Gaming Bolt: SotA Hands On Impressions

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by smack, Jan 7, 2015.

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  1. smack

    smack Avatar

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    Gaming Bolt posted an article giving their hands on impressions of the game:

    http://gamingbolt.com/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-hands-on-impressions

    Some teasers:

    - "Shroud of the Avatar is an medieval MMORPG and appears to be a game of much potential, it presents a few ideas that may hold interest in the long run, and through these it demonstrates its strengths that could possibly turn into something rather unique. At this point unfortunately the game is littered in mediocrity, and it’s hard to excited for the game as it fails to present anything of great interest other than the popularity surrounding its development."

    - "The game does have it’s few moments of potential however but this is as all they are at this point. Potentially good ideas happening in real-time. The interactive conversation system I spoke on earlier that has the player directly talking directly to the side characters, is something that has room to expand. It demonstrates the potential to do so as the more the player interacts, the more they gain an increase within their reputation. Depending on the player’s reputation NPCs may react differently towards conversational topics. This can lead to doubts and negativity, and even more so earning a reputation as a liar."

    - "The game doesn’t deliver any real sense of action or visual feedback however, other than the characters swinging their blades back and fourth as each of their health bars decrease. It’s your standard game of checkers, you move I move."

    Check it out and discuss below! :)
     
  2. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    Portalarium should insist that articles like this say Shroud has similarities to MMORPGs.
    Otherwise, they'll never get beyond the label and get people to embrace Selective Multiplayer.
     
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  3. redfish

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  4. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    And they are hiring editors, which they clearly need.
     
  5. Themo Lock

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    Pretty poorly written review by somebody who didn't explore many features XD especially since he wrote it yesterday and states that the world lacks story.
     
  6. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    He clearly didn't do any research at all, as well as not understanding the pre-alpha nature of what he was looking at.
     
  7. Lord Tachys al`Fahn

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    That must be why my head hurts now...
     
  8. Tahru

    Tahru Avatar

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    There is always the risk in letting people play a game before beta. Heck, 80% of the debates on here could have been avoided if the dev's worked in a vacuum until beta. It was a calculated risk made by Port. Let's hope they are right: I am rooting for them.
     
  9. redfish

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    Well, I don't know how many readers that site has ... but I'm not sure what impression readers will be left with after seeing that article. Polite comments addressing the issues he's discussing wouldn't hurt. It might also encourage him to get into the game more and adopt a more positive view.
     
  10. Ravenclaw [BEAR]

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    Laughs.. I read the article and see what you mean. :)
     
  11. Roper Docholiday

    Roper Docholiday Avatar

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    my grammer and spelling s*cks i know this but lets not hire the high school kid that completed the hat quest only to rate a game he has spent 5 mins in
     
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  12. Joviex

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    Except it does lack story unless you pay for the book to get some background.

    There is little story in the game, at this point.

    From the article:
    Along with:

    in the follow up paragraph.

    And also:

    Sounds like most those complaining about that didn't read the entire article.

    He even cautions people multiple times to avoid it if "testing" a moving target is not their thing.

    This is an absolute problem, and has been brought up by many backers. Unless you've been here since the start, the first toe dip into the game is disorganized.

    Doesnt read as anything that non-fan base or not paid for advertisement shills haven't said.

    This is a true perception of the game from a non-fan, non-follow the project person, ya know, the people that are not going to like or play the game even at launch.

    But a lot of you dont care about that, and are content to keep the community small and the game niche. So what do you expect when this type of review comes along?

    And all your assumptions about what he did are ridiculous.

    I see how it works, someone posts something you dislike, go bash him on what he did not do, instead of actually, as a community who is supposed to give a crap, go ask him.

    Perhaps offer to take him around. Entice him to the community that is espoused around here as being unique and awesome for this game.

    Makes sense.
     
  13. Tahru

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    Agreed with most of this up until this sentence.
     
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  14. Themo Lock

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    Saying the game lacks story without mentioning Tracy Hickman and the associated novels ...
    Saying the combat system is generic drag to bar without mentioning the deck system...
    The way it was structured and the descriptions given clearly suggested the experience one would have if you very briefly skimmed the website and played the game for a few hours without talking to anybody or asking any questions. My assumptions may not mirror yours but they are not ridiculous. As far as offering to take him around... i most likely did considering i have not slept for 48 hours and spent 90% of that time in Braemar spamming information and offering tours and advice to new players. You are upset at us for giving a bad review of a poorly informed bad review.
     
  15. Joviex

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    Like I said, for a community that purports itself to be pro-active, they are quick to praise only positive reviews, and quicker with condemnation of negative reviews -- regardless if either HAS or HAS NOT gotten any actual facts correct.

    I get it, people don't like having someone piss on their time investment.

    But prove him wrong, not with some anonymous forum bashing, but by actually asking him how he came to those conclusions.

    Offer to show him/them the actual game world you see, rather than just "He didn't do anything except what any NORMAL PERSON would do! How dare him!" --

    Did I say it wasn't a crappily written and researched article? Nope.

    But I also didn't start bashing him just because, which you all can help shape for the better, doesn't jive with what I perceive the situation to be.

    I even agree with some of his points, obviously.
     
  16. rune_74

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    That novel is not part of the game...so yes, the game lacks story at this point.

    Joviex has a point, and we will see this until they actually start implimenting some of the actual story stuff they say they have done.
     
  17. Tahru

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    I think this is very true and applies to every review system on the planet.


    This, and some of what follows, is implying motives on a large population. It is really unnecessary and most likely inaccurate.
     
  18. Themo Lock

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    Geez man calm down, i only made a 2 sentence casual comment that i felt it was poorly written and ill informed. I didn't jump into his comments section and start flaming him or start screaming that we should burn him. Why would i contact him and ask him anything when he has not asked anybody here for information before posting? I don't care what he thinks, i just clicked a link, read it and very briefly gave my opinion of it in the appropriate thread.
     
  19. majoria70

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    Well we don't always like to hear what the public says and we can use it one of two ways.
    1) how dare they, they don't have a clue, or
    2)Hmmm and listen very closely for anything valuable

    We know the game isn't showing off yet in many ways, we know the features are still coming into the game, and how awesome they will be, but whoever wrote this does not know that.
    The last two releases have demonstrated to me that we are on the way now and just need to keep the momentum going.

    Articles like this can only serve to move us forward to the point where someone eats their words. So yaaay for us and now we carry on and show the world.:)
     
  20. Bubonic

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    I agree with those here who have said that the article was poorly written and edited.

    It was.

    However, that has little to with the points he raises. Bash him if you will, but keep this in mind:

    The reviewer was apparently coming at this from the point of view of someone who has just tried the game for the first time. This is the same point of view that will be shared by many many people, especially now that the doors have opened for Steam Access.

    Instead of insulting the website and author, perhaps we should focus on encouraging the devs to address these concerns, because first impressions are EXTREMELY important to a lot of gamers, especially with so many games in a similar genre to choose from.
     
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