The Forum

[quote="DEVONNE"]More to the point, do you think ESoma would have been better if it was a capped game where the levelling portion was erased over time in preference for a PvP game? It was more than possible to update ESoma without tinkering with the rates, so it's not like they needed people to be capped to add in new content and provide things for people do with who were tiring of the grind. This server has done an admirable job of showing some of the things they could have done to genuinely improve the original game but at the same time I can't say I prefer how this server has turned out.[/quote]

[quote="SIVAX"]Neither.[/quote]

[quote="SLAYER"][quote="DEVONNE"] It was more than possible to update ESoma without tinkering with the rates, so it's not like they needed people to be capped to add in new content and provide things for people do with who were tiring of the grind. .[/quote] Back when I was playing Esoma, Gms/advisors always told us it was hard/impossible for them to produce new content without the original devs. So no, as far as I'm aware they couldn't update much on Esoma beyond what they did. Think they managed to do the abyss map and some higher-skilled weps with the same recycled skins but that was about it. I think this server is better. If it had the same publicity and was around in the same era as original Esoma was, this version would be more popular imo. We are just spoilt for choice these days when it comes to gaming and things have evolved a lot. But this server has the best version of soma I've played.[/quote]

[quote="CYA"][quote="SLAYER"][quote="DEVONNE"] It was more than possible to update ESoma without tinkering with the rates, so it's not like they needed people to be capped to add in new content and provide things for people do with who were tiring of the grind. .[/quote] Back when I was playing Esoma, Gms/advisors always told us it was hard/impossible for them to produce new content without the original devs. So no, as far as I'm aware they couldn't update much on Esoma beyond what they did. Think they managed to do the abyss map and some higher-skilled weps with the same recycled skins but that was about it. I think this server is better. If it had the same publicity and was around in the same era as original Esoma was, this version would be more popular imo. We are just spoilt for choice these days when it comes to gaming and things have evolved a lot. But this server has the best version of soma I've played.[/quote] [/quote]

[quote="CYA"][quote="CYA"][quote="SLAYER"][quote="DEVONNE"] It was more than possible to update ESoma without tinkering with the rates, so it's not like they needed people to be capped to add in new content and provide things for people do with who were tiring of the grind. .[/quote] Back when I was playing Esoma, Gms/advisors always told us it was hard/impossible for them to produce new content without the original devs. So no, as far as I'm aware they couldn't update much on Esoma beyond what they did. Think they managed to do the abyss map and some higher-skilled weps with the same recycled skins but that was about it. I think this server is better. If it had the same publicity and was around in the same era as original Esoma was, this version would be more popular imo. We are just spoilt for choice these days when it comes to gaming and things have evolved a lot. But this server has the best version of soma I've played.[/quote] [/quote] Guy isn't even brownnosing we all really appreciate what Dan and Charles have done for us and I for one will look back with I can't even think of a word to describe how much of a huge impact being part of this community has had on my life. Soon be 20 years and no SomaCon yet Anyone read about that guy who was in the rihanna music video We found love I and a few people would like to know if dudley shagged the ass off it Where's he at he was lil_saint I read it on the game network forums before they dissapeared he had a boxing video on the forums he posted read that shit up I'm drunk Happy Easter And submit[/quote]

[quote="FOXTRCK"]I think the answer for a lot of people is No. Esoma wouldn't have been better for it and using soft caps instead of finite caps would have been better here but there's probably an explanation somewhere for why that option wasn't chosen. And to be fair a lot of things in the game and how it functions are not "obvious" for why they are the way they are. E.g Soft caps create a rubber band affect of people roughly staying in the same stat range, without them ever actually stopping gaining stats. Probably far nicer to do than taking a major reason away from playing the game on that character. And its still as easy to then insert content and move those soft caps forward. Capping itself, I think there's a effort by players past and present at cap to glorify capping as the only thing you should be aiming for, when in truth its because they need the numbers to make it more interesting for them and everyone else. Now, I haven't seen a GM say they made this a PVP server but it does seem a easy thing to pass entertainment through the door with. Unfortunately there is little at cap, there isn't even any level restricted items out there to superficially show you have made it. There isn't any raids or a general need to party (...at the moment). So the "journey" or "passage" of training and farming is still everyone's best chance to enjoy the game the most and theres nothing stopping people below 125 from joining in PK/PVP/RvR. As for ignoring a lot of the content, I don't think it was intentional, if you look at the Soma database and the map editor even, its just awfully laid out and how it functions is terrible. The proof is in the eating and playing the game with a eye for detail, you can work out how things were going or intentions at least from a Esoma perspective. -There was a definite attempt to force new players to interacting with all major town(s) npcs for both worlds. -Both talked about the monster world , Soma himself, the "continental armies castle", the great war. -Talks of fragments of the sword of lord. -Identifying "Evil" as bad moral players plus devils are scavengers, humans are the rich, spoilt beings of the earth and driven by greed. -Creating devil characters in a theme of "less in numbers but stronger than any melee human comparison" -Theming light and dark magic appropriately, light is more pure (cure), black is more bad and conniving (blind). Devil world only having black magic. -Creating a Heavens world and associating it to white magic. -Blue magic defined as human magic. Then theres far far more in the comics that the korean developers referred too, like Somas mothers tomb is in fact the tomb in TYT. I think the lines blurred whether the devil world was infact a "part of" the monster world, would be interesting to know if that was ever actually explicitly explained. Or if the devil world is the extreme of bad moral and "bad people". So you see there's still a lot that can be done and there is already a pontoon to launch from and expand the story. and its why I think the best is yet to come from iSylver and Finito. They just need everyone's help to know the best moves to make. Personally? 1) Soft caps maybe the way forward and be far nicer for everyone that is capped. May take some of the pressure of off GMs. Giving something long forgotten to capped players, back to them. 2) Chain quests that invoke some lore, either continuing a new story, catching up on Gorshak etc or tossing over the old, or a bit of everything. Minimal rewards, maybe superficial but completely optional. But also regular chain quests like the stat quests that lead you somewhere. 3) Updating item requirements for old/new weapons so they are much more spaced out and tiered to make them "rewarding". 4) A couple of tools / none-GM accounts for the remnant VT members so that there is more presence in the game and isn't just constantly left to iSylver. With the intention of regular community events of all kinds, even contribution events like the Anvil. I reckon if you did a poll, that would come out top as the thing people have wanted for a long time. 5) Return of the moral system and modernization of it. 6) Dedicated devil soma GM. Whom are left behind on a regular basis. 7) A cross world siege of the "source" of the monster world, where its extended every 3 months or something. 8)A guild war league (not village).[/quote]