Following the release of the game, I’ve seen a significant part of the community discuss possible adjustments that could be made for the Early Game.
Thus, some of us Testers grouped and made some suggestions to improve the Early Game part of the game.
The purpose of this thread - and future ones - is to show you, the community, that we do read your feedback, within reasonable margins (the removal of whole mechanics isn’t something we can do), and take action with our suggestions.
Now, before I show you what we’ve come up with, know that this thread should be used as a way to discuss what you’ve read.
Also, what you’re going to read is just a part of what we’ve come up with.
Storyline
This part is pertaining to the Storyline; this section is where you will usually find changes to the Storyline itself and/or mechanics pertaining to it.
The First Level Lock
Lvl 40 - This level lock comes as a surprise for the general population of casual players. These changes try to ease the level divide between the end of Frostmill Island Arc and the start of Cirrus Island Arc.
- A segue between Frostmill, Palo, and Cirrus should be implemented.
- Currently the only transitional quest between islands is the Palo Town Cargo. A potential way to make it transition between these three islands is by linking it to the story.
- Frostmill Mayor instead sends you to Palo Town to investigate rumours of Iris heading there. (Story Mission: Head to Palo Town)
- You head to Palo Town and all of a sudden a random Order of Aesir member attacks you, stating you shouldn’t meddle in affairs you can’t comprehend, or something. (Story Mission: Defeat the violent stranger)
- Defeat them, tell Mayor Tilly. She expresses her concern, and says she will help find Iris, but help around the town while she finds information. (Story Mission: Complete quests in Palo Town x/x) [Maybe include something like “explore X islands”?] - Night
- After completing the side missions, now intertwined into the story just like how it happened in Redwake, she tells you to explore the surrounding islands first, and see if you find any clues. (Story Mission: Explore Harvest Island and search for clues)
- After you return, Tilly says the rumors are saying Iris went to Cirrus. She warns you to prepare for the journey, and to continue helping the villagers until you feel ready. (Story Mission: Stepstones)
- In the description, it can say she warns you of the journey and in bolded letters, “It would be best to continue honing your strength before embarking on the journey. Perhaps there are villagers that need your help again?”
- The above shifted storyline does the following:
- Provides 4 Story Missions that can guarantee at least 4 level ups in terms of experience.
- Provides a healthy “forced” in-game reasoning on why you need to help the villagers with their quests (Investigating rumors takes time!), also guaranteeing a couple levels from side quests.
- Provides a sense of exploration and unlocks Palo Town and Harvest Island.
- Provides an in-game indication you can do some quests over again. Surprisingly, a lot of people do not know this fact, which are the same people that call AO a bandit beater.
- Currently the only transitional quest between islands is the Palo Town Cargo. A potential way to make it transition between these three islands is by linking it to the story.
- xael and morosanu
Stepstones
After talking to Warren when you come back from speaking to Iris, you should be teleported up to Cirrus Island with or without a cutscene; we’ve had many players complain about this since scaling the Stepstones is very annoying when you’re so focused on the story.
This fixes one of the main issues that players complain about.
- Night
Ravenna and Stealth / Throne Room
While talking to some users, I’ve noticed that one common issue is that they don’t know how to get out of Ravenna Castello without getting captured.
The solution to this might be a tip that appears after you get the “Into Hiding” Storyline Quest that tells you that you can’t stay on the ground or you will be captured by the Bronze Legion.
Additionally, there should be a way to escape Ravenna Castello without having to go through the front entrance since it gets you captured by the Bronze Legion in case you might want to explore some more before the boss fight or grind to get stronger to defeat King Calvus.
A hole on the right of the path that leads you to the Throne Room could work.
- Night
Ravenna and Bounty
After you get the disguise, you should be able to talk to Ravenna’s shopkeepers as it will be treated as a neutral zone while you still have the disguise on.
This ensures that Bounty players that aren’t in the Assassin Syndicate aren’t too penalised because of their gameplay choices, as opposed to Assassin Syndicate players that have immediate access to shops at Blackwater Grotto since they spawn there.
- Night
Quality of Life
Changes that aim to improve the player’s general experience of the game.
Menu Keybind Visibility - FlameKagome
Hovering over menu items in the bottom right should also display their keybinds. There isn’t anywhere in the game that tells you this information (Change displayed below)
Spawn Change Visibility - Night
While not as important, players may simply be unaware that they can spawn somewhere else after progressing on the story; the tip on the lower right corner isn’t enough: it should appear somewhere else like the descriptions of islands do when you reach them.
Ex: “YOU WILL NOW SPAWN AT [X ISLAND] UPON DEATH” in bold letters.
Skyship Check - Night
When spawning skyships, the game should check if there already is one, and if that’s the case, it should do one of the two: spawn your skyship elsewhere or tell you that you cannot currently spawn your skyship.
Cargo Dashing - FlameKagome
Allow the use of dashing while carrying cargo or sealed chests only while out of combat. I’m guessing this isn’t a feature because people can potentially run away while holding valuable loot.
Increased Cooking XP - Meta
Double the XP gained from cooking. Currently, it’s 0.05% per Hunger, and you’d have to cook so much food to even get just one level right now.
Deckhands, Ship, and Cargo Despawning Proximity - Meta
The game should check if there are players nearby before despawning because it’s immersion-breaking and often annoying when they despawn in front of players.
Ship Hull Paint - FlameKagome
Hull armour paint doesn’t save when changing ship types or when swapping to different hulls. Make it possible for the paint on hulls to save across those actions? If possible at all.
Making NPCS no longer racist towards clams, bananas, and things of the sort - Polar
Title is mostly a joke, but NPCs should not be so picky about what sort of items I give them. If I pick up a blue clam for Enizor’s quest, he should be fine with that. If I pick up Giant Bananas for Ellie Bowen (Palo Town banana quest giver) she should be more than happy I am giving her giant ones, etc. If this is not doable, (maybe Enizor SPECIFICALLY needs normal clams, etc.) at the very least, they should accept items I get from ingredient bags or food crates, does the clam REALLY have to be from the shore? These sorts of quests are the type players already don’t enjoy, so making them less of a pain is better for everyone.
Uncertain
This is what we have considered and suggested, though it’s not certain that these will be added.
Ship Despawning
This one is a frequently requested feature, and while we might have come up with possible solutions to have it added we don’t promise anything.
Boss Arena Destruction
Same thing as above, we have discussed this multiple times with vetex, and perhaps it might get considered in the future.
Bosses and Multi-hits
This one is a mix between a bug and something we want to add; aka making multi-hit moves unable to be always parried or blocked unless the NPC itself is blocking visibly.
But once again, we promise nothing aside from the bug fix.