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Embers Adrift

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Impressions after buying and playing all weekend

Hiya @Superbitsandbob thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave feedback & make some videos about us! I'll try to comment on some of your points below.
Thanks!

I'll check the shadow option at the weekend. One thing I have noticed is that the game draws on my GPU (3090) more than any other at the moment power wise, even over something like Star Citizen. It's certainly the hottest the card gets. :)
 
Thanks!

I'll check the shadow option at the weekend. One thing I have noticed is that the game draws on my GPU (3090) more than any other at the moment power wise, even over something like Star Citizen. It's certainly the hottest the card gets. :)
/salute UEE Citizen #231323, upgraded to a CPU liquid cooler when alpha testing (inactive at the moment)


Embers looks much better in general even without shadows + having shadows off can greatly improve vision at night (ground contact is ok). I suggested to others that, while scenic, turn down grass details/distance as well. Helps you spot resources if nothing else. I need to check if its okay to run clouds back on max settings, there was an issue with the new skybox that was promptly fixed last night and I had turned them down to help.

There is this weird thing I'm trying to figure out (others noticed it too) when you load up a scene, whether its character select or changing zones, the game seems to start the skybox in a certain position and then very rapidly rotates it to match the correct time resulting in cycling through a dark fade and bright flash, just a bit disorienting. That's my theory anyway.
 
Thanks!

I'll check the shadow option at the weekend. One thing I have noticed is that the game draws on my GPU (3090) more than any other at the moment power wise, even over something like Star Citizen. It's certainly the hottest the card gets. :)
Are you using the framerate limiter? I recommend the 30 or 60fps option. V-Sync will attempt to limit rendering to the refresh rate of your monitor, so if you have a high refresh rate monitor this is basically the same as unlimited. Basically when not limited the client will attempt to render as many frames as possible per second, eating as much of your gpu as it can.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciated the video form feedback too, something to listen to while walking my dog :)

I feel like the Chevron feedback stems partly from some confusion around the system. It does not represent a higher level enemy. It represents a higher Challenge Rating enemy (to borrow a term from tabletop). Higher Challenge Rating represents greater danger and greater rewards. With single pulls you could potentially solo a camp of 1 chevron mobs, we do support this, although we prefer to allow 1 chevrons to free-roam as the "danger" of the open world, which can pose risks to individual players but rarely to a group. This comes a lot from the desire to support, but not encourage solo play as to reinforce how the game is most enjoyable (in a group).

I'm torn about the EQ comments because I understand maybe for some segment of classes this was true, with 6+ minutes of downtime sometimes between pulls but for many solo was not even possible, nevermind killing anything that would give you any loot of substance. So coloring EQ being so solo-friendly when that was the exception rather than the rule seems disingenuous. But yes, technically true in select cases you could farm AC as a druid or maybe some spots in LGuk as a Necro, so we do lack that option of forcing you down a specific class path to play solo, but we preferred to allow all to solo. And I find the chevron system to accommodate this perfectly as well as giving interesting target priority during combat allowing for different challenge rating mobs to mix together to give lots of encounter variance.

I will say that after watching the entirety of your video I do agree that solo content is very sparse and there's no real content designed for solo play to keep people engaged and excited for that. Some of this revolves around the lack of resources we have, and choosing to focus on making the group content fun and engaging. But the point is not lost on me, if you are stuck as solo what interesting and fun content do you engage with to keep playing when no one else is around? I think we can address these concerns within the chevron system rather than throw it away.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciated the video form feedback too, something to listen to while walking my dog :)

I feel like the Chevron feedback stems partly from some confusion around the system. It does not represent a higher level enemy. It represents a higher Challenge Rating enemy (to borrow a term from tabletop). Higher Challenge Rating represents greater danger and greater rewards. With single pulls you could potentially solo a camp of 1 chevron mobs, we do support this, although we prefer to allow 1 chevrons to free-roam as the "danger" of the open world, which can pose risks to individual players but rarely to a group. This comes a lot from the desire to support, but not encourage solo play as to reinforce how the game is most enjoyable (in a group).

I'm torn about the EQ comments because I understand maybe for some segment of classes this was true, with 6+ minutes of downtime sometimes between pulls but for many solo was not even possible, nevermind killing anything that would give you any loot of substance. So coloring EQ being so solo-friendly when that was the exception rather than the rule seems disingenuous. But yes, technically true in select cases you could farm AC as a druid or maybe some spots in LGuk as a Necro, so we do lack that option of forcing you down a specific class path to play solo, but we preferred to allow all to solo. And I find the chevron system to accommodate this perfectly as well as giving interesting target priority during combat allowing for different challenge rating mobs to mix together to give lots of encounter variance.

I will say that after watching the entirety of your video I do agree that solo content is very sparse and there's no real content designed for solo play to keep people engaged and excited for that. Some of this revolves around the lack of resources we have, and choosing to focus on making the group content fun and engaging. But the point is not lost on me, if you are stuck as solo what interesting and fun content do you engage with to keep playing when no one else is around? I think we can address these concerns within the chevron system rather than throw it away.
I definitely appreciated the chevron system more in a group setting as it made me think about target priority. As you say later though it does create a lack of engaging content when lacking a group. It wasn't that I couldn't find anything to make progress on solo, more that I was passing up all of the interesting camps I found due to the chevron system. Maybe just some more 1^ only camps spread around each zone.

Maybe I misspoke but I agree with regards to EQ. I find the downtime in a much nicer spot in EA for all classes and for many classes solo was very tough in EQ. I think the difference with EQ is that even as a melee or tank, you could eventually level enough to return to some camps and camp an item for example. I guess this was partly due to the fact that some low level items were useful all the way to 50-60 so it was worth it but also that later on the game gave those non solo classes some tools in the form of clickies and proc weapons to make up for the lack of versatility early on. Some of this was also due to twinking melee and tank alts of course which I am all for. BOP and BOE are all well and good for some raid type items but I like the RP aspect of handing down a well used item. Not sure if you have a definite stance on BOP and BOE yet.

When running Veins we were over levelled but still found the 2 & 3 ^ tough. By design as you say and maybe at a certain level point someone could return on their own to camp an interesting item.

It's good to hear it is something you are chewing over. I think before someone tries the game being aware of its group focus is most important, but I have been told by a lot of players on the channel over the years that they just moved on from MMO's when there was a lack of options available for them to do when they only had an hour to kill or if there were no groups.
 
Yea, you can return and solo 3^ mobs eventually, maybe not until they are good and grey and even then getting overwhelmed by adds is still a danger. I bet like Warlord could possible do OK in this scenario when overleveled (CC in case of trouble, self-healing, fairly effecient abilities regarding stam usage, etc.). Maybe more like a high level coming back to Oasis and giving Lockjaw some come-uppance.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciated the video form feedback too, something to listen to while walking my dog :)

I feel like the Chevron feedback stems partly from some confusion around the system. It does not represent a higher level enemy. It represents a higher Challenge Rating enemy (to borrow a term from tabletop). Higher Challenge Rating represents greater danger and greater rewards. With single pulls you could potentially solo a camp of 1 chevron mobs, we do support this, although we prefer to allow 1 chevrons to free-roam as the "danger" of the open world, which can pose risks to individual players but rarely to a group. This comes a lot from the desire to support, but not encourage solo play as to reinforce how the game is most enjoyable (in a group).

I'm torn about the EQ comments because I understand maybe for some segment of classes this was true, with 6+ minutes of downtime sometimes between pulls but for many solo was not even possible, nevermind killing anything that would give you any loot of substance. So coloring EQ being so solo-friendly when that was the exception rather than the rule seems disingenuous. But yes, technically true in select cases you could farm AC as a druid or maybe some spots in LGuk as a Necro, so we do lack that option of forcing you down a specific class path to play solo, but we preferred to allow all to solo. And I find the chevron system to accommodate this perfectly as well as giving interesting target priority during combat allowing for different challenge rating mobs to mix together to give lots of encounter variance.

I will say that after watching the entirety of your video I do agree that solo content is very sparse and there's no real content designed for solo play to keep people engaged and excited for that. Some of this revolves around the lack of resources we have, and choosing to focus on making the group content fun and engaging. But the point is not lost on me, if you are stuck as solo what interesting and fun content do you engage with to keep playing when no one else is around? I think we can address these concerns within the chevron system rather than throw it away.
How about repurposing some unused camps as an idea so you are not having to create new content?

I am currently in Meadow and there are a lot of crocodiles and all seem to be 2 & 3. I don't know the data but at an estimated peak time would you require so many 2 & 3 tier croc camps for groups. Maybe changing a couple of those croc groups to 1^? Same goes for the quill camps. Are many groups going to go out of their way to kill a camp of group level quills at the same time?

Just an idea that repurposing camps can instantly give you some more content for those out of group moments.
 
How about repurposing some unused camps as an idea so you are not having to create new content?

Unused is relative and not easy to discern. After wipes camps might be overflowing with groups with a lot of feedback about needing more group content. Maybe no one hunts crocodiles. But they are there to fill a need, there's actually very little level overlap of chevron content types of specific levels. But I do agree to the point holistically there could very well be 1^ spawns of quillbacks or crocs that are a subset of those areas (I cannot change the entire areas otherwise group progression will have level gaps), its plausible, and probably a step better than roaming the zone hunting 1^s but I feel like its still a hollow experience and not "good" content, but its something and sets us up better for adding that content later. I'll check on the per-level per-^ breakdown and see if we are overextending group content anywhere that can be repurposed. Not sure when that will be though, so don't hold your breath :)
 
Yeah I have brought up the solo viability of this game earlier. They made some changes to help in this, but there is still more work to do IMO. So many 2^ & 3^ mobs in all the solo areas where players are roaming and trying to farm materials. In the open wandering areas of the world these need to be replaced with 1^ mobs with the rare occasional 2^ or 3^. I feel like the open world should mostly be 1^ mobs of various levels, and 2^ and 3^ should be put into camps, strongholds or dungeons, with occasional exceptions.

The other problem is only classes with CC or runspeed can even solo or farm materials in this game currently. If a 2^ gets on you and you don't have CC or Runspeed you pretty much jacked until you find a guard or get to the zone instance. This basically makes solo or farming with all but 4 classes painful. I love grouping, I pretty much group all the time, but sometimes I want to solo farm, but without the right class that's pretty much impossible. Players need a Dash or Sprint, or some leash on the mobs so that non CC players can be viable outside of a group.

I think the exile camp in NNH is laid out pretty good after the recent changes to it, although the 1^ mobs area seems a bit hidden not sure how to design it so 1st time solo players can know its there.

On the other extreme the Spider forest area in NNH has 3^ mobs all mixed with 1^ mobs so its pretty much impossible for any small groups to go there.
 
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Many 2^ and higher can outrun you even with maximum speed :p The current max ms bonus that I'm aware of and have is +7% being 2 runners cuffs for 1 ms each and a pair of Nomad Boots for 5ms & 5 cms. Some of these mobs STILL outrun you with LotL 15% ooc bonus, totaling 122% ms.

3^ spiders and wolves are no joke, avoid at all costs. 2^ or 3^ anything that is fast (bear, pig, wolf, spider, stag) and aggressive are all dangerous even when gray. I've been laid out by a 2^ NNH wolf at level 25 lol.... Not necessarily because of the wolf alone, but because of everything else that would catch up if I stopped to fight it + it could outrun me and take chunks out of my rear at max speed. Humanoids sprinting at you in a mob + hamstring is dangerous too, especially from multiple angles.

It does help to have increased movespeed for solo kiting and in general + a ranged weapon is absolutely required (so DEF can't solo well, never playing DEF again!! unless guaranteed to have a party or some changes are made), any STR or SUP is ok. Warden class ms bonus was removed due to the combat stance tie or fear of too much ms + Lay can't be used in combat (to avoid combat or flee, sure, also nifty for legwork between resource nodes, but not useful in combat). Warden Aid is nice for recovering out of combat, but really you shouldnt get hit at all if doing it right. Potions are a big help too for recovering after a fight from that one time you get beat on. Duelist with its baked in +10% cms (5 SUP and 5 Spec class when max lvl) and 0% execution ms penalty on Triage are a good kiting setup + can use the equipment above to be those extra microns better. If you can reach 100% cms penalty negation, you are good to go! Would have to give up the Runner's Cuffs to have a chance at 100 cms.

In short, ranged weapon + speed does well at kiting and soloing things that you can maintain gap against. DEF is terrible at this, forced to play shin-kicking matches only.


It's no secret, I love kiting and speed + the ability to solo should the need arise (happens often with small player base and being high level). What I love more is a full SUP/STR 'kite party'. I can manage agro using heavy attacks + initial pull, then drop agro and send the target to a teammate with fading strike to buy some gap-time, send some more heavy attacks to pull agro again, run it around, mob is dead without really harming anyone. Meanwhile, everyone in the group is flat out DPS'ing (no tank, no tanking, no healing required, just damage skills) with all of their stamina. If anything goes wrong like additional agro, wrap them into the pull and keep on going or swap to choppers and swing away, will survive long enough + have heals. Had a lot of fun juggling several targets in the 'Thanks but no Tanks' party last night :p I like that you can play the game in unconventional ways. I hope that doesn't change to a boring, obligatory 'must have class XYZ and fight this way' party style.

PS - After goofing off with Alice last night, I did find out that running backwards does have a speed penalty. I always thought it didn't and no one said otherwise when I talked about it, but that's just because its only a small penalty dropping you down to 80% or so and I'm often doing a strafe-back kite not just a back peddle. So mastering the 180 flick shots and snap-backs will help for kiting. Every ounce matters!
 
Yeah I have brought up the solo viability of this game earlier. They made some changes to help in this, but there is still more work to do IMO. So many 2^ & 3^ mobs in all the solo areas where players are roaming and trying to farm materials. In the open wandering areas of the world these need to be replaced with 1^ mobs with the rare occasional 2^ or 3^. I feel like the open world should mostly be 1^ mobs of various levels, and 2^ and 3^ should be put into camps, strongholds or dungeons, with occasional exceptions.

The other problem is only classes with CC or runspeed can even solo or farm materials in this game currently. If a 2^ gets on you and you don't have CC or Runspeed you pretty much jacked until you find a guard or get to the zone instance. This basically makes solo or farming with all but 4 classes painful. I love grouping, I pretty much group all the time, but sometimes I want to solo farm, but without the right class that's pretty much impossible. Players need a Dash or Sprint, or some leash on the mobs so that non CC players can be viable outside of a group.

I think the exile camp in NNH is laid out pretty good after the recent changes to it, although the 1^ mobs area seems a bit hidden not sure how to design it so 1st time solo players can know its there.

On the other extreme the Spider forest area in NNH has 3^ mobs all mixed with 1^ mobs so its pretty much impossible for any small groups to go there.
This has been my experience as well which seems to go against what Adric said above although maybe I am misinterpreting.

I spent most of yesterday running around Meadow and struggled to find 1^'s in an area where it was worth it to stay to a point where I ended up just logging out. The 2 & 3's not only made up pretty much all of the camps but also just wandering around in packs or mixed in with the 1^'s. Hours of running around and not much to show for it. I understand the player base is low at the moment but with 5 people on at one point it was just a case of logging off. There are also a couple of areas in the second zone where I cannot unlock the POI because of the mix of mobs and also had an issue mining in some areas for the same reason. Considering this is an early level zone it felt poorly balanced.

I know this is probably against the grain but I think those moments where you are not grouping for whatever reason can be as important as the one's where you are grouping, even in a group focused game. When someone invests in an MMO they want to log in whenever they can irrespective of time of the day or how many people are on and feel like they are making progress and having fun.

I will say though that where it absolutely does work is the dungeon which is superbly designed. We want in one side and came out of the other and it was an amazing experience. This seems to be where the ^ system really shines. On the landscape, not so much so far.
 
I did an exploring run and noticed there weren't a lot of good solo camps in meadows or dryfoot, but there is one nice camp of spread out 1^ exiles in north meadows at about level 15, great terrain for kiting too.

SNH had tons of singles roaming about and camps.

NNH was almost entirely skipped.
 
I did an exploring run and noticed there weren't a lot of good solo camps in meadows or dryfoot, but there is one nice camp of spread out 1^ exiles in north meadows at about level 15, great terrain for kiting too.

SNH had tons of singles roaming about and camps.

NNH was almost entirely skipped.
Just an FYI not everyone wants to just Kite to kill. To many, kiting a mob is a cheesy mechanic. This game should really not force people to cheese kite mobs just to kill them.
 
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