Players - please spend a few minutes rating Steam reviews

The way you feel is important for YOU. I don't know you. I don't know what you are waiting for with each game. I don't care about how you feel. Objective things are not just about performance or hardware compatibility. Objective comments can be made with pretty much everything including gameplay. As a reader, I don't want to know if you like this or that. I want to know WHAT is this or that and what reason (what thing outside of you) makes you think that it's good or bad. Objective comment is helpful. Subjective comments are just egocentrics.

 

Maybe my review, if I'd written one, would tell you that sort of stuff. Maybe you could read some of my other reviews for games you've played and see if we feel the same way about things.

Then why are you reading my review?

Yes, they can. But if reviews only consisted of objective comments then all reviews would either be identical or mistaken.

As a reader, I do. Maybe what YOU want, as a reader, is subjective?

Yes, as I said above.

No, as I said above.

 

You can't say what a review is before reading it, actualy. Not with my limited human senses.

There is a difference between a complete review and an objective review. If everyone was omniscient and doing objective reviews, you would be right but....

Indeed, I want objective comments. That's subjective. But most of all, I try to demonstrate that objective comments are the only comments which are really useful. And I try to do that with objective arguments. Just read my previous post again.

But nevermind. I just give my point of view anyway because each of us is forced to do so when trying to reach the truth.

 

If everyone was omniscient there'd be no need for reviews.

I've read your previous posts, I still disagree.

 

This thread is proof of the community shouting others down.

 

That happens pretty much everywhere... its a fine line to walk for the moderators, a very though job.

Especially when RMT has contributed so much to the success of the title that they like to throw rocks in their glass house.

 

It never fails to amaze me that people somehow think Sota is special, and steam ( quite literally just a large platform of potential customers, and clearly gamers in all spectrums of the word) is somehow unfair.

I look at steam like the item being on a shelf.
If Sota was on a shelf in a store, people would still review it in the same regard in magazines, articles and blogs.
Steam just makes this an easier process.

It being on steam simply opens it up to a wider audience then the launcher.. and therefor you get the feedback of said large audience.

Everytime these threads come up, people act like steam can be disregarded. When in reality, all it is is the game on a platform to a lot of consumers. The public opinion of it wouldnt change much in any other form of large distribution.

So.
Explain to me how the page of information on the store of steam, is different then basic box art, if it were on a shelf, and how reviews outside would differ based on it not being on steam?
More then anything i bet youd have less people taking time to review at all. Doesnt change the genral attitude? I look at steam like a larger sample size.

But whatevs

I agree with the comments of being constructive negative or positive either way. But dismissing reviews becsuse u dont like the platform is silly. Its still just average gamers and should be looked at as such.

 

People have every right to hate the game regardless of how ridiculous you believe their reasoning may be. Encouraging people to write positive reviews is not the answer... the answer is to have a game that warrants those positive reviews. Not everybody likes the Dark Souls series but it's receiving a lot of praise.

You're asking people like me to write a review on Steam but what makes you think that I'd be positive?

Subjectively, the game currently:

• is a grind-fest that offers no substantial content with lack-luster quests with very little conflict (aside from what the NPCs will tell you) as the enemies aren't threats to eliminate but are obstacles to avoid.
• has an abundance of loading screens.
• is littered with frustrating enemy placement and absurd respawns rates that drop very little reward for killing them.
• has player models that are generic and not interesting to look at (borderline ugly).
• has a convoluted combat/skill system (and un-informative tooltips) that requires you to constantly manage skill training in order to progress at a decent rate.
• NPCs will react to events that haven't happened yet (or you're not aware of) but, at the same time, will require a lot of "guess the keyword" effort to trigger progression in the various quests they're involved in.

Objectively, the game currently:

• does not match performance standards of 60fps and higher.
• guides low-level characters into high difficulty-rating areas.
• has a character creation system with a very limited selection of hair and colours and the sliders barely change anything on the face.
• has repeated content (cloned scenes).
• has a UI that is merely functional at best.
• delivers disjointed dialogue very frequently.
• has a low amount of music tracks compared to industry standards and player expectations.
• treats PvP as a toggle.

I'm giving SotA the benefit of the doubt that it'll improve before the game is released. I'm here to point the problems out.

 

You really think that most market-places are completely unwilling to kick scammers and con-men out until they actually file a request in court for discovery against the venue? Where is that normal? (Seriously, I want to know, so I can avoid going there.)

There isn't a fine line, they need to give half the "games" the boot.

 

It's not... but we've seen much worse with EA and other *cough* entities I'm not allowed to accuse.

What do you mean by giving half the "games" ?

 

Im assuming hes talking about games being indy or early access and not living up to projected release promises, based on steam?

So.. the whole kickstarter platform is solely used for scammers and conmen?

Kind of goes back into my point of why they take their review policies seriously.. and im assuming has never tried to get a refund from steam. Because its surprisingly easy.

 

You cut the line short "they need to give half the "games" the boot." as in they need to clean shop and remove a large number of "games" which are pure asset-flips, designed to do nothing other then exploit the trading cards or achievements.

You assume wrongly. I'm referring to the pure asset flips, which almost always turn out to be developers (using that word strains credibility) who go hog-wild trying to silencing any criticism of their games. No, Steam does not take it seriously. Once you pay your fee, you can do whatever you want, as long as you don't make them talk to Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, Attorneys at Law.

 

I agree with a lot of this.

I think the player models are fine to start off with, though yes customization will be nice to differentiate different players. They're not ugly, though IMO; I'd argue the most unattractive thing about the player models is some of the stuff the players wear And I don't mean that just for my personal tastes or a 100% sense of immersion, I really think at the extremes it turns many players away the same way some of the housing stuff does. I usually take a lot of screenshots each release to give examples of how good the game can look, but often its just hard to make something look good...

The grindy aspect of the game and the low reward drops are kind of in opposition to each other. If there was something to do in the game other than grind, the drops would matter less really... But I'm hopeful from past comments that this is something they're working on. I think before more rewarding drops, what would be beneficial is more diverse and interesting drops. Like starting to put element related drops on elementals, etc. Dragon hide and stuff on dragons, being able to get dragon blood...

But yea, aside from the some of the faults I find with the game right now, I still find some of the Steam just mean and nasty, not just to the game developers but to other players reviewing it in personal ways. Its like everyone who gives the game a positive review, for them is in on a conspiracy with the devs and need to be taken down.

Personally, though, I just leave up whatever comments go on my review and let readers decide this for themselves. I don't see an urgent reason for comment deletion.

 

there corrected that for you

You know that its deeper than that... well not deeper but more personal than that. Why do you all keep the blinders on ?

Most of these players came from UO, they were sold to certain kickstarter promises and once here, the community laughed in their face as if their gameplay style was OBSOLETE, and better left to OBLIVION.

I know I'm immature about some issues, I assume it, but some people do not have the sense of perspective I was lucky to get.

It should not come as a surprise that there is a perception of conspiracy from both sides.

As I've told numerous times in the past... they went over to a UO T2A freeshard that has been very popular for almost 10 years... for publicity, then they invited the owners over... when they realized that nothing was like UO and even less T2A, they left while trying to give feedback FOR THE FUTURE, but they were thrown in the fiery pit of this community supposedly "good side", and they left more frustrated that I've ever seen them even during development of our freeshard.

You can't just use people's credulity like that, of course I understand the game's direction was clear in kickstarter, noone really expected UO2...

But then again the feedback those devs wanted to give was for the future, and basically the community cut short the discussion and asked the devs quite directly to not even answer those demands because it would *in the future* split the community.

Wow... talk about convoluted PR mess... yup.

This is just the first ripples we're feeling right now...

 

Same thing with people who came from Ultima single-player games... many are disappointed that the devs aren't as interested in creating an immersive, role-playing centered environment. They're also being told the gameplay they're interested in is obsolete, and even unfun, even though a lot of the Kickstarter pitch was largely targeted to them.

Still, there's a kind of nastiness towards other players that goes over the line, no matter how let down they feel.

 

Let me be perfectly clear here... I came here and thought I would socialize with my childhood heroes that taught me how great the TRUE sandbox was...

I thought it would be like meeting again with old friends who would understand my plea and tell me : "you know Ahu what you ask for is very hard with the new engine, but OH YEA we understand you and OH YEAH that would be great.

Is it an unreasonable expectation ? To be understood and told "sorry not right now, but we think about it in a few years".

NO... its a minimum expectation when the playstyle you seek was introduced by the VERY SAME PEOPLE.

I found myself almost unable to even compliment some of the devs I've admired from Origin because of the overwhelming feeling that they WANTED to forget this whole era of gaming that forged us into the emotive players we are.

It's like I met my childhood DM in the street 10 years later and tried to compliment him and he said shush I don't want my current friends to hear that I actually enjoyed this nerdy game.

How are people not supposed to take it personally ? We would have NEVER KNOWN this playstyle existed without you !

 

Indeed... it SEEMS heavy, but these players still will play on freeshards, a 15 year old engine... they are not hard to please, at all. They were EASY to gather round like a flock of sheep, and I have given simple 0 budget solutions for that. You see its not really their reaction which is unreal, its their mere presence that disturbs certain people for whom this is much more than a game, for some its work, some earn a living from selling in game ressources and items, it becomes quickly very, very serious. *wow, I know, syntax* Compared to that personal attacks and throwing portalarium under the train seems like a walk in the park, we aren't even close to the severity of gamergate or other things I'm not allowed to talk about because legal reasons.

This is also why discussions about balance and economy are SO uncomfortable, there are REAL impacts all over the place.

The only logical reason for this TOTAL radio silence is because certain backers KNOW that RMT flourishes in this type of collector sims game and NOT in a single player or pure sandbox type, it sure is a conspiracy it fits the definition perfectly.

I didn't catch that the devs or the community said the single player RPG was obsolete, just very hard to accomplish while dragging more and more funding to make the game greater and more furnished with assets that make a great single player narrative. People who are willing to pay for 40 hours of AMAZING story will usually pay once, and play then move to other games.

I totally understand where they come from, but the contingency plan should have been in place way back. Before even kickstarter...

 

I'll just throw this out again: no matter your views on the game, or your reviews on the game, please go through Steam reviews and up/down vote as you see fit.

Once a month would be great.

 

Agreed, what we need now more than ever is to show some support and bring people together in common purpose, because we understand how delicate the situation is.

 

Nah, we're not just talking about the story, and this is sometimes something UO players don't understand.

Back when Ultima IX was being produced the devs watered down a lot of the game mechanics with the fear that as the gaming market was changing they had to appeal to a mass audience and make certain things easier. This upset a lot of Ultima fans as much as the skimping on the story. Even though the devs are trying to make compromises in some cases, they're being driven by the same concern in a lot of areas in SotA. A lot of the game mechanics are being kept watered down or grindy for reasons that have nothing to do with multiplayer and more to do with a fear that making it like a classic Ultima won't get a large audience.