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Initial Impression(1100 prestige) - Zero Replayability, good thing it's not needed (On Rails) - UPDA
This is my initial impression after about 1100 prestige and a little pvp and about 6 hours of play....
Synopsis: This is not the game I thought I was buying into...
Pros: It is a very pretty game with some nice character customization. The world areas (instances) are graphically pleasing, the combat sparkles are nice as well. The character classes have interesting mechanics.
Cons: Its the most on rails game I have every played I think.
The descriptions made it sound open world (go look up the videos and the sales pitches) as far as there being quick adventures for those with little time and a huge world to explore for those with more time, nothing could be further from the truth. It has been a long time since I felt a game this hard "on rails".
The quest series has zero side quests (the little objectives while in an instance adventure don't count) and lead you by the hand from one to the next.
The skill progression by class has zero options to this point.
You stand in a hub, choose an instance adventure, group or solo, and go to it.
Even the adventure zones are railed, very little wandering allowed due to GW1 style zone design (big walls/hills/buildings/etc that funnel you). I am hoping as the game progresses forward there will be some decisions to be made.
The lack of choices means that if you needed to start an alt, the replayability is absolutely zero, and I really feel the game will drive away players in drove save for those that want their adventures spoon fed.
This is 2015, this sort of game design should no longer occur.
I will keep playing I hopes that at 1100 prestige I am still in the tutorial phase and that the open world exploration and complex character development that was promised will appear.
UPDATE 2100 prestige
So I am at 2100 prestige now and things are a little better, but the on rails part is still the defining characteristic of this game.
It's like going to Disney World, you can go to Tomorrow Land or Fantasy Land but you are still in a very regulated structure.
There was one very nice zone, lamber forest, where it felt large, and that you could run about and do as you wish, even though it kinda led you by the hand through it as well.
The addition of "adepts" who you can send out to do things makes it a little more interesting, but they are really just a way to get extra buffs at this point.
I am at my first "split" in the roadmap of skill, but even it is just two side branches with one node each that buffs a stat if I want to spend extra points there. I do see a divergence coming up, but even it doesn't seem earth shattering. I am trying to get to the point where the bigger tree opens up.
Explorer 73% Achiever 53% Socializer 53% Killer 20%
Comments
Sounds like a dream come true for many peeps who have 50 childrens and 500 wives / husbands ,depends of the account they use.
People who dont have time to level alts ,read quest texts ,explore,travel,dont need replayability since next game beta test from best game ever is starting next week ,etc.
It sounds like a new themepark world record holder, so it must be good and sell platinum GOTY.
Sarcasm On and Off.
So, did ESO have a successful launch? Yes, yes it did.By Ryan Getchell on April 02, 2014.
**On the radar: http://www.cyberpunk.net/ **
You know, sarcasm aside, I don't even think those people will like it.
Right now it feels like the walls of GW1 areas with questing and character development 100% on rails. A side scroller in a 3d world, with no decisions required at all.
But those that just want a quick fix of something fun I think will be playing Hearthstone or some MOBA instead.
Explorer 73% Achiever 53% Socializer 53% Killer 20%
I think my biggest qualm right now is the limited character progression overall... why have the Atlas if it's just a straight path as you "level"? You don't really make any choices in your character, except when it comes to which class to play and when. Hopefully they add more customization of the classes down the line.
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Bill,
I am told that once you get your ultimate, a higher "tree" opens up and there are a ton more options.
Explorer 73% Achiever 53% Socializer 53% Killer 20%
OP are you suggesting that game developers and their marketing teams tell you what you want to hear so that you buy their product? They would never.
At least Skyforge didn't get massive hype, let's see all these kickstarter wonders come to fruition over the next few years.
To start the progression is very much a straight path to help new players get the system and not mess up their char to start. The training wheels come off around 2-3k prestige, thats about 5-6hrs game play. Then you can go as wacky as you like. I heard a dev say you can even mess up your char they give you that much freedom =-)
Yeah, this should be fun!
Explorer 73% Achiever 53% Socializer 53% Killer 20%
This is right!
When you get you Ultimate with any of the Starter Classes you get another TAB inside the Atlas. From there on, you get the Path to the other Classes and also Skills (which you also get from the First Path!) That will happen around roughly 2000 Prestige (maybe it was 2400 or so).
The thing is, that you get Skills also from the "lower Atlas" and you can change them inside your Ability TAB. You have a Button there in the lower right Corner which is called "Reset". Press that button, pay the small fee and now move on from there. Every Skill has a specific Slot they fit into. So you play with a "Deck" like GW2 or other Games like TSW and such. But you rly have to move on to see what comes.
Also i would like to mention that you CAN'T make an Alt. You have anything in ONE SINGLE Character.I played RU Beta and i like what you get tbh. But you wont get (at this point) no "Open World" als WoW or so. But the Zones are getting bigger. Also in the RU Beta we dont had all Zones opened up as far as i know.
Aerowyn's Video Compilation of ALL things Guild Wars 2
OP, I watched the videos as well and its clear if you dug at all, this is a lobby game. There are open world maps but you need to unlock them. Beta only had like 4 maps open so you are seeing a very small part of the game. Its a get in, play a dungeon in 30-40 min and get out game. Its a MMO with all the fat trimmed. Its very much what it said it was.
PS, also the story unlocks the maps, you can stop playing the story and just go reply the maps you unlocked any time you want. The mobs scale to your prestige and the map quests are there for you to reply only a little harder.
Sounds like a refund is in order to me. Don't let kickstarters lie and get away with it, get your money back.
Hey look - you copy and pasted your complaints from the Skyforge forums to here ... so here, let me go ahead and copy and paste my response!
1100 prestige is nothing. You are not far, they are still teaching you how to do things - hell, I just finished the Dash quest that they give you, and I am at 1000 prestige as well. If you think of it in levels, think of it as though you are most likely level 10, is what I atleast figure since if you go by the Atlas, and the Progression Panel, you are not far. You are still learning, the game is still teaching you, hence why you are really on rails, as every other MMO seems to do for the first 10-15 levels.
The descriptions made it sound open world (go look up the videos and the sales pitches) as far as there being quick adventures for those with little time and a huge world to explore for those with more time, nothing could be further from the truth.
- Open up the exploration map - on the bottom right hand corner, you will see a little box with a magnifying glass, click it, it will list you group / solo / etc events, instances, open world areas, and from there you can see that there are MANY ( not full list as we only are given a portion currently ) of what you are able to do in groups, and queue up for. You aren't even allowed to group until you finish the Port 4 times through its required quests. So yes, you can hop in, queue up - run a 20 minute instance, and be done with it.
It has been a long time since I felt a game this hard "on rails". The quest series has zero side quests (the little objectives while in an instance adventure don't count) and lead you by the hand from one to the next. The skill progression by class has zero options to this point.
- The game is very Guild Wars in the way of quests and in the way of the zones and instances, some people prefer it, some don't. I myself enjoy the linear story quests, as some of them are actually very very very very good, same with the instance setup for certain areas, and it makes me very excited to do this with groups of people, if you aren't use to it now, you will get use to it once things get more challenging, as right now, it all is very easy as we are still in learning mode.
You stand in a hub, choose an instance adventure, group or solo, and go to it. Even the adventure zones are railed, very little wandering allowed due to GW1 style zone design (big walls/hills/buildings/etc that funnel you).
- like what I said for the hard on rails, you will get used to it, and you will notice how great it actually can be.
I am hoping as the game progresses forward there will be some decisions to be made. The lack of choices means that if you needed to start an alt, the replayability is absolutely zero, and I really feel the game will drive away players in drove save for those that want their adventures spoon fed.
This is 2015, this sort of game design should no longer occur. I will keep playing I hopes that at 1100 prestige I am still in the tutorial phase and that the open world exploration and complex character development that was promised will appear
- Have you gotten your first trait yet? There is customization and a lot of personal customization to that. You are still only working on your first classes atlas, thus the reason you don't notice a lot of new skills and traits. The trait / skill system reminds me of a mixture between Tera and WoW ( before they simplified the trees to casual style ) , which both do skills very well, and again, you are still at the beginning of the game.
I guess what I am trying to tell you, is that you just need to enjoy it - learn it, see what is there, and get further.... because there are no levels, it is hard for someone to gauge where they are in the progression, unless you hit P and go to Progression tab and you can see everything that there is for you to unlock, and what all you have not even started to unlock or started to gain. You are still very very very very early in the game, I mean most games level 10, and this is CBT1 .. things will change, theres a lot that still needs to be added, and you have a long ways to go.
Also, there is no need to create an alt, as there is only 1 character allowed per account, as you can have all classes and what not unlocked on them. If you ever want to change what you look like, the Stylist is there for a reason.
.. but yeah, once you start to really look into it, and really see where you are so far progression wise, you'll understand that you have only cracked the surface of one hell of a complex shell.
PS - All mammals have nipples.
Get over it already.
Hmm some points of this review are just plain wrong.
first, you can't make an alt, so yeah..
Also, instead of traveling from same quest hub to another (same design as multples of mmo) you always part from same hub (observatory). This is similiar as Vindictus or GW1.
Also, side objectives are optional quest. Maybe for you don't count.. but in the real world they do.
1100 prestige is something you reach the first day you play.
you need to unlock the last skill on your starter class. This open more skills and you end with a pool of skills (you can't slot them all, you need to choice).
Having played the RU CBT I wouldn't touch the international closed betas with a 100m pole.
Replaying the beginning is disgusting. Gotta wait for launch.
Not sure what you are doing but my wife and I have been reading and listening to all quests and in a little less then 1.5hrs game play we got to 600. I would need to ask you many questions to find out what you are doing. The 5-6hrs to get to 2k was mentioned by a dev in a stream.
I'm at 4-5 hours (spent several in the EU yesterday when the gunner and zerker weren't working on the NA servers) and only around. 900. GO figure. Just following the story line. FInished the 2nd in the story line for the Naori (?) harbor. Oh well.
One of the aspects they have been touting is the ability to replay with different classes and the areas resetting every...40 minutes I think?
Personally I find the idea of going back into the same area and fighting the exact same mobs boring. The only (minor) scenario would be dong a hard or very hard of something you did on normal or easy.
I've done The Naori Harbor 4 times now. First was normal mode as a paladin on NA servers. Ended up in my one death at the 1st boss (the 2 lvl 5 mobs). The second was the same but hard mode as a gunner on EU. Breezed through it. This morning went back to the NA servers and did the quest with my paladin now gunner in normal mode. Easy. The last was when you have to go to the docks to talk to someone who 'saw the Death guy'. Still have to fight the same mobs. Sure you can elect to not kill the eggs for the bonus but basically same mobs yet again. Boring.
Another thing that was less than amazing was the 'do other bonus quests for more points' options. The bonus quests? Collect 20 heal orbs and use 10 finishers. Another area was 20 heal orbs and 20 (I think) dashes (the directional double clicks). Bonus...quests...?
I do try to serious test during betas and will continue to try to find 'broke things' but overall the game as a whole seems pretty thin to me.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
To be fair, the NDA for this game is pretty thin, if non-existent. I don't ever remember seeing one.
They're also allowing streaming, which pretty much removes the need for censorship with an NDA. Even if there IS an NDA, you can pretty much extrapolate the same information from watching a stream of the game.
The problem with this type of "crap" including the (I suppose) tutorial start is that "I" as a new player don't know this.
So I log in, have a poor time of it and decide not to play the game.
My take was exactly Bill's take.
If they are going to have a tutorial then make sure we know it's tutorial and that the game play will be different. Maybe even give us a choice to take the tutorial or not.
And a better idea than an initial "on rails" customization is to allow is a "little" customization. Nothing too earth shattering but at least giving us the idea that we do guide our character.
My first impressions of the game are that it's dull and slightly annoying. I don't often, in all my years here, say things like that.
I find myself counting attacks so I can get the correct attack, watching the circles as they cycle through right click attacks (and I seem to have a blank one which I more often than not land on).
I found vinditus and Tera more engaging as far as the "action combat" goes.
I'm going to (try) to stick with it through the week but so far I'm not enjoying myself.
Additionally, I originaly chose a suit as my outift not realiziing that would be my outfit while fighting in the first fight. I felt ridiculous. So then I changed to the more "fantasy armor" look only to find myself in some resort with pool umbrellas and modern everything.
My character feels so out of place.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
UPDATE 2100 prestige
So I am at 2100 prestige now and things are a little better, but the on rails part is still the defining characteristic of this game.
It's like going to Disney World, you can go to Tomorrow Land or Fantasy Land but you are still in a very regulated structure.
There was one very nice zone, lamber forest, where it felt large, and that you could run about and do as you wish, even though it kinda led you by the hand through it as well.
The addition of "adepts" who you can send out to do things makes it a little more interesting, but they are really just a way to get extra buffs at this point.
Explorer 73% Achiever 53% Socializer 53% Killer 20%
That's not how crowdfunding works, but I'm sure you knew this... people are not "buying a product". They are shoveling money into a hole, hoping a gold nugget pops out. They have no rights.