Personally, I think the community sucks on the internet anyways. Whether it's online games, forums, YouTube or Blogs......the bulk of the free world that frequents these things talk a lot of tripe to feel big.

Guild Wars can be plagued by immature people a bunch too. I used to blame this on the fact that it didn't require credit cards....for a while we had a member in our Guild who was 10, because his brother-in-law was forced to invite him. (He's a good friend of mine, the brother in law, and we were both put into a bad situation with his wife upset we wouldn't let her little brother "play a video game with you guys". She now plays WoW with her husband and understands how annoying having a kid in a guild filled with adults can be).


However, I can't totally trash the kiddies that play because one of the most mature members of our guild is 12/13. He types better than most adults I know o_0.

Anyways, I've learned to tune the community out, and almost laugh at them. And by them, I don't mean the people who enjoy the game and know how to play it...I mean the kiddies (of all age ranges) who enjoy ruining it because that's what they think online play is meant for.

The box camping during the Roller Beetle Arena for the top 100 cheaters is a good example of this (YEAH I WENT THERE! FLAME ON!)

Anyways, Goddyfather and anyone else bothered by the pricks that play this game...don't get bent out of shape over it.  I have made some good friends in this game that are now awesome friends in real life (How many guilds can say that everyone drove cross-state to go night clubbing in a Goth bar on Nov. 11 wearing V-Masks AND Guild Capes for the hell of it?) 

And the fact that everything is instanced and the towns are spread across numerous districts is even more awesome. My recommendation is hit up International Districts....usually a lot less people, like ridiculously more empty, than normal ones. It's nice having a game where you and your friends can actually escape the crowds and have their own fun in a district by themselves.

Digital Chantry [DC] is a guild that's been around for roughly 1 Year now. It's a small guild focussed on PvE and casual play; with some AB and PvP whenever members felt like it.

We were based on a pre-existing community before GW, founded by a core group of friends and now we look for other members who possibly are interested in joining our ranks. If you're big into GvG and scheduled Guild get togethers, this is NOT the guild for you.

Our guild is sort of like Fight Club...you choose your own level of involvement. Every person who is promoted to officer earned their position by helping others, being active with group activities, and lending aid to fellow Guildies. We're laid back, liberal minded people who play for fun and just like to BS.

We're mostly a guild of twenty-somethings, evenly mixed in the genders, though our oldest member is in his 30's and our youngest members are in their teens.
We expect ALL members to be courteous to eachother, but also mature enough to handle our conversations in chat.

If you're interested you can check out our site at:

http://digitalchantry.sitesled.com

PM me in game if you're interested in joining. My main character's name is Anthony Vague.

[[ADDITIONAL INFO ADDED APRIL 07]]

We've had some changes in our rosters and in our rules a bit lately. From now on, all new recruits are to be 18+ years of age. Younger members will be accepted depending on in-guild guardianship. Details can be found on our site and our officers can describe more.

All new members, regardless of age, require the approval of 3 officers.

Also, we're a North American based guild.

I give ya points Scythe; while the Rapture one would probably be controversial (for one thing, it uses a Christian theme as a background; on another, it doesn't necessarily show that theme in a happy fluff-bunny way like Left Behind would), I think that's a very unique idea for any kind of a game. Good idea and I hope you do something with that some day in some form or another.

The next idea for the survivalist pre-historic would be cool. I bought Monster Hunter for the PSP to play with some friends because they said it was kinda like PSO, in cave man days. I was dissapointed to see all the dragons (wyverns whatever) flying around and the bows being gigantic anime-esque over the top cannon looking devices. Still a fun game, but man, I'd love to see something a bit more primitive. Instead of Guilds maybe tribes of players forming small communities and competing for resources, food, shelter etc......

I agree completely with what you say, unfortunately. It's the truth: Companies would rather invest in something that follows a proven successful formula vs. experiment with a new direction. But it'll eventually come to a point where there is an open market, and the companies will realize they need to rejuvinate and reinvent the genre. EQ was sort of a big leap for sony to try, and in my opinion was a miracle it became as big as it did. I mean, let's be honest...it was like Quake for D&D players.

But I have faith. Look at Three Rings....love it or hate it, Puzzle Pirates is a success story.  It's an mmo (not an rpg) game where everyone's pirates WHO PLAY PUZZLE GAMES TO KEEP A SHIP AFLOAT. Very successful.  Had a friend recommend it to me a while back while he beta tested it, and we've seen that community boom. The other day I actually was shocked to see a RETAIL BOX for it at Wal Mart.

A company I'm going to follow is the newly restarted Acclaim. 9Dragons wasn't anything exciting, yet, but it has potential to expand into something good. It has some innovative concepts in it, so we'll see what happens after its beta. 2Moons sounds like it could either put them on the map, or fall into another cliche. We'll have to see, and it could easily go either way. If they can pull it off though, it'll change things up a bit. It'll reach a broader market with its costs (free with optional in-game ads that'll boost game play), and marketing it to a more mature crowd. We'll see what happens.

My only reason for not seeking out parties is that while yes, the drops are ridiculously cooler, I've noticed the bulk majority of my drops seem to be Members Only in those cases :|  I am actually going to be paying the membership as soon as I get situated at my next job...so not a total loss.


PS -- I'm also looking forward to the bug fixes and enhancements, and I completely endorse fixing those before new features. But it seems CLOSE to being polished as far as game play and stability.....*crosses fingers*

I'm not gonna share too many of my ideas because there's a small chance a couple friends of mine might actually get with me to work on it....but

Cyberpunk themed. I liked the feel of the Dystopia mod for HL2.
No "magic" elements in it. AO was okay but the nanos were cheesy imo.

Good plot. Actually have storyline to it; yet keep it open enough for players to develop their own stories.
Lots of things to do besides shooting people up and racking up cred.
Talking something like AO's use of Nightclubs, except better.
it would be a very mature themed game because I'm a cyberpunk purist;
And I'm not talking vulgar language and gory graphics, I mean harsh details that fit within the genre.

Running drugs, stolen goods, Yakuza contracts, corporate take overs....all that fun stuff.
Would like to see concepts like addiction in the game.....drugs, chrome, augments, the live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse type thing. There would be no stat levels per se; for every modification there is a price somewhere.

It wouldn't be for everyone. But man, given the resources, I'd try my damndest to make it one of the best ones out there that would last a while.

While the OP, as somebody else put it, was blunt he did have legitimate reasons for being displeased with the industry right now. When I first got into MMO gaming, it was a bold exploration into the possibilities of building games around a community. My first endeavor was NexusTK; and while today looks very childish and archaic...back then the only other competitors were (that we knew of) were The Realm and Ultima Online. Before we ventured into the 2D, zelda-esque MMO hack'n'slash, the only other thing we've played was original Diablo 1 over Battle.net

For years, we saw EQ, Anarchy Online, and many other MMO's begin to spring to life. We all had ventures in Everquest, and I remember everybody getting all excited when Kunark came out. The interfaces were SCARY....today's EQ is nothing compared to what I originally had to play on. 166 MMX, 128 megs of RAM, 32 Meg Stealth III card....yeah, very intimidating stuff.

We were still dealing with scary commands, key macros, graphics settings....but we had fun.

Years later....I've sat down to play World of Warcraft, and despite the nice looking graphics and exciting feel....I get into it feeling the only thing that's making me enjoy it over original EQ is the lack of spell memorization times and food requirements. Other than that, it was only the same game with graphics.

I've been trying to find a good MMO as of late. I miss the days of getting on, meeting people, tackling monsters and quests and exploring. But a lot of the new games feel small; the battles for some reason aren't as intense in the new 3d models as the stiff boxy EQ fights were. I find myself missing NexusTK's spacebar slapping combat and insane spell macros. I miss days when we'd play on Rallos Zek PvP on EQ1, and have an all halfling Anti-PK guild. For some reason, trying it in the new games just isn't the same any more.

The grind of MMO's isn't the shine...the ones that were fun to grind in brought something new to the table originally. Umpteen clones later, it feels too much like playing Dark Reign after I've spent years playing nothing but Warcraft 2 and Command & Conquer....yeah, it's kinda fun, and it looks different and all....but its still the same. Play for a week maybe, and then sit idle for a month, and then meet the oblivion in the uninstall.

It's in the developers hands. Right now we have a ton of clones out there, and a few gems here and there. It's up to the developers to make sure those gems shine; and the other games still have a chance to be polished up into something good. I originally wasn't too sure about Guild Wars when it first came out....waited a while until Factions was released. Now I own all chapters of it and have had a stable Guild for a year now.

I guess its just the cold harsh truth of any game industry....you hit a boom, and suddenly everyone tries to cash in on it, and suddenly the market floods with cheap knockoffs and half-assed design teams working on a deadline. First Person Shooters have this, RTS's have it, etc. We'll just need to wait around and see what new gems get polished up soon :P

Ironically I like the click to move in this game...I usually keep it in Diablo camera mode, so go fig. However, when I'm in the caves....yeah, I'll zoom in and be all like MMO WASD mode :P

I figured the Guild system would be handy for the following reasons:
1) I know they're gonna have cross-server partying in the works.
2) It would be nice for a Guild-based channel so groups larger than 5 can yak
3) Obviously, the PvP teams
And I believe I've seen ya around a little Ulrich....if ya see ArconusVague running around, it's me.
I mostly hang on World 2

Pretty much, the "Members Only" items you pick up are just unique in that they have a ridiculous damage and buff rating for their level. "Major" potions are also members only; as far as I know they're like regular potions, except stackable. Yeah, potions take up individual slots in inventory. It's not that big of a nuisance though.

As a member you also get access to a bank vault to keep your stuff in. Pretty much 5 bucks a month makes the game easier on you and supports the developers to keep going.

Decided to start this conversation on this forum because I can already tell what some of the more hardcore, been-around-for-months types on the DR Forums would say. Also, because I've never posted over there.....and I know a few of the "old timers" seem sick of new people who like the game (whatever that's about....)

DISCLAIMER: This is for the people who PLAY and NOT (I repeat NOT) the people wanting invites. There is already a thread for people to ask for invites...it works, use it. Anyone who begs for invites on this thread will be ignored by me completely, and maybe other members of the community who also don't want to put up with people who can't read. Besides, I'm currently waiting for the 4 people I invited to accept their invites, otherwise I can't give any more for two weeks. Moral of the story DON'T ASK.

Anyways, as the topic states, what features are you excited about, what are you dreading about the upcoming changes, and as a side note what kind of player are you?

I'm personally looking forward to the classless system. I've enjoyed playing a straight through fighter just for fun...but when we get our multiple character slots, I'd love to experiment with more ranged stuff and make a Mage/Ranger hybrid.

I know PvP is in the works....that can be fun. I'm mostly a casual player on MMO's; but I do love Arena style fighting. The fact that they're discussing keeping the PvP separate from the PvE makes me want to play it. If it was open PvP, I'd cry. Bad memories of town killer hackers in Diablo 1. And then anti-pk trainers. and the anti-anti-pk trainers. *shudders*

What am I dreading? I hate to say it, the trade system. Don't get me wrong, I feel the ability to trade money could be very handy in this game. But as it stands right now (granted this is based on current economy) there is no shortage of, well, stuff. I have had no problems finding really kick butt items that stay with me for a few levels.

I dread the trading for 2 reasons. One, it encourages shady behavior in the game. Farm bots and scammers and whatever. Two, the spam, the spam, the spam. I've been guilty of hitting up world channel to tell people "Hey I'm dropping x item in town for whoever wants it". But man, could you imagine the flood of WTB WTS'S!?!? If they can limit it to a separate channel, it would rock. And for the love of mike DON'T give players stands to sell items...Townston is laggy enough for me with people there...we don't need the vendors EVERYWHERE.

I'd like to see a better economy in this sense that there's more items and cool stuff to buy and deck out; gold needs to be worth more in the game and that is a given. But as it stands right now...a trade system almost seems like it would hinder a game like this.

And my final topic starter....my playing style...
Very casual, very solo, very come and go. I play GuildWars as my primary MMO. Have been playing for a year now. Love it. Before that played EQ and UO. Before those I had a stay on NexusTK (don't ask it was back in the day).

When I hit DR, I'm mostly solo'ing. I love talking on the World Chat to the friendly members of the community. But if I get invites, I usually accept them anyways.
I only bring up the question of style of player because I'm wondering, in relation to the first question, if there's anyone looking forward to the speculated Guild system they're looking into? Are there people that play with enough regular groups and parties on here?

Sorry for the lengthy post...these were all things curious to me, and I didn't want to flood the forums with numerous threads.

Than....

than people that can't back up their reasons or just vex obscenities.

Presti and Godfather both had legitimate statements for why it wasn't for them (wanted more out of a game, more into the serious MMO's, whatever.)

People who post reviews that read something like this are not contributing their ideas, they're being silly immature kids:

ZOMG THIS GAME SUXX
GO PLAY WOW
IT HAS GUNS AND LVL 70
PVP IS AWESOME
LOL!!!1!!1!!!

^^ That's a bad review. And sadly, I've seen it for A LOT of games.

I also say a bad review could be read like this:

OMG
THIS GAME IS SOOOO COOL!
LIKE, LOTS OF STUFF TO DO IT'S THE BEST LOL!

So don't think I'm against negative comments towards a game.
I read lots of stupid appraisals too.

Regardless of the side taken, a good review gives a summary of the game. List the positives, list the negatives, and whatever your stance is give reasons why. I LOVE Dungeon Runners because I feel that since it's a game that doesn't take itself seriously, and is not designed to be an MMO in the same sense as WoW, GW, SRO or whatever....it comes out high in my books. It's a fun, frantic hack'n'slash to kill time in.

One of the most legit reasons for disliking it I've heard could be the bad framerate, the fact there's still lots to be worked on, the quests quit early in the game (lvl 100 Cap and I believe right now at the time of my writing they quit sometime after the 20's). I have faith in the developers because I can tell they're working hard to make everything stable and produce more content for the community...but I can see why people get turned off (hence I ask them to atleast try again in a few months).

Anyways, sorry if this has hijacked the thread any.

To the original poster, not a bad summary really. You gave an honest post. Some to Godfather.
And to anyone else wanting to know how to write a good review this sums it up pretty well:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/review.html

/agreed

Goddyfather, totally respect you for that. Wish more people would be willing to say "It just wasn't my thing."

Create your PlayNC account as described in the email. After you set up your account for the game, you can either goto account -> manage ->account details under Dungeon Runners-> Download client.

Also they should send an email to you upon completion of the account being made, and have a link to download the client there.

As much as "The font rendering system has totally been rewritten to improve performance" doesn't sound like much of an add-on, I got excited when I read it.

A friend of mine explained to me how a font rendering engine, if done wrong, could be the difference between (as he put it) "Running good and OMG WTF".

I'm currently playing the game on 1.75 Ghz, a 256 Meg ATI Radeon Saphire card, and a gig of RAM...it smokes in the Dungeons but in the wooded areas and towns, my frame rates drop almost in half. It's not enough to make the game unplayable...but it's noticed.

So upon hearing the fonts will be rendered differently...I'm actually VERY excited to hear this.

The new AI's sound wicked cool too.

The quests I hope add to the game. I admit, I'm still wet behind the ears and learning a few things about the game...I know the more regular members of the community have complained of a lack of things to do past their 20's.....but part of me was also thinking The Quests weren't a big deal to begin with, and I was actually playing to plow through the Dungeons anyway.....

just my newbie opinion atm.

Originally posted by presti71


If you don't mind it for what it is then you will have a good time. The production values are high and I did not mind the WOW parody cartoony looks at all.
The NPC voice dialogue is some of the funniest I've ever seen and almost worth playing alone.

While I don't understand your reasons for not liking it (Sorry but the excuse it's not as much an RPG as Diablo II blows my mind. Maybe we should have said it's more of an RPG like Diablo 1??), I do have to agree with this one statement out of your review.  This really isn't a game for people who want depth, character development, or plot.

This is different than games like, let's say, 9Dragons  (this is just my own personal opinion)....a game that was trying to offer depth, story, and character development....but instead resulted in boring, automated combat, grindfests to even complete quests....and the same mobs in a slow, monotonous game.

This one is a click fest, the sheer fun of just slaughtering hordes upon hordes of critters with several clicks of the mouse.

And a funny script.

Yes, it still has some bugs being polished out....but love it for what it is: A casual game for people who aren't looking for something hardcore. I play this as well as Guild Wars; I don't even consider them on the same page. It's like the difference between Fable and old Diablo.

Just my opinion.
I'd say give it a shot again sometime, like in a month or two, with a different attitude. Make some friends on there or invite some buddies...see how far you can plow some night.


POST SCRIPT: If anyone was upset with my opinion of 9Dragons, I'm sorry. I am also willing to accept that it's still under open beta, and a lot can still be added to it. Any MMO may rise or fall at any time based on development progress and community.

Have ya tried uninstalling PlayNC and then trying again?

Yeah I'm totally digging this game. Been playing A LOT of the free-to-play MMO's and have been very dissapointed, because they all try to mimic the major commercial games and it ends being very dull.

This game, since it's not trying to be anything other than pure fun, stands out enough to where I'm willing to actually play it as often as my primary MMO addiction and not just put it off as a secondary off hand game (My main drug of choice is Guild Wars, for many reasons to be discussed elsewhere.)

I'm excited to see where the next big updates take the game; but for right now I'm happy hacking my way through with axes bigger than my character.

I'm covering Necros, so he has an invite sent.
As soon as a couple more of my friends accept theirs I'll invite more.

Interested in playing Dungeon Runners?
Really wanting to give it a shot?
Read this.


First off, if you want an invite to the game, there's already a thread (stickied in the forums but not obvious from the main page on this site)

www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/thread/117442/page/1

don't flood the forums with new threads for your own personal invite. This isn't 2moons.

I already put my email on the thread last night and woke up with an invitation waiting for me; and as soon as my friends accept their invites, I'll pay it forward ON THAT THREAD. Anyone who asks for invites on this one A) Can't read and B) Won't get it from me.


Anyways......

I just wanted to state real quick a disclaimer for this game.

Do not play it if you're wanting something like WoW, Lineage 2 or EQ2.  It's not even on the same lines as Silk Road, Rappelz  or any other F2P (and that is a good thing.)

This is, essentially, a game like Diablo. On steroids. Yes, it's mindless hack'n'slash. Before people scream bloody murder and OMG ANOTHER GRIND, it's different. It's a fun game; tons of dungeons, tons of drops. Great combat controls. Tons of critters.  All of the drops have VERY funny names.

This is a very cynical and hillarious farce of gaming. The NPC's mock the RPG stereotypes. This is in the form of such great voice overs like "Ya know those other towns where they dress all like the renaissance? Yeah, they suck." That came from  A MERCHANT.


This game doesn't take itself seriously. In a GOOD way.
And the game play is addicting to all hell.

This is a fun game, with a good community. It's free for the basic game, the premium stuff is only five bucks a month.

There's some features TO BE RELEASED. Be patient.

But as of now...it's not for farmers, it's not for PvP junkies (though that'll soon change) and it's definitely not for people who want to "Pwn" other players. It offers a cool group dynamic; but it's classes are designed for solo as well as grouping (and soon they're doing away with classes so people can do their own builds).

And no, it's not in Beta anymore.


That being all said....anyone who seriously just want a FUN game to slash their way through....post in the official thread, and if I don't add ya I know others will.  And when accepted, sign up for their forums and give it a good read. You'll see where the Developers are trying to go with it.

That is all.

Got in. Loving it. Time to pay it forward.