R26 impressions

I have played a mage in most releases. In this one, starting fresh, I'm feeling like it's finally shaping up. The use of reagents felt appropriate. My damage felt pretty good. I'm squishy but there are things I can do about that which make sense. Overall I'm pretty happy!

Things I'd still like to see:

Leaning on my staff when not in combat... yes please! I also think polearms should do this...



Now I would never play Black Desert, and I'm not suggesting that sota be more graphics heavy. Just look at the classic wizard image they've cultivated. Blue robes, pointy hat, and a staff. Look what he does with it out of combat... Yeah he uses it as a walking stick. Perfect!

Another thing I'd like to see soon is meaningful death. I want to lose my stuff. This will require me to get more stuff! That would be great for the economy.



Remember you're mortal!

 

Losing your stuff means full loot... We already had this debate...

Having a staff as a walking stick , yes why not... But staves are too short, that means the dev need to rework the graphics and animation. If they do so, id like to see more models of stave instead of what we have now.

 

We had all this already. Sota will in no way be like Ultima Online was. Its more like Sims Online in its current state. Maybe some day when the theme park is filled with enough minigames it will be good though

I would appreciate it to be a step more into freedom and sandbox. But I think their plan is to appeal solely on roleplayers, which is not a bad thing - because I think they'll find a niche there. It's just not anything like UO was, except the housing and somewhat the lore.

 

I am already hitting a stonewall on my mage at lvl 35, using more xp than i gain killing mobs i can kill. Altho i see this as a balancing issue and a personal incentive to use less skills in my template next time, what worries me more is what happens once i reach the skill level cap (whatever that may be) after the game launches. Would my character be forever "done" then because i can never raise more adventure xp ?

 

I know what you mean, but there doesn't need to be full loot. There are other ways of losing your stuff. Examples include diminishing returns on repairs with a high amount of damage to gear when you die. Mobs can also grab random items from you, etc.

Although I'm said that it's a little less like UO than I was hoping, I do like the idea of a role play focus. For me this means having great liberty of characterization. More clothes, more emotes, lots of different ways of being and acting, etc. A staff as a walking stick is just one example. I'll feel more like I'm playing the role of an old mage if I have this.

 

I'd also like to add that I've tried the Necropolis quest every release, since it seems to be where the main story sends you first. I find that without significant time spent training before going it seems very difficult. At level 30 as a mage (fire, air, life, light armour) I narrowly defeat the skeletons in the first room. I then easily defeat the earth elementals (which used to be impossible in previous releases). Then, I am completely unable to get past the spiders. They used to be easier than the elementals. I had to log in to world map to exit.

 

As I said some ppl like it. But in the end its all in your head only. I prefer when the game itself promotes RP and doesnt require it to make any sense at all. Not sure if you understand what I mean, but in UO even I had fun rping... Here it just feels like im in a giant hugbox. There is no internal drive that promotes conflict in this game. Without conflict, there wont be any cooperation. And the PVE, Combat and Skill are mediocre at best. The game needs more sandbox features besides house and POTs for huge amount of rl cash. Mark my words, in its current state its nothing more than my tabletop application in the end... I came here for virtual world - so far it was not delivered for me. For others maybe, who can look the other way, when they encounter another boundary and unlogical barrier in this game.

 

This would be a good topic for a separate thread. You raise a question that many people will have.

Your character need not be forever "done". Your comment about using fewer skills leads me to believe that you are already familiar with the basic system. There are things you can do to speed up skill progression. Fill up your adventurer experience pool by battling stronger mobs. The quickest way to do this is to join a party which is hunting in a high level area. If you don't like to join parties, or play in single player mode, buy a tamed combat pet to help you. Be sure to have the resurrect spell, because if either you or your pet dies before you recall it, it will be gone if you don't resurrect it. Decide what skills you want to concentrate on levelling up and temporarily stop training your other skills.

Have a look at the helpful player guides posted at http://sotawiki.net/sota/Phc

 

I love that outfit (the hat rocks)

 

That is exactly why I have a hard time playing this game, it is not what I hoped it would be .... I log in and try to be positive, but I can't.... I am extremely disappointed ....

 

Since my experience is based on relating it to previous releases I am happy with the direction of combat. Some questing improvements have happened as well.

In terms of sandbox features, though, there just aren't enough. It's too early for me to say I'm disappointed in the game. I think it could still be great if they implemented some more sandbox features. Building your own dungeons would be a great place to start. There was a https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/sandbox-brainstorming.34268/#post-400988 sandbox brainstorming thread a few times.

 

There are a lots of ways to do meaningful death. I want to see players gain injuries when they die ; it would be a cap on max health, like how item max durability goes down, that you have to treat before it goes back up to normal.