Beginner's Questions

First thanks to the creators of this game, I've been spending long hours enjoying this wonder!

and secondly I would like to clear up these doubts.

**I would like to remind you that I am using Google Translate, I saw that the PT community is very scarce, so I decided to translate to receive the answers**


Beginner's Questions:

1 - Are suggestions accepted? Do developers listen to the community?

2 - Is there "end-game"? if yes, is it fast to get there? (end-game = last equipment, max lvl, strongest respawn in the game, etc)

3 - A new player, dedicating himself to the game for a few months, is it possible to duel (pvp) with someone older (years) in the game?

4 - Is the game still a company priority? Or is it already in the background?

5 - Are there well-designed missions? or are they the typical ones we see at the beginning? ("take 10 rags and bring them to me", etc).

6 - And still about the quests.. Have the older players already completed the game in this regard? Are there quests/mysteries still unsolved by players (like in Tibia, for example...)?

7 - Is there anything to do in the game while I'm AFK?

8 - Were the pt-BR translations abandoned? (the game has a lot of information, but it's very confusing, and it gets even more when you mix conversations/map names/items in Portuguese and English)

9 - Is the game that heavy, or is it poorly optimized? (my computer is farting to run this game, even my power coil is already beeping) *my computer is not top, but it runs a smooth Rust..

10 - Why doesn't this game receive the necessary attention in terms of publicity? It's an excellent mmorpg (it took me 2 months installing and uninstalling mmorpg's, I've tested pretty much all current ones, and none of them worked for me, none have the soul of a true mmorpg, and SotA so far is surprising me)



I will be grateful if you can clear my doubts

 

I have only been here about a year - but I will give you the answers as I see them.

1. Yes. Yes.
2. Possibly - I have not reached it. A long time.
3. Possible - there are pvp areas which are level capped - meaning you will be at the same char level as they are pretty quickly. You will not have the same equipment and stuff they have collected over time, nor the experience of hundreds of pvp bouts in SOTA.
4. Don't know - it is still getting attention/updates/improvements/contents.
5. There are many quests which are more involved than find and bring back; requiring trips to multiple places and npc interactions.
6. I have not yet found a unique quest (IE one which nobody else has ever done). However not everyone even does quests.
7. No.
8. Sorry, I have no idea.
9. There are settings you can use to reduce to load on your computer/gpu - reducing the graphics. There are several posts in the forums with advice on this. Yes - the game is very graphic heavy at the default settings.
10. Good question. There are many theories discussed in the forum, but I have no idea why. It is a great game.

Feel free to contact me in game if you have questions or need assistance.
Blast ItAll

 

Oi, a guild Remains Of UO é de jogadores brasileiros, depois se quiser tirar duvida em portugues da um toque em algum player que tiver online, ou no discord mesmo.
Revenant, Joe Zhudarak, Deltalok e eu Estroma Tólito
ou no discord mesmo

 

They're pretty good at taking feedback from the community.

What do you mean by "end-game"? If you mean maxing out your character then that will never happen. Level limits are 200, so a regular 1x skill would take 16,709,249,906 experience points to reach 200.

You can try to duel anyone; there are no level limits, if that's what you mean. Winning the duel is another matter though.

They have an upcoming episode 2. However, I feel like the dev team has dwindled and the lead dev is off doing another game.

Most of the quests fit this model. The main story-line quest is pretty good though.

The number of quests is pretty limited. It's not like say ESO where they get new story every few months.

Batch refining/crafting will give you a few minutes.

Translation was a community effort and has pretty much fizzled out.

It's an unfortunate side effect of the decoration system. That is, people can decorate their town/lots as they see fit. So, depending on the town you're in, the performance can suffer. Adventuring areas don't have housing, so they should perform much better.

During development there were a lot of unhappy people and the game received a lot of negative attention. It never recovered from that image.

 

@Rhodrisan thanks for the answers friend
6 - Why don't many people do them? do quests have no cool rewards besides experience and gold? (Ex: items, rare equipment, rare decorations..)

It seems to me that the game has many mysteries, even because of the many books/letters/libraries it has, but I can't keep up with it because everything is in English lol

9 - hmm, I'll try to find these topics, I need it, I've already lowered a lot of quality here, but still in big cities it's hard to move

10 - I only found this game, because I looked for the companies of the founder of Ultima, then I ended up here, I didn't find this masterpiece in any mmorpgs recommendation list, it's certainly the same as the friend below said, the launch was with many problems


@Estroma Tólito opa man, tem vaga na guilda? esses dias encontrei um player BR, mas ele nunca mais logou, to aprendendo o joguinho ainda, e as vezes apareces umas duvidas, bom saber que vcs estao ativos xD


@Barugon

4 - Is this episode 2 to try to win new players? or just to "animate" the current community? (if you know anything about episode 2 )

Who would be the game developer? Catnip? I can't find anything about this company


8 - Did the players give up, or was it the Devs?


thanks a lot for the answers bro

 

Welcome to the game @maldoke. I'm sorry the translation efforts of this game did not get completed. I'm glad you are enjoying the game. There is much to see and do even though many updates still happen from a small development team it is not reliable to say what more will be done. The development team we still have does what they can. As long as we can get more players playing and financial resources to the game the development team will do what they can.

You don't need to have doubts and I'm sorry I hope my comments can be understood. There is still a lot of game to be played and much for players to do if they like to do many things. As mentioned there is not an actual end-game. This is not a game to be completed. Originally the game was to get 5 episodes which are like perhaps chapters to a story. Each episode would contain more to the story and new content for that episode. We are on episode 2 which is slowing coming into the game. All the content and quests for that episode are not yet in the game. The original first part of the story was Hidden Vale. There are some quests to be found there. Then the Novia map was added to the game with even more quests to be found and the player starter areas are there which was strange to me since Hidden Vale was the first map to be added to the game and new players don't always know how the game evolved. Still quests are not as easy to find as in other games but talking to all NPCs will give quests. The journal was updated a little a while ago so it is a lot easier to use. Many towns don't have maps yet but the compass will show marks on where to go for quests well usually. As mentioned if you are confused or lost type questions in universe chat using /u if it is not showing on your conversation and information tabs. Also asking questions here is a good option.

Suggestions are still accepted but as mentioned we have a small development team. The development team adds to the game as they can but there are too few of them to do all requests and they do have a long list of things to do. In game if you type 'ask a dev' before your question in universe chat the development team should get that question. I suggest before asking some questions you meet with some players who can help you. What is your language that you speak so we can check for others in the community who can speak that language? Also use universe chat in game and if you don't get your answer keep trying until someone is online who can answer it or learn to use the mail system in game to reach players who are online.

The way you see players if online is through your friends list. Add Majoria as a friend and you will see when I come online. I accept all friends requests. Then right click my name and choose whisper to talk directly with me. It is better to open another window to use as whispers by dragging a tab out and resizing it and then use the blue gear to check whispers only then you will see whispers and they won't get lost in any other actions you are doing. I'm sorry if this doesn't translate fully. I can only try to give you information and translations are not always accurate due to the English language has so many slang terms and many uses of a word that it can be very confusing.

Regarding duels if you right click on a player you will see options. You can choose in these options to add as a friend, whisper, trade, make a note for yourself regarding that player . I use this a lot to remember my interactions with a player like where they live in game or that they would like to group up to play music in game if I start a group for that or something we traded and many other things to remember that player by. It is easy for me to forget what interactions I've had with a player if I don't see them in a long time so this helps me to remember. To duel with someone in my opinion it is better to whisper them that you are interested in dueling.

If you are interested in joining a guild then they could be very helpful in directing you in things to do regarding all aspects of the game but it isn't necessary to be in a guild if you don't care to at this time. The community is very friendly but first you have to find them. So friending as many players as possible will let you know who is online. Some will not accept friend requests because they don't want it known when they are online. I never choose that options. I accept all friends requests.

Regarding well designed Missions/quests there is a combination of small quests you find throughout the game by talking to all NPCs. For some quests you will need to level your character up because some will take you to areas that will be too difficult. So realize you won't be able to just do quests/missions to the end at first. You will need to work your character up to be stronger. In my opinion it is easier to be in this game if you have your lot deed that you get from Captain Kinsey ; Location: Solace Bridge Outskirts. You will get a row lot deed from completing these quests. That will allow you to have your own home and you can bind to it and store a lot in bags and chests you create. Then visit the oracle daily to do the 'test' for gold and experience to help you pay taxes on it. To find an oracle building easily enter any player town to find one. And while you are there jump in the devotional shrines water to get buffs. You can have 2. Also look around for a town to place your deed in. Go into them and see if they lag your computer too much then maybe its not for you. Also Here is an older quest guide I found but I know there are newer ones to be found. https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...tues-path-of-the-oracle-shroud-quests.157869/

As mentioned there is PVP which can be turned on in the oracle but I advise building your character up more before adding PVP to your character. Work your skills which are located /k and build decks /y . You can train everything in this game with no limits except that as skills get stronger they also take much more experience to raise them up.

In regards to "Is this game a priority or in the background?" As mentioned we have a small team who still work on the game but progress has slowed down due to that. So far the game is still going and content is slowly being added but not as much as in the beginning. It needs players and funds to do more. For myself I always keep my subscription going to help out the game even if I'm not playing as much I still believe in this game and what it has to offer. But for those who don't want to or cant financially help it is still a very free to play game with all you need to play bought with in game gold and your time.

And regarding completing the game. Personally I don't believe it is a game to complete. It is a game to create your home in and create themes, your own dungeons. Also, do quests/missions, some days group up to sync songs together, build your character, explore and see all there is to see. We also have high tier dungeons and lower tier dungeons. If you don't want to go into groups you will need a very strong character to go to some locations. Also collecting resources is important if you want to be a crafter. Crafting takes many resources and time to improve. You can get a vendor to place on your lot to sell goods. There are also players who role-play. Personally I don't do much of that but many love that aspect of the game. So for players who want to find a quick game to complete and then move on I do not think this is that type of game. That's why many players leave and come back because they build a home and find their niche after running from game to game its nice to have a home.

In game I have done many things but now a days I am interested in creating the most. I have a building called The School of Rock to explore for anyone and also it is set up to sync music in groups. I also have an Inn that is very cluttered with things I've acquired throughout the years. I have been here since 2013 after all
The location of the town is in Hidden Vale map and is by the volcano on a cliff. It's called Wizards Rest. You may find it laggy if you don't have a strong computer because there are no decoration rules for any of the residents so we have much decoration. I think it is a lovely little town and it does snow there often.

Regarding comparing this game to Rust or any other game since they do not have the decorations we do. I do think it can be difficult for some players with low end computers in congested areas that have a lot of player decorations. It is important to follow the required specs for the game. Have at least 16 gb ram and a decent graphics card. I have an Nvidia 1060 and do not have any problems with lag. Only a very rare lag spike will hit me. Otherwise the game runs very smoothly for me even in congested areas. So set your graphics lower if you are having problems. The developers are always working on optimization but as I mentioned we do like our decorations and that does not help them.

Also regarding attention and advertising. You may find negative reviews and one thing I can say about this is that some reviews are old and from players who have not recently checked out the game. As an original backer myself I can tell you this game was crowd funded. We gave the money to get the game started and for it to continue. It is still crowd funded and many of the crowd has left so there is not as much funding to add to it. To tell a story of what happened well my version that is. First players heard of a Lord British game that was being made to bring back some of the old days Of Ultima and Ultima Online. Players were excited to get an updated version of a so beloved game. One problem and a curse was the game was being made for the players with the developers and that caused much Chaos to happen since players had so many varied ideas of how this game should be made. The developers tried their best to implement ideas given along with their own ideas for the game also with funding limited to only do so much. Needless to say that did not go well or at least it formed the game you see today. So many ideas and not enough funding, manpower, or direction to pull it together to please every single person if that was even possible.

So today this is the game we have. The last few years have made some in my opinion amazing improvements to the the core of this game. For example we got Universe chat free for all, we got a mail system that allows you to mail almost anything even gold, we got a music system, an improved journal, we got free lot deeds for all from doing a quest, and one of my favorites we got Teleport to zone scrolls. Drag these to your non combat hot bar and when unencumbered you can see all the locations you have visited to visit again. There is little if no cool down to use. We also recently got mounts, more recipes, more buffs, more decorations, more new dungeons. The newer dungeons are in the new lands.

Again welcome to the game. I'm sorry this is so long and I know you would need it translated. I do hope it helps you to understand the game more well at least where it is at and how it came to be and also how it is going forward. That is dependant as mentioned on players and funding but for now those who give it a chance and love it really love it and those who do not may not have seen all the little things to love. The game does a very poor job of letting you know who it is. It is something to explore and learn slowly or join a guild and learn quicker. I do hope you will be able to play the game with your computer. Happy journeys to you. Take care.

Edited

 

@majoria70 Thank you so much for the clarification, it cleared a lot of doubts!

Too bad the game was so poorly spoken at first, I took a look at steam and most of the comments are negative, why doesn't the community here get together to comment on it and boost its reputation a little?

I almost gave up on installing when I saw that bunch of negative comments, I only installed it because I had already tested dozens of mmorpgs before, so it didn't hurt to try.

The game has a lot of information, too bad the translation wasn't finished, it's hard to follow the stories of the npcs (which I really like), if the chat still had a way to copy for us to translate outside the game, that would help.

On the issue of the mission that gets a role for assignment, I already won this role, but it's so confusing that I haven't even used it yet

I'm learning a lot here on the forum, because as I said, translation is necessary for a game of this size that has so much information..

thanks again for replying, and I hope this game lasts many, many years!

 

@maldoke
Oi , Bemvindo
Se quiser pode me ajuntar na lista de amigos
Nos veremos no jogo...
Ate la cuida-se!

 

It's actually part of the Kickstarter campaign. There were, I believe, four promised episodes. I personally don't think we will see all four but episode two should happen at some point (they have been working on it anyway).

Yes, Catnip is the company that owns Shroud of the Avatar.

They never had the funds to do professional translation (there are a lot of languages and it's something that would need attention every release), so they asked the players if they would help translate. Early on there were a lot more players, so it was easier to get the help.

 

Bear in mind, these answers are from someone who is equally as cynical as he is enthusiastic.

Q1 - Are suggestions accepted? Do developers listen to the community?
A1 - Yes, and yes, but keep your expectation reasonable. Things like new animations, mobs, maps, quests aren't as easily reachable as "moving a decimal point to affect how a skill works" and it factors down simply to how tiny the team is.

Q2 - Is there "end-game"? if yes, is it fast to get there? (end-game = last equipment, max lvl, strongest respawn in the game, etc)
A2 - Sorta. There are higher tier maps to fight higher tier mobs and gather higher tier materials. But with almost everything being player driven, one doesn't yell at a toolbox for not being a treehouse, one must use the tools and build the treehouse.

Q3 - A new player, dedicating himself to the game for a few months, is it possible to duel (pvp) with someone older (years) in the game?
A3 - Yes, absolutely, but there is a steep learning curve to truly understanding the glyph/deck/combo/charge/stack system at play. I have said this elsewhere, if you want a deeper understanding of this game, flag for pvp, go to the fall, and wait to get killed, then make friends with your murderer and ask them for help. Far and away the most insightful and highly skilled players in this game are the significantly smaller subset of pvp players.

Q4 - Is the game still a company priority? Or is it already in the background?
A4 - The chairs are, however baffling it may be to some, still on the floor, and the lights are still on.

Q5 - Are there well-designed missions? or are they the typical ones we see at the beginning? ("take 10 rags and bring them to me", etc).
A5 - Just do what I do... pretend there are no quests, and just play the sandbox... it's better that way. I can count, on one hand, the number of people I've met who rate the quests highly.

Q6 - And still about the quests.. Have the older players already completed the game in this regard? Are there quests/mysteries still unsolved by players (like in Tibia, for example...)?
A6 - I completed the quests... and if I had to... I'd do it again... but I did not enjoy it or find it, or any of the characters memorable or worthy of praise on any level. Again, as a sandbox, it's fun, as a story... it's on the level of an elementary school level Choose Your Own Adventure novel.

Q7 - Is there anything to do in the game while I'm AFK?
A7 - Turn pumpkins into dye. Seriously. That... and refining/crafting large amounts of materials. You can do stacks at a time, but the time to process is enough that you could start a stack, and go do something else for 10-20 minutes, depending on what you're doing.

Q8 - Were the pt-BR translations abandoned? (the game has a lot of information, but it's very confusing, and it gets even more when you mix conversations/map names/items in Portuguese and English)
A8 - There's like... a bazillian Brazilians (heh) in SotA.

Q9 - Is the game that heavy, or is it poorly optimized? (my computer is farting to run this game, even my power coil is already beeping) *my computer is not top, but it runs a smooth Rust..
A9 - If you're running it off steam, right click it, go to properties, and in the launch arguments, type "-force-d3d11-no-singlethreaded" and stay out of player owned towns that are decorated year round like an upper class neighborhood at Christmas. The game struggles on mid to low end machines in places where lots and lots of player placed objects are being loaded in.

Q10 - Why doesn't this game receive the necessary attention in terms of publicity? It's an excellent mmorpg (it took me 2 months installing and uninstalling mmorpg's, I've tested pretty much all current ones, and none of them worked for me, none have the soul of a true mmorpg, and SotA so far is surprising me)
A10 - That is a loaded question. The blindly faithful will say the only thing that's wrong is that no one is playing. The blindly hateful will say anything without fact checking it first. The true answers lie in the middle gray area.

Overall... the game is a mess, but it's fun. The community is a mess, but it's amazing.

I have rage quit many times, and I hope this game provides me many more rage quits as the years pass.

 

Hello together... I too am a 'returnee'. I originally came here the first time, whew, wht was it, 2018, I think? It was when SOTA was about to leave beta, so yea... 2018, I guess, but I didn't stay long. We were a group, but the rather bad than right start drove away all my comrades from back then and at some point... I too was gone. Now, years later, I have remembered this world again and, while my game is being updated (it has always been on the disk, waiting for me), I am writing a few questions that interest me before I dive back into the world of SOTA. So... actually, I'm mainly interested in the game modes, because they were the reason why I found my way here in the first place...

So, how is it today? Can you still choose between single player (offline) and online, and is there still a choice between 'open', 'private' and 'group' in online mode? Where are the differences today?

And my second question... well, I bought SOTA back then - even before it became F2P. Now there is the subscription model... what does that mean for me? If I don't want to subscribe... what are the disadvantages? What are the advantages of a subscription?

I don't know yet how long I will stay here this time... I assume that SOTA has developed over the years. I am curious....

EDIT:
Upgrading took way longer than expected... so I won't enter SOTA bevore sunday, but I'm lookoking forward to it

 

Be sure to give this a read https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...ges-to-the-game-for-returning-players.164048/

There’s been so many (really good) changes to the game since you last played. I highly recommend you start with a new character, or use your one time quest reset.

 

Thank you Anpu,

this was / is quite useful. Now... while skimming through the numerous changes, this one in particular caught my eye:

This is now... well, a pity for me and a potential game changer - because the unique selling point that made me support SOTA in the first place was that I could enjoy the world without the annoying side effects that other players bring with them; from forced PvP to the imersion-breaking running / jumping around of all the other player avatars, but go out on quests with friends (private group mode). I don't want to have my imersion destroyed while I'm trying to sneak past an enemy and then from behind another avatar is running and, well, jumping through 'my world'... and now I read that I would be exposed to that for large parts? Because the way this lists I wonder where I am not in forced open mode? The list of areas where I am supposed to be seems pretty conclusive, isn't it?

edit:
spelling errors

 

Adventuring Areas are still open or private, however you want. You can happily enter an Adventure Scene by yourself, or with others. Towns or the Outskirts areas are mandatory Open mode.

 

Hm... then help me quickly, it's been a while: What is the difference between adventuring areas and outskirts? I remember, for example, the refugee camp and the environment tied to this 'map' at the very beginning of a new game - or the burning village in which you woke up as a new player (among other locations, depending how your chat with the oracle went). To which categories do these belong, for example?

 

There are A LOT adventuring areas - see the map even if it is a bit obsolete
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/map/
The "outskirts" are 3 specific areas that follow the starting zone and each is the start of one of the 3 path´s:
Solace Bridge --> Solace Bridge Outskirts, Path of Love
Bloodriver Massacre --> Bloddriver Outskirts, Path of Truth
Highvale --> Highvale Outskirts, Path of Courage

 

ConjurerDragon, thank you for the answer. Then that means, in principle, if I decide to start a new avatar, the following;

The starting area for example (last time I had the Path of Love, so I only know that one); I start alone / privately in the burning village of Solace Bridge. As soon as I get to the camp via boat, I switch to 'Open' (which means that other avatars run/jump through the camp while I'm still being told how bad everything is, how grateful they are for my arrival, etc.) - I always stay in open (as the map and the towns are open too), unless I go for a 'walk' in one of the adventure areas. Did I got this right? Hm... well, I'll have to see how that plays on me - but my motivation to get back into SOTA has just been dampened...

 

It´s not that bad. When I played through Solace Outskirts I had at most a handful of other players *in the whole scene*. You can see who is in the same scene as you by pressing the zero (0) on your decimal keyboard. However who is actually so close to be visible will be fewer. And all 3 "outskirts" areas are relatively large areas with distinct local geography so you might not even notice that someone else is there, chopping wood on the other side of the river or gathering nightshade on the graveyard while you are in the refugee camp.

 

So, the fact that it was made compulsory to be open in the towns, okay, I can understand that and I don't think it's bad per se, especially if you see towns as 'community- hubs'. But once I'm 'out there'... I don't know.

Sure, I will certainly give SOTA another chance, why not. Still... if I should ever get into the situation, as I have experienced in other games, that an interesting / immersive / exciting setting / situation is 'crashed' by another player, that would be it for me, because the reason for my to come to SOTA was that one could avoid exactly this (as desired and individually). But I thank you ConjurerDragon (and you too, Anpu) for the answers and I'll just try it out tomorrow - then I'll see whether this is the new beginning of a journey or the final end of the same

edit:
spelling

 

Hi @Andakon and welcome back. I do think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the game we have evolved into. So many players prefer their alone time and prefer solo except when they don't. For example I did a Christmas concert playing Christmas songs in group with our ingame music system. We sync'd a few songs then everyone went back to doing their own thing. The world is massive and very easy to be in your own word due to divided scenes. It's not a highly populated game ATM. So imo try not to be too hasty to judge. This is a different game and you may be surprised at what you like later verses expectations. I do understand as someone who loves single player rpgs very much and I enjoy alone time too but I come out of it sometimes to enjoy the systems in the game such as the music system we have and the ability to create so much. I have a School of Rock building I created and for Christmas I had a Christmas lot complete with a Santa's bag players could stop by and take gifts from and they could also click on sheet musics to hear many Christmas songs I had placed about. Rudolph was even there. I know it's Hard to imagine if you have preferred a certain playstyle then to imagine stepping outside of that but just see and try to take it one day at a time. This game has really evolved and is still evolving. There is so much to explore. Soloing is pretty perfect here whenever you like. Believe me I do know. I'm Majoria in game if I can ever help. Happy journeys.