I wouldn't be surprised either way. I'm mostly expecting a Christmas release... seriously, who wouldn't take advantage of the December timeframe? If it isn't ready by then, I doubt it would be any later than mid '10, if not early '10.

Nice point, but this applies to all MMOs, perhaps all video games, out there. This probably would have been more fitting of a message if put in General Discussion. Either way, I agree with you OP; some things you simply have to try for yourself... and if it turns out nothing like you expected (in a bad way), then at least you can say you tried it and that it was only $20-$50 dollars (depending on where you get it).

People have such different opinions on the post-Tortage experience because it is such vastly different gameplay. While I quit the game after my first month (I think it might have been two months, I honestly can't remember--lvl 56 was the highest I got overall in those two months, later returned and made it to 80), I didn't quit because I hated the post-tortage experience. Actually, I preferred it over Tortage.

Tortage is something comparable to Guild Wars PvE. Very very small maps but very very detailed. Missions fluently lead you to the next; it isn't very open questing but it's very well put together. Everything flows like a nice story but it's a very linear story; little to no options. After Tortage, the world becomes very, very open; not as open as say WoW, as there are still some places in AoC after Tortage that have invisible walls (though significantly less) but overall, it's much more larger and less direct. All of the capital areas dependant on your race have a good amount of quests, but most won't lead you on a specific path to another quest; you'll often find yourself running all over the place, overwhelmed and confused. At least that was what it was like for me with my Aquilonian character... much easier and direct for a Cimmerian or Stygian in their respective cities.

I can probably sum up the major difference of Tortage to the rest of the game is that it no longer holds your hand.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

Originally posted by Frobner

Lets stick to facts plz

AA can u plz inform the above poster that Funcom is charging players for downloading the Buddy key client ?  It seems like he is not gonna belive it when I say it.

For the rest of my comments - I stick to every word I said.  Thats my opinion and Im free to have one. 

 

Frobner, you are absolutely right Funcom DO charge $2.99 to download the client, but not if you install from DVD, if you do DL though you get an extra 3 days of play to make up for it - which I think is adequate.

Of course your opinions are welcome, might not always agree, but still welcomed.

In the coming couple months there should be a free trial though, we will probably see details on Feb 23rd I think.

I just hope for FCs sake that their "free" trial really is a "free" trial, as in removing the ridiculousness of charging people to download their own game. I understand it costs a fund (a small one at that) to maintain a 15-20gb download source, but I would think the benefit of having more people try the game and potentially buying it would be far more worth it then the 10% of those who would be willing to pay the $3 dollars, despite how small a cost it is. I basically look at it from FCs perspective

If 10 potential players all tried the game, maybe 2 or 3 of those people would buy the box. If charging $3.00 just to download the game and not being available anywhere else (it is, but very difficult to find anymore) then maybe only 2 of those people out of 10 would be willing to pay just for a trial; it's unlikely that either of those two would buy the game, when in comparison to the 10 people who would try it; an overall profit of $80 - $120 (or less, depending on where it's purchased and how much FC actually makes from a box sale. Realistically probably $40 - $60 dollar profit) compared to the $6 dollars sounds better to me.

Originally posted by ProfRed

Haha I couldn't resist:  www.youtube.com/watch

Checkmate.

Originally posted by firecow

Many people have already said long ago that WoW players will ALWAYS return to wow even if they grumble abotu it. Their reasons for picking up another game will never gel with the reality and the reality is that it was never their intention to really leave wow, which is why they will NEVER like another game unless it's a carbon copy.

Even a game as solid as LOTRO had many WoW players flocking back to WoW because "that new game sucked lol".  LOTRO did not suck and is even better now than ever, but you still won't get the WoW people to play it; despite LOTRO being a superior and more casual friendly game that also gives you more value for yoru money spent.

Just because many people share a certain opinion doesn't make it fact or fact-based-on-concensus.

I hope this was just a clever use of sarcasm, otherwise it completely negates the statement.

Personally?

I don't really understand the huge, gigantic exodus of WLs after they got nerfed down. My lvl 80 WL has been and probably will stay as my main in PvP for a while; I was kicking a$$ while they were demi-gods and, even with this nerf, I am still kicking ass with a WL. Maybe I'm just really really good?  It's all a matter of uses my curses, my pets, and my movement; what alot of people don't seem to understand is how important mobility is to the class. What sucks for me is that the only class I really have problems with is the one that is most popular, considering how powerful it is and how easy it is to level it (hell you're over halfway leveled from the start).

I can pretty much take out any class 1 on 1, excluding DKs, simply because they have so much versatility. The same goes for a really, really good rogue; but in most cases, the rogues I run into are idiots... I end up winning 3 out of 4 of my run-ins with rogues. WLs and rogues are special cases, and my favorite classes. They really depend on the player; a very good WL should be able to take care of most players, as for a rogue.

I suggest keeping your mage and getting him up to lvl 80. They're doing pretty good currently in the arena spectrum, especially arcane mages. If you want to start a class from the start though, make a druid. Very fun class to play and, from the beginning, have always been a little OP. I suggest this class because, while atm they are not absolutely pwning everything like the DKs or pallies, they show no signs of ever really getting nerfed, and are decent in practically every retrospect. Pallies, Shamans, and Druids are generally always better to level than pure classes, because Blizzard's perspective in terms of PvP for the hybrid classes is that they should be good in whichever thing they focus on in comparison to the pure classes; why level a mage when he can only focus on damage when the druid can focus on damage with one tree, or switch to healing talents, or switch to tanking talents?

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by TeranHawkins

 Wow this guy isnt a fanatic....nope...not at all....

Says the guy with the Anakin avatar.

Checkmate.

Very interesting proposition. Message sent, sounds like fun ;)

Hmmm.... no.

At first I was thinking, yes, it would be acceptable as long as once you unlocked the force wielders as a class that they wouldn't be any more elite than the other classes; I figured making the class an unlockable would make the class less appealing, but no, then I thought more about it. If you make the class an unlockable, they're simply going to make the class feel more elite than it is, even if it is on the same balance level of other classes. In the long run, making the class limited will simply make it more popular; low at first, high in the long run. However, if you put it out to the public at the start, and it's pretty much the same as all the other classes in terms of balance, I'd believe it's going to be flooded with the class at first, but in the long run, shrink to the size of all the other classes, if not hopelessly a little higher. There really isn't any sort of way of making the classes numbers as low as others; they will be the most popular, without a doubt. What else do you expect from a SWs video game?

I just hope to God that they realize unlike some people here that you cannot make one class or another "elite" in an MMO. It simply spells catastrophe... good thing though that they seem to realize that.

EDIT: I'm going to basically sum up my feelings on the subject in a short couple of sentences here. They're in a lose-lose situation. Either suffer lore issues or suffer major gameplay issues; I prefer the first of the two.

No. Considering the lack of barely any information for this game, I would say it isn't really ready. Then again, the only ones who really know if it's ready or not are the guys making it and the people currently playing it, and even those views are distorted. If they really do think it's ready in less than a month from now, then by all means, they should launch it. I just hope that they realize that the best condition for the game is the only condition they can launch their MMO with such a finicky group of players. Or, at the very least, an honest launch; certainly helped WAR in comparison to AoC when they were honest about some content having to be removed.

Originally posted by boobalo

well since you put it that way, it may be even higher percentage. highly doubt 160k people are playing atm. 

lets be generous and say a server holds 20k players. 

lets say the 6 servers that actually reach med/med has 10k people per.

lets say the other 10 on the login screen that stay low/low have 5k.

thats 110k people.

Your math is based on the fact that the players are playing 24/7. Your 110k number is based off of people online at one time, which really isn't that bad at all; if you do that with the fact that maybe only %20 of an MMOs subscribers are playing at the same time, that'd mean a current of 550k subs. Of course, I don't think it's that high, but I don't think it's as low as what you are suggesting either.

Take a breather, man. The game isn't even beta stages at this point. While the art style is probably going to stay, little things like certain models and textures will be changing constantly. The lightsabers, for example, were an issue that was beaten to death by the playerbase, and has been adressed by Bioware.

Not to mention, it's probably a good idea not to use the word "retarded" as over half of your entire paragraph.

I don't get where people think having a game focus on group-content means the same thing as forcing people into group-content. I'd like a game that offers a good amount of both; too often I'm either forced into one or the other; WAR as example as being forced into group content and Age of Conan (PvE-wise, anyway) for being forced into solo content. Honestly, if WAR or WoW or any MMO for that matter gave me a choice such as, "Hmm... well, today should I solo or join a group?" I'd probably subscribe to them for alot longer than I have.

EDIT, REGARDING WALTON'S "LIST": Honestly, all I could read from that entire thing was "WoW". I don't see this game being anything else but with a different skin if he is serious about that, it makes it grossly clear. It's a shame that all these companies seriously think that copying something that is already vastly in control of the market will get them a bigger profit than something completely different and original from what's on the market, but what can you do? What annoys me the most is that he and the rest of Bioware will try to justify this game as unique, like every other MMO that has ever been created past WoW's success, just because they added one or two new du-hickies here and there. Ugh...

This game doesn't really have any chance of having any sort of success greater than "meh", but it depends on how you define success. If you mean that this game will gain enough subscribers to gain a profit, then yes, it's still possible. If you mean gain some sort of large, substantial amount of subs aka LOTRO or EVE or WAR (I'm certainly not going to put WoW as an example, as that's a completely different level) then at this point, it's unlikely. To survive in the MMO industry, a healthy launch is key. All this speculation and pushbacks and lack of information certainly aren't helping them. Second, this company is basically a no-name; they have nowhere near the resources to support a game as well as someone as say Bioware can do with their MMO or even what SONY can do (could do, anyway, as the majority of the games they touch turn to dust) simply because they both have the income to support it. Third, the type of game this appeals to is a very specific, niche group. The majority of MMO players prefer themepark, PvE, casual content. This MMO is attracting sandbox, PvP, hardcore content; basically the anti-WoW, everything excluding a medieval / fantasy setting.

If they plan on keeping any player fanbase they have left, they need to stop this sticky business practice. I don't understand how companies see this working for them; it's always more beneficial to be straight-forward with your customers, even if it leads to bad news. Sometimes you have to realize when your in a lose-lose situation; a company needs to know which situation will cause the least amount of setbacks, in the long run.

I'm guessing early '10 myself, but '09 is decent speculation from your evidence. But really, that's only if everything starts flowing and building perfectly in synchronization from here on out. I'm anticipating at least one or two things to take place that will cause a delay on this game's originally planned launch (which probably is set for later this year, though not officially).

Originally posted by Joliust

I wouldn't be surprised if it was like Guild Wars. Instanced missions with public area for grouping, and socializing etc. Although I am a fan of open sandbox worlds, a well done game like this is also is a lot of fun.

like someone else asked, then will it have a subscription?

If they plan on going this route (which, judging from what's been clued at so far, I'd agree seems like a good guess), I'd rather play Guild Wars 2 if they plan on charging $15 bucks a month.

That was freakin' hilarious. I wonder how long it must have taken to make this post, holy crap, that was good and long. You should be a writer... I loved the ending.

SPOILER: So his mom just turned into Tasos...?

ToS has been and still is one of the more OP classes since launch. Whoever mentioned that they have solved one-shotting is somewhat accurate... now it only takes two-shots for a ToS... as someone else mentioned, storm crown, big lightning, wash rinse repeat.

Balance with classes in this game still needs some work.

it's something that's been argued alot lately, and frankly it's something that I'm deeply concerned about as well. Sure, they may be great at single player games, but their experience in multiplayer content is lacking. However, they are an extremely competent company nonetheless, moreso than alot of companies building MMOs lately. If any game has the highest chance of being a huge success, it's this game, simply because of the franchise and the company backing it. I have good hope that they will be able to give a good balance of solo and group content, concerning both PvE and PvP.