I was going to pre-order then I kept reading and noticed how slimmed down the features seem to be. It looks fun and I will likely still get it . . but it wasn't what I hoped. I am guessing, and hoping (based on the low price) that it will develop more with DLC or updates etc. Here's hoping!
Lol, I dono how this thread took a decedent into a talk about a free first person shooter mmo, made by the worst company on the planet, so I am gonna walk away now. Enjoy your weird game, that isnt even as good as bg2, and has worse animations.
Lol, I dono how this thread took a decedent into a talk about a free first person shooter mmo, made by the worst company on the planet, so I am gonna walk away now. Enjoy your weird game, that isnt even as good as bg2, and has worse animations.
People are bringing corpses into these discussions now? These forums have reached a new low.
When planetside 2 came out it had way too many missing elements, but over time it got better. this game will do the same.
Except Planetside 2 is Free To Play. Sword Coast Legends is not.
What makes you say SCL is not free to play? After the initial box price, there is no subscription or required cost. No requirement to purchase DLC.
This is a bait, right? You're not really saying a SCL is free to play because AFTER PAYING it is free. If so, well played sir. I fell for the bait
If there is no subscription cost and you are not forced to purchase DLC, that meets my definition of free-to-play.
I ran ran through a dungeon today, with an active DM, who put an incredible amount of detail and dialogue into his quest. During the running of the quest, he used the in-game VOIP to describe some of the events or sounds that were not coded. The quest took just under 2 hours and it was quite fun. The player group was a PuG group, and behaved quite well.
The fact that the head start has a limited amount of the DM tool set, bodes quite well for the game.
I also made a list of seven new players to add to my friends list on Steam. These are players, and one DM I can count on to play well, fairly and made the experience fun.
Now, were there some bugs? Yes, of course there were, but none were major.
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....
If there is no subscription cost and you are not forced to purchase DLC, that meets my definition of free-to-play.
Now, were there some bugs? Yes, of course there were, but none were major.
Most people would call SCL a B2P game with DLC purchase options. F2P and games that advertise F2P games are...well, F2P.
As for your bug comment, was the group you played with have any connection issues? Did people have any issues playing together or seeing each other or mobs not responding etc? I know there was an update and was wondering to what extent they have already been able to address the connection issues. Oh and were you able to pause the rounds and did it seem like the pause functionality was operating properly.
1. I could not see the health bars of mobs go down, especially with spiders, unless someone else hit them first. Others in the group experienced the same thing.
2. At one point I suddenly scrolled off the map, and could not manually (WSAD) or "Center on Character" back. I had to log off and log back in, rejoin, to fix it. I played at least another 2 hours without it happening again.
I reported both bugs.
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....
I have not played this but it looks interesting. As I see it, it is an old-school isometric mmo. A few questions:
1. is it finished/ polished, or is it gonna release too early? 2. Is it an mmo, in which I can group with anyone, or is it hub based, instanced? 3. What are the skill trees like? 4, Can I play as a steroid inflicted horse-man?
I have not played this but it looks interesting. As I see it, it is an old-school isometric mmo. A few questions:
1. is it finished/ polished, or is it gonna release too early? 2. Is it an mmo, in which I can group with anyone, or is it hub based, instanced? 3. What are the skill trees like? 4, Can I play as a steroid inflicted horse-man?
1) It is like Diablo ARPG. It is not to the level of Diablo or most ARPG I have played recently.
2) It is instanced, lobby setup.
3) Their skill trees are a few 5e spells and abilities that you can 'level.' Think magic missle I,II,III,IV. There are multiple (like four or five?) skill sets you can invest in, but those sets only have a handful between them. Some of them are passives.
4) Sure. But you would need to use your imagination.
Coins are distributed, but it appears that the person actually looting gets a double share.
Quest objective; Monster Kill; and Boss Kill loot = everyone gets the same coin and item.
Looting can not take place during combat.
In a DM created dungeon, the DM can only place a limited number of chests. A good DM will place a treasure room, with four chests, each locked and trapped. That will prevent one players from swooping in and grabbing all four.
Use in-game VOIP or TS to communicate with DM and other party members. If you see ninja looting behavior, call it out.
A DM or the player that started a dungeon crawl can boot any player, and easily replace with an NPC or wait for another to fill in the slot.
Players have to police themselves. There are fewer asshats than you might think.
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....
I gave the OP a LOL, you know... because... the "cool down gripe"...
Let me ask, in PnP D&D, when your Cleric uses his spells, does your DM make you wait 24 hours of real time before you can use them again?
Of course the DM doesn't, they advance the time; roll an random encounter roll; and then they tell you... "You woke up the next morning, and your spells have replenished." That all took a few moments, and yet the gripe that your spells in a PC game have a cool down that is too short is plain and simply silly talk.
Honestly, there is not a single point you made I agree with. You do understand that there is some loss in the translation going from PnP to PC game, don;t you?
I agree with you. I find her point #1 most annoying. OMG they didn't include everything like its the end of the world.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Well, since we are using this argument, when your Cleric use spells, does your DM makes you wait for two minutes for you to use it again? I mean, if PnP to crpg analogy applies. Now, If you think resting to restore spells is lame, waiting three minutes for your good spells to come back so you can face a challenge seems a solid design decision?
Their (SCL) forum is abundant in points about it. Same thing about attacks per round and DPS of a mage: They removed the system from 5th, and replaced it with poor design choices. See their topic about life stealing weapons and attack speed. Mages are greatly underpowered, Rangers are pretty OP right now. But i agree: Using teamspeak to roleplay and the pause feature makes it totally D&D. Pillars of Eternity is waaay more D&D than the game. And many people that backed it since day one in kickstarter are very disappointed in that regard.
Well, since we are using this argument, when your Cleric use spells, does your DM makes you wait for two minutes for you to use it again? I mean, if PnP to crpg analogy applies. Now, If you think resting to restore spells is lame, waiting three minutes for your good spells to come back so you can face a challenge seems a solid design decision?
Their (SCL) forum is abundant in points about it. Same thing about attacks per round and DPS of a mage: They removed the system from 5th, and replaced it with poor design choices. See their topic about life stealing weapons and attack speed. Mages are greatly underpowered, Rangers are pretty OP right now. But i agree: Using teamspeak to roleplay and the pause feature makes it totally D&D. Pillars of Eternity is waaay more D&D than the game. And many people that backed it since day one in kickstarter are very disappointed in that regard.
Why is PoE waaay more DnD than this game when all the reason you cite for it not being DnD revolve around differences to the 5e rules? Pretty sure PoE is faaar different to 5e in terms of rules/abilities than SCL is.
1- Presence of skills 2- Rest to get your spells back. Exception made to 4th (funny thing is, many ppl said 4th wasn't D&D, and weird as it may sound, it just shows that the d&d isn't just a name you can stick at any product), and even there, some spells and abilities you had to rest to recover. 3- Never, even in 4th, you had a skillset like in SCL. It reminds too much of dragon age. I'm not even starting with some traps in the trees (Points you can put in a skill that are actually wasted), just pointing that was never anything like it in any d&d game. PnP or crpg. 4- Feats? 5- Attacks per round. In SCL you get speed bonus to attacks, that increase your dps. As we can see in many gameplay vids, a ranger can (without haste) act like a machinegun when attacking. That may be the coolest thing eva for some tastes, but fact stands: Not d&d. PoE had more d&d feel in the system even in this aspect. 6- Spells. It was talked about to death in the forums, but here we go again: Spell variety of d&d? Forget about it. Magic missile I,II,III and IV it is. In a SKILL TREE, not per grimoire or anything like it. The wizard in there is a sorcerer, not a wizard. PoE again is more d&d than SCL. 7- Weapons that give full lifesteal. Since when did fighters (in general, not only the class) can dismiss a cleric because they heal MUCH more using basic attacks? Not only a design flaw ( If you play the game or see SCL forum, there's a hot topic about those weapons unbalancing the game), but the whole feel of the game's combat gets different.
That said, the 5th edition was used before to point that "Your DM makes you wait for 24 hours before you can cast again in RL?" is just a strawman. The DM isn't supposed to make you wait three minutes for a fireball either in a PnP. In a computer game is that acceptable? Maybe, but the "real life hours in wait" is just wrong. Or you think it's a valid one?
Every point i did was about the system, because the D&D is more than just a system. We can only wait for SP campaign to see if they dumped even that from the brand. Even so, the "rules" of the 5th, or 4th, or any edition, were thrown away so they could implement a unbalanced system. Instead of questioning that design decision, are we supposed to applaud the bold developer? Really?
The vast majority is fluff, sure, but some things in there make you wonder: why make a game lacking more than neverwinter nights in mod potential, less d&d than BG, Icewind Dale and NWN, with different rules? I'm not even talking about rules being good or not here, but fact: They are not BASED in D&D, only mildly inspired. What do they bring to the table in a better shape than the old dungeon crawlers?
1- Presence of skills 2- Rest to get your spells back. Exception made to 4th (funny thing is, many ppl said 4th wasn't D&D, and weird as it may sound, it just shows that the d&d isn't just a name you can stick at any product), and even there, some spells and abilities you had to rest to recover. 3- Never, even in 4th, you had a skillset like in SCL. It reminds too much of dragon age. I'm not even starting with some traps in the trees (Points you can put in a skill that are actually wasted), just pointing that was never anything like it in any d&d game. PnP or crpg. 4- Feats? 5- Attacks per round. In SCL you get speed bonus to attacks, that increase your dps. As we can see in many gameplay vids, a ranger can (without haste) act like a machinegun when attacking. That may be the coolest thing eva for some tastes, but fact stands: Not d&d. PoE had more d&d feel in the system even in this aspect. 6- Spells. It was talked about to death in the forums, but here we go again: Spell variety of d&d? Forget about it. Magic missile I,II,III and IV it is. In a SKILL TREE, not per grimoire or anything like it. The wizard in there is a sorcerer, not a wizard. PoE again is more d&d than SCL. 7- Weapons that give full lifesteal. Since when did fighters (in general, not only the class) can dismiss a cleric because they heal MUCH more using basic attacks? Not only a design flaw ( If you play the game or see SCL forum, there's a hot topic about those weapons unbalancing the game), but the whole feel of the game's combat gets different.
That said, the 5th edition was used before to point that "Your DM makes you wait for 24 hours before you can cast again in RL?" is just a strawman. The DM isn't supposed to make you wait three minutes for a fireball either in a PnP. In a computer game is that acceptable? Maybe, but the "real life hours in wait" is just wrong. Or you think it's a valid one?
Every point i did was about the system, because the D&D is more than just a system. We can only wait for SP campaign to see if they dumped even that from the brand. Even so, the "rules" of the 5th, or 4th, or any edition, were thrown away so they could implement a unbalanced system. Instead of questioning that design decision, are we supposed to applaud the bold developer? Really?
The vast majority is fluff, sure, but some things in there make you wonder: why make a game lacking more than neverwinter nights in mod potential, less d&d than BG, Icewind Dale and NWN, with different rules? I'm not even talking about rules being good or not here, but fact: They are not BASED in D&D, only mildly inspired. What do they bring to the table in a better shape than the old dungeon crawlers?
Now that is what I call a well thought out and informative analysis. I understand your point about PoE better now. Not so sure the skill trees resemble dragon age, I might have just forgotten, but I don't recall that DA had rank ups of skills as a common theme- although the graphical layout does remind me a bit of DA2- also DA had something akin to feats for "soft" skills like search/pick locks etc.
Probably the thing I noticed most with how PoE played as a video game compared to SCL is the engagement and opportunity attack system. It adds hugely to the strategy and feel of how combat plays out. Its not strictly a DnD thing, but it helps give more of a pNp game feel imo by giving your frontline more of a presence.
Have you played Dungeons and Dragons Online? That is the most faithful representation of DnD I have played, from systems right down to narrated dungeons.
1- Presence of skills 2- Rest to get your spells back. Exception made to 4th (funny thing is, many ppl said 4th wasn't D&D, and weird as it may sound, it just shows that the d&d isn't just a name you can stick at any product), and even there, some spells and abilities you had to rest to recover. 3- Never, even in 4th, you had a skillset like in SCL. It reminds too much of dragon age. I'm not even starting with some traps in the trees (Points you can put in a skill that are actually wasted), just pointing that was never anything like it in any d&d game. PnP or crpg. 4- Feats? 5- Attacks per round. In SCL you get speed bonus to attacks, that increase your dps. As we can see in many gameplay vids, a ranger can (without haste) act like a machinegun when attacking. That may be the coolest thing eva for some tastes, but fact stands: Not d&d. PoE had more d&d feel in the system even in this aspect. 6- Spells. It was talked about to death in the forums, but here we go again: Spell variety of d&d? Forget about it. Magic missile I,II,III and IV it is. In a SKILL TREE, not per grimoire or anything like it. The wizard in there is a sorcerer, not a wizard. PoE again is more d&d than SCL. 7- Weapons that give full lifesteal. Since when did fighters (in general, not only the class) can dismiss a cleric because they heal MUCH more using basic attacks? Not only a design flaw ( If you play the game or see SCL forum, there's a hot topic about those weapons unbalancing the game), but the whole feel of the game's combat gets different.
That said, the 5th edition was used before to point that "Your DM makes you wait for 24 hours before you can cast again in RL?" is just a strawman. The DM isn't supposed to make you wait three minutes for a fireball either in a PnP. In a computer game is that acceptable? Maybe, but the "real life hours in wait" is just wrong. Or you think it's a valid one?
Every point i did was about the system, because the D&D is more than just a system. We can only wait for SP campaign to see if they dumped even that from the brand. Even so, the "rules" of the 5th, or 4th, or any edition, were thrown away so they could implement a unbalanced system. Instead of questioning that design decision, are we supposed to applaud the bold developer? Really?
The vast majority is fluff, sure, but some things in there make you wonder: why make a game lacking more than neverwinter nights in mod potential, less d&d than BG, Icewind Dale and NWN, with different rules? I'm not even talking about rules being good or not here, but fact: They are not BASED in D&D, only mildly inspired. What do they bring to the table in a better shape than the old dungeon crawlers?
Now that is what I call a well thought out and informative analysis. I understand your point about PoE better now. Not so sure the skill trees resemble dragon age, I might have just forgotten, but I don't recall that DA had rank ups of skills as a common theme- although the graphical layout does remind me a bit of DA2- also DA had something akin to feats for "soft" skills like search/pick locks etc.
Probably the thing I noticed most with how PoE played as a video game compared to SCL is the engagement and opportunity attack system. It adds hugely to the strategy and feel of how combat plays out. Its not strictly a DnD thing, but it helps give more of a pNp game feel imo by giving your frontline more of a presence.
Have you played Dungeons and Dragons Online? That is the most faithful representation of DnD I have played, from systems right down to narrated dungeons.
I will tell the truth here: I'm afraid DDO let me down. Loving the system and setting, some ppl told me about it. I asked if it was P2W, they said it was not. When you asked, i instantly thought about it again. Did it became P2W from two years ago til now? Dude...I'll download it now! lol
1- Presence of skills 2- Rest to get your spells back. Exception made to 4th (funny thing is, many ppl said 4th wasn't D&D, and weird as it may sound, it just shows that the d&d isn't just a name you can stick at any product), and even there, some spells and abilities you had to rest to recover. 3- Never, even in 4th, you had a skillset like in SCL. It reminds too much of dragon age. I'm not even starting with some traps in the trees (Points you can put in a skill that are actually wasted), just pointing that was never anything like it in any d&d game. PnP or crpg. 4- Feats? 5- Attacks per round. In SCL you get speed bonus to attacks, that increase your dps. As we can see in many gameplay vids, a ranger can (without haste) act like a machinegun when attacking. That may be the coolest thing eva for some tastes, but fact stands: Not d&d. PoE had more d&d feel in the system even in this aspect. 6- Spells. It was talked about to death in the forums, but here we go again: Spell variety of d&d? Forget about it. Magic missile I,II,III and IV it is. In a SKILL TREE, not per grimoire or anything like it. The wizard in there is a sorcerer, not a wizard. PoE again is more d&d than SCL. 7- Weapons that give full lifesteal. Since when did fighters (in general, not only the class) can dismiss a cleric because they heal MUCH more using basic attacks? Not only a design flaw ( If you play the game or see SCL forum, there's a hot topic about those weapons unbalancing the game), but the whole feel of the game's combat gets different.
That said, the 5th edition was used before to point that "Your DM makes you wait for 24 hours before you can cast again in RL?" is just a strawman. The DM isn't supposed to make you wait three minutes for a fireball either in a PnP. In a computer game is that acceptable? Maybe, but the "real life hours in wait" is just wrong. Or you think it's a valid one?
Every point i did was about the system, because the D&D is more than just a system. We can only wait for SP campaign to see if they dumped even that from the brand. Even so, the "rules" of the 5th, or 4th, or any edition, were thrown away so they could implement a unbalanced system. Instead of questioning that design decision, are we supposed to applaud the bold developer? Really?
The vast majority is fluff, sure, but some things in there make you wonder: why make a game lacking more than neverwinter nights in mod potential, less d&d than BG, Icewind Dale and NWN, with different rules? I'm not even talking about rules being good or not here, but fact: They are not BASED in D&D, only mildly inspired. What do they bring to the table in a better shape than the old dungeon crawlers?
Now that is what I call a well thought out and informative analysis. I understand your point about PoE better now. Not so sure the skill trees resemble dragon age, I might have just forgotten, but I don't recall that DA had rank ups of skills as a common theme- although the graphical layout does remind me a bit of DA2- also DA had something akin to feats for "soft" skills like search/pick locks etc.
Probably the thing I noticed most with how PoE played as a video game compared to SCL is the engagement and opportunity attack system. It adds hugely to the strategy and feel of how combat plays out. Its not strictly a DnD thing, but it helps give more of a pNp game feel imo by giving your frontline more of a presence.
Have you played Dungeons and Dragons Online? That is the most faithful representation of DnD I have played, from systems right down to narrated dungeons.
I will tell the truth here: I'm afraid DDO let me down. Loving the system and setting, some ppl told me about it. I asked if it was P2W, they said it was not. When you asked, i instantly thought about it again. Did it became P2W from two years ago til now? Dude...I'll download it now! lol
Imo DDO is definitely p2w, but since it is a pve game that doesn't bother me much. I played with the $10/month sub option and had everything I wanted. For the first few levels f2p is perfectly fine as well to test it out I guess.
The main issue I have with it is that the graphics really dated. I first played it while Elder Scrolls Online was in beta and I remember being so impressed by DDO. It just has lots of cool DnD things that you don't see in other mmos.
For example you can use a taunt skill to attract mobs, and the mobs closest to you will start searching for you, level up jump and you jump higher, put points into "use magic device" just like in DnD, spend inordinate hours thinking about your build, charm mobs, web, wicked traps, alignments.... it really is DnD Online: I know it sounds weird to say that, but usually advertising is one thing and reality is another.
I don't know what the game is like in terms of a long term mmo to "live in", but it was definitely fun for a while, and really DnD. Probably be a blast especially if you have a few friends to play with so you can adventure together and not have some random OP dudes in your group just smashing through all the content at high speed.
Comments
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
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....
PeeeeeeeeeeeeVeeeeeeeeeeeeePeeeeeeeeeeee
Just saying
I ran ran through a dungeon today, with an active DM, who put an incredible amount of detail and dialogue into his quest. During the running of the quest, he used the in-game VOIP to describe some of the events or sounds that were not coded. The quest took just under 2 hours and it was quite fun. The player group was a PuG group, and behaved quite well.
The fact that the head start has a limited amount of the DM tool set, bodes quite well for the game.
I also made a list of seven new players to add to my friends list on Steam. These are players, and one DM I can count on to play well, fairly and made the experience fun.
Now, were there some bugs? Yes, of course there were, but none were major.
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....
As for your bug comment, was the group you played with have any connection issues? Did people have any issues playing together or seeing each other or mobs not responding etc? I know there was an update and was wondering to what extent they have already been able to address the connection issues. Oh and were you able to pause the rounds and did it seem like the pause functionality was operating properly.
The two bugs I specifically experienced was:
1. I could not see the health bars of mobs go down, especially with spiders, unless someone else hit them first. Others in the group experienced the same thing.
2. At one point I suddenly scrolled off the map, and could not manually (WSAD) or "Center on Character" back. I had to log off and log back in, rejoin, to fix it. I played at least another 2 hours without it happening again.
I reported both bugs.
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....
1. is it finished/ polished, or is it gonna release too early?
2. Is it an mmo, in which I can group with anyone, or is it hub based, instanced?
3. What are the skill trees like?
4, Can I play as a steroid inflicted horse-man?
2) It is instanced, lobby setup.
3) Their skill trees are a few 5e spells and abilities that you can 'level.' Think magic missle I,II,III,IV. There are multiple (like four or five?) skill sets you can invest in, but those sets only have a handful between them. Some of them are passives.
4) Sure. But you would need to use your imagination.
If you are playing a cooperative game with uncooperative people, what is the point?
So you are the healer and getting shut out of loot drops? I'd probably say "share the wealth boys, or heal yourselves". That might send a message
And then I would probably move on and find better people to group with anyway. Sharing the loot should be part of the fun, it is an MMO isn't it?
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
Coins are distributed, but it appears that the person actually looting gets a double share.
Quest objective; Monster Kill; and Boss Kill loot = everyone gets the same coin and item.
Looting can not take place during combat.
In a DM created dungeon, the DM can only place a limited number of chests. A good DM will place a treasure room, with four chests, each locked and trapped. That will prevent one players from swooping in and grabbing all four.
Use in-game VOIP or TS to communicate with DM and other party members. If you see ninja looting behavior, call it out.
A DM or the player that started a dungeon crawl can boot any player, and easily replace with an NPC or wait for another to fill in the slot.
Players have to police themselves. There are fewer asshats than you might think.
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....
I agree with you. I find her point #1 most annoying. OMG they didn't include everything like its the end of the world.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Their (SCL) forum is abundant in points about it. Same thing about attacks per round and DPS of a mage: They removed the system from 5th, and replaced it with poor design choices. See their topic about life stealing weapons and attack speed. Mages are greatly underpowered, Rangers are pretty OP right now. But i agree: Using teamspeak to roleplay and the pause feature makes it totally D&D. Pillars of Eternity is waaay more D&D than the game. And many people that backed it since day one in kickstarter are very disappointed in that regard.
2- Rest to get your spells back. Exception made to 4th (funny thing is, many ppl said 4th wasn't D&D, and weird as it may sound, it just shows that the d&d isn't just a name you can stick at any product), and even there, some spells and abilities you had to rest to recover.
3- Never, even in 4th, you had a skillset like in SCL. It reminds too much of dragon age. I'm not even starting with some traps in the trees (Points you can put in a skill that are actually wasted), just pointing that was never anything like it in any d&d game. PnP or crpg.
4- Feats?
5- Attacks per round. In SCL you get speed bonus to attacks, that increase your dps. As we can see in many gameplay vids, a ranger can (without haste) act like a machinegun when attacking. That may be the coolest thing eva for some tastes, but fact stands: Not d&d. PoE had more d&d feel in the system even in this aspect.
6- Spells. It was talked about to death in the forums, but here we go again: Spell variety of d&d? Forget about it. Magic missile I,II,III and IV it is. In a SKILL TREE, not per grimoire or anything like it. The wizard in there is a sorcerer, not a wizard. PoE again is more d&d than SCL.
7- Weapons that give full lifesteal. Since when did fighters (in general, not only the class) can dismiss a cleric because they heal MUCH more using basic attacks? Not only a design flaw ( If you play the game or see SCL forum, there's a hot topic about those weapons unbalancing the game), but the whole feel of the game's combat gets different.
That said, the 5th edition was used before to point that "Your DM makes you wait for 24 hours before you can cast again in RL?" is just a strawman. The DM isn't supposed to make you wait three minutes for a fireball either in a PnP. In a computer game is that acceptable? Maybe, but the "real life hours in wait" is just wrong. Or you think it's a valid one?
Every point i did was about the system, because the D&D is more than just a system. We can only wait for SP campaign to see if they dumped even that from the brand. Even so, the "rules" of the 5th, or 4th, or any edition, were thrown away so they could implement a unbalanced system. Instead of questioning that design decision, are we supposed to applaud the bold developer? Really?
Since we are talking about things lacking in game design, take a look at some suggestion from their forums:
https://forums.swordcoast.com/index.php?/topic/4502-the-ultimate-suggestion-collection-thread-for-post-release-op-updated-28092015/
The vast majority is fluff, sure, but some things in there make you wonder: why make a game lacking more than neverwinter nights in mod potential, less d&d than BG, Icewind Dale and NWN, with different rules? I'm not even talking about rules being good or not here, but fact: They are not BASED in D&D, only mildly inspired. What do they bring to the table in a better shape than the old dungeon crawlers?
Probably the thing I noticed most with how PoE played as a video game compared to SCL is the engagement and opportunity attack system. It adds hugely to the strategy and feel of how combat plays out. Its not strictly a DnD thing, but it helps give more of a pNp game feel imo by giving your frontline more of a presence.
Have you played Dungeons and Dragons Online? That is the most faithful representation of DnD I have played, from systems right down to narrated dungeons.
The main issue I have with it is that the graphics really dated. I first played it while Elder Scrolls Online was in beta and I remember being so impressed by DDO. It just has lots of cool DnD things that you don't see in other mmos.
For example you can use a taunt skill to attract mobs, and the mobs closest to you will start searching for you, level up jump and you jump higher, put points into "use magic device" just like in DnD, spend inordinate hours thinking about your build, charm mobs, web, wicked traps, alignments.... it really is DnD Online: I know it sounds weird to say that, but usually advertising is one thing and reality is another.
I don't know what the game is like in terms of a long term mmo to "live in", but it was definitely fun for a while, and really DnD. Probably be a blast especially if you have a few friends to play with so you can adventure together and not have some random OP dudes in your group just smashing through all the content at high speed.