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Does Classic Charm Make for an MMO Worth Playing? - Shroud of the Avatar Review - MMORPG.com
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Does Classic Charm Make for an MMO Worth Playing? - Shroud of the Avatar Review - MMORPG.com
It’s been over a month since I last checked in about Shroud of the Avatar. In that time, there’s been heated debate on our forums about Portalarium’s KickStarter-backed indie title, covering everything from the core mechanics, to whether it even qualifies as an MMO. I’ll be getting to both of those questions later on in this wrap-up, but it clearly demonstrates how divisive this is. One player’s perfect experience is another’s critical miss.
Comments
That's the biggest mistake they made, although it is certainly not the only one.
My score for this game would be 5-5.5.
6.5 is really generous in my opinion.
The positive thing is that the game is getting better and now they have a solid base to build on, but in order to have a chance they need to modify Unity and allow bigger zones and re-design that God awful Combat System.
Oh... and tone down the Cash Shop.
I bought this game on Steam a long time ago and it's one of the only titles that really makes me wish that the two hour mark wasn't a thing when it comes to Steam Refunds. A terrible mess of a title with little redeeming value unless you intentionally long for the days when games were ugly, had cumbersome interfaces, bog-standard stand in front of an enemy combat, etc.
Just take one issue auction houses, its down to what works better and in my eyes as long player trading and other economic systems are solid it is better without. If that is not the case you are better of with an auction house.
That said, the game relies on nostalgia to sell. Are the animations clunky? Yes. Are the graphics dated? Yes. Is the UI horrible? Mostly. But I look at it like a first rough cut of an indie publisher showing what they can do. Is it worth $1600? Nope. Is it worth $40? If you're a fan of all things ultima, definitely.
By yourself, absolutely.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Played Private Online so that I wouldn't run into anyone, but even still I read a lot of posts made on bulletin boards and saw how nice a lot of the people were -- as well as the events they tried to set up for one another in game.
Spent some time getting maybe 100k gold to buy some expensive plate armor and a really good bow, as well as logging in once a day since to get the 10,000 experience and 500 gold from answering the trivia each day.
The melee combat is horrendous. The NPCs try to act smart by running away when you engage them in melee (if they have range), but this seems to be a poor decision as a whole. Almost like someone complained that the A.I. wasn't smart enough, so they did that... without realizing that the combat system and mechanics don't lend well to it. It'd be more acceptable in a game with multiple gap-closing mechanics, like a charge and slow effect that you're able to place on mobs so they aren't constantly running away from you (especially if you're grinding and constantly slowed due to inventory woes)
Bow attacks and the auto attack system of just attacking even if you don't target them (if they're in range) seems poorly executed, but since the combat overall isn't great, I can see why they did that. The flow otherwise would be interrupted too much with the mechanics as they are implemented.
Didn't do much with magic yet due to it requiring reagents and me not really delving into the system yet. Mainly worked on Earth magic to raise passive stats. Though I don't view needing reagents as a negative as it is more of a nostalgic factor that reminded me of Ultima Online.
Got a lot of skills up to level 70+ and some 96 strength / 55 Dex before I stopped logging in (a little over a week now) for the bonus experience. But I enjoyed visiting different towns around the world, as well as the player markets around the starting area.
It's a game I'll likely boot up again just to look at how the starting player towns are doing and what they're selling. Possibly with the intent on meeting a few of the players in the future. As for the graphics and aesthetics, I didn't mind them. Thought the game looked pretty good to be honest. Though I was mainly admiring sky boxes and the like.
If they can fix the combat and the A.I. for it, I'd probably even recommend the game to people who are used to more of an old school vibe for video games (though I also dislike the frequency of sieges). As for the cash shop, I didn't find it that bad. Nothing seemed too expensive other than the housing. Bought a dog pet when it was on sale, but am disappointed that they can be killed and need to be summoned again. Makes having the idea of a hunting companion kind of null and void to the point of regret in buying it.
Seaspite
Playing ESO on my X-Box
Good news: The UI is getting a massive overhaul over the next two months.
I hope some reviewers eventually make it to a few of the player run events. I still haven't seen a single reviewer do that, but we have stuff happening all the time. Gustball games, PvP tournaments, Happy Hour, and of course dance parties, not to mention camp outs, grand openings, player created quest events, etc. Come check out that side of the game one day!
Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention that land deeds and houses now drop in loot as well, so a major part of the Add-On store can now be randomly gained through combat. And for those interested in money, you can sell that deed if you like and you won't get banned.
I'd agree with this. There's a large range of good quality RPGs to be found these days, and Steam sales mean that picking one up is cheaper than ever. Unless SotA *really* grabs you, the other picks likely make more sense.
Currently playing: WildStar, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Vain Glory.
Where you say " Heavily overpriced housing - that is the opinion of someone unemployed or under-employed"
For $30,0000.00, the price of one of the castles they sold (DID NOT EVEN COME WITH A LAND DEED); for that much money you could hire a team of contractors and have them build a really decent sized in-ground swimming pool at your real life house. You could also buy a decently tricked out real boat for open ocean saltwater fishing excursions, ... you see where this is going don't you?
You think this opinion that a $30k house that still requires a $15k land deed is the opinion of someone unemployed or under-employed? Are you Richard Garriott? Because for most people $45,000 represents something that is better than the annual household income for entire first world families.
"In Online play modes, your character has a “soft cap” on the amount of experience points that can be earned from combat. Once your experience gained during combat exceeds 500,000 experience points per hour, you will acquire a debuff that limits your experience gained from combat. This debuff will increasingly reduce the amount of experience gained through combat, as well as limit your experience gained through combat to a maximum of 1,000,000 experience per hour. (For as long as you are at this experience maximum, you cannot gain experience from combat.) The debuff is automatically removed when your hourly experience gain drops to 500,000 experience points or fewer. This debuff will be visible on screen, next to the pooled experience displayed in the skills UI. Note that this only applies in Online mode; Offline mode has no soft cap on experience."
I feel like there's a lot of potential with something like this in the overall mmorpg market to combat the "no lifer" complaint. I was also thinking that in tandum with this, players that may not have as much time overall can buy certain daily/weekly clears but also impose on a cap of their own if they do. For example, if someone buys all their daily clears in advance, then maybe they get an exp penalty for a few days as well so they cant just pay and then play all day as well. It would force people to choose while still trying to implement some form of balance. Again, I know the overall concept needs a new thread but it would be nice to see something like that implemented in an mmorpg.
The combat definitely does not suck. I have yet to find another MMO with combat decks, combos, and charging of abilities. The game is grindy, but not everyone is anti grind. Not many games offer any meaningful character progression, and you definitely get rewarded for the grind which makes it worth it. For the old schoolers, it will definitely grow on you, but please don't read these reviews and write it off without giving it a fair shake.
Current game: Pillars of Eternity
Played: UO, AC, Eve, Fallen Earth, Aion, GW, GW2
Tried: WOW, Rift, SWTOR, ESO
Future: Camelot Unchained? Crowfall? Bless?
Just sayin
6.5 ? You're way to generous. This crap deserve a 4.
Not sure how to kill a quest though. The quest givers usually respawn in most games.
More than likely they'll just buy some more cheap unity assets to do a new UI. These dudes hardly make anything in house cept add-on store crap. Cheapest assets they can buy and throw into this game. Just go to unity and start lookin from the mobs they got to buildings to even some of the stuff they sell in add-on store, a ton of just cheap crap thrown into this game. They couldnt even fulfil the dev+ pledges with many assets cause they didn't do many of them.
"That unrelenting disappointment is only strengthened by the synth-heavy musical score. Sometimes catchy but often annoying, it feels like a throwback to console-era RPGs with chintzy tunes that mostly didn’t matter. Today, we know what good sounds like, and more often than not the game gets muted."
Again this is them cheapin out, they got players to make most their music. Animation sounds and stuff prob from cheap unity asset too.
Any real industry vets would be ashamed by what this game is today after so many years spent makin it. Industry vets? This is the best they could do with what 20+ mil? The devs that did Project Gorgon did better job on less money than these jokers.