MMORPG.com Chronicles of Spellborn Correspondent Cody Worth writes this look at some of the good and bad systems in Acclaim's new MMO.

Character Creation

For starters, I'm not sure about Spellborn's character creation. On one hand, I like it a lot. There are two very different races: the Humans and the Daevi. The Humans are your basic ordinary humans, nothing special here. The Daevi are a demonic looking race born of magic. You can choose from around twelve hairstyles and five variants of faces. Also, you can choose your body type, meaning that you can be anywhere from skinny, to fat, to super buff. In my opinion, being able to choose between the different body types on humans adds a lot to the character creation while the Daevi seemed to me to just add more veins. On the other hand, the hairstyles aren't anything to call home about. Of the twelve human male hairstyles I had at my disposal, I didn't like any of them. I just chose one that looked decent. Maybe others would have more luck than me. To balance this out though, Spellborn allows you to choose from a large array of gear to customize your character with in the beginning.

Take A Look at TCoS

Nice review! Its exactly the way i look at the game :P

 just tried the trial areas out a bit, yes it does have potential.. theres not a lot of ppl running around tho (PvE international server) despite the game being pretty nice, i like the skilldeck and the targeting.. at least u have to aim now instead of having auto-aim like you have (or should i say "had" since the game is dead) in tabula rasa which was a really boring game.

I totally agree with your closing comment. This game has so much cool stuff going for it that it could turn out to be a long term classic and I really, really hope it does... but it could go the other way, I sincerely hope it doesn't.

Yes i loved this game for the first 2 days i was ABLE to play it. For some reason i kept getting the Error:103 for the rest of the 2 weeks, so until they fix the gameguard issues, i will not be going back!

I questioned it after about a month, but after trying darkfall (which isnt a bad game, but not for me) i decided that TCoS is the game for me. Its combat is just so much more involving and fun, and if the developers can stick to the idea of political relations between the high houses (especilally in the realm of PvP in conflict) this game will attract a lot of people.

I have to agree with everyone here. I am currently playing. I just subscribed because they just patched and introduced some PvP looting and a reason to be in the houses. You can now go into dungeons that are open for  a short time and collect keys which unlock a chest with loot in it. The keys can be looted when you are killed.

Check it out here

http://phpbb.acclaim.com/spellborn/viewtopic.php?t=3628

If they'd only allow us to play with whoever instead of dividing us to 'regions' - if this would be different I would be here with my friends.

*sighs*

Loved the game but went back to games where my old friends are. I know - I could get new friends, but at the same time I don't want to lose the old ones who I've played 4 years with. And they are in UK and US... and I'm in the other side :(

You can play on whatever server you like mate, the IP block is off!?

Great review. I admit I am "hooked" on TCOS.

This game feels like a sleeper to me. I have high hopes for the game and I'll definitely be playing, mainly because of the combat system. Exactly what I've been looking for.

The humans remind me of the storm troopers Peace and Fritz from the animated film Wizards (1977). One of my favorite movies. Another reason to play.

Originally posted by arrowotwood

You can play on whatever server you like mate, the IP block is off!?

OH?! I've totally missed that news!!

I need to talk to my friends about it - Thanks :D

Howdy,

This is all in all a very positive review, however there were a few mistakes that I feel need to be made known (for those who haven't played Spellborn and are going off that review).

Firstly, Stradden states that this is Acclaim's new MMORPG. This is incorrect, Acclaim is the Publisher. Spellborn NV is the developer and it is important to make that distinction :)

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Originally posted by Cody Worth Next, come the classes. Every class seems to have a specific role, and no two classes are the same. There are three archetypes: Warrior, Rogue, and Spellcaster. Each archetype has three subdivisions

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This is incorrect in that, in Spellborn there are No specific "Class Roles", and that is a major way in which Spellborn differs from pretty much all other MMOs (with some exception). The classes in Spellborn are all Hybrids with specialities. Almost every class can heal itself to some extent, almost every class has access to one or more debuffs/buffs/aoe/DD dmg skills and every class has the ability to either melee or range (to varying degrees). This is in fact a core aspect of Spellborn, that there are no cookie cutter classes. There is no "Holy Trinity" no Healer+Tank+DPS=Win combination. In Spellborn, 4 Tricksters or 4 Wrath Guards or 2 Skin Shifters + 1 Adept + 1 Ancestral Mage are fully capable of taking on Anything Spellborn has to offer (granted that the players skill is sufficient)

You will never encounter a situation where you fail because you lacked a certain class or it's ability. In some cases the fight may have been easier if you had a certain class that can cast a certain ability, but it is in No Way required or critical.

It is very important that people realize that they are entering a game where the standard roles of classes has been shattered, completely re-examined, and built from the ground up. These classes are like nothing you've ever played.

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Originally posted by Cody Worth For example, Warrior has the Bloodwarrior, which uses scars for combat. Sound weird? It is. See, the scars allow the Bloodwarrior to either link to a friend or a foe.

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This is incorrect in that Scars are the Blood Warrior's body slots. They initiate an array of added bonuses such as "Increase Magical resistant + Decrease Melee Resistance" or "Lower the Mind attribute + Raise the Body Attribute" etc etc. The author here is actually speaking of the Blood Warrior's Blood Hooks (meant for enemies) and Blood Bonds (meant for Allies)

These abilities (B-Hook and B-Bond) are initiated through various skills that the Blood Warrior has at his/her disposal.

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Originally posted by Cody Worth Then there is an array of abilities the Bloodwarrior can use. For instance, if they link to a friend, they can absorb some of the damage that person takes. Naturally, these are the main tank class of Spellborn. The Bloodwarrior.

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I touched upon this misconception earlier and I'd like to reiterate. This is incorrect in that there are no generic class roles in spellborn. There is no "Tank" or "Healer" or "DPSer". Being a Tank requires that you be able to grab and hold a monster's attention and/or direct all/most incoming damage away from your team mates and on to you. It also usually means that you have greater HP and greater defence than anyone else, thus allowing you to take a much greater "pounding" than anyone else.

This is simply Not the case for any class in Spellborn. The Blood Warrior, while it can initiate blood links with allies that allows a *portion* of incoming dmg to be redirected to the blood warrior as well as allowing any incoming heals on the Blood Warrior to be shared with the Blood Linked partner (and visa versa), it only serves to help out. Also, since mobs in Spellborn do Not use the standard Hate/Aggro/Threat scheme and instead use an intelligent, scripted AI that chooses its targets and tactics on a situational basis, no class has any sort of "Aggro" ability, that is to say, no class is able to press a button and have a mob(s) suddenly focus on it.

Thus it is important once again to state clearly that in Spellborn there are No Pre-Defined Classes. The Blood Warrior is not the "Tank" Class of Spellborn because there is No Tank Class, no Healer Class, no Stealth Class. Each class is unique and new, offering a nearly endless configuration (at level 50) and play style.

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Originally posted by Cody Worth Each house has their own views and objectives but they currently don't have any impact on your character other than lore. It's basically just a meaningless faction you join as of now. I assume there will be a lot more High House content added in the future. The idea is too good to just leave alone.

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This is incorrect in that High Houses certainly do have an impact on your Character. Firstly, belonging to a High House allows access to unique quest lines that are accessible only to those within your house. Secondly, belonging to a High House allows access to a House specific chat channel in which you are able to communicate with all other members of your house regardless of location, guild and class. Thirdly, in many areas of Spellborn, PvP is House Specific (a good example is the newly added Demon Chest Room) thus belonging to a High House clearly defines who your allies are and who you are at odds with. For example, if I were to join High House Silver, I would be able to attack (in PvP) members of house Torque, Maul, Shroud and Rune whereas I would Not be able to attack members of House Silver (in areas flagged as FFA PvP such as Lou's Cavern in Aldenvault, you are able to attack anyone from any house - even members of your own guild.)

Also, it is important to mention that the ability to change High Houses is in the works which further proves that High House association is a major point in Spellborn and one long term outcome of such an association will (eventually) be Shard Conquest which will pit members of each High House against one another in an effort to claim "ownership" over newly discovered Shards (This is intended for future content and is not currently in-game.)

The question of which High House to join is a critical one and should not be taken lightly. It will absolutely influence your gaming experience from the moment you join.

Thanks all for reading, I hope I've clarified a few of these points. All in all it was a good review and certainly a positive one. The points of concern are valid and I can say that each of them are known to the Devs and they are looking into them.

     TCoS jsut wasnt the game for me.....I found it pretty boring for the most part....The graphics were nice but that was about all I really liked......The tutorial was brutal and not being able to skip it when making an alt was a very bad decision........The first area was also very poor......The quests had no imagination whatsoever and the mob choices were extremely limited.....The combat was different but i didnt find it all that fun.......It felt like I had to work alot harder for no reason.....

          I also didnt like that clothing was just for looks and I prefer getting gear upgrades over the Sigil system......I probably killed over 100 mobs and never got anything worthwhile off any of them......The community was friendly enough though I did get KSed alot which really ticks me off......I hope you guys enjoy TCoS it just wasnt a game I could get into.....I like my alts and having only 2 races with 3 class options (yeah I know it expands later) is too limiting for my tastes.....