Your Opinion

Where do you heard from Shroud of the Avatar?
Familiarity with previous Richard Garriott titles had me watching this from pretty early on.

Did you support Kickstart?
Missed it, actually, but became a backer shortly thereafter.

How many hours do you play each week?
I used to be on this probably 60-80 hrs a week but probably only about 10-20 hours for the last couple of months.

What Char do you play? (Combat/Crafting)
Considering that no crafting exists without combat, I play a crafter who spends 90% of my time killing things to get materials with which to craft.

Do you play more Multiplayer or Single Player?
I haven't really tried single player (offline) as if I'm going to be grinding resources I might as well do it on multi.

Do you play PvP?
Not at all, and unlikely to ever want to with current system.

Do you play much PvE Group-Content?
No, it is far more efficient to do things solo or perhaps duo than to split xp/loot among a group. I really only group if I'm helping folks out.

What is your biggest Deed?
Town

Do you think the Game is to easy or to hard?
I think the level of difficulty and complexity is good. However I think that making things take longer, break faster, be more annoying, and more expensive does not make things more difficult. It just makes things more annoying.

Tell us your opinion on the Combat System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
1-Good. Its unique, and involving, and customizable. The heat system I think has made this even more so.

Tell us your opinion on the Skill System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
3-Good concept, poor implementation. Too many useless skills that cost far too much to raise either for prerequisites or attunement. System forces players to level up dozens of skills from different trees but then punishes them for doing so with higher decay. Seems a bit stupid.

Tell us your opinion on the Crafting System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
4-Pretty bad. And I hate to give it this rating, considering crafting is my number 1 draw.
My issues are:
Far too resource intensive - actually impossible to craft anything and sell it for more than the components. By a large margin. The higher end gear you try to make, the more you will lose, moneywise, over selling mats. E
Too much breakage/Too much waste - breakage rates are way too high for "grandmasters" considering the materials needed number in the thousands
No customizability- Can't make gear for a customer or even guesstimate how many materials will be needed since breakage, and too many random options.
Too many "best in slot" artifacts replacing crafted gear and this trend continues with artifact jewelry, artifact weapons, artifact hoods, etc.
Material bonuses imbalanced, making some completely useless/pointless and others so highly desired that the cost of materials is ridiculous.
Far too combat focused. Cant lvl crafting by crafting. All resource acquisition is 90% fighting.

Tell us your opinion on the Housing System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
2-Pretty good. I would like less restrictions on item placement to make homes more unique.

What do you love in SotA?
The community as a whole is by far one of the best I've seen in any MMO. The sandboxy system of level what you want and make your own "class."

What do you hate in SotA and how would you change it?
Exp decay is far too punitive for enjoyable gameplay - I don't think you should ever go backwards, its counterintuitive and not long-term sustainable as currently implemented. IN 10 years time, assuming I play at the same rate, my decay loss on death will equate to weeks of progress. Really need to think long term here.
Cash sinks are a little bit crazy, far too much emphasis on npc merchants as only way to obtain many needed items. Players must spend much more time financing their adventuring than actually adventuring. I'd remove reagent vendors and fuel vendors and make these items gatherable in large quantities in low skull areas. Not only would this give low lvl players a wedge into the market but it would remove npc price standardization. I'd get rid of junk weapons as loot as it makes no sense that npcs will buy these infinitely and instead increase vendor price of crafted goods, forcing raw materials to go through a crafter to be turned into money and thus making crafting a more viable playstyle choice.

What is your biggest wish that you want to see in Shroud of the Avatar?
Tame-able, ride-able, cats.


Optional:

Rate the Shroud of the Avatar with a Number from 0 to 100 Points (100 is the best score)
I'd probably have to weigh in somewhere around 65-70. Its a solid game, but can't really go higher due to the above mentioned issues especially those systems that are implemented for the express purpose of causing frustration and additional grind.

 

Where did you heard of Shroud of the Avatar?
Lord British Presents website where they originally discussed the Ultimate Lord British RPG, leading up to the reveal.

Did you support during Kickstarter?
Yes, backed on day 1.

How many hours do you play each week?
~10

What Char do you play? (Combat/Crafting)
Both

Do you play more Multiplayer or Single Player?
Friends Online almost exclusively, with Open Multi for some events. I'll play single offline once everything is polished.

Do you play PvP?
No. I've tried it with friends, but I don't believe in forced multiplayer and I don't like the PvP system.

Do you play much PvE Group-Content?
Yes

What is your biggest Deed?
Village

Do you think the Game is to easy or to hard?
Mostly neither, with a little of both. Its not difficult in the short term, although there are a lot of idiosyncrasies you need to get past on day one. Once you get to T4 however, its just a boring grind until you hit GM and can actually do things again. The midgame is harsh.

Tell us your opinion on the Combat System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
3 - Glyphs are intersting, and I like the heat system that recently enhanced locked decks. I hate stacking glyphs (the entire idea), but like the concept of spellweaving; unfortunately, its tedious and can't be used in locked decks. The AI needs adjustment, and there is not nearly a large enough range of enemies to engage yet. Hotbar combat is bland, but works; I would prefer something more organic.

Tell us your opinion on the Skill System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
3 - I like the idea of skill trees, but the ones we have are barebones. I hoped that an Ultima spiritual successor would have more non-combat abilities than it does, which is almost none. Skill-based advancement is excellent, but the need to manage an experience pool is tiresome. The daily xp bonus seems to have helped with this.

Tell us your opinion on the Crafting System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
3 - Base crafting is ok, if boring. The skill trees need additional options to make expertise worthwhile. Recipes tend to be non-tradeable for anything worth using, which means you have to buy them; hopefully this changes soon, but not being able to find them organically or during adventuring is a shame. Enchanting and Masterworking is where the system should shine, but it relies far too much on the RNG and is instantly and unavoidably destructive, unlike the rest of the crafting cycle. This needs to be revisisted, revised, and possibly replaced to make something fun to play that is also balanced.

Tell us your opinion on the Housing System or Rate it from 1 to 5 (1 = Good, 5 = Bad)
4 - I like the housing system, despite its high price tag. I wish there was lead-in to owning, rather than just obtaining a lot and it instantly appearing, but once its in place the ability to decorate and share creative talents is quite impressive. I'm hoping there is a path to buying a POT in the offline mode, as that is the one piece I can't afford to do online, and it looks interesting.

What do you love in SotA?
The community is the best, and has continually outdone themselves. In the game, I like the variety of scenes, and their spiritual callbacks to the Ultima series make me nostalgic. The game continues to improve constantly.

What do you hate in SotA and how would you change it?
I wish I had a reason to log in every day other than to collect xp and get better so I can finally *do* something. At mid levels, there are no real "chase items", so there isnt much point in doing anything but grinding. To fix this, I'd like to see some rare mobs with better loot tables that can spawn anywhere those types of mobs normally do; for instance, a Kobold Miner who can spawn anywhere a normal kobold does, and drops mining tools, smelting molds, and various ingots. That would reward players who are engaged in grinding but happen to find something fun and exciting. That would feel more fun to me than just looting a single CotO or getting a repair kit off a bandit.

What is your biggest wish that you want to see in Shroud of the Avatar?
Continue to evolve into a game that I can be excited to play every day, no matter how much or how little time I have, regardless of my level. Make it so there is always something to see or do that you havn't done yet, whether it is hunt a rare creature for a trophy or seek a lost treasure. Provide players enough tools so they can make their own adventures in your world. And tell a compelling story, worthy of the names of Garriott and Hickman.

Optional: Rate the Shroud of the Avatar with a Number from 0 to 100 Points (100 is the best score):
80

 

I have to agree,it's not like because of another poll anyone is going to experience some epiphany about the game.
Epiphany: (For those who don't know already)
moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you