Online Numbers

Well a POT row house deed is really cheap, saw some for 90k.

Well maybe we need Gamemasters or Seers again to lead Quests ingame

For my I liked RP the most when it just happened. UO was so good in that case... Because when you met a blue stranger you initially greeted and asked if he has seen any criminals etc etc... Nowadays people just annoy me because they steal my mobs and I don't have to talk to them anymore... I hoped this would be different here as well. But maybe it changes

 

Unless your group has an amazingly strong need to play SotA, I'd hold off or explore other opportunities. Key reason being, much of the stuff you want changed, won't be changing. Housing prices, for example.

Being as straight down the line, and unbiased as I can be here, I recommend looking at what SotA offers as of now, and determining if your group could live with that, with no changes, ongoing.

If so, proceed, and any small changes will feel like a win. If not, and the group is joining based on a wishlist that, largely, might not happen, I wouldn't recommend you coming into SoTA, en masse, at all.

 

I'm happy in the game and love playing but ideally i would like the future development to create a true sandbox world like EvE. The reason EvE has done so well, is 99% of the content is created by the players. Sure there's some missions to do and research/npc hunting, but the game is basically what the players make of it. Personally i feel this game is trying too encourage friendship and comradery to much and make it a main aspect of the game, where i feel this should be a result of actually playing the game. These ideals would be born naturally as in the world of EvE, as like minds and the need to create a bond with other players for some reason or other, profit/territory/etc make people have loyalties to each other as a necessity and not just as the game itself.

If i was the devs here, i would stop selling to any NPC's, only player to player, i would have resources of value in regions that can be controlled by guilds/alliance/factions which would make pvp meaningful and profitable. This would encourage groupings of players and loyalties between. It would cause hate and distrust between groupings but it would also as a result, do the complete opposite and bind players together and with a purpose. We already have a good start on this, control points splitting regions and the COTO system, making a valuable commodity that can be traded out of game. If there's real life profit to be made by players and by their hard work and politics in the game they can make $$, then people will play, its human nature, and that's what in my ideal game we try and exploit.

Also this type of gameplay, is the cheapest available to produce, just give the players the tools and they crate the content. Something was mentioned in one of the recent telethons about something like this, cant remember which or what, but i think they may be pointing in that direction themselves already.

 

I don't play on steam because it is spyware imho, I don't need to be tracked to play games nor do I want to. I do not sign into forums just to play, so forum login should not count not to mention just cause you check the forum count at 8am your time and you see 50 in an hour it could be 25 of those gone and 25 new names there. I don't sign into discord to play , so keep these thoughts in your mind before you spout numbers.

Now during telethons we hit about what 800-1k players, that is just in discord channel not counting those who will not use it for reasons like mine (though I do). Many backers wait until the game is done, backer can be defined by as little as 5 dollars. And as others have said they are not going to be marketing now, because they want to finish the game first.

We have a very exclusive opportunity to play an unfinished game 24/7 365 for the most part. Most games give you a couple hours every weekend or so and then launch and go BOOM here is how it is and take months and months to adjust to negative feedback. HEHEHEHE we give them the negative right up front. We then get the trolls saying it is the voice of the few driving this game etc etc .. but we all got access to the forums that is 180,000 folks that can speak up. So I say pooey on that.

How many actives .. well each release there is a burst then an ebb till the next one. I think this is because many want to keep it fresh and do other things till systems are in place, and I expect this trend to continue until a real launch. Holidays always see decline in game play due to family obligations, travel, vacations etc. I suspect we will also see the same.

My 2 cents.

 

It's the logical place to go but, for a game that's basically some instances tied together by an overland map, and some of the worst NPC AI I've ever seen, it will be quite a challenge to get there.

 

I would love that.

 

Speaking from a slightly novel perspective... I was here at the very beginning, super active in the early stages, got frustrated and stepped away, and now back again...

This all sounds exactly, exactly word for word discussions that were happening back then in late 2014-early 2015. The ONLY thing that has changed that could differentiate these posts from then is references to persistence.

And I think that's a big problem.

It's been "about six months from launch" for over two years now.

Certainly a lot of progress has been made! Don't get me wrong. But the community can't hang out in limbo for 3+ years without a game to play and to attract new blood to replace those who get frustrated and leave.

 

Well, that's not an issue in a player created world really. The NPC are just fodder. BUT, i actually disagree with you on that here as i find them, ok not super intelligent, but they will try and surround you, archers in particular, they will run away at times and the spawn can catch you out.

 

Indeed, when i saw the numbers in the discord chat on the last telethon i was very impressed. Star citizen the behemoth only got 25k when they did there live ANNUAL event the other month, as i was watching, i actually was very impressed with the number achieved and the amount raised.

 

Actually it is an issue in a player created world, which is why I highlighted it ie: When players create content, they would be coding NPCs with the same tools the devs use.

If the AI we see (that I dislike, but you like), is the result of what professionals can achieve with it, what do you think an average enthusiast will be able to do? That's my line of thought.

 

Consider that SC has 10x the money that SoTA has, so you'd think 10x the numbers on a telethon would make sense, but instead that's 25x the numbers, so on a dollar for dollar basis, SC actually did great.

 

Think we on a different wavelength here. When i say players create the content, i don't mean they make the NPC's do this or that, or make dungeons, or whatever. I mean the content is 99% between the players, the NPC stuff, is just that, a means to make some gold, better regions to be controlled by players etc.

 

Like i said that was an ANNUAL event, a live stream at a BIG company run event, with tickets and such, at a VENUE. Not a telethon done in a room at the office

And SC has 14 times the amount of money not 10!

 

Oh, indeed. In that sense, yes, we're on different ends of the same concept. There are games that certainly allow NPCs to be programmed for players to create content; that's where my mind was going.

For the style of content you mean, absolutely, no coding required.

 

Indeed, but SC has such a global audience -- tons of Germans for some reason?!? -- that a much larger audience who were outside hours, or in working hours, would have caught up later on top of that already large number.

 

IM not knocking them as i part of it as well. As i stated they are a behemoth, i would never think we can compete with them for numbers at present or will we ever get their peak numbers, but i do have faith that this game may still be around and profitable long after SC has burned out. I have more money 'invested' there than here, but i have only 23 post there and 900+ here, if i could choose for one to be a success over the other, here it would be.
Softly softly catchee monkey

 

@Myrcello that's my opinion too. I just can't understand why they don't want to expand their player base at this point in time. I mean....I understand why. "The game is not finished" is not a great excuse anymore. We've heard that for a very long time. I honestly am growing weary of the knee-jerk core mechanic changes that happen with each release. I think those are harming the community more than anything. It's chasing away long-time, devoted customers. Myself included. It just doesn't make sense to me why they willing choose to allow their player base to shrink.

I must disagree with anyone saying that balancing could not have happened prior to persistence. Hiring an economist to design the system from the ground up would have helped significantly. Now, every move they make must be carefully calculated, planned, and researched because of persistence. At this point, hiring an economist would be a far more beneficial move than making another dozen emotes, imho.

 

I understand the POV. SC is big enough and ugly enough to look after itself. It's going to be a great game, so I get that it's easier, or even preferable, to be rooting for the little guy here.

For full disclosure, I used to root for the little guy here too, for the longest time. But everyone has a breaking point. I reached mine recently. Later than many. Ahead of some.

 

I've been hearing that for a year. I have said this myself a hundred times. We are right now sitting at the date given as early as 6 months ago was release date and now I dont think we will see it released in 2017. I dont share the optimism any longer, I actually think the opposite. People are really bailing from the game... Big money people. That really says something.

I have done my best over many months now to be very vocal about the things I see as issues in the attempt to try to make things better but I think I'm done trying, I am now at the same point as others just complaining about how it should have been done.

Im just stating what I consider as facts, I will probably continue playing SOTA (not as much) and continue to be vocal on the forums about things I think should be changed. But Im not going to ignore the signs.

 

Later than me, i went twice, and i came back...and I'm still here, and will remain so. If you go, you will be back Like you have admitted you have 'been broken', but you are still here SotA has this very strange effect on players, even the ones that sold up still have a fascination with, it seems a little like hoping your ex wont be happy with her new love etc i think