All Posts by Aethios

Farming and Cooking are two of the skills in Runescape. Perhaps that's the game you're thinking of.

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Originally posted by Rabidaskal
Lineage 2 / EvE

I actually think WOW could have been a very good PVP game. The PVP gameplay was great and most classes were balanced, and in team battles ALL classes could contribute in very unique / specific ways.

But then Blizz tacked on the honor system and threw everyone into instanced battlegrounds, which basically reduced PVP to grinding other players

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While the PvP system in WoW was never really balanced, and the Honor System in itself wasn't THAT bad, I agree that the instanced battlegrounds killed the PvP aspect of the game. Leaving everything in the game world and giving people stuff to attack/capture would have been much better for the development of the game.

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Originally posted by mmorpg23

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Originally posted by Aethios

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Originally posted by mmorpg23
What are some guides, tutorials, books, advice, etc. for writing MMORPGs? I'd really like to write one but there's nothing on the topic anywhere!

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There's nothing on the topic anywhere because it's not something you can just sit down and do. It can't be done in an evening, a week, a month, or even a year. We're talking monster projects. Cities have been built and destroyed in the time it takes to write an MMO. This all assumes, as was mentioned above, that you have 50 or more people working under you as well. It's certainly not something you could sit down and do by yourself.

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Oh. Yeah. This discussion is really getting me no where. I know I need a team, but I've seen some books on it. I don't get this...

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Most of the books on "game development" are trash books written for people who really have no idea what they're looking for. My parents gave me one as a Christmas gift one year, because they thought I would like it. It was totally useless, and I resorted to using it to prop the window open.

If you really want to write a game, I suggest you learn about different programming languages, and then get some books on those languages specifically. It's still only the first in a LONG list of game development tasks, but it's a start, and should give you at least some idea of how massive this project really is.

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Originally posted by mmorpg23
What are some guides, tutorials, books, advice, etc. for writing MMORPGs? I'd really like to write one but there's nothing on the topic anywhere!

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There's nothing on the topic anywhere because it's not something you can just sit down and do. It can't be done in an evening, a week, a month, or even a year. We're talking monster projects. Cities have been built and destroyed in the time it takes to write an MMO. This all assumes, as was mentioned above, that you have 50 or more people working under you as well. It's certainly not something you could sit down and do by yourself.

Generally, you need the CD key to MAKE an account, not to log in.

You should have actually logged into the game before assuming that was all you had to do.

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Originally posted by SeanDavis
Please give examples of those bugs, I might tell you if they've been fixed or not. And if I can't, someone else surely can :)

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I don't remember many of them, as it's been several years, but I'll list the ones I can think of.

Data Mining
~ Nodes would be placed WAY up in the air, totally unreachable.
~ If you tried to mine it, and failed, the node still disappeared.
~ Placing two or more nodes too close together would result in them BOTH disappearing, even if you were only receiving data from one.

Missions
~ Elevators were broken, and wouldn't transport between floors.
~ Often, the floor needed in a mission would be empty, or not exist at all.

Also, there were a lot of issues with the combat system at the time. It was a poorly thought out hybrid of turn-based and real-time. There was one mission in particular that I couldn't beat, because there were two mobs and whichever wasn't fist-fighting me would be shooting me in the back with a shotgun, while I was stuck waiting for my turn to punch the first guy. Since the shotgun mob could fire at will, and I was stuck waiting around, it was guaranteed death for me.

I have only one thing to say in response:

"WoW kiddiez" can be removed from Vanguard, but meaningful gameplay is already missing from WoW.

If Vanguard can give me a reason to play, without feeling the need to resort to 9-hour-long raids and gutless PvP, then I'll probably try it out.

I've played the game on and off since release and I enjoy it quite a bit, but now that they've completely destroyed their macro and add-on system I have no reason to play anymore. There are simply too many situational abilities to keep handy in every combat to make playing any character practical. I have like a 9" square remaining in the middle of my screen that I use to target.

Anyways, didn't you get banned or something? Why are you still going on about this?

EDIT: Having read the quote attached to your avatar, I remember now why you were banned.

Have they fixed the bugs? This game had a TON of great ideas, but to say they were overshadowed would be an understatement. I only saw the interesting content in passing, because I was so busy suffering through the ridiculous problems this game had. I'm certain many of them are fixed now, but the sheer quantity of them tells me this game will never recover. It's beyond saving when you can simply walk down the street and point out 20-30 bugs.

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Originally posted by MagicStar
Sadly it looks like another sci-fi game that takes palce 100+ years from now on planet earth or the solar system.

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/agree

The storyline is weak, at best. While story doesn't always drive a game, it IS a good indicator of how clever and creative their team is, which will determine how interesting the game is. Instead, this game sounds exactly like 100 other single player RTS games from the '90s. How they plan on turning it into an MMO is beyond me, but I certainly hope they come up with something other than "people landed on the wrong planet and decided to kill each other."

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Some of these, MC and Visa, work pretty well. ... The American Express preloaded cards almost never work, be warned.

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MasterCard sells small $25 gift cards at many grocery stores. They have a very small activation fee, like $2 or so, and then you get your full $25 on the card. I use them to purchase things online all the time, from companies that might not be trustworthy. I'm sure with EA there won't be any problems, though.

Also, just as it said in the FAQ, the American Express cards have NEVER worked for me, so beware. They really are only for use in actual stores, to buy tangible products.

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Originally posted by Enigma
I have to say too low as well

We need to let the MMO companies know that we are valued members of the gaming society as well. Putting together hack and slash two bit coding with some graphics is not my idea of an involving MMO

Sadly, in 2004-2006 we have seen far too many. I wont name any MMOs as every person has their own perspectives. But we have all seen the depressing trend.

Gawd, what I wouldn't go for a good Sci-fi MMO (like ShadowRun ), or a great Modern age Gothic Horror (like Vampire: The Masquerade), or even something like This One or Even this one

The possibilities or literally endless, yet we are stuck with the same carbon copy fantasy based MMO. Bleh

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I have to agree with you. The past few years have been weak, at best. We need some companies with the guts to step out on a limb and to do it properly, not get halfway there and then wuss out. There are many games and IPs out there that could be used to make an MMO, and there are countless ideas, even from regular players like you and me, that would also be great for MMO use.

Having said that, I think that making GTA (especially San Andreas) into an MMO would be a HUGE mistake. If you thought WoW's community was bad...

Shadowrun, Vampire, and Ghost in the Shell are all great titles, though.

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Originally posted by Souvec

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Originally posted by Aethios

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Originally posted by Enigma
I like EVE but I would not nominate it for half the things it made to the finalist round. Especially PvE...that doesn't make a lick of sense.

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It's not about who is best at what, or making sense of anything. It's about the EVE fanboys coming to this site and skewing the vote in their favor. IMO, seeing EVE on the list at all for PvE proves that this is true.

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Then I would encourage all fans of other games and genres to unite against this. Apparently the EVE player base finds the game they play to be a good game and want to vote for it accordingly. Much like the "fanboys" that voted for WoW to have the best PvP.

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They won't, because they don't care. You've set your standards so low, that you can't lose. I suppose that's one way to do it, but generally not the preferred method.

I wouldn't vote for WoW to have the best PvP, simply because it doesn't, and I voted for EVE for the best graphics, because it has them. To even suggest that EVE be nominated for PvE is a joke, though.

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Originally posted by Cryomatrix
I tried installing CIVIII and i'm missing a CD.

Cryomatrix

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Civ IV was better anyways.

It's been a long time since I played Civ III, but I believe Civ IV fixed a lot of issues, such as the flood plains tiles completely annihilating any nearby cities after a few turns. Getting stuck in a crappy starting spot lost me quite a few games.

Also, I think the ability to fully automate workers to stay within your cultural boundaries was added in Civ IV, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: If you want a REALLY neat character, try a ladder Sorceress and do a "Double Dream" build for some absolutely SICK lightning damage. Last I checked it only works for ladder characters, but it's cool as hell.

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Originally posted by Enigma
I like EVE but I would not nominate it for half the things it made to the finalist round. Especially PvE...that doesn't make a lick of sense.

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It's not about who is best at what, or making sense of anything. It's about the EVE fanboys coming to this site and skewing the vote in their favor. IMO, seeing EVE on the list at all for PvE proves that this is true.

Their RaidID system has been fubared since the game released. I played on Warsong to begin with, and there's a very famous player there who was supposedly the first to 60. Anyways, he felt that he was "special" somehow, and he found a way to lock players PERMANENTLY out of any raid instance, by booting them a certain way, and they were unable to ever enter that instance again.

At the time, the GMs said the same thing. "There's nothing we can do."

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Originally posted by Miexon
I agree PVE isn't the best but its definately not the worst. I don't think it should be nominated for that award but its not just my opinion; its everyones.

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No, no it's not. The opinions represented in the awards are the opinions of all the EVE players coming over due to the sticky on the main page, and all of their alternate accounts, which I'm sure numbers in the thousands. To say it's EVERYONE's opinion would be to imply that WoW, EQ2, GW, etc etc also gave significant attention to the contest, which didn't (and won't) happen.

The EVE players are also free to speculate why this is, or even try to pretend it doesn't matter, but in reality, it means that this contest is worthless, and the only people who care are the ones who win.

EDIT: I'd also like to clarify that I'm not trying to say it isn't fair, just that it's not unbiased.

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Originally posted by Roin
Do you have any idea how ridiculous your post sounds? You try to attack Gameloading, but get slapped with logic. So you turn to a Johny Cocren (Don't know the accurate spelling of his name) defense, by trying to mince words and confuse everyone, including yourself. When you make a mistake, just say "Sorry". Then move on, that's all you really had to do.

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QFT, Gameloading wins.

Having said that, I agree completely with you, Gameloading. This game seems to enjoy punishing players for spending time in-game. I've tried on 5 or 6 different occasions to make free trials (at one point I actually paid for the game) and enjoy it, and I simply can't, even when I have RL friends to group with. Not being able to have an active role in leveling my skills is game-breaking IMO. When you remove this, all that's left is farming and PvP, and the PvP in this game is reduced to territorial clan-wars and gate-camping or griefing. I also would have liked to craft, and perhaps build a station, but these are both practically impossible without 20-30 people backing you up.

BTW, for future reference, the warp-to-0km feature DOES NOT WORK in auto-pilot. In my opinion, this is a mistake, and incredibly lame. Yes, I understand their reasoning, and it's still stupid. Also, having to manually click every 2-3 seconds to maximize transversal velocity, while adding SOME measure of skill, is also extremely stupid. Either make this game a twitch-based flying simulator, or automate these types of functions. This half-ass hybrid of the two is not working for me. Either it involves hand-eye skills, or it doesn't.

BTW Roin, his name is spelled Cochran, I believe.