There is also a pretty large number of vets that still play on classic,non-live servers, so there is still a lot of folks around enjoying the game. Totally beyond me why EA is not trying to do something with this playerpool.

That is actually an interesting point. I think a lot of character forming, development of social skills and learning happens during that age, so maybe putting them in front of a grindy computer game is not the best idea? Would actually be interested to hear whether any research as been done on that, but from a pure gut-feeling point of view, I wouldn't recommend MMO gaming for kids, at all.

Something like e.g. DAoC is too complex to run on a tablet (control-scheme wise). WoW - or rather the iOS clone Order&Chaos - actually works quite well on the iPad tho. But it is still more comfortable to play these games on a pc, imho.

Hi guys,

thanks for the input! After hours of repeatedly re-initializing the system, testing all components etc, I decided to just by the cheapest wireless stick I could find - and lo and behold, the system works and is stable again, including internet access. Funny thing is the stick did not cause a crash on the same box unter linux or under Vista on a laptop. Just not sure what to make of that ;) Digging through forums brought up quite a few horror stories tbh, but in my case the simplest solution seems to have done the trick...

Originally posted by Quizzical

Are you able to:

1)  Plug the wireless adapter into a different computer and have the Internet work on the other computer with the adapter but not without it?

Yes

2)  Plug the wireless adpater into a USB slot that works for a different USB device, to make sure the USB slot isn't the problem?

Tested that, all ports work for e.g. mouse, wacom pad, .. not for the wireless adaper

3)  Run an ethernet cable from the modem to the computer and get a working wired Internet connection to make sure that it isn't something in Windows networking messed up?

No cable at hand right now, but I did 2 clean installs since then, so I am guessing software is not the issue (will get a cable tomorrow, if the problem persists)

4)  Plug the wireless adapter into both front and back panel USB ports, and also both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, to make sure that you're trying it on whatever ports can deliver the most power?

Tried all ports, no luck. Although it would occasionally freeze the mouse (not anymore tho, now it just doesnt do anything)

I try to avoid wireless stuff when possible.  Wireless means too many things that can go wrong.

Beginning to think the same... Running a cable is not an option, girlfriend would kill me ;) Are those internal wirless PCI-cards any good?

Hi guys,

I know, this is not a tech forum per se, but i found that there are a lot of tech-savy people here.

So here goes:

Earlier today my new system crashed during a gaming session. Screen went black wit no warning; system was still under power, but went quiet/crashed. After trying a reboot and being greeted by unfriendly beeping from the internal speakers, I opened the box and checked all the cables. Turned out the PCI-e power coord wiggled loosed, probably when I wrapped up the build and cleaned up the cable-chaos. My bad, I know.

Anyway, pushed it back in and made sure it sat tightly in place. The box would boot fine afterwards, until it got to the login screen - there it crashed (lock up, blue screen). Again, several tries later - after having it narrowed down to network components via safe boot - I realized had it had to do with the wireless USB adapter. Worked fine before the crash, but now would lock up the system as soon as windows tried communicating with it.(System would boot and run just fine without the stick plugged in)

Tried various tings including a clean install, latest drivers etc, but no luck. I updated the bios to the latest version, did another clean install - and lo and behold, no more crashing, but no internet either. WIndows will list the stick under hardware (unknown 11n), and correctly after driver install, but the lights on the stick do not flash and the installation tool from the manufacturer fails to detect the device. I tried running the damn thing on a windows vista laptop and it worked. So whatver this is, it's not the stick - or maybe it is, I really got no clue what the hell is going on.

Other USB devices, including ones that are powered via usb, run fine (although I got a weird message when connecting/installing an external sound device, something about the device using too much bandwith. Worked after installing the board drivers again.

Any suggestions? Could the board be damaged somehow? Would other devices still work in that case? Did the bios upgrade remove hardware compatibility for the stick? If so, why did a clean install etc before not solve the stick issue (remember, it works on another computer just fine). Any bios-settings or other tricks I could try?

Cheers,

Lasa

The board is an Asus M4A87TD/USB3

The stick is a DLink DWA-140

Good point - went with 4GB Ram, Corsair 550W PSU and an Asus M4A87TD board.

The stock cooler is surprisingly good,  CPU never gets above 52 degrees celsius under full load.

Just to give an update - bought the above components and new system is running like a dream. Thanks again!

Ok, that was quite informative, thank you!

So would a Corsair 80x certified 550W PSU be sufficient then?

Cheers for those thoughts.

The PSU is a Seasonic S12 (or some such), which got pretty favorable reviews and is said to be extremely capable. So I'll just wait and see what happens there. As for the GPU - that is on the list, just not at the top right now. It seemed to me that the CPU/Ram were the main bottleneck in the current configuration. But a new gfx card is certainly planned. Will see about the PSU; from what I read e.g. a Radeon 6850 has about the same power needs as the 4850. But again, no big deal switching PSUs if need be...

Ram just seems dirt-cheap these days and I do use my computer for work-related stuff ocassionally where more ram comes in handy.

The Powersupply is a good point. I used a website to calcuate my power needs with the new setup and that came out at 350W. So there seems to be some room there still.

Hi guys,

I know, people often ask these questions. Anyway, I was hoping for some helpful comments regarding a hardware upgrade.

My current system runs an intel dual core E5300 (2.5Ghz), 4 (3) GB DDR2 Ram [800MGZ] and a Radeon 4850; all powered by a 430 Watt power supply.

I've started to notice choppiness and generally slow performance, espcially compared to newer systems (like the new MacPro we have at work ;)).

I was thinking about chanchanging the board, cpu and ram - later followed by the gfx card. I am not looking into the high end stuff, just something to future-proof the system for the next 2-3 years. No fixed budget, but something in the 450€ range would be ideal. My planned purchases:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

CoolIT ECO A.L.C. CPU Cooler

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3, Socket-AM3

Crucial DDR3 1333MHz 8GB KIT, CL9 (+ Windows 7 64bit, to make that work)

I guess the main question concerns the board - lots of choices but no clue what is really the most appropriate model for my needs. For example, I don't plan on running SLI so having 2 PCIe slots seems a little redundant.

So any feedback would be great!

While Rift ist likely the more polished game on release, I'd have to say Xsyon. Simple because I can see something novel and interesting coming out of that game; something that can benefit the genre as a whole. Rift on the other hand contributes nothing, imho. And I am old enough to remember the times when games where not all about getting better items in order to get into dungeons to get better items to then get better items... so the concept of Xsyon appeals to me, polish or no polish. If enough people show their support (financially), this game can turn out pretty good, I reckon. 

And if you google it, there has recently been a report on how to upgrade the low-priced 6850 to the high-end 6870 model through a bios-update. You can kiss your warranty goodbye of course, but if you like this sort of 'hacking' - great value for the money for sure.

Ok , just a thought then:

While I agree that LoTRO has a good F2P model, it should be noted that the game already had a life as P2P title - box sales, sub fees etc. Chances are Turbine has made back the money they put in to produce it and then some. In this case, the F2P model is a way to keep the game populated and profitable in an increasingly competitive market. I am not sure such a model would work for a new game - but it is a good way of keeping it in the black once it has passed its peak. 

Agree, Jar Jar was a big annoyance for me as well. I have no issue with comic relief characters, but I also think the robots did a fine job with that in the original trilogy without being obnoxious and retarded. Lucas tried way too hard to appeal to the kid-crowd and in the process pissed off a lot of the viewers that grew up with the original trilogy and basically got him to where he is today. 

I don't know, I take the scores for what they are - a way to gauge the quality of a game as seen by the majority of users on this site. I can then go on and read to individual comments for more specifics on the game or the 'professional' review by one of the editors. Anything beyond that (e.g. annual re-reviews etc) would be unreasonable to expect from a site like this. 

There is a subtle difference that you are not considering there...

For example, I am one of those that didn't really enjoy DragonAge - BUT that was not because the game was poorly made, but more because it wasn't my cup of tea. Most criticism with FXiV so far discusses very specific failings in both game design as well as  other mechnical aspects of e.g. the UI. These things are hardly a matter of opinion for most people - a bad UI is simply that, bad. An such things should never ever make it into a final product that a company is charging money for. Also, I don't think SE did themselves a favor when they publicly asked reviewers to old off judgement for the first month even though they were already taking peoples' money. That's plain unethical, period. 

well, to me it seems like BW is trying to cut a few corners by only including humans. Adding other species to the mix may well open them up to further criticism if they don't adjust the story lines to affect cultural/racial backgrounds etc. Then there is also the fact that it would require additional work on the character creator, lore, etc. But for a game with this type of budget this is not really a valid excuse in my book. 

I still have no strong opinion about the game one way or the other, but I am at least a little confused by some of the decisions they made - the one brought up by the OP being one of them. The fact that there hasn't been a whole lot of information on how group play will be encouraged, or what the social layers in the game design are going to be etc...

I'm sure people would be interested to know how long you have played so far - just to get an idea of how well-founded your opinion is.