Once I could travel properly, through space, I made the trip to Arkadia to check it out. I know things are not quite up to speed yet, but overall I've had pretty good time and I do see a lot of potential. It will be interesting to see what treasure hunting will be like, and how it fits in - so I will be coming back again. My first strong impression was one that has stuck with me throughout my stay, and it is not really a positive or negative one overall, but it does sort of rub me the wrong way. I feel like I'm playing a game more than visiting a virtual world. Let me explain. When I hunt, all I ever see are medium to high density spawns of single mobs, with nothing but empty space in-between. I not only enjoy hunting in mixed spawns, but I also like very low density spawns that put some sort of wildlife most places. On Arkadia it seems like every spawn is set up for grinding, like a taxed land area (What will they have to offer?). When mining I feel the same thing, it is easy enough to just stick to empty areas, so mining is totally easy and un-eventful. Everything seems set up for grinding - not adventure. The landscape is also disappointing. Not a lot of variety, nothing remotely alien, and very repetitive. I get the game-like feeling here, too. Everything feels like it has been optimized to death - for example, when driving around, there are fun jumps all over and it's so easy to cruise around, but I feel like I'm playing some console game. Hey, where are my points for that awesome jump? Many of the things I don't like will appeal to others, and a smaller and less complex world may be much better for new players, so these are not things I think are wrong, so much as things that don't appeal to me - I am aware that I am not the target audience, either. The new arrival areas seem good - and having many of them should lend itself to bringing in lots of players. I thought the idea of a new planet, starting with a blank slate, would pull me into it's story and that the coherence would be a big plus, but what I found is that I really like the chaotic nature of my home planet - the jumbled history, the dead-ends and missing pieces of stories and places, the challenging landscape and overall wildness of it. All of that gives a greater sense of reality to the whole experience. Arkadia seems too far to the other extreme, and I think it could use a dose of the unexpected, and some general jumbling around to lessen the antiseptic quality of the experience. I hope as Arkadia moves forward it is able to strengthen the sense of adventure that I get when I am here. Overall though, for a brand new planet developed in such a short time, it reflects well on the developers and the platform. I am interested to see how will develop - it has a long way to go, but not a bad start at all. Cheers! Miles
I am amazed how you summed it up Miles. My impressions was very much the same as yours, with the difference maybe that i really really enjoyed it. The landscape is very "generic", well three generic types of landscapes. Nothing "alien" as i would have expected, nothing like the few early concept art images we have seen last year or so would have indicated. Thing is, i noticed it but enjoyed the "smoothness". You are right, how everything is set up at the moment it is more a grinder planet. The mob spawns, the smooth landscapes, makes it easy to grind away for hours. Everything is easy on the eyes and performs well. I like that a lot and still after some time i miss Calypso. You know, the more "psychedelic" parts of it, the alien landscapes and all, the frakked up mob spawns that makes it hard to keep up the speed.. Must be something masochistic in me.. For me that is no problem as i am only a visitor to Arkadia and not a resident. In fact i like the idea to share my time between those two planets in the future. They do complement each other, at least for my needs. My impression is: The Arkadia team focused on getting a well playable planet out for the start. One can see that on every corner, starting with the design and the stats of the TT weapons to the trafficability of the areas (driving with my Valkyrie was never so much fun as on Arkadia). It is definatly a planet designed by people who know what the current plattform can do and, more important, what it can't. They can, and i think they will, add more "character" to the face of the planet as time goes by. I think it was the better choice to have an smooth design right away and then see what can be added and works then to start with an exciting exploring planet that also can annoy a lot of people right away.
I think this sums it up. The development team build a pretty strong fundament and from there on they will keep building on top of that. The base is good like it is now and with treasure hunting, economic tweaks, new mobs, new IFM challenges, continued storyline etc. to come i think they are progressing quitte well. If i had to choose between a planet with all new functionality and mobs from the first day but not working properly or a good solid base where things are added in time, i choose the second..
Yes, that is why I feel Arkadia does have so much potential - because it seems like a very solid foundation. I also have had a fun time, although I am looking forward to going home, I am certain I will return. I think my impressions seem more negative than I perhaps intended. What they have so far can be the basis for a great planet. I also know that much of what I like is annoying to many others, so variety is important - I don't want them to make more Calypso. Once I get back to Calypso I'll post my "reflections" here - this was was just me trying to express the immediate feelings I had while playing. Cheers! Miles
Well, My visit is over - but I look forward to seeing how things develop, and I'll be back for sure. On reflection I still get that "it's a game" feeling, but that is not a bad thing overall, especially at this stage of development. I look forward to more mobs, particularly lower/mid level ones, I felt like most mobs spawns were way above playing level (not my skill level, I am a level 50+ laser sniper) and that most of the hunting was focused on really big mobs and newb mobs - with not much in between. I'll be more inclined to stay longer if I have more hunting options. My 6 hunting globals; 3 on Hadraadae, 2 on big Oro's, and one on a Bokal, mostly had items in them, which is nice. I ended up doing more mining because the demand was there, where almost all of my hunting loot went to the TT. I almost felt bad for leaving because it seems like there is a real need for more miners, but I get bored mining in empty areas, and most of the mobs spawns are too dense or too tough to mine among (however, agro levels tend to be really low). There are definitely good opportunities for miners right now. Although I found too few mobs in my sweet-spot, and not enough challenge or adventure to life on the planet as whole - more of grinders paradise - I am still impressed with results so far. I expect the addition of treasure hunting and underground (whatever that is) have the potential to make it more fun for me. So until next time, Cheers! Miles
