Trials, so anyone can activate an account and speedhack for an hour not giving a shit if they get banned? No thanks.
So anyone can make an account, and inject a spy into a guild with no consequences? No thanks.

If they do offer free trials, I hope they're very very limited. People who are very interested in the game, and are probably going to enjoy it will eventually come around and buy it anyway.

Free trials would be more of a burden than a benefit in Darkfall.

Shining and glistening because of reflecting sun light - Yes.
Changing looks, and looking more old and worn out as the durability gets lower - No.

Anotated a screenshot here, showing you how it's done and a little bit how the UI works in terms of skills. Hope that helps.

Remember: Equip, Unseath, Select skill, use skill.

At first, it will seem fairly hard, getting used to the UI and the way you attack that is. But after no more than a week (couple days maybe if you're a familiar FPS player) you'll love it. Soon enough you'll find yourself switching weapon and skill mid-combat.

Play around with customizing the UI a little too. When you're in "UI Mode", see that little circle on each and every box? If you check that, it will stay open even if you're out of UI mode. Once you're used to it, the UI is actually very decant for how the game plays.

Responding to the posts about having a hard time fighting heavily skilled players here:

Another thing to note that is happening in the expansion regarding new players and their viability.
Currently, people who have multiple high-level magic schools can "cycle spells". Some strong AoE spells and nukes have a cooldown. But if you have maxed Fire, and Air, and Earth magic for example. You can cast a fire nuke, then an air nuke, then an earth nuke. This is what allows people with many high level magic schools to be almost superior, and what made magic so unbalanced. In the upcoming expansion, they will be adding some form of global cooldown. So you use an AoE, and all your similar rank AoE spells will be on cooldown (so you will no longer be able to cast a lv.100 fire nuke, then a lv.100 Air nuke, right after eachother due to this cooldown).
This, combined with the melee and archery improvements, and Mage-Killer class. - All of this will decrease the superiorness (if thats a word) of characters with many maxed schools. Sure, it helps having maxed schools because different things will be weak to different elements of magic etc. But it will no longer mean you can cycle and just nuke, nuke, nuke, nuke because of it. :)

It seems there's going to be quite a few changes to the way skills work, which will also result in new players becoming viable for PvP alot quicker.

Not to mention that just a while back, skill gains (not crafting skills though, fighting skills) were doubled. On top of this, tripled when you are fighting a mob. - So now hitting a player would be double skill speed compared to before this change. Whilst hitting a mob is now 6x skill speed compared to before this change.

According to players in the forums, it takes a around two months of very casual play (2-4 hours a day) to have a nicely skilled character for PvP.

I haven't played Darkfall since July :(, mainly due to being busy at the momant. But I've been watching the official news and updates on their official forums like a hawk, lol.
Definately re-subbing for this expansion, I'm totally stoked.

Tips I can give you are: I know it's been said already, but bank often. Honestly. Don't do what I did on my first day, happily slaughtering mobs, really pleased with all the reagents and loot in your bag after about an hour, then get ganked. ;)

Also, just to give you a general direction on what magic to be using and skilling in your first steps -  some essential spells (all in the "lesser magic" school) you will need, no matter what "class" you choose to play are:
Heal Self - Self explanitory. You start with it right from the beginning, use it when ya need to and get it skilled up.
Mana to Stamina - Converts some of your mana into Stamina (which is used to do pretty much everything, attacking, sprinting etc. Run out of Stamina, you're dead).
Stamina to Health - Self explanitory. :) comes in real handy.
Launch - Used to launch your character to get on walls, in trees, etc.

All of these are in Lesser Magic (best way to get this up is Mana Missle, a low mana low damage attack that costs nothing to cast. And Heal Self, a low mana heal that costs nothing to cast)
These skills basically keep you on your feet through the entire game, and it will especially help if you know about them from day 1, I know it would've helped me.

Have fun!

Originally posted by Souvlaki

Since there has been a lot of discussions regarding nProtect's Game Guard, there is one that has kind of alarmed me.

As far as I'm informed, MMO hacking tools forced nProtect to make GG much more invasive inside the user's system, reaching from various security programs all the way inside the Windows Core files (hooking also on some irrelevant applications, such as MSPaint!). In my humble opinion, it's kind of extreme. But anyway.

Point being is that a code injection inside the Windows Kernel files produces a violation of the EULA (End User License Agreement) that every user signs with Microsoft when installing Windows.

So, it's a kind of a dilemma here. Should one agree to install Aion and Game Guard, finds himself/herself violating the Windows EULA. As far as I know, in Korea and China, this part of the agreement is different, since those countries have laws regarding security that allow manufacturers to directly inject code inside an Operating System's core files. I suppose Microsoft has made an exception for that specific reason in their EULA there. This though, is not the case with the US or the EU (and Oceania for that matter).

Aion is a beautiful game, but I am not certain about Game Guard's role in all of this. It's safety features could be the cause of argument, but it's not something that bothers me personally.

Any ideas on this matter?

I'm sure there's exceptions for companies like GameGuard, and you'd probably have to agree to something upon using GameGuard saying you accept that you allow them to do this, or maybe since the company is in Korea, it's not illegal because the software is based in Korea.

Honestly, if any of this was illegal, GG would be dead already. A program as widespread as GameGuard being illegal? Nah, something would of been done by now if it violated any sort of EULA (by Microsoft).

Same here, pre-order key. Can login fine (love the game btw), but can't register to the official beta forums.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by Adam1902

I totally agree with you, OP.
The game I am still relying on, is Darkfall. But I'm not going to resub for another 6 months to a year or so yet, for now I'm enjoying Aion (yeah, It's not FFA PvP but I love the game for some reason).

It should be launching its second expansion which really does sound awesome, but I'm still going to wait for resubbing.

Also, the world isn't as dead as people who don't play think (on EU), I know because I still log on with my buddies account a few times a week just to check on things (still know our clan very well). The problem is, that everyone sticks in, and around their cities. All they do, is grind mobs for reagents (but most people are already completely stocked on reagents and gold), then macro spells in their player cities, and seiging. Everyone sticks in and around their guild cities, that's why the world its self seems empty.

However, their upcoming expansion should give people much more incentive to actually go out into the world, and even the sea. I don't know though, don't think I'll resub YET.

But, for me atleast, Darkfall is my only hope.

 

If DF is your only hope, you really should be subbing right now, and supporting them while they are trying to grow and stabilize the game.  You sound like a fair weather fan who shows up at their hometown's baseball games only when they are in the pennant race but otherwise are no where to be found.

MO, DF, Earthrise are about it folks  Time to put up or shut up on whether 'YOU" want one of these games to succeed.

Don't decry the people who pre-ordered MO, they are trying to support the game they hope will fit their playstyles and through such loyalty might be the only way a game such as these will ever see the light of day.

 

I agree with this, and I would do if I was in a financial state to do so. But I'm not.
Thing is though, at the end of the day, they're a business. Not a charity. Unless I was plenty well off, fairly easy life with plenty of disposable income, then I'd sub without playing. But right now? No, definately not.

I totally agree with you, OP.
The game I am still relying on, is Darkfall. But I'm not going to resub for another 6 months to a year or so yet, for now I'm enjoying Aion (yeah, It's not FFA PvP but I love the game for some reason).

It should be launching its second expansion which really does sound awesome, but I'm still going to wait for resubbing.

Also, the world isn't as dead as people who don't play think (on EU), I know because I still log on with my buddies account a few times a week just to check on things (still know our clan very well). The problem is, that everyone sticks in, and around their cities. All they do, is grind mobs for reagents (but most people are already completely stocked on reagents and gold), then macro spells in their player cities, and seiging. Everyone sticks in and around their guild cities, that's why the world its self seems empty.

However, their upcoming expansion should give people much more incentive to actually go out into the world, and even the sea. I don't know though, don't think I'll resub YET.

But, for me atleast, Darkfall is my only hope.

Just want to say, that 'alecbr''s definitions which are then slightly adjusted by 'Rasputin' is exactly the way I see things.

and I agree 100% with 'steamtank''s post.

Originally posted by Sinviper

So I could probably just sub to fileplanent, get the key then un sub?

Now you've got it!

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by Adam1902

People who are saying it's "like WoW" is irritating with any game. These are generally new players to the genre who were introduced with WoW, and don't know much outside said game (WoW).
They look at some Aion screenshots and features. It's in 3rd person, has a similar UI, has classes and skills. It's like WoW. There's no way to shut these people up, I'm afraid. Best to ignore it.

They're actually the ones that have been playing longer than the WoW population that think it's like WoW.

Those who started with WoW don't even know about anything different from it. Those who have played pre-WoW MMO's know what is and isn't a WoW clone- in Aion's case it's too similar to WoW, made from the same mold, and only style has changed (also some features are bigger and better- but still the same). No innovations. 

You must not have played anything really different either, so you think it's not like WoW at all.

If there was a game I had to compare Aion to, it'd be Dark Age of Camelot, which I absolutely loved back in the day. I think WoW is like EverQuest.

Okay I'm looking at only WoW vs Aion now. Aion has got innovations. One of those being PvPvE. In WoW, PvP and PvE is like a completely different game. In Aion, PvP is tied into most of the endgame some how. That's just one of the innovations btw.

Originally posted by Sinviper

well that sucks...how are you guys getting in?

I believe it costs only 99c to become a FilePlanet subscriber for a week, lol.
I've pre-ordered. Hell, I love Aion. :P I'm currently paying by the hour to play the chinese version to pass the time.

If you want to try it out in OB, just subscribe to FilePlanet. Honestly, what's $1 (like 60p in my currency)? Might aswell call that free.

Originally posted by Sinviper

Little question I'd like to add, seeing as I have this thread already I'll just slot it in here.

When and how do I get an open beta key for Aion?

If you've pre-ordered Aion you'll have access to all the betas. When you pre-order, the game store should email you your key, which you put on your account on the NCsoft site.

People who are saying it's "like WoW" is irritating with any game. These are generally new players to the genre who were introduced with WoW, and don't know much outside said game (WoW).
They look at some Aion screenshots and features. It's in 3rd person, has a similar UI, has classes and skills. It's like WoW. There's no way to shut these people up, I'm afraid. Best to ignore it.

PS. Call of Duty is like Counter Strike. See wut I did thar? ;)

Originally posted by Yauchy

 Massive, Multiplayer, Online - it really has to be more complicated or else they wouldn't be so great, right?

Really take it at the minimum...but knowing that would include too many and god forbid to use simple logic to explain an acronym, its great to nit pick & point at games going "thats no mmo, no sir!" - "instancing is makes it not/less an mmo" - etc, etc.  The topic is dull & utterly useless to even ask the question, a better one for you:  

Why shouldn't MMORPG list more games as MMORPGs?  Its their site & it opens the flood gates for this inane discussion.  Oh wait, maybe thats why they don't then...

"Its an online RPG or a co-op RPG, its not an MMO" ....they never will be 'massive' enough for you, or have enough "immersion"...so really just let it go.  Its as bad as genre-tizing in music these days, now we need to clarify our MMOs or else our precious classics will be belittled by such despicable claims! how dare they!

No no, the main point of this thread isn't questioning listed games like GuildWars. It's question the recant addition of F2P FirstPersonShooter games. These games are neither MMO or RPG. They're FPS with a limited number of players (16 in SuddenAttack), so why are they here, listed as MMORPGs? See what I'm saying.
These games have existed for ages, for about 4 or 5 years. But only just recantly they've been put on the list, so obviously it's a decision they've made recantly that classifies FPS games as MMORPGs.

Oh, and arenasb: Maybe you should look into GuildWars a little more. The developers themselves say: "Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game)." (Source: GuildWars FAQ). Or by your standards, is that only their opinion?
They explain its differences from a typical MMORPG, and prefer to call it a CORPG. Like I said, the only MMO part is the towns. It's a good game, I'm not bashing the game at all so don't get me wrong. But it's not an MMO (once you get outside the towns and play the game), though.
 

Originally posted by Axehilt

Adam1902, the changes made to the genre have made it inarguably more popular.  WOW and modern MMORPGs are inarguably more fun to a larger group of people than UO.

If you don't call that evolution, I'm not really sure what to say.

I'm not even sure I'd call this "dumbing down" the genre.  Perhaps you'd care to explain what made UO so "complex"?

To me it always sounded rather rudimentary and simplistic, with a weak combat system and poorly thought out game mechanics (well-thought out for their day, but the inelegance is to be expected for any pioneering individual.)

Oh it had plenty of freedom, but that freedom didn't sound like it created deep/interesting gameplay.

Nice post, and I totally see what you're saying.
But, imagine yesterdays features, with todays graphically enhanced 3D worlds and game engines. I personally believe that the only reason this hasn't been done in a fantasy MMO (there are reasons why it can be done in a game like Eve Online) is because of technology limitations.

"My opinion, GW is an mmo. How about them apples?"
Don't mean to be picky, but things like this is fact, not really opinion. GuildWars is not an MMO, and the only 'MMO' part about it is the towns. Actually, I believe it says on their website somewhere in black & white, that GuildWars is not an MMO, they prefer to call it a -can't remember-. Not sure if it's still there or not.

"however mmorpg.com has put that number at 500"
Ah-ha! Now this is interesting. You see, most Korean FPS games (such as all the ones on the list here) are slightly different to the way "our" "western" FPS games work. In CounterStrike, or Call of Duty for example, the game servers (rooms where you play the game) are hosted by the players and gaming communities themselves, they are not hosted by the game developers (although a couple might be).

In Korean FPS, I'll use SuddenAttack as an example (because I believe this is what made FPS games take off in Korea). The rooms are not actually hosted by a players connection, infact none of it is hosted by the players connection. In SuddenAttack, you login -> Connect to a server (which holds 500 players!) -> then join a room (16 players max) which has been made by a player. Like I said, these rooms are not hosted by the player, they run from the server. In a server, there is many rooms holding 16 players, so technically, all these players are playing on the same server, right? See what I'm saying?
So they have the technology to have 500 people connected to 1 server, but they aren't using it to put those 500 players in the same game. 16 players is the max to a game. WarRock works like this, CombatArms works like this. All the Korean FPS games seem to (which seem to be the ones that are listed).

So, are they defining the term 'MMO' by what the technology they are using is probably capable of, and not the actual gameplay its self? See what I'm saying?

Another note: It's cool to have a general gaming section and all, definately a good thing. But at the end of the day, this is an MMORPG website, which I assume to come to for talking about MMORPGs? ;) It's good having a general gaming forum, but listing them in the MMORPG list is strange to me (yes, it's their site I know). Maybe if they seperate the list, MMOs and general game sections.

Ah, and someone posted something along the lines of "Oh, who looks at the list, it's useless". Actually, I look at the list, so I'm sure quite alot more do. I basically use this website to inform me of MMORPGs. This is what I use to know about new MMORPGs in the making, being released etc. This is the website that when I'm researching a game for example, I'd come look here first, and follow the links off this site to lead on to more information.
This site is quite a bit more than a forum. You got blogs, reviews, news, "the List", etc. ;)

Anyway, sorry about the way I've been quoting.
Interesting replies,
Cheers.

Made me laugh, and I agree with all of it apart from the exploits part. I'd report the exploit, and I suppose I'd use it myself if others are using it on me (I know, I know!) untill it's fixed.

However I won't camp a player and stop him from playing the game for no reason. If I see an enemy, yeah kill him and move on. See him again later? Try to pull it off (killing him) again!. But I don't sit there waiting for him and camping him and intentionally going for the same player, trying to make him log off. Unless ofcourse, he's done the same to me. Mess with me I'll give you all I can. :D

Oh yes, GuildWars etc is definately more MMO (and it's an RPG!) than FPS games. These generic FPS games are not MMO at all (Planetside is however, see the difference?).

A couple of posts irritated me a little (sorry, just being honest :D, don't take me personal), those were "Why do I care about a genre classification so much?", and "the genre is evolving".

Well... I can tell you that the MMO genre is definately not evolving (yet), but rather, it is de-evolving. The only thing that's evolving is graphics and effects.
Look at this for instance, Ultima Online. One of the first MMOs in the west, the one that started it all pretty much, I like to think that this game almost defines what MMO really means. Some people won't understand where I'm going with this, but let me say this: Ultima was an completely open world with no instancing, it had player housing, and each player had a totally different aim from the next. For example, one players aim would to be a popular trader and crafter. The next persons aim might of been to build a village. Someone else might want to put an end to PKing, whilst the other guy would want to be a criminal who lives by killing and robbing other players. The game may not have had spectacular graphics, but that was because of the date it was made.

Now, we've gone from this game, to WoW. In WoW, every player has the same objective. You are limited to your class by what you choose at the character screen, your enemes are pre-chosen for you at the character screen. Every player has the same goal, get to lv.80, then raid (or PvP for gear, I suppose you have the "PvEers" and "PvPers". Even this is bad point in my eyes, in WoW PvE is totally seperate from PvP, like they're different games almost. In Ultima, PvP tied in with everything). You might want to punch me in my whiney ranting face, and say "HEY! You can craft and trade in WoW, what the f*** are you talking about?". Ahh, yes you can indeed. However, your chaaracter cannot live his "life" in the game, being a crafter and trader. Unless ofcourse you don't want to get anywhere in the game. It's actually quite hard to explain.

Anyway, I'm not trying to say WoW isn't an MMO, because yes. WoW is an MMORPG, wether I like it or not. I'm just explaining how the genre, in general has been dumbed down. There is less diversity, every player does the same thing with the same objective. The genre has de-evolved rather than evolved in my eyes.

This whole post is off-topic by the way, I wanted to answer the question "Why I care so much", and exlain to the other poster why I think MMORPGs haven't evolved.

Anyway, back on topic. They're listing non-persistant (except for items), room based generic online FPS games on MMORPG.com now. These are NOT MMOs, in any way, shape or form. They are not RPGs either. They have no place on this website, so what are they doing here? I've seen answers such as "because they can", "it's their site", etc. Yes, that is quite obvious, it's their site and they can do whatever they want with it. But my question of "WHY do they list those games here?" still stands.

Whew! Wall of text, eh?
Seen a few intresting replies anyway, cheers.

Hey.
Okay, this is starting to bug me a little bit. I remember a few years ago, when GuildWars was added to the list, and I shook my head because it isn't an MMO, only an online RPG. Same with Phantasy Star Universe. The only "MMO" part about these games, is the towns, which basically act as virtual lobbies and nothing more. Fair enough, they're both RPGs and they have 3D lobbies that could be considered MMO, fair enough. Listing games like these didn't bother me too much, I suppose.

Now, recantly they have been putting games on the list such as WarRock, and SuddenAttack. Can I ask why? Both of these games are FPS games, and no. They are not MMOFPS games, in terms of gameplay they're the same thing as Call of Duty or CounterStrike. In SuddenAttack for example, each server cannot hold more than 16 players. This is neither MMO, nor RPG, it's an online FPS. This made me think-  "alright... Weired. They're starting to list all those Korean FPS games that market themselves towards MMORPG players, why?".
And then it hit me: Maybe they list these Korean FPS games, because the "money" you earn, and the weapons you buy is persistant, and you take it all with you from game to game. This is why they list it, right?

Well personally I think it's bloody stupid. A couple of days ago I was talking to a friend of mine who thought CounterStrike was an MMOFPS. I'll say no more. Listing games like these will confuse the heck out of newer gamers.
Then where will it stop? Pretty soon Quake, Call of Duty, Halo, CounterStrike, will all be listed on this website being called "MMOs". Every single online game should be on here in this case. Why isn't Diablo 2 on here? Diablo 2 fits the website more-so than these FPS games. Diablo 2 follows the same layout as these Koraen FPS games, you take your progression with you from room-to-room. However, Diablo is actually an RPG.

Has the acronym "MMO" truely lost its meaning these days?
As far as I can see, all new gamers think "MMO" simply means "you can play it online".

This is actually quite sad to see, actually. I think what's caused this confusion is developers making very heavily instanced games (a la PhantasyStarUniverse), and labeling them MMOs.

Anyway, question to the MMORPG.com authorities, what's going on with the website? Are you going to start listing all online games now? Maybe you should change the name to OnlineGame.com. It's a shame to see this happen, that even the high-ups of MMORPG.com cannot see the difference between an "MMO", and an "online game". Or can they? Maybe these games paid to get listed here, to market towards MMO players more?

I just want to know what's going on that's all. Has MMO really lost its meaning, don't people know the difference anymore? Or is this not a mistake?

Cheers,
/Discuss.

PS. I don't dislike the games I talked about in this post. I used to play PhantasyStarOnline way back on the Dreamcast, love the game and have lots of memories of it. And I've been playing SuddenAttack almost daily for a couple of months now. Don't get me wrong, I like the games. They just have no place on this website. Don't you agree?
 

Because it's different in Aion.
In AoC they tried to make their "channel instancing" work WITH the game. For example, you could walk out of a city, then walk back in and there'd be a completely different set of people in there. If you were PvPing someone, he could run out of the zone, and back in and go to a different "instance" of the zone, which the PKer had a completely random chance of getting into.
It totally killed immersion.

In Aion, you choose which "channel" you want to play in when logging in I believe. Once you're in, you're in. You're not going to walk out of an area, then next time you go back in, everyones gone because it's started a fresh "instance". No no no.
See what I mean? :P The way it's done in Aion, won't kill immersion.