QoL & Steam Crossing Time

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Brandish
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QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Brandish » Tue 08 May 2018, 02:44

Regarding: Steam Crossings, Blue Crowns, Alts, Guilds, & Graphical User Interface Quality of Life
Please move or let me know if this is not the appropriate location to post.
<Cross posted from the Therian Saga Steam Discussion board>
Upon further thought, there are other unaddressed QoL feature requests that would fit in well here. I'll outline a few suggestions, almost exclusively from other players. Please note these features can enhance the players desires to pay the devs to merge to a single premium account , such as:
premium alt shared access:
  • shared home inventory (similar to guild banks)
  • gold
  • profession chests
GUI, Guild, Other:
  • mail system for quickly mailing multiple groups of friends/alts, similar to guild mail all
  • pretty much any improvement to the mail system GUI ingame (closes/resets email when keys pressed, text becomes unselectable/can't see text cursor, too easy to walk away from mailbox with unsent email up)
  • double clicking a home or guild outpost near a regional border traversing coordinate on the map should summon the queue travel window as is what happens at all npc locations (currently, the second click itc puts a camp on the vertex coordinate just next to the home/outpost, so it changes focus from the location, instead of asking to travel there as expected)
  • clickable urls in chat / email / guild messages
  • ability to copy less text than the entire line of chat with name & timestamp
  • list of keyboard hotkeys
  • queue preview at login
  • show queue-end local time of day
  • inventory solution for wings
  • inventory solution for keys
  • profession chest inventory check for quest requirements, artifact id, spy tasks, etc. (currently items have to be in the satchel which doesn't refresh upon withdrawal)
  • review-able recipes unlocked list, other than the crafting window (doesn't necessarily have to show locked items)
  • review-able concession facilities w/o queuing travel there - same in guild outposts
  • concession management for stored companions & passive harvesting companions
  • longer guild activity logs
  • guild memberlist sorting options
  • guild member skills lists
  • guild outpost blackboard messages
  • personal home or personal hero blackboard messages
  • firewood from log plank woodcutting, similar to sand from lump block stonecutting

Code: Select all

my original Steam post follows:

(herzogisagod) New rules: We decided to put a new limit on the number of non premium accounts a player can have. This limit is 15.


The reasoning given behind the inability to cross between Steam & web client accounts was:
(Falkarma) the reason we will not do it is because it is the exact same game, with the same servers.


I have involuntarily spent some amount of mental energy on this issue, so decided it's time to lay out. I greatly appreciate any feedback or consideration.

@Falkarma , This is not even a logically sound or satisfactory reasoning, as it arbitrarily & strictly limits many players from a simple task - which is available to the other players - just because of how they created a particular hero. If it is really that simple, just implement Steam crossings and be done with it. 'Same game, same server' sounds to me like perfect reasoning that these players should have never been separated in the first place. I cannot describe how frustrating that reasoning is.

It was never really clear to new players at Steam launch what the benefits of a premium account were, in the context of alts. I understand it has been stated that you want the player to discover features without being advertised, & I respect that, but I can find nowhere in the Shop that even mentions the perks such as sleep readiness. Also the Upgrades section says "allow a character..." so the only mention of multi-hero shared perks is on the Crossing description itself.

Many Steam players have created multiple web client alt accounts - at least a few of which are singular hero premium alt accounts, which is such a waste of time and money. Had they known otherwise, do you really think they would have created alt accounts and double/triple/whatever paid for upgrades? If their mains weren't Steam accounts, do you really think they'd upgrade those alt accounts without merging? Why should they be forced into that corner? It has also been stated that you don't want to "trick" players into paying extra, but this is an issue that many players have fallen into unknowingly... Hilariously, without these alts, there would be virtually no population or productivity on the server... Why not make it easier on those players?

If these particular players were allowed account mergers & the ability to create shared homes; I would imagine both that the developer revenue, as well as the server productivity, would see a nice little boost. The steam community benefits can also bring in precious server population growth... This should be good for everyone.

Furthermore, I would like to call attention to the one year anniversary of the Steam launch, the launch of the youngest server, wherein there were no events, just a silent passover with not a single word from the developers... AND attention aswell to the year-long-abandoned crossover discussion right here on this board... Y'all hate Steam or somethin? On the Steam Store page for Therian Saga right now it says: Devs: We are close to the players and you can discuss the future of the game with us.

Yet this is this most requested feature I have seen, and there is no attention on it.

I saw Falkarma on Loucantar once, he was just rebooting the server. I sent a friend request which still exists. xD Reeeeeeeal close to the players, eh? :-v

Suggestion:
  • add ability to use crossing to add free web client account heroes to premium STEAM account
  • add ability to add steam account heroes to web client or another steam account? (Mac?)
  • stacking perks (if both accounts had an extra companion, now both heroes get 2 extra, up to 4 - so that such players don't feel they're wasting money)
  • if stacking two maxed accounts would produce Blue Crown rollover reimbursement or not?
  • raise premium account cap to 15 heroes / server ...(maybe stepped upgrades to 10 then 15)
    (it has been stated that the max free web heroes to one player is 15 - then why premium is 5?)
  • higher character cap would be a big thanks you could give to veteran players
  • if 15 heroes sharing homes is out of the question, make it so you can choose which 5 heroes will have access instead... or please just give a real reason why any of this should not exist ingame.
Some benefits of Steam accounts:
  • client auto-update is actually a huge QoL advantage
  • Steam library has pre-client dev news feed for updates, outages, etc.
  • Steam friends list gives pre-client, friends' online status, can bring new players
  • Steam migration can cause game stats to rise & new players to discover game
  • Steam accounts can give game ratings, which can also increase server population
  • Steam purchases can be made pre-client
  • Steam achievements???? would be more free advertising to other Steam users
  • in order for players with established premium web client account to choose to enjoy these small perks, why not make already premium accounts have a way to perform a free crossing into a Steam account

And finally, I noticed that any time I install Steam to a new PC, I have to go to the store & search the game every time, as it doesn't seem to come into my library as my other games do. Why should it be so hard for a Steam user to connect? Is it just because I haven't purchased? Won't do it until Steam Crossings. Using total 10 free accounts, I have pushed my free Steam hero into Norstria (mcuhas gracias to guild), also used Halloween event and public market BC to upgrade some minor perks.

Basically, if the devs would let this happen, I would immediately purchase & max out the account with real money. 15x Heroes, 4x Sheaths, Satchels, Utility belts; 4x additional Tasks, Companions, Market slots; Home Keys & Personal & Guild Mailboxes & Shesel Al's in every territory or region... Personally, if you all were able to afford the "Crossing" luxury to Steam users to (imagine this:) "CROSS" platform accounts (no 'server' crossing, merging, or public market rehaul necessary; as some have suggested), I would also be more inclined to regularly or sporadically purchase Imperial Consumables. Every single facet of this profits the devs, progresses the server, & boosts the population...

On the other hand, you have surely lost players due to this extraneous barricade, & sometimes when I think about it, I want to just quit completely & not give it a chance to be implemented... Still could happen...

Just sayin. So now you can see why I spent all that mental energy at nights and in the shower, because I can't make good sense of the whole thing being such a bother to the devs.

Thank you for any concern & deliberation regarding this matter.

Code: Select all

& a big thanks for anyone who stuck with me there :-v

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Falkarma » Tue 08 May 2018, 12:41

Hi Brandish,

Thanks for the post, won't be easy to give you a structured answer to all comments.

I'll just give a general answer right now: most of your comments are right. Many of the requested features are on our wish list too. So why would we not do it right here right now?

*This is where the indie reality for handling a 5-year-old game come into play.*

We must handle a wide array of player types, some like the game the way it is and wants more stories, some want more content to unlock skills, some want new feature for this or that, some would like us to go to other platforms and some would like to have a companion app for their mobile devices, some would like us to speak more on the forum/Facebook/Steam (but some don't care and want us to stop talking and do more design).

We are a very small team, we are doing all we can to please everyone. Post like yours is a very good "reality check" for us, maybe it will change the schedule for the month to come. I'm already planning to transform your post as a wish list then integrate it in our planning.

I'll do another post right now about the Steam part of your post, see if we could target the most pressing thing for Steam players.
Therian Saga

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Falkarma » Tue 08 May 2018, 13:55

About Steam, we'll have some internal discussion before I do my post.

We checked the technical implication about the 15 characters per account and that won't be a problem. Let's check the effect on all players before making a move.

Regarding the transfer between web account and Steam account we have to check if we have some contractual limitation in our deal with Steam. That would be surprising but we'd better be safe than sorry.

More detail later. And I'm transferring this post to the main forum, so players for all languages can give us some comments too.

Bests,
Falk
Therian Saga

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby cuentista » Tue 08 May 2018, 13:57

Falkarma, Thank you for all the work you and team have done. Not all players require something :). Although I myself sometimes make suggestions.

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Brandish » Tue 08 May 2018, 16:15

Thank you very much Falkarma! I am eager to see what we can come up with. Is there a running wish list, with other features on it, that we can first bring to light & dissect? I know there are other good requests from players, as well as suggestions from devs - & dev ideas we've never even heard before...

If we could collaborate on a serious running list for future goals and needs, I think it will be important to separate into categorical lumps that could be pushed forward, separate out ideas that need more time, and if anything is put on the back burners, there should still be a list view-able to players / potential players. Quality of Life requests vs. content implementation, etc... Even if we get a flood of totally unrealistic thoughts & requests, it can be good to consider and acknowledge. Can lead to other more realistic ideas as well. It is also good to be able to know what NOT to expect.

Just a note, the plan should be engorged with a multitude of small potentials for team revenue, but remember of course to entice players (as opposed to pressuring players) who do happen to have those 15 free accounts established with lots of playtime.

Two last things, just for fun:

Can we see a server population graphic of some sort?

And I have seen some discussion of animated textures & similar. I know this one is lofty & far fetched, but honestly it's something I've also put a good amount of thought and fantasizing into: Have you ever considered embracing a simple VR GUI? It could actually be super simple yet unbelievably effective. I mean, imagine as a hero setting up crafting where each room is a small 3d environment - could even be pulled off with simple block shapes with skins that change depending on materials built from AND resources being processed on a machine for example. Guild rooms could be customized maybe like dying clothes; i don't know? and while travelling, you can see the particular terrain landscape depicting its land difficulty, if there is enemy threat, then you see those enemies in the background, until an encounter where they would appear in the foreground. Again, I'm talking about a simple array of skins creating a passive 3d scene, not a fully immersive 3d environment. The already established turn-based combat should be incredibly easy to skin, and aside from implementing a 3d engine to display in that way, skinning would be the bulk of the job overall. It could still even be the same exact game for web client players, legitimately just an optional interface for a VR premium account. Because in this line of thinking, introducing different visual limitations or feature options per device would align with the mobile app scheme, where phone users can manage basic queue tasks but not perform combat, for example. Just a thought.

Thanks for getting back to me. :D Looking forward to hearing everyones' ideas. :ugeek:

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Orgrim » Fri 11 May 2018, 05:13

Is there anything planned for Therian to run again with the current browser version FireFox and Chrome?

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Tuf » Fri 11 May 2018, 05:52

Current version of FF and Chrome can not run Silverlight apps at all. So this is impossible.
U can use Firefox ESR 52 \ IE \Maxthon\ SeaMonkey\ Palemoon browsers and also old versions of Opera and some other browsers.
I have Opera portable browser in different folders. One for each account

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Orgrim » Fri 11 May 2018, 06:57

Yes, I have opera too.
But that doesn't make it any better.
It is an old version that is becoming more and more unbecoming.
Since I play partially on a service computer, I cannot install a client.

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Céline » Fri 11 May 2018, 09:20

Orgrim wrote:Yes, I have opera too.
But that doesn't make it any better.


Have you try the portable version a player shared "long" time ago ?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1jpco78fkvwy ... S.zip?dl=0

(you can close the "register" window ^^ and just press "download" button top right).
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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Orgrim » Fri 11 May 2018, 09:36

Yes, I have OperaPortable.
But also there is only one old version, the new do not support the Silverlight anymore.
and old versions are becoming more and more a security risk.
Therefore also the question whether what is planned to change this (e.g. html or so)

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Céline » Fri 11 May 2018, 09:44

Mmmh. When I'm not at home, I play with IE. Up-to-date. It works.
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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Orgrim » Fri 11 May 2018, 09:56

Ok. I have never used IE :?
Then I try to

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Hardsun » Tue 15 May 2018, 15:54

And one more QoL idea i feel we might be happy to have and probably not very hard to impliment - over time guild getting large stocks of different recipes and in different amounts. Its becoming really hard to sort those out and to keep track on how many of which left there ... :(

Idea: can you guys please make those recipes to be stackable - so its less pain to sort and since those will be in stack - can see amount left on the fly.
OR - some separate storage for guild recipes only in guild bank.

Im tired sorting out recipes from x2 fishing nets festivals :lol:

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Brandish » Fri 18 May 2018, 03:39

Saw another good suggestion in chat today:
Issue: In low population server (on afk game :p), need the ability to create Public Market request offers for GEAR
Ideas:
  • Blackboard area in market for hero to write in & advertise items they need (example: 40-45 leg armour, 40+ botany tool, complex cedar counter)
  • Selectable level range and skill set request that other players could see inline with gear being sold (example: device -> machine -> 40+ mechanical)

By the way, I have seen that at least one player on Loucantar has taken to advertising what they need by engraving items and then listing them for sale for thousands of gold.

And while I'm here, I should mention touch screens have annoying issues with this game:
  • no pinch to zoom support on map
  • hover texts and item action menu [examples: Deposit/Throw away or Rename/Abandon] won't go away when tapping elsewhere - persists unless you swipe past it which isn't very intuitive, and it blocks all your items in the area, so if you accidentally tap an item next to the one you wanted, it can be a pain..
  • using a touchpad to "scroll" to zoom the map can sometimes break the game window and creates double nested scroll bars on the right. it can cause wild GUI resizing instead, and not the friendly in-game "+" or "-" interface rescale feature, but something independent of this. requires game relaunch

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Arakismo » Fri 18 May 2018, 06:14

A blackboard for offer/request would be really cool, +1
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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby aknoth » Fri 18 May 2018, 12:56

A blackboard for offer/request would be really cool, +1


Would it be helpful, if Theriansim provides such functionality ?

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Brandish » Thu 24 May 2018, 14:29

aknoth wrote:Would it be helpful, if Theriansim provides such functionality ?

Hey! It would be great feature to have anywhere, yeah. :)
The sim is a great tool & I think enough players are using the sim regularly that people would see it & use it... Would not reach brand new players maybe, & would need to be very clear for market requests on which server obviously, because I can't help but imagine cross-server user mistakes in this case. Could be interesting to see other servers' activity, but only intentionally.
Do you have any particular ideas for it right away? HEY question for you - how do preload lists work in the crafting sim?

For QoL,
I've collected a small list of UI quirks:
  • Clicking a gear item in your backpack twice equips it, thus unequipping any current respective gear back to your backpack. In this scenario, if instead "double clicking" said gear item, the current object is unequipped as expected, but the one you clicked goes missing. Requires relog for item to reappear in backpack.
  • While travelling, if you are managing your task queue or backpack inventory, they can get bugged & require relog.
  • Similarly, the "Search / Reset" buttons on the Public Market window > Browse would become greyed out & require relog. Maybe other elements, that's just what I've encountered multiple times.
  • Again, UI bugs out at the end of a travel segment or upon completion of a task iteration. Example: If you were clicking to queue a full block of sleep and immediately log out, you'd better make sure it queued more than one sleep, or you may log in to an almost exhausted, maybe injured hero. Similarly, you might have to drag the counter bar more than once because it jumps back to 1 while queuing a task.
  • Possibly related: sometimes unable to cancel tasks in queue at all, requires relog.
  • Unable to queue greater than 100x iterations of a task, even if the hero has enough skill, energy & materials.
  • Unable to create public market offer for greater than 200x stack of a single item. Often see several stacks of 200x of one item from a single hero, and it's silly since it's designed already to allow partial fulfillment by other players. Also, there are only 8 stacks per page on the browse tab, so the 200x limitation just makes it tedious for both buying and selling.
  • Being on free accounts for a year, I just discovered from other players that premium does not have the ability to cancel a partial stack of sleep iterations. This is something I do all the time without thinking... Seems like a penalty and a waste of time to not be able to tweak and manage your sleep, to maximize on hero & party healing, and regeneration potential, and to be able to cancel all but one - without having to restart that one - so you can travel somewhere to a better inn for example. Other players said they liked being able to manage sleep the "free" way, but had to adapt their play style in this case. While I appreciate that the coding behind it is different because of sleep readiness or whatever, I really find it sloppy and lazy. Why make players arbitrarily wait or restart tasks? That sucks. I don't want to pay to upgrade to a premium game but discover that I get forced into random downgrades too...
  • hey, what if there were questlines or BC unlocks that you could complete in order to unlock up to 4 or 5 jewelry slots for each style

Also, since making the original post, I guess there is a local-time queue-end stamp on a premium account..?
Is there any comprehensive list of current premium account changes?

Thank you!

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Falkarma » Thu 24 May 2018, 18:53

Greetings.

Having recipes non-stackable protect you from consuming a whole bunch of recipes by taking them and changing that behavior would require lots of testing, I'll just keep it in mind for now.

When we did the request system for resources we checked for the possibility to request anything, but the UI for it just became overcomplicated to the players (because you could ask anything, so the whole game had to be available). The only real ingame possibility I see is a text billboard that you pay for each day of publication, the billboard has a button linking to your ingame mail. You could post things like "The Grufunlulunus guild is looking for 1000 iron plates. Send as COD for 1 gold each.".

Lots of other good request, I can't comment them all right now but keep them coming.
Therian Saga

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Brandish
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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby Brandish » Thu 31 May 2018, 00:49

text billboard that you pay for each day of publication, the billboard has a button linking to your ingame mail

That sounds really good to me. :D
Had another idea to add as well: (sorry, I left this unposted for several days and kept amending items. also sorry if any repeats. also sorry for any erratic thought fragments. please let me know if any concepts can be clarified in any way :-V )
  • add Global friending option (especially useful if allowing 15-hero accounts) Example: for my global friends, any alt on my hypothetical future premium account logs in, @Brandish would appear online to anyone who mutually globally adds, and only those who are friended in this way can see when the player logs in any alt. Existing hero-hero friend list functionality would remain intact.
  • ability to mail a player's global handle
  • the public market billboard email linkage to a global handle would be phenomenal
  • ability to hide online status? per hero/global hiding features - unsure if useful, just an idea
  • ability to see or check online status of guildmates if not friended?
  • ability to view blocked list?
  • option for anonymous market requesting on offers tab and/or billboard?
  • ability to choose if an material or crafting item will drop to the guild/home inventory instead of the player's backpack
  • consumables chests? blades, vials, chisels, needles, grindstones, etc. (also can we make "all" fuels depositable?)
  • a way to sort guild domains list - by location / function?
  • backpack "deposit all" -add filters by trade/searchterm/quality/? & option to limit depositing from multiple backpacks
  • clicking a stack of items in the backpack should include "deposit all" just as "store all" will appear, currently when depositing item stack the player is forced to choose a number
  • pressing [Enter] should be more responsive - eg: send an email when the cursor is in the gold field and all other fields are filled; accept a task queue action, etc. (currently, enter key appears only used for accepting task cancellation, trade and transfer item count sliders; otherwise initiates a chat instead)
  • similarly, the queue action window accepts increase/decrease input from keyboard, but only after clicking the count slider
  • [Esc] responsive to clear a currently searched term in the backpack? also manage location window, possibly other scenarios I naturally always hit escape key and unexpectedly invoke the game menu instead (whereas pressing escape closes the top right icons' GUI windows - as well as cancels chat & closes queue/cancel task windows)
  • better way to locate and retrieve intact archaeology pieces from profession chest when stacked with imperfect pieces?
  • searchable profession chest? or a way to search profession chest as well as backpack?
  • searchable home/guild bank inventory?!?!! (remote searching while not required to be at location would be better - a master search for all stored items/companions would be best)
  • guild bank inventory items, which are too far above the hero's skill level to be equipped, do not mention this until removed from bank to backpack
  • :) players describing ingame couple days ago: quests/tasks requiring potions in inventory may not be counting potions correctly when potions are in multiple or secondary backpacks
So.... also, every device which I have installed TS on steam and client (7+ computers off the top of my head, various hardware, some fresh o/s installs but all Windows 10 & 7), the game window regularly closes during login without warning - often several times consecutively... :lol:

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Re: QoL & Steam Crossing Time

Postby bmmtstb » Thu 31 May 2018, 09:10

i've just made a quick litte draft for two ideas of mine: (an please fix the image upload here)
First, why not just put the reciepts for the Guild in the footer to the delivery thing?
Image

An second, i hate all these Keys in my inventory, why cant we just have a Keychain with all these on? (Maybe on the user, maybe on an extra inventory Tab for quest stuff?
Image
Rechtschreibfehler dienen meinem Weg zu Weltherrrschaft <- oh schaut mal ein Pirat o.O


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