Hi,
I wanted to give my feedback for the OB (9/16 - 9/18) . Firstly, I heard about this game from a MMORPG.com article (Q&A session with the devs). In summary, the game sold itself akin to older type MMOs from the past (e.g. group based leveling, limited hand holding, no quest markers, exploration etc.). For reference, the majority of my MMO time has been spent on two games: 1) Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) and 2) FFXI Online (FFXI). For the OB here, I played mostly support and solo leveled to 6. I did not get to group up or experience any dungeon type areas (which I believe would be considered 100% group content).
What I liked:
- The atmosphere was great. The lighting, shadows and zones (I experienced the first three zones) I thought were all well done although the first two zones there appeared to be a white haze or fog in the clip distance. This haze was not present in the meadowlands though.
- The day / night cycles added great immersion. At night, I discovered you had to be much more careful (real sense of danger) and although it took a moment to get used to (the night darkness); it really grew on me. Loved the torch aesthetic.
- The UI was functional and things were easily locatable or explained.
- Loved the fact that there were not camps after camps of NPCs with yellow exclamation marks over there heads.
- Uncovering the map through the ember fires is a nice touch and gives you a real feel of exploration. The zones were big enough for this type of system but not too big to where it felt like a chore.
- Mob con was well done. I knew what I could kill, what would be a "decent" challenge and what would kill me if I were to engage (again all solo kills on my support class).
- Importance of crafting. Although I only skinned and gathered occasionally, it was clear that crafted gear plays an important role in this game.
- Importance of positioning during combat. Although I did not get to fully experience grouping; I believe this will be the hook of the game. Teaming up, conquering foes too strong to conquer yourself in order to progress. Damage or to hit bonuses based on positioning is a nice touch. As the bulk of your time will be spent grouping with others, it would be really nice to see skills, from different classes, being able to chain together or use in timed succession with other party members to create a debuff or group buff or damage bonus (maybe these are on a 5 or 10 minute global cooldown to limit use). As in the early FFXI days, this type of weapon skill chaining bonus really added to the sense of teamwork while grouping.
- Game ran fine for me on a 980 TI on balanced settings. There was a bit of lag at the first spawn area and sometimes near fires with others around but nothing game breaking. I experienced no crashes.
What I think could be improved upon:
- Could really use a bit more mob variety. In the third zone you're still killing young bucks (or at least they are there to be able to be killed). While this isn't game breaking (using the same mob assets); maybe the names could be changed. For example, in the meadowlands, the young bucks are now mature bucks.
- As I mentioned earlier, the first two zones I would see a white haze or fog in the distance. After looking at it for a while, I started to wonder if this is intended or maybe the contrast setting is off on my monitor. Once I got to the meadowlands, I remember thinking to myself, I'm glad that fog in the distance is gone.
- A big one here for me is the combat animations. I don't want to keep bringing up FFXI online as a comparison but in this game you basically auto attacked, gained TP while auto attacking, at 100% TP you could fire off a weapon skill or chain that weapon skill with another party member, easy enough. The point is, you spent a lot of time auto attacking but the auto attacks had weight behind them (it felt as if you were hitting the mob with a powerful blow even though it was an auto attack). With my supporter (sword / banner); both the auto attack and the skills on global cooldown felt as if I was swinging a wand at the target. It didn't feel weighty or meaty enough. For the amount of time that we will be grouping and killing mobs; I would definitely like to see this improved.
Overall thoughts:
- Enjoyed my time with the game and believe there is some great potential here. Is it going to appeal to everyone - probably not but there is definitely a market for this type of game. Keep up the good work.
I wanted to give my feedback for the OB (9/16 - 9/18) . Firstly, I heard about this game from a MMORPG.com article (Q&A session with the devs). In summary, the game sold itself akin to older type MMOs from the past (e.g. group based leveling, limited hand holding, no quest markers, exploration etc.). For reference, the majority of my MMO time has been spent on two games: 1) Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) and 2) FFXI Online (FFXI). For the OB here, I played mostly support and solo leveled to 6. I did not get to group up or experience any dungeon type areas (which I believe would be considered 100% group content).
What I liked:
- The atmosphere was great. The lighting, shadows and zones (I experienced the first three zones) I thought were all well done although the first two zones there appeared to be a white haze or fog in the clip distance. This haze was not present in the meadowlands though.
- The day / night cycles added great immersion. At night, I discovered you had to be much more careful (real sense of danger) and although it took a moment to get used to (the night darkness); it really grew on me. Loved the torch aesthetic.
- The UI was functional and things were easily locatable or explained.
- Loved the fact that there were not camps after camps of NPCs with yellow exclamation marks over there heads.
- Uncovering the map through the ember fires is a nice touch and gives you a real feel of exploration. The zones were big enough for this type of system but not too big to where it felt like a chore.
- Mob con was well done. I knew what I could kill, what would be a "decent" challenge and what would kill me if I were to engage (again all solo kills on my support class).
- Importance of crafting. Although I only skinned and gathered occasionally, it was clear that crafted gear plays an important role in this game.
- Importance of positioning during combat. Although I did not get to fully experience grouping; I believe this will be the hook of the game. Teaming up, conquering foes too strong to conquer yourself in order to progress. Damage or to hit bonuses based on positioning is a nice touch. As the bulk of your time will be spent grouping with others, it would be really nice to see skills, from different classes, being able to chain together or use in timed succession with other party members to create a debuff or group buff or damage bonus (maybe these are on a 5 or 10 minute global cooldown to limit use). As in the early FFXI days, this type of weapon skill chaining bonus really added to the sense of teamwork while grouping.
- Game ran fine for me on a 980 TI on balanced settings. There was a bit of lag at the first spawn area and sometimes near fires with others around but nothing game breaking. I experienced no crashes.
What I think could be improved upon:
- Could really use a bit more mob variety. In the third zone you're still killing young bucks (or at least they are there to be able to be killed). While this isn't game breaking (using the same mob assets); maybe the names could be changed. For example, in the meadowlands, the young bucks are now mature bucks.
- As I mentioned earlier, the first two zones I would see a white haze or fog in the distance. After looking at it for a while, I started to wonder if this is intended or maybe the contrast setting is off on my monitor. Once I got to the meadowlands, I remember thinking to myself, I'm glad that fog in the distance is gone.
- A big one here for me is the combat animations. I don't want to keep bringing up FFXI online as a comparison but in this game you basically auto attacked, gained TP while auto attacking, at 100% TP you could fire off a weapon skill or chain that weapon skill with another party member, easy enough. The point is, you spent a lot of time auto attacking but the auto attacks had weight behind them (it felt as if you were hitting the mob with a powerful blow even though it was an auto attack). With my supporter (sword / banner); both the auto attack and the skills on global cooldown felt as if I was swinging a wand at the target. It didn't feel weighty or meaty enough. For the amount of time that we will be grouping and killing mobs; I would definitely like to see this improved.
Overall thoughts:
- Enjoyed my time with the game and believe there is some great potential here. Is it going to appeal to everyone - probably not but there is definitely a market for this type of game. Keep up the good work.
