Originally posted by n25philly

That's probably because of the poor performance of the Phenoms.  The most top of the line Phenom is still slower than intel's budget quad core processor the Q6600.  It's sad to say, but AMD building are just a complete waste right now.

Don't get me wrong, it does perform nicely, just not as well as I would have expected.  The point of the build is the Spider Platform, which is a CPU, Mobo Chipset and Graphics card that are all designed to work together.  I'm actually hoping to get the 9850 Phenom soon.

I'd already decided I wanted to play Mass Effect, it's downloading while I am at work.  But I do miss having chat channels to chat with people while I'm gaming, even if I tend to solo a lot in MMO's.  I may check out the LoTR, they have a trial.

I'm looking for a persistent world however, so I don't think I'd like Guild Wars.  On the suggestions stickies, EQII comes up a lot, and I did play it for a short while, but seemed like it required grouping.   I'm not opposed to grouping, but I don't like being forced to it.  I played a Warlock in WoW to level 60, mostly solo, just joined groups for the Warlock quests that had to have a group, like Epic Mount for instance.  And I really disliked being forced to find a group for things that applied only to my class, etc.

Just wondering if anyone else has built a Phenom/Spider Platform.

I'm using the Phenom 9600 2.3 Quad-Core, 2 Gig Corsair RAM, 2x ATI Radeon 3870 in Crossfire, ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi, Hiper 780 Watt PSU, Windows XP SP2, Couple Optical Drives, Hard Drives, etc.

I'm not sure that I'm terribly impressed.  Seems like my laptop with an Intel Dual Core 2.5, 3 Gigs of RAM, 8600 GT on Vista SP1 does most tasks better and faster, except the games.

Anyone else have something similar?

Yeah, it's hard to find a game that remains interesting for as long as you play it.

I was following a game Trials of Ascension that has shut down, that was disappointing.

I've not been playing an mmo's in almost 2 years after I got bored with WoW.  Looking for a game that you can solo effectively, has good graphics, doesn't require PvP, and raiding isn't required to get the best stuff.  I like customization of my character and immersion as well.  Like a game world I can explore, like in Morrowind.

I've just been kicking around with PC Games like The Witcher, NWN2 MoB, Oblivion, stuff like that since I quit WoW.  Just got tired of all the grinding and repetative raiding in WoW to get the best stuff. 

I'm open to a regular PC Game as well as MMO's.  My computer is pretty decent, so can handle most of the newer games well.

AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core 2.5

2 gigs RAM

ATI Radeon HD3870's in Crossfire

780 watts PSU

etc.

I'm surprised that EQ2 isn't trying to keep up with the computer technology changes.  There's more and more Dual Core machines in use now, and not to mention Quad Core machines.  I wonder if I'll even be able to play the game with my Quad Core AMD and Crossfire graphics cards.

Originally posted by Hexxeity

Isn't it interesting that on the Web site for his new employer (Certain Affinity), there is absolutely no mention of Horizons in David Bowman's bio?

I may have to wake up my old Ancient Dragon and re-explore Istaria.  I've not been playing any MMO for a couple years now.

I'm looking for a game, imagine!  Anyways, I prefer to solo a lot, however I do like the chat aspects of MMO's and being able to group up when in the mood.  So I'm looking for an MMO that doesn't FORCE grouping and still has meaningful content for players w/o having to do a lot of grouping to get the best items, etc.

I'm cool with a Fantasy setting, would like to find a nice Sci-Fi game or something a little out of the norm with decent graphics.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'll check it out.

Personally I'm pretty bored with Fantasy MMO's, and haven't been very impressed with the current Sci-Fi based one's that I've seen; SWG and AO.  Are there any Sci-Fi RPG MMO's out there that have nice graphics and decent game world and game play?  I'm not really into PVP, but community, exploration and hunting are my main faves.

I've not played MMO's as long as you guys, only a few years really.   But already I haven't been excited about any game in a while.  I've not played ANY mmo in over a year now, just seems like everything that is under development or has already been released is a WoW type clone.  I've gone back to playing solo player games like Oblivion.   I would definately like to recapture that excitement I had when I played my first MMO.

I really can't believe that this book was published.  As other posters have stated, it sounds like someone stroking their own ego.  I've never heard of them, although I didn't play UO, I have played WoW.

Seems like MMO's these days seem to all offer different flavors of the same product but lack any real innovation.  It's like Mayfield Ice Cream vs. Bryers, both still ice cream even if they have different flavors.  Every MMO has it's good points, but where's the dynamic content?  I've yet to see a game that is very good at responding to the in-game actions of the players.

For a great number of players, being able to the game world in which they play is a great draw.  Individuality is a holy grail as well.  Despite dev's assertions that their game is different, besides art styles, most games boil down to the same level grinding and characters wearing the same/best gear and thus all looking the same.  Most games will advertise that the actions of the players affect the game world, but in reality the changes take months and lack that feeling that the player in fact effected the change.

So what upcoming game, if any, offers anything interesting, new or exciting?  Many have touted themselves as the 'next generation' game?

If they did Planescape Torment, I would be absolutely the happiest man alive.  That is one of my all time favorite computer games.

Wished I had the NVN stuff needed to make a writing submission.  I have a writing degree and tons of gaming experience, but nada for using that kinda stuff.  Would love to go to work for them.

So far, my fave is Fantasy settings.  I would like to play a sci-fi type setting but haven't found a game that looked interesting enough for me to buy.  Although I did try SWG over a year ago, and again just recently (shocked at how different it was now).

What I would LOVE to see in an MMO or even just a stand alone or NWN type game is Shadowrun.   If I ever win a huge lottery, it's something I'd try to develope.