Hello, fellow travelers...

Hail and well met!

New player here. Been a long time fan. I'm 37 now, but U7 literally changed my life as a kid. Before then, I thought RPG's were limited to King's Quest and Might & Magic. My gaming roots started as a youngster plodding through Zork (and yes, I still have the map and the hint book that required a highlighter pen to see the content (talk about pre-alpha spoiler alert technology...)). But I digress...

I normally don't do early-access (don't necessarily like seeing the sausage being made) but after being a lurker here and other places, I decided it was a good time to take the plunge before persistence. I haven't delved much into the story, just been playing around with mechanics before wipe.

Here are some of my thoughts :

The Good:

1. The locations, chokepoints, and cities are graphically shaping up nicely. It's no Witcher 3, but I don't expect it to be. It's got the Ultima vibe, runs fairly well (minus the memory leak issues in cities), and the lighting effects are relatively tuned. The world seems interesting. I'd give it a solid B.

2. The music is fantastic (overly loud, but fantastic.) A

3. I like the hands-off quest system (exploring the world and NPC dialogues are much more satisfying than getting map markers and railroads to your next objective). However, I've found a few instances where you have to get the dialogue options 'exactly right' to continue, turn in, or receive quests. It's very easy to miss things unless you exhaustively explore the entire dialogue tree over and over again. B-

The Bad:

1. STEEP learning curve and limited documentation. I consider myself an RPG veteran, but I was totally lost on player skill customization, XP banking, combat, and glyphs (which I still don't get...but will). The automated info dumping during gameplay works, but isn't very fun. I know this has been beaten to death, but add my voice to the chorus: a hands-on tutorial and better documentation is a necessity. Especially for noobs (like me). C-

2. Combat (also beaten to death, but here's my two cents). I don't mind the card system (I lock my bar, anyway), but playing as a STR build I feel the combat immersion is lacking. I don't 'feel' like I'm hitting anything. Like swinging at air. This could be addressed with better sound FX and visuals, I suppose. C

3. Multiplayer - adventuring in a party needs some refinement. Things like automated loot sharing, and player tracking on a map would go along way to improve the experience. C

The Ugly:

1. Mark & Recall (where hast thou gone?). I understand part of the fun is exploring the world, but being forced to traverse the world (and combat extensive chokepoints) isn't fun when you've only got a few minutes to log in and say...work on crafting. My favorite mechanic in UO was M&R. Every new city I would discover would get a Mark - I loved being able to bounce around in a time pinch. I know there are some 'fast travelish' mechanics in the game, but its more confusing than the NYC subway system. D-

2. NPC Vendor Lists - I've been literally playing the game for two weeks with the same sword. My first inclination was head to the blacksmith. Lo and behold, he only sells recipes. Sooo, I think, okay this game wants me to make my own weapon. So, I try, and fail at making any ingots. I just want to buy (or find) a better weapon. Apparently, nobody in the world wants to sell me one. Oddly enough, I could buy a full set of plate from the Armorer....Shouldn't the blacksmith be able to sell and repair your equipment? And, what's the point of having a magic store if they only sell alchemy ingredients? D

3. Loot lists - I've been struggling to see how I can make adventuring a lucrative business in the current game state. I've been killing tons of mobs and I am only finding >20 gp per body and maybe a rusty weapon. Even higher level NPCs I kill do not have any better offerings. F

4. Chest/container loot - Similar to #3, I can't find anything good in a chest. Not even a health potion. I've fought through hordes of beasties, get to a boss, vanquish it and am ready to claim my reward. I open the boss chest and lo and behold...its empty. F

Those are just some of initial impressions. I am in no way complaining or begrudging the current game state. Pre-Alpha is Pre-Alpha, after all. In fact, I'm happy with what I see so far. I'm sure many of my points on the Bad and Ugly lists will be addressed at some point. I just wanted to put them out there to see if I'm missing something. OVERALL, I'm really excited to sink my teeth (and many hours) into this game!

- Chad

P.S.

Where the heck is everybody? The cities are ghost towns (even Britanny). I'm the multiplayer mode and have met very few fellow travelers. Are peeps waiting for persistence?

TL;DR: I like what I see so far. And, I want a better sword.

 

Great feedback, Chad! Welcome!

Yes, the towns are empty. Most of the people on my friend's list are biding their time and waiting for the Final Wipe. We can expect a short resurge of the in-game population when R31 is released at the end of the month.

I think Mark and Recall has been sacrificed on the altar of Regional Economies. You can use scrolls to teleport to a friend or recall to one destination only. It makes me think twice before heading off anywhere. Maybe that's not a bad thing, I haven't decided yet. Maybe the regional player economy will have to be in place and thriving for me to recognize any benefits.

The place to buy a good sword is from a player vendor. I think the intention is to have NPCs sell as little as possible so that crafters can make a living selling their wares.

Keep the feedback coming!

 

Hail and well met!

Perhaps one of our fine crafters will have to help you out!

 

If you sell the rusty weapons to a blacksmith you'll get quite a bit more for them, this has been my main source of income while adventuring. http://www.sotamap.com/ & http://www.sotacraft.com/ are my main go to sites, Virtue Oasis or Owls Head public vendor should have some player crafted swords you can buy or you can use sotacraft to plan out what you'll need to gather/buy to make your desired sword. If you'd like me to show you around a bit add "Josh Ryan" to your friends list and shoot me a pm on here letting me know a time that works, I'll log in and we can get working on a sword upgrade.

 

Regarding just "the ugly"

1. Mark & Recall are out, they want to create local economies so those are out. Many of us believe these are temporary decisions that will need to be reversed when they start trying to cater to the masses.
2. Your at the wrong kind of black smith, some towns have 3 or more blacksmiths that sell stuff. Sometimes the weapons are on a "weaponsmith", sometimes they are on a "blacksmith" depending on when the town was created. This is one of those things that is supposed to be addressed during "the polish".
3. This is by design they want money to be "scarce". You'll need to loot all and sell those crappy weapons to make your adventuring pay for itself. Also check several merchants and see what prices they will pay, some pay more for some things. e.g. blacksmith in Owl's head will pay more for weapons and armor than most vendors. There is supposed to be an economy balance patch that has been promised forever, but it always gets pushed back for other critical issues. Expect this to be fixed, just don't hold your breath for a speedy fix.
4. Boxes/crates/barrels and other smashables don't have loot right now, There are some chests/dressers/cabinets/containers that have loot but are almost always empty in Multiplayer mode. Again this is another area that has pushed off to "the polish" we used to have more chests that had good loot, but everytime we find one of them, they patch it away because of exploits.

If your in multi-player mode, the best town to find people is "Owl's head", it is the most populated zone in the game for serveral reasons.
Some It's merchants have match best "buy price" for loot.
There's recipe vendors for most recipes,
there are decoration vendors for most decorations.
It's blacksmith sells weapons, armor, arrows, and repair kits.
Long time ago the Hidden Vale was the only region in the game, so people that have been around tend to return to it ever.
It's Public vendor has the most goods, (which is like a self fulfilling prophecy people sell there because people buy there, and people buy there because people sell there)

 

Thanks for the warm welcome and feedback. I haven't made it to Owl's Head yet. Perhaps, I plan a visit this evening. Most player vendors I've encountered around Resolute are empty!

Also, are they planning on adding a world map? It would make sense to be able to buy/keep one in your bag for reference. I've been using sotamap.com but I'd rather have something in game.

 

Welcome cekern123!

 

Welcome to SotA, Chad!

It was good to read your feedback and see how much you have noticed. There is a lot more out there to experience and hopefully you find some bugs to report along the way.

There is no map in-game at the moment because the world has not got its final shape just yet. It will likely be the end of the year before we see one.

Other threads in this New Player Welcome section and the Question and Answer pages of http://www.sotahelp.org/q--a.html can help you further.

 

Hi cekern123, and welcome to SotA! Thank you for taking the time to provide valuable feedback on the First Time User Experience. Yes, things are pretty dead right now because we are all wiped out (pun).

I hope to see you in game.

 

Hey bud, I agree they took many of the things that made uo great and hit the delete button. This was one of my favs also, bards inscriptions and spell books and treasure hunting and I find the small map frusterating but it is what it is. I hope in time they can develop new stuff that is just as great.

 

It took UO years to get all those features. SotA will be adding features over time.

 

I know these things

 

Welcome friend

 

Welcome all New Avatars!!!

 

Welcome! Check out the Community Events Calendar at Avatar's Circle (http://avatarscircle.com/community-events/) The core of the community is out there just waiting for someone to befriend and help. Trust me. They love it. It's weird.

The best way I have found to get geared up is to start with what's on the NPC vendors. The augmented armor is not that bad. Then go hunting and make a point to get to go to a couple events and meet people. There are a lot of crafters out there willing to share thier work. and usually for less than they sell thier stuff on thier vendors. And others of various play styles that would love to share thier knowledge.

If you want to make your own, check out websites with recipes and what materials give you what benefits. As a beginner crafter, you won't get the crits, but you can step up your gear up from the generic NPC gear. I have not GMed my fighting skills yet, but my self crafted gear is fine for hunting in 5 skull scenes.

Iron and copper are available at Red Sash Bandits near Owl's Head with no fighting, once you get past the spiders and into the scene. The two wolves in the scene are pretty easy. If you wear light armor, its even easier. Leather is available at most beginner areas.

At some point, when you want top of the line gear, its good to have friends. Consider a guild, or the friends you have made along the way. Work out a trade.

I agree that making money is difficult, and especially so if you are crafting at all. Then when the awesome gear starts showing up on vendors, it is very expensive. And for the same reason us peons are having money issues. Some folk like to sit on the ski
skellies and elves and sell thier gear for money. You will need to give yourself a larger carry weight allowance, but this works. I have seen materials on sale on vendors, but I can't speak for the success of that money making venture.

As for me, some releases I sold crystals and crystal fragments to NPCs. Some releases I sell the rusty stuff to NPCs. Sometimes I sell dyes. The last couple I have sold tamed Obsidian Wolves but by the time I can get my taming that high, they only go for about 7-10K and I only sell 1-2 a week. That little bit gets me some crafting materials and I am working on buying a set of enchanted tools. I suppose I could try making those too.

Back to the Community Events: Tonight at 7 cst there are three events I would highly recommend. Kazyn Phoenixfyre does Pheonix Republic PVE night, where they pick a scene or control point to go play at. Kazyn is a really great guy and if he doesn't know something you ask, he will direct you to the right person.

Bambino LuduVate coordinates Vengeance Madness. Trust me, even if you are not a PvPer this event is a total blast. I haven't gone in a long time but he and Violation both have been nice to me even though I suck at PvP, and even have given me helpful pointers.

Both the Pheonix Republic and Vengeance have been prominant in the SotA community for a long time, and active in welcoming new players and bringing players new and old together for fun,

I am just getting to know EVL, but so far I am impressed and everything I have heard from them and about them has been good. Thier Siege Wars even looks like a Capture the Flag deal, which I have not yet participated in. But you can start to see there are an abundance of things the community puts together in addition to the normal game offerings. And thats just tonight!

 

Welcome to the game