Guess you won't be coming back then.

Yay for technopeen.  (Btw, i just made up that term, its now copyright)

While I can certainly understand one's affinity to the "latest greatest" in technology, sometimes there is just no need for it.  You would probably have run VG better on a lot cheaper system if you stuck with running xp.

I know that you'll come up with a bazillion valid reasons why you need Vista 64 and a quad core processor though, since you are a computer science major, and not just an overzealous consumer.

If you are having trouble with $15 a month for subscription fee, then I'd say you need to put games on the backburner and get your finiancial situation on track.

But of course you wont listen to that, so yeah, the game can be found for $4 or so on Ebay usually, 30 days of play time is included, and make sure to budget for cigarettes and beer...

As far as classes go, I have no idea what you will like.  I played a Shadowpriest and a Hunter in WoW, and I really enjoy the Sorcerer class in VG.  Just play a class up to lvl 6 or something, and see if you like it.

Why on earth would Blizzard want to hire back any of these guys?  They left because they didn't want to develop WoW (IIRC), and went on to produce a horrible game with a horrible subscription system.  Blizzard is well into development of Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, and both of those games seem pretty darn good thus far.

It makes no sense why Blizzard would want to hire back any of the people that snubbed their noses at them as they left.  No, no need to for any charity.  It is poetic justice in the most sublime manner, that WoW is making $1+billion a year, and FSS is closing up shop.

Hey Agt, good to see you around again ;).

You may have mentioned it, but what server are you playing on?  I have a 26 sorc on Seradon named Ruprekt. 

I know where you are coming from when you talk about the community.  There seems to be that group of folks who were "here from the beginning" with the elitist attitudes.  They always seem to be in general chat saying "go back to WoW" and seem to want to keep any new people coming in and ruining "their" game.

Personally, I love games where you see a lot of noobie questions being asked in general chat, as it always seems to stimulate some kind of conversation, and thats half the reason to play an MMO ;).  VG isn't immediately intuitive, and I cannot understand why those "founder" types get their panties in a bunch because someone didnt know about the /setfog command. 

I was cringing at the idea of corpse runs and exp loss when I first started playing.  However, I've noticed that leveling and exp come fairly quickly in the game, so I really had no issues with summoning my corpse to an alter twice in a row when I made a bonehead move, hehe.  Lots of items in the game are soulbound, so its not like you are naked at an alter after you die.

The concept may seem harsh, but the actual implimentation isn't so bad, IMHO.

Did... did you just say... "vangy"?

You can buy the game for $4, yes, 4 dollars, on Ebay.  At that price, why not just buy it and form you own opinion?

Kitsune,

Do you play on Seradon?  If so, look me up sometime, I have a thing for the hot asian women ;).  Rurprekt, lvl 26 sorc.  Oh, and have you tried diplomacy?

Originally posted by ethion

hmm for me I couldn't get the petition interface to work.... I just brought up a blank screen.  I know the web browser is working cause I have that maps addon installed and it has a web link in it that works.

Hopefully this was an exception... but my first experience with the petition system was not a good one :(

Try the /flush command.  That usually fixes your issue.

I'll try to give a brief primer... but I'm by no means an expert.

First thing is first.  When you see an npc with a parley option, you should take note of the colors of expressions available.  Change your strategy according.  You'll have to figure out which strategy works, thats part of the game, hehe. You must have your strategy deck filled out *before* starting the parley.

Over on the right hand side of the parley window is the ladder type thing with a numbered piece that moves up and down.  This indicates who controls the conversation, and by how much.  Whoever controls the conversation gets 1 point taken away from their dialogue point pool at the end of a round.  Whoever gets to 0 dialogue points first, wins.

Your cards have a lot of information on them, but one of the most important bits of information is the number in the uppper right hand corner.  This is the influence amount (1-1, 1-3, 3-3, for example) and dictates how far the piece on the ladder moves in your favor.

Each card has different attributes, like expression cost (the row of colored dots with a number in them, some cards have no cost), the expression additions (the lower row of colored dots with number above and below them, above gives your opponent expression, below gives you expression, some even take away expression), and the recharge rate (2-4, 3-5, etc).  Expression is basically your mana.

So my basic strategy is to use cards that give me a pool of a certain expression, then play big point cards that have that expression cost to move the conversation meter into my favor.  However, there is a lot more to it than that, as your opponent will have strategies that can load you up on a different expression, take away your favorite expression points, or just plain outwit you with better cards.

Hope this wasn't too confusing for you.  I tried to keep it as simple as possible.  If anything, diplo is worth is just up to the point where you get the 12 slot saddle bag from the long starter quest chain.  Good luck, and remember that there are a lot of cards that you can find out adventuring that can really change your diplo strategy.

The sky is falling!

Objects popping into view like that has to do with Level of Detail (LoD) setting, I believe.  I'm not sure if there are options to fix that.  It annoys me too, but not to the point that it takes away from my enjoyment of the game.  As far as the cloak... thats just splitting hairs, hehe.

IMHO, graphics are not as important as gameplay.  YMMV.

Bedlam,

By all means, keep responding.  I haven't had a good laugh like this at someone's expense in quite a while.  What is even more hilarious, is the fact that you don't even realize just how badly you are embarrassing yourself.

Apparently you've never actually played Eve.

Nothing.  It is not our responsibility to promote the game.

I question the motives of any "player" who tries to promote the game.  This is shilling, imho.  I'll offer my opinion of the game in a game forum, but thats it.  Once you start posting "Give VG a try!" in other forums, then you stop being a gamer, and start becoming a salesman.

Word of mouth is a powerful force.  If the game is good, it will gather more players based on its own merits, and not from unsolicited cheerleading.

Originally posted by R4WkU5

I only started playing recently but this game doesn't seem very good at all. It seems like a poor WoW clone with worse graphics and slower. I was really hyped to play this game after reading some good reports but playing it now just seems like a let down. It still seems buggy and nothing seems new or interesting.

Could anyone tell me what I should have to look forward too. Atm it just seems like the same old same old with a poor engine. I'm not here to slate the game but I feel a little let down after spending 12+hours patching it to find nothing new. I would love it if some experience gamers could let me know the big pros I should look forward to and aim for. Because as it is I'm really not sure if I have the patience to put in the hours for the same things I can find in another game. I'm a bit biased because my pc runs it ok but not as smooth as it could be and I might as well play a game where I can enjoy a smooth experince while putiing the time in.

 

I will be getting a new pc in the near (ish) future so if it's worthwhile I'd contine but as it stands it's not looking like a great investment of time. I feel bad asking this so early in playing but these are real concerns.

The biggest obstacle I had to overcome, in order to enjoy the game, was finding the right class to suit my playstyle.  The first 4 classes I tried just didn't agree with me, and I, too, thought the game wasn't very good because of it.  However, after stumbling upon the Sorcerer class, I found it changed my perspective of the game 180 degrees.

So if your disdain is for the game in general, then maybe its just not right for you.  But if your disdain is simply how you are experiencing the game through one particular class, then you have options.  IMHO, its worth the effort to play around with the classes until you find something you like.

Also, if you come into a game with high expectations, you are nearly guaranteed to be somewhat disappointed.  VG is what it is.  From what I understand, the game has only 2 devs working on it, so if you are expecting a game with full studio support and a large budget, you will also be disappointed. 

Ok, I'll stop rambling now... too much coffee...

Darn, and I was really enjoying the game before I read this post.  But now that I realize the importance of shadows, lighting, and particle effects to an MMORPG, I can no longer play the game.

Sorry SOE, but you focused too much on things like content, dungeon design, quests, crafting, and diplomacy.  You should have taken a lesson from amazingly successful games like Crysis, which proved that graphics are the key to selling boxes.

Originally posted by Flywheel

To Perception:

Please accept my deepest apologies

No worries.  Sounds like you are hoping a game will come out that takes the best parts of the current MMO's and expands on them in a meaningful way.   Well, until that game comes along, I gotta play something, and VG floats my boat currently.  Sure, it has its issues (some really really annoying currently), but for me, its good enough.  If none of the current crop of MMO's give you that warm fuzzy feeling, then you really only have 2 choices...

1.  Wait.

2.  Choose the "best of the worst".

I think we've all gone through an MMORPG dry spell before, when the last game we played left us with a bad taste in our mouth, and the other choices around just didn't seem to hit the spot.  Its a conundrum.   Good luck to ya.

Not sure about a trial, but you can pick up the game for around $4 on ebay (including shipping).