Hello,
So I’ve started playing Orbus via the level 10 trial (amazing idea by the way, I think this was a great business decision for you guys) and I wanted to compile my feedback in regards to my time spent playing.
- The new player video is nice, but it needs follow-up:
The video tells you how to start the tutorial mission, which is important in the sense that unless you knew to wave your hand you would have no idea how to hail the NPCs (would PROBABLY figure it out, but still), getting an overview of “what to do” is great but there’s still a lot of missing information. For instance the video shows very briefly the mission NPCs and tells you what kind of missions they offer but not where to find them. Only about half of the mission NPCs have markers over their heads, and what those mean is also not explained. So, for me personally as an example I had no idea where to find the scavenging NPC until I randomly stumbled upon him, same for fishing. This is a big deal because these are all ways you gain XP and not having access to them makes the leveling process that much more of a grind.
My recommended fix: Make locating and accepting your first mission from each NPC part of the tutorial. This will eliminate a lot of confusion and lead to a happier playerbase who know all of their options for getting xp (not everyone wants to grind out mobs 100% of the time).
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Early Quest items need a spawn boost:
Now that this trial exists, there needs to be a big decrease on spawn timers for the areas just outside of highsteppe. Nobody wants to stand around waiting for the thing they need to spawn so that they can progress. This can be slightly remedied with the first suggestion, as if you know about and have one of each mission type in your log then you can complete other objectives while you are waiting for this to occur. -
Mob cons are basically worthless because of the random nature of gear:
I had several level 5-6 missions while level 6 but could not defeat the enemies required, despite several attempts. Even on enemies that I am able to beat, it’s usually only by a small margin of my health that I survive the encounter. This I believe is because there is an assumption being made about what stats a player should have at a certain level which includes gear. When there is no vendor to buy gear from though, the assumed power level should be substantially lower in order to account for the random nature of gear drops. When you get a PvE mission of the same level as your character you should not be faced with a mob that you cannot kill.
I think that’s all I can think of at the moment. I’ll edit/add more if I think of anything else. Overall I think you have a very solid foundation for a game here, but I think if you really want to take advantage of this new approach to pulling players in you have to make sure that the trial players are not lacking in information or frustrated with the game during that period. MMO players are particularly fickle with all of the options available, even considering the VR hook here, and most won’t return to a game they did not enjoy the first time around.