Originally posted by surfsk8snow

Originally posted by wnnw98

SWTOR is a BioWare game so everyone should basically know what to expect by now.  It's funny, when people were playing through KOTOR 1 & 2 they were clamoring for an MMO in the same vein.  Now that that wish is closer to reality they are trying to pick it apart and put it down based only on speculation and conjecture.  Stop comparing this game to WoW and pre-NGE SWG because that is what you know and those are what your expectations are.  I don't remember BioWare stating that they were going to re-invent the wheel with this game.  They just wanted to bring the success of KOTOR 1 & 2 to the MMO genre.

 

Oh no, but the IP that they are working with demands such. Don't you dare take anything Star Wars and NOT try to reinvent the wheel in some way or shape. Every Star Wars movie was revolutionary in some way, most all of the video games were unique and brought something new to the genre, and are among the most memorable games many of us played.

Now granted, they are still doing the 1st Voice Over MMO, which is fantastic, unqiue, and reinventing the wheel in that way. But there are many many gameplay missteps that they are making.

And how many successful MMOs have completely reinvented the genre?  None.  Developers take what already works in other games and tweak things here, add things there.  It is futile to wait for an MMO that changes everything the genre has been successful with.  Change happens gradually.

As for the Star Wars IP "demanding" that the MMO wheel be reinvented, I doubt you are really that naive.  Pre-NGE SWG is the closest anyone has ever gotten and you can blame SoE for ruining it.  But this is a BioWare game based on KOTOR that makes no pretenses of being pre-NGE SWG.  This game will be hugely successful at launch.  The only thing uncertain is how BioWare will handle what happens after that.

SWTOR is a BioWare game so everyone should basically know what to expect by now.  It's funny, when people were playing through KOTOR 1 & 2 they were clamoring for an MMO in the same vein.  Now that that wish is closer to reality they are trying to pick it apart and put it down based only on speculation and conjecture.  Stop comparing this game to WoW and pre-NGE SWG because that is what you know and those are what your expectations are.  I don't remember BioWare stating that they were going to re-invent the wheel with this game.  They just wanted to bring the success of KOTOR 1 & 2 to the MMO genre.

Originally posted by Gabby-air

First of all NDA, so cant tell specifics. Open beta and launch shouldn't be too far now so if you want just wait for that. Also post this on the FOM forums not here.

Yes... go ahead and post on the official forums where only sycophants, fanboys, and forum nazis... erm... I mean forum mods, are allowed to respond to your questions.

If you want objective answers on whether the game is actually good or not, you can ask here since no other forum in the whole internets is even slightly interested in talking about this abomination of a game.

But if you've got players dodging your question, OP, by citing that they are under the NDA so they can't answer "specifics," you can bet that the game sucks.

Nobody cares anymore.  All of the potential FoM players have moved on to greener pastures: EVE, Fallen Earth, etc.  Marko is going through his 2nd beta stage and 2nd "publisher" in 7 years of development.  That just doesn't inspire confidence.

This guy needs to get a clue.  Marko will never be a successful game developer and FoM will never be a successful game.  I've played mods that are more well made than FoM ever could be, and they were probably made by a couple of teenagers in their parents basement.

The funny thing is that now there is no Smoker or Ojom to blame anymore.  It's painfully obvious that Marko is just that bad at developing a game.

Take a look at the forums.  They're dead.  Half of the posters on there are forum mods, GMs, CMs, Nexeon staff and Marko.  I'm not joking.  That's f-ing sad.

There is a reason this game never succeeded:  Marko is a terrible game developer.  It's been, what, seven or eight years in development time and he still hasn't figured out how to implement a colony control/capture system that works well?  Combat is still crap.  There is still too little content within the game.  The crafting and economic systems are still too basic and uninteresting.  Almost all of the old players have given up on this game -- and so should he.

None of the racial traits are game-breaking.  Some races are meant to specialize in certain roles and their traits reflect that.  By the time you hit lvl 80, you will have all your racial traits selected, except the tradeskilling ones which I think most people don't choose.  So, when you're level capped, +7 to all skills as a Human isn't important.  The +2 heal crit Barbs get is much more desirable to have, but again, it isn't game-breaking.

Check out eq2.wikia.com for tons of information on where to go, what quests you can do, etc.

Originally posted by Sawtooth

So, are Mystics/Defilers and Wardens/Furies just offensive and defensive mirrors of each other?

I'm not quite sure what you mean.  Each class is unique.

Shamans (Mystics/Defilers) primarily use wards to heal.  Incoming damage has to get through wards first, before any actual damage is inflicted on the player which is warded.  So, shaman wards are always the first line of defense.  This makes them extremely powerful healers.  The direct heals shamans have are also some of the largest of all healers.  On top of this, shamans have great defensive debuffs and group buffs.

As for DPS, Mystics are more melee oriented and have the ability to turn all of their attack spells into combat arts.  In good hands a Mystic can put up very respectable numbers.  Defilers can't DPS quite as well as Mystics usually.  As pure spell casters there aren't very many damage spells and none of them do high damage.  There are important debuffs attached to Shaman attacks though.

Druids (Wardens/Furies) use heal-over-time spells.  They are fast-casting but don't actually heal anything unless someone is under 100% health.  They are great heals to have in a group unless you are taking a lot of big spike damage.  Because shaman wards and cleric reactives trigger first, druids are usually seen as secondary healers.  But a good druid can still solo heal a group through most, if not all, dungeons and instances.  Buff-wise, Warden buffs are for melee classes and Fury buffs are for casters.

Like Mystics, Wardens are melee oriented.  They can do more DPS than either shaman class but not as much as Furies.  Furies are like hybrid priest/mages.  They have some great nukes that make them the highest DPSing healers, all things being equal.

I hope that answered your question.

Shamans are one of the slowest classes to solo with.  Defilers moreso than Mystics.  But don't let that fool you because Shamans are the most powerful healers in the game.  Even better than Clerics.  Due to the way wards work, Shamans will always be the primary healers in groups.  However, the slow casting time of most Shaman spells means you have to be more deliberate in choosing what spells to cast.  If you are going to go with a Shaman I suggest rolling a Mystic and getting your melee DPS spec through AA choices as you level.

Furies are probably the most popular healer class to solo with because they can keep themselives alive and still do respectable damage.  I have never played a Fury so I can't tell you much about the AA choices they get, but there are healing lines and DPS lines to choose from.  They are a hybrid class so they have priest and mage elements.  You won't be out-healing an equally skilled Shaman or out-damaging an equally skilled Sorcerer though.  As for being able to switch roles on the fly... yeah you could probably do that.  But like any other class the Fury will have more healing potential or more dps potential depending on what you put your AA points into.

PVP on normal servers consists of duels and Arena matches.  I haven't played much on PVP servers so I cannot answer a lot of questions about that.  But I'm pretty sure you can sneak into rival cities with stealth or invis if you avoid some of the guards.  I don't think you can disguise yourself though.  In my opinion, EQ2 is not a great PVP game.

The appearance slots work with clothing/armor as well as with weapons.  If you have a two-hand weapon, then you can only choose another two-hand weapon for appearance.  The same goes with sword and shield.

- A Conjuror is easier to solo with but  Wizards are good soloers too.

- A Wizard offers more DPS potential than a Conjuror so they are preferred for groups and raids in the end game.

- If you want to make your own spell upgrades then be a Sage.

- The server list at character creation is sorted by population.  Just pick one.  You can always rereoll on another server or pay to transfer your character.

No.  Just...  No.

Group makeup will play a large part in how well you can hold aggro, as will your personal DPS.  Taunts are worthless and most end-game raiders don't even use them.  Dirges, Coercers, Swashbucklers, Assassins, and Wardens should be your top class choices when forming a group.  Of course you don't need, or want, your group consisting of just those classes (usually).  But you will want at least 2 of them.

Originally posted by Tester003

I think the closed beta testers back in 2004 failed on one part of fom.  It took 1 real time week to get paid for missons.  Know what that sounds like ? yes a job and i pay for fun not a second job heeh And yes that was fixed in open beta back in 2005.

The mission system has always been one of the worst parts of the game.  And the sad thing is that it's the one part Marko has spent the most time working on.  There have been so many changes to the way missions work but none of them really address the fact that missions have absolutely nothing to do with what actually happens in the game.  That can't be blamed on beta testers.  That's Marko's fault.

Originally posted by Tester003

 Yes it is a bit confusing someone needs to clear out all the stuff before dec 2008 off the listing here on mmorg.

No.  I hope mmorpg.com keeps the archives of past interviews so that people can see for themselves how not to develop a "sand-box" mmo.  If anything good comes from this game it is that it serves as a test case for competent developers to learn from.

Originally posted by ze789

a new company ( duplex entertainment) took over this game made it free to play and totally redid the graphics ( among other things)

Wrong.

I can see how it can be confusing if you haven't followed the game before.  Duplex Systems (AKA Marko Dieckmann) announced development of Face of Mankind in 2002.  Here is a link to his interview with IGN.  The first beta registration period began in April of 2003 as was reported on Gamespot.  However, closed beta testing didn't actually start until a year later, April 2004.  Though there was slow development and poor communication with the community surrounding FoM, there was actually quite a lot of interest and activity occurring in the official forums at that time.

Feb 2005 is when open beta finally hit.  The influx of thousands of new players into such a raw and open world was rather chaotic, but at the same time it was a lot of fun for those who experienced it.  The downside was that most of the closed beta testers eventually left during the first few weeks of open beta because the game had wholly changed in that short amount of time.  There were a lot of great people who contributed much to the foundations of FoM that felt turned off by the attitudes of the new players.  In a game that is so driven by player activity, the change in the size and mood of the population drastically changes the way the game is played.  The game changed from being centered around a tight-knight community which enjoyed role playing to a game dominated by hackers, e-thugs, roving gank-squads, and generally the scum of the online gaming world.

In any case, open beta continued until summer 2006.  The retail (pay-to-play) release was published alongside Ojom, a mobile phone games publisher.  I could expound the subsequent series of events which ensued from the incompetance and poor business practices of Ojom, but that would take too long.  Let's just say they are now out of business.

In its current form, Face of Mankind is a lot like the pay-to-play version which was available during 2006-2007.  The size of the game-world hs been cut down drastically in order to make it feel more populated, the game mechanics continue to be "improved," and there is a new publisher called Nexeon (which is run by former FoM players).

So, to answer your question... FoM did come out years ago.  And, yes, it is in closed beta (again).  Take from that what you will.  My suggestion is that you stay away.  ;)

At first, I thought you were trolling.  But then I realized you are just stupid.

Basically, the existing Closed Beta testers realized how shitty the game is so they stopped playing.  And now Duplex needs more CB testers to fill the spots left vacated by inactive testers.  Yep, looks really promising.  Now all the retarded fanboys get a second chance to feel special because they got selected.

At least back in 2004, during the first CB, there was intelligent discussion going on in the forums.  People actually debated gameplay mechanics and offered up new ideas.  These days the forums are full of sycophants who praise every word that comes forth from Duplex like it is gospel.

why can't FoM die with a little shred of dignity?  instead there's this whole mess of incompetence and indignity that's been occurring since the release of a "retail" product.

Duplex does not have the skills to develop a good MMO on his own.  just give it up and be thankful that you had minimal success.

anyone who has been loyal to this game over the past few years has been in love with "what could be" instead of "what is."  face it, the potential was never achieved.  the game sounded a lot better on paper than it played in reality.

better luck next time.

oh, sarcasm.  what an intelligent response, indeed.

anyhow, besides baiting me into an argument... how do you think FoM is going to be doing in the near future?

i've personally been told by a senior Ojom employee in charge of FoM that it is practically being given its last chance.  they tried to advertise for the game in "test markets" but the "conversion rate is not very desirable," he said.  he added that after it was on retail in 2 european countries they "now have all the product back."

granted, this was a few months ago.  but, indeed, the situation has worsened since then.  the only bright spot being that smoker was "released," and only about a year too late.

the new lead CM has not impressed me.  Ojom still does not know how to publish a game, let alone an MMO.  Duplex is still practically a one man show, and his flaws as a game developer grow more evident by the day.

most of the hardcore playerbase yearns for an open-beta style rollback, which will never happen.  face it, Ojom is incompetent, Duplex is stubborn, and honestly the hardcore playerbase is filled with mentally retarded internet tough guys.

and before you go on to say that i'm some noob who only played for a couple weeks, let me assure you that i played for a long time and had access to things that you probably only had wet dreams about.

how is that for your intelligent response?