Issues with ATLAS

[FlameBlade 7]

First of all, I really want to like ATLAS, I really do. 

But it is not easy. 

I realize that this game is in early access and that is fine. I also understand that it is impossible to please everyone, especially in this time and day. 

I also want to say that there is a lot of stuff in the game, that I really like, but it mostly ruined by several issues. 

The official map is huge, literally. On a good ship with good wind, each grid takes roughly between 15 and 25 minutes to travers, and even longer if one need to explore each island in a grid cell. So, lets say 2 hours per grid, in order to properly assess all islands. With 121 grids at 2 hours each, that equals 242 hours just for assessing all islands. This is a good thing, in my opinion. It means that it should be possible, given time, to find a spot for everyone. In theory. 

Now, I admit, I haven't been to every island, or even every grid. I usually lose my ship long before that. 

Farmhouses and warehouses

I am a late comer to the game, after the last wipe, and it is damn near impossible to find a place to put down even a single farmhouse. Especially if you want any kind of efficiency out of it. 

It is not really a problem of finding a place to build a base, but the exclusion range on farmhouses and markets are just so huge that at this point it is very very difficult to find a spot. I found one island with 5 or 6 farmhouses, quarries etc. all connected to 1 or 2 warehouses. There was literally nowhere on that island to set down another farmhouse. It had simply been monopolized by two players/companies. 

I do believe that several things should be done about this. 

1. Reduced the number of farmhouses, mines, quarries etc. to a maximum of two per company per island. 

2. Reduced exclusion range on farmhouses, to maybe twice the influence sphere of the farmhouse. 

3. Remove the exclusion range for warehouses from different companies, or reduce the number of warehouses to one per company per island. 

 

Trade

Wouldn't know, I haven't been able to find a spot to place a warehouse. So I am unable to get into trading, since the tradepost needs a warehouse. 

 

Ships

I like building ships, but they have become to damn expensive, and it is too easy to loose a ship to a Galleon of the Damned. 

It usually goes like this: 

I build a ship. I set out. Everything is good for a while. At some point I end up lagging, and getting my ship shot out under me. 

Rinse and repeat. 

It is survivable when just building sloops, but when you want something large, like a schooner, you ALSO have to find 5,000 gold. 

I know, it is fairly easy finding gold, but still, 5,000 gold for a schooner, and it just gets more expensive from there. Besides, to find gold, I basically need a ship, so now I have to build a new sloop, unless of course I saved it when I moved to my schooner. 

Then I have to trawl for wrecks and buried treasure until I have the 5,000 gold. 

I get that it shouldn't be too easy, but it sure as heck isn't. At least not if you're like me, and prefer to be alone or just a couple of friends in a company. 

I think that the gold cost should be removed again, maybe except for galleons. Ships are damn expensive to build, especially when soloing or just a couple of friends in a company. 

 

Ships of the Damned

All too often have I been ambushed by Ships of the Damned coasting around just on the other side of a grid wall. I can't see them through the grid wall, as it is a different server. That is fair enough, but it isn't fair that they can get so close to the wall, that I have no chance of evading them. 

Even if I manage to turn around and head back to the grid I came from, the bastards can follow me through to the other grid. And I lag whenever I switch grid, they don't.

From a cosmetic viewpoint, the Ships of the Damned look more like alien spaceships, than sailing ships crewed by the damned. But maybe that is just me... 

I like the concept of the SoD, but all too often their cluster in grounds that are too large to fight, and since you are dependent on the wind, it can turn out to be impossible to get away. 

I really don't know how to improve on them, but maybe smaller spawns? Lower aggro range? Less damage? 

All I know for sure is, if the wind is weak and you manage to aggro a SoD, you're pretty much doomed. At least if said ship is larger than your. 

 

And on top of these issues, there is a lot of minor annoyances, almost too numerous to mention, so I'll just name a few. 

1. cobras are way too aggressive and abundant. 

2. Character designer. One face per gender? Seriously? The faces are exceedingly ugly. And no matter how much I fiddle with the settings, it is not possible (for me at least) to get something that looks human enough. 

3. Randomized crewmembers. Good lord! Same issue as above. Either they are towering overweight giants, or skinny midgets, and not much in between. Maybe one in ten looks relatively normal, the rest are freaks of nature. 

4. Age progression. It's a great and fun idea on paper. But in reality it is hugely annoying, especially because it is not particularly easy to get to a fountain of youth. At least make it optional?

I know, many players do not concern themselves greatly with how their character looks, but it matters a lot to me. So something like these issues really sticks in my craw. 

 

I have returned to ATLAS on several occasions now, but I end up leaving again after a few weeks. This time my departure is caused primarily by the lack of balance in a lot of things. Ship building, farmhouses, warehouses etc. 

It doesn't seem like the ATLAS crew concerns themselves with the small tribes, or solo players. It certainly doesn't feel that way. 

I am a software developer myself, so I know about having to add new features and not just correcting bugs. For that matter, I know some bugs are nigh impossible to squash without have to pull a lot of other stuff. So, some bugs will never be fixed, and there are good reasons for that. 

But a lot of issues seem to be more of a balancing thing than a bug, so I would think maybe of the issue I have, should be fixable. 

Whether the developers agree or not, is of course another matter. 

 

In any event, I am out for this time. Maybe next season?

 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by FlameBlade