Rise and Shiny visits Istaria

[Holth]

http://www.massively.com/2010/07/25/...recap-istaria/

I had alot of fun playing with Beau and I'm so glad he has returned to Istaria

Thaalia of Order

[Chasing]

Nicely written article

[awdz]

way cool :-)

[Velea]

Great article and thank you to whomever it is from our community that recommended the game! What he says is true, every single member of this community counts and can make a difference.

[Holth]

I recommended the game to Beau. I've been following his column for some time now and thought it was time for him to give Istaria a whirl. Strangely enough, when I e-mailed him my suggestion he replied that he had just been talking to his wife about Istaria as a game to try. He said "it's Fate!".

Thaalia of Order

[velveeta]

excellent article, i reposted it on my mmorpg blog....please extend my thanx and a welcome home to beau!

[Arietna]

good article. Some of the comments on it are a little odd - but on the whole relatively positive. Istaria is an addiction for some of us. I never did uninstall it, never intend to, but my visits are sporadic (and when I'm not there, it doesn't take long for me to miss it. Just RL takes over sometimes)..

[LOVWYRM]

thy for this great article. I made me happy to read this, cause it describes much of the "magic" of Istaria.
So welcome (on Order- I assume?). Let us know if we can be of any assistance

Thy to Thaalia too

[Xzchatchyk]

Good article, sadly a bit short of a playtime in it, but through the different characters the point of view has several angles. That was very good.

Now for the comment...

Some of them center on the keyboard-settings.

Maybe its just me, but thats one of the first thing I look at in a software/game "the options". And by the amount of options in it I can judge how variable it is to make me feel comfortable, if needed.

This question about "how can I set the option for this and that" occours regularly on the chatchannels in-game.
And some of those players arent asking if it is possible to change the setting, they simply state that it isnt possible. And when we tell them its possible they are more or less astonished be that fact.
Maybe there still is need for some additional advertising of this fact and that will help new players to find there way.

I believe that istaria is one of the most adjustable games I have played.
The vast amount of changes we can make is very nice, but very few knew about it. Maybe they like it in "their" game-style to be forced to take the one standard UI...
And some are merely the type that post facts that are hearsays and feel bold if they can post negatives.

So, to all of you Istarians => Have a nice day!!!

[Dragonboy]

The article was very nice to read and positive about the game.

Most comments however were annoying me.
Key bindings are easy to find, moving around chatscreens and all the stuff I had discovered after 5 minutes of playing (mostly by accident).
The comment from the person about not knowing (s)he had any abilities other then Attack could be true, maybe when a new character is launched into his/her first school a hotkey bar should automatically be filled with the usefull few abilities with a blue screen were to find them and others in the future. I don’t recall if I had trouble finding my abilities 2100 days ago (Horizons was my first MMO as well)…

And last but not least. If you have no constructive criticism what so ever, why comment at all? (Other then wanting to be an annoying troll)

[LOVWYRM]

Rv- we all experience Istaria in different ways.
What sounds clear to you might confuse me.
Us vets often do not understand, what new players are complaining about,
and where their probs are.

But it is most important and appreciated that they do give feedback.

I found out that Istaria IS difficult to play at the beginning- and lots give up in their first weeks.
Even returning players need lots of advice and help to keep them interested,
keep them playing.
Often enough I do not succeed with that, eg cause my knowledge about biped- mysteries is insufficiant. If you decide to be a mentor for a new/returning player, you will find out its a full-time job.
As said: It seems Istaria is not as easy to play as we ol`players might think.

[velveeta]

and therein lies the problem, i think....

peeps pop in, think 'old game, can't be very challenging' -
then find out it requires more thinking and interaction than newer mmos.

i think its a matter of gamer age (notice i DID NOT say maturity)....
older gamers got into mmos after roleplaying games like d&d, so they are more used to problem solving and playing with others that might not have the same motivations and viewpoints.
newer gamers are used to puter games where you play solo (i consider being in control of more than one character solo playing) like doom and quake or even the baldar's gate type games - which tend to lead you to the next phase or objective. you might have riddles or puzzles you need to complete to advance, but you don't need to call on the resources of another player to do so.
old mmos cater more toward 'team play' - its very difficult to play istaria, which virtually requires getting at least some assistance from other playing characters; new ones like wow do not have such a reliance on other players (i can easily [and have] play wow without needing a single other player for help).

i have to say, the new d&d online game is prolly the only new mmo that has that 'need to group' feel to it for me. it is almost impossible to complete quests, especially newbies, without grouping up with others. peeps are saying a lot of the same things about it as they do about horizons.

[Dhalin]

Originally Posted by velveeta

and therein lies the problem, i think....

peeps pop in, think 'old game, can't be very challenging' -
then find out it requires more thinking and interaction than newer mmos.

I tend to agree, though I also think that we could ever-improve upon "directionless quests" that say...

"Go kill [unique mob name here]"

Without giving you any clue whatsoever as to where you're supposed to find this named enemy.

Heck, I just started ARoP and the very first battle:

"I need some Thornwood, but not just any normal one. This one thornwood tree is more powerful than anything mortal. Go kill it!"

No name, no vague direction/location, nothing.

I wound up logging off to check a wiki to figure out just where/what I was supposed to kill.

Now, they could have said, instead:

"I need some Thornwood, but not just any normal one. I've heard tales of massive Thornwood tree near the Spiritous Swamp; the naka call it "Bristleface". Go find it, and kill it!"

Would have worked _much_ better. They aren't holding your hand in that example, but yet, they at least give you a place to start looking.

So, in short:

There's a difference between holding your hand every step of the way (World of Warcraft) and giving you absolutely no hints or clues at all (Final Fantasy XI does this). I like the direction VI has taken things thusfar, newer quest dialogues give you an idea of where you're supposed to go, but yet they don't spell it out down to the exact location.