Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
My humble requests, suggestions and concerns- lore and combat
Khayroh
Member
First of all, I just want to express my pure excitement for AOC and thank all of the developers for their ambition and bravery to at least attempt what could become a dream-come-true game for me. I'm an aspiring game creator myself, studying at SCAD in Georgia, and I am a writer. Coming from someone who loves stories, I wanted to voice a particular idea that I don't see being brought up within most feedback, and that is the lore.
I'm well aware that most people do not care about lore, don't read quests, etc.; however, I wanted to remind anyone who will actually read this that lore is actually a really core and important aspect to any game, but especially an MMORPG. WoW is a good example of this- their lore is incredibly deep, expansive, and intertwined into the world the players exist in, and in my opinion, those stories are what give a lot of the players' actions meaning. A lot of games make bosses or enemies (or even ally leaders) on the premise that characters will blindly interact with them as intended: the player sees a big bad dragon, the player kills a big bad dragon, the end. In WoW, the big bad dragon has motives, is certifiably evil, and has committed atrocities that give the player real reason to kill them. The factions are similar- there is real history and blood feud between the Alliance and the Horde that fuels the current strife between the factions that often carry into real life as well.
I say all this to say, even to the players who don't read anything, the lore matters. Stories, characters, history- all of these things are what in my opinion truly breathe life into the world, and, for understandable reasons, I have not seen much talk of the lore or the stories, which has made me worry. Even the people who have never read a single word of a quest or lore knows who Sylvanas Windrunner, Anduin Wrynn, Thrall, etc. are. Basically, I'm just here to beg, as a writer, that you guys take effort into putting real stories, characters, and motives beneath everything in the game, otherwise the game will feel less alive.
One more concern I have is a more technical, game-based one. With the limited amount of information I have now, the current combat system scares me. Not only does it sound confusing, but I believe that tab-targeting is a mechanic that will one day be lost, and full action is the future. I am not against tab targeting, as WoW shows us that it can work, but all I ask of the developers is this- if throughout Alpha tests, Beta tests, etc., people are dissatisfied with the system, and call for 100% action combat, please listen. I truly hope that when I play for the first time the system will work perfectly and it will be fun, fluid, and responsive; but if it is not and the answer is committing to full action combat, I beg of you to consider it.
This game has been exceedingly ambitious from the start, and I don't see any reason why you guys should stop that trend. I know that full action would likely hurt the casual player community, but I think that should be the sacrifice over going full tab targeting. I think games like Fortnite, Warzone, etc., have shown us that games with moderate difficulty and high skill ceilings can still attract grand amounts of casual, relatively unskilled players, and still reward the players who dedicate time to improving. Not to mention, with the way AOC seems to be designed, the most casual players will still always have content for them to take part in, with artisan classes, businesses, house decoration, and other non-combat gameplay being a huge part of the game. I know this probably falls on deaf ears or disagreeing ears, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to voice my opinion on a game I am already so passionate about.
I know this is probably too long, and no one will probably ever read this, but I am just so excited and passionate about this game that I had to voice my thoughts. Thank you to everyone at Intrepid who I know are slaving away at the game to make it great. Thank you to Steven for being a literal hero to all of the gamers who have been used and abused, and for being a hero to me and other aspiring designers who can see that there are developers out there who care about the player, and not just their paycheck.
I'm well aware that most people do not care about lore, don't read quests, etc.; however, I wanted to remind anyone who will actually read this that lore is actually a really core and important aspect to any game, but especially an MMORPG. WoW is a good example of this- their lore is incredibly deep, expansive, and intertwined into the world the players exist in, and in my opinion, those stories are what give a lot of the players' actions meaning. A lot of games make bosses or enemies (or even ally leaders) on the premise that characters will blindly interact with them as intended: the player sees a big bad dragon, the player kills a big bad dragon, the end. In WoW, the big bad dragon has motives, is certifiably evil, and has committed atrocities that give the player real reason to kill them. The factions are similar- there is real history and blood feud between the Alliance and the Horde that fuels the current strife between the factions that often carry into real life as well.
I say all this to say, even to the players who don't read anything, the lore matters. Stories, characters, history- all of these things are what in my opinion truly breathe life into the world, and, for understandable reasons, I have not seen much talk of the lore or the stories, which has made me worry. Even the people who have never read a single word of a quest or lore knows who Sylvanas Windrunner, Anduin Wrynn, Thrall, etc. are. Basically, I'm just here to beg, as a writer, that you guys take effort into putting real stories, characters, and motives beneath everything in the game, otherwise the game will feel less alive.
One more concern I have is a more technical, game-based one. With the limited amount of information I have now, the current combat system scares me. Not only does it sound confusing, but I believe that tab-targeting is a mechanic that will one day be lost, and full action is the future. I am not against tab targeting, as WoW shows us that it can work, but all I ask of the developers is this- if throughout Alpha tests, Beta tests, etc., people are dissatisfied with the system, and call for 100% action combat, please listen. I truly hope that when I play for the first time the system will work perfectly and it will be fun, fluid, and responsive; but if it is not and the answer is committing to full action combat, I beg of you to consider it.
This game has been exceedingly ambitious from the start, and I don't see any reason why you guys should stop that trend. I know that full action would likely hurt the casual player community, but I think that should be the sacrifice over going full tab targeting. I think games like Fortnite, Warzone, etc., have shown us that games with moderate difficulty and high skill ceilings can still attract grand amounts of casual, relatively unskilled players, and still reward the players who dedicate time to improving. Not to mention, with the way AOC seems to be designed, the most casual players will still always have content for them to take part in, with artisan classes, businesses, house decoration, and other non-combat gameplay being a huge part of the game. I know this probably falls on deaf ears or disagreeing ears, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to voice my opinion on a game I am already so passionate about.
I know this is probably too long, and no one will probably ever read this, but I am just so excited and passionate about this game that I had to voice my thoughts. Thank you to everyone at Intrepid who I know are slaving away at the game to make it great. Thank you to Steven for being a literal hero to all of the gamers who have been used and abused, and for being a hero to me and other aspiring designers who can see that there are developers out there who care about the player, and not just their paycheck.
0