this horse is not dead

[Dracaena]

I thought about making more advertise for Istaria since i`m getting more and more subscribers of this community on youtube. Sadly i don`t have an idear about such sites at all. Could you guys give me some sites i could go and check on? I might think about throwing out weekly updates then. That can`t be so hard . Also i heared if you do so you get a free plot? Is that true?

Looks like Spread the Word program may still be active. The link I found for info is a google doc, which in the past when I didn't have a google account they wouldn't open (in general, not just here). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...PVfkffT5Ts/pub

I found that link on this page http://community.istaria.com/pg.php/download the right hand column.

[Pryzm]

Well i am planning to do a let`s play from the beginning on including the grinding (maybe sped up) or in original length. I`ll have to get more into talking english for this since i am still a bit unsure at this but i get better in every video . So Youtube counts? Any other sides i should check on?

[Rayth]

You know, if you actually want people to want to play perhaps you should consider, finally, balancing some of these mobs.

Silly Browsnout Younglings are hitting for 40+ on auto attacks (not specials) at lvl 17 with a high attack speed. As a Scout, my auto-attacks are hitting for around 25 at a much slower rate (fine longbow). The Spiders just outside Sslanis are hitting almost as hard and they are all lvl 19 - normally MMO's are set up so that the mobs around the town are actually the same level as the players just entering the zone (in this case lvl 16). This doesn't even include the withered just outside of town, those mobs at same level will can destroy you at same level in a few seconds - especially the mages. The Honored Dead quest on the Drowned Island is downright silly.

Basically at this level I can't do most of the Town Marshall quests other than golems and the ogre's on the East side. I'm basically going to be farming this crap until 20.

This is with a 18 Scout/10 Druid. It's the same nonsense I mentioned a couple of years ago. I've played this game since it came out, I have no idea why any new player would stick around - ones don't really know how to multi-class and will probably have worse gear than mine.

It would help if I could actually kite with the Scout for auto-attacks. Basically when I'm getting drilled I run around waiting for specials (don't get me started on some of these shared cool downs, I can't chain power shot/heart seeker it kicks in a 15 sec (I think) cooldown and for some silly reason coordinate shot kicks in a cool down for pinion) and hitting the occasional heal. You have to stand still for the Scout auto-attack and if you run around too much the mob will just reset.

Mobs of the same level should be reasonably balanced and some crappy 16 pig shouldn't be able to knock of half my health (180 or so) in about 3 seconds. I even have pretty high evasion for my level (yeah evasive style doesn't do much).

[Justa Mirage]

Or... (as done in GW2, SWTOR, WOW, etc..)
/sarcasm on
You could offer a level 100 token and let someone "pay" to have a max level character. (of course it would be 100th level hatchie, and multi classed are not allowed, so no "Special Class" only base "Scout, Mage, Cleric, Dragon, Warrior")
/sarcasm off

The draw for players now is "F2P" with in-game currency paid for with real money to buy things that a free player can't get. Istaria "kind of" has that system but not that much in the way of a store. Extra consignment slots, player slots, etc. could be expanded to buying "special backpacks" or Property Tokens, maybe even allow characters to buy in-game pets, armor, weapons, potions.

The unfortunate thing about In-Game purchases is those willing to shell out the money will have an advantage over those who subscribe to the game and get "nothing" (Unless you give them a monthly allowance like SWTOR does for being a subscriber.)

Crafting... Reduce the raw material required for crap stuff that is made for "decon" for leveling but increase the material requirements for something "special" this way a player can quickly level their base crafting, and if they want to make that "super uber" weapon, they need to quest for certain pieces (This is already in-game, just needs to be expanded more).

Adventure... The "kill mobs, rinse, wash, repeat" to level went out of MMOs years ago. Now most games use the linear "railroad" system of leveling where you follow a quest line to its completion. The XP has been calculated to have you at the next level once you have completed the quest lines in a particular area (See GW2, WoW, SWTOR which are the games I play or used to play)

The one thing I don't see as obvious is this leveling track. There is no guidance to lead players through a quest sequence "after" the initial 1-20th level, after that a player doesn't have direction. Dailies are a nice thing, but it would be nice to be lead from quest to quest leading you to the next city that has more quests and surrounding mobs to be level appropriate.

My 2 cents worth.

[AmonGwareth]

Pay to win or full free to play (with a cash store) isn't something that Istaria can or should do. Cash shops require careful tuning and integration into the game to avoid impacting existing players too greatly and to give proper balance.

Adventure... The "kill mobs, rinse, wash, repeat" to level went out of MMOs years ago. Now most games use the linear "railroad" system of leveling where you follow a quest line to its completion. The XP has been calculated to have you at the next level once you have completed the quest lines in a particular area (See GW2, WoW, SWTOR which are the games I play or used to play)

I understand what you are saying, though I think you may have missed the fact that those games do actually do that exact mechanic. Kill some number of this monster or that enemy. GW2 is probably the one that reduces that the best, but it still has it. Having played all three of those games within the last two years I can say that the early quests most certainly ARE kill quests.

The one thing I don't see as obvious is this leveling track. There is no guidance to lead players through a quest sequence "after" the initial 1-20th level, after that a player doesn't have direction. Dailies are a nice thing, but it would be nice to be lead from quest to quest leading you to the next city that has more quests and surrounding mobs to be level appropriate.

Through level 40 Istaria has a well connected storyline and chain of quests. New Trismus, Kion Militia, Marcus Shipment, Sslanis Militia, then the Forest Skulk/Traitor storylines on the Dalimond Peninsula, as well as the more specialized Plundered Tombs, Sources of Power, Battlefields and Holy Symbols quests on the peninsula. In fact, you will level beyond 40 if you do all of them available to you, especially if you are playing a biped. Tier 3 is where the chain breaks down, but fortunately we are hard at work at the revamp presently. Once you reach Tier 5, you get the chains again in the form of different zones (Winter Vale, Dralnok's Doom, Eastern Outpost, Unsung Heroes, Barrier Vale, Island of Ice, Niesa's Fate, Crystalshaper). Lots of storylines.

[hejtmane]

Ok on a couple things I been in games that had special double XP weekends it does not hurt the game but it was for everyone not just new people that works better.

As a person who has tried to come back I have no desire to play as a Dragon. I started a new Character and I had a low level Monk (he was a decent level crafter just had like 10 levels of monk) wanted to see how it played at the lower levels after being gone as a bi-ped it is so boring unless you are crafting that part is still enjoyable.

For the spell caster side there where no spells to buy at the merchants or any real gear it sucks yea yea you can ask the community it is not the point the low level stuff should all be available to make life easier as a newbie.

Next combat as a Bi ped is boring. Case in point the special attacks is so small it is just easier to stand there on auto attack and kill the monster that way I could read something on the other screen while being bored out of my mine. Oh I can do a special attack every 2 minutes that gives such a small buff it is irrelevant. The best way to level is to pull set auto attack stand there throw a heal once in a blue moon 10 years later you got a level and the tokens are not worth running around to turn in I mean when you go back in to town yea turn them in but it was not really a XP speed boost. I could just stand in one spot on auto attack while surfing the web and get about the same return in time wasted. How about making it where I can turn in all the tokens at once instead of 10 at a time.

To level I just stood in one spot and auto attack and surf the internet on my second screen it made it more enjoyable because I was no longer bored with leveling because I no longer cared because it was more fun to read the internet the fighting is not engaging in anyway.

In review fix combat for Bi peds, fix some of the XP because it is to slow and add low teir basic items on the merchants until the newbie gets use to relying on the community at higher levels.

[hejtmane]

You know, if you actually want people to want to play perhaps you should consider, finally, balancing some of these mobs.

Silly Browsnout Younglings are hitting for 40+ on auto attacks (not specials) at lvl 17 with a high attack speed. As a Scout, my auto-attacks are hitting for around 25 at a much slower rate (fine longbow). The Spiders just outside Sslanis are hitting almost as hard and they are all lvl 19 - normally MMO's are set up so that the mobs around the town are actually the same level as the players just entering the zone (in this case lvl 16). This doesn't even include the withered just outside of town, those mobs at same level will can destroy you at same level in a few seconds - especially the mages. The Honored Dead quest on the Drowned Island is downright silly.

Basically at this level I can't do most of the Town Marshall quests other than golems and the ogre's on the East side. I'm basically going to be farming this crap until 20.

This is with a 18 Scout/10 Druid. It's the same nonsense I mentioned a couple of years ago. I've played this game since it came out, I have no idea why any new player would stick around - ones don't really know how to multi-class and will probably have worse gear than mine.

It would help if I could actually kite with the Scout for auto-attacks. Basically when I'm getting drilled I run around waiting for specials (don't get me started on some of these shared cool downs, I can't chain power shot/heart seeker it kicks in a 15 sec (I think) cooldown and for some silly reason coordinate shot kicks in a cool down for pinion) and hitting the occasional heal. You have to stand still for the Scout auto-attack and if you run around too much the mob will just reset.

Mobs of the same level should be reasonably balanced and some crappy 16 pig shouldn't be able to knock of half my health (180 or so) in about 3 seconds. I even have pretty high evasion for my level (yeah evasive style doesn't do much).

Yes the great Archer Kite Nerf that cost Horizons more players than any of the other early changes (That and bad lag etc) welcome to the first major Nerf in Horizons and still punishing players 10 years later.

[AmonGwareth]

Thank you for the feedback and thoughts. As with many things, I both agree and disagree, but then I see things from a different perspective. You are correct that combat is slower than many other MMOs. That is not a failing necessarily, it is how the game was designed from the start. Given that we're 13 years into the game, now is probably not the time to begin speeding it up. Think of it more as a tactical game rather than a button mashing game. Also, you aren't going to be sitting there doing auto-attacks at any level higher than 5 or 10.

You are partially correct about combat speed and dull combat. At the lower levels it takes longer than it does in other MMOs and this makes it feel slow and dull. I recently went back to WoW and played three new characters (Worgen, Panda, and Dwarf) to level 20. The first 5 or 10 levels go very quickly and you do tend to kill monsters in 2 to 5 hits at most. Should Istaria have it like that? Hard to say, but I don't think its a simply yes or no answer. It might have side-effects, trickle-up in our case, who knows.

You are wrong that the "great archer kite nerf" lost the game that many players. Many other factors caused the loss of lots of players early on most notably some severe bugs and crippling lag. In reality, if we really sit down and look at it, regardless of what position Istaria would have been in come November of 2004 we would have lost tens of thousands of players because of the release of WoW.

For the spell caster side there where no spells to buy at the merchants or any real gear it sucks

This is one of the points where I'm afraid you are incorrect. There are gear vendors both in New Trismus and Kion from which you can buy both spells and armor/weapons. It might not be techniqued gear, but it is gear and it is usable. The coin rewards from quests have been set so that new players quickly gain sufficient coin to spend at these locations. Again, every quest does not give you gear like WoW or many other MMOs, but Istaria was not designed that way. Its a game driven by player crafting, not the reverse as the majority of other MMOs are.

Thank you all for taking the time to provide feedback on the game. I'm glad even 13 years later we have players (or non-players) who are still interested and passionate about the game and its future. Keep posting and playing!

[Shazo]

Well, because of the lack of oportunity for me to pay the sub again to continue playing Istaria as from the past month on, I'm still active in the forums and check regulary on stuff thats happening. I have played this game since I was 11 (yeah I was a child who was so pasionate about dragons that had to play it.) Maybe this is not some new improvement or suggestion, but let me share you my story about how I feel and see this game after so many years.

When I first discovered this game, I was using a trial account like everyone else. I had actualy no idea of the limitation of days, since I was little and my english at that time was kinda poor (very poor). I only knew the basics, yet I went to the Order server and began to play, because I loved stories and tought I could be part of something amazing. At that time, NT was full when I first entered it, so many ancients, adults and hatchies. Bipeds sat under their wings. It was a beautifull tale telling evening. I was happy to be able to meet new people, to start interacting. But I soon got lost in the lore and instead of trying to follow the turns I just felt left out because nobody told me what was going on. I left to keep questing. The only way I knew what to do on each quests was trying to find out what mob the quest was telling me to kill. At those times, Istaria was the only MMO I actualy played as for yet.

Days have passed, I made some friends and I got to like lvl 15, which isn't mutch to what I could get nowdays knowing where stuff is.(Besides, why the restriction of free trial was implemented anyways? Not like a dragon could ascend within 14 days anyway but.. whatevers)
My primary struggle began when I started to craft beside the things that the trainers tell you to do. Many of my friends that days have been cursing and struggling with me, the sandstone at Parsinia. We had no idea you could use the shards into something else than just hoarding them, we had no idea you got exp by deconstructing. Does the game even guide you to it? I mean, untill someone told us days after we were done with sandstone that you could use it and exp faster this and that way, we headdesked so hard after we were told that I actualy almost quit because of the rage. But I gave the game another chance.

14 days passed and I suddently wasn't able to play anymore. I got so dissapointed, I spent days playing, struggling trough the first levels without armor or anything else than the quests gave you. I told my mom to check on what was happening since she knew english better than me. Told me "Sorry darling, but you have to pay for this game to play, and I can't do it".

I spent almost a year watching the forums, searching for images of the game, my friends telling me how they started the RoP, and I was left out. Sure, 9 box a month is nothing you say. But not everyone can aford this. Even now, I am 20, I wolk and I cannot pay it..
I had no other choice but to go to another games.

When after a year my mom finaly could pay ma a sub, everythign was different. I didnt recognize anyone around. My friends moved shard because of some drama stuff and I wasnt willing to loose my work because of it. But other after playing other MMO's I discovered that Istaria was in base a completly different game like the others. It was significately harder, less guided and way too long. For an adult or ancient, even biped fiwth run gear was easy to go from one place to another. But shrines are so spreaded and you have to run past those same monsters that almost killed you last time you had to run past them to be killed again afterwards, and again, was a real pain. After being finished with Lesser Aradoth I was introduced to Dalimond peninsula, and I started to struggle again. Not because of the craft this time, but because of the hard hitting mobs. When I tought that water elementals were a pain in the butt.. Wolves killed me at once, gruoks same. And dont even get me started about the stulks.

Im gonna pause on my story here, because the rest is just about struggling my way trough quests and death points, seeking help from others and trying to find my way back to where I was every time I died.

See, the problem here is early levels. As you say yeah its easy to grind to like 30 just by plain questing to Dalimond. If you do not know about the gear, armor/scales or upgrade them yourself, you're screwd in a way. Untill someone told me to do this and that I had no idea of how to get it. Sure you say, if I have read this and that quest I would have known I could craft them. But yes of course, Im not denying that. What I say is that you HAVE to be checking each x level if you are able to do this scale yet or not. Whether you have enough money to buy a new formula or not. It would be actualy a bit mor easier for the starting people to get known that "1-20 is tier T, you can make yoruself better armor if you acquiere/buy formulas from x" but it only leads you to go and grab this comp, and make this bars, get this formula I give you, scribe, create, and give it back. The rest you got to figure on your own. By doing this, you made a great mistake for newbies.

The beginning is supposed to be a Training, which means, like you learn it now, is going to be the rest of the game. If and Trainer NPC tells you to go grab this and that, and then here, I give you the formula already to scribe, you expect the game to keep giving you the formulas you need and have everything told. But its not. You find out you are lost, you have no idea where to get what form later on cuz it wont tell you. Create Gold Bars. Well great, where from, where do I go, can I even do it yet? I know, most of the game is just about running around and searching for stuff yourself. But after a while it gets really nerve werecking. I didnt even know you could get forms and techs dropped from mobs untill I accidently found out.

Like presented before, if there was an Encyclopedia style thing, would be awesome. That could tell you whether this form is dropped by undead of lets say 20-25 or if its bought by the T2 masters. I am aware there is Lexica to check everything. But does a newbie know about Lexica in game? No. I didnt even knew about it untill recently, and back in that time it didn't even exist.

Instead of having players get known there is a map pack to get which would help them greatly. Why isn't the map pack implemented in game by default? I get your responses on this one. "But not everyone likes to play with it" Sure, why not implement a button in options that toogles the map markings off? The ones given default by the game, not the ones you use.

An intresting idea that popped into my head when I saw this post above saying "showing ? markings on maps even when afar from the npc" .Instead of that why not make the game map slightly colorize an area where you "belong" in your level range. That way you have an idea of how far the quests could be hidden, mobs of your level are/you can defeat. Like, the whole map of dalimond is mostly greenish, why not make a slight red-ish layer from the sable shores to like the reach of Dalimond and Chiconis, Observatory and stuff. Because mostly you get guiden from there to Chiconis and you don't even check the rest of the area. (I did at least in the beggining) Since previously was sayd, most of the quests aren't even telling you to go from one side to another. Just stops and you have to figure out yourself.

In general, I don't see a problem of ADV leveling, mostly the Crafting is the one that stops the newbies from progressing and playing. You NEED crafting done to be able to RoP and quest and be able to make gear to last longer in battles. But early levels are a pain. I kid you not I spent days in Sanstone and Slate just to get to 30 or 35, which in one or two days I was able to get from 70-80. Strange right? Shouldn't it be the other way? That higher you get, slower you acquiere exp?

Well, there are all just my opinions to share. I have rambled on myself for too long. But I have many ideas that could actualy help out a bit for the newbies to "integrate" better if intrested. But I'll let other take the word now.

[Racktor]

Shazo, I can't really reply to your entire post, but I'll say a few things -
(Focusing on the dragon end of the spectrum since that was your experience)

We had no idea you could use the shards into something else than just hoarding them, we had no idea you got exp by deconstructing. Does the game even guide you to it?

Deconstructing? No, not really, I had to be told that from others. But the shards...? I thought Kerian was quite clear when she tells you "Take these sandstone spellshards and make Prime Bolt"?

(Besides, why the restriction of free trial was implemented anyways? Not like a dragon could ascend within 14 days anyway but.. whatevers)

It's level 15 forever, not for 14 days. Plus, a friend of mine ascended in 14 days, so it's definitely possible.

Not because of the craft this time, but because of the hard hitting mobs. When I tought that water elementals were a pain in the butt.. Wolves killed me at once, gruoks same. And dont even get me started about the stulks.

Wolves are very very deadly in any tier (they're physically deadly and are pack hunters), gruoks have Boar's Rage (and are social). Skulks are technologically much more advanced and civilized than a bunch of living rocks and so are definitely a clear danger.
You leave out things like gem/rock golems, beetles, spiders, flies, maggots, and treants, to name the ones that come to mind. If those original three were too hard, anyone could swap to a different mob to kill. I won't say they can easily ask for help because we're all very aware of how few low-levels we have around these days, but I'm sure a higher level would at least stand by a heal if help was needed.

Why isn't the map pack implemented in game by default?

You're supposed to find mobs and listen to trainers. Quests guide you a bit vaguely in places to have you find your own way and push you to interact with other players. "Where is X or where is Y?" The map pack is labeled with a big fat 'spoiler alert' in most people's minds for a reason. You don't jump into a detective game and find all the clues glowing on your map

The beginning is supposed to be a Training, which means, like you learn it now, is going to be the rest of the game. If and Trainer NPC tells you to go grab this and that, and then here, I give you the formula already to scribe, you expect the game to keep giving you the formulas you need and have everything told. But its not.

Yes, the beginning is training. When you first go to school in the 'states, you get books assigned to you. When you go to college, you have to buy your own books. The game is giving you examples and formulas to give you a test of how things work. However, later on, you have to work for it. This is sort of standard in most games. Heck, in Minecraft you can spawn with some wooden tools but you surely aren't going to get diamond ones handed to you.
I don't know what the NPCs say by heart, but I know at the end of NT you can make the replica or tempered chestscales - the lvl 10 or so ones. They do not give you the formulas for this, leading you to ask someone to make x or y or buy the formula yourself off of Kerian. This here is already a taste of the later game.

Though I do agree that they likely should say "You won't always be handed formulas; the more advanced ones you have to find scattered across the world in the possession of more powerful enemies, or perhaps available for purchase with coin."

Like presented before, if there was an Encyclopedia style thing, would be awesome.

Type /window encyclopediawindow
There's one in progress, but I'm not entirely sure what it will contain

most of the quests aren't even telling you to go from one side to another.

I have to disagree. On the Dalimond Peninsula, quests send you everywhere around that continent, especially the Plundered Tombs questline. Town Marshalls, if you outlevel them in one city, tell you which cities to go to next. "Your services would be best appreciated in blah and blah" Same for trophy hunters. Dragon ability quests also are all received from one city, but point to you which mobs are your level that you should/can kill. While there's no overall questline or branching guides that drag you through one city to the next, there's certainly markers that say "hey! go here!". Even as a newbie I didn't have much issue finding where to go next and I leveled mostly solo.

But early levels are a pain. I kid you not I spent days in Sanstone and Slate just to get to 30 or 35, which in one or two days I was able to get from 70-80. Strange right? Shouldn't it be the other way? That higher you get, slower you acquiere exp?

Higher level you are, the better disks you can use and better crafting scales/armor you can use. That's what's making the difference there. When you're a newbie gathering only 100 sandstone a run, of course it's going to go pretty horrid for you. I'm not saying it should be that way, for certain, but that's just likely the reason why.



And there I go replying to almost everything when I said only a few points...

I'm not trying to invalidate your experiences, Shazo. I agree with a lot of your points - more guidance and clarity is always better. The encyclopedia will be wonderful if it gives some nice pointers as to where to go and when. Crafting is a painful grind but there's not much to be done for that beyond making crafting quests, I guess. I'm just trying to give my own experiences/opinions to some of your points I don't necessarily agree with. Not much to be said when I agree with something

[hejtmane]

Thank you for the feedback and thoughts. As with many things, I both agree and disagree, but then I see things from a different perspective. You are correct that combat is slower than many other MMOs. That is not a failing necessarily, it is how the game was designed from the start. Given that we're 13 years into the game, now is probably not the time to begin speeding it up. Think of it more as a tactical game rather than a button mashing game. Also, you aren't going to be sitting there doing auto-attacks at any level higher than 5 or 10.

You are partially correct about combat speed and dull combat. At the lower levels it takes longer than it does in other MMOs and this makes it feel slow and dull. I recently went back to WoW and played three new characters (Worgen, Panda, and Dwarf) to level 20. The first 5 or 10 levels go very quickly and you do tend to kill monsters in 2 to 5 hits at most. Should Istaria have it like that? Hard to say, but I don't think its a simply yes or no answer. It might have side-effects, trickle-up in our case, who knows.

You are wrong that the "great archer kite nerf" lost the game that many players. Many other factors caused the loss of lots of players early on most notably some severe bugs and crippling lag. In reality, if we really sit down and look at it, regardless of what position Istaria would have been in come November of 2004 we would have lost tens of thousands of players because of the release of WoW.



This is one of the points where I'm afraid you are incorrect. There are gear vendors both in New Trismus and Kion from which you can buy both spells and armor/weapons. It might not be techniqued gear, but it is gear and it is usable. The coin rewards from quests have been set so that new players quickly gain sufficient coin to spend at these locations. Again, every quest does not give you gear like WoW or many other MMOs, but Istaria was not designed that way. Its a game driven by player crafting, not the reverse as the majority of other MMOs are.

Thank you all for taking the time to provide feedback on the game. I'm glad even 13 years later we have players (or non-players) who are still interested and passionate about the game and its future. Keep posting and playing!

[/COLOR]

I disagree about the combat is taticial and yes it needs to be speed up even 13 years later. I go back to the UO days for MMO's and stuff and if you want real tatcial fighting that is DAOC where strikes from behind,side caused more damage or reactive off blocks or dodge etc trust me I played taticial combat and Horizons is not taticial. Funny you say that about low levels only yet I did the same on my spear man who has high levels in several multi class (including over 68 in my spearman) I can auto attack kill my way through a lot of mobs at my level rating. You can try and spin it anyway you want but the combat in the game is a death nail for bipeds and I am sure most new players get fustrated real quick. It is an uphill battle but staying as is is not going to keep new players hell you can not even keep the returning players that use to love playing the game. Two different times I spent money to come back and try but the combat is just terrible. I have played a ton of MMO's right now I am playing zero and I wanted to come back and stay but both times the combat drives me away. I know it is not a popular opinion and it pisses of people but at the end of the day for non dragons the game is just boring and the combat has to be addressed for Bi Peds (I have no clue from Dragon side never played one never cared too).

Funny I just played about a month and a half ago and there was no spells at the vendors when I tried to purchase them none zero zilch when i searched luckily I had some in the bank from the old days and yes non tech ones and used those (These where the level 10 spells)

Note I said other than lag etc I remember the great archer nerf and I remember how many quit after it then you added in the lag and other performance issues it was a blood bath.

[Racktor]

Funny I just played about a month and a half ago and there was no spells at the vendors when I tried to purchase them none zero zilch when i searched luckily I had some in the bank from the old days and yes non tech ones and used those (These where the level 10 spells)

That's kind of impossible... the Imperial Spell Vendors sell infinite spells. It's the grey dragon in New Trismus, not the consigner:

[AmonGwareth]

Funny I just played about a month and a half ago and there was no spells at the vendors when I tried to purchase them none zero zilch when i searched luckily I had some in the bank from the old days and yes non tech ones and used those (These where the level 10 spells)

There are four vendors that sell spells. They do not run out. Resliak in New Trismus (the big dragon), Syrani in Kion, Ssardask in Sslanis and the Librarian of Magic in Dalimond. They sell a variety of Tier 1 and 2 spells. Not the formulas, but the actual spells that you can scribe and begin using. After tier 2, you should know how to make or acquire spells for yourself so there are no more vendors of that type.

The same goes for equipment. Basic equipment is for sale from numerous vendors across tier 1 and tier 2 that does not run out and is usable by players, purchased for coin.

Btw, after reviewing the first 5 levels of abilities for the base biped schools I completely agree that they are messed up and done wrong. Specialized abilities received WAY too early, not enough attack abilities early on. Craziness. I would imagine that if the order of ability receipt were altered the game might feel sped up simply by getting more clickable abilities sooner. Don't know if thats good, but it might change it up. Not saying we're going to do it, just musing.

Just to throw a thought out there.

Warrior
* Move power Strike to level 1.
* Leave Rend Armor at level 3, but make it do actual damage AND apply a -armor debuff.
* Move Negate Attack to level 7 (rename it to Heroic Shout, make it a Taunt as well as causing the next attack to do 65% less damage)
* Create a new ability called Charge that causes damage to the target and potentially disrupts their next attack
* Swap Coordinated Strike (current level 9) and Critical Strike (current level 10)

[Guaran]

Well, because of the lack of oportunity for me to pay the sub again to continue playing Istaria as from the past month on, I'm still active in the forums and check regulary on stuff thats happening. I have played this game since I was 11 (yeah I was a child who was so pasionate about dragons that had to play it.) .... Even now, I am 20, I wolk and I cannot pay it..

From the above, I take it to mean that your lower level experience was 9 years ago?

If so, I think that many of the issues you brought up have been addressed. There are a lot of quests for starting players that teach them about crafting. You might want to try starting a new hatchling, play through those levels again doing the quests, and then see how the experience has improved.

Just to throw a thought out there.

Warrior
* Move power Strike to level 1.
* Leave Rend Armor at level 3, but make it do actual damage AND apply a -armor debuff.
* Move Negate Attack to level 7 (rename it to Heroic Shout, make it a Taunt as well as causing the next attack to do 65% less damage)
* Create a new ability called Charge that causes damage to the target and potentially disrupts their next attack
* Swap Coordinated Strike (current level 9) and Critical Strike (current level 10)

These sound like good changes.

[flamefeniks]

1
(Besides, why the restriction of free trial was implemented anyways? Not like a dragon could ascend within 14 days anyway but.. whatevers)
2
An intresting idea that popped into my head when I saw this post above saying "showing ? markings on maps even when afar from the npc" .Instead of that why not make the game map slightly colorize an area where you "belong" in your level range.
3
In general, I don't see a problem of ADV leveling, mostly the Crafting is the one that stops the newbies from progressing and playing. You NEED crafting done to be able to RoP and quest and be able to make gear to last longer in battles. But early levels are a pain. I kid you not I spent days in Sanstone and Slate just to get to 30 or 35, which in one or two days I was able to get from 70-80. Strange right? Shouldn't it be the other way? That higher you get, slower you acquiere exp?

1 O.o Before they implemented the time limit on the RoP I made a trial account hatchie and got in one day to lvl 35 adv ( sure with some help but done it anyway!) and 35 craft ( no help here, kinda boring since I'm doing that crafting again xD) and done RoP. Ascended the next day because none of my friends were online the first day xD
(though this one took me quite some attempts at trying to get RoP done as fast as possible... Pretty sure I made around 5 or so trial accounts (sorry to whoever had to puzzle those together and transfer those characters to my main account sometime ago when archiving became available ) to "perfect" my speed, first one finished RoP 14 days, second 9 days, third 5, fourth longer than 3rd I remember... and then 5th 3 or 4 until the last one got pretty much 1 day )

2 I like this, having an option on the map which shows/hides the level zones would be nice, having the area around NT for example become see-through-fluorescent green with the level range x-y on it and so forth for the other zones.

3 It depends on your knowledge of what is most efficient to use to level in crafting as far as I experienced, for example I know that sandstone=> sandstone bricks=> sandstone shards => decon spells ( once you're able to make Arcane Refusal with halfway to maximum efficiency, make Arcane Refusal) is quite fast and easy. Though I do admit it can be pretty slow... My biped was stuck on lvl 36 Spiritist for almost 3 years! xD Until I managed to not die when killing stuff and find a way to delete some schools due to giving me a too high rating and little exp because of it...

I'm pretty sure you'll notice it gets slower though, to level in craft, 80+ is taking me quite some time now as I can see there's a very big difference in the exp I gained from things before lvl 80 and after. And well, the exp needed xD
While it might be slow sometimes, it sure gives a feeling of satisfaction after all the hard work to get to lvl 100! x)

[Shazo]

Well seems like some people misunderstood what I was pointing out earlier. Yes, I was talking about my past experiences from around 9-7 years ago. Since then, many things have been changed and made easier, and I am aware of that. I have lost my account from then and the past 2 years I made 2 new dragons which one of them is ancient again (My main Shazo).

What I wanted to point out is that, basicaly MOST of the experience that troubled me, is still there. The crafting early is still tedious to the point to too mutch boredom and leaving. The guidance should be a bit more clear in the early states just because you don't want to make newbies go searching for something for too mutch period of time, loosing their intrest and going away.

The map highlight seem like have been resonated which I am actualy glad of. I am actualy working on an example as to what I meant by that. I am aware that the Devs dont want to make players see where to do exactly to get this and that. But untill you understand the game, and you learn places you get lost so many times that is in the point of annoyance. I say that because I know many friends, including my partner who tried to play this game so many times and so many times they tried and ended leaving, just because theres many empty holes in the beginning in way of guidance, clearing out your purpose of running from one place to another, crafting and combat. The onyl reason why I still was playing the game till last 2 months it's because of my friends and nostalgia.

Like Amon sayd, yes. Bipeds primary early problem is that you get many stances and buffs early, lacking of attacks and you get stuck attacking just by melee weapon since you have nothing left to do. Reaching Kion and about level 10-13 in one class, when you want to switch to another class you don't have quests to do since you ended them with your other class, leaving you with nothing else to do just trophy junting, and its way too slow, tedious and hard to do so to level up with basicaly no XP since the first Trophies don't give far enough XP to move on. (I have spent like 2 hours to get with my Saris warrior like 50 trophies or a bit more at level 12, barely got me to 13 and half.) So you can see the problem there.

With the Free trial it used to be different. Now you are perma limited in level but you can be there forever, well isn't that delightfull? You barely get out of NT and want to see what else the world has to offer not even scratching the surface and you cant get further. And the NT and Spirit isle experience is hardly the same that you get in the world outside. It used to be free to get to any level you wanted in 14 days. Yes, dragons with help or being level at the Wall got up easly, that leaves the fact that now you can ascend within 14 days if you have everything you need (or was it 10 days? I am not sure, but it was cut low the days needed). If it was like it used to be, you needed 30 days to do so. Even if you needed 15 days and you had 14 days of trial, you had NO chance of doing RoP and ascending since the game wouldnt let you. I still prefear the old Free Trial, where you could level up and stuff to the point you wanted till 14 days, you were not gonna ocmplete the game in 14 days anyway, a biped not gonna outrun level 40 or 50 by himself, dragons around the same limit, that if you play all day. And don't count the wall that doesn't work anymore anyway. Higher the limitation of RoP starting back to 1 day after finishing 14 days of free trial so they cannot do RoP till then. I have no idea why you see like a good thing that a Infinite level limitation is a good option to do but okay. If you thing that someone will stay playing the game for a month or two stuck at leveling just running around socializing and not being able to do anything, then you are wrong. In that case, why not make 2 types of Free trials? Make the Free Access which would be the actual Free Trial, with the limitation but infinite access. And a Free Trial which would be like it used to, 14 days of free leveling but not being able to ascend anyway. That way they can taste the leveling and questing furthermore. I am sure the players would go straight for the Trial not Access and you would see the difference. Anyway, I am not gonna discus more about it, not trying to be agresive or anything just pointing out my point of view on this.

[Guaran]

I believe that after reaching level 15 (level limit now instead of time limit), Vitrium figures that the person playing the trial knows whether or not they want to continue. In that case they would purchase a subscription, which is what keeps the game going, and the player can continue progressing. Having a level limit instead of a time limit is better for players who have limited time per day to play. If it takes them a month to get to level 15, then their trial period basically lasted 1 month. The level limit allows everyone to get basically the same amount of play in before being prompted to buy a subscription.

Some better guidance for early level crafting couldn't hurt. They could add some more quests for dragon crafter and for the basic craft classes like blacksmith to maybe explain any knowledge gaps you think are there. Those same quests can also grant some crafting exp to help get those first couple levels a bit quicker.

[Knossos]

I believe that the current level cap for the free play account is 15 for dragons and 10 for biped. Level 10 does not seem to me likely to permit a meaningful "taste of the game", particularly noting the interest in improving the level 1-10 situation as discussed in this thread.

Knossos

[flamefeniks]

Some better guidance for early level crafting couldn't hurt. They could add some more quests for dragon crafter and for the basic craft classes like blacksmith to maybe explain any knowledge gaps you think are there. Those same quests can also grant some crafting exp to help get those first couple levels a bit quicker.

I made a new Saris on my account and honestly, I got annoyed with the tutorial pop ups which I gained from the Blacksmith quests on the beginner's isle (think its Spirit Isle?). O.o
The tutorial for Blacksmith seems pretty good imo, although the other 2 base crafting schools got way less tutorial pop ups (and not that much explanations? Not so sure on that part).

[Shazo]

I believe that after reaching level 15 (level limit now instead of time limit), Vitrium figures that the person playing the trial knows whether or not they want to continue. In that case they would purchase a subscription, which is what keeps the game going, and the player can continue progressing. Having a level limit instead of a time limit is better for players who have limited time per day to play. If it takes them a month to get to level 15, then their trial period basically lasted 1 month. The level limit allows everyone to get basically the same amount of play in before being prompted to buy a subscription.

I believe that the current level cap for the free play account is 15 for dragons and 10 for biped. Level 10 does not seem to me likely to permit a meaningful "taste of the game", particularly noting the interest in improving the level 1-10 situation as discussed in this thread.

Knossos

There you have it. What I meant is that there should be given new players the ability to taste more of the game, 14 days is more than enough for people to see if they like it or not. You are only taking in consideration persons that are unable to play the game more than maybe an hour a day or a few hours a week. But what about the players that want to know more about it that play few hours a day? Easy, if the players that cannot play long enough a week to do something in meaning of the 14 days, when they come back and free trial is over, they can make a new account and try it again untill they decide. But the ones that are playing more time, they reach level 10/15 whatever the race they choose is, they gonna reach it one day, nothing else to do, goodbye. They can easly get to that just by doing the tutorials, and tutorials are nothign compared to the actual gameplay. Thus my protest against the limitations.

Some better guidance for early level crafting couldn't hurt. They could add some more quests for dragon crafter and for the basic craft classes like blacksmith to maybe explain any knowledge gaps you think are there. Those same quests can also grant some crafting exp to help get those first couple levels a bit quicker.

Well I am not saying that crafting guides are bad, what I say is that some details of it are left behind. The deconstruction system should be explained, aswell as more crafting quests wouldn't hurt to help the newbies to improve. Since there ARE not main line quests for ADV around the Lesser Aradoth isle, there is hardly some for crafting that actualy gives crafting experience. I remember that there was one about doing some malachite stuff but I guess that is basicaly it. One of the ideas maybe is to let the lowbie scales to be able to have cargo in them. Like it was sayd before the difference of leveling in low levels and highers is that a high you have a higher cargo and capacity, lowbies have to do slow gathered runs with mostly nothing on them so exp is a pain. Maybe there should be soemthing done about it? I dunno, like it was sayd earlier some assistance pet to carry more or stuff like that.

I made a new Saris on my account and honestly, I got annoyed with the tutorial pop ups which I gained from the Blacksmith quests on the beginner's isle (think its Spirit Isle?). O.o
The tutorial for Blacksmith seems pretty good imo, although the other 2 base crafting schools got way less tutorial pop ups (and not that much explanations? Not so sure on that part).

And yeah geez not even as dragon you get that mutch popups. Dragon guides at least tell you to go there and mybe do this and that but the ones at Spirit Isle are just.. plain Annoying, why the NPC doesn't tell you about it instead of popping a window every 2 steps you do?