With about one week left before the end of iCBT2, and a personal schedule that is growing a bit more hectic come the end of the year, I’d like to post my thoughts on the game so far. Please note that I DO understand that this is a BETA, and I am well aware that I am here to test.
I’ve actually enjoyed my experience, despite not fully focusing on the game (since it’s CBT still and characters won’t be kept). Managed to make fair progress with my character, who is level 130+, while taking my time to do things (also made 2 alts), so the linearity thing mentioned by others doesn’t bother me so much. It’s still something to look into though, as even I would prefer more different places to go to for leveling purposes. Hopefully, the EXP card scaling and events applied to the kCBT3 will also be granted to the iCBT version, at least.
Things I like in particular are the hidden quests that require effort to find and start, as well as the number of classes and associated costumes that won’t disappear after some time like in some other games (Dragon Nest for instance). The maps look great, save for some with clearly copypasted areas, and the BGM is fantastic - the overall feel gives me enough of the RO nostalgia, while at the same time being new. There are graphical bugs here and there, such as water ripples and magma showing up on the ground surfaces on some maps (the latter is noticeable on Mage Tower 5F for me), but I’m not sure if this problem is associated with my computer. Plenty of time to fix those before OBT/release anyway, so I don’t mind.
That said, there are also a number of things that require improvement. I’ve already heard of rumors that the development team will try to fit the game’s exp curve to the level required for equipment (so 15, 40, 75, 120, 170, and so on) which would be a good step to combat grind walls. Being from SEA, but not someone who is into PvP, the problem of latency does not affect me so much. Having different server locations will no doubt help those from this region who do want to take part in PvP matches though.
Surprisingly, the number one issue for me so far is not even the gameplay, but the game’s community and how little GM intervention there is when it comes to players doing as they please. The shout chat should, in my honest opinion, be moderated at all times to prevent discussions about topics unrelated to the game, with appropriate penalties placed on those who behave indecently. I’m aware that the part on the top of the screen can be turned off if I don’t want to see it, but the purpose of this function in many other games is to broadcast important messages such as item sales, trade offers, or guild/party recruitment notices, and not to have open discussions on. A one minute cooldown between each message would be good to implement as well.
That’s about it. Thanks for reading.