Intro
When Siptah was released, I was thrilled for new content for many days… however, yesterday I came into realization. I will open up these things. Overall I think the siptah is aimed in group play in mind rather than any solo gameplay.
Map
Siptah looks nice and there’s no empty spots like in old map. There are still good building locations but its well planned area and doesn’t feel dead. Pretty much all cordination spots have some sort of major or minor meaning. Well done on the map part. For me personally the map has been the best part. Also it’s bit smaller and you get to encounter players and pvp is more present.
Eldarium
Eldarium is a new resource. First I liked the system. Day one I saw some videos about the new weapons and it seemed first that there was 4-5 weapons in each weapon category. Cool! I love new weapons and the system seemed nice. However… soonish I realized its more of 10-11 weapons in each category. I didn’t give much thought, was even happier for the diverse. But last night I came into realization… I’ve played the game 8+h each and everyday. Most of my day I grind Eldarium. I would even say I grind 4h AT LEAST eldarium only each day. Some days significantly more, specially on PvE-conflict server. After my realization, I realized… I’ve spent all and every eldarium into axes, just wanting that Annoying shard. My schematics on 1h axes is atm 9/11 completion and no annyoing shard. I don’t even want to know how many hours I’ve spent to try get this. I feel like a clown. If I wasn’t solo, this would be so much easier… only one needs the schematic anyway to be able to craft it.
Grinding eldarium on PvP server is nice! I like the pvp in vault and such for gains. You also see from the door if theres potentially a player inside. However on PvE-Conflict… on PvE hours… excuse me? It’s speed race who gets to F the last chest first. There’s no competition or anything. Could you just make vaults 24/7 pvp on conflict servers? It’s so stupid that theres nothing you can do against other runner. I also feel stupid doing this myself. Feels like griefing. The guy clears 60% of the dungeon and I just run past him “chill clear over, its time for speedrun”. It’s plain stupid…
Thralls
I also realized I have t1 crafters. I do know what you are required to get t4 crafters. Known that since like day 1… but for solo player… yikes! That sounds hours and hours of personal investment. Also its super visible in the map and on PvP server… yikes. For solo player I think it’s just so much better to try and “steal” some thralls. You are a clown and crazy person if you use the hours to make calamity on PvP server as solo. You cannot defend the spot against 4 guys from single clan + other people.
What about PvE-Conflict?.. same problem as PvP servers and if u do it off-PvP time… o boi… who stuns thrall first and clicks the capture button first… and nothing you can do after that. ITS STUPID! On previous Conan map you could find t4 thrall, slap it in peace. You still had to care for players if there was, specially in hot spots like Asgard. Then the whole run back to wheel was dangerous too. And on PvE hours you could just do the thrall in peace. Staring contest and then E button spam is just not Conan gameplay for me…
Engagement > Fun
My strong believe is that Siptah mechanics; new thrall system and eldarium is simply made player engagement in mind. It really sucks the fun out of the game, specially if you are solo player. The amount of hours you should invest is enormous… and if you play on PvP server, you can get raided and bye bye for the hours of work. In old map this would’ve been fine. But in Siptah as solo player it just hurts so so much more if I would get t4 thrall by some miracle and then loose it. I think the engagement and fun was much better balanced in old exiles map.
Overall review on Siptah
It starts with glamour and beautiful places… but when the true grind hits a solo player… yikes. I was unlucky I think with schematics, I can give that but still… you have a chance to be left feeling as clown after weeks of grinding because the eldarium literally goes to nothingness if you aim particular thing. The weapon breaks, eldarium is gone etc. I think they want higher engagement in the game… imo its now too high and hurts fun.
PvE server players will still continue doing what they do best; build houses and show around stuff and wonders they are able to make with the magnificent system and tools Conan offers. PvP server players will still continue raiding and annoying each other. Always looking for next day to show that they are the alpha and not someone else. I think these things are the core why PvP and PvE people play this game! I don’t think the eldarium or thrall grind enhances those experiences. Not a bit! I highly hope that Funcom nerfs the amount of aether (??? stuff) you need in order to make calamity and make some sort of “bad luck” mechanic in delve rolls with eldarium. With current system its just yikes to delve your favorite weapon! Also make some sort of system for the vaults… specially in PvE-C where is pvp but no raiding, the pvp shouldn’t be all that spooky. The speedrun is stupid.
I seriously hope that Funcom would realize why players play this game and try to enhance those aspects of the game rather than try to make these huge grindfests to keep us engaged. All they are now doing is to increase the gap between solo and group players. As a proof that they didn’t think solo players, I bring the original wild surges. Were they possible alone? Yes. Were they easy? Absolutely no… ofc you can cheese them with ingame mechanics but c’mon. If you played with group, you got some good battles with npcs. I like that they changed this into the form it is now and thuswhy I think and hope they will make adjustments to eldarium and thralls.
My suggestion would be: increase the amount of eldarium you can get from everything. Make literally anything you do to give eldarium. Killing random deer and harvesting it has like 10% chance to give 1x decayed eldarium. Killing npcs in vaults give much more higher chance that 1x decayed eldarium so it would encourage into clearing the dungeon rather than speedrun it. Make wild surges to give t1-3 crafters and lock t4s only into calamity. T4 is what people really want and what really matters. Making t1 only from wild surges is just bit yikes and smells like more grind and player engagement rather than fun. Siptah feels promising as it is but I don’t think its properly adjusted and ready as it is.
Background
All of this is done in solo perspective. I started in PvP server, played for bit over a week. Then hopped into PvE-C because I wanted to really get into the mechanics of Siptah and how long stuff takes and if there are shortcuts etc. Just overall to gain first hand knowledge on top of videos about “end game”. In PvE-C I pretty much got small sandstone hut and I’ve only farmed eldarium and essences.