Dear Mr. Garriott: the questing experience...

I have some of the sentiments that the OP has, but this one is something we have to accept for the long term, holistic health of the game. It may seem counter intuitive, but doing anything but "stable" first will lead to bottlenecks that prevent the world from growing and enhancing in the future. Stable -> fast -> fun is necessary if we want to be playing this game for the next 6+ years.

 

I ask Richard because I'm replying specifically to something he said. I ask Richard because his response concerning his view on the state of the game does not reflect my own conclusions.

Richard Garriott is the Creative Director, Starr Long is the Executive Producer and Chris Spears is the Technical Director... so, of all the three mentioned, Richard Garriott is the most equipped to answer and/or push to rectify the situation.

I want Richard Garriott to know the state of his own game so that he can tell Chris or Starr to change their focus.

Funny you say that as I just recently posted on Reddit on the matter. This is what I said:

That's the kind of philosophy that forgoes prototyping; prototyping that makes sure that the core play pattern and game-play loop(s) are fun to do. It is the anti-thesis of "design" and basically forces game designers to figure out solutions to problems they created rather than elaborating on what's already there.

To agree with "Stable > Fast > Fun" is to accept the game as a product first, game second.

If you play chess and there's a random dude that keeps knocking the pieces off the board, that isn't fun but at least you know you had fun before that dude showed up.
One day, you'll be able to have a game of chess without that dude ruining it for you.

There has been multiple attempts at keeping interests of testers:

• Persistence. They did it because most people didn't like having their progress wiped out.
• The oracle XP daily bonus. Instead of increasing XP gains overall to help those who are struggling to level up, they made it so that you get pity XP so long as you keep login in.
• The daily XP bonus. So long as you keep login in, you get more XP so that you can explore more of the game... because SotA (according to the devs) isn't grindy.
• Create hype with a questionable "official release". Is it really a release? What does that even mean these days? Who knows?
• Double XP if the devs got enough people to log in the QA servers.

It's things like this that showcases why "stable > fast > fun" simply doesn't work. If testers don't want to test your game and you're looking for ways to motivate them to play, then your game isn't worth being stable for. It's counting chickens before they hatch.

-----

Richard Garriott talks about story and involvement but I can't get involved when NPCs are thick as bricks or the process of talking to them and getting valuable information to do the quests is slow and un-intuitive with little to no gain aside from exposition... that's WHEN the quests triggers are working properly.

Conrad Dupre (one of their newest characters since R51, I think) is front loaded at the entrance of the castle in Resolute and, last time I checked, does not respond to "Knight", "Norgard", "Lord Marshal", "Brigid", "Gawain" and I believe he doesn't responds to "Resolute" either.... and you'd think THOSE keywords would be the first set to be added in.

Is that stable? fast? fun? So the old content is bugged and the new content is bugged and incomplete... and this is with "stability" as a priority? Are you kidding me?

SotA was supposed (and was pitched that way) to be a game where NPCs weren't simply mission billboards but LOOK AT THE GAME! What is Conrad Dupre or any other character for that matter supposed to be? What kind of interaction can you do with any of them? Talking? Anything else? No? Just talking? Okay, sure! I can get behind that! Great! So why is that part so badly done, buggy and frustrating?

I mention the whole "stable > fast > fun" thing as a problem because Portalarium have always seem to have questionable sense of priorities.

It's like asking a programmer to do premature optimization...

But here's the thing: I'm not actually saying that Portalarium has to change the way they're building the game. I'm certainly suggesting it, though, but that particular paragraph you quoted is there to claim that it doesn't work even if you look at it from their perspective... because the quests are broken including the N.U.E. quests.

I was cutting it some slack back in 2014 all the way to 2016. I'm not expecting a completely finished, bug-free product. After 4 years, I'm expecting a video game that knows what it wants to be and to have that part of the game play well.

After poking in month after month, year after year, never really playing for more than an hour or two maximum because everything feels like an awkward mess... seeing the same problems over and over with no sign or confirmation from the devs that they'll ever be addressed... when the head guy says "I suspect many of you will enjoy using your plot reset once the game goes live", I kind of have to shake my head and tell the guy (and everyone here) that no, nothing's really changed.

Take a break? Giving criticism after playing the game a couple of times a month should not be a sign that I need a "time out"; it means that there's a problem. A fundamental one. And it's not getting addressed.

If the game cannot do the one thing it was set out to do, people will do what I will eventually do:

Never. Come. Back.

If you're wondering why I'm still here it's because I believe there's still hope for SotA. Writing theses posts, pointing out all of the problems that are preventing me from enjoying the game is the only contribution I can make. You have any right to say that you're having a great time and I'm not here to argue about that but I'd appreciate if you didn't suggest that I should be elsewhere.

 

Well, like Mr Garriott said. Old players will be replaced with new players. That's the cycle.

But I think if you walked in my shoes a little, you might be able to see what I see.

But if not, so be it. You are still here.

 

The very first time a player enters Resolute, they encounter Vella, Sandor and Janet Kallen. Who all give you information about those topics. Is there something specific Conrad should add? I think those 3 pretty much covered the basics on all those topics....

 

I believe having NPC (especially key npc & companions) with extensive knowledge (and opinion) of the world adds a lot to immersion. A knight of Norgard who doesn’t react to his home country , knighthood etc does not feel “real”.
Same goes for npc dialogue reflecting game state change in the main quest line... another wish for more immersion

 

If you design an old-school game and get financing from old players that’s not a healthy approach. The least you risk is discontent, which might have adverse effects on winning new players. But even new players might be interested in better questing...

 

This guy nails it.

 

Well this statement is true and I do not know is what content it was said.

It is not the kind of attitude I would want to hear from someone developing a game.

It does not put much confidence in them caring about their current player base just the new blood they can get next month.

And if that is the case it might be time for a new creative director.

 

I'm one of those who really think they want exactly what we want, but they did not have enough time to create the tech for the new quest and conversation system for npcs yet. I'm sure they will improve this for the Episode 2, within a new journal.

 

What for another 10 mil plus? I lost faith in this dev team a long time ago. It will be more of the same for episode 2 more cash grabs to keep em afloat with little accomplishment.

 

No idea why you think the cash topic is something relevant here tbh. I'm one of those who managed to get all I got ingame with just playing the game.

If you don't like the game just try to find something you are happy with, or be patient and come back bit later

 

He's insinuating that (based on what you said) Portalarium will keep asking for more money while promising that they'll fix the stuff on later episodes.

 

With last releases we have a better game and they are fixing 90% of the issues. The cash topic is not relevant in a thread about the questing experience. And about Portalarium asking for money, is what I always expected from an indie studio. Nothing bad about it, many indie companies doing the same.

Now please, stay on topic.

 

I am not a quester but now that the shroud is best in slot I've found myself having to do them.

Here's my take...

The dialogue: every NPC gives me a paragraph where they mention 2-3 names and 2-3 places. Even if I sit there trying to comprehend what they are asking for, it's only 50/50 whether I've interpreted it correctly. So as a result, I just click through until it's in my quest journal, with a clearly stated mission. Bringing me to the next terrible part..

Side quests: when I click through that dialogue, I often find myself with 2-3 new quests instead of one. I have no idea which is ''main" quest line, and I become disaffected when I go through a bunch of pointless tasks only to find myself with a reward of yet more side quests. I have been specifically trying to avoid side quests, but after 1.25 quest lines, I already have 20 quests in my journal, and no idea which I'm supposed to do next.

It is really so dull and frustrating for me that I find myself giving up and smelting or grinding or something that at least doesn't feel like an annoyance.

 

Save Sir Patrick first ! ah right exept yo don't need to save em... in fact so many things you can skip and still the game thinks you've done them.

I've actually abandoned the quests... will try in another 4-5 years

 

I have started doing the exact same thing. When talking to an NPC I just start spamming all the different items I can respond back until I have whatever he's willing to give me.

Too many of the dialog options just bring you back to where you already been in the conversation causing you to repeat yourself too many times.

Hell saving sir Patrick I didn't even know I had to do that part of the Quest.

I did the entire courage quest line without noticing I you have been given the quest or I had somehow skipped it. We shouldn't be able to skip parts of storyline quest like this.

If they want is to be able to do parts of quests out of order Need a system that flags when each part is done and doesn't complete the quest until all parts are done.

The kobals expeditionary camp is currently unusable to me because of this I manage to finish the courage quest line without ever going into the zone and now I'm unable to complete the quest due to the rest of the quest line being done.

For something has been worked on for so long it feels very broken.

We need a proper quest journal that you can abandon quests. That properly tracks the quests your on. And quest they properly link together so you can not skip parts of it that will later break entire zones.

 

There are a few instances in which the required keyword will not be a clickable response, and you have to type it in yourself.

 

That in its self is a huge issue. The system is not intuitive enough to let players know they need to type in a response manually. Especially since 95% of the responses are clickable and in the dialogue text or at the bottom of the window.

 

Eh. Doesn't bother me much. I'm no fan of the system as it is, but among my complaints, wanting to ignore the information in given isn't one of them.

 

It isn't about wanting to ignore the information. Is about even reading the information and clicking through the the dialogue will send you on a roundabout journey back through things you've already read several times.

And then you're confronted with the occasion a quest that wants you to type in something from the last npc you talk to that doesn't appear in the current conversation.

Giving not everyone does the quest back-to-back in a short period of time remembering the last conversation you had with an npc is a bit ridiculous.