Crafting and Bears!

[Battlestorm]

Minor Issues

1. Wolves - The wolves’ sounds are a little like the revving of an engine. VROOM, VROOM!
2. Sounds - Fighting mobs (and some other activities' sounds) sometimes sounds like players are in a tunnel (when they aren't).
3. Hunter - Players should be able to skin higher-level mobs with a longer skinning time and/or a higher chance of getting garbage loot. It should also grant reduced XP. Alternately, a higher tier skinning knife could be required, perhaps?
4. Quick Slots - I'd like more of them! Rez Salts, Health Potion, Kunai, Ground Torch, Food, Drink...etc. Additional quick-slots would be great.

Major Annoyances

1. Bears - Their eyes don’t look right. It’s like they were stuck on after-the-fact. Forgive me, it's harsh...but I literally hate their faces, lol.
2. Bears - Their stun should only be able to be applied once every 60 seconds, regardless of # of bears. Getting perma-stun-locked by bears is...idk, it's just annoying.
3. Bears - They seem far more tough, but they also seem far more abundant. Can they be configured to spawn less?
4. Bears - In the NW of New Haven, they are far too abundant and mobile. I know there's a bear cave, it’s just an annoying slog.
5. Light and Night - Add a way to tie a lantern to your belt so that you can fight at night in the light without a ground torch. Placing a ground torch is fun/neat but isn't really viable when it lasts for a while, but players are usually done in any given spot in just a minute or two. Farming for mats to make torches just to fight through the long night feels like a wasted time-sink. Attaching a lantern to your belt makes ground torches obsolete but also removes a tedious mechanic while retaining the same atmosphere at night. Otherwise, ground torches could be re-implemented as a re-usable object to be placed and pulled back up at night, but must be refueled after 30 minutes of usage, etc. Perhaps a ground torch could be created (crafted) that simply needs to be recharged at an Ember Ring? If they were crafted, perhaps they could eventually include a proximity buff of some sort?
6. Armor - At the expense of sounding like I haven't read/remembered enough of the roadmap notes, I'd like to see armor weight adjusted to allow characters to equip more gear or remove the armor weight mechanic altogether. All logic feels a little lost when players can carry around tons of lumber and ore, but can’t equip a full set of tier 1 armor. Knights, at level 6, should be able to equip a full set of T1 Copper Armor. I can see dividing this capability up by class and sub-class, but I'm running around as a level 13 Knight and have to choose if I want to wear a cuirass and forgo equipping other slots. As a level 13 Warlord, players still cannot equip a full set of T1 leather. Higher tier armor could simply be heavier to offset the capability as players level up. I am sure something with armor is in the works, but right now loot is already extremely rare and crafting obviously cannot complete a full set. With all the restrictions on what can be found, what can be worn, and how little it impacts gameplay it leaves the entire loot system (which for some people is "core") feeling too restrictive in acquisition, limiting in overall benefit, and washed out in the effort. Personally, I would rather have a lower AC with lower AW so that a full set can be worn. Having to pick-and-choose feels awkward.
7. Armor - If the best AC to AW ratio is always metal armor, why wouldn’t everyone just wear as much of that as they could? Are the bonuses to flanking/backstab worth it vs. add'l survivability? I may be missing something that a more experienced or knowledgeable player can fill me in on, here.

 

[Undone]

Armor - At the expense of sounding like I haven't read/remembered enough of the roadmap notes, I'd like to see armor weight adjusted to allow characters to equip more gear or remove the armor weight mechanic altogether. All logic feels a little lost when players can carry around tons of lumber and ore, but can’t equip a full set of tier 1 armor. Knights, at level 6, should be able to equip a full set of T1 Copper Armor. I can see dividing this capability up by class and sub-class, but I'm running around as a level 13 Knight and have to choose if I want to wear a cuirass and forgo equipping other slots. As a level 13 Warlord, players still cannot equip a full set of T1 leather. Higher tier armor could simply be heavier to offset the capability as players level up. I am sure something with armor is in the works, but right now loot is already extremely rare and crafting obviously cannot complete a full set. With all the restrictions on what can be found, what can be worn, and how little it impacts gameplay it leaves the entire loot system (which for some people is "core") feeling too restrictive in acquisition, limiting in overall benefit, and washed out in the effort. Personally, I would rather have a lower AC with lower AW so that a full set can be worn. Having to pick-and-choose feels awkward.

We are going against the grain a bit here, but the design is entirely intentional that you cannot equip a full set of outer armor at early levels. Defenders for example, cannot equip a full set of outer armor until around level 30. Until that time they have to mix and match what they want to wear, or make the conscious decision to go over their armor weight limit. One of the reasons we chose this route is because we felt it offered a different sense of progression and an ever changing puzzle of figuring out the best combination of items to wear. We also feel that it naturally encourages a bit of visual diversity as different players are going to make different decisions on what to wear for their outer armor.

I say we are going against the grain because all other games have trained players to "fill every slot". If people see an empty slot in their character they naturally want to put something in it. We are pushing back on that a little bit with the armor weight system - but we feel that the benefits outweigh the initial shock to players once they get a better grip on the system.

Armor - If the best AC to AW ratio is always metal armor, why wouldn’t everyone just wear as much of that as they could? Are the bonuses to flanking/backstab worth it vs. add'l survivability? I may be missing something that a more experienced or knowledgeable player can fill me in on, here.

As a striker yes, flanking bonuses are huge because they enhance my DPS. Lighter armor also has a lower armor weight which means I can wear more of it than metal typically. We wanted to keep the armor system relatively open ended and allow players to make their own decisions on what they wear (for both gameplay and fashion purposes) so we did not impose strict role requirements on these items.

 

[Undone]

Bears - Their eyes don’t look right. It’s like they were stuck on after-the-fact. Forgive me, it's harsh...but I literally hate their faces, lol.

Their eyes were most certainly not stuck on after the fact. Some find them a bit derpy but that is how they were made. They are also not the only variant of bear you will encounter; although their larger cousins have the same eyes.

 

[Battlestorm]

We are going against the grain a bit here, but the design is entirely intentional that you cannot equip a full set of outer armor at early levels. Defenders for example, cannot equip a full set of outer armor until around level 30. Until that time they have to mix and match what they want to wear, or make the conscious decision to go over their armor weight limit. One of the reasons we chose this route is because we felt it offered a different sense of progression and an ever changing puzzle of figuring out the best combination of items to wear. We also feel that it naturally encourages a bit of visual diversity as different players are going to make different decisions on what to wear for their outer armor.

I just want you to know that my self-diagnosed (but not actual) OCD brain read that like it was petting an angry cat against the grain.

That is definitely different, and I like that the team is tying it to the idea of progression (which I 100% agree with, progression should be key). Right now, in practice, it's a hard pill to swallow even though I, personally, don't mind looking like a hot-mess (as long as I'm wearing the best that I can get my hands on). Time to sit down and be humble, I get it. I do understand that I'm in the early levels of the game and looking a piecemeal hero should probably be part of the deal - it's a fair consideration for progression, even if I'm not entirely sold on the delivery.

I say we are going against the grain because all other games have trained players to "fill every slot". If people see an empty slot in their character they naturally want to put something in it. We are pushing back on that a little bit with the armor weight system - but we feel that the benefits outweigh the initial shock to players once they get a better grip on the system.

It is an initial shock, truly. This system will forcefully, visually distinguish players from one-another, agreed - yet it is another non-lore, mechanical wall. The more frequent and rigid the systematic walls become, the less immersive it can sometimes feel (and more frustrating). Just something to think about.

As a striker yes, flanking bonuses are huge because they enhance my DPS. Lighter armor also has a lower armor weight which means I can wear more of it than metal typically. We wanted to keep the armor system relatively open ended and allow players to make their own decisions on what they wear (for both gameplay and fashion purposes) so we did not impose strict role requirements on these items.

I understand and I'm glad the bonuses are noticeable and worthwhile. And while the role requirements on armor aren't strict, how much you can wear certainly is - via the AW system. Again, leveling up to wear more/better gear is something to look forward to, something to progress towards - with players spending much of their time in the late-game, it probably won't end up being too much of an issue.

I will say this though, if this is how the new player experience is rolled out, it may end up feeling a bit more "off-putting" than "immersive visual diversity". Only the strong/determined will survive, but perhaps (again) that's the intent, too!

Thank you for taking the time, @Undone. If the community learns nothing more from this, it's that you and your team care and listen to your players. You can't buy that with any purchase or sub that I'm aware of.

 

[Battlestorm]

Their eyes were most certainly not stuck on after the fact. Some find them a bit derpy but that is how they were made. They are also not the only variant of bear you will encounter; although their larger cousins have the same eyes.

Damn. On a positive note, my wife will want to continue playing as long as the bears continue to look this way. She absolutely LOVES to say, "Here comes one of your buddies..."

 

[Undone]

I just want you to know that my self-diagnosed (but not actual) OCD brain read that like it was petting an angry cat against the grain.

ha!

That is definitely different, and I like that the team is tying it to the idea of progression (which I 100% agree with, progression should be key). Right now, in practice, it's a hard pill to swallow even if though I, personally, don't mind looking like a hot-mess as long as I'm wearing the best that I can get my hands on. Time to sit down and be humble, I get it. I do understand that I'm in the early levels of the game and looking a hot-mess should probably be part of the deal - it's a fair consideration for progression, even if I'm not entirely sold on the delivery.


It is an initial shock, truly. This system will forcefully, visually distinguish players from one-another, agreed - yet it is another non-lore, mechanical wall. The more frequent and rigid the systematic walls become, the less immersive it can sometimes feel (and more frustrating). Just something to think about.


I understand and I'm glad the bonuses are noticeable and worthwhile. And while the role requirements on armor aren't strict, how much you can wear certainly is - via the AW system. Again, leveling up to wear more/better gear is something to look forward to, something to progress towards - with players spending much of their time in the late-game, it probably won't end up being too much of an issue.

I will say this though, if this is how the new player experience is rolled out, it may end up feeling a bit more "off-putting" than "immersive visual diversity". Only the strong/determined will survive, but perhaps (again) that's the intent, too!

We are certainly taking a risk with these peculiarities that deviate from the "norm". But if we're not taking a risk what's the point? At the end of the day we wanted to offer up the most choice to the players in what they wear while at the same time imposing some from of restriction (of which we turned into a sort of meta-game of shuffling pieces to stay under a soft limit). Given that our art team is small (and overworked) our clothing options are limited - we felt that further limiting which roles could wear what as a hard rule would severely limit the options of players.

The quirks of our game certainly take some acclimation. Most of that responsibility falls on us as developers to make things clear to the player by means of UI, tooltips, quests, npc dialogue, etc so that they have the resources at their disposal to have a well rounded understanding of those systems. The AW system certainly qualifies as an artificial non-immersive mechanic, but at the end of the day we feel that it best accomplishes our goals without being too far fetched.

Thank you for taking the time, @Undone. If the community learns nothing more from this, it's that you and your team care and listen to your players. You can't buy that with any purchase or sub that I'm aware of.

I honestly feel that the feedback from our community has been invaluable to the product. Regardless if you agree, disagree, are positive, are negative, etc it all ends up giving us the developers a better sense of what our game looks like from an outside perspective. Thank YOU for taking the time to write stuff up

Damn. On a positive note, my wife will want to continue playing as long as the bears continue to look this way. She absolutely LOVES to say, "Here comes one of your buddies..."

ha! Bears have been "famous" in our game for years now. They have always been a deadly force to be reckoned with.

 

[Undone]

Oh and I should state that I'm not ignoring your other feedback/questions - I was mainly just responding to some things I had an immediate answer/comment on and hope to get to the others later. Putting out a number of fires today with the patches etc.

 

[Battlestorm]

We are certainly taking a risk with these peculiarities that deviate from the "norm". But if we're not taking a risk what's the point? At the end of the day we wanted to offer up the most choice to the players in what they wear while at the same time imposing some from of restriction (of which we turned into a sort of meta-game of shuffling pieces to stay under a soft limit). Given that our art team is small (and overworked) our clothing options are limited - we felt that further limiting which roles could wear what as a hard rule would severely limit the options of players.

The quirks of our game certainly take some acclimation. Most of that responsibility falls on us as developers to make things clear to the player by means of UI, tooltips, quests, npc dialogue, etc so that they have the resources at their disposal to have a well rounded understanding of those systems. The AW system certainly qualifies as an artificial non-immersive mechanic, but at the end of the day we feel that it best accomplishes our goals without being too far fetched.

Now this I completely understand. Sometimes these early mechanics can become an endearing remembrance of early, challenging times. Otherwise they are a stop-gap to greater things. We all appreciate your hard work and can‘t wait to see more.

I honestly feel that the feedback from our community has been invaluable to the product. Regardless if you agree, disagree, are positive, are negative, etc it all ends up giving us the developers a better sense of what our game looks like from an outside perspective. Thank YOU for taking the time to write stuff up

Your team genuinely treats feedback with careful consideration, and it’s a great way to earn respect and success. It’s been a pleasure both playing and sharing my thoughts.

 

[Battlestorm]

Oh and I should state that I'm not ignoring your other feedback/questions - I was mainly just responding to some things I had an immediate answer/comment on and hope to get to the others later. Putting out a number of fires today with the patches etc.

No worries. As an engineer, I totally understand the need to collect your thoughts and focus on what’s important. Don’t let my comments stand in the way of progress!

 

[Tharbeard]

Thoughtful players, thoughtful game devs. Damn fine community.

 

[Mixl]

Couldn't agree more. Such a great community and great comms with the dev team.