Release 31 has made the game unplayable...

I'm at a low level because frankly I hate grinding so much that I'd rather not play the game than mindlessly grind out levels that will only be wiped away every three months. I'm not a power gamer, I'm a roleplayer. So after July 28th I'll never be as high a level as some people on here. When you're 90 something, I'll be 40 or 50 something. But eventually I'll "catch up" and be able to compete.

What's fun and sustainable about being a low level is that I can always explore, complete quests, socialize, and do all the things I really can't do when I'm whacking the same monster over the head 10,000 times in a row just so I can marginally increase my DPS and do it all over again the next day.

As far as the changes to combat, I don't play the game the way most people do. I min/max quite a bit, but I don't use Earth, Sun, or Life magic. Nor do I use blades, bows, or blunt weapons, which probably puts me in a class of players that is less than .01% of the player base. Still, it's not like I don't have experience with the combat system. The fact of the matter is, it really doesn't matter what you call any of this stuff, it's all DPS. If tomorrow they called death magic earth magic and earth magic fire magic. Who gives a crap? It's just DPS school 1 vs. DPS school 2 when it comes right down to it. This is not a sophisticated combat system. So whenever I hear anyone upset about combat changes (like in the OP) I immediately assume that they don't really understand that the base system is just X = 10 points of damage and Y = 9 points of damage. So if we lower X to 8 points of damage then suddenly Y looks like it's more powerful. It's a shell game.

Yeah I get it, stuff changed. Well get used to it. That's how they're going to "balance" combat, by moving the shell around the 9 schools of magic and the 9 combat skills.

As far as movement goes, I don't notice that much of a change, I'm still moving just like I always have, WASD and panning the camera with my mouse. Pretty basic stuff. I understand that the right mouse button is busted and you can't auto run any longer, but I rarely use that unless I'm being really lazy. The auto attack, is that busted too? I never use that, ever.

I'm down with you giving feedback, and I'm not trying to dismiss what you're saying. From your point of view I guess the sky is falling. From my point of view it's a great gaming experience though, and although I'd certainly change the way combat works at it's core if I could, the changes are nothing new to me, it's just another day in the DPS park.

 

Ok, so I thought I would let everyone know... A guildmate told me about the "disable cloth" option at the bottom of the game menu. By selecting this option, my crashes have stopped happening. Give it a try folks, see if it works for ya.

 

When I first logged in, I checked the Disable Cloth box and left town. CDT. Logged back in. Start On World Map. Toss cape into inventory. Crashes seem to have stopped.
I think some are upset that not wearing our cape is "the fix". I do not believe it is intended to be a fix. I work in software support and we call it a temporary workaround; it gets users past the main problem so they can continue to work (play in our case) until a permanent solution can be identified and implemented. I know first-hand just how difficult it can be to find a workaround. I'm ok with a workaround for now because my alternative was not to play; the constant crashing was just too frustrating.

 

I could care less whose "end" this falls on - because the end result may be the same.....

To release (your words) - in this condition - would be a virtual death knell for all of us.

The Steam reviews alone would be devastating, much less the new player experience.

Unless we (current pledge backers) wish to "go it alone" into the future, this stuff needs to get resolved quickly.

The primary issues of crashing and scene loading times - along with everything else that currently doesn't work - will preclude a wider acceptance into the gaming world.

I have always been one who's given Richard and Starr the benefit of the doubt in these matters.

But to keep the "we're still in pre-release" mantra going at this point - 30 days from what has been publically proclaimed as Final Wipe - is becoming embarrassing and hard to swallow.

The people - and there are so very many of them - who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for those "Last Wipe" official words - will most likely not give us another chance - if they experience anything remotely close to the stuff we are currently dealing with.

The ever present reminders of "We're still in pre-release" are perched upon a high, narrow cliff, and the hold is becoming more precarious every day.

 

You are no Gamer. You are a Alpha Version tester.
That's the difference and that's why there is no need for a Rollback.

 

How, exactly, would you know that combat needs balancing - when you never get above "very low level" in combat ?

Your experience is based on what - conversations with others ...

The fact that you remain - release after release - with a "low level" Avatar ( your words ) - and yet find seemingly endless time commenting/criticizing how combat works - is amazing to me.

I commend you for being able to somehow pull it off - without being challenged more.

Killing mobs (what you keep calling the grind) is the basic fundamental involved in raising experience in combat skills.
It was the way this game (and OH SO MANY GAMES like it) was designed from Day 1 - and it's completely logical.

We're currently going on what, 3 years into this project - and you are still asking Port to begin at square one in regards to how the game is designed ?

With all DUE respect, you might want to think about giving up that campaign.....

Which is why anyone who does not spend the time experiencing combat first hand on a daily basis, should stick to roleplayer topics and never ever comment on topics regarding combat - which they clearly admit they don't spend any time doing.

Pretty basic stuff.... Really ?

Takes a deep breath.... No surprise there, baron.

And yet, you wish to discuss changes to combat.....

Interesting ---- (which is all I'm allowed to say here).....

Um, ok....
Except you go straight from not trying to dismiss what we're saying, to suggesting that our feedback is nothing more than Henny Penny....

I respectfully submit, baron, that very very few people experience Shroud in the manner that you do.

Anyway, have a great day - baron !

 

The focus drain is far too high on offensive spells, is the intention to make pure mage builds unviable, and to to force players to use a mix of physical and magical dps? I think this detracts from the concept of having a class free system rather than adding to it since it means you can be anything you want, as long as it's a bit of everything.

I Tried to do Eastreach CP earlier with a full group of high level players, most others players were above my level (which is 84) and we could not even hold the point past the first couple of waves. Half of the same group could have held the point in R30. If Tap Soul was more effective this would not be so bad, but even with GM skill in Tap Soul I get 12 points of focus in trade for 10 hit points of damage.... This trade-off needs to be far more favourable if Mages are ever going to be a viable build under this new focus drain. Ideally it should at least give you enough focus to cast a couple of offensive spells each time its used.

 

What is your "Inner Calm" Level at?
Also what is your Intelligence Level at?

 

I am as unhappy about the crashes as the next person, but I don't understand the extreme hostility on the part of so many people.

The crashing was introduced by an update that Unity made to its engine. Portalarium has no access to this code and therefore they can't "fix" the problem by themselves.
At this late date they can't ditch the Unity engine for another product. Apparently it is not possible to roll back the version of Unity used while keeping all the development work done in the past several months.

In my opinion the best option is for them to keep designing the game while at the same time spending time working with the Unity engineers to identify and fix the Unity bugs.

Right now they are experimenting with different things (e.g. disabling cloth) even at the expense of graphics quality to try to identify what is causing the crashes. Feedback from users about decrease or increase in crash frequency under different conditions are necessary to find the bugs. If they don't subject users to the bugs the bugs will never be found and never get fixed.

Admittedly, the timing for these problems (shortly before the announced final wipe) is the worst possible timing ever. I am sure the devs are losing sleep over it already without having to have players rage at them because of it.

Other experimental changes (e.g. mob AI, tweaks to skill buffs, etc.) are par for the course in every release. If it were possible to create the perfect game with perfect balance on paper without any kind of testing I am sure game developers would do that. I spent 5 minutes last night chasing down an elder wolf that kept fleeing (I never caught it) while other wolves stood around looking disinterested. That is obviously not the ideal behavior that the game developers are aiming for. That's why I am playing the game at this stage - to play a role in making the game better through my feedback.

 

I also noticed much more crashes - even in offline mode.

 

Doesn't mean he is wrong though... I agree with BDF on many points regarding combat, I see you're point but you're speaking as if all his opinions are wrong. opinions can't be wrong

You have a good day to! kudos for keeping it civil.

 

Where did you see extreme hostility, Kara ?
I'm hoping not from me.....

 

Unity 5 and all is Updates are famous for crashing. And Unity itself isn't the most stable Engine anyway.
Yes, Unity is capable of a lot, I know. But what is it good for if it isn't running stable?
Well, it's far too late to change the engine anyway so we will have to deal with it.
Turning off the cloth in the game options (not graphic, game) helps A LOT.
It's the only work around we have at the moment.
You don't like it? Well go and flame Unity about it.

 

If you do an online search for "Unity memory access violation", you will find that the issue has been around for awhile. It's a matter of which game utilizes that part of the engine. For our case, it's the cloth sim and lake water.

 

Unity crash would be enough to find that Info.

 

Been putting up with issues like that on Linux since R29, now that you Windows users are getting them too maybe it's more likely we'll get it fixed

It is a number one priority, but having a team of twenty people stand around watching the one guy trying to fix it isn't an effective use of resources. Content creators will continue to create and developers will continue to develop, doesn't mean there aren't also people dedicated to trying to fix the crashes.

Actually they do, or they should do, as source code access is a feature of both the Pro and the Enterprise pricing models for Unity 3D. However you are correct that they shouldn't need to be experts in Unity engine code and it is not their responsibility to be fixing bugs in it, that's what they're paying all that money to Unity for.

 

I stopped reading your post after this...

I've been here for EVERY release. Although I've never made it past level 54 (I think) I'm pretty sure I've seen 95% of what this combat system can and can't do.

 

Total agreement.

 

@Baron Drocis Fondorlatos (or any lower lvl player that wants to answer, ) Have you noticed the new focus costs becoming prohibitive to battle at low levels? I've got over 800 focus and am running out in fairly minor fights, just figured it would be even harder on guys with, say, 200 focus.
Was going to log-in w/an alt today to check this and the new player experience, just curious as to your take so far.

I swear I am not pedantic, but thank you for spelling all this correctly!

 

Two things about focus drain.

1. In past releases I had so much focus I didn't know what to do with it. I never ran out, ever. And I use ONLY magic, so that's kind of strange.
2. I have noticed a huge difference in R31 than in the past. I now run out of focus all the time. I find this challenging and more fun. If we're not supposed to manage focus use, then what's the point of having focus? I don't know.