Post by stupidity on Sept 26, 2012 16:49:09 GMT -5
Hello there,
It's your good pal Stu here, with a first impressions post. Thanks a bunch for letting me see this game. I am really excited about it.
Background: I started playing two days ago. I've done *most* of the existing official stuff to do, so far as I can tell (unlocked all tanks, fought existing enemies, built existing buildings, built and upgraded towns, etc.). I didn't actually get to fight the Armada, though. Don't know if there are other enemies I might be missing because they haven't shown up to fight yet. I did try to run to the end of the universe with Frogboffin a bit, but he's more dedicated
.
So here's the good, bad, and indifferent.
I LIKED IT:
-RTS co-op MMO. The first thing I liked about this game was the concept. Essentially this game is a large scale RTS 4X game where each player has *both* full control of strategy decisions (for his own tank as well as the global bonuses) and also limited control (no power over the other players or their decisions). This makes micro strategy much easier for the individual unit, but also requires additional co-operation to achieve well amongst many units.
-Global bonuses. Global bonuses for overall production allow the general strength of new players to jump into the game without being utterly underpowered. They also automatically push all players into a cooperative frame of mind because there is no way to boost my personal vehicle without also gaining shards in the process, and there is no way for me to spend shards without benefiting the group.
-Personalization. The choice of tank as well as the personal buffs from prisms are a nice way for me to build up my personal character within the context of the universal whole. I would like to specialize a little more (maybe a lot where instead of getting to have 2 of every single kind of prism I can have one fairly significant boost to a category of my choice (looted or otherwise).
-Syncronization of tanks. I have put this under "I liked it" because I can imagine based on the functionality of the different tanks how they might syncronize together. This is one aspect that I find very exciting about this game. If players are willing to co-operate and there is sufficient incentive for them to immediately fold new players into the game, this game could be a great social vehicle (get it? social vehicle?! AND YOU DRIVE A VEHICLE! nevermind...). However, there are two problems. First of all, the content is not varied enough for the synergies to actually shine---anything you can do with any combination of vehicles currently you can do better with one vehicle type. And secondly, the starter tank is too generic to be useful to any end gamers. That means you will have play for long enough to unlock a useful class in order to be folded into the community. That's disappointing, because I think the game has a lot of opportunity to get *the players* encouraging each other to immediately dive into the game and the co-op, but not in the current format.
-Wilderness buff. I like the concept of enemy controlled territory granting a buff to enemies, sort of like the global bonuses grant the player buff.
-Accessibility. One click playing means the get-in-there-and-go factor is a yes. I can kill stuff NOW. Like RIGHT AWAY. As soon as the game loads, I am playing, regardless of what I know about the game.
I DIDN'T LIKE IT:
-The game is too linear. My biggest irritant with the entire game is that I start at origin and go out. No variable gameplay is allowed/encouraged. Even if I plant a level 5 town in the wilderness, it is still in the wilderness. That's very counterintuitive (why would a bustling metropolis be in the wilderness? I can't colonize?). Also, it's not fun in my opinion. Expansion can only be done one way, ever. booh.
-mouse1 only on an MMO with long replayability?! If this is a game that is meant to be played and replayed, having only one button to work with is going to wear me out. Ultimately, I feel like there is a ton of stuff going on but I am barely *doing* anything. I click. Or I double click. And that's it. Although there could be depth of strategy (tank choice, teamwork, which global buffs to choose), there is no depth of gameplay *in my hands* (literally).
-too little information fed to me. I'm not sure if this is a tutorial problem or gameplay, but I feel like the game didn't teach me anything about itself. This might be just as simple as expanding the tutorial to let me pick up a prism and 5 lenses or whatever. Then on my very first entry to a server if it explained the buildings/sockets I would grasp everything and get a concept for what's going on. Another possibility could be to have a tutorial "mode" instead of just a tutorial wherein as I drive over a socket, it connects the socket I drive onto to the corresponding number on my HUD and displays the tooltip for that value. If I see wilderness, it could tell me what's going on in a tooltip popup in the bottom corner or something. First time in the server could be tutorial mode or toggled at any time. *shrug* I just felt really overwhelmed by the number of things I didn't understand on my screen when I first entered, which is really weird considering how simple the gameplay is.
-for that matter, I feel like the screen is cluttered *in general*. This is probably not a huge deal for a player who has already learned how to do everything (although I would like to hide/display things and see what *I* want instead of *everything I could possibly what*)--but what really concerns me is that it creates the impression that there is a learning curve for new players. My impression is that this game is supposed to be instantly accessible. I put that under my "I liked it" heading because I did feel like the game was *actually* really accessible when I understood how to play it, but when I first appeared in the server I had the opposite impression just by looking at the screen.
-This is a minor thing, but I don't like the space overlay at all. It looks like my monitor is dirty and it doesn't do anything but take away from my experience.
I THOUGHT ABOUT IT:
-There are factors which severely limit the current playing environment. Notably: low amount of players and low variability of enemies. It's pretty hard (although kind of exciting) to imagine what the game would be like with lots of players so anything that seems balanced or imbalanced now for a small group will not be so for the swarms.
-Dumping shards into sockets that have already been upgraded past the point of diminishing returns is not desirable. Unfortunately, any new player will have to do this in order to start unlocking tanks.
-Joining a game with some well established global bonuses will be FAAAAAR better than joining a fresh server. I don't get rewarded for doing the hard work of getting the ball rolling. In fact, I get rewarded for jumping in after other people have established some bonuses to make me strong. If I am allowed to choose, I will always opt for the latter.
BUGS ETC:
-My accomplishments did not persist on my first two sessions. I'm not sure why, as I am using the same browser and machine now as then (xp with chrome).
-I have crashed flash multiple times. 3 times while in enemy battles, once while sitting between enemy structures without engaging the enemy, and once while sitting in town (doing nothing at all). The browser stayed open but flash displayed a broken puzzle piece and the message "The Adobe Flash plugin has crashed"
-I also once lost all game information when teleporting to a nearby town. I was able to roam about on the map but there were no structures, sockets, or enemies. I typed a message into chat which displayed on my own screen but I do not know if it was transmitted to others.
-I can only get 11-13 fps on my machine. I actually get the same kind of framerate with realm, but I don't notice it like I do with this game.
-Ally movement is sketchy. I have seen other players jumping around in ways that I know is not possible movement and I don't know why.
-Creep spread on cities stops at level 4. I don't know if this means enemies will spawn in your level 5 and 6 cities.
-On a new map, I let the game sit for a while and a bunch of tanks spawned on the nearby buildings. I went out to fight them, then decided to change vehicles because there were so many lovely targets. This resulted in all of the buildings resetting to 1 tank (starting placement). This leads me to believe that the map is only populating areas where the players are nearby. That's fine, but it means I only encounter beginning state, ever, unless I manipulate the system
THINGS I WANT:
-other players on my map in the fog of war
-explored areas noted in the fog of war
-toggling/time limit for chat box instead of always overlayed.
-show/hide global buffs/research/crystals
-further specialization options (see above)
-drop unwanted lenses
-graphic options
-I really would like to see varying damage and amour types (i.e. light/medium/heavy/structure armor and corresponding damage types).
It's your good pal Stu here, with a first impressions post. Thanks a bunch for letting me see this game. I am really excited about it.
Background: I started playing two days ago. I've done *most* of the existing official stuff to do, so far as I can tell (unlocked all tanks, fought existing enemies, built existing buildings, built and upgraded towns, etc.). I didn't actually get to fight the Armada, though. Don't know if there are other enemies I might be missing because they haven't shown up to fight yet. I did try to run to the end of the universe with Frogboffin a bit, but he's more dedicated
.So here's the good, bad, and indifferent.
I LIKED IT:
-RTS co-op MMO. The first thing I liked about this game was the concept. Essentially this game is a large scale RTS 4X game where each player has *both* full control of strategy decisions (for his own tank as well as the global bonuses) and also limited control (no power over the other players or their decisions). This makes micro strategy much easier for the individual unit, but also requires additional co-operation to achieve well amongst many units.
-Global bonuses. Global bonuses for overall production allow the general strength of new players to jump into the game without being utterly underpowered. They also automatically push all players into a cooperative frame of mind because there is no way to boost my personal vehicle without also gaining shards in the process, and there is no way for me to spend shards without benefiting the group.
-Personalization. The choice of tank as well as the personal buffs from prisms are a nice way for me to build up my personal character within the context of the universal whole. I would like to specialize a little more (maybe a lot where instead of getting to have 2 of every single kind of prism I can have one fairly significant boost to a category of my choice (looted or otherwise).
-Syncronization of tanks. I have put this under "I liked it" because I can imagine based on the functionality of the different tanks how they might syncronize together. This is one aspect that I find very exciting about this game. If players are willing to co-operate and there is sufficient incentive for them to immediately fold new players into the game, this game could be a great social vehicle (get it? social vehicle?! AND YOU DRIVE A VEHICLE! nevermind...). However, there are two problems. First of all, the content is not varied enough for the synergies to actually shine---anything you can do with any combination of vehicles currently you can do better with one vehicle type. And secondly, the starter tank is too generic to be useful to any end gamers. That means you will have play for long enough to unlock a useful class in order to be folded into the community. That's disappointing, because I think the game has a lot of opportunity to get *the players* encouraging each other to immediately dive into the game and the co-op, but not in the current format.
-Wilderness buff. I like the concept of enemy controlled territory granting a buff to enemies, sort of like the global bonuses grant the player buff.
-Accessibility. One click playing means the get-in-there-and-go factor is a yes. I can kill stuff NOW. Like RIGHT AWAY. As soon as the game loads, I am playing, regardless of what I know about the game.
I DIDN'T LIKE IT:
-The game is too linear. My biggest irritant with the entire game is that I start at origin and go out. No variable gameplay is allowed/encouraged. Even if I plant a level 5 town in the wilderness, it is still in the wilderness. That's very counterintuitive (why would a bustling metropolis be in the wilderness? I can't colonize?). Also, it's not fun in my opinion. Expansion can only be done one way, ever. booh.
-mouse1 only on an MMO with long replayability?! If this is a game that is meant to be played and replayed, having only one button to work with is going to wear me out. Ultimately, I feel like there is a ton of stuff going on but I am barely *doing* anything. I click. Or I double click. And that's it. Although there could be depth of strategy (tank choice, teamwork, which global buffs to choose), there is no depth of gameplay *in my hands* (literally).
-too little information fed to me. I'm not sure if this is a tutorial problem or gameplay, but I feel like the game didn't teach me anything about itself. This might be just as simple as expanding the tutorial to let me pick up a prism and 5 lenses or whatever. Then on my very first entry to a server if it explained the buildings/sockets I would grasp everything and get a concept for what's going on. Another possibility could be to have a tutorial "mode" instead of just a tutorial wherein as I drive over a socket, it connects the socket I drive onto to the corresponding number on my HUD and displays the tooltip for that value. If I see wilderness, it could tell me what's going on in a tooltip popup in the bottom corner or something. First time in the server could be tutorial mode or toggled at any time. *shrug* I just felt really overwhelmed by the number of things I didn't understand on my screen when I first entered, which is really weird considering how simple the gameplay is.
-for that matter, I feel like the screen is cluttered *in general*. This is probably not a huge deal for a player who has already learned how to do everything (although I would like to hide/display things and see what *I* want instead of *everything I could possibly what*)--but what really concerns me is that it creates the impression that there is a learning curve for new players. My impression is that this game is supposed to be instantly accessible. I put that under my "I liked it" heading because I did feel like the game was *actually* really accessible when I understood how to play it, but when I first appeared in the server I had the opposite impression just by looking at the screen.
-This is a minor thing, but I don't like the space overlay at all. It looks like my monitor is dirty and it doesn't do anything but take away from my experience.
I THOUGHT ABOUT IT:
-There are factors which severely limit the current playing environment. Notably: low amount of players and low variability of enemies. It's pretty hard (although kind of exciting) to imagine what the game would be like with lots of players so anything that seems balanced or imbalanced now for a small group will not be so for the swarms.
-Dumping shards into sockets that have already been upgraded past the point of diminishing returns is not desirable. Unfortunately, any new player will have to do this in order to start unlocking tanks.
-Joining a game with some well established global bonuses will be FAAAAAR better than joining a fresh server. I don't get rewarded for doing the hard work of getting the ball rolling. In fact, I get rewarded for jumping in after other people have established some bonuses to make me strong. If I am allowed to choose, I will always opt for the latter.
BUGS ETC:
-My accomplishments did not persist on my first two sessions. I'm not sure why, as I am using the same browser and machine now as then (xp with chrome).
-I have crashed flash multiple times. 3 times while in enemy battles, once while sitting between enemy structures without engaging the enemy, and once while sitting in town (doing nothing at all). The browser stayed open but flash displayed a broken puzzle piece and the message "The Adobe Flash plugin has crashed"
-I also once lost all game information when teleporting to a nearby town. I was able to roam about on the map but there were no structures, sockets, or enemies. I typed a message into chat which displayed on my own screen but I do not know if it was transmitted to others.
-I can only get 11-13 fps on my machine. I actually get the same kind of framerate with realm, but I don't notice it like I do with this game.
-Ally movement is sketchy. I have seen other players jumping around in ways that I know is not possible movement and I don't know why.
-Creep spread on cities stops at level 4. I don't know if this means enemies will spawn in your level 5 and 6 cities.
-On a new map, I let the game sit for a while and a bunch of tanks spawned on the nearby buildings. I went out to fight them, then decided to change vehicles because there were so many lovely targets. This resulted in all of the buildings resetting to 1 tank (starting placement). This leads me to believe that the map is only populating areas where the players are nearby. That's fine, but it means I only encounter beginning state, ever, unless I manipulate the system
THINGS I WANT:
-other players on my map in the fog of war
-explored areas noted in the fog of war
-toggling/time limit for chat box instead of always overlayed.
-show/hide global buffs/research/crystals
-further specialization options (see above)
-drop unwanted lenses
-graphic options
-I really would like to see varying damage and amour types (i.e. light/medium/heavy/structure armor and corresponding damage types).
