Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Phase 3 Node Progression & Balance
Nabuuu
Member, Alpha Two
Hi there,
I was really looking forward to the start of Phase 3, as I saw it as a unique opportunity to test node evolution in a refreshed environment, especially with all the recent additions and improvements.
However, I feel that the current state is heavily skewed by major imbalances that undermine the experience.
Here are my key observations:
1. Zone Content & Grinding Imbalance
The content across different zones feels severely unbalanced. Grinding outside the Riverlands doesn’t seem to offer competitive rewards for node progression, which makes other areas feel underwhelming or even irrelevant. This lack of incentive to explore or engage with the wider world is a missed opportunity for diversity in gameplay and player distribution.
2. Construction Crates: Missing Bonuses
The construction crates mechanism, as it stands, doesn’t provide any meaningful bonuses during the early stages of node development—despite what was communicated in-game and in previous updates. This disconnect between expectations and reality is frustrating, especially for players investing time and resources into node progression.
3. Node Transition: Level 3 to 4
The transition from Level 3 to Level 4, as observed in Winstead, feels rushed and lacks depth. Logically, advancing to Level 4 should require the completion of all Level 3 buildings as a prerequisite. This would not only make the progression feel more earned, but also ensure that nodes develop organically and strategically, rather than through arbitrary or inconsistent triggers.
I’m sharing this feedback in the hope that it contributes to the ongoing discussion about balance and design philosophy. I’d love to hear your thoughts and have insights on how these aspects could be improved.
After all, the alpha is all about iterating and refining the experience !
I was really looking forward to the start of Phase 3, as I saw it as a unique opportunity to test node evolution in a refreshed environment, especially with all the recent additions and improvements.
However, I feel that the current state is heavily skewed by major imbalances that undermine the experience.
Here are my key observations:
1. Zone Content & Grinding Imbalance
The content across different zones feels severely unbalanced. Grinding outside the Riverlands doesn’t seem to offer competitive rewards for node progression, which makes other areas feel underwhelming or even irrelevant. This lack of incentive to explore or engage with the wider world is a missed opportunity for diversity in gameplay and player distribution.
2. Construction Crates: Missing Bonuses
The construction crates mechanism, as it stands, doesn’t provide any meaningful bonuses during the early stages of node development—despite what was communicated in-game and in previous updates. This disconnect between expectations and reality is frustrating, especially for players investing time and resources into node progression.
3. Node Transition: Level 3 to 4
The transition from Level 3 to Level 4, as observed in Winstead, feels rushed and lacks depth. Logically, advancing to Level 4 should require the completion of all Level 3 buildings as a prerequisite. This would not only make the progression feel more earned, but also ensure that nodes develop organically and strategically, rather than through arbitrary or inconsistent triggers.
I’m sharing this feedback in the hope that it contributes to the ongoing discussion about balance and design philosophy. I’d love to hear your thoughts and have insights on how these aspects could be improved.
After all, the alpha is all about iterating and refining the experience !
Nabu
linktr.ee
linktr.ee
1
Comments
It's very unfortunate too see the settlements progression feeling wasted so early in the phase as it was the major motivation point for a lot of us to play test (this and artisanship...well...
I hope we can see some kind of settlements manual deleveling from Intrepid soon and some tweaks to help other settlements play their role too and not just Winstead reaching level4 just after getting its first election
We need to be able to have at least two level4 or else the politics and pvp will suffer for a long time i imagine.