The Combat System....

What have you done, Lord British...

 

I always get a kick out of how heated you are about the combat system. In my streams it has been praised as one of the most "Interesting and high potential" features thus far. In fact I get more positive comments about combat than any other system I have shown or discussed in my stream so far.

It's not broken. It's unfinished and in need of polish, but it works. I'm sorry you don't particularly enjoy it, but the simple fact that you don't enjoy it doesn't mean that it's worthless or beyond redemption. In fact, if you take the opinion of the community as a whole instead of the incredibly vocal minority here on the forums, your opinion is actually an unpopular one.

Sound effects, visual effects, fleshed out skills, and a balance pass - those are the only thing the current system actually needs. Other than that, it's working great and exactly as intended/how I hoped it would work.

 

The vocal minority cares enough to voice how terrible the system is instead of just writing off fifty bucks and never logging in again. The combat system is fairly even split in opinions. Even among the people who celebrate it they still criticize how it keeps attention away from the action and needs "heavy polish" - a buzzword for "this doesn't work, but I hope it does!"

I'm not banking on hope's development skills fixing the combat system. It needs a revamp, one built around PC players, not mobile app players like this system was.

 

No.

Regards,

 

Absolutely.

 

$50?
How many of us only spent $50 on this?

Oh and 50 might be nothing for Americans but that adds up to $66 at least Australian (without the transfer fees) which is actually quite a lot.

If I put in my ACTUAL pledge that is $2100 AUD. No I am NOT willing to just "write that off"

 

$50 isn't "nothing" to me, either, but I did the same with Star Citizen (my first Kickstarter) as I did with Shroud (my second maybe my last). I care about both, but the difference is, after playing SC, I've donated over $200 total and am likely going to donate more by May with all the upcoming modules; with Shroud, I'd sell my pledge for $30 on the spot if I had an opportunity. Since that is unlikely an option, I'm voicing my opinion that things need changing - primarily the combat system - as I don't like seeing money of any amount wasted.

And I feel this combat system, even with all the polish and bells and whistles they might add, will lead to a failed project long-term.

 

Current assumptions:
1. The devs are aware that staring at the skills bar is not a good system.
2. Hot bars with too many buttons is unpleasant for many gamers.
3. Skills always being used in the same order removes the elements of strategy and thought from combat.
4. The IDEA of decks is cool. The current implementation is mostly distracting from the actual world.

I simply can't see this combat system not receiving some tweaking to address the issues the players have brought up because devs have said they understand. Despite that likely eventuality, no one has to or is likely to change their opinion on the system courtesy of forum posts. However, neither the folks in favor of the current rough system or opposed to it is more correct. That is the nature of opinion.

Personally, I already prefer this very early version of the game to most games I have played in the last 15 years. The last time I have been this intrigued by a game was in the UO beta. Back in ’96. That is a LONG time ago and a LOT of games have come out since then. To argue that this game is doomed because their current implementation of an interesting idea is not fluid yet seems so far off base as to be laughable. They have already said they don't want to be WOW or any other massive game. They have set out to be a niche game. It is a niche I am interested in. This doesn't mean they still can't flub it up. However, until we see their next iteration of the system, it feels quite premature to scream about the demise of a game that is not even fully in alpha yet.

 

Niche game or not, if a significant portion of people don't want to play it, then they don't pay for it. You get Episodes 1 and maybe 2, and that's about it - game over. It has to endure long term, and this system is too novel to work long term given the rest of the game around it.

It'd be cool if this was the preliminary elements of a card-based game that focuses entirely on decks; the problem comes in that there's a whole world surrounding it, with monsters and players alike maneuvering around you. It simply doesn't work without some sort of peripheral (I could see a tablet or something making this system more interesting, which is likely where the system originated). I've seen suggestions about putting glyphs near the player or around them, customizing the hotbar so it's more apparent and easier to keep an eye on during combat while still watching the action (ie. being "immersed"). However, the hotkeys are still random; my 1 could be an Off-Hand Attack, a Riposte, a Thrust, Double Slash, Stone Fist, etc. It's never the same unless I lock it, but with only 10 slots, I can't lock all my abilities, neither in full lock or hybrid. So even if they somehow made it easier to watch the action and still manage the deck in a fight, there's no real muscle memory, no internal timer managing your twitch skills and cooldowns, no reaction based gameplay because an entire row of keys on my keyboard might as well rearrange before my very eyes every half second, faster the quicker I hit my keys. In short, I'm playing whack-a-mole, and you don't exactly see that machine crowded with lines when you go to an arcade.

The basis that this is a niche game and therefore elements of it must be completely and utterly unappealing to the masses is inane. I can accept that this is alpha and that the skills need working on (the fact we have no counters or reactives and our CCs range from meaningless to overpowered is something I can only hope is adjusted), but I cannot accept that this system is fundamentally salvageable. Not to mention, even based on what they've promised (to say nothing of the fact that most of that won't even be playable until after Episode 2, whenever/if ever that'll be), nothing about this game services the "niche" it's aiming for better than any other game out already or even coming out this year.

Exploration? Better games, both online and offline. Role-playing games? Better games offline, some online depending on tastes. PvP? Better elsewhere. Realism/immersion games? Better elsewhere with more intricate and interesting systems. PvM? Way better offline, and arguably better online options. Community building/construction games? Arguably better elsewhere. So this "niche" game, whatever that means, isn't targeting any niche at all; it's been thrown headlong into the most saturated genre (generic fantasy) in the most competitive market (online/MMO) without any truly unique anything to account for it, promised or otherwise.

And whether it's available in alpha or not is moot when even the dreams and promises don't impress without rose colored lenses.

 

Absolutely right. Seeing that the game continues to raise money at a steady rate of growth, and the game's steam reviews have recently moved up from "Mostly Positive" to "Very Positive," I'd say that a significant portion of people have spoken.

Good day.

 

lol

 

No.

Regards,

 

lol

 

Well, I'll just say that I am in fact the complete opposite of this. I pledged at the starting level for both Shroud of the Avatar and Star Citizen, after playing SotA I pledged another $1000 (And am still pledging more, with the monthly plan.) However, after playing SC, I determined I would not be spending another penny on it. (Not spending another penny on SC, that is.)

You seem to like saying this.

 

Considering Starr had to go and drum up a militia to march on Steam to change those scores around, I wouldn't bank much money on the unbiased nature of it. And after 2 years it has a whopping $6m, which in game development terms is like buying a '96 Toyota Corolla for $50 (aiming low and still not being able to hit the mark), about 2/3 of which is from less than a quarter of the playerbase.

In other words, a handful of whales are supporting this game while the bulk of people are putting in the minimum admission price (per the last set of stats I saw Nemo post). Considering, too, that SC will hit about $100m in May, "steady rate" is pretty subjective. A penny a day is "steady" but it won't mean the game that comes out in September (or is it November, now?) will be worth playing.

He's breathless. This conversation's been hashed and rehashed so many times, sometimes you just gotta' keep it simple in responses for sake of personal sanity.

 

Sota is sitting on mostly positive. Not very positive.

And Dewderonomy is 100% correct here.

 

Is there really combat in that game at the moment? Someone mentioned UO; UO combat was always about movement and decisions, and a lot of them had to be done fast, especially in PvP. Through keybinds you always had your focus on your char and its status, it was dynamic! SotA fails atm to give anything of this to the player. In this status, there is no argument for me to play the game, since combat is the thing I am seeking for.

 

Didn't i read somewhere in a post from a dev that if the deck system did not "work as intended" (heh) that they could easily change it back to a more generic combat style in a short amount of time and with little fuss? I'm not a big fan of it in it's current form but if they can change it easily later (i''m sure they said that) then why not roll with the deck system a little bit longer and see how it pans out. I can't help thinking though, that anything with a random element in it (like it is) will have us staring at the hotbar.

 

I remember them saying that too!