MMORPG: Review Part 2 - A Shroud of Confusion

I agree with this quite a bit. People have called out Port on things like this before saying "why is there new stuff on the addon store while you are missing X"... with the reply being "it isn't the same resources being used. artists don't create X"

However, this doesn't really apply with characters, especially if they are sharing rigs and animation. Why are all vendors the same in the game, and why are there only X (i havent counted) types of NPCs, when we have loads of addon-store-only clothes, fancy smoking pipes, masks, etc etc?

Or naked fire dancers?? It seems like we would have been much better served with a new npc type as a telethon reward instead of yet another (!) emote and player costume collection.

I do realize that a lot of the add on store stuff is almost the same as in game stuff... but a lot of it isn't. And a lot of the NPCs could have relatively minor texture tweaks to make them visually distinct. You could easily make 10 different vendor choices with only a couple hours of texture changes per character.

I know I have said this before, but it definitely feels like the developers have placed priorities in the wrong places.

 

They don't like liars.

 

You do know you can just press two numbers at the same time and they'll combined right?

 

There's two different mechanisms for stacking and combo's.

 

He isn't talking about MMOs. Old school gaming means U1-8. Those technically didn't exist before the Internet either, but they did exist before the World Wide Web. What we old school players did back then was buy hint books, or hit BBS's for solutions, or *gasp* ask a friend who was also playing and have a gaming night if we got stuck .

 

I accidentally did it once and then kept doing it. Was kind of fun to figure it out all by myself. Up until that point I had been dragging them on top of each other as I could never get the R thing to work.

 

EXACTLY people have a selective memory. These hint books usually just told you exactly how to solve everything including some easter egg type stuff. ITtwas more than hints.

 

and they cost money to buy, none of this free looking up stuff hehe.

 

Yeah, true - if I recall correctly now they were called strategy guides or solutions manuals.

 

Yes, I do, it's still a part of the system that needs refining badly or removed and a proper system of weapon/spell damage progression added instead. Combat systems as a whole must flow together, be engaging, fun, and not feel so tedious and clunky. Card stacking lacks the first three and IS the last two tedious and clunky.

 

I'd still rather they took the time to do it right, take the time you need to adjust things. I think the visuals are just fine. The sound... well, many elements need work. As a snapshot of what the game in development is, the review was okay. I'd rather the reviewer had discussed at some length the progress that has been made. And for all of us who are bent out of shape because all the merchants still look the same... I think they have their priorities better organized than anyone who would gripe about that, of all things.

 

It's a personal attack regardless of what your interpretation is. So cut it out.

 

I don't think you know anything about my priorities. But I'm glad you are happy with the current lack of NPCs.

 

SMH.. the things that have escaped me. LOL..

I bet I'm not the only one... ;p

 

Great comments.

@Chris @Lum the Mad, it would be great to see some of the outfits, props etc created used on the NPC models once we see the real NPC models coming online. For example:

An NPC smoking a pipe as he relays some important quest information to you.
An NPC fishing out in the wilderness somewhere, who gives you some tips on fishing and perhaps some worms (only first time you chat to her).
An NPC wearing the aeronaught goggles who is an avid fan of air balloons.
etc etc etc

 

Out of everything the game needs, you pick the looks of npc shopkeepers as your big deal. Right. Your priorities are there on display.

 

Actually I think this will work really well. You have established crafters selling their gear cheaply since there are so many of them and crafting has been balanced that a sword isn't worth 600gp in resources any more. the new players can sell to each other or to npcs, low level gear has little to no value anyway, even now, since while training dropped weapons do just fine until you earn enough to get that one good copper weapon. this is the way UO was, and is, new players join an established economy all the time, it's much easier once it's established. We're going through severe growing pains since persistence happened before balance (lol).

Couldn't disagree more. Players cannot really be trusted to make the right decisions regarding what's best for the game, not themselves. Plus we lack the meta data the devs can gather. Not to mention that the min/maxers, the god tier of gamers in this game that really cause most of the nerfs due to their exploitation of zones and skills will never chime in on the side of reason.

by the way, you make great points, thanks for your time and effort into putting that up.

 

As ususal, it's very hard to read the MMORPG reviews which are so emotionally written probably by a very disapointed backer himself.. Why isn't this game UO yet? Mountains of stuff done and mountains to go...
Actually I haven't gotten into all the latest in a long time but my opinion at Sota's face value is roughly the same. Too many missed design decisions has crippled much of the game, given Sota a constant uphill battle to just get to what is normal in online gaming. Much of us early backers showed support for a game that wasn't too focused on cutting edge graphics but more centered on a world where everything had purpose or usage. However I find most of the zones are made over-simplistic at times, often during pre-alpha I found that poor decisions implemented just turned me more away from it. The pre-tense of that the game would be something new and great but not knowing that hardly nothing was really planned out and the only real constant is month-to-month development.
I continue to be impressed by the more serious cities and zones much design work is impecable in some areas, housing, certain armor + magic looks amazing. I fear the game is moving where too much focus is being made on graphics and gameplay and content is suffering.
I can't even understand why they made the overworld the way they did, so far they have missed a lot of feedback regarding ideas of real strategic 'territory' fighting, fighting en-masse, pvp beyond 1-vs-1.
If find combat quite awful and that they went with what they had too early instead of fully developing a better working system. There is virtually no real support for more than 1-vs-1 combat, maybe it's just me but that is what I like and find exciting. I realize many gamer's enjoy just hanging out around their homes and being very well equipped or highly speciallized, which is one of the draws from UO's fanbase.
Eventually if they continue the trend of using construction-type blocks for players own building creations, player levels have the potential to really take it to another level (eg a player creating is whole own crypt starting from nothing but rock wall pieces, wall torches, chests, etc. Eventually being able to enter NPC's with interactive text interfaces.
Anyways... his review only really scratches the surface of the reality of this game which just doesn't fit into traditional review category.
I think they also missed too much potential from players making their own levels, which would logically fit quite well into the 'dual-scale' methodology. Sota restrictions on the game make it feel more lifeless than it deserves.

 

It's human. Everyone does it.

 

I spent more than 150 USD on this game. Far more than any other game. I also spent a good deal of a long vacation trying this game out. Aren't I entitled to a few days of complaining based on my money and time investment?

I am sorry that you feel I am trolling. Your comment seems to be a bit personal (I have never said anything personal about you) but I can understand that since you seem heavily invested in the game and I guess feel a need to defend it. When I logged in today I feared some nasty comments but besides your somewhat personal response I actually received a very kind email from someone saying that if I rejoined the game I could use their house and craft with them. I actually like most of the people here and can't say I hold a grudge against anyone. I should also point out I have nothing against the development team (except that I think it's too small).

My main frustration goes all the way to the top and not the people underneath. It's frustrating to meet people in the game working overtime because they need money but spending so much money on a game that's not complete yet. I just feel people should not have been asked to spend so much on an unfinished game that has an uncertain future. Asking people to spend hundreds because they did that with OU on ebay is putting the cart before the horse since OU was already well established on SOTA is not.