Q4 Schedule

- First half of 2015 is the currently estimated window for completion, so for all intents and purposes June 30.
- There will likely be some set of final instructions, but that is still a long ways off to create. There is an extensive Player Guide that was linked to in the R10 instructions.
- There will be maps of some villages, towns, cities, and dungeons, but likely not all. However, not all of them will be complete, as demonstrated by the Ravensmoor dungeon map revealed in Update #86. You may need to do a bit of exploring to find all of them in-game or use the player-created wiki's.
- There will not be any official guide to tell you where you should live, as you will need to either explore the game, study the map, read the game updates or lore, ask other players, or use the player-created wiki's.
- As answered in the FAQ, lot selection is estimated to be much closer to when the game is complete.

 

At this point I also want to reiterate my preference for lot selction for pledge and addon backers. Darkstarr did mention at one point a possible solution to lot selection outside the game could take a form like concert ticket or airline seat allocation. I like that idea a lot (no pun intended), and believe that it could help to alleviate the inevitable land rush.
I envisage a scheme where players in each placement tier could make a lot selection from a map of lots available to their claim, and make a reservation on that lot. The player would then enter the game and zone to that lot, and either decide to make a claim on that reservation, or claim another unreserved lot in the same hex (whilst releasing the reservation on the first lot). Once the claim is made the selection is final. If they enter the hex and decide to change their mind about that hex, they must return to the lot allocation page and choose a new reservation. If they haven't made a claim by the end of the entire selection process for all tiers, the lot they reserved becomes their claim. If they haven't even made a reservation, they can either be allocated one at the end of the process, or forfeit their option to be allocated a lot until they choose to claim an available lot ingame in their own time.

 

My guess is that there would be proprietary information involved. Those who have made high level pledges have already been 'tested' as to whether or not they can keep their mouth shut. But that's just my guess at the answer to your question.

 

Captain Jack thinks that is a most valiant effort to understand the statement, but the community has come to expect different things when it comes to that kind of thing.

People with multiple language abilitis are now sending messages to all of the devs as Captain Jack types this. It will come down to a two basic factors.

How much was donated?
How popular is this individual, either now or in the past taking into consideration previous Ultima games and history.

Combine the two and you have your answer straight away. Captain Jack is pretty sure it has nothing to do with the hordes of secret information Dev+ people have

 

can we buy soa via steam account？
i got 75usd unused

 

Yes, you can either buy it when it's available for Steam Early Access later this year or when it's complete sometime next year.

 

Sounds like a busy 4Q. Thanks for the update!

 

• Steam Prep will eventually include all 3 platforms but we don't yet know yet which release all 3 will be supported
• Not planning advancement cap currently
• Yes it will lock you in place until you exit. Other events like getting hit will pop you out as well
• Unknown but yes likely respec will be part of trainers
• Banks will have weight limits (eventually that is how all containers will have limits). That weight limit can be upgraded for a cost
• Yes we will solve the nameplate issue before stealth is active
• Semi-quarterly for polish so R14 in January will be the next polish release

 

Dont forget to add Ettins! those 2 headed giants are one of my favorite things in the past!

 

Can you please elaborate on this?

From the first day the SotA store opened my biggest fear is we are going to get nickle and dimed to death. Extra cost, in game, for space is one thing but real money is completely different. If the upgrade cost is a reoccurring cost, maintenance, I don't want any part of it. - I don't want micro payments, give me a monthly subscription option so I can ignore that kind of stuff.

If this is simply an in game cost, carry on, nothing to see.

 

Yes, Ettins would fit with the 'monstrosity's created by wizards deforming men into monsters' -angle that SotA has taken quite nicely!! ;D =D

 

Perhaps it will be both. Pay with real money or pay with in-game gold.

 

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to let this game go into Early Access in a Sandbox state without story parts, quests to do for the players of the classical games (I don't accept the red sash stuff, etc. as proper quests) or out of combat stuff to do aside from the typical MMO parts (housing and crafting), but we'll see... Some things sound good

 

This all depends on balance of choice. Some companies give the option to use in game currency but it becomes unrealistic for anyone to keep up with all the costs.

Too many in game cost push players to using the store. Then we are hammered with the nickle and dime. If the balance favors the in game currency then few people will use the store.

It's simple, my wife and I look at our budget regularly. A monthly sub that allows me to ignore the need to use the store keeps me from having to explain purchases. Several purchases in one month after a drought of no purchases for several months could average out to the same as 1 bill a month.

$75 lump vs $15 a month sub. The lump would need permission every time I do it. The sub is 1 permission and no questions asked.

 

Must haves: Ettins, trolls, ogres, balrons, orcs, goblins, dragons, demons, skrillex.

Ok maybe not that last one.

 

As long as the "world architecture" is there - in other words - meaningful crafting and the fun stuff that people do like building mazes etc etc I think it will be fine - people just need to be reminded that the main story arch is coming ... however artificial quests to force people to try mechanics is not a bad idea - especially if they give out rewards like hats etc ...

 

yeah, that's a thing I'm advocating a lot, since most people know, that an awesome story is coming, but have no idea, how it will be implemented and presented...

 

I still think they need placeholder quests with real hooks and real lore.
Without that you are not going to get a good 'taste' of what it will be like.

So that is what I'm wishing for LordBritish to put under my Yule tree in the December release...

 

Mechanics working as intended is one of the best hooks around - simply because it will build good rapport with the unruly masses

For me its more about exploring the landscape - and then waiting for the "people" (NPC, PC) to make it come alive ... the quest at this point are secondary to demonstrating a clean and quality game with good "mechanical hooks" (playability and user experience)

 

I think they have some of that in place with the agents of the Oracle which does involve some lore. It's a multi-part quest involving Halmar, Wycliffe, Norman, and Lauren. Admittedly it's still broken in some places and doesn't follow-up with showing you any effects of your actions on the populace or economy of the Vale upon completion. But yeah, would love to see more of these and improvements to them such as demonstrating how your actions on the quests have a greater effect on the world besides a completion entry in the journal.

Yeah, you can see in the Q4 roadmap that they're really building out the world now. Over the next three releases, we're scheduled to have 9 new scenes and 3 biomes + associated scene. I wonder if Lum will open those areas up for the player-created NPC reward, as he did with Ardoris.