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POTs are going to be ignored, unless we get an indicator

Discussion in 'Release 29 Feedback Forum' started by Isaiah, May 15, 2016.

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  1. 2112Starman

    2112Starman Avatar

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    Not enough time considering my guess is that they have probably hauled in a million alone in PoT sales. That's worth 15+ full time content developers for an entire year salary.

    I generally think PoTs are whoa fully under developed right now which makes me feel like they are going to utterly fail at launch unless there is a strong demand for people to take any lot available.

    I have no interest in visiting a random PoT for vendors right now at all. I can make anything in game myself with almost no skill and not all that much time invested. Once I make it once (armor/wep) then I dont ever have to buy another again since they dont break.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2016
  2. Noric

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    Your last paragraph is currently true, but that is more a matter of economy than anything to do with PoTs. On the other hand, they haven't been developing for just 1 year so I'm not sure how I'd take your resource allocation comment.

    I've still been impressed by what a few PoT's have managed, and i would be unsurprised if the game had a larger population that a larger percentage took off.
     
  3. Isaiah

    Isaiah Avatar

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    A simple bulletin board might be enough, and if a player hasn't memorized all the names of the towns it might trigger recognition that they've been to that town before based upon what the board or cryer says. Post some quick directions to the crafting tables, and let people know if there are any noteworthy player crafters with home vendors.

    This might be enough. This is definitely less immersion breaking than magic icons (although useful), and it is less of a burden on new visitors. Smaller towns might not need all this stuff, but large cities do. It may make for a more welcoming world for the casual player, or the player that is still yet to make a decision to get deeper into the game (make a regular customer out of the guy who just purchased the game).
     
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  4. Gix

    Gix Avatar

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    What's going to happen is that some players (like me) won't bother going to PoTs and only do their business in NPC towns. I personally only go to Ardoris, Kingsport, Owl's Head and Aeris. Another group of players won't bother selling their wares at any other place than their own towns which will create an opportunity for others who will buy from PoTs and sell to NPC towns.

    What I would like to see on the main overworld map, though, is contextual graphics illustrating towns. If there's a crap ton of players in one particular town, show me a town with confetti flying over it as, chances are, there might be an event there (confetti could even be replaced by smoke if there's PvP involved). If there are player vendors that are being used frequently, show me a town with brightly-colored kiosks.

    ... I'd still ignore the towns but at least it'll show me that other people are having a good time elsewhere.
     
  5. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    The suggestion for a notice outside of entering a PoT is a good one! I will send this suggestion along to the team and we'll consider it.

    I'm not sure if we can implement the suggestion at all, but if we do, it could be as simple as a notice that at least one vendor with stocked items is in the town, so you don't waste your time on a completely empty town.
     
  6. Drocis the Devious

    Drocis the Devious Avatar

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    There are already plans to show activity and population on the over world map.
     
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  7. Beaumaris

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    As an explorer, I like not having an indicator of what I should expect to find.

    However, the limited number of POT templates is what can detract from that in SOTA. One only wants to see the same template so many times. Which can limit explorer interest. And limit traffic for vendors.

    I'm hoping that a solution to 'the problem' in the OP is further differentiation of POT templates, expanding the level of interest for players to visit towns for more than just vendors. If that happens, traffic will come, vendors will be used IMHO.

    A free form bulletin board sounds complicated (and potentially subject to nasty abuse) but maybe could be cool if implemented elegantly.

    Something as simple as a banner/flag that one can click to raise or drop over a POT on the Overland Map to indicate a merchant has something to sell might be a helpful middle ground.
     
  8. Isaiah

    Isaiah Avatar

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    Heck I would be totally fine with a sign that appears to be in runic, but when we click it we get the text in our chat dialog. The runic could just be some generic message and if someoen translated it could just say, "All new travelers to this land, a notice to ye". Then let the actual message be in the chat box. This would be acceptable to me personally if that saves time and money, but I can see why they might want to improve upon that over time.

    No need to spend more time and effort on new editions for episode 1. However a sign might give more reason to travel these cities even if all it says is come check out the houses down by the lake because they are decorated so awesome. Or please vote for our town in the forums as the best decorated and lively town in all of New Britannia. This sort of stuff might be a good reason for people to visit POTs, and gives community stuff to do with these towns. A healthy decoration competition from time to time would be nice.

    (Imagine the holidays? What if they had punkins and ghosts and people dressed in zombie masks, and creepy songs played by the bards... or in winter, there is a winter wonderland, snowy front yards, holiday decorations and possibly the addition of a street archway POT addon so that people can decorate with flowers over a street long arch way, or even add holiday lights... and bards playing holiday music caroling etc.
    (this last part was a tangent) the bulltin board is a good first step.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2016
  9. SmokerKGB

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    I hope you realize, they ARE marked... Any town that has services are marked with an extra building outside on the over world map, that looks like a crafting pavilion, now I don't know if they're POT or PRT, but there are services in each one of them... Some are pretty large, so you need to run around to find the towns center, but all the buildings that have NPCs are marked with a sign tell what the shop is, I have noticed some don't offer all the merchandise that larger towns offer, so I would suggest you "remember" where you are and avoid any town that lacks what you want...

    I personally would "run" through a town clicking on vendors because many players don't set their vendors up, and rightly so, final wipe is in July... But if you find one you like, "remember" where they're at... Doh, pretty easy...
     
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  10. agra

    agra Avatar

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    Unfortunately none of the new PRT's sell repair kits, which makes them extremely unattractive, compared to the options that do.

    Add to that they're 2m45 seconds edge to edge, running, and are 45 FPS empty... there's not a lot of carrots involved.

    Comparing the choice of crafting out of a bank in a story zone that has all that, vs. using an extraordinarily large, slow-loading, FPS killing area that doesn't have all that? I know my pick. ;)
     
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  11. Phydra

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    I actually agree with this; if we're not to have a POT listing in the major cities or in some manner of news information outlet in the game (as we have a public merchant in the major towns for all area commerce/exchange between players), then at the very least, they should be much more easily discernible as such on both the overhead map and all released versions of maps (and in-game should that miracle ever come to pass).

    It should be EASIER to find people, not harder. That goes as much for land owners as for friends, guildmates, etc. My incredulity is over why it's seen as being somehow different.
     
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  12. Elwyn

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    This is really the one thing that matters most to me.
    I know that pre-release and wipes are a major reason, but it's really discouraging having to wait a minute or so for a scene change, enter a large scene, then spend another few minutes running around to see that there really wasn't anything there. Even the default TC location (when not at the entrance) takes a few minutes to reach. And then it takes another minute or two to get back to the exit (or log/Start on World Map) and another scene change to get back to the overworld. And that's if you don't get lost in the empty map.
    I end up wasting 5-10 minutes or more because I couldn't tell from the overworld map that the POT was completely empty.
     
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  13. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Just throwing the idea out there, but what about a sotamap.com version of towns that has details about the latest info for each? sotapots.com...
     
  14. Kara Brae

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    I use sotamap.com for all my traveling needs. I can tell which towns are POTs and which are PRTs. I would recommend not dropping by random POTs bevor the final wipe, because of course most of them will not be set up. Some POT owners actively promote their POTs, so it makes sense to make a planned visit to those ones. As far as I know, any POT owner can enter information about their POT in a map on sotamap.com for $10. The current layout of the POT I live in, Rift's End:
    [​IMG]
    Once POT owners are diligent in entering information about claimed lots, players seeking a home can see on a map which lots are available and what amenities the town offers. I don't think any "notes" available from the overworld map can offer the same level of information.
     
  15. himmelweiss

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    About 95% of the POTs will be uninteresting anyway, many will turn into uninteresting or even ghost towns in the long run.
    Expecially since the ingame "Lot Deeds" are limited.
    Oh wait, at some point we may get some wierd Lot Deed lottery system o_O
    As a new player i would rage quit as soon i would notice i can't buy lot deeds directly with ingame gold (Nope, it's probably either lottery or real $$$).
    Which results in having many POTs not populated.

    Theese POTs even will decrease in $$$ value because the market will get flooded with Ghost Towns nobody really wants.

    Yes i see dark times for POT owners.

    There are already way too many POTs out there anyway.
    Way way too many...

    Well it was a good way to get some extra $$$ for production, that's why we now even have nested POTs.
    In no way i am gonna waste my playtime to visit all theese boring overland & nested POTs.

    There will be 4, 5 or maybe even 10 POTs that will turn into the most interesting POTs to visit for the community.
    All others will turn into some private guildy events or ghost town thing nobody really cares about.


    So do i want some form of indicator for all boring POTs where about 95% absolutely have nothing to offer for me? Short answer = no.
    Awesome & interesting POTs do not need an indicator.
    Only thoose who suck anyway would need them...


    Just my 2 cents...
     
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  16. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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  17. Black Tortoise

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    As for feeling lost trying to find things in random POTs - remember, theyre all basically the same layout with different visuals. Once you visit them a few times, youll memorize where all the exits are, and where the town center is. Ive gotten very used to sprinting from the entrance to exactly where the "town center should be," and immediately recognizing if there is anything relevant to my interests, then running to the closest exit. Many NPC and PRTs are using this same layout/template now, so I am "double used to it" lol. It does consume too much time the first tiem you run through these zones looking for something, but I accept this for now since its "early access." In 6 months I trust Ill have a good bearing on where to go to find stuff I need in POTs and it wont be such an issue.

    Wouldnt the Town Crier look odd, standing around out a few miles out of town, only existing to greet people entering the town? What if bandits came by? I think a bulletin board makes sense here, or perhaps a special lot the governor of the town has access to, where they can make a building filled with books and letters which express whatever they wish about the town (some already do this).

    [Edit]

    Immediately saw @Chatele comments about this right after posting :). I still want to add that it should be up to the governor, and not an automated list of vendors or npc buildings etc.


    See, this is what @Weins201 was talking about. Towns which have what you need will have reknown about the community. I think its fine if noting on the OW map specifies what is in the town (as far as vendors, etc goes), it would be weird to have signs just spamming ads at me while Im adventuring.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2016
  18. Xi_

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    these posts seem uninformed to me, I have tried living in an npc town, i will not go back, cept to get that second lot deed once i've earned enough gold. i've no problems finding repair kits or anything else really and the only ghost towns i've visited were ghost towns because they were broken scenes

    the list of interesting player owned towns is long enough that i'm not going to risk insulting someone by accidentally leaving them out of a list lol
     
  19. Phydra

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    I am ALL for Portalarium hiring the guy who made SOTAMap.Com and connecting your world map data to make that come to life. All that's lacking is some HUD/UI for access in-game and you've pretty solved like 5 problems in one swell foop. ;)
     
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  20. agra

    agra Avatar

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    Which PRT (new, since R29) that you've visited has repair kits for sale from an NPC? I'd like to know so I can check it out and see if I'd like to have a house there.
     
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