As someone who has over 5000 hours into SotA testing it, I must say the game releases with a solid foundation to build on... Even though it obviously still is managed by people who not only seem to have zero connection to gamers nowadays, but also to common sense.
But let's stay on the game. The last Releases clearly shifted the game towards a more group-oriented gameplay. Not only self sufficiency is likely to go away, grouping for the first time feels worth it and actually can yield better results pretty early in the game and even later - depending on your builds.
Coming with that I am glad to see finally Portalarium realizes that their lack of "repeatable" content aka endgame content is something they need to solve within the first 3 months of release. Combining that with the promised Castle Siege mechanics, that can and likely will be used to improve Control Points as well is a step towards generating conflicts and a major driver for people to get engaged.
With Travian the change came. Those people are professionals and overall I think they are pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes, not taking control over development - but rather help Portalarium in every area they lack. Maybe I give them too much credit for it, but after all if that is the price we as EU players now have to pay - so be it. ^^
The latest release also increased the value of PVP zones by putting unique monsters and loot in there. The change has been minor, but I expect to see more high level content moving towards contestable areas - not only for XP and ransom, but also in terms of crafting components.
Did SotA reach the critical mass to stay alive? All I can say is that a lot of people came back to check it out again... Will they all stay? Most likely not, but certainly I think they will keep more players than they had before. From my understanding a full advertise campaign hasn't been started yet, and maybe it is the right thing to wait for that, until they truly can offer more gameplay content for the high end guilds and players. Nothing will be gained if people realize after a couple of months that their grind leads to nowhere... It is way better now than it was when they went persistent, but still it is very unfinished, and compared to UO (which is still their number one demographic in terms of search metrics) the game still lacks the depth of the gameworld UO had developed over the years.
Something else was revealed to me, but I am not spilling that yet. But it is something that makes me feel very positive that they can build from what they have to keep the game running, provided they keep up with the releases, like they did.
All that momentum SotA created still has one major flaw. Community. It seems like no week goes by without a cringeworthy fuck up by the CM or management at Portalarium. I follow Richard and Darkstarr on FB and twitter for ages, and for people who make political posts almost every day, it felt kinda funny to see they actually signed EU countries towards Russian publishers, during a political climate which is problematic to say the least. I let you decide if they just didn't care and needed the money, or if they are just clueless.
With Travian I think they actually made a good deal. Sure I have to pay taxx fee to Travian so they can fullfil their obligation for every purchase, but I am sure Portalarium always paid their share towards the EU, right ;) ?
Last but not least from what I have heard forum moderation is still the same shit show. Making people in the community that openly insulted players in public forums or their chat community ambassador is just another form of Portalarium favoritism they play. Rules are enforced only on people they deem toxic. They apparently still treat people with suspensions when they post negative things about the game, and frankly even though the game is releasing it hardly has any traffic in their forums. I'd wish they stop generating more and more people who hate the game with a cause. In an attempt to create a safe space for certain people, they still alienate more of their small playerbase than is healthy for the game.
Overall I am happy with all the latest releases. In fact so much that I am working on a new video and a new song is already in the pipeline. But since our singer is a Scotsman he probably has to double check so he is not violating any stupid hate speech law ;)
So long.
V.
But let's stay on the game. The last Releases clearly shifted the game towards a more group-oriented gameplay. Not only self sufficiency is likely to go away, grouping for the first time feels worth it and actually can yield better results pretty early in the game and even later - depending on your builds.
Coming with that I am glad to see finally Portalarium realizes that their lack of "repeatable" content aka endgame content is something they need to solve within the first 3 months of release. Combining that with the promised Castle Siege mechanics, that can and likely will be used to improve Control Points as well is a step towards generating conflicts and a major driver for people to get engaged.
With Travian the change came. Those people are professionals and overall I think they are pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes, not taking control over development - but rather help Portalarium in every area they lack. Maybe I give them too much credit for it, but after all if that is the price we as EU players now have to pay - so be it. ^^
The latest release also increased the value of PVP zones by putting unique monsters and loot in there. The change has been minor, but I expect to see more high level content moving towards contestable areas - not only for XP and ransom, but also in terms of crafting components.
Did SotA reach the critical mass to stay alive? All I can say is that a lot of people came back to check it out again... Will they all stay? Most likely not, but certainly I think they will keep more players than they had before. From my understanding a full advertise campaign hasn't been started yet, and maybe it is the right thing to wait for that, until they truly can offer more gameplay content for the high end guilds and players. Nothing will be gained if people realize after a couple of months that their grind leads to nowhere... It is way better now than it was when they went persistent, but still it is very unfinished, and compared to UO (which is still their number one demographic in terms of search metrics) the game still lacks the depth of the gameworld UO had developed over the years.
Something else was revealed to me, but I am not spilling that yet. But it is something that makes me feel very positive that they can build from what they have to keep the game running, provided they keep up with the releases, like they did.
All that momentum SotA created still has one major flaw. Community. It seems like no week goes by without a cringeworthy fuck up by the CM or management at Portalarium. I follow Richard and Darkstarr on FB and twitter for ages, and for people who make political posts almost every day, it felt kinda funny to see they actually signed EU countries towards Russian publishers, during a political climate which is problematic to say the least. I let you decide if they just didn't care and needed the money, or if they are just clueless.
With Travian I think they actually made a good deal. Sure I have to pay taxx fee to Travian so they can fullfil their obligation for every purchase, but I am sure Portalarium always paid their share towards the EU, right ;) ?
Last but not least from what I have heard forum moderation is still the same shit show. Making people in the community that openly insulted players in public forums or their chat community ambassador is just another form of Portalarium favoritism they play. Rules are enforced only on people they deem toxic. They apparently still treat people with suspensions when they post negative things about the game, and frankly even though the game is releasing it hardly has any traffic in their forums. I'd wish they stop generating more and more people who hate the game with a cause. In an attempt to create a safe space for certain people, they still alienate more of their small playerbase than is healthy for the game.
Overall I am happy with all the latest releases. In fact so much that I am working on a new video and a new song is already in the pipeline. But since our singer is a Scotsman he probably has to double check so he is not violating any stupid hate speech law ;)
So long.
V.
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