I think of myself as a MMO curmedgeon; having played countless numbers of them since way back in the era of MUDs. I'm no longer impressed with any of these 'new' releases as they tend to be copies of each other, or blatently chasing the WoW brass ring.

This game, however,  has changed that. Sure it has what you would typically expect from any new MMO: Good graphics, fleshed out world lore, PvP etc. But this offers something *NO* other MMO game has: Deeply strategic, real time combat. No auto targeting either, which adds another aspect to fighting. And for those you  who say DarkFall offers this already, Chronicles has one other major combat feature: The rotating, and customizable skill bar. When looked at in later levels, the skill bar can be seen as strategically deep to the point of being frightening.

Add to this the intuitive Fame, and PeP (Personal Experience Points) levels - the first is earned from your standard xp, the latter is a 'reward' level you receive for surviving PvE encounters, that adds up to 5 additional power bars to attacks. (and can lose upon death)

The next patch will offer Arena combat as well as PvP looting (in the form of keys for chests(?))

Finally, a game that not only lives up to its (albiet under the mainstream media) hype, but, in my opinion, surpasses it.

You also can't beat the free client - coupled with  a free 2 week subscription right out of the gate - Acclaim has made sure this gem gets noticed (and it's worked).

This is definitely MMO gameplaying evolved.

D'Sarn - BloodWarrior

Originally posted by Cerebus59

I think of myself as a MMO curmedgeon; having played countless numbers of them since way back in the era of MUDs. I'm no longer impressed with any of these 'new' releases as they tend to be copies of each other, or blatently chasing the WoW brass ring.

This game, however,  has changed that. Sure it has what you would typically expect from any new MMO: Good graphics, fleshed out world lore, PvP etc. But this offers something *NO* other MMO game has: Deeply strategic, real time combat. No auto targeting either, which adds another aspect to fighting. And for those you  who say DarkFall offers this already, Chronicles has one other major combat feature: The rotating, and customizable skill bar. When looked at in later levels, the skill bar can be seen as strategically deep to the point of being frightening.

Add to this the intuitive Fame, and PeP (Personal Experience Points) levels - the first is earned from your standard xp, the latter is a 'reward' level you receive for surviving PvE encounters, that adds up to 5 additional power bars to attacks. (and can lose upon death)

The next patch will offer Arena combat as well as PvP looting (in the form of keys for chests(?))

Finally, a game that not only lives up to its (albiet under the mainstream media) hype, but, in my opinion, surpasses it.

You also can't beat the free client - coupled with  a free 2 week subscription right out of the gate - Acclaim has made sure this gem gets noticed (and it's worked).

This is definitely MMO gameplaying evolved.

D'Sarn - BloodWarrior

 

 

I would love to try this game but I keep having problems with the downloader. I've restarted it this morning and I hope it will actually download the game.

I agree that tcos is a nice niche game.  I beta'd it for many months, and it was actually the sole game I played during beta.  I loved the content, I loved the way the game mechanics worked.  Once you learned how to play it well, it was a joy to play.

All that said, I just cannot subscribe to it.  The original release miffed me and I have never been able to stand Acclaim.  Sure, I have played a ton of their games, but I have always run into issues in their games that were never resolved.  And to top it all off, I actually have played the game so much that I don't feel an urge to play it anymore.  The grind beyond about level 21 is just plain mind-numbing.

The quest grind is mind numbing? Because that's all I've done to get to the level I'm at.

One of the few games I've encountered where the 'grinding' can actually be fun given that the combat system is genuinely engaging.

I had exactly the same Cerebus. All the mmorpgs started to look like each other. But this one added some really nice and new things to it. I am in love with the combat system and i never want to go back to the old way again.

I suspect that Chronicles of Spellborn is very much a game for the curmudgeons among us, truly a rare breed in an industry that tends to favor the simple and casual.

That said, that's going to be the main difference between the players who like and don't like it.  Either you're experienced enough to recognize how Chronicles of Spellborn is different (and deseperate enough to humor its few but poignant flaws) or you're inexperienced enough to find it bothersome how little Chonricles of Spellborn resembles the few games you know how to play.

When I played this game in CB / OB and euro servers, I used to actually love the game from about 1-mid 20's.  I only kept one toon above 20 and rerolled the rest over and over to play the lower levels.  Mostly because it was fun until those low-mid levels.

I cannot believe that people would actually think that liking this game somehow makes you a better gamer. 

No, wait: a CLASSIER gamer. 

<Mod Edit>

Thanks

T

I liked this game till I lost pep level 5 from the game freezing.......

Originally posted by Cerebus59

This is definitely MMO gameplaying evolved.

 

It's so nice to finally see a MMO with an evolved gameplay system. I guess there is hope yet. Hopefulyl they add more races someday. We all know mounts are incoming  :)

Btw if you haven't PVPed yet, you are truely missing out. It actually makes PVP exciting and requires SKILL as well as KNOWLEDGE (putting together the right skill deck isn't easy, but satisfying when done right)

Originally posted by geldonyetich

That said, that's going to be the main difference between the players who like and don't like it.  Either you're experienced enough to recognize how Chronicles of Spellborn is different (and deseperate enough to humor its few but poignant flaws) or you're inexperienced enough to find it bothersome how little Chonricles of Spellborn resembles the few games you know how to play.

So I'm inexperienced in the genre just because I don't like Chronicles of Spellborn? I guess getting into the genre in '99 and playing most of the titles that have been released between now and then does put me in the "inexperienced boat."

Actually, I don't like it because after years in this genre I find that Spellborn is virtually the same as any other themepark, quest-driven MMO. The only difference is the active movement in combat, which is only novelty and wears off, and a rotating skilldeck. 

I still log in and it's the same quest grind. Grinding mobs is no more fun than say, grinding in any other MMO. The quests are of the same concept, the writing alone won't save it -- the quest dialogue is good, but it's not that good.

The small things, like loot having no stats, none of these things come to my mind when the general gameplay is the same as any other game. Strafing in combat isn't revolutionary, Aion has the same thing, you just don't actually dodge from it, you gain stat benefits instead. The rotating skilldeck doesn't add anything to my game play, it limits if it anything, restricting the attacks I can do. I understand how some people appreciate the "depth" this might add, however, I personally do not want to stop, jump on a rock or another safe spot, and switch my action bars around on the fly constantly.

I played the game to 40 on one character, 25 on another, and 20 on another, and it's the same washed up gameplay as the next MMO with minor touches and flares that aren't all they're cracked up to be. There's nothing "evolved" -- it's the same combat with another flavor. Removing auto-attack has been done before, so has movement in combat. A skilldeck that limits you at any given time is evolution? 

And honestly, this is the only game where the PVP didn't interest me at all. There are countless twitch-based combat games out there that flow so much more smoothly than Spellborn.  To each his own, but I'd have to say I disagree with most of the comments here.
 

Originally posted by Synthetick

So I'm inexperienced in the genre just because I don't like Chronicles of Spellborn? I guess getting into the genre in '99 and playing most of the titles that have been released between now and then does put me in the "inexperienced boat."

Actually, I don't like it because after years in this genre I find that Spellborn is virtually the same as any other themepark, quest-driven MMO. The only difference is the active movement in combat, which is only novelty and wears off, and a rotating skilldeck. 

I still log in and it's the same quest grind. Grinding mobs is no more fun than say, grinding in any other MMO. The quests are of the same concept, the writing alone won't save it -- the quest dialogue is good, but it's not that good.

The small things, like loot having no stats, none of these things come to my mind when the general gameplay is the same as any other game. Strafing in combat isn't revolutionary, Aion has the same thing, you just don't actually dodge from it, you gain stat benefits instead. The rotating skilldeck doesn't add anything to my game play, it limits if it anything, restricting the attacks I can do. I understand how some people appreciate the "depth" this might add, however, I personally do not want to stop, jump on a rock or another safe spot, and switch my action bars around on the fly constantly.

I played the game to 40 on one character, 25 on another, and 20 on another, and it's the same washed up gameplay as the next MMO with minor touches and flares that aren't all they're cracked up to be. There's nothing "evolved" -- it's the same combat with another flavor. Removing auto-attack has been done before, so has movement in combat. A skilldeck that limits you at any given time is evolution? 

And honestly, this is the only game where the PVP didn't interest me at all. There are countless twitch-based combat games out there that flow so much more smoothly than Spellborn.  To each his own, but I'd have to say I disagree with most of the comments here.
 

So what you're saying is that all MMOG's suck, but TCoS just sucks a little less?

I'd also like to know about these "countless twitch-based combat games" just to make sure I haven't missed any. Last time I checked there were only two that could be taken seriously and DDO is the other one.

Originally posted by Synthetick

Originally posted by geldonyetich

That said, that's going to be the main difference between the players who like and don't like it.  Either you're experienced enough to recognize how Chronicles of Spellborn is different (and deseperate enough to humor its few but poignant flaws) or you're inexperienced enough to find it bothersome how little Chonricles of Spellborn resembles the few games you know how to play.

I still log in and it's the same quest grind.

You do? Why? I have seen other psts that you have made that said you uninstalled and were now enjoying the Aion beta immensely... I'm a little confused... What is your character name in game Synth?

Grinding mobs is no more fun than say, grinding in any other MMO. The quests are of the same concept, the writing alone won't save it -- the quest dialogue is good, but it's not that good.

But... you still play... meaning is better to you, presumbly, then any other game out there right now? Because you have the choice to play whatever game you want to right?

I played the game to 40 on one character, 25 on another, and 20 on another

Like I said before, you said in other posts that you had left the game and uninstalled.. and that was a while ago... it seems you have come back to game and played pretty hard? Thats strange to me for a guy who has only negative things to say and TCoS. What server, character name, guild etc Syn?

and it's the same washed up gameplay as the next MMO with minor touches and flares that aren't all they're cracked up to be. There's nothing "evolved" 

Yet, you choose to play it over all the other games out there right now. It must be doing SOMETHING right  

Last time I read a post by you seemed to hate TCoS and love Aion... what happened to your beta for that game? Not work out?