Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I should just stick with my GTX260 for the time being. I'm hoping it'll handle Tera / Firefall / Diablo 3 on max. I'm playing the D3 beta and getting some hitching, but I'm hoping it's just a server issue and not a video card issue. My rig is more than capable, including a quad core 3GHz and 12G of RAM.

Hey all,

I'm currently running an Nvidia GTX260 and I'm thinking it's time to upgrade. I'd like to keep it under $200. Any suggestions for the best Nvidia < $200? I'm not interested in Radeon cards. (buying from US, not EU, just fyi)

Thanks for any advice.

Originally posted by shantideva

This is what you get when you try to lump the powers of chaos with filthy orks, don't mess with Nurgle...

 

Pure win.

I think another reason communities aren't as strong today as they were back then is the huge mass of abilities you're constantly button-mashing to get the combat over with as quickly as possible.

Having played a tank and a healer in EQ, I could take part in a group or even raid encounter and still chat w/ my group or guild, and carry on in private tells, too. While I appreciate having lots of interesting abilities, I think it detracts from the social aspect of grouping - NOT GAMING - but grouping, because you're caught up in button-mashing and if you're not constantly firing your abilities someone will give you grief for it.

One of my all-time favorite jokes to play on my guildies in EQ was to pull too many mobs in a heavily camped area so the enchanter (crowd-control class) would get frantic trying to mezz/lull/charm all the adds, and then asking him questions which I know he couldn't answer in chat because he was too busy trying to keep us alive. Good times!

I agree with the majority on this one: there's absolutely nothing wrong with putting marketing dollars into whatever platform the company believes will best promote their game. As a business owner, I can confirm Mark's statement about online banner ads costing far too much for far too little a return. I say kudos to them for thinking outside the box.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to do my five-times-a-day email check to see if I've been invited to test Firefall yet. :)

Originally posted by Grahor

It's like a million voices of butthurt all screamed at once... :)

WINNER!

Seriously, I had a complete laugh attack when I read that line. Kudos, Grahor!

Did I miss a memo about light side / dark side points actually meaning something? When I was in beta, they meant absolutely nothing. Has this changed since then?

Is it just me or does he have the waist-line of a 13 year old girl?

I love the design and rendering, he just seems.... kinda teeny through the middle.

Originally posted by Supersoups

Originally posted by TheMaelstrom

The fact that nearly 50% of the votes for combat are 8, 9, or 10 leaves me dreading the future of MMOs.

 

I found the combat to be completely uninspired (dev decision), totally uninspiring (as a player it made me not want to play this game), and exceptionally boring (as a player I was so bored I won't ever play this game). I mean c'mon... try playing any class with a ranged weapon and running around while firing your blaster. All the shots fired at you bend and track you down as you move. It looks AWFUL in my opinion. Absolutely awful.

 

I'm also shocked by the voting for graphics/character creation. The character creation options were so limited / bland that I can't see how they can be overlooked even though the world design is pretty nice.

 

To each their own I guess. I just feel more and more like I'm the odd man out these days, and MMOs just aren't for me anymore.

That pretty much sums up your posts so in a way you answered your own dreadful worries. And you make it sound as if SWTOR combat is so awful that it makes MMOS  future in general look bleak. Too much over reacting.

Actually, Soups, I'm not tryin to merely "make it sound as if SWTOR combat is so awful that it makes MMOs future in general look bleak".... I'm saying it - emphatically.

The combat is, in my opinion, god-awful shite.

We've had the same exact combat since what.... 2000 or 2001? Gaming should advance, not stagnate.

The fact that nearly 50% of the votes for combat are 8, 9, or 10 leaves me dreading the future of MMOs.

I found the combat to be completely uninspired (dev decision), totally uninspiring (as a player it made me not want to play this game), and exceptionally boring (as a player I was so bored I won't ever play this game). I mean c'mon... try playing any class with a ranged weapon and running around while firing your blaster. All the shots fired at you bend and track you down as you move. It looks AWFUL in my opinion. Absolutely awful.

I'm also shocked by the voting for graphics/character creation. The character creation options were so limited / bland that I can't see how they can be overlooked even though the world design is pretty nice.

To each their own I guess. I just feel more and more like I'm the odd man out these days, and MMOs just aren't for me anymore.

Wow, Coyote! You brought back a lot of memories with the opening few paragraphs of this article. I agree with you on basically every point. I especially agree that it' doesn't seem wise to get input from the unwashed masses rather than input from a core, dedicated, experienced group of testers.

Being a beta tester now is absolutely nothing like being a beta tester 10+ years ago, and I think it shows in the products that have been released.

Outstanding article! I loved it from start to finish. Really well done, and rings true in a lot of ways. Bravo, sir!

Originally posted by Kabaal

Needs a John Hannah easter egg NPC tbh

WE HAVE A WINNAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. I LOL'd

After reading this thread, I was inspired to give Norrath another try myself. Re-upped my sub tonight and started playing on AB server. Joined Safe Haven, which seems to have a lot of good people in it (from what I could tell at the onset).

Look me up any time. I'm currently playing a Troubador. Character name is Finkcur.

Originally posted by Painlezz

Everquest added f*cking frogs...  Pandas are no better or worse.

I'm sure there are plenty of other examples from countless other games i'm sure.

 

Uhhh. Frogloks were in the original (or very early) lore of EQ. They were in the game as NPCs from very early on (I think they were even there at launch), and the lore behind the troll / froglok struggle was built into the game. You might not like the way they look, but at least they were seriously scripted into the lore from the early going.

Pandaren were a joke... more than once... and now they're being billed as the focus of the next expansion.

Huge difference. Absolutely huge.

<edit - spelling and extra spaces>

Originally posted by Struggs

 

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Originally posted by zymurgeist

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Originally posted by Struggs
 

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Originally posted by TheMaelstrom
Can you supply links to those write-ups, or at least quote the parts that say the game isn't too casual?
 
I've played the beta at length, but can't share my opinion with you because of Bioware's retarded effing NDA. Idiots.

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I can't believe Bioware created this NDA thing for its beta testers. It's crazy that they are doing something no other gaming company in the history of gaming has ever done. Idiots!!!

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 I'm still under NDA for games that have launched successfully and faded into obscurity years ago. Gaming companies do this all the time. In fact most of them do it always. It's nothing new. Bioware has always managed it's game releases carefully and Lucasarts insists on it.  The only idiots are the people who thought Bioware would change longstanding methods just to appease them.

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I hope that was in response to Maelstrom, as for my portion I was being a smartass and yes I will admit that. I honestly don't care about it being lifted or existing. My decision to try the game has been made regardless of what may come from the lifting of the NDA.

Since, apparently, I need to spell out EXACTLY what I meant, here goes:

I'm aware of the use of NDAs throughout the gaming industry. I'm aware that Bioware isn't doing anything other companies haven't done.

What I think is idiotic is the fact that they lifted only the press NDA. And only a portion of it. And only for a portion of the game. While leaving the NDA for "common" testers in-tact.

Let's be realistic here. Most online gaming sites w/ press people playing the SWTOR beta aren't going to be very hard on the game if they see things they don't like. They might mention them in passing, or critique them off-handedly, but they likely won't lay it all on the line. They, and the sites they represent, stand to lose too much ad revenue and/or promotional goodies if they do that.

We're 2 months from release. Tell me why they can't lift the frikkin' NDA for everyone. Tell me why they won't even lift the entire NDA for the press (not that lifting the entire NDA will have huge negative effects, for the reasons listed above).

<edit: spelling and some clarification>

Can you supply links to those write-ups, or at least quote the parts that say the game isn't too casual?

I've played the beta at length, but can't share my opinion with you because of Bioware's retarded effing NDA. Idiots.

My condolences to those players in the EU who have been playing this game.

Hell yeah. Definitely looking forward to this. Can't wait to play another Tribes game. I freakin' LOVED Tribes 2.

Originally posted by Talthanys

Ah, Cryptic. You are the Snidely Wiplash of the MMO genre, sneering grandly and waxing your handlebar moustache with but two oily fingers as you tie a respected and deserving Nell Fenwick to the traintracks.

There was no Dudley Do-Right to save Star Trek. There shall be none to save Neverwinter. May you and Mythic's DIck Dastardly, with his erstwhile victim Warhammer IP, continue to be the champions of the shallow and inane, for without villains we'd see no heroes.

But, seriously, stop it.

Best. Post. Ever.