Jump to content

Elmo

Pathfinder
  • Content Count

    56
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Elmo

  1. This is an important point .... Despite how poorly the GS Devs seemingly treat their player base, Rust is an example of a success and Atlas is not. While I do think this treatment has an effect on the past, current and potential future players I don't think it is the reason for the poor shape Atlas is in. It is the lack of wipes, like Rust. I've said many times before that the best time in Atlas is immediately following a wipe. Everyone is running around in common gear. Everyone is sailing base ships with base sails and base cannons. It is as close to a player skill oriented game as Atlas can get. Fast forward a month and it's a completely different game that the large clans rule over the small and new players quickly figure out the disadvantage they are at and what it will to take to catch up, if they ever can. Frequent wipes would do this game wonders, communication, "dedicated to bug fixes, content growth, anti-cheat(including hardware bans)., and sustains itself on more than just selling units of the game." would certainly help a bit as well. smh .... 7 years old and #7 on the steam top game by players charts https://steamcharts.com/top
  2. I find this statement a tad presumptuous. At this point they are not deaf and mute ...... they are ABSENT. I have heard on several occasions that many are working on Ark as opposed to Atlas. For all we know the new lead developer they brought in said "F*ck this" after figuring out what he got himself into. I have a feeling the Xbox release was not the great boon to business that they were hoping for. More like a last stand. Hell, I saw the game on Steam not too long ago for $4.74 during a sale. Lol ..... less than 5 bucks. smh Forums .... dead with no signs of dev life, Discord ...... dead with no signs of Dev life, Twitter .... dead with no signs of Dev life and Reddit ..... dead with no signs of Dev life. Completely and totally ABSENT is what they are. As much as I truly dislike pessimism, my faith in these guys is quite limited at best. Anyone who has played Atlas can see the potential. I just feel like that is where it will stay. The reputation of the game and the team behind it is toast and they don't seem to be trying to rectify the situation.
  3. You used to be able to place an ice box deep under water where the temperature is very cold (In any region as far as I knew so long as you were deep enough). Then put preserving salt and ice in preserving bag for longer storage. Is that no longer the case?
  4. I've always felt the devs would have to introduce some sort of faction system to straighten out the large clan/small clan/solo power separation that exists. Havn't played for a while, but, it was always the mega clans rolling over the smaller clans and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. Or Small clan/solo messing with the wrong smaller clan and they call in their multi clan alliance to wipe you. It's just not sustainable and the join or die logic opens up a new kind of suck for smaller groups and solos. As has taken place since release, the small clans/solos will diminish and it will be 2-3 large alliances that have to sail for many hours to get a fight. I could go on, but, the power gap was pretty much why I quit playing. Sailing was a lost cause to due to enemy ships having planks, sails and cannons being so over powered one good volley or harpoon and that was all she wrote .... another fresh built ship at the bottom of the sea. Land game was pretty much the same thing. Blueprinted gear at max levels with Health at 600+ is really rough for a solo/small clan to deal with. Unless you have 20 guys out farming SotD and Maps you just don't have a chance. Smart play only goes so far. I know ...... boo hoo, it's an MMO. If this isn't how the devs intended the game to be played it wouldn't be this way. To show some love to the solos I thought a bounty hunter class (for lack of a better word) would have been cool. As bounty hunters were historically loner solo types they would be factionless and allianceless. Red to everyone if you will. Perhaps some bonus attributes, weapons and/or building benefits to make it interesting. You know just a solo option.
  5. Not playing anymore, but logged 3k+ hours solo on PvP server from the start. Always on Lawless. The simple fact of the matter is you are thinking about this all wrong. 50 Large walls, 10 layers of honey combed stone wall, multi level stone ceilings with ramps packed into it doesn't mean shit. If they find it you will get cleaned out .... plain and simple. You need to be invisible. Find a somewhat thick forest and look for tightly packed tree tops. Once you find one experiment with chopping down a tree and replacing the trunk with "WOOD" pillars. Go up a few and build a small enclosed box. Wait ...... After the tree respawns take a look at what you have as far as visibility. Can you expand the size? Can you add a level? Regardless, the point is invisible and I've had small bases that would probably still be there if it were not for decay. Always have a grappling hook and secret spots with just a cabinet and gear inside. Think small and live small. Another good place is an under water base. Level everything you can in swimming and oxygen. Just have your shipyard and crafting stations not too far off. Stations completely open or someone will break into the building. Can always build a fake base by the shipyard that will keep the lazy content when your offline. That or a base that has already been cleaned out (missing walls). Protip: Set a chair in your underwater base. Sit, stand up, sit, stand up, sit stand up, sit stand up .... eventually this will replace your oxygen supply (as silly as that sounds) could have been nerfed by now though. Underwater keeps more valuable stuff safe. Can put crafting stations in there as well. Hell, I was at a point where if I got wiped the only inconvenience was resetting everything as I had multiple bases already built and in a storage cabinet underwater. including Everything to build multiple new schooners as needed. Had a lot of luck building on a platform located under an arch at the top of trees. Have one spot that is virtually invisible, just a pain to get to. Eventually dropped a roll up ladder that concealed itself with tree trunks pretty well. Tames take a lot of space. They are like an advertisement for where you are at. Never could keep a tame alive very long so I always ground out mats. I know this is bad form and borderline glitching but break a large rock and set a cabinet. When it respawns see what it looks like and break again if needed. Schooner with 250 into resistance can last around 30 hours at freeport (unless they nerfed that), if your in lawless a freeport is close. Nothing groundbreaking here. Solo is rough in Atlas, but, it seems you already know that. If they find it, it is gone. Key to not rage quitting is to be able to rebuild very easily if they do find it. I hated it, but can always go cold too. Far north and south have a lot less players. ALOT. Didn't read the whole thread and some/most of this could already have been mentioned ... gl.
  6. I predict that after a few days of nothing but sailing you will be bring the "Sailing is boring as sh#t" thread to the top of the forums. If you think your friends are not very excited about this decision now ..... just wait.
  7. Harpoons are rough. Distance is your only defense against getting harpooned. However, if you get harpooned you can destroy whatever the harpoon is anchored to and you will be released. Gives additional benefit to the "armored style" ships, the ones with ramps around the perimeter. Typically the harpoon hits one of your ramps and stops you. Destroy the ramp and your free ..... for a minute.
  8. Realist is going to play Atlas .... lol. In awe actually, over 2500 posts and doesn't even own the game yet. Regardless, things depend on how fast you want to move on with your nomadic lifestyle. Would level up to where you are able to craft the basics which means you need a smithy. There are multiple videos on getting a ramshackle sloop and redesigning it to take a smithy in the hold. Can also rebuild planks/sails to further upgrade the ramshackle sloop. As I recall a single medium speed sail is a pretty decent speed boost. You will however want to get a schooner as fast as possible in my opinion (Between a sloop and a brig). Speed wise is a big upgrade (One large speed and one small speed sail) from the sloop and can level to build one pretty quickly. Two people can easily manage the sails without NPC crew. Food wise, you can just cook animal meat, fish meat and pick up fruit and veggies from the starter island and most islands there after. Spoilage is the pain until you get preserving bags with salt/ice. Get a water barrel on the deck of your ship asap. Of course it is easier to just die and respawn on your boat bed. Climbing picks and grappling hooks are a necessity for some discover points. Using them makes them decay quickly so multiple in inventory is best. With a smithy on your boat you will be able to repair tools. Ship decay isn't really an issue unless you anchor in a free port. A schooner with 250 into resistance will give you about 30 hours in a freeport before it sinks. On PvE it will be non issue. Storms just arn't as bad as some make them out to be, more of an inconvenience. Too far north or south and you will need fur armor to survive also easy to level into and resource gathering for a set isn't bad.
  9. Came across a thread on Reddit that has a link to the Discord chat that Dollie and Jat were kind enough to initiate after seeing that the live stream didn't go over very well. Doesn't seem to be any new information. However, Dollie does elaborate some on what GS is thinking and where they are taking the game. About a 100 times better than the live stream imo. <LINK>
  10. Open world, full loot, skill based sand box describes the perfect game for me. Graphics that at least attempt to look real life is a necessity as well (I despise that cartoony stuff.) The above describes Atlas to a tee (mostly). I'm not some heavy duty PvP kind of player. I tend to carry real life morals and values into games with me .... I know how silly that sounds. Regardless, I don't go out killing, stealing and raiding unless provoked. Beauty of Atlas is I will be provoked, by design. Been on Lawless from the start because that is the best way to accommodate what I want to do. Called them "Troll Bases" ... built several 5 layer honeycomb wall thick, 6 floor high (each absolutely packed with ramps to slow grenade attack) bases. Completely solid except for a chest in the middle containing a note that says "lol". Difficult to explain the joy I get when I log in and some clan has put in the time and resources to get to my troll chest. To be fair it really isn't that difficult. Grenades or cannon bears can get through in no time. Rebuild and wait for the next one. If I was able to figure out who attacked me my quest would begin. Add them to the KOS list, build a new Schooner (They usually sunk my ship too) and let the fun begin. Just one of the ways I have fun in Atlas .... so many other ways to have fun. My point is in Atlas I was able to play however the heck I wanted to and that is what I love about it. Despite what you may will read in the information spaces Atlas is a really good game that has potential to be great. I truly hope they get back to skill based and stay away from theme park play style.
  11. Elmo

    Are you old?

    I guess I tend to think in whys and why-nots more than anything else. I believe discord and twitter both are quick and simple answers to questions that pop up. The time and effort for Jat and Dollie to write up an answer on the forums versus twitter and discord is substantial. This thread is a good example with Dollies posts (Thank you!). I think this "right here, right now" level of patience everyone has accommodates twitter and discord better. As has been said repeatedly in this thread, it shouldn't matter. If a company wants to get information out, the official forums should be the place. Period. I am inclined to agree even though I do understand daily time constraints very well. As a small business owner I tend to wear numerous hats throughout the day/week and I would think GS is no different. Excuse? No ..... just why. Dollie seemed to put to rest the notion that "others" were privy to information that the masses were not. I can accept that and move on. I also think the live stream was intentionally vague because they do not have very many answers at this point. They have a road map. New lead developer and things are still being worked out. I like to think that is a good thing. I truly hope that is a good thing.
  12. This is where I am at with Atlas. Give the new guy a chance and see what happens.
  13. As far as XBox tie in goes, I imagine that is up to GS and how they deal with the advertising. Somebody around here had mentioned that MMO advertising budget is a substantial amount of the cost to create one (might of been Boomer.) I don't feel like researching it so I'm just gonna go with it. I know GS has said that the release into PC EA was a complete surprise with the number of players. Partially why it was such a mess. It is why there are 4 freeport islands in each grid, There was originally one island and it was overwhelmed with new players. Streamers were pushing the game pretty hard as well. I heard GS was paying them to stream. My point is if GS puts out a new fancy XBox video (They are pretty good at those videos.), gets some of the more popular XBox streamers going (They have those, right?), does a bit of advertising where ever XBox people go and they could end up with a decent amount of new players sales. Seems silly to me as the game is still in EA and I would think they would save for the real release, but, what do I know. Sales are sales.
  14. So I'm reading a thread on Atlas Reddit filled with all the cryin' souls that just watched the live stream. Blah, Blah, Yada, Yada, you know, same ol stuff different week. Regardless, I come across the following post .... "The stream was basic at best, and the reason again as i stated above is because Dollie and Jat came on to discord voice and gave us the details that should have been in stream not discord voice. Instead of answering questions about cosmetics they should have answered questions like Dollie and Jat did that the majority cared about." Easily raised my eyebrow and thought to myself "What the F#%k". Again .... per usual .... per GS historical norm .... there are information channels that seem to get treated substantially differently than others. If you are not in the right one, you are SOL. So I'm kinda pissy and my son comes in and says "What's up?" I explain to him the separation of information and he just nods and doesn't really say much (Usual response is "I can't believe your still playing that game."). However, on his way out he does say "Forums are for old people, dad." What? What does that even mean? Apparently the general consensus "IS" discord and twitter for gaming info .... at least in his world. So I thought about this as I really don't care for either to be honest, it does make sense. I see the live stream dev panel and I would call all of them young(er). An argument could be made about all info channels should receive the same information, but, I'm trying to stay away from that for the moment. I'm sure that is where this will devolve though. Secondarily, I do not know for certain if Jat and Dollie in discord voice even happened. Seeing as I am an old(er) person (50), my question is .... if you are reading this, are you an old person? Is this forum just filled with edgy curmudgeons shaking their walking sticks at the monitors?
  15. I liked what I heard on the live stream. A lot. They touched on many things, but, were pretty light on details. Intentionally so I imagine. Specific items that stood out to me were the following. -A focus on turning Atlas into a "Pirate Simulator." More sea game play and less land game play. - Players be able to log in after a while and be able to jump in to the game without worrying about losing progress. Seemed to mean off-lining is somehow going to be addressed/eliminated. - Focus on XBox/Crossplay in recent past and into the future until it is implemented. PC put on the back burner until then. - No new content for a while even after XBox release as focus will be on bug squashing and QOL improvements (Phase 1). - Sailing speed from point A to point B and associated time frames are to be addressed. They are aware it can be laborious task and not very fun. - I distinctly remember them saying Atlas is currently a gear based game and they would like it instead to be a skill based game. Equal up the playing field. - Redo the skill tree to make it more impactful at an individual level. I truly hope they take a good long look at Star Wars Galaxies (Pre-Combat Upgrade) and give us more than one character to develop. Skill based -hit a stone to get better at hitting stones. Shoot a pistol to get better at shooting pistols. - Factions are to be experimented with. Alternate world layouts PvPvE servers are being considered. - Islands and claiming to be taken another look at to see what is working and what isn't. - Tames will not be the priority of Atlas as they are now. - XBOBS .... lol At the very least they seem to have selected a direction to take the game. Atlas is to be a "Pirate Simulator" first and foremost. Not sure "exactly" what that means, but, it is something. I really don't care about this fantasy/pirate thing people seem to have. As per usual so much is to be determined and time will tell. As I have said on multiple occasions .... Atlas is in "Early Access". Things will change. Wipes will happen. For whatever reason the EA stamp means very little to so many people. It pretty much means everything to me and as a result they get a level of courtesy and patience that a "released" game most certainly does not. Interesting tid bits .... Studio has spent most of their time working on the ocean/ship mechanics. Eric said he has a background in PvP skills and balance. Road maps and pie charts ... heh, what a concept. Based on how the wipe went last time, I wouldn't say anything close to the word wipe. Maybe a days notice and then implemented ... surprise!
  16. Perhaps I should have spelt it cryin' and it wouldn't have been taken so literally.
  17. The word "crying" is quite "tongue in cheek" in my post. At least that was my intention.
  18. Meh ..... pretty typical thread of crying about all the things we've heard on numerous occasions in the last 8+ months. I will save my thoughts and opinions (crying) for another thread or perhaps after the live stream. Regardless, I will take this opportunity to welcome you (new guy) to the fun that is Atlas. As much as I hate to use the "P" word, I will. This game has so much "Potential" and I truly hope you can turn things around a bit. Wish you the best of luck and looking forward to what you might bring to the table.
  19. Mr. Boomer is quite correct. The insinuation I made with "Who knows, there could be 4-5 games out there working with Ark code and just a different theme and companies/publishers released within the last few months. Hey if you've got the money and manpower why not throw some sh!t at the wall and see what sticks?" was that everything ties back to Snail. The simple fact of the matter is nobody knows (Well ... somebody knows) , just nobody here. Side note: I don't know what the hell happened to that post I made. Wrote it, copied and pasted it from text file. Click on "submit reply" and the forums went down for a few days. Was gone when I logged back in so I rewrote it from the text file I had and whammo a mess, Boomer replied before I could fix it. Strange .....
  20. Yes, looking forward to it. I do like dev streams as they seem to ... personalize the game ... ground things that are going on ... better inform us .... something ... ?? Not sure, but I like em.
  21. Bit of good old fashion forum PvP going on in this thread as the servers seem to be a tad under populated. It is EA however and I'm fairly certain when a company plays the EA card they get the only thing that really counts at this point. Time .... So, I'll give it to them before I grab my "Mythic" pitchfork and begin poking BIG holes. On a side note I think Jeremy/Wild Card/Snail went all out on the "Ark Mod" idea. I recall another game eerily similar to Atlas/Ark but with an old west theme. Developed and published by Ark folks a month or two after the Atlas release. Who knows, there could be 4-5 games out there working with Ark code and just a different theme and companies/publishers released within the last few months. Hey if you've got the money and manpower why not throw some sh!t at the wall and see what sticks? Just gotta make sure it's got that "Early Access" tag though. Here it is https://store.steampowered.com/app/840800/Outlaws_of_the_Old_West/
  22. I've wondered about this myself. I remember in Star Citizen a while back (years) there was a guy that was on an absolute mission to destroy SC to no end. Anywhere and everywhere he could post he was making factually wrong, horrible and lengthy posts. Many different accounts (you could tell by his writing style and subjects), many different locations (Reddit, Official, mmorpg.com ... etc). Was brutal, don't know what ever happened to him. Darkfall Online had the same share of outspoken haters for years. Positively brutal posts about the game and the Dev team. Some of which was true and earned, but, most was just opinion about a game still in development. PvP games seem to bring out the worst in some people. Just makes me wonder if the strong arm forum moderation is a good thing or a bad thing for a game.
  23. It could always just be something the Devs just are not worried about at this time as well. I've read "somewhere" that balancing is something that is done towards the tail end of development. They try to balance the game early and then some mechanic gets added that completely destroys that balance. Similar to the torpedo thing. Here and gone in a week. Assuredly due to clan leaders expressing the imbalance and destructive potential of them. Someone had mentioned earlier in this thread how the big clan leaders basically had Jat on speed dial. Which in itself has certainly affected the direction of the game if true. Makes a lot of sense as to where the game is at with the power gap. While I do think their input is quite valuable to develpoment, it is only one portion of the player base. The small clan and solos are left with crying on the forums which is pretty much what we're doing here. While on the subject of crying, not liking the whole constant discovery point to keep leveling thing. I think the level at which you need to focus specifically on getting more discovery points is too low and should be reserved for later levels (80-100+). None of us would be here if we didn't at least like Atlas and/or care about the direction of the game. I love it personally and despite everything I am still here. Looking forward to what it brings in the future.
  24. I stand corrected. I meant to say the "Handling Sails" that work incredibly well and if you are not sporting them you will get run down. I am very aware of the useless BP speed sails handling sails are the new speed sail. You are correct and we will have to just agree to disagree on this subject. As per usual time will tell ..... Additionally, I made no such insinuation that you were some "Johnny come lately" and I'm not sure where that came from. I do at the very least think you mean well. However, I do find it curious how in a thread titled "What makes you feel like no longer playing Atlas?" you spend so much time rebutting people trying to answer that very question. Never played Ark, but, I do have a couple hours in Atlas.
×
×
  • Create New...