Thoughts from the Anvil (R6 edition)

Thanks for the post Susanvil, thoughtful and resonates with me.

I just have one particular point...

I may be unique, but I'm not really looking to get into SoTA with existing friends, the vast majority of whom are not gamers anyway. I'd like to meet new people who will be just as interested in the game as I am. I'm not trying to drag my real friends into SoTA or SoTA friends into real. Even if I do have a real friend who plays, we may just talk about it outside the game but not play together. An alternate reality is more fun for me than just taking an existing social circle and sticking to that in game. But if that's the way things are going, well, maybe I'm just weird then!

 

I'm sorry you feel any apprehension at all, because it was clear from the beginning (at least for me) what kind of game this would be, and the reasoning behind it. Chris S. made a specific video of their reasoning. I would link you to it but it is really old, from last year, can't find it.

I suppose you and a lot of others want UO2 or possibly WoWultima, both fluid 3d worlds, excuse me UO was actually 2d/top down view (I'm sure I will catch some flak for that, but I quit UO and went to WoW. And not because of Trammel.

You want them to scrap everything, and go in a new direction, sorry not happening for you, I don't understand this way of thinking. Why don't ppl just accept what is there, learn the new way of doing things, test everything you can, and if you don't like it, you don't have to play or support it... All this negativity is pointless, I read post, after post of the way other games do things, and what ppl want, it's really a wonderment how any game comes to be, if you just want to take a chance and download a finished game after paying for it, good luck with trying to return it for a refund.

UO stratics was the same way, no one likes anything about anything, it's all wrong according to them, nothing was right it was all wrong, and everyone had their own ideas of what would be popular, and draw in the masses.

I for one like the way this game is turning out, I can't wait for the next release, I can't wait for the main continent to open up, I can't wait to follow the main quest line and to develop my chr, find my house spot and have some Fun... Playing the game...

 

Even though we don't currently agree on some things, thanks very much for your feedback. Its interesting to learn how people read into a post. Makes us all better communicators I think.

Curiously, I don't want UO2 as you supposed, and I didn't express a desire for anyone to scrap anything, let alone everything.

Personally, I don't feel that participating wholeheartedly in discussions here, discussions which Portalarium wants us to have, can be constructive and productive unless we share what we don't like as well as what we do. For me its not "negativity", its honesty.

 

Thats a very interesting take on it Vyrinor! Thanks for chiming in.

 

I understand and even share some of your points, but we must accept that Portalarium was very clear about the dual scale map since the first moment.

 

I think in their heart of hearts Portalrium would have loved a single scale map. But it's just not technically and logistically feasible give their desire to not permanently split the world into different shards. Maybe it will be in a later chapter after Forsaken Virtues. But computers and networks need to get faster first.

 

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I like that term SMORPG. I've started to avoid using the term MMO when talking about SotA. It seems to have a lot of baggage. People like me who never particularly cared for MMOs are turned off, and people who love MMOs come with a set of expectations that SotA is trying to upend.

 

You don't want to participate in you're own thread? Seem's like you're replying to everyone... And what don't we agree on? I would like a fluid 3d World, but I understand the limitations and the cost of such a world. RGs vision is to have one shard for all the players, if he were to want a fluid world, that vision wouldn't be possible. And he would need to generate approx 20 million additional funds to do so, one of SL post mentioned that, Plus they would need to charge a subscription fee to cover the external server leasing, as SotA is not a standard client/server technology, it is a P2P where my computer would host instancing for other players. Your computer is doing the same, everyone's computer is sharing the loads. It's a new technology he is trying out, as he created it.

So if exiting to a cloth map, and re-entering the hex next door is what it takes, then I will sacrifice the convenience of a fluid world. Some have stated that all hexes aren't individually created, and this is true. RG has spoken of this, and with time each hex will be created to be an extension of the map from the hexes surrounding it, but that will take more time than what is available to stay on schedule.

I hope everyone realizes this is a 5 yr project (5 episodes), things will be added according to schedule. Who know's one day you may have the option to exit to the next hex instead of the cloth map. So many ppl are worried about so many things that haven't even been introduced yet (like player vendors or getting a plot in the boonies), so it's all speculation at this point, even you stated "why should anyone want to goto hex 234, if there nothing special there", well I say why not go there, you won't know whats there until you do, there might be a mining cave or special trees, plants to harvest or it might be a grass land hex with an ogre camp in the middle of no where... I say be adventurous and go see... Don't leave any hex un-explored...

Just my continuing discussions...

 

Assuming your were referring to this comment of mine, let me repeat it with a little emphasis which might make what I was saying clearer....

"Personally, I don't feel that participating wholeheartedly in discussions here, discussions which Portalarium wants us to have, can be constructive and productive unless we share what we don't like as well as what we do."

Sorry for the sentence running on. Phrased a different way, all I was saying is that just because a post isn't all thumbs-up does not mean its not worth posting, which is one thing I think you and I disagree on since your first post above made it clear you did not like seeing anyone post a negative view about something.

 

Absolutely. No argument there. For my part I knew it, hoped it wouldn't be a deal breaker, pledged up, and took a wait-and-see stance on it. Now that we've played with it for a few weekends, my personal take on it is its just not "gelling" with me like I hoped it would but I begrudge no one their enjoyment of it if it strikes a positive chord with them. As I said I remain hopeful that the re-reimagined 2nd scale of play "ties it together" for guys like me but again, we'll have to wait and see...

 

Very well stated, I agree, on every point you made.

 

To funny, we and i do mean we have been together in game after game. Oddly if Ultima would have got on board with good 3d and view, we probably still be playing that game. Or at least went back to it . No other game has ever came close to what we had there, though we have looked and still hoping to find it in SotA. This is just my opinion ,but other then laying on a bed, Ultima had a everything you said , and a heck of a lot more , 20 plus years ago . It was only EAs trying to make it kid friendly, Panda type cartoon stuff, and the 2d that killed that game .

Yes i too,love the idea that Richard has for making a more in depth game. But the limits on travel and the hex zoning is almost a game breaker.To say nothing about the horrid, one and only Avatar we get to play.

I'm not ready to jump ship just yet, i,m here waiting also. And hoping to see something that,s going to make this a game worth playing.

 

That's pretty funny, so I re-read your OP and found you said nothing positive at all, it is just a "slam" on everything. No pro or con to anything, in fact it is full of innuendo and assumptions that most of us don't agree with, sorry to burst your bubble.

Nothing is 100% positive (thumbs up) at this early stage of development, I understand that. I'm just tired of reading post after post of 100% negative (thumbs down) wo/any contrasting pro/com to the conversation (posting), this is NOT very constructive or productive writing, IMO. I wonder what a new player/pledge's impression of the game would be, after reading these opinions.

Not a very good way to build confidence or to make a good first impression...

 

I think everyone agrees a continuous world would be better, but impossible due to funding constraints. But I think people are reading in more limitations of the hex zoned system than actually exist. I actually wish they explained the economics of the cloth map versus 3d map better. The 3d map might look a lot cooler but I wonder what could have been built with that extra time. Anyway on the grids...

First off they could easily make exiting on the east side of a tile put you on the west side of the adjacent tile. Or even load you directly into the west entrance of that tile. In that way this is more like load screens between areas then a break in continuity. I have confidence in the team that when the art is done it'll feel right at least most of the time.

There's also nothing in the hex design that would prohibit them from requiring the player to enter a hex that they haven't yet explored prior to being able to cross it on the map or displaying some kind of fog of war for unexplored areas. I'm not sure those are the right ideas, but I'm sure the team is considering them. The point being there's a lot options here.

Why would a player go to a little town? Well, what hasn't been in the releases is the cost of travel. They have said there will be random encounters. There's also going to be some kind of hunger aspect to make food meaningful. So I think the answer is in these systems. If you might die or consume a lot of resources getting from where you are to a major city, you'll want to stop by the nearby little village. Or if a small town is near key resources driving the price down of it in local markets, you may travel to get there for the lower price. More advanced player towns might host events like a tournament or have interesting attractions like a dueling hall or casino.

What I'm saying is what makes a game great is the when all the game systems are balanced and working together as a sum greater than the parts. Maybe they'll get this working so well years from now people will say, "XYZ Game will suck it isn't hex based!". These releases are just showing us some broken parts and at this point it takes imagination and faith in the team that it will get where it needs to be.





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Like the thinking in this regards.

Personally, I would love to see the consumption of rations while traversing the overworld, with the possibility of a negative buff (or worse) if you run out.


Hopefully there are some interesting game-play aspects for the overworld in the works.

 

Its an interesting notion which has been mentioned a couple of times. I dont think we really know how feasible that would be since, it seems at least, that all the scene work to this point has been done without 6 distinct entrance/exit points and while I'm sure they could be added, there is the question of how they "mesh". Ie, you might leave a hex with a forest to one side and a castle to the other, but enter the adjacent hex with a swamp to one side and a rockface to the other. If the transition is a "jarring" one, might as well just take me out to the overland (which, as I say, I'm hoping will be a radical enough change to tie the world together somehow).

Another very interesting idea I hadent heard, though there would be a host of logistics to debate: what actually constitutes "explored"? If you jump in and right back out, or would you have to cover every square inch on foot, or something in between...

Props to you for coming up with the most optimistic angle I've seen on this board.

 

Another reason for the Hex based map and Instancing is; that's how selective MP is possible... Without it, there would be no SPO, FPO and the game couldn't know if you were a Guild member, PvPer or Criminal...