The community of the “Selective Multiplayer RPG” Shroud of the Avatar is currently heavily discussing the combat system. The developers invite to the discussion round.
Shroud of the Avatar has a tough time. It wants to satisfy MMORPG fans with a sandbox world, PvP, crafting and housing, but also aims to reach friends of single-player experiences. And wants to impress with a traditional offline mode and an epic story.
Bringing both together without upsetting either camp is very difficult.
This conflict makes the choice of a combat system difficult. SotA uses a semi-turn-based combat system, known from MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. This can, however, be optionally modified so that skills appear randomly in the hotbar and also disappear again. In addition, one has to compile a “deck” of skills and thus only has access to the skills from this deck during battles.
The optional “fixed” system, where the skills do not appear randomly, therefore plays similarly to that of WoW. This annoys some in the community. They had hoped for something new, something different, something that is not as “exhausted” as the classic combat system. However, the MMO traditionalists do not want to do without it.
The magic system is also being controversially discussed
Moreover, the magic system is also controversially discussed. For many, it feels like a pure action system. When wizards fight in a PvP duel, it feels more like an online shooter than an RPG. This goes more in the direction of The Elder Scrolls Online.
More on the topic: Shroud of the Avatar Release 19 starts – Free attacks are coming
People hoped for a magic system where spells must be transferred into a book and learned based on the available reagents. Only the spells learned this way should be usable, some demand. The recently changed skills system, where players now improve their skills through use, is still the system that is most well received. However, there are also suggestions for improvement regarding this.
Interesting: Shroud of the Avatar receives an Ultima Online-like skills system
Players participate in the discussion
Due to these discussions, there will be an online chat with the Technical Director of SotA, Chris Spears, on October 4th at 11 PM our time.
All players of Shroud of the Avatar are invited to participate in the chat and contribute their questions and suggestions to the discussion. Questions can also be asked in advance in the corresponding thread of the SotA forum.
So, if anyone among you plays SotA and is not completely satisfied with the current mechanics regarding combat, spells, and skills, they should take this opportunity to make their voices heard. Because SotA is still in the pre-alpha phase: changes are possible.
