Online Numbers

I get that. And i thank you for the suggestion. Casual has nothing to do with difficulty for me. The game is mind-numbingly simple. Mash numbers 1-9, sell loot, talk to npcs, watch people dance. Simple; *almost* as simple as Ultima.

It's the time commitment that aggravates me. When sold a 40-hour story, I expect to be able to beat the story in 40 hours. When sold a game that is supposed to be *similar* to Ultima, I expect to be able to solo the hardest creatures by the end of the story. I have around 100 hours into the game since persistence. I'm level 47. I die within seconds of entering Malice at level 47. How many hours do I have to mindlessly grind to be able to beat the story? To be able to defeat a dragon what level is required?

 

I am in no way a hardcore MMORPG gamer and if one was to base a decision on which MMORPG to play I am sure more funded, corporate games like WOW and Elder Scrolls will tick more boxes.

Although I did play WOW for 2 years and enjoyed it.
My recent MMO games are:
Eve, 4 years
Ark
World of tanks, planes, warships, and yes I know some may not call it an MMO, but it's online, playing with other people so....
Plus many other games that would read like the history of video games. Yes, I am that old.

And my first ever home video game I played was Pong, in the 70's

Whilst I am not a hardcore RPGr I have a lot of experience in gaming and would describe myself as a hardcore gamer and so I understand when the mechanics, culture, flow of the game works and when it does not. And this game works.

But like with everything not everyone is going to like what I like.

Some are going to prefer the dollar soaked polish that Elder Scrolls offers, which is a very good game and I have just bought it in a sale.

However, there is an important element that can easily be missed when you are so invested in the development of a game. Because you can never, NEVER, experience this game for the first time again. But I have.

6 Weeks ago I started to play this game as a brand new, shiny, noob. And I say, this game is good.
The opinions of new players are crucial to the indication of how well a game is doing.
Experienced players opinions are important too of course, but the game will live and die on the basis of how new players feel about the game.

I have read quite a lot of indepth analysis on the game by experienced players, some happy with how the game has gone, some not.

The shocking reaction from me as a new player is...
I don't really care.

I only care about how I feel when I play this game and the fact that my investment in time in this game is going to be something I can feel good about, like how I feel about my character on Eve. It gives me the warm fuzzies when I think of its career as an industrialist.

How you feel, about playing a game is often missed when judging a game. Because it's a personal thing and if playing the game does not make me feel good I don't play it. WOW no longer does it for me, even though it works for quite a lot of people.

I realise SOTA may not have panned out as some players/backers have wanted. But it's impossible to create a game that makes everyone happy and you may not like the direction has taken. It can only take one direction and it must do it with confidence and kinetic energy. And I know some of you will get the hump but the devs cannot soak up the tears in the forum with soft hessian cloths, to soothe the anger generated.

They have to dev, and dev hard. It's what devs do.

Let me repeat.
I'm a new player.
I like this game.
This game is good.
Hopefully other new players will too, which would indicate that this game has a future.

Kudos to all those who have backed this game and invested time and given feedback. This game had very much been driven by the community, and that maybe is why I like this bootstrapped effort, rather than the full, Hollywood type, corporate polish other games have.

And before anyone says it, I am not related to any of the devs, I have no investment in the game other than my 6 weeks of play, I have been paid zero cash to write this. I am absolutely unconnected with Portalarium in any way. I never even played UO or any other Ultima game.

I am simply saying it how I see it.

 

Well that's excellent to hear, Lyndoman. Your opinions are absolutely your own and no one can take them away from you. I really thank you for taking the time to lay out your thoughts in more detail.

For myself, as someone who's followed it essentially all along, my path has been different to yours, which is something you note. But I think taking either route has its pros and cons, to be honest.

Whether the game has a future or not is something you will see played out before you in the year(s) ahead. You've still arrived early enough that quite a bit of development still, allegedly, has yet to take place.

It will be interesting what you say in 12 months time, or if you're still even here. You might still be loving it. You might be more like the 12 month plus veterans are today. Time is a funny old thing, in the end.

 

I think a lot of people at this point are just waiting for the game to be finished.

 

I have looked at how the game has been developed over the last 3 years.
I have looked at the experience and attitude of the devs, (apparently they have done this kind of stuff before)
And I am confident that there is a high probability that I will be playing in a years time, but who really knows.

You do sound a bit like a snaggle toothed, old crone who predicts great tragedy if you enter the cave to seek treasure I mean that not in an offensive way, but c'mon man, lighten up and enjoy yourself. Games are supposed to be fun, not fodder to win debating points on forums.

This game is fun and perhaps not to someone who has to bear the blistered scars of 3 years of development who expected something different. But we are where we are and I think it's a good place.

 

I'm not seeking to "win" any "debate", mate. I was just genuinely interested in why you felt a game that is definitely sub-par in most of its aspects versus most MMOs out there, was so amazing and great for you.

You've answered that, and I thank you for it. Again, it's not something that can be won or not. They're your feelings. You obviously feel them, and I think that's great in a genuine, supportive kind of way.

I think questions like the ones I've pondered, and you've recoiled a bit from, are ones that you'll probably come to ask yourself over time. Play on enough empty maps and the game's future is a natural thought.

I could go on, but I have to go and stir the cauldron of toads and chicken feet...

 

I gave you both a like... ;-) One of you is a starry-eyed n00b in the passionate throes of new love; the other is predicting doom and gloom. It's not that simple of course, but stereotypical generalizations. @Canterbury has reason to be pessimistic and critical, and @Lyndoman has reason to be enthralled and optimistic. You're both right! I feel both extremes at different times.

 

One thing I do like about this community is that forums debates, although a tad verbose at times, are conducted in a respectful and mature manner. It's a good thing.

 

The online numbers depend on each and everyone of us. Since the game has a lot of content that still is being worked on our outreach to other gamers is really important. We need to reach out to our friends and get them play with us to get the populations to keep growing. We can make new friends by reaching out and helping new players so they keep playing the game like many already do as Hospitalers. Truly the best resource the game has to offer is us. Port is working very hard in the backgrounds with the resources that they have to make the game better with each release but really it is us that can make or break the game. I have played many mmos over the years and the reason I gave this one a second look was due to the people here. I donated a large sum of money(bought a metro city and baron pledge) at the start of this game to help it get developed but I was dissatisfied with the game after the first few alphas (I hated the card system having come from WOW, SWTOR, and ArchAge.) so I left to go pursuit other games for enjoyment. What brought me and my so called whaleness back was friends who gave the game a try after persistence and said it was so much better. So I loaded the game back up and logged on. I found the game had massively improved compared to the early stages. I actually loved how the card system works now and found my enjoyment spot of healing working well. So now I went on a shopping spree and picked up a city again which is being added on the next release (Verat Chaos) and several of the bundles. I bought the game for my mother who will be joining us later in the month. I started writing on www.RPOTA.com and won last months competition. I am sharing my story just to remind everyone that you matter. You can bring people to this game and help them find as much enjoyment as I have found so far. You make all the difference in world.

 

So glad you came back!

 

I think this is an excellent indicator of the progress the game is made and that it is and will continue to be a game worth playing.

As the population grows it will only get more engaging.

Good to know original backers are liking it.

 

16 hours of grinding isn't challenging or hardcore.

 

Indeed. You get the sense, on many gaming forums, that grinding is interpreted as such, by some folks, but they seem to have the wrong end of the stick. Confusing simplistic, ill-thought-out gameplay for something deeper.

 

It is challenging to stay logged in for 16 hours though. All kidding aside as stated before though not 100% vested in this game anymore i have enjoyed myseld with guildies this release.

 

If you have any actual data on this point @LoneStranger, we would be interested in knowing what the ratio is for real accounts vs fake. As far as we are concerned, they are are legitimate accounts.

 

Just out of curiosity, what is the ratio between forum/website accounts and game accounts? Is that info public? It's broadly assumed game accounts are lower than forum/website accounts, but by how much?

 

Everyone that registers through the website must then purchase the $5 access to the forums, so the overall game and website account population is far greater than those with forum accounts, and even more so those who actively participate in the forums. Typically 10% will be active forum participants vs regular viewers only.

 

This was all back in 2013. I don't have the data. I always found it interesting that the page that listed all the accounts signed up with the forum was removed once people on the forum started recording and tracking potential fakes. I believe that page was a big performance issue, since it did a large database lookup, but no one at Port seemed to really care about the spam accounts and kept touting the 'population' number for a long time after people on the forum said we were concerned about it not being real.

 

Maybe this is true now, but I don't think it was always the case.

 

Yeah, there was a major spam issue. The forum was getting flooded daily with spam messages. New accounts kept popping up daily like "aaaaa1a". Literally hundreds. Smack had a tracking spreadsheet and it was quite evident when it started. It's actually what triggered the current stats page to differentiate between "new britannians" and actual pledges.

Anyway, back on track... It was quite a chore for the mods to keep up with all the spam. I think it was circa 2014. Finally, after much debate (I'm sure Dallas and Starr remember it well ), the $5 forum fee was introduced. Because there wasn't a perfect way to distinguish between legit accounts and spam ones, many accounts were grandfathered in. So, there are probably some "free" forum accounts still floating around...but probably not many. However, a large chunk of the "new britainnians" are most certainly orphaned spam accounts (from India if memory serves).