I've been looking forward to a game like this for a while now, I hope that they can come through. Permadeath actually sounds fun to me. I also enjoy the hiding of character names till you actually introduce yourselves to other characters of figure it out in some other fashion. The clue system also sounds neat if they do it on a subtle level, not clicking on some obvious glowing item and getting a random chanse of discovering who raided your turnip farm.

I like the idea of a more historical form of magic, based on ritual and write, to be dsicovered by those willing to look down the rabbit hole and to the fields of the fae, risking all that goes that way.

ALSO: those complaining about the character models looking the same; this is an endie game in development, of course it looks the same as of yet! Many MMOS do the same thing in early stages of development and internal testing, just more noticable on endie games because they have to take longer to refine the mechanics before implamenting more customization. If you listen to the video on their website, the lead designer mentions some of the customization options you have at creation, just to give you an idea. I'm sure they will not all look the same. Even so, games like Anarchy Online have done very well with limited amount of facial character customization because of it's unique story setting and other features.

Ah, thaught aracnoid was dead too for a moment, saw that new supervillain on COH main site.

"If you wish to fulfill the various challenges can be the master of the Americas!"

 

Yeah, conquer those Americas! woot!

Sounds like a capitalist manifesto:-P

 

"In what is unheard of in the MMO industry, Tiny Speck has announced that it is 'unlaunching' Glitch" (Suzie Ford).

To be quite clear, if people recall the recent history of APB being moved back into beta testing, this statement becomes false, doesn't it?

The only "unheard" of part in their actions would be that they are applying a new lable to it, quite clever when one is familiar to what psychologists and sociologists call labeling theory, in order to help reduce criticism.

I am neutral to their actions, my point is not to criticise the company's decision. I do, however, feel like it was needed to point out this unclear journalistic qoute, which could possibly be missleading, for a future refernce to the author. 

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

Removing death pennaltiess?



Mmos really becomming a sad lot these days

 

Where has the risk and adventure gone? Even the 'niche' industries are suffering from post modernization syndrom

I was very impressed with the Vanguard tree, really enjoyed them putting in the teamwork scene at the end. They didn't show much off for the Commando line that was really notisable, hope they've got a few fun toys up their sleeves too.

Originally posted by Sabrel

Originally posted by Talin

I believe the poster above is indicating that the classes (most specifically the Jedi ones) define whether someone is "good" or "evil" to some extent already. Some will of course argue that the Sith aren't automatically evil, they have just embraced the "darker" side of the force. Unless the game allows you to fully shift your paradigm - such as a Sith Warrior becoming fully "good" through enough points, or a Jedi becoming fully "evil" - it is just a series of shades of gray without any potential of crossing to the opposite side.

 

Classes determine a skill set and a political affiliation (Sith/Jedi Order/Republic/Empire). While it is generally accepted that half of those are the "good guys" and the other half are the "bad guys," that is simply a generalization. Jedi under Revan did some dark things in the heat of war, and were not considered "Sith" (though many made the transition later), and it is even more plausible for a Republic soldier to do "evil" things in the name of preserving the Republic. On the other side of the coin, it is doubtful that most Empire citizens are moustache twirling villains looking for the next opportunity to be "evil"; they are simply soldiers and operatives with a loyalty to their nation.

It's not so much a matter of "shades of grey" as it is a recognition that political association and moral alignment are not on the same scale. While a historical analysis will almost inenivitably assign one side of a conflict as "good" and the other side as "bad" (because we like such dichotomies as a culture), it is never that cut and dry on an individual level. The average person is not going to cross the lines in wartime, whether out of fear over what their own side (or the other side) will do to them, or out of hope that they can make a difference and change the political entity that they have grown up knowing.

Nations are neither good nor evil. That distinction rests w/their leaders. One does not need to change sides completely to be "fully good" or "fully evil."

 

Very well put, Sabrel.

Though, I do hope there will be some sort of "fallen jedi" system in play, where a Jedi Knight can be functionally excommunicated from the order if they become too obviously dark, and same goes for the Sith (though, they'd just kill one for being weak, unless they can see one's existence as serving some future, hidden, purpose).

Hello all,

I have a question regarding the space flight dynamics in Black Prophecy, one that has not seemed to be addressed, surprisingly.

I'm assuming that Black Prophecy is largely focused more on an action-twitch engine and less on a real space-sim, however there are other space based MMO's in development (perpetually, it seems) that offer up the option for Newtonian space travel. For those that do not understand, previous space sims, such as freelancer, have offered up an option to disengage your ship's "inertia dampeners," allowing for a more realistic space flight model. I'm wondering, are there any such options taken into consideration in Black Prophecy?

Ah, great article!

I'm 25 as well, and I started EQ out towards the end of it's first year. I also played a wizard, a High Elf one (ironic, both wizards but on the complete opposite sides of Narroth). Just seeing that loading screen made memories creep back:-P

I remember doing the Staff of the Wheel quest for my wizard, involving going all over Narrath to gather the ten or some odd peaces of the staff to get a weapon with +10 int. However, soon after I did this, one could obtain a +10 earring with comparible ease, which mades all the effort for the stat boosting staff kinda sad, but the adventure of it and having said staff was still awesome.

I don't remember it taking all that long to make the first three levels, honostly, even on my warrior. But it does help to get a druid to hit you up with a damage shield, a SoW, and maybe a HoT.

I was a young alt-o-holic, I'd always see some Wood Elf Druid, High Elf Wizard, or crazy Half Elf Bard, not to mention the Shadowknight Trolls that travel into Freeport outskirts now and again, that impressed me so much with their mastery of their class (and it did take mastery of your class to really learn to kite and kick ass) that I just HAD to roll one:-P

Hey, if you're in the Butcherblock/ Faydark area, remember to collect those orc sholderpads for the Dwarf inside Kaladim!

I really hope EverQuest Next will do justice to the classes. While EQ2 was neat in it's own right, it just didn't feel enough like a true sequal. I miss a Shadowknight having a pet, and the old buffing systems of EQ1.

Have fun with the new servers!!! I don't think I'll have time to play though:-/

Maybe you could start a Paladin and go after the fabled Soulfire, now THAT was an epic weapon!

Originally posted by jeffg316

Lame. I'll pass on that part of the game.  I play games to kill stuff, not love stuff.

 

 You've never played Second Life then I take it? haha :-P

I got to play in two of the W.I.S.H. beta events way back when.The point and click system didn't bother me, in fact I didn't even recall it being point and click till I read ths article :-P

Basically anything you saw could be used as a resource. If you saw a tree and had the skill level, you could chop it down. See a rock, mine it, etc. I remember the starting "town" was a simple wooden outpost that looked like an old celtic or pictish wooden fort. I remember visiting one of the larger towns and listening to a GM using the NPC Lord of the town as his Avatar; there were discussions in the croud as to weither or not to trust this guy after some local rumors started. The psyclops race was interesting looking, lots of people were playing them. The wildlife also seemed to move about more "natural" than in other MMO's; they seemed to migrate around with good pathing if I remember correctly.

This was as close to a dream MMO I've ever had the experience of playing, really miss it. I hope to see something simliar come along with a lot of polish.

Originally posted by cwRiis 

PS I'm sure there were agents of the British and US in Berlin as were German agents in the US during WWII. 

 

I'm a bit sick of the path developers have been taking (particularly SOE since the SWG days) of granting special items to folks for forking over the most cash for an expansion. I'd like to see a return to the days of earning items within the game. In game art and such is one thing, but armor, special mounts, etc., that's just a bit too much. How about granting special edition buyers a headstart on a quest FOR said items, outside of the random little trinkets? Other players still have to earn access to the quest via exploration and unlocking it but pre-order of special edition purchasers can recieve a quest scroll. At least then you're not disrespecting the player base that already pays monthly or buys your normal expansions by creating items that basicly cost you $80 in real life.

Okay, that's basically what I imagined.

I'm still curious, however, if their stamina line is worth anything. Can a barbarian stand up to a few good hits? I'm sure he can not in the context of a group of well trained gankers, but in a one on one or a group battle where the heals don't always fall quite on their health-bar, can they stand the carnage?

Concindering returning in the future, but was wondering two things:

Is it nessisarly to stick around as long as you can in Tortage on the PvP server, or would it be okay to rush through the solo quests to get out of there? Basicly, I'm wondering if all the gear and extra exp from Tortage will make a differense in the mainland or if there's plenty of quests to do past tortage to make up the difference and still be viable to defend/fight in pvp

I've had my eye on a barbarian, but I'm wondering how they play out for survivability. I'd like to make a barbarian able to stand up in the heat of combat for a good while. Is the classes stamina line a viable option? Love the idea of a naked tank, so to say, instead of a warrior based tank.

Thanks!

Voice over still sounds horrible for the Guardians, sounds like a highschool drama club member trying too hard; voice would be better fitted to a ninja turtle. I can see the attempt to capture a valourous tone but there needs to be more wisdom, a voice more humanesque and used to professing, like a true king or sage.

I'm soooo glad they changed the name. I think Sage is very becoming of my vision of a consular. Even fits into real world references towards the sages of old pagan Europe and the stories in the Vedas and other hindu scriptures from india.

Originally posted by Mdpats

I'm going to be trying the game out tonight as a first time playing. I will keep you posted if I'm interested In playing long term

 Same here. Playing a toon named Waylon Law.

I would appriciate having this feedback for myself; if anyone will assist Skatty with answers to his inquiries.

By the way Skatty, your post is thaught out quite well, seemed to cover all the bases.

I'd be curious to hear this information as well:-) I'm wondering how open the world is for exploration.