I've been looking on BP a bit, granted I havn't read alot of details since alot of things are likely to change still.

My question is this to you guys that have followed it for a longer period of time than me; Will Black Prophecy cater to the hardcore playerbase ala EVE (I never played EVE but friends did and they said it's damn well hardcore) or will you be able to be casual yet competitive?

Thanks

Not sure yet because EVE cannot even be compared to BP because of the two totally different playing styles. A twitch based shooter like JGE and BP is advanced as you can make it because it will all be about your piloting skills. Just because you have the better ship doesn't mean you always win :) But more has to be released about faction modifiers (if any) and ship and weapons details before we can make a opinion. But the ships will be modular they say so that will open up some differences right there in playing style and strategy.

So BP gameplay will be similar to Freelancer? And EVE got hotkeys like WoW/WAR etc? Just to clarify.

And I quote from a Q and A posted on this very site:

"Kirk Lenke:

Black Prophecy is a fast-paced 3D space MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) with state-of-the art graphics and thrilling real-time combat. In contrast to competing games, we are focussing on exciting PvE and PvP game content that players can experience without investing excessive amounts of time. Thus our target audience is definitely the casual gamer who wants to jump into the cockpit in his leisure time and take on the numerous challenges of the Black Prophecy universe, alone or together with his friends."

Originally posted by Harabeck

And I quote from a Q and A posted on this very site:

"Kirk Lenke:

Black Prophecy is a fast-paced 3D space MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) with state-of-the art graphics and thrilling real-time combat. In contrast to competing games, we are focussing on exciting PvE and PvP game content that players can experience without investing excessive amounts of time. Thus our target audience is definitely the casual gamer who wants to jump into the cockpit in his leisure time and take on the numerous challenges of the Black Prophecy universe, alone or together with his friends."

Thanks alot, appreciate it!

Originally posted by Tekton

So BP gameplay will be similar to Freelancer? And EVE got hotkeys like WoW/WAR etc? Just to clarify.

EvE is less "hands-on" than say, WoW/WAR, and closer to something like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights, except you only control one ship. You tell your ship what to attack and then your ship and the other ship sort of take turns shooting each other until one explodes.

But if BP has some of the customization and character building like EVE it will be a very good game. I think EVE's strong point is its Character/Ship Customization.

Originally posted by solnicaris

But if BP has some of the customization and character building like EVE it will be a very good game. I think EVE's strong point is its Character/Ship Customization.

They  said on this page that they have "Modular ship design" and "Item modification system" which might allow for a fair amount of customization, but... I can't comment on it until I can actually see it in the game. Seems like an ok game so far from the trailers that i saw and from what i read about it, I guess time will tell.

Well to be fair to Reakktor one of the best things they did in Neocron and I hope they bring it over to BP was their character customization with 5 armor slots, 4 brain implant slots and 4 or 5 other implant slots. Also their crafting system was very good, when you made a weapon there was a chance of slots on it to further customize and enhance your weapon, guns with 4 and 5 slots were very sought after.

This is one area of BP I really don't have any concerns over.

Off course they will say they have the casual players in mind.

Off course casual players will be able to beat the pve content, but how the game mechanics and design decisions will be layed out so to prevent Hardcore players to always have a superior character progression (power) advantage over casuals?

In short, what the OP asked and wasnt answered is:

CAN THE CASUAL COMPETE WITH THE HARDCORE PLAYERS? If so, in the beggining, at all times (due to objective/material character progression elements having light factor over success compared to the player skill since its a twitch based game) or end game (when its reachable? there will be caps/limits to prevent hardcore players to keep evolving?)

Thats important stuff to know.

If its a game where everyone gets max level, max equipments in one month, then its definatelly casual.

If people can play it for 20 hours per day during 6 months and still enjoy meaningfull rewards that translate with advantage over others who didnt spent the same ammount of time and effort, then its hardcore.

To be a true MMO, it has to have a dinamic ever evolving persistent world, and if there is a reachable end game, it means progression in such world will become static, therefore contradicting the genre core elements.

Black Prophecy will be easy to play for casual Gamers because the PVE Content is limited and the Focus is on PVP Fights. It will death cheap to level up on Max and after this all left is to fit your ship dock off and do pvp. There is no real ingame deepth and it will feel like a teamgame shooter in space. Its easy to adapt easy to handle and casual gamer will love it. After 3 - 6 Months you will know every aspect of BP and move to another game.

This game is gana be nothing more than a backup to Eve for me so Im Fine With Casual. Would like Hardcore Elements, But im not worried about it.

Like JGE it will be a pointless space shooter. Will Sub for a month or two and Desub to resub again when the need strikes.

Thats the Problem with most casual games. No reason to keep playing. Only one to Buck this trend is Wow.

EVE is considered hardcore because the only thing you usually get to keep out of a loss is your character.  Ships gone, loot gone, and etc.

However, that is only one way to use the word hardcore.  it is very strict for those that lose, but it is actually rather casual other wise for playing.  As long as you can stomach it when you lose, it is a pretty good game.  I guess my standard of hardcore is rather abnormal though, I been told that a few times, so take it as you will on my opinions.

Originally posted by Neosai

EVE is considered hardcore because the only thing you usually get to keep out of a loss is your character.  Ships gone, loot gone, and etc.

However, that is only one way to use the word hardcore.  it is very strict for those that lose, but it is actually rather casual other wise for playing.  As long as you can stomach it when you lose, it is a pretty good game.  I guess my standard of hardcore is rather abnormal though, I been told that a few times, so take it as you will on my opinions.

Lol Eve is Hardcore (Imho) Because you lose your ship true. But also theres Space that you can claim that matters, You can Shoot anyone any time (With consequences in HiSec), Almost Everything is Player Built so there are trade lanes you can attack, Market Pvp, and most inportantly nearly everything can be Destroyed.

The closest is that you will have Clans with Stations and there will be Resourse Stations that you can capture. If they Do anything for Production or if its just another Capture the flag system we will just hafta wait and see.