Will I have to compete for resources in SPO or FPO?

To be clear, by "SPO" I mean "Single Player ONLINE."

My intention is to play SotA in either SPO or in "Friends Only" mode with my family. I really want to explore the crafting side of the game, and I imagine that my wife and daughter will, too.

My question is: will I constantly be unable to find iron / wood / etc because thousands of invisible people keep taking it out from under my nose?

Bonus question: if not, then doesn't that kind of open the way for exploiting the system? Say you normally play multiplayer, but you want to mine some ore... so you switch to SPO and go mining, and you have the world's iron supply all to yourself.

I realize this "selective multiplayer" is a bold new concept, and the waters are untested. I was just wondering what the CURRENT thinking is on this particular issue.

This will probably affect how I decide to play the game (i.e. whether or not to focus on crafting, whether to play online or offline, whether or not to upgrade my pledge to a larger home with more room for crafting stations, etc.)

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond, especially devs (wink wink nudge).

 

You bring up a very good point, I think there has to be some sort of balance to stop unfair farming of these resources otherwise everyone is just going to play SPO
I myself would like to see either a serious reduced amount of resources in SPO or as you stated above, all players sharing resources even if they other players cannot be seen.

 

- We know they will be using nodes - that re spawn - so if someone is farming in multiplayer you won't know anyways - the hex will just be void of resources and you will move on to another

- Is that a problem? we really don't know, it depends on how many instances with full supply of nodes are allowed to spawn - and that would have have to be tested with the anticipated player base - in other words they would have to balance it

- If done correctly, it won't be a problem

- where you gather and challenges you face is something that we all expect them to balance as well - certain resources may require to be enter a PvP encounter or receive lower yields in a non-PvP environment (not confirmed) ...

There are other things but I'll leave it there for now

 

Well, firstly :

The SPO, FPO, and OPO modes are simply filters that determine which users can be added to the instance you are currently residing in.​

So, essentially everyone playing the online game *is* in the same world-space.​

With that out of the way :

Each time a new instance for a hex map is spun up, the game will spawn a certain amount of resources for you to harvest.​

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The amounts spawned within your instance can be controlled for that hex, so the devs *could* reduce the amount of resources spawned for new instances each time a user removes resources from a previous instance. This way could result in users being able to strip all the material out from a hex and affect what a SPO character actually sees.​

​

Not saying that is how the devs intend to do it (since they have not officially noted such), however it is certainly possible.​

​

That being said :

The material the other users strip from the hex would enter the global market anyways, since we are all part of the same world-space. ​

So if the SPO character missed out on the resource, they could purchase it from another player via a vendor (since vendors will appear across instance modes), or simply move on to another less frequented location to retrieve their materials.​

 

Well, purchasing from another player would not be feasible for someone wanting to play single-player.

It sounds like if you guys are right, there is no point in taking up crafting.

I am not interested in a massively multiplayer game, and one of the reasons for that is that I don't want to spend hours searching in vain for materials or trying to luck into a node that respawns right as I'm walking past it.

Not to sound entitled or lazy or anything - it's just the "selective multiplayer" is one of the things that drew me to this game.

I hope they handle it well enough so that single player, well, FEELS like single player.

LB recently stated on Twitter that resource collection will be "like Ultima Online," which I hear did not have "nodes." So who knows?

Source:

https://twitter.com/rzenari/status/427716144074862592

EDIT to add: my comments here sound a bit more negative than I intended. I'm plenty excited about the game, and I trust LB to make it rock. I'm just trying to set my own expectations correctly so I'm not disappointed that I can't play it the way I was hoping to.

 

Unless you see an official announcement I would be careful to interpret anything ... a dev posted this game would have nodes (there are balancing issues associated with this decision)

there is a thread concerning the topic - but if you want to go with LB that's your call - I've seen enough "quotes" be taken back - because the game is in early development.

So I'll repeat ... Unless you see an official announcement I would be careful to interpret anything

- If you want a single player experience you can play single player off-line and you won't have to deal with anyone. (but you will never be able to take this avatar into the online world)

 

There was a Dev video, I believe the Multiplayer one at the end of January, where they discussed harvesting between different modes. The model they'd flagged at that time (with disclaimer it could change at any point) was that as mentioned above, as a hex is spun up in either single or one of the multiplayer modes, its seeded with nodes. When you enter a hex as solo its literally an instance just for you.

They mentioned the possibility of there being an increased number of nodes based on the amount of players in a hex. So while there is competition to claim a node (and once you claim it, its yours to harvest and people can't ninja in on it between swings of the axe or whatever) theres a larger amount of nodes to go around.

So from my understanding, no the invisible dwellers of other dimensions won't be running around taking all the resources.

 

Purchasing from a player owned vendor will most likely not feel any different from purchasing from a game-run vendor.

In all honesty, it may actually be more convenient, since the equipment will most likely be of better quality, and possibly the vendor could be closer to your area of operation.

Regardless of whether you choose to use it or not, as long as you are playing the online version of the game, the option *will* be available to you.

 

..except I won't actually be able to see other players. Invisible vendors might be tough to find.

Or am I misunderstanding something here?

Are you saying I could log out of SP, log into MP, find a vendor, buy some ore, then re-log back to SP?

@ Akeashar

Thanks for the post, that's very reassuring.

 

The houses and vendors of other users will be visible to all users, regardless of the online mode you are playing.

 

Single player online means that you play in the persistent world - you will see NPC and Player vendors (by their houses or marketplace)

You just wont see other person controlled avatars

 

OK, well, I'm confused! I know some pledge levels come with a "special, commission free vendor," but that's for that player's own personal use, right? Otherwise, it's hardly a perk for pledging if anyone can use it. And wouldn't they be inside someone's house? How would I get inside?

I might need bringing up to speed on this subject, it seems. Please don't tell me that random people can walk into my house!

 

The vendor is meant to sell your crafting stuff to *other* people, its purpose is not intended as a means to buy equipment for yourself.

Users will most likely place the vendor outside their house, or simply make their home accessible for the public to walk into (but not change).

 

That vendor is your buy / sell shop. Your store for selling your stuff. So you can make 5 swords, give them to your vendor and the next guy who walks buy can buy them without directly talking to you. I recommend putting him outside your house, but that's just me.

 

And items can not be taken from your house - and you have ability to set rules as to whom can enter your lovely home

 

Thank you all for the clarifications. So does the vendor pay me when I sell him my stuff, or do I not get money until a real player decides to buy the items?

That's more realistic, but might make it pretty hard to make money via crafting. I thought it was just a convenience feature to allow us to 'vendor trash' our unwanted stuff without having to walk to the market.

Either way, I can't help but be excited for the game. I just took my last look at the alpha and managed to complete my second full set of plate armor (with longsword and shield). If I sold both sets to the vendor in the crafting area, I'm up 1000 gold. Once you know how to use the recipe book, crafting goes from being awful to being quite convenient and fun IMHO.

I think for now I will allow myself to be optimistic and trust Portalarium to get it right (or, if not, then to fix it based on feedback - I can't be the only person planning a crafting career in SPO mode!)

Thanks again for your time!

 

You would only get paid when the item was sold. You will most likely set the price of the objects being sold on your vendor.


And yes, I'm sure you are not the only one considering a career as an SPO level crafter. Though hopefully the game will provide sufficient incentive for you to join us in the higher modes as well.

 

Your welcome from everyone ... your "personal" vendor will sell your goods - and give you the money;

if you sell trash to an NPC vendor - they will pay you according to market value of items you are selling - the dev's will control this and money received may vary depending on "demand" (they have plans to make this as close to a "closed" economy as possible)

Also - crafting is going to be an involved process in this game - beyond the initial pain of learning recipes - gathering still has to be revealed ... that will determine if I craft or not

 

Well, if by "higher modes" you mean full multiplayer, I am planning to leave the option open. That's one reason for making a SP online character instead of offline.

I did 3 years of WoW (raid guild, the whole 9 yards) and am sick of seeing hundreds of naked toons bunny-hopping everywhere with glowing names over their heads. No more of that for me.

If SotA can deliver a non-stupid multiplayer experience, I will give it a shot. If it winds up having the vapidity of an 11-year-old's Facebook page, then you shan't find me there.

 

@Margard, I got your response in my email because I had it set to notify me of replies... but your post is missing from this thread. I'm guessing the info you shared might have been from the Dev+ area.

I have Dev+ access, so no worries there. Thanks for letting me know what the Devs have said on the issue!