Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Thou hast been invited to the Release 14 Postmortem!
A special thank you to redfish for the R14 screenshot!
Yes, we know that Release 14 is still alive and kicking, but it’s become a tradition for our team to review each release and celebrate it’s successes, while reflecting on what still needs to be improved! So, please join us Wednesday, February 11th at 3pm CDT for our next Hangout of the Avatar! Richard, Starr, and Chris will be chatting about Release 14, recounting their favorite moments while also looking ahead to Release 15. And as usual, I’ll be taking your questions and feedback live in the chat-room and also in advance right here in the comments section.*
*Please keep in mind that questions and feedback related to Release specific topics will be given priority and really verbose questions may be skipped, as they can be a challenge to shorten and summarize live on the air. In brief… please keep your questions… brief.
And this just in! We will be giving some really awesome prizes during the 90 minute extended Hangout, and all you have to do to qualify for one is to come hang out with us in the IRC chatroom during the broadcast. See ya then!
R15 should have stealth. What can you tell us about how stealth works, and how other players can foil the attempts of the stealthy?
I did enjoy the Banking system, Only problem was I couldn’t find a City lot for my House
Due to work, I also have never been able to try out the city lots for my housing. Hopefully sometime I’ll get to play around with it. I haven’t really been too into playing around with the same village and town lots I’ve messed with in the past.
Ya, I couldn’t find any lots Town or City that were open, even tho i’ve seen a few with nothing on the lot or just a house with nothing inside; Like just placed the house there and not gonna do anything state it’s there’s.
I’m sorry that just jumped out at me! I always thought it was Thou.
Anyways…
What is the state of resources (as far as quantity and re-spawn rate)? Is it where you want it to be? What can we expect basic items to cost us as far as raw resources, and also more complex recipes? Will the quantity of resource nodes per scene increase in the future? If not, will this be compensated by adding more scenes with more resource nodes in them as well? What is expected to be the final raw ore cost of a simple dagger versus a plate chest piece? Is the current cost an accurate reflection of the permanent system or will it change?
How accessible will the Novia map be in R15? Will housing be available on it?
Very good release and enjoyable, I know this is all being worked but a few things I’ve taken away from this release.
Cost of repair is to high and perhaps it’s just me but I would prefer a repair kit to repair the item instead of just a small part of the item. I wonder how others feel about this.
Loved the banking system and how each towns bank remembers the items you placed at that bank.
As Bloodomen stated I had same problem no City lots to place my home, now pledge rewards are in would be great to see more city / town lots.
Combat still feels a bit clumsy and enemy AI still needs work. I might be doing something wrong but I feel like I burn through focus so quick and then left to circle strafe the enemy using auto attack and the odd ability as focus recharges. I do love the card system but as I’m only testing I just went with a locked deck this release.
The build felt very stable this release very few bugs encountered and visually the game is looking better.
Perhaps I’m just spoiled since playing dragon age inquisition but the zones feel small and lack interesting content / things to do.
I’m finding the random instances when traveling the world map annoying, there is generally just a few things to kill and I tend to simply avoid them and run out of the zone and keep on with my travels. I’m sure these will be improved as time goes on but until they are I think I would prefer it turned off for now.
Keep up the great work and looking forward to R15.
QUESTION:
First: thank you to the entire team for everything.
How soon can we expect to see this connection between Underworld and Shroud of the Avatar? Even if it’s just small references here and there. Or even some detailed fiction?
Lovely screenshot but we need a screenie of Kazyen addressing the metronomes follwing Amber’s service
Release Specific (At least picture) Question: Decorations and such are mostly now pledge items. How will future decorations be added to the game? For example – in the picture above – not enough Chaos Decor. Will we be seeing a giant Chaos Star as we have with the giant Ankh? Or any other “darker” decorations?
2) Now that we are able to craft these amazing items, with great stats. Are there any thoughts on giving us the ability to link these items in chat so we can show them after they have been made? – perhaps a drag item (or CTRL click) to chat box and it shows the name of the item, which upon clicking opens a box with the stats? Perhaps just simply the stats without the link? (would be great for merchants and craftsmen alike)
Very short question. Will there be a wipe done for R15?
I just came on board with this release, and I must say I’m very happy with the game’s current atmosphere and pace. Too many MMOs nowadays seem like a race to max level, giving the player little reason to stay in an area once all of the golden exclamation points are gone. One of my favorite aspects of UO was that the town I started in was the town I “lived” in the entire time I played that game. My friends and I were fiercely loyal to Trinsic, and dedicated ourselves to defending it from murderers, thieves, and monster attacks. While SOTA obviously has a story that guides the player forward, I never felt like I was rushing through content just to get to end game.
Anyways, on to my Question:
I am interested to know what the plan is for archery. Currently, making an archer seems difficult at early levels due to how expensive arrows are v/s how quickly an archer goes through them in a fight. I’m concerned because so many MMOs get archers wrong–that is, simply a fighter who attacks from range. Obviously, there is no single way to get archers “right, as it depends on the role they need to fill in the game.
That’s the meat of my question, the rest of this post is just expanding on the ideas of an Archer…
UO got archers right, in my opinion, because they played a legitimate role in the game’s meta. Their attacks were slow, but damaging. Arrows took up a good chunk of inventory space (in weight) if you wanted to carry enough to last a whole dungeon run. In order to keep up a decent attack speed, they couldn’t wear the heaviest of armor. They could kite, but had to stand still while actually firing, giving enemies enough time to close the distance.
Another game that got archers right was Age of Conan, though they were called Rangers. Rogues could focus on ranged combat, making them deadly and powerful fighters while sacrificing their stealthier aspects. They didn’t have ammo, but that was necessary because of how quickly they attacked in that game. In PVE situations, Rangers could draw a mob and kill one or two baddies before they closed the distance. My only criticism was that their system didn’t encourage kiting, so Rangers basically stood there and face-tanked while shooting arrows.
Conversely, the closest thing WoW had to archers (when I played it back in vanilla days), was Hunters. This class was as much of a pet class as it was a ranged class, and while it is cool to have the option of pets, I think it failed as a true “archer” class because of that. I tried to make a Hunter that didn’t use pets, and it was a horrible experience.
I hope that SOTA gets archers right in the end, because that has always been my preferred role in MMOs.
Question:
In the Lord and Lord Marshal Pledge Tiers, Is there a possibility to have the Lady and Lady Marshal as choices for females/those playing female avatars?
Question: Are there any plans for a Veteran Reward system or Birthday Reward System per year played?
There is a big debate going on about the respawns in the game and I hope that you could clarify this.
How will respawns of enemies be handled in the different game modes?
As respawns are a neccessity for an MMO, they are pointless in single player mode and even destroy any sense of achieving something in the world as well as the believability of the world.
The wolf pack leader respawns over and over again and the hunter who gave us the quests thanks us for having vanquished this threat although the wolf pack and it’s leader is still around because they are respawning… Will we be able to kill quest-related monsters once and for all – at least in single player mode?
What about regular monster? Will we be able to clear an area of enemies? For example clear the bandit camp of bandits or will they always reappear?
When will they reappear? Will it be time-based or will it be after we leave a scene or will it be even so that other creatures move into the scene? For example a band of dark elves moving into the scene, discovering the camp of the defeated bandits and using this as their new base so that it will be exciting and varied every time we enter a scene?
Generally what are the respawn plans of regualr enemies and quest-related enemies for the different game modes and how will this serve the sense of achieving something in the game?
In regards to the banking limits proposed R15:
It seems odd that a player has consider deleting items purchased with real cash in order to make space in the bank. In a rush, these items could be deleted by accident. Would if possible if Add-on store items and pledge rewards would not count toward the banking space quota, perhaps in a separate tab altogether?
Houses will have item storage capabilities like chests. Well those have limits? And will larger lots or houses be able to hold proportionally more items?
When can we expect fishing to work?
How about we make it so pledge items and addon store items were placed in a separate bank tab, with infinite storage (people can take the rewards OUT of this tab, but can’t put them back in), and then pledge tiers will have no bearing at all upon the amount of bank slots we need to start with.
So, make a bank tab for pledge rewards and addon store purchases – call this tab REWARDS tab – and the contents of this tab do not count towards bank item limit (this tab has unlimited storage as it only holds rewards until they are removed from the tab, and they cannot be put back into this tab). Then give everyone the same number of regular bank slots to start with. I suggest at least 100 slots.
If they made it so there was a REWARDS tab that held all pledge items and addon store items until we picked them up, so that pledge tiers were not a reason to have starting bank space increased, then I also wouldn’t mind how much bank space we all started with. So while it isn’t a concern for any of us with house space, for the new people to game it will be. Remember housing is supposed to be a “rare” thing, so there will be a lot of new people struggling a great deal at the start, and they would need much more than 20 to start with, so I would suggest all people start with at least 100 slots (though I would like to give everyone more like 200-300 slots to start with, to make everyone feel good about their starting position in the game world). The number matters less if the cost in game currency or in real currency is not too prohibitive – the main point is that we all start on equal footing in this game when it comes to non-fluff items.
There would be no need to treat addon store items and pledge items as a different kind of thing from any other items if we instead use the REWARDS bank tab simply as a delivery system from the server. In this system items are sent by the server directly to this tab, which you access through the bank NPC.
The tab is effectively a mailbox, and only official mail goes to it (addon store items and pledge items), so every time a player buys something from the addon store, or upgrades his pledge and gains more pledge rewards, it will go into this tab (which is effectively a mailbox, so things are just taken out, same way you send a message or item to a player in any other game).
That way we can still start everyone off with equal bank slot amounts, and there is no issue with pledge items or addon store items not having a slot to go to, at any time (both at game start and later in game when people have filled their bank tabs yet still wish to buy something from the addon store).
An awesome release, thanks! There is a lot of disquiet about the crafting system – recipes not working, molds and ingredients missing, quantities and prices seem really inappropriate.
Could you reassure the community that it is a work in progress, and balance will be achieved. I know you guys listen and I have faith that the end result will be amazing.
Question to Fees for Housing:
Is the Fees charged for Lots the same everywhere, or will the Fees be depending on the location of your House . Fees for Houses in a NPC Town different then Player RUN Towns different to Player OWNED Towns
Can a Player Town Owner influence the Fees.
I really enjoy the random deck system; however, I find it difficult to preform the combos, move around actively and find the right key sequence on the physical keyboard all at the same time. Are there still improvements coming for this system?
Probably a question for Stephen Daniele :
I made a map R14, which was a bit of fun. I’m wondering what the graphic map style will be for future releases as there are currently two very different styles – the in-game sepia/parchment style and the Novia blue/green style.
Will both styles continue?
When can we get two factor authentication for our SOTA accounts?
Can we get a deep dive scheduled entirely on KS goals; where we’re at, what’s ahead, and what the challenges are?
Are Q&A sessions coming back to the forums?
Are there marketing plans to flip revenue goals around such that the majority of backers without pledge houses represent the majority of pledge revenue?
Are you expecting pledge distribution to change significantly once E1 is released?
Do today’s pledge revenue distribution numbers provide any insight into how crowd funding for E2 will be done?
A lot of players on the forums are asking what the deal is with the chihuahua barks for the wolves. Is that a recording of Chris’ dog?
I fear many people – especially new players – don’t know what to expect from Shroud of the Avatar. Therefore maybe it would be good to create a video in which it is explained what SotA is. How will the game play in the different modes? What about features that are unique to different modes (respawns in SP and OPO, player or NPC economy in SP and OPO, repeatable quests, creature ecology etc.)?
I think many people hope that SotA will play like Ultima 7 in SP mode and like UO in OPO mode. But is this really the case? I think a video to really explain how SotA will play would be good – especially if it is attached to the Steam Early Access version.
Any plans for a fix for the empty recipe book?
Did stop playing R14 as I mised the fun of crafting (no decorations or self made armor/weapons).
Maybe you could add some higher tier lots to R15; R14 was very limited (got lucky though..).
Will there be a wipe for R15?
Any new add-ons (tools, crafting stations, bank slots, house decorations, basements)?
Looks like you don’t want us to pledge more money.
Plans for autogenerated maps while exploring (dungeons)?
Got lost in Dragon Cave quite some times.
Any plans to reduce encumbrance?
I still think its too low even after putting almost all skill pints into strength….
High encumbrance might not be realistic, but magic isn’t either….
Update: with patch #215 my recipe book still is empty
If bank slots are going to be reduced are you going to bump the amount of lots that are available space in this game is what makes you?
second i understand that its a choice not to spend money in the market place but not every one can afford to spend hundreds at one time is there going to be any other houses a person who cant afford to buy one with real cash can purchase with in game gold i was lucky to get a village lot this time as was not many available to just see that there was only one village house or row house
if the recipe book could be fixed i agree that would be great with so little in the game thats a huge thing not to have working.
also just a suggestion adding optional mini map would be cool
i was just about to say ty for fixing the recipe book but just got on and it still blank space where there should be recipes.
Will we be able to steal from other players?
QUESTION: Player Vendors: With the limited housing that will be in Episode 1, I would say that that over half of the games population will not have a house. With the local economy and market, what is plan for players without housing to have a vendor? Will they rent spots from existing players lots? Will players be limited on the number of vendors on a property, perhaps based upon lot size?
QUESTION: R15 Novia Map: Will we be able to walk around the entire Novia Map or only parts of it, and will we be confined by the mountain ranges and control points? Is the plan now to move the Lunar Gate destinations from the gate to the Novia Map where they belong?
1) R14 removed from vendor inventory the items sold by players, and deeply changed many recipes.
This pushed crafting on the far end of the soul crushing grind scale, even to build basic objects and equipment.
There are plans to revert this state of things in R15, for both aspects?
2) Will ghosts be nerfed a bit? At least the rate at which they cast that damn infinite-range death touch spell?
3) You will revert the “three lots per account” insanity, and actually give everyone a fair chance to rush for some lots? Or at least triple the available lots? That would work, too!
TIA.
with ingame economy being a hot topic right now, how do you foresee player vendors and NPC vendors contributing to the economic models being discussed on the forums, will we have rewards for our contribution in other than monetary ways.
Lord British completely ignored me in-game when I said Hi in-game the other day! *g*
Point: Many players are oblivious to chat while ‘doing stuff’. What methods could be used to improve spacial awareness.
Will people in SPO mode be required to accept PVP or be locked out of Shardfalls and other pvp areas?
So, did Chris just say that sword and shield and plate will not be sufficient? I’ll have to learn magic?
I’m not a fan of that either. I think no magic should be encouraged and completely viable.
Giving away prizes to people in IRC is not fair for those of us that have to work until 5pm CST.