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Embers Adrift is a recently launched MMORPG from a small independent development team, Stormhaven Studios. The games official launched on October 15, 2022. The game requires a purchase (launch promotion, $30) and a $10/month subscription fee. The games official website is https://www.embersadrift.com and you can purchase the game from there. The game appears to be heavily inspired by classic Everquest design. The graphics and animations lean towards semi-realistic than cartoony. The class design is based strongly on the "holy trinity" with three base classes progressing towards 3 subclasses. The base classes are "Supporter," "Defender," and "Striker," and represent the healer, tank, and dps archetypes. There's a nice overview of the classes on the games forums: https://forums.embersadrift.com/index.php?threads/a-quick-overview-of-the-advanced-classes.1826/. I'll paste the info included below for the lazy: Supporter (base skills) (R) First Aid - Reliable heal with high stamina cost Assailing Strike - Attack that deals bonus damage directly to enemy armor. Screen - Protects a group member from the first incoming attack against them. Duelist (Supporter/DPS amp) [6] Patch - Quickly patch up your ally [8] Combined Strike - Cause enemy to bleed [10] Disengage - Appear less threatening [14] Weak Point - Attack which lowers Resistances [18] Serration - Buffs allied weapons with bleed proc chance [22] Triage - Quickly patch up your allies [26] Hemorrhaging Strike - Damage causes more damage [30] Stim - Increase ally stamina regeneration Sentinel (Supporter/Shaman Archetype) [6] Replenish - Heal over time [8] Distract - Reduces enemy chance to hit [10] Bolster Armor - Combat prep, armor up, speed down [14] Weaken - Reduces enemy armor penetration [18] Fortifying Aura - Resistance buff [22] Salvo - Attack multiple times (autoattack) [26] Diversion - Get your target's attention [30] Treatment - Instant + Delayed Heal Warlord (Supporter/Bard Archetype) [6]Open Wound - Makes enemies take more damage [6] Rejuvinating Hymn - AoE Heal over Time [8] Energizing Battle Chant - AoE Stamina Regen [10] Terrors of War - Cause fear [14] Stifle - Reduce enemy attack speed [16] Dread Bellow - Reduce enemy combat effectiveness [18] Focusing Battle Chant - AoE Focus Increase [22] Flinching Strike - Shake enemy defenses [26] Rallying Call - Increase Ally haste [30] Frightful Visage - Aoe fear ######################################## Defender (R) Provoke - Ranged aggro up Threatening Strike - Attack with aggro up Resistant - Resistance buff Juggernaut (Defender/AoE Taunt) (R) Breach - Attack that bypasses armor Roar - AoE aggro up No Time to Die - Powerful resilience buff Collateral Damage - Attack that can hit two targets Unstoppable - Powerful CC resistance buff Knight (Defender/Single Target Taunt ) (R) Enraging Strike - Attack which forces enemy to attack for a short time Protect - Resist buff on friendly Counter - Counterattack against first incoming hit Bash - Attack with aggro up Inspire - AoE status effect resist buff. Marshal (Defender/Off-Tank / CC Tank ) (R) Halt - AoE root Pursuit - Slow enemy (?) Pressure - Attack that inflicts disadvantage Sweep - Attack that can hit multiple targets Dodge - Defense Buff ######################################## Striker (R) Fading Strike - Attack with threat down Advantage Strike - Attack with reliable damage Bleeding Strike - Bleed damage Berserker (Striker / Pure DPS) (R) Assault - High stamina cost attack with no cooldown Arc - Attack that can hit multiple targets Fury - Buff to auto attack, can't use abilities Follow Through - Auto attacks have a chance to chain Pummel - Attack that can hit two targets Brigand (Striker / DPS/CC) (R) Stun - Fragile long term stun Hidden Strike - Attack with no aggro Overpower - Attack that bypasses defenses Sharpen Edge - Penetration buff Daze - Prevents enemies from using abilities Warden (Striker / DPS/Ranger) (R) Venom Strike - Attack that poisons enemies Assist - Attack which grants advantage to defensive target Aid - Fragile heal over time Lay of the Land - AoE increase movement speed Acid Strike - Attack that damages enemy armor ######################################## I feel generally that launch-time MMO capture a fun time during the era of the game. To the company's credit, there have been essentially zero stability issues with the launch of the game. The jury's out if the game will capture enough attention to have people subscribe. If there's enough goon interest we can form a guild, but as far as I know only one other goon is playing this. There's a whole other side to this game that's based on harvesting/crafting - though I don't know much more than that. The combat seems fun and the game strongly encourages grouping. Moreover, I think encouraging "genuine" indie mmo-dev work is a good thing, so I'm overall happy with the purchase.
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Oct 16, 2022 16:59
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| # ? May 5, 2024 15:47 |
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Hi. I believe I am that "only other goon" playing. I have done some harvesting. it's mostly pretty basic click node>get item>refine item. I haven't gotten to the crafting part yet but I don't think it's anything too far away from the WoW model. Echoing the sentiments both good and bad that Milk outlined. I think the game suffered not only from it's sneaky release but also from the target audience. EQ fans are few in number these days, even the TLPs that are released can be considered "niche" by modern MMO standards. To create a game catering to them and them specifically is... a questionable design decision. The devs do seem ernest and they walked back some of their more severe stances like no LFG/Guild management tools. I haven't made it far enough to know if they've walked back the "no auction house/bazaar" stance either but I hope so. Those are two mainstays in modern MMOs that only complete wackadoos like us Project 1999 players seem to live without.
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Oct 16, 2022 17:12
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Fangthane posted:Hi. I believe I am that "only other goon" playing. I have done some harvesting. it's mostly pretty basic click node>get item>refine item. I haven't gotten to the crafting part yet but I don't think it's anything too far away from the WoW model. That makes 3 goons!
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Oct 16, 2022 17:39
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I created a guild, "Unknown Guild", send a message to "Milk" for an invite.
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Oct 16, 2022 18:22
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Uh oh, I feel the call of the siren to slowly swing at mobs.
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Oct 16, 2022 19:35
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DangerDongs posted:Uh oh, The range of AA timer I have seen so far is 2s-6s. This time is delayed when you use abilities!
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Oct 16, 2022 20:24
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Checked out more of this, and I think we may have a dead on arrival. I'll keep an eye on it for sure, but I'm not willing to drop a monthly on something that seems like they pushed it out a year too early.
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Oct 17, 2022 00:39
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While not strictly DOA, I agree I don't think the game has long term viability. I mostly am checking it out to see how it is, a little safari into a launch MMO. So far it's been...ok? There are a lot of things that a certainly inspired by Everquest. There is a heavy emphasis placed on grouping, to the games detriment if you ask me. Their target demographic is probably somewhere in the late 20's to early 40's plus which is a group not likely to be able to devote hours and hours to getting meager progress, like "the old days". The reason this is important is because these folks want to play but due to their time constraints they can't devote 2 hours to running around a dungeon AFTER finding a group. That's one reason why a lot of more modern MMOs have been placing more content for solo players, or streamlining the process of finding groups, choosing to define the "massive multiplayer" part of MMO differently. I wouldn't be surprised if their game is doomed strictly because they targeted a loud but small minority of players. The sub model is also a weird choice, since they're banking on being able to sustain their game solely on sales and subs which isn't probable due to, again, the small market they designed this game for. All that being said, I'm going to stick around and watch. Who knows? Maybe they're going to cause a resurgence in the old style of MMOs.
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Oct 17, 2022 02:56
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Fangthane posted:While not strictly DOA, I agree I don't think the game has long term viability. I mostly am checking it out to see how it is, a little safari into a launch MMO. So far it's been...ok? There are a lot of things that a certainly inspired by Everquest. There is a heavy emphasis placed on grouping, to the games detriment if you ask me. Their target demographic is probably somewhere in the late 20's to early 40's plus which is a group not likely to be able to devote hours and hours to getting meager progress, like "the old days". The reason this is important is because these folks want to play but due to their time constraints they can't devote 2 hours to running around a dungeon AFTER finding a group. That's one reason why a lot of more modern MMOs have been placing more content for solo players, or streamlining the process of finding groups, choosing to define the "massive multiplayer" part of MMO differently. I wouldn't be surprised if their game is doomed strictly because they targeted a loud but small minority of players. The sub model is also a weird choice, since they're banking on being able to sustain their game solely on sales and subs which isn't probable due to, again, the small market they designed this game for. I would love to see it, but I'm pretty sure this game is a goner once people are asked to resub for the next month. It's a MMO launch, and there are currently less than a thousand people watching. It's a shame, because I wanted something like this badly. My biggest turn offs to it are the lack of high fantasy / magic, and that is a PVE only game and the devs seem to not want to ever move it towards raiding.
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Oct 17, 2022 03:11
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DangerDongs posted:I would love to see it, but I'm pretty sure this game is a goner once people are asked to resub for the next month. It's a MMO launch, and there are currently less than a thousand people watching. I believe they actually do want to have raiding. I am too tired and/or lazy at the moment to dig up an interviews they've done but it would fall in line with their Vision (tm) to include the raid scene. As for the low fantasy that's one the things I like about it, aesthetically. Its a personal thing, but taking magic and treating it like this rare and unknowable thing to the everyman is really intriguing. They have stated they don't want to include PVP though which, while I personally don't care much for PVP in MMOs, is a really bad choice. I like that there is someone else out that that uses current viewers to gauge interest. A ton of that might be attributed to them absolutely tanking the advertisement part of the release.
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Oct 17, 2022 03:24
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Fangthane posted:
Yeah, I normally couldn't care less about a game based on it's popularity. MMOs are the exception for the obvious reason of needing people to actually play with.
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Oct 17, 2022 03:35
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Wait there's no magic? Does this game have the "holy trinity" reskinned, like how in LoTR Online healers are actually "encouraging" you? IF I play this I was expecting to be a paladin type and off-heal off-tank, is that not how this game works? Edit: I read the OP. Shame the game is not done/being pushed out as-is, ironically it seems much further along and realized than Pantheon. Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Oct 17, 2022 |
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Oct 17, 2022 14:59
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Jack B Nimble posted:Wait there's no magic? Does this game have the "holy trinity" reskinned, like how in LoTR Online healers are actually "encouraging" you? IF I play this I was expecting to be a paladin type and off-heal off-tank, is that not how this game works? The game is definitely holy trinity with tank + heal + dps. The setting is low-fantasy where there might be some magic elements it’s not at the forefront at all. Most of the ability names suggest a physical basis, not magical basis - though rejuvenating hymn from warlord suggests you can heal from songs! There’s not really a class that matches what you’re suggesting, maybe sentinel but you are heal focused, not off heal. I figure the development team figured they have a game they can launch and see if they catch interest. It’s mostly a shame they have 0 marketing.
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Oct 17, 2022 21:09
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seems they broke their website. doh! i've got the EQ brain worms in spades but i'm not sure about throwing down $30 and a sub for this.
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Oct 18, 2022 17:16
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A Redditor posted:A Critical Review of Embers Adrift The big unspoken element of this review, I mean the author does mention it but it bears stressing, is that their friends are also playing the game. That's a real make or break for a review that is basically "you know it's actually not so bad". Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Oct 19, 2022 |
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Oct 19, 2022 19:08
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For what it's worth, I have no friends that play this game, and I've found getting groups and getting into adventures fairly easy. I think it helps that most group activity involves sort of finding an environment to grind in and then strategizing around spawns and loot in the area, so you really just have to put yourself out there as like "I'm a Striker that wants to go do Central Veins" or "I'm a Defender that wants to hunt spiders in Northreach" and you're good to go.
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Oct 20, 2022 00:43
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I can start fighting a npc, go downstairs, make dinner, eat dinner, walk the dogs, take a shower, call up a family member and talk for 40 mins, come back to the game and im still swinging at the npc...
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Oct 21, 2022 14:21
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drat that's cool. I'm pretty sure my character would die if I did that.
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Oct 21, 2022 18:15
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100 degrees Calcium posted:drat that's cool. I'm pretty sure my character would die if I did that. had the npc down to about 45%, not bad..
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Oct 21, 2022 20:17
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I'm in Embers adrift and I just want to say there is a tank player named Agromemnon.
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Oct 23, 2022 13:22
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this game sounds interesting but no map + limited landmarks sounds awful
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Oct 23, 2022 14:49
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It's not really a very breath taking overland but there's certainly enough to navigate by, that's something I'm sure after playing this weekend. It's no Elden Ring but you'll orient yourself based off the game world. I auto ran while getting food irl, got lost, and flagged down a passing player like my car had run out if gas. He showed me the way to town, we laughed about auto run, and I gave him 10 cp. That's the MMORPG I want 
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Oct 24, 2022 00:27
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i dont think this game is good, but it is just functional enough to provide the experience im looking for. just running around, doing quests, getting into groups with random nice people, exploring, getting lost in dungeons. getting really lost. spending 2 hours and having to get a player from global chat come guide you to your quest location kinda lost (i dont think you need to spend 2 hours in that dungeon to complete your quests, i think we just sucked) the tanking experience might be a nightmare though. i dont know how much is by design and how much is by jank, but the game really fights you, especially with camera control weirdness and mobs pathing like they are blackout drunk
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Oct 24, 2022 00:58
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I'm not a tank, and god bless my friend who is, but the "positional" mechanic seems to be the culprit. In wow it's "cubes shooting numbers at each other in a vacuum" and mobs rarely need to reposition much, but in this game an enemy will switch aggro and then, based on who it wants to be in front of it plus a lot of weirdness, it starts to slide around the party like a Tokyo drifter. And then, when the tank regains aggro, the mob seesaws back around.
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Oct 24, 2022 02:05
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Yeah that's exactly it. Then you also have a very narrow cone in front of you where you need to keep the mobs to attack them, combined with the long cast times of every ability, AND your movement speed in combat which always seems to be slower than the mobs, and you end up doing a lot of awkward running and shuffling around. I usually enjoy tanking, so I hope this improves with time
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Oct 24, 2022 11:02
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The honeymoon phase seems to be over for me. I was out gathering alone and got invited to my third night of spider den grinding and I"m just like... is this it? Have I seen the whole game? I mean, I know there are other areas and monsters and stuff, but am I going to just be jumping from one farm group to another, repeating the process of waiting for people to find their way, trying to keep a group together for long enough to get decent xp until I get to level 50? And then what? I don't know, I started the game with a lot of enthusiasm and I kind of dig what they're doing, but I feel like I've seen the full course of new experiences I'm going to get, so I'm losing motivation.
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Oct 25, 2022 00:05
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Wow, that was quick..
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Oct 26, 2022 00:11
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maybe they should have called it "embers keep playing for longer than a week" instead of embers adrift
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Oct 26, 2022 13:11
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embers adrift out of the game
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Oct 26, 2022 15:38
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I haven't quite quit yet, but mostly just cause I like the folks in my guild. It's just... so boring! If this is what EQ was like back in the day, it makes me wonder how the gently caress this genre ever took off.
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Oct 26, 2022 19:09
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even in 1999, the internet makes you stupid
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Oct 26, 2022 20:53
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100 degrees Calcium posted:I haven't quite quit yet, but mostly just cause I like the folks in my guild. It's just... so boring! If this is what EQ was like back in the day, it makes me wonder how the gently caress this genre ever took off. we didn't know any better
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Oct 27, 2022 00:00
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blatman posted:maybe they should have called it "embers keep playing for longer than a week" instead of embers adrift 
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Oct 27, 2022 02:36
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Kevin Bacon posted:embers adrift out of the game embers agrift
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Oct 27, 2022 04:02
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The Game is doing fine in the sense that it's hitting their target audience and some of the bigger P99 streamers have been playing this instead. I wouldn't say it's a dead game, but I also wouldn't say its future is assured. A lot of the same problems I mentioned earlier are still there, chiefly the target audience being too niche. They're going to run into another problem when the price increases if they haven't fixed a lot of the jank and how....stale the world feels. 100 degrees Calcium posted:The honeymoon phase seems to be over for me. I was out gathering alone and got invited to my third night of spider den grinding and I"m just like... is this it? Have I seen the whole game? I mean, I know there are other areas and monsters and stuff, but am I going to just be jumping from one farm group to another, repeating the process of waiting for people to find their way, trying to keep a group together for long enough to get decent xp until I get to level 50? And then what? This is something I've said too, which puts me in a weird place because I still play EQ Project 1999 (love it in fact. Well the community and GMs leave a lot to be desired but there is nothing wrong with the game) and really that's all there is to do in EQ as well. So I guess the gap is that the the world feels more alive and lived in. This is easy to observe in a place like Qeynos but even in Kunark you arrive after something happened and are piecing everything together. In Embers everyone is just kinda here. Also EQ has a powerful nostalgia factor keeping it alive and relatively stable, popularity wise, which Embers could not tap into because it hasn't been around long enough to evoke that emotion. I have a theory that they're not just inspired by late 90's/early 00 MMOs but are actually trying to emulate the 1999 MMO experience. This is coincidentally what Tanaka tried to do by accident when FF14 1.0 was released and based almost whole cloth off FF11. That....didn't go well. So what would Embers have to do? I'd skip the jank because games are often like that especially with a small team like this. Their combat is clunky and confused, the world lacks a lot of world building, trade skills are extremely basic and anyone that's had exposure to FF14 or, hell, EQ2 would balk at it, the mob variety is really lacking (so far I've seen animals of various flavors, humans, spiders and these bat things) just for starters. Also something really weird is that they didn't place an emphasis on questing which is ok I guess but each "tier" of leveling area seems to have a quest chain that rewards a really strong weapon at the end of it. Also I understand that Emberstone, the fuel for their quick travel system, is also locked behind a quest which seems like a strange two-faced attitude. "We don't want you to be questing all the time, but if you don't you're going to be missing out power increases AND an entire mechanic of the game."
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Oct 27, 2022 13:49
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I'm not seeing much about crowd control or pulling, and those are pretty huge parts of the EQ experience to me. I'm not likely to get on board with a purchase price AND monthly fee at this point anyway, but it sounds like the game is pretty lacking in content. Is that accurate?
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Nov 1, 2022 19:33
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I played two week or so with a buddy and the earlier post about grouping for spider dungeons rings pretty true to me. Personally, I ended up making a character on Turtle WoW instead, though I still think I'll jump back into this when my schedule lines up with my friend. After all, I already paid for the sub :y: There's a CC Tank, I think my buddy is that actually, but as a healer, and as someone who's only level 7, I really can't say I see a lot of distinction. He holds aggro The biggest thing I notice about group dynamics is that things are noticeably better the instant you have the holy trinity represented in your party.Also, and I think this is less about the low magic setting and more about the lack of artistic budget/expertise, but man every single player looks identical in and out of combat. Who is in the party? Folks in mishmashed armor holding melee weapons. What are they doing? Swarming over the mob and attacking it in melee. Compare that to the way different classes are immediately distinguiable both in and of combat in EQ, WoW, FF14, etc. Edit: Like, call me shallow, but the graphics wore on my pretty quick. Guild Wars 2, WoW, FF14, even WildStar are all really good looking games, and horrifyingly the game I'm reminded of for Embers Adrift is, uh, Rust? Ark? Theres a kind of aesthetic where things are generally sort of realistic looking but also sort of bland. Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Nov 1, 2022 |
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Nov 1, 2022 22:10
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Do the environments/enemies get more interesting after the early levels? All the gameplay videos Ive seen have players fighting bugs and animals, maybe bandits or a bear
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Nov 3, 2022 23:21
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My brother-in-law convinced me to get in as an Alpha Backer when it was extremely bare bones. It was interesting, and I thought seeing the process of it developing would be interesting, but I didn't really stay with it long. I always planned on getting back into it when it developed a bit more. Maybe I should? I'm on the fence. I'm not sure if it's the MMO for me. Story is really important to me, and that never seemed to be a direction the game was going to go in.
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Nov 5, 2022 01:53
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I just heard about this game.. Seems like it has some promise but loses steam pretty fast without friends? $40 seems pretty steep to find out, especially since I'll be playing Midnight Suns this weekend. Anyone playing this still?
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Dec 1, 2022 16:30
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