All Posts by bartwart

Just started playing about a week ago and I'm having more fun than I expected.  My rig is old and I do just fine:

Athlon XP 2500, 1 GB Ram, ASUS nForce MB, 120 GB HD, ATI 9800 Pro.

I do get my share of crashes (I crash on every MMO i play), but this is due to ATI's crappy video card and poor drivers.  I'm running on "Balanced" video settings at 1280x768, and the world looks beautiful to me and I have no performance problems.

I'm really enjoying the diplomacy and crafting a lot.  In fact, I haven't been out adventuring except for the first day I started playing.

It sounds like the game has gotten better in a year, so I'm thinking about trying it out.

I like the description of the necromancer class, and think I would enjoy playing one of those.  How is that class?

Matrix Online was my first MMO, and I grew fond of the freedom that it's skill/leveling system offered.  You could completely change your load-out on a whim without penalty.  They balanced that out by making leveling up skills a big money sink, and you also had to grind mobs for high-end code parts to build higher-end skills.  Too bad the game had other short-comings or else I would still be playing.  Anyway, after Matrix Online, every other MMO seemed way too restrictive, except for Guild Wars.

Originally posted by Winterfresh

 

Originally posted by bartwart

With friends like these who needs enemies?

 

Maybe you read a different article about NC Soft's finances, but this is the one I read:

 

http://www.ncsoft.net/global/board/view.aspx?BID=mc_press&BNo=123

Their net profit grew from from 2006 to 2007.

Maybe you don't know how to read, but I did state that NCsoft's annual net profit increased 18% from 2006, though it should be higher considering how many new titles were released.

 

What I also stated - and which was the crux of my point that NCsoft is hemorrhaging money - is that Q4 profits in 2007 were 47% lower than Q4 profits in 2006, when they were also hemorrhaging money from Auto Assault.  Auto Assault, if you didn't know, had less than 10k subscribers before it closed last August.

Reading FTW!

The 47% drop from Q4 2006 to Q4 2007 doesn't mean what you think it means.  Don't read too much into it.  2006 was a funny year, and it probably had something to do with Auto Assault.  They took a loss in Q2 even though they had a nice operating profit (their only reported loss in the last 3 years), and then they reported more net profit Q4 2006 than their pre-tax net profit (the only time that has happened in 3 years).  Seriously, the only drama going on in this company is in the back offices where they keep their bean counters.

They would be absolutely crazy to kill Tabula Rasa, much less through some crazy convoluted scheme to promote Robert Garriott just so it would be easier to ax the baby.

With friends like these who needs enemies?

Maybe you read a different article about NC Soft's finances, but this is the one I read:

http://www.ncsoft.net/global/board/view.aspx?BID=mc_press&BNo=123

Their net profit grew from from 2006 to 2007.

This game has improved a lot!  I"m actually having fun this time.  I will be sticking around for a while.  My COH toons are just going to have to collect dust.

I guess it depends on whether you consider end-game content critical or not (for that matter, what qualifies as end-game content?), and whether you can wait for it.  Me personally, it's never been important.  I've never hit max level in any MMO I've played (although I did get close with MXO), but it depends on what you want.  You could always work on one of your clones if you hit 50 and get bored.  That could be your end-game content, I suppose, until mechs and player-controlled squads become available.

I had to let that patch run overnight. 

I started a new character and re-ran through the training missions this morning.

So far I'm pleased:

1) I can't just recklessly charge into a group of bane all by myself anymore.  Before I could just run up to the dissector and his group and mow them down.

2) The logos seem more useful.  I'm not sure, but it just seems like I can activate the lightning power more often.

3) The game isn't crashing on me like it used to.   Maybe that will change once I get to the wilderness area.

So that's it for the training missions.  I remembered that being the most fun part of the game the last time I played.  Off to the wilderness!

Here I go again!  I played the game for a week right after launch.

Patch 1.6 looks good on paper, and I like what they have planned.  The servers are fairly active, so someone must be enjoying this game.  For a while there the server activity was consistently low.  I'm glad to see that it looks like the game is going to survive because i'm really impressed by it's potential, even if the launch wasn't that great.

My biggest concern is that PUGs might still be a rare thing.  Back when I was playing, the game could be soloed.  That and the fact the game crashed on me a lot was the reason I quit.

 Holy crap that is some massive patch!  3.5 gigs!

From a PUG point of view, PUGs are a lot more fun in CoX than in WOW.  Nobody cares what class you are, and it doesn't matter anyway because most any combination of characters can do any mission.  Besides, all of the missions can be soloed anyway.  I also like that you don't have to roll for loot or get quest items.

By extension, the community is much nicer.  Nobody is uptight about the group dynamics.

I had the same issue with Matrix Online.  I was level 40 and all of my friends were level 50.  I thought I could grind up to level 50 fairly quickly, but grinding took all of my time (when I did have time) and it sapped the fun out of the game.  What time I did spend with my friends took away from my grinding, since they were more interested in activities that didn't give XP.  I just got burned out and frustrated, so I quit.  I thought WOW would be an overall better gaming experience, but it was much much worse.

It's funny, but several people have made comments similar to "why am I playing this?" and I have asked myself the same question about all the other MMOs I've ever played.

In all those other games, there's just too much of an obligation to play, because if you don't your friends start to leave you behind in levels, you miss out on events, raids or guild meetings, and you get behind on the content.  And don't forget that you still have to grind if you want a decent amount of money, equipment, and skills.  In fact, playing a traditional MMO is like having a second job, except you pay for it.  It all seems like you are accomplishing something important, but really its an illusion.

I really enjoy this game.  I don't have a lot of time to invest in an MMO so this one is just enough for me.  I've played MXO, GW, and WOW.  Honestly, GW was the best in terms of fun factor for me (very, very addicting), and I would definitely rate GW higher than DR, but I just don't have a lot of time to invest in GW.  On the other hand, DR has that "pickup" mission feel that GW used to have before heros came along.  You can go dungeon running with new people all the time if you want and there's no class favoritism, i.e. no more "LF Monk".  Plus, because it is a classless system, this game has the potential to develop a rich meta-game like GWs has with it's builds.

I did become a member yesterday so I could take advantage of the stackable potions and better weapons and armor.  It was worth the $5.