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[ReaperXL7]

No, the type of world changing I was proposing would most certainly be seen by most people. Any significant world changing event would be directly related to a main story mission that people must complete to finish the game. You could do side missions and avoid main missions, but in the end everyone is going to have to do those main missions. Before going into such a mission with a permanent world change, it might prompt you to save: "Significant changes may occur after completing this mission; do you want to save prior to entering?"

Mix it up with some dynamic world events, ala Dragon surprise attacks in Skyrim, and you'd have a world that feels constantly fluid, where your actions really matter and where major turns in battle scar the world. It'd be a big improvement in the open western RPG genre, in my view. I imagine it would cost something, but I'd take a dozen less loosely designed sidequest/fetchquesting if it meant one extra story event where a fundamental change would occur

The problem with that type of quest structure with reckoning is the amount of lore and history they already have in place for the IP, they have 10,000 years of world lore in place so have senarios where players can radically change the world would be difficult to do and fit into the history they already have mapped out. The only way to reflect those choices in possible novels would be to reach way back to the 80's and make some which way/ choose your own adventure books. Plus if those changes differed from player to player people would expect to see those changes in possible reckoning sequels. Its the downfall of having so much lore for an ip like this, it adds a lot of depth to the games world, but little flexibility. Bioware for instance has shown they did not have a clear direction for DA and at this point are just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks Hence the end of DA2.

I don't know how they could have world changing event scenarios with the amount of planning in place for the ip, especially if the changing was designed around player choice.

 

[Brandon F]

Been out of this thread for a bit since I shelved the game waiting for a patch...any update on the patch and/or timeframe? My kids ask me daily "did they fix the game yet?". Both my kids and myself are around level 20 and waisting everything in site and we decided to shelve the game for a bit until a patch comes out...bad thing is we love the game so much that we want to play it but not in the current state we are in right now where there is no challenge whatsoever.

What going to make matters worst for us is that the guide we pre-ordered should be coming in any day now and that is going to put more angst in wanting to play the game.

I'm right there with you.

I can't imagine this is going to be a quick fix, or something the team will deliver for at least several months(if they even bother). The sorts of issues involved in making this thing happen are rooted pretty deep in the fundamental design groundwork and lots of questions and decisions are going to need to be argued out, then implemented, tested, new issues brought back to the conference table, re-implemented, tested, etc...

Even just a purely simple 'raise all enemy stats!' band-aid "Super Hard mode" likely requires quite a bit of work. And really, I'm doubtful that will even fix all that much.

Meanwhile, whatever plans were in place 'post-release' in terms of DLC still needs to come to fruition on a set schedule that likely can't be deviated much from. I can't fathom a massive shift in manpower and resources from that timetable will occur just to please the vocal minority. Game is selling, some of us are bummed out, maybe next time...

I am surprised though. During the big 'pre-launch' podcast tour, it was stated that internal playthroughs lasted 200 hours to fully 100% the game. I'm surprised anyone actually humbled through that long with the current balancing, I couldn't last 10 hours. :/

 

[MushroomSamba]

Thought I made it clear in my post.. but what is broken is the fact that we (me, my son and my daughter) are all around level 20 or so and there is no challenge in the game at all. We all are playing on hard and the game is just a cake walk since we are so over-powered with gear etc.

Take matters into your own hands and nerf yourself. I stopped trying to use all the best loot (hell, I barely wear armor at all anymore for the most part). Also, no more reckoning, high level spells, or potions (save for the minor health pot here and there between battles since I don't get health regen perks). I think you'll be enjoying the combat a lot more when you start getting pushed.

 

[Sidzed2]

Reckoning is the subject of my inaugural review at Rocket Chainsaw - a site for which our beloved mod EatChildren is an editor and writer.

Please give it a look-see (Hint: I liked it a fair bit): http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/review/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-review/

 

[Lain]

Today I found out, to my surprise, that my chest in the first village contained the fate weapons along the stuff unlocked for playing the demo and the stick to see plants on the map from the amazon preorder.
I played very little (I think I'm only level 4), but I'm already having problems with space in my inventory.

 

[Digoman]

I don't know how they could have world changing event scenarios with the amount of planning in place for the ip, especially if the changing was designed around player choice.

Depends on world changing events Amir0x is thinking about. If they are more linear then that wouldn't be a problem. Still, I don't think open world western RPGs do that, unless is end-game, and even then, you get people complaining that they can't explore the world after. I understand people wanting the freedom to explore the content at any time, at cost of having the world remaining static, On the other hand, having for example something like 3 stages in the main quest line of Reckoning, where we would see the border of conflict change and maybe even having new sidequests dealing with the changes, would be really interesting.

As for the changes with choices... well, I know I'm in the minority but I don't really mind the developers having a "cannon" plot when going to sequels. Witcher 2 did, and I'd imagine 3 is going to have to do as well.

I guess an easier way to make my point. No where other than video games do you see stories of characters tasked with saving the world having to go find beetle thread for Joeshit the Ragman so he can make socks.

True enough. I guess we kind accept this disconnect on RPGs so we can have a interesting story and explore the Lore/World (and level up). I still like the idea of exploring "other sides" of people in the world aside form the main conflict, but it could probably have a more a reasonable explanation for the down time in saving the world.

 

[Amir0x]

The problem with that type of quest structure with reckoning is the amount of lore and history they already have in place for the IP, they have 10,000 years of world lore in place so have senarios where players can radically change the world would be difficult to do and fit into the history they already have mapped out. The only way to reflect those choices in possible novels would be to reach way back to the 80's and make some which way/ choose your own adventure books. Plus if those changes differed from player to player people would expect to see those changes in possible reckoning sequels. Its the downfall of having so much lore for an ip like this, it adds a lot of depth to the games world, but little flexibility. Bioware for instance has shown they did not have a clear direction for DA and at this point are just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks Hence the end of DA2.

I don't know how they could have world changing event scenarios with the amount of planning in place for the ip, especially if the changing was designed around player choice.

It wouldn't necessarily be difficult in time. These worlds are big, and no matter how meticulous the planning is, there's no way to be able to cover every event. But regardless, everyone is making this more complicated than it has to be.

You said it yourself, they have lore in place. All they have to do is select moments within the lore in which big change was impacted, and then make the gamer go on missions where you actually participate in that change. Then depending on your choices, you'll simply get a Canon or Non-Canon selection outcome.

In this game itself, there were already many opportunities within the story where they could have SHOWN instead of talked about. I've read about countless battles, war crimes and more that I simply was unable to see... no reason why I shouldn't have been able to witness the world changing with these events.

Depends on world changing events Amir0x is thinking about. If they are more linear then that wouldn't be a problem. Still, I don't think open world western RPGs do that, unless is end-game, and even then, you get people complaining that they can't explore the world after. I understand people wanting the freedom to explore the content at any time, at cost of having the world remaining static, On the other hand, having for example something like 3 stages in the main quest line of Reckoning, where we would see the border of conflict change and maybe even having new sidequests dealing with the changes, would be really interesting.

As for the changes with choices... well, I know I'm in the minority but I don't really mind the developers having a "cannon" plot when going to sequels. Witcher 2 did, and I'd imagine 3 is going to have to do as well.

One thing I still wonder about is why people don't utilize this fantasy environments to really be open world in terms of the dynamic nature of the world. open world games like Grand Theft Auto can actually teach them a thing or two in this regard. Pedestrians randomly getting into arguments with each other, random squabbles, people riding past you on horseback, maybe if there are flying mounts you'd frequently see people pass overhead in the sky. The world would feel alive, constantly moving. These worlds are effectively static, they FEEL like contained game environments instead of plausible worlds.

Again, Amalur is not the only which does this and I'm not really penalizing it significantly for it. But if Big Huge Games and 38 really want to distinguish the Amalur series in the future, they need to try to bring ground breaking innovations to the genre. This is one type of way.

 

[CitizenCope]

Any achievement for reaching level 40? Thinking of finishing up the main quest but wondering if I should stick it out a few extra hours to reach level 40. Game has been great but at nearly 50 hours I'm ready to wrap it up.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Sure, it's fixed already

Much appreciated dude, thanks

Oh, and I am fairly sure that anything that can be sent to Junk is just that, Junk, and carries no significance whatsoever in terms of quests and such. It is sort of funny though that the King's Token is considered as Junk.

"Here great hero, a symbol that you are trusted by the King of the Fae to accomplish a great, heroic job."

"Sure whatever"--sells at a nearby pawn shop.

In fact, one of the most striking faults of this game is exactly this: the lack of 'fanfare', so to speak, when the hero manages to accomplish something significant.

Any achievement for reaching level 40? Thinking of finishing up the main quest but wondering if I should stick it out a few extra hours to reach level 40. Game has been great but at nearly 50 hours I'm ready to wrap it up.

Nope.

And I must be crazy. Level 37, Shadowcloak, 72 hours, 98 quests completed. I deleted all my saves and started over from the beginning.

God I'm crazy.

Playing Might/Sorcery build on hard with a female character now. I planned on doing a full Might at first... but it doesn't seem as fun as the hybrid.

 

[EYEL1NER]

Man, I cannot wait.
I just scored a copy of this from goHastings for $35, but it won't get here for probably a week.
I really enjoyed the demo of this. I hadn't been paying attention to the hype at all, only thing I knew about the game was that in a magazine two years or more ago, someone related to the game, maybe Curt, was comparing the combat and button combos to a fighting game.
So it came out of nowhere for me.

I need it to get here now!

 

[I'm an expert]

Not that I don't believe the balance complaints..but at 7 hours in, level 5, some self-crafted armor, some gifted purple weapons, and having tried a full war and full mage build..most enemies still own me and that's with my parrying/dodging like a boss. At the very least the beginning has been a very fair challenge on hard, so getting stronger in the mid-game is very welcome. We'll see if it's too strong though..

 

[Conrad Link]

Please tell me you can invert the camera properly in the full version of the game.....

 

[Kelegacy]

Not that I don't believe the balance complaints..but at 7 hours in, level 5, some self-crafted armor, some gifted purple weapons, and having tried a full war and full mage build..most enemies still own me and that's with my parrying/dodging like a boss. At the very least the beginning has been a very fair challenge on hard, so getting stronger in the mid-game is very welcome. We'll see if it's too strong though..

I am playing a Might+Magic build, and last night in Ettinmere I was close to getting toasted a bunch of times by Ettin Shamans or War-Priests. But then again, I'm cursed with some Lightning curse, so they do double damage on me. My weapons were not doing much damage to them at all. Thank goodness I have a bunch of healing potions on hand, and it's pretty easy to make them by just collecting the two ingredients that are the most abundant in the world.

I thought I'd want to focus on a longsword as my primary weapon, but I'm starting to see that I favor the greatswords much more. I like their attacks, and they aren't as slow as a hammer so I can still get in a bunch of attacks.

I am thinking of respeccing just to cut some of the fat with selected skills, but not sure what I want to do. I'm greedy, so I want it all. Right now I am a greatsword and chakram guy, but the chakrams aren't really exciting for me, so I am leaning towards a bow instead. Though if I go bow, I will wind up wasting points in finesse and have less to put into Might and Magic. I don't want to use daggers or fae blades, so putting points in finesse just to have a great bow might be a bit too much. Perhaps I should just stick it out with the chakrams as my range weapon.

A triple-hybrid will make you a jack of all trades, but you really master none. Decisions, decisions.

 

[nonnocere]

Today I found out, to my surprise, that my chest in the first village contained the fate weapons along the stuff unlocked for playing the demo and the stick to see plants on the map from the amazon preorder.
I played very little (I think I'm only level 4), but I'm already having problems with space in my inventory.

Don't worry. The loot curve drops precipitously at level seven.

 

[Ricker]

Can't believe some people are stopping playing this because they are waiting for a patch because it's too easy on Hard...when was the last time a game this size was ''patched'' to fix the overall difficulty of the game,jesus people.

 

[robatw]

finished the game the other day and got level 40 yesterday. it was a fun game - it took me about 60hours to do about 160 quests..

sad that the endgear you find can't compare to the stuff you make with blacksmithing / gemcrafting..

played about 30h with mouse/keyboard and the rest with my xbox pad. try to play with the pad too if you are using mouse/keyboard right now - it was a lot more fun for me..

played with full might build - and especially late-game was way too easy although i have to admit that i played it on normal. i could literally 3 shot bosses in reckoning mode.. relentless assault is just too strong.

 

[ElyrionX]

Yeah, I'd be surprised if they do patch the difficulty or even the camera.

I just did the quest in Cradle of Summer where you get attacked by waves of enemies. It was really hard. Fighting three orange Prismere trolls was really tough at level 23.

 

[Deified Data]

So Curt, McFarlane is working on a set of Amalur-related figures, right?

Because that opportunity would be too huge to miss, given the talent involved.

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

I haven't read the entire thread, but its only a quick question. Does the game reward you ( via more or better loot or exp ) if you play on hard mode?

 

[ElyrionX]

I haven't read the entire thread, but its only a quick question. Does the game reward you ( via more or better loot or exp ) if you play on hard mode?

None at all. Only tougher enemies.

 

[Deified Data]

So I heard that chests respawn after a certain amount of time has passed in the game...that's bullshit, right?

Anyone know if enemies can drop rare set pieces of armor, or are those only attainable via chests?

 

[neojubei]

Does anyone know if you beat the game can you continue playing and finish up some side quests?

 

[Deified Data]

Does anyone know if you beat the game can you continue playing and finish up some side quests?

You can carry on, yes.

 

[Wind's Howling]

So I heard that chests respawn after a certain amount of time has passed in the game...that's bullshit, right?

Anyone know if enemies can drop rare set pieces of armor, or are those only attainable via chests?

Chests do not respawn.

And for all I know enemies do drop rare set pieces but there are some of them which are only obtainable by going through hidden doors and defeating a certain mini-boss.

 

[1stStrike]

Chests do not respawn.

And for all I know enemies do drop rare set pieces but there are some of them which are only obtainable by going through hidden doors and defeating a certain mini-boss.

Yeah, you can also get purples off them. The trolls, in particular, seem to drop them for me. I got a purple one handed sword off one that's pretty sweet.

 

[MushroomSamba]

Out of curiosity, what are your favorite standard enemies to fight?

I personally love encountering those giant red ogres (anyone remember the name of those guys?). My favorite part is when they're low on health and I whittle them to death as they block my staff's delayed attack move. You hear that "thwack-thwack-thwack" while their shields get barraged, then they flop around dead. Oddly satisfying...it's like winning by chip damage in Street Fighter or something.

I also really get into fighting Threshers now too, mostly because they were such a pain early in the game. I can get through an entire battle now without even getting hit, so I get some payback by toying with them.

 

[Baconsammy]

Yeah, I'd be surprised if they do patch the difficulty or even the camera.

I just did the quest in Cradle of Summer where you get attacked by waves of enemies. It was really hard. Fighting three orange Prismere trolls was really tough at level 23.

Except it's not really hard at all if you have a lot of +health. If they patched that and set a maximum so that your player couldn't turn into an un-damagable god, the game would be much better. I have no problem if they want to make it so you can demolish lower level enemies. That's fun. But when the enemies above me are cakewalks simply because I can't take damage, that's a huge balancing issue that has to be fixed.

 

[antispin]

Wait, what? 40 is the level cap? I am already at 31 and have barely touched the story

 

[Deified Data]

Except it's not really hard at all if you have a lot of +health. If they patched that and set a maximum so that your player couldn't turn into an un-damagable god, the game would be much better. I have no problem if they want to make it so you can demolish lower level enemies. That's fun. But when the enemies above me are cakewalks simply because I can't take damage, that's a huge balancing issue that has to be fixed.

I accept that the game is sometimes a bit too easy.

I absolutely, positively refuse to believe that becoming overpowered via crafting is the fault of anyone other than the player. Crafting is unbalanced, this is well-known. That's the dev's fault, and I think they'll own up to it. But choosing to use those crafted items, after seeing how unstoppable they make you? That's all on you. No one's forcing your HP regen into ridiculous proportions but you. Crafting is a tool, to be used or ignored, or even used in moderation.

For now, you just have to moderate yourself if the game won't do it for you. The game is much more enjoyable that way, but far be it from me to tell everyone how to play. Just don't craft godlike items and complain that they make the game unenjoyable...while you're still using them.

 

[vaelic]

we have a patch ETA, yet?

 

[Baconsammy]

I accept that the game is sometimes a bit too easy.

I absolutely, positively refuse to believe that becoming overpowered via crafting is the fault of anyone other than the player. Crafting is unbalanced, this is well-known. That's the dev's fault, and I think they'll own up to it. But choosing to use those crafted items, after seeing how unstoppable they make you? That's all on you. No one's forcing your HP regen into ridiculous proportions but you. Crafting is a tool, to be used or ignored, or even used in moderation.

For now, you just have to moderate yourself if the game won't do it for you. The game is much more enjoyable that way, but far be it from me to tell everyone how to play. Just don't craft godlike items and complain that they make the game unenjoyable...while you're still using them.

It's not the player's fault if they're simply doing what the game tells them to do. How popular do you think World of Warcraft would be if you could simply pick a stat and overpower it beyond belief? You can't, because they cap all the stats. If you're giving me rings and necklaces with +health and +mana on them and then give me gear with all kinds of gem slots, I'm gonna fill those god damned gem slots. Its the job of the developer to balance the game in such a way that I can't destroy the game simply by playing it.

 

[Hobbun]

I accept that the game is sometimes a bit too easy.

I absolutely, positively refuse to believe that becoming overpowered via crafting is the fault of anyone other than the player. Crafting is unbalanced, this is well-known. That's the dev's fault, and I think they'll own up to it. But choosing to use those crafted items, after seeing how unstoppable they make you? That's all on you. No one's forcing your HP regen into ridiculous proportions but you. Crafting is a tool, to be used or ignored, or even used in moderation.

For now, you just have to moderate yourself if the game won't do it for you. The game is much more enjoyable that way, but far be it from me to tell everyone how to play. Just don't craft godlike items and complain that they make the game unenjoyable...while you're still using them.

And I think that’s what a lot of the posters here have a problem with. You shouldn’t have to monitor yourself to make the game more challenging.

I first want to say, where I have found the game to be easygoing so far for the most part, I am only 8th level, and so therefore I have not had a good experience of the overall game yet. I also have found areas where it is quite challenging for me yet, but again, I have a lot to do. However, I do appreciate what others are saying in wishing the game was more difficult.

That being said, I don’t feel you should have to gimp yourself to make the game more difficult. And yes, I do think purposefully staying away from crafting, or not raising your crafting (and sagecrafting) to higher levels, is gimping yourself.

Do you think those that find the game easy and use potions are at fault because they haven’t stopped using them? What about using powerful abilities/spells? Should they not use the ones that just tear straight through the enemy? I don’t ask you this being sarcastic, but if you truly feel this way?

In the end, the game should be balanced enough where it is satisfyingly difficult, even with using all the bells and whistles of the game, including crafting. Is it harder for them to develop that way? Sure, but us gamers are demanding. Also, that’s the reason for higher difficulties, it allows gamers who don’t want a highly challenging game to play a lower difficulty, where the hard setting ‘should’ do so for those who want to be punished. I think a large reason why so many have issues with the difficulty is the highest setting is just not that hard.

 

[coopolon]

Playing on the PC with m/kb. I'm having a hard time moving my abilities to the action bar. Sometimes it works, but it often does not. I'll click on the ability in the skill tree and try to drag it down but it won't drag and the action bar flashes.

Any ideas?

 

[sneaky77]

I am level 19 I just got to the Plains of Etharell or howver that's spelled and I haven't found everything a cakewalk, sure some fights are easy but there is also plenty of hard fights out there, some people complain that you can spam health potions... if you are spamming health potions often then the game is kicking your ass and is hard enough I guess some people really love that game over screens lol.

 

[Deified Data]

It's not the player's fault if they're simply doing what the game tells them to do. How popular do you think World of Warcraft would be if you could simply pick a stat and overpower it beyond belief? You can't, because they cap all the stats. If you're giving me rings and necklaces with +health and +mana on them and then give me gear with all kinds of gem slots, I'm gonna fill those god damned gem slots. Its the job of the developer to balance the game in such a way that I can't destroy the game simply by playing it.

In an MMO, balance is crucial. In a single-player RPG, it takes second billing to immersion and combat.

With all due respect, please don't feed me that sheep attitude that if you're offered something in a game, you have to use it. You know what would make you really strong? Setting the difficulty to Casual. But you don't, despite the fact that the game offers it to you, because you understand on some level the importance of moderating yourself and fine-tuning the game to your level of skill.

If the game gives you these resources, use them or don't. If you see an item that regens 100% of HP per second, think about what it'll do to your enjoyment of the game before you equip it. If you decide to equip it anyway, don't suddenly start complaining that you're immortal. The game gave you a choice and you took it.

I'll be the first to say that the game has balancing issues, but I think retooling the crafting system is a lot less important than retooling other areas, like mob numbers and enemy strength. At the end of the day, simply opting not to craft is always an option.

And I think that’s what a lot of the posters here have a problem with. You shouldn’t have to monitor yourself to make the game more challenging.

I first want to say, where I have found the game to be easygoing so far for the most part, I am only 8th level, and so therefore I have not had a good experience of the overall game yet. I also have found areas where it is quite challenging for me yet, but again, I have a lot to do. However, I do appreciate what others are saying in wishing the game was more difficult.

That being said, I don’t feel you should have to gimp yourself to make the game more difficult. And yes, I do think purposefully staying away from crafting, or not raising your crafting (and sagecrafting) to higher levels, is gimping yourself.

Do you think those that find the game easy and use potions are at fault because they haven’t stopped using them? What about using powerful abilities/spells? Should they not use the ones that just tear straight through the enemy? I don’t ask you this being sarcastic, but if you truly feel this way?

In the end, the game should be balanced enough where it is satisfyingly difficult, even with using all the bells and whistles of the game, including crafting. Is it harder for them to develop that way? Sure, but us gamers are demanding. Also, that’s the reason for higher difficulties, it allows gamers who don’t want a highly challenging game to play a lower difficulty, where the hard setting ‘should’ do so for those who want to be punished. I think a large reason why so many have issues with the difficulty is the highest setting is just not that hard.

I don't want it to sound like I'm dismissing the issue, because I'm not. Crafting is overpowered, and it simply didn't have to be. Powerful ingredients could have simply been rarer, players could have simply levelled slower, etc. There's a whole host of small fixes that could have been made. But I'm not talking about Reckoning, the ideal. I'm talking about Reckoning, the game, the one we're playing now. It's imperfect and we have to do what we can, with what we have, until a fix is released.

I agree with you that these powerful crafted items are absurd. What I'm saying, however, is that players who use those items and continually complain about how they effect their game are ore absurd by far. Ultimately, the player has to choose at some point to become an unstoppable killing machine. Granted, in Reckoning that's a very easy choice to make, given that the only other option is gimping yourself, but it is what it is. I agree that we shouldn't have to gimp ourselves, but we do. I simply propose making the best of it until we're given an alternative. That includes not equipping godlike items and complaining about how strong they make us, when they're so damn easy to simply sell or remove.

 

[moop1167]

Hard is still not that easy for me as a sorcery/finesse character. I haven't done any blacksmithing though. Actually, the stuff I can make always turns out green but I never went through with it. I don't have enough points for any of the top tier sorcery spells as well, so maybe that's why I am having some trouble.

I went to Detyre before the Plains as well. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Some of those arena quests are literally impossible for me without reckoning mode, like the one with waves of sprites and two threshs at once. I am basically just being bounced around unable to attack because of staggers and such.

 

[Baconsammy]

In an MMO, balance is crucial. In a single-player RPG, it takes second billing to immersion and combat.

With all due respect, please don't feed me that sheep attitude that if you're offered something in a game, you have to use it. You know what would make you really strong? Setting the difficulty to Casual. But you don't, despite the fact that the game offers it to you, because you understand on some level the importance of moderating yourself and fine-tuning the game to your level of skill.

If the game gives you these resources, use them or don't. If you see an item that regens 100% of HP per second, think about what it'll do to your enjoyment of the game before you equip it. If you decide to equip it anyway, don't suddenly start complaining that you're immortal. The game gave you a choice and you took it.

I'll be the first to say that the game has balancing issues, but I think retooling the crafting system is a lot less important than retooling other areas, like mob numbers and enemy strength. At the end of the day, simply opting not to craft is always an option.


I don't want it to sound like I'm dismissing the issue, because I'm not. Crafting is overpowered, and it simply didn't have to be. Powerful ingredients could have simply been rarer, players could have simply levelled slower, etc. There's a whole host of small fixes that could have been made. But I'm not talking about Reckoning, the ideal. I'm talking about Reckoning, the game, the one we're playing now. It's imperfect and we have to do what we can, with what we have, until a fix is released.

I agree with you that these powerful crafted items are absurd. What I'm saying, however, is that players who use those items and continually complain about how they effect their game are ore absurd by far. Ultimately, the player has to choose at some point to become an unstoppable killing machine. Granted, in Reckoning that's a very easy choice to make, given that the only other option is gimping yourself, but it is what it is. I agree that we shouldn't have to gimp ourselves, but we do. I simply propose making the best of it until we're given an alternative.

So basically in your opinion to maximize enjoyment of the game I should just throw away all the cool gems I crafted along with the great gear I picked up/earned. That to me isnt an option. I'm not taking advantage of the game, I'm simply playing it on HARD and in doing so it broke. I got 50 hours out of it, so I'm fine. They've earned me as a customer on the next iteration, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to tell them why their game got traded in. Hopefully they'll take it to heart and balance the next game. I dont buy the bullshit that it's my job to set the difficulty in a game by making poor choices. And if it make me a sheep for wanting to wear the best gear and to use the crafting system, then Bahhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

[Arcteryx]

Hard is still not that easy for me as a sorcery/finesse character. I haven't done any blacksmithing though. Actually, the stuff I can make always turns out green but I never went through with it. I don't have enough points for any of the top tier sorcery spells as well, so maybe that's why I am having some trouble.

I went to Detyre before the Plains as well. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Some of those arena quests are literally impossible for me without reckoning mode, like the one with waves of sprites and two threshs at once. I am basically just being bounced around unable to attack because of staggers and such.

Yea Finesse definitely seems to be the hardest of the trees. You can potentially rip up enemies, but I find that it's not as forgiving as Might (Sorcery is tough, but self-heal negates that, plus the spells pretty much 1shot some groups)

 

[MushroomSamba]

That being said, I don’t feel you should have to gimp yourself to make the game more difficult. And yes, I do think purposefully staying away from crafting, or not raising your crafting (and sagecrafting) to higher levels, is gimping yourself.

You shouldn't HAVE to, but it is what it is. From here, you can either (1) willingly slap on +50 health regen and be miserable about it, or (2) "gimp" yourself and have a more enjoyable, challenging experience. It's really up to you at this point. Yes, it's the dev's responsibility to create a balanced challenge and you can blame them all you want, but you already bought the game and have it in front of you...why not just play it in a way that'd be enjoyable to you instead of forcing yourself to break the game?

It's like if you grab some takeout and find that your meal is tasting a bit bland after it's already delivered. Would you just add some salt and be satisfied with it, or would you begrudgingly go with how it was originally prepared? Yeah, it's the cook's fault, but that's no reason why you can't fix it yourself and be happy.

Do you think those that find the game easy and use potions are at fault because they haven’t stopped using them? What about using powerful abilities/spells? Should they not use the ones that just tear straight through the enemy? I don’t ask you this being sarcastic, but if you truly feel this way?

Actually, yeah, I do. Again, the devs aren't free from blame, but at some point, you have to realize you have free will here. I intentionally gimped myself from armor, high-level magic, and potions for the most part, and this game has been bliss ever since. I feel like some people are actively going out of their way to be unhappy.

 

[Deified Data]

So basically in your opinion to maximize enjoyment of the game I should just throw away all the cool gems I crafted along with the great gear I picked up/earned. That to me isnt an option. I'm not taking advantage of the game, I'm simply playing it on HARD and in doing so it broke. I got 50 hours out of it, so I'm fine. They've earned me as a customer on the next iteration, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to tell them why their game got traded in. Hopefully they'll take it to heart and balance the next game. I dont buy the bullshit that it's my job to set the difficulty in a game by making poor choices. And if it make me a sheep for wanting to wear the best gear and to use the crafting system, then Bahhhhhhhhhhhh.

It's not pretty but, yes, I'd suggest if the game is too easy, and that's effecting your enjoyment of it, that selling off your powerful gems and gear is a good way to make things interesting. I'm not saying that's how you have to play, mind you - some people love the godlike power that crafting grants. I'm just saying, don't punish yourself with a less enjoyable experience because you feel obliged to equip that one last Item of Enchanced Godliness. Just junk it and forget it. Or put it in storage.

 

[sneaky77]

To be honest I am sure is really complex to balance this kind of game for every player, because for example I am not really putting much pts in blacksmith or that stuff, I have created a few gems but nothing spectacular cause my leveling up pts have mostly gone somewhere else for now.

Maybe is because I don't play these type of games all the time so my opinion is different but it really grabbed me from the demo and I have been loving my time with it so far, the only quests I am really skipping for the most part are the ones labeled as tasks.

Also I really like the cave design, yea maybe some of them are similar but I appreciate how for the most part they require very little backtracking.

 

[IlliterateBookworm]

Refresh my memory but do most WRPGs get lambasted for having "broken" difficulty as much as Amalur seems to be getting?

I'm not remembering seeing comments like these about similar games that had just as breakable of systems. I crafted some pretty wild gear and was practically uninjurable in both Two Worlds games, was able to come up with some untouchable builds in stuff like Sacred and Titan Quest... were they derided for having broken systems?

I just want to be able to put up a legitimate fight with my fists. They barely do anything! I want to jump kick threshes and uppercut tuatha in slow motion!

Spears be damned!

 

[Hobbun]

You shouldn't HAVE to, but it is what it is. From here, you can either (1) willingly slap on +50 health regen and be miserable about it, or (2) "gimp" yourself and have a more enjoyable, challenging experience. It's really up to you at this point. Yes, it's the dev's responsibility to create a balanced challenge and you can blame them all you want, but you already bought the game and have it in front of you...why not just play it in a way that'd be enjoyable to you instead of forcing yourself to break the game?

It's like if you grab some takeout and find that your meal is tasting a bit bland after it's already delivered. Would you just add some salt and be satisfied with it, or would you begrudgingly go with how it was originally prepared? Yeah, it's the cook's fault, but that's no reason why you can't fix it yourself and be happy.


Actually, yeah, I do. Again, the devs aren't free from blame, but at some point, you have to realize you have free will here. I intentionally gimped myself from armor, high-level magic, and potions for the most part, and this game has been bliss ever since. I feel like some people are actively going out of their way to be unhappy.

Like I said in my previous post, I am still finding the game challenging, so I am not having to gimp myself. I'm definitely enjoying it still. However, I can also see the point of view of those who do have a problem with the game.

You say "it is what it is". And yes, that is correct, if someone is unhappy with the difficulty, at this time they need to make changes on their own to make it more challenging for them. However, it doesn't mean we shouldn't point out what the problems are so they can hopefully be resolved in the future. If not patches for this game, but a more challenging Reckoning 2. The worst thing any of us can do is just to keep quiet about issues we find with a game, especially if it's widespread (which it sounds like is the case with the difficulty).

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Refresh my memory but do most WRPGs get lambasted for having "broken" difficulty as much as Amalur seems to be getting?

I'm not remembering seeing comments like these about similar games that had just as breakable of systems. I crafted some pretty wild gear and was practically uninjurable in both Two Worlds games, was able to come up with some untouchable builds in stuff like Sacred and Titan Quest... were they derided for having broken systems?

I just want to be able to put up a legitimate fight with my fists. They barely do anything! I want to jump kick threshes and uppercut tuatha in slow motion!

Spears be damned!

I think it just comes from the fact that they hyped up the combat in this game so much, and they really created a fun and pretty deep combat system, but due to certain design choices, there are very few situations that demand anything but basic button mashing from the player.

 

[Zimbardo]

playing on PC and the size of this world and the amount of quests is truely impressive.

43 hours played so far
level 26
89 quests completed

...and it looks like i still have 1/2 the world map left to explore.

 

[RoninChaos]

FWIW feedback like this page are very very cool, and insightful, and potentially VERY useful.

Both the positive and the 'negative', good stuff.

Never thought about the starter area giving a misrepresentation of the world, but maybe it did. Also I am not so sure it wasn't intended that way. Really didn't want to overwhelm players any more than we already had.

Well, not sure if you like the comparisons, but considering the staff you have on hand, I'm suprised some people on your development team didn't think the woods would be stifling.

I haven't played Skyrim, I chose KoF over Skyrim because I wanted a different experience, and thus far I'm enjoying it. However, I have to refer back to Oblivion when it comes to actually realizing what it is you're getting into. When you walk out of that dungeon for the first time and go "HOLY SHIT!", it's AMAZING. Probably one of the coolest moments in gaming for me, because it dawns on you that you can go pretty much where ever the hell you want. If you can see it, you can go to it. That's what I've felt is missing from KoF so far, the sense that I'm in a world. Right now, I'm like level 11, and I'm running around woods. Then I see more woods. And then some woods with fog and spider webs. You guys seem to have games like Oblivion beat when it comes to locales and art design, but I haven't really had an "OH SHIT" moment like I did when I walked out of that dungeon in Oblivion.

I want to take my time, but at the same time I just want to get the hell out of this area and go out to the plains that every one keeps talking about.

Regardless, I rarely buy any games full price, and very few at launch, but I did with this. I do not regret this at all, and wish you and your studio all the success in the world. I only wish I would have known about it so I could have pre-ordered and got some of the pre-order weapons. lol

 

[scy]

It's not pretty but, yes, I'd suggest if the game is too easy, and that's effecting your enjoyment of it, that selling off your powerful gems and gear is a good way to make things interesting. I'm not saying that's how you have to play, mind you - some people love the godlike power that crafting grants. I'm just saying, don't punish yourself with a less enjoyable experience because you feel obliged to equip that one last Item of Enchanced Godliness. Just junk it and forget it. Or put it in storage.

The problem with this methodology is that it ruins the aspect of player progression. I want the game to be harder and I could do it by just never using anything but it ruins the game. I want it so I can use the things I find or craft and still have a good, challenging experience. That's the ideal goal. Self-imposed restrictions should be a band-aid fix at best, not the final solution.

I'm fine with my self-imposed gimped playthrough (found equipment, no potions, no reckoning, etc) but it's not really all that hard and it feels like I'm doing a disservice to the efforts put in the game by ignoring so much of it. Though, simultaneously, a lot of the difficulty in this run is the shoddy itemization just never really rewarding me (to the point that the first good blue drop I got made me respec to Longswords over Greatswods since I wanted some kind of upgrade after ~10 hours).

That said, much of this run has really been player ability since most the "hard" fights have basically just been "Well, do this without getting hit" due to entering the fights with such low HP. Hard to really do much about that with anything but retooling things across the board from an encounter design perspective. Which, really, is a bit much to be asking for and there's really nothing concrete to base it off of. This is why much of my prior suggestions are about the itemization as a whole and those mechanics rather than encounter design (though, there are some flaws to that, primarily the ability to flinch boss-caliber enemies, for instance).

Still, I'm having fun with the game, even if no fight is really challenging. It's still just fun to play. In that regard, I'm happy. I'd just like that little bit more to it.

 

[Xilium]

Refresh my memory but do most WRPGs get lambasted for having "broken" difficulty as much as Amalur seems to be getting?

I'm not remembering seeing comments like these about similar games that had just as breakable of systems. I crafted some pretty wild gear and was practically uninjurable in both Two Worlds games, was able to come up with some untouchable builds in stuff like Sacred and Titan Quest... were they derided for having broken systems?

I would say that when it comes to combat, there's probably some truth to what Zefah said but this game seems to be getting a lot of complaints across the board for doing things that are generally overlooked in the big name WRPGs. On one hand I like that WRPG fans are finally starting to be more critical of the systems in their favorite genre but on the other hand, it seems that those criticisms are always aimed at games that are trying to do something new with the genre (Reckoning now and the Witcher series before).

Bethesda and Bioware (barring maybe DA2) can do no wrong so other WRPG developers are taking systems from those games and putting them into their own game. But even if it's just a blatant rip-off, if you're not Bethesda or Bioware, you did it wrong (i.e. people complaining about the limited dungeon pallets in Reckoning and how many quest involve you goining into said dungeons and killing everything to complete the quest, while just a few months ago they were praising Skyrim for doing the EXACT same thing). As long as Bethesda and Bioware can keep skating by without any criticisms, nothing is going to change in a major way as they are the ones that define the genre.

I primarily play JRPGs, so I'm just not used to this type of thing. In the JRPG space, there are no definitive games/developers as nearly every game appeals to a specific niche within the genre. Final Fantasy is probably the closest thing we have to an Elder Scrolls game, where everyone within the genre comes together to purchase that game, but those games are historically known for splitting the fanbase with each release and because the game systems change each time, they really can't be used as a template for other games in the genre.

As for the combat being to easy, though I do believe that is a valid complaint, I have little sympathy for those running around in mastercrafted equipment, using epic gems, and spamming meteor complaining about the game being too easy. You're obviously not that interested in making the game harder if you're not willing to restrain yourself to some degree. In pretty much every RPG you can overpower yourself within the game's built-in systems (in WRPGs, you can usually break the leveling system and in JRPGs you can grind) but it is up to you whether you take advantage of that or not.

 

[H3rTz DoNuT]

Finally home yay, another evening and night in Amalur


I feel like the guy in this video knowing I'll be playing Reckoning after work Hospital at the end of the video is pretty much how we all feel at the end of the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ovdm2yX4MA

 

[ColonialRaptor]

So guys I only just started playing but does there turn out to be a place in the game where you can store and keep all of your stuff? I only ask because I'm already running out of inventory space and I don't want to get rid of most of the cool stuff that I got.

I got the DLC pack and I also seem to have gotten some Mass Effect gear (which is pretty f'n cool if you ask me) while this stuff is OP for the start of the game really I'm totally loving the combat system, it absolutely totally rocks my world to pieces, I can't get enough of fighting, all I want to do is FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT just because it's so much fun to beat the shit out of things and there is SO MUCH variety to it because there are so many different weapon types, and if you're good enough you can avoid getting hit really easily, I freakin love it.

It's definitely not open world like Skyrim like RoninChaos is talking about, just a series of connected 'segmented' lands, but I'm okay with that. I don't know if any of you have followed the Skyrim threads but I have been so absolutely Skyrim obsessed over the last three months, it has consumed my life absolutely and completely, however I've simply dropped it because of it's unreliability so I'm going to play a few other things and allow the modding scene to mature a bit before I go back so that HOPEFULLY it will be a bit more reliable by the time I am ready to return to it's midst. This is a perfect change of pace. The areas are in general large enough for me, but they are more guided, I like that, that way the game designer can control which set pieces you arrive upon and when, because you can't exactly just go to the endgame parts of the game right at the start, I can tell what it's going to be like and I'm so excited to embark on this grand adventure.

You know when you're at the start of one of those Action RPG's and you're fighting the shitty little bugs and bandits and you're already whooping fukn arse because you've levelled up twice and it's all lush and nice and green and pretty and the world around you is beautiful and the war of the land hasn't reached you yet and really you're just burning yourself in on the weaklings around you while you get used to the game? Well that's exactly what this is. I can just imagine that as things progress I'm slowly going to delve deeper and deeper into the dark lands until by the end I will be this monster kick arse powerful beat arse machine with big black clouds in the sky and fire raining down and giant bosses to kick arse upon with all the progression that comes in between and lots of little twigs and branches off the side along the way.

It's like they've gone 'okay, lets take the most typical and standard fantasy style rpg formula you can find and make the BEST one of those games yeh'?

I can't speak for how I will feel about the game however many hours I will have played it down the line, but right now I'm itching to play it while I'm typing this and I didn't get that itching feeling with Skyrim... at last not to this extent. The itch from this game is coming from the combat system, the itch from Skyrim came from... the beauty of the world... it's interesting that they're both so different in that regard, yet this is still such a beautiful game in such a different style, and I can REALLY crank the processing and AA to make it look as clean as possible.