All Posts by BlackWatch

Originally posted by tigris67

Originally posted by pegleg

I bet there is more to the story then just a random Banned

 

First off, I don't appreciate your accusation.

no actually. There isn't anything else to my story. Sorry if I sounded a bit hotheaded but I cannot stand when things like this happen to people who don't deserve it. Especially when it inolves myself. No I have never done anything illegal with my account.

 

I have not had an active subscription since the free return of the burning crusade which I only played 14 days and had some fun leveling my char a bit. then my time ran out. Now 5 months later when I don't even have an active subscription I get thrown a random ban. There is absolutelly no explaining this.

 

And no, no one knows my account pass or username...so this is completely bogus.

This has happened to me four times, actually.  Well, the 'banned' for no apparent good reason portion bit.

3 of those times, I was reported for 'bott'ing'.  I have multi-accounts and was simply pulling my lowbie behind my main.  I did this to burn through levels in my late 40's-50's.  I was reported multiple times by other players (I guess I had somewhat of a monopoly on some spawns with my army of alts).  Numerous tells were sent to my lowbies, but I wasn't watching them... I was watching my main).  So, ban stick hit lowbies.  I lost 1 account permanently (lvl 60), but Blizz has always been understanding and returned my accounts to me... once they realized I wasn't botting. 

The other time was just last week.  I had a twink @ lvl 19...decked out rogue with all great items.  On that same account, I had several 'bank/vault' toons as well.  I rarely log in to that account unless I'm shifting inventory or need to craft something.  I had let it sit for nearly a month+ without checking it. 

Last weekend I got an e-mail from Blizzard saying that I had requested a password change.  I hadn't requested the pw change.  When I tried to log in to the account, I got the 'account frozen... banned' e-mail.  Account suspected of  xxx activities... exploit economy... etc.,.. I sent e-mails to Blizz, proved who I was, that I hadn't logged in... they gave me my account back within 4 days (from mon-thurs).  The damage was done, though... my twink was lvl 25, my bank toons weren't touched, but I was missing a lot of gold. 

Blizz gave me my account back, but the gold is gone and now I need a new twink (what else do you do with your gold from daily quests?).

I don't share passwords... ever.  Never have.  Not in this game or any other game.  I give out buddy keys to friends/family that want to try games.

I run anti-virus, spy/mal-ware software, I don't run many add-ons in game, and my home network/box is fairly secure (no system is 100% secure and only an idiot would say they are). 

Does this type of service cost extra per month or what?

I'm currently playing WoW and checking out LotRO and AoC.

I will certainly play WAR and see if that's my next long term game.

WoW: WotLK drops in Q4, so I will pick that up as well.  (just because)

Darkfall is an interesting beast, as is Chronicles of Spellborn.  I may look at both of those. 

I realize that the individual used a forum post to provide information about the case they were bringing vs Funcom, but still... they need to tighten up their story and get things in order.  There may be holes in Funcom's box advertisement, EULA, TOS, etc.,... but if someone plans to bring a case against someone else, they should really try to get all of their bullets together and load the gun first.

DirectX10 support vs enhancement?  The finger can be pointed at Microsoft or the OS OR even graphics card manufacturers and their driver software.  What is implied vs what is clearly defined vs verbage vs interpretation vs ... it's pointless.  Add in to the mix that there are variables of components in systems and you have a fight that you probably won't be able to win there. 

Single Core, Dual Core, and Multi Core?  Forget that... the term is 'thread-enabled'.  Ask if there is a cap @ 2-cores or 4-cores on the application.  Then ask if the actual number of cores supported was ever stated.   Quite a few app's are cap'd at 4-cores (per CPU), yes your OS may 'see' more than 4, but whether or not your app's use them... that's the story.  4 cores used to be listed as  'multi-core', but now it's 'QuadCore', so has the carrot moved to 6-8 core + for 'multi-core'?  In truth, MultiCore = More then 1 core/plural.  We think it should mean >2 cores, but it doesn't necessarily mean that.  It's all marketing... smoke and mirrors.

PvP by July?  Okay, make sure there aren't disclaimers anywhere.  If it's some post online, make sure it came from 1) someone within the company who is responsible for that portion of the game and has been established as a spokesperson for said portion and 2) not some poser.

Let's face it, software companies are being 'forced' to back AMD, Intel, and nVidia's play and push users to purchase new technology (actively 'advertise').  These gaming companies NEED those companies to participate in their development and testing process, so the 'scratch my back/I scratch yours' policy comes into play. 

If you want to really kick someone in the teeth... look at Intel, AMD, nVidia, and Microsoft.  Microsoft keeps pushing inflated-fat pigs they called OS's.  Intel and AMD keep shoving more cores at us while software vendors haven't recoded their app's to make use of them.  AMD/ATI and nVidia keep throwing multi-card solutions at us to make up for inflated OS, poor drivers, and simply 'to make a buck'.

I'm not saying that there isn't something wrong with AOC or that it followed through on some of the promises... but I think this goes beyond the individual software vendors/publishers.

Within a month you can pump quite a bit of time into an MMORPG.  In that timeframe you can get a pretty good feel for how the game is and how it will work with your RL schedule. 

I think it's also a lot more simple than that, really.  Different people think differently.   Different people look for different things in games and they judge games based off of different criteria.  

For some people/players, they can get into a game and tell if they will want to play it or not within the first 5 minutes... could be issues with graphics, character control, combat system, or the graphic interface. 

For others, it may take a day or two to find something they just can't live with... such as issues with character levelling, progression, or skill selection.  Maybe they hate the travel system, chat system, auction house, or mail system?   

Maybe it took only a few days or a week or so to figure out that the IP for the game and the lore didn't really bring much to the game.  After a few weeks in game, maybe they see issues with the game's community (or that servers community)?

And still others, maybe they are weighing the 'new game' vs their current or 'old game', and that 1-month 'free to play' trial is the established time-limit they have set for 'testing'.

Also, if you jump into a game at launch and the game is full of bugs or performance issues, then maybe those players leave because they simply 'can't play'... due to frustration or overall technical issues. 

Perhaps the player is starting new in an 'established game'.  And maybe it's a game that takes a while to get through the 'newbie' area.  Once the players get free of that area and start into the rest of the game world, then they are presented with the ugly reality that they just started out in a  game that is a few years old.  They are up against players who are advanced way beyond their level and they simply cannot compete.  So, they are overwhelmed. 

There are a lot of variables. 

Some people can burn to max level in most games in under one month.  Once they hit max level, that's their 'end game'... whether it's the intended 'end game' or not, that's their personal mark of achievement and that's what they were working for. 

I give games multiple shots for various reasons.  WoW took 3 tries, and I still play that.  CoH/CoV got a few tries, but I couldn't get into it.  SWG keeps getting a revisit because every few years it's a new game. DAoC got about 10 minutes... 2 minutes the first time and about 8 the second time I tried it (hated it both times). 

Bottomline, different strokes for different folks. 

I don't think WAR is the most hyped.  I think that the AoC and WotLK vs WAR battles seem to make it appear to be hyped to that level, but that's more fan generated than anything, imho.

I think both games have their pos's/neg's. 

I don't want to see a repeat of tBC with WoW, though.  The whole concept of needing to repeat instances  or quests multiple times to grind 'rep' really gets on my nerves.  While I'm all about making instances fun and challenging enough that you want to run them more than once... forcing players to repeat instances = boredom. 

What will make WotLK attractive to gamers is it's 'newness'.  But if you have to do things many times over and over to really achieve anything in the expansion, then that really hurts the game in my opinion.  I don't want things to be quick/easy in the expansion, but I'd rather not have to repeat my in-game experience over and over each time I log in... for days/weeks on end... just to achieve 'reputation'.

There's little or no doubt that WAR would feature at least some type of 'grind/rep' system.  But if the rest of the game is solid and shows some improvements over WoW... then I think the game has a shot at being a contender.

I log into WoW now and I'm bored to tears.  Guilds are breaking up or simply taking breaks or whatever.  It's actually hard to find groups for certain instances.... especially if you want to avoid PUG'ing.  So, for a game with 10,000,000 people... finding 4 others has been rough lately.   I'm sure there will be a flood of players at the launch of WAR and WotLK.... but for now, the community seems pretty thin, imho.

If it's not possible for preCU SWG and NGE-SWG to exist together... I doubt it's going to be possible for SWG and KOTOR-MMO to exist together.  I know, I know... different scenario and set of circumstances with the preCU/NGE-SWG issue, but still... I doubt LA is going to want to try to tackle monitoring both MMO's at the same time. 

1) SWG (preCU)

2) WoW

3) EQ2

4) FFXI

5) CoH

Originally posted by ummax

Originally posted by Battleskar

Originally posted by AveBethos

Let's just justify credibility here...

The OP just said he believes that the game is BETTER now than it was Pre-CU/CU.

Right there says enough...

One more thing you talk about my credibility,because I like something you do not? You need to look up what credibility means I can state my opinion and you can state yours my opinion is this game has gotten beat down and bashed for way longer than it should have.SOE made their mistakes .Its time for some of you who are still holding grudges to get past the past for crying out loud. I still read alot of posts on here of folks quiting things about SWG that are just not true,and the Sad thing is I used to believe and agree with alot of them until I went back and made my own decision. If you do not like the game thats fine and dandy,If your still mad and upset at SOE and want to mope and whine and cry for the rest of your life thats fine too, it never got you anywhere the game never rolled back. Now that being said I like this game again and for those of you who miss it nows the time to try it again,but I reccomend that you start a new charactor and begon from the start you learn alot by starting over than starting from 80:P

 

Yeah I agree with this.   At this point its almost become habit to bash the game.    The fact is that truly that entire argument is almost irrelevant at this point in time.  The game that is being bashed is not the game that was released and broken in the nge/cu stuff.   Its been repaired and at the very least is on par with the old version. 

The other thing is the statements of "WoW" copies.  Its interesting but someone brought this to my attention recently.    Collections have become a huge thing in SWG.  If SWG is copying WoW why then is WoW about to implement collections for the first time with the warhammer release in order to not loose ground.  The fact of the matter is that at this point in time the past is over and Sony has moved foward. YES everyone and their brother will agree that sony indeed did screw up.  However they have done what they can to repair the damage and have moved forward to create a game that now people actualy want to play.    The fact also remains that it gave me a chuckle when I saw that WoW was implementing something that has become a Sony staple in their games (eq and swg and maybe others I havent' looked..).  

The last thing is that we are seeing posts from people who are almost confessing that they tried the game now in the present and are enjoying it despite that fact that all the fibre of their being is saying "no I should hate this".   Those that enjoy it stay (for now maybe something better will be produced in the future) and those that dont enjoy it leave.   The age old arguments are just that becoming such a habit they have lost their power as people read what is almost a drone at this point of people stating the sme thing over and over again.  I have a picture in my head of a very borred guy in a room reading from a script who has over the years gotten to the point where its just become habit.    If peopel see a positive post the "switch" is thrown and you hear this monotone voice say  things like "dead servers" , "sony lied", "NGE sucks" whatever all strewn together in very similar sentances.   Its over and was long ago the monotone voices saying the same thing over and over again have become background noise.  People make up their own minds.  They download the trial and they decide.  (anticipates the usual remark that says "if you download the trial you will see for yourself that the servers are dead blah blah blah).   Yeah its programmed now I know what is coming next.  It no longer something that even makes me and likely others take notice as we have read those statements and have made up our onw minds .

The fact is that this game is a decent game.   Its fun and its entertaining and its something people want to do.   That's just the way it is no saber rattling or forum battles here or anything else is going to change that simple truth. 

If you enjoy the game, then I'm glad you enjoy the game. 

I use Fanboi or SOE Employee just like I hear the terms Angry Vet or Old School/Elder. 

There are people in my old SWG guild that still play and enjoy it.  I don't slap the fanboi/SOE employee label on them, and I don't throw it at every current SWG fan either.   The people that get that label are the ones that refuse to acknowledge that there are issues with the game.  These people refuse to allow anyone to say anything even remotely negative about the game.  They do whatever they can to  discredit negative statements or opinions.

Being loyal is one thing.  Drinking the Kool-Aid is another.

Originally posted by Battleskar

Originally posted by AveBethos

Let's just justify credibility here...

The OP just said he believes that the game is BETTER now than it was Pre-CU/CU.

Right there says enough...

One more thing you talk about my credibility,because I like something you do not? You need to look up what credibility means I can state my opinion and you can state yours my opinion is this game has gotten beat down and bashed for way longer than it should have.SOE made their mistakes .Its time for some of you who are still holding grudges to get past the past for crying out loud. I still read alot of posts on here of folks quiting things about SWG that are just not true,and the Sad thing is I used to believe and agree with alot of them until I went back and made my own decision. If you do not like the game thats fine and dandy,If your still mad and upset at SOE and want to mope and whine and cry for the rest of your life thats fine too, it never got you anywhere the game never rolled back. Now that being said I like this game again and for those of you who miss it nows the time to try it again,but I reccomend that you start a new charactor and begon from the start you learn alot by starting over than starting from 80:P

Who says vets haven't moved on?  I think most have.  Just because people post doesn't mean that they haven't moved on.

I know that at this point, I read the SWG boards to see what has happened with patches/publishes or to see if SOE finally decided to pull their heads out and roll-back.

I rarely (if ever) come in here to target SOE employees/fanboi's... trolling is not a hobby of mine, honestly.

Until people feel like they have been heard and truly listened to, they will keep talking or attempting to express themselve until they find some level of satisfaction or peace.  Until then, we'll all keep posting our opinions about these games and hopefully enjoying the ones we're all playing, respectively.

For me, I found that I had to 'make do' with what the game offered, as opposed to being truly happy with what it provided.  Couple that with a seriously low server population, houses full of useless gear/food/items, and a profession that is a shadow of its former self.... the 'exit stage left/cancel' button seemed more attractive than days of grinding for 4/5 holocrons ever could be.

I tried SWG again myself.  But after seeing the collection system... I walked again. 

4/5 holo's... the new slayer of inner-children everywhere.

No matter how grand a virtual world may be, I'm typically underwhelmed by any of the games these days. 

I do want something 'sandbox-ish' that features a great deal of freedom, but I also don't want it so open that the game loses any type of shape or 'body' to the world. 

Sandbox should be more about creativity and making gameplay a more personal experience for the player.  It should not be about finding 'the one character temp/profession combo to rule them all' and then watching 10 million clones roll out of that mold...  then watching re-roll's as new FotM's are generated through various patches and nerfs.

Originally posted by Tee312

Originally posted by BlackWatch

I think the other key thing to look at  with character models and 'artwork' within a character is the detail and attention given to movement.

You can have the greatest looking characters in the world, but if they don't move well then they aren't that great... unless all you are doing is playing 1 frame at a time or taking non-stop screenshots.  Player models and npc's need to walk right, carry weapons right, breathe, manipulate and work with world objects, they need to fight, they need to run and jump... all of those things... in a 'realistic' way or pseudo-believable way. 

Character models often react slowly or awkwardly to commands.  They 'skate' across terrain rather than walk or run across it.  They 'snap' to targets, rather than really turn... head, torso, hips, legs, feet... it all happens 'now'. This mechanic changes for 2 legged creatures, 4 legged, etc.,.. Same goes for creatures that fly or  swim. 

The other thing... armor needs to fit the character... each character... as if it were crafted for them.  I hate how some surfaces on armor in some games look 'stretched' on some character models, yet fine on others.  I don't think each race needs their own armor, but I do think the armor should appropriately fit and look right.

How the creature or player model reacts to 'effects' that are placed on them.  More often then not, we see players who are subjected to 'ice' as 'moving slow'... as if in a blizzard, ahem.  If someone throws some ice down infront of you... of if they make it magically appear in your path... and you are already running at them at full speed, are you going to really 'slow down'?  No.  You'll hit the ice and fall on your arse or you will 'skate' by them, into them, or something unpredictable. 

If a player is 'blinded' in a game... make their screen go black or darken it.  Why should they be able to 'see' what's around them?  I mean, I'm sorry... you're 'blind'.  You were 'blinded' for a reason... not so that you could continue to watch and track your target so that whenever the blindness wears off you can immediately attack him.  Maybe their field or viewing radius gets dropped to a really low number... but that should be addressed, too. 

Rant off.

 

Oh really?  WAR has some things wrong with it, but I don't see how they "skate" across the ground.  I haven't seen a lot of what you're ranting about, actually.

I'm not ranting that WAR doesn't have this or does have this... in general, people were stating what some of the issues with graphics with games were.  Most people mention how local terrain looks or how 'plastic' textures look in many games.  I was just saying that we need to look beyond that and think of other things, too.

Some of the things WoW does well, imho... how a character runs or jumps is pretty funny.  The tauren player model jumping, breathing, etc..,.. funny, imho.  I'm not saying the mechanics are 'right' or exact (for a mytho-creature), but they are entertaining at least... and not forced or stretched the point of me seeing those characters are 'ridged' or 'stiff'. 

I haven't played WAR as of yet (alpha/beta or otherwise), but since I pre-ordered the CE... I will be checking it out. 

I want the new SW-MMORPG to be nothing like SWG was... in any stage of the game. 

I want something new, entirely.

I don't want another 3 years of: "Bioware, I really like your game, but could you do 'this' like SOE did in preCU: SWG?"

I'm a 4+ year SWG vet.  And I hope I don't hear the following words... ever:

Anti-Decay Kit

The Old Man

The Village

4/5 Holocron

Holo-grind 1

Holo-grind 2

Respec Jedi

Elder Jedi

etc.,...

Give me the real 'StarWarsy' and 'Iconic' game I'm looking for.  That's all I'm asking.

I think the other key thing to look at  with character models and 'artwork' within a character is the detail and attention given to movement.

You can have the greatest looking characters in the world, but if they don't move well then they aren't that great... unless all you are doing is playing 1 frame at a time or taking non-stop screenshots.  Player models and npc's need to walk right, carry weapons right, breathe, manipulate and work with world objects, they need to fight, they need to run and jump... all of those things... in a 'realistic' way or pseudo-believable way. 

Character models often react slowly or awkwardly to commands.  They 'skate' across terrain rather than walk or run across it.  They 'snap' to targets, rather than really turn... head, torso, hips, legs, feet... it all happens 'now'. This mechanic changes for 2 legged creatures, 4 legged, etc.,.. Same goes for creatures that fly or  swim. 

The other thing... armor needs to fit the character... each character... as if it were crafted for them.  I hate how some surfaces on armor in some games look 'stretched' on some character models, yet fine on others.  I don't think each race needs their own armor, but I do think the armor should appropriately fit and look right.

How the creature or player model reacts to 'effects' that are placed on them.  More often then not, we see players who are subjected to 'ice' as 'moving slow'... as if in a blizzard, ahem.  If someone throws some ice down infront of you... of if they make it magically appear in your path... and you are already running at them at full speed, are you going to really 'slow down'?  No.  You'll hit the ice and fall on your arse or you will 'skate' by them, into them, or something unpredictable. 

If a player is 'blinded' in a game... make their screen go black or darken it.  Why should they be able to 'see' what's around them?  I mean, I'm sorry... you're 'blind'.  You were 'blinded' for a reason... not so that you could continue to watch and track your target so that whenever the blindness wears off you can immediately attack him.  Maybe their field or viewing radius gets dropped to a really low number... but that should be addressed, too. 

Rant off.

Reminds me of Will and Clark going to town in Good Will Hunting.

Chuckie: Are we gonna have a problem here?

Clark: No, no, no, no! There's no problem here. I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the southern colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War, the economic modalities, especially in the southern colonies, could be most aptly described as agrarian precapitalist.

Chuckie: Let me tell you something -

Will: Of course that's your contention. You're a first-year grad student; you just got finished reading some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison probably. You're gonna be convinced of that 'till next month when you get to James Lemon. Then you're going to be talking about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania were entrepreneurial and capitalist way back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year; you're gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talkin' about, you know, the pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.

Clark: Well, as a matter of fact, I won't, because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social -

Will: "Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth"? You got that from Vickers' "Work in Essex County," page 98, right? Yeah, I read that too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter? Or do you, is that your thing, you come into a bar, read some obscure passage and then pretend - you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress some girls, embarrass my friend?

Clark: [looks down in shame]

Will: See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a f***in' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!

Clark: Yeah, but I will have a degree. And you'll be servin' my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a