My feedback

Part 1 : First steps

Hello everyone. I download the game on the last saturday, i play Ultima Online some time, i play others mmo like Allods, WoW and recently Archeage. I will try to give my feedback with honesty but with my word, i'm not a good english writer.

The game start :
Well, the old button "Play", the connection interface. That's look old, it dont smell the year 2017...


The character creation :
I don't meet difficulty to create my character, i chose the "warrior" and i finish to Highvale. The character creation follow a quest line when others games offer a simple system and you just have to "clic" on next button. For me it is very "old school" it is without modernity, it look retro.
Finally the game look retro, the graphisms look so old versus a Black Desert Online, a Revelation Online or an Archeage. But i play UO some many years on official server and RP servers, the graphism is not a problem for a good game, the content is the most important.


Battle of Highvale :
I start the game, i follow the quest line and i talk with Gawain, the wounded man. He gave me the amulet for Brigid but, the quest is not validate. It's a problem because i just see it later. I will explain more later.


Resolute Area :
Well, now i'm in Resolute and let's farm and discover the "deck system". Ah i don't have access to the deck system, my hotbar is a classis bar with 10 skills. I heart in guild it came later with training with a npc. No Probs, i got time for discover it, let's kick some undead asses in "Middle Down" area (1 skull).
After some fight i discover the skills system. It"s finally simple, i kill mobs, i won xp and the skill to grow up, eat the xp. That's fine and i really feel an evolution of the char.
The firsts fights versus skeletton where not easy, after one hour, with just a two hands basic sword, i can fight them by pack of two or three. It is really nice to feel the evolution of your char.
I join a guild "Gardien du Lys" and Bjorn help me and gave me an plate armor and a good two handed sword. I can farm more mobs and visit the full area of "Middle Down"


Quests problems :
Well the quest line say "Go hire a boat near Harvest", so i try to go to Harvest but...
I can't go out of the center of the map.
Vertaspass : 5 skulls
Supersition canyon : 5 skulls
Nightshade pass : 3 skulls
Sanctus Spine : 5 skulls

If i want to go out of the South Paladis, i must try to cross impossibles areas for a new player. I was just "What the ****" with that. I'm stuck here... It is not really noob friendly.
So i see "talk with the wounded man" in my quest line. Remember, it's Gawain and his amulet. I just think "Oh it dont validate the quest ?" and i go back to Highvale but now it is a farm area. I came back on the mountain and i see a big ball of light. It is a teleport for Solace Bridge, so i take it.

Now i'm in Solace bridge, i see a npc and i talk to him. he gave me a quest, leave the area with a rawboat, but there is no rawboat. For the archer starting battle yes, but not when you came in this area by Novia or the Highvale teleport. Well, it's just an another unfinishable quest, let's discovering other places.

I'm now in the Perennial Coast, i can farm in the "South Celestial Westlands" with 2 skulls, it's ok. My skills grow up, my char is better, it's ok for this part.


Manhattan feudal city :

Strange title for a paragraph no ? But it is what i feel when i see the cities in SotA (Same problem in UO)
A lot, a lot of squarrishs areas, of rectangles. All the cities ares squarrishs, the cities builders are living squares, eating squares, praying squares, sleeping squares... only squares.

This is what i see when i see the cities : https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Manhattan/Midtown_East#/media/File:Midtownnyc_map.png

This is a map of my native town, Dijon in France. The old capital of the Duces of Burgundy. Check the map and i'm sure you will found where are the olds feudals walls of the city.
http://bourgogne.media.tourinsoft.e...tion-La-Conciergerie.png?width=900&height=700

The cities dont have a natural look for a world inspired by medieval fantasy. It's a small deception.


Thanks for reading my text.

 

In Highvale did you encounter a healer for the wounded man? Were you also directed to Highvale Outskirts? (initial training and quest area)
The Outskirts areas are designed to get you the training and ability to see both your hotbars, as well as pay you for taking the training.
Solace Bridge rowboat is down next to the bridge.
The passes between sectors of the map are supposed to be difficult, though most of them you can run quickly and make it. There are a couple of them where that is impossible, however you can still pass through when a ghost. Until you reach the 40's there is no penalty for dying.

I love the European cities and how they grew organically rather than with actual planning. Though we can see some planning happened as they centuries and those who control the area adjust their boundaries and defenses.
Let us look at the map of Brittany - https://www.sotamap.com/?map_id=490 - Yes there are squares/rectangles. There are also organic areas based on terrain.

You should know that the quests will reset once all the story line is complete. You will not lose any xp from what you have earned, but you will be allowed to repeat quests that you may have bungled or missed.

Good luck

 

Welcome Akiromi. Thank you so much. You were fantastic in your English. I could understand. You also point to some confusing things that will help the development team make a better starter area. If I can help anytime I am Majoria in the game. It is so nice to meet you.

 

a-f'n-men.

While your post is truthful and honest in my opinion, you were too nice about the combat. Combat has always a struggle in this game As to the graphics, it is MUCH better than the cartoony black desert where you can't tell who is fighting what, and more over does not have all the cheesy crap that black dessert force feeds everyone. The people that complain about the grind of Sota have never played Black Dessert which holds a lifetime record in the most boring grind in any game. The advantage of Black Desert is that there are players everywhere, all the time, even when they are not really playing. It just makes the game seem worthy of achieving just about anything,

Anywho, that is just my personal comparison. I have no disagreement with your assessments and I welcome you to the Shroud of the Avatar!

 

Part 2 : Discovering fighting and decks

I was a little feared by the fighting system. I don't heard a lot of good feedback about it on french mmo forum. I only test the R42 system but this is my feedback.


The classic hotbar :

This is the first system, 10 possiblities, that's ok. You can but attack skills, defense skills, healing and pots. Small slots but it's ok. The system make the choice an obligation. I like it.
I quickly discovering something, you can launch the same attack with different cooldown and an higher mana cost, that's nice.
Just a small suggest. Make the skill button shine during a small time when a cooldown is over. Because, beetween 99% of the CD and the skill ready, you can't see the difference.


The deck system :

The deck system is really good when you know how it's working. Thanks to a guildmate who explain me in French how it is working because it is not really intuitive. I don't know how i unlocked the system, it is not really noticeable about that.
Just a question, when you add cards to make skills better, i'm not sure but, I have the feeling that decrease your hit chance.


The passive skills :

A small surprise for me, no limitation about passive skills. So, you can have all the passives skills without limitation. Finally everybody get everything...


Range vs melee :

Well, i got a melee char and i need to be really closer from my target to hit him or it is always miss when i use a skill. So it is really hard to hit a moving ennemy. Skelettal archers are weak but when they run, it is hard to kill them and in the same time. I can use the left/right jump, the arrows or magics always following and hit me.
In PvE it is ok but in PvP it will create problems.
The ranged use a target system as UO, ArcheAge and so many game but the melee use AOE system as BDO with a small number of targeted attack (like heavy armor slam).
If a mob, a stupid mob can run and be untouchable when he go out of range. A player will be very very hard to kill when he is using range and moving.


-> Ranged vs melee
The ranged/magic char are logically weaker than melee char because they don't have heavy armor but, the armor is not really their first defense. A skilled ranged player use the range and the moving as a defense.
Why having an armor when the ennemy can't hit you and is slower than you ?
The only "hard fight" is the ranged vs the ranged.

This video of Jobe confirm it. Melee are joke for ranged in pvp.

 

Great review!

I think this points out a big flaw. Why do new characters need to depend on high level gear from regs to play the starting zone?

@Chris , @Lord British