[POLL] What is your *overall* rating for this Pre-Alpha Release 2?

Appears the development for this game progresses in the following manner :

1. The devs have a rough idea on what *they* want to do for a system​
2. The system is implemented​
3. The community gets a look and gives their opinion.​
4. The system is updated for the next release with the suggestions the devs deem appropriate/feasible​

So, my thoughts are that crafting will probably be fairly solid in R3, at which point a new system will be available for public comment.

And so on into the future, provided the devs can keep the workflow going in that manner.

 

Actually, I noticed that Guard Michael called me by name after I did the Winslow quest (or maybe it was my epic cloth gear?). Not Outlander, but my character's first name.... pretty cool. He also told me: "You like the type who gets things done."

So I'd say there were some improvements, but it does have a long way to go.

 

Once you tell an NPC your name, they'll use it instead of "outlander".

 

Well yeah, there have been minor improvements, but when you are saying very general things and all you get in return is something along the lines of "I don't understand" or "could you explain?" or "hmm", there is still a pretty big issue

 

You know I was just thinking, SoA has requested so much money from us up front that it is really building expectation and anticipation. Novel funding idea at first, might backfire and fall hard like a tower built of cards if this game becomes anything less than amazing to people like me who just fronted more money on this game than just about any other game. That's the difference between this one and other games: you get to try the final product before paying out typically. Beginning to get a little worried at a possible flat combat system and shallow crafting system.

I'm still optimistic though; after all this is Lord British we're talkin about. Surely he won't let us down....right?

 

Since crafting was a big part of this test I based my vote on that for the most part. I think it needs a lot of work. My expectations were high and I guess I was a little disappointing at where it was at. If I have to be completely honest, i think some of the minor things like how hard it was to see some of the smaller tools on the table should have already been thought of. Also the problems with dragging things around and the rest of the stack moving and floating outside the pack. Minor but I would have thought the developers would have noticed these things without the need for us to point them out. That's just me being honest and picky I guess. I also think the whole process of crafting needs to be looked at again. Not totally changed but it a bit too tedious and not very intuitive. Make me feel like I will not take up crafting with the way things are. Was not fun to me. I know it's early and things will change. But since you are asking for an opinion I'm going to give an honest one. Still lot's of potential here and I look forward to the progress I'm sure we will see! Lot's of great things here from the devs!

Mal

 

If you haven't already had a chance to vote on your *overall* rating for R2, please do so! Yes, we all know it's a pre-Alpha, but it is a metric that can be used to show sentiment between Releases. But it's ok if you wish to refrain from voting but only want to give qualitative feedback.

R1 poll results:
282 votes, average rating 3.83

R2 poll results (currently):
103 votes, average rating 3.78

Thanks again to everyone who voted and gave their detailed feedback and answered the Bonus Question!

 

"It was more than I expected being only a release#2"

From scratches in ideas to a #1 and now #2 release, I like what I'm seeing in Developmental Application we can play with. Of course this is some of the appetizer hors d'oeuvres we are eating now, I'm sure certain that the main dish will be coming soon and with the October release we will see the dessert treats and dive right in.
~Time Lord~

 

Indeed! Expectations are very high, not just from backers who are continually pushing the Devs to raise that quality bar ever so higher with all of the feedback and criticism. But the public at large are all in a waiting state, anxious to see what is unveiled come this October (estimated). And I'm sure there are plenty that are wishing this game to fail...without naming certain websites where toxic behavior is pretty rampant.

Let's continue giving the Devs our specific feedback, pointing out exactly where with examples, scenarios, screenshots, whatever you can put together so they know the what/where/how/why that needs improvement. Don't just be a silent backer -- get active and engage with the community and Devs!

 

Gave it what it rightfully desreves a 1. Im beside myself when I read that you guys actualy give this game a 4's 5's. jsut WOW!!

 

Well at least you have a list of people in the delusional category now.

Though, why the executive producer would vote, or even give it a five, knowing full well there is much admitted iteration, total head scratcher

 

Oh yea, Ive been keeping a list. Im just waiting for that day when I can say I told you so.

 

Obviously some features need work, but in a "bare bones" capacity I was expecting a Pre-Alpha to be I was generally pleased. The crafting system allowed us to see the direction the devs are going and give feedback based on how we felt it played. Anyone should have been able to create items based on the email sent about release 2 or the info posted on the SOTA website. The only trick was figuring out you needed exact number of ingredients and that wasn't too hard. Is it a crafting system I'd want? No, but it worked and I played with it for a while, gave my feedback and went on. On a related note I'm excited to see resource harvesting soon.

Talking to guards and people in both towns was surprising to me that I could get so much of the story. I couldn't play release 1 because I was away on a business trip so I don't know how much of it was there in the earlier release, but I hadn't expected so much conversation to be available. I also liked being able to explore a bit and go up the mountains or just run around in all the houses and see how they felt. To me, all of them but the largest houses feel tight and small but maybe it's a scale thing. It just seems like maybe objects put in the house and character scale are too large for the house you're putting them into. Especially the wizard's tower and druid's house.

More character customization would be nice, though it's not a must have for me (really, I could kind of care less), I know character customization is a must have for many people and this was probably a good start but many more options are needed than just 4 hairstyles and 3 skin colors, etc... I could really care less about jumping as well but something about it bothered me as well. I can't really place my finger on it but it just felt strange "powering up" your jump and it didn't seem to make that great a difference anyway.

To me, I felt the build was quite successful. I gave it a 4 because it delivered what it was supposed to and it exceeded my expectations and those things which fell short are fairly cosmetic. It wasn't truly excellent and still needs alot of work, but for a Pre-Alpha I was pleasantly surprised and quite happy that my crap old PC never crashed once.

 

It would be helpful if you could point out specific areas of improvement that you felt did not live up to your expectations in R2. Any feature they wanted us to test in R2 (and thus R1) should be given the most feedback, but feel free to include any other areas.

 

Knowing how the Devs feel about their Releases is vital to the community. If their votes are outliers against how the community feels overall, then there's a disconnect and could prove problematic if the two don't line up in the future. But granted, we have to take these polls into perspective (small sampling size, only active forum users, etc).

 

I found that I like the list inventory better than the graphic one. It was easier to see and find what I needed, especially when crafting.
There were some errors in the crafting recipes.
The game runs fast, excellent frame rates. I am running it in surround 3 X 24" monitors @ 5760 X 1200, driving them with a pair of GTX 780 Ti's and it runs great.
I would like to be able to change the default location of some things such as the inventory because of my wide screen view.
Run speed and jumping was quite good. Character customization was good enough, in fact quite good for a pre alpha.
Kingsport looked good but I could not find much of interest there, but again, this is just R-2.
Great progress, onward....

 

Oh, and one more very important thing, no crashes, not a single one, no lock ups, no tek issues at all. I only got to play a total of about 5 hours however due to other plans and commitments.