Gran Skrea Online

TL:DR Game mechanics, both good and bad/terrible aren't new from what you've experienced in games like UO and Runescape. Devs are active, game gets patched a lot, but overall the direction and general concepts of game sometimes boggles mind. Lots of grinding, everything is tiered and crafted. Mobs don't drop anything in terms of actual gear, just crafting mats and the general gear vendor trash. Indie devs need love, its $9.99 and can give you anywhere between 10-100's of hours of gameplay, depending on how much you hate or love the said systems they have in game. Read below for a more thorough review. Firstly, I want developers...especially indie ones to succeed. Making a game isn't easy, especially if it's an mmorpg, so hats off to the devs of Gran Skrea Online. They're dedicated to the community, very open, easy to talk with, respectable, and are constantly updating the game with patches a'plenty. All the early server issues with DC's, random drops, latency, etc have been pretty much been obliterated as of this past week. That had been one of the major complaints from myself and many. The servers have literally ran smoothly without downtime for patches or dc's for like 14-24 hours straight, so it's been a very big upgrade from the hamster wheel servers they had on their first week. They've also just yesterday (6-29-2018) enabled pvp again, since everyone isn't losing connection randomly now and implemented pvp rulesets as well, however they want to test mechanics and balancing, so you don't loose loot when you die. Which imo, will stop FFA gankfests that plague sandbox pvp mmorpgs. I know, I know, there will always be the group that wants no holds bar ffa pvp. To those people, I say this...gtfo, go play other crapfests like Mortal Online, Darkfall, or countless other MOBA or FPS arena type battle royale games out there. For me pvp in mmorpg's are meant to be tactical choices one takes risks in. To either control a node, to try to steal someones gear off their dead body, or test your skills...but just like in life..random murking/murdering or griefing won't be tolerated. You will get punished, when you get caught anyways and thats what happens if you step into guard protected zones as a murderer. Guards will stop you and put you in jail, where you will have to mine iron ore (amount of ore needed is based on the severity of your murdering red scum self lol ). It can range from like 700-2k ore, your victims can also place bounties on your head that will contiune to build the more victims you kill. In which case when someone finally does kill you, they will collect your bounty into their packs automatically, afterwhich the murderer will get a -25% exp gain on all skills when they try to exp in the world. That and as a red, you cannot go into town to bank the goodies you stole from your victims either..although there is a certain shady bank that doesn't care who you are. Some people feel the pvp rules are too harsh, saying it deters people from killing people...but I think its more than fine. So new players won't get 1 shot by vets who want to jack their mats or kill them for ♥♥♥♥♥ and giggles. They've also changed how the vendors work as well with their new patch. Now vendors have a certain amount of currency only, and will buy goods at 50% reduced rates once their money is gone. They do however, regen 10%-17% of their max capital every minute. (Their first version of this had no reduced rates, regen was super low, and max capital was super low too. So bad it was, that no one could make any money in game. I noticed it the first time I logged in and immediately filed a complaint and made suggestions to the new vendor system on their discord. The Devs listened, saw my logic, and promplty adjusted it with the aforementioned changes. Koodos to them right? XD ) After all this...why still a negative? The reasons are deep and underlying and goes to the core mechanics, design, and general design of how the game is. You're always grinding, ok, I get that...but for what? It's what I hated about Albion Online, it was a grind to get to the next tier of materials, to the next tiered craftable gear, then abandoning all previous tiers. Carpentry is the only craft that still makes use of it's level 1/tier 1 mats. Everyone else, abandoms them entirely. I personally feel this is very flawed system, one which everyone does and likely has done better and longer than GSO, so why bother playing GSO then? I don't know either. There are about 20 skills, housing plots (very limited and you can't replace/ugrade your houses without losing ALL the costs and materials if you chose the wrong option. In my case I chose a large house expecting it to be multi floored like all the other large houses..I was wrong. It was one floored and smaller than a small house at half the costs...gg roflsauced.), crafting, boats, pvp, freedom to choose to build your character however you want with no capped number on skills; so you can be a heavy armored archer or a tank mage. (Currently we soft cap at 55 and hard cap at 65 in skills though so we don't destroy new players or content before its released. This was also something I voiced about and got because...it made no sense for exploiters and power guilds to get 100 skills when the game in EA doesn't even have lev 50+ content yet right?) Ultimately, GSO is like a pale modern take on Ultima Online with a few dashes of Runescape without all the fleshed out ideas, content, world building, or thought(crazy that UO was THAT FAR a head in its game design). I feel most of the game decisions seem like grasps into the darkness and hoping it works, that or let the community figure it out whats wrong, give them feedback so they can then fix and adjust. For me personally, I don't mind giving feedback...but my trust is very low on a game and developer that doesn't seem to think ideas like the vendor one, not being able to make any money at all for players 99% of the time, was a good idea. Gandalf like staffs with shields a good idea. Lutes being 1 handed, even though you play with 2, a good idea with healing being a bard skill, including bandages. Nodes of necessary to grind resources being only 1 spawn or location for many crafts being a good idea. Silk, which is majorly needed for bandages and tailors DROP off of damn silk crabs! And the drop rate is HORRENDOUS, like 1 out of 7-10 kills. Good luck, because you need hundreds if not a thousand silk. *sigh* At the end of the day, I know its EA and many things can change. I know..but again, it just boggles the mind that so many bad mechanics and ideas are in the game without literally anyone saying "Oh...I don't think that's a good idea man." Instead we got, "Nah man, we need time sinks and conflict." So lets make leather drops for tailoring only 1/8 kills on animals (UO you just skin every animal and always get leather and meat. Common sense right?) and the bones too, who are needed by both tailors and alchemists! I'm still playing, hoping the devs and the game will change my mind eventually...? I've gone out of my way to dicuss on their discord and have even chit chated with DM's with a few of the dev team as well. Don't get me wrong, they're great guys/gals and all...but GSO atm...isn't .BUT... I want it to be and if you're like me, an optimist and supporter of the underdog? Buy the game, try it out, it's $9.99. Support indie devs, enjoy a few dozen or hundreds of hours gathering, mining, getting murked, fishing, killing wolves, chopping spruce trees, and try to enjoy this pale UO that is trying to take a shape of its own with mechanics and ideas that have been used and failed by some mmorpgs, and some which have been done better and longer by others. *crosses toes and fingers* Here's a cheer and nod to indie developers! What a hell of a time!

There are a lot of pros and some cons. First I'll start with the pros: Pros: Most of the quests are actually interesting. There are a couple side quests that are just "kill that" or "collect that", but the others actually have plot twists. There are times where you think everything is going fine, and you're just doing menial tasks, then there's that "WTF moment" out of nowhere. The community is great. They'll help you with just about anything. Ask a question in guild chat, in the middle of a town, and you'll most likely get your answer. Sometimes they'll even spoonfeed you portions of the game. I wouldn't recommend that, because in order to enjoy the game, you have to embrace the grind. Progression is easy to see and is rewarding. You'll start off killing lowly crabs and wolves, but then a quest will ask you to kill a bear or a troll. You'll think it's easy like the rest of the mobs, however once you stumble upon these creatures you'll leave and think "I'll comeback for you", and once you kill the foe, there's a sense of accomplishment. The devolopers are actively improving the game. There are many updates and they are frequent. Combat is very simple, but it's not boring. There are weapons skills specific to certain weapons, and there are magic and physical skills that anyone can use regardless of their weapon. You can essentially play however you want to play. There are drawbacks to being a jack of all trades, which makes sense. You cant wear heavy armor and expect to spam spells like a wizard. Cons: As of yet there are only 10 quests. Outside of the first town, many of the NPC's are filler and are just there to make the game seem more complete than it is. This game was only made a month back, which is why there isnt much content as of yet. Diversity is lacking in this game. All of the armor sets are recolors. I don't know if this is of a lack of trying, or because they didnt have enough time, or it's the style of the game. The skill progresion is most likely nowhere near complete. The magic skill tree (not really a tree, it's just 1 row of skills), is the only tree that actually has a decent amount of abilities to unlock. The rest have three or less skills, some have zero. Again, the reason for this is most likely because of the games release date. Targeting is iffy. You can tab target, however it's not that useful. In order to attack you need to click the enemy, and sometimes that's annoying when you have three enemies attacking you. Conclusion: Game is pretty good, could be even better, and probably will be in the future.

Small indie MMORPG project. Skill based MMO, so no picking classes and what not. Feels a bit more story driven in the way the quests work, but its really cool. Has a more 'old school' feel to the game. Its like a Runescape meets WoW kind of feel and gameplay. Pros: - Low on bugs from what I have seen so far - Decent graphics - Can be fun Cons: - Not a big player base - Not a whole lot is telling you how to play, its more learn to play on your own (I suggest looking at each skill and looking for which items you need to make to advance in overall strength in the game) - Enemy AI is wack - Some skills are insanely easier to level than others. Tailoring can be leveled 3-4x faster than other skills - Not a whole lot to do - Targetting system is kind of wonkey at best - No real end game content at the moment - Optimization needs work The game definately has potential I can see, and for an indie title they have made wonders work. Needs a lot of polish, and a lot of tweaking. A lot of people are under the assumption Unity can't make a good game, and Gran Skrea is definately one of the titles proving that to be false (as its the developers that make the game, not the engine). EDIT: New players, don't forget to look into your skills for what you can craft, and additional abilities! Also, tailoring makes a basket that adds +200 to your carrying weight, can be made very easy as Wheat can be found in the starting area - get that basket it will help A LOT. Also, Elemental Grimor seems to be the most powerful, so get a staff and blast away. Good luck!

Well, I have about 20 hours into the game at this point (steam says more, but that is afk time on the login screen). This game has a LOT of promise. It has a wonderful old school feel, and intuitive skilling system, and a grind that is goal oriented. The amount of content for an early access game is amazing. The little bit of time I played made the $10 purchase worth it. HOWEVER, this game has a pvp system that is unwelcoming to new players. I love the idea of open world pvp, but because of the small map, and lack of efficient training areas, it is impossible to train combat without getting pked by people much higher level than you. I trained rather quickly to level 35 grimore (the magic skill) and still just got 1 shot by other players while minding my own business and trying to train. In conclusion, I will come back to the game when, or if, the pvp system has changes that enables people to actually train to get to a level to be able to fight back against pkers.

Ran around farming mushrooms and stuff by my lonesome self. Met a guy named Emrys. He invited me to his guild and then proceeded to take me on a world tour with his cool viking boat. Showed me the zone bosses and took me to the wayshires around the world to activate them. Killed some high level monsters with his help for that sweet XP. Game definitely worth the buy. a Breath of fresh air in a market that's getting saturated with ♥♥♥♥♥♥ MMOs. 9/10

So 8 days ago i ran across this game..... I read up on it, watched a video or two and decided for $8.99 (was on sale) it was worth a try. I jumped in the game and found some normalcy in the controls like any other MMO I have played since my inception day back in 1998 with Everquest, but something was different but very familiar feeling. The game started off with a few small and easy quests to show you the lay of the land and get the ball rolling so to speak. As I began my career I noticed that there wasn't any type of direction for my character. The system was very much wide open for what kind of 'class' I wanted to take. Where is the class selection? Where is my list of abilities? Something was a bit off. Well.. there is no classes, there are no character levels to acheive that next ability. However, there are skills. As you do things in the game you gain experience in that skill, cut down a tree, gain skill in woodcutting. As you fish, you become better at fishing. Shoot something with a box and you increase your archery. The game gives you the TOTAL freedom to be what ever kind of character you want to be. A plate wearing, shield carrying, wand weielding battle mage.... if I so choose. A cook lumberjack fisherman theif if I like.... the limit to your character is only hindered by your imagination.... buy this game for $9.99 before it goes up. The RP community should not be missing out on this game... this is the ulitmate in possiblities to play your character in ANY way you can dream up. Player housing is a thing, boats, towns, NPC venders, quests, dungeons, caves... the list goes on and on. The current skill list is about 20 long, more are coming as the game goes through early access. Lastly I want to mention what all the other negitive comments have brought up.. the server was crap before that is true. Constant disconnects and time outs. Those things were due to several things. HOWEVER, now the server is on the East coast in the US. The server has had 1 or 2 disconnects in the last 48 hours. There is still a small thing going on that is currently being investigated. The server issues are all but gone completely. Keep in mind early access, that gives 2 meanings, great time to buy bc of the lower price and growing pains. If you go and look at the negitive reviews they all say the game itself is great, but they all complain about the server issues. Those are fixed so that just leaves a great game... don't miss out. If you want a game that brings back the feeling of old school gaming, like Everquest, UO, Vanguard, DAoC and Runescape... buy this game. Remember the excitement of actually working for hours to reach an acheivement? You hit a new level and around the region you hear the DING! going through the text channels... this game will bring those feelings and accomplishments back. I stream a lof of game play, come check out the stream, see the game in action, decide for yourself if its worth the $10... Here's the link... [url=https://www.twitch.tv/prayr_] Prayr's Twitch Channel [/url]

[h1]Let Down With Most New MMO's? Then Try This...[/h1] I'm like 4 hours in and having a blast. There is just something about the retro looking MMO's that I love and at the price it's a no brainer. Plus I'm bored of the eastern looking MMO's the art style for this one is perfect for me. Graphics are fine, runs smooth, quests, skills, professions and housing...what more could you want? Do it! EDIT: I know some people love it, but full loot PVP isn't for me. I didn't lose my loot as a result of PVP either it was a high level mob group and I couldn't get my bag back as they were sort of stood over it. Now I'm just a 'man in pants'. EDIT2: Resolution has been sorted and the game looks even better...!

This review is from an ex UO, AC DT, and Doac player (I played WoW and hated it) I am 18 hours in, and bought this yesturday. It take me back to when I was a pimple faced teen with no friends. All I did was go to school, get beat up, come home and slay nerds. Now here I am almost 20 years later since I started out with MMO's on UO. Still with pimples, still no friends, but still slaying nerds. Well not really right now I am cutting tree's dreaming of all the nerds I will soon slay after grinding pixles for hundreds of hours.... 10/10 will cut trees again.

As you can see I've been playing this game for awhile now and i feel this is a fitting time to put in a review. I have to say this game has great potential and i've been playing MMorpgs for years starting back in the 80's with LOK. The graphics are great yet simple and the world is developed nicely. The game is pretty heavily reliant with its crafting systems and that's where i feel it really shines, it's fun and somewhat grindy but at the end of the day you really feel like you've accomplished something and theres so much to do. Most of the people playing have been real pleasurable even though there's only about 5 or 6 people on at a time. I probably would donate to this project and make it my #1 game to play as I can say I extremely enjoyed it however there is one thing that will keep me from playing it anymore and thats it's open PVP system. I've played many other games with consentual PVP and have no issues playing them but the open world PVP system here is a disaster. There's nothing worse than spending half an hour gathering coal to have 5 arrows from a high lvl archer take you out from nowhere while you have your workers gear on and lose a bunch of your stuff. Now to be fair you can insure your gear so you won't lose it but you have to put some time in to get the silver saved up to keep reinsuring it after every death and the higher the level the more the cost. If they ever Revamp the PVP system I know i'll be a lifelong fan and come back in a heartbeat. The only real safe area is a couple towns anything outside them is PVP and there is no limits to a high level character killing you once your newbie timer expires so you'll always be looking over your shoulder. For anybody that likes to play MMORPG's for the crafting aspect like me I would say look for a game where you won't get ganked or fearful of it every moment your on find something more stress free. Overall a really promising game with so much potential but with a broken PVP system that seems to have driven off most of the players and most of my friends . So Goodbye for now my friends, my thanks and best wishes to you all and the creators of the game.