My first game was my first love - Everquest in 2000, right after Kunark was released.  For all of its faults (I do not miss intercontinental corpse runs), there were things that I have never experienced since. 

My first real character was a Dark Elf Shadow Knight (DESK), and I was actually scared when running around in the dark in Nek Forest worried about getting jumped doing level 5 quests. 

Part of it is that it was the first one - things that I would find annoying now were exciting then.  There was no shared banking, so I found a safe hidden location near Freeport to drop my items and then quickly logged off and log on my alts.  Crazy, annoying, but it got the adrenaline flowing over something trivial. 

And how can I not remember a laggy tunnel with over a hundred people shouting out items for sale?  That was a market! 

Everquest in 2000, right after Kunark went live, about ten years ago.  It was so big, and alive, and so many people were playing.  There was no auction house, so everyone just gathered in the tunnel and shouted out what they had for sale.  I had a baby DESK, a Dark Elf Shadow Knight, an Nek Forest seemed so scary and big.

Nothing will ever be like the old days, for better and for worse.

I am somebody that likes to take the initiative and invite people in newbie areas to group with me because I think it is silly not to do so, especially when waiting for a spawn that takes a few minutes.  However, a significant portion of the people say no, and some explain why.  Here are the top reasons that I've been given:

1) The content is designed to be soloable, and so it is unfair, or is easy mode, or something similar, to do it with a group.

2) Game mechanics favor not splitting experience with the group.

3) Its too much trouble.

4) They just want to be alone.

I had been hoping to try this one out, so this is good news.  I look forward to following its development.

It feels like Pirates of the Burning Sea in space to me.  This is the first major release that I do not intend to buy.

In terms of Vanguard, I played in beta and on release, and it was a disaster.  I fell through the ground at least once a day...yes, fell through the ground!  It was pretty much epic fail, a bunch of amateur coders slapping together the mechanics.  They've worked very hard and exterminated most of the bugs by now.

I enjoy the game and I will play it on release, but I feel I should defend the "trolls" a little.

This is not really an open beta, as it is neither really open nor really a beta.  If by "open" one means that people pay to get an invite, then it is open.  If by "beta-testing" one means running software that is basically a port of an existing game to paying players in a new market, then I guess it is beta.

This is a problem arising from the crazy way that MMORPGs are marketed today.  Access to beta-testing has become something that companies actually sell as  a premium.  The customers oddly expect something playable in return, and get frustrated over little things like being unable to download, install, log into the game, etc. 

When numerous people complain that they cannot perform the most basic functions of an online gaming service (installation, logging in, freezing in lagstorms, etc.) two weeks before launch of a major game, it is not a positive sign.

Oh, btw, the reason that I am here is that the Aion login servers seem to be down again.  I intend to play this sucker and play it hard once it has released (I have been in previous betas) but I understand why people might not be encouraged.

The thing that ruins the immersion for me, which makes the whole storytelling element fall apart, is the lack of persistence and game memory. 

It isn't just "kill ten rats" but also "go kill the goblin king."  You kill him, and the next day you run into another NPC who says "go kill the goblin king."  Just once I would like to say "killed him yesterday, here's his signet ring, give me the darn reward."  They could introduce a gazillion flags, which is data intensive, and the designers are probably afraid that I won't go back and help someone else kill the darn thing.  So I have to kill the stupid goblin king every day.  At that point, no wall of text can get me interested.

Also, three other variants on this grind really bug me. 

First, is the 'the random number generator hates me' quests.  You know, "kill ten rats and bring me their tails" and none of the rats have %^&*^ tails.  After killing 30 and getting four tails, I want to kill the developer instead.  You go on the forums and at least a half dozen people say "oh, I got mine killing only a dozen rats."  I would rather the NPC say "kill fifty rats."

The second is the 'why can't you guys talk to each other' problem.  In this one NPC A says "kill ten rats" and NPC B standing next to him says "kill ten wolves."  You kill the ten rats and ten wolves, return, and NPC A says, "next, kill ten wolves" and NPC B says "next, kill ten rats."  It is amazing how often I have bumped into variations on that one.

Finally are two variations on the classic 'hot dogs and buns' problem.  One type is "kill five gribbles" and they always spawn in highly social packs of four.  The other is "kill five blue gribbles and five red gribbles" and they always spawn in packs of four blue gribbles and one red gribble.

Originally posted by hidden1

I think a lot of Neocron loyalist will soon have a new home to play in. 

I agree.  There are a lot of similarities.  

I actually like the idea of having to think about what I do before doing it.  I have no need for hovering up in the air and going afk.  I will decide after I try the game whether the flight mechanics work or not.

I wonder if anyone pointed out that 5150 is the term used in California for an involuntary psychiatric hold (involuntary commitment for 72 hour observation):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5150_(Involuntary_psychiatric_hold)

When I first saw the title of the server I thought it was a joke.

I also enjoyed this article.

Two more reasons why people choose a more highly subscribed server:

-- It is more likely that a new player has family, friends, enemies, etc. already on a busy server than on an empty one.

-- Some people have had bad experiences with games with low server populations, and so they deliberately choose servers known to have higher activity (livelier).

Until developers have figured out how to deal with these problems, admonitions to use a low population server will not be as effective.

Originally posted by Ngeldu5t

Originally posted by Hammertime1

A older PC game named "Arcanum  of Steamworks & Magick Obscura" would have made a *great* world for an MMO to be based on.

 

 

What a great game ...it could have been a skill base MMO and I like the Arcane vs Technology idea in this game.

I'm in.

I played SEED regularly.  I think the problem wasn't just that there was no combat -- there was not much of a fully functional game there.  I think it could have been a nice niche game with the right resources behind it, and I would have paid as much for something like it as I do for my PvE games.

Originally posted by Azen77

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

The most radical MMO is real life...

 

 

I prefer to play games in my free time....

 

Yah but that MMO sucks.  I keep getting ganked by bankers, and the quest givers who used to give dailies are dissappearing at an alarming rate...plus I think they nerfed the drop rate on cool shit...

Plus the decay rate on items is awful, the upkeep costs insane, and it often just feels like a lot of work.  Permadeath is really annoying.  I'm an altoholic, and the whole "one character per server" thing about real life doesn't work for me.

There is an interesting review for Real Life:

http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/gamespotting/071103minusworld/1.html

I have a lifetime membership and I usually play every day.   I went to log in last Friday and encountered the dreaded queue, which is a sure sign that the "welcome back" program was being successful.  I decided to log on only briefly over the past few days, and mostly try out a trial "welcome back" period for WAR (I couldn't remember why I left, and this reminded me). 

I have noticed that there have been numerous downtimes over the past week.  I also thought that the datacenter move was poorly timed. 

However, to the OP, I just want to give some encouragement.  I have had more trouble over the past few days with the game than in the previous several months.  I am sure that things will settle down now that the free period has ended for the returning players.

In a few weeks this will all be a bad memory for you, and you will be having a blast in the game.  Unless, of course, you are stuck in your late 20s to early 30s when things can drag along.  That too shall pass.

EVE isn't level based, but skill based. 

I haven't seen anything yet about this game that would make it superior to EVE, but it is too early to draw any conclusions (not that it ever stopped anyone). 

Originally posted by Dirty_Fish

I too subscribed to this game for a few months about a year ago. I thought it was okay but nothing special. 

To me this is just another MMORPG that has shot itself in the foot by releasing with too little solo content and a very linear game world. I just don't understand why so many developers think this model is going to be successful.

I played in beta and when it started, and I pop in from time to time, whenever I hear people writing about how great it is or they do a "welcome back" offer.  I find it at best "meh" and very inert. 

My experience is that it has the least friendly players that I have met in a PvE game. 

I suspect it is fine for what it is, but I would be surprised if there were many new players coming in and having fun who aren't MMORPG long-timers, unless they do so with their significant other, family, etc. who knows the ropes.

I'll go back to AO when the new engine goes live. 

The backgrounds have looked great for a while -- the character models have the problems.

I am very impressed about the amount of content in the game.  Clearly they are a very professional single-player game designer, possibly the best of their type, and they are bringing that background fully to this game.

It is my intention to remain open-minded.  Until people actually play the game in open beta or live environment, we won't know if this is the greatest MMORPG ever or the biggest disappointment ever (it could be either).  Clearly the potential is there, the content is there.  I doubt that it will be buggy, but it may just not be that much fun.  The execution of the game itself will be the test.

I expect this to be a huge launch...maybe in excess of a million units sold.  We'll likely know within a month or so from launch whether this is another WoW (takeoff), another WAR (orbit) or another AoC (re-entry).  Until then, it is all speculation.

Of course, speculation is its own game, one popularly played on forums. 

I guess it is just me, but none of those ranks as highly as the thing that disappoints me about most MMORPGs:  the impermanence of my actions.  I kill the king of the uglies, and then I get a quest to go kill the same guy, and so I kill him again.  And again.  And again next week.  I clear out an area, and wait for it to respawn.  I go haul some stones for some guy who needs to fix a wall, and sure enough, the wall is broken next time I see him, and some poor sap is dragging over stones for him.  No wonder people feel like they are on a treadmill.

I don't care for PvP and I don't like the game's long boring travel followed by quick action, but at least Eve feels like someplace where actions actually matter.