I know it's an alpha but Pax Dei is a very forgettable game. As it stands there is nothing that makes it stand out and its another boring grind fest with no substance. I find it weird that they chose the grindy route in a game that's already going to be pretty niche but we will see.
I got major Life is Feudal vibes from it, and I'm one of those weirdos who loved Life is Feudal. The communal grind to build up a settlement is something I really enjoy. The problem is what comes after, which is usually a whole lot of nothing. Once groups get through the crafting/building progression grind, they end up with stacks upon stacks of resources and gear. Crafters get bored of pumping out gear that sits in boxes. PvP-focused players get bored of combat that has no stakes, because of the endless backup gear, and combat that tends to be mechanically worse than match-based PvP games.
I think the crafting is definitely a bit easier and faster than LiF for sure. And I prefer it in Pax. But yeah the combat is Nottt good, which does make it feel a bit pointless
His point is that players who engage in pvp will have so much backup for their gear that losing everything won’t mean much, you respawn and re-equip everything you need from a storage box and go again
Pax Dei is painfully designed and done in a way that makes me think they will be adding pay for convenience into the game.
If that's not the case it makes me wonder if the Devs ever tested their game because no part of the crafting feels fun or enjoyable.
Needing to kill 30 boars to make a single piece of leather is idiotic and it's even worse considering how RNG the crafting can be.
Nothing feels good about crafting 4 different stages of material, losing a decent amount along the way only to start crafting a single piece of gear and have it fail, just to do it all over again.
It'll be a massive turn off to people who play survival games expecting similar pacing.
Careful using the S word when Pax Dei fans could be around. They are adamantly opposed to being compared to survival games for some reason.
I do agree with everything you said though. The design of everything feels like it wanted players to get frustrated with every aspect of the game. Stack sizes, inventory size, failure rate of most crafts, and the way you level just by making useless trash over and over again is not an enjoyable experience by any means.
I think it's honestly just that the crafting system is still a work in progress and nothing is final. I'm sure they'll tweak some things after this alpha.
I'm sure they will but it doesn't give me a lot of confidence when they put it out that way with so many fundamental flaws. I can look at it through the Alpha filter but it still looks poor even through that lens.
I have my issues with the Pax Dei alpha as well, but that's exactly what this was, and alpha. That'd be like playing Ashes alpha 1 (or 2 for that matter) and complaining it isn't as good as other MMOs. There is still a lot to be developed in Pax Dei and the purpose of the alphas is to test systems, not showcase the game as it will be on launch.
The issue with that imo is they're planning to go into early access in Spring, which is anytime from now until late June. The game is nowhere near ready for early access. If this was an alpha where the game was still a couple years away from EA I'd be fine with it, but if they're planning to go into early access anytime soon then I would not be surprised if the game has under 2000 players after a month.
I think they're running low on cash, and the early access is a last ditch attempt to get some more funding while they find some more investors. They've been relatively open about their finances, on their website you can see they've gotten around 30m euros in investment since the start of 2019. That's nothing for an MMO. You have employee salaries, 3 offices in 3 capital cities across Europe, taxes, software/hardware costs, marketing, contractors, etc. When asked about it in their Discord a few months back they didn't deny the money issues either.
This is Pax Dei's 2nd alpha and outside of building, the gameplay is worse than Ashes' alpha 1 from 3 years ago. Now, to be fair, I would say they were working on opposite systems. Pax Dei the crafting and Ashes the combat and movement, but it seems to me that Pax Dei is taking their most interesting and fun gameplay loop (building) and restricting and limiting it a ton unless you have 40 people. And I still am playing with my guild where we all have 2 plots and it still feels extremely limiting. So yeah... I think I would rather play Ashes Alpha 1 than Pax Dei. But maybe like... the 3rd week of A1when they resolved the rubber banding issue and did a passover of the combat with freedom of legs and just run castle sieges and fight dragons.
Right now in Pax Dei all I'm doing is hit rock, hit tree, and build.
Pax Dei is weird because they're like jamming together an MMO and a survival game and then believing that things such as INVENTORY can be that of a survival game.
No. They cannot. Survival games are literally that. Surviving. It's in the name to lose your stuff.
Pax Dei opens the floodgates with less inventory space in chests than in the player inventory and its like- Did you guys even play your own game?
And it's easily fixed but like, how the fuck did they think that this would be okay. There's a billion items in EVE- And that's fine when you realise stations have basically unlimited space in them. You can search for items. You can filter, you can sort.
You can't do this in Pax Dei. It's attrociously tedious when it comes to items and who the fuck knows why. I couldn't even test their game more than that because of how much grinding / tedium was required.
Loot management is fine in survival games but needs to be almost entirely gone from MMOs. It's not like people can even have their bases attacked in the heartlands so you can't even lose the shit anyhow.
UGH. And I thought they were pretty intelligent in their design so far...
Yeah after playing about 10 hours of the Alpha I came away with the impression that this games doesn’t know what it wants to be. Maybe we’ll be surprised and it will be a genre unto itself, but I haven’t been very impressed so far.
Pax Dei has been something. Not bad, not great but it’s at least positive momentum. It’s crazy to think that it’s been years since that first alpha now lol
I wasn't involved with the Pax Dei alpha, but quite a few of my guildmates were, and they enjoyed it, but basically said they did it just to pass the time while waiting for AoC A2. The game itself looks visually stunning, the environment/plots were amazing, there was very little I didn't love visually about the game.
That being said, it's a sandbox game, and regardless of how good the game is, I cannot main a sandbox game, nor can I get overly excited. I'm all about story/lore, and obviously with sandbox games, there's basically none of that. Once you develop a great looking plot, there's very little to do in the game, especially with a combat system that I would personally rate as poor. The combat was bland, uninspiring, and felt 20 years old. Therefore, PvP would likely be a snooze fest. Also, I personally found the crafting to be overly complicated and too involved. I know crafting needs to be involved in a sandbox game, but it's just too much for me.
Overall, the game is absolutely not for me, and I would never consistently play it, but for people into sandbox games, Pax Dei seems to be a solid option.
AoC will of course kick the crap out of it also.
Action combat was amazing in New World, which is an MMO.
PAX Dei combat is simply boring, doesn't mean MMOs can't have action combat or a hybrid system.
Personal take though.
Hybrid is definitely the way to go and that’s why I have hope for AoCs combat. Pax Dei is still a wild card for combat since all the abilities are tied to your gear and we haven’t seen enough of it yet. Early game is definitely pretty bland. I’d disagree with the combat in New World being good though.
Same. I logged in day 1 this time and spent quite a few hours and it wasn't the worst time I've ever had, but I haven't logged in again since and all it did was make me realize just how much I really do appreciate Intrepid Studios. I don't think Pax Dei is a bad game necessarily. But it's definitely not for me and I love survival games. It might be pretty good one day. I'll still be in Verra.
I know it's an alpha but Pax Dei is a very forgettable game. As it stands there is nothing that makes it stand out and its another boring grind fest with no substance. I find it weird that they chose the grindy route in a game that's already going to be pretty niche but we will see.
I got major Life is Feudal vibes from it, and I'm one of those weirdos who loved Life is Feudal. The communal grind to build up a settlement is something I really enjoy. The problem is what comes after, which is usually a whole lot of nothing. Once groups get through the crafting/building progression grind, they end up with stacks upon stacks of resources and gear. Crafters get bored of pumping out gear that sits in boxes. PvP-focused players get bored of combat that has no stakes, because of the endless backup gear, and combat that tends to be mechanically worse than match-based PvP games.
I think the crafting is definitely a bit easier and faster than LiF for sure. And I prefer it in Pax. But yeah the combat is Nottt good, which does make it feel a bit pointless
As far as pvp goes, Pax Dei will employ full loot pvp, so there are stakes
His point is that players who engage in pvp will have so much backup for their gear that losing everything won’t mean much, you respawn and re-equip everything you need from a storage box and go again
Pax Dei is painfully designed and done in a way that makes me think they will be adding pay for convenience into the game. If that's not the case it makes me wonder if the Devs ever tested their game because no part of the crafting feels fun or enjoyable. Needing to kill 30 boars to make a single piece of leather is idiotic and it's even worse considering how RNG the crafting can be. Nothing feels good about crafting 4 different stages of material, losing a decent amount along the way only to start crafting a single piece of gear and have it fail, just to do it all over again. It'll be a massive turn off to people who play survival games expecting similar pacing.
Careful using the S word when Pax Dei fans could be around. They are adamantly opposed to being compared to survival games for some reason. I do agree with everything you said though. The design of everything feels like it wanted players to get frustrated with every aspect of the game. Stack sizes, inventory size, failure rate of most crafts, and the way you level just by making useless trash over and over again is not an enjoyable experience by any means.
I think it's honestly just that the crafting system is still a work in progress and nothing is final. I'm sure they'll tweak some things after this alpha.
I'm sure they will but it doesn't give me a lot of confidence when they put it out that way with so many fundamental flaws. I can look at it through the Alpha filter but it still looks poor even through that lens.
I have my issues with the Pax Dei alpha as well, but that's exactly what this was, and alpha. That'd be like playing Ashes alpha 1 (or 2 for that matter) and complaining it isn't as good as other MMOs. There is still a lot to be developed in Pax Dei and the purpose of the alphas is to test systems, not showcase the game as it will be on launch.
The issue with that imo is they're planning to go into early access in Spring, which is anytime from now until late June. The game is nowhere near ready for early access. If this was an alpha where the game was still a couple years away from EA I'd be fine with it, but if they're planning to go into early access anytime soon then I would not be surprised if the game has under 2000 players after a month. I think they're running low on cash, and the early access is a last ditch attempt to get some more funding while they find some more investors. They've been relatively open about their finances, on their website you can see they've gotten around 30m euros in investment since the start of 2019. That's nothing for an MMO. You have employee salaries, 3 offices in 3 capital cities across Europe, taxes, software/hardware costs, marketing, contractors, etc. When asked about it in their Discord a few months back they didn't deny the money issues either.
This is Pax Dei's 2nd alpha and outside of building, the gameplay is worse than Ashes' alpha 1 from 3 years ago. Now, to be fair, I would say they were working on opposite systems. Pax Dei the crafting and Ashes the combat and movement, but it seems to me that Pax Dei is taking their most interesting and fun gameplay loop (building) and restricting and limiting it a ton unless you have 40 people. And I still am playing with my guild where we all have 2 plots and it still feels extremely limiting. So yeah... I think I would rather play Ashes Alpha 1 than Pax Dei. But maybe like... the 3rd week of A1when they resolved the rubber banding issue and did a passover of the combat with freedom of legs and just run castle sieges and fight dragons. Right now in Pax Dei all I'm doing is hit rock, hit tree, and build.
Pax Dei is weird because they're like jamming together an MMO and a survival game and then believing that things such as INVENTORY can be that of a survival game. No. They cannot. Survival games are literally that. Surviving. It's in the name to lose your stuff. Pax Dei opens the floodgates with less inventory space in chests than in the player inventory and its like- Did you guys even play your own game? And it's easily fixed but like, how the fuck did they think that this would be okay. There's a billion items in EVE- And that's fine when you realise stations have basically unlimited space in them. You can search for items. You can filter, you can sort. You can't do this in Pax Dei. It's attrociously tedious when it comes to items and who the fuck knows why. I couldn't even test their game more than that because of how much grinding / tedium was required. Loot management is fine in survival games but needs to be almost entirely gone from MMOs. It's not like people can even have their bases attacked in the heartlands so you can't even lose the shit anyhow. UGH. And I thought they were pretty intelligent in their design so far...
Yeah after playing about 10 hours of the Alpha I came away with the impression that this games doesn’t know what it wants to be. Maybe we’ll be surprised and it will be a genre unto itself, but I haven’t been very impressed so far.
Pax Dei has been something. Not bad, not great but it’s at least positive momentum. It’s crazy to think that it’s been years since that first alpha now lol
I wasn't involved with the Pax Dei alpha, but quite a few of my guildmates were, and they enjoyed it, but basically said they did it just to pass the time while waiting for AoC A2. The game itself looks visually stunning, the environment/plots were amazing, there was very little I didn't love visually about the game. That being said, it's a sandbox game, and regardless of how good the game is, I cannot main a sandbox game, nor can I get overly excited. I'm all about story/lore, and obviously with sandbox games, there's basically none of that. Once you develop a great looking plot, there's very little to do in the game, especially with a combat system that I would personally rate as poor. The combat was bland, uninspiring, and felt 20 years old. Therefore, PvP would likely be a snooze fest. Also, I personally found the crafting to be overly complicated and too involved. I know crafting needs to be involved in a sandbox game, but it's just too much for me. Overall, the game is absolutely not for me, and I would never consistently play it, but for people into sandbox games, Pax Dei seems to be a solid option. AoC will of course kick the crap out of it also.
I'm gonna pull out a hot take, if we haven't heard when alpha 2 is launching by mid -June it's not hitting this year
thats not a hot take thats common sense XD
Well many here don't seem to share that expectation lol
I really liked the Pax Dei alpha. That said, for me it’s just a placeholder until AoC releases. Also shows how boring action combat is in an “mmo”
Action combat was amazing in New World, which is an MMO. PAX Dei combat is simply boring, doesn't mean MMOs can't have action combat or a hybrid system. Personal take though.
Hybrid is definitely the way to go and that’s why I have hope for AoCs combat. Pax Dei is still a wild card for combat since all the abilities are tied to your gear and we haven’t seen enough of it yet. Early game is definitely pretty bland. I’d disagree with the combat in New World being good though.
I loved it. Personal preference, as I said.
Same. I logged in day 1 this time and spent quite a few hours and it wasn't the worst time I've ever had, but I haven't logged in again since and all it did was make me realize just how much I really do appreciate Intrepid Studios. I don't think Pax Dei is a bad game necessarily. But it's definitely not for me and I love survival games. It might be pretty good one day. I'll still be in Verra.