How does this game play?

I have been an Ultima fan since I played Ultima 3 on my first computer and I have been following this project with some interest. I did not contribute because I thought 1 million was a ridiculously small amount to try to do what they are trying to do when multiplayer games typically come with a 50-100 million price tag. I have been away for a while, but I saw some unfriendly commentary about the game from testers on facebook and youtube, especially the world map and the fact that it is more fantasy housing simulator than fantasy adventure. I checked back into the site here and the first thing I see on the front page is promotion of the games housing and house decorating systems. Is there any actual story here, are the quests interesting, is combat good, does the world feel interactive and alive,etc..? I mean the game is not looking very good to an outside observer both graphically and in terms of gameplay. Can you guys, maybe some testers, tell me more about how it actually plays as a game?? I am dying for another Ultima style experience and I'm hoping this will be it, but I am worried.

 

Well, right now, it's NOT a game; it's a collection of game systems being tested out and refined. While there do seem to be plenty of people who have said negative things about SotA, you won't find many here, and even those that do are mostly optimistic and positive about the end result.

I have played in every release so far, minus the open period yesterday for the anniversary, and these are my opinions.

World - I really like the graphic style of the world and think it looks great. It is not hyper realistic but it's also not cartoony or heavily stylized. I think the world graphics look very good as in, knowing there is still polish to be done to them.

Characters - I think the characters are one of the biggest areas of opportunity. I don't think they look BAD, just that they need more polish than most things. The hair is very raw, the animations are ok, but not great, there are very few creation choices at this time.

Crafting/Gathering - I think the crafting is fun, and challenging, and is certainly not going to be to everyone's taste because of the non-automatic nature of initially figuring something out. The system as it is now has a lot of combinations available and it will get even more involved. Gathering is very new, and feels it, but not in a bad way.

Conversation - People are either going to love the conversation system as a throwback to how we did it as kids, or hate it as cumbersome and pointless. I simultaneously like the freeform typing as it means I can say what I want, and not what I'm told to say, as well as feeling like it's a bit of a chore. I don't think they should change it, and it will become more robust before release, but I see it being something recent players of RPG's will have difficulty with.

Combat - The combat we've seen is basically placeholder combat; swing and hit and one of you die. That's not what the combat will be like so it's silly to judge based on that. I am excited to try out the innovative combat they have planned and see if it is fun.

Stability - Even as a PRE-ALPHA collection of systems, the game runs well. It is fairly smooth and has a normal amount of bugginess at this time. Some people consistantly get bumped, the overwhelming majority do not. I and others have played in the releases for hours and hours without having any issues.

Gameplay - Even as a PRE-ALPHA collection of systems, the game is fun. This is obviously a bug as we've been told that fun is not being put in until later in the development cycle, but it's very obviously there. Lots of us have gone into this sparse, incomplete world and had fun by ourselves and with others doing little more than wandering around and exploring. Chatting with others. Chasing deer, rabbits and sheep. Trying to climb the highest whatever. Finding the most treasure. Figuring out the most recipes. Talking to the most NPC's. Whatever.

Story - This is where I think people have the most unreasonable expectations. The story will be IN THE GAME, not now. It's silly for them to show any hint of how the story itself will be in game before it's released and I am glad they aren't. I am sure it will be there, and it will feel like Ultima, because the world itself already does. The story and how it has us interact with the systems we've seen as designed by Garriott and Hickman will be, I'm confident, great.

My best advice? Try it instead of just reading what others say. Try and get an Alienware R5 pass. Use the Alienware coupon to make the 'cost' of a pledge $25 instead of $45. Join us in the next release and decide for yourself how much of an 'Ultima style experience' it's going to be. You've said you have played Ultima's since U3 and are dying for a similar game; I'm personally surprised you didn't pledge right away just to support the possibility that LB will do it again.

 

There is a very deep and immersive story being crafted and lots of backstory/lore.

UNFORTUNATELY Portalarium are not so good at their marketing and the front page of the website doesn't do the game justice... they really need to sort that out ASAP to avoid putting people off.

My brother was put off playing until I explained it all to him.

@Portalarium - please look into the home page and make it a lot more focused on story/adventure as well as the multiplayer stuff so it doesn't sound like it is all about housing!

 

If you like Ultima and UO you are not going to found in the market another multiplayer style game with the Ultima spirit (like this one). So I think you must, at leat, to try it. The frist system that they put in the game was housing, is normal because was also important in UO and made him a very different game, and was also the main point of the high level pledges. BNut is still very soon to talk about the adventure and combat system. We just saw a very basic project in the alphas.

Ah! I think you must pay 45$ dollar to use the Alienware 20$ bonus (then you will have 65$).

 

@Phredicon absolutely nailed it. These are my feelings exactly.

My advice - if you are an Ultima fan, bang down the money necessary ($45 to start) straight away. You will love the ambience and the sense of community; I have to say that it feels like "home" to me.

There will indeed be a deep and immersive story, which will develop as the game is released. As a "teaser", we are told that 400 years ago there was a "fall", and the "virtues" held by the ancients - coincidentally named Avatars - have been lost. Is it your role to restore them? Or do you want to tread another path? In true Richard Garriott style, there will be choices, and ethical dilemmas. That's about all anyone knows for now, but it will be fascinating to see what develops.

 

I agree the front page and the website in general need some work. I mean right now the front page especially makes it seem like housing will be what this game is all about. If the other features are going to be important as well they need to advertise those as well. I mean if I was a potential new player looking at this game I would look at the website and quickly lose interest.

 

This has unfortunately been the case for 3 of my friends, though I did eventually rope one of them in to backing, but he was still skeptical. His point was that the focus on the main site is overwhelmingly in the direction of housing and decorating said house. There are plenty of features to highlight in the game, and I think representing them more prominently along with the housing on the main page would help first impressions.

 

That's fair; I'm certain it will be improved as more things are hammered out. As it currently stands there isn't a lot that isn't open to changes right now.

You don't want to be backtracking and editing game feature content on the front page. The stuff that is there is "gold."

 

They don't need to change everything on the home page, it looks fine. They just need to have it talking about the lore/story/world a lot more so as not to put off fans of the original Ultima series, and entice in RPG fans in general. I'm all for housing, but a lot of people will be turned off if they thing that's the main focus (as per the current home page).

 

we've discussed the webpage quite a bit in other threads as well. I'll review it again though.

Your first visit to the website brings you to front and center pledge money with dollar amounts and a request for you to pledge too.

A video that has 6 of the current 12 month progress in it, should be changed. Don't show progress videos to new comers, show what you intend the game to be.

1 square is live in play here, housing, That's fine, talk about your robust decorating there.

1 square is sigils and circles? What does that even mean? I have no interest in sigils and circles. Replace this square with a beautiful in-game combat screenshot and talk about an innovative new combat system.

1 square is decorating, This should be covered in the first square, replace this square with something unique to SoTA. I think the multiple path storyline that is virtue influenced with a symbol such as on ankh might be appropriate

1 square should be added to cover crafting.

1 square should be added to cover PvP - If you want it.


@ the original poster. The money raised isn't all of the funds they have available. They are still trying to raise more to justify hiring more people and being able to afford to hire more people, but there are somethings those big budget mmo's spent a lot of money on this game wont spend money on. Big marketing budgets, voice overs, cinematic sequences (I think there will be some, but not the long, $15 million in cinematics alone style). The game engine is relatively very inexpensive. The crowd sourced art costs less than hiring additional artists.

They've come up with a way to develop a game that is open to it's fans, and reduce the costs of building a fun game. But, the game is no where a game yet. It's a framework to build off of at this point. in 3 more months I think you'll see people changing their tune on how the game is. and once it's released with the story I think people will be kicking themselves for not joining sooner. By Episode 3 I think we'll have a vast player population and our founder/benefactor rewards will be highly sought after.

 

Well said @Mishri

 

Here is a taste of the STORY by Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance Series) and by Richard Garriott (I think you've heard of him).
Official 'Blade of the Avatar' Snippets (Click This)

Here is a LOOK at the Pre-Alpha Release 4:
Fireangel's Journal (R-4 Screenshots) - (Click Here)

 

Right now housing is the game's big marketing strategy. Other features of the game are advertised, only more subtly, like through theFAQ. You can't show pretty pictures of a classless skill system, after all. Since the game will be buy to play, Portalarium has decided to try to extract donations by selling the one thing former UO players are most likely to pay for: a house. This strategy has caused a lot of controversy, but it is purely a money grab. We're assured the game has pretty robust systems, but no one really knows because we haven't been given a fleshed out release. As of the most recent release, not even the housing system was much more than an empty shell of what's to come.

So far you would probably not be impressed by this game for reasons already mentioned in this thread. It's not even in alpha stages yet, meaning it's not a game. You might enjoy wandering around the small part of the world we are occasionally allowed to see, but you can't as of yet do much besides some very basic crafting, auto attacking, and plopping down an empty house. If you're playing the game at this point to get a taste for what the finished product will be, you'll only mislead yourself. No one really knows anything yet about the core game systems or quests besides what we've been told. We'll learn more as the pre-alpha release schedule unfolds.

 

THis, sounds suspiciously like how UO players feel about the downward spiral into over-simplicity and anti-socialness MMOs in recent years have slid into

 

I still have some faith they will deliver a good story, this is RG after all.

Little bit shaken in my belief that it is forefront by how they have already dumbed down the companions though.