My New Player Feedback after ~20 hours

Discussion in 'New Player Experience Feedback' started by technipuffin, Apr 26, 2017.

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  1. technipuffin

    technipuffin Avatar

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    Hi all. Glad I found this section of the forum. Have quite a bit of first timer feedback. I'll share my experience first then add what I think could help out.

    I started down the path of Courage, in Highvale. I liked the intro scene with the dying knight and finding my way out of the initial scene. There's something very old feely (in a good way) about the game that I like - that realistic fantasy (lol) kind of feel compared to the shiny, vibrant and crazy flying martial arts in some other MMOs out there.

    After the starter scene, things got a bit confusing for me. I was told to head to resolute, but kept ending up in this siege situation where, even if I found a way around, NPC combatants would kill me if more than one aggro-ed. I must have spent 45 minutes trying to figure out if there was a way around on the overland map or if I was just in the wrong location. Now, I don't like hand holding/hand outs that make games too easy to progress, but this seemed like a feature that shouldn't be in the path of a newcomer. I did manage to just run by NPCs/heal once I realized the goal was to get to the other side and that I didn't need to participate in the scene in order to gain entrance to Resolute. I was left a little sour after that.

    Things did look up once I got in to Resolute and found it was easy to ask guard NPCs where to go/who is located where. I did feel an odd sense of accomplishment when I turned the quest in. I really like the NPC chat style although it's not always easy to get them to talk or even find NPCs with anything to offer.

    I was told to go to Harvest and then Ardoris. Took me a bit to find sotamap (god bless it) and locate where I was supposed to go, but all the passes are 5 skull... with a $1500 fee to pass through safely. I was confused. I had no other quests in that area so confined by 5 skull passes and was honestly disappointed that I would have to grind for either the skill to pass the pass (lol) or afford the cost.

    So, I grinded out the money. Combat is clunky and killing the same types of mobs over and over in different scenes that all look quite alike is a little tiring. So is the loot table. I found that I could take on 3 or 4 yellow named thugs at a time, but struggled very much with ranged NPCs as a melee avatar... they would just keep running away and pulling more of their friends.

    Made it to Harvest, then to meet Grannus where I was told in my journal that the quests were above my level. I had finally made it to where I was going but couldn't do anything. I was frustrated again that I had made it all the way out there, following the quest line's breadcrumbs, just to be told I can't actually do it.

    After that, I spent an hour or two researching the game because I simply didn't know what to do besides grind mobs or crafting nodes and I thought, surely, there's more. I decided to travel to Soltown and start that line up since I had read there were more quests around/more players. After repeating the boring grind to qualify as 'ready to take on this quest', a few times for various quests, I decided to stop playing until more updates are made.

    I just don't find that there are enough active reasons for myself to go explore or grind more at the moment. There is nothing within the game motivating me to keep going. I'm not an instant gratification junky like a lot of gamers these days, I just haven't found enough connections within the game, whether it be quests/territories to team up and help defend at my level/just anything beyond the scope of grinding the same old skeles and thugs.

    I've made it to Necropolis, but the mobs are too hard even though my quest journal says I can do it. They're orange towards the end and so are the elementals. So that is where my new player experience ends for now.

    A few notes:
    The deck system is an odd concept to me. Really dislike it. It seems there are easier ways to pull of combos that could be implemented..
    I understand how the experience system works although I'm not so sure I like it. It's just so different. Maybe it will grow on me.

    Things I think could help:
    Don't send a player halfway across the map at a low level to have your journal let you know you can't actually continue that quest. If this must be done, make sure there are plenty of other things for players to do near that stopping point. Supplies to collect for the village? Supplying food for a starving refugee camp? Just anything other than grinding.
    Find a way to make navigating sieges near starting areas a little more newbie friendly. Maybe change the pathing of the red mobs so that they avoid the 'side paths' completely or make the way around more visible (Nevermind this point - just read Release 41 notes)!
    Adding more variety to loot might spice things up for new players.

    I realize the game hasn't been released hence the need for this type of feedback. I'm sorry a lot of it is negative, but there are plenty of positives about the game too.
    Love the music, the intended atmosphere even if everything looks the same right now, the chat mechanic (even though it can be buggy), the complete open-ness of being able to just head off in any direction, the random encounters are a nice addition, the crafting system seems robust although I haven't gotten very far into it, and the combat could be good with some tweaking and polish.

    So there we have it. It would be nice to see some of what's being worked on or what is the intended product. I know there was the money pledge goals and all that, but I've been having trouble finding anything documenting where this game is actually supposed to be headed. If I've missed it somewhere, I apologize. Just seems like a game set to release in 2017 might have a bit more to it at this point and seeing a document of intent might ease the minds of many, from what I've been reading.

    Hope some of this is a useful gauge of the new player experience. I'll probably poke my head around the community and keep up with updates.

    Puffin
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2017
  2. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    Thank you Technipuffin your feedback was perfect and will be such a help to starting experiences for new players but also what you say is evident in the rest of the game as missing pieces. Reasons to play reasons to explore the world are missing. The game has been being developed without that part due to manpower and resources. We need the manpower for this. It will make all the difference to this disconnected world. I always wear my picket signs for connecting the world, regionally not just locally. ;). Quests of all kinds and bulletin boards are needed to keep us here and keep us coming back. ;) But I'm sure, thanks you your great feedback it will happen. This game has so much more coming you would be amazed. I'm on my phone right otherwise I could link something. I'm Majoria in game if I can ever help. *Cheers*
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2017
  3. Ancev

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    Hey @technipuffin - appreciate the new player feedback! the siege situation should be fixed in the next release (R41 on 4/27) where lower level players will skip the siege scenes entirely. encourage you to check out the new outskirts scenes in R41.

    As far as the deck system - it's designed so that you can build a deck that is really heavy in a few spells or skills - lets say all fire and healing skills, but if you go up against an opponent (monster or player) with really high fire resist, you can switch to your alternate deck while in combat (X key) to something else. or you can get out of combat and choose an entirely different deck or make a new one. so in this system the same spells and skills wont be effective on all monsters and you need to adapt and figure out their weaknesses.
     
  4. Luca Xante

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  5. Timmy Vortex

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    Welcome to the game. I also thought the deck system was horrible, but it grew on me and now i'm actually enjoying it :)

    Very nice feedback :)
     
  6. Kara Brae

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    Welcome! I take my hat off to you for accomplishing so much in just 20 hours! I am amazed. Since the game became persistent (no more wipes) around August 2016 I have been avoiding the story line quests and doing only the beginner quests that are there simply to give you a little starter gold and experience. My hope is that by waiting to do the quests until after the game is out of the early access phase, I will have a better and more complete experience.

    I am sorry that you got caught up in the siege situation. Yes, there is an "easy" way through the sieges, but players have given feedback that the situation is not appropriate for brand new players. I see that you have read the R41 release notes that say:

    "Sieges and Low Levels: Characters below level 20 now bypass sieges completely and receive a message: "Due to your relatively low power sympathetic defenders wave you through the siege lines directly into the town."

    The sieges are actually a relatively new addition to the game and I expect further adjustments to be made to them. They have a role in the overall story.

    The journal entries telling you that a quest is too difficult to take on at present are a recent addition, and apparently more needs to be done.

    The deck system has been controversial - some like it, some don't. Some hate it initially but then find it ok with more practice. Unfortunately, if one hasn't mastered the art of deck-building, it is very easy to run around with an ineffective deck, as I can attest from personal experience :)

    What I find most disturbing is your feedback about the lack of interesting things to do between quests and lack of motivation. I hope the devs are taking note of your feedback.
     
  7. Chrystoph Reis

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    Yeah the deck systems is odd coming from other games. It's not horrible though. It's just not exactly easy to pickup. Not the best system... but better than some others.
     
  8. Stahlknecht

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    Thx for your feedback and welcome friend !
     
  9. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    Go.Away. !!!!

    j/k.
    Welcome to SotA. Nice feedback, keep it coming!
     
  10. Leelu

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    Welcome and hello. That's my only pet peeve about combat as I think it should be weapon related according to the weapon and style of use. A thief is going to have a heck of a time swatting down an obsidian bear with daggers. :) My opinion only, as I do work around the system and enjoy my game play. :)
     
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  11. technipuffin

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    Thank you all so much for the warm welcome. I'm looking forward to trying the new release today.
    Also checked out a few more videos on deck building. I think I'll manage with it but still find it odd. I'm sure time will tell on that one.
    Cheers!
     
  12. rpgmaniac82

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    Welcome and well done :D!!
     
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  13. Waxillium

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    This was honest. Didn't come across like anything else to me. Welcome!
     
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  14. Vladamir Begemot

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    Welcome!

    On fabo thing about SotA is monthly releases, many of which tend to be major overhauls.

    As was already mentioned, the seige problem you encountered is fixed as of today.

    Also today is a whole new area for new players, the Solace Bridge Outskirts. If it were me I would either play through that in Single Player, just to get a taste, or Delete and restart taking the Ranger build, which takes you through Solace. It sucks that builds are tied to starting areas, for anyone that doesn't want to use bow, but the new area is probably worth at least a run through.
     
  15. Fionwyn Wyldemane

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    Welcome @technipuffin what great feedback!

    I appreciate your honesty :)
     
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  16. skeggy Media

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  17. 2112Starman

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    Most people playing the game wish more new players like you would post good noted like this so the dev's can continue to hunt down the bugs. The started zones you are in were only created a month or two ago and need a lot more people going through them and reporting the issues.
     
  18. Arya Stoneheart

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    That is good to know since I started over in offline mode and first time I saw Ardoris it was under siege.

    Went and did other things till it passed and was able to enter.
     
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