ArchMageSalamar said:Seeing the fizzles and all the caster skills on Montys list. Brought me right back to EQ being outside Crushbone trying to skillup channeling. I really missed that level of depth in character development.
Amen Brutha... Seeing the Fizzles and hearing Monty gripe about it was great, it brought back the anxiety of hoping your spell would cast and land onthe mob. It did knid of remind me of Crushbone a small bit, but I hope as the development expands that we see that area become better refined. That was great fun!!
I liked wathcing combat that you could tell was bolstered by the group dynamic. Had any of the fights been solo it would have been a hard fought win, but I'm guessing most of those mobs, even 1 v 1, would have come out victorious against most members of the group. That being said, I personally hope the mobs get a health boost so the fights last a little longer. At that point the group only becomes more important.
I enjoyed seeing the persepctive of a caster including the memmed spell gems, UI, and spellbook that went along with a caster class. Hopefully, next time we'll have the chance to see what melee looks like from the eyes of the streamer.
I know not everyone will agree with me here, but I also liked seeing little non-game changing luxury elemants like the floating healthbars, the floating debuffs/dots, and the offensive/defensive target circles. I remember back in 1999 EQ you could have a group of 3 of 4 of the same types of a mob in front of you, and have no idea which one you had targeted. I think if there is an option to turn all that stuff off it will please a lot of the old school group here as well.
All in all it was exciting, I've wathed it twice already and I can't wait for the next release!
I really enjoyed the first hour and 41 minutes and 6 seconds of the stream...
Seriously though, I have watched it 5 times now and will probably be doing it again twice a week. I know for sure I will be upgrading my pledge even more, there is NO WAY I want to risk this game not coming to reality.
My favorite part was feeling the excitement you all shared as you tested the game. You can tell the world is going to be an amazing place to explore and cannot wait to see what the dungeons will look like. The fact that there are small fixes all over the place, yet it still played as smooth as it did, really gets me enthusiastic about the future game. I have built some Neverwinter Modules on my own and I can tell you the need for game testing is critical. The amount of bugs that are unseen are overwhelming when a new set of eyes comes into play.
I cannot wait for future updates... Thanks to you and the team Kilsin for releasing a Twitch stream so soon. That was a real treat and I think that is going to gain VR a lot more support from all around.
I liked the social animations- (someone mentioned that mont appeared to be like watching netflix on the side and I got that same impression) Seeing Kilsin and others dancing, or waving hello.
I liked how the camps were not that obvious, like you did not know that were that many orcs in the battlements on the first over pull.
I liked how the Undead trained you guys in town, when you thought it was over and wiped. if that is the "haunting" idea, please keep it.
I liked the layers, and the lay of the land, alot of vertical layering.
I liked the environmental barriers, where you had to go through or conquer to advance in that area.
I liked the muted look of the weaponry- nothing really flashy, but I liked the current spell animations- spells can be somewhat flashy, I think.
I lked hearing your interaction as you were playing- " uh, guys lets take advantage of this situatoin while we can and move up..."
Liked: Overall art design, group agro list with taget hp, stats/skills, character view in inventory, spell/ability flavor text
Didn't like: Coins automatically rolling into higher demoninations (not oldschool rpg like), particle effect weapons at level 7, little to no downtime (I prefer gameplay that requires effecient uses of mana resources rather than casters that melee).
I expect my "didn't like" concerns to change by launch, excpet I'm not surprised if the coin thing is already decided on. I think you could fix this by making money more valuble, Rather than each mob dropping 10-15 coins, each mob drops 1-2 coins .. if you are doing a 1-100 ratio, and you make money very valuble, you don't need auto-convert. Let us bank!
Kilsin said:So, now that you have seen almost 2 hours of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Pre-Pre-Alpha group gameplay, what was your favourite part?
In case you missed it, you can find it on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INd9SfIbWN4
Night time village at the end of the stream. I'm a sucker for realistic lighting and shadows.
I just liked the stream as a whole and was very pleased to how stabil and very much alive the game was at such an early state. But the most appelling to me was the lighting effects through the building how good that really looked. I cannot wait to see it in its full effect.
For me it is very hard to pick just one. For a pre-pre-alpha it was great to see such smooth action. No one got stuck or feet ghosting in the terrain. The pathing looked very straight forward. When #Braid was pulling them to the temporary camp they weren't running around looking for a certain path to get to the group. I LOVED the use of the relic. That made my day. It was nice to see the mix of old school concepts with new school. If I had to pick what I liked the most it would have to be allowing everyone to see the process so early in development. THANK YOU!!!!
killabits said:If I had to pick what I liked the most it would have to be allowing everyone to see the process so early in development. THANK YOU!!!!
That is most proberly the real answer to the question. Yes to actually see what they have done in the time spent so far is for sure everyones favourite part.
I watched the recording and not the stream, after friend linked me an article on VR, but two things stood out to me that I really enjoyed. ..the first somewhat broad, the second specific.
1. It stood out to me how comfortable the team members seemed with each other, enjoyed getting in themselves, and seemed, not surprised, but excited by certain elements.
2. The end with the train ....I nearly fell out of my seat laughing. :-P
I realize the first may seem corny, but it is an important aspect to me. It speaks to the teamwork, passion, and vision that are being poured into the game. It honestly to me was one of the most exciting aspects of watching and listening to the video.
Abiyram said:1. It stood out to me how comfortable the team members seemed with each other, enjoyed getting in themselves, and seemed, not surprised, but excited by certain elements.
No actually its not corny at all imho. This is actually something important. They sure did feel comfortable with each other and less surprised about things acted and so they should react that way, they made the game so they should know how its gonna feel and how things react. I have seen other developement teams that gave the impression they didnt really pay attention to what they created and when surprised because they didnt see that happen or never paid real attention gave me the feeling they themselfs werent really devoted to their product.
But these guys damn well sure are and i really hope they get to enjoy their vision and it all works out how they imagine it.
Everyone has hit most of my favorite points. I to kept trying to use my mouse to move the screen and look at things. It was hilarious. I guess what I enjoyed the most was the banter over the voice chat. Hearing the back and forth of the conversation made me want to play again so bad. I have been out of mmo's for over a year and I miss that comraderie so much. The other thing I kept trying to do was "heal" the characters. I have played clerics in every mmo so I kept trying to cast that heal lol! Thank you so much for the stream, it gave hope in a dark time in mmo's.
I thought the fire spells (particle effects) were pretty great. I also enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on with the hate generation on the combat log.
Gorgeous world, will be a boon to my explorer heart. :) LOVED the snow...also felt like I was in the world already....was shouting at the screen Look out!!...snare..root..nuke!!!! Hehe. (Wizzie here :P) Loved watching the Devs have fun. That's the best part. If the Devs can enjoy their own game...I will be sure to also enjoy that game. What a turnaround for you guys. Am so happy for you. :)
Derelict said:Chaam said:Mine was the fact that multiple mobs were pulled at once, insuring there will be a place for a good puller...
~Chaam
Just seeing this type of group dynamic again had me excited.
It occurred to me that there are people watching the stream who may be seeing this sort of group dynamic for the first time and who have probably never actually experienced it. I wonder what they think.
I think the most gorgeous moment the game had looked was when they turned it to night time in the town, and it's only going to get darker. The way the darkness hung over the village while the lanterns illuminated their areas respectively was really great to see in such an early phase of the game. Even if you do not need a beefy PC to play this game I still think you guys are taking the art direction in the right direction.
The best moment for gameplay I think would have to be, and I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet, the mana climates. I know the group gameplay will be great, the classes will be some of the best we've seen in a while, and the mobs will give a challenge while also allowing us to communicate and socialize, so I was really excited to see some of the NEW features being introduced into gameplay and I think the mana climate will add an interesting mix to classes and their abilities. I feel like their are SO many possibilities with this system.
I also like how there were ten spell slots. But as you level and progress your character, and as they 'grow into their character', I think they would learn how to memorize more spells. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. Something like at level 30 you gain one slot and level 50 another you could still feel like your character is growing without having TOO many abilities and/or needed hotbars. But if spell slots are going to be limited, I think gaining a new spell slot is growth EVERY player will not only feel but will also desire.
All-in-all a great stream and video. Keep up the hard work!
Derelict said:Chaam said:Mine was the fact that multiple mobs were pulled at once, insuring there will be a place for a good puller...
~Chaam
Just seeing this type of group dynamic again had me excited.
Yup and it's done with social aggro instead of that awful system of linked encounters that EQ2 used. So good to see a return to that.
For me it was seeing all the old EQ-esque flavor text in the chatlog. The con messages, the spell feedback (and fizzling). Even going back to something like Project 1999, I find that having that old-school MUD text helps get my head into the world not unlike getting caught up in a good book. It helps breathe life into the polygons, and immerses me in that fear when my much-needed invis begins to fade and I see the message: "You feel yourself starting to appear..."
It sounds like a cop-out answer, but I'm being serious when I say the entire thing, and on multiple levels.
I've gone back and watched it twice so far (missed the live stream itself, sadly), and something different has jumped out at me each time.
What struck me on the first time through - and what pushed me off the fence and got me to pledge - was seeing everyone finding a camping spot, having to rest to regen MP, pulling mobs, having to deal with adds... all those things you just hardly ever see in newer MMOs outside of a (instanced) dungeon, if you see it at all. It struck me that I was witnessing an honest-to-goodness old-school flavored MMO experience, in 2016. That just set the tone for everything to come after.
The world is dangerous and situational awareness is something you must maintain at all times. You're not going to be tra-la-la-ing through some level-appropriate wilderness area, safe in the knowledge that you're in no real danger. You can and will get your butt kicked if you're not careful.
Mob trains! The mass of orcs when Aradune made his ill-fated left turn had me cracking up, and giddy with excitement at the same time. I know many hate them, but mob trains always made for some epic situations and great stories in my experiences in FFXI. The reality that they could happen also required pullers to be very very careful in choosing a target, knowing which mobs were aggressive, and at what range, which ones were social, etc.
That you can, and will, encounter situations that are going to require you to take a step back, evaluate, or even re-evaluate to figure out a way to get through, or if you're going to have to find another way around. However much you might want to go a certain way, it may well be shut to you, 'til you are better prepared to get through it.
Beautiful environments. The long-distance view at around an hour and 5 minutes in is breathtaking. Truly gorgeous.
My second time watching it reminded me of those things, but what I realized, and what really blew me away and magnified my excitement was that you all were basically demonstrating exactly the way any given xp/adventure group might have gone in the classic MMOs. Beyond demonstrating the game so far, what you were also doing is also a great way to show people exactly what adventuring was like in those old-school MMOs - something that's not easily described, and *so* often misunderstood by people who never experienced it themselves.
If someone ever asks what it was really like to play in old-school MMOs, before everything got locked away behind instanced dungeons, markers galore, telegraphed everything, and single-player quest-lines, I can just point them to that live-stream, and say "watch them. Watch what they do, how they strategize, communicate, deal with aggro, all out in the wilderness. Realize they're not inside some instanced dungeon where everything's scripted and happens the same-exact-way, every-single-time. That's what playing an old-school MMO could look like in a typical session". It shows that grouping up with others could be very dynamic, unpredictable, and ultimately a lot of fun, with a lot of great chat and discussion taking place... even if only through in-game party chat.
So, kudos on approaching that livestream the way you did, by playing through it in a way that a typical party would in the finished version. I dont' know if that was the intent, but it was genius, and I really hope to see more, perhaps doing some dungeon delving, or seeking out rare/named enemies.
My favorite part was the fact Monty had to keep looking behind himself, and I noticed the others doing the same.
Brad even mentioned it, the "situational awareness" will be keen.
I liked that aspect.
Knowing a forest, could mean things again. A good watcher and learner, would be able to learn pathing & able to take parties threw an entire forest without mishap. Such nuances allow for player skill, not a character one... and makes for better play. (ie: In pantheon, be prepared to LOOK UP.. when roaming = SA)