Jump to content

Sign in to follow this  
Ban Tier

New Lead Designer

Recommended Posts

... we have a new lead designer. Was waiting for this decision since their first livestream and horrible balancing changes.

Now lets hope that the new guy understands, there are a lot more casual players out there than hardcore players. And that there are better ways to motivate veterans to play the game than making them more or less unbeatable for newbies due to incredible high stats and gear. I would for sure return to the game if it would be possible to keep up with progress of hardcore gamers with a more senseful ammount of playing time. Just one example: the current war-time equals a full workday. Ppl who had already a rl working day, who have friends and family barely can affort another working day just for pixels. There must be better and mor fun ways for holding and capturing islands.

Nevertheless, good luck to the new guy.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Been a long time coming, just hope the new roadmap includes removing the bs the last guy added.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First off I would like to say, nice to meet you. It is always good to have a fresh set of eyes on something. I am sure you have already noticed that atlas has gone in the wrong direction and I am sure you know what the problems with them are. Well as you said as well. Let’s jump into this.

first and foremost, the console release is coming up and we all know this is a heated issue. Well in all reality the release isn’t the heated part. The crossplay is. We need to have an answer on this since there will need to be a wipe if Xbox crossplays with steam.

 

secondly, I liked reading your introduction and just by your words I could hear the winds of change starting to blow. I want to be the first to tell you that the “ultimate pirate” experience you have a dream and goal for does not include the land claim system. It is finally time to once and for all be rid of that bad system. That was definitely not a “pirate” idea.

third is the wiping. Not you guys wiping because there is nothing wrong with that. But players be able to wipe months of work within a couple of hours has become a very big reason why people leave. We saw it in ark as well. A good way to make the “ultimate pirate” experience would be to get rid of companies entirely and make factions. I still think 2 factions would be the best route to go but I would be fine with a couple more.

if we could get rid of all the upkeep that is time consuming(island claims), loss of months of work(time consuming), and companies(bringing solos and big groups together with factions) you might have the best game ever made.

unfortunately, with out these changes it is still possible to have the worst game ever made. The ball is in your court now man. I will trust you and I will have hope for you.

will this game stay at 2k players or will it go back up to 58k. You came just in time because the difference between 58k and 2k is a VERY HUGE difference.

there has been only bad decisions being made. Let’s change all of that with some new good decisions, because failure is all that has been present since December.

Edited by Realist
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
33 minutes ago, DocOlds said:

Been a long time coming, just hope the new roadmap includes removing the bs the last guy added.

Yeah I am pushing for island claims to be removed completely. That was one of the stupidest ideas I had ever heard of

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We should all be ecstatic who religiously still play this game and those that have stepped away because of the direction the game was going. This shows two things...first were going to get the pirate game we've always wanted,and second Grapeshot wants this game to succeed.

 

Looking forward to the next year or so of Development with some new eyes. (GET RID OF THIS TAME CRAP lol)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 minutes ago, Congo said:

We should all be ecstatic who religiously still play this game and those that have stepped away because of the direction the game was going. This shows two things...first were going to get the pirate game we've always wanted,and second Grapeshot wants this game to succeed.

 

Looking forward to the next year or so of Development with some new eyes. (GET RID OF THIS TAME CRAP lol)

Nah not tames. Get rid of the entire claim system 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Godspeed to the new lead designer...!

This will be a great game, if - like everyone else - he atleast not listen to the Realist that is not in the game room...
For everything else, the Bobs that actually do play the game and know what they are talking about have written ample concerns and suggestions from actual experience...

The current concepts work - their balancing is the problem...
And the realization that this is not ARK and it will not help to ARKify it more...

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very pleased to see them injecting new blood into the game and hope that he brings some energy into what feels like a burnt out team.  I know that they have the livestream coming up but I think of one of the big shortfalls the team has is lack of a communication plan.  Having weeks at a time go by with no meaningful updates to those who play the game regarding direction, upcoming features or fixes I believe has the fan base tuning out and moving on to other games.  While that is a natural progression of MMO's (I know, far stretch to consider this truly a MMO), making sure your player base is aware that you even exist other than a random tweet or response keeps players coming back.  Today's word of the day Grapeshot is ENGAGEMENT.  Beyond actually communicating with us players in a meaningful manner they need to centralize HOW they communicate.  I apologize but the fact that they leave players having to scrape multiple platforms trying to get news on the game or it's status is ridiculous.

For what it's worth, the new direction they bring up as well as so much focus on the smaller map architecture has me thinking they are going to shrink the world for officials and the game itself.  Not saying it's good or bad but lets be honest, ARK developed a successful formula on how you get players to play official/unofficial and single player.  The push towards single player and smaller 'world' maps that only require a few servers and much less cost allows the player base to do what made ARK successful, make mods and take programming/design costs off their plate.  While wanting to describe this as an MMO, what it takes to make a MMO is huge amounts of programming and design to make players stay engaged.  They have provided a base framework to allow an army of unpaid people to handle a lot of the missing components.  QoL, new creatures, ship designs and cosmetics would now basically be off their plate.

When I think of an upcoming console release on top of the game being so lacking in it's development progress, they are going to have to do something drastic to keep this ship afloat. 

Edited by Womba

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think they waited to long to get a new guy, this game has been heading in the wrong direction from the very start. hope it can pull a no man sky and get it right.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Number one, take the wheel for a moment will you I'm just going to see where all those rats are going

  • Haha 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, lordkhan4444 said:

I think they waited to long to get a new guy, this game has been heading in the wrong direction from the very start. hope it can pull a no man sky and get it right.

Yeah 9 months is a long time to wait for new blood especially after the constant drop. Who knows though. I will definitely give this guy the benefit of doubt though because you you don’t judge a book by its cover.(trigger incoming) lol

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
51 minutes ago, Realist said:

Yeah 9 months is a long time to wait for new blood especially after the constant drop. Who knows though. I will definitely give this guy the benefit of doubt though because you you don’t judge a book by its cover.(trigger incoming) lol

idk man. we might just be fucked.

My job will be to help the game get its bearings and -- together with the rest of the dev team -- work with a singular mission in mind:

Make ATLAS the ultimate pirate experience.

prepare the buttpirate memes. "arggggg gimmie that booty! 😘 "

nUEBzbg.jpg

Edited by Enki Anunnaki

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
50 minutes ago, Enki Anunnaki said:

idk man. we might just be fucked.

My job will be to help the game get its bearings and -- together with the rest of the dev team -- work with a singular mission in mind:

Make ATLAS the ultimate pirate experience.

prepare the buttpirate memes. "arggggg gimmie that booty! 😘 "

nUEBzbg.jpg

Wel since you pointed it out I thinkwe might be 🍆 as well.

but having said that, you should never down on the new guy, so even “I” will cut him some slack. Let’s just wait and see what he will do.

Everyone is heated about different issues.... me as well, but we haven’t seen what this guy can do yet.

dont worry, the minute he messes up I will he all over him.

Edited by Realist

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

indeed. i did some research on the guy, i think he may have worked in guild wars 2? hope he has what it takes to lead these boiz. godspeed.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Realist said:

Yeah 9 months is a long time to wait for new blood especially after the constant drop. Who knows though. I will definitely give this guy the benefit of doubt though because you you don’t judge a book by its cover.(trigger incoming) lol

That sentences Sound like you just gave birth xd

  • Haha 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Enki Anunnaki said:

idk man. we might just be fucked.

My job will be to help the game get its bearings and -- together with the rest of the dev team -- work with a singular mission in mind:

Make ATLAS the ultimate pirate experience.

prepare the buttpirate memes. "arggggg gimmie that booty! 😘 "

nUEBzbg.jpg

dude...my eyes... cant see shit cause so much blood

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, zottel said:

That sentences Sound like you just gave birth xd

nature sure is amazing, it can create the most complex and inteligent life form in the planet in 9 months, and that intelligent and complex life form can't develop the most basic pirate MMO in the same ammount of time.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have now about 1,5k hours And more than happy with the Game so far. There are many Things which could have been better or different but i also really enjoy to See the Game develop bit by bit. Its a huge ambitious project And everyone has high expectations And Hope/dreams for the Game. So i enjoy my journy to See what Players make out of the Game And what devs do ^^

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 minutes ago, zottel said:

I have now about 1,5k hours And more than happy with the Game so far. There are many Things which could have been better or different but i also really enjoy to See the Game develop bit by bit. Its a huge ambitious project And everyone has high expectations And Hope/dreams for the Game. So i enjoy my journy to See what Players make out of the Game And what devs do ^^

yeah, some people just love to see the world burn.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Hi, this is Bob. Bob will be the new boss. Bob has some great ideas. Here is his roadmap. His roadmap means wiping the servers, starting over, and making Atlas a moba. Enjoy"

  • Haha 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Pirates?!

More Ships.

Trade routes with merchant ships.

Navy.

Native people for the diffrent biomes.

Villages to plunder.

Embattled harbours to raid.

And seafights with boarding!!!!

Storys, characters and caribic lore.....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Samstag Freitagsson said:

Pirates?!

More Ships.

Trade routes with merchant ships.

Navy.

Native people for the diffrent biomes.

Villages to plunder.

Embattled harbours to raid.

And seafights with boarding!!!!

Storys, characters and caribic lore.....

Id play that game, sounds awesome. But i wouldn't get my hopes up, it seems they have their mind set on the Ark reskin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Dear Sir,

As a very famous and important forum personality I feel I should mention that my handwritten invitations to GrapeCard’s staff meetings to share my invaluable thoughts and ideas with you have all rather unfortunately gotten lost in the mail. No matter! Let us not dwell on the deficiencies of the postal service. Time is short my good man and there is much that needs doing. I am sure that you would have sought out my advice eventually anyway. I am doing you the kindness of preemptively providing it here, you may thank me later by ensuring my consulting invoice is paid promptly by accounting.

Major issues that inhibit the fun and limit the enjoyability of players Atlas experience:

1. Sailing is THE core pirate activity and should remain a core gameplay mechanic. However the act of sailing itself most players find too tedious. Some existing bits of gameplay like sextant, flotsam, shipwrecks, sotd’s and storms exist to break up the monotony of sailing but each of these systems needs further development with an eye towards making trekking across the Atlas an adventure rather than dull.

In pvp a major consideration in this regard is the vulnerability of ships when players are offline. As the game is presently constructed, for pvp players to sail further afield than they are able to return to a heavily guarded defensive harbor within the same play session is a foolhardy exercise. If a core concept of Atlas is to remain exploration, it must become more feasible for pvp players to sail far without the need to return to base in the same play session.

In pve this is far less of an issue, however pve players often feel there is less to sail and explore for. Reducing the number of islands which are cookie cutter versions of each other would help, as well as increasing the incentives for exploration beyond a discovery point system that feels very grindy for little benefit beyond a certain threshold. Since the ingredients for cooking are one of the things players need to travel for, expanding cooking by giving most of the foods a useful buff,  rather than just a few of them, would be one way to do this.

2. The defining act of piracy, raiding merchant shipping, is nonexistent in Atlas. In pve especially, this should be a major focus of adding content over tames and other peripheral add ons that do little to add to the pve players experience. It is inconceivable that Atlas holds itself out as pirate themed game yet 8 months into development there is not even the suggestion of actual piracy being added to game content. At present Atlas is pirate themed in name only, perhaps because there is no term for “people who plant gardens so they can tame animals so they can build shipyards so they can build ships with which to sail around for a bit and accomplish nothing meaningful before coming home to feed the animals.”

3.The game needs more things to do in groups in order to enhance the experience. Atlas is more or less completely failing to leverage one of the fundamental truths of the MMO genre, namely that it is the people you play with as much as the things you do that makes the experience fun and keeps players coming back. Not only is there no grouping mechanic, there is nothing to do as a group other than the kraken or the ice dungeon. Atlas needs more group content because in pve there is currently no particular reason you should join someone else’s company and in pvp the only reason is for mutual protection.

A game dominated by mega clans where a few people in leadership positions make all the decisions and do all the fun stuff like captaining the ship while the majority of pvp players are either peon grinders doing what amounts to an online job for no pay or small groups huddling in the shadows trying to eke out an existence where they don’t get wiped regularly by far larger groups does not sound like a game that screams fun to most players. This is currently what passes in large part for the social aspects of gaming in Atlas.

4. For a game that started its Early Access journey claiming it wanted to pattern itself on Eve, economy is nonexistent in Atlas. The few things that have been tried in the past like player shops, demonstrated a woeful understanding of matters economic by whoever was making the decisions before. I personally feel this is a major area where Atlas could be expanded in a direction players have vocally and repeatedly requested. By and large players did not come here to build farms and forts, tame elephants and bears, but to be pirates on the open seas. If the game’s economy were structured in such a way that there was both need and incentive for players to band together to move large quantities of resources back and forth over distance, then in pvp the defending and attacking of each other’s shipping moves the focus off land and onto the water, where everyone wants it to be. In pve this would help foster trade networks.

There is a lot to consider in revamping Atlas towards the goal of making it the ultimate pirate adventure. As someone who has been here from day one, who has 15 years experience playing MMORPG’s, and who has read, discussed and digested a lot of the feedback offered here on the boards, I offer these thoughts to you as you chart a new course for Atlas. Fair winds and Godspeed.

Edited by boomervoncannon
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I pretty much agree with the OPs wonderfully written letter. 

The thing that I would like to stress though, before doing any more planning or any more road mapping, the core game needs to be fixed and worked on.   Most people agree that structures need a lot of work. (Pillars, wall edges, windows, glass, to name some) and a very simple thing like fixing dye so that it shows up as the correct color.   

Those are only two of some things that either are half finished, don't work correctly or we are confused about.  These are the type of things that we can have fun with while waiting for the more complicated aspects of the game are being worked on.  These are basic core game problems that should have been dealt with before the game was  even released.  I am not sure why things like these would have been considered finished. I hope they are not. If you have building as one of your main game visions then give your people AAA building.  If you give gorgeous dyes to your players, have the dyes actually work.   

Making hollow promises that never get addressed is one of the easiest ways to get mired down into the mud that holds a game hostage. 

Yes, there are so many problems with Atlas. Yes, a ton of work needs to be done as the game moves into new territory but why not fix the simple easy things that just got pushed aside and forgotten because other things seemed more important. 

Get the game back on track with basic core fixes.  Help us to have fun playing with what we have so that we can be more patient waiting for what you guys are going to do.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...