Tired of all the talk of how the negative is only from outside the community

LOOK AT ALL THIS NEGATIVE, guy plays game from KS, tells everyone that people with money, DEV cell phones, etc etc. Tell these people they want XYZ and it happens. Maybe not exact how they say. Meanwhile we dont have a public area to actually vote on the crap, we just get, so and so suggested blah so we are implementing BLAH..

 

SOTA has an impressive array of features and surpasses many other MMOs with the breadth of features available.

The problem (at least, from my own attempts to get folks to play) is that they never make it to most of these features, they get frustrated too early on by the game's problems, particularly navigation and questing. The 'niche' 'nostalgic' UI with the parchment and script for the task journal makes the game feel dated, not immersive. Its always been interesting to see where new people "bail" on the game. Most of my friends made it through the first outskirts where they started but once in the world had difficulties finding where they were meant to go, spent a lot of time wandering around soltown or ardoris stuck in player-housing areas and couldn't find where they needed to be, quest markers led them on a loop-de-loop to lunar rifts which led them nowhere, etc.. Nobody ever really got to explore the crafting, or having/decorating a house, or dungeon, or player events, or fishing or even the storyline - they got stuck in the quagmire of the starter zones, and overstimulated by player "stuff" in the scenes they went to that, beyond the outskirts, made it hard to find what they were meant to do particularly with the journal/marker issues, the sometimes-fnnctional map, lack of minimap, etc.

SOTA has all the pieces and offers a lot; but its not straightforward in showing its charms. Everyone's looking for something different in an MMO that they want to call home. Those that want a good crafting experience get thwarted in Sota by the RNG and extreme startup expenses for recipe accumulation/fuels that they must earn via combat. Those that want a PvP experience get thwarted by the grind / lack of meaningful pvp activities beyond gank-or-be-ganked. Those that want an RPG/storyline experience get thwarted by the dialogue/journal system. Those that want to explore/discover soon realize that with few exceptions, this is not rewarding - there's no hidden cache around that corner or under that bridge. I'm not suggesting we lead people around by the nose - cleanup the problem systems, and add some sort of achievement / journey milestones system to create a feeling of progress and let people see all the things the game has to offer.

I don't really consider Sota a niche game, not anymore - its trying to do everything an MMO usually does, but its systems are wide, not deep. From character creation and this is already evident. If it were up to me, I'd say lets flesh out the core systems one by one, instead of just tacking stuff on and expecting players to grind monsters for cash/xp to fill the gaps. I don't think that merits the negativity that some people seem to have toward this game, and in watching/reading reviews and such often these betray a simple lack of knowledge about the game - my guess? They bailed too early and are making a judgement call having only seen 5% of what there is to see.

The rest of the negative stuff I see has to do with RMT or some component of it. And I'm not throwin' rocks here, but the couple folks I know that really went nuts doing the buy/sell stuff? They never really played the game. They never developed their character past early stages and usually only log in to do their "trading." And then some change happens that "devalues their merchandise" and its rage-time. I get it, but I don't think it paints a fair picture to prospective new players.

 

I don't think that's completely fair, Drilikath.
I know at least once they did a huge community wide survey about the combat system/mechanics and that feedback directly influenced the changes to the system (such as the heat glyphs we have now).
I think such input gathering should happen more often, sure.
But I also think if someone has a good idea, and the devs like it, there's no reason not to use it.
Loads of stuff gets implemented/changed based on stuff on these very forums and it doesn't cost a thing to post.

Is there nepotism/favoritism? Probably. Just like there is everywhere else in the world. The difference is that because the dev team here is so accessible and communicative, you actually see it. We know all their names. They know many of ours. I can go play any other game and I'm just player number 00015148 and the "developers" are a nerfbat-wielding shadowy cabal that you never interact with. Even some games that I played for years I couldn't tell you the name of a single dev. This game has a unique culture in that players and developers interact, both here, on streams, in in-game scenarios, etc.

At the end of the day though ,its a business. Every business gives preferential treatment in some way, intentionally or not, to its 'key accounts', its high paying customers. And yeah, it can be annoying - but at same time, I'm grateful that there are people out there who have the capability and willingness to throw money at the game so that it can be developed more so that I can play it. And if that means the stuff that's important to them gets addressed first, well, I can deal with it.

 

A lot of "negativity" comes from the fact that there does seem a pretty big bias in who is considered an authority in this community. People go to SOTAcon and stuff like that, and people treat that like those are the people who know best what the game needs. There is nothing wrong with superfans being listened to, but I believe that by giving them such a huge voice a lot of important concerns aren't heard.

A great example of what's happening a lot in this community is when in WW2 the allies started conducting operations research on bomber missions over Germany. They would examine all the returning bombers, record all the bullet holes and shrapnel damage, and then add more armor to the planes where they found the most of those. Their loss rates weren't improved at all. They had committed a serious sampling error, because they were only checking the bombers that returned home, so those bombers never had any damage in the places that actually caused planes to go down. When they realized this they added armor everywhere the returning planes hadn't been hit, and saw their loss rates drop significantly.

Feels like there is a certain orthodoxy in this community, a lot of holy cows that can't be questioned and you always wind up in a fight when you point out how absurd it is to act like there isn't anyone who would enjoy a game like SOTA who doesn't like those specific systems.

 

Yes they have done it, and that is why this post was made. I am trying to get some Dialog started on how we can improve the Input from EVERYONE, not just people well known and or they have a bigger voice etc, One persons "Good" idea does not make it something all others would like. That has happened a lot. Just because individuals feel artifacts should be repaired that system was brought in. Is it a bad system no, did they defeat the need for essence by allowing for 4 0 dur artifacts to combine SURE DID.. So who needs essence??? The guy sitting with a legendary artifact now fresh out the box 50/50. Then news of possibly 2 more levels. So those Legendary artifacts can be worn down 0/0 and combined as well.

I am not saying I do not enjoy the changes, but I know that other then talking with other guild mates, and people that have better contact with the devs etc I can not seem to get a response for anything. Everyone says just message so and so. *Crickets* they message and boom 10 seconds later have an answer for the same thing I just asked. It becomes more then annoying. Do we all have these same active open lines of communication, NO! that is the problem!

 

I think what he is trying to say is the normal player getting 15 seconds of attention on something they are interested in changing during a live stream and the response "I'll write that down" is very different from the player who calls Chris or Starr up on their cell phone and wants to discuss their thoughts on Fishing or improvements to the taming system that get immediate and overwhelming attention. Is it because those players drop a 5 figure "Donation" or just because they make such a compelling argument that their will can not be subverted? Honestly I don't know. It is at very least a semblance of impropriety. Please don't say "That does Not Happen" , because at sotacon last year, one of my old guildmates who is a very prominent player grabbed his cell phone and called Chris about something that concerned him while we were eating tacos, so there is that.

 

I really want to see the game grow/succeed but with the way the community attacks a person for speaking out against the lies, and drama, I just don't know if it is something I want to be part of anymore.

 

Its crazy to say, but $6K does NOT make you a whale. $30K makes you a whale

 

Right, Direct line of communication. Im not saying this is not okay, But why is it that they can call him up and use up his time, but I can not get simple questions answered from ANYONE on the forums, Dev related, Or better yet I have support ticket in for week+ no response. But as I stated, Player X calls/text IM w/e and they get my ticket fixed/looked at in 10 minutes....

 

5 figures+ Invested, Im not a whale.. Just bought a POT, Castle, Pledge, and tons of Decor, and this is why I am saying what I have. I invested a lot. I am also Anti Social and do not do well in crowds. Disabled Veteran of the United States Army, and all I wanted to do is feel like I was part of this game. But with all these post telling me that I am the problem, and I am wrong. I am sorry but that just is not the case here.

 

My Main personality Fenrus MacRath was banned from the forums yesterday for "Constant Negative Spamming" I am really upset with the way things are being handled here and I voiced my opinions in what I consider a reasonable yet compelling fashion... some may disagree, but Do you all think I deserved a forum Permaban? It matters not because I have about 40 accounts and at least 15 different locations I can log in from, so... I'll be around. Now I am really upset however. I am was a RF KS backer and have around 8K into the game all in (although I did sell some stuff), but from the money in Port's pocket, I paid 8K. Way to radicalize a moderate dissenter guys. You could always go to work for the State Dept, if this whole game thing falls apart.

 

sorry, I have not read this thread I did see this post. I don’t know what Was said above or below, idk if your right or wrong what I can do is respond to this specific post I quoted...

if you post anything critical here in these fourms out of spite or even if you have a legitimate concern a army of white knight types will Attack you. I’d suggest if you have a legitimate concern that you post it but only if you have thick skin.

 

This guy has all the answers

@Bankchick Well, I guess they lost another older player from potentially coming back to the game.

 

That is the problem though. I want to talk about the game, and the current path, and how the FALSE NARRATIVE of all the fires are spreading from outside this game. The Developers and select Individuals caused all the issue. Yet they are blaming everyone but them self for the problems this game has. Instead of telling me I am wrong for stating what HAS happened. Why not tell me how we can fix it moving forward. My post was made to tell them to STOP saying that its the fault of others. Own that mistake, and move on.

 

Worse, they created a semi literate detractor who will now move from the in game forums discussing his gripes and concerns to a fully outraged ex player with an axe to grind in the public forums.

 

See this, I did not cause this. I did not make this. I opened a thread about the Lie, and here we have another IN GAME, NOT OUTSIDE. This is in THIS COMMUNITY!

 

Also, This is what sparked the post Via @Chris post

That false negative image the game has outside our community is the biggest dragon we have to slay to expand our user base. I'm working on lots of promotion options to get us in front of more users but I'm always open to ideas on ways to promote things and get word out on the game.

A story with a title that suggests some project is screwing its users, near collapse, or that there is some nefarious and intentionally treacherous activity going on is always going to get clicks, comments, and attention. It's sadly just human nature that everyone loves watching a train wreck. I totally get that so our challenge is how to get people excited about a game that has released for 70 months in a row, hasn't had any significant down time, never lost anyone's data or done a rollback, never had a dupe, has a freakin' amazing community, and just keeps on getting a bit better each month. It is a great story but a tough sell to get a website to write about in a positive way. Negative speculation or explosive success? Sure, they'll print that all day long but month after month moderate success and perseverance, meh, no one will click on that.

If anyone has any ideas on ways to get the media to print that second story instead of the first, LET ME KNOW. Also, if you are associated with any website and want an exclusive interview, scoops on stuff coming up, call me, I'm all yours!!

 

More lies, about no rollbacks, no dupes etc etc

They have rolled the server back, they did have dupes, and banned many users because of dupe/bots. All Lies. Do not start off lying to people. They can say not since "release", But even then we are splitting hairs.

 

And amazing community of people that seem to want to kiss his butt.. Sure, Because all I have gotten is some real negative crap, and that i need thick skin to post here. That is the problem, I should be able to post hey we have an issue, how do we fix it the same as Chris did when he posted
If anyone has any ideas on ways to get the media to print that second story instead of the first, LET ME KNOW. Also, if you are associated with any website and want an exclusive interview, scoops on stuff coming up, call me, I'm all yours!!

So I did. I posted STOP lying. Simple as that. Its not outside this game, we have a huge player base and at least 1/2 of us it seems feel we are on one side of the line, and the other 1/2 are over there with the devs. We all want to play together. But because we disagree with stuff, or our words are "wrong", seem harsh, or are against what that other 50% seem to want.. We are the bad guys...

 

Of course YOU have nothing to do with this. I am disgruntled and then they attempted to silence me. In a discussion, taking away someone's voice is tantamount to censorship. Its pretty bad.