This game must have a very small niche following it in order to even stay up as long as it has. To be honest, the character models are horrid, the textures (on full graphics) look like something I've made (programmer, not artist by any means), and anyone seen the skybox? Last I checked, atmospheres were suppose to look seamless and not represent a noticeable 2D image. The dice/roll/crap deal looks and feels like a sad attempt to innovate the genre and failed. The super backflips and dodging turned it into a bunny hopping fest for failures at Unreal Tournament. The state of gameplay and mechanics will pull more elitist jerks and just plain weird people to the point it rivals Darkfall. Hell, they probably could've persuaded some of the actual MMORPG community by simply creating a polished sci-fi genre game. It sure in the hell puts it in your head during the introduction. Which leads me to believe that they cannot live up to what they present. Oh are they making those 'promises' that the game will eventually have this and that.. blahblahblah. Give me a break.... it's sad after 4 years the only polished and well developed MMORPG is still World of Warcraft (shared with EVE's sci-fi ship simulation side).

Again.. playing this game it felt like an amateurish school project. Now that I think about it, was Acclaim one of those arcade game developers? Makes sense... the game does feel very arcade'ish.

I also found it lacking and was wondering what all the hype was/is about.  Can someone explain to me how this game is different than any of the others?

Have to agree with you there,

mundane and somehow odd spacefantasycliché game with

-terrible ai,

-clunky gameplay and

-bad performance (even though it looks far from stellar).

A reflection of how desperate we are for games to play, when we even consider it, really.

 The only innovative thing TCoS seems to offer is their take on combat.  It's very twitch-based.  It's quite customizable, depending on how you structure your skill deck (the skills you can use during combat). 

However, there is nothing else really interesting about the game from what I saw.  I am of the firm belief that if you can't grab a player's interest in the first 10-15 levels of the game, then you're doing something wrong.  Even after questioning other players about what is "good" about the game, the only thing anyone seemed to be able to come up with is the skill-based combat deck system.  Everything else feels a bit half-done.

Originally posted by brihtwulf

 The only innovative thing TCoS seems to offer is their take on combat.  It's very twitch-based.  It's quite customizable, depending on how you structure your skill deck (the skills you can use during combat). 

However, there is nothing else really interesting about the game from what I saw.  I am of the firm belief that if you can't grab a player's interest in the first 10-15 levels of the game, then you're doing something wrong.  Even after questioning other players about what is "good" about the game, the only thing anyone seemed to be able to come up with is the skill-based combat deck system.  Everything else feels a bit half-done.

 

The skill deck is a superficial keybinding system. And it's badly done too, because, as opposed to a simple ui, you have to take 'turns' in a 'real time' game, and aren't given enough slots to bind all your skills in a way which you would like to combine them properly.

However, I can understand the appeal of novelty, it's just that if you haven't participated in what's known as endgame or higher level pve or truly competetive pvp, you wouldn't understand why this is a bad design feature.

Also I don't understand how people can say the combat is any good at all, the static server lag (I had a ping of less than 50) made fighting with monsters and other players a frantic button mash for every type of combat except healing + ranged damage dealing.

As for Twitch based... tons of games are twitch based, it doesn't carry the entire game though, or even make it a game.

Reading through uninspired dialogue after uninspired dialogue gets boring fast too.

Far from grabbing your interest, it doesn't even keep it longer than the first few, let alone the 7th (at which point you are kindly asked to subscribe), it was a royal pain in the arse if I'm blunt about it.

Lets restrict the pretty crappy opinions to this thread.

It is a hell of good game. Oops, wrong thread.

Game is boring.

I also didn't like the world, characters or story.

Originally posted by Delanor

Lets restrict the pretty crappy opinions to this thread.

It is a hell of good game. Oops, wrong thread.

Funny how the 'omg it rocks' people always pull the sorts of cards you just did.

Do you have any actual reasons?

Or would you be happy if someone gave you a fish to play with as well? Perhaps you should just consider that you are happy at the moment, and it's not actually the quality of the game that is having an impact on that, much.

It is working! Keep it coming.

For me, it is the skill deck system, highly cutomizable clothing, beautiful environment, and one of the best music scores i've heard in a very long time. The game just equals fun for me.

Originally posted by helioth

Originally posted by brihtwulf

 The only innovative thing TCoS seems to offer is their take on combat.  It's very twitch-based.  It's quite customizable, depending on how you structure your skill deck (the skills you can use during combat). 

However, there is nothing else really interesting about the game from what I saw.  I am of the firm belief that if you can't grab a player's interest in the first 10-15 levels of the game, then you're doing something wrong.  Even after questioning other players about what is "good" about the game, the only thing anyone seemed to be able to come up with is the skill-based combat deck system.  Everything else feels a bit half-done.

 

 

The skill deck is a superficial keybinding system. And it's badly done too, because, as opposed to a simple ui, you have to take 'turns' in a 'real time' game, and aren't given enough slots to bind all your skills in a way which you would like to combine them properly.

However, I can understand the appeal of novelty, it's just that if you haven't participated in what's known as endgame or higher level pve or truly competetive pvp, you wouldn't understand why this is a bad design feature.

Also I don't understand how people can say the combat is any good at all, the static server lag (I had a ping of less than 50) made fighting with monsters and other players a frantic button mash for every type of combat except healing + ranged damage dealing.

As for Twitch based... tons of games are twitch based, it doesn't carry the entire game though, or even make it a game.

Reading through uninspired dialogue after uninspired dialogue gets boring fast too.

Far from grabbing your interest, it doesn't even keep it longer than the first few, let alone the 7th (at which point you are kindly asked to subscribe), it was a royal pain in the arse if I'm blunt about it.

 

So you basically want a WoW UI? A keybinding system impies that you can get any ability you want at any time so your comparison ignores the fact that they purposefully restrict you to 5 skills at a time. The point of the skill deck is to make you plan the deck out carefully so that it is well balanced and you aren't running into cooldowns or not having a ranged/melee attack to use. The skill deck basically contains strategies. The more strategies you pack into the deck the better you will do. Chaining certain skills together can trully change your gaming experience. I can combine all the skills I want properly...it sounds like you didn't spend time on your deck.

Again...If you plan out your skilldeck properly it isn't an issue in later PvE and certainly gives you a major advantage in PvP if they didn't spend time on their deck.

You button mash? HOLY GOD. NO! Just NO! I don't know how you can button mash. I'm always switching between single target and AOE depending on how close mobs are to each other. AOE has a small redius so just mashing AOE is a waste since you could have used a single target that did more damage. Just smashing single target is a waste since a well time AOE can do a lot of damage. On a single target you might be able to mash a single line but 1vs1 PvE is hardly ground breaking combat in any game.

As for quests. The first few aren't that great. The story truly gets interesting later when things you have done before start fitting into a puzzle. Remember that doctor that you judge either guilty or innocent? Well he is....Oh I've said too much.

Honestly it doesn't sound like you got passed 7 which if you read many reviews or people talking the game doesn't really pick up until after 10 or so.

If the game doesn't get good until level 10, and the free trial ends at level 7, then that is EPIC FAIL. The point of a free trial is to hook new subscribers. TCoS fails to do that, and people judging this game by the free part is understandable and expected. This is a major mistake by Acclaim, not by the trial players.

Originally posted by Senadina

If ...

Try the game.

Originally posted by troydavid

I also found it lacking and was wondering what all the hype was/is about.  Can someone explain to me how this game is different than any of the others?

You must be new to this site, cause it seems every game that gets released always endup on top for a while.

The game hooked me before I hit level 7.  I am enjoying it thus far.  The combat feels fresh and interesting and the storyline is getting interesting.

Originally posted by Delanor

Originally posted by Senadina

If ...

 

Try the game.

Hmm missing the point of Senadina's post? A level cap of 7 is really too low imo. A free trial of 10 days would have been so much better so people can level to whatever they want and is good for them to make a decision. In some games you don't really get into it until level 10 or even 20. Or on the flip side the game is only good to about level 20... I hope they decide to change this in the future.

It seems like some one or didnt really get the combat system... Or he just sucked at it. TCOS is everything but button smashing. You should try doing that in a pvp battle. Its all about dodging aiming and making combo's. But you probable didnt even come to the part where you could pick combo openers and end finishers. Its the thing i like about spellborn you got to have well thought skills deck and some good skills in order to perform well.

Oooh and the level cap gets raised to 10 and you ll get a 2 week subscription for free now. So you can easily get to 10+.

Originally posted by brihtwulf

 The only innovative thing TCoS seems to offer is their take on combat.  It's very twitch-based.  It's quite customizable, depending on how you structure your skill deck (the skills you can use during combat). 

However, there is nothing else really interesting about the game from what I saw.  I am of the firm belief that if you can't grab a player's interest in the first 10-15 levels of the game, then you're doing something wrong.  Even after questioning other players about what is "good" about the game, the only thing anyone seemed to be able to come up with is the skill-based combat deck system.  Everything else feels a bit half-done.

 

well, you can't have 'questioned' very deeply can you? These boards are full of people justifying the different reasons why they love this game. For a start;

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/229694/A-L10-review-Loving-the-game-.html

I personally loved this game from the moment I stepped into the world, but then I got from that very moment that Hawksmouth was an extended tutorial that existed to allow me to learn the system and the world at a comfortable pace. does the game get better and better as you level though? You bet, but then all games should once you leave the tutorial and improve your skill/ character right?

To judge an entire game from it's tutorial, imo, is ridiculous.

btw, what DID you see? Help me give your opinion value by telling me what level you played up to, how long you spent in game, what your personal taste (favourite mmorpg?) is etc. A frame of reference when talking opions is a good start if you are gonna post on boards waving that opinion about.

Originally posted by Zzulu

Game is boring.

 

I also didn't like the world, characters or story.

Game is tense and exciting!

I also like the world, characters, and story!

Originally posted by Cynthe

Originally posted by Delanor

Originally posted by Senadina

If ...

 

Try the game.

 Hmm missing the point of Senadina's post?

Of course not, just making my own point. I hope that is allowed. I know the free trial ends a bit soon, but I know it from my own experience.

On the other hand, no level will be high enough, because the game gets better and better when you progress. I already got a good positive impression by playing till level 5. I do recognize that level 7 will not be enough for some. I am certain you get a better impression when you play more and to higher levels. My guess is that level 10 will be better then level 7, but then level 20 is better then level 10 and so on.

Now the assumption was made the devs were to blame for players getting the wrong impression by playing only to level 7 (not by Senadina, she made clear she did not know by saying IF. Although, when you see the rest of her post.). A point  I did not make towards Sadina, but I might make it now: you will solve the problem of 'never enough' by offering no free trial at all, but then is that good marketing?