Implementation of no node respawn in SPO

I would like to see something along these lines.

Single - mobs and nodes are fully spawned, but don't respawn at all until you have left the scene for at least 30 mins.

Friends - Mobs are not fully spawned when entering (to avoid player entering scene by themselves to get fully spawned scene, and then forming party to gain fast respawns) and mobs don't respawn at all until leaving the scene for 30 mins if you are alone. The spawn rate would scale to how many players are in the party, so respawn speed will increase the bigger the party.

Multi - Mobs are not fully spawned when entering and respawn is determined by how many players in the scene. That way a player that is in a scene by themselves during off peak play times isn't getting super fast respawns and players in crowded scenes would be.

I don't see something like this as such a negative as some others here, but then again maybe I'm way off with my ideas for the different modes. As a player that mostly gathers in SPO, I would have no problem going in and clearing a scene and then traveling to a different spot or doing something else for a bit. Wouldn't be much of a drastic change imo.

Would like some more info on this experiment, but I think something along these lines could work well. I'm sure there are a lot of players that just mindlessly grind in SPO in the same scene for hours, cause I do it from time to time. Its not fun and I am usually doing something else, forums, TV, etc. That just doesn't seem like a good setup to me, and not the best for the longevity of the game.

 

Back when crafting a toothpick didn't require a forest's worth of lumber and NPC had yet to be issued their telekinetic weapons. Before the team transitioned from making a fun game to making a profitable one.

 

I agree. I was hoping to get some input in as to how this might be implemented.

 

If they did that, then they would kill SotA for good.

 

Why? Because single player RPGs are not successful?

 

Because SotA as of today is too much dependent on the MMO/Multiplayer part.
If you ditch the "multiplayer" part completly, you won't have enough players left playing & supporting the game, it would die for good then, absolutely no doubt there. Expecially since a lot of Singleplayer gamers aren't playing currently (so i was told multiple times here on the forums by people who support the Singpleplayer part of SotA), and therefore aren't buying some stuff in the ADD-ON Store. Remove all the multiplayer gamers and Port will run quickly into an financial issue.

Also SotA won't ever reach the level of good "Single Player Games" like Pillars of Eternity or even Divinity: Original Sin (even thought it can be played in multiplayer) and so on.
There would be way too less customers if SotA was suddenly turned into "Singleplayer only".

I would quit and move on if that would happen, there are better singleplayer games out there than SotA ever will be.

 

Yes, I guess that you are right, though I wish that it were different...

 

I heard it in one of the latest hangouts...

Now that I've found all of @Chris replies, he is talking about SPO, FPO spawn changes...

That was a tough job, finding all of @Chris replies to that thread, but here's the problem, as I see it: Too many high level players going into low level areas in SPO, FPO to get resources with little challenge/restrictions... I can see "why" @Chris wants to change it, but I don't see "why" he wants to hurt all of us in doing so... Probably the easiest thing to experiment with for coding...

My solution would be different, I would:
-have the scenes scale to the player, the higher the difference between player and scene would trigger different spawning times, for both creatures and resources... Critters would spawn faster and have more HPs... Resources would spawn slower and have fewer nodes that spawn...

-This could work in the opposite direction too... A low level player goes into a high level scene, but the critters scale down with lower HPs and longer respawn timers... Resources would spawn more nodes and have faster respawn timers...

-As @Chris said "in FPO, it would scale to the # of players in a party"...

-They could do it with Exp too... A low level in a high level get's more Exp, where a high level in a low level get's less...

-Simply logging wouldn't reset scenes, but start a 60 min timer, if the player enters another scene and stays for 5 min, that would shorten the timer by 15 min... Enter a 2nd scene and stay for 5 min, shortens it again by 15 min... a 3rd and 4th would wipe out the timer all together, so the scene resets when the player re-enters it... I'm not so sure this would be possible, holding scenes for different players trying to circumvent the systems...

-The planned changes to Exp bonus and PvP seem solid too for OPO... @Chris

 

As much as I joke about the devs griefing us, it really does seem that the current design style is let high end people exploit or jump up and complain about it being too easy, to screw those that come later instead of making it more difficult for those who feel they advanced too quickly. This is just another one of those swing the pendulum too far in the wrong direction to resolve an issue that isn't as bad as they think it is. Especially, as the feel of it is to force people into MPO mode, not actually fix the problems with MPO or attempt to balance the game. So many bad decisions. They really need someone with common sense on the team who plays the game.

 

I tried to direct quote him for reference but could not as the original thread is locked.

 

So, what do you perceive as the "problems" with OPO? I myself don't like playing with ppl who see me fighting and jump the resource, leaving me to die... Or ppl just plain being nasty and dishonest... But, I do like selling them stuff off my vendor...

 

There are lag and latency issues that various OS and computer setups have with Unity that come to light when in multiplayer that are significantly lessened when in the other modes. The optimization of many scenes is not conducive to multiple people. The broken design of aggro where a mob will break combat with someone actively killing it to hit someone running by randomly. The list goes on, and is posted many times in various threads. Not sure what specifically you were curious about, but I usually only refer specifically to game mechanic and design. People being people is a major annoyance (and was one of the major selling points that you wouldn't be forced to play with people you don't want to), but is rarely what I care about in regards to this issue.

 

yea, do not like this idea at all.

At the least, make the MP respawn rate dynamic based upon the number of players in the zone.

 

I believe Chris mentioned that this change would only go ahead in R37 if the multiplayer performance problems are largely fixed. I notice from the stand ups that they are working on that. Whether this change makes SPO/FPO (and therefore, for me, the game) unplayable remains to be seen. I am optimistic. They generally get things right after a bit of trial and error.

 

Much of the raw material I need for crafting I buy anyway in bulk or grow in barrels/planter's boxes. If this change affects the availability of materials on the market or drives up prices drastically then I might get concerned.

The way I see it, the gathering industry is no longer driven by new or even avatars who"ve been here a year or so. It's dominated by very high level players who can risk going into high-level mob infested areas (like Verdantis Shardfall) and gather materials in the hundreds or thousands of pieces.

That's just the way it is - I've adapted by shifting much of my time & effort to the refining and construction process. I guess that's the way the economy is supposed to work.

 

Unfortunately, this is a complete screw job for anyone that isn't in multiplayer unless they adjust recipe amounts to be in line with what can be farmed by SPO. His rationale for doing it (the BS excuse about respawn being a multiplayer mechanic) doesn't take that into account. If he adjusts recipes for SPO farming amounts then market will be flooded with cheap goods (which I think is good personally and would fix some of the current issues with the economy) and those who have invested massive resources will complain. All around bad idea and I'm honestly surprised they would even consider it in light of the obscene grind they currently have designed the game to be. But you are right, we'll have to wait and see.

 

Straw-man also seems to be the most common response to my objections to the scathing, demeaning, belittling, insulting, and too dramatic of "feedback" oft encountered when anything changes. I by no means demean feedback itself, I demean the childish way people hurl insults at the company, which I suspect is a pathological response to one's comfort zone changing. The irony of my objection to the whining and aggro tone of these complaints labeled as "pointless" is also really funny!

Straw man taken to a whole new level . You also just completely made that up. Its your opinion, based on nothing at all, that youre projecting onto the community at large - another common pathology in the "feedback" I often see. My experience playing the game would suggest the complete opposite, though I am intelligent enough to understand that my experience alone is hardly a benchmark for the entire community. Still, I see no evidence of what youre suggesting (or at least, what I think youre suggesting, that sentence is huuuge...).

[edit]

I also tried to find the specific hangout/post mortem where Dallas was quoted as saying something to the opposite of your claim as well. Anyways, they have an agenda to facilitate as many "non negative player interactions" as possible. It always needs pointing out that the game is not even near "beta", so each iteration towards that goal will be incomplete, and likely not fully serve that purpose until all systems are in place. So basically, research shows that players are generally happier with lots of non-negative contact with each other, and they are trying to create game systems that greatly facilitate that. It was over a year ago. Its been an agenda for a long time.

Yeap.

Hey, there are lots of intelligent responses in this thread, and in may threads. There is lots of intelligent, useful, and really helpful feedback on these forums. Im not talking about that content .

 

If such a change happened, it would probably be the one thing that would incline me to pay off my house rent for a while and take a break till it gets sorted out to evaluate further.

I don't have any lofty arguments about whether it's good for the game or not. I just know I like single player harvesting because it's relaxing rather than competitive, and while competitive isn't bad, I will devote a lot more game hours to relaxing than I will to competing.

Plus, I think the appeal of the whole game in general would change for certain playstyles. I already have lots of awesome characters and virtual financial empires in other games that have well-developed economies and crafting systems that I enjoy. As far as the MMO side of SotA goes, single player/personal friends gameplay is pretty much the main selling point for me. If activities I greatly enjoy doing are removed or greatly hindered from those modes, then I don't really have as much reason to be here. There's a lot of options to get a multiplayer harvesting experience from, some of which I was already heavily invested in before coming here. Single player harvesting in a multiplayer economy is something unique that offers a gameplay experience and potential not found elsewhere and makes me more willing to endure sacrifices elsewhere.

I'm not saying I'd ragequit over it, and I wouldn't stop caring about SotA. But my interest would probably transition to waiting for the single player offline game to come out to enjoy the storyline and looking for other multiplayer options elsewhere. Not as a complainer for not getting my way, but just because single player harvesting in particular was a very specific selling point to me that I was willing to buy into and leave other games for, and without it - well to be honest for the sake of trying to communicate helpful information, I'd rather play somewhere else with better crafting.

 

I understand what they are trying to do but this goes against what they advertise the game for. They state they want to give everyone the option to play multi player but also the single online versions and then the off line version. If they start nixing things in all modes but multi and offline then there is no point to have the other two versions. Forcing folks to play multi. Not good. And if they do implement this then they need to up resources and mobs accordingly. Not sure how they can manage it but if one person enters a scene the mobs should be affected by just that one person. Many times i go into a scene and I am the only one there....so 20-1 battles are not good. Often i will get bombarded by mobs and that is usually when i am in a scene alone. If i see someone else running about the mobs seem to balance out. Only thing that doesnt balance are resources. Hope they think this through before they implement it

 

+1