Rate Sos: For Lvls 0-30 only:

[Serric]

Seeing as everyone currently playing this game is supposed to be testing it, I thought I’d bring up a couple of threads for people to cast out their thoughts on the game so far – everything from downloading the client to in-game game play to range of monsters, rewards and challenges.

I will open 4 threads. These threads will be level specific and should only hold discussions concerning the game at that particular level. The levels will be:

0-30
31-60
61-80
81-100+

Reviews should be specific yet concise and clear. What I would like to see (that is, what would help me and other like me) is to have player reviews without flaming, spamming, hostilities or aggressive behavior of any sort. Reviews should adhere to the following format: Start with character name, level and class. Discuss client-based issues such as downloads, lag in the game, pixilation issues and other program-specific items. Then discuss character progression, spells and abilities, weapons and other gears, what you would like to see changed and why. Discuss also the range of monsters, drop rates, experience gained, level advancement, quests, etc. Finally, summarize your review – this is where you get to add your personal likes and dislikes, feelings towards the game in its current state and what you hope to see SoS become.

Again, please try to keep your reviews brief yet detailed, and clear of negative or non-constructive talk. There should be no arguing between players although open dialogues are encouraged.

Lastly, see the poll above and vote accordingly, 1-10, 10 being the VERY BEST and 1 being the VERY WORST in regards to your feelings to this game in its current condition. List what you voted and why, and what changes would encourage you to vote more positively in the future.

I would like to state I am not a moderator or affiliated with Secret of the Solstice or OutSpark in any way. I just feel we should be collecting data during this beta test to help shape the game into something we’d all like to play relatively long-term.

Peace.

[SuzyQ]

I give this a 7, because the graphics are good, the monsters diverse, and that there events often. Also, I can see the staff is working on the game, and that there are new options made available every day (especially towards partying, yay). However, there could be improvements. In the quest section for instance. Either way, that's my explaination of the grade I gave it.

[neophoneix]

I find this game very good so I gave it a 9. I liked "newbie orientation" that you have to do before you can go out and start killing stuff. But I find the windows anoying because it dosn't like to wrap text so you get the other half of the word on the next line. I also find font very hard to read - especially the letter L. Prehaps there should be an option for changing font type?

[MegaTherion]

I graded mine by starting from 10 and taking points off for what I feel is missing.

-1 for the lack of clearly defining instructions and the some of the instructions you do get aren't comprehendable, the tutorials should really prepare you for the game and they don't really your still in the middle of the proverbial desert.

-1 atm I am a not very high level Rogue and I really wish there were more Weapons and Armors that I can equip at this level, I don't know what it's like for higher levels but for me it's not great with my noob Rogue equips, I think they're should be more variety.

-1 Monsters which are randomly aggresive are a royal pain.

In total 7/10
I probably missed some other points but that's all I got for the mo'
all in all it's a fun game and enjoyable and exciting to play

[tido69]

I have a lvl 22, mage, magician, whatever and a lvl 18 rogue. I gave it a 5, it's ok for a free game, but it's not really awesome either.

No issues with download, lag or other client based issues here. I'm on cable internet, so that might be why I get no lag, but I've heard lots of others complain about it. My only complaint is having to play in windowed mode and not being able to change the size of the window (that may be just cos I'm running Vista, who knows. :p), I actually have to move my windows taskbar to the side of the screen so I can see my buttons on the bottom.

The very first time you play and you get teleported to the center of the first town, you end up in a sea of people all hanging out, selling things, whatever, and personally I had a pretty hard time finding the Guardian. Even with the massive green question mark over her head, there was so much going on all on top of her it took me a few minutes to find her. It would be kind of nice to have her in an area where people can't stand right on top of her, maybe put her on a small platform or something, so you can still talk to her, just not stand right on her.

Also, I liked the starting out quests, but I think they should be optional. After you make one class and want to try out the others to see how they are too, it gets a little tedious and boring to go through them every single time.

I've read about there being a story line, maybe I haven't gotten through enough quests or something, but I've yet to hear any kind of anything resembling a story line to follow. Could just be that I'm missing something along the way, but I'm just not seeing it. Even if there was a story to read, with all the typos, spelling, and grammar errors I've seen so far, I don't think I'd want to sit and try to decipher what is being said to follow it.

The drop rates of quest items seems to be really low. Maybe it's just me, but at lvl 22 I've just about given up on trying to get the 20 squash and 20 mushrooms for the fruit lady quest. I don't even have half of each, and unless it's some insanely amazing reward for that one, I doubt I'll ever get it done unless I buy them from someone else.

There really should either be more weapons and armor to use, or maybe leveling faster would help. I've been holding onto spell books, weapons and armor for at least the last 10 levels waiting to be able to finally use it. At level 22 I'm still using most of my things I was given at my class change, and what's with all the armor looking identical? It's kind of boring that unless you get a LB that you all basically look the same in your class. Yes, you can pick your hair style and hair colour (whoopee....), but when you put on some of the hats it just reverts your style and colour back to a default.

I agree with the mosters being aggressive at random is a pain. One minute you're fine resting with monsters around, the next you have 5 on you destroying you before you can react. Doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense really.

With the shops it might be nice to implement an area to sell things in. I've seen this in other games and it's very helpful to unclog the main streets. You have a building, or a certain open space and that's the only place you're allowed to open a shop. Then those who want to shop know where to go to find things, and those who are doing quests, finding parties, whatever, aren't over crowded with all the shops around.

Some kind of search for players system really needs to be put in. Right now for forming parties your chocies are people you already know, or whoever is nearby. Either a specific party chat channel that everyone can choose to hear or not hear, where you can say: lvl 22 mage lft. Then if someone has a space open they can invite you, or a team looking for more can say: lvl 20-25 team lfm. Or just have a search option where you can put in what lvls you're looking for and people's names pop up. Also, having a way to tell what lvl other people are besides asking them would be very helpful. When you click on someone for it to say their name, then lvl whatever after it would be nice.

All in all it seems like a pretty good game, there's things that could use work, but it's fun. No game is ever going to be perfect or be able to satisfy what everyone wants in a game, but this one seems to have a good mix of what people seem to look for in a mmo.

[Shiryou]

I would give the game a 7 so far....

-It would help if they could make the text easier to read (you can barely see "I" or "L" when you type it in
-The word filtering is random at times (it filtered non-curse words like "expire" for me o.O)
-I'm wondering why the armor and weapon requirement levels are inconsistent for each class...would be easier if they were all the same...
-yea I hate the random aggro mobs too...was sitting resting the other day, browsed the internet for a minute, then went back to the game to see my character dead and surrounded by monsters >.<...
-the quest information needs to be more complete and typos need to be fixed (like the other day, I accepted a quest from Jikey and the quest info said "10 clementines and 10 cheeses" when Jikey told me to get him "10 tangerines and 10 cheeses")
-some skills need to be fixed (like accuracy for rogues, which didn't work at lvl 27 like it's supposed to)
-need some more variety in appearance of weapons and characters (was going around training and saw at least 3 people that looked exactly like me O.o)

but overall it's a good game to play and it'll probably get better once it's OB and all the errors are fixed...

[Serric]

Excellent reviews - thanks. Keep em coming :)

[SpaceX]

Good game overall. I gave it a 7/10. While I realize it is still a new game, it doesnt really stand out from all the other MMORPGs.

The graphics are standard. Basicly looks like all the other semi-2d and 3d combo going on, MMOs out there. But the chars could use more identifing features. Maybe a dye system where you can color your clothes (I dont think there was one, but I wasnt too curious to find out.).
Standard music/effects.
Standard Gameplay (Kill anything that moves)
The typos are also annoying now and then, but nothing really hard to read.
Honestly, I played solo so I dont know anything about partying or the system.

But the game is as much as you can expect from an MMORPG, lots of people with all their shops that charge way too much to trick new people... Uh, same tactics as other RPGs: Kill - Exp - Level - Repeat. Would be nice to see a game that has a different method, but thats not going to happen. All around, a standard game. Nothing new and exciting, just... Standard.

[bia_shadic]

Well I haven't played the game yet but what i have seen and heard im quite impressed with this game. I've played most mmorpg games like diabloII (don't ask why) Wow and Guild Wars and i've got bored with those games then i saw this on myspace and thought ''looks good'' ill give it a 8 for what i have seen so far only the gameplay will influence futher judging on this game but i think i will enjoy this game.;)

[Campbu]

i have played this game for about 6 hours and have got to lvl 17 rogue, and have enjoyed most of the game. but i feel that there really should be more experience and quicker lvling and a more involved story line (if there is one) apart from disconnected quests with extremely vague instructions on how to acheive the quest. i also think that there really should be more items available than the stock standard that get handed to you at your class change i would also suggest that for rogues instead of giving them a shield like a fighter maybe allow for dual weilding daggers as a bit more of a deference between the two similar calsses. also there should more variation in the character design to give the players a sense of uniqueness and not have to feel that they are sharing their character with every other player of the same class. even with just 3 peices of clothing for legs torso and head can have 504 combinations.
so overall the game was enjoyable and fun but there are a few misgivings in it so i'm giving the game a good 7/10

[Seither]

I gave it a 7 out of 10, the graphics are good, but there are a few hitches. Mainly some typos, and more annoyingly, the camera conrtols. since the arrow buttons aren't used, i think you should link changing the view to those, it makes it so much easier.

[Rodaa]

i think it would make it harder, you already use the mouse to walk

[eravenheart]

I began playing SoS just 3 days before Closed Beta ended so I didn't get a clear picture of the entire game. However, I do have enough to rate the lower levels of the game.
I would have to give the Closed Beta version of SoS a meager rating of 6. Here's why:
First, I was enchanted by the simplicity of the graphics, interface, and the interaction. There is little there to "bog down" even my archaic computer system. I give this aspect a solid 9.

The combat system is simple. Almost too simple. There is little more to do than click a monster, hit your skill hot key, lather, rinse, repeat. Despite the ease of this type of system, it is a little plain. I give this aspect a 5.

The equipment system is, unfortunately, substandard at the moment. There is little in the way of variety in equipment and the large level gaps between equipment means that you have no options as you inch toward the final level, fighting weak monsters simply because your equipment is not sufficient to tackle the monsters that will advance you more steadily. The naming convention for the equipment is also pretty plain. I have to give this aspect a very poor rating of 3 but it is my sincere hope and expectation that this will improve in time.

The quest system is very incomplete. To be honest, in my three days, I had completed only 3 quests. Some of them are extremely confusing. I will, however, express my delight at the letter-carrier quest simply because it was funny as hell to watch the progression of slo-mo runners (myself included) moving back and forth. With improvements, the quest system will be better but I didn't see it here in Closed Beta. I hope to see it when Open Beta commences. I give this aspect a 5.

I have heard that there is a story. There is? Where? What is it about? How do you start it? Seriously, I understood that there was a story but I didn't actually see anything about it. The tutorial system didn't even hint at it, nor did any of the NPC's I interacted with. Perhaps simply putting that in as part of the tutorial quests would open it up for new players like me who are standing in the town square, scratching their heads and thinking "huh? what me do now?" Since I did not at all experience the storyline, I can't rate it but I'll offer a 3 simply because I had no clue about how to start it.

The biggest thing I found for this game's appeal was the enjoyment factor of watching the game. The animations are good, smooth, and simple. The ease of the game's interface (once you learn the letter keys for windows) is also excellent. Overall I am extremely pleased that I found this game and will continue to play it. I look forward to giving this game a much higher rating when I have played through Open Beta and, eventually, the full release.