Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Alright lets take the discussion.
Astrokat
Member Posts: 22
Ok, as Ive been very annoyed about the all the posts who actually said nothing about the game except "Dnl sucks lol roflpopz!" I was thinking about trying to make a post actually telling people who havnt tried it yet, people considering trying it, and generally getting some well put posts about what they feel is wrong about the game, and if something is good about it, in anything at all. ( Wow, I sound like a DnL dev, but Im not :P)
About me, Im a pioneers, payed for the game not knowing what it was going to be like.
What I thought when I tried it:
Alot of bugs. Some of the most annoying was the inadequate chat functions. No private tells, no guildinvite nor groupinvite. Other bugs I noticed was, warphing monsters or they were moving in "lags" or spikes, alot of translation not done to english. I noticed extreme lag when sitting on the backseat of another guys dragon.
The mere point that the servers are down all the time is a huge problem aswell, especially if its like this when we start paying for it.
Camera controls is awfull, and annoying we have no free cameramovement when flying on dragons.
About the combat, felt slow, reminded me of the old SWG combat system. Pressing attack and adding up special moves. Combat animation was ranged from horrible to poor. I got a lightning bolt which was completely horrible animated. Furthermore I noticed a combat bug, that did the monsters was suddenly "out of range" even though I was standing at them whacking them in the head with me mace. Didnt get to try any pvp really, so dont know about it ( perhaps other can comment?).
The "resting" system was very weird. I could go from no health and mana almost to full in 1 sec if I did the /sit command. I dont know if this is intentional to make the grinding fast or just not worked out yet or because its SoG and they want grinding to be done fast.
The general UI was very primitive and the skill tables etc. seemed very poorly done and not very user friendly either. When I dinged level five I didnt know how to choose class, untill I asked. But general the Leveling system seems interesting. I like you being able to add your own points to your "Strength, constitution etc." reminded me of the old pen and paper DnD. And the skill system was fun aswell and the class specific ways you could choose. I liked, that when you leveled you got alot of things out of it, not "just" spells.
Graphics, well Im sort of dissapointed and then again not. I felt the screenshots Ive seen shoved a more diverse world, but then again I was only at the starter isle. Secondly I didnt have it on max settings cause it would proberly kill my computer. But they where alright, I liked that they felt more real and dark than most other games I felt. When I ran in the forrest it somehow reminded me of walking in a real life forrest. Animals werent around and it went on forever. The size of the landscape is enourmous, almost to big to beleive. From a roleplay point of view this world is very interesting.
Generally I felt like the game had some sort of impact on me, even though it is in a very poor state. It had the freedom I had hope for, go everywhere you want to and not knowing what you will see or when an enemy will land right next to you on his dragon. On the other hands, there was so many bugs and features not in the game yet. Playercities is a must for a game like this, so is a crafting system. IF SoG as it is now is going to be DnL with no chances, I would recommend people to NOT buy it. Its simply to bugged and not enough of the features which are attractive. So as it is now, people shouldnt buy it, thats the advice I give you, take it or leave it.
But, I still think that the game company is on the right track, with the "core" of the game. The freedom is really something I value alot. Absolute freedom. But we need something to do with the freedom and Im not talking about quests but rather the ability to build player cities and attacking each other cities. i dont care about quests for now, what I want is a world me and my guild can settle and do with whatever we like, wagewar or simply enjoy our town. But they need to implement this first, before the game will start to look very appealing to me.
Thats what I though about it, long post, hopefully will scare all the leets kids away who cant be arsed reading it, and make the smart ones actually having an oppinion about the game in the thread. Please do post your comment, negative or possitive, in this thread as I would enjoy reading them. And please argue while you think of the game as you do, I dont mind you hating everything about it, I would just like to hear why you see no bright spots in it 
Comments
A good and reasonable post. I vowed to myself not to post anymore on this forum until the hysterics had died down, however given your sensible post this is the way I see it.
Claiming SoG was a prequel to DnL was a *huge* marketing error as people have judged SoG as a complete game and extrapolated that to DnL full. It should have been called, in honesty, a (semi)open beta. Had this been done they would not have opened themselves up to such a huge attack on their credibility, nor lost so much face with the MMORPG community. Had they gone the open beta route most folks would have been pleased they got a place and would have accepted the game was far from complete, had bugs etc. Some even would have been happy to help by constructively contributing to the development of the game rather than just taking a free ride for several months.
I have a hunch however that the development team aren't that stupid, naive perhaps, but not stupid. Again I think you need look no further than why most MMORPGs get rushed into a release before they are ready and initially suffer for it, with some never recovering. The bean counters. I don't think they jumped with SoG. I think they were pushed. Personally I still have hope that something worthwhile can yet emerge from the wreckage if all concerned with DnL learn from the events of the last few days.
“Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside.”
― William S. Burroughs
for once someone with a decent tread.
*claps* nice posts
i cant rly talk about the game to much as i have only played for 5mins due to an error kicking me out then i get a new error not letting me back in game. So all i can say is that the game is full of bugs and if your looking for a free game atm dont play it just w8 2 weeks and come back. from when i was ingame the gfx i saw was nice im coming from WoW and i like SoG gfx better but the movment was slow i can run WoW like a dream but this game seems to lag and run slow and i hoping thats itds there severs.
World fo warcraft
Torok
LVL 60 WARRIOR
Legend of Mir 3
Shinobu
LVL 44 WARRIOR
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power
Personally I don't think the game will launch in April, lets face it, its unlikely to be ready and the team is known for delays. June-July time frame is a bit more reasonable to expect for the earliest launch, tho it could be later than that.
I don't care either way, so long as it comes out when it's ready.
The major thing that needs to be done right at launch are the core systems: world, combat, and crafting. Combat needs to be ballanced in both PvP and PvE within reason. One class will invariably always be a bit out of whack, nothing can really be done about that but things need to be close. Crafting needs to be viable and enjoyable, and the world systems like terain, cities, player cities, and forts need to be fully operational.
Quest system in a game like this is a nice bonus but it could be very sucessful with the above 3 things without a deep quest system to start, tho it should be the next area of focus after the first 3. Things like nifty animations for combat and spells would be nice, but I'd say that's a strong 5th after the first 4 things, people will forgive bad graphics before they forgive bad gameplay.
Thanks for the kind words, at the moment Im using these forums as backup since the DnL forums are down
But still not found any real discusion going on about the game itself, more people flaming eachother for no apparent reason. Glad to see some replys.
As to your post, I totaly agree. It was a huuuuuge mistake making SoG look like a finished product. Definately should have called it for some sort of beta or stresstest etc. The problem is everyone think now that this is the quality we are to inspect from now on from this game, which is a shame really because it does show some amazing features which no other mmorpgs out there can provide me. The hype was simply too big, compared to what they really had of a game.
As you said, I think it can go to ways aswell. Either this decission, really damaged the reputation of the game so severe that it will never be credible again, and end up like all the other unfinished products out there.
Or it can turn out with some sort of possitive twist, as all the "fake" hype about the game, both created by the devs but certainly also by the gamers, will be gone and they will be back to the roots. A small company, with a small to medium amount of people supporting and from there develop nice and easially and perhaps get things improved and eventually build up a reputation again. ( Im not talking about weeks, this will take months atleast)
Again, the game is unique, its offering me some sort of freedom and hopes of a community enhancing world, closest mmorpg to this might be swg in the old days, which there really isnt any other game out there who can provide. I mean, within a reasonable timelimit, I dont see which games out there who intend to give me the freedom of Dark and Light, the ideas about pvp and players cities. Perhaps its me not looking good enough. Though, Im not saying Im satisfied with the game as it is now, important to notice before someone is calling me a fanboy or something else nasty
Excellent post, Astrokat! I have yet to successfully get into the game, but once I can play for an hour or so then I'll put up my own initial thoughts, but from what I've seen so far I think you've done an excellent job of summing up the state of things.
What is leading me to have some hope for D&L is that they have an interesting vision, and some good ideas for how to make an MMORPG with a difference. Clearly their implementation of that vision is lacking right now, but their ambitions go beyond creating a by-the-book/cookie-cutter game.
I have no idea when, or even IF, they'll get past all the issues, but some of my favorite gaming experiences have been in MMORPGs, and I'm willing to take a risk with D&L on the hopes that some day it matures into a game that provides fun & interesting times. If that takes 2 to 3 months, great! If it takes a year more, I'll let Oblivion (whenever THAT finally comes out) and other games fill the gap. There's no shortage of fun things to do and good games to play in the meantime, I'll just cross my fingers that some day D&L joins that list!
Here's hoping we meet ingame someday....
--------------------------------------------------
Regard all phenomena as dreams...
I was on for a good 4, or so, hours on the 12th ... I agree on the interface clunky-ness ... though just about any new game takes some time to get use to.
My experience was pretty lag-free, mob were in short supply ... but managed to run through L11 while still exploring the isle.
I have lived through many game launches .. geez can remember Tempest hitting the arcade in the early '80s ... MUDs forever looping ... 2D UO in '97 right through to SoG .. many, many years ... hell, i even bought a D&D set and the friggin d4 was missing.
This is pretty much par for the course. Login server issues, game server issues, bugs ...hell this is status quo.
I give the devs credit for firing off a beta, then a pre-launch to assist in hashing out the issues before release .. wouldn't want to endure another Shadowbane launch or WoW launch again.
Developers have to reach a stop-gap when they throw their hands up & press on with a launch ... patching bugs from their own PIN list & fielding new found bugs from the population ... that is just the way development goes. If every developer waited for a bug free software, we'd all be staring at a blank screen.
I just have to laugh with each game launch to the public .. every cry baby who had "time-outs" instead of good old fashion beatings jumps at the chance to toss insults and pretend they have a 1/2 clue about what it takes to develop a MMORPG .. I just wish a game would launch every week ... this way I can laugh my arse off at the children & the temper tantrums on these & other boards ... keep 'em posting, I had tough day at work & the SoG servers are still down.
I've been a member of the DnL official community forums for several months now and I can tell you that developers have been very responsive with the community thus far and are definitely open to taking suggestions. This was the first quality that really drew me to this game seeing as how few game developers actually care about what their community has to say and the suggestions they've made. However, there's no doubt in my mind that these developers had some rather revolutionary ideas and are very much the dreamers that good devs should be, but now it's time to own up to that dream and dig into this mess with both hands.
I'm sure the devs are working on this as we speak, and though I haven't got a key just yet (I'll figure something out lol) I have faith that these guys will take care of business with this game. With an extension on their release date and some real time for a large community to play SoG and find the fundamental flaws with the prelude that can easily relate to DnL's gameplay I think we could definitely have a winner on our hands. While this is a bit of a marketing stunt I think it was more of a chance to get a large volume of players to try and adapted version of gameplay based on DnL so that any fundamental flaws could be flushed out and boy does there seem to be many. So let's gather some patience as a community and pull together on this one by gathering our collective thoughts and criticisms in an effort to get this game moving. When the official forums for DnL come back up I'm sure the devs will be more than ready to recieve your suggestions!
Keep in mind I'm very optimistic lol, and I could quite possibly be wrong about all of this.
Well I can understand that you hate hearing all the posts saying how bad SoG is as much as I hate hearing how ya'll are even playing SoG. I have a pioneer account but unable to get past the login screen due to some foul up by either AD, Farlan or Np3 regarding my logon and password. So, quite franky I am happy you enjoy it so much but I really cannot share your enthusiasm.
As far as their responsiveness I have 6 tickets in regarding my situation. I got a 2 sentence response on Monday stating that it was a database error and it would be resolved within one hour. I have heard nothing since. So much for being responsive.
I have never had any problem accessing an open beta or game than I have had with this. I am still hoping to play and enjoy Ganarath. However, my frustration is growing.
I completely agree with the original poster. Also, I have read many complaints, however, I don't think I've read enough complaints about the horrible or complete lack therof sound effects especially when meleee attacking and getting attack. I am just unsure how they missed that one. Am I the only one that thonks that makes all combat seem bland and dull.
Also the hit detection is garbage in this game in combat and in contact. I hope the comunity voices concerns over all these issues.
Astro your a *. I love seeing proper posts which aren't FAN FAN FAN and FLAME FLAME FLAME.
My opinions. I agree with all of your comments, especially the one about the GFX, they are worse than current games but have this strange feeling of reality.
Combat is actually being improved upon. I got the "out of range" error for most of my combat (ranged and melee) and had to just use spells, on the first day. Yesterday I logged in though and the stuff seemed to be working a lot better. The animations ARE bad though, if I had to say the biggest negative, it would be that.
I am currently enjoying this as much as I enjoyed Guild Wars and i see it as the same cost. The problem of servers was ALWAYS going to be an issue, and it didnt surprise me in the least. Last night the game got a whole lot more stable, so they are getting there on that front.
The poor skill naming I see as a blessing in disguise, I am hoping that they will name the skills after pioneers and settlers for DnL. How awesome would it be to use "Blunder's Lament" in Bardic skills!
The biggest concern for me is the lack of crafting. I know a beta tester who has decided to talk pretty frankly now SOG is out and its not in the game yet. This is a huge set back as unless they are finishing the coding i dont see it coming out for an age. If this got implemented I see this game being a RPers paradise.
Its a shoddy game at present but one which is fun and has lots of players. Those coming in remember 3 critical things
1. Its a beta, dressed up nicely
2. You need a decent machine to run it, one guy was complaining of 1fps with his Celeron 1.5 and Geforce 2... you want a comp which cost $1000 in the last 6months to play it
3. Server down time is just the nature of MMORPGs at startup.
I've remained unbiased about this game, until i got the chance to play it. Although i was skeptic about this game, i had such high hope for it. Just read about the features they talk about in the FAQ. I want to play THAT game. this game (SoG) and that game are not the same.
I finally got to play it tonight for the first time. I would say that the people in support of this game need to take it easy because you're going to get people's hopes up. This game has all kinds of wonderful proposed features, but is so far from them i can barely believe it.
For people who haven't played it here's an analogy:
>>Lets say I'm going to write a story and it's going to be unique. I'm going to make it so you'll want to never stop reading it. It's so good you won't be able to put it down, except to reflect on what you read because it's so enlightening. It's not going to be like other books. It's going to be a new kind of book, not your cookie cutter murder, or mystery, or love story.
So i tell you this and you get all excited about this book. You're thinking... wow finally something new, something different. Then i'm like it's not finished yet, but ill let you read the rough draft. i've been working on it for 4 years.
I hand you the paper and you start reading it. You get so lost in the grammar errors and mis-spellings you can't even focus on the theme of my story. After reading the first page, you lose all confidence in this story.<<
That's what SoG is like. It's a whole lot of promises, but they can't even get the basic funtions of an MMORPG down the movement is clunky, the combat is clunky, if i could sum this game up in one word it would be:frustrating. The camera randomly jumps all over the place like some newbie independent film. When you're walking uphill you walk incredibly slowly... unless you jump in which case you surf up the mountain. I rode on the back of someones dragon, the only thing decent about it was the wing flapping animation... if you could ignore the random warping of position.
It's the least engaging game i've played in a long time. There's just too much fundamently wrong with this game for it to be fixed. This game isn't bugged, it's flawed.
I'm really sorry to anyone i hyped this game to.