I really like FFXI but it can be quite slow in the early levels of play.  After lvl 10 its a group heavy game, but groups are reasonably easy to find.  The controls are akward, however there is a compact keyboard setting which lets you use wasd and is similar to most mmos control scheme.

I liked AO. but could never get into it.

4 year necros make me smile.

No thanks, I'd prefer not to have my combat go in slow mode every couple seconds, that seems truly lame.

This is my new favorite thread.

Nice leet speek in your sig OP.

Almost every if not every single p2p game uses this model.  Welcome to the world of business.

Originally posted by Mischiff

You keep MISSING THE POINT !

and ive been playing a long time, way before WOW came out or was even thought of ...

the POINT IS .. most MMO's have always offered a FREE OPEN BETA   duh... thats the point.

Fallen Earth isnt, you only get in if u pre order the game or if u pay to belong to openplanet, either way u r paying !

 

the point ..

I think you are missing the point. That game companies are a business 1st, and just because you paid attention to products the business puts out does NOT entitle you to a free slice.  Apply this logic to any other business with a tangible product and its the same. 

Also as has been mentioned, lots and lots of people got to beta test without spending a dime.

On a similar note, i followed AoC for 5 years before its release, I never got an beta invite, and had to buy the game to try it.  I wasn't butt-hurt over not getting a beta invite, nor did I bitch and moan about the way Funcom was doing things. I tried it on my own time and decided for myself wether I liked the game or not.

You didn't give any examples for what makes SWG a good model for cash shop.  

Most of DDO's cash shop items are in the form of instanced content, that starts at level 3.  SWG has little instanced content and almost all of it as end game.   I mean they already are selling stuff cash stop style, I don't see how they can expand it as well as DDO

You should make a thread with a really long title.

Controls are poor but honestly not that bad. did you find the compact keyboard setting? that at least gives you WASD and relatively normal control compared to other MMO's.   The areas are fine and look good for a 6+ year old game.

Combat is slow and highly strategic, and requires almost zero character movement.  It seems like you didn't make it out of the akward starting levels where combat is all auto attacks.

It is most certainly a grind, but what MMO isn't, and it feels like it's largely to keep you from progressing through the story too quickly.

It seems to me like you were a little too eager to bust out your smack talking stick and didn't fully give it the old college try.

Originally posted by krieblood

Is a complete and utter moron. I would never pay 50 dollars again for that Crap game and its Crap guard towers mybe if they told me.

With this copy of Darkfall we will have Anti hack software, No Safe Zones (all towers even guild citys removed), Locational Banks, Armor drops from mobs that are worth a damn, All starter weapons do 0.05 DMG to other players,  Fixed NPC UI, Added pets, Added NPC hired Mercs, ect the list gos on but those are the lies that made me turn away after 4 months of play so. Basically AV can fist there o rings to the point of permanint damage

 

.

Hell no I would not buy DF NA.  Then again I also was not moronic enough to purchase the EU version, something the OP can not say.

My god SOE is stupid.   This game in it's current state is FAR more buff dependant than any previous version, they made it that way. Ent, Medic, Officer, food/drink, stims, GCW and beyond.  Buffs are more important now than they were in PreCU and much easier and faster to get, it's obvious to me that this design would invite and even encourage AFK buffers. 

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by tvalentine

This just seems like a stupid idea, i mean why make a game 100% grouping? Do you dislike people who solo? Do you dislike the fact that people perfer to play the game differently then you? You sound more upset about the fact that people like to solo then i do about a game that doesnt offer choice.

 

 

Your "choice" takes the fun out of the game for me

 

you must not play many MMORPGs if you dont like games with choice.

 

I'll try again. What if someone liked playing say a First Person Shooter.

And you said, you know, not everyone is good at aiming with a mouse and key board. Let's make the First Person shooter a game with more choices, and give people the choice to use auto aim.

That way even people without good aim could play the game, and it would be a much better game, because there would be more choice!

Don't you think FPS fans would say, that "choice" kinda ruins the game for me?

Or let's take a gaem like WoW that had raiding. What if someone said, you know, I'm not really into raiding so much. The game should have more choices. How about I can just pay 15 bucks to get any raid item I want? The the game would be so much better, because there would be more choices! Right?

 Your "choice" is to choose to make the game no fun for me. Why would I want to adovocate for that choice? You certainly wouldn't want me to "choose" to make your game no fun for you would you?

 

your examples are the worst i've ever seen. Auto aim isn't aloud in most FPSs, and if you dont like aiming with a mouse and keyboard you use a controller. If you dont like to raid you pvp, you dont pay money because that isnt a choice/option in WoW.

i dont see why both grouping and soloing content can exist. It does fine now. Asking for a 100% grouping or soloing game, implies that people who group or solo ruin the game for other people. Even in the FPSs you mention there is a solo option and a grouping/multiplayer option. This whole discussion is ridiculous.

 

I would like a game where I cannot solo. Tell me how you will make that game for me, and allow people to solo in it?

 

play any MMO on the market, and dont do ANYTHING without a group. Easy as that, if you choose to solo because its something easy, then thats your choice. If you want to group, then group. Who is holding you back?

Best answer given.

Also Auto Aim in FPS and real money for end game gear are horrible, community slaughtering ideas.

There is truth in that.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

People who over use the word retarded to describe things that can't possibly be retarded are retarded.

 

They're not trying to look like SWG.  They're trying to look more like clone wars and the first three episodes. it's a bit ugly but its what George Lucas wants so that's how it's going to be. 

I approve of this post in full.

At least the lightsaber hilts have slimmed down a bit.

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Yamota

Originally posted by Sarg01

The original post annoucing the trial starting on Jan 22nd never implied it was anything other than a continuation of closed beta, just with more people getting access:

 

---

Starting on January 22nd there will be a Darkfall trial with the distribution of the release candidate client allowing thousands of players to sample the game for free, help us stress test our servers and test the final features of the game.

---

 

You can read all you want into the word "trial", but all they promised was "thousands of players", "free", "Starting on January 22nd", and that the purpose of the trial was to "test our servers and test the final features of the game" - i.e. beta with more than 1000 new people added (out of the 200,000 that have theoreticaly applied)

 

Read what I want into it? A trial is just as it says, a TRIAL. I.e. not beta testing. If it was more beta testing then they would say at January 22nd we will be adding more beta testers.

They did not, they said a trial, so then why have an NDA for a trial?

Really there is no more reasonable way to discuss this. Either you see how other games are being developed and realise the disparity between those games and this game or you simply are blind to all the weird things presented to you.

Game has been ready to be released since decembre. A release date was announced on January 22nd but instead it was changed to a "trial" but what it really seem to be is more closed beta testing with an NDA not allowing you to even mention that you are in the "trial". This is just insane.... INSANE!

Yeah, seems like they're trying to have it both ways.

"Starting on January 22nd there will be a Darkfall trial with the distribution of the release candidate client allowing thousands of players to sample the game for free, help us stress test our servers and test the final features of the game."

Basically they're trying to make it sound like something other than what it really is.... a beta... by calling it a "free trial to sample the game".

For those who might not see the disparity, here's the thing:

"Free Trials" are given for completed and released games.

"Release Candidates" are basically exactly what they sound like... builds that may potentially "go gold" if testing proves them to be stable enough and ready for retail release. This is why when you download other software that's in beta, you'll see options such as RC1, RC2... aka Release Candidate 1, Release Candidate 2. It's a term inherent to beta testing.

"Stress Testing" is another part of beta testing activity; to test the stability and integrity of the software/hardware when thousands of live players are thrown at it simultaneously. This is not done during a "Free Trial". This is usually done at least a couple weeks, if not more, before the game goes live.

And finally...
"testing the final features of the game" - That's got beta testing written all over it. You don't "test final features" on a product that, as Tasos has said in the past, has been ready to be released for months. You do that with software that is *not* deemed ready for release.

What they're doing is basically trying to dupe their fans into believing that somehow they're being generous by letting you "sample the game for free".

FFS... Why all the spin? Just call it what it is. It's a damn beta test, not a "free trial", no matter how Tasos and co. package it up.

Another example of their disingenuous spin, along with blatant misuse of well-defined terminology.

And of course, some of the fans relentlessly swear by, defend or otherwise presume to know "what he really meant" with every word he says - even, or especially, when what he says and what he does don't add up.

The guy has been tap-dancing around the true state of the game for years now. Some people devour anything he says like a starved dog without applying even an ounce of scrutiny.

I'm not against DF and I hope it does come out in a form that will make its most avid followers happy... But the complete and willful abandonment of any sense of objectivity some people display is really sad.

Step back and look at things as they are, not for what you really really want them to be. The two are not the same.

 

Very well summed!

There are lots of reasons why games similar to Pre-CU have gotten little to no attention, and only a small handfull of developers have or are even trying.  SWG was a very risky game when it launched, but it had a very solid anchor, the license.  They could afford to take the risk and bank on the name to bring the masses in.

Clearly in SOE's eyes, the game was not meeting expectation and was altered.

SWG was risky in design, and scope, the challange, the learning curve, and many other areas, but it had the license, and that's what makes all these other games different.  They don't have an established worldwide fanbase for their lore and canon, so they have to sell the game by the gameplay itself, which is difficult especially when  people are not comforted by the freedom of choice.

Sadly, the stripped, and meaningless husk of a crafting system that is NGE SWG, is the closest thing to it's superior ancestor.   No other game is even comprable, and at least SWG's resources still have stats which may, sometimes, affect the outcome of the item, but only to a degree. 

Honestly, looking at the game from fresh eyes playing it for the 1st time ever, the crafting system looks pretty decent (*Prepares for beating).

I know for me it is almost impossible to look at the game objectively, without the prejudices of my past play experiences, but I've tried.

I have no idea how Darkfall's crafting will actually turn out, they love to hype it but I am waiting for product.

Roll Shot

Dive Shot

Kip Up Shot.

Pistoleer was fun.

Originally posted by Obraik

Originally posted by Reklaw

So who of you is looking forward to SW:Tor ???

To end a somewhat surprisingly eventful day for the RMT and microtrasaction model, EA has announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic will not be subscription-based. Instead, the title will be gain revenue from a microtransactional model. Shacknews reports this surprising tidbit from a conference call held by the mega-publisher earlier today. Said CEO John Riccitiello, "The Star Wars online MMO [is a] mid-session game, microtransaction-based. You'll be hearing more about those in the February [conference] call." According to the game news site, "Mid-session" is a term that EA uses synonymously with microtransaction-supported titles. This fits effortlessly into EA's portfolio alongside games like Warhammer Online and the DICE title Battlefield Online. http://www.massively.com/2008/12/09/star-wars-the-old-republic-to-be-microtransaction-based/  

 orignal post > http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56292

 

 

Heh, was about to post that.  SOE is still the evil one though, right? :|

Oh certainly, seeing as Bioware has been honest and up front about how their game is going to work. SOE just drastically changes it whenever they feel like it, while promising the opposite.  The fact that you can't tell the difference is appaling.

If only I'd seen this thread before I upgraded my acct.

This is very generous of you cosy.