Yeah, Lucas Arts just doesn't understand anything when it comes to gaming. They've only had 1 really awesome game to date...KotoR who incidentally was made by Bioware. They have had good games of which is giving them a boost as I really didn't think any of them were memorable, just imo...not great games. Even KotoR 2 wasn't as good as the first as it was made by another gaming co. who actually used what Bioware had done already code/structure wise.

I think if they want to continue making Star Wars games....they should stick to credible gaming houses. Also...stick to Action Rpg's, shooters...and maybe a good RTS. MMO for them has been wasted, second chance should be a big fat NO! until they get a clue.

I don't know...sometimes I think an armor clad warrior chic swinging a axe makes more of a statement from time to time. Reminds of Heavy Metal the movie. When I choose to play male characters I don't choose them to represent me....I choose what my Ideal picture of a badass is and what type of story I can attach to him. Ie: I want scars and tats on my warriors because in my head they have been through some shit.

I don't choose female characters because I think like omg...this toon is sexy. It's more like she and her look fits into a story I created for her.

It's like being a writer. Being a writer you have to create stories for any gender, race, creature, beast.

You think that Xena Warrior princess had all females writing her lines? How about Lara Croft, Milla"s character in RE, or any female character in any movie, play, book, script, dialog of any sort in any form of media.

I would like to see them keep their flair with something totally original like creating the ultimate NINJA mmo.

It wouldn't even have to be Japanese...by this I mean having a warrior culture set in some fictional universe, and the offset of this culture is the Ninja aspect. The samurai's dark, unlawful shadowy figurative younger brother.

But if it were going to be Japanese and of an existing IP...I would like to see them do a version of Tenchu(the game) or Shinobi(the movie).

A mixture of Japanese and medieval fantasy could work tho if the story were original and not based on actual fact or a current IP. Guild Wars: Factions is a prime example when mixed with it's other installments ....that things of this sort can work and mesh well.

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Originally posted by JimLad
I played a female in WoW, Aunty she was called, an ugly old looking Gnome witch. No special treatment, It was awesome.
People shouldn't give female avatars more attention anyway, it's their own fault when they find out they're cybergay.
Players might tell you they're female too, but if you can't spot a liar, you're probabaly too young to be getting involved with girls anyway.

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I totally agree. Like I said before....stop trying to pick up chics in a game. 99% of the time you would be wrong anyways.

Cybergay......funny.

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Originally posted by hotwu
as someone has already pointed out, this is a company making this decision and not china itself. the fact is this will probably draw a lot of guys to the game. there are probably a lot of guys who play a given game who would enjoy knowing that the girl they see in game is a girl IRL. not to mention the publicity they'll get from doing something like this. has this ever been done before? it's a creatively capitalistic move considering it came from a company in china.

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I foresee absolutely no chics playing this game. I foresee no guys playing this game either. I foresee this game failing. If my foresight is wrong, well then the one chic who plays will actually get worshiped. Can you imagine it.

Male 1: Omg, there she is. The One.

Male 2: She has come to save us all. Clearly this is the only chance I will see a chic in my virtual life.

Male 3: Either she's mine or we all take turns. Talking to her that is. All praise the one. Here take my loot as a donation to your greatness.

*music playing is some epic rome mythology type inspired ballad*

To imply that this will probably make more guys play is profoundly unrealistic in the gaming world friend. I'm pretty sure that gamers(even if we are guys) could give 2 shits whether or not a game has chics or guys playing it(we know it's one or the other).

This little stunt isn't gonna make that customer go, "Well...at least this game has a mandate that all girls in-game are really girls, can't stand those other games..won't say any names, that have guys running around a chics and vice versa". Um...I think in this community it's more about the game being good. If anything, from the way I think about games, certain politics of particular companies will make me not pay my money for it. Flip side I know can happen, but I would like to think that the other is a bit more prevalent.

My own view I know, but it goes something like this: Said company supports the slaughter of baby seals while drunk driving. This company would definitely not attract more people. And a game that didn't support this wouldn't attract more either. I am very confident that a game must first be good to attract anyone, and in game policies being less than noble would only deter people from playing it not increase numbers even if the game is good. We all know how critical MMO players are of customization and immersion.
This is by far bad publicity. Which usually kills a game before it even starts. It's not like Hollywood where this type of thing could actually enhance it's life. That's the way I see it and I'm sticking to that.

Hands down, Guild Wars....not F2p, but B2p. Has three campaigns(kinda like expansions of each other, all connected, but each one can be a STAND ALONE game...meaning you don't need a first one to play them all. Recently they did however release an actual expansion called: Eye of the North, in which you will need at least one previous copy.

Other than this I would recommend Sword of the New World.

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Originally posted by project8six
sounds interesting. lvl based for the lose. but its skillbased at least... if there are lots of choices it may be fun.
what i thought was weird is that they said its not based around storyline like "other MMOs" but its about getting gear money and lvling up? isn't that what every single other MMO is about? i haven't played one that was about the story.

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I have....guildwars...is all story driven for completion of the pve portion of the game. Backed up by endgame skill, title, weapon, and gold farming followed by the elite missions and hard mode. PvP is separate from this.

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Originally posted by Vortigon

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Originally posted by Astralglide

What if your a really mannish-looking chick? Scottish or Russian or something.....

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Replace Scottish with american or english......as Scottish women are the sexiest girls you''ll ever see.....and come to think of it so are russian girls....you really need to get out more.

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I agree, being in the military I ave been all over the globe be it from duty or vacation and every place has gorgeous chicks. Russian chics are pretty damn hot. I do have to say that in my travels that many aborigines in the down under weren't very appealing to me...but that is purely opinion.

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Originally posted by Zerocyde

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Originally posted by Akakori

"I'd rather looked at something nice for hours on end."

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Then paste a picture of a woman to the side of your monitor. Your avatar is the virtual extension of YOU for that gameworld. Playing as a female toon is saying; "Hi, I would like to be a female." I just dont understand, unless your gay or tranny or something, why would you want to be a female if your not?
Anyway, wish more mmo's would do this. E-transvestites need to be put to an end.

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Dude, grow up. And that is only your interpretation that your avatar is an extension of the person playing....on some lvls that's of course, on other lvls....well, since when are you ever going to be an orc, elf, robot, spaceship, etc etc outside of a game or in make believe. So the same should be applied to genders in game. I mean really...who cares anyways. Players are players, if you are worried about if you are being duped, stop trying to pick up chicks in a video game.

As far as a company telling them what sex to be, well...good luck on getting subscribers.

I think there is a point where gamers, especially the MMO community (who imho aren't your everyday casual gaming type, I would guess some are...but if my circle of friends who play are any indication of what the community may be like...are indeed hardcore gamers) will scrutinize the politics surrounding a game and will take a step away from said game possibly not playing altogether.

If a game has the mechanics of choice, but doesn't allow you to make that choice definitely would not be a great selling point to the MMO world which is mostly about character customization.

A move like this will certainly hinder the numbers of your player base. Majority of games I have played don't even have you prove who you are between player account and the credit card paying for said account. IE: How many kids are paying for subs with their parents credit cards. If their methods for determining what gender you are, are things like a webcam...a photo id and such....someone already said it: "WHY F******* BOTHER"

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Originally posted by Kravos

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Originally posted by LouiseK

Obviously one too many of them have fallen in love and cybered with a man playing a women I think that is their issue anyway, not a man being a women as such, but them feeling vulnerable to be decieved.
I don't really quite understand why a guy would want to play a female avatar, the thought of me being a male avatar just doesn't appeal to me. How can a guy feel comfortable with other guys thinking the avatar that represent him is sexy?
There is only three reasons that spring to mind: they are homosexual, they are transexual or the avatar is the only female they have in their life.
That said my fella always plays a female avatar in mmos, his reason being that if he's going to be spending all his time staring at an avatar he'd rather it'd be female then him having to stare at a hairy man

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So your BF is either a closet Homosexual, a Transsexual or he finds the female avatar more appealing than the rl female in his life i.e. you?
Seriously tho, playing a female char will always get you far more help and will be far more tolorated than a male char. It's human nature, so guys playing a female char is probably more to do with tactics(?) rather than sexual/ sexuality (although I do know one gay guy who has a female char and cybers with unsuspecting males)

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I'm not disagreeing, but it's probably the exception, not the rule. I have played female characters in many MMO's, action games and platformers...ie: Lara Croft, Princess in Super Mario 2. I think these are just video games.

My personal thoughts are that I don't personally see any gender in the player until they actually confirm it, then and only then do I start interacting with them as though they were a particular. Like for instance I may watch my comments a bit more when interacting with a female.

I haven't seen female avatars getting a lot of special attention when it comes to generosity nor I have I gotten any special treatment when playing one. I do however understand that this type of behavior in game may be initiated by the faker . Can't actually recall even ever being asked if I were male or female when playing a girlie avatar.

I'm not homosexual, not a trannie, and my wife is the best thing to ever happen to me. I not socially defunct, but have been a gamer since birth. MMO's are just a version of mind-state where I treat everyone the same basically until I find fault...and for me is played in terms of having fun.

Just another stereo type attached I believe...trying to explain to those who never play both genders why some do so. Keep telling yourself these in my eyes: Myths (for the most part, reality for the other part as I know it's possible, I just don't recall seeing it too much at all)

The Lineage series has some pretty cool armor. 2 armor sets in Guild Wars really stand out for me, The Vabbian Assassin armor male/female, and the 15k luxon Necromancer male.

As far as screenies for what's on the horizon, Aion armor's stand out to me at the moment.

For shields I give my vote to L2 with GW coming in second just because they have so many, but WoW has animations on many of their shields like they have on many of their weapons. Enchantments in WoW stand out to me also, Mongoose man makes your sword crackle.

I've been wondering the same thing.

A few animations come to mind that really stick out (of games I'm playing now) were things like the Animate Flesh Golem in Guild Wars, Dervish Form elites in Guild Wars, Pally consecrate ground skill in WoW, Paragon angel of flame skill in guild wars, Shape shifting in WoW. And of course shadow stepping (teleport from target to target)in Guild Wars. Things like that always stick out to me.

As far as games with the most diverse skills out there....only one comes to mind, Guild Wars. It has over 1000 skills among ten classes. Other games just kinda give you a stronger form of some of the initial skills you get. Each one in Guild Wars is different.

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Originally posted by GeneralCrazy
In my option I rather dislike the whole aspect of things like Stealth, Stuns, Movement Impairing Affects, and Other Crowd Control as they all seem to usually cause long term imbalances in MMO's.
I rather see more MMO's relay on using cover / movements and using more just one weapon most of the time using different types of weapons(speed/damage type) and not just equipping a single weapon to use all the time with only one damage type.
I think the reason why things like Stealth, Stuns, Movement Impairing Affects, and Other Crowd Control are so popular design in MMO's is the fact that so many copy the basic game play design of mostly Melee / Caster classes with usually one Ranger Type Class by switching to a more Range Weapon / Caster type gameplay this would allow for more ability to use cover / movements as a core gameplay option.

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I think these things are popular because they add variation and scope to gameplay and story. I mean like for instance...in a fantasy setting you want to hear about mages doing the things that mages/wizards/sorcerers do right? Like casting freezing spells or conjuring fireballs from the sky.

But, even with all the stuns and things that can make you immobile, the taking cover thing is something that should be there in addition to. Like being able to get away from direct line spells or arrows, bullets...wand blast. No way do I think a arrow should go around a tree and hit you.

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Originally posted by uncus
Definitely a lightning rod topic!
I usually play a healer, but I love games with stealth - not for PvP, but for exploring. I like to see it all, at the level I'm at, and stealth <sometimes> can help me do that.
"Realistic" stealth should involve: having to stick to shadows; having to move very slowly - not forced by mechanics, but by giving a greater chance to be spotted if you move while something is looking in your direction; having to watch where you step, so as to not make noise. All possible in a game, though the sight/sound detection would be harder to code than the current "agro range". Hell, if an enemy can see you, it should either attack or call for help, or both! I'd say currently stealth is a design/coding problem.

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Ya, I say again....countering this in pvp is a simple as turning the brightness up on your monitor as someone said in another post.

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Originally posted by Flummoxed
1. I want a MMORPG version of THIEF. Call it THIEVES WORLD (pay Robert Aspirin for the rights) and have all the variations of classes and skills you want.
2. Conan was a Stealth Thief-type rogue (as opposed to an Assassin) in at least two of Robert E. Howards original stories.
3. As for this being a tired topic - yeah, it's like "PK - Good or Bad?" , but i guess the younger generation of gamers who haven't played mmogs for 10-15 years already may find the topic and debate new and useful . I guess. Kinda tired for us old mmog grognards (mmognards?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grognard though, topics like this were resolved way back in EQ1.

Next up: "Color TV - Here To Stay or Just a Fad?"

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You know how to counter nighttime shadow only stealth in a game like a hypothetical THIEF MMO, Turn your brightness up on your monitor.

Yeah, I seriously don't think blizzard is making this expansion to compete with anyone. I think the expansion was announced before AoC even decided to push it's release day back. Making it an expansion that should have been on it's way anyway.

With that said, it can be pretty practical to think that some of the ideas being implemented into the expansion will be in the much hyped and highly anticipated AoC and WAR.

And best is such a stupid label in my eyes just due to the fact that it is truly an eye of the beholder type deal. For every person who says WoW is the best you can find one that says it isn't. Better numbers doesn't mean best, just means better sales.

I don't think AoC's aim is to steal subscribers but to carve it's own little block out of the MMO market as should alot of these games. If they really wanted to compete then you would see groundbreaking over the top type things happening in the market which I think should probably happen to stir some innovation in the gameplay. I think alot of these companies aren't making them because they like the genre. I think they see WoW's numbers and want to create a game like it to make money like blizzard has, but not necessarily competing with it.

A few though have stepped out of the box and have done their own thing...ie: Guild Wars, Sword of the new age and the upcoming Tabula Rasa.

If these new games truly want to survive though, I truly think something new has to be brought to the table.

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Originally posted by Hexxeity

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Originally posted by Drakiis

this arguments as old as time it self, it has been a violent topic for as long as I've been playing MMORPG's and Muds.

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I tend to avoid PvP in games that have it, as it really is unrealistic and un-fun for anyone but the stealthers.

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Oh God! Here we go again with the "Stealth is unrealistic" crap. You're kidding me right? It never ceases to amaze me at how many call this mechanism UNREALISTIC. Realism in a world, usually a hugely fantasy driven world complete with: Sorcery, Magic, Necromancers raising the dead, Mages shooting fire and ice from their hands, Enchanted glowing swords of frustration, people summoning pets from no where, Life stealing daggers and bows, Priest/monks/healers casting spells followed by a whooooosh of light and it makes someone good to go, Fighting huge demons THAT ARE NOT REAL, could not and should not be expected.

It's a fake world my friends, don't think it's supposed to be realistic. You want that, walk out your front door for a change and put down that shield you bought at some fan fair.

I bet you top dollar with the right set up...Many Real life illusionist can make things disappear right before your eyes. Shit, David Blaine made himself levitate on the street. Copperfield has made entire buildings disappear (but really didn't, or maybe it did...lol).

Seriously though, I can accept that people think it can be OP if not balanced correctly. But the argument for being unrealistic in a video game that clearly is all fantasy and not some sim is completely absurd imo.

And stealthers being OP in WoW is certainly not the case...the class is broken in that game beyond 60 because of issues pertaining to resilance and how everyones hitpoints went up, but with all the other classes they recieved scale in terms of damage dealing while the rogue class still does basically the same damage at 70 that he did at 60. A class that relies on crits didn't get a boost to that at all. The CD's even stayed the same. The outcome of this...your attacks and CD's can be lived through. That's an entirely different argument tho, but can go check the WoW forums and this topic dominates most of the Rogue community thoughts.

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Originally posted by nakuma
quake wars seemed a bit mediocre to me when i played the demo. didnt like it all that much.

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I feel that way also, sad really.

To the other poster about ads being placed ingame, Who has time to even look at them?

Sovren1: "yo, check this ad out for......."*explosion* (I'm dead)

Team mate 1: "We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of this noob who instead of watching the six, got his six blown offfffffff....INCOMING!" *boom explosion* (everyone is dead)

And to me each game in the Battlefield series felt like expansions. Which incidentally had a plethora of new maps, new weapons, new vehicles, new gametypes and just plain out new time periods. These games cost mucho dinero to make, why on earth should they not be paid for. If the so-called game is equal in size to it's predecessor, why not pay full price?

BF2142 is actually a larger game than BF2 with the addition of a Titan mode gametype. New additions should cost money in my book. Can't expect programmers to work for free. These game companies do need some type of return for their supposed hard work(not saying they don't work hard because they do, meant it to mean EA/Dice shipping a tremendous amount of bugs in their final products and instead of testing themselves let their players test them, very apparent easy to spot bugs no less). Granted...you don't wanna play then don't pay, but don't complain that they are charging for their products.

I think quite a few gamers in the community have their views skewed about these things. So what if BF2142 is a new skin for BF2, It has very different elements which sets itself apart.
It's like replacing a stereo system with the very next model, or upgrading your xbox to your xbox 360. BF2142 added a different element to character customization, titan mode, completely solid maps, walkers...i say again walkers, CLOAKING and better knife play.

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Originally posted by Remali

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Originally posted by Vagor

"Age Requirment: 17+ Years and Older"
Just curious why the age requirment I never really understood why guilds do this, If for maturity reasons you can't really judge the maturity of a player based on their Age alone. Many many many people over 17 are just as immature as some 14 year old and some 14 years olds are more mature than many adults...Not a flame or anything but I honestly think you may be turning away some potential good guild members because you judged them solely on age and didnt even get to personally know them first, which I think you should really do for any guild potential guild member instead of restricting it to age, just get to know them first and decide from how they act.

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14 year olds arent supposed to be playing aoc in the first place its gonna be M rated remember? ;P
But while i agree that there are 17yo or 25yo even in some cases that act as immature or less than 14yo as a general rule at least some level of maturity is gained through age.
Anyway good luck to HOS i hope going only with stygian will not put you in a disadvantage.

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14yr olds aren't supposed to be buying the game without a parent of legal guardian. While it will have tha boobies....it won't be gratuitous porn. Aimed at the 17+ demographic, but who are we kidding here?