Totally agree with MrBloodworth. The article trys to paint the picture of the unimaginative game developer, but it's a damn business. Look at what happens to "innovative" MMO's. Spellborn was mentioned, Tabula Rasa and all the ones mentioned in the first comment: They die. Maybe not right away, but eventually they do.

It costs a fortune to develop large scale software (including games), and revenue only rolls in at the very end. So, in order to secure funding for a game you hedge your bets: Find something close to an existing product that works and add some differentiators. Bam, there you go. Another "clone". Try and do something different and people start screaming bloody murder because it isn't like EQ, Doom, Dune2, Pitfall, or any other accepted classic and how dare these stupid game companies expect me to learn something new.

We’ve seen a lot of space-themed MMOs

Really? I'll admit there have been some, but how many good ones are there? And you're talking space, not even SciFi. Apart form Eve, I can't think of one that has any mass appeal. Jumpgate?

I for one would love to see a good SciFi one not based on a movie franchise. Actually, Anarchy Online 2 would be great.

Cichy, without knowing your full system, I think it's fair to say this:

If you can not run AOC on maximum settings and very high resolution, then it will not be because of the Radeon 5850 (same goes probably for the 465gtx)

As I couldn't find an AOC benchmark that uses the 5850, I can only give you these two:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2725/6 <-- see the Radeon 4870x2 (xfire) at the very top of the chart

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5850,2433-6.html <-- 5850 is pretty close to the 4870x2

If you have the money, and your system supports the card, I say go for it.

Hey, I haven't found a benchmark that directly comparss the two cards, but check out this rought chart. It doesn't look like you'd be gaining that much.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-geforce-radeon,2646-7.html

Read the article itself to get an idea what card gives you the best bang for your budget. For the same price, I'd recommed the Radeon 5850, as it beats the 465 in most benchmarks i've seen so far.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3745/nvidias-geforce-gtx-465/10

Everyone seems pretty opposed to the idea. I don't know. Maybe it will slowly regulate itself. Much like in real life, you like or dislike a person based on your interaction with them (hopefully, anyway). With voice only, you would have a much better idea of who you're dealing with than just through chat.

I wonder what a voice chat would do to a game, if you weren't able to communicate with people who are not in your immediate vicinity. In game your voice would emanate from where your character is standing and would only travel so far. Just like IRL people might spread out a bit more, find a quiet place to have a conversation. For usabilty's sake this could be amplified for people who are in your party or friends and guildmates.

If you care about your reputation, you would (one would hope) take care not to be an idiot at the mike. While squeeky kid voices may annoy you in TS, a visit to /2 Trade puts the fear of god in you. These people are or will be allowed to vote... Unbelievable!

Originally posted by Yearight

We screwed you in real life... we're really sorry about that, but don't worry here's 10k gold, 15 pets, dyes, nice new shiny weapon... and more pixels...

Ofcourse that wasn't our mistake at all and we can assure you something like this won't happen again.

What are you talking about? They reversed the payments, covered any bank overdraft charges that potentially resulted from this and they are giving out some really nice items to apologize.

Please enlighten me: What more do you want?

Good Stuff! Enjoy!

WoW is huge as far as population goes and there are thousands of guilds to pick from. As this is your first venture into MMORPGs, my recommendation would be to find some people who you enjoy playing with, rather than researching a guild that has all the bells and whistles.

Just log in (14 day trial, for example) and create a character. Approach people within your level range, run a few quests with them and see what happens. IMHO enjoying the company is far far more important than being part of a well-oiled raiding guild. Get into the game. Later on you can do all the hard-core stuff with your second or third char. In the beginnig: Just have a good time!

And as to reading forums: Don't! There is so much bickering and general jerkiness on these forums, it may actually detract from your enjoyment :)

You say the reason some people prefer to just kill the quest objective by themselves is because they are anti-social. I guess to a certain extent that may be true. But quite frankly, unless I'm in a giving mood and not in a hurry I'd do that in a heart beat. For the simple reason that people usually don't give a crap about what I want, either.

Many times, I clear the mobs around the final quest encounter, or some treasure or mining node, only to have another player swoop in and benefit from my efforts.

Additionally, if you spend any time in the general chat channels (of WoW, in this case), any sense of brotherhood with your fellow gamers quickly evaporates. The inanity and rudeness prevalent there resulted in me playing under the premise: You are all idiots.

Sometimes you meet someone who can string together a sentence and displays signs of decency. That one may get on my friends list. I'm level 60 and my friends list has 4 people on it.

It seems to me that almost all posters see perma-death or very harsh penalties to be firmly in the domain of a PvP centric game. I don't necessarily agree with that.

A PvE game that with a death penalty like Warghoul describes (love it, was about to post it myself until I got to yours :) ), could potentially create a great community. With good risk vs. reward quests/missions, you could be as risk-averse or -affine as you want. You die, you'll be mourned by the community and your son/daughter takes your place. Maybe having received some heirloom or something. Sounds like a game I'd love to play.

Originally posted by ktanner3 

...The game shouldn't have to adjust to the player, it is the player that should have to adjust to the game....

Judging by the numbers of the vote, I seem to be in the minority, thinking that this is just wrong. Why would you (or the designers) have to dictate how someone else plays the game. They want a challenging team mission? Ok, dial up the difficultometer. You want some relaxed single player fun? Sure, take it down a notch!

I'm sick of "the system". People feel like they have to obey "the system", because that's how it is, and you better abide by its rules. The system is what the people made it and the people should be empowered to change it again. (feel free to substitute system with game)

I see where you're coming from, but honestly, the cash-shop games and 'asia-grinders' ( and most of the MMORPG communities) have tarnished the genre more than Lego ever could. Personally, I find Lego to be one of the best toys ever invented, and while I haven't played any of the Lego computer games, yet, I might even check this one out.... if it in fact involves building stuff!

I think the title is a bit misleading. When I read "Browser based" I'm assuming platform independence, which is clearly not the case if you have to download an .exe file.

The game doesn't look too bad, though and I'll probably try it on my Vista laptop some time.

Every time someone brings up an IP or just some new way of doing things in the MMO space, the discussions start whether this should be... what? Allowed? Endorsed? Banned? Prohibited? Who are you (i.e. we) to tell people what games to make or play? Apparently, there are people playing games like RF Online or Lineage, which I personally (see: opinion!) find to be incredibly boring and/or unappealing. So what? Their game/lifestyle choices have no impact on me. Why should I get worked up about it.

Instead of flaming World of Twilight Online Universe because you don't like the IP or the target audience, why not discuss how this game could be made good. Maybe you can't press this IP into the traditional level/loot based MMORPG mold. Maybe there is a format that would appeal to 'mums and daughters'. Be creative, not destructive. If you have nothing to interesting to add, why not just move on to another thread.

Because I'm sick of people regurgitating the same stuff over and over and over again... on both sides.

Maybe the reason is that ranged just is naturally superior to melee. There is a reason wars are fought with guns (at least for the moment) and not with swords, anymore. Projectiles are lethal. And not just after you peppered someone with 2 entire clips.

The posters above me have brought up a valid point though. In reality, once you have closed in on someone and are grappling or punching, it is very hard for the opponent, to get away. In most games, bouncing around like a rubber ball, 0-time 180 degree turns and manic button mashing will get you out of melee weapon range relatively easily. Maybe a more realistic movement speed and behavior would help... as well as the clear expectation that if the guy with the gun sees you running up to him from a mile away, you will not make it there alive.

I don't mean to derail this thread, but could someone explain something to me, what I have been wondering about for a long time:

What is so technically challenging about resetting skill points, changing char appearance, class, race, sex or any other player customizable parameter?

I don't know who started this, but it seems an obvious money making scheme. As the editor wrote, having free (in terms of real world money) respecs is something players have come to expect from any game that makes use of skill trees. To not include it and then to charge for it through a cash shop is just taking the piss.

In this case, Cryptic charges in the same region as what I would expect to pay for a medium size content upgrade. Does it really take as many man hours to create 50 new quests, a couple of new dungeons, bug fixes and maybe a new game mechanic or two as it takes to build a piece of code that resets the skill points for a character?!

Until someone convinces me of the contrary, I'm calling this BS and a blatant and arrogant rip-off!

PS.: I don't currently play any MMOs, so it does not affect me personally. It's more a matter of general principle.

Same here. If anyone received a key and doesn't want to use it, I'd be grateful! Been wanting to try this game for a while, but there doesn't seem to be a general trial available anytime soon.

Thanks folks!

There is a free weekend coming up on the 30th if you want to try it out. For me it doesn't work because I'm going to be having a good time with friends over Halloween, but it may work for others. Stupid Cryptic