Originally posted by sonicsix

There have been numerous overly hyped games fail and fail hard because they are primarily PvP based or have forced PvP.  Just because a vocal minority on some forums claim to want PvP doesn't mean the silent majority wants it as well.  WoW is so successful because it is entertaining, easy to play and there is massive PvE content and you never have to PvP unless you want to.

I was downloading TCoS and reading the FAQ at the same time and got to a point where it stated that mining areas (gathering areas for items used in tradeskills) were free-for-all PvP areas even on PvE servers. I immediately stopped the download and uninstalled the downloader.  I play games casually and at my own pace, a lesiure activity I do for entertainment and fun.  I do not play to compete with anyone or to be better than anyone. Uninvited PvP encounters (ganking) are not fun and should NEVER be forced in a game unless on a dedicated PvP server.

Just think how many other people feel as I do but will never post it on a forum anywhere...

So you didnt even try the game at all? Thats pretty weird......an extreme over-reaction to PvP at its worst. If you had overcome your "horrific life-altering fear" of conflict and competition you would have found that TCoS is actually a very straightforward story driven PvE themepark game and involves almost no player conflict at all. As other posters have mentioned, the PvP areas are not a dominant feature of the game and I have never been ganked in any of them. I have only had 1 PvP fight when a fellow player attacked me for a laugh. He broke off the fight after damaging me a little bit but I felt honour-bound to fight to the death.....so I did......and I died......and it didnt matter at all because there is zero penalty from dieing in PvP and I respawned a few minutes walk away. If you are scared of that then you have serious issues. People are too busy running around doing PvE quests in this game to bother fighting each other.

PvP has been introduced into TCoS because players can ally themselves with each of the 5 High Houses. You cant really have competition and conflict between the High Houses if the players cant choose to wage war with each other. Also PvP works very well in this game because unlike most other mmos player skill plays a heavy roll in the combat.....so a high level player isnt neccessarily gonna beat a low level one automatically. I have seen players more then 10 levels lower than others holding their own in a fight.

You're irrational fear of PvP is based on badly implemented versions of it in other mmos in the past that were never designed for it. If you had any level of imagination you would realise that in some games PvP can work very well. This is the internet afterall and as games get better and people learn from the mistakes of the past, we will start seeing more scope for decent well thought out PvP systems.......so you had better get used to it......or be prepared to miss out on a lot of good games.

Originally posted by Souvlaki

Perhaps this game would capture my interest further down the line, but as many story writers would say: "if it is not captivating within the first 5 pages and it fails to introduce you to the main direction of the plot within 10 pages, then it's a no go".

I'm with Koen83 on this one. As an avid book reader since my early teens and a casual working gamer, I don't agree with this at all. Maybe if Souvlaki is making a generalization of the typical ADD teenager then I might agree, but that doesn't appear to be the case. From this statement alone I can safely say that TCoS simply may not be a good game for you.

It's combat system, interesting as it is, one must be a spider-hand in order to combine effective moving, targetting and attacking at the same time.

I think you're doing it wrong. All you need is WASDF and a mouse with two buttons and a scroll wheel. Use the mouse wheel to select the ability. I wish they would make that more clear in the tutorial since 99% of the people complaining about the combat system don't know about the mouse wheel.

Beautiful effort, but it leans toward the hard-core player as my first experience was more of a research project than a game.

I understand. Some people simply don't enjoy learning new things during their free time. But for those of us who do, TCoS is a feast for the mind.

Originally posted by sonicsix

There have been numerous overly hyped games fail and fail hard because they are primarily PvP based or have forced PvP.  Just because a vocal minority on some forums claim to want PvP doesn't mean the silent majority wants it as well.  WoW is so successful because it is entertaining, easy to play and there is massive PvE content and you never have to PvP unless you want to.

I was downloading TCoS and reading the FAQ at the same time and got to a point where it stated that mining areas (gathering areas for items used in tradeskills) were free-for-all PvP areas even on PvE servers. I immediately stopped the download and uninstalled the downloader.  I play games casually and at my own pace, a lesiure activity I do for entertainment and fun.  I do not play to compete with anyone or to be better than anyone. Uninvited PvP encounters (ganking) are not fun and should NEVER be forced in a game unless on a dedicated PvP server.

Just think how many other people feel as I do but will never post it on a forum anywhere...

I HATE pvp and am a very casual player and have never done it in this game.

It is optional and DEFINITLY not required.

It is a shame that you did what you did, because you would have found that TCoS is a VERY casual friendly mmo with a great PvE solo/ group game that you probably would have enjoyed.

Sometimes knee jerk reactions are not the right ones

Originally posted by neonwire

Originally posted by sonicsix

There have been numerous overly hyped games fail and fail hard because they are primarily PvP based or have forced PvP.  Just because a vocal minority on some forums claim to want PvP doesn't mean the silent majority wants it as well.  WoW is so successful because it is entertaining, easy to play and there is massive PvE content and you never have to PvP unless you want to.

I was downloading TCoS and reading the FAQ at the same time and got to a point where it stated that mining areas (gathering areas for items used in tradeskills) were free-for-all PvP areas even on PvE servers. I immediately stopped the download and uninstalled the downloader.  I play games casually and at my own pace, a lesiure activity I do for entertainment and fun.  I do not play to compete with anyone or to be better than anyone. Uninvited PvP encounters (ganking) are not fun and should NEVER be forced in a game unless on a dedicated PvP server.

Just think how many other people feel as I do but will never post it on a forum anywhere...

 

So you didnt even try the game at all? Thats pretty weird......an extreme over-reaction to PvP at its worst. If you had overcome your "horrific life-altering fear" of conflict and competition you would have found that TCoS is actually a very straightforward story driven PvE themepark game and involves almost no player conflict at all. As other posters have mentioned, the PvP areas are not a dominant feature of the game and I have never been ganked in any of them. I have only had 1 PvP fight when a fellow player attacked me for a laugh. He broke off the fight after damaging me a little bit but I felt honour-bound to fight to the death.....so I did......and I died......and it didnt matter at all because there is zero penalty from dieing in PvP and I respawned a few minutes walk away. If you are scared of that then you have serious issues. People are too busy running around doing PvE quests in this game to bother fighting each other.

PvP has been introduced into TCoS because players can ally themselves with each of the 5 High Houses. You cant really have competition and conflict between the High Houses if the players cant choose to wage war with each other. Also PvP works very well in this game because unlike most other mmos player skill plays a heavy roll in the combat.....so a high level player isnt neccessarily gonna beat a low level one automatically. I have seen players more then 10 levels lower than others holding their own in a fight.

You're irrational fear of PvP is based on badly implemented versions of it in other mmos in the past that were never designed for it. If you had any level of imagination you would realise that in some games PvP can work very well. This is the internet afterall and as games get better and people learn from the mistakes of the past, we will start seeing more scope for decent well thought out PvP systems.......so you had better get used to it......or be prepared to miss out on a lot of good games.

/hugs Neon for this post, forgiving him for his earlier (wrong!) one about music tastes! 

Originally posted by sonicsix

Just think how many other people feel as I do but will never post it on a forum anywhere...

I'm sure there will be others who agree with you, but hopefully they may actually try the game first before jumping to such conclusions.

Originally posted by geldonyetich

I used to play games casually at my own pace too.

Then I got to the end of City of Heroes and found nothing there. 

An online game without true conflict is a pretty boring one in the long run.  I think a PvP end game is required for there to be any lasting meaning to one's time investment.  Either that, or some kind of meaningful activity -- but it's hard to beat the meaningfulness impact of player on player conflict.

Point well made, especially the CoH part.  I sadly sank more than enough time into that game only to find myself flying around paragon City alone for an hour, and then logging off.

With that being said...

A general question, what became of the OP point?  Is there or is there not still this aspect to the game?  I have it half downloaded, and planned on finishing it up today on my lunch break... but is this forced open world PvP stuff still in it?  

You can say "blah blah don't judge blah blah" but I've been playing these types of games since EQ, as I'm sure many people here have.  And I know what I like.  You just have to say PvP, and I don't want to try it.  Period.  PvP attracts hateful and malicious players.  PvPers don't sit behind the computer going "Awesome, great fight!"  There is no honor, fun, or healthy competition, it's all anger and desperation, which is mostly the fault of the devs because of the absurd rewards they grant to people who kill the most.  But there are people that gravitate towards this mindset, and if they're going to be hiding in the bushes, 30 levels higher than me, while I try to mine in TCoS, then forget it, I'll be deleting it for sure.