How to make SotA great (please read carefully before posting)

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Corv, Jun 21, 2018.

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  1. smack

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    So I'll just throw this out there...

    Cut the entire MMO out. Focus on the RPG. Remove all content and redesign systems that don't serve the singular vision of a smaller single player RPG with a tighter focus. It's the only way a team size this small can handle what lies ahead. To try and fix SotA as-is with this current team would be a futile attempt.
     
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  2. marthos

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    About me: Just under $1k in pledges. Original KS backer. Played early releases before persistence, played regularly for months after persistence, took a year off, started playing again with release.

    I know this is about things to improve, but I want to start with one thing you knocked out of the park. New players are not prohibited from playing with veterans. I bring new players into the Upper Tears on day one (literally) and jump start their XP. In other games, I'd recruit a friend and wait months for him to grind up to level cap to play and contribute with me. Please make note of this, as many complaints are about the grind. A strong guild / community can solve this problem, as my co-worker who logged in 4 times is already a grandmaster.


    Guild functionality is bad. It's nothing more than a chat window with some options for shared housing. Community makes or breaks a game, and guilds are often the backbone of a community. Make guilds important. Give us weekly goals to give our members buffs, give us ways to compete against each other - and not just with guild wars. Give tons of metrics/leaderboards so that both big and small guilds can be on the top in some category. I'm dating myself here, but Medievia - a text based MUD, had a great guild system with so much to do in it. Imitate that with a graphical game and I'm in heaven.

    Lack of multiplayer immersive quests. Everyone does the same quest, and game designers think a shared single player experience is multiplayer. Quests should generate the require the participation of multiple people. Example from Meridian59 which had a lot of true multiplayer quests. Political system in place where you join one faction and gain buffs if they're power. Randomly throughout the day, tokens spawn, players have to find the token, bring it back to the Council, and in return the Councilman will support your faction. Random time later, that token teleports away from the Council to start the cycle over again.

    PvP...waiting to see how it goes with the new zone, but meaningful PvP is not in this game. LB mentioned a quest that you take to deliver contraband and that would create players trying to stop you. This is a solid idea - implement it. Even if it's just a scene where you pick your side, and the delivery guys need to cross the other side of the zone and the other squad tries to stop them.

    - What can be done to make this game more appealing to your friends?

    Performance improvement. My nephew and two co-workers downloaded the game but cannot play it because it crashes frequently or doesn't work on older computers. This is limiting your audience significantly. Your audience is mainly older players, and it seems many are at the age when their kids are getting ready for college - these folks aren't able to buy a $1800 computer just to play a video game (too much wife aggro).

    - What went wrong and how can we fix it?


    Terrible marketing campaign - facebook ads simply say "will you conquer hate with love" and give a link to the trial. No info about what makes the game cool like houses, towns, sandbox features, etc. The ads for Shroud look and feel very similar to those awful Chinese knock-off games. Look at what Bard Tale's 4 is doing for advertising pre-release, compare it to Shroud's marketing:

    New player experience didn't retain the influx of new people. I recruited about 20 people in a week to my guild, none of them are left. Including the ones who really loved the game. We need meaningful community/guild events to keep us working together. For example, I still play Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes every day because my guild needs me to hit our daily goals, whittle down raid bosses, etc. To fix this, make guilds a core part of the game.

    If there is interest in learning more about the deep guild systems of Medievia or the multiplayer quests of Meridian59, I'm happy to share and help out. I dont' want to write an even longer book now though if these ideas don't make it to the top of the pile.
     
  3. MightyUnclean

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    I can only speak for myself, and guess about the motivations and feelings of others. I don't know that anything could save the game for me at this point. I'm not willing to invest my time and energy into SotA when I am so uncertain about it's future. I'd bet a lot of potential players feel the same way.

    Also, the way any criticism was swatted down for years on the official forums left a really bad taste in my mouth. I've followed the development of many games over the years, and never have I seen such resistance to criticism, or blatant favoritism for those who spend more.

    If there's a chance, it would probably take two things:

    1) Prove it has a future. Work like crazy to polish the game, rework combat, get the new player experience right, get rid of RMT support, and whatever else it takes to start getting some good words spread about the game. I don't buy for a second Lord British's line that they need to change their marketing strategy. People already know about SotA. The problem is, so much of what they've heard is bad. That's a result of the state of the game, not any conspiracy by SotA haters. Make this a desirable product, change people's minds, prove you have a future, and maybe I'll come back in a year.

    2) Stop fighting the criticism and censoring people on Steam and the official forums (this seems to be changing for the better), and stop letting the whales run the show. Why would all the smaller contributors, the vast majority of potential players, want to play a game where the development and economy is controlled by an elite few? They get enough of that action in their everyday lives.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2018
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  4. Vagabond Sam

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    To summarize (not every question applicable to everyone reading this, chose):

    - why are you, as a (former?) Ultima / Garriott fan and backer not interested in SotA anymore?


    Story


    The story was not developed beyond broad strokes in terms of the main pathways. There's no entwining, no consequences beyond throwaway dialogue and no real conflict. It is told through text dumps. There is no in game direction of scenes or actors to tell the stories. The most dynamic it gets is following an NPC to another location. Overall, the story has a poor flow where you either exploit cheese tactics, spends hours grinding or get a group to get you through it.

    Combat

    Combat doesn't have enough cohesive design. Classless systems, with random card draws, with locked card options, with heat system spam, with unbalanced skill trees, with uncapped progression make it nearly impossible for the average player to understand and tell how well they are performing relative to anyone else.

    Crafting

    Crafting doesn't reflect the Kickstarter idelas of 'avoiding busy work'. The ability to level all the crafts to reasonable levels and access repairs, utilities like scrolls and enchants, mean that a true economy is impossible.

    Economy

    The economy exists on the forums and discord. The game makes easy access to the information needed by players to make informed purchases or sales is obscured by the merchants being complete separated from each other.

    Pay to Win

    Buying commission free vendors, tax free housing, prosperity tool, COTO and boosts from the Add on store, as well as literally anything else including, powerful gear, power levelling, crafting supplies and so on fro,m players, make the game economy even more disfunctional and off putting to players.

    Housing

    Closest thing currently to making the game playable but the insane cost to aquire and maintain makes this a prohibitive activity. I tried with a Town lot, but the time sink was such that the game demands I play it, and none others. Even a row lot demands an hour a week of grinding, which is the worst activtity in the game'

    The free row lot isn't enough when the main cost, as far as I am concerned, is the insane tax rates for the only, in my opinion, polished and presentable mechanic in the game.

    Look at the empty lots. That says it all really.

    - What can be done to make this game more appealing to your friends?

    Go back and re-evaluate why the kickstarter was so successful.

    Really look at how the current system with heavy resourse costs and RNG marries to a 'Crafting system that avoids busy work:'

    Look critically on what made the kickstarter ideal of 'Shroud of the Avatar is a “buy-to-play” game that, once purchased, does not require a subscription to play' so compelling. The constant focus on, and addition to the Add-on store was not the implication that I read from that part of the Kickstarter and I imagine many have the same opinion.

    Slach Add-on store prices. Stop worrying about people who treat this as an 'investment' to be recouped. If hundreds of plots are empty, thee price is too high.

    Sort out the community. The fact there was a thread tha wanted to name and shame people for abusing the Party Finder, when the issue is that the systems are easy to exploit, shouldn't be tolerated.

    Portalalirum needs to act with more humility to it's backers and customers. There's too many displays of arrogance towards custoem,rs that I've never seen tolerated in any other customer facing profession.

    Take action on trolls and abuse that are sent using PMs on the official forums. If I am recieving abuse from another player via Portalalrium's forum, the answer shouldn;t be to tell me to just block them. The player sending abuse needs to be properly moderated according to the ToS.

    I'd suggest a complete FFXIV 1.0 style restructure of the core game to realign with the kickstarter.

    - What went wrong and how can we fix it?

    The game slowly turned away from what people backed in the kickstarter and catered too much to Add-On store greed.It didn;t maintain core concpets like avoiding the grind, busy work and having a deep and intriguing story.

    Fix that.
     
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  5. Stundorn

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    @Corv in summary

    Lots of issues!
    Still 2 Factions, Ultima SP and Ultima online MP
    The compromise we have is good for the actual playerbase. Imho less and less people. It was an Experiment , it failed and if someone tries to correct it this or that way he need to stop paying attention of the players who still make comments like it's all ok, nothing doomed or we just need to improve performance .
    The whole concept has failed imho.
    Even 500 active players wont justify many if the gamedesign decisions.

    And i ask something further IF, we assume SotA also want to be a MP game with PvP and Group PvE etc...

    What is the purpose of MP?

    What do you need opposite to a SP game to make it possible that players can play together and are challenged and having fun?

    What are the best PvP experiences in PvE Environments. I still recommend to try Sea of Thieves for that reason, even if you arent a pvper , but like some thrill.

    Another question i guess should be asked.
    And this one regards to many complains about loot aka reward for time investment .

    What is a healthy amount of time playing and what sort of players a developer wants?

    And where does a game system and game mechanics need to set some rules and borders for everybody to let the players not destroy the gameplay for themself?

    How many people like to grind thousands of hours.

    We, or the casuals suffer because a handfull of people would smoke up the content in 5hrs.
    Developers everywhere need to stop to cater to loud players who rush and min max everything.
    They adaptet from early on to people who make a profession of gaming instead of playing games they are "gaming" games for achievements, higher level, better gear.
    Addiction instead of playing for fun.
    Everybody complaining that there is no vertical progression in SoT is not a player, but an achiever and "gamer".

    This is what went wrong with SotA.
    They mixed 2 things what cannot successfully mixed up.
    Both sides are mediocre at best.
    And a handfull of players and LB fans is willing to keep this bad vision alife.

    I wonder if the kickstarter for Ep2 will be a success . It would be unbelievable to me.

    Btw arent ep 1-5 already paid?
    Havent you promised to deliver.
    And what have you delivered?

    Dear SotA Team,

    You have to accept constructive criticism, you alone woke up the ghosts what are now here to scare the masses away .

    And still i get moderated for some light sarcasm and critics to Mr. Garriott.

    I really wish SotA would make a decision between SP or MP or MMO.

    Honestly , although i wished more for something like UO i'd recommend to shut down Servers and develop a good Story for Ep2 and fix Ep1 Story and Quests and maximum make it a coop game.

    But even to have it a worthwhile coop game you need restrictions, "classes" and scenes that fit this.

    And although i already posted the thread , i want to share this post in my own thread again
    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...-quit-sota-feedback.112181/page-3#post-958396


    Edit:
    A friend and me are crying if we see what you did with SotA.
    All and nothing.
    So much Potential to create an immersive roleplaying game. great Housing, emotes and such, but everything else beyond socializing stuff is meh.
    Really 10 Trees , max 5GM and nothing higher. Loss to 80 over time and via death and tone down everything. Xp needed, Materials needed and much more and the game is regarding UO into the rigut direction.
    Otherwise create a good SP story and get rid of everything whats online.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2018
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  6. Synopsis

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    I didn't back the game during the Kickstarter campaign but I pledged it not a long time afterwards, I waited very late until I decided to jump in.

    I did not play any Ultima before, but as I'm very attracted by the RPG genre I was looking for this old-school feeling that the new generation of games does not deliver. So it was first about the atmosphere - not necessarily the graphics but the overall feeling to be in a credible and interesting world - and the possibility to play with other players online, combat although important is secondary to me.

    I seriously tried to play this game once on my laptop and the performance issue forced me to low down the graphics to the lowest settings which was unbearable and an experience-killer - so I stopped just after the second map. I tried again recently (made a thread about my issue to run the game properly on my normal PC) for a couple of hours but it was enough, I simply couldn't get involved into the game.

    Firstly it hugely lacks of life : from the very first map of your questline (I was on the courage one) which is an emotional desert (sorry) to the towns who are supposed to be full of life, I have the impression to run alongside an army of muted people who are awkwardly staring at me and who sometimes let a sound slip when you're talking to them but it is not near close to a word. It is simple : just watch a streaming of SoTa, when the people are not fighting you pretty much only hear the sound of their footsteps.

    Secondly and it is heavily linked to the first point : I watched a LOT of videos/streaming of the game before and after buying it, and something which struck me was that pretty much the only thing there is to do is to run forward "exploring" but in a weird manner that I've never felt in any other game - it feels so empty - and if you stop being in movement well there's nothing else to do or to enjoy.

    Thirdly : the overworld map, sorry I was very very skeptical when I've learned about it and my fears became a reality when I played the game, it is a total rythm & immersion killer - when I want to move from my place I always have this little inner voice telling me "oh no I've got at least 2 loading screens and a while walking before I can finally start playing my character where I want". Really I'd rather get no "map event" but a whole connected such as in GW1/2. It also gives that impression of an "unopen" world where it doesn't worth trying to go into the nature as there will probably be an instance leading me to the overworld map not far from here if I decide to venture out too much.

    Fourthly : the lack of identity, for example when I'm in a town, I feel like everything was placed in a very disordered way : you find crates and players's npcs everywhere next to their houses, I don't feel like it has an identity of its own but more like if it were a unity project where someone decided to put all his assets together in one place. Same for the characters who feel so blank.

    Fifthly : I think it's a mix of all the previous points : the lack of mystery, I would love to get that feeling of surprise by wondering maybe if I go over this hill I'll find a secret interesting quest that helps me to better understand this world and what I'm doing here, or a NPC in town telling me something interesting. I'm currently playing The Witcher 3 and even after 170+ hours playing in a solo game I still want to get into the game just for the feeling of it and to continue my exploration of the main and side quests who are for the extreme majority so well driven even though it's always more or less the same things to do.

    For the story, lore, quests I can't tell as I didn't play enough, but I simply don't see the point to play for the moment. I also think that the multiplayer should be put forward, because at the moment it feels like a solo-online game. IMO it should be an important part of the experience to play with other players to accomplish various challenges, I know there's this conflict with the offline mode and the concern to keep the two modes balanced but if it means not exploiting the possibilities offered by the online mode I just don't see the point the pay for the servers. The two modes should be considered as two different experiences and adding specific multiplayer features will not force or prevent any people from playing offline or even reduce their overall experience.

    I think the game could have a good potential if it brings more this old school RPG feeling, I played Baldur's Gate recently and with these old outmoded graphics, wonky combats, I still felt so immersed into the story and the world. It should be possible to greatly improve SOTA in that respect (although if both genre are different ofc). But what I'm convinced about is that what keeps the players connected while waiting for more content in an MMORPG is first and foremost the first feeling that pops up into your head when you think about a game, and this comes through having a good atmospheric world. The replayability and the amount of tasks offered is also fundamental, but the core is "why do you feel better in this game more than another ?" and this is scattered over a lot of elements.

    Edit - A bonus one that I mentioned above : while not having a constant 60 fps on a good rig is somewhat bothersome but bearable, not having a guatanteed 30 fps everywhere in the game is a major issue - any people who's playing with a laptop has to cross off the idea of having a decent experience, and even those who have a good pc struggle to play with the extreme minimum fps acceptable (30 fps), it's basically a barrier put in the middle of the road stating "you shall not play this game!", this MUST be fixed ASAP.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2018
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  7. Cymek

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    I was an original Kickstarter backer at the Patron level ($200). I had plans on upgrading to a 4 digit level as the game progressed. As it panned out, I didn't sink another dollar in. I'll try to mention some things that aren't game mechanic related as to why. I can't necessarily provide proof for some of my feedback here. Some of it is just based on gut feel. Demographically, I am a 41 year old male who has been PC gaming since the mid 80s.

    The emails from Port right after funding gave the impression that the team was most interested in growing the cash shop. If memory serves, they started adding items right away. New in-game RMT items should have been frozen for at least a year after funding. Instead, it was an endless flood of trinkets which continues to this day. What I had expected was a feeling of passion and a vision for what they wanted to create. Instead it felt like development of a virtual doll house.

    Nothing in the emails got me excited to log in. There was no world building. Why should I invest my time in this world? Generally speaking, I didn't feel any hype factor - at all.

    The first time I logged it, it was such a clunky experience. The game in general felt like a pile of assets that had been hacked together. I didn't feel anything resembling a unified vision. The combat was utterly dismal. With near universally negative feedback on the combat, Port didn't seem at all interested in a revamp, or better yet, scrapping it altogether and starting over.

    When the team completely blew past the original deadline by a wide margin with no launch in sight, that was a major turnoff. When you blow past a deadline for a project like this by YEARS, that tells me the original shipping date was likely a complete fabrication. The original ship date gave the impression that the game had been in development. I think we realize now that just wasn't the case.

    Going persistent in "Alpha". This decision is just baffling to me. I can't comprehend it on any level. The land rush happened almost 2 years prior to supposed release.

    The game never progressed from alpha to beta to release candidate to release. It went from alpha, and feeling like an alpha to "release".

    Cringe fund raising efforts. Blood. Hair. People dying. Turn off.

    Again...just a gut feel here. Somewhere along the line, I got the impression RGs involvement was from the distance.

    So after blowing past the original shipping date by several years...Port announces launch. There is still MAJOR development going on. There has been no beta or release candidate. Physical goods? Nowhere. Telethons? Everywhere. Here we are 2 months after release and we still don't have a physical goods shipping date. Doesn't make me excited to invest time or more money.


    I honestly don't even know.
     
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  8. Cora Cuz'avich

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    The incorrect tooltips is an awful one. I mean, it's just text that needs editing, right? Why can't somebody take half an hour each day going through them and checking that they're correct?
     
  9. GraveDncer

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    I’m over 8k poured into this game, Duke with a POT. All my items have been requested before but generally ignored. After this experience I refuse to,spend any money on another kick starter. Now that the core systems are in place, I sincerely hope SOTA can turn the corner and make the game fun.


    1: reduce the crafting grind. The fact that I start refining and do chores or watching a movie while crafting is a bad sign. Also get rid of the RNG on crafting gear, spending hours of my valuable time on a item only to have it blow up or give me junk is frustrating and not fun.

    2: we need a skill cap. As a PVPer and PVEer I will never compete with the retired and unemployed, that’s something that’s important to the vast majority of players. The game needs to be semi casual friendly.


    3: we need some kind of end game.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2018
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  10. blaquerogue

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    ok here we go! Im going to start with what i typically do and about how much time, then hit back with what upsets me about this game starting out as a low level player 40 adv level to be specific ( 1 of many character i have most above 65. But this is the one i use to test things out when new players arrive in the world to see what they have to go through.

    So i get home from work about 11pm, I log into the game. (single player since i dont like having a billion friends that need a lift somewhere) Yeah i know i can turn that option off. I have more important things to do with my time, like check my gold count, see what weapons/armor i need to buy, set skills to off, others to on so i can gain in skill ( not experience) I have to acquire 100 different skills i wont need or use! in order to get the ones i do! looking at watch "oh damn one hour has gone by, and i still havent found a place to shop that doesnt cost all the gold i made the night before!!!!" Hour 2 ok after running around shopping finding nothing useful or in my price range, i decide to go grind. I go to a scene thats a level higher than i should be in (which is a good tactic to get that exp) im grinding for 20 min to half an hour, damn im too heavy now i need to take all these resources either to sell, or back to my house. (1 and a half hours has now passed running back and forth since you cant recall heavy.)
    grinding is getting boring by this time so i decide to punish myself even more and start crafting. 15 mins has gone by and i now realize i need ingredients, i dont have! I go on the search for these ingredients! finally finding all i need i head back to my house and start this torture! It takes forever to make hides into leather at 20 per round. Damn now another hour and a half has gone by time to go to bed so i get enough rest for my real life!

    That is one of the major things i hate about this game!

    Now for the others things...... classless system so all can do everything <--just killed the need for multiplayer! I can do everything by myself so now i dont need anyone else! "but you need a healer!" no i dont i can heal myself with spells and all these potions (adding to my weight) "but you need a tank to beat down the mobs!" Actually i dont i can do that as well! "What about a mage so you can rain down AOE's!" Nope i can do that as well! Hmmm? "Well you need others to complete some quests dont you? Nope i can do all that myself as well!

    All this would make sense in a single player setting but not in a multiplayer one! When i run with others in other mmorpgs, i run with them because they can do the things i cannot, cast magic, heal tank, steal etc... You need the interaction with others!

    Some people say well its the camaraderie and friends you have, first of all i have real friends in real life, i have facebook already. This is just another form of facebook but closer to second life. Where you can go to dance parties and emote all you want. This is an adventure game, but there is no adventure, i know exactly what im going to get loot wise (which isnt worth a damn to NPC vendors or others) for the amount of grind there is little reward!..............on to the next issue REWARD and LOOT!

    Loot sucks in this game who the hell wants rusty and ragged crap, rusted ladles, spoons, forks tea pots? its extra weight i just end up deleting, although i do cash in the ragged and rusted crap for minimal gold! of course i could scrap it and make metal scraps and crap like that (how many of those does it take plus the resource you do have?) exactly! If i get a yellow bag in my loot i directly go out and buy a million dollar lottery ticket, cause my luck is there finally!

    I want special stuff you have to get from fighting things that i can actually use, this "characters make the best gear is dumb", since now they can charge an arm and a leg for the highly crafted stuff typically in the mid 20 thousands! There needs to be a price cap on things based on the extra bonus's and durability! i came across an item in one of the many empty POTS, for 28000gp durability 50, i found something with 150 durability for a lower price elsewhere (ill be shopping there more often)! Sorry but im not spending a crap load of gold for a piece of crap! Price Control need to be done by game not players.

    to counter whats about to come.........

    Resource cost is way off on alot of crafted stuff (some things i have crafted in real life and i didnt need a whole tree to do it or that many logs or boards etc...) resource drop is minimal, time to reap these sources is way to long. Im sorry i have a life outside of this game so i cant dedicate all of it to a game (any game)

    PVP sucks ill leave it at that all of us know whats wrong with it no need to hash it up again!

    If it didnt take me so long to do stuff i would enjoy it alot more! If i could actually build my house like in UO, i would enjoy deco alot more, i could actually customize my house the way i like it! Not similar to everyone elses! Some people say i dont want dumb crap like that in my POT, so make that part of the rules to live there, dont make random crappy stuff in my POT. If they dont follow the rules they dont need to live in your town. on the flipside its all opinions of one, so what looks crappy to you may be awesome to somone else in another POT.

    Every single item in this game should be place-able! If its laying in a dungeon/ Castle, Kolbold and Elf encampment etc... i should be able to take it and deco my house and property with it!! I hate seeing stuff and being like "man i wish i could place that in my house"!

    those are the things that distance me from this game ( i want to earn stuff but i dont want it to take forever to get)

    there are alot of people in this game that have personal standings with DEVS "Good ole Boy" club. Most of them have dropped a hefty amount of real dollars into the game, to you all i thank for helping this get started, but it is a game meant for everyone not just the financially elite! Everyones voice in not heard only a few, i may not be part of that group but dammit i spent what i consider alot on this game as well, others spent less and others spent more it is what it is! We all did this together no matter how minute or how not minute, the end game is listen to every ones opinions and cater to everyone, not just the few.

    Add on store - i like shiny things too! but damn when one or two things cost a whole decent paycheck, that is way overboard for this game! This game is not on the elite list as of now, people are not falling head over heals to play it, it is not that good its only decent at the moment. (it can get better with better planning) reduce prices in the add on store and more people will buy stuff, which will make Port more money in the long run for now at least until it becomes an elite sought after game!

    More different types of creatures/humanoids would make it less same ole same ole! boring! More loot worth a damn would make the effort more appealing to get it!

    My final note is, i will keep playing to kill time until something gets better in this game or something better comes out!
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2018
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  11. Vyrin

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    I feel bad posting this because it's essentially what I've been saying for 5+ years in a chorus with many others.

    The two things about the KS that compelled me were: "Our primary objectives are to tell a story even more compelling than Ultimas IV-VII" (the very first objective) and "Players will adventure in an interactive world where their choices have consequences, ethical paradoxes give them pause, and they play a vital part in weaving their own story into the immersive world and lore surrounding them."

    When you start early in the project asking about quest mechanics and vision, then in the middle of the project asking for any hint of porgress (hoping it's going on behind the scenes), then when story/questing is called "complete" seeing the glaring lack of quality (at the very least run the spell-checker!), you get "a little" tired. Admittedly, changing the direction of the game after the KS toward an MMO made these things less important. However, there was still 5+ years to dream, to design, to write, to develop a process for quality control.

    Out of all this, the thing that keeps me somewhat interested (but probably never a hardcore player) is the learning experience and the people I have met.
     
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  12. LiquidBlaze

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    I'll tell ya the 2 most simplistic things I kept encountering that has really dildated things. I approach new players and most do not respond. I can't help but to think this is the way the initial chat is set up, secondly the most popular question i received was, Where is everyone? And I had to explain party/private mode. Are the multiple modes a neat function that causes the appearance of a totally dead game? Hard questions to be asked...
     
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  13. Jimmy Cliff

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    In my time in the game I recognized many problem areas that resulted in the game being less fun then it could be. The problems spread, the fun decreased. Every time I found something enjoyable, it was quickly changed to being unenjoyable with the next release.

    The cart has been placed in front of the horse in many cases. There also seems to be some mismanagement. It took close to 10 minutes to write that last sentence, and it will be a difficult decision to post or not to post.

    I feel the deciders of things need to reevaluate the decision making process (google it if need be), rethink their priorities, and revisit some of their moves.

    People are hired to be deciders of things, people are hired to be creators of things, people are hired to be marketers of things, two out of three of those groups of people did their jobs poorly, unfortunately the third group are the ones being let go.

    GG.
     
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  14. marthos

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    Absolutely right about the way the initial chat window is setup. If you don't separate out combat, NPC, and player messages everything gets lost in a massive wall of scrolling text. There are many of us who hang around the new player areas to offer assistance, and a simple change to the chat interface would be huge in helping us get new players to stick around. Please do this!

    Selective multi-player is one of the cool features of this game, but it's not explained anywhere. Port is relying 100% on the community to inform new players about one of their important features (and with the first point you made, we aren't able to talk to new players easily). I would love to see
    that when you enter a new scene, you're given a window that asks which mode you want to be in. Each type of zone will have a default option to optimize player experience:
    Overworld, NPC, and playertown default to Open Mode
    Large adventuring scenes default to Open Mode (Outskirts for example)
    Small adventuring scenes default to Party Mode (Crag Foothills)

    This would immediately let new players know there are different modes of the game and give them an idea of what the "ideal" mode is for certain zones.
     
  15. Stundorn

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    I just heard a speech of Prof. Gerald Hüther about Potentials .
    And often we use the term
    This game has a lot of Potential.
    And many times these Potentials shrivel, they never become alive and the games often die.
    Regarding my issues with SotA what i have explained a lot the Professor quoted Einstein.
    "The Problems in the world cannot be solved with the same mindset they were produced."
    See you had a Vision of a Selective Multiplayer Game and the Vision was great. The Way it was on paper maybe was good, many things about SotA arent that bad, but you have to understand and accept that it hasnt worked like you wanted to be.
    Now it's time to change your mindset and try to evoke the Potential of SotA.
    And it has Potential in various direction.
    SP, MP, MMORPG...
    But not all together.
    You need a complete new Vision of what you have created to solve the problems it have and bring it to it's full Potential.

    You know my Vision. I'm curious about yours .
    If you wont change it, i think you waste Potential .

    I wish SotA and the Team the best.
    Honestly !

    Take your chance and change something.
    Oh wait not something, but your mindset about games and Playing Games and what is the fun about it.
    Was it the endless grind you liked or was it to have fun with friends and interacting with others online.
    Then why to have borders, levels that segregate, create gap between players?

    Best wishes. ..
    Have Fun - Stun
     
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  16. liooth

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    I started shortly after launch and am already considering leaving the game (I'm playing in MMO mode btw). I made the mistake of sinking € into the game before seeing the whole picture: the empty and lifeless towns (both NPC and POTs), the grind for XP and resources, the dysfunctional economy, the non-existence of "system" in the questing system, the unimaginative and unengaging "story" etc...

    What can be done about it?
    • Get rid of the private and party mode. I know, it's convenient for farming (I've done it myself), but what's the point of it in an online game? If you don't want interaction/interference, you can play offline.
    • Revise XP and resource payouts and the loot drops. Right now, I'm playing mostly during double XP events, because it doesn't feel worth the effort otherwise.
    • A thrieving, competitive economy needs market transparency. Let the town criers summarize all buy and sell orders in a town and then place a marker on the compass for a selected vendor (like the free lot directions).
    • Create a framework and template system for quests, so that they can be generated procedurally. Supply a database with a couple of hundreds of the little stories for them. You could ask the players for submissions, there are some really creative people out there!
    • Please, PLEASE, hire a professional writer for the storyline quests! And an editor who knows how to use a spellchecker... combine with the quest system above and this could actually become engaging and fun.
    Just my 2 ct...
     
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  17. Brewton

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    This sums it up! If they only took the players comments to heart long ago we wouldn't be in this situation. Over 75% of the posts here have/had the same suggestions that were made month after month, year after year, and nothing has changed. Now that the player numbers never materialized, they want to hear our suggestions? If only they heard our suggestions and critiques earlier we wouldn't be in this mess.

    Nearly everyone pointed out major fixes that needed to be done prior to "release", but our comments were meet with "it's working as intended" or "we are working on bugs with every release" and than posts were locked. Last week Obs posted asking for LB to comment and we got "I'm here" BAM thread LOCKED.

    It's a shame because I really like the game, but seems a little too late for fixing these issues when they were pointed out so many time in the past.
     
  18. Gorthyn

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    Came back from a two week holiday to the news of the layoffs etc. Very sad for the devs involved.

    I was going write a big post about how to improve things but I find myself agreeing with so much that has been written already that there seems no need.

    What is really frustrating and annoying is that these issues have been pointed out by many many players over and over again. I wrote in a post before Christmas that there is a really good game in SOTA that is struggling to get out from under a pile of weird and at times inexplicable game mechanics, policy decisions and from trying to square the circle of being both an offline and online game and ending up doing neither very well on many areas. Now the various game reviewers are saying the same things too and as a consequence far too few people are trying the game. We can't all be wrong...

    There are so many basic things still missing from the game mechanics while we are fed a constant stream of pixel fluff via the store it beggers belief.

    Why so many people's concerns have been ignored or done down in favour of "the chosen few" I really don't know. And now we are where we are and how a greatly shrunk team can repair the damage/mistakes (assuming that's their intent rather than ploughing on straight ahead towards the iceberg looming on the horixon) is far from clear.

    I have played SOTA for a year and have overall enjoyed my time here as have been yearning for a game that will match the experiences in UO and SWG but sadly am now getting close to the point of perhaps looking elsewhere unless a major change of emphasis and policies are adopted here.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2018
  19. evillego6

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    This is a well intentioned post, but it comes up short as it addresses a very small crowd of forum goers.

    User experience surveys should have been a thing long ago. At this point, even New Britannians should receive surveys.

    Using the forums and conversations in game as a means of determining what is keeping players from playing is almost useless. They need data on why players play, why players leave, why users have never logged in.

    Some here complain about tax rates, decay etc. They have no sense, in a broad sense whether changing those things will increase active users because we have no idea if those things are what have caused people to leave or never start playing.

    250,000 accounts and a fraction of a percentage of mostly very invested people give feedback here that is only quantifiable through the forum like function.
     
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  20. sake888

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    There was a round of surveys awhile back, did you complete yours? Many new players are not interested in surveys for something that they are jumping in to try out. Of all the people who paid for the game that don't ever play, I can only assume they are not interested in wasting time on a survey since they aren't even interested in wasting time on a game they already paid for.

    If the dev's phone numbers were available, I'm rather sure these forums would not be the focus of the feedback you seem to be implying is worthless. This is the best we got.
     
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