My final thoughts, and a question... | Forums

[Brude27]

To start, I'm very grateful that I was invited to this closed alpha test! I was thrilled when I got the invitation email, and I hope to continue getting invited in the future! Onto my feedback...

Positives:

• The game was gorgeous!
• The character customization was great!
• The combat felt great for an alpha test!
• Movement/pacing in this game felt fantastically real! It was something I greatly appreciated during this test!
• Each character type felt unique!
• The "freshness" of the game was... well, refreshing!

Negatives:

• PPM has to go
• Some skills failed to function properly (guard breaks/throws namely)
• Map traps - One hit kills take away from everything the combat system promotes in Dueling and Brawling game-types. I especially hated dueling on those maps! I'm totally fine with the burning rubble style of traps, but the spike walls and ledges leading to insta-deaths are what need to go!
• Stamina needs some tweaks to eliminate ability spamming
• Unblockable counters... they don't feel right in this combat system in my opinion
• Terrain levels really interfere with the combat (ie fighting someone who is on a ramp - from the ground and off to the side of the ramp... no attacks land from either person even though you're clearly swinging your sword/axe/etc through them)

It's hard to put all of my thoughts into a +/- list, and I know I'm missing a lot of what I want to include... but overall I think this game has a ton of potential for being great, but has just as much of a chance at flopping if certain things aren't addressed:

• PPM being a main concern (I know it's in the list, but it's so HUGE it needed another mention).
• Another being the learning curve when you first get started vs a veteran player... the two should never meet, or new players won't hang around very long.
• The gear treadmill should be cosmetic only, or the Veteran Player vs New Player becomes even worse. Let skill separate players, not gear.
• Maps need to be larger to prevent zerging. Fights with 4 or more people all felt incredibly clunky and made Dominion a lot less fun than it should have been.
• Dueling and Brawling were my favorite game types, and I hope to see more options open up for both in the future.
• Ladders need something... the ones you climb that is... not sure what, but something similar to what Dark Souls does with attacking up or down... a kick down from above and a leg pull from below would be pretty awesome!

I don't have any more time to add to this post, but maybe I'll come back and finish it later. In the end... I want this game to be great, and I hope it gets there. Thanks again for the invite, and I hope I can be a part of future tests!

Which leads me to my question... Do I have to resubmit my entry for future alpha/beta testing, or is my name always in the drawing now?

[On Instiinct]

To start, I'm very grateful that I was invited to this closed alpha test! I was thrilled when I got the invitation email, and I hope to continue getting invited in the future! Onto my feedback...

Positives:

• The game was gorgeous!
• The character customization was great!
• The combat felt great for an alpha test!
• Movement/pacing in this game felt fantastically real! It was something I greatly appreciated during this test!
• Each character type felt unique!
• The "freshness" of the game was... well, refreshing!

Negatives:

• PPM has to go
• Some skills failed to function properly (guard breaks/throws namely)
• Map traps - One hit kills take away from everything the combat system promotes, and I absolutely hated dueling on those maps! I'm totally fine with the burning rubble style of traps, though... The spike walls and ledges leading to insta-deaths are what need to go!
• Stamina needs some tweaks to eliminate ability spamming
• Unblockable skills/unblockable counters... they don't feel right in this combat system in my opinion
• Terrain levels really interfere with the combat (ie fighting someone who is on a ramp from the ground off to the side of the ramp... no attacks land from either person even though you're clearly swinging your sword/axe/etc through them)

It's hard to put all of my thoughts into a +/- list, and I know I'm missing a lot of what I want to include... but overall I think this game has a ton of potential for being great, but has just as much of a chance at flopping if certain things aren't addressed:

• PPM being a main concern (I know it's in the list, but it's so HUGE it needed another mention).
• Another being the learning curve when you first get started vs a veteran player... the two should never meet, or new players won't hang around very long.
• The gear treadmill should be cosmetic only, or the Veteran Player vs New Player becomes even worse. Let skill separate players, not gear.
• Maps need to be larger to prevent zerging. Fights larger than duels were all incredibly clunky and made Dominion a lot less fun than it should have been.
• Dueling and Brawling were my favorite game types, and I hope to see more options open up for both in the future.
• Ladders need something... the ones you climb that is... not sure what, but something similar to what Dark Souls does wouldn't hurt.

I don't have any more time to add to this post, but maybe I'll come back and finish it later. In the end... I want this game to be great, and I hope it gets there. Thanks again for the invite, and I hope I can be a part of future tests!

Which leads me to my question... Do I have to resubmit my entry for future alpha/beta testing, or is my name always in the drawing now?

Great Post! I just want to address once of your concerns. The unblockable skills/unblockable counters. These shouldn't change and here's why. The "Unblockable" attacks by the Raider and Kensei are actually blockable, at the very least a well timed dodge can avoid both. You simply parry the attack to block it. As for the unblockable counters: first you have to understand that the assassin class has a unique form of blocking called "Deflect". Yes, it give an incredible advantage to those who can react to an attack, but their guard can only stay up for a limited time, therefore slower attacks often catch the assassin off guard and hit for massive damage. While it was annoying, I never lost to the assassins because of their unblockable counters. I abused the fact that they can't stay in guard for a while and also went for guard breakers often. As for your question, I went ahead and registered anyway regardless if it is required or not.

[ServiusOrtus]

To start, I'm very grateful that I was invited to this closed alpha test! I was thrilled when I got the invitation email, and I hope to continue getting invited in the future! Onto my feedback...

Positives:

• The game was gorgeous!
• The character customization was great!
• The combat felt great for an alpha test!
• Movement/pacing in this game felt fantastically real! It was something I greatly appreciated during this test!
• Each character type felt unique!
• The "freshness" of the game was... well, refreshing!

Negatives:

• PPM has to go
• Some skills failed to function properly (guard breaks/throws namely)
• Map traps - One hit kills take away from everything the combat system promotes, and I absolutely hated dueling on those maps! I'm totally fine with the burning rubble style of traps, though... The spike walls and ledges leading to insta-deaths are what need to go!
• Stamina needs some tweaks to eliminate ability spamming
• Unblockable skills/unblockable counters... they don't feel right in this combat system in my opinion
• Terrain levels really interfere with the combat (ie fighting someone who is on a ramp from the ground off to the side of the ramp... no attacks land from either person even though you're clearly swinging your sword/axe/etc through them)

It's hard to put all of my thoughts into a +/- list, and I know I'm missing a lot of what I want to include... but overall I think this game has a ton of potential for being great, but has just as much of a chance at flopping if certain things aren't addressed:

• PPM being a main concern (I know it's in the list, but it's so HUGE it needed another mention).
• Another being the learning curve when you first get started vs a veteran player... the two should never meet, or new players won't hang around very long.
• The gear treadmill should be cosmetic only, or the Veteran Player vs New Player becomes even worse. Let skill separate players, not gear.
• Maps need to be larger to prevent zerging. Fights larger than duels were all incredibly clunky and made Dominion a lot less fun than it should have been.
• Dueling and Brawling were my favorite game types, and I hope to see more options open up for both in the future.
• Ladders need something... the ones you climb that is... not sure what, but something similar to what Dark Souls does wouldn't hurt.

I don't have any more time to add to this post, but maybe I'll come back and finish it later. In the end... I want this game to be great, and I hope it gets there. Thanks again for the invite, and I hope I can be a part of future tests!

Which leads me to my question... Do I have to resubmit my entry for future alpha/beta testing, or is my name always in the drawing now?

Generally agree with a lot of this, paritcularly the gear comments. Gear stats is going to poison the playerbase real hard.

As for the unblockables, Instinct is right on the money with those.

I do disagree with the environmental pitfalls, I think particularly in Dominion & Brawl they add an important extra level of play where you need to be aware of your surroundings and smart about your positioning & movement to either avoid them or bait enemies into them. Especially in 2v1 scenarios, the environment is huge in helping single players equalize through intelligent play.

and to answer the question, if you already registered for the beta I think you'll keep getting in, that was the case for me at least with the last alpha and this one. If you were just invited by a friend, I'd say actually register yourself to make sure.

[DoomedSaint]

This game needs dedicated servers also a quick slide on the ladders would be a great add about the only thing I can add is to let players check gear in between matches without having to back out of a search

[Nafei]

• PPM has to go

Can you explain what is PPM? Thanks! (is it Peer-to-Peer Matchmaking??)

[Shinigami_PL]

This game needs dedicated servers also a quick slide on the ladders would be a great add

There is a quick slide already (press and hold O/B), or are you talking about something else entirely?

[Brude27]

Thank you all for your input, and for reading my post! To address your points:

Great Post! I just want to address once of your concerns. The unblockable skills/unblockable counters. These shouldn't change and here's why. The "Unblockable" attacks by the Raider and Kensei are actually blockable, at the very least a well timed dodge can avoid both. You simply parry the attack to block it. As for the unblockable counters: first you have to understand that the assassin class has a unique form of blocking called "Deflect". Yes, it give an incredible advantage to those who can react to an attack, but their guard can only stay up for a limited time, therefore slower attacks often catch the assassin off guard and hit for massive damage. While it was annoying, I never lost to the assassins because of their unblockable counters. I abused the fact that they can't stay in guard for a while and also went for guard breakers often. As for your question, I went ahead and registered anyway regardless if it is required or not.

I didn't have issues dodging the unblockable Raider and Kensei abilities, and actually enjoyed that they forced you to do something other than block/parry. I should have been more specific about the abilities I was referring to.

I am aware of the Orochi's mechanic, and I actually find it to be a lot of fun to play. I just don't feel like unblockable counter skills are necessary... My concern lies in the long term... b/c once you get a veteran who has learned all of the tricks to abuse such functionality... it ceases being fun to play against.

I do disagree with the environmental pitfalls, I think particularly in Dominion & Brawl they add an important extra level of play where you need to be aware of your surroundings and smart about your positioning & movement to either avoid them or bait enemies into them. Especially in 2v1 scenarios, the environment is huge in helping single players equalize through intelligent play.

I was in a rush when I typed this up last night, and it really shows from how well I described what I considered issues, haha. I should have been more specific yet again, and stated that the environmental-one-shot-kills only really bothered me in Duels. I feel all of the dueling maps should remove the one-shot-ability traps, b/c I'm not in that game mode to see who can cheese me into a direction at an inopportune time... I'm there to see who is the better player.

Can you explain what is PPM? Thanks! (is it Peer-to-Peer Matchmaking??)

Yep! And it will ruin a game like this.

There is a quick slide already (press and hold O/B), or are you talking about something else entirely?

Oh I didn't realize it already had a quick slide! That actually wasn't what I was referring to, though. I meant the ability to attack up or down while on the ladder... or some form of a boot-off, or pull down ability... b/c as is, you just prevent one another from progressing up/down, or glitch the other person off of the ladder to their death (including teammates).

[Shinigami_PL]

I'm not sure it was intended to do so (may have been a glitch), but said slide turned out to be an attack on opponents below me, while on a ladder.