Originally posted by tmr819

I do have a question for you TR players, though.

You refer to "instances." Are these mission/quest areas that are designed for groups or for individuals? Or can both individuals (solo) and groups complete them because they are somehow scaled to party size?

In WoW, of course, you really *must* find a group for the dungeons/instances, so I am curious as to how TR handles this issue. Frankly, I like the Guild Wars feature of offering players a choice: (i) solo the instance by taking along henchmen, (ii) go in a group of players, or (iii) go in a mixed group of both players and henchmen.

Are instances in TR designed specifically for group play (like in WoW)? If so, that'd be a real turnoff for me, as it sounds like some of the instances are pretty fun. I would also like to know if these instances/missions are reasonable in terms of being time-consuming -- WoW's dungeons, assuming you could even find a group, always struck me as being just too long.

I note that TR is now being offered at 50% off at Amazon so, pending your answers, I may just give this puppy a try. :-)

Well, from what I've heard, they're *supposed* to be group content - I'm a very stubborn soloer though and I've been finding ways to solo through em.  My general tactic once I arrive at a new public map is to do all the non-instanced missions, then head into the instances; that puts me slightly above con for the area and I can clear through with relative ease. :)

Originally posted by Taera
"I'm a very stubborn soloer though and I've been finding ways to solo through em."

Haha. A kindred spirit!

Thanks for the answer. :)

If you like large fire-fights take a group through the instances. Spawn sizes are increased.

I completed tree-back camp recently. This was always one of my favourite instances. Annoying to see they have changed the mission rewards - you used to be able to get almost a full set of lvl 20 armor with some nice stat bonuses from the treeback camp instance.

Personally I like the U.I - I tend to keep general chat on (Orion server) and keep an eyeball on it so I can answer the occasional player question.

I am playing with two work colleagues and its a blast. We use Skype for always on voice chat rather than the in-game voice.

Bases defenses are fun and can be intense. Fort dew at palisades is cool, if the base falls you can fallback into the tower, get upto the 2nd level and snipe. If you have someone else with you, you can provide cover fire as they sneak out to retake the control point from inside the base.

Also Hydro base is fun for assault, you can fall back to the hydro generator area if you are defending the base and its being over run. For assault you can get up on the hills overlooking the base and snipe the bane with a rifle. If you have a ranger you can carpet bomb into the base.

If you are assaulting a base - shooting the forcefield will piss-off the bane and they will send a bunch out to attack you. Take these out, then shoot the forcefield again to get another bunch to play with.

Tactics wise - I shoot linkers first (I hate these critters), then caretakers, then technicians. Caretakers and technicians will ressurect dead bane/droids.

At higher levels - palisades and up - shield drones reflect most attacks (except EMP). Always fun to watch someone kill themselves attacking a drone.

So far, the only instance I haven't been able to solo was the Raging Patriarch one... which just bites as it is all that is preventing me to completely finishing out Palisades.

Good review, though. I thought it mostly mirrored my impressions of it (I'm currently a level 29 Ranger).

As to those who have said there's not much strategy, that's not entirely true. As you get into Plains and Incline (where I am now), Bane are usually found in groups... really squads. Often, they have droids floating around with them that generate energy fields that not only protect the squad from most forms of damage, but *reflect* the damage back at you. If you try to take them out, a technician will restore/revive them. If you try to take the technician out, a healer will come and rez him. So, you need to know who does what amongst the Bane, prioritize your targets, and use the right sort of firepower against the right sort of Bane.

Really, there is a good deal of tactical aspects involved. Not only what I mentioned above, but also using terrain, your weapon loadout (you can have only 5 weapons on your hotbar at one time), and special attacks (like using EMP bombs on Predators). What you see at the early levels does change as you advance. How things work past level 30, I don't know, but I suspect (hope) that the game will continue to grow more difficult.

Lastly, yeah... bugged missions. Very annoying. I've come across a few of them (I'm a quest-completing fiend), and there are still some bugs that need to be fixed. Still, I don't mind spending my money on it and so don't regard the game as in some sort of "advanced beta" but as a released product that still needs some fixing. YMMV.

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

Hi all,

I haven't played this game, but my years of experience in the industry has taught me this...

Community is everything. If TR has a lack-luster community the way the reviewer is saying, TR will just end up dying after the newness has worn off. The reason I say this is because TR is a niche game, kind of like Auto Assault was. It has potential to keep a good crowd from what I've read about its mechanics, but a low population and/or bad community will just doom this game. If I was one of you good TR community members, I would take control of your game now and drive away those bad apples while you still have a chance. I'm still playing and trying to beat Guild Wars right now, but when I am through, I am hoping TR will have a Free Trial for me to play in order to decide for myself. However, I won't bother if I keep hearing about a lack-luster community. Bad communities has a way of driving off potential players.

Anyways, have fun TR players. Good review by the way. Really gave me a feal for the game.

The community comment is one of the thing i dont agree on in Laura's review. Perhaps she is used to community in "My pony online" ? However TR community is simply NORMAL. It is in no way horrible like GW one , or anti CHAT like LOTRO's "stop spamming boys"

If i would have to define it - it is closest to Anarchy Online community

Not much RP , ocasional witty comments ( can skip the WOW comments in new MMOs ... that is the fact )
Some politics , jokes about duch and lot of weed ... etc

And by the way

I am talking EU server

That's a darn good write up of TR, right down to the comment about general chat.  The general chat actually gave me a real, honest-to-goodness headache and will almost certainly be the reason why some new players leave this game.

That aside, I've found the game to be an over all enjoyable experience.  Considering that I'm in finals week at my university I also have next to no time to play, so the ability to pick up a 30 minute to one hour play session and actually do something has been very appealing.

In short, the only area that my opinion differs is with the comment about the Divide.  Due to the aforementioned community I found the starting map to be a nightmare.  Pretty much no one worked together for anything, and would many times actively work against me (attempting to out damage a mob, especially quest mobs, while flat out ignoring polite requests to team up so that everyone gets credit).

Once I moved into the Divide, though, I began running into players with higher level characters who work with you as a team even when you're not grouped.  I've now experienced other players covering me (while not directly attacking what I'm attacking) if they see too many bane around me, and that's just cool.  I also experienced that  the other day when I got into a tangle with too many Xanx.

I also find it interesting that critters attack one another on the map, though I actually allow them to take each other out.  Like those annoying flying bugs that shoot some sort of energy attack at you.  I hate those things, but they'll thin the size of the bane squads for you and then you can pick off the weak.

It's also pretty wicked to see a Xanx run over and begin feasting on the corpse of a freshly killed Xanx.

Anyway, speaking of finals I gotta get going, but that's one article that I agree with almost word for word.

Laters.

I enjoy this game and for the most part agree with the comments in this article.  The biggest disagreement I have is regarding customer service.  IMHO it sucks.  The article mentions that GM's will help with in-game petitions that are bugged etc.  The four times I have petitioned a GM, I have never even been acknowledged.  Not even a response.  Even  a hey, go screw yourself would have been welcomed just so I would know there was some one on the other end.  The first four times I petitioned I was very pleasant, however, I have to admit that after the fourth time and no response, I started getting frustrated and sent another asking them if they outsource GM support from SOE, but then I thought CS from SOE was never this bad.  I doubt I will ever get a response now that I was rude one time.  I figure it is like being pulled over by a cop for speeding, if you're rude, you are more likely to receive a ticket.  In this instance I have probably been blacklisted by CS and will now never receive help. 

Also in reponse to the article concerning bugged intances.  The rakasha droid factory disconnects me from the server nearly every time I have tried to complete it.  The first time I was on my way back to the mission giver at the beginning of the instance to turn in his two missions when it crashed!  When I logged back in it failed my missions, and while I could restart them, all the objectives were dead or destroyed so I had to leave the instance.  The only other one I have had problems is treeback as the article mentioned.  There are also plenty of bugged missions the further you progress as the article mentions. 

Overall I enjoy this game, but the lack of CS and bugged missions is frustrating.  Although I do enjoy just exploring and finding a nice hill top overlookign control points I can snipe from.  It is a nice game for the casual player, but I am starting to wonder if it is worth 15 bucks a month.  I am sure they will add more stuff as time goes on, and I am not even close to finishing all the missons in game yet. 

Nice read, but i have to disagree on the comunity

The Eu server got a nice Community with some jokes here and there.

I enjoy reading the chat while doing my missions, and throw a note here and there or help newcomers.

To be real the General chat makes a good part of the amusement.

We will see if the game can keep me, im easily scared off when games get changed to much and to offen.

Nice review Taera, I think you were pretty much spot on with the good and bad points of the game that you mentioned.

The instances are fun but as you said some of them could do a better job of filling you in on the lore of the game and personally I find the bosses are pretty weak and I sometimes find that we've killed a boss in a crowd of bane and not even realised he was there. They also don't seem to drop any higher grade loot than the standard which is disappointing, as it's always nice to get a new shiny something for taking down a boss.

I would definately recommend you go back and go through Treeback Camp again with a full group(even though you say your a stubborn soloist) as it's my favourite instance action wise. I did it with 5 others in a group and had a blast carpet bombing the enormous waves of bane that came at us in the battlefield in the centre of the map. The final battle against an army of bane backed up by lots of caretakers was great fun too. Eloh Vale was my favourite from a storytelling point of view though.

Originally posted by tmr819

I do have a question for you TR players, though.

You refer to "instances." Are these mission/quest areas that are designed for groups or for individuals? Or can both individuals (solo) and groups complete them because they are somehow scaled to party size? Both Solo and Grouped and like you said the instance scales depending on how many you group with. Simply put, you go in solo and mostly get attack by groups of 2/4, when doing hte same instance duo instead of 2/4 they attack in groups of 4/6........like i said very simply put....

In WoW, of course, you really *must* find a group for the dungeons/instances, so I am curious as to how TR handles this issue. Frankly, I like the Guild Wars feature of offering players a choice: (i) solo the instance by taking along henchmen, (ii) go in a group of players, or (iii) go in a mixed group of both players and henchmen. Most of the times, when nearing a instance there are a few people around already...atleast from my experaince....asking to duo or group with more then 2 /3/4/5 people to squad. So far to group is very easy.....but ......i'm playing very casual...meaning when i play it's mostly peak hours or in the weekend.....not sure how it is for the 24/7 type of players tbh.......

Are instances in TR designed specifically for group play (like in WoW)? If so, that'd be a real turnoff for me, as it sounds like some of the instances are pretty fun. I would also like to know if these instances/missions are reasonable in terms of being time-consuming -- WoW's dungeons, assuming you could even find a group, always struck me as being just too long. See answer at your first question

I note that TR is now being offered at 50% off at Amazon so, pending your answers, I may just give this puppy a try. :-) gl&hf  , solo-wise, group-wise and duo-wise

On topic, nice review and does reflect my feeling about the game, thou i feel the community ingame is pretty decent, but like every game it has it's fair share or bashers & defenders of the game in it's ingamechat and outside the game.

Originally posted by Lobotomist

 

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

Hi all,

I haven't played this game, but my years of experience in the industry has taught me this...

Community is everything. If TR has a lack-luster community the way the reviewer is saying, TR will just end up dying after the newness has worn off. The reason I say this is because TR is a niche game, kind of like Auto Assault was. It has potential to keep a good crowd from what I've read about its mechanics, but a low population and/or bad community will just doom this game. If I was one of you good TR community members, I would take control of your game now and drive away those bad apples while you still have a chance. I'm still playing and trying to beat Guild Wars right now, but when I am through, I am hoping TR will have a Free Trial for me to play in order to decide for myself. However, I won't bother if I keep hearing about a lack-luster community. Bad communities has a way of driving off potential players.

Anyways, have fun TR players. Good review by the way. Really gave me a feal for the game.

 

The community comment is one of the thing i dont agree on in Laura's review. Perhaps she is used to community in "My pony online" ? However TR community is simply NORMAL. It is in no way horrible like GW one , or anti CHAT like LOTRO's "stop spamming boys"

If i would have to define it - it is closest to Anarchy Online community

Not much RP , ocasional witty comments ( can skip the WOW comments in new MMOs ... that is the fact )
Some politics , jokes about duch and lot of weed ... etc

And by the way

I am talking EU server

 I have to agree to this post regarding the community. I have played TR since the last beta, the preorder and now i have bought it. Most of the game mechanics has changed and it's more playable then it was during the beta. The problems with the network lag has gone and i have a ping of 30-45 on the European server and it's great since i live in South-Eastern Europe.

I haven't seen much anoying comments in the chat on the European server. People there are mostly friendly and mature. It seems not every server in TR has a community problem.

I played TR for a few months in beta.   Then, about a week before launch, they nerfed every class and suddenly all the instances were unsoloable.   Bam, that did it for me.   I quit within a week and cancelled my plans to purchase it.    Has this changed since launch?   Can I solo ALL instances with any class?   If yes, I'll rejoin in a heartbeat.   If not, enjoy your yet-another-forced-grouping MMO.

Originally posted by SwampRob

 

I played TR for a few months in beta.   Then, about a week before launch, they nerfed every class and suddenly all the instances were unsoloable.   Bam, that did it for me.   I quit within a week and cancelled my plans to purchase it.    Has this changed since launch?   Can I solo ALL instances with any class?   If yes, I'll rejoin in a heartbeat.   If not, enjoy your yet-another-forced-grouping MMO.

 I havent had any problems soloing any instance I havent found a group for as a ranger so far. (Level 28 atm) I can't say anything for the other classes and any time I've tried to solo the instances I've made sure I'm at the upper end of the level bracket for that instance.

Originally posted by SwampRob

 

I played TR for a few months in beta.   Then, about a week before launch, they nerfed every class and suddenly all the instances were unsoloable.   Bam, that did it for me.   I quit within a week and cancelled my plans to purchase it.    Has this changed since launch?   Can I solo ALL instances with any class?   If yes, I'll rejoin in a heartbeat.   If not, enjoy your yet-another-forced-grouping MMO.

Running around on Palladines at lvl 6 in beta and killing most things i encountered there without being killed was for me something they really needed to change and thankfully it has changed in allot of good way's

Can't give you a full answer about if all classes are able to solo at lvl 10 for example as with my Sapper i returned to finish a few instances in Wilderness and was lvl 16, my soldier has done them all it at lvl 9/10, but also have done some of the wilderness instances grouped and duo as it's a different kind of fun when going in grouped or duo and sometimes escorting a group that is new is also fun regardless i have done the instance's already

Moving onto Divided i have not done a single instance yet, but as far i can tell every other quest in divided is done, the instance's in divided are something to look forward to this sunday...for me

I beta'd this and got the pre-order pack.  Both of which I enjoyed but sadly the EU server was prone to lag due to overcrowding during the pre-order advanced play and release dates.  I died due to lag more often than anything else during this time.

Is anyone playing the EU server (or servers perhaps if they added a second one)?   Is it still laggy as hell or have they fixed it?

Originally posted by Rintintin

I enjoy this game and for the most part agree with the comments in this article.  The biggest disagreement I have is regarding customer service.  IMHO it sucks.  The article mentions that GM's will help with in-game petitions that are bugged etc.  The four times I have petitioned a GM, I have never even been acknowledged.  Not even a response.  Even  a hey, go screw yourself would have been welcomed just so I would know there was some one on the other end.  The first four times I petitioned I was very pleasant, however, I have to admit that after the fourth time and no response, I started getting frustrated and sent another asking them if they outsource GM support from SOE, but then I thought CS from SOE was never this bad.  I doubt I will ever get a response now that I was rude one time.  I figure it is like being pulled over by a cop for speeding, if you're rude, you are more likely to receive a ticket.  In this instance I have probably been blacklisted by CS and will now never receive help. 

Also in reponse to the article concerning bugged intances.  The rakasha droid factory disconnects me from the server nearly every time I have tried to complete it.  The first time I was on my way back to the mission giver at the beginning of the instance to turn in his two missions when it crashed!  When I logged back in it failed my missions, and while I could restart them, all the objectives were dead or destroyed so I had to leave the instance.  The only other one I have had problems is treeback as the article mentioned.  There are also plenty of bugged missions the further you progress as the article mentions. 

Overall I enjoy this game, but the lack of CS and bugged missions is frustrating.  Although I do enjoy just exploring and finding a nice hill top overlookign control points I can snipe from.  It is a nice game for the casual player, but I am starting to wonder if it is worth 15 bucks a month.  I am sure they will add more stuff as time goes on, and I am not even close to finishing all the missons in game yet. 

Now, on community - judging a community in a game with multiple servers is a tough thing, and I had to go off of personal experience.  From what I experienced, any question I asked was immediately "stfu noob"'d or given a sarcastic, snarky answer...that is, if anyone had time to read it between the WoW and guild recruitment flood.  I'm not on the EU server and I'm happy to hear that you guys have a better community, there.

Other than the usual garbage you hear in general chat, I have had good experience with the community.  Although more of a solo player, I have pleasant conversations with players I run into. I usually don't join clans because they seem to be more work than they are worth to me. 

The questions I have asked over general chat have all been answered, and I have not gotten any stfu noob comments yet.  I have only grouped once for an instance and I thought it was rediculous how much the mobs increase in number inside the instance.  I woud prefer they scale the difficulty of the mobs rather than ramp up the number of mobs in instances in response to group size.  In the instances that are narrow halways etc, it is just a stupid sea of bane and there is no strategy or tactics used just everyone spam shotgun and run through the instance as fast as you can. 

Of course there is little validity with an N of 1,  and the group I was in was likely crap, but that one time was enough to convince me that soloing the instances is more to my liking.  I prefer sneaking around and picking off the bane one or a few at a time.  Others may prefer the shotgun spam techique of the group, and of course it may be more fun with wider open instances like treeback etc where a sniper can snipe for instance.  I guess in a group of fellow clan types there could be more coordination etc, especially if voice is used. 

Dont know if i missed it  but just incase no one mentioned it..

You say you can clone at 4,14 and 29.This is wrong. You get clone credits at 5,15,30. Technically its when the exp bars are full like 14.99999. You can clone at ANY time you want. Just hit logout and go to char select screen. Hit clone :P

What you really mean is its BEST to clone at those levels (Except 4 cause you can skip the whwole bootcamp start by talking to a npc and bypassing straight to 4.3). BEFORE you fill your exp bar at 14, clone. Then you and your clone can both get a little exp and get that  tier advance message. When you get  advance message chars  get clone credit. So now both have a credit to clone at 29.99. When the exp bar hits the end of 14 and you get the advance message you are rewarded a clone credit.If you wait till now to clone then your clone wont have a clone credit  to clone.

Anyway i digress , good review imho. I feel the games a little bland  in places. Its all good blasting away at first ,shotgun here ,shotgun there but by the time youre 15th and in Divide its all annoying. Also theres no reward for levelling. Yes you can *pump* the skills you got at 5,15,30 but at those levels you can invest one point in each and therefor never get anything new really ,after that. OK sometimes things like crab mines will change their attack type after you invest another 5 points in them but meh its still crab mines.

In other mmos we get rewarded when we level. New stuff is what we play for ,whether thats lot or skills or spells. Here theres some loot, more guns that arent as good as shotgun usualy, but no new spells skills or talents etc .What you see at 5,15,30 is what you get,Nothing more. :(  Sometimes it seems like ages till we can increase a skill due to having to save points  to afford the skill increase.

Each new area seems like a higher level than the first.Not a lot new to see and do .Run here kill this get killed by a pod dropped thrax arrmy due to buggy medkits not working etc etc. Each area is same as last  just high level mobs of what we fought before.

And everywhere i go i hear people going on and ON about PvP. I can see where this PvE game is going now ,wont be long till pvp balance nerfs hit the pve crowd :(

Now, if this was Anarchy Online 2.....

edit :and yes they seem to have sorted the EU server out. Still only got one but hey what do you expcet.We are lucky to get CS and GMs  these days :(  Ping rates are better for me than they are to a lot of MMO so called euro servers.

Originally posted by phluux

Dangit Taera, I was gonna write my own two reviews 1-25 and 26-50 in my blog but you pretty much said everything I was going to say!

Although, I wouldn't let the TR community off the hook as easily as you did though. General chat is awful... much worse than Barrens chat, even. Seriously.

Anyway, nice review, you summed it up nicely and I feel pretty much the same way.

Yes, Barrens Chat is bad in that it's the first 'choke point' for pre-teens who figure out they can run their mouths with complete annonymity... But try an online FPS for a true glimpse of how bad these kids in the Barrens will be when they hit 20-25 years old...

Unfortunately TR appeals to both groups, so you get the annonymity driven rtards AND the trash talking jock-straps...

A pretty balanced review Laura, be interested to see part II. For me I can see nothing to keep a casual player beyond a month or two or a more hardcore player beyond a week or two. You point out stuff that has potential, quite right, there even seems to be a decent chance that the potential is realised as the core technology seems OK despite the bugginess you mention. It still remains a fact that you can not play potential.

Really my biggest disapointment was the complete lack of diversity of professions. I am not sure how that can be addressed with out radically changing the game play.  All the time a Sapper can blast through most of the content with a shotgun (starting skill) what role is there for a medic (or anything else really)? Again you mention this but the gameplay whilst fun for some time is fundamentaly flawed.

Nice to get a review that is based on more than the first 10 or 20 hours play, which lets face it are a lot of fun. The polish does peel after a while sadly what is revealed is something that needs quite a re-think for longevity.

Cheers.