All Posts by BlackWatch

I haven't seen any roadmaps where XP support won't be available for business class systems.  I know that XP won't be available for purchase on new systems at some point, but the driver support will still be there.  Unless I've been given incorrect information by M$, nVidia, Intel, or Dell/HP, that is.

I know that there are certain tiers or product lines that certain vendors will only support a single OS on.  But that's typically small business/home office/consumer level product families. 

Due to the very slow adoption rate of Vista, the vendor's have had to offer extended support for XP (and only finally stopped rolling out Win2K support for some systems).  

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Out of the 20+ other fortune 100 companies that I have a chance to speak to about issues like this, I know of only 2 that have partial Vista deployments.  The largest computer contract in the world currently has a 'no Vista' policy in place (as of 6 months ago, this was true). 

I think 'marketing spin' is probably the greatest evil that a gamer has to face whenever they are looking for a game to play.  I don't believe that SOE is the only company known to take full advantage of 'spin' either. 

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At this point, SOE should be open and honest about the number of players that are actually playing SWG.  The most misleading thing to me about SWG is server population.  I think that if anyone is really going to be able to enjoy SWG at this point, they need to know what type of population to expect. 

If you log in on day 1 and see a ghost-town, then you probably aren't going to want to play.  Maybe you'll do the trial just to get a feel for the game from a mechanics/function/form standpoint, but when it comes time to set out to play and really get involved in the game, then you'll need a community to turn to. 

If SOE is in SWG for the longhaul, then they need to go ahead with server mergers.  If a player starts playing and simply can't find good groups or guilds to run with and they 'need' to transfer... they shouldn't have to play. 

So, in short, I think SOE should really just come out and let folks know how many players are on their servers. 

As constructive as I can be...

I would take BH over Jedi. 

Taking part in GCW and 'group oriented' PvP in SWG, I had more fun on a ranged combat oriented character than I did on a melee based character (NGE-era, to clarify). 

I think BH does more to help a group out than Jedi does, but that's just me and that's my opinion. 

I know some people that would swear by Jedi in group oriented PvP.  For the love of all that's holy, I don't see how they do it. 

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If you're talking 1v1... that's a lot different.  I didn't really get into that portion of the game, honestly.  It never really suited me in the NGE.  Being a Jedi back when Jedi had to face BH's... that was different.  And I would've taken my Jedi over my BH any day of the week (no matter what spec my BH was (CM/BH.. etc..).

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It's really going to be up to how you spec, how you play, your skill level, and who you run with.  After that, it's about equipment and the environment. 

After watching the latest movies on 'seige' in this game... I'll be playing it.

It certainly seems that WAR is pulling on the successful features of DAoC, improving them, and then rolling them into WAR. 

I'm pretty happy with the things I'm seeing so far about this game.  Things seem to get better with each new bit of information that's released. 

Unless your games require Vista, there is no reason to switch.  XP SP3 shows 10% performance gains over even XP SP2. 

Compare Vista performance to XP performance isn't even a real contest, even with Vista SP1.

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After testing Vista vs XP on standard laptops, pc's, and even workstations... I won't roll to Vista for some time on my main systems. 

The recommendation to the company that I work for (at this time) is to skip Vista entirely. 

Vista = WinME, imho. 

Great news for the game. 

WoW, for all of the faults that folks have listed (myself included), is a very fun game and it kept my attention for a few years.  It certainly helped me get over what SOE did to SWG... and that's saying a lot.

WoW is showing signs of it's age.  I'm not someone saying that WoW is dying or anything.  I just think it needs to really grow into something new, beyond lvl 70. 

The shift between old world and outlands was nice.  Blizzard would need to continue to offer change like that to the expansion. 

Blizzard did a great job of looking at the things that other games did wrong and they tried very hard not to make those same mistakes with their game.   I think the AoC and WAR dev's will essentially do the same thing with the games on the market (WoW included) and leverage that information... as to not re-invent the wheel, so to speak. 

Blizzard will need to either re-spin WoW or spin up WoW2 to stay 'current' with what other game dev's are doing. 

I like some of what Blizzard is doing with the expansion.  But I really want to see and get more from them.  And 'more' is what it would take for me to really say that I would stay a loyal Blizzard customer, even after the WAR and AoC launches. 

The sad thing is, they will roll it out no matter what the public says.  Even if they get an overwhelming amount of negative feedback prior to releasing this to public/live servers... they will still do it.

This tells me that they do not listen to their customers. 

The dev's are driven by someone/something else, but it's apparently NOT the players. 

If they say that changes come as a direct result of player feedback, then they are killing the many for the good of the very few. 

Hopefully this will be one time that SOE actually listens to their customers and rolls this back or just doesn't launch it.

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I recall an update to XP that SOE launched for SWG sometime during the CU.  That change p*ssed off a lot of people.  SOE rolled the change back.  Anyone else remember that?

Things I'd like to see:

Weather seasons in games.  In current games, areas are created with pre-defined weather systems or look-feel.  Some have snow, some have sand, some have grass, etc.,..  They look like that all the time.  They never change.  You go there in January, April, July, October... doesn't matter.  They always look the same.  Change it up.

Places that are covered with water during the summer could be frozen over during the winter.  In order to fish or hunt in the water, you would need to break the ice.  Or, a place where you used to have to swim across, you could now walk/run/ride across.  Sound would change during seasons in the area... from flowing water or waves to a more calm sound (the water would be still/frozen).  Integrate the sound of cracking ice as players move across the top of it.  Beware, food is scarce in those places during winter... you may become food for someone or something in these areas.

A place that may be a lush forest during certain months should change.  The leaves should turn and eventually cover the forest floor.  The trees could become leafless... and give the forest a completely different, almost dead feel to it.  Sound would alter too... rustling leaves, trees blowing and swaying with wind, to a 'dead calm' in winter months.  There used to be plenty of shadows to hide in when you hunted here, now the florest floor is covered with twigs and branches that give away our location if you aren't careful.

Some places would stay frozen.  Some places would stay sun-baked.  But for the other areas, give us some variety and switch them up. 

You can also introduce creatures/npc's that are 'seasonal'.  Certain animals hybernate, others don't.  Some creatures migrate. 

You get the picture...

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Realism in combat.  What I mean by that is this:  when I swing my sword vs an enemy, it should not just pass through them.  And if I swing my sword and it does pass through them, they should be dead.  I shouldn't have to hit something 12 times with my sword to kill it... not if my sword (graphically) goes through the target each and every time.  

I'm not asking for 1 shot, 1 kill scenarios.  Maybe you hit someone until it passes into/through their armor and into you?  But seeing a weapon pass through a layer of armor, through a player, back out through their amor... multiple times before they die?  Nah, shouldn't happen in a game.

Also, I don't want to see someone run through me.  No standing in the footprint of my character.  If I'm standing somewhere, then nobody else should be able to either. 

If players aren't allowed to walk through most targets in games, why should they be able to walk through one another?

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Player customization.  Tattoo's, body mod's, scars, brands, etc.,... I don't care if they are from a pre-approved list or not... allow them.  And, furthermore, allow me to get them during and after character creation.  Too many games have a 'set it and forget it' attitude towards player appearance. 

Let my character smoke cigars, a pipe, etc.,.. I don't smoke, but maybe for the sake of RP'ing, my player wants to.  Maybe not all the time, but it should be something I can activate like a 'temporary' mod appearance.

I want to be able to dye or color my armor.  If I get a suit that's 'black', and I'm in a snow scenario... I may want the ability to recolor my armor 'white' or even use 'winter camo' of some type.  I know that leads into my next point...

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The ability to trade in loot or retool loot to suit my character.  Too often we get quest rewards that are absolutely meaningless to our characters.  I want quest rewards that are specific to my race as well as my class.  Nothing worse than completing quests and getting nothing you can use from them, imho.  And, in some games, you can't wear certain things because of your characters race (swg, for example).  I hate that. 

2nd part of that...

If I'm 'spec A' for a class and I run 900 rvr rounds to get enough 'points' to get my suit of armor, then I decide I want to change to 'spec B' for my class.... I should just be able to trade my armor in to the vendor and get the suit for 'spec B'.  It should cost something (not my RL time), but I should be able to do it.

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I think I called that one a few days ago... don't know when it was posted though. 

Interesting. 

I'm taking a break from wow as it is.  But that break would extend even further if a new game (AoC, WAR, whatever) were to really step up and deliver.

Depending on what else is announced with the WoW expansion, I would consider checking that out.  I am just not sure that 1 new character class and a new area will really deliver enough new content in the game to really pull me back in.

The biggest thing that AoC and WAR have going for them at this point, they are different from WoW and one another.   As WoW advances in age, other games will look more and more attractive by default because they are unlike WoW and offer a 'change of pace'.  I doubt WoW really wants to change their formula to try to keep pace with those changes... unless they spin up WoW2, of course.  So players will migrate and want to play other games for no other reason than WoW will become old hat. 

I know that I really enjoyed playing WoW.  I don't have much to say about WoW that would really be all that negative.  I played the game from 1-70 multiple times, experience end-game PvP, end-game RAIDs, etc.,... I just grew increasingly more tired of the BG's and RAID's each time I ran them... for a few pts of faction/rep that bought me a few stat pts here and there.  If/when WoW figures out how to do away with that type of end game scenario in their game... they might figure out how to extend their run as #1.  (Honestly, I would just go ahead and say WoW is #1-25 on the MMO charts.  Gnomes holding that 25th spot, of course.)

I think that it's a better game when both the dev's and player's can work/play the game without being overly concerned with system spec's/settings. 

A comfortable balance between graphics and smooth gameplay is expected by anyone purchasing the game.  What I'm getting at is that I don't want another game to launch like Vanguard did.   And I'd like to see a step up from WoW.  But I don't want them to force the issue of graphics to a point where animations are broken or rigid... 'stuffy'. 

I think this is just a smaller section/sub-group of the overall dev team. 

It's going to be fun to blow the pic's up to see what type of information you can get off of them, though.

I'm not certain that I'm addicted, but I'm also not sure that I can honestly say that I'm not addicted to MMORPG's. 

I've played MMORPG's for years. 

I don't think I've gone any length of time at all without having at least one active sub to at least 1 game. 

I usually have active sub's to at least 2 games.

I usually have at least 2 active accounts in any game that I play (often around 5).

I have called in sick and taken days off from work to stay home and play.

I've had to call in sick and take days off from work because I stayed up all night playing.

I've called off dates to stay home and play.

I've let 2 girlfriends go because I wanted to play MMO's more than go out with them (then again, the MMO did have more content.  One of them was a blonde college cheerleader who listed 'Cosmo' as her favorite book').

I put on about 50+ lbs because I didn't want to hit the gymn, I wanted to stay home and play.

I've played on Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, and other holidays... rather than spend time with family.

I played games @ work.  I've played games for entire days @ work.

I have spent entire days of work reading about MMO's, guides, strat's, etc.,.., even if I wasn't playing. 

I was probably playing about 6-7 hours a day on weekdays and 16-20 hours total on the weekends for a while. 

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I have very nearly stopped playing WoW now. 

I haven't logged into WoW for over a week. 

I've played a total of 4 hours of WoW in 3 weeks.

I'm playing other MMORPG's now.

I play about 3-4 hours a night now. 

I only play AFTER I've gone to the gymn. 

I lost the 50 pounds I had gained, and then lost another 25+ pounds.

I go out every Fri and Sat Night and have a healthy social life.

I rarely miss work, and if I do... it's because I'm ill (legit).

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I 'was' addicted.  Some would say I still am if I play 3-4 hours a day.  I may be, but it's in moderation by way of comparison to my old habits. 

Though I never lost my job or had anything negative happen to me like that, I can only think of all of the time I literally waisted playing MMO's.  Yes, it was fun.  And there's nothing wrong with having fun, but it really showed me how big of a timesink that MMO's are designed to be.  It's my fault for getting pulled in.  And it's my fault I didn't get myself out sooner. 

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For the record... the game that initially got me hooked... Star Wars Galaxies (PRE-CU). I was heavily involved with the guild and social aspect of the game.  I had several friends that played. 

'WoW happened' after the SWG-effect wore off. 

WoW seems to be easier to shake, honestly.  For me at least.  I think it's the way the community is in that game that is making it easier to walk away from.  

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So, draw your own conclusions about addictions.  But I think you could make a strong case that one can/could be addicted to MMO's. 

Again, I would like to know exactly how StationPass plays into those numbers. 

I would take player housing one step further.  I would have 'account' housing.  I would have this on an account\server basis.  

If you have 8 characters on a server, they share a house.  NON biolinked/bop items can be dropped or deposited in the house, ready for pickup by your other characters (to include gold/currency).

This stops people from starting 'bank guilds'.

It stops flooding the mail system.

Offer the ability to make your home a 2nd port for your heartstone. 

Only YOUR account could pick things up from your house.

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I would still like to see guild halls.

  Have a guild-trophy room.  The room could feature a wall with 'slots'.  The slots would be filled by a badge or plaque for killing RAID/instance bosses and/or for achieving some type of status.  There could also be a 'museum' feature in the hall... for players to deposit items for 'show'. 

As long as it's not just another grindfest OR fps-knock off... it will have a shot.

Making sure this doesn't roll out as a SOE game will help, too.

When is the official launch date again?

I wish there were a way to discover:

How many players are currently sub'd to more than 1 game.

How many players currently have more than multiple accounts in a single game.

How many accounts listed are 'active'.

How many accounts counted are actually accounts that have actually be closed. 

How package deals like the SOE StationPass play into those numbers.

Age/race/sex/location breakdown.

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I just think it would be very interesting to see those numbers/stats.