First Impressions Of a Noob (The Lazy Peon Preview)

JamesGoblin

Just to explain, by "noob" I meant no harm: in my opinion, Lazy is so successful (over 300k subs and growing) exactly because he is often putting himself in situation similar to that of almost anyone trying the game for the first time - you just downloaded the client, you are clueless about so many things, you are clumsily discovering basics as you play.

He took some heat in the comments below the video because "this is just plain wrong" or "you should learn that before you even start playing" etc. but the value of the video - at least to hardcore fans - might be exactly that fresh outsider perspective, which we lost a long time ago.

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Wizardry

This guy Peon seems like a legit you tuber unlike most that are paid lackeys.
However he seems to be giving Crowfall a free pass based on this ALPHA claim.
To me the game is and always will be boring,obviously hat opinion changes if you only care about pvp in some open grassy land maps.
I did and still believe the ONLY reason castles exist is to enforce cash shop now and into the future.
The game needs a living world,not just barren land masses and empty castles.We need to be able to hire citizens,workers for these castles ,attach fixtures,perhaps have gardens,stables etc etc.
More importantly content NEEDS to have a purpose other than to be there just to say we have content.That is what separates amateur developers from triple A class acts and it is really tough to become a class act when comes to in depth well thought out game design.
If we stick to the same excuse "Alpha build"then i have to say this game is years away from becoming a triple A game,how many years?At least 3.

Thaosen

Wizardry said:

This guy Peon seems like a legit you tuber unlike most that are paid lackeys.
However he seems to be giving Crowfall a free pass based on this ALPHA claim.
To me the game is and always will be boring,obviously hat opinion changes if you only care about pvp in some open grassy land maps.
I did and still believe the ONLY reason castles exist is to enforce cash shop now and into the future.
The game needs a living world,not just barren land masses and empty castles.We need to be able to hire citizens,workers for these castles ,attach fixtures,perhaps have gardens,stables etc etc.
More importantly content NEEDS to have a purpose other than to be there just to say we have content.That is what separates amateur developers from triple A class acts and it is really tough to become a class act when comes to in depth well thought out game design.
If we stick to the same excuse "Alpha build"then i have to say this game is years away from becoming a triple A game,how many years?At least 3.

Quite frankly, usually I am against this whole "Beta" excuse (Revelation Online CBT disaster... omg), but for Crowfall I must say that for an Alpha, the foundations seems to be extremely solid.

The way the combat looks and the overall fluidity of the game, so early on, can turn into something incredible given time. Most game fails directly at their foundation then never get back up. Take Crowfall as it is right now, add customization and a meaningful world (PvP, PvE & Crafting) and this game can go quite far.

My big issues right now with the game are the business model (Buy to Play + Premium (pretty mandatory from what I could read) + Microtransactions)... But then again, if the game is worth it and fun, I don't mind paying. Hell, it's still cheaper than bringing my girlfriend to a restaurant once.

Another issue is the PvP-focused orientation. While PvP is fun, the playerbase is nothing but a vocal minority... I think we have seen our share of games with great potential that simply died because they failed to realize that. A good, lasting game must invest in enabling players to build communities more than anything really.

JamesGoblin

Rhoklaw said:

I'm not a huge supporter of action style combat as it tends to make healing a pain in the butt. However, the idea that everything you do contributes to your side winning a campaign is definitely a good thing. If it was strictly based on PvP, they would basically have alienated a large portion of MMORPG community.

I agree on healing, in action combat, more specifically in Crowfall, healer's teammates have much more responsibility for being healed - distance, positioning, timing ( + there's lag too, and yadda...). Of course - that is good or bad, depending on whom you are playing with / against.

Speaking of PvP, I believe it will be happening 10-15% of the time, unlike in current tests. We'll be spending much more time in, say, chatting, escorting, mining, building / crafting or waiting for things to happen (say, guarding a fort during siege window for hours, and nothing happens till the end) - not to mention forum info / wars and all kinds of meta.

Thaosen said:

<snippety snip>

Another issue is the PvP-focused orientation. While PvP is fun, the playerbase is nothing but a vocal minority... I think we have seen our share of games with great potential that simply died because they failed to realize that. A good, lasting game must invest in enabling players to build communities more than anything really.

So far, they seem to be fighting vocal minority well. For example, there was much noise and direct demands for removal of Eternal Kingdoms (so that noone can be 100% safe anywhere in the game) or at least for the significant softening of the concept - without any results. I bet I heard the word "Trammel" a thousand times back in the day.

Another example, during first post-Kickstarter months, there was lots of pressure from the community for "free speech" on forums, the result was: some hardcore folks were banned, others left forums/game and ACE's original vision of community remained.

I mean, Todd and Gordon are quite experienced with such things. At least so far, they seem to be well aware of the silent majority and their needs.

Yaevindusk

Definitely solid for a Pre-Alpha version.  Just waiting for when 99% of the systems are actually put in.  These tests are just for crafting / gathering and the occasional run in with another player.  Though the actions, classes, sound effects, etc. tweaking still isn't implemented.

Also, that menu interface is annoying.  Laughed at how he died several times because the screen was covered up by it.

Redemp

Thaosen said:

Another issue is the PvP-focused orientation. While PvP is fun, the playerbase is nothing but a vocal minority... I think we have seen our share of games with great potential that simply died because they failed to realize that. A good, lasting game must invest in enabling players to build communities more than anything really.

 The PvP player base is absolutely not a vocal minority,  the people who only PvE are the minority. There need to be things to do besides simply pvp, and that's what it sounds like they are doing.

Volgore

While i share many of the concerns mentiond in this topic, i'm still sort of cautiously excited for this game.

But i'm also getting tired of this alpha, alpha, alpha all the time.
They have to get this forward already. It's either that they started to hype it too early or they are too slow with their development.
At this pace the game will 100% fall into the same old trap of "when they finally released it, it was too old already".

JamesGoblin

Volgore said:

While i share many of the concerns mentiond in this topic, i'm still sort of cautiously excited for this game.

But i'm also getting tired of this alpha, alpha, alpha all the time.
They have to get this forward already. It's either that they started to hype it too early or they are too slow with their development.
At this pace the game will 100% fall into the same old trap of "when they finally released it, it was too old already".

To put "hyping too early" or "too slow development" in context, Crowfall was Kickstarted in March last year - and you know how long it takes for a MMO to be made. Couple more details - 150k registered accounts, $10M of budget and both numbers are rising rather quickly - so it doesn't seem to me that they are doing anything wrong.

All that is achieved without a single cent spent on advertising, that is - in order to attract people and gather money they simply have to keep on showing rough alpha footage... there's no AAA money behind, no AAA marketing machine, no waiting for beta early access to start firing from all cylinders. It's a luxury they can't afford.

Soki123

Looks great, can t wait.

Arkade99

Thaosen said:

My big issues right now with the game are the business model (Buy to Play + Premium (pretty mandatory from what I could read) + Microtransactions)... But then again, if the game is worth it and fun, I don't mind paying. Hell, it's still cheaper than bringing my girlfriend to a restaurant once.

The VIP subscription is in no way mandatory. Neither are the microtransactions. VIP enables players to train up to 3 archetypes at once instead of just 1, but players can only play 1 archetype at a time. VIP players can't train any faster on a single archetype than a non-VIP player, so their power is equal. On top of that, skill training is only one aspect of character power. Gear, Vessels, Disciplines, Advantages and Disadvantages, Player Skill. These will all factor into the equation. The castles and stuff that they sell can only be used in the Eternal Kingdoms, which are basically player housing. They can't be used in the Campaign Worlds where the real competition happens. Anything that people buy and place in their EK, they have to pay taxes on, so they still have to play the game to maintain those keeps and lands.

genaknosc

Another issue is the PvP-focused orientation. While PvP is fun, the playerbase is nothing but a vocal minority...

LMAO

finnelhir

Wizardry said:

This guy Peon seems like a legit you tuber unlike most that are paid lackeys.
However he seems to be giving Crowfall a free pass based on this ALPHA claim.
To me the game is and always will be boring,obviously hat opinion changes if you only care about pvp in some open grassy land maps.
I did and still believe the ONLY reason castles exist is to enforce cash shop now and into the future.
The game needs a living world,not just barren land masses and empty castles.We need to be able to hire citizens,workers for these castles ,attach fixtures,perhaps have gardens,stables etc etc.
More importantly content NEEDS to have a purpose other than to be there just to say we have content.That is what separates amateur developers from triple A class acts and it is really tough to become a class act when comes to in depth well thought out game design.
If we stick to the same excuse "Alpha build"then i have to say this game is years away from becoming a triple A game,how many years?At least 3.

You can put Thralls to populate the world. 

http://crowfall.com/en/faq/thralls/

3. DO ALL THE THRALLS SERVE THE SAME FUNCTION IN GAME?

No! Thralls have a variety of purposes in Crowfall.  That said, however, each Thrall serves a particular purpose, depending on his or her profession during life.

Thralls can serve as vendors managing your sales, craftsmen to help you make items, unearthly trainers who assist you in learning certain skills faster, guardsmen who protect your ramparts, and bind-spirits – fallen warriors who can be inscribed into the runes to make your weapons and armor more powerful. (for example, you could bind the spirit of an Elven Blademaster into your sword, and the echoes of his life would help guide your blows and shield you from harm.)


8. IS THERE ANY LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF THRALLS I CAN HAVE ACTIVE?

The limits aren’t on a character or account basis. Instead, each system will enforce its own limit(s). For example, items can only have one bind-spirit. Buildings have a preset number of Thrall Slots (represented in game as a summoning circle) and each of them can only contain a single Thrall. Generally, for buildings that allow Thralls, you can increase the level of the building to activate more Thrall slots of that type.