Mixed Bag

[Merlin999]

First off the UI is terrible. No real attention to detail with it. For example you cannot adjust down the transparency on the chatbox without also adjusting down the text.

Character models are way too simplified and everyone looks the same. I don't need high end character models to play a game. But it bothers me when everyone looks the same.

Not knowing what zone I am in is irritating. Started a human necromancer and got to level 6, could not find the tradeskill trainer. No idea where to look online since I don't know my zone. Guess I'm expected to research this but idk maybe I'd rather just play something else.

Started an elf and got to level 3. Can find all the trainers but the tree zone is hideously rendered. Whoever created the carpets should be fired. I mean seriously. They're terrible. All of it is an eyesore. And honestly I can look past it, nothing's worse than the old ogre starting area in EQ, but damn.

Biggest complaint is I'm broke every time I buy spells or whatever. KIlled solo to 6 with the necromancer and this was still the case. Couldn't find a vendor selling armor or weapons, and even if I had there isn't enough coin from grinding to afford anything. So the game probably expects you to craft but not everyone wants to craft. If I'm going to be broke without crafting I won't play the game. So my suggestion is to make the spells dirt cheap, like a few copper per in those early levels.

Never really found quests. Are they in the game outside of the starter to find the crafting dude? No idea so it would be nice to have some sort of indicator for who has quests.

Let's see also the downtime is a bit much. When you sit the regen should be a little faster. Yeah I know you're trying to recapture EQ, which I am fine with. But the regen is a little slow.

The difficulty of the game I love. I do enjoy playing this game. But I'd like to be able to buy some gear and whatnot. So I think there needs to be more gear dropping from mobs, cheaper spells, etc.

[Ranarius]

Originally posted by Merlin999:

Are they in the game outside of the starter to find the crafting dude? No idea so it would be nice to have some sort of indicator for who has quests.

Let's see also the downtime is a bit much. When you sit the regen should be a little faster. Yeah I know you're trying to recapture EQ, which I am fine with. But the regen is a little slow.

Just to answer two of your questions. There are other quests, the best way to find them is to explore and talk to each NPC you find. You're right, there are no other indicators telling you who does or doesn't have a quest.

The downtime mechanic is actually kinda neat in my opinion. They designed it so that it's not just a flat rate of regeneration as you rest, the longer you rest the faster your regen is. This becomes more relevant when your mana and health pool are higher of course, but it is pretty cool. For example, in EQ you'd regain X mana every tick no matter how long you sat so you could potentailly be resting for 6 minutes or more. In Pantheon the rate of regen increases over time so you'll likely never sit for more than about 2 minutes even with a large mana pool.

[MugHug]

Reminds me of Vanguard SOH. Even the dialog look similar and the NPCs seem pretty much as sophisticated as old MMORPGs like VSOH, EQ2, etc.

What makes this unique?

[Ranarius]

It exists :)

[ralgur]

Well, I had a long post typed out trying to help, but it's very late, I'm very tired, and I did something magical with my fingers and erased it all.

This game is old school. There are no quest markers. Talk to NPCs. Immerse yourself in the game.

The eyesore you describe is Wild's End where I think halflings and elves start. It IS ugly. The whole zone is pink trees. You're supposed to use landmarks to navigate since there is no map, but you can't see the landmarks because of the unreal number of trees. The color is hideous and makes my eyes ache.

The UI is basic, but it is functional. It will improve with time.

You can make plenty of coin just farming mobs that drop vendor trash. You have to put in the effort. You may not be able to buys spells right away when you level. Once you gain some experience with the game, you'll learn what to farm to get coin, and it will get easier. It bears repeating. This game is old school. No hand holding. No detailed GPS map. XP loss on death. Dropped bags and coin on death. Danger. It's not for people who want to be an all-powerful WoW demigod in a game that is so dumbed down my dog could face roll it and reach max level in a week.

This game is in alpha. That means not all systems are in place. There is a LOT of development left to do. The Steam game page pretty much states this. If you came into this expecting a modern style MMO, you will not find it. The game doesn't hold your hand. You get out of it what you put into it. It is not for everybody. I'd go so far as to say it's only for a small niche.

[Merlin999]

I can get around a lot of the oldschool elements in this game. I was max level in EQ on two characters with multiple in the midrange, and one of my mains was a dark elf necromancer, which was a brutal levelling experience. So I am aware of the design direction of this game and I support all that.

What I'm trying to do with my post is help the devs. You want to attract some new players, as that will pay for everything and give us a good MMO to enjoy for years. So when players start out they have that first five levels to get sorted and explore things and maybe get hooked. Along those lines, a little pocket change to buy a staff and maybe a robe is not a bad thing. I mean I'm running around in my underwear on all my toons thus far, wearing only what I get from a rare drop per character.

Many new players will pick elf. This is inevitable. And their elf starting zone being that bad is almost by itself enough to sink their chances of hooking new players. I had a few of my kids log in with me to try this game out and we rolled elves at their preference, and not one of them have logged in with me since. The evil starting zone by comparison was quite good, but again there are no vendors and I have no idea where the turn in for the quest to find the crafting person is.

Anyway. If they don't want to listen that's fine. I'm just another player out there in the gaming e-verse giving them my opinion. Because I'm a masochist I'll keep playing. But if they want to attract some new players they should be able to do that by some minor tweaking that I would not consider selling out on their oldschool model.