http://massivelyop.com/2018/02/23/ch...roject-gorgon/
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I'm not an experienced gamer in any sense of the word so, in comparison with Eliot Lefebvre, my view is definitely not as demanding or as insightful. I really appreciate that he mentioned that the game is still in early development. I sincerely hope that when people read his article, they keep this in mind.
With respect, I disagree with him on a number of his "issues". :(
I'm playing on an older laptop with the graphics settings reduced to some of the lowest & I can appreciate the art style, textures, colours, depth, so I imagine on a better machine, they must be pretty nice.
What Eliot finds frustrating because of the need to "puzzle out", I really like. I think that it's one of the neatest aspects of the game. There's so much to discover & although I'm not a particularly good puzzler, I enjoy the challenge & I'm encouraged by what I've figured out so far. I won't read the Wiki or the help forums here for that reason alone. Until I'm really stuck, I want to discover as much as I can on my own.
I'm not really clear on the concept of a "story-based game", but I'm enjoying the story line in this game, the history, the gossip, the intrigue, which Eliot seems to be into as well.
Unless referring to grinding at higher levels, which I'm no where near, then this comment I don't understand, "...(and a lot of that grinding feels like it’s not serving much of anything, which doesn’t help; lots of empty levels can be discouraging)"
I feel the exact opposite about the grind. With the use of every skill, all of the on screen info, combined with the numerous details in the multi-tabbed GUI is kind of overwhelming to me. When I saw it, I imagined that this would be a dream game to players who love to calculate all kinds of stats & stuff.
In total agreement with this, "Said weirdness makes the game a lot more endearing, though, and that’s a big part of what I like about the title."
Eliot Lefebvre wrote, "I am fond of this game and want it to succeed. And for all my criticisms, it’s a grand experience."
Me too. :)
About the story-line of the game, if my understanding is correct that is being saved for the launch. After launch the story-line will be revealed with new content ever 2 months or so, and live events and things like that. The systems to deliver the story need to be tested, but the story itself is going to be revealed a piece at a time after launch. Which is something I'm looking forward too.
I think a lot of people have the expectation that an MMO is going to be like a traditional adventure game or a simple story based RPG and many games today are. However, the grind, as well as the social aspects, are what keeps your attention for many months and years. Many people today only play a given game for a few weeks or months at most so they don't like slow learning curves.
When I think back to my favorite RPGs over the years starting with Dragon Warrior on NES they were all slow paced and grindy.
I do think some level ranges in some skills are too slow right now. But we'll get there. One thing to keep in mind is that when I see a curve that's too slow, I don't think "this curve needs to be fixed", I think "we could hook another game system here to let players accelerate this curve." So while there will definitely be tweaks to earned XP, there will also be new skills and things to speed up slow spots. Finding those slow spots in advancement is very useful when I'm trying to integrate new game mechanics.
(As a designer, I wouldn't use that rule of thumb for other games -- it's just the way this particular game works!)
I love this response!
For me the levelling speed is not too slow. I don't want a meaningless race to the actual content, I'm loving my experience going through all the low levels.
And I think adding in more complexity and interest where needed rather than changing the curve drastically is a hugely commendable philosophy. Make it fun all the time, don't make the boring bits shorter. Kudos.