Gaming Bolt: SotA Hands On Impressions

I would also like to add that I agree with the reviewer's comments on the combat system. It DOES feel extremely generic and MMO-like, deck building or not. At the end of the day, all I'm doing when building a deck is choosing which skills I'm allowed to click, instead of clicking all my skills.

 

Yes i know not everybody is keen on the deck system but it is quite innovative and far from generic and definitely warrants a mention.

 

I read the entire article.

Every point he makes about things being missing and disjointed are explained by it being pre-alpha, where things are expected to be missing and disjointed. So anybody understanding that would not have read anything about the state of the game before he tried to play it.

And his very first line shows that he didn't any research.

 

Well it was a bit silly of the reviewer to judge the atmosphere of the game (world and NPCs being bland and not feeling immersed) when the game world has barely been populated.

He would have been better off to discuss the incoming game mechanics and how that might make the game world feel.

 

Great, just when I wanted to write a nice, polite comment with explanations and suggestions... the page returns a 404 error for me now.
Did the editor read the forum thread?

 

The average gamer won't really care about books associated with the game nor who wrote them. The average gamer will look at a few screen shots and a couple of reviews and make a decision. Currently there is little in the way of story in the game itself.

Problem is the deck system is a different way about getting the same results. You still have the ability bar at the bottom of your screen. The average gamer will see the skill trees and the classless system and think "great"........they will then move onto the card system and the random glyphs and go "ughh?!?!". The system needs a lot more thought and tweaking before it's something to shout about.

Which is exactly what most gamers do..........from that respect you can argue the review is very honest.

I don't particularly see this as a bad review. Its just the kind of review people should expect when releasing a game to the masses that isn't finished yet.

 

I don't entirely disagree. Smack asked us to look and discuss so i read it (all) and shared my thoughts, which i really don't think were all that harsh. I would not even have elaborated or looked in here again but i was getting quoted and my head torn off for reasons i still do not comprehend.

 

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

 

404

Was it moved here:
http://www.entweak.com/gaming/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-hands-on-impressions/

 

I'd greatly appreciate feedback on this (unfortunately clumsy) first draft I'd like to post as comment! Which points did I forget, what did I get wrong and what should I express different?
Thank you very much in advance!

Greetings to Shroud of the Avatar and thank you for taking your time to review the game!
I'd like to take the opportunity and try to explain some things and suggest others, if you don't mind.
First of all, SotA is not a typical MMORPG, but carters for multiple possible ways to enjoy the world. As you can choose to play solo offline, solo on-line (and see others change the world, but not meet them), with your friends only (like a LAN, but witness other players changing the world), or with people that an algorithm is going to choose for your surrounding, there's naturally a few elements of the game that are going to be different than if it were just another MMORPG. One of the greatest benefits is that regardless of when you join, where you live, or how many friends you have, you can always play with them. You won't have to choose a server and regret when half your guild is on another shard. And better yet, you most likely won't meet that evil gold seller ever (again), since you (and the game) decide whom you play with, even though you can see everybody's effect on the world at all time, including visiting their great castles, or just purchasing their famous hand-crafted weapon.
And there's another, very important, atypical point to mention about SotA. Even though you are right that people who are not into early access should wait with playing the game (or as you noted, testing the sandbox), it might be worth advertising that they should still consider a purchase early on. The reason is simple, the more money the developers have, the better the product is going to be in the end. Given that there's no publisher to fund the game, the budget is rather limited and unlike with other products where an early purchase wouldn't help the developer, but simply be profit for the publisher, every dime really gets you a better game here.
It should be noted that the game does not feature some common elements found in other similar products on purpose. You wouldn't find a mini-map, or exclamation marks to lead you to quest givers, simply because the target audience enjoys immersion (and to a certain extent what is often described as an 'old school' feeling). If yo want a map, you've got to either craft or purchase one!
Other elements are hold back on purpose, simply because the testers should not end up betrayed on their fun when venturing on the finished product later on. Most important on that aspect being the story, which you lacked.
There is (or should be, if it's not playing for you, then please report a bug!) an opening cinematic though, which explains how the Avatar is being drawn into this world.
Yet other elements exist now for testing purpose only and should be removed later on in the game, such as the 'character sheet' you mentioned, or the abilities to /zone to players. Even on a blackbox testing environment, some data can be very useful.
Last, but not least, you are right though, several elements lack due to not being developed yet, or because they would rely on other elements that haven't made it far enough into progress. Non of the three main starting locations is available yet, hence the 'starting introduction' you're seeing now is but a sheer placeholder for people that aren't willing to read through the instructions that comes with every release. When resources (read budget) are sparse, there's sadly little one can invest on these placeholders, if progress is to be made on the main features and functionality. But here comes the great, the fantastic community! If you spend a little time communicating with others, you should be hard pressed not to find a kind person more than willing to help you and explain every aspect of the game you would need to know. I'm convinced that several people would be willing to lend you a hand and lead you on a tour (which I can really recommend).
The phrase on quests you quoted from the 'tip system' was (I think/hope) not meant in humour, but should point out that, unlike in plenty a modern game, you won't find exclamation marks on NPCs leading you to quests. Either NPCs can actively address you and ask your help, just act as 'normal quest givers', or might develop a quest in the middle of a conversation (including the potential of 'secret phrases/topics'), so you're not just feed the typical multiple choice where you can not miss the opportunity. You have to actively seek and participate in the NPCs life/surrounding.
The combat system is not really standard though and has received an equal amount of praise and flame. You have the option to choose between either the 'normal' system of a locked skill hotkey bar and one where you gain and discard random skills (out of previously selected deck). Both come with specific benefits and drawbacks (which are still subject to change).
And while the 'robot's laser cannon' that you expected shouldn't exist in a medieval steampunk environment, there is an ever expansing variety of weapons. Though you'd have to find plenty of these first in some of the well hidden areas of the game (several of the dungeons contain secret passages that have to be revealed), or take them from some mighty enemy.

 

All good points, but it needs to be more concise. The author is not going to be swayed to unpublish what was written, so the best you can hope for is a precious few seconds of the reader's time by not making them read much.

Also, the tone sounds defensive. It should be completely "matter of fact". Not defensive because that can discredit as sour grapes and not offensive because of the same. If I was to write something, it would be only to encourage the author to review it again closer to release.

Frankly, my choice is to do nothing at all, especially since the author did write it was early in development.

 

It was meant neither for the article to be unpublished, or the reader to get a different perspective (I know I couldn't accomplish either regardless on what I'd write), but simply to help the author get a different vision and maybe influence her/his game experience enough to warrant for a slightly different article next time.
Could you explain/pinpoint how I could sound less defensive? It seems that's an impossible task given that I was trying to explain some of the points mention in the article, which is a somewhat defensive task by it's nature.

 

A good response. I am at work, so I could only do a quick read-through, but I think the word in yellow is wrong.

I think you meant 'caters' but I'm not sure that's the right word. It does allow for multiple ways to play, and you can say it however you wish, but I think carters is a typo.

 

The more I think about, the more I think we should leave well enough alone, because

1. Obviously, if we anger the author, it could be harmful to our interests. We want to author to be awed by the improvements next time, not look for ways to prove his previous post.

2. Plenty of reviewers write second articles rebutting themselves later as development progresses. If that happens, then it could actually be a huge benefit. The author might write how much better the combat is than it was before. That would be even more positive than comparing combat to other games.

3. Anything in writing is subject to interpretation and could misrepresent the kindness and awesomeness of our player community.

Edit: I removed my previous post because I felt it was irrelevant.

 

interesting since the feeling that the person got is pretty much spot on, you can bash the quality of the writeup but he is very accurate, personally I feel much of what he has felt and honestly I can add a little more to it, right now besides logging in once a month to earn a hat there is really not much reason to log in, the immersion is non existant, I really dont understand the whole deck system and how it works, and crafting? I have no clue how to even start it, hes actually pretty accurate in the fact that its awfully confusing. and as he said in his article, the overland map is really lacking immersively

 

That's fine. Play testing isn't for you, apparently. If you followed development and read instructions that are published with each release, you'd have a better idea of how to get started with crafting. The deck system isn't complete yet, so I haven't put any effort into learning it, but the instructions tell us how to get started, and plenty of people have been able to figure it out. The story isn't in the game yet, so of course you won't be able to immerse yourself in that. And the world hasn't been completed, so it's going to be disjointed until that's finished. I wouldn't expect otherwise.

 

But the novel indicates the level of story we can expect in the game. They're intentionally withholding story as long as they can from pre-releases. Just because we don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

 

Anyone got some proof of that statement? Have they ever said the book is the level of story that will present in game? Allusions to that effect are not facts.

I understand what you are saying, though a little dismissive.

Following the instructions is not the equivalent of elegant, intuitively designed interface or elements.

Just by nature of using a computer, one should be able to make an interface that is easy to learn and understand WITHOUT reading anything, whatsoever.

And before someone jumps in about pre-alpha and all that, the interface is not the only design element to that flow, nor do I expect it to get many, if any, more iterations. Menu shuffling is not an iteration.

So, sure, if you don't read the release notes, and realize XYZ is broken, or ABC is not in there yet, that is one thing.

Actually opening the program and jockeying around the interface being able to intuit something, like crafting, or building a deck, is not something that should require a page or more of explanation.

It should be as easy as clicking on folders and dragging around files, not an equivalent analogy to a command line interface.

 

At this point pretty clearly indicates what I think is currently there.