Deeds after the Outskirts

Give out the row lot deed from a quest that sends you to visit 3 Player Owned Towns that has free lot

 

I played Ultima Online after they released Trammel, and the few times I traveled to Felucia I hated myself for it. I was definately a "trammel baby" and didn't like pvp. I haven't played LoA yet, but from what i've seen in gameplay videos, it's basically ALL the aspects of Ultima Online that I actually hated. x.x

 

Thank you for clarification, Vladamir
For everybody who's interested in that information here (at about 26:27)

 

I think there could be so many tasks, Lord British could ask for, so not everybody would have to do the same to receive this row lot deed

 

I wouldn't worry about it. Only people that enjoy SoTa and know how to play it and have invested in it are playing it atm anyway. All of the randos who might be into an MMO come and go after 4 hours on the steam forums, go look at the responses there for people that make the bare minimum effort and give up at any difficulty. Sota isn't that easy to learn. They're probably the target audience for LoA. That and people that want to Player Gank.

 

I hadnt thought of this before, but I completely agree with the OP. We want more players in our towns, and I think this would really hook new players into the game faster.

 

The problem with spawning people in random pots with free lots....is that a lot of these will be reserved or require that people are added to residents list and such. I mean, in our pot we aren't averse to new people, but we'd like to at least talk to them first, help them pick a spot that suits their needs (close to crafting? close to exit? close to farming area?)
And the "random" factor could end up putting them somewhere miles away from any sort of low level area/questline/etc.

I really like the idea, though I'm not sure I'd put it -quite- that early.
In many other games with housing, housing is introduced considerably earlier than SotA, and I think early is good.
There's no real intuitive push to do "the other two" outskirts after you've done the one wherever you've started, so I'd probably position the deed as part of the reward for your first outskirts-clear, whichever one that is. By that point, you've been introduced to major systems and such, and may have an inkling of what you'd actually do with a house.

So I'd envision it as, you've turned in your last outskirt quest, and I'd give them the deed and a quest journal continuance to 'find somewhere to live'. Some sort of interface of pots with lots available would be key here, and is something we should really have anyway - lists the pots, name of governer/stewards, shows where it is on map, lists amenities available in the pot etc. Let them choose somewhere that has public claimable lots OR let them message someone and start a conversation, whatever. Quest clears when they've claimed a marker and awards them with like a kitchen table and chairs or something.

I strongly dislike random, the game has far too much reliance on RNG for everything and choosing where you live is a pretty significant choice I'd not want to be randomly dumped into some dead pot off in the boonies whose governer hasnt been seen in months etc. That could give the opposite impression that we want to give. With something like this leading people to a pot selection interface, governers could create public row house areas designed for this sort of thing, and write a 200 character blurb about their town for the search interface. Those that are seeking new players could explicitly state this, too.

With regards to the upgrade to village, I'm neutral on that. I don't see the harm in giving out another untradeable taxed village lot if it will help fill some of the empty towns with active players. And its also more likely they'll buy more property if they get a taste.

 

1. I think giving the a lot to the player early on is a good idea as far as getting players more invested in the game and let them feel like they have their own space in the world.
2. The tax on the lot will probably still be prohibitive at that stage in the game. 250/day is pretty steep if you are just starting out. It is no fun to have to play everyday just to pay in game taxes.... this is the kind of thing we are playing the game to escape from...
3. Upgrading to a village lot is almost a down grade because the village lot, while a little bigger and a little nicer is 4x the tax burden. You could get a row lot, put the cheapest dungeon on it and build out a huge underground complex to live in for way less tax money.

 

All you need to do is go to the Oracle, answer one question and get enough gold for two days of taxes. How is that prohibitive?

A "huge underground complex" is a bit of an exaggeration unless you have the gold/COTOs to expand it.

 

It is a 250/day cost that they did not have to deal with before. Depending on play styles that could end up killing the game for them. If I only play 3 days a week for enjoyment, I may not make enough to clear the rent even with the oracle's help. That doesn't include trying to pay for recipes and equipment. Perhaps it has been too long since I was starting out and it is easier to make gold now, but I rarely had much coin to spend when I was starting out. I am not saying it isn't possible to do if you play most of the days of the week, work the system and manage your gold well, but you may end up with avatars regretting putting down the lot and ending up with a bad experience.

Not really, if you compare it with the size of most houses, and the fact that each point you buy is permanent. It is a better investment of that 750/day than paying the tax man(or woman).

 

That's a whole lot of speculation right there.

 

This does bring up a good point, for a newer player is just starting out and aren't efficient in gathering money for taxes when they're trying to pay for all the things they need like skills/reagents/gear/etc. I think if they hand out a town lot they should have reduced taxes like they did for the row lots. Make it 250gold for row lot and 500gold for village. That way at least once they discover the oracle and are already taken care of in that department and don't feel like they're struggling to gather enough money to pay for everything.

 

250 gold a day is not hard at all with the Oracle. As far as recipes & everything else, just like the rest of us you have to make decisions on what's MORE important at that time. I'm sorry I'm not for handing everything on a platter when first starting, any game is more fun to me when I have goals to achieve, reach them, then set new ones.
So IMHO, they get a row lot earlier in game that CAN be upgraded if they so choose to do the work involved. Not to offend, but some of these comments make it seem we should just babysit new folks at every turn.
Just no........

 

Have to agree with Sean here.

The most fun I had in the early days (we're going back to pre-persistence times, when you could just buy taxed deeds off the vendor for gold) ...after a wipe we'd both eagerly get our pickaxes and hit up spectral mines, ( back when the nodes spawned a lot faster, the skeletons were a lot weaker, and a couple noobs could go in there and hack away at the ore. They also dropped 'zinc' which wasn't used for anything, and there weren't really any uses for the fancier metals yet). We'd head down there and load up our inventories with ore and go to Soltown and sell it to Annika until we could afford our HOUSE. It was kinda a rite of passage for each new wipe - mining for the house and each time it got more and more ambitious.

It is a nice feeling to be able to incrementally work toward something - and that's missing in Sota a lot - everything is all about RNG. Being able to set, and work toward, a goal, on a schedule, with the confidence that the end is reachable and not just based on blind luck - is a great feeling and its something we need more of here for sure.

A row lot is affordable even with the most minimal gameplay. I think the tax for all lots higher than that need a serious reality check, but a row? A row is doable. If you only play a few hours a week, to the point where you can't hit the oracle 3 times a week to cover it....well, property ownership may not be for you. Alternatives exist - if you live in a POT, its likely you could pull the lot if you're not going to be on for a few days and stick it in movers if you have a governer who is sympathetic to your plight. Perhaps share a house with someone or rent a room in a tax free establishment. But these really are edge cases.

Just as we shouldn't baseline the game on what the top 1% players can achieve and punish everyone else, nor should we base the taxes on the lowest 1% activity rate.

 

I'm pretty new still. Most weeks I get maybe 3-5 hours of play.

I agree that the row lot earlier is a good thing, but anything after that ought to be earned through time played OR spent in real world money to help support the game.

Once the deed upgrade system is working in game, a new player can upgrade that row lot.

Personally, I think the free "no trade" row lot needs to require a building.

Just my 2 cents.

 

The only problem with the row lots requiring buildings is 1.) the building on the row lot is not that desirable, and 2.) there's alot of stuff in the game like tents, ruins, clocktowers, shards, and other things that might be more fun to place on the row surface than the hovel like row building.

For example, it might make demand for the original small kickstarter buildings that less are using, (like the shingle roof house and the edelman house, etc) go up, too.

 

Didn't Port say that they are going to make it so that row lots could be sans house?

 

Yes they did. It's coming.

 

They will get a building with, just don't need to use it. Just an FYI in case you didn't know.

 

I know. I'm just not a fan. I think that the FREE row lot deed that you get for starting the main quest should be just like the current row lot: must have a building. And the "after market" row lots can use the new (coming) no building requirement.

I'm pretty new. I just feel that some things should be earned.

But again, that's just my opinion. I respect those who both agree and disagree.