Just somethings I noticed that I can’t ignore.
UI is confusing at times, sometimes you don’t know if the selection before you is a choice between options. When I started, it took a good hour learning curve before I was comfortable with the UI and I still don’t know what option is a choice between options and what is an independent option. Sometimes I don’t realise what I’m sacrificing and what I’m gaining. I have NO IDEA what anything does, and what is an item and what is a characteristic (I can understand from the text if it provides reasoning but most of the time the game just throws literally random items at you). I cannot stress this enough. The world knows what these items are, but the player doesn’t and has no clue as to the potential of them. I think an item glossary would not be an unwanted thing. A glossary that fills up as you go and as you discover prices of the item at locations, this is entered in the glossary as the trading is not dynamic, would be great as this game doesn’t act like you should be writing things down irl. I don’t mind when the game blindsides me, but for a game that gives out warnings left, right and center, at times decide not to inform you of something incredibly risky and dangerous or flat out ominous decisions.
Ship progression is very, very, very limited. The ship down is an obvious downgrade. But the next ship up is more a play-style exchange followed by flat out upgrades. Just wish there were more options to be honest.
Officer quests can be incredibly frustrating in that ask to go to locations but also have items you could not have possibly foreseen. It just frustrates me. Why can’t they say, "oh I need to have [this item] when we get there as well." They seem to know everything but that. And that’s just busywork.
Essentially my problem with the game is how reliant it is on wikis and guides. People say to go a place where you don’t know where it is, but the world does but decides not to give a rough idea just because. So your more likely to get screwed on the procedural generation, than making bad decisions coupled with bad luck.
edited by SenTerran on 2/9/2015
Sadly, Knowledge is the premier resource in the game, if you know the things that go on on the sea, the game becomes significantly easier, something there’s been a number of debates about in playtesting. I’m not sure there’s an easy way around it without putting up “How to” guides everywhere, it’s no different from a number of larger games that have the same problem, indeed almost any game that needs some exploration to be done, but it can be frustrating in the initial stages.
That frustration does fade when you really get going with the game.
[quote=Rocket Heeled Jack]Sadly, Knowledge is the premier resource in the game, if you know the things that go on on the sea, the game becomes significantly easier, something there’s been a number of debates about in playtesting. I’m not sure there’s an easy way around it without putting up "How to" guides everywhere, it’s no different from a number of larger games that have the same problem, indeed almost any game that needs some exploration to be done, but it can be frustrating in the initial stages.
That frustration does fade when you really get going with the game.[/quote]
I had a really long winded post but thankfully, the forum glitched out as it posted.
I’m talking about pointless ambiguity. I’m talking about Item’s comprised as name and description combined in one. That "Torpedo Components" are for all essential purposes "Torpedoes" but on face value confusing. And I see the intent in that you use "Torpedo Components" outside of combat but really it’s just confusing the matter. And this would solve most artificial game hurdles. "Torpedoes - Ammunition for Torpedo Weapons." "Recent News - Outsiders would be interested in what’s happening in London recently." And of course you don’t remove all ambiguity but for all extensive purposes putting a learning hurdle due to unclear items is not game play.
The other thing I want to raise, is my god I wish you can write on the map, because while they did a good job disguising locations in name and image, I can’t remember who sells what and for what price. And looking on a wiki is both cheating (to me personally) and interrupts gameplay. And also there are a lot of options or events you might want to do, but you don’t have the items but would like to return one day.
And once again I don’t know what is a choice of selections or an independent selection. When you take a option without realizing you’re removing another is nothing more than a UI issue, not a learning curve.
Hey it became long winded. Don’t get me wrong. I like the game. But there are some wrinkles that infringe on the game rather than not hand holding. Learning through mistakes is different than learning through misunderstanding.
PS. Bug – Zooming out all the way on map can cause map graphical flickering.
edited by SenTerran on 2/9/2015
An unintuitive learning curve and insufficient in-game information tracking/reference are complaints that keep coming back again and again.
While the enfrachised players (by the very nature of being enfranchised players) are hard placed to address this in an unbiased fashion, I find it very unfortunate that none of the developers have explicitly commented on this despite the issues coming up again and again and again.
Admittedly, the tutorial was added but I am not sure that is sufficient. As SenTerran says it’s not an issue of game play or genre or ingame motivation but primarily of UI and the way the game refused to present information that in principle should be available to a player. As WFT… review said it’s a wiki game and I think that’s a flaw not a feature.
Actually, most of us that have been playing it a long time recognise very much that it’s going to be a problem for beginning players, I’m hoping that it will be addressed at some point, either in the initial navigators boon or something else, because I remember well the frustrations when I started playing this, and it was easier then than it is now.