All Posts by chryses

If anyone out there is considering buying or building a new PC to get the most out of AoC I have had some success this week with my new build.

Specs:

* Intel Quad core 9450

* Maximus Asus Motherboard

* 4gig of DDR3 Corsair Ram

* 8800gt 512 x1 (going SLi soon but its the only thing I didnt replace)

* Sata drive 10000rpm

* X-FI Fatality sound card

With this new build and using default settings in BIOS (no OC yet) I logged on to AoC last night and maxed out settings.  I dont mean playing on HIGH default either.  I put every single option to maximum e.g. grass view distance on HIGH setting is around 50%, I put this up to 100%

Performance:

The FPS ranged from 33 - 58 and normally settles around 40 - 45.  This was both outside and in an instance.  Loading screens were a lot quicker than before, both when logging in and playing the game. 

ISSUES:

The Maximus motherboard does support quad core but the BIOS was not up-to-date.  So I got a message saying 'CPU not recognised please update BIOS and unleash the full power of your CPU!'

It was really simple to update because the BIOS on the motherboard allows you to boot from a USB.  So grabbed latest driver on Asus website, Alt+F2 on boot, found file, BIOS updated.  CPU error dissapeared.

Just thought I would post this because I really didn't find a good answer to that CPU error and a lot of my guild members are talking about upgrading so I wanted to let any enthusiast know what worked well for me.

Happy building!

Just thought I would drop an update here about the new build.  All gone well and new build up and running with insane speed.  Had a few issues but worked them out.  As you say I am tempted to build another PC and make a media centre or something.  Have so many parts around the place I feel like donating them to a museum!  I learnt one lesson from this and that is to:

A: backup

B: Have drivers on a USB stick so I dont have to run around searching for them.

C: Have latest BIOS on USB stick so I can re-install if need be.

Thanks all

I am not phased by their website design or the lack of dozens of in-game video etc.  Its not a massive glossy MMO factory with 10 people dedicated to fly around the world preaching about their game.  EVE Online way back had the same type of publicity.  I was playing Earth & Beyond back then and rumours about EVE filled general chat constantly topics such as:

* Not enough footage or general game information

* Its never going to launch because the company is too small and inexperienced

* How can they compete with the big companies? etc

* I hear there is nothing to do in it.

Then when players actually did get into Beta it got worse.  'I am just mining fking rocks all day and there is nothing to do', 'I am getting ganked at every gate, this game sucks!', 'POC' etc etc...

Look at EVE now.  It doesn't have 10 or even 1 million subscribers but it has a hardcore fan base of 150-200k that live and breath the game plus subs continue to climb steadily. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that I have seen a similar situation before where a small company has developed a sandbox, indy type game and this chain of events is not unfamiliar, so I do expect Darkfall to launch.  Albeit for the first few months the trolls will be hunting in packs on threads but like EVE it will find its feet.

Originally posted by Keogh

 

 

In my considered opinion, those that are more interested in PvE and crafting will be drawn to the "Order" faction, while the more aggresive PvP centric players will gravitate to the "Distruction" faction.

The result will be Order focusing on building up their capital city as a shinning symbol of their worth and accomplishments, only to have Destruction come along and take it away ( saying "Hey Order, give me your lunch money!" ).

Pretty much how Vanguard played out as well.  I was on the Order side and even when 1 Shadow player attacked some Crafters they would all run screaming.  I would be like, 'guys!! There are 4 of us and 1 of them!' but gankers and the hardcore PvPers went Shadow mainly.  This should be a key issue for the devs from day one so hopefully they come up with a solution.

BTW thats why I like the idea of 48vs48 for AoC siege battles.  A guild with 400 members vs a guild with 55 members cant just steam role them.  Its a fair fight regardless.

Originally posted by Theodgrim

 

Originally posted by Stanford

Originally posted by Theodgrim

 

Originally posted by chryses

Ok I have to say that I am hoping like a lot of people that this game get released sooner rather than later.  However yesterday I scanned their website and besides seeing plenty of developer threads and recent at that , the screen shots on the site actually looked quite slick.  Ok you may not like this game or take the piss out of it taking so long (or not compared to other MMO's) but seriously if Darkfall doesn't come out then it will be the biggest con of all time.

As for the open beta test, I don't blame them not having one so early since every other MMO that has gone down that route end up getting bashed and spawning 1000's of trolls shouting how crap their game is.  When will people understand that BETA = testing, not final product!

 

Maybe you can help me out.  Can you point out a few of these recent dev threads?

 

I dont think anyone is complaining that open beta has not started.  They are concerned that there is no closed beta consisting of players outside the employ of Aventurine.  Companies dont invite people into closed beta because they are being cool - they are doing it because it is necessary for the best possible product.

But closed beta test can be done by professional beta testers as well. Necessary is too much for a word used  here.  Let the developers decide whats  necessary for THEIR game.

 

You say it can.  I say it cant.  nuff said.

Chryses - oh, thanks, but I thought you meant interaction with the community.  The devlogs are old news to anyone here.

Ah ok...

Well I would be more concerned if I didn't see anything come out of the website etc.   The game will launch and who knows if it will be any good or not.  I think it has a crucial place in the marketplace but lets see.  The only reasons this game won't launch are

1: its a hox and there is no game (highly unlikely)

2: Investors pull out and they can't get funding to finish it (in this case they may launch to try and gain funds with a bad product....Vanguard all over again)

Other than those 2 reasons I ask the question what else would stop this game being launched like they say it will.  They even have stated that they will not give a hard date because they do not want to push back the date like their competitors.  They want to state a date and go with it, which I prefer.  Still miffed about WAR being pushed back to the end of the year and I even understand the reasons for it.

Originally posted by Vortigon

 

Originally posted by Soryn

I don't understand,  do you want to play on the US/AU servers? but worrie about down times of players? just play on your EU servers then...though i can understand wanting all servers to be open to all players, still i like it this way as it'll help with the deta flow for ppl with less then stellar internet connections to have a more enjoyable time with less lag.

 

He wants to play on US and AU servers with his friends primarily.

And let's not start the age old discussion about how other peoples pings effect your pings, that technology went out with the ark.

Correct.  Unfortunately as an expat I have lived in London now for 10 years but all my gaming mates are in the states or Aus.  However my usual playing style would be to play on an EU server when US/Aus was offline (mostly during the week) but then swap over to the US/USA servers on the weekend.  With AoC and WAR you need to buy 2 different box sets.  EVE is perfect since everyone is lumped into one world.

I am probably going to grab the EU version because quite frankly its depressing wandering about when the population is so low and more importantly you miss out on all the guild battles since I am in bed at those times.  Pretty hard to get up at 4am to go raiding. 

Starting to feel more positive about this now.  I always go for the under dog myself in games but I just had an image of 100 Destruction players ganking a Dwarven town and there is nothing we could do about it.  It does stand to reason that the average player who picks Destruction will avoid the support class because they want to be uber killers.  Whilst Order will have plenty of healers and general support class because a lot of the hardcore fans of the game will want to play their favourite race and enjoy playing those roles.  In a funny way I just bought the Empire box set but for the majority of the time I played Dark Elves.  So tempted to play them here but the polls showing the imbalance and a lot of noobs screaming about playing 'Sexy' Witch Elves has put me off somewhat.  Thanks for the great posts as well, helped a lot...   

May 23rd Update

I personally feel that 3 sides would have been the solution.  Easily done as well and as one post already stated I hate the thought of Dark Elves playing on the same side as Orcs.  Its really wrong when looking at the lore of the game.  Be exciting having to battle on 2 fronts.  Either way time will tell and if its so badly balanced they could cap it...then again I would hate trying to create a toon and I get a message saying 'sorry you must choose Order'.

LOL at the Destruction break down on what players will play.  1000 tanks and 1 healer :)

Before I stick my boot in on this subject let me state that I am buying this game, I have played the table top for the past 20 years and have always been a massive fan.  However here lies my biggest issue with this game...with the table top game each side had the same points.  Playing WAR online is like having an 8000 point army vs a 2000 point army.  Outcome is inevitable...

I keep reading how Chaos is more popular than Order and that it will be slightly in-balanced.  However today I read a survey done by another reputable gaming site.  The worst stats I saw were Chaos outnumbering Order 4 to 1 with the closest match having Chaos outnumbering Order 2 to 1 when comparing similar career paths.

I am playing Order mainly since the guild I joined is Order.  My questions are:

* Is this going to be one massive Chaos feast with Order being pwned the whole time?

* How will they balance the game if 3/4 of the gamers go Chaos?

* If Order is getting bashed then hordes of players will emigrate to Chaos causing a much larger in-balance thus making the whole aim of the game pointless.

Forget bugs on launch, instances etc etc.  All that can be overlooked or fixed but I fear WAR will have the same problem as PotBS and Chaos will be like England winning by default due to the number of players they have over everyone else. 

Maybe WAR should have had 3 sides...

Fair point but it does come down to peak times vs down times.  I tend to play from 8am - 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays mostly and the US is pretty much offline then.   If Aus are on the same servers then its not so bad...

Originally posted by lupisenparis

Originally posted by chryses

 

Originally posted by Defect

 

Originally posted by chryses

Seriously with the backlash from a lot of players over AoC's instances and loading areas this thread asks a pretty viable question.  I hope a beta tester can pass on a hint and not break their NDA.  For me I don't see how WAR with 500k subscribers can have large roaming fields and space for players to run around.  If they do then there will be more complaints about how the lag is so bad and players stealing kills and how no one can finish  quests because the bosses are always killed etc. 

Darkfall is the only game being developed that has stated it has a massive world with 'no' instanced or loading screens.  I like to feel like I can get lost and wont come across players every 2 minutes.  I can get away in AoC but as you say players are split into different zones.  I don't see how they could have done it any other way tbh.

 

Huh? You like to feel like you can get lost and not come across other players? PERHAPS MMO'S ARENT FOR YOU, BUDDY.

 

What you prefer being surrounded by 1000 players and have no where you can explore and discover new areas?  Its a massive online world not a micro online world. 

you could call it counterstrike prison yard wih swords

Off topic for the thread but I would like to know what the version of 'HEAD SHOT!' is when using swords.....be like 'humiliation! humiliation! humiliation! :)

Back to the instances, it seems they have open world or more than enough so it should be pretty uber.

Thanks Elven, its pretty funny since I believe AoC has the same system and a bunch of my friends moaned about how they are not playing it because they would have to order copies from overseas.  Going to cause issues for me as well since everyone I know are based in the US and Australia.  Kinda sucks since I end up soloing most of the time as EU tends to be on at US down times.  Problem with this setup is that you can not swap servers.  On Vanguard I had 2 characters, 1 on the US and 1 on the EU server so I could at least swap when the US slept.....tough call now...

When will they realise that EU players actually do mix with other nations!!! :P

Ok I have to say that I am hoping like a lot of people that this game get released sooner rather than later.  However yesterday I scanned their website and besides seeing plenty of developer threads and recent at that , the screen shots on the site actually looked quite slick.  Ok you may not like this game or take the piss out of it taking so long (or not compared to other MMO's) but seriously if Darkfall doesn't come out then it will be the biggest con of all time.

As for the open beta test, I don't blame them not having one so early since every other MMO that has gone down that route end up getting bashed and spawning 1000's of trolls shouting how crap their game is.  When will people understand that BETA = testing, not final product!

Does anyone know if this is the case or can you pick any server?  A few of my friends didn't play AoC because they hated the idea of buying the game and being forced to play in a certain location.  If you play MMO's enough you end up playing with people from all locations, so I will seriously reconsider playing WAR if I am forced to play in the EU only. 

Originally posted by Defect

 

Originally posted by chryses

Seriously with the backlash from a lot of players over AoC's instances and loading areas this thread asks a pretty viable question.  I hope a beta tester can pass on a hint and not break their NDA.  For me I don't see how WAR with 500k subscribers can have large roaming fields and space for players to run around.  If they do then there will be more complaints about how the lag is so bad and players stealing kills and how no one can finish  quests because the bosses are always killed etc. 

Darkfall is the only game being developed that has stated it has a massive world with 'no' instanced or loading screens.  I like to feel like I can get lost and wont come across players every 2 minutes.  I can get away in AoC but as you say players are split into different zones.  I don't see how they could have done it any other way tbh.

 

Huh? You like to feel like you can get lost and not come across other players? PERHAPS MMO'S ARENT FOR YOU, BUDDY.

What you prefer being surrounded by 1000 players and have no where you can explore and discover new areas?  Its a massive online world not a micro online world. 

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

 

Originally posted by Aznmask

I finally Lv20, and my race is Aquilonian, class is Conqueror.. so which town i can go right now?

If your still on Tortage island then you can finish up the last destiny quest to play the story out to get off the island or see the smuggler in one of the building.

 

Either way you will end up here: http://www.vimeo.com/999007

Old Tarantia :)

From there you can fast travel to the 3 main cities, Old Tarantia, Khemi and Conarch Village. Interactive map here: http://www.wikiaoc.com/Hyboria

This might help too:

Man this is one helpful post!  I am impressed!

You say that but even if you have say....20 servers and there are 500k subscribers then that equals 20k per server.  Even taking some out for time offline you are looking at a huge number of people trying to play in the same zone so I hope its either massive open world or it will be pretty uncomfortable.  BTW I am not slaggin the game off.. I am already in a guild and will buy the game outright but I can handle loading screens but some cant, I prefer none obviously!

Originally posted by teratya

I absolutely loved Vanguard when I played, it but I am a soloist, that likes to chat it up, and ran into problems soloing after 40, and the community died on my server. My guild was never on, and there was just no one around.

I truly believe it is the best looking MMO by far, and no MMO even comes close when it comes to exploring and such, so I am soooooo tempted to go back.

I picked up AoC hoping it would suffice, and after a couple weeks am finding the crafting/gathering system to be lacking severly, and there is virtually zero exploration to the game, it is so linear. I am seriously thinking about going back to Vanguard, but am not sure.

How are populations? and the content after level 40 (for the soloist)?

Wow pretty much sums up exactly where I was and thought about the game. I reached level 39 and got sick of standing around yelling 'LFG level 39 Sor'.  So I started 2 more characters and basically I couldn't enter any dungeons as they are all group orientated. I was forced to grind small missions and mobs outside.  Same issue with guild leaving and not enough on to group up with.  Then the usual if you take a week off then you are out of the grouping level band with the guys you did group with.  I like a game where I can solo and group and its my choice. Vanguard does force grouping for the majority of the game.  However its a safe bet now.

Cant agree more.  I am waiting for a sci-fi mmo that is not ship centric like EVE or a shooter like TR, even though I play both a lot.  I want to see a Sci-Fi MMO come out where players can roam around on the ground and get involved with crafting, resourcing, in-depth missions etc etc.  Then players who have built up enough wealth can either buy a ship and actually use it like in Jumpgate or possibly EVE.  In real basic terms I could see an open world like Vanguard being turned into a Sci-Fi world and being quite immersive.  I wonder if Earthrise or Stargate will fill this void?