Wont comment on the clan warfare or the mmo/non mmo aspect of it but you left a lot out of this "preview".

First of all this is a pay to win game. The best ammo is bought with real money, "prestige" vehicles are bought with real money, increased exp/silver is bought with real money, the best consumables are bought with real money, etc.

Secondly the matchmaker is total garbage if you're looking at balance.

Thirdly aside from 3 starter vehicles you must unlock through exp every vehicle. Which means untill youve grinded through a ton of matches you are stuck with a limited selection. You will find yourself as the team scout whether you want to or not and even when you get to medium tanks/vehicles you will often be matched against vehicles that can 1-2 shot you and that you will bounce most your shells off.

Shame the link doesnt work...

If you build it (right), they will play. Blaming the customer/consumer for your products failing is kinda moronic, no?

Originally posted by shakermaker0

Surely what your saying is countered by the fact that at level 20 in LOTRO you have to pay for quest packs? For me at that point grinding mobs for exp is more restrictive than EQ2's model? I feel that your love of a certain developer is clouding your understanding of the article. I could play EQ2Ex untill level 25 without having to pay a dime.  

You mean the quest packs you can earn through in game currency while playing any race and all but one class while talking in all chat, wearing any gear, with full storage and bags, and non capped abilities/spells? Those quest packs?

I guess playing any race and class a game offers without gimped abilities and running to sell every minutes is more important to me than you.

My understanding of the article is on point and has nothing to do with a developer or game. I actually think eq2 is a better game than either ddo or lotr but that isnt the point of the article is it? Sadly it appears you dont understand the point of your own article. Bang for your buck indeed.

Originally posted by shakermaker0

Originally posted by finnmacool1

"The character creation process is relatively sane also, the usual clap-trap of races and classes  is here except for a few that are restricted"

 

I think you logged into some game other than eq2 extended. Seriously this is the biggest nickel and dime money sink out there. Everything in this game is restricted:money,chat,race,class,bank slots,bag slots,spell/ability levels,number of quests,broker,equipment,character slots,shared bank slots,etc.

Did you even bother trying some of the other ftp games to compare? Seems to me you just like the eq series and did zero research in declaring this some kind of value. This is the poster child of how not to do ftp.

 

 

In all fairness if you were to check back through the websites history I have done a number of articles on Free to Play games. 

 

I want to stress that this series is not essentially based on the quality of the product because I don't want this to descend into "you said nice about X how dare you think it is better than Y"

 

This series of articles is for those in the community who ask "how free is this game?" I'm looking for the most free of the free games and in my opinion, EQ2Ex wasn't half bad, SOE have allowed for a number of hours of free-play and while they're are restrictions, they do not restrict progress as much as they could do. As stated in the article, I spent 1 day and 8 hours in-game playing, thats a fairly decent amount of gaming for the price of nothing right?

1 day 8 hours that could have been spent in ddo or lotr with much fewer restrictions. How much more could they possibly restrict you? 2 char slot, 4 races, 8 classes, 2 bank slots, 2 bag slots, chat, money, equipment, spell/ability caps,broker,etc etc etc. There is zero bang for your buck with this model period.

Hell if you open it to lesser quality ftp there are endless titles out there you can play absolutely free with fewer restrictions.

Even with new graphics and a decent ui the game still wouldnt be worth a sub. Same issues of buff bots, horrible class balance,horrible casting mechanism, and ridiculous cc. That doesnt even include the toa and ml nonsense.

"The character creation process is relatively sane also, the usual clap-trap of races and classes  is here except for a few that are restricted"

I think you logged into some game other than eq2 extended. Seriously this is the biggest nickel and dime money sink out there. Everything in this game is restricted:money,chat,race,class,bank slots,bag slots,spell/ability levels,number of quests,broker,equipment,character slots,shared bank slots,etc.

Did you even bother trying some of the other ftp games to compare? Seems to me you just like the eq series and did zero research in declaring this some kind of value. This is the poster child of how not to do ftp.

Originally posted by Deerhunter71

I started LOL when I saw Darkfall on the list....  It is dull as hell and even the active players gripe how plain and boring it is...

Its a site requirement that darkfall make every list unless its a list for a negative.

Havent tried any of the systems people think are more deserving like ryzom,atitd,istid so cant comment on those. If the list is based off crafting systems that produce worthwhile items, no arguments here. If however its based on fun, engaging systems, then ummm no.

its basically battlefield 1942 without the infantry. Not worth playing for free, cant believe they are going for a sub with this.

The true failure of this game is in the game design and the tier matchmaker. Id prefer they did generic light tanks vs light tanks, medium tanks vs medium tanks, or heavy tanks vs heavy tanks. If you are going to have a mixed force setup of scouts,anti tanks,artillary,tanks then they each need to be capable of doing thier job. Using "light tanks" as scouts but gimping them so most are slower than everything else in that tier, giving them the thinest armor and weakest guns is retarded. Giving artillary 100% accuracy and damn near one shot one kill ability is retarded. There are simply way too many crap vehicles to research past to get one that doesnt suck.

Reading the 3 reasons you think most recent mmo's fail makes me wonder if you even play mmo's.

Recent releases have bombed because:

1. They get pushed out the door in terrible shape and expect the consumer to pay while it gets brought up to minimal standards.

2. They get hyped to hell and back and then fail to deliver even a fraction of what they "promised".

3. Instead of being inspired by passion to make a buck they just get made to make a buck. This leads to uninspired,more of the same, bland mush.

Yet another quality article by your only credible writer on staff. It only highlights the difference between hacks wasting readers time with moronic crap about crapping in video games.

Originally posted by Karesh

Originally posted by finnmacool1

Calling BS on your darkfall pick:

" Every week we here at MMORPG.com focus weekly columns on some of the industry’s most anticipated upcoming games, because we try to offer content geared towards what we think you’d like to read.  Whether it’s previews or opinion pieces or news items, we always try to cover as much ground as our small team can.  But with four-hundred or so games on the docket, it’s no wonder we don’t get around to spreading the wealth as much as we’d like."

Darkfall has received more attention on this site than many AAA titles and every other indie title combined. It is far from underappreciated coverage wise. Stop trying to push this piece of gargage down our throats. If you want ratings post pictures of naked women. At least have some honesty about what you're doing and a shred of integrity.

 

Come on man, you completely missed the point of the post. Just because a game gets a lot of attention doesn't mean it's highly appreciated. I think we can all understand that, ESPECIALLY if you've read through the DF forums. 

Actually the reason i highlighted what he wrote is because he based part of the list on this sites coverage or lack thereof. Darkfall is a niche game, it was meant to appeal to a very small,very select group of gamers. Its appreciated by its audience and no one else, it isnt "underappreciated". That is also why vanguard doesnt deserve to be on the list. Many people have tried it on many occasions and continnue to find it lacking. It too has had loads of coverage,many chances to turn the boat around. Its failed. It has the population a subpar,bug filled, hack job of a title with no support from $oe it deserves.

Calling BS on your darkfall pick:

" Every week we here at MMORPG.com focus weekly columns on some of the industry’s most anticipated upcoming games, because we try to offer content geared towards what we think you’d like to read.  Whether it’s previews or opinion pieces or news items, we always try to cover as much ground as our small team can.  But with four-hundred or so games on the docket, it’s no wonder we don’t get around to spreading the wealth as much as we’d like."

Darkfall has received more attention on this site than many AAA titles and every other indie title combined. It is far from underappreciated coverage wise. Stop trying to push this piece of gargage down our throats. If you want ratings post pictures of naked women. At least have some honesty about what you're doing and a shred of integrity.

Its a shame this site only has the one credible writer on staff. If the other hacks allowed to make posts here had half the talent of Isabelle this site would be 100 times better.

Eq1 was my first mmorpg and initially i tried roleplaying within the game. I quickly came to the conclusion that computer games were the wrong forum within which to roleplay. No action you take, no creature you kill, no interaction you have with an npc ever has any lasting meaning in a computer game. No matter how revered or how despised your faction is with a particular group in a game, no path will ever open other than what is already programmed into the game.

I had to laugh when you had the balls to say many people enjoy grinding. No one enjoys grinding, though some people endure it if the end result is worth it. Poor graphics and animations are definitely a negative but if the gameplay is solid easily overlooked. A poor ui however can be a deal breaker, coupled with what sounds like only having one true "bestest" skill layout makes me happy i wasted no time on this. Sounds like a grindfest watered down version of shadowbane minus the rubberbanding,sb.exe crashes,and mouse click movement.

You felt the need to necro a thread over 3 years old why?

Originally posted by Kwansei

Would love to see a study on games where you can solo a good deal of the game vs games you are forced to group more or less. Back in EQ1 if you built up a bad reputation it stucj with you and you were basically screwed. Though with these cross server dungeons I hear about in WoW you can basically do the endgame solo or with minimal interaction and communication. Sure it's not the only factor of such a multifacted problem but I bet it's signifigant one. Time for an AFA (Asshattery Factor Analysis)!

Not sure what server you played on but that was not the case on any of the 4 servers i played on. You seem to be yet one more person suffering from the affliction of rose colored eyewear. eq1 had the worse community of any mmo ive played and ive played dozens. Ninja looters, kill stealers, people that train you to save their butt or keep you from a camp/boss. Hell there were whole guilds involved in camp/boss/dungeon training warfare to ensure they were the best geared on the server. People having long drawn out conversations in ooc and when politely asked to take it to tells go on non stop verbal assaults. People youve never met or grouped with making a major production out of how they will put you on ignore and discount everything you say because your name impairs their immersion. Their immersin didnt suffer when druids went on mass killing sprees of wildlife, paladins grouped with necros, or monks amassed vast wealth. Let the holy fire rain down from the sky if they had to see someone named fluffybunny in the game or chat however.

Every single mmo ive played from eq1 to wow has had nice,helpful,and polite people and every single game ive played from eq1 to wow has had asshats. Most the asshattery these days is over chat to the point i cant even stand to read most the drivel in eq2 chat.  Non stop poiltical and/or religous "debates" by the uninformed,racism,homophobia,chuck norris/leeroy jenkins nonsense, and general hate and intolerance. At least with that type its easy to ignore. You either dont read it, put the few bad apples on ignore, or read but ignore the nonsense.

There is also a lot of ashattery by the elites that shouldnt be forgotten. People that tell everyone with a negative remark to "go back to wow". People that look down and mock those that dont have the time or desire to spend every waking moment playing an online game. People that slam people asking a question because they didnt go to "x" fansite and spend hours doing research. Poor community goes well beyond simple moronic chat, yet only wow and its "barrens chat" seem to get acknowledged.

Originally posted by Sovrath

I don't really consider having queues part of a "horrible launch".

I"m sure any number of games that had successful launches would be in the same boat if they had far more players than expected.

To me, horrible launch is servers going down, huge lag, lots of bugs, billing errors, etc.

I agree. There are enough games released unfinished, bug ridden, and technical messes to never need look towards games that have long ques or other issues concerning more demand than expected. Then again this site seems to think simply putting "these are my opinion" somewhere in an article alleviates any responsibility towards being credible.

Not surprisingly i disagree with just about everything you wrote. Freemium is not a positive for the industry at all. All freemium does is allow incompetant devs and publishers a chance to release a turd and still profit. Wows continued sucess and its latest expansion are a great boon for the industry as it continues to draw more people into mmos. Just because it isnt your cup of tea is no reason to overlook the fact it has done more than any game released to date for the industry. More than all your niche games and sub par freemium crap.

The worse of 2010 is the rise of freemium, the lack of quality articles on this site, and the lack of fortitude among devs and publishers to release non traditional niche games in an effort to recycle what wow does better.

The best of 2010 is that its over and we can hope things get better in 2011.