Stick Online Thoughts

[Lucifer]

I believe it's a shared consensus, among us still loyal fans, that Stick Online v2 was and is a great game. At first look from the common mistaken soul, it wouldn't seem so. It's such a simple concept, 2d stick figures in a 2d side scrolling world. How could such a system possibly provide continued entertainment? But therein lies the core beauty of Stick Online, its simplicity. A game for the simple man that requires no commitments of time or effort. It neither punishes you for leaving, nor rewards you for staying, you are merely an inhabitant of its simple world. However at the same time, all the while projecting this relaxing environment, the game provides incentive for the more than casual gamer; competition.

As a PvP based game, Stick Online has always had that sense of competition looming in the background, and with the small community Stick Online attracted, PvP actually makes sense! In a MMORPG, it's so easy to feel unimportant. The game cares not for you, like earth for mankind, it could function just fine without you. The PvP begins to feel dull, as all you're doing is wracking up points for a goal that in the end doesn't matter. You aren't going to be remembered, you're just another subscription fee to a greedy company. In Stick Online, what you do matters! The small community made the Perfect environment for PvP, which may seem odd at first. Player Vs Player functions better with less Players? But it does! When you can actually see with your own eyes that your actions effect the game, the effect is phenomenal. Turkey, St3k, Disasteroid, Ludacris, Specialboy, Dipz, Fog. All of these names will forever be remembered in Stick Online history.

Sure, it has its flaws. Largely incomplete, the economy is broken, the stats not fully balanced. The addition of a multitude of rare items caused for a shift in PvP, from a pure battle of skill, to skill intertwined with the luck of finding staple items. This brought PvP even more away from the casual gamer, and towards the hardcore. The fact that counters to every weapon exist doesn't in itself counter the difficulty of finding such weapons. Nowadays, proven by such accounts as Razor1337, a fully equipped account has far more chance at survival than not, however the odds are definitely not impossible to the skilled opponent.

I wasn't sure what the point of this monologue was until I finished. I guess what I'm saying is that the only thing I'd like to see different in Stick Online v3 is for PvP to go the opposite direction. Counters to every weapon should be available from the store or found commonly. Rare weapons should only be a convenience, not a powerful tool that can turn the tide of a battle. I like this concept inherent in the Inferno Sword's capability of hitting three opponents, rare weapons should have qualities like this that made them desirable, but not completely necessary. The same goes with Stats, each of the stats should match each other in capability, each serving a different purpose and strategy. None should be labeled like Agility and Int have widely (but not unanimously!) become in SOv2 an inconvenience in your build, there should be several builds! However the basic concept of PvP should stay the same, and the basic gameplay of Stick Online as well. My wish is for the game to continue its appeal to casual gamers, for it to keep its simplicity, but at the same time allow said casual gamers to contend on part with hardcore players.

Comments encouraged. What are your thoughts and criticisms of Stick Online v2, and what would you do differently in Stick Online v3?
Feel free to go on an all out full-page review if you like, I only touched upon the subject that I felt the strongest about.

[Celson]

As a PvP based game, Stick Online has always had that sense of competition looming in the background, and with the small community Stick Online attracted, PvP actually makes sense! In a MMORPG, it's so easy to feel unimportant. The game cares not for you, like earth for mankind, it could function just fine without you. The PvP begins to feel dull, as all you're doing is wracking up points for a goal that in the end doesn't matter. You aren't going to be remembered, you're just another subscription fee to a greedy company. In Stick Online, what you do matters! The small community made the Perfect environment for PvP, which may seem odd at first. Player Vs Player functions better with less Players? But it does! When you can actually see with your own eyes that your actions effect the game, the effect is phenomenal. Turkey, St3k, Disasteroid, Ludacris, Specialboy, Dipz, Fog. All of these names will forever be remembered in Stick Online history.

That paragraph is right on the money. I agree completely with what you said. In my 8 years of online gaming I've always preferred the smaller less populated games due to the fact that you can really get attached to the community, you can be recognized, the memories of the game and all the 'good times' make you happy. I've always loved the tournaments, that is my sole reason for playing SO. Even though every tournament I've ever participated in has occurred at 6:00 am in the morning, it's never bothered me. A MMORPG could never compare with a smaller online game such as Stick-Online in my mind.

And yeah what's the point of getting your character to the max stats in games like Runescape or WoW? Thousands of other people have already done it, you will not be remembered.

[HamsterPants]

I agree whole heartedly.

[Meiun]

As a PvP based game, Stick Online has always had that sense of competition looming in the background, and with the small community Stick Online attracted, PvP actually makes sense! In a MMORPG, it's so easy to feel unimportant. The game cares not for you, like earth for mankind, it could function just fine without you. The PvP begins to feel dull, as all you're doing is wracking up points for a goal that in the end doesn't matter. You aren't going to be remembered, you're just another subscription fee to a greedy company. In Stick Online, what you do matters! The small community made the Perfect environment for PvP, which may seem odd at first. Player Vs Player functions better with less Players? But it does! When you can actually see with your own eyes that your actions effect the game, the effect is phenomenal. Turkey, St3k, Disasteroid, Ludacris, Specialboy, Dipz, Fog. All of these names will forever be remembered in Stick Online history.

That paragraph is right on the money. I agree completely with what you said. In my 8 years of online gaming I've always preferred the smaller less populated games due to the fact that you can really get attached to the community, you can be recognized, the memories of the game and all the 'good times' make you happy. I've always loved the tournaments, that is my sole reason for playing SO. Even though every tournament I've ever participated in has occurred at 6:00 am in the morning, it's never bothered me. A MMORPG could never compare with a smaller online game such as Stick-Online in my mind.

And yeah what's the point of getting your character to the max stats in games like Runescape or WoW? Thousands of other people have already done it, you will not be remembered.

Part of what I aimed for with version 2 of the game was to be able to continue having that small community vibe even when it had a higher population, and will definitely be something I continue to shoot for with V3. The whole local chat only with no private chat wasn't just a fluke or kept that way due to technical reasons. I actually did not want people isolating themselves just to talk with people in "their group" or their little social groups. It sort of forces you to get to know and involve the people around you. While their may be some sorts of additions or exceptions as the game gets more advanced, I still definitely do want Stick Online to keep its small community appeal even if it grows to a large community.

[Matty_Richo]

As a PvP based game, Stick Online has always had that sense of competition looming in the background, and with the small community Stick Online attracted, PvP actually makes sense! In a MMORPG, it's so easy to feel unimportant. The game cares not for you, like earth for mankind, it could function just fine without you. The PvP begins to feel dull, as all you're doing is wracking up points for a goal that in the end doesn't matter. You aren't going to be remembered, you're just another subscription fee to a greedy company. In Stick Online, what you do matters! The small community made the Perfect environment for PvP, which may seem odd at first. Player Vs Player functions better with less Players? But it does! When you can actually see with your own eyes that your actions effect the game, the effect is phenomenal. Turkey, St3k, Disasteroid, Ludacris, Specialboy, Dipz, Fog. All of these names will forever be remembered in Stick Online history.

Spot on there Luci, I think back before everyone was level 99 or 100, that was where the game was at it's prime, When St3k and Luda won their tourneys at below level 70, when Disasteroid won his with a short sword, when PvP wasn't all about having IS/SD and the most Vit/Str in the game, Sure Luda's vit, St3k's GS and Dis being on lvl 99 played a part, but a lot of that was skill, Back when wooden hammers were the bomb and Knight helmets were the best for PVP, when people faked GS screenies hoping to get their hands on this amazingly powerful sword that we now look at as 'meh'.
I think the game lost something, Wooden hammers aren't so great anymore, no one PVPs in Knight helms, the game became to much about, who has the best drops and the most vit, when I think it should be, who has the most skill.

I remember when I got my viking helm, everyone thought I was cool, and when I spent days at the rockies to save up for a whip, and when Dragan got to 99 and everyone was totally in awe. I think that is what the game needs back. I don't have the answers, I don't know how it'd be done, but I think that is what the game needs in SO3.

[HamsterPants]

and when Dragan got to 99 and everyone was totally in awe.

I'm still flabbergasted as to how she leveled up so fast...

And yeah, I still have my old Viking Helm from when I was lvl 13. Good times man.

[Matty_Richo]

I just had a small idea, seeing as (IMO) the game was at it's peak before everyone was level 99, we could make getting to the level cap even harder. Assuming that each level the amount of XP needed doubles (I know it's probably not but just for arguments sake) what if after you hit level 60 or so, the amount of xp each level started tripling, then at 85 it quadrupled or something. Because the game was so much more fun when people wouldn't just sit there waiting for a boss to spawn (not everyone does, but some people do), but actually killed stuff to continue gaining levels. I also think that when everyone is levelling together and no one is sitting back just because they are level capped, that make it far more communal.

Also perhaps adding some novelty items, such as the rainbow headband, that are very rare, they look awesome, they aren't necessarily dropped by bosses, and don't have great stats. I think if you could get a super feather hat as a rare drop from a blob, that did nothing more than a normal feather hat but maybe add 1 agi or something, then that would keep people interested.

[Jackabomb]

I'm not sure we should be so concerned about 'reinvigorating' SO2 or trying to bring back it's 'glory days'. Who's to say those glory days have already come? What if the true Golden Age for this game has yet to come? For now, we bide our time until...hold on, I'm being too philosophical here, let me think of something else to say...


About the devaluing of skill and the overvaluing of items: that's what happens when your primary players have all reached the level cap. They stagnate. Increasing the level cap doesn't fix the problem: It only delays the inevitable. The problem is this: all games have an interest curve. Even online ones. Once you've played the game, that's it. You've played the game. There are no new challenges to face, nothing novel remaining. It has had it's run and that run is over. All games follow this simply because of human nature. Even zeroing a person to level 1 will not solve the problem. They've already done that, why would it be any different? Therefore....dang it. I can't remember where I was going. Maybe someone else can make sense of this. Now I'm going to sleep before I lose my ability to type English in addition to my ability to post coherent thoughts.

[havok]

Part of what I aimed for with version 2 of the game was to be able to continue having that small community vibe even when it had a higher population, and will definitely be something I continue to shoot for with V3. The whole local chat only with no private chat wasn't just a fluke or kept that way due to technical reasons. I actually did not want people isolating themselves just to talk with people in "their group" or their little social groups. It sort of forces you to get to know and involve the people around you. While their may be some sorts of additions or exceptions as the game gets more advanced, I still definitely do want Stick Online to keep its small community appeal even if it grows to a large community.
[/quote]

as you said i like how we have to talk to each on the not have little clans. eall most everyone in the game gets along and like each other and i however love that and how thme does not have so many people.(i just wand to keep that short and simple sorry for my slang thats part of who i am :P)

[CherryPie]

very true, pvp should definitly not be based on your equips.