I don't mind that you think I'm looking for 'handouts' because yea I could have looked up information that I requested in the post. I like hearing to-date opinions from people who are playing the game, that's all. As silly as your assumption may be, I appreciate you giving me in the info you did. I didn't have a look at the official forums before I posted. Currently looking through the many guides listed.

So I'm currently downloading the trial. I played a trial account in the past for only one day, I didn't quite give it a chance and now I'm dying for a harsh sandboxy world for some reason, so here I am.

Firstly, what is the relationship between new players and veterans? If I am to start playing this week, will I be an effective member of a guild within a month (playing every day)?

I'm coming here for an fantasy fps kill player outlet. I love fps-PvP like shooters. How does the combat function? If I have shield am I going to be able to press a button to raise it, block an attack, then attack with my sword with another key? What is the range-detection mechanism like? I've heard of situations of people getting killed by 'apparently out of range attacks.' Can someone tell me a little about that?

If there is a great example of PvP (guild on guild or small party) on youtube, I'd love to see it. I'm hesitant to go perusing through videos because I like being surprised by games. The more videos I watch, the more expectations I have, and I'd like to keep the low for this game for obvious reasons. 

Populuation I won't even ask about. I don't really care as long as I am able to get into a guild and hang out with them. I understand that the activity in the game may be low, but if I'm having a good time with others, I really won't mind.

So these are pretty standard questions and most likely have been asked here before. Forgive me, I like being able to discuss it myself. 

Have a nice day! I'll be in game by tonight! I'm pretty excited, and am going to try to give this game a large amount of chances, haha.

edit: Forgot a question. I don't have much experience in crafting and as I understand it, you need to craft to some extent here in order to get your stats up on time. I don't have a problem with that. I'd rather not spend weeks doing this though. The first week if all I'm doing is crafting, sure, sounds kind of strategic and fun. But I want to be able to fight others some time soon. How does this "crafting for pvp" system work for the rest of you? What's your personal experience with it from a new player through your career here?

Did you even see the videos of Skyrim's dragons?

They are amazing beasts.

I'm excited for the return of hellgate, it was a lot of fun to play when just shootin the breeze, in the meantime between events and things. One of the few games I thoroughly enjoyed my time.

Originally posted by rm2kmaster

 

The problem I see with this is that many players just don't bother with crafting. I think if the rewards for a particular raid were indeed crafting components for all the more epic items, certain powergamers just wouldn't bother with the content at all.

I think it would make an interesting experiment in a game like WoW, where there are probably more players who want to raid for items rather than craft at all.

Bring out 2 raid dungeons side by side, one of them has bosses and quests that reward your averaged tiered set gear of average strength and the other raid rewards crafting component which allow people to craft items that are actually slightly stronger than the items the other raid rewards to player.

Blizzard could see which raid gets run more often.

If the game doesn't implement a crafting skill then people won't care if they have to craft or not, because it won't be a time consuming grind that you have to build skill for, if you have the ingredients you can craft it. That makes crafting attractive and easy. It also allows for unique character builds if there are lots and lots of recipes (like there should be).

DDO? Kind of?

Western sandbox (makes sense). Capturing cities, headshots are instant kills, horses and other mounts such as wagons...

Takes place not on Earth so that it can steal ideas from Earth without having to make it precise and accurate. First person view and third person view. Sniper rifles.

Also: Since it isn't on Earth, there should be a whole BUNCH of different unique PvE monsters and dungeons. It would be a game balanced between PvE PvP and Crafting. The game will not tailor to one of those crowds, but members of all three.

There won't be any levels or classes, there will be skills to master, but no skills governing the damage of a bullet, as that is pretty static. The game will use detection of damage much like the early Ghost Recon games.

Skills will be from riding horses, building houses and other structures, taming animals such as wolves to use as pets, cooking food, brewing beer, distilling alcohol, alchemy, tailoring, etc.

Something like that.

Whatever IP that is, that is what I would like to see.

You shouldn't be concerned with the naming of the classes. If the game you are making has gameplay mechanics that are from World of Warcraft, people will probably then call your game a WoW Clone. The naming of the classes is pretty trivial. It is nice, however, to see you using the community to your advantage.

Originally posted by gobla

Originally posted by Murdus

I am not complaining that anyone did a bad job of the game. When you are looking at commercials for a cool game, and then you go on youtube to look at gameplay and it looks very boring, and then go on the boards to express what you think, it doesn't mean you are going on a crusade against the developers declaring how bad a job they did with the game.... it just means I was expecting something, and got poop (from my view) when it finally came out.

No one is letting anyone down, the game itself though could let you down, if it wasn't what was promised.

I don't think it should be declared so quickly just from a couple of sentences that I or anyone else is "saying that developers aren't making real games" or even "complaining." Disagreement is not complaint.

There is NOT everything wrong with disagreeing about a game that didn't meet your expectations, unless you are WHINING and CRYING or something, but just disagreeing? How is that wrong? I don't have to like everything that comes out just because there is at least one crowd that likes it and I should abandon my opinion because it would offend members of such a crowd.

Talking is just talking, it shouldn't be declared wrong. Discussing games is what forums are for. Talking about what you don't like in a game helps others and yourself because it usually ends up with an argument, and more knowledge is brought to you that way.

Seeing as your post got deleted by mods I think it falls outside of the "just disagreeing" category.....

Please don't avoid what I'm trying to say to you,  I actually want to know about what you have to say in your replies, unlike you to me apparently. No I'm not offended, so don't apologize.

What did you think of that post ?

Originally posted by gobla

Originally posted by Murdus

[Mod Edit]

 

 

If I want to play a movie with gameplay elements added on I'll go watch some reviews and select the game that a lot of cutscenes.

If I want to play a game with a minimum of cutscenes then I'll go watch some reviews and select the game that suits that.

I don't watch a few commercials from a game then wildly buy it and start complaining how it didn't match my expectations.

 

If a developer wants to create a game with tons of cutscenes so what? You're going to call him a bad developer and complain he's not making "real" games?

Games are what they are. If there's no major bugs, no major plotholes, the game runs smoothly on the recommended specs, the gameplay elements combine well together and there's a lot of people enjoying the game then it's a well-made game. End of story.

There's nothing wrong with movies with gameplay elements added on. There's everything wrong with complaining about games because they didn't match your totally unfounded expectations.

I am not complaining that anyone did a bad job of the game. When you are looking at commercials for a cool game, and then you go on youtube to look at gameplay and it looks very boring, and then go on the boards to express what you think, it doesn't mean you are going on a crusade against the developers declaring how bad a job they did with the game.... it just means I was expecting something, and got poop (from my view) when it finally came out.

No one is letting anyone down, the game itself though could let you down, if it wasn't what was promised, or what you thought was being promised (and you aren't wrong for being misinformed, or misinterepting the videos. You'll still feel like you were let down, AND understand that you were misinformed, but you're still let down, as long as you don't blame the developers).

I don't think it should be declared so quickly just from a couple of sentences that I or anyone else is "saying that developers aren't making real games" or even "complaining." Disagreement is not complaint.

There is NOT everything wrong with disagreeing about a game that didn't meet your expectations, unless you are WHINING and CRYING or something, but just disagreeing? How is that wrong? I don't have to like everything that comes out just because there is at least one crowd that likes it and I should abandon my opinion because it would offend members of such a crowd.

Talking is just talking, it shouldn't be declared wrong. Discussing games is what forums are for. Talking about what you don't like in a game helps others and yourself because it usually ends up with an argument, and more knowledge is brought to you that way.

I can be let down by game, and not blame the developers. In such a case, I believe your argument is nonsensical (might be wrong).

We don't need a...

Originally posted by jpnz

If a game has no story, there are no plots or quests.

There is no need for an NPC other than vendors to sell 'stuff' and they won't have any texts, just a check box for players to buy from.

The world has no meaning as there is no story and no background plot. 

So essentially.... we have.... SECOND LIFE!

What the.. holy poo poo are you mad?!!

All the world needs is lore. Put a history behind everything, place the players in the world, let them discover the history, and let them decide the future.

That is my dream MMO. I don't want to follow a specific path set forth from the developers because then I am playing their game, not playing in their world.

Originally posted by VengeSunsoar

A  bit off topic.  But the average IQ is by definition 100. 

Venge

This is probably true

However, the IQ test doesn't provide a basis for measuring intelligence of what our species should actually be learning and focusing on. In my opinion

Originally posted by garry

 PvP gear has a general 10% edge over PvE gear. Surprising? - yeah right!

 

 

If this is true I have no reason to play TOR. Why is that even necessary? What is it balancing?

edit: it is bullshit to give PvP better gear "because they work harder."

Why isn't there just gear. If you find it adventuring, it would be nice to be able to use it fighting others, no? Keeping the two worlds seperate is just so much less immersive.

Originally posted by UknownAspect

I beleive so.

We have droves of players, both old and new, who are disatisfied with the current offerings of the MMO industry.  And by and large, the biggest complaints boil down to the permeating feeling of isolation, douchebagginess, and lack of creativity.

Every new MMO to come out boasts amazing gameplay, but people are quick to jump out and claim that the gameplay is nothing new, is boring, and lacks immersion.  Then that feeling spreads quickly and all of a sudden the community is at arms with one another over who has the righ idea on how to fix the game.  Shortly after that, outsiders who ask players how the game is, get an answer like this:

"The game is fun, but the community sucks"

So it becomes the widespread belief and people start dropping like flies until the community is comprised of people willing to tolerate each other to the point of making it a niche game.

 

This is almost exactly the kind of behavior we are seeing in today's internet age.  The internet is no longer a place of solace among the gaming elite.  Everyone and their mother has access to the internet, and moreso, access to the podium of expressing their ideas at the same time as refusing to give into someone else's ideas.  Disagreement turns into conflict, conflict turns into disillusionment, and we are all left with the same feeling of:

"I like the system, but I hate all these other people, and there is nothing I can do about it."

 

For gamers, MMOs were a place to find solace from the hatred, conflict, and oppressiveness of the real world.  With the increased popularity of MMOs, the real world has seaped into MMOs.  There is no longer room for imagination.  Room to escape drama, room to free yourself from the pressures of daily life.

If you are waiting for MMOs to become what the once were, don't hold your breath.  MMOs exist as social games simply to increase revenue from subs or market purchases.  True virtual worlds that you desire will not be found in popular space.  A sense of community is lost in mass appeal games.  Good luck gamers. 

This is a great, and I mean it, great post. I've typed this out in a crude form before, but never posted the thread because I was so enraged and baffled my words were all over the place.

"MMOs were escapes from real life, but now real life has entered MMOs"

It explains it all, my friend.

Good luck to us all indeed.

Originally posted by Kothoses

Stop glorifying the badguy as though they are some holywood made Matrix steriotype these are not Neos these are criminals who stole peoples details and could well use them to enact fraud and financial theft on a massive scale.

 

Sony might not be the best at Customer services, you might hate them for an NGE SWG that most of you didnt even play (hardly anyone did) but they are not the criminal element here, so get a grip.

 

The hackers knowingly and willfully subjected a lot of people to distress and for what? and you cheer them? really, get a pair of opposable thumbs and evolve please.

So harsh? Come on now. I'm a smart guy and I don't necessarily agree with you (please tell me I'm not smart and to evolve as a response to show how smart you are).

Originally posted by Jimmy562

Originally posted by Murdus

Originally posted by tuomiopaiva

Originally posted by Boltonsquad

Anonymous don't steal credit card infomation, they had access to the DDos previous to the attack but nothing else, and Sony have only brought this on themselves with there lame security. Hopefully this will teach them that security isn't a joke and needs to be updated and upgraded all the time to keep up with the latest threats.

How's the front door of your home? Is it lockpickable? Breakable? How about windows? Oh and one good way (I've heard) is to go through wooden walls if you have those. It takes a moment but not too long. Is there any weak spot in your house that would justify breaking into and making those that do it heroes?

This is a terrible comparison.

Wanna know why?

Because a computer hacker does not mean thief. A house is not a multimillion dollar corporation's servers. Sony probably deserves it (all they care about is money, because they are a huuuuuuuge corporation I know ((90%)) that its true).

Stop comparing houses of people like me to the servers of a technological empire. Sony made some great pieces of technology, they should have spent money on encrypting all of their databases. But no.

And now it appears it is coming back to haunt them.

His comparison was fine.

A hacker can be a thief.

Thank you for telling my why you believe it is a fine comparison
 

Stealing from a house vs stealing information from a multimillion dollar technological powerhouse.

Yea totally.

also:

I don't know how to encrypt all of that information but a method that I would use if I did know how is to encrypt it as it is created.

Doing it all at once? Yea that would be very time consuming, but nothing an automated program can't handle, I'd imagine.

Sony has the manpower and technology to code things. They just didn't want to spend money. Now they got screwed over. That is THE TRUTH. If money didn't exist, laziness is the only thing stopping anyone from doing anything. I am not implying they should be doing EVERYTHING in the WORLD.

They had a database full of information that was snagged because it wasn't properly protected.

The hackers are not the good guys. SOE got stolen from, along with the 70mil people.

Is SOE responsible? No. Are the hackers responsible? Yes. Would it have been probable for SOE prevent it without sacrificing much... Yes (I believe). I'm not a CEO of Sony, but with what I know about greedy moneybags... well they just don't want to spend money when they probably should.

Originally posted by Roaki

 

I do think they will have learnt from Age of Conan. Anarchy picked up and its rocky start wasn't really a problem, it made millions for the company. Age of Conan though lost about 70% of its pre-order player base within a week, and the rocky start of AoC lost the company literally HUNDREDS of millions. Plus with the money they have made from AoC they can now afford to leave releasing The Secret World a little longer, to finish it up.

 

So I really do think they won't make that mistake again, The Secret World will have a rocky start, like every single MMO ever released, but it won't be as bad as Anarchy Online or Age of Conan, I can almost gaurentee that.

If you can quantify these pieces of information (ie: the proof of loss of hundreds of millions because of AoC, then making enough money off AoC to create The Secret World without such a rocky start as AoCs)

How can you guarantee us this? I would like to believe you, because I agree AoC is actually a very cool game now, always was. I am looking foward to The Secret World because it will seemingly spice up AAA MMORPGs.

Proof and I'm yours.

Originally posted by tuomiopaiva

Originally posted by Boltonsquad

Anonymous don't steal credit card infomation, they had access to the DDos previous to the attack but nothing else, and Sony have only brought this on themselves with there lame security. Hopefully this will teach them that security isn't a joke and needs to be updated and upgraded all the time to keep up with the latest threats.

How's the front door of your home? Is it lockpickable? Breakable? How about windows? Oh and one good way (I've heard) is to go through wooden walls if you have those. It takes a moment but not too long. Is there any weak spot in your house that would justify breaking into and making those that do it heroes?

This is a terrible comparison.

Wanna know why?

Because a computer hacker does not mean thief. A house is not a multimillion dollar corporation's servers. Sony probably deserves it (all they care about is money, because they are a huuuuuuuge corporation I know ((90%)) that its true).

Stop comparing houses of people like me to the servers of a technological empire. Sony made some great pieces of technology, they should have spent money on encrypting all of their databases. But no.

And now it appears it is coming back to haunt them.

Originally posted by gobla

And honestly, whether or not you find a game fun is completely irrelevant. I don't like WoW at all, but I can see how it's a well-made game ( yes, it is ). If you can't see that DA:O is a well-made game, regardless of whether or not you find it fun, then I'm just very happy that you're not a game developer....

You sound like a businessman?

That is a stupid approach, for me. Why wouldn't you just play something you had fun with? I care not if a game is "well made" or not, if I have fun playing it, I'm gonna buy it.

I don't think DA:O is a well-made "game."

Cause it is boring as hell... lmao. what kinda logic is this

One of the million thousand billion ways to interpret these two words are:

Themepark MMOs are linear. Meaning you are often progressing on one track. The "track" is the mechanics behind the game. Ex: WoW, LOTRO, DDO, games like that.

Sandbox MMOs have not as much rules and allow you to do what you want (not really?) but moreso than a game like WoW. You will get a feeling of freedom in a sandbox game that you won't usually experience while playing a themepark game (I can't prove that at all). Exampes are Darkfall, Mortal Online, and EVE Online.

You must remember: I could make a post saying that there is not one true sandbox game, I could make post arguing how themepark games are the same as sandbox games.

Basically there isn't one correct way to interpret the actual words, so it is much easier to just not ever use them, and just describe the game thoroughly with a lot of words that seemingly not only one [word] can handle.