Originally posted by RickSaada

I've been over this quite a few times already.  We don't believe that there are even 5000 people who will give up a game they want to play because of who puts the boxes on shelves, and we believe there are many many more (like 10 times that number) who will only see the game because of Sony's efforts that will put us into every Best Buy, Walmart, Circuit City, Gamespot and EB Games in the country (something we couldn't do ourselves).   As a business decision, it's a good trade.   Sure, we'll lose a few hardcore Sony Haters.  I'm sorry they feel that way, and while I respect their dedication to a three year old wrong, I'm not going to make a bad decision for FLS based on that respect. 

WORD UP! Once again, can't wait to dust off my sexton! Feel free to initiate dirty comments...now!

Originally posted by RickSaada

 

Originally posted by skeptical

The problem with SoE is they pick up all these games but put no effort or money into them. They ditched G&H because they weren't willing to invest anything into the development. So basically they were willing to publish a crappy game as long as they make money off of it but they aren't willing to take the risk. They forced vanguard out about a year ahead of what it should have been for the same reason. To cash in and take over the game knowing it would never succeed in the shape it was in. Why anyone would play any game that has anything to do with SoE is beyond me. They have been screwing over their customers for years with all their piss poor management of MMO's. They don't give a flying fuck about putting out a solid game they only care about the bottom line. It's too bad they can't figure out that making a good game would make them alot more money than all these bullshit deals with all the games they destroy.

Actually, SOE wasn't ever an investor in G&H.  That was all Perpetual's baby.  Just like us, Perpetual contracted with SoE Platform Publishing to do distribution (although they chose to do their own billing).  SOE was only going to make money off the box sales, and spent quite a bit on marketing for ship dates that Perpetual kept failing to meet.  Eventually they chose to distance themselves from the game because they could see where things were going.  They *did* put money and effort into the marketing (magazine and web ads) but not into the development.  It's not that they ditched G&H because they cut off Perpetual's money, that was never the arrangement.  They may have had an opportunity to step in when Perpetual started to implode that they chose not to take (I don't know about that), but they distanced themselves just because they *didn't* want their name on the crappy game G&H was looking to be.

 

As for Vanguard, as has been covered numerous times, they didn't *force* anything.  Sigil, and it's CEO Brad McQuaid, were the ones who chose to ship the game before it was ready.  SOE was just left to pick up the pieces after Sigil imploded.  SOE should get credit for the fact that Vanguard is still operating at all, not blame for Sigil's mistakes. 

I agree w/this completely, even as a long time SOE customer w/mixed emotions (Eq1 and Eq2 are superior and the benchmark for the ENTIRE industry, yet look at what they did to SWG which could have been the finest video game in the known universe).

Originally posted by Orphes

 

Originally posted by WolfheartIX

Vanguard

 

Explain on how they would be doing that, based on that SIGIL actually needed alot more subscribers for Vanguard to go around then what POTBS apperantly needs.

(And I think the conclusion made from those that play Vanguard is that they are content that SOE picked it up rather then have SIGIL go broke/fail and close the servers. So it really is not that good of an example as one could hope that they do the same for POTBS in any unlikely event that FLS dont want to run the game anymore for whatever unlikely reason that would be.)

 

Exactly, Vanguard [Sigil] was literally "saved" by Sony and we're all thankful for it (whereas Star Wars Galaxies was ruined by them, but at least that was a Sony product start-to-finish to propel or destroy as they saw fit...albeit sadly). PotBS is simply in a symbiotic relationship w/Sony and frankly that's fine by me as well (and most of us clearly agree). All you negative peeps (you scurvy bilge rats) can suck the excess wind left over from me sails, matey. Can't wait for the game...GO FLS...GO SONY...GO GO GADGET SEXTON!

Slampig wrote: "The biggest blunder I have seen...DKP."

Exactly...DKP insinuates someone plays WoW...and playing WoW is a blunder to begin with.

(jk)?

Originally posted by silesdine

how the hell do you only jhave a 20gig HD?

get at least an 80 gig HD. I don't know of any computers that come with a HD as small as 20 gig

lmao.

Originally posted by maveric007

Not a great game. Go play it and see for yourself. They need to get a planetside 2 out the door.

There's a Planetside 2 in the the unknown future??? If so, I am instantly a very happy man. Eq2 is totally experiencing its second wind (which is beyond awesome) and Vanguard despite the server merge still has all the potential in the universe [someday] but Planetside is campy, fun and mind-numbing. Ps2 would be an awesome remedy to the apparent shortcomings of Tabula Rasa (of which there are, sadly, far too many to succeed I fear).

Yeah, whilst I find it sad that 30-40 souls lost their jobs, and 'tis true this could indicate a deeper issue beyond simple team makeup as launch approaches, I'm inclined to believe the 2/08 launch will be successful and that this will be a mature game that is "complete" come the go-live date...and that for the most part we will be satisfied and end up buying/subscribing to his (alongside our current beloved games and other games launching early '08). I do not feel overly concerned by this news, and feel it merits only mild eyebrow-raising attention at most (for now). I just hope G&H gets added to SOE All Access because from a socioeconomical standpoint it's an overtly logical win-win-win (for Perpetual, certainly Sony, and most of all...those of us that have SOE All Access already and want to add a great game like G&H to the mix alongside Eq2, Vanguard, Planetside, [Eq1] and SWG).

It's on the main page, click the "Top Released" tab (usually the "Top Upcoming" tab is the first one showing) and it will tell you that EverQuest2 is the top rated current game (and rightfully so) with an 8.3 rating.

Originally posted by teiohFromSWG

It's really unfortunate that I played swg pre-cu. I played it for a long time, and that game was so unique it's made it impossible for me to play any other mmorpgs.

After you know what an MMORPG can be, and how much depth it can have, playing these shallow new mmorpgs becomes nearly impossible.

I have to agree, although (and I know many don't like to hear this truth) the only ones that come "close" enough to get us by these last 2yrs are...other SOE games (Eq2 and now sorta Vanguard to be specific). The fact of the matter is this, SOE has the money and resources necessary to produce the kind of staggering depth most of us intellectuals crave in an online game. They're semi-challenging, broad, and profoundly unique.

SOE (love them or hate them...hate mostly being applied in retrospect regarding the terrible choices in changing SWG) simply has the muscle financially and technologically to produce online games that are worth playing and paying for...almost a catch-22 in that you hate to love them (not the other way around). WoW has graphics that are so inferior that I can't even bear to look at a SINGLE screen shot, much less play the game (and most of us don't care HOW much "fun" it is). I want to be immersed in a game so deeply that it becomes an alternate reality and that includes, above almost all else, World Class graphics that mimic real-life physics right down to the very last aspect ratio (including character body parts, weapons, belts, dinnerware, mailboxes, torches, roof shingles, moving water, mobs...you get the picture). If it doesn't look like real life (but fantasy based) then frankly I don't want it. SWG had it all and SOE (the very ones that ruined what could have been the greatest game in history) is the only company that can produce anything close. Sucks but it's true. Tabula Rasa hopefully breaks this 9yr monopoly (dating back to the launch of EverQuest) although I admit that I wish Gods & Heroes would have been published by SOE so my $36 monthly All Access would have included that too (along w/Planetside, EverQuest, EverQuest2, SWG and Vanguard...a deal you just can't be anywhere in the gaming world, period...and that $36 includes the extra costs for upgraded access to awesome game-server-loaded player sites like eq2players.com and vanguard's version of same).

Folks I'm all set! I reposted this in the Pub and got a ton of GREAT answers, thanks!

You guys have been GREAT, spot on! I can't thank you all enough, this is exceptional information. I will indeed be purchasing the following gear tonight and as you can tell, I am [very wisely] preparing for the near future and beyond. Just like I did with my current system I built in April of 2003 (I could still use it another 6-12mos if I really wanted to continue suffering the in-city CPU/graphics card lag that Vanguard causes me...and other new games will likely cause it...like Tabula Rasa, Conan, Gods & Heroes, etc).

*Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB cache Quad-core processor (which I will slightly overclock)
*single EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX (which I will slightly overclock)
*nVidia 680i SLI motherboard (T1 version)
*Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA-300 OEM version hard drive with 16MB cache
*4GB (4x1024) OCZ dual-channel DDR2-800 SLI-ready RAM w/EPP auto-optimized by the motherboard
*Ultra/X-connect V-series (XVS) 700w power supply w/side-fan clear case
*Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium (OEM version)

Wish me luck  and it's times like these that I am beyond glad I joined mmorpg.com and came to the forums for guidance!

To the original author: most of us agree that SWG arguably was (pre-NGE) and/or could have been the greatest game of all time (online or otherwise) so we feel your pain.

Online games:
1. Star Wars Galaxies (pre-NGE this was greatest video game of all time, period)
2. Eq2 (this game speaks for itself and is #1 in its own right)
3. Planetside (4.5yrs later and we all still log on. Vanu on Emerald for life)!!!
4. EverQuest (the standard by which every subsequent MMORPG is forever judged)
5. Vanguard (I'm upset too but it can be something special someday. Disciple is quite literally the most amazing class of any online game short of my pre-CU triple Master TKA/Pistoleer/Smuggler in SWG)

Console games:
1. Wizardry (Nintendo) the reason I skipped most of 11th grade (1990-91)
2. Madden '95 (Sega Genesis)
3. Tecmo Super Bowl (Nintendo) a lifetime of memories made alone & w/friends
4. PGA Tour III (Sega Genesis)
5. the original Need for Speed (3DO)

Stand-alone PC games:
1. Sports Car GT (WinXP)
2. Jane's Israeli Air Force and Jane's USAF (WInXP)
3. Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed or Might & Magic VI: Mandate of Heaven
4. Total War series (Windows various) critcally acclaimed titles starting with Shogun Total War
5. Jordan -vs- Bird (Commodore 64) the game that got me into computers

Arcade:
1. Street Fighter 2 (you can put a child through college w/the money I spent on this game alone)
2. Pacman (what more is there to say)
3. Asteroids
4. Mortal Kombat (I never played much but understood its impact on the gameplaying community)
5. A million others from Defender, Galaga, Joust, Centipede, Space Invaders, Tempest and Pole Position to everything in between

Genuine honorable mention to all the various Tom Clancy Red Storm games, especially w/their success across multiple platforms such as PC, Xbox, Playstation (etc).

Ok everyone, I'm in a serious bind. I'm about to drop $1500 on new-everything from TigerDirect and that includes Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) and an nVidia 8800GTX card (you all know the questions that are coming, about drivers and will I be able to run Eq2, Vanguard, Planetside, SWG and soon Tabula Rasa and Gods & Heroes). I have XP already so if Vista gives me trouble that's not my concern, I can always go into dual-boot mode (however that's done) or simply shelve Vista altogether for a few more months. My real question is this...Vista IS very important because like most ppl now (or soon) I'll be running over 3GB of RAM (which XP can never, ever recognize or utilize). So, that's my bind. If I do end up reverting to XP on my super new quad-core system with 8800GTX card, 4GB of dual-channel DDR2-800MHz RAM and so forth, I'll be screwing myself out of some cash. I already have 2GB of DDR2-400 RAM and a sweet Radeon X800 Pro with P4 overclocked to 3GHz running on Home XP SP2 just fine (although it can get semi-laggy under heavy use in Eq2 but it's fine, although certainly the new games I mentioned above that come out next month will burn my current 4yo system to the ground).

Upgrading now to a completely new system from top to bottom is both crucial and proper (including the Vista OS, memory, hard drive, motherboard and video card...heck I'm even getting a new case and 700w power supply). Please someone tell me that as of today, the 19th of September, 2007 that my first-ever EvGA nVidia card and motherboard (I was an ATi fan and rightfully so until the 8800) will run fine in Vista for SOE games, because I want and need and deserve the 4GB of RAM that XP just simply can't recognize!!! Thanks so much for the elite, World Class feedback (which is what I'm hoping for). Ideally those that respond will know first-hand via their experiences with Vista 64-bit running over 3GB of RAM (like XP can't) using nVidia video cards and playing Sony Online Entertainment games or similar, especially EverQuest2.

Ok everyone, I'm in a serious bind. I'm about to drop $1500 on new-everything from TigerDirect and that includes Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) and an nVidia 8800GTX card (you all know the questions that are coming, about drivers and will I be able to run Eq2, Vanguard, Planetside, SWG and soon Tabula Rasa and Gods & Heroes). I have XP already so if Vista gives me trouble that's not my concern, I can always go into dual-boot mode (however that's done) or simply shelve Vista altogether for a few more months. My real question is this...Vista IS very important because like most ppl now (or soon) I'll be running over 3GB of RAM (which XP can never, ever recognize or utilize). So, that's my bind. If I do end up reverting to XP on my super new quad-core system with 8800GTX card, 4GB of dual-channel DDR2-800MHz RAM and so forth, I'll be screwing myself out of some cash. I already have 2GB of DDR2-400 RAM and a sweet Radeon X800 Pro with P4 overclocked to 3GHz running on Home XP SP2 just fine (although it can get semi-laggy under heavy use in Eq2 but it's fine, although certainly the new games I mentioned above that come out next month will burn my current 4yo system to the ground).

Upgrading now to a completely new system from top to bottom is both crucial and proper (including the Vista OS, memory, hard drive, motherboard and video card...heck I'm even getting a new case and 700w power supply). Please someone tell me that as of today, the 19th of September, 2007 that my first-ever EvGA nVidia card and motherboard (I was an ATi fan and rightfully so until the 8800) will run fine in Vista for SOE games, because I want and need and deserve the 4GB of RAM that XP just simply can't recognize!!! Thanks so much for the elite, World Class feedback (which is what I'm hoping for). Ideally those that respond will know first-hand via their experiences with Vista 64-bit running over 3GB of RAM (like XP can't) using nVidia video cards and playing Sony Online Entertainment games or similar, especially EverQuest2.

I have to admit it has all the potential in the world, but a very long way to go. I won't take away from them the fact they've come a long way but it does not change the absolutely undeniable fact that they are far from home, even as of today's date (approaching fall 2007 already)! Wow.

Watchmen watchmen.eqiiguilds.com/ are recruiting on Crushbone now that myself (Sarnon Soulfire) and my partner and RL best friend (Zrie Dracus) are back in action! Let me know online or here (or through our site) if you're interested in forming a nice band of brothers/sisters for some quality fun! We have lots of good alts and plenty of coin and a decent base from which to "start" (a LvL 20 guild just waiting to be groomed further, created originally at launch November 2004)!