Why are YOU interested in playing SotA?

Like many of you, I've played numerous MMOs and RPGs since the dawn of UO and the Ultima series. Many of these titles have introduced unique economic, social, combat, PvP, and class systems. For better or worse, many of the system concepts proliferate throughout the modern gaming scene, establishing the new standards and trends.

VOTE: Given all of the other games out there, why are you interested in playing SotA?

DISCUSS: What are your pet peeves in modern MMOs?

-and-​

Any reason of interest not in the poll.

 

1. Meaningless PvP with no item loot?
2. Free for all PvP with item loot?
3. A new and innovated PvP system with unique and impactful rewards created by Richard Garriott and team?

Three Alex... I'll take option 3.

 

RP, RP, RP! Not to mention, RP!!!

I have not been able to find a single 'modern' game with a decent RP community. There are a few with little pockets of RP, but you have to know exactly where and when and how to look for them.

Within the framework of RP, I enjoy crafting quite a lot, and the trading/bartering attendant with that. I enjoy some amount of questing/adventuring/PvE. And I do even enjoy limited amounts of PvP, within the context of RP... I do not enjoy random PvP with random people.

 

Thanks for fixing the poll, violation, with option 3. Since more than one option can be selected, I'll pick :

Free for all Player versus Player with item loot,
Guild on Guild Player versus Player with item loot, and
A new and innovated PvP system with unique and impactful rewards created by Richard Garriott and team.

 

Awesome! I love to RP on my thief characters. In my experience, the PvP adds that much more to the immersion factor in roleplaying!

 

Things I hate in MMOs of today:

Grinding for armor
Lack of content
Lack of depth
Lack of housing (or horrid housing)
No interactive items (or very few)
Hand holding thru the game (too easy)
Limitation of character skill customization
Limitation of chracter leveling and development
Closed world...limited exploration

I could go on...but that's a start hehe.

 

As a minimum, I'll get an RPG to lose myself in.

I'm still waiting for that game with sieges a la guildwars2 but connected with a strong RPG. The fights in gw2 were great from a mechanics point of view, but ultimately meaningless because the world was disconnected.

I don't want to see item loot at all. I want more people immersed in the PvP experience, not less.

 

One of my biggest problems with modern MMOs is actually the subscription fee. I view video games as art and I like to experience a lot of them. Paying monthly limits what I play and makes me feel obligated to play the monthly game to get my money's worth.

Add to that that most MMOs are pretty shallow. Just a bunch of ants following the same pheromone trail. Make them free to play and it gets worse. I like games with solid stories and lore and meaningful and thoughtful themes. In addition, I like to role-play which most games don't foster as you are never meant to talk to anyone, or where PVP is just an excuse for a competitive deathmatch or to take someone's stuff.

So I have mainly stuck to single player games which are lonely but have more elements I find enjoyable than MMOs. The closest I have come to perfection is Bioware's Neverwinter Nights, which allowed others to create their own servers, content and community. I was able to experience some of the greatest moments in RP and PVP which I am hoping SOTA will deliver on adding on top the potential for storytelling unseen in this age.

Most of what I judge today's games on I was taught by LB, and I just don't see how this game cannot be special. Even if it is just a fancy "Virtues with Friends" rune collection game.

 

Been a LONG time Ultima fan and have played UO since 1998 (had at least one account open since Jan 1998 and two since April 2000) and haven;t been happy with the recent direction of management of the game.

As for SotA itself, it has the promise of having the best aspects of the Ultima series with the best aspects of UO, so that immediately appealed to me. Then seeing the team that's been put together and the communication on the development (as contrasted with the more "closed" style used with UO over the past 6 years or so) really helped seal the deal for me.

As for the game itself, it will be a mix of exploring/questing and gathering goods to sale and trade to others.

 

Ah, what a great question. I'll echo Umbrae's comment about how most modern MMOs don't tend to support or really endorse people getting together for roleplaying and truly creating stories. There -are- some decent stories out there, but I admit I'm biased, nothing has grabbed me as strongly as the Ultima series did. Mainly it was due to the fact that the Avatar was NOT intended to be a shallow or single-faceted character, and did very much set the stage for attempts to recreate that influence in later games. I think Bioware came the closest with games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins, NWN, Knights of the Old Republic, etc in recognizing how important your character's decisions and outcomes should affect later stories, and especially how the world and characters around you would react.

The second half of it is for me personally, I want a strong social experience with my friends sharing common passions and interests. For a time, I fiddled around with other MMOs, and even played Ultima Online for several years, but there just wasn't the same connection. Without getting into forbidden territory, I played on a private server that was directly based on post-Ultima 7, and that maintained and expanded on those storylines. It was truly the most enjoyable experience I had with friends due to our common love of the series.

The graphics, gameplay, crafting, shiny new housing, and even player vs player does have some interest and importance to whether or not a game is enjoyable. But ultimately it is the storyline, the characters, the CONNECTION to the living, breathing world and the persons that I walk beside towards my goals that truly capture my excitement. Richard Garriott has created wonderfully deep worlds that have given me years of enjoyment. I look forward to stepping foot in a new one again.

 

The old man clamberers out of the thorn en-twisted edged woods pulling random thorns out of his leggins and torn makeshift covering he calls a shirt. "Did I hear a voice in the wilderness? Did I!!? " So long alone in the twisted briar he hopes he's not hearing things. "Hello" "Anyone"!

 

*Elliana opens the door to her keep, lifting her lantern high, flickering golden firelight spilling out around her in a halo of warmth and welcome* "Come in, come in! There's a fire and fresh bread and good warm soup on the hearth.... come in, out of the cold..."

 

The old man hesitated, but felt the pull of the warm fire spilling from around the entryway. He peered from around the edge of the door frame, the inviting light temporarily blinding his old, slumbering eyes. As they slowly restored to his normal vision, they revealed a man, a gentleman down to his bones. His adornments gave him away, certainly, but all the more interesting was that wore his wealth with a comfortable indifference, as if born into it. New-made nobles, pretenders, and rich merchants do not carry themselves the same way.

 

Questing and Adventuring

Monster slaying and Dungeon crawling

Roleplaying and Character Customization

These would have to be my top three. I have confidence that Richard and Tracy will create and rich and engaging story that will produce a fun RP experience. I've never played an MMO RP game so I'm uncertain if this 1. would work and 2. would be fun for me. In a single player game no one can really mess up your RP experience.. except of course, the game itself.

I'd like to see interesting, unique, and specialized items, weapons, skills you would obtain by Questing and Adventuring. These items, weapons, skill should not be known ahead of time and they should be completely unique, one of a kind items that only one player can obtain. That's what makes the adventure engaging. Searching the unknown.

Quests should be challenging is various ways:
1. Require logic and/or knowledge to solve a puzzle
2. Require perseverance to solve a long and convoluted quest journey
3. Require virtue and sacrifice

Maybe the adventurer that tries to gain all the riches ends up losing them in the end. While the adventurer that sacrifices everything to help others wins the greatest rewards.

Just some thoughts.



X

 

*TWAAANNGGG* With a harsh impact the arrow from the darkness embeds itself in the door frame just but a hair above the old man's head! The gentelmen, despite his frail looks, grabs the arm of the old man! "Get in here you fool, who knows what evil lurks at this hour!"

 

My $0.02 worth...

I'm also looking forward to:
1. The story and lore.
2. Playing a game with my wife.
3. Nice peaceful recreation...

Will I probably do some PvP yeah, but I'm anticipating it will be more of a side hobby, or risk to take to get certain resources...

 

PvP is not my main interest, im not really interested in it at all.
But not having the risk of being PK'ed by someone you see, takes any sense of immersion in the world away.

I'm interested in playing and pledged because LB created UO, and UO not only stole all my teen years it is what got me into programming, and programming is what i now do for a living.

I'm looking forward to:
1. Open world, without the class/level restrictions of modern mmo's
2. Play how I want, ie Trade/Craft/Hang out in a house all day.
3. Not having to Collect X and Kill Y or being forced to endure pointless quests.

 

Richard Garriott! Such a creative mind, takes a vision and creates a world.
I'm hoping SOTA can re-ignite a feeling of epic fun I once had with the older days of UO.(Just to avoid any debates or back and forth bickering) Granted I'm not saying anything about SOTA being anything like UO. I'm saying I hope to regain that feeling from playing it.

 

I voted for everything except the Meaningless one.

Most important to me of course would be Questing and Adventuring. I want to get lost in this world and just be a part of it. Naturally, the other items in the poll would follow in no particular order as they're all equally important to the sandbox experience.

 

Monster slaying and Dungeon crawling
Free for all Player versus Player with item loot
Ultima experience
Must support RG