I see an easy solution to this in scifi games, relatively rapidly regenerating shields. Essentially any player would be able to draw aggro, take some hits and then 'heal themselves' back up to normal. This works extremely well in Borderlands, as an example, even though that game does feature class roles.

Diablo is an other example of a system that could be ported over to a real MMO. Yes, the game had different classes and the barbarian did feature many tank like abilities, however, you were fine with 8 necromancers or sorceresses.

Originally posted by Axehilt

Originally posted by Eindrachen

Anyone who thinks that the "sandbox/themepark" debate even existed when EQ came out is either hopelessly out of touch with history (and/or reality), or they are so focused on trying to argue against "themepark" games that they have essentially discarded with facts and have opted to rely mainly on opinions.

So which is it?  Is the OP fracking insane, or just plain ignorant?  The world may never know.  Or care.

 

Sometimes people ask questions because they don't know the answer.  That obviously seems to be the case with the OP.

So rather than tossing a lot of quick insults, a ridiculously short and simple answer of "They didn't.  These concepts didn't exist back then." would answer the question without making you sound like a jackass.

Then again, posting a supposedly intelligent thread on a hostile internet forum without using Google will make you look like a jackass.

LotRO is an excellent game, however I do not like it. The reason, I deeply dislike Lord of the Rings.

If the story was based n something else, I'd dig it.

Originally posted by rollen01

Originally posted by Ibluerate

Only time will tell how Aion will fair here in the states, and Europe, is it in Europe to?

 

europe is actually doing  a lot better then NA . it seems that NA are the only ones who are bitter to the end. Tells you a lot about our community :P

Back this up with facts, please.

I'm still hoping for maximal race variety, at the moment the class paths on both sides seem a little too similar for my likings.

The game is looking more like WoW 2.0 to me. Simplify it, polish it and add the necessary bells and whistles. I was really hoping for there not being a healer class. Seriously, when will get past tank-dps-healer?

Originally posted by TacBoy

How could anyone choose the themepark over the sandbox?

For the same reason some people read books and others write them. And, like with MMOs, the readers are in the majority.

As for having the developers content shoved down your throat: much like books you choose the content you like so you actually *enjoy* playing it.

A very misplaced metaphor there. When playing a sandbox MMO you are tied to a strict ruleset and in many ways, if you dig down to the bare essentials, there is not much difference between a sandbox and themepark MMO, besides pre-generated content.

I am waiting for an MMO that incorporates both a sandbox and themepark element successfully.

Simple answer, most players do not have enough time to invest to a sandbox community. Also, it is hard to get that same sense of accomplishment in a sandbox MMO, as opposed to defeating the hardest raid encounter in a themepark game.

There is a  LOT of content, much of it obsolete, yes, but still a ton of it.

Originally posted by Drakkhen

I don't understand why everyone thinks you need a "Kick ass PC" to run DAO on max settings.

My wifes 3 1/2  year old PC runs it on max with no stuttering at all (She does get a minor mem leak that slowly increases load times but is easily fixed).

Her setup: AMD X2 4800+, 2GB PC 6400, 8800GTX, 72GB WD Raptor, Vista 32

I agree, a buddy of mine has a much lower spec rig, and it looks amazing on his 46" 1080p , running with most settings at full. At least compared to my 360 version. I don't know if the game can look even better with everything turned up.

Originally posted by SpyridonZ

PC - Better interface, harder difficulty options, smoother framerate, unlocked view, mod support offering you an ongoing experience beyond everything the console versions could offer.

Console - Biggest thing console could offer honestly... is being able to play it on a big screen tv lol. There arent really any big advantages the console version has over any others. Console only has 6 move hotkeys (as opposed to 12 per char on PC), console lacks autopause which is why the difficulty is toned down in it. Frame-rate gets choppy at times. Your locked behind the back as well, where the overhead view of PC can really help in frantic battles. No auto pause forces you to bring up the menu and hold the left trigger down every time you need a breather and a chance to tell all your characters to do something.

Mod-ability is a HUGE plus for the PC version. The official bioware social network site even has places for you to upload/search the most popular ones, and theres already some decent ones coming out.

Seriously, go PC, its not even worth the extra few bucks for the console versions considering they dont have anything superior

I have it for my 360 and the graphics are disappointing after seeing it on a PC at a friends house. Mod support, top-down view and a better interface also tip the scales towards the PC.

Don't get me wrong I love playing it on my 360, got it for 1€ as a special trade-in offer from Gamestop. Its a great game for the 360, but PC is the victor here, as it will be for most releases since the current generation console hardware is starting to age badly.

Originally posted by jason_webb

Inspired by another thread, i was wondering what the strangest experience of being put on ignore was for players? I had one the other week which amazed me, even after all this time playing;

Sent out a request on /1 in STV;

"LF Stranglethorn Page x, please whisper with price"

I got a whisper saying "I have that page, make me an offer", so i whispered back "1g OK?".

I waited a couple of minutes and got no reply, so i whispered back to say "did you want more for it" only to be told that i was being ignored by the player???? Go figure???

I think that oneeven beat the person that asked me to stop killing MOB's in the area because he wanted them and when i went to reply to ask if they wantd to group for the quest, they had already put me on ignore???

It's a wierd world in there sometimes, so what wierd and wonderful reasons have you been put on ignore?

I think he thought you were a gold spammer/beggar.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by Hrothmund

Originally posted by Alekhin

I think that is fantastic.  Anyone that uses pirated software ought to be punished.

 

Not only pirated software users were banned. I use my modded 360 mainly as a media station, watching movies, listening to music and so forth. There are also several other reasons to mod your Xbox, for example, fan noise and cheap, accessible storage space. I do not think you can argue that the 360 hard disks are not a complete rip off.

 

Well, I do call my modded box the homebrew box, I have to admit I have had a few pirated games on it as well. Having typed that, I do have to point out that I spend over 2k $ on official games a year, so I allow myself to try some titles that I'm not so sure about on my modded Xbox.

 

I have an other 360 that I play games on, simple as that.

 

Unfortunately  you can be just "a little bit pregnant".  Whether you steal one game or 100, you are still a thief. (though it might make a difference between a felony and a lessor charge in the eyes of the law)

No doubt those movies you watch, or the songs you listen to on your 360 are all paid for by you as well. 

Sure, modding your hardware for things like fan noise are no big deal, and you might have gotten swept up in the net, but overall I think they were after pirates and they got mostly pirates.

 

True, although my point was that there are others like me with two or more 360s, who pirate games, run homebrew and are not affected by the ban waves.

The Illuminati killed it off to get more Smurfberries.

I have not had a serious technical issue with a game for over five years now. Sure, there have been the few times when my drivers weren't compatible with a certain game.

My philosophy is this. If you are not a) an idiot or b) totally ITC illiterate, you should have no problems running Dragon Age on a relatively contemporary PC.

Originally posted by Korhindi

Aion's world is sperical, with the lands being inside the ball as opposed to being on the outside like earth is.

Well, not truly spherical, it is just an illusion. In reality, Aion is made up of multiple 'flat' zones.

Originally posted by Alekhin

I think that is fantastic.  Anyone that uses pirated software ought to be punished.

Not only pirated software users were banned. I use my modded 360 mainly as a media station, watching movies, listening to music and so forth. There are also several other reasons to mod your Xbox, for example, fan noise and cheap, accessible storage space. I do not think you can argue that the 360 hard disks are not a complete rip off.

Well, I do call my modded box the homebrew box, I have to admit I have had a few pirated games on it as well. Having typed that, I do have to point out that I spend over 2k $ on official games a year, so I allow myself to try some titles that I'm not so sure about on my modded Xbox.

I have an other 360 that I play games on, simple as that.

My guess is that in the near future there will not be 'true' geometrically spherical worlds in traditional 'world-based' MMOs. Many MMOs try to make their game worlds appear spherical even now, however.

Having one huge spherical object creates many technical challenges for programmers. A world consisting of multiple zones joined together to make the world appear spherical is something entirely different.

Originally posted by Frobner

 MMOs over Xmas is also a very sad place to be - where only the no live ppl are crying cause they dont have a life. 

Hah, great stuff. So because you'lle be sizzing on your pizza stained sofa playing Dragon Age, you can categorize MMO gamers as no lifers?

As a MMO vet who invests 8+ hours per week into MMOS, I can say that on Christmas I will be spending time with my family, not nibbling any electronic device.

Originally posted by Vallanor

Originally posted by Hrothmund

Originally posted by Vallanor

I tend to disagree Zorn.  WoW is mostly a solo quest grind to max level, then some more grinding with raids and instances, etc.  Is it more polished than pretty  much every other game?  Absolutely.  Is it more compelling gameplay?  Definitely not.

My take anyway.  By the way, you have a post style that makes your posts stand out more than any other poster I can think of.  I don't even need to look at the name.  If I see sentences separated into their own little paragraphs with a few random ones underlined, I know it's you.  More a compliment than anything, as your posts are very easy to read and usually pretty well though out (even though I almost always disagree).

Cheers.

 

Well, it is the balance and polish that makes the game-play more compelling.  If you fail in a raid encounter, you probably have an idea what went wrong. If you die in PvP, you most probably know the reason.

WoW's game-play does not have a huge RNG component like so many other games out there. There is no overwhekming class imbalance, and most classes can fill multiple roles. The game is also extremely accessible and the learning curve is well-designed. This is what keeps the masses happy.

I would love to see game with a more active combat system and less constricted character development, however for such a game to be successful they would have to still equal or beat WoW in accessibility, polish and game balance.

 

I'm sorry, class balance and the ability to fill multiple roles do not equal compelling gameplay.  For that  matter, neither does accessibility and a well-designed learning curve.  I won't even argue with you that WoW does those things better than most.  That said, a solo quest grind (kill x of this, gather y of that, yadda, yadda, yadda) to max level followed by a grind of another sort is the most mindless progression model I can imagine.  It does not encourage any sort of thought on behalf of the player.  I would very literally rather watch paint dry than pick up twenty or so quests from a quest hub, run around for an hour or two killing random mobs because my journal instructs me to, then run back with all the pointless crap I've accumulated for my quest givers.  Utter nonsense.

It's true that WoW didn't start that crap (well, maybe the solo quest grind), but it certainly didn't do anything to end it either.  Does it make for compelling gameplay?  Hell no.

Class balance makes for compelling game-play, so does accessibility. If there is nothing to pick up the players for the get go, the game will lose subscribers. If classes are horribly unbalanced, the game-play will be horrible. What you posted was your opinion of the game, what I posted was the reason the majority of the current subscriber base play the game. I do not think WoW has awesome or excellent game-play, it is just the best MMO out there for the moment.

Name me a game that has substantially better game-play than WoW, and I will give it a twirl.

Originally posted by DarkPony

Was of the same mind, untill I fell in love with Fallen Earth :)

I thought I would never get that special 'first mmo' feeling again. Luckily I was wrong ^_^

That is the thing, you are not a typical gamer. Be honest here, Fallen Earth is not polished enough to cater to the masses like WoW, not to mention the lack of content.