Originally posted by nsignific
Big props to the guy dedicating his life to beer, after failing at games.

Are you serious?

BW were one of the greatest game studios out there before EA came along and chewed them up.

RIP Bioware.

I wrote a long post on the BW social network after the ME3 ending debacle, and in that I predicted Dr. Ray falling on the same sword that claimed Mark Jacobs; sucks to be right.  It is also interesting to see that the explanation isn't that different from what MJ wrote either.  I guess part of the 'you're fired' package includes a tight NDA as to the true circumstances; not to mention that these great names vanish from the games industry after EA has chewed them up and spit them out.  Maybe it has now got to that time when as gamers we have to stand up and turn our collective backs on EA for good before they destroy anymore decent studios.

Were you interested in this game before it came out? Why? Why not?:

No.  just another themepark with a few bits tidied up and marketed the hell out of in order to appear new and exciting.  The hype didn't work on me.

Do you currently play this game?:

No.

If no, please explain why:

See question and answer number one above.  I will also add that the problems A-net are having at the moment with security and the number of  game mechanics that are broken I'm very happy that I didn't buy it. 

What MMOs are you currently playing and why do you play these particular titles?:

Not playing any atm.  Waiting on planetside 2.

What compels you to post in this particular subforum as frequently (or infrequently) as you do?

Not posted here apart from attempting to help someone out with a hardware problem.  I watch this forum because the fun factor is higher than playing most MMO's.  The fanboi Vs Hater fight is hilarious.

Originally posted by Eir_S

Hey guys.  I don't start threads often, but I'm perplexed at this potential tech issue on my end....... but is it really on my end?  I looked up the problem on Google and apparently others are having the same thing happen to them, namely their PC getting a black or blue screen or just suddenly "stuttering" and then restarting completely while playing GW2.  I've checked my CPU heat, I don't think that's the problem, and all my drivers are up to date, but still I and others are experiencing this rather game breaking bug.

It doesn't happen on other games, and up until yesterday it never happened in GW2 either.  Now suddenly, I could find myself doing any number of random in-game things and have to wait for my computer to boot up again, and it's getting annoying.

I haven't had many of the minor issues people are kvetching about day and night here, but when a game turns your computer off, you start to get a little irritated.  I haven't seen a thread about this, and maybe the issue is rare, but if anyone has any info maybe they could fill me in.

Sound like either a memory issue or your GPU is overheating.  What message do you get on the BSOD?

Originally posted by QuicklyScott

Yep, I think you're 100% correct.  They aren't designed to last.

 

Get to max level, regurgitate developer made content  until you're bored.

 

People say the sandbox market is niche, well how can 500,000 subs on EVE be niche?  If the gameplay wasn't boring you could bet they would have double that number.  Runescape, which is kind of sandboxy had 10 million active accounts at its peak and over 100 million accounts made. People to this day are still whining about SWG, so I would hardly call the market niche.

 

Developers are sitting on a gold mine, they just don't have the brains or the balls to make one.

Check this one out http://www.therepopulation.com/

Originally posted by IfrianMMO

Back when they released the "manifesto", A-net claimed that one of the things they disliked the most of standard mmo´s was the fact that no matter which quest you completed, boss you killed, or village you saved, everything resetted five minutes later and  the game did not care about the player not it´s exploits.

Well, how is GW2 offering me a different experience from that?

I am  a lv 32 warrior so far,  and while i had a blast on most of the game´s features and i am loving exploring and crafting, i still do not see how does GW2´s world care that i am there.

I visited a lot of zones and done dozens of events, and every single one of them restarts if i just stay 5 mins afk around them, the villages are constantly under siege,  those pesky centaurs keep coming for more and generally nothign seems to change or "stay saved" as i progress thru my own storyline and partecipate in the events.

Sure, some (very few and far between) events have slightly alter the npc presence in the zone, such as that lv 15-25 field where upon the completion of all the centaur questline, the lionguard "controls" most of the roads, but that´s not really all that "world changing" and even that goes away within half a hour or so.

So...what about it?

 

 

Welcome to the 'nothing you do matters' standard themepark experience.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-gigabyte-gtx-670-windforce-3x-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-980mhz-boost-1058mhz-cores-13

Very good card and stays pretty cool under load.

Originally posted by xalvi

As of right now GW2 is by far the best MMO in the market in terms of innovation and overall well on every aspect.

Seems to me like you are burnt out, i know this because im burnt out as well. GW2 will be the only mmo i will be playing, i went from hardcore to casual player because i can't seem to like MMO anymore (maybe because im getting more mature and find these things silly now).

It isn't your level of maturity that's the problem.  It's the fact that MMO's have beern simplified and dumbed down so much over the past few years that any intelligent adult finds them extremely boring.  A decade ago MMO's were deep and complex, needing patience and intelligence to advance in them; you actually had to think about how you built your character.  Now any 10 year old can follow the single path and join the dots with little effort.  It isn't a coincidence that the quality of the MMO community took a nosedive as the games got easier either.  WoW has much to answer for. 

Originally posted by Eberhardt

Originally posted by eric1000

Originally posted by GeezerGamer

 

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Originally posted by Morv

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Yes there is.  The onboard graphics must be disabled in bios if a 3rd party video card is being used or the two will conflict with each other, same thing with soundcards and onboard audio. 

That's not entirely true. You don't HAVE to disable it in the bios, though it does help to on certain motherboards. Especially some of the older republic of gamer boards. Most of the new ROG boards don't have onboard video. And If it's a driver issue like I had mentioned before (both Nvidia and AMD drivers installed) then simply disabling the onboard won't help as the driver service still runs on boot.

If the board has a system for running them both together then thats fine usually but not many boards have that.  With both enabled on a board without that function various conflicts will result.  As I said though it sounds more like a bad card.

Originally posted by GeezerGamer

 

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Originally posted by Morv

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Originally posted by Soldor What I have tried so far: Removing wires from within computer and plugging them back in. Removed the video card completely and plugged it back in. I plugged the dvi cord from monitor into the motherboard's integrated graphics. that worked the first time. was able to load up windows and run it normally. now when i go back to the same integrated graphics its not loading up properly. i ran in safe mode was able to get on ok went to the web downloaded latest amd drivers that didnt do anything. when i plug monitor into the video card's dvi or hdmi connector i am getting these errors: white screen, blue screen, and freezes on the windows 7 loading and gives me a black screen. when i was on the integrated graphics i was able to check my control panel and the radeon 7870 is detected and there doesnt appear to be any issues.

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Boot up in safe mode, uninstall your video card drivers from the device manager, and then re-install the latest ones.

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I've had plenty of experience building PCs, one thing I never did come across was a MoBo with Integrated video. Is there a setting where you might have to turn it off? Is there a possibility it's in conflict with your Radeon? Did it some how accidentally get activated?

Yes there is.  The onboard graphics must be disabled in bios if a 3rd party video card is being used or the two will conflict with each other, same thing with soundcards and onboard audio.  However, the symptoms described here sound like the video card itself is faulty.

OP you said that you can use the PC normally with the onboard graphics?  Remove the video card completely and fire up the PC using the onboard.  The PC should install the relevent default driver on startup.  Let it finish this, then go into control panel and uninstall all the drivers that pertain to the removed card.  Restart the machine.  Try various things with the PC; surf the net, play a game etc. and if all works ok then the card itself is fubar I'm afraid.  If you have similar problems with the onboard let us know.

Originally posted by MMOwanderer

I'm not blown away by it personally. It doesn't fit my tastes so i can't justify paying 60$ for it right now. If it drops the price, i may pick up later on.

But i hope you guys enjoy yourselves, aswell as the rest of the GW2 community.

BTW, is it just me, or do i have a feeling the mmorpg.com staff as decided on the final score their official review already?

I feel the same and despite the forums here being completely infested with fanbois there are a great many MMO gamers for whom GW2 offers nothing at all.  I do however hope that the game is a success but not to the extent that every developer and his grandmother copies it for the next ten years.

Originally posted by jpnz

Originally posted by Creslin321

It's comical how stupid EA/BW thinks its players are.

Day 1 DLC is basically just like this:

Before Day 1 DLC:  You can buy 12 donuts for $6.00

After Day 1 DLC:  You can buy 10 donuts for $6.00 and  two SPECIAL BONUS OMFG-AWESOME donuts for $1.00.  SCORE!

This kind of sounds like a con...which is basically what day 1 DLC is.  It's just a way for them to raise the price of the donuts to $7.00 without actually being honest about it.

I wouldn't say EA thinks players are 'stupid' but Day 1 DLC sells really well so why wouldn't they keep on doing it?

Yes, I am one of those that buys all of them. 

Why? Cause I like their games.

 

To answer your question.  They continue to do it because of people like you who by your own admission buy it all.  If nobody bought it then the companies would stop doing it and instead would be forced to find other ways to persuade us to part with our money; better quality games perhaps?

Day 1 DLC is simply increasing the price of the software by the back door; it's like a stealth tax on gamers.  I have nothing against paid for DLC as long as it is extra content produced AFTER the game has gone gold and made it's merry way to the store shelves, but to require people to pay for content that is ready to go or even worse already on the disc awaiting an unlock code is in my opinion criminal.

Probably the worst example of this was in Bioware's ME3 with the Prothean DLC which was not only extra content but content that was pretty important to the overall story.

Originally posted by Cromica
I don't care if it fails or not, I just know it was not a good/fun game for me

Same here.  I found the game extremely boring to be honest.

Originally posted by Drachonis
Doom and Gloom.... thats all these forums are at times.  Some of us are still enjoying the game for what it is, a good mmo and one of the best to come along in a while.  Its far from perfect, but so are lots of other games.  I realize its not for everyone, but this "going f2p in a couple of months" is a bit off I think.  I suppose only time will tell.

That is purely your personal opinion and not a statement of fact.  I figured that I would give the three day trial a go although my expectations for anything Funcom were pretty low.  I am sad to say that my expectations were completely accurate.  From the character creation, which is a joke to the same sound issues which F3 & FNV suffered from when combining creative sound cards with win 7 to the clunky interface and uninspiring combat the game sucks; and that, like yours is my own opinion.  I played for a couple of hours and uninstalled.

Originally posted by MMOExposed

well was reading something somebody said over in another forum regarding, you guessed it,,, TESO.

What came up, seem to be the standard sandbox TES fan hatred for the MMO which they call a WoW Clone.

Well I am not here to argue if its a WoW Clone or not. The point made was that these fans want the "Sand" in the MMO that the single player game has.

 

But when I stop and think about it, how much "Sand" do these games really have, "IF YOU WANTED TO BRING THAT SAND OVER TO THE MMO" in the forms of a Sandbox MMO?

Would a GTA MMO be Themepark or Sandbox? same question for a Saints Row MMO,,,

 

and the big name on this site,,, a The Elder Scrolls MMO...

 

Whats the "Sand" in these games to even bring to the MMO table that isnt already here in general across all MMO?

Exploring? Well not sure how Exploring is a sandbox feature, since you can do that in EQ, Vanguard, even WoW.

well you tell me.

You are confusing sandbox with open world, they are not the same thing.  Saints row and the like are open world games meaning that you are not limited to a linear path and can take whichever direction you wish to travel in.  Sandbox games have an open world as part of the package but there are a great many more systems that come together to make the whole; fully fledged craft skills, player built housing and cities etc.  A sandbox gives the player the tools and says go do it, it doesn't take you by the hand.  That said I think the next true implementation or evolution if you like of the modern MMO is going to be the themebox; a true sandbox MMO with themepark elements or even a number of different themed areas with linear quests etc. placed in various areas of tyhe gameworld.   A true sandbox is also perpetual, in that the players can alter what is going on in the world by their actions.  Players burn down a village it stays burned until players rebuild it, it doesn't pop up again a few seconds later so that someone else can burn it as a quest objective ( not many games in the past have mastered this aspect).

Originally posted by Coolrockski

It is a thankless job and probably the hardest of the 3 (DPS, Tank, Heals).  I am running Fists/AR around level 3/4.  I do not have many blue items, so I'm running Polaris multiple times to get blue items and learn "how to heal".  It's rough man, especially for someone new to MMOs this year.  My group made it through both times with me as healer, but it was down to the wire with the last boss.  The whole group died twice, once each run.  But the problem is on top of learning, trying to keep the tank alive, and watching for AOEs from the boss, the DPS players complain if I don't heal them enough.  I do try to rotate through, but I thought the main job was to keep the tank alive?  I do not want to quit healing, but get better.   

I did expect some bumps in the road, but my real reason for the post is some advice.  Here is my setup currently:

 

Actives:

Nuture- Fist builder  **I use this most

Surgical Steel- Fist consumer  **I spam this with Nuture

Anima Shot-  When I can, the tank is usually taking too much damage to keep spamming this.  

Energize- Leech buff

Pack Leader- tank buff

Triggr Happy- Regular consumer

Fire at will-  When I do get  a chance to do some damage.

 

Passives:

 

Anticogulant-  This works awesome soloing because it applies affliction while healing myself or group.

Nuturing Gift-

Anima Boast

Leech Therapy-  I thought this would be awesome and have yet to see it help at all.

Experience

Mind of Matter- Crit to Appliction stack

Alpha Wolf- buff to pack leader

 

 

Any advice is appreciated! 

 

 

 

Don't know about TSW as I have not played it but your main job as a primary healer in standard MMO's is to keep the tank in the fight.  If the tank loses the aggro and the dps get wasted that isn't your fault, especially if the dps have detaunts and don't use them.  In most games you will find that groups utilise the services of two healers,  Primary to keep the tank up and an off healer for filling in the gaps.

Originally posted by Vorthanion

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Isasis

Every Sandbox released is quickly kicked to the ground and called terrible for having the exact things they want and they demand another with the exact same things again. People love sandbox, but when they can't get to the top in it, they will quickly ditch it. Its like capitalism, only a few make it up top and the rest have to suffer with being a nobody. No one likes that.

 First not all players want the same things. Second Not all players want the same things from sandbox games. Third sandboxes, being unproven usually have no funding and no chance of success. Forth in capitalist societies the majority of people are middle class and considered successful not nobodies. Only in the United States are you considered poor and a nobody for owning one house instead of two, The problem is with the perception not reality.

Sandboxes were proven with the very first graphical MMO, Ultima Online and yet it still remains the least successful of the successful MMOs to date, right along with Eve.  They were seconded by a very visible MMO, Star Wars Galaxies.  SWG bled subs so badly they got desperate and revamped the game twice.  Gamers are notorious when it comes to elitist attitudes.  EverQuest raiding truly brought that nasty, ugly mindset to the fore and it's done nothing but get worse over the years.  Home ownership in the US has not been a luxury enjoyed by the majority of Americans for a very long time.  We've become a country of apartment complexes and duplexes and condiminiums.  Renting is the standard, not ownership.

Actually SWG had around 100-150k stable subs.  It was revamped and ruined by overpaid suits that have no idea what an MMO is aside from the balance sheet and who got greedy after seeing the numbers that WoW pulled in.

Originally posted by Kenze

heres my problem with sandbox mmo's.. in my experience ..

sandbox=pvp=chaos=willynilly

themepark=pve=order=structure

 

 

This is the common misconception of what a sandbox is and is the fault of indy games developers who also didn't have much of a clue.  A sandbox is a perpetual world where you as players are given the tools and told to get on with it, it is not a PvP killfest for the immature, short epeen crowd who get their kicks solely by causing grief to everyone they come across.

In a sandbox your virtual character is given a place to live and to explore, you are not taken by the hand and led through a series of scripted areas until you reach max level when you are presented with a sub-standard endgame.  In a sandbox you are expected to contribute to and build the world and experience around you, it is not a giant BG.