My experience in the free trial

Discussion in 'New Player Welcome' started by rolluf, Jun 2, 2017.

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  1. rolluf

    rolluf Avatar

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    Hi all,

    I've been following SOTA for a long time now, and I finally decided to give it a try during the free trial. Now that the trial is ended, I thought I would share my experience in case it is of any worth when considering how a newcomer experiences the game at the start.

    I knew enough about SOTA to know what to expect in the way of conversation dialogue options. I also knew that I would start on what was called the 'Path of Love', and that it would start me in a burning village. I played Ultima 4, 5 and 6 about 10 years ago and really enjoyed them, so I was looking forward to a return to that world, so to speak.

    Arrival-I arrive at the burning village. I go get the girl to follow me. On the way out, I stop to examine all the stuff in the area instead of heading straight out. I find the girl says things like "this is so and so's house when we approach a random building. I thought that was neat. It wasn't necessary but it added a little depth to the world. I also examined several corpses on the way out and found some of them had letters that I could take. Though it was not my main objective, nor did it open an official "quest" in my journal, I was intrigued that I could maybe find some of the people addressed in the letters latter on down the road and have some extra story dialogue, kind of a secret conversation option with npc's later that you only know to ask about if you found the letters. On the technical side, I found movement a little confusing as I was used to turning with A and D, but SOTA has those buttons strafe, and turning is done with the mouse. I got used to it with time though. Also, my avatar's run cycle seemed a bit off, and jumping was only partially responsive to the space bar-sometimes it would work, sometimes not, and when it did, it seemed like an unusually short jump.

    Combat-So I leave the town, and meet the bard on the bridge. I was told I am on the path of the bow, but it looks like I can pick up swords and shields as well. I take the bow though because I worry that even though I can equip the others, doing so would be wrong somehow. As we engage the undead, I get really confused. I heard people complain about having to tab target, which I actually don't mind at all, but combat flows in ways I don't understand (and still don't). Tab seems to place an enemy in a target window, but pressing tab again doesn't cycle to a new enemy, I have to kill the one in my target before I can acquire another target. This isn't what "tab targeting" is in my experience. It seems like I start auto attacking the moment I am in range. I press my skills on my skill bar, maybe they are doing something, maybe they aren't, I can't really tell. I just kind of walk around, constantly shooting, though most times not aware what I am shooting at, until it seems that all enemies are dead. Yay?!

    Exploration-I now take time to fully explore the first map. This is pretty fun. I find an elf in some ruins and get some details on the world from him. His physical appearance and the situation of the elves in the society he describes remind me STRONGLY of the gargoyles in Ultima 6. This happily intrigues me. Having finished my exploration, I try to leave unsuccessfully through a wall of fire, before I realize I am supposed to leave by boat somewhere. Now I'm off to the Outskirts area!

    Outskirts and the New Player Experience-My understanding is that these zones are designed to be introduction zones to get new players used to the game, running quests, interacting with vendors, etc. To a newbie just arriving in the game, this new area seems HUGE compared to the previous map. I take my time talking with all the npc's I find. I quickly discover that all the guards have the exact same dialogue tree. A bit disappointing, but not too bad, as I remember that guards in the Ultima's also all had the same dialogue trees. After talking with everyone, I think I have two main objectives: find someone to help by a pond, and get a painting back from bandits. For the life of me I can't find this pond, but I use the compass to find the swamp and the bandits. Slowly I start to figure out how this works: how to get quests, do them, and turn them in for xp. Not really sure how xp works though. I don't seem to have a character 'level'. My skills seem to have levels, and they level up by just using them, but I have no idea how the xp I earn from quests affects any of that.

    Novia-I have not finished all the quests in the Outskirts, but the free trial is coming to a close and I want to experience the overland map, so when I log in I tell the game to put me there to start. I walk around a bit and explore the world. I find a nearby town, which is apparently a player owned town. I enter it for fun just to see. It seems very spread out and empty, but I find an oracle building, so I go in there and find out that I can apparently check in with the Oracle to get a status update on how I am doing on the virtue paths. Nice! I had no idea that was even a thing I could do. It reminds me a lot of that guy in Ultima 4 that would tell you how you were doing in mastering the 8 virtues. The presence of a player owned town doesn't break my immersion like I thought it might. Instead it feels more like a small village or collection of houses randomly in the wilderness on the way to the main city.

    Back to the Outskirts-I head back there to do more quests. Oddly, I get the "meet with Captain Kinsey" quest again. I do so but it doesn't update. It seems like the game tried to restart the quest chain for the area when I came back in, but since I was already half through, it kind of broke. I figure this is a game bug. I end the free trial by killing the alpha wolf for the farmer. I was really intrigued by the farmer and his missing farmhand, Dawson. There is a hut on the farm that has a skeleton in the bed with an arrow through him. I thought that maybe this was Dawson and something sinister was going on. I had flashbacks to one of my favorite Ultima areas: a town in Ultima 6 where a murder had occurred and you can question everyone in town about everyone else and try to solve the mystery. Unfortunately, this skeleton didn't seem to lead to anything, so I'm not sure what the point was. I am left thinking that maybe a designer put that in 'cause they thought it would be clever or cool-looking, but had no thought as to how it tied to the story of the area. Perhaps a missed opportunity.

    Wrap Up-And that is it. Overall I would say I enjoyed the game. I did not purchase it yet, but I fully intend to purchase it at or shortly after launch, assuming it would be a little more optimized and more depth added to the game world. Animations seemed a bit clunky at times, but not terrible. Sometimes I liked the dialogue, sometimes I didn't. It worked best when I got in the mindset of Ultima 4 dialogue. Then I really enjoyed it, but that may not apply to most players. I am still not sure how combat really works or how I would engage in a dynamic fight with multiple enemies. I think there is the structure of a good game here, and as someone who isn't really interested in housing or pvp, I could see myself playing this as an offline single player game and treating it as Ultima X. Maybe it will get there, maybe not, but I'm going to continue to monitor its status.

    Sorry for the wall of text. Hopefully something in there is helpful to give devs an idea of how someone new to the game is perceiving it as they enter.
     
  2. liz_the_wiz

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    the only thing I would say is tab should have taken you to next target, it really should, but, it sounds like for the most part you had fun, and it will be great to see you in game when you come to join us
     
  3. CrandalltheFoole

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    Actually "G" takes you to the next target
    "Tab" changes your mouse controls
    Unless you alter the basic set in the options - quite an extensive set
     
  4. liz_the_wiz

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    I thought they changed that, so it was tab ..... which is why it was tab in the OP post.
     
  5. 2112Starman

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    Great review and welcome to SOTA!

    I have a lot of twitch videos that you can watch if you want to see what the game will look for you later at adv lvl 55 (my alt) or at 95 (my main).

    https://www.twitch.tv/2112starman/videos/all
     
  6. Vladamir Begemot

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    Very important information you have provided here, thanks!

    BTW, those letters are useful later, and load times are supposed to be cut in half in the next release!
     
  7. Winfield

    Winfield Legend of the Hearth

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    @rolluf - excellent observations! That's what we need from Free Trial Players for feedback. Many people out there are Ultima fans (I am one) and are now learning about SotA, giving it a try, and seeking to go on an adventure with us players in this new Realm created by Lord British.

    I am just a fisherman ... and I thank you for giving us your feedback!

    Very Respectfully,
    Winfield
     
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  8. Carlin the Druid Archer

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    Great feedback!

    Especially this part:
    I've often found when exploring there are things that could be interesting and tied to some kind of ingame lore or quest but aren't which leads to disappointment. Hopefully a polish pass on the game will correct some of these instances.
     
  9. Moussaka

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    Yes it was changed, but only for new installs or for ppl that skipped some releases

    BTW. I have to press TAB or G TWICE to change to next target... not shure if this is a bug or intended.
     
  10. skeggy Media

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  11. majoria70

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    Thanks for taking the time to provide your feedback @rolluf . I read every word and I know it will help. I am Majoria in game if I can ever help when you decide to join us. I would be happy to help in any way I can even if it is just to whisper me a hello ;) Best wishes. :)
     
  12. Luca Xante

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    majoria70 likes this.
  13. Tanglewood

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    Thanks for the feedback rolluf! It's nice to hear from new people how the early scene development is going as it gives a very unbiased view. Sounds like there's still a bit more work to go, but I am confident Port will get it across the line. Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)
     
  14. CrandalltheFoole

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    I do recall when it was different, I still hit the 'TAB' when I want to hit 'G'.
     
  15. Timmy Vortex

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    hey man maybe i'll see you on release :)
     
  16. Wintermute of CoF

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    Or in the current release deleting any character (including offline) will reset all the controls to default and TAB will target.

    I'm not sure either, but I often find I have to hit TAB multiple times to actually change target, also my target will change automatically during combat even if I selected my current target with TAB.
     
  17. liz_the_wiz

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    I think theres like select, hard lock, so maybe thats why we have to press it twice?
     
  18. Wintermute of CoF

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    I dunno. I certainly still experience moments where hitting tab repeatedly selects between two archers some distance from me rather than the fighter right in front of me, this is especially common when in a large group and the fighter is busy hitting someone else. It's hard to report a bug about it because reporting a bug in the middle of a fight is a recipe for dying and losing a boat load of XP :) I'll maybe try logging all my alts in at some point to see if I can produce a replicable case in my basement.

    I also still sometimes kill random rabbits with Fire Arrow instead of any of the enemies in range, but that is a lot better than it used to be.
     
  19. Lord Andernut

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    I don't know if the tutorial touches on the mechanics of how jumping works, but it should (@Lum @Berek), but I've had friends say the same thing. Jumping, unlike any other game I've ever played, is not activated on pushing the spacebar - but is instead based on releasing the spacebar. The longer you hold it down, the more your jump "powers up."

    I would personally prefer not needing to powerup a jump but instead make the jump activate on pressing the spacebar and having the jump strength determined by how quickly you release.

    There may be technical reasons for implementing the jump this way however.
     
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  20. CrandalltheFoole

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    Perhaps it is something like having to hold down the left mouse to increase the hit strength?
     
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