Feedback May 13 - 17 Test Feedback

[Meeks]

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I discovered this game and it must be repeated: I had all but written off the MMO genre. Embers Adrift has rekindled a level of excitement for MMOs I haven't felt in many years. So, thanks for putting fun first. I'm looking forward to following development and becoming a part of the community.

First, my obligatory disclaimer: I've no doubt that much of this feedback has been previously shared, and probably addressed, elsewhere. So I apologize for any redundancy. On that note, is there a comprehensive list of known issues and/or a dev to-do list I can reference before posting future feedback and questions?

• I’d like to be able to click on someone’s name in chat and see basic info about them without having to be physically next to them - at least class and level
• This may be intentional, but I can’t interact with the chat window while going through the respawn process following death
• I'm sorry, I still just find myself quietly bemoaning the blindness that comes with nighttime in the game and looking forward to dawn. If I look up towards the sky at night, the ground and objects around me appear to get lighter and easier to see, so I find myself doing that a lot, but it's a pain.
• This is probably something that should be obvious, but what is the little brown glove icon to the right of the action bar? It isn't interactive, but maybe simply something I don't have access to (yet)?
• In some cases, soloing greens felt like a more effective way to grind experience than fighting blues and whites with a full group
• From the Social tool, selecting the Friends tab always defaults to the ‘Block’ section (something I hope I’ll never need to use). Changing the default tab to ‘Friends’ would be appreciated. (Update: this didn't happen the last time I tried, so maybe it was a late enhancement?)
• Suggestion: Upon looting, automatically transfer ammo to the inventory ammo slot if it is the currently-equipped type

Once again, it was a fun weekend of testing despite real-life obligations interfering with my playtime. Cheers to all of the great adventurers out there who welcomed me into groups and engaged in ale-fueled debauchery and fireside banter.

 

[Rydogg]

In some cases, soloing greens felt like a more effective way to grind experience than fighting blues and whites with a full group

Yeah, oddly enough, farming green single chevron mobs is the most efficient xp that I've found for solos.. I also feel that the xp earned for 2 and 3 chevron mobs should be much higher.

 

[Valkon]

Some random thoughts, though some of these may be too refinement-oriented at this stage of development.

• The follow camera needs some work when next to walls. I get spun around a lot and wind up moving in an unintended direction if I am too close to a wall.
• Is there a reason the number of crafting combines is limited to 99? Nothing else seems similarly limited, so why can’t we just process as many ore/flux/logs/carcass/etc. as we have in our inventory?
• The web “sparkles” in (at least) the meadowlands spider caves is overdone and hurts the eyes after a short while.
• Will there be tooltips that explain all the stats on the various tabs on our inventory screen?
• Is there a reason ground torches don’t last very long while our torches last forever?
• Why are we not allowed to have both personal and shared stash open at the same time? It is somewhat annoying having to use our bag as an intermediary in order to move items between the two.
• Can the default space between a mob and ourselves be increased when they attack? For some reason it bothers me that both the red and blue circles nearly overlap into a purple circle (i.e. no collision boundaries).
• Similarly, can we be allowed to click the red circle to loot instead of the body of the critter? It takes a bit of mouse-swiping to "find" the corpse of a rabbit since the body is occluded by myself.

 

[Undone]

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I discovered this game and it must be repeated: I had all but written off the MMO genre. Embers Adrift has rekindled a level of excitement for MMOs I haven't felt in many years. So, thanks for putting fun first. I'm looking forward to following development and becoming a part of the community.

Hi Meeks this warms our heart to hear! I'll touch on a few of your points below.

First, my obligatory disclaimer: I've no doubt that much of this feedback has been previously shared, and probably addressed, elsewhere. So I apologize for any redundancy. On that note, is there a comprehensive list of known issues and/or a dev to-do list I can reference before posting future feedback and questions?

The only real comprehensive list is the "known" issues typically at the bottom of the patch notes. I haven't put together a list of things "in the works" as it is in flux and changes constantly. But it could be a good idea to compile such a list so people know that they are being worked on in some fashion, or are at least planned to be worked on.

• I’d like to be able to click on someone’s name in chat and see basic info about them without having to be physically next to them - at least class and level

Right now you should be able to right click on their name to invoke a context menu, or shift+left click to start a whisper to them. I could likely add a "who" command to the right click context menu.

• This may be intentional, but I can’t interact with the chat window while going through the respawn process following death

You should be able to interact via hitting enter no? You just can't click on things (low priority issue that needs sorting)

• I'm sorry, I still just find myself quietly bemoaning the blindness that comes with nighttime in the game and looking forward to dawn. If I look up towards the sky at night, the ground and objects around me appear to get lighter and easier to see, so I find myself doing that a lot, but it's a pain.

Did you play this past weekend? The moon position was set to static so the night lighting was far more consistent and things should have been much brighter.

• This is probably something that should be obvious, but what is the little brown glove icon to the right of the action bar? It isn't interactive, but maybe simply something I don't have access to (yet)?

That represents your off-hand. If you wield two weapons then your off-hand weapon will show up there. If you are wielding a ranged weapon your ammo will show up there (with ammo count).

• In some cases, soloing greens felt like a more effective way to grind experience than fighting blues and whites with a full group

No one said that greens were not good xp, they're just not as good as blue, white, yellow, or reds. However, you are likely able to kill more greens before having to rest, so it is entirely possible that greens are more "efficient" in some situations. Just remember there are two layers to our difficulty system: i) the color indicates the level difference, and b) the number of chevrons indicate if the npc is designed with solo (1^), small group (2^), or full group in mind (3^+). More chevrons equals more experience, and higher level creatures equal more experience.

• From the Social tool, selecting the Friends tab always defaults to the ‘Block’ section (something I hope I’ll never need to use). Changing the default tab to ‘Friends’ would be appreciated. (Update: this didn't happen the last time I tried, so maybe it was a late enhancement?)

It likely saves which tab you were last on - but the initial default could very well be the ban tab - will look into it.

• Suggestion: Upon looting, automatically transfer ammo to the inventory ammo slot if it is the currently-equipped type

This would take a bit of engineering time due to how the loot system prioritizes where to stick things - but I'll stick in the queue as a low priority polish item.

 

[Undone]

Yeah, oddly enough, farming green single chevron mobs is the most efficient xp that I've found for solos.. I also feel that the xp earned for 2 and 3 chevron mobs should be much higher.

XP for 2 and 3^ mobs are tuned for specific group sizes. Are you saying that fighting those mobs as a group is not giving you enough experience? Fighting the appropriate chevron mob for your group size is always going to reward more xp than a solo kill.

 

[Undone]

• The follow camera needs some work when next to walls. I get spun around a lot and wind up moving in an unintended direction if I am too close to a wall.

Are there specific spots where this occurs? The camera collision could likely use some tuning, but the more we relax those parameters the more clipping occurs.

• Is there a reason the number of crafting combines is limited to 99? Nothing else seems similarly limited, so why can’t we just process as many ore/flux/logs/carcass/etc. as we have in our inventory?

Likely due to UI room limitations of showing 99/99 or something like that. Will ping our other engineer who worked on that aspect.

• The web “sparkles” in (at least) the meadowlands spider caves is overdone and hurts the eyes after a short while.

This is a rendering issue with the latest engine upgrade and something I am looking into.

• Will there be tooltips that explain all the stats on the various tabs on our inventory screen?

Most of the stats on the various tabs already have tooltips. Most of the self explanatory ones likely don't though. Are there specific ones that you are missing?

• Is there a reason ground torches don’t last very long while our torches last forever?

For a number of reasons. The two most prominent of which are:

• ground torches are consumables, so we want you to consume them and spend money on them or craft them
• shadow casting light sources are expensive, so we don't want them sitting around for a while

• Why are we not allowed to have both personal and shared stash open at the same time? It is somewhat annoying having to use our bag as an intermediary in order to move items between the two.

Our interaction system was designed for one remote container to be open at any give time. The original design did not really anticipate the need for more than one bank, but here we are. This may be something I can work around at a later date, but I consider it a pretty low priority right now.

• Can the default space between a mob and ourselves be increased when they attack? For some reason it bothers me that both the red and blue circles nearly overlap into a purple circle (i.e. no collision boundaries).

Each mob, and each player has a "buffer" region that does precisely what you are asking. However, there are some instances where NPCs don't fully respect those buffer regions and is something I am actively trying to figure out why.

• Similarly, can we be allowed to click the red circle to loot instead of the body of the critter? It takes a bit of mouse-swiping to "find" the corpse of a rabbit since the body is occluded by myself.

Unfortunately, the circle on the ground is not easily converted into an interactive object. I'll think about it and see what I can come up with though.

 

[Valkon]

Are there specific spots where this occurs?

Woff den and spider caves in Meadowlands, but really any time I am close to any solid object taller than myself, rock wall, house, tree, etc., that forces the camera to move. It seems to forget what direction I was formerly facing and when I go to move I wind up moving in some random direction. I do tend to use a max camera view distance which probably exacerbates this, but even reeling ii in closer I have the same issue.

Are there specific ones that you are missing?

I will have to check next time in game but I think Penetration and such.

As for the other questions, thank you for your feedback. As a programmer myself, I fully understand trying to tweak already built systems and the reticence or inability (i.e. bang for buck) to alter them. The fact that you may even consider such is beyond commendable.

 

[Undone]

Woff den and spider caves in Meadowlands, but really any time I am close to any solid object taller than myself, rock wall, house, tree, etc., that forces the camera to move. It seems to forget what direction I was formerly facing and when I go to move I wind up moving in some random direction. I do tend to use a max camera view distance which probably exacerbates this, but even reeling ii in closer I have the same issue.

The camera is supposed to pull the camera forward to maintain direction when it collides with another object. I'll have to poke around in those tight spaces to see how it operates when it gets in too close because I imagine that is what you are encountering.

I will have to check next time in game but I think Penetration and such.

Penetration should have a tooltip. Those were added two weeks ago.

As for the other questions, thank you for your feedback. As a programmer myself, I fully understand trying to tweak already built systems and the reticence or inability (i.e. bang for buck) to alter them. The fact that you may even consider such is beyond commendable.

You are welcome. We try to get to as much as we can but as you mentioned it's a real challenge!

 

[Rydogg]

XP for 2 and 3^ mobs are tuned for specific group sizes. Are you saying that fighting those mobs as a group is not giving you enough experience? Fighting the appropriate chevron mob for your group size is always going to reward more xp than a solo kill.

I'm saying if we have the option to kill a lot of single chevron mobs, we'll opt for those over the 2 and 3 chevron, (especially 3 chevron) due to the effort it takes to kill them and the experience rewarded. The difficulty feels tuned appropriately, but the experience doesn't. You could argue that the 2s and 3s have a higher chance of dropping items, which is a reasonable justification. But again, if the goal is to grind xp for a given period of time, its more efficient to target the single chevrons for solo and smaller sized groups.