Originally posted by WisebutCruel 

Hate to tell you, but whether paid or not, he and all those other "mods" represent Starvault to the public. What they do or say reflects on Starvault just as much as what any of their "devs" say or do.

I personally like to use my brain, make my own judgement and not let my perception be deterred by an emotional outbreak employee, or so-called-representative (which also can be understood, if you are not completely ignorant or biased).

But that's just me...

Originally posted by MortisRex

... and behave with professional decorum regardless of how much of a jackass the customer is. That part of being a professional...

And here is the flaw of all your flames. That guy is not a professional. He does not get paid and is a member of the community as anybody else. He is (mostly) a technical administrator and does it for free, as all the other Mods on the MO-Forums.

Only the ones with golden(beige, yellowish) names are employees of SV. So while his tone might have been rude, it certainly was not unprofessional, because there is no profession involved. It might still be wrong, but I am sure, they will work that out among the staff.

Besides, the OP is a troll (at least in the MOFOs).

Originally posted by Rayx0r

na, wouldnt play it.  I also dont think most married or people very involved in a relationship would.

That is a very naive and shortsighted view...

As if being in a relationship would have stopped humans from having fun elsewhere.

@Topic:

I have to agree with Slaynn here. If it would be tasteful and fitting the lore and overall feel of the game, sure I would. If it is the centre of it, I would not..

As many have pointed out, it would be a playground for unsatisfied people diving into virtual sex - which usually is no fun at all.

Sex is a natural thing. It is our prime reason for existence on the evolutionary scale. It is a major social factor and tool for all higher primates. And personally I always thought that it should be part of computer games just as much, as it is in life generally. But since we don't handle sex very naturally anyway, it is no wonder, we cannot handle it in games either.

But you don't need a new game for tasteless sexual expression. Every MMO has been and will be a playground for sexual expression. The Boob-factor has been there and will be there anyway in most games.

The ideal MMO for an adult audience surly includes sex, but on a very natural basis, tastefully and homogeneously integrated.

“The contents of this post do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com and its management.”

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Originally posted by Samhael

 

I read the article but didn't see what the actual "update" part was. Did I miss something? (not trying to be snide but it just seemed like observations more than anything else)
I'm still trying to figure out what the actual launch date is for the US!

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I actually called the article "Let the Chronicles begin... - a short round-up"
But you know, it gets through many hands until it is published ^^
The US launch was originally planned for the 5th January, but is seems to be laid off until "later"... (I hope it comes soon though)
 

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Originally posted by toord
Great link, Delanor. Obviously not from a basher, but not from a Fanboi either.

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I would not consider myself a fanboi - thank you ^^.

As a European, I can understand you disappointments, but for us - from a user point of view, it was not such a bad launch.

The whole thing with the IP block is a bad idea, really. And the European player-base agrees with that. My personal guess would be, that they could not get Bullfrog to carry out the release in the US and thus were looking for someone else. Of course I have no insight into the marketing decisions, but since SIL was virtually unknown, most publishers would not touch it with a "10 foot pole" - ((R) D&D).
And of course it would have must been a publisher with some experience, or at least the resources to cover a MMORPG. And who is there (who does not have its own MMO on the start)?

I just hope, that TCoS will survive. I am currently not playing as much as I would like to (too much personal stuff to do), but I always keep myself updated and log in for a level or two whenever I can. It is still one of the most promising titles out there (IMO) and I will stick to it for now...

have a nice one!

- patrick

“The contents of this post do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com and its management.”
 

I agree with most posters and vote:

"None of the above!"

There are others, more innovative ideas and features out there. Spellborns combat for example. Yes, PQ of Warhammer are a nice idea, but not really working the way they should from a players point of view.

I am sorry, but I see no innovative feature (working) in that list. At least none, that would suffice an award.

I love PvP. Not only from the Roleplayers point of view in search for realism. But also as a gamer, because of the challenge. After all, humans usually don't play scripted.

But there are several reasons why I am usually not playing on a PvP Server of any given game. The main reason are the ganking idiots that kill anything, just because they can. Not only do they disturb the playing experience of other gamers, it is also very unrealistic. There is no game that has a decent criminalization-system out there. But something like that is needed, because something like killing players should bear consequences. Then the ganker-faction would become smaller.

The main argument of gankers here is, that it is only a game. But an MMORPG is a little bit more. It portrays some csort of society and every society has some sort of repercussions for mindless killing. Sure, if there is open war between two parties, the repercussions will be more on the positive side.
Another thing that the ganker-faction loves to ignore is the fact, that you are still interacting with people. So yes, it might be a game, but your action influence other people. If you play some sort of online-FPS like QT or CS, you expect to be killed on a very regular basis. But if you go about your business in a virtual world, even if it is a dangerous place, you don't want to be jumped by some idiot every couple of minutes.

Last but not least, there is the question about fairnes. As soon as somebody you are attacking does not stand a chance at all (too low, low HP, fighting against several mobs etc.) you are taling advantage again. Not of game mechanics, but of the circumstances a person is in. And that sucks.

So yes, I love PvP. But I rather not play with the usual type of mindless killing morons that crawl around on PvP-servers (not als PvPers are that sort of course).

One of the most eagerly awaited online role-playing games is approaching the final stretch in its development. The German, English and French versions of The Chronicles of Spellborn are scheduled for release on November 27th, 2008 in Europe. In preparation of the release, the innovative fantasy MMORPG has started into the next phase of the closed beta tests along with a large content patch Wednesday, 17th of September..

The update brings along substantial advancements in the class system, the quest architecture, the fame system and the combat gameplay as well as improvements on art and general game mechanics lifting the game onto a new level of gameplay experience. During the upcoming weeks, developer Spellborn NV and publisher Frogster will invite more selected registered community members into the closed beta tests. A detailed beta and release schedule for The Chronicles of Spellborn will be announced shortly. Interested fantasy adventurers can register via the brand new beta registration on www.tcos.com to get the chance to have a look at the game before the actual release.

- source: Official Forum

There are no official announcements for the US or Asia, but it is likely that it will be released at the same time, since it has been a goal of SIL to have a global launch date.

P&P: Traveler (or was it Megatraveler?) about 25 years ago.

Online: several MUDs, MOOs and MUSHes about 20 years ago, with a 9800 baud modem and a telenet-client. simple but fun text-MORPGs

UO, The Realm and others followed.

There are three big problems, why RP is virtually non-existant in MOORPGs:

1. The Term RPG itself has been bleached, abused, misused and badly treated, that a normal gamer does not get it real meaning. For most, it is a game, where you manouver an avatar and that avatar can progress (by level, item, abilities etc). As long, as a game like, lets say Diablo, is considered a RPG, you will not be able to role-play in peace on any MMO. Most MMOs should not even carry the abbreviation RPG.

2. Most games developed today are not idea- but marketing-driven. A few years back, the CGI was run and lead by geeks and nerds, who come from a sub-culture, very close, or even involved with RPG and older computer-games. Today all the nice and small details that would make RP enjoyable are the first things that have to go, if the dead-line comes too close. So you end up with games, that some marketing-guy thinks will make money, but there is not a single chair in the game, you can sit on.

3. One of the biggest mistakes is to think, that role-players are a niche. They are not. Also most CG-Companies tend to believe that they favor a seperate type of game-style, which is also not true. Roleplayers can be PvEers and PvPers alike. And they play many games. But in an environment where roleplaying is non-existent they will not reveal themself, or, if they really want to go through the troubles, the gather in small conclaves. WoW is a good example that there are a big load of roleplayers out there. Even if only a thrid of the population of a rp-server is made up by  roleplayers, you still have hundred of thousand worldwide. All that, while RPers often go back to freeshards, don't RP online at all, or hide their true joy.

Roleplayers should not need to hide, or huddle together in small conclaves in the genre they brought into existence. (MUDs; MUSHes and MOOs are the real ancestors). But roleplayers tend to fight over the small things, instead of gathering and voicing their opinion. There are games, that have a lot of potential. And if a big-enough number of role-players would stand as one and show their willingnes to support a game, if they are treated well with content and protection for the game-style, then the studios of those games might just accomadate them and give them a proper home.

Currently I try just that with The Chronicles of Spellborn, which will not be very appealing for the broad masse, but has a lot to offer to roleplayers. No itemization, no raid content, no farming and grinding and very much focused on the story. Hell there are not even stats on armors and a mage can wear full plate as much as a warrior, leaving only a cosmetical difference.

I decided to put my hopes into a currently developed game for once more. So I am working on a role-player portal for TCoS, trying to get the RPers together and form a single voice to be heard.

Because it comes down to that: You, as a roleplayer have to work for it, together with others that share your interest. And so I do...