Excited for final wipe but seems like a catch 22

Hello,

Im sure im going to get attacked for this post. But im not in anyway trying to be disparaging of SOTA because i am truly still excited for the final product. However, i feel like if coming up on a final wipe is any indication that game is nearing its initial release version, im not so sure im looking forward to it at this point and time.

First of all i only started playing back in October 2015 so im not nearly as vested as alot of people here are, so maybe that is why i am so open to saying the product isnt that great in its current state(which i do understand is still ALPHA), sure i got a few upgraded pledges but nothing serious.

Personally i feel like the game lacks any kind of real soul or uniqueness at this point. Sure its fun when its new, but the depth just doesnt seem to be there. There are neat features, and the community is great but the game play itself? its MEH at best as of the current state. Since i started playing SOTA i have spent some time each week in game doing things, but not alot of time like i may in a fully released game. I managed to burn myself out already.

I hear alot of people compare the game to UO2 which i get with the develoment team, but can anyone truly say this experience has been as good as UO? Maybe you can, maybe you cant either way its going to boil down to personal experience. In my opinion this game is nothing like UO minus the fact there arent any set templates, and id almost venture to say your forced to pick up more skills in SOTA then you ever were in UO (Healing magic is a great example of this). In fact i may just go ahead and re up my UO sub this month until a later release of the game because even with the near dead servers i have 1000x more fun playing that at this point.

Does anyone else feel this way? Everyone has been waiting for final wipe, but isnt it concerning at the least that the game is still in its current state and announcing final wipes? It almost feels like a bid to keep people from abandoning ship because atleast they can land grab and not have to keep rebuilding their characters over and over.

Im just looking for honest feedback not to start a war between those heavily invested and those that arent. I can understand why some people would be infuriated about this post, people are emotional about things they care about such as their money. Many people will say they dont care about the money they invested they did it to help develop the game, which may be true to an extent, but could you truly say you would be happy with SOTA in its current state for 1k, 5k,10k of your $$? I couldnt.

 

The "Soul and Uniqueness" are the last things in a game development cycle to develop. Until now, it's been building the basic building blocks to make the game go. Over the course of the next 6 months (and beyond) they will be actualizing their vision rather than just laying the foundation upon which that can be built.

Yes, it feels empty, soulless and incomplete because it's empty, soulless and incomplete. This will change.

 

Ever see the movie Rocky?

Remember Adrian at the beginning of the movie as a homely pet store clerk? After a few months she became a knockout? Final wipe will be the first kiss for Shroud.

Patience young Avatar.

 

Greyfox, you are a natural ambassador and this post made me laugh! I truly hope that is the case, there is alot of potential with the concepts. I was just looking to see how other people felt about final wipe coming so soon with current state of the game to me it is kind of like a catch 22

 

I wish the final wipe was today. I'd like to start playing in a persistent world.

I'm not the least bit bothered by the idea that people will show up and judge the game. They're never going to stop judging it. It's what people do. I don't think there's ever been a good game that gamers said "I won't play that because months ago it wasn't good". If it's good, people will play, and this game is going to be good.

 

No worries. There is much time left for me to eat you.

 

I am a few hundred dollars invested in the game and won't spend another dime as I feel the same as you OP. Presumably over the next few months the game will get "polished" and worked so as to be actually enjoyable. We'll see... I have faith or at least cognitive dissonance.

 

You have to remember, that with any normal game development, all of this... all of this that we see now with its warts and blimishes, rough edges and flaws would Only be experienced by the Developers and their QA team. We've got a front row seat on the production floor of the sausage factory.

 

+1

 

True, but i have Alpha tested games before, and it tends to be a good indicator of what your getting into, especially after several years.

 

Once final wipe arrives the flood gates will open , and all your worries will be washed away !

 

Unless you've worked in the industry, you've never had this level of access before.

 

Flood gates? Are you serious?

There are hundreds of POTs. It's too spread out. The mechanics of the game needs a major overhaul for it to be playable. Separation of housing and actual things to do (i.e. PVM, PVP, harvesting), not to mention lack of item drop, has killed any immersion so far.

I love the Ultimas and I think RG is brilliant, but this game isn't fun to play.

 

I absolutely feel the same way. I get the feeling about the lack of the great aspects from UO either not being present or ruined as they were turned into a means to only crowdfund the game. It is almost more like the anti-UO in that manner. Also, the game is not even close to be ready for release on July 28th, it is still in a state of "if you are having fun, then that is a bug" mode due to the game being in pre-alpha and not feature complete...yet will be released in 5 months?? I know the word of pre-alpha stopped being used 4 weeks ago, but that doesn't change reality of a dull, boring, grindy, incomplete game with no soul, which would be just fine for a pre-alpha game but not 5 months from release.

Personally, I see July 28th as Portalarium simply throwing in the towel as there is not much that can be done to put things on the right path short of scrapping the entire game and starting over with a clear mindset of what the game will be and a solid plan on how it will be created. It can be argued to infinity, but I am sure many share the same feeling.

 

Your post is a perfectly reasonable one. Its funny you mentioned this because after much thought, I decided to take a $600 loss and sell my main pledge, opting to play this game on a basic $45 one instead. I didn't care one bit about the money I lost. Reason I did this is because after much thought, I realized that I'll likely enjoy the game better this way. All this talk about housing and the land rush made me think about why I pledged in the first place. I didn't care at all about housing and the only RG game I've played was Tabula Rasa which although I enjoyed, didn't last and folded. So I don't know this dude, or his team really.

I feel like this is the best for me as I'll be ready to play the game how I planned in the beginning. I'll wait for final release and start with the sp. Then I'll try the mp and see how things are. I now prefer to earn a row house/lot instead of coming into the game with it free. I have this feeling (just me personally) that the more things I give myself to achieve in-game, the better the journey I'll have. If I enjoy episode 1, then I'll re-buy the next, and thereafter. Somehow I got away from this thinking lol.

Bottom line.. if I can't enjoy the game with a $45 pledge, then this is likely not the game for me.

Cheers

 

There are two things that I enjoy about this game: having a relatively friendly and supportive community and some sense of being part of the development. While the game play right is sorta "make your own fun" type of thing, which is what sandbox is about, I actually enjoy participating in the game development. Be able to test things and make feedback. While sometimes things get heated up, but I do enjoy discussing issues with the game and read arguments from different angles. Everyone has his/her own way of thinking. Some I may agree, some I may not, some I didn't think it exist.

I understand that some people are only interested at the destination, but I rather enjoy being part of the journey. Nothing last forever, so better YOLO it.

 

I'm holding out hope for the game to come together. I hope once Britanny is brought into the game, that it can be a hub for new players and veterans a like to meet up (as Owl's Head once was once upon a time ago). I haven't felt the game has done much (for me) since adding music (which was great) and the beginning mechanics of a fishing system.

 

This team puts out some serious product on a monthly basis. We may only have 5 months before final wipe, but we probably have a solid 10 months before Episode 1 is complete.

I look back to Release 14, just to refresh myself on how far the game has come in a year. AND we have more devs now.

I ain't skurd.

 

I have seen what can happen in a few patches. I am enjoying the game as is. I am sure there will be more to come and improvements along the way. Heck there are 6 episodes into this game. Imagine how this game will be by ep6?

LB has yet to disappoint me in any game since the first Ultima I played long ago on my commodore 64. Will there be mixed opinions and feelings? I am sure there will be. The people following LB and his games are pretty loyal. There are people that will

stay with this game for many many years to come that I can promise you. This is a journey that started for me long ago.

Down the rabbit hole I go!

 

I don't agree with that at all. There isn't some magic switch that will be turned on late in development to suddenly make the game unique and fun. There are plenty of games (early access or otherwise) that lack content and polish, but have a core that makes people think "this game needs a lot of work but there is really something here." I feel like we're getting the needs a lot of work, but without the something here. SotA will surely get better as it nears completion, but getting better may not be enough if the core is flawed and lacking that "soul" that the OP mentioned.

Tying this back to the final wipe discussion, I fear that committing to a final wipe is essentially locking the game into a place where certain underlying game mechanics can no longer be changed. There will definitely be tweaks, new features, new content, etc, but the inability to wipe does put limits on what and how certain aspects can be modified. I understand that Portalarium needs to push their product out the door at some point, but I would prefer to keep all options on the table (including wipes) until release to make sure we end up with the best possible game in the end. Alas, I think that ship has sailed...