I'm sure that every movie with Paulie Shore in it ties for worst ever.

Originally posted by shakey2005

If you'd actually read what people said you would have noticed that they said you don't need to ebay to succeed. In fact, it usually has negative consequences, since you'll never be able to buy enough adena to satisfy your needs, and by relying on it, you'll actually suck at the game despite your l33t equipment. And if you actually take the time to look on the server forums on the official forums, you'll notice most of the clans recruiting there don't want ebayers. Thanks to the academy system, it's actually pretty easy to level and advance in the game. And clans are eager to recruit new players, since they can be groomed for PvP, which is the ultimate end game of L2.

Of course, discovering all of this information takes a little bit of initiative, rather than simply relying on the opinions of people on this cesspit of a website. In that case, probably best if you do stay away.

 

I feel you hit the bullseye on this one, however. So, I will take this oportunity to disregard your opinions.

I agree that customer support is rarely contacted for true "gameplay" issues, and probably more often for issues that should be /bugged or /report.

Unfortunately, most companies have limited the amount of "help" a GM or in game rep can offer dramatically. Due in part to inappropriate actions on the part of GMs, but mostly due to whiney children looking to take advantage.To me, it seems, most GMs simply pass along notes to CS reps nowadays and we, as end users, are cursed to wait for a response filtered back through that same dilluted system. Now, as customers not priveledged to the current status of "insert mind-blowing issue here" we are unsure if anything has or will be done to help fix the issue.

Put the power back in the hands of GMs and most customer service complaints will be solved.

EDIT: zigged when i shoulda zagged

When Rob Zombie cuts tracks for my combat music, I'll turn the sound up.

The current drought of decent MMOs has affected me as well. I'm playing Last Chaos and Dungeon Runners to get a few laughs and pass the time since there's really nothing I feel worthy of my cash at the moment.

Hero's Journey looks very intriguing, but it's gonna be a while before it even goes into beta

Hrrmm, I think I may have a Rubics Cube in my attic somewhere........

So, which server should i start on?

I'm in tears, thanks to all of you

/cheers

Wonder if the cologne was named after this? It certainly smells bad enough to be plausible.

A fun game indeed.

Farming the same mob over and over or clearing the same map over and over is indeed grinding however. The whole game is so toungue in cheek, and that's probably it's best quality. The graphics are quite decent and far superior to 99% of the F2P MMOs. The community is very fun and world chat always entertaining.

I do find the rare tirades of "I can't use this item unless I pay?!" to be somewhat bothersome, as if they aren't getting ENOUGH for free.

DR always makes me smile when i launch it. I mean c'mon, what other game encourages names like "SirRantsAlot".

I appreciate all the replies, but I was pretty much dead set against it as soon as I heard e-bay. I never minded a somewhat inflated economy and I can farm if necesary to offset it, but cheating/botting just isn't my bag. No offense to any of you, it's your money and you are welcome to spend it however you wish, but you do understand that e-baying perpetuates the cycle, right? If there is no demand, there is no supply.

If I wanted to grind away for a year on my way to a game that might be enjoyable someday, I'd still be playing VG.

On the other hand, drama, backstabbing, hate and discontent do sound pretty appealing

Originally posted by shukes33

i think it is different for each person. the changes made dont seem to be the same for each player. i mean for me the most important things have been fixed. i couldnt play the game for 6 months because of performance issues. now i dont! so to me SOE have done wonders. i feel that the direction they are taking will be much healthier for new players as the performance issues are what puts most people of.

funny thing is my FPS doesnt seem to have got better but the game does seem to run much smoother for me with less glitching and no CTD's so hopefully for myself at least SOE will continue to work in this direction. but for people with absolutely no performance issues i can see why they want a different dircetion :)

but hopefully if they get on top of performance then content etc will come next.

 

VG has an older, more mature, player base than most MMOs only because of the early development and the Sigil vision. The VG community, in my experiences, were more patient and helpful to newcomers (long as they didn't mention WoW) than any game in the past 5 years. These are exactly the people that will be driven out by the "new community" that SOE is apparently shaping VG for. How many people do you think will pack their bags when instancing is introduced? No instancing, you say? We'll see about that when the stability is so bad that 50s start bailing because they can't put 30 players on the same mob (not to mention if another guild wants to contest the spawn).

What kind of community will crop up then? One similar to the "kiddies" that play WoW? Diversity is in serious jeopardy here. WoW for all it's faults has generated revenue, and that's the only language that companies like SOE speak. They will destroy the original vision of VG, just you wait and see.

Doesn't a product appealing to someone effectively make it a quality product, to that person even if to nobody else. A comparison of quality vs popularity is really apples vs oranges. I do believe that everyone "wants" a quality product, even though "quality" is a relative term. That fact has thoroughly been established here, as some people think VG is a quality product and others do not. There seems to be no debate about popularity however, which is the only relevant statistic in Heltern's post.

My question is, what direction is SOE taking VG as it relates to quality in my mind. VG is in a ditch, and i do not see SOE pulling it back onto the road. In my opinion VG is a quality product, however unpopular it may be or become. My concern is that it seems to be sliding further into the ditch. The game as it stands seem to ride the fence somewhere between trying to gain new subs and satisfy the screams for end-game content, all-the-while completely ignoring some pretty major issues that have been present since release and prior.

People like to state "rushed to early release" as a defense, but that's history. That may have been forgivable for a few months, but how long do you think that dog's gonna hunt?

You might think that quality is the exact opposite of popularity, and you definitely have the right to your opinion, but would you still say that if VG had 2 million subs? I don't blame people for defending VG, it has plenty of features worth defending. I hope that one day I can return and feel that SOE made the changes that I thought were important ones. But, all the changes they've made so far have been lip service and neither impressive nor vital.

Well, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. I had truly hoped that this could be a game I'd find some fun in until others have had some time to develop. The solo grindfest doesn't sound appealing and if the PvP is that unbalanced I can't imagine any reason to level up anyway. In fact, I almost feel like you steered me clear of a loaf Poochie left near the mailbox, then handed me $40.

I'll definately be avoiding this unless someone has some very compelling positive experiences to list.

On a lighter note I'd like to offer a big Congrats to those 33 troopers that made it to the end 

OK, I've been searching for a new game since I quit VG and have stubbed my toe on Lineage 2 a couple times. Lemme get the straight dope on highlights/lowlights and the all too common botters:

1. Grinding% (30% solo?, 70% group?)

2. Overall "fun factor" 1-10 scale (1=vacuuming, 10=skydiving)

3. Community 1-10 scale (1=boring, 10=fun and helpful)

4. Difficulty 1-10 scale (1=nap, 10=brain hemorrhage)

5. Economy (self-sufficient?, endless farming?)

6. Botters (if you pass 500 people, how many were bots?)

7. PvP balance (balanced or failed experiment)

Any insights and observations are more than welcome, positive or negative. However, please defend opinions with some sort of example or it will likely be ignored and unhelpful to me in any way

I would agree with some of the OP. I disagree that those who think it's great are idiots and rather believe that anyone who is not pleased and still pays for the sub is. I fell into that category myself for about the last 8 weeks that I played. I don't doubt that VG could be a game that could compete with any out there, I simply doubt that SOE will bring that to fruition.

Yes, the game was shipped early and not nearly ready for release. But come on, that was 8 months ago. Do you honestly believe that a company that had any plans of making huge strides with this game couldn't't have made it happen with another 8 months of stress tests and beta? Hell, there are still exploits in game that I /bugged in beta.

My prediction for 6 months from now is APW will still be in debug mode, further population loss, and many of the current bugs still present. Worst part, I don't think SOE really cares. SOE has repeatedly marched to their own drummer, no matter what the community asked for. The community that I considered myself a part of wanted a challenging game. What did SOE decide to do?:

*rescind the EE system

*add rest XP

*make travel quick and effortless

Does it not appear that SOE is trying to "dumb down" this game? I think a poll would show that most people who have played VG agree that it has massive potential. Unfortunately, potential does not equate to playability. SOE has hedged their bets and is simply trying to make it appeal to more people no matter what was intended in early development. The game that i bought and had so much anticipation for is nothing more than a faint memory, sliding farther and farther away from recognition with every patch.

I played VG from beta3 until about a week ago and i can say that there is fun to be found inside. However, if you plan to play FFA PvP, know that there are great imbalances that still need attention.

The population since server merges is better, but I wouldn't say well populated (meaning if you want a dungeon group be prepared to spend an hour or so forming said group, although small PUGs are more abundant and can accomplish nearly everything this game offers).

There are probably enough faithful subscribers to keep it afloat. SOE needs to add some end-game content post-haste if they plan to keep them chasing the carrot.

Bugs aplenty, no denying it.

Plenty of quests and questing areas to keep you busy.

Environment is beautiful with lackluster sound (combat audio excluded). There are graphical glitches and character models need improvement. Rent a flying mount and take a look around for the best view.

SOE has made some unforgiveable blunders that can potentially wreck this game (gold dupe being the biggest). They apparently take no stance against gold farmers, hackers, exploiters and bots. If you are just starting out, you have an uphill climb ahead of you to catch up with the economy.

The community is nice and helpful. Crafting is good and Harvesting is easy.

I plan to check in maybe 3-6 months after APW goes live.

No.

I have to agree that this is merely a pebble considering the hill SOE must climb to garner any player base at all. However, it is something that you would think is so simple they could jusy throw a bone to appease the few players who find this important. Perhaps they'll run it on test for a few weeks and see what gets borked in the process.

I can understand how some people still find fun in the game, and to a person just starting out now it may be a completely different experience than someone that was there from launch. The problem I have with VG is in each patch they list bug fixes that simply aren't fixed, content release that is not remotely refined, and total ignorance of what the community asks for.

The first hint that the team of monkeys they had working on this was inadequate was when the gold dupe hit (remember the one that totally borked the economy?) and it still isn't fixed?! SOE has simply went to a "no server restart" policy to try and circumvent it?!

In retrospect, I believe that the game may not be moving forward, but in fact, may be moving backward. I bought this game on the promise of what it was to become, whole-heartedly knowing that it was not yet what was described on the box. Eight months into release and it's still not even close to that promise.

Look, it's really not about the money, although that does add insult to injury. I devoted my time and effort into VG and bonds with friends (some still active and some not) on pure faith that the "early issues" would be resolved. I developed my characters and, as I've said, had my share of fun. However, just as a drunk must have a "moment of clarity" I had to get brutally honest with myself and ask "will SOE ever get this game off the ground"?

The VG community has turned into a support group. A place where it's player base can go to feel OK about handing this crack team their money to misappropriate it. If you play the game and enjoy it, more power to ya. If you are leveling yet another alt while patiently waiting for fixes, stability, content, and balance, then you might want to try rubbing that bottle again, the genie might just appear this time.

BTW I do like France, been there twice. If however it were in a state of chaos with no end in sight, I would try to save people the ticket fair.

File this under whichever you wish, but I think it's important to get as much information as possible when making a decision. People come to this forum to get "facts, opinions, and misc" information about a game they may be considering buying/subbing. I also believe it is important that they get both sides of the story, Although it seems you wish to have a place set aside for only "positive" experiences. I hate to break it to you, but there is rarely a topic that everyone finds positive.

I played VG for nearly 10 months and had my share of fun at the game. VG was a masterpiece in theory. Unfortunately, it was a nightmare in execution. I am what some would have called a "vanboi" a month ago, but at some point you have to see that it's all smoke and mirrors and empty promises:

*Stability that was promised and never showed up

*Bug fixes that come at a snails pace

*Class balance that has been an issue since pre-release

*Lack of end-game content

*GM presence that is non-existent

*Gold seller spam every 15 minutes

*Lack of control measures for CoC violations (hacks, bots, exploits)

I spent the better part of 3 months overlooking these FACTS as i waited for SOE to fix the game i had waited for since i quit EQ, and it just never happened. In an effort to help someone else make an educated decision whether to buy this game or not, I think this is relevant information as well as all the reasons you might want to list as pros. I could list some pros myself, but I'm sorry to say that I feel more than a little ripped off at the moment.

I stood by SOE after they assumed control and patiently waited as they billed my account for this heap that i had so much faith in. I have since lost that faith and I will not return until the posts on this forum and others are overwhelmingly positive feedback. My estimation is that will be at least one year from now.

I have to agree with the OP. I have made several attempts at VG and always come out feeling robbed. I liken Brad to a retired prize fighter coming out of retirement once again to sully his once golden reputation for an opportunity to run away with the cash while the spectators /boggle.

This game has almost as many bugs as it had at release and that's a boatload. Quests that worked in February are currently broken due to attempted fixes in other areas. Amazing graphics botched by jaggies and graphical anomalies that need to be /flushed every 5 minutes. Immersion is broken by a CTD every 60-90 minutes.

Community wise I'd say it's OK. I am and original EQ player and I'd say that's my crowd, but anyone who says this is old EQ revisited is kidding themselves. The nightly EQ nostalgia starts at 8:00 p.m. sharp with a rallying WoW bash every 15 minutes, and that's when i separate from the masses. This game is no harder than WoW and has many more issues. That being said, it has much more potential and with proper management it could be a top shelf MMO. Unfortunately, it does not have that management and it will never be a top shelf MMO.

Give it up already, it crashed and burned. I recommend you take this opportunity to put your money where you'll be appreciated and maybe, someday, feel justified.

YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN CANCELED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE.