Remembering the Bad Ol' Days

Discussion in 'General Archive' started by Darwarren, Feb 18, 2016.

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What changed since you first started playing DSO?

  1. There was no lag or rubberbanding.

    41.7%
  2. You could always log in.

    43.8%
  3. You could always stay connected.

    41.7%
  4. All browsers worked for DSO.

    64.6%
  5. Drops seemed reasonable.

    56.3%
  6. PvP was always busy.

    45.8%
  7. There was only 1 Jullov in 1 Map.

    29.2%
  8. Events started on time.

    60.4%
  9. There were no daily hotfixes.

    60.4%
  10. You could always find a group; some guildies were always online

    50.0%
Multiple votes are allowed.
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  1. SXMBabyBoy

    SXMBabyBoy Forum Greenhorn

    that is so true, because of all the changes mades to cash instead of players. I've lost 100s of friends who wont be playin dso again :( missing/missed the good ole days
     
    finnagin97 likes this.
  2. Rhysingstar

    Rhysingstar Forum Ambassador

    I've been thinking about the good old days, and there are a few things that I do miss.

    I miss Mortis and Kahlys runs. Sure, we can "buy" are way now, but it's not the same.
    I miss farming blue ess in Crypt.
    I miss the mini knight runs in HOD.
    I miss having high crit. Sure it's still technically possible, but it's much harder than it used to be.
    I miss having specific skills awarded in pvp.
    Mostly I miss all the players who left in the last few months.
     
    Dragenstein likes this.
  3. Master0fpuppets

    Master0fpuppets Forum Baron

    Back in the old days there was no crying how someone should play there char, now everyone cry "use 2h weapon" "tank mobs" bla bla .. Back in the old days it was a lot more fun to play the game, now many players are just so annoying.
     
    Dragenstein likes this.
  4. jcdenton007

    jcdenton007 Forum Apprentice

    The more things change, the more they stay the same.

    Quest items still taking up obscene amounts of inventory space.
    (6 mandatory quest items, 2 'optional' quest items, 4 slots of consumables (essence, lockpick, health/mana potions)

    I wonder how many andermant sales they get by restricting the inventory so heavily. In 6+ years they haven't provided a mandatory feature of MMOs (quest item bag) so I guess the money must be worth it.

    Level 11 cloak requires farming in an area more than double the level (22-25).
    I mean why bother fixing that when you can just push players to spend andermant on a cloak they'll outlevel anyways?
    Why bother with good game design when we can just use the cash shop as a crutch/excuse?

    DSO had so much potential but you think 6+ years later they'd have realized how to monetize in a way that doesn't sharply drive up new user acquisition costs.

    EDIT: For those that wonder why I play, I play to analyze bad games and bad game design. I post here for the benefit of others who may be able to see potential issues and understand them ahead of time.
     
  5. _Baragain_

    _Baragain_ Living Forum Legend

    Again with the "6+ years" garbage... how about you find out how old this game really is. It helps lend you credibility when you actually know what you are talking about.
     
    -Faeriequeen22- likes this.
  6. -SirMadMan-

    -SirMadMan- Someday Author

    That's just so... "cute". I am sure we all very much appreciate your coming here and playing this game for 5 mins not in spite of, but because, you find it so "bad". I really look forward to hearing all your wonderful suggestions for improving this game so that it meets your exacting standards. I also literally wriggle with anticipation at the thought of the game you are designing being released so that we can glance at the loading page once and become an insta-expert and give our insightful critique.

    PS if you can email me the plans for your time machine, I promise not to share them with Baragain. He was so rude and cynical about your "6+ year" claim. Same as that Trakilaki guy.
     
  7. Darwarren

    Darwarren Count Count

    I just recalled one of my favorite moments. It was a 5v5 contest, at least a year ago. In the staging sites everything was fine, but when the timer started, all the players and all the mounts went invisible! You could see the flags, and you could see the damage graphics, and that was it. Instant helter skelter. Looney tooneys galore.
    Chat went ballistic. LOL Good players that we were, we battled it out anyway. We had to use the damage graphics to tell if we were hitting anything. Everyone was totally invisible, but you could still move around the map. Invisible players ran into each other. Those using the minimap had an edge.
    The highlight came when I grabbed the flag and headed back to base. The enemy flag was waving proudly, changing directions all by it self, running itself back to base with no players anywhere to be seen. If only then I had known about F10 for instant screenshot! Now it's just a memory.
     
    Dragenstein and Mario_Boss like this.
  8. @Darwarren Ghosts fighting ghosts. That would actually make an awesome PvP match. Add an extra dimension to it. We could even have rare helms in the game which have short distance echo-location so you can see a fuzzy outline of near-by enemy players.
     
    Armando, Mario_Boss and Darwarren like this.
  9. spanky_time

    spanky_time Forum Apprentice

    Old times good
    We miss :(:(:(
    [​IMG]
     
  10. -Skygazer-

    -Skygazer- Advanced

    Didn't think they were that big ...... :)
     
    finnagin97 likes this.
  11. _Baragain_

    _Baragain_ Living Forum Legend

    I think Skygazer is "gazing" at something a little closer to earth.
     
    -Skygazer- likes this.
  12. MikeyMetro

    MikeyMetro Forum Overlooker

    What has changed since I started playing? For starters I had to make two accounts since only one toon per acct was allowed and I wanted to play both classes. Then a few weeks later a third class was introduced so I had to create another account. Also back then twinks ruled the honor ladder since there was no xp gain in the arena so I had another account for a lvl 19 twink. Ofc that one got messed up with R039. :D

    Yes I am being deliberately vague with details and dates. Anyone who was actually playing then knows what I am talking about. For me the game has not really changed much in the past two, maybe three years. Sure content has been added, level cap raised to 45 then 50 and a lot of game mechanics are different over that period. But compared to the total content today not much is the same as early open beta.

    I suppose what I am getting at is that I am actually amazed how much has been done to keep the game progressing since I started playing. I look at the poll for this thread and I would have to vote "none of the above." All of those things have been bad then better then bad again then better again on and on since the beginning.

    Sure there are things that could be better. I have made my share of rants in the past. (I consider the very long rant I posted on the old vBulletin forum about the R055 changes to be my classic :rolleyes: ) I'm pretty much in a "it's all good" mode now. The current server stability issues... A new event that was basically a miss.... yeah, been there, done that :cool:

    Anyway, I'll end this ramble with: early Aug 2011... That was the final character wipe of closed beta toons and the beginning andermant sales (i.e. open beta :p) as a public service for those that want to pretend how long they have been playing ;)

    Luck be with ye,
    Mikey,
    Tegan
     
    _Baragain_ and trakilaki like this.
  13. -Skygazer-

    -Skygazer- Advanced

    Looking at the weight of "those", my mathematical estimations tell me that "they" HAVE to be closer to earth :D

    And this is one and the only case that Greg and I are united about and share the same vision
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2016
    _Baragain_ likes this.
  14. jcdenton007

    jcdenton007 Forum Apprentice

    DSO publically began production back in 2010 so the '6+ years' reference is accurate. If you want to be even more accurate, you could state the game itself was likely prototyped and actually started prior to 2010 shortly after the last Drakensang official game release and subsequent BigPoint acquisition.

    Be careful before you call something 'garbage', lest you seem the jester in disguise.
    You talk to me about credibility yet you can't be bothered to take a minute to do a quick internet search to verify the date. Ok then.

    Ayla look you and do palm on face. Much silly. No fun.

    I played in the early release days when you could apply andermant-only elemental essences to your skills to 'empower' them with that element. Fire/Ice/Lightning Nova for instance, depending on what elemental essence you used. I forget the 4th one but it may have been Shadow/Dark.

    Of course back then, I never found Purple items with less random enchantments on them than Blue items.

    Combat Value is useless and inaccurate for many classes/builds. It isn't representative of the best way to play a class. Jumping on the 'GearScore' bandwagon so many years later is like adding in 'Wings' to the game. Just another gimmick to desperately attract & retain players.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2016
  15. trakilaki

    trakilaki Living Forum Legend

    You clearly have no clue what you are talking about ... :D
    You said
    I ... as a former software, hardware and game review writer of internet and magazine articles ... can only say that your analyzing skills are very poor.
    The author of that article you are referring to ... is speaking in future tense ... meaning something not yet happened.
    Of course we know one have to have plans before start working on something or release something. And that article is telling us about the dev's future plans.
    The answer is in the top right corner ...

    [​IMG]

    Release date: 24. 11. 2011
    And that is 4+ years ... on 24. 11. 2016 it will be 5 years anniversary.

    Let me ask you something ... how do we mark someone's birthday?
    By the moment the baby is born ... or by the moment the mother conceived ? :)
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2016
    Mario_Boss likes this.
  16. Darwarren

    Darwarren Count Count

    The longer you look, the bigger they get!
    Like when Greg tried so hard not to look. They must have been up front and HUGE in his mind.
     
    -Skygazer- and _Baragain_ like this.
  17. _Baragain_

    _Baragain_ Living Forum Legend

    I don't need to do the google search... Closed beta opened on 31MAR11. Open beta opened on 19AUG11. So, the longest period of time that they have been receiving feedback from players regarding game improvement is four years, 10 months, 21 days. Also, no one here doubts my credibility; I've proved mine again and again and again.

    Furthermore, MMOs have been developing in parallel with DSO. There are features that we are requesting now that were not common MMO features two years ago, let alone 4 years, 10 months, and 21 days.

    "Of course back then," you also had to spend CoTs to open the items so you needed to have a higher probability of a return on your investment vs now when you can open any item and the odds of the item being usable is more of a toss up... but you've been around so long that you knew that. I'm just curious how an expert game analyzer would forget to mention the reason for such a fundamental difference for such a significant change in item quality.
     
    ekant1992 likes this.
  18. AuZor

    AuZor Forum Apprentice

    Amen.


    [​IMG]
     
  19. jcdenton007

    jcdenton007 Forum Apprentice

    Because it is perfectly normal for a purple item (any purple item) to have less than 3 random enchantments? Ok then.
    Obvious bug is obvious but don't even bother with acknowledging it if it makes you get your (bad) point across.

    I won't argue semantics with you.
    You fail to understand how game development works when I said this game has been in DEVELOPMENT for 6+ years.
    Development happens PRIOR to public exposure/release. You don't get that and I'd rather not argue with you about it.

    The article states that BigPoint Games was announcing development of DSO in September of 2010 after the acquisition of Radon Labs by BigPoint Games. Radon Labs filed for bankruptcy in May 2010. If you want to say it is closer to ~6 years then we could go back and forth on it, but game development happens prior to public announcements.

    Now if I'd said the game has been out for 6+ years then you'd have a point, but I didn't say that. I said it was in development for 6+ years. Key difference but reading comprehension is too hard for you so I don't bother anymore.

    The devs can add in Wings and have already added in a 'Premium' inventory bag but haven't bothered to put in a quest items bag. That is just poor game design and actively discourages players from doing certain quests.

    Every single quest item is very clearly labeled and has a unique item ID. They can very easily change things to implement a quest items bag with little effort since the coding for it should be trivial (in Java at least).

    In the older version, in the Grotto you had seperate items (troll cherries, magic potion, etc) and now they're all combined into one bag item that stacks; this is due to player feedback. There's no reason they couldn't do the same with the books or 'collector clothes' or with other multi-item quests. The main reason I believe they haven't changed this is to push inventory purchases earlier.

    Then of course the 'discount' at level 14 if they didn't get you to monetize early enough. It is a slap in the face for those who buy an inventory expansion prior to level 14 and it comes across as actively hostile to players rather than encouraging a positive monetization experience.

    How players FEEL about buying stuff from the store is just as important if not more important than most other monetization aspects in the game. BP has repeatedly dropped the ball when it comes to this aspect of the game. Using sticks and spoiled carrots rather than making cash shop purchases a pleasant/happy experience.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2016
    Dragenstein and -Skygazer- like this.
  20. silverseas

    silverseas Count Count

    Not gonna argue with your other points since I don't know much about the history of the game, but...


    Incorrect. That purple item shown actually has three enchantments. It has three lines of damage, which under the new way of displaying stats, means that they are automatically added up (3+3+3), so it appears as a single line. It may appear as though 3+3+3=8 is wrong, but most likely some of those 3's in there aren't actually 3, but something like a 2.5, which gets rounded in the display.
     
    trakilaki, Kiwigal1244 and _Baragain_ like this.
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