No offense intended, BUT, in a retail environment if you purchase software and it comes back opened then you can't return it.  That part is very upfront with most retailers.  Steam is no different if you purchase a game and install it then technically you opened it, and can't return it. 

Now I know this sucks but look at it from this point of view, I go out and buy a new release from steam lets say silent hunter 5 or whatever, I then download it try it out, then log off and hack the download so that I can now throw it up on a torrent.  I do all of this within the first 24hrs, then I try to return it to get a refund, if they give it to me then I successfully hacked a game and got it for free.  So what I am saying is no matter how legit you might think you are buisnesses have to think of the worst in order to ensure piracy is at its lowest point.  I know this sounds stupid but I believe if you bought it and installed it then you should not be allowed a refund and I really do back up steam on this case.

Originally posted by Sudowoodoo

1) Its the number 2 mmo in the world currently in terms of subscriptions

2) Its making innovations while other mmos stagnate and become repetitive

3) The PvP is the best mmos have to offer (especially rifts)

4) Unmatched character customization

5) Excellent game design and mechanics (gliding, pvp, rifting ect.)

6) Beautiful environments

7) Always something to work for and improve upon

8) Scales well for lower end computers

9) Rewards hard work and dedication

10) Has the most potential of any mmo

Wow I find this laughable and I liked Aion for what it was...

1) Subscription base doesn't make the game, since I haven't looked at the numbers I can't say much but I do remember on day 1 a TON of gold farmers.

2) Name an innovation, there isn't any in this game, the only one would be flying combat MAYBE because City of Heros had it first, both real flight and flight combat even though it was very basic.

3) Best PVP, yea ok, sure it does.  Many still believe one of the oldest MMOs still in production today has the best PvP of any MMO, now mind you it is 10 years old but I think it really evolved open world PvP, Asherons Call.  Best twitch PvP in the buisness.

4) Character customization...BWHAHAHAHA...Have you played City of Heros or Villans for that matter, and that is visual only, if your talking about Unique characters then how about Ultima online or Asherons Call, your characters are truely your own when you decide what skills they have, heck even EVE has more character customizations when it comes to the character and not visual appearance.

5) Game design, I will give you it is very well done, lots of invisible walls, zoneing, combat....errr hold it on second thought it SUCKS.  Very directed game play, quest 1 leads to quest 2 which leads to quest 3 which leads to level...etc.  No real freedom of movement the invisible walls stop that, and you can't just pick a random point on the horizon and run to it without zoning.  I guess for a theme park game it is done well but I prefer the open world of SWG, Asherons Call...etc.

6) Beautiful environments, I will say this they are Pretty, but the best out there by far no.  In this one case I will say Age of Conan looks better, so does LOTR.  Heck it has a long way to go to touch either of these games.

7) What is there to work on, Level up?

8) Scales well for low end computers, this is a good thing actually and more game makers should be trying to do this.

9) Rewards Hard Work and Dedication sorry never could get far enough to really see that, the game lost me by level 25.

10) Most potential, by far no, many games out there have more potential it just depends on the direction of the game maker.

I want to say this I am not against Bioware as its own company, or against the idea for an MMO by them.  I am however against the clouded vision of people who think that Bioware is going to have full 100% creative control and release dates over any of there titles from now on, since they were purchased by EA.  The same was said when Mythic was making Warhammer, and because EA wanted money NOW they were forced into releasing early.  I know no one believes anyone who says they had a friend that worked for them, but I will say it again, a very good friend of mine worked at EA for about 6 years, and was moved from one project to another.  He spent about 6 months on WAR while they were waiting for his next project to begin and while working on WAR he got to see how Mythic was pushed around even though Mythic was told, "Oh don't worry about it, you have full control we don't want to take away from your creative vision."  Results are in and Mythic was reduced to practically nothing now probably because of the failure of WAR.  My buddy after working on the last NFS game was released with most of the Black box people....but this is not why I am here.

I really want to like games from Bioware but I honestly can't, I haven't found one I like so far.  I have tried, Balders Gate ( i did like it but just couldn't get into it), KOTOR (this was a yawn fest to me I couldn't stand it but I respect that others liked it), Mass Effect (This one I wanted to like, but just can't continue to play it, it gets SO boring).  Those were all made prior to EA purchase, I hold out hope for SWTOR BUT, to me the game doesn't seem like an MMORPG, the sense of community just doesn't seem like it will be there.  I don't know how to explain it more but I really do miss the old days of MMO's one big open world no zones, no instances.  No World chat only local chat, even before trade hubs and auction houses, if you run into a town and find a guy selling something for half the price they were selling it 2 towns earlier.  Where PVP was true open world and you were afraid to die in PVP or in PVE because of death penalties and lose of equipment.  Where the game was not about End game but about discovery. 

I know I am one person but this is what I am looking for in an MMORPG, and right now there is nothing out that isn't over 5 years old that gives me a feeling that I want to play it.  I admit that I did enjoy original WOW but the luster came off when they introduced the BG to be heavy, and the open world PVP fell away.  No I am not a PVP guy I just like the options out there.

My hones Opinion about SWTOR is that I hope it is a success, my gut tells me it will fail like WAR and the studio will get gutted, but that is only my Opinion.

Biggest problem I have with STO is simply the loading screens at the moment.  Other then that I know content will be added, and polished over time.  Do I have faith in Cryptic though, NO I don't but I still love the space combat, reminds me of Starfleet Command to an extent, just dumbed down.

Its a DELL!!! Isn't that all you need to hear?  Not that I really have anything bad to say about Dell but why buy Alienware, just get a standard Dell machine if you want that hardware.  I would build my own personally.

not that I am for micro transactions or Item malls for that matter but correct me if I am wrong...

Didn't EQ have a monthly sub and each expansion initially cost you extra money?  I know you can buy them all cheap but originally didn't you have to purchase each expansion?

While the OP has great ideas the implementation of those ideas would have delayed star trek for an additional 2 years.  To me this doesn't seem viable, Cryptic has created a game that is good, steller no but good.  This is a classic example of people over hyping what is coming out, it doesn't matter what was promised back when the game was just being developed what matters is, is the game fun, is the game give you the feel of being part of the Star Trek universe?  If you can say no to either of those just quit, leave don't play anymore, post your suggestions to Cryptic and then leave and resub in a few months maybe things will change?

As for me the game seems fun, I like it personally, the ship combat is a stripped down version of starfleet battles, well it is alot like starfleet command, and this I like.  The ground part of the game seems a bit stagnent at the moment but that can change in time.  Overall it is a good attempt at giving hard core Trek fans something to play but at the same time not make it so complicated that someone who doesn't know star trek can pick it up and play.

As for the pipe dream the OP has, I would love to see it happen but no one will take a chance on that type of game except Sony by the looks of it.

I have to say that this article made me laugh out loud here at work.  I completely understand where your coming from, I may not be the uber star trek "nerd/geek/whatever" but I love the movies, tv shows and most of the games.  I can't speak klingon or any other language like that but I love it when people do, I also can't spell it but it is impressive that a tv show could spawn not only a fan base like the star trek fans but also a whole language that people want to learn.

I know that while we will all, uber star trek fans, expect to much from STO but it won't stop us from supporting it, heck even Enterprise made it for what 6 season, actually I think it was 5.  As long as the game is Star Trek, it will survive just look at how long Star Wars Online has being going after Sony destroyed it, this game will last a long time.

I can't wait to hear more of your ranting about things in game or even wish lists...LOL

I have to ask one question though, do you REALLY have a tricorder that you held up too your computer with your wife watching you and listening?  Because that is Epic.

Only 1 game, Asherons Call 2, honestly I would like to see them shut down AC1 and refurb the engine and graphics and rerelease today but that doesn't count on your OP.

Its funny all these replys and no one has mentioned the 3rd game you asked about Asheron's Call.  While Darkfall is entirly skill based, Asheron's Call is experiance + Use based.  Allow me to explain that statement.

In Darkfall you raise your skills only by using them, so you want to get good with a bow, then fire a 1000 arrows, and your skill will increase.  There is no level and no experiance either to my knowledge please feel free to correct me there.

In AC you can raise your skills by only using them but the time it takes is CRAZY.  I would really like someone to raise there Bow skill from 100-101 just to see how many shots it would take but I know it could be done.  This is where the Hybrid system comes in, although AC has "Levels" these are just resting points for your experiance, a level 125 character would have lets say 1Billion Exp, where as a level 126 has 2Billion.  This experiance is then used to increase your skills and attributes to make you more powerful.  For example if you had a newbie and you looked at your sword skill and it required 250xp to raise 1 point then killing 2 creatures would yield that experiance to you in a pool that you could either put into your sword skill or put into your Strength Attribute or one of the many other attributes.  Then each skill had a base level decided by a formula that was shown in each skill, Sword was (Strength + Coordination)/4, so a strength of 100 and a Coordination of 100 would give you a base sword skill of 50.  Then if you put your 250xp into sword it would go up to 51, but the next point would cost you lets say 500xp, and it would ramp up for each point.  Eventually upgrading your stats will be cheaper then upgrading the skill directly.

It may seem difficult to understand at first but once you get into it the system is great.  Now as for Grinding, that is a matter of opinion in AC.  If all you want to do is get to max level then your going to be grinding a lot, because it is the fastest way to level and to get experiance to max out your characters stats and skills.  If you want to get immersed in the lore of the game then the grinding doesn't seem so bad.  Is it more then Darkfall not sure I have never played Darkfall but it sounds like it is a bit more rewarding and faster at granting you the rewards of taking down a tougher creature or player.

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf

The real truth is that without global chat the game would be dead. Yes there are some old players that remember what it was like when everyone had to go to town to talk, trade, form groups, etc. that want the game to be that way. But the majority of MMO gamers do not want that anymore, they don't want down time. Players want to log in and work on progressing their characters which means being able to trade faster/easier and have global chat so that while you're hunting you can work on setting up a group for a large quest.

 

There won't be an MMO released, that survives, in which there isn't at least a zone wide global chat along with LFG tools. Sure it was an interesting time in MMOs when such things didn't exist, but nobody wants a game like that anymore.

Sorry but I do...Just my opinion but I want a fun gaming experiance with not only a basic goal but a game that feels alive.  Don't get me wrong your right AC would be dead right now without it but overall I want a game just like you explained.  I guess I am in the minority but I think the social aspect of MMO's in general has being declining constantly they are turning into FPS's.  Again just my opinion.

Depending on your idea of a "Sandbox" MMO you could claim that WOW is a sandbox or that EVE is a sandbox game.  If end game play with no real rewards other then armor or weapons or even crafted items is your goal then WOW is a sandbox at end game.  Using this meaning of a sandbox EVE is also a sandbox but it is a sandbox from the moment you log in to the moment you log out with no real level cap or end game except 0.0 space.

Now another way to look at "Sandbox" is choices, originality, goals, different paths to get to everything.  WOW by this definition is not a sandbox, you must grind creatures to level up to become good enough to participate in End game, your choices are not vast, they are narrow and laid out before you.  EVE on the other hand gives you choices from moment 1, you don't have to grind anything in EVE to "Level Up", yes I used "Level Up" for eve, the reason being in even each plateu of skill points is basically a level.  The problem is EVE plays itself you have no interaction with the training of your skills.  In this respect it just became WOW's End game, and that is it.

So to me a true sandbox is a game where you decide what path you want to take with your character, "I want to be a bow guy" then 2 days later "I want to change to a sword guy" then , "A mage".  Open endedness no real end game, just playing, my favorite example of this is still Asheron's Call.  I have not played UO, but it would be close as well.  In these games you could just stand around and cast spells all day and become a buff guy.  Or you can go out and kill, but you don't have to follow a quest, and that is the best part about it.

Only my opinion

It will be released when EA decides to release it, not when Bioware thinks it should be released.  EA owns them and decides things when it comes down to it, and just like we saw with Warhammer, EA said, "Release it NOW!" and they did and it tanked.  Anyone who thinks Bioware owns or has any control over this should leave there pink skied world and accept that Bioware is now EA.

Sorry EA just ticks me off sometimes, I wish Bioware would have the time they need to make this great but they won't, it will come out only 1/2 done and tick off to many people just because EA will force them to release it.

Well I have being playing AION Hardcore since release, I am not Level 11 on my first and only character, and the grind is crazy horrible...LOL.  Just kidding, I am level 11 only and I have being playing since release, I don't have the time to play hard core, I play an hour here or there when the mood suits me.  So far in the game I have found the quests to be quite blah, nothing that jumps out and makes me want to do the next quest.  There is a TON of lore in this game none of which matters if you don't have quests worth doing that show you the lore in an interesting way.

IS Aion a grind, yes it is, is every other game a grind, YES they are and that include the supposed holy grail EVE.  The skills are a grind in that game and so is everything else because that is all you can do.  Again great lore but the missions are so 2 dimensional that it doesn't draw you in.  I mean seriously how many times can the same princess get captured?

Now is this a bad thing in any game, no it again just depends on how much time and effort is put into make the quests interesting and worth while.

I don't even consider Second Life a game, it is more of a template anyone can write on.  There are no goals, nothing really to strive for, it is however the truest Sandbox program out.  To me it is nothing more then MIRC but with 3d people instead of just a chat room.

If I was to base purchasing this game on this post I think I am going to buy it, but I am not ready to dump the money before release, I will wait until beta is complete and then buy it.  I admit though the game sounds like it will be amazing once 80% of the features are in and up to snuff.

For me Original series

Where Spock Talks to the Rock Creature - very well written

TNG

Where Tasha Yar dies - such a moving story it made you feel like your part of the crew and really empathize with them

DS9

Where they get stranded on the planet only to find out that it is populated by there own ancestors and they decide to allow the accident that caused the mess to happen anyway in order to preserve the population but Odo made it so they would not fail in leaving which in turn wipes out the population of the planet. - Amazing episode great forethought again really makes you feel like your there with them.

Voyager

The introduction of species 8472, and the second part to it where they introduce 7 of 9 - Finally a critter out there that can stomp even the Borg

Enterprise

The first episode of the Zindi attack on earth - Its such a humbling experiance to think that that one attack changed the universe so dramatically and the future of Starfleet and earth itself.

Movies

Original Series

Wrath of Khan - Great story amazing writing and for the time best ship battles to date

TNG

This one is a toss up between First Contact and Nemissis

First Contact because it is nice to see where starfleet and all of star trek comes from the origins of warp drive.

Nemissis because the story again was very original and the best ship battles of todays movies

Now to me the best overall movie for all of them is the latest movie, but in reality that movie is not in the same quantum reality as all the rest because it is a new time line therefor it is in all rights its own movie.  Writing was great, action was good, the character introductions amazing and there interaction I think really grabbed you and made you think you were watching younger versions of the original series.

Originally posted by Cerion

I think you missed a major Title in your history of MMOs.  Wasn't it Asheron's Call that introduced Instancing?  If my memory serves, it was the first MMO to use instanced dungeons which are the staple of many MMOs, and foundation of others.

Also, DDO was pretty innovative with its combat -- a hybrid of FPS and RPG.  Is that historically important? Not sure.

Cerion,

No it was not Asheron's Call that introduced Instancing.  All of there dungeons were part of the world that you could enter not seperate entities that only your party could enter.  Anyone could go into any dungeon, and still can.  Now with that said I think Asheron's Call 2 did have instancing so you may be getting them mixed up.

I got tired of the cookie cutter characters, no real differances between each character in a class.  Every paladin is practically identical to the next.  People will scream that talents make everyone original, and I am sorry to say but they don't take away all there talents and they are all the same.  The all have the same stats, Sure talents add some deviation but we all know that once the uber talent set is found for the month then that is what everyone is.  I don't like that the world is like following a carrot, there should be some challenge to the game other then end game PvP and Raids. 

Overall they would have to DRAMATICALLY change the game for me to come back, until then I will find a different game for now.

Leveling:  Asheron's Call (level is just a number to signify how much experiance you have put into your stats)

Classes:Classless all skill based like Asheron's Call

Races:Be original no more Elf crap, or dwarves, lets be original.

Economy:Player based Eve Style

PvP:Twich based PvP - Asheron's Call style

PvE (grouping): Wow based

PvE (raiding): Wow based

PvE (soling): Asheron's Call again

Combat: something like Champions online crossed with Asheron's Call, where combat is not auto attack everything and spam buttons, instead more intutive where you have to pay attention, crossed with the idea from AC where position, and armor on different parts of the body make a difference.  If you have a shield in your left arm, then the shield takes most hits the occasional hit to the legs foot, head should be shown from guys attacking on your left side.

Customization: UI fully customizable

Graphics: (style OR quality): Style

Equipment: Asheron's Call, SWG

Skill set: SWG/Asheron's Call/EVE

Transportation: Depends on the game, mounts are nice but in some games like SWG flight transport is instant.  I would say cross between SWG/Anarchy Online/Asherons Call (portal map)

Events: Hands down Asheron's Call style

Crafting: Eve/SWG everything is craftable, and craftable items are better then 99% of what is out there.

IMO a remake of AC would be the best with the above put in it, I think it would do great.