COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
The worries of a nobody

I haven't pledged nor have I done anything concrete or meaningful within the community as of now. I follow this game's development and I must say the level of polish even in the recent pre-alpha Prelyria footages impresses me. Same goes with the dedication SBS showed during these last few years of developement.

However, I can't decide to pledge as I worry about whether or not I will be able to play the game one day. It looks like the dream game we've all wanted on paper, but to be honest it looks impossible from the outside to include every single feature mentioned since 2015, or even most of them.

I know I can count on SBS for polish, that has already been established with the latest shinies.

1) However, how does SBS plan to implement (most of) the DSS professions? The list is intimidating for the least. Would it be even remotely possible to include them all with the same polish as the rest of the game?

2) Will every profession be tied to a (Runescape-style) skill like I understand it will? If so, just how complex and deep will those professions and skill be?

3) Will only the most fundamental skills see the day at first and SBS will implement the other ones during the years of release?

4) How will research & technology be approached if there's already so much to do? How deep will those mechanics be?

5) What about architecture, are all buildings premade or will we build them part by part? If it's the first option, how will the different materials unlocked by research & technology affect both the building's mats, architecture, size, etc. ?

6) What about crafting, gathering, mining, forging (new materials for existing tribe armor styles?), smelting, fishing, building (the process of), combat training, etc? How deep will they be/become and just how much will they interact between each-other. How much impact will all those have on the gameplay?

Thing is, many players will drop the game if they can't see the light a the end of the tunnel, and it is already a reason many people haven't pledged yet.

Don't get me wrong, I am SO HYPED for the game, but I am just as scared too. I want to be proven I'm wrong and stupid and play CoE in some years, lead by the amazing team that is SBS.

If we can get a full answer on this, I'll make sure to get a good pledge, for myself and my future game experience, but for SBS too. And I'm convinced many, many more people will get to pledge too for the same reasons. At least, I will get some of my friends to pledge, it wouldn't be much, but it'd be honest work.


11/1/2019 3:05:21 PM #1

I’m on the go, and not really able to respond to your questions, but wanted to say “welcome!”

Back when (and if) you feel ready, or wait until launch. You’ve got great questions, but you are NOT a nobody. Period.


11/1/2019 3:37:24 PM #2

Trust when I say we all have the same questions that we'd love to have answered. It is kinda scary to back a game that is as complex as CoE is planning to be. Will it live up to all the hype and promises? Probably not, but I do know SBS is working hard to be as close to it as possible. Backing a game is definitely an act of faith and something it fails horribly and sometimes the game comes out and is better than expected. As the last poster said, back the game when you feel you're ready, but not before then.


Mayor of Funny Farms Inc.

11/1/2019 4:45:38 PM #3

It is often said that the best predictor for future behavior is past behavior. So we can probably assume that SbS will continue to bring Elyria to life with the same dedication, passion and quality as they have before. (Mabye this passion has and will lead to some overly optimistic deadlines but this has leangthly been discussed elswhere...)

So even if no one can answer your questions as of now it may be a sophisticated guess that what we're about to see...

  • ... will be ambitious and huge! (That's what CoE has been from the start)
  • ... will put the gameplay experience first (as SbS has shown many times!)
  • ... will be rather complex and deep instead of dull (SbS keeps implementing mechanics like parcour even at a time with so many yet-to-come mechanics unfinished - this may adress Q2 and Q4)
  • ... will be balanced and thought through (forging - this may adress Q6)
  • ... will eventually change if SbS feels the need to (skillflower)
  • ... will probably take longer than we all hope! (well...)

Also with PrElyria SbS can test and iterate mechanics a lot while they keep implementing more and more of the mechanics, professions, skills, technologies, architecture bit by bit (this may adress Q1, Q3 and Q5). So even if you don't decide to pledge until then you'll have the opportunity to do so if you feel convinced and comfortable with the games progress until then!


11/1/2019 4:58:27 PM #4

Welcome QcDiablo,

I will try to explain how I came to the decision to back the game. I am generally pretty skeptical when it comes to games in development. I tend to over analyze things. The studio has mentioned using what they call "The Rope Bridge" method to game design. Building a Rope Bridge It was this philosophy that got me thinking CoE could become a reality.

The studio is definitely breaking new ground with the systems they are focusing on. Not necessarily new technologies but the thought process behind them. Take for instance NPC's. They aren't developing groundbreaking AI but are focusing on the psychology of the NPC's what are their wants and needs? Then setting up a decision system of questions and answers to determine what the NPC will do. Definitely not your normal stick an NPC behind a counter design like most games. But not skynet either.

Another area is crafting. Most games make the creation tool and then spend all their time creating the end product. Say 200 different swords. With CoE they created the tool and say 20 different sword parts. Then they give the player the tool as the crafting system and let us create the 200 different swords.

This format will relate to many of the systems in game. In my mind it will save a lot of the resources spent by other companies and allow SBS to use it to focus on areas of development that most recent games ignore(NPC interaction, Story engine, crafting, evolving world, ect).

I know this is an over simplification of the mechanics involved but without the exact details its hard to dig into them. So I am looking at their overall process and how I think it will be successful in the end.

So yes I think SBS is taking an unprecedented path to game design. But I don't think they are inventing magical new technologies. So in my mind everything they are trying to achieve is possible.

The real trick will be showing folks following the game enough progress to keep them believing in the dream. When you build the way they are there isn't a lot of shiny fluff to show off. The wrapping goes on at the end.

TLDR: I think CoE will become a reality because SBS is taking a different approach than most companies have lately. How many games have failed the old way?

So yes I will continue to have faith that CoE will become a reality and stay true to the vision that brought me here in the first place. -Focii-


Divide et Impera

11/1/2019 5:14:06 PM #5

Focii that would be the best explanation yet of why I hope CoE succeeds.

deletes the rest of my post to prevent negative thoughts or comments.


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11/1/2019 5:42:26 PM #6

Posted By SilkyBazaar at 1:14 PM - Fri Nov 01 2019

Focii that would be the best explanation yet of why I hope CoE succeeds.

deletes the rest of my post to prevent negative thoughts or comments.

Insert negative thought or comment here

11/1/2019 10:05:21 PM #7

One thought, when and if the day comes to back the game only commit what you are willing to possibly lose should things not work out.

I mean hey, they might deliver a MMORPG...err MEOW beyond compare and you might realize you are more of a dog person.

😉


You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. JAMES 1:19 NLT

11/2/2019 10:36:54 PM #8

I think everyone already supporting the game can relate to the OP here. Especially since most of us here have experienced multiple games that either breathed but lacked the vision of this game or their own pre-launch vision (The Secret World), or were amazing on paper but were never born (Revival, Dogma, World of Darkness MMO and others...).

Its right to be sceptical and anti-hype. All here are hoping for "the game" and a forum and Discord server are not that. But there isn't much else worth being excited about in mmo-land at the moment, so here some of us are.

The game will need extra players at launch anyway, so whether you back now or later is up to you and fine either way. If you're following the forum you are a part of this community regardless.


11/3/2019 7:05:35 PM #9

Me I think it will come to be just slower than we hope.

Seems like most of the different mechanics exist in various games just putting them all together and getting them to play nicely is the time part.


11/3/2019 9:41:12 PM #10

Hi mate welcome to this amazing community. I will write my experience about way I joined CoE and I ended up with spending as almost 10k on it. I am an Ultima Online player mainly. So when I find out a YouTube video of ElectricBear about CoE I got curious. Video after video my curiosity became obsession and I joined the Discord when I got much more information. When I realised the entity of this project I was skeptic at 1st, then speechless. Everything I even wanted in an Mmo was in CoE. I starts as a normal Baron/Mayor and ended up a Duke..... I suggest to join us in Discord when we can do a nice vocal for you and explain properly....


11/4/2019 2:19:39 PM #11

The reason I'm not too worried is there are a bunch of simulation games on the market. Blacksmith sim, thief sim, cooking sim, etc. The tech for what CoE needs for it's crafting is available to them. The simulation games I mentioned above is all made by small indy studios. Most likely smaller than SBS.

SBS could make the crafting themselves or outsource it without issue. For me, I'm not worried about the content, I want to see if the network can hold up to what they want to do.

11/4/2019 3:45:34 PM #12

Posted By QcDiablo at

I haven't pledged nor have I done anything concrete or meaningful within the community as of now. I follow this game's development and I must say the level of polish even in the recent pre-alpha Prelyria footages impresses me. Same goes with the dedication SBS showed during these last few years of developement.

However, I can't decide to pledge as I worry about whether or not I will be able to play the game one day. It looks like the dream game we've all wanted on paper, but to be honest it looks impossible from the outside to include every single feature mentioned since 2015, or even most of them.

I know I can count on SBS for polish, that has already been established with the latest shinies.

1) However, how does SBS plan to implement (most of) the DSS professions? The list is intimidating for the least. Would it be even remotely possible to include them all with the same polish as the rest of the game?

2) Will every profession be tied to a (Runescape-style) skill like I understand it will? If so, just how complex and deep will those professions and skill be?

3) Will only the most fundamental skills see the day at first and SBS will implement the other ones during the years of release?

4) How will research & technology be approached if there's already so much to do? How deep will those mechanics be?

5) What about architecture, are all buildings premade or will we build them part by part? If it's the first option, how will the different materials unlocked by research & technology affect both the building's mats, architecture, size, etc. ?

6) What about crafting, gathering, mining, forging (new materials for existing tribe armor styles?), smelting, fishing, building (the process of), combat training, etc? How deep will they be/become and just how much will they interact between each-other. How much impact will all those have on the gameplay?

Thing is, many players will drop the game if they can't see the light a the end of the tunnel, and it is already a reason many people haven't pledged yet.

Don't get me wrong, I am SO HYPED for the game, but I am just as scared too. I want to be proven I'm wrong and stupid and play CoE in some years, lead by the amazing team that is SBS.

If we can get a full answer on this, I'll make sure to get a good pledge, for myself and my future game experience, but for SBS too. And I'm convinced many, many more people will get to pledge too for the same reasons. At least, I will get some of my friends to pledge, it wouldn't be much, but it'd be honest work.

It's alright to be skeptical. I think many of us have our skeptical moments. As someone who invested in this game deeply, then bailed from it, only to come back and invest deeply again, I can totally relate to all your questions and concerns.


11/7/2019 9:04:30 PM #13

I think its about time for a new official production and state of Elyria blogpost from SbS, now with DSS and Kickstarterversary behind us. We had so many community journals this year with not much info about the game itself, so now its time for an update about the current development status of the actual game and prelyria-alpha1 in my opinion.


Life is too short to play bad games.