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My re-review as a adv level 98
DracSchnider
Member UncommonPosts: 223
Over all the game has had a lot of interesting things over the past year. I do like the direction it is going, however I do think its moving rather slow to get there. I do understand that the team is smaller then most so there is limited people to support the development which contributes to how long it is taking to get to were things needs to be.
Graphics:
Over all the game has pretty good graphics for some parts, well other areas are very dated (Main Map). Details on gear and things in the world are pretty good compared to some games out there. Character design I think needs a lot more work as there is very limited options. I do know that this year (speculation based on Chapter 2 information) elves will become a playable race which will offer another option for playability/design. The Unity engine is constantly being upgraded every few months which has brought in a lot of optimizations and FPS which 6 months ago would make you cry have now improved to what is standard for most games these days. Animations still need some work and are not as fluid as some of todays newer games but it still does the job allowing for real-time combat (depending on your class). They have been making changes over the last 4 months to various spell effects and animations in order to bring better visuals which have been huge upgrades. The new Scenes(Zones) replaced older cloned/copied instances look very well done compared to earlier. Art style is a mix not as vibrant as many Overseas games which more reflects the tone of series like Elder scrolls etc. you either are in favor of the look or not. Myself I like more realistic environments.
Sound/Music:
The game has improved a lot for sound quality over the last 5 months. They added a new sound engineer to the group which has replaced a lot of terrible stuff like the creepy crying woman... haha for those that have played a while back all know too well. Over all the improvements have been really well done. Music in game (non avatar radio) has not changed much. Its all themed towards instruments that existed in the time period. As to Avatar radio and broadcast systems in the game (actual in game headphones / radios) they almost all represent todays music , news etc. There are some themed towards RP and fit the game, well others offer club music and techno which are often used in many in game dance parties and club locations. (there really is some interesting player setups for clubs, some not kid friendly lol)
Graphics:
Over all the game has pretty good graphics for some parts, well other areas are very dated (Main Map). Details on gear and things in the world are pretty good compared to some games out there. Character design I think needs a lot more work as there is very limited options. I do know that this year (speculation based on Chapter 2 information) elves will become a playable race which will offer another option for playability/design. The Unity engine is constantly being upgraded every few months which has brought in a lot of optimizations and FPS which 6 months ago would make you cry have now improved to what is standard for most games these days. Animations still need some work and are not as fluid as some of todays newer games but it still does the job allowing for real-time combat (depending on your class). They have been making changes over the last 4 months to various spell effects and animations in order to bring better visuals which have been huge upgrades. The new Scenes(Zones) replaced older cloned/copied instances look very well done compared to earlier. Art style is a mix not as vibrant as many Overseas games which more reflects the tone of series like Elder scrolls etc. you either are in favor of the look or not. Myself I like more realistic environments.
Sound/Music:
The game has improved a lot for sound quality over the last 5 months. They added a new sound engineer to the group which has replaced a lot of terrible stuff like the creepy crying woman... haha for those that have played a while back all know too well. Over all the improvements have been really well done. Music in game (non avatar radio) has not changed much. Its all themed towards instruments that existed in the time period. As to Avatar radio and broadcast systems in the game (actual in game headphones / radios) they almost all represent todays music , news etc. There are some themed towards RP and fit the game, well others offer club music and techno which are often used in many in game dance parties and club locations. (there really is some interesting player setups for clubs, some not kid friendly lol)
Comments
Combat:
Combat is abit hit and miss. There are a few ways to use your skill bar, and combat decks (card system) from traditional 1 skill per 1-0 key, or a deck build where one key has a preset of cards that randomly draw on that key every x seconds. There are also complete random where no preset is set and all available cards random on the non preset key. the combat itself can be done two ways, old school tab target or reticle targeting. If you like a more realtime combat using the crosshair option is best, well old school tab target has not changed from how it was. there is also ground target abilities where on click you target an area. Some other things that are different is charged abilities. Charged abilities when used in traditional locked deck allow you to hold a number key down to charge up your spell. The number of chargers is based on your skill level of the spell/action. If you have a deck setup per key with multiple keys with same card (example thrust attack) and during the random flipping more then one of the same card comes up you can stack them which does the same as the charged. you can either drag the card over another, or hit R key and click each number to stack (more controlled method), or you can really quickly click both numbers in sequence to stack. There is also Combo abilities which works on the same premise which is only available to people that use unlocked (deck stacked keys). If you are traditional one action/spell per number key you are out of luck on combos. Combos are specific abilities that when stacked (combined on top of each other) open up a new ability. Example Thrust and Flamefist make Flaming thrust.
As you can see the overall combat mechanics is complicated and I think there is where combat is a miss. It works but distracts too much from what is going on as you stare a lot more at your options well combating. Myself I use an MMO mouse (one with numeric numbers on the thumb side) this has cut down a lot of looking for me and after getting use to the mechanics I almost never have to look much at my bar. soon as I see two items I use the quick click to combine them which only requires a very fast glance at my skills. Each skill has a different symbol as well colors to represent the spell type so learning the options is pretty easy. I would like to see a better system at some point where using two skills one after another creates a new affect so that it feels more fluid. you either like or hate the system, or like me learn it and live with it. I do know they are working on Ui changes over the next few patches so never know what they will offer.
Game play:
Over all there is a lot to do from an open world concept, well at the same time not enough to do from quest side of things. This is where I think they need the most improvement. They have been adding a lot of quests every patch which is nice but... I feel that with the game released that they should have had a lot more out and more zoned completed with quests rather then zones that are all pretty with just mobs to kill and no real meaning. I know they have long term plans for each zone and are adding in new system like treasure hunting etc which will offer more meanings but as a seasoned player in the game I am spinning tires waiting well gaining levels further putting the quests further behind. I do know they are starting to address new adventure zones for groups as well new tiers of zone up to level 10 vs the level 5 which it was capped before. This will offer some new challenges but the game still needs the content to make one have a reason to want to go to the zones or like many you will just end up farming a few areas for xp etc which out the desire to explorer further.
If you are into housing that is a whole other large part of the game. Want to play sim's or design / decorate your own space then this game has a lot for you. Almost every drop in the game can be used to decorate your house. House have been considered end game as they take a while to get unless you want to spend money to buy them on the game store. But good news next patch they are giving a no drop starter home to all players on complete of the ep.1 main quest which is what this game really needed long ago imo, but I am happy they have done it as it opens up everything to all and a great reward to those who complete the story.
The main Quest line is very well done. The story is pretty good. Back when I did it there was many bugs and issues as well little supporting back story, well now there is a lot of sub quests and more story information for new players as well zones to explain what is going on. Wish that I was not so level heavy now as Id love to be able to redo all that as a low level now. The few people in game that I have interviewed that have recently started really like the game at those levels which is good compared to most us seasoned who had really nothing to do at that level other then die and kill skeletons and bandits lol. Progression is a lot smoother with all the side quests along the story paths it fills out much better. there is also special armor sets now that you can gain along the way which is virtue based so the stats reflect your choices. This is good for new players bad for us that have been here a while. Why is it bad? simple the choices we made back before all this content was in has made some of our armor pretty crappy for use to use. Example myself as a Mage I really need int, well because virtue meant nothing in the past based on our choices early on most us just wanted a cool black shroud from for being chaotic... well now all my virtue gear has negative int because I didn't follow the path of truth.... so I have kind of screwed myself from taking advantage of all the virtue gear. Will probably take me a while to get my alignment back in order which I guess is another thing to do at least. This was one of the complaints people made a while back that choices good or evil meant nothing in game... well now the system is in place and we have to live with what we have done. Even quests / NPC's now reflect your choices... some wont talk to you any more because you killed someone or the likes. If only I had a reset to start all that over again... maybe one day.
Over all as I stated the game is coming along, but slowly. Give it another 6 months and I think things will be where it should have been at launch. If you are a new player I think you will have a better experience then a lot of us old players had. Myself I will keep playing as well supporting this game as I do think it is headed to be a UO successor with what is planned.... as long as it gets there and does not take too long. I think the Devs are starting to see that they need more focus and to get these things fixed and put in. Even the twitch streams are becoming more serious and seem to be heading more into positive things that need to happen which is great.
they still have a long way to go, but with the supporters it seems we have not given up yet as they continue to get the funding every month to keep adding and growing the game. Look forward to see where this all goes.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
And yes, having started an Alt recently, the new player experience is MUCH better and more fun than it used to be.
It's still challenging, if you don't know your way around, to know what direction to head next. I think that's a big hangup, there is a lot of freedom, but that can lead someone with only a few hours in, or just having finished the first Outskirts, totally lost. There is in game direction, "Go to this town", but it can be easily overlooked. I have ran into more than one new player who just doesn't know their next step.
But that freedom is a good thing. There isn't one "next step", there are a huge number of possible "next steps". It can be overwhelming though.
Yes you can delete your character however not sure what would happen to any rewards you get if you do. I do know that they offer for cash extra character slots now. Your characters all share the same virtue, and bank / everything access. I know if a person has been playing for a while they get one free character quest reset (sadly I used mine a while back too soon...)
Well I did one a while back and was nailed for my view as a backer / supporter. I still support this game and see there is always more that needs to be improved. Over all it does offer a lot, and will always be getting better. The developers do listen to people who ask every month in the QA. If things make sense and you can show them why something needs to change they will look at it and at least let you know yes or no and why they would not make that change. This is the first game I have seen in a long time that the developers interact a lot with the players both new and old (not just the whales as some put it).
It for sure has come a long long way... haha back when I first helped kickstart we only had replicated instances and pretty much only 2 types of mobs to fight. now its growing huge every patch
UI changes are the next big changes coming as people have been asking for that a long time. From what I understand all the stuff we have been asking for is in the queue , but prioritized. they wanted to get core systems in place and fixes for a lot before they moved onto things like UI and some of the player demands
This is one thing that I think people have a hard time adjusting with. A lot of the mmo's out there are all quest hub to quest hub with the story holding your hand all the way through. This does have a little of that with some of the quests but its all over the map and not just a single path.
It is nice though for some having that open freedom, but for those that like to just do quest after quest it can be frustrating to find what next. Having to go NPC to NPC, town to town talking vs the ! over heads does change the dynamics people have gotten use too that is for sure.
Over all most that are playing that I have talked to that have just started are really enjoying. I was also surprised that a lot are new to MMO's and there are so many new players that came from UO.
this last week a CZech republic guild just came into the town I am in. They all just moved over which was neat to watch them all place down 3 lots and build a section in town all working together sharing their resources.
PS. if you ever want a place in Silverdale let me know!