trim wedge
Hello fellow dragoneers,
Just here to share my thoughts regarding the complaints I've heard about the gameplay within this community, as well as my own input regarding my personal experience of that. I'll be posting them below, so feel free to read them through and share any comments if you have anything to say about them.
• The game is too competitive, even outside of Ranked matchmaking!
I agree. If it's to my understanding, there isn't a properly implemented matchmaking balancing system in place to compensate for the various skill rankings among those in the playerbase.
If Playwing is able to create a matchmaking system that accounts for this, perhaps with inspiration from Apex Legend's skill divisions or Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege's matchmaking rating system, then it may be able to distinguish players across skill gaps and afford better experiences for everyone.
However, if the playerbase dwindles, a system like this won't be enough to sustain the community and provide fairer, more engaging matches for everyone playing. These things aren't likely to come any time soon, but they... unfortunately need to. Every week, every month, every year that this matter goes unresolved will ultimately lead to the downfall of C:AoA.
If they intend on creating a competitive environment for players to compete in, these issues absolutely must be addressed. Quality of Life enhancements are necessary to the longevity of a game, as any successful competitive game has shown.
• I keep dying, I feel outmatched and I swear they're turning faster than me!
Now, I personally feel that while there is certainly a skill related component to these complaints, one which can be somewhat mitigated with a little research into gameplay mechanics and community guides online, I do feel that this is actually a significant issue when it comes to Cross-platform Gameplay.
I am an Xbox One user, and I have typically found myself competing with PC users who, by an alarming measure of skill, are inescapable and untouchable. I want to attribute it to their ability to maneuver past me, in that I want to appreciate their skill, however I am aware that they have that technological advantage that allows them to run the game at higher frames for a more smooth experience with less frame latency, especially during those really intense pursuit conflicts. They can, literally, turn faster than I can and track my movements better due to their technology.
As I do not own an Xbox Series or even a decent PC, I feel locked behind the technology that I have and own and feel limited in my ability to compete fairly with others. The issue this creates is that there's a demand for me to disable crossplay and tolerate the low playerbase and longer matchmaking times. This feels terrible though, as I feel discouraged to play the game altogether. Of course, I want to keep playing and earning Dragon Pass content, but this game impacts with a stress threshold that only keeps me coming back to play in short bursts.
• This game is stressful
The thing is, is that there isn't a stress-free way to really play this game. To give some examples of how I've had stress-free experiences on competitive games:
★ For Honor: where players cease to fight one another and settle for playing instrumrnts together while spamming emotes.
★ Rainbow Six Siege: where players create elaborate and ridiculous game strategies to twist the gameplay into an unorthodox experience.
★ Halo: entering the forge mode to create maps and environments with unique gameplay settings to modify an experience in custom matches.
Century: Age of Ashes is a game that's ill equipped to provide players with an experience that offers a chance to breathe. It's customisation is limited, so people won't lose minutes to hours modifying their classes. Outbreak is new, but it lacks substance and can become monotonous as the waves of enemies are repetitive and predictable.
It also has no system for player expression beyond customisation, lacking character. We can't feel like a Stormraiser except when in battle. We can't express the fury of a Marauder, except when volleying fireballs. We can't embody the spirit if a Windguard, except when we successfully shield and heal an ally. Moreover, but how do we communicate to other players — even on the opposing team, that we respect their skill or that we're frustrated that we're losing? There's no means to do that in-play, but it's a vital addition to the concept of even a competitive gameplay experience to have these things.
• The customisation doesn't matter, you can't really see anyone else's cosmetics except for your own, unless you're on the podium or the showcase
Has anyone else noticed how small we are in game? How we're so indistinguishable, that even if you're wearing full golden plated armour, you can't even see it properly unless they crash into a wall. I think they should make the dragons and dragoneers a little bigger, because they're just painfully tiny as is during gameplay that the cosmetic customisation really doesn't add much impact to one's experiences of each individual ally or opponent.
Anyone who's played other competitive games with a solid cosmetics system will probably remember ‘that one guy’ who has this recognisable outfit and a gameplay personality that made them memorable. Maybe its because of their fashion, or maybe it's because they were annoyingly cheeky, but you remember those players because you can fathom that experience in mind. Right now, on Century, I only remember other players by their name... not even their player card or never-before-seen exclusive dragon mount. If they could add something to give this game substance, it would help players alleviate their own stressors in-game.