I'd be damn surprised if this thing takes off (and works).

I probably wouldn't be surprised at the drop in work efficiency afterwards if it did.

Hmm. First MMO I ever played.

Silkroad Online. I did not like it a single darn bit, but it was my "gateway" MMO, and that's about as much as I'll give it.

Originally posted by Wickedjelly

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Bah....perhaps OP should look into a few F2Ps like Dungeon Fighter or Vindictus. If you are good enough, it's possible to solo from start to end-game, but it requires skills obviously. Also pretty easy to find PUGs, should you need it.

 I'm surprised by Vindictus being in here.  I would have thought that game would be extremely group oriented.  You can really solo all of the content?  Haven't played it myself so I am actually curious about this and not trying to be a smartass.

Sorry to digress a bit here, guys.

Yes, the content in Vindictus is completely soloable. However, having played the beta myself, I can easily say that it is not easy in any way possible, especially against bosses (when you're the only target, it sort of makes harder to stun him so you can get in your spike damage, and you'll probably die against raid bosses. A lot.).

It's also very easy to find PUGs. The golden question is, however: is your PUG skilled at playing the game or not? It usually tends to be more of the latter than the former in F2Ps, due to the sheer amount of players involved.

Don't bother. The game is going down tomorrow for extended maintenance until the 13th to open it up for regular Open Beta.

Originally posted by Chr1sc

learn to spell before you talk about anyone else hehe. i love grinding its fun and you get to be in the open for some pvp action.

Learn to read the article before making an irrelevant comment. +1 sheep in the flock.

Mr. King makes some excellent points. Why the fudge no one's really followed it is beyond... well, a lot of us.

“One – The minute-to-minute gameplay should be as entertaining as possible. This mainly rests on the movement and combat systems. By providing a mix of some Challenge (mistakes can hurt you), Mastery (it is possible to become very good/efficient), and a very smooth, responsive UI you can make the moment to moment play amusing enough that it doesn’t grate as much over time.

“Two – the incentives should reflect the effort required. If the effort is extensive, then rewards should be parceled out in parts so that the player doesn’t have to go many hours without some return for their effort. Players hate feeling like they’re being asked to put in a lot more effort than they’ll be rewarded for.

“And three – vary the experience. Offer a number of different flavors of grind. Instances, crafting, collections, kills, daily quests. If a player gets to the point where they are really burned out on one, they can go do something else for a while. Also, whenever they can multi-task (collect crafting components WHILE achieving kills), players generally feel a lot better about the process.”

I'm actually curious to see how point #1 comes into play, it can't be as bad as he says it might be.

Originally posted by Aethaeryn

Oblivion of course will keep you busy even if you can find the core game somewhere cheap.

Oblivion and Fallout are great singleplayer RPGs to play. The mods for the PC versions make it even more of a blast and can add hours of replayability to them, as well. However, the game engine's a hit or miss with most people; to me, it's buggy, stutters quite a bit, and can crash at the most random of times.

But they're still awesome RPGs, nonetheless.

You could always try games like Gothic 3, Risen, Dungeon Siege (more actiony than RPG), or Titan Quest, as stated earlier, if they suit your tastes.

You could always try Alliance of Valiant Arms from ijji.

Originally posted by Kitanishi

- No EXP loss upon death. Instead the "durability" of your items will be damaged.

Unless there's a corpse run or incredulously insane amount of money required to repair gears, I think they just found a way to make easymode even easier.

Well, at least we can take comfort in the fact that it's in the hands of one of the less horrible F2P companies (I think).

I could be horribly, horribly wrong, but I suppose we'll see.

Originally posted by bobsly

Sometimes i wish i was a game designer lol.

I think you mean "game consultant". You don't make the game, you just tell them how you want them to make it. :P

You could always try Cabal Online. It's "actiony" in itself, but it may or may not be what you're looking for. It's F2P, so beware.

Was going to recommend 2Moons but then found out that you've already played it.

Sorry to say, man, but 2Moons is probably as good as it'll get. I've been searching for a game with the same style of combat it did and found pretty much nothing that can hold a candle to it.

And by fast-paced, he means the type of combat that isn't just stand-hit-take hit-repeat. Games that allow you to chain together skills in quick succession, fluid combat, etc.

Originally posted by brostyn

Sure it is. Somehow PW is going to make an original game? I don't think that's how these Asian F2P companies work.

Even more so with PW. For example, take a look at their quest system in between all their games... it is, quite literally, exactly the same.

Originally posted by GTwander

 

This post is more towards the real point here. Menial tasks are lame, but a well-thought out "adventure" is not.

There's really nothing more to be said about it, quests need to take themselves more seriously is all.

I'm with GT on this one. I'm completely tired of grinding being given a new coat of paint and labeled as "quests". It's the kind of thing that would get old, real fast; go here, kill 10 of this--go here, farm 20 of these--go here, talk to X, who will then send you back to Y, then back to X, and Y... the cycle never ends.

If quests would allow themselves to act more like quests, with interesting stories, worthwhile tasks, and the such, then I wouldn't sit so bad with them. Though in full actuality, this is probably the primary reason why I prefer grinding to questing nowadays.

Don't know about you guys, but I'd love to see Imperator make a comeback.

A modern-day (or rather, futuristic), Roman Empire that never collapsed... the idea sounds intriguing to me.

Read through all the posts and was pretty surprised that no one even bothered to mention this game.
 

Originally posted by hammer3260

quite a shame MMOs are disappearing from stores and PC games as a whole, gamestop wants em outta their inventory by next year from what ive heard which is BS its a huge fricken market just give it adequate attention, stupid stores.

I wouldn't blame them. PC gamers are increasingly turning to digital download (Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive, etc) instead of buying boxed copies from stores. Back in the day it wasn't a problem, when Steam and the likes weren't as polished or effective, but they started gaining momentum and now retail is chopping PC from the shelves.

Originally posted by sekrog

Matt,

Judging by your last post:

www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3407735#3407735

Do I assume that I won't be seeing you in Ryzom or is it the 1 game you've signed on to?

 

 

I'd say his lack of an answer pretty much says it all.

Originally posted by cjy420

(group aoe grinding on charms and xp boost scrolls)

I think when the OP meant F2P, he meant as spending as little or no money as possible. I've tried PWI myself, and from personal experience, feels more grindy than anything else.

Farewell and best of luck in RL, Matt.

Originally posted by Zeppelin4

In my area Best Buy has a whole aisle filled with MMO PC games. It's the only place I would go if I want retail. I'm sure though I'm like most now who just down load the game.

Yeah, same here. Though they are mostly the big name MMOs like Aion, WoW, STO, and the likes. I'd prefer to go digital download but my internet likes to crap out on me a lot.

Originally posted by Simsu

Originally posted by Scot

One thing that is clear from these forums is that many people do not realise how cloaked in secrecy a gaming company’s subs and revenue are. Like any business they do not hand out commercially sensitive information on a plate. I would take any published information such as subscriptions with a pinch of salt.

I did watch several videos of interviews and every time someone was asked for hard numbers they declined to answer even going as far as to say its a big no-no to talk about profits in any way.

Mostly profits are only disclosed in quarterly reports, which are taken as truth. If they accidentally let the tongue loose about their profits (as in: losing money when they actually stated they gained money), then things turn into a real crap-storm. Because, after all, these companies do have stockholders to keep happy.

It's like talking about your yearly income before taxes. You don't just tell anyone about it.