Allods Online Forum

Greetings My.com readers and fellow Allods fans,

Surely this has all been said before, but I hope you will bear with me.

Firstly, I'm going to state a fact stronger than opinion: Allods Online is perhaps the best designed tab-target MMORPG out there. Story, graphics, gameplay dynamic, music, originality... Allods has it all. The only problem is... The vast majority of people can't tell, even if they give the game a solid chance.

Allods Online's biggest strength is its Astral Ship content. To this day, there is still nothing like it. The only MMO I know of right now that has anything like it is ArcheAge, which is a way newer release. (I think DAoC or something like that had ship content similar to ArcheAge, or I should say ArcheAge is similar to DAoC or whichever older game it is)

Why hasn't this been acknowledged by putting effort into expanding the availability of Astral Ship content? New players must, they MUST be introduced to the unique and attention grabbing part of Allods that is Astral Ships much, much faster than they currently are. I'm talking by level 10 or 15 maximum. If players wind up skipping over every quest zone in the game in lieu of grinding out allods with their Astral ship crews, then so be it. Because right now, I play on the subscription server and there's no one in those quest zones anyway.

Several years ago, I brought a guild of players to Allods and we did a review. While doing that review, we established an active 100+ member leveling and entry-level endgame guild. At the time, a player could start his or her astral shenanigans at level 30 but there was no point. Questing and quest-line dungeons were far superior, and tooling around in the astral was only detrimental to character growth. Every single, and I mean EVERY single guild member (both the ones we brought and the ones we picked up along the way) that quit Allods Online did so because by the time they were anywhere near end game, they felt the game was just another same-old-same WoWish MMORPG. Those that made it to endgame eventually quit entirely because of the masochistic nature of entry-level PvP and the imbalance of fighting p2w runed players. Anyone leftover left because everyone else had left.

The rune imbalance and p2w issues has been solved entirely with the arrival of the new p2p subscription server, Smuggler's Paradise.

I beg you, I implore you to make astral ship content not only accessible to newbie players but make that content just as worthwhile in terms of leveling as if the player was simply grinding quests. Please, My.com, please please please do this BEFORE Allods Online hits Steam's download library.

If we do not bring the aspect of Astral Ship content to the foreground where it belongs, we are destined to fail. I know I am a nothing nobody, I know I am just some faceless player... I am sure of this, though. I know it in my gut. Allods Online will forever be unjustly deemed "another WoW clone" until any given player can experience Astral Ship content within the average attention span timeline of the MMO community.

Thanks for your time and thanks for listening!

Also...

There is much talk of a lack of advertising, and this is 100% true. However, I would pose this:

Allods Online is kept alive by a very loyal community. The people that continue to play genuinely love the game. In all reality, any given MMO is shaped not just by those that make it or run it but by those that play it. The most literal example being that with no players, you have no game. We can easily find deeper nuances, though.

Perhaps it's time to put our money where our mouths are, so to speak. Look at entiities like Facebook. Facebook, in actuality, has almost nothing of its own other than a medium. Almost the entirety of Facebook and what is on it is "user generated content". Perhaps we, the users, can form an advertising team and get shit done. I would put my time in effort into it with enthusiasm if I felt that it could give me another chance at sailing my Astral Ship through a sector full of other player ships. Of course, my support would only be towards the p2p server. As long as runes are around the f2p server is dead to me, and frankly dead to anyone that wants to PvP at all.

I'm going to put together a video or two, maybe make some banners or something. If anyone has ideas or knowledge on how to "get the word out" once material is provided beyond simply uploading to YouTube or something, I'd say we should collaborate.

Meanwhile, what I said earlier still stands. Bring Astral content to the foreground where new players can see it. Most people I know of that played Allods didn't even know you could have your own ship and fly around, they thought it was all just part of the background until I took them for a ride on the mighty Outlaw Star

Ah, good times.

Here we go. I threw this together as a rough draft overnight. I cannibalized footage from my old reviews as well as added in new stuff and clips from trailers to make a "Why You Should Go Back To Allods" video showcasing 2 main points:

1.) Smuggler's Paradise and the abolition of p2w on it

2.) Astral Ship content showcased to rightly set Allods apart from the crowd

My tools for making this are paint shop, windows movie maker, and an old headset so yes the quality is crappy. Anyone know if there is such thing as software that can restore video degredation like seen in some of the older clips in the video?

https://youtu.be/41grSFBzZXs

Quoted from "Aionwen"

Quoted from "Gheistlocke"

Allods Online's biggest strength is its Astral Ship content

*Hust* surely not, no further comments

I should clarify:

Allods Online's biggest strength when competing with other MMORPGs in a way that can make it stand out from the rest. Though that should have been apparent from the title.

You don't think so, though? I can't really think of anything else off the top of my head... reincarnations maybe? Dominion perhaps? Yet I fell like these can be compared to other things in other games. Astral Ship content, though? Nothing like it is found in other games. There are the ships in Archeage but they are elementary compared to the design and detail of the ships in Allods, let alone the art style.

What else could we offer? I often say to my buddies when they ask why I play Allods, "because I can do everything in Allods that I can do in any other MMO, but I can't do everything in any other MMO that I can do in Allods." This statement, of course, referring to Astral Ship content.

Allods Player, you bring up so many good points, there. I whole heartedly agree with everything you've said with the exception of the runes. I'm no pro game designer, but I know from both personal experience and observation of others that it is not a good idea to give veteran players incredible power over new players. From what I understand, the rune system is tied into PvE balancing so it is an integral part of the f2p server. When they did the p2p server there was a lot of work done to rebalance the PvE.

I can see why "getting rid of" runes is simply not an option BEYOND even the fact it would rip away progression bought with time and money from the older/more powerful players. That's understandable. Besides, nobody cares about p2w in PvE. In PvE, when a p2w character joins the group it is a good thing because they can help kick in doors, guns blazing.

It's the PvP that suffers, and even PvErs want to PvP from time to time. As it stands, you absolutely 100% factually have to spend a lot of money, hundreds of dollars even, to even BEGIN to participate in ANY of the game's wonderful PvP. If you make the mistake of trying to PvP, you may leave the skirmishes with a feeling of complete dejection as you look at your character and realize just how worthless and pathetic he/she really is. It sours the entire experience afterwards, or at least it did for me and my guildmates. I simply couldn't even look at my Psionicist the same. It has nothing at all to do with player skill, knowledge of game mechanics, or anything else but sheer rune power when you are geared in epic-mythics along with your relics and at least lvl 7 runes and you die in ONE HIT. There simply is no time to apply any skill or experience. There is only time to die horribly lol. PvP is a big part of Allods, both in story and in gameplay.

Mind you, in my opinion, all the PvP problems are fixed with the arrival of Smuggler's Paradise. I am SO greatful for them throwing up the subcription server and I can't wait to experience Allods in its fullest (I am still leveling at the moment). I have no problem grinding, running dungeons, and playing the progression game. I simply don't make enough money as a Chef to afford rune upgrades. I will happily, HAPPILY pay the $11/month for the chance to play Allods in a way where power is given by a player's own merit and not by the size of his wallet.

Like I said, though, I absolutely agree with everything else you said.

The graphics? Beautiful... breathtaking in some areas.
The music? Amazing, don't get me started!
The marks of fate? Huuuuge help in leveling. Perfect for skipping quests or even entire zones a player may not like.
The auto-move? Awesome. I love how you follow the ball of yarn like you're running a Cretan labyrinth lol.
The mounts? Love em! The abilities are awesome and many of them look fantastic.
The mercenaries? Holy crap, dude, this one is incredibly big. No other game has it. Absolutely amazing and incredibly useful.
The new stats? Bloodlust is great! Giving life leech to any player/class? Great idea. Determination? Awesome! You mean my character will actually fight harder when I fight harder? The new stats offer an amazing dynamic I haven't seen before.
Speaking of dynamic... the classes! Absolutely terrific. The fading shields mechanic on the paladin? The customization of the Healer or the Scout? The brutality of the warrior? Allods character design is unparalleled.
The storyline? Loved it!

What you said is obviously true; Allods Online was made with love. The developers really poured their effort into creating a unique world, and they did not skimp on the small details. To this day, I am amazed by the quality of design.