Game is missing major features - working on add ons instead? What is going on?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Smitty, Aug 18, 2015.

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  1. NRaas

    NRaas Avatar

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    And even interesting questions like :

    Would it be possible to completely surround the Town Crier with objects in such a way as to block player access to their bank account ?

    Or block access to someone's home lot by surrounding it with a wall ? :)
     
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  2. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    I was hoping that every object in the world could be moved and dropped everywhere - depending on its weight.
    I was walking around in the Witcher 3 and every mug and chair seems to be glued in place. This totally ruins the immersion if being part of another world. I remember that items in Ultima 7 could be moved depending on their weight and this sometimes showed secrets as items could be hidden beneath other items (I remember finding a magical helmet underneath a rock).
    For SotA not only items could be hidden beneath or behind objects but there could be doors to secret rooms hidden behind items or trap doors beneath furniture etc. This together with the simple fact that items can be moved and dropped everywhere would add so much to the immersion and interactivity of the game.

    Again, if this is a performance issue in the online modes because of player houses, items placed there and many players littering the ground with items, then please let us have this feature at least in the offline mode.
     
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  3. Lord_Darkmoon

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    For the online mode there could be some decay for items dropped on the ground outside of lots.
     
  4. rez

    rez Avatar

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    :confused: eek. Item drop is the main feature I scroll through the release notes for first.
     
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  5. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    Really? A post where people rage about that they are not able to litter the world stuff!? And claim it's a major feature??!!
    What the....
    Let me tell you something: That was one of the MOST ANNOYING things UO had.
    I. Am. Glad. If that 'feature' never makes it.
     
  6. fantalio

    fantalio Avatar

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    Item's being able to show up on the ground was one of the key features for me. A great PvP system is number one but the fun of being able to mess around with a sandbox world where I can throw items on the ground is what seperates this game from those crappy korean MMOs.

    I'm fine with limiting it in the major world hubs but having it around my house is huge for just messing around with the game. It's one of those "little thing" that goes a long way.
     
  7. Canaris

    Canaris Avatar

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    I like the OP haven't played in awhile, I came back and played for a few hours last night, can't say I disagree with him. There are major features that a MMORPG should have, I know this is Alpha but looking around at what's been made versus what not been I do think the dev's need to focus back onto the game core mechanics and gameplay. You can play the craft a new bush/table/house game later. As it is this game isn't pulling me in as UO or other MMO's did it in fact frustrates and makes me not want to play... that makes me sad.
     
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  8. raxxus

    raxxus Legend of the Hearth

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    It's not just setting items on the ground, but also interactining (or the ability to interact) with items in the world. A thief can walk into a NPC black smith and attempt to steal tongs. A warrior can pick up a candle off the ground in a dungeon. etc etc. Think outside the box Atogrim.
     
  9. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    Creating useless lag isn't a human right.
    And that's what this is all about.
     
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  10. Earl Atogrim von Draken

    Earl Atogrim von Draken Avatar

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    That's btw something you can do in a lot of places.
    Just so you know.
     
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  11. Womby

    Womby Avatar

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    You are already able to place items on the ground around your house, provided you do not stray off your lot.
     
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  12. Vasflam2

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    I used to litter the front of my enemies houses with pink robes and personalized books. One of my proudest moments in UO was finding my book displayed prominently and locked down within their keep. :cool:
     
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  13. Lord Andernut

    Lord Andernut Avatar

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    I'm always surprised I see this here, and other forums. This idea that artists creating things somehow delays the game or delays features. People keep saying add-ons are delaying the features they want or delaying the game in general. Add-ons are no different from all the other assets they create, for the game, except people purchase those add-ons to place in the game so those assets pay for themselves and perhaps more assets besides. The world needs houses and swords and trees and chests and a myriad of other objects to populate it, some of those things they sell in the add-on store in advance to keep funding development. Many of those things will have similar assets in the game that are a little different but available in-game.

    They have artists that create objects to populate the world, and ideally people buying those items is paying for that time. Which is awesome, because then we get more stuff in the world and they can hire more staff to work on features as well.

    Like the airships for instance. If an artist was paid one week to work on it, and they got paid 300 bucks a day then they need to sell 5 airships and they're at a profit. If they sell more airships then you have now paid for that artist to create themed items for some cities perhaps or in-game stuff. If the add-on store brings revenue in, more revenue than they put into it (which would make sense) then that revenue pays for things in the game, and hiring more staff to work alongside those delivering the core features of the game. And outside of the "of plenty" tools in the store, it's all cosmetic - and most cosmetic things have counterparts in the game already. Fountains, hedges, geocache chest, fences, bushes etc. (Not sure about trees yet, but they will likely have obtainable trees as well).

    -------------------

    Regarding Flexible Placement of items. Dropping items anywhere? Sure that's nice, and I've always kept my eyes open for a similar feature - dropping items anywhere on your lot. If you can pick it up you should be able to put it down! Off the lots obviously some decay would be needed, or restrictions of some sort just to stop wading through piles of junk - guaranteed if you can litter then a group of people will go cover some throneroom in garbage or heads or something. And something to prevent people throwing tables in your way for pvp :p

    For people who think you can block access to the bank or someone's lot with placeable items... just move them if they're in the way I guess :)
     
  14. fantalio

    fantalio Avatar

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    Which is nice. I want to be able to throw things all around the zone around my house too. I remember getting into wars between neighbors in UO where we would instigate battles by throwing their items that had been looted from them on their steps.
     
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  15. Gubbles

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    It does though. We have more houses in the add-on store than we have armor in the game. Some of these 'add-ons' aren't just assets; things like POTs and bank upgrades require software development time. The time spent creating assets could be used to create a more rich environment that doesn't require them being purchased with cash. A number of scenes still are yet to come online. Perhaps scene creation and asset creation is a different beast, yet those scenes still need to be decorated.

    EDIT: not to mention; would love to see more creature creation, and the add-on for the Water donation thing are more than just assets, they come with animations, and random chance to get items from a wishing well.. Yeah, in this case it's for a good cause, still, it takes time to do.
     
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  16. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    The housing system has long since developed. OP was complaining specifically about a house delaying development on features, which isn't the case.
     
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  17. Lord Andernut

    Lord Andernut Avatar

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    POTs is definitely a side-path, did the revenues justify the time put in? I don't know. But don't forget that all that revenue is used to pay employees and if it bankrolled the recent hires that have come in to flesh out our world and work on some key features then they have ADDITIONAL staff (and perhaps retained other staff that they couldn't have otherwise) because of the revenues.

    I'm not saying it is a likelihood (I don't know the numbers) but for all we know (we don't) the POT's could have allowed them to hire enough staff that the game will launch sooner, not later. The same with assets - all those sellable assets justifies the hiring of the staff who may very well be now creating "a more rich environment." As well as design those number of scenes.

    This whole concept that creating things to sell in the store takes away from development time just surprises me. If they sell 50 airships at the sale price that's $17,500. It's both more variety in our world AND would generate more revenue that continues to pay for creating more content to flesh out our world.

    So - more addons, means more revenue, means hiring additional staff, means those staff work on stuff that either enhances the game or speeds up it's delivery.
     
  18. Gubbles

    Gubbles Avatar

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    It's not long since developed; a few weeks ago desert houses were created along with various purchasable plants. It looks like we have something that looks mighty similar to flexible house placement that came out of development of dynamic lot placement for POTs. Whether or not the money raised doesn't crossover to KS goals, I have a hard time believing the addition of add-ons doesn't affect the timeline for KS goals. Unless it's like what someone here suggested earlier, and they are truly segmented teams, resource/personnel allocation is likely affected.
     
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  19. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    The POT system is new development (with new revenue) and you can argue that POTs were always part of the plan.

    Add on houses are not new feature development.
     
  20. Smitty

    Smitty Legend of the Hearth

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    You could have a delay in dropping bigger items or items that would act as a physical block. UO did a good job in regards to not being littered. Granted it had some times where someone would dump a pile of wooden shields or robes, but the decay made the appearance clean.

    With item drop in a world you get a new dimension then with a static environment, instead of scanning just for mobs or people you're also looking at the world for interaction. Hard to describe to people who haven't played a game with it, but without it you're just running a treadmill painting when traveling no matter how beautiful the graphics are.

    The five things that made UO the gaming experience IMHO was (in no order);

    PVP
    Crafting
    Housing
    World interaction - reagent spawning, being able to chop wood directly from tree, mine directly from stone and item drop
    Online with friends

    Without all of the careful balance of all these ingredients, the game feels like any other MMO (IMO!), a major reason for myself missing a lot of releases (will play the latest though!). I'm sure a lot of non-UO people will love it, but the crowd who yearns for the spiritual successor will be turned away (however big that is) if all five aren't put in. I trust in the team and what they are creating, but I'm not going to lie and say I'm not getting nervous as hell. Hoping for the best..
     
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