All Posts by redcap036

This thread is very funny, I think if someone made another thread called,"Best 5 MMORPG's" you would get the same list of games, that everyone here has denonced as the worst.

Accutaly here is a link to the," 5 Best MMORPGs" thread which CH3ss007 posted yesterday;

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/191100/page/1

so does this mean we are all going to have a slinging match between the Worst and the Best,(" oh wait.. we do that already" )

My Worst 5 MMORPGs, are the one's that I don't play!

My Best 5 MMORPGs, are the ones that I do play!

Before I sign up for the 10 day trial, i got some questions about canceling the 10 day trial.

IV. Subscription Intervals and Canceling an Account

• You can cancel your account at the Neocron.com and Neocron.de web sites under the 'modify player account' option. In order to cancel the account you need the CD-Key from REAKKTOR.COM that you have used for the activation of your account. If you lost your CD-Key a cancellation is only possible through a fax or a letter that contains the account details because of security reasons. A written cancellation must be personally signed.

Originally posted by MarleVVLL

In regards to the MMO that I am in the process of developing, we are focusing on hitting that aspect hard. We want items to look cool, and for items to do 'cool stuff', enough so that it will support a healthly economy and they are worth getting and mining for, but we want to put the emphasis on player skill and knowledge of the game, terrain, and use of skills to determine who wins and who loses.

Blessings,

Hi, MarleVVLL, I was just reading through your thread and it occurred to me that you haven't told us about your mmorpg, no need to give away secrets but what type is it, a fantasy, Sci-fi or a western maybe? is it click and point or twitch combat? letting us know what type of game it is will help us give better advice on how to help, just a thought.

I have a 2ghz cpu and 2gig of ram, and the same video card as you and I still remember what like when it was like with 1gig of ram, do your  self a favor and get the other 1gig and you will be set for a long time gamewise,  makes a very nice big difference in performance, bought mine on eBay a year ago.

hope this helps.

Originally posted by mmorpg1972

...and now the final kick in the face to the community.

In 24 hour the official Hellgate London forums will be closed.

That's it folks. Honestly what a bunch of douchebags they are, no respect for the players, whatsoever.

San Francisco, CA (July 14, 2008) — Flagship Studios has announced today that despite rumors to the contrary, the company is still operating.

“It is with deep regret that I must announce that Flagship Studios has laid off most employees. However, the core management and founding team members are still at Flagship.” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “The past five years have been an incredible experience for us, but unfortunately, we couldn’t sustain the size of the company any longer.”

Flagship Studios owns the rights to all its technology and IP, including Hellgate: London and Mythos. Due to the current situation, Flagship will not be taking any new subscribers for Hellgate: London, and all current subscriptions will not be billed.

Flagship wishes to extend their heartfelt thanks to those that have supported the company and games over the past five years.

-I guess that last part doesn't really apply to you.

this link can be found by running the lotro download manger, when it starts downloading and it lets you open the options button, you will find the link at the bottom.

hope this helps.

Originally posted by mmorpg1972

I think I'm going to have to ask you to calm down there buddy. 

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by BattleFelon

Sorry, but I do feel a little festive at Flagship sinking below the waves. Why? Because for months I was afraid that HGL was the wave of the future - developers charging monthly subscriptions for "new" content not worth the price. As a former Guild Wars player, I felt a little put out being forced to pay for such basic conveniences as shared storage between all your characters. I can understand a monthly fee for games that are constantly evolving or adding content, but I don't like it when developers get greedy or act downright dishonestly. 

If Hellgate was a success, I could see companies across the board charging fees for any multiplayer experience, no matter how lame. Want to reload while playing Team Fortress? That will be $7/month.  Want to play any race besides the humans in Starcraft 2 mutiplayer? That will be $10/month.

And yes, I was once one of the idiot early adopters who pre-ordered the collector's edition, played in beta, and bought several of the books/comics. Hellgate had a great IP that was really badly implemented. I knew the writing was on the wall when Diablo 3 was announced, but didn't realize the game would die this fast.

PS - I'm not here to flame other fans or spit on the vast majority of the dev team. Having been laid off at times in the tech industry, I know how much it sucks to lose your job overnight. But let's face it - content like Stonehenge should have been in the game from the get-go. And premium content should have been just that - cool extra features instead of basics that make the game experience feel gimped unless you subscribe.

Originally posted by mmorpg1972

 

"Please do tell us,( in full) how this game personally affected you and your life..."

No.

"ether way there gone now and you should be happy, so get over yourself, get on with your life and stop being so VILE, as for your thread," Help me stomp on the ashes" this is just an insult to the fans that did enjoy the game, who did give there support and did want to see it succeed "

The release of Hellgate was insulting to ME, as I WAS a fan. I gave Flagship my financial support, I wanted to see Hellgate succeed. One of the reasons I'm angry, as an ex-fan, is that Flagship behaves now as if it has contempt for its community, it doesn't treat them with any respect.

1) Where is the announcement, communication to its community? (actually this has been its standard behaviour). DISRESPECT TO THE COMMUNITY

2) Why did they remove financial account access, and not even give notice, an explanation, or any communication as to this very worrying development. DISRESPECT TO THE COMMUNITY

3) Why do they allow rumours of two independent entities taking over their IP to flourish without any proper response. DISRESPECT TO THE COMMUNITY!

So you can dance up and down and ask me to go away, but I wont. I'm enjoying seeing a group of people who once had my respect get some comeuppance, and I will not be deterred from my enjoyment of watching their sinking ship.

Anyone else, grab a drink, get in your evening wear, and watch the flames with me.

 

Originally posted by grimboj

Hellgate has a lot of nasty surprises like no respec. I don't particularly like the lack of ability to respec your base stats in DDO but the inability to respec *anything* in HGL really rubbed me the wrong way. One mis-click and you're gimped.

Not to mention that Flagship Studios closed down three days ago, and the HGL servers will most likly close down next week.

Originally posted by mmorpg1972

 The fact is that the 'subscription' plan was a real con. There was little if any meaningful content for the first couple of months, absolutely no reason to be a subscriber. Subscribers were left frequently wondering what, exactly, were they paying for? In fact one of the early 'events' for halloween was so poorly thought out and implemented, that plenty of people in my guild decided to cancel their subscription because the items it put into their inventory were so damn annoying.

I've not seen a game overpromise on so much in a long time. I stand by my original post in its entirety. I'm not a troll, but this game made me angry, and I'm happy to hear everyone else's perspectives, it helps me deal with the bad taste left in my mouth.

Continuing to support the developers of a game like Hellgate is a slap in the mouth to the rest of the industry who do good honest work, and because of this, in my opinion, is immoral. You're basically saying to publishers; go on, release any old crap, we will take it. Dress it up with a cool print advertising campaign, overpromise on features, and trade on respect for previous accomplishments, and you can shift a whole lot of boxes.

I say, emphatically: NO!

Originally posted by twhint

Originally posted by redcap036

Originally posted by twhint

Well, the thing of it is, HG:L didn't live up to what it promised.

The first of the problems was its two tiered approach. It didn't deliver onmost of its promises of features available to subscribers that weren't available to non-subscribers. And what it did deliver, wasn't much of an incentive to subscribe. This created feelings of betrayal and dissatisfaction with the people who purchased the Lifetime subscription. (Yes, I am one of them). Even half a year later, they still didn't have all of the features they promised at launch in the game. They are probably lucky they weren't sued for breach of contract.

Secondly, the gameplay didn't really lend itself to long-term playing. It was repetitive, boring, and simply the same thing rehashed over and over. The zones were small and, again, repetitive. You'd seen them over and over along your travels through London. Nothing really made the zones stick out as unique, except for a few exceptions. But once you beat the 'game', then there was nothing to do but try it all over again, except this time it was harder. Ooohh....that's incentive.

The game was never really a MMO. It's a single player game with a builtin group finding feature, where instead of rooms that you browse through to find games, as with Diablo and Diablo 2, you simply interact with other people in the 'safe zones'. This leads to a game that has a short term shelf-life, especially when you think about all of the people who burn  through games fairly quickly. That's what they were betting on. Expansions every three months? We saw how that went, with only one expansion being released that wasn't very big and didn't really add much to the game.

While it takes guts to try and open a studio and run a successful game, it just appears they overreached, then crashed and burned horribly. Just like they burned their subscribers, employees, and investors. They might be stand up guys, which it sounds like they were when they paid for their employees for 30 days out of their own pocket, but the fact of the matter is, I wouldn't touch another game made by any of these guys with someone else's computer, much less my own.

That is the price of failure and they failed big time. Even Dark and Light is still going, and that was arguably one of the small studios that failed to live up to its hype in recent memory.

They promised and promised and promised, but in the end, they simply failed to deliver on them, leaving them with disgruntled employees and players.

 

In response to the poster about the restaurant analogy:

Ok, let's go with it. You go out to a restaurant to have a nice meal. You see the menu, you order and you get the meal. It's not what you expected but it's alright and edible. Not the best, not the worst. Sure, they may have messed up the order slightly, perhaps burned your steak more, or undercooked it. Doesn't matter. Stuff happens. People expect that in the /normal/ course of things.

Now, let's put it in the perspective of Flagship Studios. You reserve a table for more money, in order to get the live show, personal waiter, enhanced menu and perhaps some free appetizers that are described very well. You get to the restaurant and find that the table you reserved is suddenly in the middle of a bunch of people who didn't reserve, because they complained they weren't getting enough. The floor show was cancelled at first, then they manage to get a couple of employees to sing. The personal waiter is shared among everyone else who reserved tables, of which it turns out there are many and there is only one waiter. The enhanced menu consists of adding a couple more vegetables to the entrees that people who didn't reserve don't have access to. And it's regular vegetables, not something like truffles or anything. Then, the appetizers which sounded good on the menu, well, they didn't have anything they listed and just gave bread, because that's all they have available, but will give the better stuff when they get it.

That would be more accurate of what Flagship pulled. Sure the food might have been alright, but it's the broken promises that you'll remember. The feeling of not getting what you paid for. That is what creates the resentment and the words that you tell others when they ask you about the restaurant.

 

It sounds like it wasn't only just Flagship studios who were overreaching there expectations.

But if you really want to put this in perspective, the people at Flagship studios lost there jobs there finical security and all the effort that they put in to making this game, you lost $200 and a bit of your free time, which if your were being really honest, both really didn't hold that much value for you, otherwise you would have spent your money more wisely and done something different with your time, also unless you continued playing right up to the close of shop, then it was you who wasted your life time subscription, because it's lifetime of the game, not your lifetime,(but you already knew that, didn't you)

 

 

And yet they are in a fairly fast-paced field with a high rate of  turnover, so it's not as if this were as great a loss as you might think. And with the money an average game software developer makes, if they weren't planning ahead, then that is their own loss. I'm finding it hard to believe they couldn't see the writing on the wall as far as the fate of the company, especially in light of Guy's rant about the state of the game a couple of months ago. People lose their jobs, especially in the field they are in. I've lost mine several times over the years, but due to foresight and some planning on my part, I weathered it well enough that I don't have to worry about it so much anymore. It happens, and with the state of the game they released, as well as the reputation that got shot to hell for such a bad game, it's not that surprising. Unfortunate perhaps, but again, the ball rests solely in their court for anything and everything that happened with the game. Yes, it was the fault of upper management and all that, but even as regular employees, they could have moved on or made preperations for the future. Asking me to feel sorry for them now is ludicrous.

Yes, I lost my $200 and free time, which I actually value quite highly.  As to $200, no it wasn't much to me, but the fact that I didn't get what I paid for is quite a sticking point. The lifetime of the game also included future expansions and such as well, for HG:L. If they held up to their original promises, then that could have gone on for some time. As it is, it's just added to the list of broken promises they made.

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make other than trying to shoot me down personally, as you didn't respond to any of my points. I spent money on something which I thought was a good investment of my time. It turns out I was wrong and I don't cry foul or anything else. I accept it, but I can't say that I'm surprised or sorry that the developer responsible for it folded.

Ok just going to ask you this first, "you did actually read the title of this thread?" so if your not here to help stomp on the ashes, then it's you who's in the wrong thread, there other threads that chat about the game and short falls and mistakes, threads where your well written comments would be taken in within the context of what your trying to say and you wouldn't be seen as someone trying to justify why they should be allowed to post here to make fun and ridicule the people who just lost there jobs, as I said if your not here to do that, then your in the wrong thread.

p.s. no one is asking you to feel sorry for them, just asking people to not be vile and nasty.

Originally posted by twhint

Well, the thing of it is, HG:L didn't live up to what it promised.

The first of the problems was its two tiered approach. It didn't deliver onmost of its promises of features available to subscribers that weren't available to non-subscribers. And what it did deliver, wasn't much of an incentive to subscribe. This created feelings of betrayal and dissatisfaction with the people who purchased the Lifetime subscription. (Yes, I am one of them). Even half a year later, they still didn't have all of the features they promised at launch in the game. They are probably lucky they weren't sued for breach of contract.

Secondly, the gameplay didn't really lend itself to long-term playing. It was repetitive, boring, and simply the same thing rehashed over and over. The zones were small and, again, repetitive. You'd seen them over and over along your travels through London. Nothing really made the zones stick out as unique, except for a few exceptions. But once you beat the 'game', then there was nothing to do but try it all over again, except this time it was harder. Ooohh....that's incentive.

The game was never really a MMO. It's a single player game with a builtin group finding feature, where instead of rooms that you browse through to find games, as with Diablo and Diablo 2, you simply interact with other people in the 'safe zones'. This leads to a game that has a short term shelf-life, especially when you think about all of the people who burn  through games fairly quickly. That's what they were betting on. Expansions every three months? We saw how that went, with only one expansion being released that wasn't very big and didn't really add much to the game.

While it takes guts to try and open a studio and run a successful game, it just appears they overreached, then crashed and burned horribly. Just like they burned their subscribers, employees, and investors. They might be stand up guys, which it sounds like they were when they paid for their employees for 30 days out of their own pocket, but the fact of the matter is, I wouldn't touch another game made by any of these guys with someone else's computer, much less my own.

That is the price of failure and they failed big time. Even Dark and Light is still going, and that was arguably one of the small studios that failed to live up to its hype in recent memory.

They promised and promised and promised, but in the end, they simply failed to deliver on them, leaving them with disgruntled employees and players.

 

In response to the poster about the restaurant analogy:

Ok, let's go with it. You go out to a restaurant to have a nice meal. You see the menu, you order and you get the meal. It's not what you expected but it's alright and edible. Not the best, not the worst. Sure, they may have messed up the order slightly, perhaps burned your steak more, or undercooked it. Doesn't matter. Stuff happens. People expect that in the /normal/ course of things.

Now, let's put it in the perspective of Flagship Studios. You reserve a table for more money, in order to get the live show, personal waiter, enhanced menu and perhaps some free appetizers that are described very well. You get to the restaurant and find that the table you reserved is suddenly in the middle of a bunch of people who didn't reserve, because they complained they weren't getting enough. The floor show was cancelled at first, then they manage to get a couple of employees to sing. The personal waiter is shared among everyone else who reserved tables, of which it turns out there are many and there is only one waiter. The enhanced menu consists of adding a couple more vegetables to the entrees that people who didn't reserve don't have access to. And it's regular vegetables, not something like truffles or anything. Then, the appetizers which sounded good on the menu, well, they didn't have anything they listed and just gave bread, because that's all they have available, but will give the better stuff when they get it.

That would be more accurate of what Flagship pulled. Sure the food might have been alright, but it's the broken promises that you'll remember. The feeling of not getting what you paid for. That is what creates the resentment and the words that you tell others when they ask you about the restaurant.