Pretty sure this is just a translation, hence the strange words in places.  I understood it, so i guess mission accomplished for the OP.

It happened when people realized it is just a game and that they would rather spend some money to save time.  Not everyone makes minimum wage and eats ramen noodles all the time.  Not everyone determines their self worth based on how well they do at a game.  So those who wish to enjoy playing a game instead of having a second job farming in it, will spend a small amount of money to help them do that.

Do you realize it is just a game?

If it works the way it is described it is fine.   Time is money.  Some people have more time, others have more money.  Both get access to the same items.  I see no problems.  It is a game not an alternate reality.  Instead of spending 5 hours grinding for $5 worth of ingame items go get a part time job or sit on the corner for 30min begging for change.  You will get more value for your time, can buy the item you want, and then pocket the rest to eat something more than ramen noodles.  If someone buying an item with money offends you, take a step back and go get some therapy.

Bottom line is this type of system is fair and only offends people who dont even understand what they are upset about or people who dont like to live in the real world.

Its funcom, don't fool yourself.  The game will bomb, which is why no one cares.

I can't believe all the anti-Blizzard people trying to crucify them for this.   The guys who made the DOTA formula do not deserve to keep the rights, sorry.   They used WC3 to make the idea in the first place.  They used Blizzards code and Blizzards art to make DOTA.  Would it be okay if I used SW:TOR to make my own MMO?  Just changed a couple things, give it a different name like SPACE FIGHTER 3000 and then later when a big name developer sees my little "Mod"  they hire me and we try to copyright SPACE FIGHTER 3000 even though I made it using someone elses hardwork?

You hate Blizzard so much for what reason?  Did they force you to buy their games?  Did they sign a contract with you that said they promised to never change any of their games unless you approve?  Seriously, the worst thing they have done is make hugely popular games that others try to immitate  Then they get the flak for a genre being stale when they had nothing to do with the developers and shareholders of other companies trying to clone their product simply because they want money.

Valve should have tried for the copyright when they started making their game, not wait until its finished so they can piss and moan about it and use the rabid ferver of the players waiting for DOTA2 to help legitimize their claim.

Stop fighting "the man" and supporting every single indie guy because its the cool thing to do.  Try looking at the facts and realize they used someone elses code and art to make their idea and now they want to profit from it.

AS has been stated, he didn't violate the TOS.  Is there a clause that says you can not say you are under 13 on the forums?  As a major company you think they would check their facts before they ban people.  If someone says they are a wookie would they get banned because wookies have no rights on earth?  Use your brains people.

If people can get banned for making a joke, even if you think it is a stupid one, then the customer service at bioware is retarded.

The earliest example of karate and pandas I can remember is Ranma ½.  That was back in the 80's.  Pandas are also an iconic species in china and kung fu is an iconic fighting style from china.  it only makes sense that in a game full of cow people and dog people you would make panda people to represent a more asian culture.

{mod edit}

A few more i could think of:

RF Online

Wakfu

Ryzom

Warhammer Online

uh...there have to be more but I think that is all I can contribute.  Hope it helps.

Originally posted by Dewm

Originally posted by AlBQuirky

 

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Originally posted by Dewm

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Originally posted by dlld
There's really nothing stopping people from doing such, it's clear "questing" is a superior way of levelingin terms of enjoyment for the vast vast majority of people.

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how is it clear?
I'm not trying to argue....i'm just wondering? is there some awesome study that I havn't heard of that proves this?

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10,000,000+ WoW subscribers voting with their pocket books?

 

This old adage that because WoW has 10million players makes it MORE fun then any other game is just stupid. First off I like WoW...its a decent game for what it is. I am not a "wow-hater" BUT having said that....

Just because McDonalds outsellfs a 5star resterant doesn't make it better food.

Just because more people play WOW then play Risk, doesn't make Risk not as much fun..

 

Thats like saying, more people have seen the grandcanyon, then have been to the moon.....does that mean the grandcanyon is a better view? no...deffinitly not.

 

That comparisson does not work.  So please stop using it.

The day a McDonalds cheeseburger costs the same price as a steak give me a call.

You are comparing two things with unequal value.

Now compare the local restaraunt that has been around for 7 years with the new restaraunt that just opened up.  You only have enough money to go out to eat once a month.  On the one hand you have a restaraunt that has been around for a while, has evolved its menu to fit the demands of the customers and has reliable service and is clean.  Now on the other hand you have a new restaraunt with its new cuisine, but maybe the menu is missing some of those favorites you were hoping for, maybe the waiter is new and gets some of the orders mixed up, and maybe the place isn't as friendly as the old place.

10 million players have chosen to enjoy the menu that has evolved to fit their tastes, with reliable service, and a well polished place to enjoy it.  They may be eating the same food, but they are enoying it,  have many friends who eat there too that they can sit and have dinner with, and they are comfortable knowing that tomorrow the restaraunt will still be there and still serve their favorites.

Stop acting like everyone who plays wow is some bottom feeding moron who is being zombified into playing a shitty game because they are hopelessly addicted.

Risk may suck to many people so it being fun is not definitive.

Someone may find the view of the Grand Canyon with its many colors, winding waters, and wildlife more appealing than a grey rock floating in a black void with white dots in the sky.

It is all subjective and your opinion isn't the one in which the world runs itself.

Originally posted by defroststar

Adventure

We have a winner!  The baton passes to you defroststar.

I will keep mine short and sweet:

In a land of right angles one square rises to the challenge slaying dragons, lifting bridges, unlocking doors with giant keys, and getting the chalice from the castle.

City of Heroes

Champions Online

World of Warcraft (pick a hunter with engineering)

Guild Wars 2 (not out yet)

Best I can come up with atm

That Tesla comment offends me.  You obvious have no idea anything about the man and just watched the Prestige one too many times.

His name is Nikola Tesla, not Nicolas Tesla.  Edison did not steal his ideas, they were adversaries because Edison was promoting direct current (DC) and Tesla was promoting alternating current (AC).  So just stop.

OP:  Since the term "Massively" has no qualifying quantity it could mean anything from two to 2 billion.  So any online game that supports more than one player could qualify as an MMO since the last two parts "multiplayer" and "online" have been satisied and the first part, as stated above has no guidelines.

You are right I mispelled his name, for that I am sorry, it is Nikola Tesla, as for the other part no I am not wrong.   Tesla worked for Edison.   Edison had many people that worked for him and he claimed their work for his own.  That is one of the reasons why Tesla left Edison.

The begining of the issues between Tesla and Edison was when Edison promised Tesla a lot of money if he could improve Edisons motors and generators.  Later Edison said it was a joke.  Now this is according to Tesla, so who knows what really happened.  Tesla resigned not because of this, but because he was refused a raise after he was refused his large payment.  He ended up working for Edison anyway, albeit as a laborer, until he founded his own company around a year later. 

Now Edison is an ass, since reportedly he spent alot of effort discrediting Tesla.  Whether or not he "stole" Tesla's ideas or Tesla felt his ideas were worth more than he was being paid is pure speculation.  Either way he was an employee and when you work for someone to do a job they own the results.  Its like saying you get to keep the money in the cash register because you sold the product to the customer, even though it isn't your store.

Originally posted by Teala

Originally posted by Sepulcher

The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past

Nope.   If you need other clues let me know.  :)    I know many old games from the past....mwhahaha....many obscure ones.  ::ebil grin::

Not answering yours, answering the OP.

The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past

Originally posted by Teala

Originally posted by Calerxes

After being through a few MMO releases over the past 5 years I've heard this phrase used many many times and its been cropping up again in the SW:TOR forum. But everyone that uses it has a different idea of what a real MMORPG is it can be a sandbox like UO or a heavily group grinding based game like Everquest or a hybrid of the two like Asherons Call or a three faction PvP game like DAOC or a quest heavy game like World Of Warcraft and Everquest 2 or inter-corporation polictics, exploration, galactic PVP game as in  EVE. Now as I wasn't there at the creation of the graphical Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying game as I came in in 2007 I wonder was there an actual template that defines what a real MMORPG is or is this just a meaningless phrease used to denegrate modern "MMORPG's"?

 

Personally I've had some great experiences in modern MMORPG's that I could not get in any other type of online game like the feeling I'm immersed in an online world with thousands of other players, (when I first played WoW I wanted to explore all the world do all the quests and play with as many people as I could, same with EQ2 and now SW:TOR), roleplaying with others has been a surprisingly enjoyable experience, crafting objects that are actually useful and needed by my guild or friends in game, going on adventures around the world with others and having to be organised in a team to survive what ever the world threw at us, being a successful trader within a real economy, having a home that I can hang my treasures and trophies the list goes on. So now I'm thinking I've never actually played a real MMORPG and I'm wondering what else is there other than going full simulation like Wurm Online. 

 

We all seem to have different ideas of what makes an MMORPG and the "its not a real MMORPG" seems to come from disgrungled vets who have seen the genre evolve away from what they imagined it would be a decade or so ago, but that happens with entertainment and Art in general.  Thomas Edison said about his new invention “I don’t want the phonograph sold for amusement purposes. It is not a toy. It is for business purposes only.” what would he think about the iPod and I feel that many of the users of this "its not a real MMORPG"  phrase feel the same about there precious MMORPG games.

 

In SW:TOR I feel much more immersed in the world around me than I have with previous games, it has come alive with a myriad of different characters and places to meet and see that it makes me want to see and hear it all just like WoW and EQ2 and when I'm grouped it feels like I'm in an adventure film with all the dialogue choices and fast paced action. But it is to some a lobby based dungeon/quest/PvP grinder though I feel I'm playing a Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game with all the different people to play with and against, places to see and things to do and with game dev's only having a certain amount of time, resources and funds I understand that no game is going to be all things to all men but why do players think that they should be? surely there is an MMORPG out there for you and if not patience is a virtue you know, there are plentry of other things to fill your time rather than bemoaning the demise of the genre. 

When you quoted Thomas Edison you lost me, Thomas Edison was a hack, so anything he said is worthless, he gained fame off the work of others - people like Nicolas Tesla.  

As for what a real MMORPG is?  Well SWTOR is not one.  That I can tell you.  :)

That Tesla comment offends me.  You obvious have no idea anything about the man and just watched the Prestige one too many times.

His name is Nikola Tesla, not Nicolas Tesla.  Edison did not steal his ideas, they were adversaries because Edison was promoting direct current (DC) and Tesla was promoting alternating current (AC).  So just stop.

OP:  Since the term "Massively" has no qualifying quantity it could mean anything from two to 2 billion.  So any online game that supports more than one player could qualify as an MMO since the last two parts "multiplayer" and "online" have been satisied and the first part, as stated above has no guidelines.

Best thing to do is not put you hope into any games.  Wait until at least a week after they release to buy them.  This goes for all games.  This way if there are any issues other people will find them and you will know before you spend your money.  If you aren't being paid to be world first, it doesn't matter when you start playing.  The people who get to max level in 3 days are still the same level as the people who get there a month later.

Find other hobbies to occupy your time, keep your eye on games that look interesting, just don't invest yourself in the hype/hope.

Originally posted by Torik

Sudden?  Where have you been these last few months?

Months?  Where have you been these last few years?

Originally posted by Quizzical

Shing Jea Monastery #156

Because having rigidly separate servers that make it so that people who want to group together can't do so is a terrible thing to do.  Yet without that, games usually don't end up having a bunch of differently named servers.  Instances that you can hop between are a much better way to do it.

Pick up your soap box and go home.