[Feedback Request] Alpha Two Caravan System Preview Shown in October Livestream

Ninja Kitty

It sounds like a really boring escort quest that I will probably hate doing or never do.
The more things that get developed, the more it seems like this dev team is creating a real world... complete with boring menial tasks that no one really wants to do, but they are forced to do it for money to do the things they want to do. I don't want to log on to a game to do work...

This entire system reminds me of all the things I hate most about MMO's right now: chores and guilds. What I hate most about MMO's right now is the way it feels like a long boring grind 85% of the time; and in order to do end game content I have to play the guild politics game. Like, there's all these 'chores/caravan runs' I HAVE to do so that I can have enough resources to be 'competitive' at the parts of game that are fun: dungeons and pvp battles. I'm also a person who doesn't read quests, I just want to run through dungeons with a really cool looking character with really cool looking combat movements/spell effects. I also don't want to have to 'interview' to join a guild or participate in organized content. The more complex this caravan system is, the higher the bar for participation.

I feel like the devs are taking way too much time focusing on the hyper-realistic minutia of details in a real-world MMO which appeals to a small percentage of people. And the feedback they are getting is skewed in favor of this type of content because pedants are the kind people who are likely to have bought these pre-packages and be actively involved in watching the updates and development roadmap releases.

Laetitian

Ninja Kitty wrote: »

Like, there's all these 'chores/caravan runs' I HAVE to do so that I can have enough resources to be 'competitive' at the parts of game that are fun: dungeons and pvp battles. I'm also a person who doesn't read quests, I just want to run through dungeons with a really cool looking character with really cool looking combat movements/spell effects. I also don't want to have to 'interview' to join a guild or participate in organized content. The more complex this caravan system is, the higher the bar for participation.

The problem is that what you're asking for devolves into mindless lobby MMOs where the map doesn't matter, because it only exists for people to wait until their next dungeon becomes available. Having to invest time into shaping the world is how an MMO's world comes alive and decisions begin to matter.

If you don't care about that at all, and games like WOW and ESO are too grindy for you (although those are technically already the dungeon lobbies you're asking for) you'll just have to come to terms with playing MOBAs and MonsterHunter type Asian slayer games (They exist in both lobby MMO format and as Co-oP games with fewer players per lobby.)

raq1

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Liniker

Ninja Kitty wrote: »

I'm also a person who doesn't read quests, I just want to run through dungeons with a really cool looking character with really cool looking combat movements/spell effects. I also don't want to have to 'interview' to join a guild or participate in organized content. The more complex this caravan system is, the higher the bar for participation.

I'm sorry to tell you but this is 100% not the game for you, you seem to be the exact opposite of the target audience AoC is trying to get

UnknownCommand

I like the Caravan system, based off the preview. One thing I like is the customization of stats for the caravan. I'm not so sure of the multi-level-based glint currency system to get the thing up and going though. It just seems like a lot of collection and management revolving around a system that is going to be core and hopefully used a lot, so a more quality of life approach seems like it would lead to more fun and faster ease of use.
One other thing, it looks like the caravan systems themselves are very clunky albeit realistic for backing up. Um... yeah, maybe something a little easier to control while backing up. I have a feeling these things are going to need to back up quite a bit.
That is all, thanks for the update. Keep up the awesome work.

AnimusRex

I've never been sure of this Caravan system, and I get less sure the more that is revealed. And the more mechanics that are added to it to make it work don't help my feeling. I put it with Monster coins as a Steven folly that he should have been dissuaded from years ago. But I guess it's now a runaway train, or in this case a slowly moving wagon of inevitability.

Balance will be the key, but contrived systems are often too easily exploited. It will get too easy or too hard and boredom starts to creep in. I'm not sure why goods transport was chosen as a PvP event whereas some other situations are untouchable.

I hope I'm wrong. I want nothing about this game to fail. I'm just not confident at this point.

Raven016

Vaknar wrote: »

[*] Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the Caravan System Preview?
[*] Do you have thoughts or feelings regarding some of the aspects of Caravans, ...?

Please don’t feel limited by the thought starters above.

One aspect which needs more information is about the economical forces which make mayoral caravans to happen. Caravans in general are meant to satisfy needs. A metropolis being large and powerful, might end up having many players with needs. This might create a resource flow toward the metropolis or in general from low level nodes to high ones.
To counter the unidirectional flow, high level nodes could have some buildings in the low level nodes which will need supplies to keep them function and provide services. Players would also feel more connected to the parent nodes and willing to defend it during sieges. If the node falls, these buildings could function as refugee centers for a while.
It could be interesting if some buildings of former metropolises survive in other nodes years after the metropolis has fallen, due to player commitment to support it and keep it alive, in memory of it's former past.
Or if some statues remain standing even after a siege, or lay broken until a new node rise. Maybe the new node will never clear the rubles away or could chose to restore it.

Xuri

Good start. I like it.

The UI alerting you that there is a caravan being built/summoned nearby is very immersion breaking and quite unnecessary for a core system of the game. Also the visual ring that displays the build area for your caravan is quite jarring; I'd prefer a more subtle approach since the person building/summoning the caravan obviously knows that they would be building one and wouldn't require such a massive display to indicate the designated area.

Uboon

I love that players will need to PvE to obtain Glint, then to get gold they need to run PvP caravans, risking losing the Player Commodities en route. PvE to build it up and PvP to knock it down = PvX to me.

You cannot just read a PvE farming guide on the optimal way to get rich.

In fact the conversion of glint to gold is amazingly difficult to maximise thanks to: Different types and quantities of Glint used to buy different Player Commodities, the different sizes of those Commodities packed in to the caravan and the unknown multiplier on distance and destination demand. Throw in risk and route selection and player politics and intrigue, and that is a lot of variables, some of which change weekly and with 84 other nodes to travel to makes an impossible-to-maximise matrix of choice. Love it.

Feedback:
I agree that "The UI alerting you that there is a caravan being built" is crude. Why not have some environmental sound (like the New World tree chopping sound with volume and echo based on distance )? Perhaps instead of standing around watching a timer you could loading your caravan (by channeling), and the more people loading the quicker it loads. So you would be out and about and hear horses neighing, people huffing and crates sliding across caravan decks and realise there was a caravan getting ready to depart. Having extra people help with just the loading part would be a benefit in itself.