After getting my 1st copy, I looked for another boxed version of the game for my son, who has been playing more than I expected he would.  I could not find one in any of the Gamestop retail stores nor at the Best Buy near me.  I think boxes simple ran out . . .   I bought the digital version.  I would be interested to see total sales of the game, just to verify my theory.

MHS is still at it, trying to improve on a very poorly launched mmo.  I played it back then, and even with all the problems, I enjoyed it with my guild, because the PvP is good (when the lag was tolerable).

I checked out the new patch briefly and things looked the same, but performance seems better.  I am still hoping MHS can improve the game to the point that it can succeed, but I fear it might be too late . . .

I hear ya.  Rift is great but the same thing happened to me there . . . guild fell apart and now I am pretty much solo.

I don't have IM, but I will PM you my E-mail.

My hours are 8:00 to midnight, EST.  If we can make our schedules work, it would be great to start Vanguard again with ya.  Let me know what you think.

I'm looking to get into Vanguard.  I tried it before but the guild I was in decided to move away from the game, leaving me doing mostly solo stuff which turned me off (it would for any game, but especially for this one).  I would like to find a static group of players that are committed to the game, or a guild that is fairly active to join.  If anyone out there is interested in the same, let me know!

Thanks Cav, I think I will come back on tonight to see the changes.  The only thing that really got me frustrated to the point of walking away from the game was the PvP exploits.  I was patient through everything else gone wrong at release, and I am excited that improvements are being made.  I loved the game when I played, I hope its as enjoyable now (minus the exploits).

I think that the players who cheat and exploit Darkfall are the flaws, not the game itself.  In any type of PvP game, especially a FFA full loot mmo like DF, will always have players who will try to take advantage.  We can only hope developers can put a stop to this as muc has possible to give everyone the same chance at success in the game.

I played DF a while ago and really enjoyed it.  Even the heavy grind and ganks did not turn me off, that is what I expected coming in.  I just didn't have a good group of people to run with, and you simply cannot get by in DF by yourself.

I'm keeping a close eye on the game and will return eventually.  The game just requires so much time to be successful at anything.

Yes, please, and thanks for not making me press the spacebar to pause in the middle of combat

Ultima Online.  However, since then, I have enjoyed Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, and Everquest II just as much, sometimes more.  It's just that UO was the first, and really the only of it's kind.  That holds true today.

Originally posted by Gintoh

Simple question but I would like to hear what you guys think.

 My honest opinion, yes.  I have been in the Rift beta, I've been hooked on Cataclysm, played Everquest II, had some fun in DC Universe Online, etc. but I can't even think about logging into any other mmo right now simply because none other can offer what Earthrise offers.  Even with the atrocious launch and many technical issues, this is the game for me.  I can only hope that it gets better (and it has been).

I appreciate a harsh death penalty (within reason).  The sense of adventure and danger just are not there when I am playing World of Warcraft, but when I played Everquest, I would sometimes be on the edge of my seat, tense and anxious.

I think the original creators of SWG had it perfectly right.  The "harsh" death penalty that forced players to recuperate may have seemed like a pain in the ass to players, but it actually tied together a system of classes that functioned much differently than any other typical mmo. 

The dancers healed the wounded.  In any other typical mmo, it'd be a cleric or healer, you'd click a button, and you're good to go.  In SWG, a player could actually become something other than a warrior.  I didn't carry a blaster, or any kind of weapon towards my later years.  I was a crafter, and I fit in perfectly, because the system allowed it.  Dancers fit in because of the system, however annoying it might have been to the wounded.  If it was that much of a pain, then wouldn't it have given you that much more incentive to stay alive?

PvP loot is harsh, but players can cope by working with the system instead of against it.  If you wonder out on your own and are killed, thereby losing your belongings, it feels terrible, but that probably could have been avoided if you went out with some support.

I don't buy into the idea that players will take the path of least resistance and do the easy stuff while avoiding the difficult content in order to stay alive.  If someone has their eye on a reward, or wants the fame for killing the nasty boss mob, or just likes a challenge, I assume that in trying to do so, they prepare and bring the right tools and the help they need to succeed.  Players who suffer a harsh death penalty more often are those that are careless, or unlucky.  Players that are aware and that can plan ahead will not complain about it as much. 

If nobody complains about the death penalty, then in my opinion, it is not harsh enough.  Now, you can easily see that I do play Demon Soul's, and I love it.

Maybe at first we'll be relying more on quests, crafting, etc. to occupy our time and help accumulate BPs.  In the long run, however, I think quests will be an after thought while clans and the factions battle for territory and optimal resource areas for their crafters.

A great idea in an mmo and the source of many months of fun for me came from a game called RF Online, where factions battled for a prime resource area that when controlled, would allow their side to harvest and then craft. 

In Dark Age of Camelot, the battle for keeps and contested zones would grant buffs that were faction-wide.

The original Star Wars Galaxies didn't even have much incentive for the PvP wars, but Player Associations and the communities on most servers created their own motives for it.

This is the type of content I am expecting for Earthrise in the future.

I think Earthrise is fun, but there are issues that need to be addressed to improve it even more.  FPS wasn't a factor for me, I was at a steady 25-30 fps which was fine out in the open when there weren't too many players around.  It didn't drop at all during a firefight involving around a dozen other players. 

Lowering screen resolution was the only thing that really helped fps for me.  Turning of shadows did help, but I couldn't play that way.  HDR on or off made not real impact (and the game looks much better with it on anyway), and Anti-aliasing Transparency (?) had zero effect on fps.

I run Earthrise on a Pentium QuadCore 2.4, 4 gigs of RAM,  (2) nVidia 8800 GT's in SLi

This is probably stuff everyone has heard already, but you can download directly from Masthead Studios and it'll be cheapest.  If you get the boxed version from Iceberg Interactive, they say they will open your box and give you the key so you can play on the 4th, but you'll pay more than $65 for it.

In time I suspect that Direc2Drive, maybe Steam, or others may have it, but that's just a guess.  I'm waiting on Masthead to open their store so I can get my download copy.

Definitely.  Last night was a great time in Earthrise.  Still quite a few bugs and problems, but I'm looking for steady improvement and I am seeing it.  Its a good sign.

Oh Deathtouch, next time you die from "Unknown", try putting your Cadet gear back on.  You were probably missing your helmet.  In some areas of Enterra the air is not hospitable.  This is one of the first things (if the only thing) you learn from the tutorial.

I don't actually know this to be true, but it helps to make creative excuses for the bugs in the game :)

Originally posted by nvrsbr

I know that as of right now Earthrise is not ready for release.

But I see the potential this game has and the Devs seem to really care about making it work.

I hope that they get enough people to jump in and play on Feb 4th and help fund what could be a fantastic game.

 I agree.  I am buying it as well.  I actually had a great time in the beta last night.  This is a good sign for things to come, because I do believe it is only going to get better.

Originally posted by Entropy14

well if you have money to waste on such a bad product and support yet another MMO company whos willing to make a quick buck on a bad product go for it.  The more we support bad games the more of them they will make.

Well if you think you know the facts, then it's up to you if you want to boycott a game because of its apparent failure, but it's quite another thing to show support for a game that is coming along, but just hasn't gotten there yet.  It's true that release is coming too soon for Earthrise, but that's no reason to abandon it if its a game that interests you.  If we did, developers that want to take chances and build unique/innovative games will not bother taking the chance.

The store isn't up yet, and don't you dare buy from Iceberg, they'll charge you a lot more.

According to the old forums (which are now replaced by the Official subscriber Forums)  this is a known issue that Masthead is fixing for release. 

There is a lot of problems, I don't think anyone who tested would say otherwise.  I just comes down to what interests people, and how much patience people are willing to have with an Indie developer in it's first try.

I'll be playing Rift because it's a sure thing.  I'll be playing Earthrise because it's going to be an adventure.

Oh nice!  The engine is good, and gives the same type of cell-shaded appearance of the original Fallout games.  Features won't be relelase for a while.  Can't wait.