health of the game in general.

Not even sure where to start with this. Why are we comparing Portalarium to EA? Totally different companies with totally different motives, the latter of whom's are highly questionable, to say the least. I don't want to fund another EA, that's the point of being here?

On the other hand, I actually think most people are well aware that it takes a considerable amount of money to make a large scale video game. But hey, you know what would help bring around those who are not? *see above*

You're throwing around a lot of vague terms and avoiding saying anything of substance. It comes off as pedantic condescension and it's more harmful to your cause than it is helpful. If you think that what I'm proposing is unreasonable then that's fine and you're welcome to express why you think so, or even ignore me outright, but what you're actually doing thus far is suggesting that we should just shut up and dump money into a black box because we just don't know what you know, man. That's clearly not the only alternative. It's cynical and doesn't even reflect what I believe to actually be the sentiment at Portalarium.

Let me also reiterate that I'm not flipping out over the sale of add-ons thus far. I'm saying that people have valid concerns and I'm arguing against the popular resistance to those concerns while suggesting that there is another way to go about this.

 

Well said there are plenty of AAA MMO's out there that look real pretty and are about a deep as a birdbath, they spend most of their budget on advertising and the developers get less and less creative controll. The more this games gets funded by us the more creative controll the dev's will have. Way too many complain no matter folks on these forums.

 

You guys... What do you want, an awesome game or a how-to course in accounting and finance in a video game company?

omg, can't be that you expect Portalarium to be even more transparent then they are now, you see how your money is used like once per week in their updates and the countless forum posts the devs make, isn't that enough?

 

Ahhh I got a good laugh out of this op. Thank you.

what a bright bunch on mmorpg.com

kudos to insanemembrane.

I think some of you and especially those on mmorpg are just panic merchants.

its only 6 months in.......

 

maybe we are being over critical in this thread, and others. All games have some kind of microtransactions, and it doesn't have to ruin the game. Even games for the playstation and xbox all seem to have DLC that causes people to pay small fees. It's just business.

Let's try to stop worrying. SotA will still have a great storyline and other than some things that are likely to change the content in the 6month video looks good. I'm going to try to do my best to focus on the good parts, because the negativity in the forums is a waste of my time.

 

C'mon guys, it's not all doom and gloom. They're just testing to see what works and what doesn't. This is the sausage making part folks. It's not just the product being created, but the whole development process that puts it all together.

And if anyone feels down because they think it's all about housing and crafting and microftransactions and fishing poles and whatever, here's a few links:

Virtues Hangout of the Avatar - video here, transcript here
Shroud of the Avatar Story Hour with Richard and Tracy - video here, transcript here
Shroud of the Avatar Dev Chat with Richard and Tracy - video here, transcript here
Story Sneak Peak #1, #2, #3, #4

Just remember, they are giving us an entire single player offline epic RPG. And if you want to take it online, the story gets even better as they are designing a rich and complex multiplayer story RPG that's going to blow us all away (seriously, watch the videos or read the transcripts above). Ignoring that, go play in the sandbox they're creating, with all of those other wonderful things like housing and crafting and fishing and guilds and yes, PvP.

 

Housing is getting shown the most right now for a few reasons:

1. Housing in an online game is a BIG draw and has been since the start of Ultima Online. Being able to own a part of a persistent world, and especially a part that is actually IN THE WORLD itself and not shoved off in an instance.

2. Houses are quick to design, render and show off compared to a fully functioning dungeon or questline. Since the team wants to be able to give us timely tidbits of information, the first of these are going to be those quick-finish items. For those who have access, there is a daily listing of what each dev is doing that particular day and houses and fishing poles are NOT the sole things on the list.

3. Because of 1 and 2, houses become an attractive item to put forward for pre-release funding. More funding = a better game from an independent studio not relying on a Big Corporation.

I'm more interested in an alternate style of housing, so the housing info is not of particular importance to me right now, but that doesn't mean it should be pushed out of view either.

Again, until they're directly selling access to the Final Dungeon or any other item NECESSARY to complete the game AFTER we've paid to own the game already... THEN you'll have my attention.

 

Someone changed the title of this post. I didn't title it what it's titled. This post took off, sorry I have to work and can't get back to the pc in a timely manner. At the bottom of the email it said
"We'd Love Your Comments" So I decided to throw in my two cents. Also no where does it say wear a suit and tie and introduce yourself when you do this. To make my post less cryptic I wanted to see what a normal fishing pole was like. "This unique, indestructible fishing pole" what does the non-unique on look like ? I mean if your selling a Unique one, shouldn't it mean that the normal fishingpoles are done?