Q2 2015 Schedule Update

"Musical Instruments: Players can play music in the game with a variety of instruments."
Curious if this will be pre-programmed songs, or will it be the first attempt at an .abc file system implementation?

ooh, bunny collars is gonna be great, I want a whole army of bunnys!

 

Every month (sometimes 2) last 10 days on server are very boring.. players do not play because wipe is upcoming... maybe portalarium must be DO NOT RESET crafting skills... (if this is possible) to leave players playing ... or maybe change something to activate players .. (like add 2 horses on the street of owls... 20-30 pigs on a city lot..... ) i think a lot of players will screenshot these strange modifications...

or maybe.. drammatically increase the time of Night/Day like the end of the world...

this is a nice game.. and maybe it's nice to be here just to see the changement of nature.. to chat.... to watch the sky. not just to increase combat skill.

(keep in mind that players on these 10 days are maybe tryng some other games)

 

I think maybe it's because some of us can't stay on long enough without getting booted from the (pelican) bug ...... so less peeps on to test .... So Gatsu, that could be just 1 of the reasons the game appears to be less occupied. Just IMHO. Waiting for them to fix it so I can start testing again.... woe is me

 

my launcher was having problems but since the newest install/no wipe of character..... the bug is gone/zoning is smoother... /we also did a scan disk clean up and a defrag.... so after deleting the original version of the game reinstalling and such no lag or drops

 

It will be an ABC type system. Eniko actually provided some of that framework which I think they are using for it. I dont know if the first pass will be with that system though.

 

will there be sharps and flats in the ABC system? O.O

 

~hugs~
I would be happy to help test and offer opinions on this should anyone want me there! I am so eager to see this unfold I can hardly stand it....giddy as a hobbit with a hot baked pie!
~hugs to Eniko too!~

 

Very disappointed to see nothing suggesting any kind of significant improvement to the combat system. The latest forum poll shows 60% of players dislike the card combat, only 40% in favor. Starr, you promised us (in the FAQ) that if the card combat system turned out not to be fun, you would consider trying other options. What's it going to take to get you to that point if you don't think we're there yet?

Try this. Add an in-game poll that is required at login, asking this simple question:

"Given the choice of sticking with the current card combat system and scheduled improvements, or having Portalarium delay release to try something different, which would you choose?

1) Stay the course;
2) Try something different.

I would love to see the results of THAT poll.

 

I fear it may be too time-consuming to create a completely new system. Changing the combat to a run-of-the-mill hotbar system might be possible but this would not change the situation. Many don't want such a system as they are fed up by it from so many other games using this system. It is boring, bland and done to death. So the other alternative would be to create something completely new and this would be extremely time-comsuming as they would have to start from scratch.

 

LOL for about the millionth time nobody is asking for a straight-up boring hotbar system. Innovative suggestions have been made for improving combat, nobody is listening...

 

Listen to: (edited for issues with the timestamp)
Gah youtube doesn't like me. Listen from roughly 1:20:30 onwards.

Would you mind to link to that? I can't seem to spot that part.

 

From a red post by Chris:

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/lets-talk-about-combat.4094/#post-76877

 

Boring and done-to-death, maybe, but it works, and still is used by a lot of games that are coming out. It also allows for innovative changes based on it going forward; this system is flawed mechanically at its core in a variety of ways. If they can't come up with a way to fix those now, they can't fix them later. We can add better AI or combos or special moves or environmental effects, whatever, down the line with a traditional system - not so much with the card-based system.

So while I agree, sadly, that a brand new system isn't likely, we can use what we've got and create a system that's enjoyable and functional. Will it be the best? No, but that's not why people signed up for SotA, to have the best combat - it was for the immersion, role-playing, storyline and questing and everything else. But the combat is so jarring and unfun for so many people, that the other elements become secondary, and for a game with limited time and funds being invested in street signs and house decorations and player towns, having a varied and robust playerbase is extremely important for those other elements to have any meaning.

 

Just having a combat system that works is not what I expect from a combat system. It should be fun. But at least I wouldn't have fun with a classic passive hotbar system. Every fight would become a boring chore for me.
Is the card combat better? No. But it is different. And if I have two bad combat systems to choose from I choose the one that is at least different and a bit more interesting.

 

Most people confronted with "two bad systems" just choose the third system: another game. MMOs and crowdfunded RPGs are a dime a dozen nowadays, and by 2016 it'll be even worse (ie., competition). They should really just focus on doing something well (housing, role-playing, plots/storylines, rare collecting, community-based interaction and townships) with an easily accessible combat system. A mundane combat system can be overlooked for other enjoyable elements; a terrible combat system cannot be so easily ignored.

 

I didn't quite catch what I thought you wanted me to hear... care to elaborate?

I personally would say right now the only two issues are UI distraction (no problem fighting pure melee when you aren't worried about your health...) and the lack of immersion in how you obtain the skills.

Perhaps just more robust UI development could solve issue #1. I will provide my example:

Have the deck be 2 dimensional: column a, column b, column c... and have the player assign a glyph to a row statically. Thrust in column 1 (hotkey 1), heal in column 5 (hotkey 5). The cards can still deal up at random and redundant cards stack underneath, and locked glyphs can still apply. The dealt cards will simply show up only in their appropriate slot. Holding shift will use the entire stack while not holding shift just uses the top. One more skill; deck depth can be added to the focus tree. Then, whenever a combo is available, a large, low-alpha combo glyph shows up nearly over the player and is only clickable. This will force combos to be slightly more interactive (user-input heavy) than just hotkeys, but without distracting too much. Also a player can learn/arrange their favorite hotkey arrangement, but will still need to keep a slight eye on the bar for availability. Also, when trying to use hotkeys, using 1-0 is just too cumbersome, and pressing r-9-4-4 is WAY too cumbersome.

I think something like this could be handled ENTIRELY in the UI (plus a few minor logic operations) and make the deck system not only less cumbersome but more interactive as well. Thoughts?

 

I agree, great post.

 

Because this is a new process, people often forget that we are seeing a lot of behind the scenes. Think of most other games you know of that have been delayed. Usually you don't have a clear answer. They might gloss over something and give you an answer like "polishing and tweaking" but rarely any details. So a game could be pushed back a year. During that time we don't worry too much about details. We just trust them to get it done. Instead we are seeing things be built up. And especially for people new to the process, everything looks like a mess. Skills aren't done. Graphics are broken. Zones aren't complete. But if we were able to look in those more traditional games put out by a publisher that got pushed back, we'd likely see similar problems.

As for art, it isn't the greatest. But the most important aspect right now is putting art assets in, not fixing existing ones. Once there is a full art library, it is much easier and faster to create content. It is important to raise concerns. But it's also important to know WHEN to raise those concerns.

 

Crowdfunded games aren't brand new, though. There is precedence to see games succeed or fail and how they did so with this new funding source.

Additionally, it being over six months past its original launch and within 5 months of both delayed dates, I can't imagine a better time to raise concerns than during alpha. If it's a major game mechanic, whether it's the graphics or the combat or crafting, whatever, alpha is the time to speak out about it so that come beta, when polishing and bug squishing and balance comes into play, we can focus on touching those things up then.

 

Compared to traditional games, with a publisher, crowdfunding is new. It only really took off with Kickstarter. You called it BRAND new. Success or failure isn't going to be defined by something like how chainmail looks. And that was what the original topic was about. The look of player armour.

I'm not saying not to raise a concern. But do it at a time that makes sense. You can't try and balance combat with half the spells missing. We're not even in alpha. This is pre-alpha. This is my point, we have a lot of time to raise issues. And, like any game. there are certainly things that can be changed or added post-release. Art assets, are one of the easier things to fix. But something that is already mostly coded into the game like overall combat (another issue that was brought up). IS something that needs to be addressed earlier. Even then, how much can be changed is something the developers can determine.