All Posts by Gishgeron

Originally posted by Khrymson

1 pet at a time works for me!  I don't like the idea of having to control or manage multiple ones in an MMO! 

  I do!  City of Villains had me managing 6 or more of them at once, and I loved it!  Its not really as hard as it would seem, MMO gameplay lends itself to it, really.  Its more about placement and location than anything. 

  That said, I don't actually MIND the fact that they chose this route.  Having one really great pet, and then having many options inside that, is fine by me.  I wasn't really hot for the Greenskin guy anyway...I've played that in WoW.  Loved it, mind you, but don't really prefer it. 

  Also, to the OP, I will confirm that the squig herders' pet will remain and fight after he has died.  It it still listed as such under that class on the main site, and I've not read anything to the contrary of it.

Originally posted by MrListerSir

100% Vaporware!

Now see here....just because YOU don't think I'm really a sexy beast does not mean you get to call my presumed "sexy-factor" vaporware.  I can at least provide both up to date screenshots AND full gameplay videos.

Though, in hindsight, the videos may be a touch overboard.  One can only handle so much in a single day, after all. 

  I want an everygame.  In short, I want each element of my game to BE a game in itself.  The perfect MMO would be more like a hub for 50 or so OTHEr games...all which use the world presented in the MMO as their foundation.

  I could write pages here...but I'll do the short version.  I want to be able to go off and build a farm and have it play like Harvest Moon.  I want the combat to feel like the great games....like DMC or Fable....something.  I want to build and decorate when I choose, and it should be as vast and enjoyable as the Sims.  I want each element of the game to be another game hidden beneath its crust.  Each part should stand alone and be enjoyable, and each part should be connected to all others. 

  Viral trash, bah.

  I suppose I COULD use this opportunity to twist the OP into innuendo, but the swift temp ban would probably not even be worth the handful of laughs I'd get for being so darn witty and beautiful.

  I AM a sexy beast, though, there's no denying that.  Perhaps a topic change is in order?

Originally posted by Volkmar

Originally posted by hbosman

I find the screenshots on the warhammer website really ugly. Take the screens from WoW or LotR which are more vibrant, just better.  The warhammer screens miss 'sfeer' (Dutch word, didnt know the correct english word).

Am I the only one who feels the same?

 

Give the guy a break, will ya? he is not a troll and he IS RIGHT!

That screenshot looks like crap, period! And no, it is not the oldest screenshot, it is dated "31st january 2008" so 5 months old.

Then again, the videos TheSheikh linked look awesome.

I think here is a problem of Mythic posting not exactly super HD quality shots more than the game not looking up the part. A bit more QA on their part and yes, I have heard it all about "no lighting, low textures" etc etc, but these are screenshots posted on their main warhammer site, they are basically advertisement and showcase of the game. Would have it been so hard to ramp it all up and take the screenshot then?

I do not care to see low quality shots that do not represent the final game state, show me the real deal, as near as you can, and show it to me as soon as you can. People should not have to feel the need to "defend" Mythic screenshots with these comments, they should stand on their own feet.

 

  To ME, they stand just fine.  I can GLADLY accept the game if it looked just like that.  The fact that we know it will actually be BETTER is merely icing on my cake.  I have long been a herald for the ideal that gameplay is lord of graphics, and not the other way around.  If you disagree....then I would direct you toward games like Vanguard and AoC.  They were designed with you in mind.

  Though...it would appear (judging by what I am seeing from feedback) that designing for graphics hasn't once landed someone in the piles of money yet.  Perhaps next time, then?  At least funcom made back its investment (if you assume they sold every shipped box AND score a 1/3 retention).

  I just don't see anything ugly in the pictures at all.  It looks great fun to me.  I rather hate realism....I can get all the realism I want by going to work.  When I game, I want fantastical.  I want something different...something I cannot see out my window.  I see that crap all the time.  I'm the kind of player that actually likes a good art direction....I love Cel-shading when done right.  I loved the art in Legend of Mana, and play that game to this day. 

  If anything, people don't need to defend Mythic at all.  YOU need to defend YOUR stance here.  Most of us find you both trite and silly for even suggesting what you do.  I defy you to prove to me that you are neither in a manner of my liking.

Originally posted by Thunderous

I want Darkfall to exist as much as the next person but let's get real here...

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO THROW TOGETHER A GAMEPLAY VIDEO???  These are supposedly professional programmers here.  2 or 3 people can do this in 1 day.  Are you telling me they are THAT busy coding that they can't put 2 people on it for 1 day?

I mean who needs advertising right?  They aren't trying to make money here or anything. 

I've followed this for years, I've read all this for years.  Same excuses, same language, same result.

I just am really starting to believe this game is nothing more than an investment scam.

  I don't really think its an investment scam.  I think its a clever way for freelance, nobodymen, to earn some early cred to get into either a major MMO company more easily.....or to open the way for them to get employed in marketing somewhere based on how successful their marketing approach is even when backed by so little.

  I'm leaning toward "group of new programmers and such that just want their foot in the door and decided that the best way to do that was to talk about a game they 'might' make and show some basic screenshots or simple videos of what they can do, and then allow the public to virally transmit this widely so that it reaches the eyes of all the major players, thus, allowing them a shot at getting a real job far easier than the average joe because they have already proven to be decent with code and GREAT at selling an ideal."

  Everything I saw looked fine...frankly.  What I saw was pleasing enough to the eye, and easy enough on the processing.  For a game that intends to roll with PvP as its focus...I think thats the best plan.  Plus, by using such an engine as its foundation...they open themselves up to more users while still allowing for better rendering options to come along for users with higher machines.

  In other words:

  Start low, shoot high.  That way the bullets hit everybody.  I don't find that limiting at all...I think its a great way to increase their options in lieu of forcing them into a niche audience.  If you want to BE in that niche audience...well...I honestly think that you have a long wait ahead of you.  Until we make some very LARGE improvements to both home PC and provider service...I don't see it being a smart ideal.  As it stands, it already takes a fairly costly machine to run THAT well.  For the specs you need to run WoW flawlessly (no lag, EVER) you could have been playing far more beautiful single player games without a hitch.  MMO's just consume more than those do...and its not really market-smart to do it up big and pretty.

  Here's the thing....

  I'm gonna say I agree with the article.  For....unique reasons, even.  You see, as we have moved forward over the last decade...I've noticed an interesting trend.  The move from television to PC.  I can view any movie, and any TV show, on the internet as of right now.  Not just illegally either...I'm talking honest john stuff here.  All of these mediums ARE being centralized on the PC...because the PC has already established the centralization of the planet in the form of the internet.

  I no longer watch TV anymore...any show I want to see is released on the internet (BY the production company itself) to watch online.  As we continue this trend (and it will continue, there is no denying it.) we will see more people using the internet because it is a thousand times more casual friendly than TV ever was.  I can listen to whatever I want while reading my "mail".  Immediately upon finishing, I can flip it over in a single mouse-stroke to watch whatever show I want without leaving my chair.  I can pause the show at any time...and go do things I need to do, and return later to finish exactly where I left off.  I can manage my bank account, purchase new furniture, buy stock, set up a vacation and even plan a full wedding in the same day without ever having to change mediums.

  This IS going to force everything to a computer.  Our industry has already realized this, and began utilize it.  Gaming will follow, and so will peripherals as well.  Why?  Because why in gods name would I want to go into a different room just to play a video game?  Why would I want to go anther house just to game with my friends after work?  Our very nature, the one which always forces us to choose the easiest route, will force this as well.  In fact, you can view this as a reason the Wii has been such a success.

  You see, the Wii offers the ONE thing PC does not.  Physical and mobile game interaction.  Even with its meager offering of games...it is a KING in this console market.  You can easily see why, when you REALLY think about it.  Consoles have to ADD functionality that the PC has long had, and perfected.  The Wii offers functionality that no PC has ever had, that no medium will EVER likely have, and it works.

Originally posted by pruttel

I think you need to have been a paying customer of vanguard to get the free month (like eq &eq2 deals)

  Bad move then.  They missed a really great opportunity here by being overly selective with their trial.  You'd think SOE would have learned that vet trials do not often do well...most "vets" move on and stay gone.  A purely open trial would probably allow them to absorb some of the hemorrhaging that is happening from other games right now.

  So sad, such a wasted chance.

  Interesting....

  It would seem that they are actively reacting to the AoC problems.  Like Vultures circling a dying cow...how ingenious.  For once, I may have to give SOE some props...their timing here could not be more perfect.  This free trial is perfectly matched to the same time that most AoC players will have finished their free month.  The pre-orders will have ended already, but those that bought the game as it launched won't.  I love it!

Originally posted by Goldknyght

Originally posted by Gameloading

Mr Godadger, Wine becomes good wine when it is  ready,

just like a good game is a game which is ready.

 

Well good thing i dont mind a wine thats only been in the cellar for 2 - 5 years =P

  Naturally, you can always sweeten a young wine and make it palatable.  Of course...that would lead us to wonder where the sweet n' low was when they decided to launch.  How silly of me to forget, they used it all on the first sampling....in Tortage.  You know, in looking back...I think it might have been in their best interests to actually leave Tortage a little more lacking and make the rest of their game a tad more sweet.

  Even better, they could have simply waited for the next shipment of sweet n' low to come in.  Granted, that would have lost them initial sales.  It would have given them time to fully correct some drier tastes later on and secure them as the "pretty and awesome" kingpins.   I suppose we can only blame ourselves, and sharp tongued investors in suits, for the need to make such high initial sales.  I think it hurt them, though, in the long run.  MMO players do not often look backwards...only forward.  It is a harsh reality of this industry.

  Irony, I wouldn't call AoC steak and wine....

  I would suggest that it is more akin to a fancy restaurant that still SERVES Mc'Donalds.  You're still getting a Big Mac, but its on a golden plate and placed on a fancy table to help you forget the fact that the food is still little more than processed soybean garbage. 

  What makes this scenario even MORE tantalizing is the people who THINK that its better food.  Elitists' whom scoff at those who still go to Mc'Donalds....even though it serves the same dish, takes less time to enjoy, and is located conveniently so that all people can access it efficiently.  As if the golden plate makes the burger any less bland...really.  How trite.

Originally posted by saluk

Schoenberg, man, we need to get back to that style of music.

Lol. My head hurts just thinking about it :)

Yep, just like Hollywood in the 50's, no one is experimenting, every mmo to come out tastes the same and all that. Just hold on and eventually things will settle down, and people will begin to diversify again. The summer blockbusters will still make the most money, but eventually smaller more original titles will be able to succeed as well. And judging by the sheer speed of game development, it's going to be a lot less than 20 years.

But the doom and gloomers will always criticize what is popular. Not that I am not one of the doom and gloomers, I just see a light at the end of the doom and gloom.

  I'd actually like a return to more blues...I get tired of music today because its based on a formula rather than using an instrument as an extension of the message.   Just listen to "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King, the guitar expresses the song better than his own words.

  I don't hate the doom and gloomers.  They are exactly the people I speak of when I talk about those who don't understand their own tastes...or the fact that they change.  They hate what is popular because they haven't analyzed themselves enough to grasp why they don't like things anymore.  All they do is hold on to the past and pretend that IT was what made them happy.  Its hard to not be an angry person when you haven't accepted that your tastes change, and have no ideal how to please them once they do.

  They will find something, though.  The next "big Mac" type of event will occur, and perhaps it will present itself in a time of this genre's history that will be prepared to expand on what an MMO even is.  You never can tell though.

Originally posted by Hexxeity

There seems to be a miscommunication in that people are taking the original question in two different ways:

 

Is the MMO industry going to collapse under its own watered-down weight?

Obviously, the answer is no, but I don't think this is the question the OP intended.

 

Have the core values of MMOs changed enough that you personally no longer get anything out of them?

For a lot of people, the answer is yes.  I think this is what OP was getting at, if you actually read his post instead of merely responding to the title of the thread.

  I actually approached that matter in my post.

  I am of the mind that its our own fault, because we do not take the time to understand ourselves.  We look back on things, and forget that our tastes have changed over the years.  I do not think that its the MMO which was changed, but the consumer.  They have changed the MMO to match the consumer...but fail to present any newness behind it.  Hence the whole "adding peanuts to a hershey bar" bit.  If you are getting tired of chocolate...all adding peanuts will do is get you to buy a handful more of them before dropping that as well.

  The fact is, its not that MMO's have changed and we don't get anything out of them.  Its that they have changed too little, and not kept up with our own taste changing as we grow.  We get nothing out of them, not because the genre is different, but because what we want is different.   Trying to enter into another game which offers the SAME situation and experience that we left whenever we left our last one is just dull.  Its boring...it drags us down, and its the cause of so much hate around here.

  We need a LOT of changes to the genre.  We do not need to move backwards into the past...even if they make a game just like the old ones, we won't enjoy it.  I suppose any of you could argue that all you want...but its not going to change the truth of it any.  If the old game was not dulled to you, you would be playing it and enjoying it.  Not sitting here upset that nothing new has given you that feeling.  Saying that alone tells us that you WANT something new.  If you want something new, it means that something old has had its welcome worn on you.

Originally posted by Aguitha

Was is reviewed by Conan O'brian

Seriously, 8.5, give me a break.

  I could only dream of such a thing.  I would LOVE for Conan O'brian to review games for a day.  It would be especially funny in the case of AoC...I would fully expect him to not only say "I give it a 10" but also "I give it a 10, because it has my name.  Each of you will now be expected to buy it, so that when I finally sue them they can afford to pay me and use my face in the game as the only face available for players to use."

  *sigh*

  As for the score....well...

  If you use my system for reading more scoring systems....

  6-10 are teh only numbers.  So a 6 is a 1 and so on.  That would make this a 3.5 out of 5...and thats pretty fair I think.  Comparatively, any way.  I stand by my stance that no MMO deserves anything more than a flat 3 out of 5 regardless. 

  All it means to me is that CNN is less tainted than everyone else...because they were allowed to post 8.5 instead of 9.

Originally posted by vajuras

Back in the day the little guy counted. A guy could have this great idea, and push it out the door and compete (like AC1). UO- raph koster and a friend added the housing in 1 weekend. That right, 1 weekend.

 

These days game developers need "suits" to get their projects out- at least the ones that can really compete with mainstream. "Suits" make calculated risks, unlike a pationate garage developer which will put it all on the line for his dream. Suits don't have dreams beyond making their company profitable

 

There are some studios stepping up like Champions online, APB, WELL Online, Mortal Online, etc. These guys are taking real risks like EVE/CCP did.

But the majority heavy hitters will take safe risks. I still think WAR will be good. Just not off the floor innovative if you follow. Expect more along those lines sadly, safe risks

 

I wanted to stop here for a moment and talk about Cryptic a little, before we give a wrong impression.  What Champions online is doing is NOT about taking risks.  They already took those risks with City of Heroes and realized that there was money in it.  Most importantly, they realized what it was that SOLD that game.  Customization, and lots of it.  CoH had some pretty bland gameplay, but tons of character options and tons of skill combinations coupled with even tons MORE skill enhancement combinations.  All that customization overrode the bland gameplay so well that it still has 150K or more players EVEN THOUGH MOST OTHER MMO'S HAVE BETTER GAMEPLAY.

  Basically...what Champions online is attempting to do is deeply expand the customization (which was obviously the selling point, and always will be) while correcting the "bland gameplay" issue.  Most of the gameplay problems lay deeply embed into the shoddy engine they chose to work with.  Granted, I very much LOVE the game and still play.  I think that they really tried to expand that core engine with Champions to allow it to have much better "super hero" gameplay. 

  Back to the OP, though...I need to be on topic here.

  The days of the MMO are not over.  What we have here is a situation that has plagued all entertainment markets.  You see, one cannot plot the direction that these markets will go in.  People are fickle, and what is considered great entertainment to one generation will be dead to the next.  As time moves forward, very interesting things happen in all corners of the entertainment industry.  Eventually, someone will compose something that strikes a powerful chord with the masses.  When that happens, it starts a process in which we begin to redefine the very field itself.

  Take music, for example.  It has moved in very strange ways for all of its life...each decade producing new "hot spots" which bleed the most money.  Now, in the early 50's...big band stuff was moving pretty well, and as such most people looking to get in where involved in that.  Blues began to turn some gears, but was still very infant in its progression to major success.  Most blues players were still sitting in the bars and sidewalks.  Along comes Elvis...and absolutely destroys what everyone knew as "success" in that field.  His style, his sound, his attitude...all very new things, and they all made an impression.  His success initiated a very strange time for music...because nothing as big as him arose for many years.

  I call these kinds of phenomena "The Big Mac Effect"...because once something so large enters the field, most forms of competition try desperately to replicate its success.  You must realize that they don't have much time...most business cannot afford to spend long on ideals.  So they try to use the same formula, but with a personal twist, to draw interest.  All told, it works honestly.  If you like the Big Mac, you are probably going to at least TRY Star Burger...since its the obvious parallel.  The problem is, such an endeavor can never fully replicate the success, because a lot of the success hinged on the "newness" of the ideal.

  Even WORSE than the replication, though, is the complete ignorance (I am sorry if I offend, but its important that we acknowledge what WE are to understand what OTHERS are in the grand scheme of things) of the consumer in regard to himself.  You see, a consumer does not ever question WHY he enjoys something.  He never understand his own taste, he simply lives with it.  The thing is, we tend to become disillusioned when we begin to look for "the next great thing" because we do not accept that the "last great thing" would not be great if we saw it again today.  Tastes, in any form, mature as a person experiences things.   Feed a child the cheapest candy bar you can find, and they love it.  Feed an adult one, and they grimace.  Why?  Because we've tasted them already, and then tasted Hershey.  Our minds definition of "good" has altered based on each new experience.

  So, once we have consumed a game...our taste for what we need in a new game has evolved.  You see, we cannot simply enjoy a replicate of the exact game we left...we left it because our tastes had been dulled by the lack of newness to the thing we consumed.  For the MMO genre, it has long been time for true innovation to enter the fray.  I do not just mean new tricks, new tricks can only get you so far.  Its like adding peanuts to the Hershey bar....yes it makes the Hershey bar better for a minute.  But in the end, you weren't going to be excited again until you had Godiva.  No, what I am talking about is moving away from the purely combat oriented MMO structure.  We've all played it...consumed it, and dulled ourselves to the style.  Right now, the companies we see are still only trying to add peanuts to the proven flavor of the "hershey" MMO taste.

  What we need.....is a new type of candy entirely.  An MMO that spends a little time innovating its combat, but opens up its world to other things.  Farming, actual farming where you plant and grow things.  Crafting with such detail as you might find building a chest piece on City of Heroes...so that we can make on the screen what our minds see in our heads.  The ability to craft carts or machines to race around in...or even pit against each other.  Fishing with detailed technique as you might find on an actual fishing game for the console.  Hunting that makes use of tracking a herd.  Housing that gives you the power to make a living space that reflects what YOU want...in line with Animal Crossing.   We need these kinds of things to tear us away from the mob grind that we are offered. 

  It was nice 10 years ago.  We can no longer look upon the static mob world with new eyes...we see it in the same way one might view a target gallery at a carnival.  Yes, we CAN shoot the yellow duck instead of the white one we killed last year....but perhaps we are just tired of shooting ducks, and are prepared to try another flavor of candy instead.  Someone WILL create this...it has happened in all other forms of entertainment.  It just takes time to move past this stage...and time for the consumer (who is mostly at fault here) to realize what his own tastes are, and to realize and accept that they change.

Originally posted by Teala

Another bogus reviewer.  97% how can they justify this score?

  Easy.  Two parts palm greasing and one part Tortage.  At this point in gaming history (with all the heat over issues like Gertsmann and Atari scandals) I have no ideal why anyone would even bring reviews from any site into a conversation.  We all know, without a single doubt, that every last one of these review sites are tainted.

  In fact....for ANY MMO to EVER receive a score higher than a 80% is proof that its all lies.  There is nothing in any of these games to warrant such a high score...to compete on an even level with games like GTA 4.  I loved both WoW and CoH and, personally, would still only give them a 8 at best.  In fact...I'd probably only give them a 7 or 7.5 because neither of them really did anything amazing enough to be so close to a 10.

  In the wake of the Atari scandal...we all now know that most review sites are disallowed from even posting reviews for many, many months unless the score they give is VERY high.  Since we idiot players flock to whomever has the "first" review, this forces the editors to do what has to be done in order to keep his job, and the job of everyone below him.

  In that respect, we should ALL be very thankful for the medium we have here at MMORPG.com.  You know, even if the reviews they give (or early looks and interviews) may feel one-sided...they NEVER shut US down from telling it like it is.  They always maintain their open medium in the forums and on the player reviews.  Even still...I have never seen an editorial from this site that felt "bought" by me.  Our forums may be full of super fans and evil trolls...but amidst all that you KNOW upon coming here that, should you read to the middle of what everyone is saying, there is more truth and honesty here than at any gaming site I have ever seen.

Originally posted by theratmonkey

Thank Blizzard for making people impatient?

No, no, that was bound to happen in time.

 

People are just becoming disensitized to games like MMOs, which is why people so easily leveling up and such.

The quicker people are at finishing other games and the quicker peopel get tired of games, the quicker people lose patience with waiting for new games to come out.

 

Blizzard just made their MMO. They had nothing to do with the current MMO player community turning into a bunch of babies.

 

  You  make absolutely no sense, what-so-who-ever.  Why in gods name would you perpetuate the ideal of releasing a game that has virtually NONE of its advertised content as being "okay"?  Allowing that, why in gods name would you regard those whom did not think it is okay as "babies"?  You are sitting there making excuses for their complete lack of professionalism by acting like its the PLAYERS who are at fault...and I'm not sure I can take you seriously as a result.

  You're a bloody troll, mate.  A fat, stinking, troll...and I'll be damned if I sit here and act like you really believe a word of what you just said.  Even among the most die-hard fans around here....no one even comes close to thinking, let alone saying, what you just did.