Build 21 Shroud is "Just too hard" For New players [With 30 sec Video!]

Reading thread raised this questions for me:

Is it clear what the appropriate range level of a zone is for a player?

How does a player determine that, other than by trial and error?

Is it good now, or is that the aspect that needs work?

 

As a new player, I like that the combat is challenging. I like the sense of achievement I get when I survive a tough battle. And I don't mind dying often or having to run away like brave Sir Robin when I see a pack of wolf spiders coming over the hill to join the fight. However, I do have a big problem with the paltry rewards from combat. All of my gold currently goes towards repairing my gear and I'm going broke in the process. If the game is going to kick my butt repeatedly at least give me the means to fix my armor without having to panhandle in the streets of Owl's Head.

 

honestly i feel like this whole treade could be avoided as long as durring the failure there was a sense of advancement. this would require skills to not be bound to XP ... just the "use" of the skill should generate the xp.

 

My issue is not that the game is too difficult at start (WRT combat) but that it is.... not fun.

The initial focus pool is too low and depletes too rapidly at low levels. What this means is that I spend a lot of time either auto-attacking, dying (because I ran out of blue) or running (because experience has taught me that, well, I have run out of blue and I am not going to auto-attack this mob to death before he kills me). None of this is particularly entertaining. I play a game in order to DO something, not to watch my avatar auto-attack.

Balance Issues:

The resurrecting undead are a PITA. At low levels I have sufficient blue and health to kill one once. Once he comes back up I am out of blue, low on health and in trouble. I am not against them coming back up, but they should come back weaker than the initial version (or the mob just needs to be weaker overall, period). It would be even better if there was a more sure-fire way to minimize their chances of coming back up.

The animal mobs are often more difficult than the humanoid ones... and the wolves are surprisingly dangerous to someone wearing plate armor (really, how are they biting me through the metal?)

Even at the upper levels the combat often tends to the boring side... too much dependence upon auto-attack, too narrow a band between being overpowered and underpowered... and I miss entirely too much. It seems I either slaughter the mobs or I get a long, boring fight or they slaughter me. Difficulty is okay, being bored is not.

I am enjoying the game so far, I think a lot of things are being done correctly or are headed that way. I like the shift to the current skill system. Not a huge fan of the deck system, but I am finding ways to make it work to my advantage... so I don't hate it.

Initial skill up rate could be quicker, particularly in the gathering professions. Mobs could also drop more cash or sellable items, given what it costs to train and to keep things repaired... most harvesting simply takes too long (again, it is an issue of boredom... it should not be a situation where I am reading a book or watching TV in order to entertain myself while my avatar mines of chops a tree , etc.).

Magic seems incredibly underpowered compared to melee. My wife plays a caster and a wolf eats her up alive before she can kill it. Her damage is laughable compared to what I do with my halberd or 2h sword or even in a tanking mode.. Magic damage needs to go way up, conversely, the ability of heavily armoured people to use magic needs to be reduced.

Looking forward to the next release and continued development.

 

I have been debating this recently with my friends. One thing I love about SOTA (and like so back in UO) was that there was no overarching layout of Zone X is exclusively for levels A-B. I love exploring by trial and error to find where I should go. And continuing on from this, finding some corner of the world that is close to places I enjoy going to or using for resourcing and putting a home down there.

So many games now are just based on zones with mobs rated for specific levels and you just go through the whole game moving from zone to zone as you level up never to go back once you passed a certain level. There is no atmosphere or place or home in these games. Very much unlike UO or SWG where you put down roots somewhere (Skara Brae, Naboo for instance) and that was your home and you knew every inch of land around you and where the hard stuff was and the easy areas. Something I think SOTA brings back to MMOs.

 

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