IMHO It's because they love their cryptic game they're playing at the time and they can't see past that to have a neutral conversation about the company as a whole. They use bad excuses like "they're a company trying to make money". Well shit dude i'm a man trying to make money, but i'm not charging people twice for a product. You might as well be asking someone if you can pick their pockets after they pay for something. Don't get me wrong I think they make decent games that are fun, but they're a greedy whore of a MMO developer and it's eventually going to bite them and all of their MMOs are going to become very niche MMOs. Especially when DCUO, FFXIV, and the new 38 studios (Copernicus) MMO comes out. Besides star trek is already becoming a niche MMO, iv'e never seen so many people flooding out of an MMO so quickly, some guy even made a guide on how to get your money back for the game on this site. Thats bad!

 Never really thought about these facts much in the past. Very good article and very interesting. Looking forward to the next article.

Originally posted by masterbbb26

I am officialy not even going to try the a free trial for this game if one comes out.

"you get free cryptic points when you buy the game so you can use those points to buy things that should be in the game for everyone in the first place!!!! woooooo arn't we nice!!"  I'll pass thank you

I agree, the points and the races are there to get everyone hooked. It's the same marketing concept as McDonald's lowering the price of their newest burger to get everyone to buy it as it is cheap and new, then once everyone is hooked raise the price and watch the dough roll in. What a steaming pile of goat shit. My heart goes out to anyone who is a trekie and really wanted a good Star Trek MMO run by a company that can see past Ben Franklin's fat ass.

 http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3370013/Warning-to-WOW-Players-Compromised-Accounts.html#3370013

Accounts are being hacked daily and blizzard is doing nothing to stop it...other than delete the accounts of the unfortunates who got hacked and then tell them to "Buy a new account and pray to whatever god you serve it doesnt happen again". No thats not a direct quote but its pretty much what they told me in so many words. Enjoy the wonderful world of hackcraft.

 Well said, a very constructive article and a good read for those who were on the fence about the game, I appreciate it OP.

 It still doesn't give nearly the exp grouping does and you can only pick up one field of valor quest per in game day. Everyone that isnt a solo monster still groups and the game is still pretty much the same. Fields of Valor is nice, but usually unless a group is right beside a book nobody even uses it but to just grab ghetto refresh. 

Originally posted by Panther2103

Just call blizzard tell them what happened, they will give you your account back with everything it had. Might take a while, but it is worth it.

Iv'e already done this and they swear up and down that it is my fault. Same exact things have happened to me. Why the hell would I ever buy or pay for another blizzard game if someone can hack my account, steal my stuff, and delete my characters anytime they feel like it and then blizzard blames me for it. It's like pitching your money down a hole, give me one reason i would ever buy another blizzard product. I asked the blizzard tech support this...they couldn't give me an answer...

Originally posted by rlmccoy1987

I just checked my email and received an email from Blizzard saying my account was banned because "Abuse of the Economy" and it is not even active.  In the past 2 years, I have used their WotLK trial 2 times and used a referral trial 1 time.  I played a few hours on each trial but then got bored and uninstalled.

 

What does this mean?  Doubt my account was hacked as they would have not even been able to play as all the trials have already expired months ago. 

 

What should I do?

 

(i went to worldofwarcraft.com, typed it in manually, did not click any links in the email, and sure enough it is banned)

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

***Notice of Account Closure***

Account Name: ****************

Reason for Closure: Terms of Use Violation -- Exploitative Activity: Abuse of the Economy

This account was closed because one or more characters were identified exchanging, or contributing to the exchange of, in-game property (items or gold) for "real-world" currency. This exchange process negatively impacts the World of Warcraft game environment by detracting from the value of the in-game economy.

Even if this behavior is the result of a third party accessing the account instead of the registered user (for example, a friend, family member, or leveling service) then the account can still be held responsible for the penalty because of the impact it had on the game environment.

We've found the above behavior is many times directly related to groups responsible for compromising World of Warcraft accounts; we take these issues very seriously. To better understand our position against exploitative activity and the risks involved, please review this article: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/antigold.html

The exploitative activity that took place on this account violates the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask you take a moment to review these terms at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html. Any recurring subscriptions on this account have been suspended to prevent further monetary charges.

For any disputes of this action, please visit the Exploitative Activity FAQ and Contact page here: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/exploitfaq

Regards,

Blizzard Entertainment
www.worldofwarcraft.com

-------------------------------------------------------------

Got the same e-mail, join the club.

 Forgotten Realms Online, without a doubt!

Originally posted by Duvious

Yesterday Cryptic announced an upcoming expansion for Champions Online as well as a patch that went live early this morning.  The patch was free, but the upcoming expansion is not and it has the community in an uproar.  This is considering the fact that game launched, as many would say, unfinished or incomplete.  They are charging for a Level 37-40 (current level cap is already 40) single zone addition.  No new powersets, no amazing new features beyond being able to go back and redo old missions in a "flashback" system as well as repeating the Halloween event to coincide with real full moons.  While those features do sound cool they are merely repeat content.  This game has major content gaps and the main last zone to level 34-40 has been unplayable.  It may have been fixed with the latest patch but still.  This new expansion is content that should have already been in the game at launch, and we as patient fans of the game have waited for them to fix the issues.  They have not and are now wanting to charge us for what I feel should be free, as do most others.  Please see the link below to see for yourself.  If Cryptic is doing us this way, won't they to you guys with STO?  I am a lifetime subscriber to CO and right now I am regretting my choice.  Think long and hard before signing up for the lifetime.  Consider yourselves warned.

forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php

 

The fact that it doesnt expand the level cap certainly makes it sound like it doesnt matter for shit if you buy it or let it rot. If you're already max level and there are already zones in the game to take you to 40, who cares about some crumby new zone? Although...i dont see anywhere on here where it says they are going to charge the playerbase for it....maybe i'm just blind but i did read through it kinda fast. :P

 Yeah same exact thing happened to me. Just recently got an e-mail stating I had been involved in gold selling and all this shit, when my account hasn't been active in almost a year. What a pile of fuck. Not that I even wanna play the game ever again, but it's my property!

Originally posted by toddze

Originally posted by ic0n67

I honestly hope not.

Personally I don't really like the idea of voice chat for an MMO such as this for the reason not everyone has the capability of voice chatting. For instance you could have one person who is using voice chat that never types trying to communicate with someone who doesn't have a headset. There is already a natural break down in communication when one person can't hear the other person (also would be a problem for the hearing-impaired population when everyone is voice chatting and they physically can't hear them). A keyboard is a requirement -- a headset is not -- and by forcing the greater population to use it as the primary means of communication then you are conforming the common denominator which is the best thing when trying to build a game/community. You always have the option of going over the top and as long it remains over the top and doesn't segregate the population as the people who use voice chat think they are "teh uber 1337" and don't accept the non-voice chat people and vice-versa.

For me personally I don't really want to listen to people banter and bitch when I am playing. FFXI was great where I could really focus on the party and the goals of my immediate group over the needs and bitching of my linkshell. There were a lot of times when I was in shell and drama was going on and I never noticed because everything was blended in so well with things in the chat window that I could concentrate on my thing, but if i needed to I could focus on the shell too. I'd find it very distracting to have someone chatting in my ear while I am trying to focus on. The only time I use voice chat is for Modern Warfare 2 (on the 360 btw) and only with my friends. I really can't stand listening to the shit talking (I mute half the people anyway) and when I have my friends talking to me I am still having some game play issues because my focus is split between listening to them talking and doing my thing. Which coincidentally why mandating that you can't use a cell phone without a headset is bullshit because your focus is still split just the same as if you had the phone in your hand ... but that is a post for another time.

 

The use of voice chat in raid situations is paramount, it could mean all the difference in sucess or failure. If a person is serious about being a good player they atleast have to be able to listen. It is also up to the leaders to make sure to have a mature guild on voice chat. It also does divide the guild if some dont get on vent, there is also a lack of communication, because no one wastse time to type instructions. IMO if a player doesnt want to be on vent to atleast listen to what the raid is about they dont deserve to be in the high end guild. Again it is up to the leaders of the guild to keep vent under control so its enjoyable for everyone and a productive experience.

I agree with this completely.

 I agree DCUO is looking decent, it just depends on if they do some kinda bullshit RMT system. I also agree that I may quit MMOs for awhile if all of these new games start bleeding me for money, especially in a time when the economy is such crap. The nice thing about MMOs is they offered a cheap way to spend an afternoon considering you just throw down 12-15 bucks a month. If they start costing me boatloads of money for everything I want to do in them and are no longer cost efficient i'm done with them, plain and simple.

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by Sortis

 Well, i just crossed this game off my "to buy" list. I'm not paying a company for shit twice.

 

Without really knowing what kind of transactions are really going in, I hope you truly feel foolish about changing your mind a 3rd time when you end up buying it anyway. So far it seems like the typical server-change, etc stuff that all games charge extra for. Complain when you see 2x exp items, otherwise shaddap.

Feel foolish? Thanks for telling me what i'm going to buy and do in the future, I really appreciate that. What a pile of senseless dribble. I'm going to log on the internet and tell people what they are going to do in the future and tell people to shut up. Are you fuckin serious...really. Don't you have something better to do with your time then tell people on the net to "shaddap" and tell them when and how they are going to change their mind. What a joke. Get that crap out of here. You don't like it when someone doesn't want to play the game you like? Well to bad, bro thats life and we're all different.

 Well, i just crossed this game off my "to buy" list. I'm not paying a company for shit twice.

 I'm not really into this game but personally if people are saying the game is bad because of bugs...thats idiotic. Bugs get fixed, if you like the game, support it.

 Great article, really enjoyed the read. I'm hoping DCUO brings something new to the table as well, or perhaps just takes whats good about both games and puts them into one game. :)

Originally posted by cichy1012

How many of you all have been around the MMO block since lets say Ultima online and can play any new MMO for 30 min to an hour...maybe longer and know its crap or gonna be crap? And its not that you havent played the game enough to know better or gave it a CHANCE, its just your first instinct is dissapointment and you know wether you voice your opinion here or not it eventually bombs and you sit there a month or two from now with "I knew it on your mind?"  Sadly you already invested in the game and quit subbing. Is it the nostalgia of a new game that gets you bashed when you voice your opinion or is just best now to wait till time tells and gloat privately in your first consensus?

As far as MMORPGs go for the most part they are usually so vast that you just cant play for 30 min. There arent many MMOs you can do anything in 30 min that matter anyway. I usually have to play an MMO or archtype/class in an MMO to really understand what it/they are capable of. How many characters have we played to level 10 and been like "ok if this character doesnt change in the next 5 levels i'm scrapping him" and then you get to 20 and its like night and day. I think its best said that "Some MMOs and classes are late bloomers, even though they may have their flaws they can turn into something amazing given the time and attention, bugs dont signify a finished product, and in this day and age of MMOs neither does anytime pre-1 year after release evidently."

Originally posted by Params7

This game is dying a slow death. Groups are incredibly hard to find in places that have been now made useless (like Angmar...as in Shadows Of Angmar..forget about finding a group to help you finish 6 man quests here). Even in the most populated server, Brandywine, its going to be incredibly hard for you to find groups, do old raid content like fighting the freakin' Balrog of Morgoth.

The game's major population is dominated by soloists, who don't even want the LFF/LFG options to improve. Who have absolutely no problem with Turbine turning every group quest into a solo quest. They have already started, Lone-Lands, which was 80% 6 man quests 6 months ago, is now 100% (yeah - One Hundred Percent - Means all of it) Solo content. And its the direction they are heading in now. Very disappointed and hurt to see Turbine take LoTRO in this direction.

I guess they want the game to be incredibly easy to the new players so they can experience the end-game faster. But deleting group quests just pisses me off, I don't get it. Its an "MMORPG" for ****'s sake, and the game already barely has any real raiding content at all. Helegrod and Rift are the only 2 real raid instances in this game and nobody, literally nobody, in all the server never visits those places anymore.

So, just giving you heads up on the state of things. 1. Even on most crowded server - Brandywine - in lots of areas it will be impossible to complete group quests 2. Before they are deleted/converted into kid easy solo quests. 3. Raid content is impossible to do at this moment unless you join a really special raiding kin that likes to do the old raid runs for fun only.

 

Pretty game though and if you play the trial and think you'll enjoy solo'ing to 65 all the way then buy the game, otherwise, don't. Its a PVE game, means if you want to solo you can just buy a single player RPG out there for much less than you'll end up paying for LoTRO.

The Lone Lands is not 100% solo content. I would love for you to go and try to do GA solo and let me know how that goes for you. :P 

 The music system in this game was one of my favorite things about the game and yes there definitely needs to be more social features in MMOs. :)