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Shaiya Semi-Review
That face is cute.
Now, since I know this is going to come up, my experience with Shaiya and my opinions of it are based primarily on closed beta testing, open beta playing and GSing ( More on this soon ) and now I am in my second week of a GM internship, so yes, my opinion may be biased but I will try to keep it as honest as possible. That said, GMing doesn't really leave me time to play the game and I'm trying to inform about the gameplay, not the dubious joys of GMing!
At any rate, I've played a lot of free and pay to play MMOs. Shaiya is definitely above average in quality, especially given the drought in the current market. When I first sat down to play it I was dubious. It does have a very Lineage 2 look to it which, while far from a bad thing, can make it easy to think 'Oh, clone.' I stuck with it ( probably due to the drought, I admit ) and found myself playing a game which in all honesty surpasses games I've paid to play.
Some of the features of Shaiya are an acquired taste. The difficulty modes do add longevity to it, especially Ultimate mode ( Reminiscent of Diablo II's much missed Hardcore ) though the effort to unlock them does tend to make them seem less accessible than they could be. That said, it is well possible to reach the Hard and Ultimate difficulty modes exceedingly quickly with the right groups.
The community varies. Obviously I want to say it's wonderful and sparkly but it's not. It's advertised as a 'Mature' game and some people do use that as an excuse to be rude, but for the majority of the time the community is helpful and fun. The PvP is intense, most of the time seeming fairly balanced, and exciting updates are planned for the future.
The Aeria Game Sage system is something I had not run into before, where players volunteer to help, sort of like a voluntary mini-GM, which has definitely proven useful and fun both as a player and as a GS.
It is certainly, in my humble opinion, the best staffed game ( Or company? My experience is primarily Shaiya ) I've played, with both the GS' and even the GMs highly in evidence and quick to respond and attempt to help.
I think my favourite part of Shaiya is its potential. The Shaiya Team is working on getting updates specifically for the Aeria Shaiya, which means that the suggestions of the current players will shape the game as it grows. Yes, the suggestions of players are taken very seriously, both in terms of criticisms and praise.
For both old and new players, would be great to see you in Shaiya, and hopefully you will find the same enjoyment that I have found in this strangely appealing game.
Sheep
Comments
the game is not worth ur time guys. i got a lvl 45 assassin
if u realy know why i post some arguments next time.
this is just a warning. always read in the game's forum to get an idea.
but on one point ur right Kaylae
shaiya has potential..but aeriagames throws it our right through the window!
Played Shaiya since closed beta and was very active after the open-beta and release. Gave it up at the beginning of April due to problems that just weren't going to go away. First, let me say the game itself - the story line, interface, quests, graphics, etc... - is all pretty good and the developers really do seem to be on top of creating more. The problem totally lies in how it is managed.
I know that Aeria is trying to make money, what I don't get is why they treat the customers so poorly if that is really the aim in the long run. The only time I've seen this type of behavior is from companies that intend to make as much as they can up front and then cut and run abandoning the project, so be warned if you are looking for a long term game.
To give you an idea of the specifics, the GMs tend to be available - but only to their friends it seems. They rarely, if ever, respond to questions or requests to fix mistakes from "mere players" that I have spoken with. Now they do have a "Game Sage" system where certain players (often friends if not just on good terms with the GMs) players are given extra powers and gear to volunteer to help players with questions and to help with events. Although this sounds like a decent idea in theory, it isn't working so well. In fact, several of the Game Sages have had to be removed from the position or banned from the game entirely for abusing their powers (nothing like going into PvP and running into someone with god mode on, eh?)
There are plenty of events that are put on by the GM/Sages, no doubt about that, the most common seems to involve having to buy things from the cash/item mall, so maybe not really a free game if you want the full experience. My favorite "event" was when the GMs went into what is a "PvP-safe" zone with god mode on and started killing players though. This was supposed to be thematic of being invaded, but they went to the only area where players can set up afk markets, and players who died lost items and experience as the norm. Sounds more like teenagers on an ego trip than professionals hosting a game to me. The screen shots of this on the forum might have been funny if the players had been forewarned of an impending event of this nature - but I sure never got a warning and neither did any of my friends.
All in all, Shaiya's developers have done a good job of creating a very playable and likable game, and Aeria has done what they can to dismantle it. Good thing there are more games coming out every week from other companies.
never cry ......just screem
Because grinding is so bad without the "perfect" party and because good items are so rare, the game forces players to farm bosses, share accounts, and use the ever more increasing speed hacks in game to get ahead of other players.
How would you like 1 or 2 players having access to some rare farmed equipment and single handedly dominates an entire zone because other players do not have access to those items?
The game used to be fun when all players were more evenly equipped and difficulty mode.
Shaiya combines traits from both Lin2 & the infamous WoW for example
There is ALWAYS a quest to be done
NPC have very nice speech if u wanna read it.
Sound effects are nice, music if VERY annoying however, i fixed this by muting the music and putting some Linking Park while playing
WASD MOVEMENT! PRAISE THE LORD THEY'RE LEARNING!!!!
I also like the dodge feature, it gives it a kinda "action bases" kinda feel, but its not really that useful...
O and one feature that i just love! Now u must know, I've been on the F2P scene for a while, RF online, Hero online, Knight online, Runescape, Maple story... You get the idea right? O yeah and btw RAPPLEZ SUX... srry i just thought u might wanna know that. K NOW THE POINT! There is a JUMP button! AND ITS USEFUL!!!! MAN I LOVE THIS FEATURE ALMOST AS MUCH AS THE MALE PLEASERS! Speaking of pleasers...
The females of this game are... very attractive to the eyes ^^ with some nice effects and "movement"(jiggling, bouncing)
Another exellent feature if the PVP, altough i have to say its not as good as the WoW pvp, its very close. The RvR is awesome, even though its limited to 3 maps but hey, its korean, and for a K-style grinder, thats preety good.
The graphics are preety good, although i think they could do better with the landscape, the characters however are beautiful, if u look closely, you can see fine realistic details, for example a clock flows behind you when u run, for females the breasts bounce when they run and preform certain actions(note this only with Vail females and im uncertain which one it is for Light, )
Shaiya is a some what oldschool feel MMO, IMO. The quest base reminds me a bit of rogue in some sense as you have set variables to accomplish and with that a set location. The overall look of the game is impressive for a FTP MMO ages better then some of the UO/EQ clones out these days. The pseudo live action aspect similar to WOW is refreshing and not to tired in the way the game plays out either. There is some tedium and camping in the game but, that is the norm with any current MMO on the market. Until someone creates a better way to do it we are somewhat stuck with it. The skill sets as well as the classes are very well balanced overall I do wish they would expand abit on the looks of the characters as they are generally to similar to each other. Overall if you are sick of WOW and EQ type games require to much thinking then this game could be a good inbetween for you.
I have to say that I have enjoyed my experience with Shaiya for the most part. I've played it for about a month and a half. For a free to play type game the graphics are good and there were a lot of things to do.
You start as an opposing faction of races. There are the Fury and Light sides. Both try to battle one another and gain the respect of the goddess of their faction. When the goddess is pleased by the progress of the faction you gain the goddess respect as a blessing. This blessing provides certain bonuses that are not available if the goddess is not pleased. You gain the respect of the goddess by tearing or destroying the opposing faction towers in various player versus player maps.
I will start with some negatives.
I did notice that there are some repetitive things in the game such as the monsters being the same for the most part in all the maps. There are only so many monsters and I sometimes catch myself saying “Didn't I see that mob before.”, although they are tougher and stronger mobs (ex: vipers, kobolds, turtles, demons). Also the grind from a certain level can be tedious.
There is camping which I hope they improve on. There is nothing more frustrating like waiting a half hour for a boss to spawn only to find a rival guild party logging in at the same time the boss spawns and then kill stealing your boss. Perhaps more of a random spawn time would prevent such a thing from happening but till then watch for camping guilds at certain bosses.
There's the other issue of gold spammers. Unrelenting spammers plague the trade chat however the GM's (game masters) and GS's (game sages) are usually quick to report and stop such a thing.
The positives are next.
The game is easy to play. Point and click or keyboard use is allowed. The graphics are also very good for the game.
There are quite a few quests and the modes of difficulty in the game make one want to strive to unlock. There are 4 modes you can play: easy, normal, hard, and ultimate. Once a person hits level 50 they unlock the next difficulty in the game. Obviously the harder the difficulty the harder it is to level.
The other thing that's positive is the item mall. If you do decide to buy something they're quick to allot you the points for buying items that you can use in game. And customer service is decent as well if you have issues within the game. You can purchase certain items for a real monetary fee and receive certain bonuses that other players do not get such as experience increase, gold dropping increase, etc.
Another nice thing is that there are various player versus player points in the game. At certain levels in the game you can enter the different battlegrounds at compete in killing opposing factions in the game. You do not have to participate in player versus player killings yet it can be fun and a relief to try. There is the 1-15 battleground, 20-30 battle ground, and 1-60 battleground currently in the game.
Each faction has their own marketplace where people can set up a shop and sell their items they have received in game to their faction. Only downfall to that is that it does take time to keep the shop open as you have to stay logged in to merchant your goods. There also is a secret place to sell goods to opposing factions called the black market so look for those shady characters if you can’t find anything in your faction marketplace.
Overall the game was fun and enjoyable to play. By joining a guild inside the game you might find it more enjoyable, especially if you like company at certain points in the game. They’re good company and can be helpful as well.
Well I figured I would give a players point of view on the game.
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* HP m9250f (Intel Quad Core 6700 / 4 Gig RAM / Nvidia 8600GT / Vista 64 Bit)
What can i say? The person who started the thread was a GM in Shaiya - why he quit after few months, i don't have any freaking idea - so is the last person to trust regarding the game.
CONS
- the game is made to be very enjoyable at low lvls, comparately with first drug dose. If you don't stop, then you have to start spending real money, and a lot (the maximum i heard was around 10.000$ in 1 year). I have spent a bit over 1000$ in same amount of time.
- the staff is mostly made from incompentents. They accused and banned lot of players and after many complainings they lokked up again and found that in some cases were innocent peoples. Myself was accused buying gold from 3rd party companies, so they removed all my gold i have earned by selling stuff bought with real money. Because of that i left that crap.
- The max lvl is 60, but after lvl 40 you just can't advance if you don't buy stuff from item mall with real money or, if you play 24/24 7/7 you can collect crap and gold in game and buy items from others, but this is not easy thing to do. While in ultimate mode (if you die, you're deleted), you have to buy items from the mall who represent (let me calculate...). 1$=100 AP (Aeria points):
30 days continous resurection rune (to prevent dying) - 4799 AP
30 days increase exp (without, you lvl like hell) - 1899 AP
30 days no item drop (you need, because you can lose gear, even if you wear it) - 699 AP
30 days eternal endurance (so you don't go to blacksmith every 2 hours) - 799 AP
movement runes/ party movment runes - 49 AP for 5, but you need most likely for 1000 AP monthly
Total : 9196 AP ~ 100$ monthly
But optionally you need to buy other stuff, because you don't want to be the squishiest in the game:
slotted helmet ~ 15000 AP
cape ~ 4000 AP
to linkn you need some hammers at 880 AP each (was 800 before, but they said they need to higher the price)
gems you can't find in the game ~ 2000 AP each as prize for buying other stuff for same amount, but you have to spend the money to have it, so for me doesn't change that much
Finally, you're lucky if you spend less than 100$ monthly.
- Gameplay is horrible because you get stuck into map (you run and then you find is impossible to keep going), major lag, not enough mobs to lvl up and at least at lower lvl maps are crowded, beacuse the game seems free to play, so anyone can play for free until lvl 30 or so.
- the censure is everywhere, in game or on the forums. If you say the thruth, the posts are deleted or edited by moderators. In game you're menaced with ban so you need to shut up.
Like someone said before, now i am outside the game, it seems this game is like a "hit and run": grab as much money as they can from the players and then close the store.
PROS
- community is pretty good, i found a lot of people with whom i had a lot of fun
- PvP is pretty fun too
My advice still remain: KEEP AWAY of this game!
man! this game was just fantastic when i started it, (well most game are the same) but this game is pretty good if you're a pvper. i set a lot of goals in this game, but the after you got up to U mode, it just impossible to play with out spending your own money to buy shop item.
it basically make you pay to after you hit level 50 U mode. leveling is impossible without exp stone. and if you die, your character will be deleted. that's why i quit this game more than a year ago.
it's a fantastic game if you spend 100$ atleast every week in their shop. unlucky for me, i'm too poor so i quit it..
( stay away from this money sucking game)