Feedback and suggestions from a new player

[Belua]

I submitted this as feedback and thought I would post here to see waht the community thinks.

Hello, thanks for the free trial.

Your game has alot of great ideas and I love the dragon character class but there is one major thing it is lacking.

Challenge.

I understand that MMO games are designed so as not to alienate even the most feebleminded of players but there needs to be chalenge to the game play from hour 1 to be fun.

Here is an example of a challenge.

I recieve a quest to kill X boss mob.

I must get through an area infested with mobs to reach him.

I have roughly 5-10 skills available.

skill 1 meellee damage

skill 2 ranged damage

skill 3 lure enemy 1-3 at a time to a spot I designate.

skill 4 set a trap that detinates or attacks an enemy if they get near a spot i designate.

skill 5 ability to hide but only in certain areas, high grass, shadows etc.

skill 6 ability to use some environmental objects to destroy enemies or aid in destruction of enemies such as the classic explosive barrels strategically placed so those with keen eye sight anbd patience can find and utilize them.

skill 7 limited area effect stun maybe a 5 min recycle.

skill 8 drain enemies of power to heal myself.

skill 9 a radar ability to see enemy positions in a limited range to plan atytacks

skill 10 escape ability such as sprint.

All these need to be available early on and these missions need to be available early on.

Delivery is not fun, if I wanted to deliver I would be a post man or delivery boy in real life.

farming x mobs or x resource for copper or to make more junk is not fun.

If I wanted to be a farmer I would be farming potatoes etc IRL...

I need to be challenged, there needs to be a real danger of losing and having to start over so I can use my skills to overcome obstacles in a more effective way, trial and error, creative thinking to solve problems is a must.

I never enjoyed a game that did not stomp me into the ground and smack me around at least once in a while.

I hope this helps, let me know if you decide to make some quests using a skill based system that is challenging, requires strategy etc.

[gusi]

Unfortunately, you're gonna have to make alot of your own challenges (or goals). Go hunt some mobs 5-10 lvls higher then you, for example.

Regarding quests - The new quest editor will be coming out "soon". Meaning that you'll be able to make your own quests, and submit them to TG. If they are good enough/up to their standards/fit in lore-wise/etc., they may well get implemented.

[Dragonboy]

When I first started my dragon character I was having loads of fun simply running around, visiting places like racial towns and all that stuff...

I remember being deeply impressed when I first entered Chiconis after my travels to the starter towns and some of the "lower" biped racial towns... [:D]

I do believe Gusi is correct in mentioning that most of the challenges are made by yourself...
This game has quests which can be completed, but you can always group with others and attack mobs which are more challenging.

Eventhough I agree that it would beeasier (not better)to have ALL abilities from start, but that is not logical simply because you have just hatched and are new to the world...[H]
So unless you are geneticly manipulated to know all after hatching, you will have to learn the stuff through time and experience... [;)]

I personally would rather see the ability to use all scale slots from start instead of 1 every 10 levels you advance, but I think that with the additional bonusses given with all slots opened the game would become easier a lot earlier...

At this moment the only thing that I am missing is the ability to do never ending quests which permanently give passive bonus to damage...
Especially now that I reached lvl 100 adv and lvl 100 craft there are very few ways to increase skill or damage output...

And believe me when I say that this game is as challenging and fun as you make it yourself... [:)]

Btw. If you want a real challenge go tease Kaa in the WD spiral, Lem in the ED or maybe even the Son of Gigaroth (if you get lucky to find him before others do... [:P])

[Belua]

I am not sure you guys understand what I mean by challenge.

A challenge is overcoming an obstacle through intelligent and creative use of the abilities you are given.

Most of the skills at the low level are actually the same skill (damage) with different names.

There is no intelligent way to use them other than to use one at the beggining of each fight so you always have one available for a fight at the low levels.

The challenge I am talking about can't be created by myself it requires a change in the skill system and quest system and mob AI.

Attacking and killing something higher level than you is not a challenge if there is only one way to do it, that way being use all your damage skills then heal yourself or have a friend heal you.

There needs to bemany right ways and wrong ways to do it and that needs to be left up to the player to figure out.

Basically there is no mental challenge in the game as it is . It is just as mindless as eq, hit attack, tap some damage skills, grab a soda, repeat.

The game itself is not bad it is just not different from the older MMOG's in the fact that it provides no mental challenge.

I think the challenges everyone tends to think of and refer to are challenges of patience.

In the market channel people were saying a challenge is to max all stats or get the best sword.

These are things that just require time and patience, lots of farming, rather than creative intelligence.

[Belua]

I was thinking about it and you really would not have to change anything.

Just add some things.

I suggest if the devs are interested in challenging thier players, all they have to do is create a new zone for the challenge take away thier abilities while they are in that zone and give them abilities they can use strategically to complete a quest in that zone. Of course they would have to make all your attributes a ceretain level while in the zone so no one can rush through it but I think it would be worth it to try something truly unique in an MMORPG for once.

For instance.

I see a mob in the distance so I set a trap up.

throw a rock to get his attention and lure him onto the trap, then after the trap is sprung I finish him off.

I notice a big rock right above the heads of three mobs on the edge of a small cliff so I sneak up there and push it on them

I could go on for days but I think you guys get the idea.

who knows maybe people will like it and if word gets around youll get some subscriptions.

[Aamer Khan]

Those are very intresting ideas, and yes some things need to be added to accomplish them.

One major hurtle, is that Horizons does not have a server side world model. Pushing rocks down ore even hiding behind then is impossible without a world model. Even placeing traps requires that the server know where each creature is at all times, so that when it stumbles into your set trap it can be caught.

What would have to happen to make this game what you envision, is a complete re-write of the simulation engine and client. With the small staff that TG has now, that does not seem possible.
And since this game was designed to be zone free, ( not sector free ) to implement even limited zones will be very tough.

Now, discounting the environment for a moment, there are a few things that can be tried...

More sophisticated quests that require strategy and only certain skills would help. Above ground dungeons that have to be cleared to reach a boss mobs. More intelligence with the AI in the form of mobs running away to get help when damaged beyond a certain HP. Wandering mob groups that must be stopped before reaching a town, else the portals and NPC's get killed. You get the picture... :)