The game needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, on a more versatile graphics engine. It's the only way - albeit impossible at this point - that it could ever become what most people expected it to be.

Way too much focus on the story and voice acting (which didn't even amount to all that much, to be honest). They relied on this one aspect of the game to overshadow the other more disappointing features... such as actual gameplay.

I've tried many 2D MMO's in my time, and I agree, they're usually very nice to look at, but unfortunately are always dipping in quality of content and gameplay. If a developer put out a modern 2D MMO with the features that are expected in the genre, and content that doesn't resort to grinding, then I'd definitely be inclined to give it a try.

Unfortunately, as others have said, there is still a definite immersion factor that comes from 3D games that 2D games will likely never be capable of emulating, but for pure fun factor, I think they are still competitors.

The last 2D MMO I was actually looking forward to was Tales of Eternia Online way back like 8 years ago maybe. I was saddened that it was only released in Japan. But that was likely for the best as it only lasted for a year or so and was shut down.

I was still playing until a few minutes ago. They announced maintenance, and that there MIGHT be connectivity issues, but nothing happened. Then after a bit, the chat started not working right, couldn't send party messages, whispers, etc., but /say, /team, etc., all worked.

Then it said "Unable to access log-in servers" or some shit, and this message kept popping up over and over.

Eventually I was disconnected and now can't log in.

So now we play the waiting game. :O

Originally posted by VaultFairy

Originally posted by Aviggin

Funny how different viewpoints work. That gameplay video turned you off of the game, and it actually had the opposite effect for me, in that I'm now more psyched than ever. I love the atmosphere overall, the quests seem like they'll be well done (although bland at times) from this. The combat seems like it could be a little faster, however. The caster in general seemed to not do a ton of damage to those Hoglets, constantly got interrupted mid-cast, and the spells weren't overly exciting to watch. Dragoon seems a bit more exciting to watch, but I expected to be able to fight multiple enemies a little easier rather than just the usual fighting one while doing a bit of AoE damage on occasion, then having to switch to the other one.

I also noticed that they kept in the repairing by crafters, as on the Fang Earrings or whatever, it said to repair you need Goldsmith Lvl. 4. Looks like crafting is gonna be much more useful than many other games, but I may just be jumping the gun. :p

All in all, I'm really looking forward to this game.

Indeed! Game seems to look and play alot better than 1.0. Hopefully they will release footage of Summoner at least and perhaps Blue Mage(wishful thinking).

Yeah, I wouldn't mind a look at the Summoner myself. Was pretty damn fun in FFXI, and I wonder how many summons will be available and how they'll play...

Originally posted by Siveria

Originally posted by Aviggin

Funny how different viewpoints work. That gameplay video turned you off of the game, and it actually had the opposite effect for me, in that I'm now more psyched than ever. I love the atmosphere overall, the quests seem like they'll be well done (although bland at times) from this. The combat seems like it could be a little faster, however. The caster in general seemed to not do a ton of damage to those Hoglets, constantly got interrupted mid-cast, and the spells weren't overly exciting to watch. Dragoon seems a bit more exciting to watch, but I expected to be able to fight multiple enemies a little easier rather than just the usual fighting one while doing a bit of AoE damage on occasion, then having to switch to the other one.

I also noticed that they kept in the repairing by crafters, as on the Fang Earrings or whatever, it said to repair you need Goldsmith Lvl. 4. Looks like crafting is gonna be much more useful than many other games, but I may just be jumping the gun. :p

All in all, I'm really looking forward to this game.

I watched more of the vid and seen that lv 15 lancer lose over half his hp to 2 lv 11 monsters. If the final game is like that, it might be good cuz the enemies in ff14 when i played were complete pushovers due to their very low hp. He would probally have died if it was a pair of lv 13 or 14 monsters.

Yeah, I really don't mind it taking a bit of time and making grouping shorten things so people may not thinking of soloing as the "best" option all the time.

I just sorta remember it being advertised that you'll be fighting multiple monsters a lot, and the game was designed around it. Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong game. lol

Still, it's in no way a deal breaker, and is likely a better option in the end.

Originally posted by Siveria
I don't expect much out of the game anymore since square has bascally made it into world of warcraft, so ff14 now has lost anything unique that it had :(. Not sure if i'll bother with it, because there are tons of other mmo's free 2 play and otherwise that I can get the exact same gameplay out of.

You have absolutely no idea what the gameplay is going to be like in the full release, and farther than 15 levels in, or how group play will pan out with the skill chains and limit breaks. The basics may be similar to other games early on, and while soloing, but it looks like group play is where the game will shine, and will be a good bit different than other games.

But I also don't know for sure. Either way, as with every game, "exact same" is a bit overexaggerated.

Originally posted by RaxterRips

FFXIV:ARR is looking more and more like a Final Fantasy World. Its music, graphics and lore (world) are finally up to a Final Fantasy standard. As an MMO it is finally at the MMO standard as well, and no one can deny that. Before at 1.0, it was shit, no one would chose the game. Now, with the game launching with multiple pieces of end game content, the game will be able to compete in the market.

Now, everyones talking about the combat. FFXI was team oriented. It was TACTICAL. It was NOT wack-a-mole like WoW. Each person in the party built up "Tactical points (TP)" which was a fill up bar and had to select from a list of weapon skills relating to the weapon equiped using up the TP. A sword started with Fast Blade, Red Lotus Blade, with dozens of weapon skills to chose from as you leveled. A 2nd person would then use their weapon skill from a different weapon (such as a sycthe, great sword, axe, etc..) and the two would come together to form a skill chain. The skill chains then had a time limit to for mages to cast a spell corresponding to the skill chain element and had to chose the right skill to Magic Burst, extra damage on top of the skill chain that would deal a greater impact of damage.

Skill chaining, magic bursting, and working together made FFXI. This WILL be in FFXIV.

But, how FFXIV:ARR will innovate is through Limit Breaks. The whole party (of 8 people) will combine their power into a massive attack called a limit break (presumingly building up power using a gauge.) This will be tactically used to fight against mobs, in raids, and against bosses. There will be elemental planning and precission to be used in a time sensitive manner.

 

What we're seeing with these alpha videos is low level basic SOLO quests. Don't judge until Beta phase 3 when we start to see team work in the game, something that FFMMO's revolve around.

Enough of "This is WoW" crap. You'll actually have to think about what your doing when you play and plan out your attack to reach full damage.

FFXI fans, back me up here. FFXI was much more hands on then WoW was.

They are using some basic gameplay elements found in WoW, but is also found in almost all modern MMO's. I agree, it looks far from a WoW clone. It has its own style.

If there truly will be the same style of skill/magic chains, and this added Limit Break system for full groups, this game is gonna be awesome.

I am looking forward to seeing how badass these chains and  limit breaks look in action. Hope they don't disappoint.

I am also hoping that a large amount of the game won't be solo-friendly, but unfortunately I don't see that happening.

Funny how different viewpoints work. That gameplay video turned you off of the game, and it actually had the opposite effect for me, in that I'm now more psyched than ever. I love the atmosphere overall, the quests seem like they'll be well done (although bland at times) from this. The combat seems like it could be a little faster, however. The caster in general seemed to not do a ton of damage to those Hoglets, constantly got interrupted mid-cast, and the spells weren't overly exciting to watch. Dragoon seems a bit more exciting to watch, but I expected to be able to fight multiple enemies a little easier rather than just the usual fighting one while doing a bit of AoE damage on occasion, then having to switch to the other one.

I also noticed that they kept in the repairing by crafters, as on the Fang Earrings or whatever, it said to repair you need Goldsmith Lvl. 4. Looks like crafting is gonna be much more useful than many other games, but I may just be jumping the gun. :p

All in all, I'm really looking forward to this game.

Originally posted by Cstahler92

Originally posted by Aviggin

Originally posted by Cstahler92

Originally posted by Noobalurt
have you played Rift? 

No, but my friends have and from what i heard from them I was not interested. As for Darkfall no one knows the price? I'll read everything (Currently bookmarked) tomorrow when I wake up. So far from what I read though I am pretty excited to look in to it.

Rift isn't worth your time if you've played WoW extensively.

 

I played it from launch to Cata. I played MoP, but i'm not in denial like everyone else is about that terrible expansion.

Actually, Rift might be decent now with their new Storm Legion expansion. WoW's personally the best MMO on the market to me. MoP is actually a pretty good expansion, in my opinion. I think, in general, I'm burnt out on MMO's, which is why I'm bored of everything, though.

Originally posted by Cstahler92

Originally posted by Noobalurt
have you played Rift? 

No, but my friends have and from what i heard from them I was not interested. As for Darkfall no one knows the price? I'll read everything (Currently bookmarked) tomorrow when I wake up. So far from what I read though I am pretty excited to look in to it.

Rift isn't worth your time if you've played WoW extensively.

Originally posted by Genadi

Originally posted by Aviggin

Originally posted by DavisFlight
[mod edit]

[mod edit]

Playing the game in 2004 felt very innovative when compared to the rest of the genre. The other MMO's available were basically just grinding mobs, with a bit of story that is kinda in the background for you to either delve into or not. Personally, I found it funny when games like SWTOR said they were attempting to be innovative by adding a "fourth pillar" as story. WoW is the first MMO that really tried to press the story aspect through the quest system and didn't just expect most of the story to be learned through websites and such. Whether you personally believe that WoW is innovative or not, they are pioneers of the MMO genre as it currently stands today, and whether you think that's for better or worse, that doesn't matter. It is what it is.

After 8 years and many copies, you may have skewed thoughts of innovation in terms of WoW, but if you played MMO's back before 2004, you'd realize that WoW was MUCH different compared to other games, and they completely changed many aspects of previous MMO's beforehand.

I will agree that most MMO's have racial starting areas, though, assuming the game has multiple races.

 

Your response to someone saying WoW isn't innovative is "Look at what it was like in 2004" is kinda agreeing with the guy you're trying to disagree with.

 

FTR - UO and even EQ did all of those things long before WoW, yes even the storylines.

The game came out in 2004 and was leaps and bounds beyond anything else that was currently on the market to many people. There's a reason the genre began to to clone WoW and not EQ.

Originally posted by Toxia

Originally posted by Aviggin

Originally posted by Toxia

I'll preface by saying i thoroughly enjoy the game, but i think it falls short in a few areas. I saw reviews on sites dubbing it the skyrim of FPS', and I see now it was just hype that i bought into. The game is nothing like skyrim, beside for the general openness of the world. To me, it is VERY much closer to being something akin to the Grand Theft Auto series.

Things i wish they'd done better:

Side quests. I envisioned skyrim type sidequests that have a story behind them (Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, etc). Instead there's just slapped on sidequests involving racing, hunting, killing a certain NPC a certain way, sharpshooting quests, etc. The racing one really killed immersion for me, as we're on a hostile island full of pirates trying to kill me, but hey, let's race around and waste our gas resources.

Character Progression. Instead of having an all around badass, i would've liked different classes, like sniper, heavy, scout, etc, all with their own skill trees. This would give the game some replayability.

Replayability. The game has none. Color the map in, do the sidequests, run the story, collect your collectables if you like, all on the same game file. No reason to play again.

Driving. Why they felt the need to control your character's vision with mouse when driving and actually drive with W A S D will always elude me. For most of half the game, i sat there training myself to not touch the mouse while driving. Maybe it's for multiplayer or something.

Lack of Scenery. I know, we're on a tropical island, but looking at the same scenery over and over got boring quick. I wish they'd have done SOMETHING there. Did have rain, so that's something i guess.

NPC personalities. Vaas and Dennis were  terrific, wish I coulda followed Vaas around all day listening to anything that spouted from his mouth. Game felt very bland after killing him off. No other characters seemed very memorable.

NPC physical appearances. Would have loved way more variety in the NPC's that were not main characters. Every dude looked like every other dude, same with females. All their lines repeated so much i couldn't help stopping what i was doing to think to myself "They could have done a whole lot more voice work"

Locales. Would have loved loved loved to explore way more ruin type areas than the handfull they gave us. 90% of the time, you're just strutting/driving around the jungle area/dirt roads.

 

Ill finish by saying i have not completed the whole game, as i am glitched on a quest with Sam to destroy some oil tanks. He doesn't spawn, so i can't finish. I can blow up 4 of the things alone, but the last step requires me to drive the vehicle to a certain area with him so he can do something. He's taking a break i guess. le shrug.

I have colored the whole map in, conquered all the red zones, done a fair bit of the sidequests(you need to do some hunting ones to get your next tier of gear), and gotten most of my gear upgrades and almost all my skillpoints( I sniper'ed everything, nice bonuses on headshots.)

 

All in all, i enjoyed the game, and plan on finishing it, but it could have been better.

My two cents. All opinion.

TL:DR - 7/10 score

lol... I was NOT expecting a 7/10 as your score from what you said. It seems like you badmouthed most of the game and then said "all in all, I enjoyed it". Whatever, though, if YOU gave it a 7 after what you were saying, I guess it must be worth buying then.

You must have missed my first sentence, where i clearly said i enjoy the game, BUT think it could have been much better.

I then went on about the things that could have been better.

I definetely reccommend it for purchase, and dont regret purchasing.

I didn't miss a thing. But if you come on here talking about everything you hate and barely mentioned anything you actually enjoy in a game you supposedly enjoy, it doesn't look like you enjoyed it at all.  Let this be a learning lesson for you. The best thing you said about the game was that you sniped everything and liked the headshot bonuses lol

Either way, I'm going to buy it.

Originally posted by Volkon

Originally posted by Aviggin
GW2 IS free, and I STILL don't play it and prefer to pay a monthly fee for WoW. GW2 wasn't bad for 3 weeks or so, and while other games in the genre currently aren't much better, they still feel like they have more going for them currently that actually drives me to play.

 

See above... they've hooked you on to the power treadmill, making you feel like you must keep playing (and paying) to keep up. WoW is horrendous for that... the next tier completely obsoletes the prior and will act as a barrier to raids etc. until you grind your way up to everyone else. What I like with GW2 is the freedom to do what I want, not what I need to do. No gear score to get me kicked from a raid, no meters judging my ability to stand there and go through the same rotation ad nauseum... if WoW is what you like, I hope you continue to have a blast there. But I did that for long enough, right up until just before Cata launched. The thought of having to toss my gear due to absolute obsoletion... enough was enough. I walked away, did Eve for a bit, even some Wizard 101 with the kids, and waited on GW2.

I played WoW since the Open Beta before launch in 2004. It's still by far above and beyond anything else currently available. That "power treadmill" might be a hassle for you, but it's what has kept me coming back no matter how many times I've quite in the past.

If there's nothing keeping you going, as is the case in GW2, at least for me, then there's no point playing. Period. There's nothing else that needs to be said.

Originally posted by Toxia

I'll preface by saying i thoroughly enjoy the game, but i think it falls short in a few areas. I saw reviews on sites dubbing it the skyrim of FPS', and I see now it was just hype that i bought into. The game is nothing like skyrim, beside for the general openness of the world. To me, it is VERY much closer to being something akin to the Grand Theft Auto series.

Things i wish they'd done better:

Side quests. I envisioned skyrim type sidequests that have a story behind them (Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, etc). Instead there's just slapped on sidequests involving racing, hunting, killing a certain NPC a certain way, sharpshooting quests, etc. The racing one really killed immersion for me, as we're on a hostile island full of pirates trying to kill me, but hey, let's race around and waste our gas resources.

Character Progression. Instead of having an all around badass, i would've liked different classes, like sniper, heavy, scout, etc, all with their own skill trees. This would give the game some replayability.

Replayability. The game has none. Color the map in, do the sidequests, run the story, collect your collectables if you like, all on the same game file. No reason to play again.

Driving. Why they felt the need to control your character's vision with mouse when driving and actually drive with W A S D will always elude me. For most of half the game, i sat there training myself to not touch the mouse while driving. Maybe it's for multiplayer or something.

Lack of Scenery. I know, we're on a tropical island, but looking at the same scenery over and over got boring quick. I wish they'd have done SOMETHING there. Did have rain, so that's something i guess.

NPC personalities. Vaas and Dennis were  terrific, wish I coulda followed Vaas around all day listening to anything that spouted from his mouth. Game felt very bland after killing him off. No other characters seemed very memorable.

NPC physical appearances. Would have loved way more variety in the NPC's that were not main characters. Every dude looked like every other dude, same with females. All their lines repeated so much i couldn't help stopping what i was doing to think to myself "They could have done a whole lot more voice work"

Locales. Would have loved loved loved to explore way more ruin type areas than the handfull they gave us. 90% of the time, you're just strutting/driving around the jungle area/dirt roads.

 

Ill finish by saying i have not completed the whole game, as i am glitched on a quest with Sam to destroy some oil tanks. He doesn't spawn, so i can't finish. I can blow up 4 of the things alone, but the last step requires me to drive the vehicle to a certain area with him so he can do something. He's taking a break i guess. le shrug.

I have colored the whole map in, conquered all the red zones, done a fair bit of the sidequests(you need to do some hunting ones to get your next tier of gear), and gotten most of my gear upgrades and almost all my skillpoints( I sniper'ed everything, nice bonuses on headshots.)

 

All in all, i enjoyed the game, and plan on finishing it, but it could have been better.

My two cents. All opinion.

TL:DR - 7/10 score

lol... I was NOT expecting a 7/10 as your score from what you said. It seems like you badmouthed most of the game and then said "all in all, I enjoyed it". Whatever, though, if YOU gave it a 7 after what you were saying, I guess it must be worth buying then.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by aleos
yes they did sell an alpha. normally people would have a right to be upset. however they stressed it before they even sold it THIS WAS ALPHA. so if anyone was upset after they bought it obviously didn't do much reading before they did so.

First off asking someone to PAY to test your alpha code is beyond rude.  This game is basically a scam to separate you your money into their pockets.

"Its a fun game. not found a hacker yet.'

Right and you obviously have not played the game then or are oblivious to what a hacker looks like, hackers are everywhere in this game.

You realize that what you're saying isn't exaclty... intelligent, right? Not every developer has an endless stream of income, and maybe you should think of this as a "Kickstarter" sort of deal.

The developers never pretended to sell a full game and then dump an Alpha version onto you. If you paid for it, you should have fully realized what you were paying for before you separated you money from your pocket. Maybe next time try not separating your money from your mind and you'll make better decisions.

Originally posted by evilastro
Also noted that they include Torchlight 2 and not Diablo 3. Very good call.

I am VERY happy with this...

However, GW2 doesn NOT deserve the vote of top game of 2012... it's just so.. boring.  So few skills to use, barely any real end-game, and that fight with Zhaitan was laughable at best. The story in general is pretty bland, actually.

I liked that you could explore, find specific points of interest, do the "dynamic" events, pvp, whatever, and get xp towards your goal of 80th level, but PvP isn't very fun (WvW or SPvP), PvE isn't a ton different than the norm aside from everyone in the same area being able to do the quests with you without grouping.

Hm... I just really don't get the game. Period. Oh well, for me.

Originally posted by Starpower

Originally posted by chelan

Originally posted by Nhyx
@Badaboom and winter
So, what you guys are saying is because you don't enjoy the game anymore they should shut it down. Very altruistic of you.
 

exactly. if you don't like it that's fine. there are plenty of reasons to want a game shut down.  but there are a growing number of people who continue to enjoy the game.

If that were true then you wouldn't need these call to arms and Vanguard needs more love posts

I have no idea whether the game is growing or not, but a thread saying it needs more love is no indication that it isn't. It could be growing, and the OP is just riding the momentum and hoping to help things further.

I've logged into the game recently for the first time in a long ass time, and I'm actually seeing people around talking, and in the starter areas (not the Isle of Dawn or whatever) where like a year ago I would have seen no activity whatsoever. I can't say whether that means anything, but it already seems much more active because of this than it did a year or more ago.

Originally posted by DavisFlight
[mod edit]

[mod edit]

Playing the game in 2004 felt very innovative when compared to the rest of the genre. The other MMO's available were basically just grinding mobs, with a bit of story that is kinda in the background for you to either delve into or not. Personally, I found it funny when games like SWTOR said they were attempting to be innovative by adding a "fourth pillar" as story. WoW is the first MMO that really tried to press the story aspect through the quest system and didn't just expect most of the story to be learned through websites and such. Whether you personally believe that WoW is innovative or not, they are pioneers of the MMO genre as it currently stands today, and whether you think that's for better or worse, that doesn't matter. It is what it is.

After 8 years and many copies, you may have skewed thoughts of innovation in terms of WoW, but if you played MMO's back before 2004, you'd realize that WoW was MUCH different compared to other games, and they completely changed many aspects of previous MMO's beforehand.

I will agree that most MMO's have racial starting areas, though, assuming the game has multiple races.