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Faelsun
Member UncommonPosts: 501
Keep in mind a few Guilds are essentially running development for this game.
http://www.griefguild.com/#!home/mainPage
Their ideas are taken as Gospel by the Developers, I am in Alpha and there is hardly any give and take in the forums. They seem hellbent on no npcs, a broken silver economy that can be manipulated by large pvp guilds, they support Zergs, small Zoned maps, lots of zones, small dungeons that are easy to farm, easy for pvp guilds to take control of and perpetually silver farm endlessly, on top of their support of invis scouting.
Crafting in this game is essentially just Armor upgrades for pvpers wearing plate and one piece of cloth, the heavy supply use by tiers encourages large pvp guilds to mob up on areas and group level using Fame. Solo players will be left far behind and gearless trying to survive in red zones.
Every new idea I see being supported by the Devs is another Grief mechanic that helps zerg guilds, it seems to me they are living out a fantasy of reliving Classic UO and Darkfall, minus the content, this game has no content at all. The talent trees and weapons are uninspired and boring. Basically just get a Claymore, done.
I am telling you this as someone who likes pvp, and grief, I give crap to games I dont like, but this game has serious problems with general entertainment in General. Unless they do something Radical, I will have to suggest Crowfall maybe even Shards, Camelot Unchained, they have more things to offer. So Far Albion feels like Runescape with slightly better animations, Slightly. .. and less to do. .. alot less to do, Mu online, has more content. Its full loot pvp, not a big deal in UO, not hard to replace, Albion will require a cash purchase of gold to keep up with gear loss the cost of taxes on basic actions like using a tool is so high you can barely afford to make mid tier gear, punitive property taxes, etc. much less replace it. Its at the point no one even wore higher tier gear if they could even make it.
This game is hand crafted for abuse by large pop pvp guilds, with headstart on founders packs, which I have sadly, they will take their gold possibly buy more gold and completely control, OWN, the map before most of you new users even log on for the first time, save up and you might be able to buy property in the next expansion, if the game lasts that long.
Comments
The devs wanted a game that rewarded people for beating others.
If people beat others, it's probably because they were stronger and/or smarter than them. They will then get rewarded for that. They will then be even MORE stronger than them (the smarts will stay the same probably but whatever). They will then beat them even more with that extra strength, whereupon they will be rewarded for that, and then be even MORE stronger than them.
The writing was on the wall when the devs never really announced any serious repercussions for killing others. The strong get stronger which lets them get stronger and nothing is there to hold them back.
(of course, as Ultima Online showed, even if you DO have repercussions, it doesn't matter squat if they're avoidable. The fact that they become easier to avoid as you get stronger doesn't help)
(I suppose one major difference for Eve is that when a ship blows up, NO ONE gets a hefty chunk of the reward. Just a fraction of it. Thus constant killing of each other will eventually hurt both parties by sheer attrition. This is still circumventable though if, again, you're strong and/or smart enough)
Well EVE has balance with low vs high sec zones, lots of non combat options, ways to Avoid danger even solo if you are smart, Albion has none of that. I played Classic UO pre Ren, the main city area starting off is large enough a new player can mix in, the areas were larger, not zoned, crafting was far more interesting not to mention the combat system was better. The simple fact that their combat mechanics are easier to master than late 90s UO really tells me something, the strong in this game will stay strong and muscle you out that I agree on.
Its not even really killing others or repercussions, there is nothing else to do in this game but kill other players, its less dynamic than some shooters I have played. Tribes Vengeance was more flexible, I mean damn. I was so bored, I did some pvp, the mechanics were so boring and bad I just started crafting. Crafting was so so bad, WOW is better, seriously no BS WOW is better, Engineering is more fun than this games entire crafting system.. a Sandbox game.
I hope mmorpg gives this game a real review and wont sugar coat it. Its not pay to win its pay to participate, eventually the poor solo player will run out of funds, hello gold purchase. Might as well play Entropia at least their honest about it. .. sort of.
Before jump in , please jump out
this game going suffer same as archeage did
Stupid cash shop
Bingo, as a UO player and Albion tester i'd have to agree fully with this in every regard.
Hi all,
thanks for your feedback. I think I can shed some light on some of the points raised.
@Faelsun
please rest assured that when improving the game, we are taking the feedback of all players into account. It would be stupid for us not do to so. You can take a look at our updated development roadmap here, and I am sure you will find a lot of changes that are to your liking: New Development Roadmap
@vadio123
there is no cash shop in Albion Online. In addition to that, based on feedback received from the players, the role of gold will be changed, gold will only be used for vanity items and premium status going forward - other gold payments will be removed. Please take a look at this thread: Pay 2 Win Debate
All the best,
Korn
Of course you have a cash shop, you can buy Currency (gold) for real life cash. You try to sugarcoat it and say gold cant be converted into silver, but thats not true. I can buy property for gold and charge outrageous levels of silver, simply trade it, some vendors have multiple pay options. I know I tested it.
Costs are punitive to say the least, silver falls out of your pocket faster than you can farm it. standard low level humanoids drop 30ish silver, cost to repair 60% low tier cloth armor around 600 silver or so. New players with no currency, will never catch up to larger guilds doing that. You essentially turn them into farming slaves to sell desperately low cost items so zergy pvp guilds and beat each other up on those 4x4 box zone maps.On top of that they will have to at some point buy gold as a reset switch then trade it for silver at a significant loss because the guilds with the silver are gonna take 20% off the top.
Roadmaps are nice but development happens in the SCRUM process, which starts from community organization. So when Bercilak (CEO) is overly chummy with GRIEF guild it makes me worry the entire process is polluted. No one wants to spend good money ( which I already have) on a private server, thats not fair to founders and really not fair to new players.
It is a 2d...open pvp game.
Thats where it ends for me, there is no skill for a game like that, it seems like Darkfall 1 in 2d format...hell most of the clans came from darkfall.
Some may enjoy it, but sadly enough everything on top of the shitty pvp looks terrible, so for me...meh Ill stay away from 2d darkfall.
OP seems to be aiming most of his complaints that new 'solo' players will never be able to catch up to a large guild.
This is true for basically every sandbox game, and it is just logical anyway. A group of players working together should always get things done more efficiently than a solo player. A large group of players should always get things done faster than a small group of players.
Waiting for:
The Repopulation
Albion Online
Reading comprehension - FAIL! Read the OP again.
In every full/open PvP game there's always going to be a few powerful guilds dominating everything. Either because they have players that can live behind their computers, or because they've exploited the hardest and have managed to get ahead of everyone while avoiding getting punished.
Or I suppose, they've spent outrageous amounts of rl money and converted it into in game money. Now I'm not an EVE player, but each time I hear EVE players going on about having 4 accounts (3 to feed their main account which they actually play on), that sounds pretty P2W to me as well.
Either way, when you enter those kind of games, expect to be everyone's bitch for a long time.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
No its true for Sandbox games that suck. It is not true for EVE and it is not true for UO, Anarchy etc., I can become quite self sufficient on those games in a short period of time. Hell its not even true for Runescape and I hate Runescape. It is true for the Darkfall like family of mmos which are totally broken zergfests.
Currently as it stands a larger guild can hold a dungeon hostage, farm the silver from the easy to kill mobs and prevent new players from ever being able to use the entrance and or kill the bosses24/7 and thats the reality in Alpha, much less a full release. Its not just getting things done faster, the Fame system allows you to essentially skill up by killing, large guild camps pve farming as naked scouting can Fame up their entire guild in day to tier 5 or more, thats also the reality right now.
My complaints run deeper than your quip, pvp is bad, very bad, its just melee zergs, no escape mechanisms, two buttons tops. The economy is bad, the tech on the buildings is bad, crafting is less complicated than what I see on themepark games, farming is a major letdown. Every map is a square, come on man.
I like to pvp this game has a problem deeper than carebear vs pvp antics, the game is easy to abuse and its systems are over simplified and boring.
@Faelsun
You seem very upset as the last alpha test - I assume you did take part - did not meet your expectations for the game.
We have a very test driven approach to game development, which allows us to progress fast and make the right adjustments based on the data we collect and based on player feedback.
I would be great if you would take a few minutes to read the updated road map post, as it addresses a lot of the points you raise.
In particular:
1) The silver economy will be fully redone. Crafting and farming will not require silver payments any more, with the exception of taxes and usage fees to other players.
2) It will no longer be possible to pay for in-game expenses with gold. Gold will be limited to the premium status and vanity items only.
All the best,
Korn
In PVP folklore, every large and/or successful guild is always packed to the brim with no-life, hacking, cheating, zerging, scumbag, wallet-warriors who are utterly devoid of any talent or honest skill !
Everyone knows that people with real skillz never belong to these large guilds...
A guild or clan with skilled players can never be large, because there's simply not enough room for all the ego's.
Nah, they just happen to be good in addition to the other things.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Well there are alot more issues than that, but it remains to be seen until next Alpha.
There seems to be, no interest at all in making zerging not viable. In areas that are so tightly zoned how do you justify that?
Let me put this in Ultima Online Map terms so people can understand. Each map zone is about the size of Moonglow, maybe a bit bigger or smaller, each Zone is the Size of Moonglow, not city, zone. A Zone with 4 entrance points, zoned off, and they allow free range zerging in maps that size. PVP has no escape mechanisms, no kiting, fears etc, ranged dps of all kinds is weak. Everyone ends up in melee. For larger pvp guilds it will be like running lemmings off a cliff.
You cannot base an entire crafting economy over 9 pieces of armor. A handful of mats and a handful of weapons. Especially if you delegate abilities over to buildings and not to players. You get repairs at vendors, you get armor at vendors,item upgrades at vendors, everything is made at the vendor, all the player is bringing is his Tier in that item and silver. All players are making is the building with the vendor. In other words its less of a crafting economy and more of a silver sink economy, hand crafted for guilds with Silver in their pocket who have used the fame exploit to get their tier up and simply reload weapons and armor.
So how high is the building tax still. How much for a tier 4 stable every 24 hours. For me it was around 2.5 thousand or so but that doesnt count, feed for the stable you have to buy that, and repairs buy that to.
Where the hell does the tax money go. You cant have a player run economy and have no explanation at all where the money is going.
What is being done about the lack of dynamic combat? I see its being worked on but, it needs alot of work.
AOE dps buildups is nice, but wont that be abused in PVE farming? How much dps can one AOE do before one player is killed by 5 or 10? Wouldnt a simple long duration stun or blowback be less exploitable? Wont an AOE attack like that be abused in Castle Sieges on defenders?
These are not small issues Korn, you're not going to win the day with a few thousand Darkfall vets and ride off into the sunset. I feel like what you need on some of these issues is a complete overhaul and probably another Alpha phase otherwise enough wont change by Beta1. Also I dont know what is going on with your internal testing, but thats not something for third parties with agendas to be taking part in. Especially not in Alpha testing.
Also clarify Premium status (and) Vanity Items, what besides vanity items is your gold getting you for premium Status.
Hi Faelsun,
here is some extra comments on the points you mention:
Zerging
We see this is a core issue of the game (if not of every open world PvP MMORPG).
Here is a list of things that we will do to limit the effectiveness of zerging:
I read the roadmap, but I am reading between the lines here. Even if I know the zerg is coming, how long does it take a zerg to move or simply run split groups of 12 up and down the map in map the size of Moonglow? Eventually they will split into groups just small enough to avoid detection but still be near each other. Also does that mean the AOE spells will be subject to friendly fire? Because if not the mechanic will be exploited, tag and bag.
Will you be able to buy Hellgates in the cashshop and use them as a form of currency? How will you prevent guilds from simply camping one of the 4 small map entrances and map camping hellgates?
Research project might have promise, but what about large guilds pve farming and using Fame to climb the skill tree? Shouldnt a skill based game be based on skills used not mobs farmed/camped?
Escape mechanisms in pvp for ranged DPS.
What is the actual standing of a Premium account? What are they able to to, what can they spend gold on?
Transparency on internal testing.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
wtf? dev´s are concerned about not being able to sell enough copies of the game , now they change their attitude and role of gold?! ...mhh.. as in other games.. as soon as there are enough Pay2Win-gamers, this will change again
I got that impression when I looked through the forums and saw nothing but guild members posting and going back and forth with each other.
Every step of the way, Albion looks more and more like it's selling out to the largest payer-base. They only seem to care about the massive groups that will fork out money form every angle to get an edge. This also includes the selling of Alpha accounts...
Just today I just got spammed with 7 emails about Summer Alpha! You know what happens when you get 7 of the same email... you eventually read one of them. And I did... sadly for them. The entire game is structured as a cash-cow for them.
No thank you. I'll wait for a real game to pop up on the radar.
Seems to have some similar ideas as Eve Online but in a fantasy setting. Except in this case there is no monthly fee which makes it even better. I dont see why people are complaining if it's already a better deal financially?
WTF, a company wants to create a cash cow!!! What nerve!
I've played just a few days, and I'm anxiously awaiting Summer Alpha, but I have to say the game plays well (stable) and smoothly (animations are clean) for an alpha.
I have not seen or experienced the OP's claim that the game is heavily slanted to large guilds, but perhaps well organized ones (which isn't a bad thing).
Played: E&B, SWG, Eve, WoW, COH, WAR, POTBS, AOC, LOTRO, AUTO.A, AO, FE, TR, WWII, MWO, TSW, SWTOR, GW2, NWO, WoP, RUST, LIF, SOA, MORTAL, DFUW, AA, TF, PFO, ALBO, and many many others....
look, your wall of text is essentially full of crap. how do i know that? you advertise games like crowfall and camelot unchained, claim that they offer more than albion, when in fact all those games ever offered was rudimentary playtests where u hardly could use any skills in a very basic environment without any textures, without ANYTHING to do besides mindless ffa fighting. those games are approximately where albion was 3 or 4 years ago. maybe in 2 years you see the first rudimentary gameplay tests of those games, please don't confuse your wet dreams with reality.
dont get me wrong, crowfall and cu have nice concepts, but they are far from what albion is. and even if there are still some issues with albion, alot of stuff is still beeing tweaked and added. who knows what the closed beta version will entail, and what will change in the months it will be running. we will see how the repair costs and stuff will be finetuned, and if its really pay to win or zerg to win. restricting territory control wars to 5 people doesn't seem extremely zergy to me tho.