All Posts by Arudanel

Nothing suspicious about the code staying with P2 and the content moving to the new developers. Standard liscencing really. Any images/art/etc that is Star Trek belongs to Paramount. Any code that was developed by P2 is their property. Paramount yanked the Trek Liscence, and is handing it off elsewhere, while P2 gets to keep what little code, if any, they actually did produce. While it makes me optimistic for ST:O, it dos have the sad news that alot of good artists and developers are now out of work, all due to the greed and incompitence of what may be the most crooked management in history. I for one am glad they're out of the picture, as if they are so eager to screw over their creditors, just imagine some of the fraud they'd be unleashing on the customers. I do hope some of these devs move on to other GOOD companies, as G&H sounded and looked promising. It just needed polish that PE couldn't/wouldn't give it. With luck the nearly finished game will be sold to pay off creditors, and someone will buy the IP and game, polish it up, and ship it.

Well, the blacks in Conan films (the lore most folks familiar with, though I've read many comics as well) shows the Stygians as dark skinned. Some are shown as actual blacks others as 'browns' or mixed breeds. If I recall weren't the higher ups the blacks, with the 'mongrels' making up the working class? Been years since I read those comics, time to dig em out I'm guessing. PS not being racist here, those the terms I remember them using in the comics for them.

Ok- an attempt at a flame-free response to an honest question. CU= Combat Upgrade. An attempt to balance combat, that went over rather badly. They added all kinds of skill restrictions to items, etc. Pre-CU= Before the CU. NGE= New Game Enhancements. Somehow, removing most of the professions, removing camps, pets, etc, and cutting things down to 9 professions was an 'enhancement.' I understand it from a dev standpoint- supporting 30+ classes on a game that's not doing so hot isn't feasible cost-wise. But from a PR standpoint, it was a nightmare. Pre-NGE SWG was a very strong community based game. It was 'Home' for alot of players. Tearing all that down, and replacing it with a badly coded (yes I'm being objective, they still haven't fixed the horde of combat targeting issues from that update) FPS engine, and then deliberately undermining the community base of the game with loot drops and such... Well for comparison, we're not talking so much what that did to the game, as what it did to years-old friendships as players left en-masse. It was comparible to if your local town government came in, and said 'Ok, you've had fun for a couple years. But we want some younger, better lookign, cool people here. So we're going to bulldoze your whole neighborhood, and rebuild it as an amusement park for the kids.' And the worst part was the marketing. The sales of Trials of Obiwan-and the hype over all the cool new tamable pets there for creature handlers and bio engineers. Only to take that away the very next day, with the launch of the NGE. It was fraudulent, and frankly someone should have called them on it. Honestly, I think someone did, because both LA and SOE offered no questions asked refunds for Trials of ObiWan, didn't even need to return the boxes. Just email in and say you got ripped off, and they give you the money back.

Well, seeing as how I'm in neither beta, and I lost all my potent psychic powers due to the trauma of playing Vanguard at launch, I'll have to guess. For me, will likely buy both, like the hopeless addict I am, try both, then decide they both stink and wait for the next big hyped game. LOL. just kidding. Honestly, I think they both have alot to offer. All boils down to if what WAR does right is what you like, and what they screw up, you couldn't care less about, and vice versa. I like to customize my toons, build things, and such. So obviously, leaning more toward Age of Conan. Not to mention, as a child of the 80s, I have a fondness for bad barbarian flicks that's been wanting a game outlet for years now. But for the flashy fantasy races and such, obviously it's all WAR here. The Warhammer universe, if you're familiar with it (Sadly most of these WOW kiddies aren't, and are convinced anything with a green orc is a WOW clone-Sorry, Warhammer had droopy green orcs, about 10 years before) is loaded with races. Zones, worlds, it's HUGE. As for why they not in atlaunch-DUH. It's an MMO. they not going to dump in everything, let everyone get sick of it, and the game is closed up in 2 years. Nope, they'll string you along, a race here, class there... and 15 years later game still going strong.

No, he's being sarcastic. Note he adds Sad. What he's asking is how could a game boost the community aspect, or multiplayer part of it all. Personally I'd say more server-wide events like Ahn-Qiraji from WOW. The freeing of the Frogloks from EQ2, stuff like that. But not so much whole new races etc. Those are just not cost effective for developers, in money or manpower. Instead, smaller things, and have 1 or 2 of these per patch? A new armor model to unlock for crafters for one, the server saves some long-lost master armorsmith. The ones who actually do the unlocking get some cool armor for loot in the new model style. A new minipet type thing. maybe even one with a 24 hour cooldown but some combat ability? Could even have them a personal unlock. A massive community-wide quest to unlock the prequel quests, and then simply drop a NPC in some existing dungeon with the content after they're unlocked for everyone. So each character also needs to do this quest. In games with housing, make these house unlock deals community based, not a grief fest with players fighting over every kill like starving hyenas. Make it so that something BIG happens when a large majority have finished the quests. Give people a reason to hang out, chat, swap, etc. For WOW- it's not too hard to figure, I play on Terenas, and there's always people hanging out. But with no homes, no towns, nothing really to call a player's own, there's not alot of incentive to group. XP takes a dive in groups for one, I can level in half the time solo than I can grouped with the right class/spec. That's not how it should work, to promote community. Instead of ramming grouping down people's throats, instead give them reasons to. A piddly group xp bonus, after cutting XP to a yhalf or less, is just pointless for example. I still prefer to solo, so that I can actually level. Collecting quests are another. Why not have them work like the other unique quest loots? Each group member can loot a copy of the loot drop. As it is, it can double or triple the number of kills needed to do any quest when you group, making it pointless.

the PVP had little to do with it. A horrible launch does it all. Back when SOE was king, then it was standard for a horrible, rushed launch. then came WOW, followed by LotRO, and people realized that a MMO wasn't 'Just too big to get fixed right at launch.' Just the suits behind the money were too impatient and cheap to do a job right. Most games, the first 2 expansions are really just finishing the game that should have been at launch. NOT months after (Jump to Lightspeed comes to mind. Seriously-Star Wars with no TIE vs XWing battles?) Back in the day, competition was nil. You had UO. EQ. SWG maybe, towards the end of it. Horizons.. Not much to pick from. Now we got new options opening every day. Until Developers and more importantly publishers get a clue, that unfinished games=bad press=no subscribers, we'll get plenty more turds to come. But eventually, some will catch on. And like Hollywood, we'll get some gemstones in the pile of crap. Vanguard's disasterous launch, Auto Assault being canned.. it's been a whopper of a year for the MMO business. But I hope there's at least been lessons learned. Vanguard has a lot of potential for the old school gamers wanting a home. NCSoft is still in business, Autoassault's failure didn't do them in. Which means we might see a new innovative title from them, that takes some of what they learned from that game, and puts a fresh spin on it. Even the great evil itself. Satan On Earth has shown some signs of getting a clue. the slower, more polished EQ2 and EQ1 expansions lately, the work done on Vanguard, the attempts to salvage what's left of SWG. Here's hoping someone gets a grip, and we see more of this gradual trend continuing. I'm not going to hold my breath for it, but ohwell, we'll see. Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Huxley, this looks to be a big year for MMO gaming, so long as we don't get a dozen more vanguard launches :) PS: This isn't a bash on Fury. Fury was a great idea. It was a great concept that just needed one thing- a publisher like Vivendi, willing to give them the time to finish the project right. If it had launched as a stable, smooth MMOFPS, well the numbers are there. Contrary to popular beleif, halo3 showed what a shooter can do for sales if it's polished right and marketed right. Unfortuneately Fury showed what happens when neither is the case, which is too bad really. With luck, and enough people holding in there on their subscriptions, they can fix it.

Yes its true. Games Workshop's Warhammer is a very old IP. I been gaming since the early 80s, and far back as I was playing games I remember people talking about it at the hobby shop. And the RTS model wasn't made by Blizzard. The first was some old Dune RTS game years before. Blizzard's devs have repeatedly confessed to being big Warhammer fans back in the day, and one came up with the idea to make a warhammer PC game based on this cool new Dune game. Games Workshop declined their request to liscence the IP, and the rest is history. Is this a Blizz bash? Hardly. Just facts you can check for yourself if you dig around. Warhammer40K was a scifi IP based off Warhammer that came out just before Blizz began work on Starcraft. Any connection there is admittedly speculation, but it is a big coincidence and all. You are forgetting 2 other IPs though. Lost Vikings- an ancient Blizz game, can meet them in the Uldaman dig. And Blackthorne, a very cool sidescroll action/rpg type game for SNES. Those areboth original, though hardly groundbreaking games. What Blizzard does best-and admits to, is taking existing trends, and polishing them to near perfection. Simple, smooth, efficient games. But they're not very groundbreaking or original- hardly anything is. As for the OP's logic-yes, it is accurate, by Blizzard's own comments over the years. Want proof, go find it. I'm not your teacher, no one gave me a paycheck to spout pagenumbers for you.

I seriously doubt any7 of these will 'Kill' WOW. WOW was a mix of a good, polished game, with just the right timing. It came out at a time when SWG subscriptions were faltering, EQ2 was a big bomb at launch, taking a rediculous machine to get it looking even decent, and the other games were just really old. Only way we'll see another runaway hit like WOW is if the cards all land just right, yet again.

As for which has the best chance? I'd say it would have to be AOC. It brings a big name MMO with a huge liscence to the people who can't afford a gaming rig, but have the cash for a 360. Once they launch it for it that is.

Pushing the envelope is all fine and dandy, but you forget the average joe with his 1200.00 machine that he finally talked the missus into letting him buy for himself, or the college kid with a cheapo system from Dell and you're automatically targeting a niche audience- the hardcore that have the money and interest to get a powerful enough system. If you then cut THAT audience into a specific group- say for sake of arguement Pokemon fans, then you're making that market even smaller.  Then decide it's PVP Only, or PVE only, and yet another cut in who will buy it... and it quickly gets to where there is no market left except for Bob Michelin in Wisconsin who has rich parents and loves all things Pokemon. These games cost a small fortune to make (ok, a large one) now, and investors are going to want a big sure-fire hit. And making a niche game for a niche crowd within a niche isn't going to do that. Pushing the envelope just isn't financially sound anymore.

As for dismissing Mac gamers, that's just silly. That is a captive audience right there for Blizzard. What other company is giving them a MMO anytime soon? Mac gamers have finally seen MMOs and they're hooked- want the next WOW killer? It won't be on a PC- too much choice there for them to all decide they love it.

All 3 are in, but no racial differences at all. Apparently a Bothan is just as tough as a wookiee- go figure. As for which 3, that depends on playstyle. if you're blind as a bat, might want to try commando witht he AOE weapons, accuracy is more of a plus and not a must ;)

Well, since it's official that LA and Bioware are making a joint title together now, only thing left is which liscence is Bioware making?

Likely a New SW Online, but could be Indiana Jones Online (hope not) or Duckworld MMO (yes, I want to be a postal worker with a bill and webbed feet! :P) That kind of limits things down. Or an online Monkey island or Sam and Max, or even Full Throttle. But I doubt it. George always goes back to his one deal,and I bet SWG really stung his Ego, that some guys could come out of left field with purple elves and cows and totally blow away his baby in ANY field must have been a hit to the old guy's ego, he won't let it go with a resounding defeat for sure.

It sounds like you might like Dungeons and Dragons Online. It's alot like that, though the rest of the game is somewhat lacking.

I've played Vanguard MANY times. Paid 30 bucks each time (Station Pass). I've definately ponied enough to have a 'valid opinion'.  Not that mine counts any more than anyone else's, Opinions are kinda like buttholes, everyone's got one, they all stink after all.

But anyhow, my 2 cents:

Vanguard had a great creation system concept. Lack of facial animations, stiff combat animations and don't get me started on running.. kindof kills the immersion factor for me. The number of options was overwhelming, but then they locked half the sliders up at artificial limits, which were FAR too narrow of a range, and resulted in little variety. The fact the game as shipped would occasionally 'forget' my characters whole appearance, and the bug resurfaced 4 times while I was actively subscribed, was beyond gamebreaking for me. When my halfling logs on and looks like Michael Jackson after yet another hideously botched nosejob, my first inpulse is to simply log back out, and close account. I've had characters log on hideously obese, with noses that would make a pelican jealous, with no breasts at all or a set that could topple the Eiffel Tower... the list goes on and on.

The number of classes was amazing. However, the buggy class quests (my necro in particular had a fun time of it) made progressing harder than it should have been, I enjoy a challenge. I just don't enjoy it when that challenge is finding some particular glitch in teh code to let me complete an otherwise worthless quest to get a major class skill I need. (harvesting bodyparts in this case). I'd have preferred a smaller set of classes, and add more through expansions as they finished the ones they had and balanced them.

Races had a similar issue. I mean, come on-beast races were supremely tacky. I personally enjoy them, in EQ2, Ratonga and Frogloks are 2 of my favorites.  I wish the Gnolls were playable as well (sorry, but Kerra are too humanlike for a beast race for me, they just as silly as the ones in Vanguard). I mean honestly.. a person with an animal head glued on top? Geez.

Lag was another factor. At launch I had a 2GHz dual core. 2 gigs of ram. 7800 Ultra Geforce card. Considering the graphics of that game, I definately shouldn't have been slowing down to 5 fps, but somehow I did.

As for the bad launch, yes I was devestated. I have been a fan of Keith Parkinson for most of my life, when I heard he was cheif graphics designer or whatnot in a new MMO, I was on board 110%. When he passed away, I prayed that game would live up to their claims. If I had a first born he'd likely had been given to anyone who'd give me a beta key in trade. LOL. And then.. it came out. I shelled out 100 bucks, waited in line for the game, got home, instaleld..Invalid CD key. I called, they said bring it back. I did so, and it worked, but this time the login servers were down. I waited till the AM, and finally got in. Big patch. on launch day. Not a good sign.. and halfway done, I got a BSOD. Rebooted, patched 3 more times before it completed, got ingame and froze, could barely move. the lag was HIDEOUS. Disgusted, I closed my account, and gave it a month. The second time around, I played for 2 months, if you can call it that. I watched loading screens, watched the scenery freeze every time 8 people showed up..

This last try it was decent enough. Lag was manageable, if not non-existant. Quests worked for the most part. Features promised at launch were not in. For me though, too little, too late. I honestly hope that they can fix it, and get it to what Keith and brad envisioned, it honestly pains me immensely that the final moment of mr Parkinson's great art career was this monstrosity of a dissapointment, if for no other reason than that I hope they can fix it. If they ever do get it to what they had me envision in my head, then yes, I'll be back. the potential is still there, the promise is all there. Now they just need to deliver on it all. Seeing the leaps and bounds made with EQ2 lately, here's hoping SOE can pull it off where Sigil failed.

According to blizz, it's a tank/melee DPS. the spells are just a way of doing dps, it doesn't matter really if it's from a spell or a sword, dps is dps. They just specify caster because it has alot of damage spells, but they said most if not all will be up close spells (like a paladin). Just another tank option really, or dps. depending on your talents.

I don't see why people complain about premium services. Go to a fancy resturaunt, tip the guy, and you get a better table. Buyin a new car, want a ferarri or a yugo? Ferarri gonna cost extra. There are always little extra things in life, why not MMOs? If I'm willing to shell out another 5 bucks or whatnot to get an extra character slot, why not? My extra money pays for the extra server storage and bandwidth I'm using for that character.  Got one toon and don't need more? Then don't pay the extra. Personally I'd rather the game was 5-10 bucks a month, for 1 toon, 1 house, etc, and then extra for each toon. Can have as many or few as you like. It's no different than buying a CE for the cool ingame item.

Originally posted by Carufin

 

Originally posted by crowt244

Aye! I agree there :)

Nothing really new, that hasn't been rehashed before...I'm disappointed really. I  want it to  be better than it is, but oh well. Not at this current state. I'm hoping Warhammer Online is going to be enjoyable. From all I've read and seen, it seems it will.

Crow T

 

Oh yes, Warhammer is breaking grand new territory.  It has totally new things, like Orcs, Elves, Dwarves...swords, shields, and medieval armor.  Revolutionary stuff like that, of the sort that's never been seen before.

It has the Orcs and stuff all aligned like a "Horde", and they fight against the good Humans and stuff who are all aligned like an "Alliance".

You can do big giant 40 man raids and stuff.  Now that's revolutionary.

Not like Tabula Rasa, which just has that same old song and dance stuff like Humans versus Aliens with advanced technology in a futuristic world.  You know, the same stuff everyone has been doing since Ultima Online.....

/sarcasm off

Listen up Moron- Warhammer has been around since the 70s and 80s pal. WOW ripped THEM off. Before you 'turn on' your sarcasm, check some facts. The only point you made is that you're a complete idiot.

Blizzard never announces a game till it's at least half done. They're just starting hiring, the listings are a few months old at most. Odds are won't be more info for another year, knowing Blizzard.

BTW- No one assumed a thing. Blizzard is hiring for a next gen MMO. And just because they're working on one game, doesn't mean they won't be doing another. Look at the cash they've made of WOW. Of course they'll want another MMO, and of course they have the cash to do it. There wasn't any assuming-Blizzard says they have 2 positions for a 'Next Gen MMO'. That's pretty open and shut.

Sounds like a  decent guild, I like a laid back atmosphere. Keeps me from going off the deep end (WAY too much free time)

Am I the only one who notices how outrageously funny it is how many people scream about how horrible it is to have kids playing a video game? I grew up with old folks yelling at me to stop playing Pac Man too, maybe they just wanted the machine to themselves?

to the OP: One, are you blind? first of all, the style is nothing alike. The elves don't have huge, bloated muscles, the females aren't deformed like teenage boys with implants... humans look human... the list goes on. As for which is better? that's entirely opinion, Nothing more.

As for WAR ripping off WOW? Ok..come here so I can bitch-slap you. Warhammer is a game made in the freakin SEVENTIES as a tabletop game moron. Green orcs? Goblins with gizmos? Dwarves with shotguns? ALL WARHAMMER KID. Blizzard made the original Warcraft 1 as a cheap knockoff for people to play Warhammer online, basically. Frankly I'd have sued them into oblivion, but I guess they didn't care, and Warcraft became a big PC franchise, Warhammer stayed big as a tabletop game, but alot of the PC games leave alot to be desired. I'm hoping this one changes the trend, as the last one was fairly good as well.