Forums » Suggestions
Perspectives of a Noob
Ok, so I downloaded the game a few weeks ago, firstly on the Android platform and then on PC, and I’ve gained the impression that this is a great gaming community with a sincere and dedicated development team. With that in mind, I wanted to provide some feedback whilst I was still a noob, from experience in other games I know how easy it is for veteran players to forget the problems they encountered in the beginning. It’s very likely that much of this stuff has been addressed before but I didn’t have time to sift through the entire forum history, so apologies if that’s the case, consider this a re-iteration for emphasis.
Buzz and Drawl
The game is quiet, really quiet. It definitely needs a larger playerbase and it needs more interaction between players. A sandbox game of this type thrives on drama (the good kind and, whether you like it or not, the bad kind) and that’s the feeling that’s missing for me. VO needs not only legit players and foolish noobs, but more griefers, scammers, trolls, more concerned citizens and war-crazy vets. No drama, no life.
It was a great idea to bring the game to new platforms like Android OS, but I also believe that to attract new players the game needs to be more noob friendly, and (dare I say it?) female friendly. I suspect the majority of the active players on VO are male, and too much testosterone in one environment is never healthy. Adding content that specifically target female players can only be a good thing. [EDIT: FYI I'm a male player.]
Flight
The first, and biggest, problem I’ve faced is simply learning to fly and control the spacecraft. Vendetta Online is technically the most difficult game I’ve ever played at noob level. No contest. The disorientation of trying to fly in 3D space for a first timer is profound and requires a steep learning curve. As someone that is a veteran in other games, I knew that I would eventually improve my flight skills but I wonder whether more casual, less experienced gamers would bother sticking with it. On Android, this is particularly problematic.
The training zone is another good way to deal with this and I’m aware from reading other posts on the forum that there are plans on expanding this section of the game, which I wholeheartedly agree with. The training zone needs a lot more content that is gently graded to increase in difficulty, beginning with bots that are weaker than Oron Collectors and possibly lead them to Denteks and above. Allow the training zone to give reasonable xp and gold, so that noobs feel like they’re making progress, even if that means retro-inserting new licence levels and ships at lower level. Also, why not let vet players get involved in the training area? There are always people in MMO’s that like to help new players and I know VO is no exception. SUGGESTION: Expand the training zone content AND allow vet players to enter the zone to mentor and guide new players, with extreme penalties for -- or absolute restriction of --player kills in that zone.
I’d also like to see some aspects of flight a little more automated, as long as it didn’t entirely undermine the twitch-based nature of the game. Features for picking up cargo, for following group members, even for targeting and travelling at the lower end of the game. Strategies like strafing and rolling should really be tactics that have to be adopted at mid-game -- and mastered at endgame IMO. I know some purists will hate me for saying that, but VO needs more players to make it fun and not just hard-core gamers.
Social
Interacting with other human beings is the heart of any MMO and making communication easier and more fluid should be a top priority. VO actually has a really complex and feature-laden system for messaging and grouping, but the UI for these features suck. I’m beginning to learn the messaging commands and I’m confident that I will get the hang of it pretty quickly, but honestly I’d rather just push on-screen buttons that were designed to be intuitively understood. Having to learn message commands feels more like work than play and, again, it’d be a turn-off for most casual gamers. This is especially important for Android since most of those devices don’t have a physical keyboard. For example, I’d like to be able to tap on another players name in chat to select a list of options. [I’m aware of a game on the Android platform that has a truly exceptional messaging system that I could use as an example but I’m not sure what the policy is on mentioning other games here]. SUGGESTION: Redesign the messaging and grouping UI to make it more user-friendly.
With regard to grouping: last night, I joined a group to fight a capship. I can honestly say I didn’t know wth was going on, but it seemed like fun anyhoo :p One thing I’d like to see, and I don’t know if it’s a feature already, is the ability to find your group members even if they’re out of radar range and possibly for group members to be highlighted in some way (besides selecting them individually as targets). I’d also like to see possibly an item that can create some kind of ‘temporary wormhole’ so that groups can meet up without having to travel across half the known universe to find eachother.
OK, I’ll stop there before this post becomes any longer. For those of you that made it this far, thanks. I know that this post may also have irritated some of the vets, posts like these always do, but I'd like to say that it's written with good intentions. And if I didn’t say so already, despite my minor niggles in this post, nice game.
20:10
Buzz and Drawl
The game is quiet, really quiet. It definitely needs a larger playerbase and it needs more interaction between players. A sandbox game of this type thrives on drama (the good kind and, whether you like it or not, the bad kind) and that’s the feeling that’s missing for me. VO needs not only legit players and foolish noobs, but more griefers, scammers, trolls, more concerned citizens and war-crazy vets. No drama, no life.
It was a great idea to bring the game to new platforms like Android OS, but I also believe that to attract new players the game needs to be more noob friendly, and (dare I say it?) female friendly. I suspect the majority of the active players on VO are male, and too much testosterone in one environment is never healthy. Adding content that specifically target female players can only be a good thing. [EDIT: FYI I'm a male player.]
Flight
The first, and biggest, problem I’ve faced is simply learning to fly and control the spacecraft. Vendetta Online is technically the most difficult game I’ve ever played at noob level. No contest. The disorientation of trying to fly in 3D space for a first timer is profound and requires a steep learning curve. As someone that is a veteran in other games, I knew that I would eventually improve my flight skills but I wonder whether more casual, less experienced gamers would bother sticking with it. On Android, this is particularly problematic.
The training zone is another good way to deal with this and I’m aware from reading other posts on the forum that there are plans on expanding this section of the game, which I wholeheartedly agree with. The training zone needs a lot more content that is gently graded to increase in difficulty, beginning with bots that are weaker than Oron Collectors and possibly lead them to Denteks and above. Allow the training zone to give reasonable xp and gold, so that noobs feel like they’re making progress, even if that means retro-inserting new licence levels and ships at lower level. Also, why not let vet players get involved in the training area? There are always people in MMO’s that like to help new players and I know VO is no exception. SUGGESTION: Expand the training zone content AND allow vet players to enter the zone to mentor and guide new players, with extreme penalties for -- or absolute restriction of --player kills in that zone.
I’d also like to see some aspects of flight a little more automated, as long as it didn’t entirely undermine the twitch-based nature of the game. Features for picking up cargo, for following group members, even for targeting and travelling at the lower end of the game. Strategies like strafing and rolling should really be tactics that have to be adopted at mid-game -- and mastered at endgame IMO. I know some purists will hate me for saying that, but VO needs more players to make it fun and not just hard-core gamers.
Social
Interacting with other human beings is the heart of any MMO and making communication easier and more fluid should be a top priority. VO actually has a really complex and feature-laden system for messaging and grouping, but the UI for these features suck. I’m beginning to learn the messaging commands and I’m confident that I will get the hang of it pretty quickly, but honestly I’d rather just push on-screen buttons that were designed to be intuitively understood. Having to learn message commands feels more like work than play and, again, it’d be a turn-off for most casual gamers. This is especially important for Android since most of those devices don’t have a physical keyboard. For example, I’d like to be able to tap on another players name in chat to select a list of options. [I’m aware of a game on the Android platform that has a truly exceptional messaging system that I could use as an example but I’m not sure what the policy is on mentioning other games here]. SUGGESTION: Redesign the messaging and grouping UI to make it more user-friendly.
With regard to grouping: last night, I joined a group to fight a capship. I can honestly say I didn’t know wth was going on, but it seemed like fun anyhoo :p One thing I’d like to see, and I don’t know if it’s a feature already, is the ability to find your group members even if they’re out of radar range and possibly for group members to be highlighted in some way (besides selecting them individually as targets). I’d also like to see possibly an item that can create some kind of ‘temporary wormhole’ so that groups can meet up without having to travel across half the known universe to find eachother.
OK, I’ll stop there before this post becomes any longer. For those of you that made it this far, thanks. I know that this post may also have irritated some of the vets, posts like these always do, but I'd like to say that it's written with good intentions. And if I didn’t say so already, despite my minor niggles in this post, nice game.
20:10
fair amount of females in game, don't know their names don't care
Oron Collectors are the easiest bots in game to kill.
Training center - used to be able to sneak in it and the only thing players for the most part would do is get PKs from the noobs.
only about 20% of players talk on 100, most are doing missions or mining, so a lot of chatter doesn't mean anything.
as for drama, maybe its because of your time zone. A lot of drama goes on behind the scenes, with guilds and such. try to do things in grey space you will get drama.
as for the commands I think they are easy, I have tried EVE and after 20 hours I have no idea what I am doing nor the commands for most of the stuff.
just my .04 cents
Oron Collectors are the easiest bots in game to kill.
Training center - used to be able to sneak in it and the only thing players for the most part would do is get PKs from the noobs.
only about 20% of players talk on 100, most are doing missions or mining, so a lot of chatter doesn't mean anything.
as for drama, maybe its because of your time zone. A lot of drama goes on behind the scenes, with guilds and such. try to do things in grey space you will get drama.
as for the commands I think they are easy, I have tried EVE and after 20 hours I have no idea what I am doing nor the commands for most of the stuff.
just my .04 cents
Thank you for your input.
We are female friendly! Really! Are you legal? Do you have pics? Exactly how friendly are you looking for?
Seriously, what would make the game more female friendly? I am not female, and so can only speculate. Did you know that you can select pink as a color when you purchase a ship? What else could you ask for? Please be more specific.
I see you have included massive detail in your post. I can not understand how chat is quiet while you are online.
This is a 6 degree of freedom flight model game. If you have not played in 6 degrees of freedom before, then it would not surprise me for you to face a learning curve. Players that have previous experience in 3D games will not notice this to the same extend, and will tend to overlook how anyone else could have any problem with it. It might be nice to have an optional tutorial "6 degrees of freedom" to give players some advance warning and tips, but at some point you still have to press the launch button and figure it out.
I would like to see the training sector expanded. For one, I really HATE the test mission that is practically mandatory after you leave the training sector, and would like this replaced by a mission in the training sector. I would also like to see at least one trade mission in the training sector, even if it is something as simple as gather scrap or deliver food and water to the patrolling capital ship.
Allowing vets to enter the training sector is too problematic. I have already tried to smuggle in ultra charge power cells, law enforcement neutron blasters, and high efficiency mining beams. Even well intending vets can offer too much help, to the point that they interfere with the proper learning process.
Yes, the user interface needs a lot of work. But then, you are a girl, and can not be expected to understand the technical difficulties.
Welcome to VO.
Sincerely,
Troll #34536988
We are female friendly! Really! Are you legal? Do you have pics? Exactly how friendly are you looking for?
Seriously, what would make the game more female friendly? I am not female, and so can only speculate. Did you know that you can select pink as a color when you purchase a ship? What else could you ask for? Please be more specific.
I see you have included massive detail in your post. I can not understand how chat is quiet while you are online.
This is a 6 degree of freedom flight model game. If you have not played in 6 degrees of freedom before, then it would not surprise me for you to face a learning curve. Players that have previous experience in 3D games will not notice this to the same extend, and will tend to overlook how anyone else could have any problem with it. It might be nice to have an optional tutorial "6 degrees of freedom" to give players some advance warning and tips, but at some point you still have to press the launch button and figure it out.
I would like to see the training sector expanded. For one, I really HATE the test mission that is practically mandatory after you leave the training sector, and would like this replaced by a mission in the training sector. I would also like to see at least one trade mission in the training sector, even if it is something as simple as gather scrap or deliver food and water to the patrolling capital ship.
Allowing vets to enter the training sector is too problematic. I have already tried to smuggle in ultra charge power cells, law enforcement neutron blasters, and high efficiency mining beams. Even well intending vets can offer too much help, to the point that they interfere with the proper learning process.
Yes, the user interface needs a lot of work. But then, you are a girl, and can not be expected to understand the technical difficulties.
Welcome to VO.
Sincerely,
Troll #34536988
Erm, I’m actually a man. Just thought I'd clear that up before there was any further misunderstanding.
Soooooo, does requesting that the game be more’ female friendly’ make me gay? Or just horny?
Still want those pics?
20:10
Soooooo, does requesting that the game be more’ female friendly’ make me gay? Or just horny?
Still want those pics?
20:10
Personally, I think most people online are gay. I would not worry about it too much. I also think most people online are horny. Too much time online, not enough time getting any. As a rule, if I have more player kills than times I have been laid, I would worry about it. If my mining level is higher than the number of women I have slept with, I would worry about it. If I spend more time with corvus station guards than my girl friend(s), I would worry about it. I am sure there have been times in my life that I have failed one or more of these test, but atm, I am not worried about it. I will pass on the pics, but thanks for the offer.
I have seen you around 20.10, good on you for diving into greyspace.
Everything about your review is fairly straightforward and fair enough. The dev team is slowly getting around to these sort of improvements its just hard to do everything at once as 4 people. I think you'll find if you stick with it though a lot of the problems, particularly with the UI, will evaporate because it becomes quite familiar, but I had these complaints as well when I started.
In terms of gameplay, I suggest you get involved in some player conflict before you judge any further. We have a rich history, politics and guild conflict scene which is where the game really shines in my view, you haven't tried VO until you've made lots of enemies!
Ignore DE he's just a troll we have to put up with.
Have fun.
Everything about your review is fairly straightforward and fair enough. The dev team is slowly getting around to these sort of improvements its just hard to do everything at once as 4 people. I think you'll find if you stick with it though a lot of the problems, particularly with the UI, will evaporate because it becomes quite familiar, but I had these complaints as well when I started.
In terms of gameplay, I suggest you get involved in some player conflict before you judge any further. We have a rich history, politics and guild conflict scene which is where the game really shines in my view, you haven't tried VO until you've made lots of enemies!
Ignore DE he's just a troll we have to put up with.
Have fun.
DE, resetting your PK tally by creating new characters constantly doesn't count. You have to add all of them together.
20:10, you sound like a dude in a business suit.
Edit: To be clear, I'm using that as a pejorative.
Edit2: Not that wearing a business suit is a bad thing, per se.
Edit: To be clear, I'm using that as a pejorative.
Edit2: Not that wearing a business suit is a bad thing, per se.
Pizzasgood: If you count all pks across all characters across all online games... I may be in serious trouble...
edit: I claim "exception to the rule", based on, recent (5+ yrs) historical "above par performance" (in both departments, assuming "par" is multiple times per week).
edit edit: I mean really, even doing well in rl, my pk count is outrageous. I would have a heart attack if I tried to keep up with that. As a male of the species, I do not think it practical.
edit: I claim "exception to the rule", based on, recent (5+ yrs) historical "above par performance" (in both departments, assuming "par" is multiple times per week).
edit edit: I mean really, even doing well in rl, my pk count is outrageous. I would have a heart attack if I tried to keep up with that. As a male of the species, I do not think it practical.
Well nobody ever will, so we'll just have to assume you suck at everything.