Weird. I'm definitely on the right server. I just got kicked from the server select screen too and now I keep getting a "login timed out" message. Hopefully just a glitch on their part. I was just getting to the meat 'n' potatoes of my Black Orc and didn't wanna give him up yet.

I see that the Preview Weekend is this week. That's no secret, as tons of people have been talking about it. I logged in for a moment to check my character and - lo and behold - he's gone. Before anyone goes freaking on me yelling that beta characters are supposed to be wiped... I know that. I'm just surprised they did it today. I was thinking that with the massive rush of OB players that will hit this weekend they'd want some of us to not be in the crowded starter areas.

Any thoughts on why they did this? I'm guessing it's to test servers and such and see what happens when everyone is crammed together in the starter areas. It might give them time to adjust spawn rates, etc before retail launch.

One of the last major videos they released from that European convention (sorry, can't remember the name) talked about this. They really wanted to have this feature in at launch, but it wasn't a priority because it's mostly a "fluff" feature. It doesn't actually affect gameplay in any way.

They still have hopes to implement it. That much was stated outright. They just don't have an ETA as of yet. Of course, all is subject to change.... as usual.

Originally posted by buckstar0814

give a least a 3 month subscription with the box.

+1

Amen to that, brother.

Originally posted by earthhawk

^{For those of you who are not familiar with the P&PRPG genre let me inform you here; it has been dying and losing players by the thousands to online games. Wizards of the Coast did what they had to do; try to capture their player base that was been lost to MMOs. The only reason I play MMOs is due to the fact that I can longer get a group of 5 adults together to play a P&P game anymore. Most of my friends have families and careers that prevent them from dedicating the amount of time that is needed to participate in a game, and I'm not even talking about the Dungeon Master, just the players.}

^{As a DM who never uses published adventures, as I prefer to write my own, it's almost like having a second job. I put in several hours a night crafting a story, creating characters, and producing storylines that my players may or may not use. On average I would say about 40 hours go into starting a new campaign. Most people who have grown up playing P&P dion't have that kind of time anymore, and this is where MMOs come into play.}

^{If you have never played in a P&P game then you are surely missing one of the best interactive expierences in gaming, period. The hard part is finding a good group of  players who play the game, but don't take it to serious. I welcome D&D back into the fold, and hope that it continues to push the envelope of gaming.}

Earth

 

A-friggin-men, brother. I haven't been able to find a group to play my campaigns since I moved from NJ 11 years ago. I have stories saved up for years-worth of AD&D campaigns, and no players to challenge with them.

A good DM is hard to find. A great DM who doesn't throw everything together on-the-fly is worth keeping at all costs. Sadly, no one seems to realize this anymore. Some days it makes me want to weep.

I long for the days of old-school tabletop AD&D, Rifts, etc...

Thanks very much Nadia.

Hey everyone.

I'm coming back to try EQ2 after being away for nearly 2 years. It seems everyone suggests to do the Timorous Deep starting area. As an Arasai starting in Neriak, how would I get there?

Thanks for your help!

I'm in the beta, and I gave it an 8.

The main thing I'm bummed about is the graphics. Yes, I'm well aware that Blizzard hocked their styling from Warhammer when they couldn't get the license from Games Workshop to make a Warhammer game. The fact still remains that a lot of the art styling has been done to death now by Blizzard for the past 4 years, and I wish they had chosen a more realistic graphics style. Had they done 40k I'd be voting 10 all the way. Had they done a graphics engine more like AoC or EQ2 (at launch) I'd vote 10.

The gameplay is fun and getting better every patch. The graphics are just... nothing special. I like some eye-candy... what can I say?

Bumping this post in hopes of someone dropping a trial key my way. If I somehow end up with more than one key, I'll defer the second one to the next person in line in this post.

Once again, thanks to those who are willing to share their keys with those of us who are on the fence about AoC. Hope to see you in game!

Yeah, I know the keys aren't going to be out, but I thought I'd ask now before the forum is flooded with people looking for them in a couple of days. I'm hoping someone will drop me a line with a "hey, it's all yours on the 20th" type of PM. hehe.

Hey guys n gals. I'm interested in trying AoC out, but there's been such a mixed bag of previews (I won't call them "reviews" pre-launch) that I'm hesitant to dish out the cash to try it out. If anyone has a trial key, I would be very appreciative if you'd pass it along. Shoot me a PM please.

I'm really hoping that it grabs my attention and holds it. I'm in the WAR closed beta, and I'm enjoying it (when it's up), but I'd definitely like to check out AoC as well.

Take care all. I hope AoC rocks for all of you who've been anxiously awaiting its release.

Originally posted by Shannia

 

Originally posted by Czzarre

Believe it or not, many timres a server combine is a good thing for a MMORPG. The best thing for MMORPG is make sure people can find others

Torrential

 

QFT

Thanks for the info.  I'm glad for the mergers.  At one time I just knew this game was gonna take a dent out of the WoW pie.  Just too bad that they used Eberon instead of Forgotten Realms.  I think that was a mistake on Turbine's part.  While it is nice to have a clean slate to work with, there is also something to be said when there is 25+ years worth of lore to fall back on.

True enough. Forgotten Realms rocks!

I voted 1 to 2 million.

There's no question WoW has out-done any mmo that preceded it, and good for them. However, the more people you bring into a genre, the more people you're likely to have feeling like something is missing. So, even if PvP-centric players are the minority, if WoW has anywhere in the vicinity of the 8 million subscribers it boasts, it stands to reason that 25% of said subscribers will be looking to try something new by the time WAR is released.

Let's face it, Blizzard brought mmo's to the mainstream, which is great for those of us who want to see more and better titles coming out in this genre. Arguing that Blizzard didn't break through to millions of new mmo players would be like bailing water on the Titanic with a bucket. It's fact, whether you like the company/game or not.

What's going to really tell the tale won't be the impact WAR has on other mmo subscriptions initially, but the impact it's still having on them after 6 months.