R3 Impression... so far

Sounds like the actual release of Ultima Online...

Anyone who thought pre-alpha would have a playable game was disillusioned about the process.

 

I would second all this.

As far as chests I discovered if you login to single player online, loot all the chests and them pop back into multiplayer the stuff comes with you.

 

Thats got to be a bug.

 

There is a fine line between being honest about your trepidation on the progress of the project and essentially coming on here and trolling.

I'm trying to do the former and not the latter. It isn't really helpful if everyone freaks out and is pessimistic all the time, but it's equally unhelpful if everyone just tells people that express concerns as valid feedback that 'hey, shut up, because its just pre-alpha and you shouldn't expect anything at all'.

You think it's bad now, wait until R4. If the combat is as bad as the chat, man... the forum moderators are going to be warning people right and left on here again.

 

There is really no other way to test the new crafting changes. They give us a new great UI and no resources?

Maybe the chests in multiplayer do respawn and people just grab the stuff quickly.

 

Yeah exactly like I have said several times before I do know this is a prealpha and I was certainly expecting lots of bugs and other issues. But if people don't complain and point out these issues now they won't be fixed. I admit though I am worried about R4 they have a lot of work to do inbetween now and then and R4 has a ton of stuff in it.

 

They do I found the only way to really test crafting is to go into single player and grab the materials from there.

 

One thing that is starting to worry me if I have to be honest. This game is going to look dated compared to games that are coming out unless the graphics improve quite a bit before release. Now graphics are not everything and SOTA is not an ugly looking game. But the game play has to be there to make up for it. I've been playing Archeage on the Russian server and that game has beautiful graphics and awesome open world sandbox gameplay. It should be released here in NA before SOTA is released. So I ask myself. Where will SOTA fit in? What will it have to offer me that AA doesn't? I will be keeping my fingers crossed. AA doesn't have taming. That is one thing I am looking forward to with SOTA. We shall see!

 

Ok time for some positivity from me! I was able to get on my husband computer and see some stuff I could not on my computer. I personally love the new village of Braemar, it will be interesting to see how the village changes as players place houses. I talked with some npcs in the area as well and I enjoying the little bit of the story we are able to see so far. The Knights lighthouse looks great too especially at night!

 

In almost a year or more in development and we have three semi functioning cities. Bit of crafting system working. Poor animations and avatar look. Basic NPC AI.

So in the next eight months they expect to have a large world with functioning cities and dungeons as well as many other areas to explore. A fully functional crafting and resource gathering system. A full and functioning combat/skill system for all classes. Fully functioning AI system for NPCs and monsters. Improved animations and avatar look. Environmental sounds for each different area. Smooth running system for multi player. A chat system that should include world chat, local, guild, whisper etc. A friend and guild system. And those are just the basics, I'm sure there is a lot more things that need to be added.

So the point is...in the next eight months, they need to accomplish about eight times more than what they have accomplished in one year. Personally I'm beginning to expect a six month to a year delay from the November release date.

 

So, I logged onto SPO tonight and it was much more pleasant!

The music is really good. I love the crafting journal and improvements. Especially the "take all" button.

I'm pleased with the progress.

Did anyone else notice the creepy ass "watchers?" They're spiders the size of a human hand with one big red eye. Yeuuuuch!

 

Indeed, and I caught this little bit of info from one of the NPC's and tried to get a decent screenshot of it, though not as great as I would like:

 

Ooh, Automatons!

 

Awesome, I totally have to check that out in-game.

 

No point really in arguing this..we'll see in eight months time which of us is right. I suspect they may be a couple of months late but games development is much like anything else, it's the groundwork that takes the time. They're scaling the team and they seem to be hitting the deadlines they've set so far...Don't forget that Richard Garriott has just a little bit of experience at doing this sort of thing so I wouldn't be prepared to start spreading the doom and gloom just yet. If they start missing deadlines significantly then I'll start taking the concerns seriously.

DF.

 

Yeah, just imagine waking up one morning and finding one of those on the end of your bed, or worse still..climbing out of the toilet!

DF.

 

Ok well since installing the proper operating system on my machine*turns out I was supposed to have a 64 bit not a 32 bit system* the game is running much better for me! I don't crash anymore there is a lot less graphical glitches and I can even run it on the highest graphic settings *only in single player though* Of course my concerns about crashing and bugs in general still stand. Plenty of people are still experiencing these problems. And my doubts about them finishing this in 8 months still stand. However this release became far more enjoyable and playable for me today so I am definitely happy about that!

 

Dont forget that the Dev team almost doubled since the end of KS. And i'm sure more dev's will join Portalarium in the upcoming weeks. So the Whole developing process will speed up.

almost certainly the game won't be "gold" by November/December but i have faith about a solid Beta build by the end of the year.

 

I'm kind of hoping this as well. The development schedule seems a bit short (we're almost to Q2) considering that while the game looks cool so far for the work shown, there's a lot of polish remaining before it could really be deemed ready to ship. I'd much prefer to wait a bit longer before the final release, versus rushing an unfinished product out the door to disappointment.

The Q4/2014 deadline just seems a little close when there is still a lot of game design, features, story (*especially THIS* , and just a lot of other little touches that would go into this potentially living and breathing world. Personally, I know I have to keep my expectations realistic given the immense history of the Ultima games that lead to this point. I strongly believe RG and this team are capable of delivering a solid product, if given the time.

 

I have no problem being proven wrong. If I am...I'll buy you an ale at the pub on release date.