All Posts by BlackWatch

Not saying I support bott'ing (because I don't), but how much further out can we be from Blizzard vs some of the mod's that automate some ingame activities (such as mod's that watch the AH for pricing trends and such)?  And then will they go after multi-boxers as well? 

I think it's good to nuke something that completely removes the human factor from gameplay, but I am directly opposed to Blizzard having any rights whatsoever to look at the system I'm playing on and the contents (software/hardware).  I have not done any type of deep dive on this, but I certainly would like to know %100 of where they look and what they look at on my box.  Outside of sending Blizzard crash logs and giving them a reason for client software failure, I don't think they need to know what I have on my system. 

The license agreement should protect the customer (gamer) just as much as it protects the corporation and their software.

Originally posted by Obraik

My end game content:

• Heroics (high end instances)
• Collections
• Crafting
• PvP
• Ground quests
• Space quests
• House deco
• The odd storyteller event

 

1. Heroics.  They don't drop enough loot.  I came back and ran 'Heroics' for a few months and my take on them... underwhelming.  I ran the instance for the stat increase because I didn't see anything else drop that was worthwhile... not for me anyway.  But to see only 1 item or so drop from 'the Boss'... incredibly weak.  You work your way through a time-sink instance only to run into zero reward at the end. 

2. Collections.  4/5 Holocrons = losing my religion.  Once I got down to only needing 1 Holocron... and I'd been grinding for that 1 holo for weeks/months... frustrating does not = entertaining.  Hours dumped into getting nothing.  SOE had to take dev time to get Collection items to stack because people looted so much of that crap while searching for the stuff they really wanted (but never got). 

3. Crafting.  Lol.  Next.

4. PvP.  Restuss.  Same 10 people about 2-3 times.  After that, people get tired of having to visit the Entertainer and rebuff and all of that. 

5. Ground quests.  Pre-req's for Heroic's.  After that, what else is there, really?  Not much that I found, tbh.  I mean, are we talking about 'Legacy' quests?  Or are we talking about the quest line that new players get?  The one where, say if you are a wookie... the quest rewards are absolutely worthless. 

6.  Space quests.  At least in space, nobody can hear you scream.  After ACE... what space quests?  Collections?  Bah. 

7.  House Deco.  Seriously?  I mean, I have a trophy bunker/house.  I had multi accounts and all of that... lots of houses.  My friends run instances, pvp, and all of that in their games... I'm supposed to tell them that I spent a few evenings in game decorating?  For a forum badge? 

8.  Storyteller.  For what?  Didn't the individual that ran the storyteller program leave the company?  Other than RP'ing, is there any other reward for storyteller events? 

I realize that is all of your end-game content... but I tried some of that in the current SWG and it really wasn't enough to keep my attention. 

The current player population doesn't honestly care about the history of the game.  They care about the state the game is in right now and they seem to care about progressing the game more than rehashing the past. 

They know we lost a lot.  They never got to play the old game, so they will never really understand... no matter how many 'my personal story-feelings about SOE/SWG' posts we Vets make. 

I'm not a fan boy. I hate SOE...  not just for what they did to SWG, but for the fun-crimes they commited vs other IP's, too. 

Times have changed.  While we Vets hang on to our memories of a game that we enjoyed... it's gone.  And by the time any shadow of that game roll's out in the way of an EMU, it will be so outdated that it will need an update within itself. 

I know there is a void, however.  There isn't a game on the market today that calls to me like old school SWG used to.   Sure, when I try a new game there is a certain level of excitement and draw.  But after the newness is gone and I've discovered what the game is missing... my level of interest declines, my playing time declines, and then I begin to search for SWG's next replacement.

The new hope has got to be SWG 2 or the next SW based MMORPG.  SOE is not a company with the reputation of doing the right thing and I don't think they'll start now.  SOE is not going to give us a preCU server.  Once we finally stop hoping for the sake of hoping, we'll be able to really move on from the original SWG.  I know that it's tough to 'give up', because it's not in my nature either.  But this tale isn't made for American cinema and it won't have the happy ending we are all searching for. 

If we focus our efforts on pushing for a SWG 2 or new SW based MMORPG, then we can hopefully see more of what we like (liked) from our old 'world' in the next one.  If we keep flaming everything about CU/NGE SWG, it might appear that we simply don't want any other SW-MMORPG other than preCU SWG.  So, we probably need to re-think our messaging to the MMORPG community and refocus our energy.

It wasn't really that many, tbh.  Not by way of comparison to the CU or NGE purges.

WoW is still the MMORPG king.  It's not dead.  it's not dying.

But WoW is showing signs of age.  It just is.  The fact of the matter is that even some of the most loyal of WoW customers/players have 'seen/done it all'.  While there is some level of comfort and appeal to the fact that they play in a world where everything is familiar to them... there is also a level of 'yawn'. 

The guilds I've belonged to have all but stopped raiding.  Sure, it's summer and people are out and about, but the other side of it is that they don't want to spend days/weeks raiding with such a short window before WotLK launches. 

I think the new expansion will take WoW numbers well off of the chart.  Any modest % of growth in WoW would probably = sub total numbers for some of the other  'successful' MMORPG's out there have.

The appearance isn't bad in SWG, but the way that graphics process or are drawn as you encounter the world... it's really not smooth at all in SWG.

There are planets with a lot of visual bugs and issues to this day in SWG.  Things just take too long to draw.  I mean, when I can see planets like Dant draw layer for layer (water, different levels of terrain, creatures, etc.,..), it's done badly.  Try walking into a house or vendor... you walk in, then wait... and sometimes wait, and wait, and waaaiiiiiit until things are drawn.

And, when you are riding across land and something doesn't draw fast enough... or if you are going too fast... you rubberband.  After 5 years?

Again, I think the game 'looks' okay, but I would've expected other items to be updated on the performance side of the game.

...

I know it's a bit beyond the art team for the game, but why doesn't 'jump' really function as a 'jump' as opposed to an emote? 

It's been too long between updates on the state of the game and/or a release date.

I agree.  I think that's a joke of a way to handle the game as well.  I played FF at launch and have thought of returning to the game a few times, but the fact that I'd need to go out and pay again is ... well... it's crap, tbh.

To the OP...

There are some chipsets that limit the amount of RAM that appears to be available to Windows.  One example would be nVidia nForce4 SLI chipset in the Dell XPS system a few generations ago.  There was a hard limit set @ 2GB. This was a limitation of the chipset, not the OS.

So, make sure you are not 'hamstrung' via hardware.

As for RAM and Windows XP, the OS can see 4GB.  It's just that you lose a lot of 'available' RAM for various pre-mapped, designated system functions.

1MB DOS Memory (DOS, BIOS, etc.,..) (yes, a whole 1mb, lol)

750MB (approx) PCI Memory Range (PCI/PCIe, chipsets, DMI, ICH ranges, etc.,..)

Out of 4GB, you will see 3-3.25gb depending on your particular system's config.  Out of that 3.25GB, your application will probably be coded to access about 2GB.  The rest goes to the OS, buffers, etc.,

What Microsoft does to your RAM is a lot like what Uncle Sam does to your paycheck, tbh.

I think many people dislike WoW because they fear the influence it has on the MMORPG industry.  Game companies don't necessarily want to get slapped with the term 'WoW clone' for the games they create.  Often times, companies try 'too hard' NOT to be WoW as opposed to simply trying to make a great game.  As a result, they put something out that is too foreign or different... something players can't really get into easily or comfortably. 

The other thing people dislike about WoW is that it has so many customers.  Some people feel that if it wasn't for WoW, then more people would be playing the game they like and perhaps it would be a 'better game'.  Example:  If WoW wasn't around, then maybe EQ2, LotR, or DDO would have more players. 

I really think it will be interesting to see how WAR pans out.  So many people are throwing that 'WoW clone' title at WAR that I can't wait to see how the game is.  I think a lot of people are ready for something 'different', but we'll see if WAR is different enough.

Is WAR a more suitable acronym? lol

I don't think that there is any denying the fact that the 'community' (us) has one helluva powerful voice.  I really wish we could find a way to harness or focus that voice, or  to more importantly focus the message being delivered by the voice.  While I don't think any single voice should ever be left out, often times we spread our attention out too thinly and I think the heart of our message loses a lot of the necessary attention.  I think that's where companies such as SOE end up coming away with the wrong message.

As much as we ('Vets') think we've won, it's still a small victory.  To me, the real 'win' would be if we got what we asked for... a 'preCU' or even a 'CU' server.  Perhaps the other way to win would be to have a large impact on the SWG sequel or next SW-MMORPG.

But I tip my hat to all of the Vets (I include myself in that number). 

But I love my rock chair and painting!  Star Warsy + Iconic = 110% more WIN!

But the 'you cannot sit down while sitting down' bug is not fun. 

Err... now I can't stand up.

Black Guard.

I'm not a WoW fanboi, but I've never had those types of performance issues.  Network/ISP issues maybe, but rarely any type of performance related issues directly relating to WoW (unless, of course, you're talking about a highly populated area/zone).

I run the game on Mac's, PC's, etc.,.. No issues.  GeForce cards, Quadro cards, Radeon, FireGL, etc.,..

I'm not saying that every system will have 'omg0tz' speed and render the most glorious graphics in all of the MMO landscape... but you shouldn't be dogging out on FPS.

One major issue w/ Vista is nVidia graphics card drivers.  You may need to locate some 3rd party drivers that have been reworked.  I would rarely recommend this, but Vista + nVidia haven't really = great computing experience, tbh.

I have run the game @ 2560x1600 res and kept some good frame rates (i'll have to scan some of my screen shots to see what those rates were).  But a lot of the secret isn't really any type of secret at all, just make sure you adjust your settings accordingly. 

I always turn off VSYNC.  Check out flora generation, viewing distance, etc....

Sure, it's great to say they are all max'd... but why? 

Turn off desktop search in Windows... it sucks. 

Install WinXP SP3.  

Check spyware detection software and anti-virus software settings.  Make sure they aren't dogging your system out.  How much spyware do you have on your box?

Start-> Run -> 'perfmon' and watch setting there.  You won't see your GPU listed, but if another component other than your GPU is maxed, you may have another culprit.

How many add-on's do you have?  In WinXP/Vista?  In WoW?  Turn them all off.  See what type of performance you get.  Enable them one by one.  See where the choke comes in.

So many options to test.

Runs great, no worries.

Originally posted by altair4

I think it will be low. I think biggest reason this game has sold so many copies is that there are so many people tired of their current MMO and "escaping" to this. When they realize that this doesnt bring anything new and is actually working alot worse than their old they will either go back or start waiting for the next MMO they hope will be the saviour of boredness. :)

/Agree

Can't wait for the game to hit. 

I think I'm more fearful of this game turning into a DAoC clone rather than a WoW clone, as so many people believe it is/will be. 

Either way, I hope they have learned what works and what doesn't in MMO's and we get the best of it in game. 

Didnt' know DF was going to be FPS style. 

I am pretty sure that means I won't be playing it, regardless of how good/bad anything else is in this game.

As I've stated elsewhere, it's not that I don't like FPS games, I really enjoy them.  I like MMORPG's, too.  I just like them and play them for very different reasons. 

With an FPS game, it's all about killing and the rush of combat.  I want that quick, simple, easy fix... that's what FPS games are for. 

MMORPG's = other world experience, imho.  Not just the combat field, but the 'content'. 

I'm sorry, I'm not posting to flame DF or SWG at this point, but we all know what happened to SWG when they rolled out the NGE and the FPS style system.  Maybe that's not a fair comparison, but it was very negatively received.

I think some will like it, of course.  I just doubt very seriously that I will be one of them.