All Posts by Wizardry

Originally posted by Pappy13

All this proves is that you managed to somehow make a game that will get 25 FPS on a 486 get 25 frames on a PC that should be getting 120.  That must have taken some doing.  I have 1/4 the PC you have and get 60 FPS.  Congrats.

He obviously has vista,wich is because of various reasons like drivers ,horrible for gaming.If you have the 60 that you say i am willing to bet you are NOT on vista?He also has a duo core to wich WOW couldn't care less about.

As to many people posting about WOW's graphics ,it is and never has been a secret that the game is mediocre at best in every facet of it's design.It was a game made to compete with SOE and EQ,they didn't know how good EQ2 was going to be at the time,so they made a game that had cheap graphics and anything near a consoles ability could run.

In comparison to show just how bad vista is for gaming,i have played unreal tournament since it's inception over 4 different PC's.My original i got around 18-30 fps,my second i got around 80-120 and my third i got around 150-200 give or take 20.My newer vista machine like you said should get dbl the fps but it gets around 44-50...really really sad.

I might also add the OP was showing the differences between the two games GW and WOW on his machine ,so weather or not he had any flaws ,it would have affected both games the same ,so there is no excuses for the WOW engine.When i played WOW i didn't even need to see any fps because the graphics were just bad right off the hop,no website or tom's hardware was needed to tell me what i was looking at.

FFXI is a very unique game.EQ/EQ2 are very close in stature to FFXI.I give FFXI the benefit of having the most unique battle system and sub jobs are a great idea.The game however has tons of flaws that are actually fixed or made better in EQ2.To answer your question straight up ,only EQ2 comes close but that game is also older and has a very low populace on there servers.

As far as keylogging and hacks FFXI is totally safe,there is NO WAY EVER[other than an inside job] to hack FFXI's system.The ONLY reason people get hacked in the game is because there information is gathered/stolen by sites that players visit and should not be visiting.So in other words don't visit those illegit sites and you will never be hacked.If you wander into trouble there is a very good chance you will get trouble.

I know a lot of these hackers use tricky methods like copy and pasting legit website pages but inserting there link into the pages true link and getting people to click there information over too them.The average person wouldn't know the difference.Thing is this,websites pretty much 99.9% of the time will never ask for your information so don't fall for those emails stating there has been security issues you need to login and change your information tactics,because there is a very good chance that login link is not the legit one.

Originally posted by Waterlily

Has raiding gone too far?

The thought of grouping many people together with a common desire in mind seems fine on the surface. But what about the side-effects?

 

-Loot driven progression.

-Gaming becomes work.

-Clicks that form up.

-Sleepless nights of players staying up for a raid when they should be in bed.

-Server drama.

 

I'm sure many more examples can be found. Do you think raiding has gone too far?

Shouldn't the game be about the story and fun, instead of about loot? I think it should, I try to avoid games that have raiding. What do you think?

Yes i have always said raiding is overblown.I can put it into very simple terms.If games started taking out the top end loot from these instances,and put them into drops from normal mobs,nobody would give two cahoots about raiding instances.That is the only way it would show it's true face,because IMO nobody likes organizing massive amounts of players and then alienating half your guild because you didn't wait for them or invite them to join along.It is such an unorganized fiascal that is why so many raid guilds are nowadays asking for ventrillo from there players.This again shows how inept/flawed the whole raiding system is.Like i said it's ALL about the loot the actual term "RAIDING" means nothing.

I might also point out that i have witnessed many things the OP pointed out like server drama,and our guild is the l33t and wasting tons of hours when you should be doing real life things,it just goes on and on the problems that are associated with trying to organize large groups.

The other pet peeve i have that is pretty much up there with raiding fiascals is these players using parsers.I don't want to get into why it's such a joke because i am sure the mature players out there know why already.You can pretty much guarantee it's the raiding l33t junkies that are using those parsers and bragging about there dmg.

Originally posted by Cholayna

That background and terrain you see is the product of one man, _Pix_! DNL (Farland/NPC) have attempted to steal the tech involved in making that and have claimed ownership of it. _Pix_ in turn has sued them for various illegalities and has so far WON his cases against them.

To see more of his great product, visit http://www.pourieux.com/

 

***btw --- DNL accuses _Pix_ of being responsible for the rest of the game performance, content, server instability and anything else that is wrong with the game -- when in fact, the only thing he IS responsible for is the ONLY GOOD THING about the game, the environment.

Why are so many naive non educated people cutting this guy up and the game?

Vworld has NOTHING to do with building the terrain or how it looks,what the heck are you guys talking about?Somebody or many people have to build the textures,they have to build skyboxes,they have to make the meshes you see,the trees,mountains/water.Vworld has NOTHING to do with any of that,there's is merely a technology that allows you to move along sort of seamless,and has to do with how you can foresee objects in the game.

IMO that technology is nothing to brag about because unless they are total magicians ,the only way to achieve that is by rendering.If a game has very  little as far as poly count goes,then it could by intent allow the player to see at a very far distance and not feel graphic lag,it all matters not ,if the OP says it looks great to him,great to see he is happy with that.

OH and BTW VWORLD DOES have to do with performance as that is the role there tech plays in the game,that is of course if the game really is using stolen tech[i have no clue].You guys are all messed up in your deliberance towards who does what and who is responsible for what in the game.

Personally i have never played the game,because i don't trust foreign companies or companies i have never heard of.I just don't like blame thrown to places it doesn't belong.I was just curious as to the present day state of this game as it has been awhile since i read anything about it.I here the servers are down so it's probably done for i guess.

Originally posted by Rollotamasi

I don't get it.  Whats the problem here, you  don't like the card game?

rflmao..i'm glad i'm not the only one who didn't get that rant .They have a card game ..yes.

I feel they may have decided to go that route after seeing a fair bit of success from HASBRO and there huge empire of card games.,who knows.

As far as SOE getting lazy? i think not,they actually in most people's opinion release too many expansions.,i am of that notion myself.As far as there game goes,they have introduced more ideas and designs than pretty much any game out there.I would say 99% of the games out there use EQ's template for building there game and copy it to the tee.The only company i have seen that utilizes there own ideas is square enix and there final fantasy series,albeit i read somewhere they were influenced a lot by dragon quest.

I think most would agree companies grasp a few concepts off of other games.I wouldn't cal that lazy,if anything they are doing there homework.

There is NO such thing as a skill system in mmo's.I gotta get that out right away because i have seen so many think they are playing a skill system but it has nothing to do with real skill.

 Some games that like to call it a skill system,do nothing but have  stat sets that are raised the exact same way levels are raised.After a certain amount of killing you get to level up your stats in just the same way you would be getting a stat raise by leveling.Game devs are not stupid,they know full well most players will go for the all out max stat boost in one area strongest to there class.They will design the game accordingly.

For some reason people can't grasp the concept as being the exact same as normal levelling,just because you get to add the numbers there still not giving you something that would break there game.For those that think they like to build hybrid classes it still evens out in the end and really accomplishes NOTHING.So you put a few stats into better defense or more agility,everything you add into those grey areas is just weakening your classes best stat,so like i said it evens all out.I just wish people could understand that but they can't.

I think it was the DnD rule set that actually tried to make a little sense into stat building.There rule set didn't just give you 5 pts each level up and say here disperse them.What they did was go one step further and give bonuses if you added stats into your job/class strengths or where the stats should be going i guess is the way to say it.So say you had 5 pts after a level up to disperse,you may actually end up with 7/8/9 or more if put in the right area.

An example of this would be a fighter.His sensible stats would be STR so if you added a pt into STR you would actually be given 2 for each one.If you detered away from the normal design like  add into luck because it gives more criticals you may actually lose a pt so it would take 2 pts just to get credit for one.I hope that all made sense.The problem still lies in the SKILL aspect.IMO skill is in first person shooters that are designed to allow players to think and react and change there thinking on the fly.MMORPG's do NOT allow this way of playing,so you will never be able to or shouldn't be using the term "SKILL" in an MMO.This doesn't mean it won't happen and i think it is in the near future,it's just not here yet.

It is IMO actually going the other way,further from skill by allowing players with far superior stats or numbers/levels to gank weaker easily beaten players that even the worst player ever to play a game would have no problem doing.

Originally posted by klapdoor

Originally posted by Elikal

 

GAH, why is it EVERYTIME someone says some critic or praise he is called a troll or a fanboi these days?

EDIT: I am sceptic about screenshots. Any game can pose nice screenshots when they turn graphics to max and seek a halfway nice place.

 

It isn't some random criticism that you spout, it is the most rehashed comment on these boards and all other WAR boards. To me it is only logical that ppl are going to be irritated by another one such post. So either you have never followed anything in regards to WAR, or you did post your OP with the above in mind...

 

Have a look at the recent video's from the 2008 gamesday in Baltimore, these are posted on multiple sites around the internet. Those are made without the high textures, without any lighting and (according to the Mythic reps) with a beta client that is a few months older than the current beta client.

I watched the videos they put up on the mythic site.I believe i am much more educated than most when i am looking at graphics.

First up the videos do NOT show enough,to give a 100% proper rating.I could not see any shader use and i couldn't tell if the floors/roads/terrain have any definition[high def]because i believe it is the limitations of the videos.The cobblestone road in the video should look bumpy and like rock not just a texture,once again the videos are not accurate enough.

Most of the surrounding textures do look a lot like WOW and i guess follow the low poly graphics most games are using.There was no signs of fauna/grass/ that flows again videos don't show accurate enough.I did notice the tree meshes looked like wow's ,kinda cheap not much effort put into them,but again most games don't do a great job in that area,some do.

I did notice the battle animations on some of the players were pretty bad.Basically it looked blocky ,again follows the same route as most games ,however the blocky movements looked worse because the animations seem to be too fast like there wasn't enough .ani's put into each animation sequence.This follows more a route of the F2P games however there animations are far worse so again not really putting down WAR on that respect.

To sum it up,i would have to defend the OP because just based on the videos it looks kinda cheap,but like i did say ,the videos seem to limit a lot of what i could see.Unless someone puts out a high deff video,then it would have to be judged in game with settings on full.Most deff nobody can say from there videos the graphics look great,very average at best.

Somebody mentioned somewhere,these are the same devs as DAOC?i would be worried if i was you guys ,that these guys are not panning off an old engine on you.The videos for sure show that the engione isn't modern day tech,but i am aware it does take 2+ years to make an MMORPG,so they do become dated fast.

Originally posted by deepdish

It's very hard to point out what is sooo horrible about them but everyone I asked just said EQ2 graphics suck, even back in 2004. Everything just looks soooo plastic and fake looking and the worlds have sooo little detail and feel really barren and pre generated. Everything just feels very generic and ugly I just can't stay it and it's like they had to rush making the zones or something. The game just has no Art style at all and while I loved the look of the starter island and then Qeynos after that the game just went to crap and even the new zones it just all feels so fake.......

The most ugly plastic looking character models ever! I mean the Lizardman thing looks kool but the other races with human type skin just look sooo bad and specially the human Female model which looks like she's doped and the Asain models don't help because they're sooo emo and annoying and seem to not fit in with the rest of the games bland art style so they stick out like a sore thumb.

 

I dunno I just think the Graphics are the most horrible thing i've seen and it's a example that Art style wins over a poorly optimized engine.

I totally disagree,the graphics are awesome even by nowadays standards.I am not sure who started these false statements.There use of shaders and detail in the gear/textures makes cloth/metal look realistic.If you look at walls even on the gear and other places you can see the pitting and wear .It just has a very nice realistic look.Of course you have to really understand what you are looking at.This is why this game chunks a bit because it is loading some high poly stuff.

 I have seen people call graphics nice when they are a total joke.Some games use one big texture and just plaster it onto something.An example would be a large BUS with one big texture that shows wheels/windows/doors yet none of it is seperated or defined.An example once again,i know i'm WOW bashing but there graphics are horrible and very cheaply done[well in some places,others there not that bad].I think the only place EQ2's graphics lacked is in the ground textures or the roads walkways,some of those look old school with no definition.Oh and i think the term is FAUNA?but they don't utilize much in the way of swaying grass/bushes,that's why vanguard was one notch upgrade in graphics and a little bit better looking.

Basically you are NOT going to get better graphics without introducing a higher level of physics and shaders by utilizing DX10,and i don't figure on ANY game doing a good job with that for at least another year or so.Unrealtournament is IMO still the leader but it's not built to be like an MMO giant sized game with 5000 players on a server.If i am not mistaken UT introduced much larger textures in there game i think you could import 1600x1600 now,but i'm not sure on that number so don't quote me.

EQ2's graphics are perfectly fine,nothing wrong with them.

Ya there is evaluation ,you talk to a NPC .The evaluation is every 5 days.If you fail,you can choose to continue and retry in another 5 days.Campaign IMO isn't that good unless your high level.It may be fun for awhile ,but in all honesty ,players are doing it for one reason only and that is to get free xp with almost no risk,as long as you have your TAGS on.You get NO skill ups in campaign,players use skill up party's for that or do besieged,super simple place for a mage to skill up.Oh BTW ,i found the best campaigns to do are the ones controlled by beastmen,they tend to last longer and re occur more often.Even with that there is often times a campaign lasts a very short time and begs you to wonder why you are wasting your time there.

Basically i found that if you do 5 decent campaigns in those 5 days,you will get a rank up.The whole thing is really superficial to me ,with nothing great to look forward to by ranking up.I know it's new to the OP ,they will enjoy it for a while,then it's ho hum.

IMO,if you and your wife are new to the game,other than wanting either of the new jobs scholar or dancer ,there is NOTHING you would get or find enjoyable about WOTG expansion.TOAU was a much better expansion and offers a bonus in XP for fighting there.There is also a HUGE story line to follow by doing the missions be it ZILART/COP whatever.Anyhow good luck with the game,it has ALOT of content begging for your massive amount of time you need to spend.

Originally posted by observer

LOTRO has received critical acclaim from around the globe. Since its launch in April, LOTRO has quickly become the second largest MMORPG with an estimated 4 million characters calling Middle-earth their home. The game continues to grow with two massive updates that have increased the world by over 20%:

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=87696

See what i did there?

At one time i had turbine ranked as possibly the worst developer/publisher out there.I was so tee'd off at them i wouldn't give them another chance if my life depended on it.After a couple years pass,i now realize i was being like all the SWG whiners,never letting go and not giving them a second chance.It is quite posible turbine has turned the corner,IDK i am still afraid to trust there efforts.I mean just because they have mass subs means nothing to me,there is TONS ,sorry millions of dummies in this world willing to spend there money on anything.WOW is a testament to that,it is just on average with all the games out there,weaker than a few but it surpasses all in subs,go figure.Umm did i ever mention SILKROAD has 30 maxxed out servers,you can''t even login at peak times...lmao just throwing that in to further my point.

I did do some homework on LOTR after awhile and it does look to have some nice ideas and quite a bit of content,but like i said TURBINE is the reason i never gave it a chance.Too bad i may be missing out on a great game,however i am satisfied playing EQ2 and FFXI so i don't feel that left out.

Originally posted by Baseline

It'd be nice to play a game once again that is more sandbox like old school SWG, where you can roam around and do a bunch of different things how you like, instead of a hold-your-hand you know what's coming next treadmill game where you have to follow the story from the show / movie like post-NGE SWG became.

It's always more fun when the players create the atmosphere on the server rather than the devs.

I would say that the game economy is about all the players determine and that is not even the fact anymore with RMT taking over games.I would love for just one of the giants like IGE to post how much game gold is activated in "WOW" through them.It would show that the players are controlling nothing in the game world at all.

There would be no story based videos,there would be basically nothing without the developers pre based content.You can't ever be totally free to do what ever you want because then the game would have no reason.

I mean i am sure we don't want to start turning MMORPG's into the SIMS online,my god.It is a genre already defined,and it's content will be the vision and story the developer has created,that's it, that's all.The rest is up to you to decide wich story and content fascinates you the most and best of all you have choice.

I gave the game a look over and watched some videos.It looks like a very young crowd type game,i would say age gender 14 max.It looks alot like a typical asian MU online type game.IMO it isn't that good a game at all,but hey alot of players out there jumping on the F2P bandwagons.I mentioned this already 16 maxxed out servers on SILKROAD another F2p game that is not bad to play for a short time but not worth the long haul.

It has been very apparent that korean developed games ALL have the same makeup and design as there MU online predecessor.Asian developer SQUARE ENIX have a much broader view in developing games,they are a true developer.NC soft tries but again they are stuck in there MU online phase and can't get out.

I might also add that IMO there is soooo many of these games popping up,because they really look like they were games that attempted to get published for playstation but failed for one reason or another.Now the big rich mafia or whatever they are korean developers are bringing them out in WAVES.Games that failed at getting publishing deals would be easy to scoop up for petty cash,and with there proven marketing ITEM MALL design,it's an easy fit.

Got a little off topic but this game for people under say even 16  is alright and free.But the game is designed around an item mall so they need older players with credit cards and money to play.Based on what i saw in the game it's not worth more than a 1/5 to anyone 16+.

Originally posted by Zindaihas

I'm not talking about crafting, obviously that is a good thing.  But having to harvest the ingredients, is that a worthwhile task in an MMO or is it too tedious?  There are times when I don't mind harvesting and there are times when I think it's too much of a time sink.

Certainly there are ways of being able to collect crafting ingredients without having to harvest them.  You can make them drop items, you can make them available at merchants and you can make them quest rewards.

I asked this of a fellow gamer and he said he enjoys harvesting much more when there's a chance of acquiring a rare item from the harvest.  For example, finding a rare precious metal while you are mining for an ore.

Your fellow gamer who said he enjoyed it,when having a chance at a rare,is pretty much bang on.I feel the same way.I do believe DEVS could put alot more into harvesting,like better overall animations and maybe make it into a sort of crafting ordeal whereby you have multi clicks that can raise your chance % at a rare.You see while some of you want less,some of us want even more.

They could also add alot more into the harvesting,sort of like CHOCOBO digging in FFXI.You could have a sort of small chance to find whilst harvesting  some rare weapon or armour that was lost in some past battle.They could even throw in the chance to find long lost RARE recipe papers that were maybe hidden or lost by some traveler.

Overall they could make harvesting alot more immersive and interactive.The problem is that the masses are to