Albion Online Trailer Gives Cross-Platform Concerns

Platforms - PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS

Albion Online is a cross-platform MMO by Sandbox Interactive Studios that’s been in development for some time now however with the release of the official gameplay trailer I felt it necessary to knock up a quick list of everything confirmed by the trailer and then voice some concerns I have about how they want the game to be played.

So, without any further delay!
 

1. Mounts! The first bit of game footage from the trailer shows two player characters riding horses. Hopefully as players progress there will be plenty of chances to obtain more exotic, faster mounts.
 

2. No classes! ‘You are what you wear.’ is the line the devs throw around a lot when asked to discuss how specialization in Albion Online will work. It seems to be fairly simple; you equip a robe, you get a healing ability, you equip a sword, you get a dash ability. Progression seems to based entirely on this as well as the…
 

3. Skill tree! Aside from bonuses and abilities given by the various pieces of gear you’ll find and craft you can also acquire points to spend on skills that range from various combat proficiencies to how effectively you can gather resources. This seems fairly standard and, until players find themselves with no more skills to buy in their favoured tree, encourages specialization until the end-game while keeping options open. A Jack of all trades is a master of none but that shouldn’t stop you from experimenting.
 

4. A player-driven economy! This is an interesting feature and will presumably work just like the Grand Exchange in Runescape however instead of there being just one area where it’s accessible every village, town and city will have a place players can go to price and trade their wares for silver (Gold is apparently a payed currency, I’ll discuss that a bit more soon).
 

5. Player-built cities! With a player-centric economy also comes player-centric architecture. Players can build smaller structures like tents and campfires by themselves if they need a quick safe area to rest up however this feature really becomes important when players start forming groups. More hands make lighter work and you’ll need plenty of hands to build a palace or a barracks in a timely manner.
 

6. Dynamic PvP! The player vs. player combat in Albion Online appears to be its biggest draw featuring the awesome EVE-esque ability to capture territories and fight other guilds for their lands. The details of the open world PvP haven’t really been given much screen time so how that’ll work is a bit of a mystery right now but with the focus on guild vs guild combat it seems like guilds will be synonymous with factions a la WoW’s Horde and Alliance. Territory raiding has been briefly discussed however and will pitch 5 players from each guild against each other in a fight to the death to either defend or take land and all of the buildings and resources on it.

So, that wraps up what the trailer has confirmed but I want to talk a little about some concerns I have with both the UI and the iOS/Android experience.
 

I personally feel that the UI is a mess right now, I’d like to see less dramatic borders on the character and ability portraits, a less obnoxiously large and oddly shaped minimap that suits the rest of the UI wouldn’t go amiss either however my biggest problem is the location and style of the ability icons.
It’s clear that it has been designed with touch devices in mind however I feel it makes the screen look too cluttered and that effect will be even more noticeable on any mobile device that isn’t freakishly large. This is a slippery slope though because a UI like that would surely make using touch controls to play an MMO much easier which leads me into my second concern.
 

I’m certain that unless PC, Mac and Linux users are supplied with a different UI or a third party is allowed to mod the existing one then the game will suffer from clunky, bad UI design however if the design is slimmed down across the board and made more palatable for keyboard and mouse users then the UI will be too small to comfortably and reliably use on a touch device.
This means, unless separate UI layouts are allowed, one set of users are bound to have a poorer experience than the others which makes us ask the question ‘Is being completely cross-platform worth the time at all?’.
 

The answer to that question will come once Albion Online launches and the developers at Sandbox Interactive definitely have my attention.

Are you excited for Albion Online, or are there problems putting you off? Let us know in the comments below!


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