I'll agree with the OP for the most part.  The big-name AAA titles are certainly dumbed-down from the first generation games and this effects players of every type.  On the other hand it makes mmorpgs accessible to more paying customers so I understand why the developers do it.

If you are willing to play the niche games made by small studios you can still get some of that old goodness.  But you have to live without the polish and perfection of the AAA titles.  Fallen Earth offers a single-server world with very little instancing which aids socialization.  The zones have no boundaries and are wide open for exploration.  I'm sure others could describe games like DF or MO to highlight what they bring back to the genre.  Someone has already mentioned EVE.

It all comes down to what you are willing to sacrafice to get the features you most desire.  No game can be everything for every player.

I would not dismiss that family chat channel as trivial.  Properly used it represents a very valuable feature that no other mmorpg has ever offered.  If any other dev team picks up on the idea and uses it in a game worth playing then Alganon will have made a positive contribution to the genre.

My avatar is a character in a story ... not me.  I press whatever keys enable the avatar to do what he (or she) would do in that story.

Originally posted by TheHatter

Originally posted by mrw0lf

Anyone who is a 'dedicated' pvp'er and chose FE didn't read the description of the game in the first place.

 

Yeah, you're right.

www.fallenearth.com/faq

"What is Fallen Earth?

Fallen Earth is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set on a post-apocalyptic Earth in the year 2156. Within the Grand Canyon Province, an isolated pocket of settlements around one of the world’s most amazing landmarks, you’ll face threats to mankind’s continued survival, including everything from irradiated zones to mutated beasts to raiders. Six factions struggle for dominance in the Province. Over time, you’ll have the chance to pick a side in the effort to hold sway over what remains of the post-Fall world."

Technically, it doesn't say PVP but it is worded to persuade the PVP Focused Reader as if there was. Combined with the fact that when a PVP Focused reader sees "Post-Apoc MMO" one immediately thinks that there is epic PVP.

What I'm trying to say is that you're completely wrong and I have no idea what this "description" you're talking about is. The only way a reader is going to be able to find out if there is good PVP or not, is if they start reading the forums on the official site.... which most is locked down to players who've already bought the game.

So, what does that leave you with? Grinding a character up to lvl 25ish, so you can see for yourself how horrible the PVP is implemented in the game. Because, really there are no descriptions in the world that can prepare you for it. Trust me, I read and listened to every little bit of info I could get and thought I had a good idea what I was in for.

 

Amazing game, if PVP gets fixed though.

 

That isn't worded to persuade you of anything.  It is an accurate description of the game.  It says you can join one of the games six factions.  The factions struggle for control.  They could have designed the game to be entirely pve.  They didn't.  They allow pvp in certain areas and that is a good thing.  It supports the pve faction struggle which is at the heart of the game.  I think FE has a good blend of pvp and pve.  But anyone who comes to FE purely for the pvp is bound to be disappointed as others have suggested.

I can't believe you would waste your time constructing such a thread.  They like the game.  You don't.  You don't have to.

 Hunting giant cockroaches with handgrenades, just because I can.

The thrill of finding a can of dog food while scavenging through a trash heap, because every food buff is a good buff.

Trying to figure out how to kill people with poison I made from harvesting cactus juice.

Sunsets in the desert.

Dual wielding with a straight razor and cork screw.

Riding to the top of a butte and seeing hills on the horizon which I can visit ... after a 30 minute ride.

Crafting a pen and paper so I can research how to craft a bridle so I can raise a horse so I can ride across the wasteland killing the enemies of my chosen faction.

Originally posted by Orphes

Originally posted by Aramanu2

nothing on vehicles physics then? bah

don't get me wrong i did kinda enjoy beta but i was seriously miffed on the vehicles acting like mini trains that travel at 1mph.

 

Hmm... I'm pretty certain that a saw something in a patchnote.

The patchnote says something to effect that vehicles can now get airborne when going over bumps.  I haven't experienced it myself as I'm a horseman.  Horses in FE have always been able to jump.

All you need is DPS.  When the army sends a squad of 8 men to do a job they don't send 2 riflemen, 2 medics, 2 artillerymen, and 2 military intelligence analysts.  They send 8 riflemen.  The support roles are more important when you send 800 men in. 

The differences in play styles could be catered to by non-combat functions.  The troubles is most mmorpgs don't give enough love to non-combat activity.  Only the original SWG did that and it worked just fine. 

You can buy the digital download here:

https://www.fallenearth.com/buy

I can't answer your other question as I live in the states.  But there are many gamers from Europe and Downunder playing so I'm guessing it isn't too big of an issue.  Hopefully someone from the UK can confirm that.

Originally posted by Athcear

I've heard a lot of arguments about why Alganon sucks, but I've never heard anyone come out and praise it.  Aside from the developers, of course.  Those folks who think Alganon is any good, please tell me why.

1)  If you are familiar with the Bartle test of gaming motivations you will notice that every Alganon player can tag himself as either an Achiever, Explorer, Socializer, etc.  This helps players with common goals and attitudes get together easily.  I think Alganon calls these "families".  I belive this is an excellent and unique feature.

2)  The devs have promised a world map which stays blacked-out until you actually explore that part of it.  Many single player games have done this in the past but I'm not aware of any mmorpgs going that route.  It encourages and rewards exploration which is a fantastic idea.  I'm not actually sure if this is implemented yet.

3)  Some (but not all) of your character development advances offline in real-time using a system rather silimar to EVE Online.  Not everybody likes that system but I always have.

I've never played WoW so I don't care about those issues.  As to video performance I have had no serious issues on my two-year-old computer.  It does crash a lot though.

Unfortunately the art style is not to my taste but such things are purely a matter of opinion.  I won't play Alganon past beta because I am enjoying other mmorpgs right now.  But I don't think Alganon is really all that bad. 

1) Mobs with no chance to win still attack instead of run

2) The Holy Trinity (tanking and in-combat healing)

3)  Stealth (the invisible in broad daylight kind)

Almost all of the quest lines are fun.  The writers have a great sense of story and dry humor. 

I've grouped with people for most of the "dungeons" and have yet to find anyone who claims expertise in grouping tactics.  That really hasn't bothered me.  We have mostly just charged in and started blasting.  When that doesn't work the usual mmorpg tactics (pulling, target priority, designating a tank, etc) have worked fine. 

Most of the PvE is quite easy if you follow the difficulty coding icons in the quest description.  As a crafter I find I can solo any green-con group quest.  White-con group quests are best done with a partner.  Yellow con group quests usually required 3 or more in the party.  Of course this depends on other people's levels and specs too.  I imagine that people who are fully specced for combat have it even easier.

I've yet to enter S2 so it may be that things get tougher later on. 

No justification?  Every "free" to play game I've tried has a horribly immature community and some mechanism for getting you to eventually pay money anyway.  Could it be that subscription fees keep out the worst of the idiots?  I don't know.  Maybe it is just a coincidence.  In my experience subscription fees are a "feature" worth paying for.

I've never played WoW but I don't think it has some of the features which Alganon advertises, like Families, fog-of-war maps, and off-line skill advancement.  Those happen to be attractive features to me.  I suspect some other folks might like them too.

Unfortunately I just don't care for the art style.  I won't buy the game for that reason.  But art styles are just a matter of taste.

Try looting a corpse killed by someone else.  That's my favorite.

I'd have no problem with those graphics if the game had the features I wanted.

Originally posted by bah5150

Welcome to Fallen Earth

Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, the server and forums will be unavailable until 11:30pm EDT (GMT-4) while we fix a server deadlock. We sincerely apologize for this interruption in service and are working hard to bring things back online as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
The Fallen Earth Team

 

Not only has the game down most of the day, they turned off the Forums so you cant even post a gripe about it.

I am having a tough time understanding why they have a test server and do not seem to be using it to test the changes they put into the game before torturing the user base.

 

Maybe it's because the code runs fine for the 20 people on the test server but can't handle the 800 people on the live server.

Yes, I made those numbers up all by myself.  The point is that the server issues seem to be linked to player load.  I wasn't in the beta but I'm guessing that even their stress test did not prepare them for what they have faced in the last few days.  I think they will get it sorted out in time.

If you survived the launches for AO and WoW I'm surprised you are so disappointed with FE.  I really am sorry you had so much trouble with your graphics cards.  That sounds expensive.  I'm still using a GeForce 9800 and the graphics look fine to me.  I've played about 20 hours and had only two crashes.

The current lag is horrible, though.  I will stay with FE because the game features are so refreshingly enjoyable.  Hopefully they will be able to adjust their server architecture to handle the crowd better.

AO and WoW got things sorted out and went on to great success.  If FE can do half so well I'll be very pleased.

I like the original better.  The new babydoll face lacks realistic chin structure.  She looks inbred or genetically damaged.  Of course genetic damage is a feature in this game.  We are all the product of genetic experimentation and mutation so why expect normal looking faces?  That being said, they should have added the new faces as an option at character creation.

I'd have no problem with waiting 4x as long to get gear.  I don't much care about having uber gear.  But waiting 4x as long to level up so I can see new zones, mobs, quests, and other content is too long to wait.  I'd have to group.  But if the game had a good community and a RP server I wouldn't mind grouping.

So when you say "next to impossible" you just mean it takes patience?  They never claimed it was easy or fast, just that it is possible.  I don't know of another conventional mmorpg that has been so generous to someone wanting 100% crafting.