Initial impressions/Feedback
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Thanks Hellz. I believe it would be useful to update it with the class changes we have in the Player Resources Forum, namely the fighter/monk kits.
Sticking the blurb Puffies has put up in Player Resources on post-wipe Arabel would be handy too!
Good deal.
Game mechanics changes are being worked on right now. Going to be a long one, a lot of the stuff either isn't there at all or horribly outdated.
I never realized until now how many spell changes CoA has until I started transcribing them all to the wiki properly. Seeing as how right now this is a one-man operation and it's been about four years since I've done wiki formatting, it might take a while to get this to a suitable level of done-ness.
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The map looks good, but the conversations with many of the quest givers seems incomplete, or not helpful at all, that is, on the quests that function properly (as of this post).
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I want to experience the economy. Everything else I've seen, the few of it, looks on point.
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Loving the general feel of the server at the moment, it feels dangerous though I think that might have something to do with players DNAing all over the ruined districts. But this is all due to how things have been set up. The econemy is somewhat confusing to me, things like fullplate are impossible to get at the moment and you are seeing people selling greatswords +1, I guess this will even itself out in time and when the crafters are established.
I know there are alot of bugs, convo dialogue and other things that need changing but this is a transitional period and should get fixed soonish I would guess so it isnt a problem.
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Greatswords +1? wtf? where?
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players DNAing all over the ruined districts.
Have heard this term several times lately but have no idea what it means. Can someone clue me in?
~signed, clueless in Arabel
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DNA = Do not afraid. In this case it means that there are intense rivalries brewing in the ruined arabel district.
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Shops do seem overcrowded, but that's not my main issue.
I would really love to see shopkeepers from the old version not just shuffled around but more or less overhauled, to show that ten years have passed and Arabel hit its harder times. Would also be great to see some completely new faces.
Did that make sense?Also, newbie area (which now is Maleen's tower, right?) needs more commodities, like cheap potion vendor.
a way to fix both is to update the merchants and send a few of them over to maleen tower, seeing as that is now the hub, and there is alot of room, especially that back wall behind the sender.. nothing there?
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Well… Lets see then. My initial feeling of the new server is good. I like the setting wise changes. I like living in a post rich setting. So overall, nicely done mates!
Now, to the bad or less good. I find HUGE inconsistencies in how the server operates atm. Half the quests are lowered pay wise, the rest pay as they use to. Gold droppings are the same more or less as it use to be. The Loot level baffles me however. I never believed personally that in order to succeed we needed to copy the VERY low magic lvl of EFU and similar servers.
But if it is supposed to be this way. Then why not lower everything? Half the shops (Ranger + Bard) remain the same, most other shops are similar, except for the no full plate idea.
However, all the quests are still the same, challenge wise. So the dangers are the same, yet with the greatly reduced loot and magic level, the server becomes freakiskly dangerous.
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Not related to the above post, but generally:-
It's important to remember we're still pushing and pulling atm. There's stuff we're still getting to, and bugs that need to be fixed.
It might be that you're right on the money about balance, but if you have specific examples, something in suggestions would be really good to have.
DMs don't have time to form quest parties and go through every one there is personally, so player feedback is crucial here.
However, there's a slight issue about loot levels I want to address. As Zool as stated many times, it's not that we want to see only mundane gear around, we want a progression in loot levels. We don't want people decked out in the best loot available to their class a few days after they create the character, but to get there after finding progressively more powerful loot. It's really no different from how (usually) things are done in PnP and single player RPGs. You get stronger stuff as you go further into the game.
We don't want quests to become inviable, but we also don't want things to be as easy as they used to be in v4. (I'm sure players may disagree about what they consider "easy", but after seeing dozens of parties go though a huge number of quests, the average is that yes, in v4, stuff was pretty easy.)
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It's only the low level quests I even got to with regards changing the rewards too.
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GREAT
- Economy is much more challenging for low levels, making it actually feel like ICly only the most exceptional people actually make the 'cut' of becoming a successful adventurer.
- Merchants are consolidated, so less time wasted running around looking for the right consumables.
- A more Chaotic setting which seems a lot more open to player intiatives.
- Very few NPC guards.
- Being exiled is no longer an OOC-death-by-boredom sentence, since New Arabel is only a single map.
- Sewers is one big map full of hidden passages and shortcuts
COULD USE WORK
- Gold gain is largely exponential instead of linear, making the transition between "Damn it, did I even turn a profit?" and "Alright, gold is easy" very, very brisk.
- Small, well organized parties (2-3 people) turn out a huge profit on quests when compared to larger ones (5+), in terms of XP, gold and loot, even taking into account the fact that you sparsely need to use consumables in a large party.
- Only transition to Immersea is through New Arabel. (Not sure if true)
- No quests in Immersea! So want Sahuagin and Treasure Map back! :'(
- I really wish gems and multiple socket items were more common drop. There's so many crappy gems that it /severely/ decreases the chances of ever finding a decent one on the rare times that a gem does drop.
- Saw two +1 weapons being sold in shops.
- Don't think that level 7's should be able to do any quests without leaving the confines of New Arabel.
I'll add more as I play more.
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I love everything done save the gold reward nerfing on quests that are consumable hogs.
my only issue is for dms eyes only and not forum fodder so ill send it in that fashion.
but great change and we will get all the bugs
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That's some good feedback, JaggedSoul. We'll definitely be looking into all of that.
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Don't think that level 7's should be able to do any quests without leaving the confines of New Arabel.
I like that too, actually.
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We already have level 7s?
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I imagine that we will within 30 hours.
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I don't see the lower gold drops at lower levels that much of an issue, it takes a little longer now than it did, but we're only a or so in and pcs seem pretty well equipped. By no means is it the standards of v3 were it took ages to get decent loot
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After being able to spend a few hours playing yesterday and only seeing a few areas, my grievances are more aesthetic than mechanical/economical atm.
The areas of the vast swamps and maliirs march are…"too square".
What I mean? No ambush/choke points and the swamps seems to be more or less a quest hub than dangerous or seemingly dangerous area. Add a bit more nooks and crannies in the middle, vision obscuring hills, the "trees that don't lag"...Maliirs march leading to legion castle was one of the best places to pvp and pve in the game. This new snow capped mountain iteration lacks the surprise of the former.
The new helm lands are amazing...but...ah man there are some insane creatures there. lol. Past that, the area needs githyankis or other forms of teleporting monsters...and if you happen to ever go there with a bow and a brain you will see why.
Hope you guys take these things into account and it raises the murder rate. :]
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Vast Swamps? They aint no more, if you are speaking of the King's Swamp. There is more to it than meets the eye! (But spawns will be added soon)