Will you be part of a Kickstarter/Pledge for the next Episode release?

As I have said before when asked the question, I would send the team back to the drawing board. That obviously won't happen, so my (best) advice is pretty worthless. Another reason I don't repeat it over and over.

But why would I say such a thing? Easy.

- SotA has a desire to be "old school" in a world that's moved on. Indeed, many of these "old school" systems were only like that, back in the day, because programming couldn't do anymore. Not because they were "great systems".
(There's this weird belief, particularly among gamers who weren't gaming, or even born, during past eras of gaming that they are somehow a Holy Grail and, take it from someone who was there... they weren't!)

- SotA has a funding model based around selling ridiculously priced real estate and 'fluffy' items, en masse, rather than biting the bullet and having something more like a subscription model that covers the lot.
(For niche games, subscription models work. I think we'd have a more stable community if it had gone in that direction, rather than the "whales and minnows" model the current funding model promotes.)

- Systems seem like they were barely thought through at all before someone started coding the game. Resulting in a hit-and-miss, let's-see-if-this-works approach to vitally important stuff while the game's in a persistent state.
(This is huge. We're in a PERSISTENT game world and yet they still haven't got core systems nailed down. That's AMAZING. They should have been close to nailed down before anyone coded a single line, honestly.)

- Graphically, the game isn't great. "But graphics don't make a great game, man...!" I'm sure people will say. And that's fine, because I agree with you. But, as a selling point to a broader audience, the game looks dated.
(And what a lot of people don't get is that "graphically" means the whole box and dice. Personally, I am dismayed at the animation aspect of the characters, especially in combat, but even just moving in the game world looks weird.)

Cue people rebutting me... telling me I'm nuts... whatever. But you only need to look outside to other forums, Steam reviews, the drop off in people playing, etc, to know I'm not the Lone Ranger, whether you agree or not.

 

General:
Somehow reduce the spikiness of the game. I think it's related to creating new game objects in Unity. It's okay that the game doesn't look ultra great in the graphics department, but being able to play it fluently should be high priority (and I think it actually is right now for Port, glad they're working with the Unity guys to find solutions).

Character Progression:
1. The skill progression starts to feel less awesome once you have unlocked all desired skills and get them to 40+. Mostly because combat stays the same (apart from switching decks for different encounters, but that's only for really hard fights). There's nothing new coming. Ever. Except if you decide to train some new skills. So to remedy this, add some stuff that gets unlocked at higher skill levels. Additional effects maybe. Something shiny, doesn't need to be op, just feel fun.

2. There is almost no item progression. Of course you can always upgrade your gear, that's not the issue. But you don't need anything special to do that. There's no gating of any kind. In theory you could just get high-end gear for your fresh character if you can obtain enough gold to buy the stuff. You always need the same materials for your weapon and armor which can theoretically be farmed in 1-3 skull areas.
They added Bone Armor which is a step in the right direction, but it's a huge leap from standard mats to stuff that most people need a group for. It'd be great if there were many small steps in between.

3. Loot. This is related to 2, because finding better crafting mats would already be a huge improvement in terms of making loot more exciting. I mean what's the use of becoming better and better at combat if there's nothing to gain from it? It just feels frustrating to win a hard fight just to be rewarded with the same stuff I found in my first 5 minutes of playing :-/

Combat:
1. Lots of balancing, but that's okay, I'm pretty sure the devs are on that one. Just takes time and has to be reiterated with every other change in combat. So just staying patient here.

2. More combos might be nice. Somehow enabling us to make meaningful decisions besides what glyphs are in our deck. I really like the SotA combat system, but it just doesn't feel complete. I know "that's because it isn't". Still, needs to be done.

Crafting:
1. Make it actually feel rewarding. As mentioned by different ppl in several threads: FFXIV Reborn and Vanguard are nice examples for crafting that's more than just an endless loop of "grind, click, wait and pray".

2. More "Tiers" of material maybe?

3. Somehow make the main crafting skill mean something. Right now there's only tiny benefit at having GM in a crafting skill (except masterworking of course).

4. Make Refining more than an extra step in the grind-loop. Every step in crafting should have at least a tiny bit of awesomeness in it.

That list is not complete, but some of the most important issues for me.


And also: Just saying "x is not fun" IS feedback. Of course it's not ideal, but nobody should feel obliged to come up with an idea if he/she wants to provide an opinion about the game. Community ideas are great and it's even greater that SotA devs listen to them. Usually it's a game/systems designer's job to build interesting systems and mechanics though, so coming up with great stuff shouldn't be the community's "duty", but rather a bonus.

 

I kind of disagree with this. In fact I think its the opposite - there are a small handful of posters who jump on anyone who posts negative feedback, either in the form of "well I don't see what you're talking about because its X" or "you are whining" or "i'm really tired of players who say X" or the always wonderful "maybe this game isn't for you".

That kind of stuff happens every single day on this forum.

And if the people who are still around to complain about it are the ones who post only sarcastic biting comments, its because the other 90% of members who gave negative (but honest and well-intended) feedback have been chased out of the forums.

 

I'm pleased you note my consistency. Consistency of thought is something I admire in people. I find it hard to deal with people who are all over the place with their opinions, depending on the weather.

But... here's the thing. You keep asking for solutions. I would ask you to stop and really think about the things I've highlighted, however, and you might eventually twig that they're largely things that can't be fixed.

Let's run through them quickly:

1) The desire to be old school. That's built into the whole game. Can't change.

2) The funding model. After so many pledges, they can't turn it over to subs now.

3) The systems. They might get crafting, combat, the economy right in the end. My point is they should all be working now.

4) Animation-wise, my advice is there. The animations look incredibly poor, especially in combat and even general movement.

 

Actually, Portalarium has asked us to let them know what we think is broken, and let THEM come up with solutions.
I'm not a game designer. I can tell you if I think combat is too complicated, or controls too awkward, or a quest doesn't make sense so I can't complete it. But I don't have the tools to come up with good solutions. That's Portalarium's job.

 

That's what I've said many time before, however, crowd-funding tends to give people a sense of, "I paid my $30... they MUST do what I say!" Some people are like this in non crowd-funded games too, but in crowd-funding it's way worse.

 

That's just two from this thread alone and an example of what prompted my post. It is perfectly reasonable to ask what someone might like to see changed. It's also reasonable to say 'Im not certain, it just isn't working as is'. Doesn't make someone a loser as the above quote states. Doesn't mean they are simply blowing hot air.

I'm not going by what I'm told. It's quotes like those above and reading people's responses to not just criticisms of a game mechanic but mere suggestions or ideas they have.

That said, I'm not trying to say there's stifling of voices on Port's part or even the wider community. 99% of posters do not do what I claimed. However, there are a few very active posters who do do this and it's because of that extreme minority that I do not post. I'm not asking for additional forum moderation or eliminating those players. I accept it as how it is and simply do not post my criticisms because I'd rather not argue with those that might call me a loser for not redesigning a game mechanic that I feel isn't working for me. Besides, doing so often shifts the criticism of those individuals away from the problem that one finds to their proposed solutions.

I'm not opposed to differing opinions. I think the running animations are poor. Some people may love them. I'm all for disagreement. What I dislike is being told my opinion doesn't matter because I haven't detailed how to change the running animation. I'm not an animator and don't purport to be one. I just know that it looks awkward and rigid to me and my hope is that the animators might then take a closer look and say 'You know maybe it is a bit rigid, let's try X or Y'.

It's fine to disagree. We disagree! I'd just rather not give feedback at all if not posting solutions to a problem I see brings about a chance of me being called a loser, whiner, millennial, or cry baby. Such is internet life.

 

Issue: animation is not smooth and feel very awkward.

Proposed solution: please make it smooth and less awkward.

There you go I feel very productive tonight!

 

Time, reality and patience are my credentials.

 

This is the true test of whetber Ep1 is a success or not. In my case it's my nephews and nieces getting into the game that will be my barometer.

Though much younger than I am they do enjoy 2D games like Starbound so graphics (though important) won't be their primary consideration. If SOTA's gameplay and storyline passes their crtical eye then I know we have a winner.

 

Give me a ship I can design/build (Pirate Ship) that can travel to all coastal towns/cities and factions in the future with Capitals and I am all in. Imagine cannonfire raining upon Brittany and Ardoris *grins*

 

Well said @evillego6

Wish more people would respect differing views than jumping on them and attacking them.

 

How about.. EP1 succeeds... influx of new players = no need for a 2nd Kickstarter

 

They'll probably want to use another kickstarter to get the ball rolling for Episode 2 unless they get a massive influx of players and it explodes.

I think we ought to be thinking about episode 3 in terms of success though.
***this is purely a joke****

The more new pledges the better. That's just my two cents.

 

I am going to change my opinion again. My concern was that the game's permission to sell gold was a condoning of the activity. As I am most interested in the truth and morality of the matter and although I am not happy about gold selling in this game, I understand the company's initiative to sell COTOs may be to control the value of gold to prevent selling from becoming a problem, rather than incurring the expense of fighting it head on. I doubt anyone can argue that gold selling will not happen no matter what, and there's is an apparent possibility that capping that value of gold with COTOs could serve to make it a less desirable profession. So in that vein I will recast my vote back in favor of episode 2.

I suppose it could be viewed as the difference between sex therapy and porn. I can't claim to have the answers, but beating the war drums may not be the best option.

This is by no means a pass from me, but I'll be the first to concede if it works.

 

First i want to see how Episode 1 ends up. If it's really cool i will consider another episode. But i'm one of the small contributors.

 

I do recall that a person posted in the forums offering to sell gold. i think Time Lord Smith tried to hire him on behalf of a foreign government offering to let him live or something like that.

***this is purely a joke****

 

Lol... Ouch. So now we have to wait until one game is finished and released, a second game is started, finished, and released, and a third game is started, finished, and released... before you can even say if sota is successful or not?

Sorry but that doesn't fly. In fact, it almost qualifies for a /facepalm

Edit: An honestly, if it takes till episode 3 to "catch fire", then the very existence of said episode 3 is in doubt.

 

LoL I'm kidding . launch is the goal.

They just said at the sotacon that it is not even logical to talk about episode 2 yet. i was just being silly .

There will be monthly updates indefinitely. each month will get better even after launch. i suspect the will do well this year.

however if that is so I don't see why each episode should not do better than the last. and then each month gets better.