Company Status

The fact that Port is downsizing is pretty standard in the industry. Unfortunately the team is small to begin with. I assume as they see how well Chapter 2 is funded I am sure there will be some growth once they know what their development funds are going to be. I am amazed at what has been accomplished in SotA with such a small team. Starr has done a great job of juggling resources to address issues. I do wish they would come up with an optional monthly subscription that would include extra bank storage (or a crafting component storage like ESO), XP bonus item much like the Royal Orb or Royal Scepter that grants the bonus for a week or two a month, and gives you all the earned rewards for the months telethon without needing to spend $5.00. There were a couple months where I could not made the telethon and I missed out on it, this would of solved that problem for me and it would be a month revenue stream for Port. I clearly play SotA more then I do ESO but I still keep my subscription in ESO just for the Crafting Bag, XP Bonus, and Crowns.

 

Been around a log time in online games, especially from the Meridian59 days and Neverwinter Nights. Alpha tester for Wow, DAoC, UO and the list goes on and on.
Patience friends. Everything is fine. I am probably one of the most financially invested in this game for a reason...
It's not going anywhere.
This is not a huge studio project.
This is a niche game.
Things are not perfect, but they will do their best.
They are beyond financially invested here. This is their heart and soul.
Give them the chance and encouragement they need to do well.
Support them like you have been.
They want you to have a great experience.
They do listen.
Community is what makes this game great.
Many retail games lack this.
I played Meridian 59 for years, because of that fact.
Remember those Roleplaying orcs in UO you use to clobber again and again? You're welcome.
Stop waiting for the Devs to make this game great. They are only part of it.
Make this game great by being a strong community.
Keep hosting events. Keep hosting open RP stories people can get involved with. Keep hosting PVP matches and Wars.
You get what you put in.

~Cristiano

 

Yeah

I agree. We will have the same problem we had last time even though stretch goals were not a priority at the time since the state of the game was not even ready for them. People will be strong in what they want first.

Just Take the stretch goals one at a time imo and focus on it. Then add fun things like special mounts if it were mounts. It could be battle armor for them we can buy, horse racing items etc.

We need to just have them all. If we know they are coming in that is what's important. We don't need to make it all crazy by fighting over it. Just prioritize it and state the plan.

Funding can be by bundles including special items for those stretch goals and special mounts for example. Accessories from stretch goal items can be purchased on add on store. The same with the other stretch goals. Just giving some thoughts.

If I was home I could do a thread with pictures and more examples but sadly I'm out of town til August 23rd.

 

Sorry but I have been in MMO's for 20 years or so too and everything is certainly NOT fine with the game. The Devs may well be beyond financially invested in the game but ultimately finances will dictate whether the game survives or fails - not sentiment or wishful thinking.

I really hope it does survive but they have got to sort the issues out.

 

But then we look at the historical record. The social engineers have been claiming this game would shut down any second for the past 3 years I have been watching and this is the first time I have seen their numbers go down from consistently increasing. Also, against the usual social engineers, this game has made massive strides in its final 80%, Im amazed at the things I find now. Finally we can compare this game and the actually vast amount of things actually completed and compare them to games like Star Citizen. Port created a near complete and functioning game where individual people have played it for thousands and thousadns of hours on a budget of $20 mil (not $150 mil and a vastly incomplete if ever).

I say their record is strong and look forward to the next few years (as well as many more years of "I told you so's" to the haters).

 

I don't see any reason to freak out. Sad we won't get as much content, but good they are taking steps needed to stay in business.

Will Wright, designer for the Sims, Sim City, Sim this and that, doesn't call them games, but toys that let people unleash their creativity. Those games are toys you can play with as you please, and because of that are incredibly successful.

Shroud has that, and keeps expanding it. I was so busy with user created content on Saturday that I got zero combat and very little crafting done, despite the call of double XP.

Look at Second Life. It's finally starting to look OK, but man was it ugly for the longest time. But it unleashed peoples creativity, and has been around for 15 years because of it.

Shroud has the potential to do the same, in a different way, one that includes a game on top of all of the tools for user created fun. I think it will be around until our climate actions have brought an end to gaming.

That is, if we can get the message out to the people who enjoy the toy, and not just focus on the combat side of it. It's virtually impossible to differentiate yourself with combat in a game, the market is completely saturated there. But games where you can also put on a virtual play, enjoy a game of chess, create a Goblin Faire (which was awesome, great job Goblins!) and dress to the nines while you're doing it? We think that's niche, but it's actual casual, which means millions and millions of potential users.

 

I generally ignore the haters.

This was my second kickstarter project I've backed. I started with a couple hundred and sunk in more as I could easily afford. Became more involved and tried to help others when it made sense (and I had time).

I've been hearing about SOTA's Ultimate DOOM for over 5 years now. These days I just think "how quaint" when I see the nay sayers wake up. Not sure why they are still here if there are better games to play. Why are they here and not playing the other games???

There is SO much to explore and to do. I don't have the time. So I run around trying different things. Sometimes I get my rear handed to me. Sometimes I discover I'm really close to pwning. After a death or two ;-)

My point is I'm enjoying myself. Sure, there are other games I play. And other's I am looking forward to seeing released. Now an then I have RL to contend with. I keep coming back. Not because this game is perfect.

Because I enjoy what I've accomplished, and there's a lot left for me to explore.

Eventually we'll have Episodes 2-5 to mess with. But that's another thread somewhere

Oh and if the game does go south. I've had a great experience and learned from it. Honestly, I don't see that happening. In 10 years, 20 years, I'll still own that Keep by the water and welcoming new Outlanders to our shores.

 

@Vladamir Begemot

Don't mean to sound adversarial, but I disagree with some of your premises.

Its true that Will Wright has called his games toys, rather than games, but the most enduring and most successful have been the ones that have structured content that offers people a challenges. So its fair to say that SimCity and The Sims have been successful. Compare that to games like SimEarth and SimLife, and so many others created by Maxis that have fallen by the wayside. The difference between those games and the first two, is the first two games, SimCity and The Sims, are enjoyable even if you don't want to do anything particularly creative. The creative potential is something that emerges on top of the structured challenges.

And most people I don't think want to dress up in a virtual world to play chess; they'll just download a chess game on their phone and play chess with their friends that way. But if there are other gameplay reasons to be in that world, they'll be happy to dress up and do it, just like they might direct their Sims character to play a chess game to raise his Logic stats.

I think focusing on creative play / social play first, gameplay second, is not the way to make the game successful. If you want to follow SimCity and The Sims, the model that's working there is gameplay first, creative play /social play second.

 

It was a bad idea and it wasn't. (excuse me for a moment, while I adjust my tinfoil hat. There, that's better.) If you think the goal was to get the stretch goals reached, you're right. It was an awful approach that was doomed (DOOMED I SAY!) to failure. On the other hand, if you think the goal was to raise money, while minimizing the chances of committing themselves to more development time and money they couldn't really afford it was a unapologetic success.

If they really want to achieve the stretch goals, they need to be done either as you suggest, or the way their normally done on Kickstarter, which is to say "here's what we want to raise. If we go this far beyond, we'll do this too. If we make it HERE, we'll also do THIS cool thing! etc." I think either of these methods (which are REALLY closely related) will result in a better return, but on the downside each will commit them to new obligations. If they repeat the "mistakes" of the past, I think they'll get less for them then they did last time.

Incidentally, I hope they are considering the problem with fundraising for Ep. 2: A lot of us "whales" (god, it's mind-blowing that I've spent enough here to be called that) already have through Ep. 5; we're going to need pledge levels that don't include access, but include things we'll want. I'm sure there ARE things in that category, I'm just not smart enough to know what they are. Hopefully someone still at Portalarium is. Yes, as long as I feel I'm treated reasonably (which I do), I'm willing to spend more over then next few of years; as much as this post may sound like a complaint, it's really not.

 

Don't connect goals to votes. Don't make a single item the first in the line of goals.

Purchases get you votes, then you apply those to the goal you want. You can move your votes at any time until a goal closes, so if yours isn't doing well you can shift it to some other choice you would also like to see and finish that one out.

This requires that they accurately price the goals, however. I think they vastly under estimated the prices originally. Price them high enough that we actually pay for them. If we don't make the goal, we can move our votes somewhere else.

Then put everything that could potentially go into Ep 2 into the goals. Fishing. Treasure hunting. Boats. Pack animals. Nothing goes in EP 2 plan unless it's been funded.

Every single one is a stretch goal, and you can cast your votes, move them around. We can get a rally going on Discord and get everyone to shift over their votes to "Rain waters our plants", seal the deal, and then start a second. Or scatter our votes all over and slowly work toward what we're doing.

Have lots of little goals as well! Some could have a system redesign uber goal at the top that replaces the little goals if reached. Lets take hairstyles for instance.

• 1 extra hairstyle, $5,000
• repeat the above at 5k increments until
• Whole new hair system, $100,000

(Random guess on numbers, but most important is "Price it high enough that the goal can be completed with ONLY the money raised for it.)

But in no case should X purchase go to Y goal. I might want Y but not X, and thus never make the purchase to vote for the thing I want.

(We also need more things to buy.)

 

Yes, play systems on top are also fun, but that wasn't my point.

My point is the Shroud ALREADY has chess in it. We already have people building Faires and having Solstice Ceremonies and such. The platform exists for the fun, but who knows about it?

Even the "Sandbox" video shows almost a minute and a half of combat before showing the town scene.

If you're into the idea of crafting and having a dinner and dance party, you aren't going to watch a minute and a half video of combat, you're going to shut it off at 10 seconds and never look at Shroud again, because it clearly a combat game, the Sandbox video says so.

We've got this huge already existing toy, but very few people know of Shroud as anything but a typical fighting questing MMO.

However, if we can break through and become known ALSO for the Sandbox, chess playing, player event creating platform we have, Shroud may last until the Apocalypse.

 

@Vladamir Begemot

Yes, I just fundamentally disagree with you about why games like The Sims and SimCity are successful. The play systems aren't "on top" -- they're the foundation of the games. The sandbox is built out of the building blocks, which are the game elements. SimCity is a game where you're the mayor and you have to create a successful, thriving city, and are given many options and paths to do that. Modders give you more ways to do that. The Sims is a game where you're a person, and you have to manage your life and your finances and reach some success, and are given many options and paths to do that. Modders give you more ways to do that.

I think a lot of people miss the point about these games, and think the social or creative elements are what makes them successful, but they only work because the game elements. The modders need players to mod for.

Its like if you have a model train set, you can create terrain, lay tracks, and invite people over, but its no fun if the trains don't work.

It has to work the same way in Shroud. The game elements include many things, and combat is only one of them. Crafting is also a game element. Exploring, adventuring, travelling is also one of them. The world (lore) is also one of them. These gameplay elements are the building blocks for the sandbox world -- without them, the game wouldn't be any fun.

I agree with you that the game is more than combat -- which at this point, is just grinding and farming, though could be more --- but ultimately most players want to play a game, not just play dress up. The creative people can give them more material to work with, just like the modders create more clothing in The Sims, but the game has to be there as the building blocks. In Ultima, playing a game meant role-playing, adventuring, being part of a living world, etc.

 

I think you and I play the Sims totally different. I tend to lounge around in a bathrobe.

Same with Shroud, I spend much more time engaged in the sandbox or crafting side, and usually not to "level up" in the crafting "game."

Look at Second Life. There is no point but what you make of it and it has millions of users who are also potentially Shroud customers, and will already be happy with Shroud as it is. If they ever hear about us.

 

@Vladamir Begemot

Nah I do a lot of different things with The Sims, including creative stuff, but I still think in respect to both games, The Sims and SimCity, when all the 'cheats' are turned on, ie you have unlimited money etc, the fun only lasts for a short time before it gets boring. The gameplay is what sustains it as interesting in the long run.

I've found the same has been true with RPGs, which is why I tend to lean against overuse of 'cheaty' mechanics like fast travel.

Second Life I don't think is the huge mainstream game you make it sound like it is. It has a small amount of concurrent users, and more total people have played games like The Sims and SimCity. I just think we can do better if we do more, which I incidentially think is what the spirit of the Kickstarter was, to make it more like an Ultima RPG

 

I'll just circle back one more time to my original point, which is that we have things in the game that already exist and will attract people if they know about them, but we are only focusing on combat as an advertising avenue. These things already exist and won't take anything away from being an Ultima RPG.

We just need to get the word out that they exist. There are people out there who want it and don't know about it.

And the only push I've seen, the "Sandbox" video, has 1:07 of combat oriented stuff at the start, so no one who I am talking about is going to watch it far enough to see that we even have towns.

 

But nobody really wants the train to work in the first place. Because doing so would be too much of a theme park. Instead, people would rather dress up as the train and dance around the tracks, while a band on the side plays train noises. Then, add more people dressing up to play conductor, handing out tickets, and passengers to get on and off the train, well, that's the sandbox people want!

 

Have you not seen the Player Town Party video? Or the path of Anti-Virtue video? Or the World video?

A major difference here is that Second Life allows users to create whatever world they want. It has tools that allow users to create for themselves what they see. The content is essentially not controlled by Linden Labs.

 

@Vladamir Begemot

There are a lot of things they can do to add content to the marketing videos ;> Personally I think they should weave together all the elements of the game world, make it about living and adventuring in the world of Novia. Living, of course, including crafting.

The intro to the old Ultima games always involved entering a moongate to a new world, getting maps and runes, and telling you as a player : here you are, a new world with things to discover, with secrets to find, and challenges to conquer !

@Mykll

Lol, you can hand out tickets to a train that works and kill two birds with one stone

 

Ah, THAT's the better video. I was looking at the wrong one, thanks for correcting me. Yes, that's great, it starts out with the town and doesn't front load it with combat.

And yes, that's a difference between us and Second Life, but the point is still that there are a lot of tastes that can be captured, we have a wide selection of options to cater to.

 

Pack Mules! Donkeys to carry my hard worked for resources!!

As for whales. I know right? I have been investing into the game for a variety of reasons. Including helping others get started. I remember how challenging it was in the beginning. And the game is larger than ever today!

I think there is a strong possibility this game could be something I'll play for the next decade or two. Now that I have a pier and boat near my Keep, hopefully I can transfer resources back home in EP2