Originally posted by Pilnkplonk

I really wanted to love it but the asian-standard level threadmill basically killed it for me.

It's like 2 completely different and antagonistic games in one. Level grind with tiered zones and all that crap and a freeform eco-system... They don't mesh well at all. Level 5 tree and level 20 tree... Jeez. If they ditched the leveling crap I'd love it, but this is just ridiculous.

It's a pity really. The graphics are really beautiful (not really anime... more french comic strip-like) and the world and the atmosphere is top-notch. The ecology and crafting is wonderful... and then you have level 10 bread and level 30 bread. Wtf? It's a crafiting grinder, sadly. I thought they'd be more imaginative in the core mechanic part of the design.. A real pity.

  "asian standard level treadmill"

 I dont understand what you mean about your issue with the bread? Yes items have level requirements like... all games.. I guess im not understanding.

 That sucks it felt grindy to you.. I guess one has to enjoy the crafting  and tactics and completely player driven economy to like the game. 

Anyways, As usual on these forums, a person, or several persons make a post to alert people to a hidden gem of a game and it instantly becomes a slurry of posts from people who just HAVE to let other people know they dont agree, or that you are wrong because THEY didnt like it.. When usually they probably didnt even get past the tutorial and somehow feel the need to make sure everyone else dislikes the game as much as they..

I love the show, I guess i should give the game a shot once it's out.

Originally posted by quentin405

Originally posted by Pilnkplonk

I really wanted to love it but the asian-standard level threadmill basically killed it for me.

It's like 2 completely different and antagonistic games in one. Level grind with tiered zones and all that crap and a freeform eco-system... They don't mesh well at all. Level 5 tree and level 20 tree... Jeez. If they ditched the leveling crap I'd love it, but this is just ridiculous.

It's a pity really. The graphics are really beautiful (not really anime... more french comic strip-like) and the world and the atmosphere is top-notch. The ecology and crafting is wonderful... and then you have level 10 bread and level 30 bread. Wtf? It's a crafiting grinder, sadly. I thought they'd be more imaginative in the core mechanic part of the design.. A real pity.

  "asian standard level treadmill"

 I dont understand what you mean about your issue with the bread? Yes items have level requirements like... all games.. I guess im not understanding.

 

 That sucks it felt grindy to you.. I guess one has to enjoy the crafting  and tactics and completely player driven economy to like the game. 

 

Anyways, As usual on these forums, a person, or several persons make a post to alert people to a hidden gem of a game and it instantly becomes a slurry of posts from people who just HAVE to let other people know they dont agree, or that you are wrong because THEY didnt like it.. When usually they probably didnt even get past the tutorial and somehow feel the need to make sure everyone else dislikes the game as much as they..

 

Well you see, that is exactly the problem. "Yes items have level requirements like... all games.. " People cannot even understand that there can be games that don't employ a xp/level mechanic anymore....

I recently played good old Settlers II 10 year anniversary edition. A classic of sandbox design and an awesome game to play even now. And guess what? It has no goddamn levels. A bread is a bread. You add new elements and complexity to your sandbox but all the basic stuff still remains important. There is no "Oh, I outleveled level 10 flour" crap but "I can now build a bakery which makes bread out of floor." or "I can now build a brewery which makes beer out of grain rather than flour."

Wakfu is a beautiful game, mind you and I'll reccomend it to all sandbox lovers. But I cannot play it because of the stupid leveling mechanic that feels tacked on. As you level, you progress from one region to another with the regions that suport lower level crafting elements becoming irellevant to you. Contrast this with Settlers where a fisher's hut remains equally relevant whether you have a 3-shack village or a sprawling empire. It's just too painful, I'm sorry, to think that the whole area of the kingdom could be utilized as a eco-system while now all the regions except the last are just something to grind thorugh. It's a classical "level-up + endgame" crap and I can't really stomach it anymore. Makiing it a "crafting" grinder with an eco-system does not make it any less a grinder. You still progress linearly from region to region until you reach some kind of a plateau. If you can't envision another way that computer games can be designed then I feel really sorry for you.

All in all, I've played beta and Wakfu has a lot of charm and love put into it. It definitely deserves a try from anyone who likes sandboxes and/or turn-based combat. And it's a free game to boot. From what I've seen in beta I'd give it a very very solid score, in high 80s, definitely. But it's not for me because I'm really sick of the unimaginateive linear xp/level/unlock model anymore. And when you combine it with the awesome potentialities and qualities this game has, it just becomes too painful for me and I cannot play. It hurts me too much to see such an otherwise wonderful game marred by this ridiculous slaving to what has become the industry cliche - level up/move to another zone.. jeez.

No, really. If they redid Wakfu in Minecraft style - "here's a box of toys, play with it!" I'd worship it. Artwork is superb, sounds and atmosphere... it's all really great and charming. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea but I do like the playfullness and dreamy surrealism. If I were a big name game dev I'd hire the art team no questions asked. But why the heck did they have to make it xp/level/unlock move-to-a-higher-level-zone FFS?!

Originally posted by Arawnite

Now...if they redo the game in a graphical style that isn't aimed at 8 year olds, and make it a true 3d and not a top-down 2d iso view, I would consider it.

^^This.  Played it for about an hour, love the game mechanics, HATE the viewpoint, style, cutesie sounds, etc.  and the massive grind for everything on top of it.

Its the same with the Minecraft art style you hate it or like it. Same with this if you can't see further then the art style then you are missing out.

really is a shame they have all the mechanics right , but the Cutsey  almost made me  Pukesey ... had to get out of it

Originally posted by Dark_HUmar

Its the same with the Minecraft art style you hate it or like it. Same with this if you can't see further then the art style then you are missing out.

No, I'm not missing out.  They are missing out from having me be a customer for their game because for me, they should have taken all of those sandbox elements and put them into a game that plays like Vanguard/WoW/Lotro/Tera whichever suits your favorite character feedback 3rd person viewpoint.  Having it in old school isometric view is the first problem.  I can't play Minecraft either due to graphics.  It's not that the gameplay is bad or that I'm missing out.  I need to have the full package.  This is why ArcheAge looks FANTASTIC, same with GW2.  They have kept the graphic style I like, the 3rd person viewpoint, the character feedback and are tacking on the sandbox, pvp and dynamic elements I've been craving in an MMORPG for years.

Originally posted by elocke

Originally posted by Dark_HUmar

Its the same with the Minecraft art style you hate it or like it. Same with this if you can't see further then the art style then you are missing out.

No, I'm not missing out.  They are missing out from having me be a customer for their game because for me, they should have taken all of those sandbox elements and put them into a game that plays like Vanguard/WoW/Lotro/Tera whichever suits your favorite character feedback 3rd person viewpoint.  Having it in old school isometric view is the first problem.  I can't play Minecraft either due to graphics.  It's not that the gameplay is bad or that I'm missing out.  I need to have the full package.  This is why ArcheAge looks FANTASTIC, same with GW2.  They have kept the graphic style I like, the 3rd person viewpoint, the character feedback and are tacking on the sandbox, pvp and dynamic elements I've been craving in an MMORPG for years.

I dissagree, if they would change the way Minecraft and Wakfu look like you kind of ruin the fun for the people that do like the game. at first I tought the grafix of Minecraft where really weird looking and didn't play it till like 6-7 months ago. Now I've played Wakfu and Minecraft I would not wan't it to change to the standard MMO grafix and view because its a part of the game. Would we like for example Donkey Kong if they made nearly foto realistic monkey?

I have to go with the others on this one. The cute style is simply not me, all the mechanics is really good, i like the combat as it makes you think abit, at least compared to WoW. 

What i dont like is that land seems small and kinda "rigid", also, it seems you can be everything you want, cook-warrier-farmer-fisher as long as you grind enough - and it felt to me like the grind time was not longer than most ppl could have these multiple proffesions. 

Make the same game less browser like and set in the realm of fantasy/mediaval and i whould subscribe..

I am kinda interested in Wakfu, but for some reason the files I download are in French? Even their official web site feels.. shady. Maybe I have the wrong web site, idk :P

Originally posted by causs

I am kinda interested in Wakfu, but for some reason the files I download are in French? Even their official web site feels.. shady. Maybe I have the wrong web site, idk :P

The installer was French for me too, even I downloaded it from the English website. After the install you can choose what language you want the launcher too be in(in my case English) and then there are different servers German,French,Italian,Spanish and ofcourse English(international one) and an English US one wich is hosted by Square Enix

I tried the game and though it was quite stupid tbh. Gameplay wasn't too bad but the whole georama crap and such just was an annoyence to me.

Originally posted by Dark_HUmar

Its the same with the Minecraft art style you hate it or like it. Same with this if you can't see further then the art style then you are missing out.

I hate minecraft but it has nothing to do with the graphics, I just suck hard at creating things, so I couldn't really enjoy the game, However I LOVE terraria since its more about item collecting and killing things than just building stuff. Its like I can imagine a city etc, but to actually get the idea down on paper or in minecraft for example I just like lock up and am unable to do it. I honestly can't bring myself to subscribe to a game that barely has snes graphics. Even if the gameplay is good.

I remember playing during the closed beta and really like the game. I am going to download now and probaly play this till TERA is released. Anybody want to hook up in game let me know. 

Originally posted by Mannish

I remember playing during the closed beta and really like the game. I am going to download now and probaly play this till TERA is released. Anybody want to hook up in game let me know. 

I think OB ends on the 22nd, then the game releases 29th

Originally posted by Mannish
That's cool. Are they going to wipe?

Not sure, but I do think they are going to

Hmm, so many dislike the graphical style.  Too cutesy.  Seems like some form of preconception, such as if their friends saw them playing it they would be embarassed, somthing like machismo.  This does not bother me at all.  I find a lot of the animated characters very detailed and unique.  My girl friend very much likes the graphical style.  I think it looks very smooth.

Regarding gameplay, I enjoy it possibly because it's very different from anything else out there that I know about.  Instead of copying these supposed successful systems, it's a completely new system, unique classes, sandboxy, political system.  Once you master that traditional mmo system that is so prevalent, how much fun is it to play it again, and again, and again... I like challenge and learning new things.  That type of stuff, that generic gameplay, doesn't offer anything new to learn at all.  That's extraordinarily boring, and also why people MMO jump to the new thing so quickly.  Seriously, play something with a completely new set of rules to learn and be interested.  From what I've seen so far, this has that.

I played for a few hours yesterday and not bad after all. It is smthg I can play with my kids (its like a more strategic/tactical hello kitty online) but the monthly sub is not really worth it. I would rather pay like $20-30 or so to get unlimited access. I am not planning to pay 3 subs for this. It is not worth playing for free because it is very limited. You cannot enjoy any of the sandbox features on free accounts. Also the game is super buggy and so many exploits going on. It is a bad sign 10 days before release. I will just wait for a few months and see what happens. If GW2 stil didnt release and they changed their sub model I might give it a try.

I tried Wakfu, and I can say it has almost no sandbox features whatsoever. The ONLY appealing aspect is that it has "FF:Tactics" combat.

Other than that the title of this thread is highly misleading.

Wakfu = NOT a Sandbox title.

Please don't misrepresent what a Sandbox MMO is.