Save yourself $50 bucks. If you must purchase it, do so now.  You have about 2 months before it craters out.

Fanboys and paid shills alike will soon be along to prattle on about how great things are, but when the inevitable happens remember you read it here first.

A few thoughts by way of explanation....

Most games are very structured in how you are rewarded for leveling, ie...you earn xp, level, and a new skill is available to you.  This can be boring but it has its advantages, primarily that there is no way for someone to exploit what skills/abilities they have.  In Fallen Earth, you recieve AP points for leveling (10 per level), in addition you may recieve AP points from certain quests.  AP points are spent to raise your primary attributes and skills.  There are 880 points in game possible from leveling and approximately 275 available from other quests, some of which are pvp-dependant and/or faction-centric.

At launch and for several weeks thereafter there was (and probably still is, although crashes are not as severe) an issue where you could do an AP quest, turn the quest in and recieve your AP, and if the server crashed reasonably soon afterwards you would still have your AP point, however the game would not remember that you had done the quest.  Thus you were allowed to return and do the quest again for more AP.  For most people this happened only a few times and many people were unaware that this was a serious issue with the integrity of the game.  However, there were some who made a business of exploiting this 'feature' as well as bugged npc AP questgivers.  Most importantly this showed a very serious flaw in the fundamentals of the code and server...this problem may have been corrected or it may not and just may not be readily apparent due to the fact that the server is now more stable (and this is probably just because there is not as many people clustered in the starting areas). 

The response of the devs to customers bringing up concerns about this issue has been....wait for it...Silence.  Just recently a sticky thread appeared on the forums loudly bellowing that 'Sploiters' have been squashed, however this player has yet to run across one individual in game who has had any kind of action taken against a character with excessive AP.  In my humble opinion, the lack of any kind of explanation from the devs on the specific causes of the problem, the actions taken to correct it, and the very brief and insubstantial post on 'taking care' of exploiters indicates to this observer that the devs are trying to blow smoke up the collective arse of the community.

It is particularly amusing that the devs choose to call characters with extra AP 'exploiters' in the first place, as it was/is a serious flaw in their design that allows for the occurence in the first place.  Players were expected to not do a quest a second time if they encountered the bug, which was fairly hard to do as you have hundreds of quests and it is impossible to remember every quest you have done.  Imagine playing a game where the level of other players abilities is based on the 'honor system'.

Paramount for any online game, and especially a pvp one, is game integrity.  This game has none.  When you get a game to play you expect that you have a level playing field with other players.  We know that natural skill and ability, knowledge, time-played, etc. will give some players an advantage over others however at the fundamental level there is a base of equality from which all players begin. 

Imagine joining the game at this moment in time.  There will be a period of catchup with the early-starters, true but this is eventually overcome.  But what you don't know is that you can and will never be at their level.  Those who have the extra AP from the bugs/exploits  will always dominate you all other things being equal.  Even a small difference like 10 AP can mean a large difference in certain skills such as armor usage which does not offer armors at all skill levels but has tiers or breakpoints where a better set of armor can be worn.

In addition to this certain AP are available only when a member of a specific faction.  Moving from faction to faction was a difficult undertaking upon release involving a serious grind, however it was doable.  Recently, the developers have changed this mechanic making it even harder to change faction and pick up those faciton specific AP.  This is probably more in line with their 'vision' however they did not make this change pre-release and now all those people who await you at the present endgame have yet another pool of AP available that someone starting the game at this point will never see.

Theres a lot more going on in the world of Fallen Earth, little of it good.  The usual suspects in the forums calling for player housing, extra content, fast travel and nerfs.  Developers frantic about low population and giving in and make poorly thought out changes tjat can and will completely ruin or change a character you may have spent many hours on.  With normal characters it is not very difficult to remake, however a crafting character will require many weeks of realtime spent to rebuild a character to the level it was before  More focus on nonsense things like halloween events than fundamental core game fixes.  Lag and quite possibly the most horrible AI in any MMO that I have ever played.  Hacks, yes they are there, especially the speedhacks.  Not quite to the level to which we saw hacking in Darkfall but present nonetheless.

In any case, its your choice to play or not.  I believe you should know up front a little of the basics so that you are not suprised. I estimate there have been 15k subs peak which will fall to 12k by the end of this billing cycle.  Will probably stabilize at around 10k by next month however if the game remains on present track this number as well will fall lower.

If you feel this is an unfair commentary on certain aspects of the game feel free to read down as I am sure the fanboys will be foaming at the mouth about this post.  Feel free to drop the 50 bucks and see for yourself.  Just remember who told the truth.

1 time poster ALERT!

1st time poster or not....he's completely right.  This game is a dripping sack of dog shit.

Predicting someone will have an opinion different from yourself. Brilliant!

Sounds like someone got caught exploiting AP. ^^

Without going into a whole thread about this gamers experience.

Apparently their have been many players banned for AP exploits and chip selling and buying.

Another thing that hit the community and made players upset was the mutations nerf (Sonic Lance and Molotov). Players using the 2 hit I win move.

A nice structured post, probably from a disgruntle player that was a victim.

TL;DR but I have a feeling the kid misses WoW.

It's that way --------------------------------------------->

Be a good boy and go get it.....go get it...

Originally posted by metalliham

Sounds like someone got caught exploiting AP. ^^

Yep, and he probably got his main char deleted haha.

The nerdrage is strong in this one.

Originally posted by HiGHPLAiNS

Without going into a whole thread about this gamers experience.

Apparently their have been many players banned for AP exploits and chip selling and buying.

Another thing that hit the community and made players upset was the mutations nerf (Sonic Lance and Molotov). Players using the 2 hit I win move.

A nice structured post, probably from a disgruntle player that was a victim.

Judging by the tone of his post I think he was one of the players that got hit with the ban hammer for the AP exploit, and someone he knows who also had the extra AP from the bug didnt. Only think this because he seems to focus 90% of his post on the whole AP issue.

With respect to first time posting....I moved and changed emails, and lost my password, etc.  In any case I've found that post count is inversely proportional to honesty, at least here at this website.

As far as WOW, played a trial once and hated it....

With regard to AP exploiting, my character has approximately 5 known extra AP, possibly more.  Each discovery of repeating quests was reported via bug report until I realized that the issue was not quest specifc but as mentioned in the code/server area with data not being saved in a secure manner.

To date I have recieved no banning and/or resetting of character, no email or in game correspondence from a mod or developer regarding extra AP.  I know of no other player who has had any action taken against them whatsoever for extra AP.

To call this game a steaming pile of dog poo is an insult to turds everywhere

The focus of my post was on AP as it is the most serious gamebreaker out there.  And one that a new player or someone unaffiliated with the game would be unfamiliar with until they were deep into the game.  A similar length post could have easily been made on a number of issues, specifically the ones I touched on briefly at the end.

 Whatever the OPs story is, he does have valid points.

I'm a big fan of the game, but some of the things he brings up are my biggest issues with the design. AP from starter zone quests, and faction specific AP both rub me the wrong way. Especially when there are bugs allowing people to get more AP than intended. I hope that when the devs do take care of that issue, they revoke ill-gotten AP (only the repeated quest ones, I think switching factions for AP is legit because of all the work).

The OP does make it sound like the devs arn't working. IMO they're working their asses off, based on the magnitude of patches and fixes since launch. I do wish this was a higher priority for them, but I'm sure they're working on something.

Overall, the OP is correct in a lot of things, but he is focusing on the worst parts of the game.

In response to Czarigo, I don't feel that the devs aren't working...I have a certain amount of respect for what they have been able to accomplish.  The in game dev support is some of the best I have ever seen.

Dislike of the 'big powers' of the MMO world and love for an 'indy' company is not enough to overcome the severe and glaring flaws.  The facts are that there exist problems which have been left unchecked and which are in process of destroying all that they have built up. 

To further complicate the matter, the devs have shown a certain degree of inexperience in handling these issues.  To take the mutations nerf for example, it is not so much that a bad nerf was made (and it was a poorly thought out maneuver), it was the hamhanded way it was thrust upon the community with no testing and at the instigation of a small number of QQ'ers.  This kind of behavior on the devs part does not bode well for any decision they have to make down the road.

Originally posted by DeathSpiral

In response to Czarigo, I don't feel that the devs aren't working...I have a certain amount of respect for what they have been able to accomplish.  The in game dev support is some of the best I have ever seen.

Dislike of the 'big powers' of the MMO world and love for an 'indy' company is not enough to overcome the severe and glaring flaws.  The facts are that there exist problems which have been left unchecked and which are in process of destroying all that they have built up. 

To further complicate the matter, the devs have shown a certain degree of inexperience in handling these issues.  To take the mutations nerf for example, it is not so much that a bad nerf was made (and it was a poorly thought out maneuver), it was the hamhanded way it was thrust upon the community with no testing and at the instigation of a small number of QQ'ers.  This kind of behavior on the devs part does not bode well for any decision they have to make down the road.

Not to mention balance changes without any respec option is giving mut players the shaft. I'm not high enough to know about the balance, but I heard mutations were simply and obviously far too overpowered, so I can understand the need to change it regardless.

This dev team is new, but they're listening to the players, and I feel they'll learn fast. This was probably a good lesson for them.

I can see this game becoming a real gem in a few months once it has had some time to mature into stability. I'm playing for the promise of that game right now, which is usually something I ridicule, but I feel this game has such a good foundation that it's worth putting up with. 

i could careless what other people do in the game or what "advantage" they might have over me. i play games to have fun and enjoy what I'm doing in the game. i dont waste my time on what others are doing or might be doing. they dont add to my enjoyment or dislike of a game.

Originally posted by donjuanamigo

i could careless what other people do in the game or what "advantage" they might have over me. i play games to have fun and enjoy what I'm doing in the game. i dont waste my time on what others are doing or might be doing. they dont add to my enjoyment or dislike of a game.

The problem is balancing PvP, if someone has a few dozen extra AP, they have a big advantage before you even have line of sight. 

Originally posted by Czargio

 Whatever the OPs story is, he does have valid points.

I'm a big fan of the game, but some of the things he brings up are my biggest issues with the design. AP from starter zone quests, and faction specific AP both rub me the wrong way. Especially when there are bugs allowing people to get more AP than intended. I hope that when the devs do take care of that issue, they revoke ill-gotten AP (only the repeated quest ones, I think switching factions for AP is legit because of all the work).

The OP does make it sound like the devs arn't working. IMO they're working their asses off, based on the magnitude of patches and fixes since launch. I do wish this was a higher priority for them, but I'm sure they're working on something.

Overall, the OP is correct in a lot of things, but he is focusing on the worst parts of the game.

Already fixed te bugged AP missions and they've been handing out bans to abusers.

The OP is trolling about things that aren't even in the game anymore.

Originally posted by Czargio

Originally posted by donjuanamigo

i could careless what other people do in the game or what "advantage" they might have over me. i play games to have fun and enjoy what I'm doing in the game. i dont waste my time on what others are doing or might be doing. they dont add to my enjoyment or dislike of a game.

The problem is balancing PvP, if someone has a few dozen extra AP, they have a big advantage before you even have line of sight. 

again, i dont care. that very minute select few people dont bother me.

Humanity never seizes to amaze me.

How someone could go on such a rant over a single post-launch issue is beyond my comprehension.

To me, at lvl 28, the game is the best thing that happened since my first mmorpg experiences.

The freedom, the extensive crafting, the vast world, group pvp with my clanmates for towncontrol, the complexity of character planning and the huge amount of abilities to learn, they are all very big plusses for this game compared to many others I played in the past years.

Trashing FE over (mainly) a single bug and not touching any of its tremendous good points and its potential is ... weird, to say the least.

Originally posted by metalliham

Sounds like someone got caught exploiting AP. ^^

yes it does .......

Originally posted by DarkPony

Humanity never seizes to amaze me.

How someone could go on such a rant over a single post-launch issue is beyond my comprehension.

To me, at lvl 28, the game is the best thing that happened since my first mmorpg experiences.

The freedom, the extensive crafting, the vast world, group pvp with my clanmates for towncontrol, the complexity of character planning and the huge amount of abilities to learn, they are all very big plusses for this game compared to many others I played in the past years.

Trashing FE over (mainly) a single bug and not touching any of its tremendous good points and its potential is ... weird, to say the least.

Not really. Everyone has an agenda. Even you and I at times, lol! It's just in posts like the OP's here it's very clear to see that they are retaliating for something. For what we'll never get a true answer from them. Based on years of watching MMO forums I'd guess they either were in the banned or deleted boxes of recent FE action and want to "show those people at Icarus".

Meh, if that brand of therapy helps, I'm not against them using it. Only the kiddos reading it will think "OMGZ, iz dat tru!!11!!!!!1!??". Everyone else who been on MMO forums for a while sees it for what it is, laughs, and moves on.

 Move along. Nothing here but a load of outdated crap.

I'll have to agree that FE isn't as great as the fanboys claim it to be. There are some profound issues with the game. The PvE gameplay is crap, its not the mechanics I'm talking about but the game in general.  Its just way too easy to the point of being trivial. We're talking EVE like here. This would be fine if the PvP is good but I'm sorry, it's lukewarm at best. Conflict towns mechanics is lame and equally pointless as the PvE gameplay.

Overall what this game lack is a point or destination. In EVE it's the awesome sandbox PvP, in WoW and fantasy MMOs it's raids. I would love to say FE's big lure is crafting but thats not true either. When everyone is a crafter  then nobody is a crafter.

Originally posted by Keushpuppy

Originally posted by metalliham

Sounds like someone got caught exploiting AP. ^^

 

yes it does .......

My money's on 'banned from the official FE forums'.  People always come to MMORPG.com to nerdrage when they get exiled from their homes.  What they fail to realize is that most people see them and their post for what it really is: impotency.

Originally posted by Kexo

 When everyone is a crafter  then nobody is a crafter.

Possibly the most nonsensical statement Ive seen on these forums. There's nothing elite or exclusive about being a crafter in any game. Any idiot can do it. In most games people chose not to because it's a pointless pain in the posterior. Finally a game where crafting has a purpose other than the accumulation of virtual wealth or grinding until your eyes bleed and you say it's not crafting? Horse Feathers.

Originally posted by DeathSpiral

With respect to first time posting....I moved and changed emails, and lost my password, etc.  In any case I've found that post count is inversely proportional to honesty, at least here at this website.

As far as WOW, played a trial once and hated it....

With regard to AP exploiting, my character has approximately 5 known extra AP, possibly more.  Each discovery of repeating quests was reported via bug report until I realized that the issue was not quest specifc but as mentioned in the code/server area with data not being saved in a secure manner.

To date I have recieved no banning and/or resetting of character, no email or in game correspondence from a mod or developer regarding extra AP.  I know of no other player who has had any action taken against them whatsoever for extra AP.

To call this game a steaming pile of dog poo is an insult to turds everywhere

The focus of my post was on AP as it is the most serious gamebreaker out there.  And one that a new player or someone unaffiliated with the game would be unfamiliar with until they were deep into the game.  A similar length post could have easily been made on a number of issues, specifically the ones I touched on briefly at the end.

I would only agree it is a serious problem if the AP has a soft cap.   One that is based on only character levels and the # of quests that give AP.  However, if there is a hard cap then the point is moot, since all the exploiters really gained was a tweaked character that is stronger than it should be at early stages of the game.   Further into the game a player advances the less relevant that exploiters AP will be, but I would still agree they should get whomped with a ban hammer.