Scarecrow (a long time player) Sums up Mortal Online

pockets666

Here is a very well spoken sumation of Mortal Online that can be found in this thread.

http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/66446-reds-where-reward.html#post1204328

Scarecrovv Challenger     Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Norway Rep Power: 2

W/e the game already lost the dangerous open-world aspect of it, I'm already un-subbed and could care less as it's pretty evident that SV doesn't have the balls to make a big change at this point.  I realize that this game won't be able to incorporate the open-world aspects of the game, so vividly described in the game info, (original game-vision) into the game, currently MO is a very narrow-focused, majorly grinding game with no intertwining of the various aspects of the game, with crafting, PVP, guild-control and territory control and gathering / harvesting all being very separated from each other . It strikes me as a very simplistic game, none of the features in MO are interesting enough alone, to really keep someone playing for a decent period of time, a major reason why the majority of the population left in-fact.  But it's when these features would overlap and come together, to create variety and complexity, that I'd consider it entertaining in a sense. But this requires efforts to spite player interaction, conflict and such, as well as balancing out risk/reward, contrary to how it is now.  With a wide array of glaring issues, that currently make the game more like a single-player grind, where you farm without any real risk of being heavily wounded or killed by creatures or other things, as well as having guard-zones for isolating players and making player interaction less essential. The game really isn't progressing in that sense at all, things in MO are so seperated, PVP currently is just PVP, it's not tied to any "useful" territory control, it's not a tactical move to ruin the opposition's economy through clever and cunning operations in which you lay waste to their equipment reserves. It's a boring encounter where you fight each other, either win or die and then return to grinding or log-off, or look for more simple encounters, or if you're sieging, then you press R on the catapult long enough for the assets to get destroyed ( Brag about essentially having deleted a large sum of gold from their banks) and then log off.  The problem is a large portion of the remaining population, are afraid of SV employing solutions that change gameplay, they'd rather have additions to the game-play, that at worst are ineffective, but surely they won't make you have to adapt or change your play-style. But the issue is that SV won't be adding anything that will actually affect this in any sincere way for a LONG time, if they do, it will be buggy, and I assume the company will be broke before we see any decent solution to this through new dungeons, new content, new areas (none of which actually address the fundamental flaw,regardless) , but since people are so scared of these changes, we won't get them, because SV wouldn't have the guts to employ a solution that might upset a part of the population. Which is why, I doubt we'll see the game flourish similar to EVE online, quite the opposite, I see it slowing down, coming to a stalemate. There is a limit to how much hype there can be about the next big patch to get people to re-sub, considering that it mostly falls to deaf ears, considering how many hyped patches that simply didn't match the hype much at all. Not that I mind though in general terms, it is what it is. Spoiler for edit:  Edit: Another thing is, I don't mind butchery that much, tbh, it did ruin a huge aspect of the open-world, but it could have other features to replace it, but how SV implemented it, and how the following features influenced the game just demonstrated their inability to design features that would advocate such an open-world game concept. Which can be either good or bad, depending on one's intentions. Perhaps I'll just have to wait for ArcheAge or something. ______________

I agree with Enigma %100

 

deathshroud

i also agree with enigma to an extent, i know him personally hes a cool guy, however were i differ is that i beleive MO's problems in terms of what he is adressing can be fixed, they can be fixed rather easily.

 

For example pockets take the wood vendor, the wood vendor sells basic woods in every major city. The problem here is that many of the wood types he sells are not region specific but the trees are ,meaning wood not localised to gk can still be baught from the vendor. This of course is a glaringly obvious mistake, since trade should be based on what is available in the region, simply removing the leather,bone and wood vendor but keeping the utility, mount, catalyst vendor (for obvious reasons) makes wood cutting a rather lucrative proffesion. Just imagine if there was an ore vendor and how damaging that would have been to mo's current economy.

this is jsut 1 simple example of how to improve the economy and palyer interaction.

 

Another example is the spdier queen, the spider queen is the type of creatures mo needs more of, creatures that require a group, creatures that have to much carcass for 1 horse and creatures that spawn distant from the guardzone and rather rarely with good profit returns. Now you have more players in small pve groups seeking profit through killing a toguh rare mob, this in turn creates more pvp spots.

nortoni

Originally posted by deathshroud

i also agree with enigma to an extent, i know him personally hes a cool guy, however were i differ is that i beleive MO's problems in terms of what he is adressing can be fixed, they can be fixed rather easily.   .....

Can they?  Why haven't they then?  Idle speculation suggests:

1. 
   They can't; or perhaps
2. 
   They won't, because it would change the game's RPK emphasis too much.
3. 
   Space Aliens in league with the government won't let them.

At this point though whoever likes it can have it.

pockets666

Originally posted by deathshroud

i also agree with enigma to an extent, i know him personally hes a cool guy, however were i differ is that i beleive MO's problems in terms of what he is adressing can be fixed, they can be fixed rather easily.

 

For example pockets take the wood vendor, the wood vendor sells basic woods in every major city. The problem here is that many of the wood types he sells are not region specific but the trees are ,meaning wood not localised to gk can still be baught from the vendor. This of course is a glaringly obvious mistake, since trade should be based on what is available in the region, simply removing the leather,bone and wood vendor but keeping the utility, mount, catalyst vendor (for obvious reasons) makes wood cutting a rather lucrative proffesion. Just imagine if there was an ore vendor and how damaging that would have been to mo's current economy.

this is jsut 1 simple example of how to improve the economy and palyer interaction.

 

Another example is the spdier queen, the spider queen is the type of creatures mo needs more of, creatures that require a group, creatures that have to much carcass for 1 horse and creatures that spawn distant from the guardzone and rather rarely with good profit returns. Now you have more players in small pve groups seeking profit through killing a toguh rare mob, this in turn creates more pvp spots.

And I agree with you as well.  MO needs all of this.  THe problem is SV would rather make peeing horses and sleeping than implement the easiest of things to make the game run better.  I do not know who makes the ultimate decisions to what goes in the game over there.  It just seems they can not think 2 steps ahead or past their nose. 

wmada2k

Bah, he's from 2010. Thats no old player!  =P

pockets666

Originally posted by wmada2k

Bah, he's from 2010. Thats no old player!  =P

That is a funny joke, almost as funny as you saying the population is rising.  We all know the punchline to that one.

deathshroud

hes from early beta, at least i remember his character from beta.

pockets666

Scarecrow posted a goodbye thread in the community section today as well as Gnakez and they were both deleted lol. 

wmada2k

Lol. Where is your humor! Thats why I put the =P 

You see!? ^^

Betel

 

Scarecrovv has played since early beta, he was in CIR at first then left for ... umm ... I forget the name of the guild Cyde, Scarecrovv and the other solo PvP'ers from CIR formed. Darn that will annoy me till I remember now.

 

Anyway, as much as I found him annoying on TS, he is definitely a long term player. Longer term than most (but not all, I was playing long before him for eg) of the people on the MO and these forums I'd imagine.

pockets666

Originally posted by Betel

 

Scarecrovv has played since early beta, he was in CIR at first then left for ... umm ... I forget the name of the guild Cyde, Scarecrovv and the other solo PvP'ers from CIR formed. Darn that will annoy me till I remember now.

 

Anyway, as much as I found him annoying on TS, he is definitely a long term player. Longer term than most (but not all, I was playing long before him for eg) of the people on the MO and these forums I'd imagine.

It was AMON.  I find it funny that the goodbye posts were deleted.  I am sure they were deleted because there are a high amount of goodbye posts in the community section.   Two more at the top did not look good.

Cyde77

Originally posted by pockets666

It was AMON.  I find it funny that the goodbye posts were deleted.  I am sure they were deleted because there are a high amount of goodbye posts in the community section.   Two more at the top did not look good.

Yeah it's properly pathetic when they start censoring goodbyes.. what a joke. I stuck with this game for a long fucking time through its worst times but the mods have made me hate it so much i just can't stomach it anymore.

 

If you read this Koot, talwin and pendragon, rest easy knowing you're responsible for long term veterans - and some of the biggest names in the community - quitting this game. In the mean time i and others will keep on discrediting you and even if it doesnt get rid of you, at least i'll be satisfied i've made you look like complete morons to the community.

pockets666

Originally posted by Cyde77

Originally posted by pockets666

It was AMON.  I find it funny that the goodbye posts were deleted.  I am sure they were deleted because there are a high amount of goodbye posts in the community section.   Two more at the top did not look good.

Yeah it's properly pathetic when they start censoring goodbyes.. what a joke. I stuck with this game for a long fucking time through its worst times but the mods have made me hate it so much i just can't stomach it anymore.

 

If you read this Koot, talwin and pendragon, rest easy knowing you're responsible for long term veterans - and some of the biggest names in the community - quitting this game. In the mean time i and others will keep on discrediting you and even if it doesnt get rid of you, at least i'll be satisfied i've made you look like complete morons to the community.

And this is why people comr here to bitch about MO.  It is not really that  it is a bug encrusted game, that should still be in beta.  The staff pisses people off to no end.  Be it lame excuses for a patch after weeks of hype, or actual direct communication from gms, mods. 

Over the last month we have seen a lot of what people call "bitter vets" come here to vent.  I do not really think it is bitter vets.  I think it is people generally made angry by certian people. 

funkmastaD

Originally posted by Cyde77

 even if it doesnt get rid of you, at least i'll be satisfied i've made you look like complete morons to the community.

Not to be a dick, but if unsuccessful you'd be the one looking like a moron...

kakasaki

Originally posted by funkmastaD

Originally posted by Cyde77

 even if it doesnt get rid of you, at least i'll be satisfied i've made you look like complete morons to the community.

Not to be a dick, but if unsuccessful you'd be the one looking like a moron...

When people start a post like this, it means "I am about to be..."  

But seriously, at this point, could the mods in the MO forums be made to look any worse than they already appear?

Cyde77

Originally posted by funkmastaD

Not to be a dick, but if unsuccessful you'd be the one looking like a moron...

How exactly would that make me look like a moron? I and others are copying chat logs from IRC and the forums of mods abusing their power and being wankers just to show people what they're like while also discussing their actions. If they don't get fired I see no reason why that should reflect badly on me, because by now everyone knows what the company is like.

MordragMO

Originally posted by kakasaki

But seriously, at this point, could the mods in the MO forums be made to look any worse than they already appear?

I vote yes. But that's not up to us, it's their own actions. The shorter SV seems to run on cash, the dumber they act. It's better than my daily soap.

 

The more you analyze it, the funnier it gets. Let's take Black Opal for example. His attempt to mobilize "his crowd" to advertise MO here and the way he gave them instructions tells you a bit about him. He thinks if he was in the player position instead of the position of a moderator, the moderator would be allowed to give him instructions too. Unless of course he thinks he's worth more than anyone else by default.

 

Aside from completely misjudging the personal relationship between himself and the players, he also fails to correctly evaluate the business relationship between himself and the paying customers simply because he isn't part of the adult world outside of the internet.

 

He knows no self-esteem, that's why he doesn't expect it from others and gets confused when his order to his supposed minions turns into another hilarious PR disaster.

 

So, judging from that base, yes, hell yes, we're going to see a LOT of fail yet. And I'm glad, I mean, what else is up on the internet? Not much anymore. :P

Jakdstripper

i disagree quite heavely with Scarecrow on most of these issues.

wile i can agree that there isn't a ton of pve things to do in this game, that in itself isn't what makes 80% of people rage quit. i have seen many people come and go in this game but i've very seldom herd people saying that they were leaving out of complete boredom.

pvp, farming, crafting are all very much tied together. every time you have to farm absolutely anything you are forced to risk a pvp encounter. you cannot craft without someone farming. pvp without crafting doesnt happen. crafting without pvp doesn't survive. you really cannot do anything in this game without a lot of risk.

 

the biggest problem with this game is not lack of content but GAME BRAKING BUGS and EXPLOITERS.

 

this is why 80% of the population leves this game in a fit of rage. having to "work arround" bugs with 90% of all you do in this game gets old really fast, and it's the biggest reason people end up leaving.  if only SV was able to remove the majority of bugs and take serious action against exploiters you'd see the population of this game skyrocket.

it is completely idiotic to try add pve content to a game that doesn't work as it should half the time, much like trying to add floors to a house built on bamboo foundation.

psykobilly

Originally posted by MordragMO

 

The more you analyze it, the funnier it gets. Let's take Black Opal for example. His attempt to mobilize "his crowd" to advertise MO here and the way he gave them instructions tells you a bit about him. He thinks if he was in the player position instead of the position of a moderator, the moderator would be allowed to give him instructions too. Unless of course he thinks he's worth more than anyone else by default.

Aside from completely misjudging the personal relationship between himself and the players, he also fails to correctly evaluate the business relationship between himself and the paying customers simply because he isn't part of the adult world outside of the internet.

 

This is funny.  The whole thing with that thread on Mortal was what lead me to post this:

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/325752/Why-Mortal-Online-should-be-considered-unplayable.html

I probably would never have posted it if Opal was halfway good at his job.  But he's not, and as I said in the Mortal forums - he should be fired (and Henrik as CEO should be fired by the board of directors).

BTW I'm guessing not a single fanboy will dare contradict what I posted in the unplayable thread, because every bit is true and there is nothing they could say to defend it.

---

Bottom line though is that I am an eternal optimist:  If Starvault hired me as CEO or COO I could save the game and the company because I know what needs to be done on a short-term and long-term basis.  It is never too late to turn something around, but the approach would have to be very much the opposite of everything done to date.

 

 

Picklebeast

Originally posted by psykobilly

Originally posted by MordragMO

 

The more you analyze it, the funnier it gets. Let's take Black Opal for example. His attempt to mobilize "his crowd" to advertise MO here and the way he gave them instructions tells you a bit about him. He thinks if he was in the player position instead of the position of a moderator, the moderator would be allowed to give him instructions too. Unless of course he thinks he's worth more than anyone else by default.

Aside from completely misjudging the personal relationship between himself and the players, he also fails to correctly evaluate the business relationship between himself and the paying customers simply because he isn't part of the adult world outside of the internet.

 

This is funny.  The whole thing with that thread on Mortal was what lead me to post this:

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/325752/Why-Mortal-Online-should-be-considered-unplayable.html

I probably would never have posted it if Opal was halfway good at his job.  But he's not, and as I said in the Mortal forums - he should be fired (and Henrik as CEO should be fired by the board of directors).

BTW I'm guessing not a single fanboy will dare contradict what I posted in the unplayable thread, because every bit is true and there is nothing they could say to defend it.

---

Bottom line though is that I am an eternal optimist:  If Starvault hired me as CEO or COO I could save the game and the company because I know what needs to be done on a short-term and long-term basis.  It is never too late to turn something around, but the approach would have to be very much the opposite of everything done to date.

 

 

I agree with you that you (or many people knowledgable with the game) probably could fix its "direction."

The real problem now is that SV has such horrible name and reputation that I think recovery is impossible (even IF the game were fixed)

It would be like ENRON trying to sell me stock. They may have quit lying, cheating, scamming and hyping- But I have a long memory and just could never give them a dime of my money at this pont.

SV tried, lied and failed. There is no recovery at this point. Fanboys will call me a "doomsayer" but what I say is the truth. SV may hang on for awhile and slowly bleed out (depends on how much henricks dad will throw at the project in hope of cutting his loss) but they will slowly bleed subs and wither away.

The problem is, SV has damaged the whole Indie/Sandbox genre. That is a whole 'nother discussion though since they have hurt my prefered playstyle in a million ways,.

deathshroud

IF they can fix mo up in a timely fashion and get that damn ai patch in, then MO will likely surive. But thats a big IF.

 

whilst i enjoy the game even in its current state as do others, the fact is that the game has bugs and issues that prevent a large group of people from enjoying the game that probably would if they fixed these issues.

cirsyndic

Originally posted by Cyde77

Originally posted by funkmastaD

Not to be a dick, but if unsuccessful you'd be the one looking like a moron...

How exactly would that make me look like a moron? I and others are copying chat logs from IRC and the forums of mods abusing their power and being wankers just to show people what they're like while also discussing their actions. If they don't get fired I see no reason why that should reflect badly on me, because by now everyone knows what the company is like.

 

Word of caution Cyde, if you start posting logs (and I'm sure you have plenty of them) there's a high chance your game-account will be permabanned, your forum account will be permabanned, and you will be IP-banned from stratics IRC.

 

It happened to everyone who was posting logs about Maerlyn / Pompeii / Discord / Talwin / Teiwaz / Gradius / Henrik. Overnight carpet-banning.

Tho those logs would be entertaining to read I have to say.

Cyde77

Originally posted by cirsyndic

Word of caution Cyde, if you start posting logs (and I'm sure you have plenty of them) there's a high chance your game-account will be permabanned, your forum account will be permabanned, and you will be IP-banned from stratics IRC.

 

It happened to everyone who was posting logs about Maerlyn / Pompeii / Discord / Talwin / Teiwaz / Gradius / Henrik. Overnight carpet-banning.

Tho those logs would be entertaining to read I have to say.

Getting all my accounts perma-banned for that would just further back my point up ^^

funkmastaD

If I was president I'd fix everything in a week. In fact, id do great at any task I've never undertaken before.

pockets666

Originally posted by funkmastaD

If I was president I'd fix everything in a week. In fact, id do great at any task I've never undertaken before.

Oh noe he didn!!!  He pulled the "could you do it better" card.    With that state of mind.  From now until the day you die.  Never complain about anything you buy or get from another person in your life if you do not have the same skill set. 

kakasaki

Originally posted by pockets666

Originally posted by funkmastaD

If I was president I'd fix everything in a week. In fact, id do great at any task I've never undertaken before.

Oh noe he didn!!!  He pulled the "could you do it better" card.    With that state of mind.  From now until the day you die.  Never complain about anything you buy or get from another person in your life if you do not have the same skill set. 

Exactly. If that's the best excuse the SV fan club can come up with, then the game really is in BIG trouble...