Yes if you dont mind bad game design, nothing to do at cap and clunky combat...it's free.

Originally posted by EsmerraMMO

Hey everyone, relatively new here (reading the forum for a few weeks, this is the first post). I have some questions regarding peoples opinions on sandboxes and where that opinion comes from. The reason I am asking this is because alot of posts/topics on this forum leave me with nothing but questions (im not a "veteran" of games but ive definitaly played my fair share).

 

1) Sandbox = no quests

Where does this thought process come from? It seems to me that in a sandbox world, you would be left to your own devices (or that of another player) to create things to do (or quests). Is it because it isn't given by an npc, coded somehow, or offer a tangible reward to you and x number of other players?

 

2) Full Loot PVP Sandbox = Gank fest

Now having never played "mmos" that offer full loot full pvp (though I have played online multiplayer servers where this is allowed), I don't seem to grasp this relation between full loot and ganking. When I think full loot pvp one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is hijacking some trade caravan along the northern pass of whereever the hell mountains. Along with participating in large scale wars for control of land. Why is it that this "ganking" seems to be the main thought on peoples minds when full loot pvp is brought up?

 

3) Player Made Houses = Shanty Towns

This one is pretty self explanatory. With a free reign to build wherever and whatever you like, why do people automatically say that it will create shanty towns and see it as a negative game mechanic? Instead of looking at it as say "I can build my house over there by that tree, or by the stream, or even halfway up that mountain"

 

4) No Gold = No Economy

Why is it that people (or just "you") feel that if there wasnt gold (or currency rather) in the game that the economy would be non existant and if gold was available (through mining and minting metals) that it would create a "banker class"

 

Thats just a few of the questions floating around in my head right now. Please try and refrain from flaming or trolling me. Just abit of a curious person is all.

First off, IMHO, I beleive the developer that comes up with the "best" Sandbox MMO game will be the final winner in the MMO genre.  I say this because after playing most of the current and past themeparks, I know as a player that themeparks have too many limitations and that long-term, they must eventually close or completely restructure themselves.  Again, just my opinion, but that leaves us with the ever looming topic of "Sandbox" mmos.

I think Sandboxes can have quests that fit in well with the game and economy, as long as they remain an "element" of the game-life, not the backbone.  Some players like a little structure in their gameplay, and quests/mission hubs (or terminals, npc, etc) provide that.  However doing quests should NOT give one player an advantage over a non-questing player in terms of gold or items.

Full-loot pvp encourages ganking esp. when there are no reprecussions.  As others have said full-loot tends to attract certain types of players.  From my personal experience I left UO after one week of playing back in the 90's  for this exact reason and never returned.  However I do think full-loot pvp can fit into the sandbo world and EVE Online has the best strategy that deals with that: Make certain areas "safe" where ganking can not happen,Make other areas full-loot pvp.  Ensure that persons that dont want to engage (or be subject to) ganking can enjoy the game in the safe areas as well as those in the unsafe areas.  Make ganking have serious reprecussions as you would any other type of "Crimminal" in a world.

Player housing is fun, I perosnally love it.  However place restrictions on it.  Make certain game areas allowable for player towns.  Ensure that homes/towns are cleared if there is significant lack of attendance or failure to pay upkeeps.  Make them instances (say in cities) and non-instanced (in those allowable areas).  Theres no reason why we cant have both types of player housing in one game.

Fiat money makes things a bit simpler in terms of exchange.  Players like coin (gold, isk, etc.) becuase this is what we are famliar with in rl.  However, there is no reason a barter system cant be set up in a game as well as the use of coin. 

To me, there should be no "one" way a game should be built.  I think it can hold many different concepts homogeneously in the gameplay.  The time has come for games to stop restricting themselves and attract all different types of players.  There is also no reason why a gameworld cant undergo "natural" events like earthquarkes, floods, wars that may destroy property or holdings, encouraging players to work together to rebuild. There is so much an MMO can contain and do, its simply staggering.  The developers that make the way to enjoy this will ultimately reset the standard of what a great MMO is.

Two words: Tabula Rasa. 

Great ideas, poor execution, vapid fanboi community and 30 million bucks later....

No thanks to anything Garriot does in future.

The fact that there is even an article on this topic is pretty pathetic.  It's 2011, I was hearing this crap when I first logged into an online game in 1995. 

I will say one thing: Im actually thinking of leaving my Corporation in EVE Online due to the drama caused by the MALES.  Very tiresome.  Perhaps as women have become more independent, men more sensitive and emotional?  Bromances and all that.  I told one guy that was going off in Corpchat to shutup the other day (he was being annoying and said something rude to me) and he ragequit, citing me as the reason.  Then I got a whole bunch of questions from the other males about it.  Children.  I would have much preferred if they just begged for stuff.

I bought the game and gambled another $9 bucks for the first months.  I think the game is cute.  I don't mind the graphics simplicity, if it helps people with old computers play the game then so be it.  Yes it is missing key elements (pvp, crafting and a AH) but those things I believe are coming.

Its fun, its fresh and I havnt seen a damn elf to speak of.  I love the historical setting as well.  Id give it a B grade for nice, casual fun.

Originally posted by qazyman

WTF ? Gamers demand cash shops in subscription based MMO's ?

 

Some people could sell ice to Eskimos.

 

EVE was built on being different from other games. This has been important because it hasn't brought the game into direct competition with larger more successful games. CCP has been able to develop its own market. Many gamers fear that CCP is moving to a more traditional gaming model, and the game will suffer the same fate as every other game that has attempted to compete directly with WOW and the few successful WOW clones.

 

Yes, maybe the market has changed, or maybe CCP is just one of the countless gaming companies that saw a gold ring at the end of the casual gaming market, and fell flat on it's face reaching for it.

Just thought someone should say something that remotely made since.

 So CCP was built on being different?  How so?  It's a pvp game with a player run market and "safe spots" for industrialists/traders/mission runners.  How is that so being built to be different?  Other games with pvp elements contain the same mechanics.  What EVE is is a NICHE game. 

EVE became a niche game due to certain factors:

First off it's sci-fi in a market where fantasy MMO games dominate;

The market is mostly player driven (but there are now other games with player driven markets out there);

A higher learning curve then other MMOs that appealed to players that wanted a bit more challenge.

And thats about it.

CCP wants to make money like everyone else.  They have bills to pay and they want to diversify and make other games.  Anything wrong with that?  I dont see anything wrong with it.  For their niche player base it will be an adjustment.  If they dont like it they can run around as a robot in Perp and take their money elsewhere.  Cash shop is coming to Perp anyway.

This is where the industry is going.  Cash shops, MTs, ingame items.  Dont like it, dont buy them.  I too hope they are only vanity items but if CCP has to make a move towards more substantial items that may effect gameplay, I guess Ill just buy one of them :p 

Originally posted by echolynfan

Originally posted by echolynfan

If I listened to all the people on here bashing every game out there - I wouldn't play anything because everything sucks. I just bought Erathrise and will post my honest impression of the game once I've had a chance to explore.

There hasn't been a single MMO listed on MMORPG that hasn't been savaged - including even the highly successful Rift - which is a VERY good fantasy game. I happen to be more partial to sandox sci-fi mmo's and would rather play a game like Earthrise even if it's srill in development than another MMO with gnomes :)

 

Ok - I promised an honest review of ER and here it is: I just requested a refund through paypal.

On the lowest graphics setting I was getting 15-25fps - lag was awful and the mobs were all rubberbanding like crazy. I do like the basic concept of the game but it has a long way to go before it's ready for prime time. Why bother developing an MMO if you're not going to at least have the basic game finished before releasing it?

Rift has been the only new game that was released with the basic game completed. We all expect expansions and new content but people have to say NO to the unfinished MMO releases that charge players for a Beta (or even Alpha) release.

Another disappointment and hopefully this will prevent others from wasting their time and money. I'll be watching Earthrise in the future but it's future looks as bleak as the game's storyline :)

 Told ya so!

And to the poster that got my post deleted, please grow up.

ER = VGarbage.

Yeeeaaahhhh...riiiight....

I cant agree that girls have a higher affinity to healing.  To sound like a clique: some of the BEST healers I have known are male.  I find women evenly spread out between healers, casters and tanks.  Fewer in melee, but thats my experience. 

Originally posted by Apeg

Nevertheless. The post helped to keep me from trying it. So your suffering wasn't completely in vain. Thanks. This site along with massively are the only places you seem to get honest user reviews to help avoid horrible MMOs.

 

Before you make final decisions, wait for the trial if they release such. The game is in a pretty good state except fps performance.

 I'm sorry but you really need to stop telling people this kind of stuff.  The game is laggy and IF YOU DONT SUFFER FROM Lag, the game is still too buggy and needs major fixes.

Money doesn't grow on trees and telling people this game is in a "good state" is tantomount to taking their money out of their wallets. 

And what exactly is a "good state" to you?

Originally posted by erinys

And today already i am complete disgruntled and ready to chargeback.

Here is the feedback i sent them:

 

===

 

I have serious problems with the game, i just bought it yesterday and havent been able to play it in any sort of stable way at all. I have a good system:

 

GF295GTX

12 gig ram

2 x quadcore 2,6

and a SSD for windows where this game is installed on.

 

my problems:

1/ where are my items? i filled out the item key, but the armor is not in my email

 

2/ performance is terrible, i died 3 times because of the game freezing constantly.

The game constantly freezes, and performs very very bad.. Its not my system, i run all MMO's currently to date on highest settings and these problems are with earthrise on medium. CoD/BFBC2/Crysis2 all run perfectly but earthrise just doesnt want to run at all :(

 

When it freezes i can mostly perform the following and then the game will unlock:

CTRL-ALT-DEL > task manager, and when i then alt-tab back into the game its unfrozen, but this works only 50% of the time. Besides that is very laggy and unresponsive and that is with 0 people around.

 

3/ forum account not created, i can login to the website but not into the forums, hence not ask about my problems.

 

4/ NPC's randomly dissapear and then i have to logout and back in to get them back, but after doing that just yet i get a zone server error and since then i cannot get back into the game anymore. 

 

==

 

So beware, expect serious problems if you want to play this. Seems the whole playerbase left because of performance problems.

 With all due respect OP all you had to do was come here to these forums and read a little prior to buying.  People have major issues with the game's performance as well and have been very vocal about it. 

Originally posted by Kremlik

Originally posted by Lathander81

Originally posted by Broomy

RIFT is a well made game, flawlessly executed and a great soul system.  However, I too am bored and after leveling my cleric to 46 and my Markswomen to 32 I'm bored to tears.  The one complaint I have about RIFT is they "sneak" grinding into the game by making you do quests that require you to kill a million mobs to get to the goal.  Then the NPC sends you back AGAIN to the same location to complete additional parts of the quest.  Tired.

 

Either way I am done, would rather hang with my WOW buddies than continue with a WOW clone.  I will say however that RIFT is a great game for people that don't have the experience of MMOs and aren't jaded.  If RIFT was my very FIRST MMO I'd be in heaven.

 

I agree that Rift is a good first MMO as well. Most veteran players won't stick around that long.

I think the term 'verteran player' is misleading - I've been playing MMOs since the EQ/UO days, Rift is more engaging for me then most MMOs out there currently mainly because theres more 'to do' in the game thats just as rewarding then 'gaining items', exploration and collecting IS content in the game worth doing if you enjoy finding titles like 'Dances with Squirrels' and 'Timelord' and finding rare pets and fluff items, key point is many of my friends enjoy this game that are older gamers then my friends whom only came in during the 'high point' with WoW.

I honestly beleave many 'verterans' are really ones whom play almost every day since they started playing a few years ago, people aren't just 'bored with Rift' it's mostly all MMOs when thats all they've played for the past X years and havn't taken time out from MMO gaming - case and point is that Rift is only 3 months old and already many gamers state 'they've done it all' this is VERY unlikely unless they've not stopped playing the game since launch.

It's not just Rift it's like WoW many 'quit Cata' just after launch becuase it was 'more of the same', thats mainly because they've played the same thing over and over again for months.

My advice is don't 'quit' MMOs, just take a break from them, MMOs don't stop growing just because you stop, go play a new game, heck go outside, come back to them after the summer when theres new content (considering Trion are working on a 'major patch every 2-3 months' system so by the end of summer thats two/three updates), if only for a month of gametime a tenner is well worth dropping into a game every 2-3 months even if you bliz thru the 'new' content 8-15 hours of gametime is still more value for money then a single player title that may have even less time for quadrouple the price

 All those things your talking about "to do" in Rift I already did in EQ2 and WAR.  Rememebr, RIFT isn't that original: it has elements of several MMOs.  You may enjoy them and that's great but for some of us its too much about "been there, done that and got the T-shirt".  Some of us vets are looking for something fresh...not looking for the world here, just something fresh. 

The problem is many of us don't know what that fresh idea is.  So we flounder and get bored quickly.  Staying away from MMOs isn't going to make me want to collect artifacts once I log back into a game.

RIFT is a well made game, flawlessly executed and a great soul system.  However, I too am bored and after leveling my cleric to 46 and my Markswomen to 32 I'm bored to tears.  The one complaint I have about RIFT is they "sneak" grinding into the game by making you do quests that require you to kill a million mobs to get to the goal.  Then the NPC sends you back AGAIN to the same location to complete additional parts of the quest.  Tired.

Either way I am done, would rather hang with my WOW buddies than continue with a WOW clone.  I will say however that RIFT is a great game for people that don't have the experience of MMOs and aren't jaded.  If RIFT was my very FIRST MMO I'd be in heaven.

Originally posted by Cavadus

Originally posted by Broomy

 I logged into Earthrise last week.  If you saw my original post on this thread you would know that my last log in was recent.  AFTER the patch.  I lagged, the chat lagged, the environment lagged, the abilities lagged.  Wanna question my rig? its pretty tight with plenty of mem and I can play (thus far) anything on it at decent settings.  But that's OK, keep spreading the untruth.  When people spend their money on that steaming pile, experience the lag, they will know who to flame. 

There's obviously something wrong on your end or your internet connection is less than optimal.  I have not experienced any significant lag in well over a month, if not longer.

I don't know what to tell you.  No one in my guild has complained about lag since late February.  Servers are stable and fast.  Maybe you need to check your firewall or something.

 MmmmmKay...Please review the two post above, made right after your claim of NO Lag.  I guess all of us have bad internet connections and/or firewall issues. 

Originally posted by Cavadus

Originally posted by Broomy

 

I really don't have much more to say about it.  But I will say this:  And this is to you Adun: stop telling people there is no lag in the game.  That's a ballfaced lie.

...except it's not a lie.  I experience almost zero lag at any given time in any given location.  The only time lag starts to crop up is when I get into a battle with 8+ players in it because ER's netcode eats such an incredible amount of bandwidth.

I'm sorry but it's you who are lying.  If you think the game is laggy you obviously haven't played it in well over a month as almost all of the lag and server stability issues were cleared up in mid-March.

Honestly, it sounds like you played the game for about a week in February and then called it quits.  Your information and on the game is grossly out of date.

I want to be clear: servers are 100% stable and lag is quite good currently.  Maybe you should log into the game for an hour or so and see for yourself.

 I logged into Earthrise last week.  If you saw my original post on this thread you would know that my last log in was recent.  AFTER the patch.  I lagged, the chat lagged, the environment lagged, the abilities lagged.  Wanna question my rig? its pretty tight with plenty of mem and I can play (thus far) anything on it at decent settings.  But that's OK, keep spreading the untruth.  When people spend their money on that steaming pile, experience the lag, they will know who to flame. 

Originally posted by 2can

Originally posted by Broomy

So in closing I say to all prospective buyers of ER:  don't waste your money as I did.  The game has serious issues with lag, mechanics and has no direction.  If you have money to burn and need your scifi MMO fix your better off going to EVE or (and Im serious) Anarchy Online.  Both of these games have helpful communities (EVE is rather elitists but they know their stuff), in depth game mechanics (builds, market, crafting) and no elves. 

 

read that then saw current games played...wow and rift sorry bro taking that with some heavy grains of salt

 As you should.  Both games have mechanics that work and are polished and I enjoy them.  Sure I want a change, which is why I tried (again and again) Earthrise.  In its current state it sucks.  But by all means man, go spend your money on it.  It's a free country.

Originally posted by potapithikos

Originally posted by Adun

Originally posted by potapithikos
Replying to a well written articulate post with "*Point* HAHAH WoW LOL" pretty much invalidates any argument you tried to make ... if you consider Adun's responce an attempt to make any argument.

 

This is the "well-written and articulate post" you're talking about?

Originally posted by Broomy
 I bought ER a few months ago and tried it...it was terrible.  I would log in periodically to see how the game fared.  It was still terrible.  Logged in today to see if the patch improved things....still a joke.  LAG, No direction, Poor mechanics, toxic community for the most part. 

 

I'm done.  Uninstalling that total piece of garbage.  And I will be letting my buddies that were interested in it know to NOT bother wasting thier hard earned cash.  This is simply put crimminal theft of player money. 

You know, now that I reread it, I, too, was blown away by it's articulation, insight, and powerful prose. I sincerely and whole-heartedly withdraw my retort which was comprised of, to be exact, "Lol". I can easily see how you inferred ER has a toxic community at my example, but sir, know that on the next moon, I shall give myself to penance and light a candle to mark the ocassion, for it is something which should not be forgotten, and indeed, taken deeply to breast.

Nice try, but you still haven't addressed a single of his points regarding Lag, No Direction, Poor Mechanics. 

 

Keep continuing to validate his opinion of the community being toxic.

 

+1 for the improvement in insulting though! Definately much better than "WoW Lol!"

 He won't address them because he can't.  He instead chose to dismiss them as "blanket" when anyone that plays MMOs are familiar with those terms and what they mean.  I'm still gagging that he went there with the "WOW LOl" comment.   And we are the horde?  Those WOW insults are so played out I'm beginning to think they will eventually become part of the Godwin's Law.  IE:  "Given enough time on a gaming forum, all comparisons or insults are eventually related to the MMO World of Warcraft." 

;)

Originally posted by Adun

Originally posted by potapithikos

Originally posted by Adun

Originally posted by potapithikos
Replying to a well written articulate post with "*Point* HAHAH WoW LOL" pretty much invalidates any argument you tried to make ... if you consider Adun's responce an attempt to make any argument.

 

This is the "well-written and articulate post" you're talking about?

Originally posted by Broomy
 I bought ER a few months ago and tried it...it was terrible.  I would log in periodically to see how the game fared.  It was still terrible.  Logged in today to see if the patch improved things....still a joke.  LAG, No direction, Poor mechanics, toxic community for the most part. 

 

I'm done.  Uninstalling that total piece of garbage.  And I will be letting my buddies that were interested in it know to NOT bother wasting thier hard earned cash.  This is simply put crimminal theft of player money. 

You know, now that I reread it, I, too, was blown away by it's articulation, insight, and powerful prose. I sincerely and whole-heartedly withdraw my retort which was comprised of, to be exact, "Lol". I can easily see how you inferred ER has a toxic community at my example, but sir, know that on the next moon, I shall give myself to penance and light a candle to mark the ocassion, for it is something which should not be forgotten, and indeed, taken deeply to breast.

Nice try, but you still haven't addressed a single of his points regarding Lag, No Direction, Poor Mechanics. 

 

Keep continuing to validate his opinion of the community being toxic.

 

+1 for the improvement in insulting though! Definately much better than "WoW Lol!"

Rofl, It has already been stated in this thread countless time that lag no longer exists, and as far as "no direction" and "poor mechanics" are concerned, these are vague, blanket terms that mean nothing. The fact that you cited these "points" as articulate and well-written just makes me laugh, as does the rest of your desperate attempts at bashing the game when you clearly know nothing of it. The only thing "toxic" here are people like yourself who, while not even playing the game they're condemning, and thus in actuality know f*ck-all about it, are not deterred from still talking at length of what they do not know. But really you're not to be blamed; it's the standard migratory MMO kid mentality, and you're just another number amongst it's horde.

 Yes, Adun, my post was well written...short and to the point.  I stated how I felt about the game clearly and succinctly and most importantly WHY I felt that way (and if someone that has been playing MMOs alleges terms like "poor mechanics" and "no direction" are "blanket" they need to stop playing.  My niece is 12 and she is a gamer that understands those terms relative to MMO gaming).  I also threw in the details of  several attempts I made to have faith in the game, give it a chance, hope for the best.  And then I rounded out my statement with the blunt truth...the game is garbage in its current state.  Sorry man, but I don't "roleplay" about burning a candle as penance.  I give it to you straight with no chaser.  Sorry if that wasn't eloquent enough for you.    Your posts on the other hand have been quite frankly childish.  And yes, You are a prime example of the toxic community that I referred to.  I will have to thank you for proving my point there.  Now, back to the hot mess otherwise known as Earthrise....

I really don't have much more to say about it.  But I will say this:  And this is to you Adun: stop telling people there is no lag in the game.  That's a ballfaced lie.  And as long as you keep telling that lie here, I and others will be there to oppose it.  Cause you know why?  People come to MMORPG for better or worse, but to get the skinny on MMOs without being under the bias of the game's official forums.  Contrary to popular belief, people actually want to find a great game....let me repeat that...people WANT to find a great game to feed thier MMO hobby.  When people express displeasure for a game it is because in some way that game disappointed them.  MMORPG is the forum that allows people to be very honest about their experiences in a game.  And to tell players something about a game that too many know is simply not true is a violation of the spirit of these forums.  You would do better off on the official forums where mods can delete the negative posts, MMORPG is NOT the place for you. 

So in closing I say to all prospective buyers of ER:  don't waste your money as I did.  The game has serious issues with lag, mechanics and has no direction.  If you have money to burn and need your scifi MMO fix your better off going to EVE or (and Im serious) Anarchy Online.  Both of these games have helpful communities (EVE is rather elitists but they know their stuff), in depth game mechanics (builds, market, crafting) and no elves. 

Originally posted by Adun

Originally posted by Broomy

Originally posted by camelguy

This game is complete shit. 

 

....Stay far away from this one folks.

 ^This.  I bought ER a few months ago and tried it...it was terrible.  I would log in periodically to see how the game fared.  It was still terrible.  Logged in today to see if the patch improved things....still a joke.  LAG, No direction, Poor mechanics, toxic community for the most part. 

 

I'm done.  Uninstalling that total piece of garbage.  And I will be letting my buddies that were interested in it know to NOT bother wasting thier hard earned cash.  This is simply put crimminal theft of player money. 

Current Games: WOW, RIFT

Lol

 Yeah, WOW and RIFT.  Because there are so many GARBAGE games like ER what other choice is there?  Keep talking shit, TR closed and so will ER.  The TR community was obtuse as well and they helped in the ruination of that game.  ER will share the same fate.

Originally posted by Cavadus

Toxic community?  ER's community is the only one I've ever enjoyed besides PreCU's.

ER has a fantastic community full of people willing to help anyone who asks for it.  Just last night I was helping some new players group grind BP so they could get their skills up.

ER's community is one of the best around.

 That's your opinion.  It has not been my experience, but thats a moot point.  The game is garbage.