All Posts by edmonal

I look forward to WAR's implementation of pvp.  I have tried pvp on AO, EQ2, WoW, and Eve...none have really done much for me. AO was alright because you always did pvp with a group (unless you're suicidal) so even if you had twinks running around you could gang up on them. EQ2 and WoW were positively annoying...ganked by twinks with higher level characters providing them with 'support', you call for help and get ignored. Eve also wasn't bad, just the rest of the game wasn't interesting. I do need something besides PVP to do in a game. WAR has me curious, with the RVR system and a PVE system that supports the RVR goals.

I play games for fun; if all I'm doing is dying to someone who is better equipped, well that's not fun.

Interesting to read these responses. Personally I don't like the game, however I'm glad to see that it's meeting other peoples needs.

I disagree; generalizations are prone to be wrong.

I play as long as it's fun, I don't care about loot or bragging rights. I know quite a few people playing the games I do who are the same. The devs are addicted to the gear grind, but that doesn't mean I have to play along. If others do, well that's there choice.

It depends on server load. At least in RoK they're going for large zones without a lot of zoning.

Ok, I have crashed...maybe 8 or 10 times in 2 years. I get massive lag in Neriak, Qeynos Harbor and East Freeport. That's it and this is on  4 different computer setups. It doesn't work well on Vista, but then nothing seems to work well on Vista.

There are issues with the game. On Najena I have found it painful to find groups in the 55-65 range, probably because I'm an illusionist and it's a class that SOE has caused massive confusion on that character's role in the game (Crowd control? We don't need no stinkin' crowd control!) The end game is very raid heavy, but at least with the persistent raid zones you don't have to clear the area in one run. The combat isn't great, I think WoW has a better combat system, but I like VSOH combat system even better. Some classes are more fun than others, but that depends on the player. I really like the Defiler class, for instance...but it's painful to solo them.

What I really like about the game is the dev team, they are making substantial improvements to the game with every Live Update. Scott Hartsman seems to really like the game and is providing some really good direction.

This game isn't for everyone, but it does have enough in it to appeal to a large group of people. I have tried LOTRO, but didn't like the character classes or the combat and much prefer EQ2. I really think the character classes really don't get defined until at least lvl 20 (results of the original archetype design) and by the time you hit 30 the classes really start to shine. If you are looking for something different in MMOs this game isn't it, but it is a well constructed game.

I disagree, it may have been perfect for you, but it wasn't for me. I found it pretty boring, and it lacked content. After playing the game pre-CU and playing Eve online, I realize I don't like sandbox style games.

I don't think any MMO will ever completely satisfy me, at best I can squeeze a couple years of entertainment out of it.

I am currently playing EQ2, and I have played LotRO. I prefer EQ2. I won't slam LotRO, it's a fine game, just not for me. I like EQ2 because of the varied classes and races, and I much prefer the combat system in EQ2 over LotRO. With a flood o new people on the servers, I've noticed the prices drop for spells and armor.

The graphics are great if you have a half decent system; if you haven't updated your system in more then two years, then it probably won't look very good. The community is pretty far from anal, and is very relaxed. It's mostly mature people and a lot of couples play the game. There are jerks and other anti-social types, but that's normal for any of these games.

Above all the development team currently handling the game are great. They are making the game better all the time, and the new content they are releasing is very polished. I would suggest downloading the "Play the Fae" trial, and see if you like the combat, character animations etc. I think you'll find the community to be pretty helpful.

I'll add my voice to the "no forced grouping" camp. It doesn't work. You can create circumstances where you need a group (most instances in EQ2 come to mind) and there should be rewards suitable to encourage grouping, but then you also run into the situation that most people look for the 'perfect' group. 1 tank, 2 healers, 3 dps. A good game will have the flexibility to overcome obstacles by using the various strengths of the classes in different ways. You shouldn't require any particular class to handle group content, just competent players who know their class. Even if you do have this, the issue is that people fall into the mind set that only the above mentioned group works.

I like to group, but I also like to solo. There are a lot of reasons why people choose to solo, some of them are time or lifestyle constraints, sometimes it's more based on the players mood. Give me more flexibility on how I play the game, not less.

This bears repeating: All corporations are unabashedly greedy, every single one of them. They are setup to generate wealth for the shareholders, nothing else. Microsoft, Vivendi, EA, Sony, etc they all have the same goal: maximize profits, and increase share prices.

Well if anything this move brings out those who were irrevocably scarred by the changes to SWG. Reading some of these replies makes me think that people took SWG, or themselves a little too seriously.

Mounting a modern MMO requires a lot of resources. The infrastructure and staff for these games are out of reach for most companies, it's smart to have a well established company who has the resources and experience to provide this. This is a business decision and from my viewpoint a smart one. Gone are the days of MUDS and the limited resources that they use. A small company will have huge difficulties in affording, running, and maintaining the required data centre.

It's amazing the amount of asinine comments people will spew about SOE. It's a corporation! Never trust a corporation, never. I mean come on your favorite game by Sony was changed, or nerfed, or whatever. Think any other corporation won't do the same. Vivendi makes decisions on WoW all the time, some people like, some that people don't. You don't see it because everything is done through the Blizzard name. They and every other corporation act in the interest of their shareholders; everything that has happened to the games of SOE were done in response to market pressures, not to spite you personally.

I'm happy that PotBS is going to be on Station Access, it means that I will be playing it. I need a game other than EQ2, I've never liked SWG (and yes I played pre NGE and pre CU), Vanguard has too many issues and in the end, is just another fantasy game. MxO I've never tried but really not interested in the world of Matrix, more interested in a Shadowrun MMO. Good news for the developers of PotBS, glad you found a publisher as well as a partner that has a relatively stable server farm.

What a dual core does for this game, is speed up underlying processes. I set the affinity to one of the CPUs and leave the other one to take care of the OS. It has marginally improved my game play performance.

Zoning isn't that bad in most areas, as they are pretty big. The devs have stated that the next expansion will have even less zoning. As for graphics, they're not bad, in fact on a high end computer it can be really amazing. Unfortunately taste in graphics are very individual, you can only judge it for your self.

Some really good suggestions here, I like the crafting suggestions from Chessack and the combat/questing suggestions from Teala. I find Vanguard to be full of time sinks, but as long as I am engaged by the gameplay I don't care. I left in frustration one night, after finding three different game stopping bugs on three different characters. I played one character, was stymied, moved to the next character was stymied by a different bug, and then again on a third character. This game needs polish and lots of it. I hope it gets the time it needs to get to that point.

Like Anarchy Online owned all existing MMOs at the time? Granted Funcom has a lot more experience with MMOs now, and can easily avoid the pitfalls that happened before. It's still too early to judge whether or not it will dominate. Being on a xbox does not guarantee success, people may still be reluctant to pay a monthly fee for a game.

Nothing has killed hardcore MMOs, not that anyone has really given me an adequate description of what hardcore is. Most games will be getting 100k - 200k if they deviate from the style that WoW has created (easy 1-60, huge time sinks if you want to raid) and this should be enough to keep the game running and updated.

MMOs are a form of entertainment, they are not designed to be vehicles of personal development. These games are also developed by businesses to make money, and will do what they need to do to be profitable. Many people do not want to be forced to group, just like there are a lot of people who refuse to to pickup groups because of bad experiences. People will do what they want within the context of the boundaries within the game. It'd be interesting to see what sort of subscription numbers a game like FFXI would get if released today.

I like the SOGA models and was very happy when they made them available, but to each their own. Pleasing people aesthetic tastes is an uphill battle at best.

I guess the answer depends on what you're looking for in a game. I like the game, it's very soloable up to lvl 55-60, and most of my grouping experience has been positive. The maturity level is pretty decent, and most people are helpful. PvP only exists on specific servers or if you duel someone. The latest content updates (yes, it does happen more than once every two years) have been solid, with only a few problems. If you buy the Echoes of Faydwer box you get all the previous expansions and the base game, so that's a value. Most of all I find the game fun, and in the end that's the only thing that counts for me.