Originally posted by strangerdang

Originally posted by Death1942

The above poster has some valid points but really what he described was a small portion of your time playing.  Yes there are idiots (and they are in every game ever) and yes there are some very foul mouthed fools but overall the community isn't that bad (compared to most MMO's).

Platooning is really what will refresh you after some horrible matches with randoms.  Even if the platoon is capped at 3 it's still fun to hunt around in a pack with a friend or two and do some good co-ordinated strikes.

 Only if it was a small portion of my time playing.

I would say it was about 80% of the games i played, and i played enough games to get to Tier 7 german TD, tier 5 german medium/heavies and tier 4 (max) german light tanks.

It was a great concept, i loved the mechanics, the maps, the tanks...it just wasnt fun being forced to play with random players who acted like i described above.  If it was a small portion of my time playing, i would still be playing, i still have a premium account ticking away.

It was basically a game that requires cooperation and teamwork skills far beyond the communities capabilities, and they dont allow paying members to take more than a few players into a game at a time.  I was in a giant clan, and we had to all group up into our small groups, and sync the time when we all hit play game, in the hopes that we could get several groups into the same match on the same side.

Did you try making a Tank Company? easy enough to do and plenty of others do it, if you think your clan members are better than randoms all you have to do is prove it to the community by forming tank companies and facing said randoms in their own companies.

Grouping with 3 people max is possibly the worst idea ive ever seen implimented in a game that puts 15 vs 15.  And dont get me started on the one in five times some platoon would bring a tier 1 noob tank into a tier 7 match, nerfing our team a player essentially, in the hopes that they could get their top tier platoon members as top tanks in the game. And no, it wasnt vets helping a new player, as they would, and do, just buy a free tier 1 starter tank for such games.

So your saying that in order to "fix" the match making you'd prefer to have it so you can create a larger platoon so you can have a fairer advantage? the reason the devs made it 3 is so that Clan members and friends can't form large groups and attempt to "own all". 1/5th of the team is fair i think after playign it so long. Oh and as a side note you will never find a tier 1 in a tier 7 battle unless he's in a platoon with a higher tier tank, look up the wiki and other sources and you'll see how the matching system works, simply put a tank won't face others that are more than 4 tiers higher than them. Goes by Tonnage and tier.

Id like to think that i was just unlucky in the match making system, but it was the number one complaint in the massivly large clan i was in, it made it nearly impossible to play competetivly and ensured good players would be stuck with bad stats (for those who cared about such things)

the people who have the most fun with the game dont care about strategy, dont look at in match chat or attempt to coordinate, and just like looking at the tanks and blowing stuff up with no concern over their actions effect on the team as a whole ect.  Those interested in competative play, improving their skills, and creating a well oiled machine for a team should look elsewhere.

 Do you play US or EU server? cause on the EU server everything you've described doesn't exist, yeah the match system can seem unfair at times as i find myself using my leopard against tier 7's more often than equal tier tanks, my T20 often finds itself against tier 9's sometimes, my Tiger sometimes gets into tier 9/10 battles.. BIG DEAL.. you make the most of what you can and learn to use the tank and type of tank you drive. Light tanks act as forward scouts (not suicide scouts), mediums are designed as heavier scouts and flanking tanks, heavies are main battle tanks, TD's are ambushers and defenders, Arty is obviously support fire. So what do me and many others do when for example a tier 4 light scout ends up against KV3's and sometimes an IS? we move CAUTIOUSLY forward and act as frontline scouts or we run rings round the enemy to keep them occupied while the big guns move up or we position ourselves so we can dash and fast cap an enemy base while they're preoccupied.

My best record is in a VK3601H Medium German Tank, 9 kills, 2 damaged, 4 detected, Sniper, Defender, Steel Wall, survived the round with 65HP's left, got 2.2k XP and over 35k money. Guess what i was against? Tigers, Tiger II's, IS, JagdPanthers. It all boils down to how you play not what your against or the matching system. and before you try to throw in the "you just got the final kill shot" argument i'll tell you now, i was solo because the rest of the team i had were bloody base campers.

I am sorry m8 but your posts just seem to be frustration ranting more than actually saying something.

Originally posted by Disdena

Originally posted by Palebane

 I agree with both of you. I feel many games are being made mostly just for money right now. But it isn't always that way and doesn't have to be. For example, Portal 2 was made to make money. Was it a great game? Got some pretty great reviews. Portal, on the other hand, was likely made from brilliance and passion as an art. Did the people who created it do so to be rich and famous? I couldn't tell you, but that is definitely not always the case.

Yowch. You don't think that's a bit harsh?

With that attitude, you could dismiss virtually every sequel of anything successful by saying that only the first one was a labor of love and everything after was a cash in. Not just in MMOs but in all games, books, movies, etc.

 They are aint they?

Film = First gets made, makes a big hit, sequel gets made, gets hyped to hell, bums out. When the Predator films are mentioned do you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny Glover? When the Aliens films are mentioned do you think of a group of marines and Michael Biehn or do you think back to Sigourney Weaver in the lifepod with only a short top on and very small nickers? (hmmmm perkies :P)

Books = Depends on what you read, personally i read Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe and Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe).

Games = This is the main issue really. For single player games when sequels are mentioned i think of ME2, KotOR2 etc and think some are great and others are good but could have been better, FPS i think of the CoD and BF genres and have to say that CoD have stagnated and are just rehashes in different skins, BF are finally getting off their butts and making a true BF sequel with BF3. Then there are MMOs, the main bread and butter of a games company these days, can a sequel be done? sure there was Everquest II but without having played either i'll leave those that have to think on that one.

With regards to the profit of what will and won't work all i can say is look at SWG in 2005, outstanding game, more subscribers than was needed to make a profit, they change the game to the same sort of mechanics as WoW and others being released and bang, there goes the regular subscriber income, servers need to close due to lack of players and funds, they bring out a gambling system in order to try and make more money out of the bad crap they turned the actual game into (and yes, the TCG is gambling). With that said i think it's safe to say that if you were around during that time in that game you know first hand what makes a profit, game feature wise.

Originally posted by saker

The frustration comes with what seems obvious, that 90% of loosing in this game comes from lack of a good defense. Why do people consistently -RUSH- as soon as the timer hits 0 (and loose). As mentioned by another poster, you must be in lower tier battles, Tier 3+ you'll find that people in heavy tanks think they are TD's and camp the hell out of the base (or on one map where you don't spawn in base you'll find them camping an empty plot of land) you'll also find that because of said cowards the TD's that are designed as defenders and ambushers are the ones that have to push the enemy back instead of the Heavies.

Question, if I buy a new tank, and swap my crew (more experienced) to the new tank do they retain that experience level for the new tank, or is that only for the older type tank? Hate to start out the newest buy at 50%, but saving the money to buy 75%, and NOT gunna spend real money (It's a ok game, but not 1 I like anywhere near that much). I generally get my crew to 90%+ before i move them to the next tank, this way they don't drop to less than 75% unless you change the type of tank (Light > Medium or Medium > Heavy etc) in which case they'll take a greater hit as the crew is used to your current type and not the new one, typically a 90% crew in that case would drop to about 55%+

I really do hate referring peopel to this game since the "change" but i haven't found another game with DEEP crafting that requires a mind in any other game. Star Wars Galaxies, it's not free and a lot of the crafting professions are pretty pointless these days but there is no comparison in my eyes, the downside is you said you preferred free games and unfortunately SWG isn't.

Not much help i'm afraid but your in the same boat as me when it comes to deep and meaningfull crafting.. screwed.

Pre-NGE server FTW hell yeah.

I'd have to suggest (as others already have done) Mass Effect series (good continuous gameplay through as you can import your character to the next game and continue as the same person you were plus choices in one effect gameplay and story in the next) Knights of the Old Republic is also a great game and the foundation that an upcoming MMO is based on (SW:TOR) Morrowind is a good game also very open (i've spent hours in it and come no where near to completeing it in the years i've owned the game) Oblivion just forget, world feels too small and it can be completed in a day or 2. You've already tried witcher so that covers the games i'd class as RPG's. oh Gothic 3 and 4 are not too bad either, 1 and 2 take a while to get used to control method but 3/4 are close to the usual styles.

My first ever MMO was SWG prior to the NGE, that game was awesome and in my opinion what i'd define as a sandbox MMORPG. I've tried what a lot of people would call a sandbox in the form of the pre CU NGE Emulators and i found myself totally bored, therefore i'm glad SW:TOR won't be what some class as a true sandbox. I'm looking forward to the game more and more and this new info on exploring datacrons has peaked my interest a bit more.

For the explorers: Are you finding the exploration-centric features slowly being revealed for Star Wars: The Old Republic sufficient enough to dispel some of your doubts about the game? What other exploration features would you like to see BioWare implement?

Yes i do think it's sufficient for a good start, everything could always need a few tweaks but unforunately those said tweaks are impossible as they vary from person to person. Other features hmm.. Not interested in a badge system or a rehash of the exploring stuff the NGE hit SWG with but i think (and i might get some backup here from old school rangers) a system where 1 certain class (for each side) has the potential within their advanced class system to scout, track, and thereby see piles of dung and footprints etc that make a trail to whichever creature they want to find, i think it would be nice to log in one day and say to myself "right, i've never seen this creature in game yet so i think i'll track it down and make a screenie" something along those lines would be nice and it may make a foundation for some other features requiring said skills from this class in the future, which in turn promote communication and interaction with others.

IF you build it they will come...

Famous words that stand out here, IF BioWare make it, the fans will come and most likely stick around.

Originally posted by Shoju

Originally posted by MMOmaker

 

Why do people play absurdly easy facebook games?

Why do people play WOW (an absurdly easy MMO)?

 Got to agree with this one and in addition seeing as the WoW players enjoy throwing around that WoW has 12million players which can't be wrong then i'll add that the 30+million that play Farmville can't be wrong.

Just gone to my account page and there's a "rise of the Godslayer" advertisment at top left, clicked it and it tells me that it'll cost £19.99.

Don't know about the cash shop side of things as i haven't been in game for a long time, been thinking of coming back for a bit but i'd want to try it for nothing (vet return weekend or something) before i spend any more money on it.

Hope this helps with the expansion pricing you were looking for.

Originally posted by MMO.Maverick

Originally posted by DarkPony

We are talking a board wide hypewar, my friends. And we are all just sitting here and letting it happen ...

*shivers*

Yep. Storm is coming.

 

... oh wait, that's another franchise I was thinking of, wrong reference

 

 

Originally posted by romanator0

Originally posted by maskedweasel

Well, it will really depend,  GW2 won't be selling the same things GW1 sold, as its a different game with different levels.  Maybe they'll sell skill packs like before? Maybe armor packs?  Maybe just visual items?  Maybe they'll sell boost packs for leveling.  We don't know what to expect yet.

Their won't be skill packs as you won't be unlocking or stealing skills like in GW1. Their won't be XP pots as after level 10 it only requires about 90 to hit each level after that. Their won't be armor packs as this isn't a gear based game and that would be just pointless.

ANet will do what they did with GW, bring out quality expansions faster than any other MMO company can. They released 2 expansions within 1,5 year both as large as the original game. They only stopped releasing expansions because they started to work on GW2.

 The reason they bring out expansions faster than other companies is because it's their main source of income for the game. With that said it does bring up another subject of "if they can bring out decent sized expansions working with a buy once budget then why can't the big companies bring out expansions just as fast working with a regular income budget"

food for thought really.

Originally posted by Arran105

 

• Is grinding (for levels or gear, i.e. raids) becoming a more streamlined process? Or is content getting too easy?
• Personally i think content is getting a bit easier but that depends on the game and it's mechanics, which as we all know can change with every game patch. However i'm an avid hater of games that require you to raid for gear in order to be competative and to keep up with the gameplay.
• If game content is being made too easy, do guilds suffer? And is there any point to interacting in such a way anymore? Is team play dead?
• For those games that i've played that have seemed a lot easier and i've been able to solo without even thinking about things, i do think team play is dead or at least a dying breed. Guild don't really tend to suffer as thats more community driven and a social interaction to improve the games enjoyment for each individual.
• Does “dumbing down” remove a players motivation to play games? Or does easy and entertaining make for longer play time?
• To start off with i wouldn't put "easy" and "entertaining" in the same sentence when descibing MMOs these days, for me easy means boring and i quit very fast (Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, Star Trek Online, SWG since NGE to name a couple). So in my personal taste i'd say yes, dumbed down games remove my motivation to play.
• Reputation and Renown? Did they ever exist in a MMO world, and do they still?
• Depends on what you mean here, back in Pre-NGE SWG there were a few people on the Kauri server to watch out for during PvP due to their reputation of being good PvPers and then there were the crafters, Oh the good old days of needing a specific weapon, ship part etc and knowing who to go to for it out of the hundreds that crafted said items.
• Are interactions online of any actual importance? Or have any resemblance to that of real life interaction?
• Again referring to my days in Pre-NGE SWG i have to say that online interactions are very useful and can be quite good, you obviously get bad apples and such no matter what game or interaction there is but i've met online friends from my Guild a few times and most of them have travelled from different countries of the world in order to meet up.
• Is “dumbing down” turning the whole MMO community into item ninjas, cheats, and abusive idiots? Or has the community stayed the same? Or always been…well…idiots?
• It has changed and not for the better, not only do you have the loot ninjas, hackers and other such pathetic individuals but you also get abuse when asking basic questions if you've just started a game. I've lost count of the people i've helped out in various ways after seeing them recieve nothing but abuse and name calling from long time players. I've also been on the recieving end of such abuse when i did the trial for WoW and it was one of the main factors for me not buying the game.

 

 The MMO market is very "same old crap" style now and it's frustrating me to no end, so much so that i haven't played an MMO for a very long time due to it being the same old thing, i'll do the trial, i'll enjoy the start sometimes, buy the game, play till the end of the free purchase time and end up leaving for good once i find out that it's the same old raid for this crap, raid for that crap etc. I haven't found a game since 2005 that offers something other than raiding and PvPing once you've done everything else you want to do. (before others start in on this part, no there isn't any meaningful crafting in current MMOs. Not the type that i enjoy which is extremely complex, some may not like complex systems but i enjoy using my brain, if i wanted to just log onto something and kill things i'd do what i do now and play FPS games online.)

Originally posted by whilan

When watching this video i think i hit on why i like Bioware games so much and why i'm interested in this game more so then say any other game.

Here is the video: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2633-Non-Combat-Gaming

In short, your not always fighting against mobs with swords (or lightsaber) guns and whatnot, sometimes the challenge is convincing an NPC to see things your way.

I don't see this in any MMO unless some of the newer ones are doing that.  Where your stats allow you to convince an NPC your right.

If the newer ones aren't. I believe this is one feature we haven't seen in MMOs.  I could be wrong but i like this feature and hope more games (not just MMOs) do this.

What do you all think?

 

PS. sorry for the long title, i really couldn't find any way to make it shorter and get the correct point across.

 Nice post, the title did have me thinking it was another negative "we don't want a story" post but i was pleasantly suprised.

It sounds like we are in the same sort of mindset, this game will be bringing the RPG side of things back and making the game enjoyable for those of us who have missed the RPG from MMOs these days and enjoyed the original KotOR and Mass Effect etc.

SWG (pre-NGE) + BioWare = An awesome and complex game with cracking background and story to match (not to mention a company running it that cares about it's players)

X3:TC + MMO = The most outstanding space sim of all time online.. nuff said.

Personally i can't mix 2 specific games together as they either don't mix well or i just didn't find any really outstanding ones for a long time.

Check your link it redirects to a junk site.

*EDIT* Links sorted now.

Originally posted by ViKtoricus

Is it really World of Warcraft? That's what alot of people believe, but is it really?

 

What are your thoughts on this?

 

EDIT: Wrong spot. Moderators, will you please put it on the Pub section instead? Thank you.

Pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies

Best resource gathering system, best crafting system, best player driven economy. The crafting and economy i haven't seen in any game since and probably never will looking at recent and future releases.

It's good to read things like, although in the background away from cameras and mics the devs will be thinking "oh crap what we gonna do" lol

there is a slight error though that i'd like to point out..

"Blizzard says new movie-based online game will draw more players into the genre its games have made popular"

Whoever titled the post could use a bit of a wake up slap and history lesson, the genre was popular before Blizzard got in on it.

Either way it's good to see companies acknowledging each other and although i'm not a fan of Blizzard i tip my hat to them for these statements. (if actually true as we all know what the media industry is like for re-wording things lol)

Originally posted by xiiH4v0kiix

It was 12.5 mil, but now I highly doubt it's that high... Everything is DEAD. All the servers are always empty, I can never find people except for it org, etc... It's all dead. Ever since cata and rift, a lot of people have left, so how many subs does WoW CURRENTLY have?

Depends how you classify SUBS.. loads of WoW players likely have multiple accounts, for example there's one guy somewhere in world i was reading about that has 8 active accounts or more. But no one takes these things into consideration though, the top number is fact and thats that these days.

Bottom line and it's obvious to those who read the official releases and info. BioWare are bringing the RPG back into MMOs, it's been many many years since i could justify myself calling these games MMO RPGs.

Myself and probably many others are actually wanting that feature back in our games, i for one am sick of the lack of immersion in MMOs these days. Roll on an actual MMORPG.

Thank You BioWare, you've brought me hope for the genre again.

Voted all 3 will co-exist as like another poster has said, the "<game> killer" line of talk needs to die, some don't like WoW, others enjoy it, leave them to enjoy it and the rest of us will enjoy our games.