Forums » Suggestions
Thank you for the experience
Well, I would like to begin this message by thanking you for the experience, to see a game that is still full of active and enthusiastic players. I've spend some time trying to work out the details of the game, and also to make a decision on whether I would like to keep playing this game.
The end result? There are simply too many loose ends in the game and I want to sum them up here:
1. Quests that suddenly stop, or do not work correctly. Also, many quests do not give an indication of the relative difficulty, thus having players spend hours to work out what they have been doing wrong. Some quests involve protecting a transport: at the very moment this transport is attacked in a storm, I have another exit point as he has.
2. The economy is simply not working. I had a near million credits on my account before I last stopped the game. In no way could I buy any ship or other equipment to suit my purpose, as I did not have the appropriate licenses to operate them. For me, a working economy is essential to any MMORPG.
3. Little things such as: the ships and trading stations are not diverse enough in their function. The order in which items are unlocked is arbitrary from time to time. Some of the graphics is beautiful, whereas others just look a bit amateurish (especially the ships). I also miss some trading information such as price histories and industry inventories.
Nevertheless, I must say I am quite impressed given that such a game is developed by four developers (although, where is the credit for the graphic artists, sound artists, musician? All I hear is 'four developers'). It is not an excuse for a professional developer to hide behind: I have to solve everything myself and I cannot divert my time any more. If your players are not satisfied and you feel they belong to your target customers, you should hire extra developers (or spend 8 hours a week bug-hunting).
The end result? There are simply too many loose ends in the game and I want to sum them up here:
1. Quests that suddenly stop, or do not work correctly. Also, many quests do not give an indication of the relative difficulty, thus having players spend hours to work out what they have been doing wrong. Some quests involve protecting a transport: at the very moment this transport is attacked in a storm, I have another exit point as he has.
2. The economy is simply not working. I had a near million credits on my account before I last stopped the game. In no way could I buy any ship or other equipment to suit my purpose, as I did not have the appropriate licenses to operate them. For me, a working economy is essential to any MMORPG.
3. Little things such as: the ships and trading stations are not diverse enough in their function. The order in which items are unlocked is arbitrary from time to time. Some of the graphics is beautiful, whereas others just look a bit amateurish (especially the ships). I also miss some trading information such as price histories and industry inventories.
Nevertheless, I must say I am quite impressed given that such a game is developed by four developers (although, where is the credit for the graphic artists, sound artists, musician? All I hear is 'four developers'). It is not an excuse for a professional developer to hide behind: I have to solve everything myself and I cannot divert my time any more. If your players are not satisfied and you feel they belong to your target customers, you should hire extra developers (or spend 8 hours a week bug-hunting).
In no way could I buy any ship or other equipment to suit my purpose, as I did not have the appropriate licenses to operate them. For me, a working economy is essential to any MMORPG.
It's in no way possible that the license system operates indepenant from the economy, and serves different goals, huh?
It's in no way possible that the license system operates indepenant from the economy, and serves different goals, huh?
<i>It's in no way possible that the license system operates indepenant from the economy, and serves different goals, huh?</i>
True, but when the only valuable things one can buy is trade goods and ships and I can maximally fill the biggest and most expensive cargoship I can buy with around 100k of goods, what good is the other 900k? The most expensive fighter I can buy is around 10k, so even when I die in combat, it is only a 1% dent... The point is: there is a constant 900k on my account doing *nothing*, meaning: I want to invest it (in a bigger, better ship or in new trade possibilities or maybe even bonds in a company), but there is nothing I can do with it. Also, ever since the early moments (after doing some good missions) of the game, I felt 'money is not an issue'.
True, but when the only valuable things one can buy is trade goods and ships and I can maximally fill the biggest and most expensive cargoship I can buy with around 100k of goods, what good is the other 900k? The most expensive fighter I can buy is around 10k, so even when I die in combat, it is only a 1% dent... The point is: there is a constant 900k on my account doing *nothing*, meaning: I want to invest it (in a bigger, better ship or in new trade possibilities or maybe even bonds in a company), but there is nothing I can do with it. Also, ever since the early moments (after doing some good missions) of the game, I felt 'money is not an issue'.
Go to corvus and start buying and equipping Rag III for 90k each. You will wish the ships were cheaper as you loose them all to the PVP vets in b8.
Sorry, I'm going to ignore most of your post and sort of focus on the last paragraph. It's not that I don't have anything to say about the other things, it's just that I'm sort of pressed for time.
Now, you say that being a game developed by four developers is not an excuse for any professional developer to hide behind, and I absolutely agree, it isn't. But here's the thing, it's not an excuse the four developers making the game choose to hide behind. I'm sure it frustrates them as much as it does you or me to hear someone say "well, you have to consider that this game's developed by four people."
Are there four people working to make the game? Yes there are.
Was the game developed by four people? I think a quick look at the credits tab in the opening screen of the game (where you log in) will be sufficient to not only refute this statement, but also to show that the devs don't try to hide this fact.
The reason all you hear is "four developers" isn't at all because the developers of the game want to hide behind, or use an excuse their small company. Rather, it is the broken telephone system of VO newbs, where one newb with a brand new account hears from a newb with a two-day old account that the game has been developed by four people. Of course, the more experienced of the pair heard this fascinating "fact" two days ago from someone two days his senior, and so on. If you trace this chain back, I can almost guarantee that at its beginning you will at best find something along the lines of Incarnate saying "todays update was pushed back to tomorrow because we want to spend a little more time testing to make sure nothing explodes." More likely, you'll find some dense but well-meaning "veteran" player feeling the need to apologize for the game he feels a strong connection to.
What the well-meaning but dense "veteran" player failed to realize back in the day, however, is that when a new player sees someone apologizing for a game like that, the game's category subtly moves from "a game that looks cool for the first twenty minutes I've played with it" to "a game that looks cool for the first twenty minutes I've played with it, but has something people feels the need to apologize for after thirty minutes in that I need to look out for and then post nitpicky posts in the suggestions forum about."
I don't know how obvious I've made it, but the point is that the devs don't try to excuse the game with the fact that they're a small company, and neither should the players. Unless they actually do want to hurt the game in newbs eyes. In that case, go for it, assholes.
Now, you say that being a game developed by four developers is not an excuse for any professional developer to hide behind, and I absolutely agree, it isn't. But here's the thing, it's not an excuse the four developers making the game choose to hide behind. I'm sure it frustrates them as much as it does you or me to hear someone say "well, you have to consider that this game's developed by four people."
Are there four people working to make the game? Yes there are.
Was the game developed by four people? I think a quick look at the credits tab in the opening screen of the game (where you log in) will be sufficient to not only refute this statement, but also to show that the devs don't try to hide this fact.
The reason all you hear is "four developers" isn't at all because the developers of the game want to hide behind, or use an excuse their small company. Rather, it is the broken telephone system of VO newbs, where one newb with a brand new account hears from a newb with a two-day old account that the game has been developed by four people. Of course, the more experienced of the pair heard this fascinating "fact" two days ago from someone two days his senior, and so on. If you trace this chain back, I can almost guarantee that at its beginning you will at best find something along the lines of Incarnate saying "todays update was pushed back to tomorrow because we want to spend a little more time testing to make sure nothing explodes." More likely, you'll find some dense but well-meaning "veteran" player feeling the need to apologize for the game he feels a strong connection to.
What the well-meaning but dense "veteran" player failed to realize back in the day, however, is that when a new player sees someone apologizing for a game like that, the game's category subtly moves from "a game that looks cool for the first twenty minutes I've played with it" to "a game that looks cool for the first twenty minutes I've played with it, but has something people feels the need to apologize for after thirty minutes in that I need to look out for and then post nitpicky posts in the suggestions forum about."
I don't know how obvious I've made it, but the point is that the devs don't try to excuse the game with the fact that they're a small company, and neither should the players. Unless they actually do want to hurt the game in newbs eyes. In that case, go for it, assholes.
I can maximally fill the biggest and most expensive cargoship I can buy with around 100k of goods, what good is the other 900k?
And now you fail because you're an extremely wet behind the ears nooblet. A moth, much less a moth XC, can carry well over a million credits in cargo. Swarms, ADV rails, Sedina chocolates . . .
And larger trade barges are forthcoming--the Connie.
And now you fail because you're an extremely wet behind the ears nooblet. A moth, much less a moth XC, can carry well over a million credits in cargo. Swarms, ADV rails, Sedina chocolates . . .
And larger trade barges are forthcoming--the Connie.
I will agree that it would be nice to be able to invest some money. But honestly, I can go through a million damned quickly.
thing is, if ships get more expensive (say, with "bigger, better ships"), then people don't want to do PVP, cause they might lose their bigger or more expensive ship. For the most part, people here don't want to do hours of WOW-like quests in order to have one PVP battle. its a hard balance to keep (making money worth-while while keeping the game fun), and I'm sure I don't have the best ideas how to do it.
though I'll reiterate that having a player-influenced stock market would be awesome.
thing is, if ships get more expensive (say, with "bigger, better ships"), then people don't want to do PVP, cause they might lose their bigger or more expensive ship. For the most part, people here don't want to do hours of WOW-like quests in order to have one PVP battle. its a hard balance to keep (making money worth-while while keeping the game fun), and I'm sure I don't have the best ideas how to do it.
though I'll reiterate that having a player-influenced stock market would be awesome.
Though, with bigger and better ships you would be able to get much faster xp
imagine botting with a frigate or a trident. \o/
imagine botting with a frigate or a trident. \o/