Jump to content

Sign in to follow this  
Bigdog73a

Direction

Recommended Posts

I dont know the intent or their actual vision for this game.

However i quickly got hooked and really like playing Atlas. But every time you turn around they make it worse.

Animals were marginalized from must have to useless.

Ships are now headed the same way since you can set up a trade route rather than sail from D3 to k7 to broker a deal for your materials to obtain a well bred animal. Nope stay at home and let the trade route deliver.

No sense going for all the cool achievements and killing bosses. They are doing away with loot drops.

The map is dumb now. North and south are not cold, no the south east corner is.

And we have a saying in florida if you dont like the weather wait 5 minutes.

Well in Atlas its fun to experience cyclones in the rain followed immediately by a heat wave while in the 'tundra' region. 

Or 15 SOD ships are nailing you immediately as you cross a border combined with 8 cycles as you get glitch crashed into an island or iceberg with 0 chance your ship can survive.

Or black of night fog with cyclones and SOD you cant even see until its too late.

Now the weird trade route islands that only a bare minimum of companies had a chance to claim. 

 

Im done Atlas you took a game i was virtually addicted to and drove me away.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Gold and Expirience. I am playing on private Server now but with offizial settings and map and i don't get even the 40 Discovery Points for a Power Stone anymore. But that could also be an issue of the private server so i will not call this a current confirmed issue.

Some of your problems sound like the slow loading of the Xbox. With PC you are pretty much fine but when Xbox loads 2 minutes in new grid and the ships is moving already while player does not see it on his screen it is a hugh bug. Maybe the new Xbox Series X will have better performance. I don't think the devs can improve the Xbox one expirience. But they got lots of money out of the Xbox Players for sure. 80% of my friends i started with bough a PC only for this game and throw away their Xbox. It's a shame the Devs struggle so much with this great game and make it worse every update.

MAGA

delete Barrels

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was in thick fog the other day and could barely see the figurehead on my galleon. That didnt stop the SOTD from seeing me apparently as the only thing that alerted me to their presence was when my screen filled up glowing red as a hail of cannonballs hit me from a high lvl galleon lol.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like the fog effects, it adds a short term of suspense. I too am on a Xbox one X and the region load times are pretty heinous. I think the big issue is hardware limitations with the xbox and that's why PC runs so much better. Being that this is a game preview and their dev team is relatively small, I give them a pass on bugs and optimization issues for now. A lot of people don't realize that they have pretty limited resources compared to a lot of other games companies such as EA. Plus this is a new game being made... with games such as CoD they can almost literally copy and paste the code and just add more detail to animations, a few maps/characters and switch gun stats and call it a new game...

 

Patience are required to play a game preview, just think of it as you are a game tester.. but you paid to test the game. xD

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I totaly get a small dev team. Im not that upset with the gameplay issues. I have battled through them like everyone else and still absolutely loved this game.

Why marginalize the need for various animals. That was great. Now the farm house warehouse setup made them almost valueless. I got used to them and continued on.

Then all bosses are about a waste of time and the trade ports/sea ports and trade routes. So now there is no reason to sail yourself and connect with other players to broker deals for and with materials and animals. They arenremoving the best parts of the gameplay. If all you need to do is capture a sea port and sit back why play. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

After over 3,513 hours of game play I'm throwing in the towel . I agree with BIGDOG73A on many points. After 22 months your going to literally change the entire concept of the game. I loved sailing and exploring. Searching for treasures and ingredients. The challenge of taming those creatures you desperately needed to farm materials to build your base and toil over ship building. I've been with you since the beginning through all the wipes, changes and rebuilds. Many of the changes you made were difficult to live with, but I kept at it because I loved the game. I don't know how these new changes are going to shake out, but I think they are too far from the original theme of the game. I don't think I'm alone in my thinking, and unfortunately your gonna loose once and for all, all of us Old Salty Pirates.

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, Athena (Sweet Greeks) said:

I like the fog effects, it adds a short term of suspense. I too am on a Xbox one X and the region load times are pretty heinous. I think the big issue is hardware limitations with the xbox and that's why PC runs so much better. Being that this is a game preview and their dev team is relatively small, I give them a pass on bugs and optimization issues for now. A lot of people don't realize that they have pretty limited resources compared to a lot of other games companies such as EA. Plus this is a new game being made... with games such as CoD they can almost literally copy and paste the code and just add more detail to animations, a few maps/characters and switch gun stats and call it a new game...

 

Patience are required to play a game preview, just think of it as you are a game tester.. but you paid to test the game. xD

This is not a new game, this has been out for a few years now. They also have Ark which a lot of this game was copied and pasted from. Argument kind of dies a little there.

I dont mind fog, I dont need it every 5 minutes though. And if I cant see them, they shouldnt be able to see me.

I've played since first release and its only got worse. Probably wont be back next wipe.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, Athena (Sweet Greeks) said:

 Being that this is a game preview and their dev team is relatively small, I give them a pass on bugs and optimization issues for now. A lot of people don't realize that they have pretty limited resources compared to a lot of other games companies such as EA. 

Here's my problem with this logic. They are building this on the UR4 engine. It's already built, tried and tested. PUBG is a small studio using UR4, you can even tell some of the rocks and trees are the same in Atlas. Thier game was out of EA in 2 years or less and is a polished game. Sea of thieves was built on UR4, and it also feels far more polished that Atlas. We are about to hit 2 years and I feel we are farthur from release now than we were with the original map.

At some point it's fair to look at the evidence and admit this just isnt a greatly skilled studio capable of doing this properly. 

Now the concept is fantastic, I love this game and feel it only needs to fix and polish what they have and make some balance issues better. I just dont know if they are able to do that with the people they have. 

Dont feel too bad though devs. At least your not CIG and stealing/wasting hundreds of millions on a P2W scam. Your just not great programmers.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well said Chucksteak. I really cant express how.much i liked and enjoyed this game even through all the glitch and rubber banding and being kicked repeatedly. I would continue to batlle and put up with those issues until the new xbox series x comes out or the devs fix something. No prob no blame game.

 

Im seriously talking about the direction the game is being taken. I ust dont get it. What a great game with huge potential it WAS. Now its like they dont want anyone to actualy play and stratagize and make alliances. Nope automate everything to kill all the fun and challenges. Their loss though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Im sure I'll get flamed but I'll ask anyway..

 

I wonder how much impact covid has had on the revamp effort?..

 

I've been lobbying for a complete overhaul for months now. Literally a complete restructuring of the entire model. I quit playing completely about 5 or 6 weeks ago because it honestly felt like i was just doing chores...

 

Good luck and best wishes to all

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They hired a new lead dev, who didn't do anything much, and then that lead dev left, and since covid happened they hired more people. So, not much impact it appears.

Yeah you've been lobbying to get yourself a job with these guys, with the promise of providing some complete restructure.

Anyway, in some ways, I can see why the devs are doing what they are doing. They want to remove the grind, which is something that people have been asking for. Unfortunately, because they don't appear to have knowledge of the gameplay, they are making a mess.

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well the grind is not an issue if you change the gatter rates. I play on a private server with 3x gattering, 3x XP and 3x Taming/Breeding and it's all fine. I can harvest even without Elephant or Giraffe and build a brig very fast. I only need a baer until i get the veteran explorer skill. I liked the grinding last season 3. Did every day my routine collecting 30k metal in about 25 minutes. My islands had not much wood so i famred wood on the next island and collected it once with the transport gally ->110k. If you are in a tribe and 10 Players invest every day only one hour for this you are fine... very fine. The farmhouses if not bugged of course make it much easier especially for solo players. You can focus on treasure maps, taming and power stones etc while you get resources. Maybe Elephants should loose less stamina while gattering?

Grape Shot is in USA and of course they are not affected as Mr. Trump says there is nothing to worry. He got healed some how and everybody will get the same... nobody is dieing....

So the only issue Grape Shot has is that they don't communicate with us. Let us know if Atlas shall be a great game again. Let us know some devs move from Ark to Atlas again. Let us know if there are any devs around? Listen to your Players. There are reasons that players love the game and play it 2000-5000 hours. When this Players complain that the direction is going the wrong way than you should be alerted.

This game is one of the best MMO which needs teamplay and lot of communication. The balance between solo and large tribes is good in terms of PvE. It only needs more safety for Solos like ship uploading or a small flag that can protect a small base or a small harbor Area 200-300 meters  on PvP servers. May this flag should only be placed on lawless grids and 1x per company. Most anoying is the offline raid possibility. Ships would be safe after reaching green anchor and you could build a small base which is raid protected as well. Lawless life would be much easier.

Settlers should be assigned by island owners that they can place puckles that work in Peacetime like those of the island owners.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@eeeceee & @Nacona

I definitely preferred season 3 map, even if they would have just downsized it or reorganized the islands but kept the BIOMES as they were.

Also YES i would love to lead a complete overhaul of this game. Specifically run it on a seperate server and let the fans vote with their feet. I truly believe the concept has huge potential but that the direction is way off. Believe what you wish but i began rehashing/ reinventing D&D games when i was 12. I'm 45 now and I've played alot of MMOs along w other games. I have zero doubt that with proper support i could turn this into a GOAT.

On Season 3, when i played PVE, the grind didn't bother me much either since i had plenty of quality tames. Island i owned was gorgeous, i fence-post-spammed 1/3 of MY island (for myself and a couple of neighbors) and let settlers do whatever they wanted on the other 2/3 of the island.

Season 4 i tried PVE for ~week, and quickly got annoyed at the high pings and the low land to player ratios causing people to get all passive aggressive. Went to PVP which reignited my enthusiasm briefly but grind takes different proportions when a zerg can do a drive by on ya for ~9 hours a day, powerstones are camped and your a level 50 common player fighting against level 100s. Wah, lol. Found a semi safe spot to build, got somewhat set up then decided i needed major defensive upgrades... as i began that, POOF my enthusiasm vanished. Felt like chores and so i quit.

Wrapping my ramblings up now. Still deciding how to move forward so I'm watching the forums and maybe I'll dip my toes back in at some point.

Dunno. TC

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When did trade routes, and “control points” become adventurous? Why is a warehouse  fun? Who wants to pay any kind of tax on anything ever? How is it that bugs persist but new content is pushed making more bugs. Where are the responses from this team that is listening to the players?  I’ve been here since the start and I have a feeling that I will see the servers turned off before I get an answer to anything. Two years of forum discussions and I have yet to see them make a change because of a good suggestion. 


Example for Devs:

I have never played PvP and have never made an explosive barrel in 1500hrs of play but.....by reading comments I KNOW something is wrong with their power level that they have been given in the latest season because I READ what people are saying about them. Please take advantage of all these free play testers and listen, then act.

Things people have wanted since day 1:

Less lag, bugs and spam. A simple system with claimable land for everyone, more ship types to build, less mini games, more quests, better AI for current quests. 
 

Let’s see if your listening.

 

 

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Gomez Addams

You didn't see the documentary about the time Blackbeard tamed some elephants, harvested lumber, built infastructure then conducted a business deal with his harbormaster and carpenters to build a custom ship? Then decided to maintain a control point? All the while never marooning a dissenter or making them walk the plank?

JK, lol 😁 i concur completely.

Sorry I'm a veteran and the smartass in me just spills out on occasion. I actually feel sorry for the companies involved because at this point, imo, anything short of a grandslam/ hailmary/ homerun is a PR disaster.

Unless, of course,....well NM

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh I saw that! Blackbeard’s board members threw a fit because the stock holders said the smoke that came out from his beard was unbecoming a CEO pirate. Or was that Elon Musk? @Ranger1k

  • Haha 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The problem is that steam and microsoft and other game outlets, don't have any time restrictions on early access. There should be defined  parameters that force a game out of early access after an agreed period of time. It's steam and microsoft etc that we as gamers should be contacting about the issue, because they are at the route of the problem. And only they can stop the  exploitation from happening, by having established rules for ea games.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree that open ended "EA" is an issue, however i am unqualified to point the finger.

 

Also long hours, hasty decisions, or the "crunch" as i believe it is known in software development should be avoided at all possible times. Can you imagine if some middle manager was constantly busting Michaelangelos balls to hurry up on the chapel ceiling?

 

I am therefore stuck. I see both sides of the issue. Then I envision what this game actually could be and I can only shake my head.

 

Nuff said.

Share this post


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

 

Things people have wanted since day 1:

Less lag, bugs and spam. A simple system with claimable land for everyone, more ship types to build, less mini games, more quests, better AI for current quests. 
 

Let’s see if your listening.

 

 

Things people have wanted since day 1:

LASERS

Let’s see if your listening. *reading* (nop)

In a more seriously tune:

 

I've stopped hoping/wishing to be honest. Next season will be a long one with these new trade routes and very less ways of getting leveled up. Trades are the new way for gold. FFS. Really? That's gonna be 10 times worse play and way WAY more toxity then we experienced up till now. Not to mention the fact that for PvE players the game will suck even harder.

 

No, this game is going to be near death real fast next season. Good to see Snail/Grapeshot/Wildcard keeps on grabbing money from PvE players to save their PvP ambitions and do NOTHING  ABSOLUTE NADA NIKS

 for the PvE community.

 

Edited by Cpt.Yarrr
  • Like 1

Share this post


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

The problem is that steam and microsoft and other game outlets, don't have any time restrictions on early access. There should be defined  parameters that force a game out of early access after an agreed period of time. It's steam and microsoft etc that we as gamers should be contacting about the issue, because they are at the route of the problem. And only they can stop the  exploitation from happening, by having established rules for ea games.

EA games should be free, due to alot of failures. Better yet, people should get paid instead of the other way around.

Let's see how many companies can keep their heads up then. Look at Wildcard, if ATLAS didnt show up, I'm almost certain they never couldve made the expansions from ARK.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Apparently Michelangelo was constantly harassed about how long the sistine chapel was taking, and according to history, he hated every day of the project. Every commission has to have a set completion date, due mainly to funding etc. How many people on etsy say your orders will be ready "whenever"? If they did they would not be in business very long. Also I don't think Michelangelo told the pope he would do a rough version and finish it when he could be bothered.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

     Yea as i was trying to think of the appropriate analogy something in the back of my head was telling me that i may be blundering. 😏 Took 4 years to paint atleast, no? Lol I am going strictly off memory and dont have a wiki out...

     I just remember a story of one of the masters ( Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, etc) staring at a huge marble (granite?) block for several months, and making a few minor notes. He then had the giant block flipped over and proceeded to sketch and scribble for a few more months until finally his patron for the project came over, lost his shit and screamed "GET TO WORK!!". The artist calmly replied "I am working". After another month or 2 when his patron was on the verge of going apeshit again the artist began the actual carving and, very slowly, created what is considered possibly the finest statue ever. Wish I could remember more specific details but thats all I've got and I believe it to be true. 

     Also, having served in the military, I would be lying if I said that harsh and terrible toil were unnecessary to achieve success. Lets be clear though, this is a video game, not a battle. Furthermore, a wise general is cautious regarding the time and manner in which his troops are placed in danger. The battle should be won BEFORE the sword is drawn...

     I came on this game around xbox launch. I wasn't there at the beginning but I've seen the videos, heard the stories and spoken to people who clearly wish they could spit venom when invited to come back...

@Whitehawk i stated that i agree that vague "EA" status is an issue. When all of my grinding and planning in Season 3 went poof i raged. I've made complaints. I've reported bugs. Also, similar to @Cpt.Yarrrs point i feel kinda cheated that i paid to be a beta tester..

         Lesson learned. Companies selling noted. My opinion was given and advice has been offered for a negotiable price. That being said this isn't an etsy craftable or the Sistine Chapel. It's a debatable clusterfuck named Atlas lol 😣. Theres alot of directions this thing could still go, ranging from a shut down to a GOAT. However the LAST thing i want to see is it simply cleaned up, taken out of EA and sold perpetually as currently designed. THAT, to me atleast, would be a monumental blunder.

TC and have a good day

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, Whitehawk said:

The problem is that steam and microsoft and other game outlets, don't have any time restrictions on early access.

IDK , seems obvious to me what the problems are.

I was going to post this after Nacona's post, but I crashed out:

"I thought the grind was OK too, in official. The sailing time is a big problem, and the breeding wasn't balanced/healthy. The devs appear to be trying to make it up as they go, to make a game that has trading routes, and all that cool stuff a game has.

Things like the barrel bombs are the straw that broke the camels back. Raising baby tigers for countless hours, and then having them blow up and die so easily from a single barrel bomb, that took a few minutes to make in comparison. Losing your good sails to a bomb. That stuff makes lots of people sad. It's stupid. For no reason.

Offline raiding of some kind is what this type of game was all about. It's a persistent sandbox world, you build up and try to keep your stuff. Last season lots of solo players were living in freeport, and had fun. Being in a big group and working together was also the main point, and if you aren't then you need to be good."

I'm sure the sistine chapel was not completely changed from a nice painting to a mess before it became a nice painting again. That story about the marble or granite block shows this point also I guess.

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the thing that upsets most of us about Atlas is the same, and it's not the money. It's the potential this game started out with, that is now being gradually washed away on the tide. Even when I'd had enough of the updates and wipes I still played single player, cos I enjoyed the game so much. But now, well it's clear the window of opportunity for Atlas has gone, for me anyway.

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...