So they'll let me d/l 5-6GB of useless install data, but when it comes to creating a gamigo account there's no 'create' button to be found anywhere, forget Black Prophecy or a forum account - do not pass 'GO' lol!

This reeks of epic fail. If they can't even get a region-locked login check right...you can only see the actual error if you do a scrape/select (or CTRL-A) on the account create page - you will see it below the text on the RHS http://blackprophecy.gamigo.com/ :

"Black Prophecy is the first Sci-Fi Space MMOG that dares the step towards action-oriented gameplay from a third-person and first person perspective. Begin your journey into space and experience fast-paced real-time action as a fighter pilot in countless hazardous missions and epic battles. Jump into your cockpit and engage the enemy threat solo, or join powerful clans and fight alongside fellow comrades-in-arms."

Here is the bit just under that which is black-on-black so invisible unless you look for it:

"We're afraid you can't play this game in your location. Sorry."

Well fuck you very much! This was going through my EU vpn in case there was a problem with access from Aus. On a direct link from Aus, that page doesn't even show the last part. No buttons, no indicators what's wrong, no clue on how to create a user-friendly experience, clearly.

Don't even get me started on the gamigo account creation - what account creation FFS!? WHERE!? If someone can show me a screenie of just one, any button that allows you to actually create an account (which we're supposed to b4 we can create the BP game account itself, or finally a forum account), I'll be a monkey's uncle!

And this page:
http://blackprophecy.gamigo.com/beta/
asks for a serial no...for a f2p mmo...WTF???

This has to be a region fubar I can only imagine.

Here's a couple tips for you mmo dev wankers from the real world:

1. make the conditions of entry crystal clear with massive, flashing, neon lighten signs on your main page & any account creation page - if there are over-riding conditions of entry, especially like country of origin, then we want to know up front, before we read a single line of your market-monkey gibberish, before we see any beta/download/award drivel. Capish?

2. FFS, have an open forum group so those people who are having difficulty signing up can actually post issues & get help. Ya think?

As I said, epic fail - hope someone can play this turd, cause it sure ain't me.
Why TF do they do this? Have they heard of the global internet/village or not...? Let me guess, back-door wheelin & dealin & international distribution rights, etc, etc, PTOOOIII!!!

Who's going to reimburse me for my time & effort wasted to date...?

Yeah, I sure have a black prophecy for ya Reakktor (or whoever the fuck the dev is). Next generation action MMO my fat arse! Game over.

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Originally posted by MikeB

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Originally posted by Regomar

They just lost this current subscriber.  I dont play Pay to Win games.

 

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Did you read the interview? I asked them explicitly about the "Pay to Win" scenario, and it's part and parcel of their strategy to ensure that players are not able to "Pay to Win," this was made painfully clear by Turbine's Craig Alexander during our panel at PAX East as well.

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Sure, but pay-to-not-grind seems to be more like it though. LOTRO is all about the questing & storyline. Take away any of that & make people pay for decent quests piecemeal & the game devolves into a f2p grindfest race to top level. Someone pls tell me it's not so. :-/

I've been back & forth as an (ir)regular sub since open beta (probably clocked 2+ years so far) over 3 accounts (one of which my mate took over after trying it through me - shhhhhh! ;) - he now runs 2 accounts of his own for the Mrs & him & has been paying monthly or 3-mthly for 1-2 years continually). This development could give a more casual player like myself the luxury of playing when I can without feeling like I'm blowing $15 just to play for an hour or two in a particularly busy month. If you do it right Turbine. Just don't forget who got you here thus far...

I also suggest Turbine take a close look at AO to see how you foster a great community spirit while maintaining a long-term f2p model.

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Originally posted by Deewe

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Originally posted by Michael Bitton
How about the lack of a third faction?.

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So true, it somehow laked in SWG and was the success factor in Dark Age of Camelot's RvR, we all (but the suits) know that.

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Consistency guys. You want Bioware to follow the magic codex, but don't blink an eye at *inventing* an entire 3rd faction in this time period which is clearly dominated by the Jedi/Sith war...? Please.

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Originally posted by Perkunas

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Originally posted by Dostya

There are those of us who don't give a **** about if it Follows the six movie storyline and just want something that lets us into Star Wars again

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There's six movies? Are you sure? Somebody was trying to tell me they made a sequel to The Matrix the other day, but I didn't believe him.

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ROFL! And here I thought there were only 2 real SW movies :).

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Originally posted by onetruth
An interesting article, but one that fails to note a key point at this development crossroad:
This genre hybridization isn't being done for creative reasons, or to better serve the consumer.  It is happening because console and single-player game makers want two things that their mmo-making brethren already have: 
1) recurring revenue
2) an end to consumers physically owning their product (which will in turn lead to more of 1)
If all this co-mingling were being done in the name of making great new games, I'd be all for it.  Sadly, the real motives are completely transparent.  When game developers get back to designing great gameplay and great stories (instead of great new payment models), I'll start buying games again.
 

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Couldn't agree more mate. Very strange though to find a kindred SP game soul on this forum ;). (though I do like a bit of mindless mmo grinding from time to time :)

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Originally posted by Nesrie

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Originally posted by Nostromo21

Just out of interest, anyone know how many sales/subs they have day 1...?

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That would be useless info. If we used day 1 sales or subs for anything, most the games that failed or still chugging along somehow look like success. 3 months later, that's when things will show what's what.

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Yes & no. If there are NO subs on day 1, it's not likely to get much better. If there are a massive number, especially after an open beta cycle, then that's a fair indicator of popularity/takeon. I wasn't trying to predict the future here, just get a handle on how much anticipation/excitement this title has created, in some sort of real terms.

Just out of interest, anyone know how many sales/subs they have day 1...?

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Originally posted by r5s_Phobos
Hey all. My name is Matt and I'm the community manager at Red 5 Studios. I just wanted to clear a few things up for you all.
 
We sent out a press release yesterday that was supposed to address most of these rumors, but just in case you missed it... We are not canceling the game, it hasn't been put on hold and we are still planning a full AAA game for worldwide release. I can't talk details on the game design or genre at this point, but I just want you all to know that we're still here and making an awesome game.
 
Hope that clears things up a bit. Thanks for your support.

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Cheers Matt. Are you able to give us some tidbits mate?

Like:
- fantasy, sci-fi or other?
- rough release date or at least year
- PvE or PvP?
- Sub-based or f2p?
- 2D/3D, iso, 1st person, OTS...? Rpg, RTS, FPS or hybrid?
- do you need an experienced IT Manager to whip the troops into shape? <G>

For GOD'S sake, pls, pls, PLEASE allow us to invert the mouse & map the basic movement keys. Those are my only wish list items. Everything else should be easy! >8^D

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Originally posted by EricDanie
Anyone remembers how much World of Warcraft generates yearly?

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Over 1.2Bill turnover last I read. Sickening. And what did you get for all that cash you've given them over 5+ years? Some patches, a couple extra races/classes/pissy expansions & Blizzard laughing all the way to several banks at their subscriber's expense. Imagine how many mouths around the world that 5 billion could have fed ppl (ok, that's a cheap shot, but nonetheless...:).

I'd love to know what the net profit across the board is. Are they a publicly floated company? If so, should be able to pull their P&L figures from the US stock exchange.

Two words: Epic Fail! <BFG>

Oh Brave New World...

Buy them some t-shirts & LCD screens ffs you tightarse commies! (errr...is that picture a North or South Korea cafe...? :-/)

[quote]Originally posted by girlgeek
Do you seriously think WoW's graphics are WORSE than EQ1?  O.o  I mean, I can...

<snip>

Wow....just....wow.[/b][/quote]

ROFLMAO!!! Pwned...by a girlgeek! ;)

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Originally posted by bamdorf

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Originally posted by Nostromo21

Travel times. I want to play a mmo game, not an aboriginal walkabout simulation. Cut them the f#$k down & stop wasting our time & money! :)

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I think he mentioned personal preferences...  Many people I know think Everquest went downhill sharply after the PoK (fast travel just about everywhere.)    And I agree.   
One ideal is a game you can log into and play 10 minutes and get something done.   The other is a game that seems to want you to play for hours, organizing, camping, traveling, recovering your corpse.
Err, sorry, close to bedtime and I need to decide whether to plant radishes tonight.
 

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LOL! I guess I just can't understand (or sympathise) with ppl who actually *prefer* to have to run all over the same countryside 50 times, than some good fast travel options. They clearly have too much time on their hands. Never let realism get in the way of good gameplay. All mmo devs could learn a thing or two from ArenaNet & GW (which isn't a 'real' mmorpg anyway!) if you ask me. Oh wait, they're going to have GW2 out soon - more lessons they won't learn for the rest of the market yet again :).

OTOH, WOW, what can I say about WoW. It's the grindy hamster wheel of uber grindness. It did/does for grind what crack does for the mind <G>. Ok, it's not that bad, but it's addictive & repetitive, while being solo/casual friendly & most PC/platform spec friendly, which are 2 things Blizzard did their marketing on very well. LOTRO is only better imo because of it's integrated lore & story, better visuals/world immersion & far different/better community due to it being an almost purely PvE game.

And you can't compare EQ1 to WoW - it's utterly antiquated & prosaic as a mmo in 2010. Even WoW is falling behind the times, even if it's not losing subs as yet.

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Originally posted by Mazin
I despise grammar police on internet forums, especially in the society we live in today with things such as text messages. 
I'm horrible at grammar and spelling and hated studying it in school.  I improved it a lot while studying for my admissions test to get in Grad school, but I still hate it and make many errors all the time.
I say that to say this, just because i struggle with it does not mean that I am not educated.  My quantitative and analytical skills are very high, I'm an accountant by trade.  I do taxes for doctors and other highly intelligent people all the time, God gave us all abilities that we excel in and other abilities we aren't so good in.
Judging someone's intellect or education based upon one's understanding of written English language is moronic and is many times an indicator that you yourself are not well educated and are taking  an opportunity to try and prove your intellect by degrading someone else by highlighting the tidbit of information you do know.

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Dude, you can't be that bad at spelling as I couldn't spot one mistake in that whole post. ;)

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Originally posted by GTwander

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Originally posted by Respit

As someone else touched on, the use of the word "lag" for any problem is one of my pet peeves.
Well, that and the improper use of the words lose/loose.
 

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Heh, I hate it when people can't spell the word "ridiculous". For how overused it is these days, on top of the built-in spellcheck in most forums, there is absolutely no excuse for misspelling it beyond wanting to look uneducated.

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"your" instead of "you're" has to be right up there...don't even get me started on "ur" ;)

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Originally posted by nekollx

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Originally posted by Kruul

Size does matter. The game worlds are way to small. 
I have played LOTRO more than any of the current titles and Moria comes to mind. After steamrolling the content I placed a wager with a guildy that I could run (no mount) from the entrance  of Moria to the Lothlorien side in under 15 minutes. It ended up taking me just over 16 minutes. It made the game from there on seem so small.
If a small company like Aventurine can make a persistant world that is many times the size of WOWs,the companys like Blizzard, Turbine, and SOE should be able to  make something truely massive.

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Originally posted by Nostromo21
Travel times. I want to play a mmo game, not an aboriginal walkabout simulation. Cut them the f#$k down & stop wasting our time & money! :)
 
 
 
 
just saying.....

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Hey, I got no beef with enormous game worlds - love them in fact! But give us travel powers/mechanics ala CoX, GW or early fast travel vehicles ala the current SWG.
I like to stop & smell the roses more so than most actually, but once I've had to run (usually in quicksand slow-mo mode :) through the same area/place in a mmo for the 50th time, it all gets a bit old & nothing turns me off a game quicker (yes, I'm looking at YOU EQ2, about 5 years back!).

I don't care if portals or teleports or insta-travel is not realistic & breaks immersion for some. They are free to not use them & walk/run everywhere if they like :). OTOH, if the devs want my money, I won't be running around like a hamster for long. I'd rather grind mobs actually, as much as I hate that as well. And mounts you get at high levels are next to useless also - some of us are casual players who may not care about the endgame at all & like to experiment with alts & spend most of our (very limited) time in the low-mid levels. And we pay our $15/mth like everyone else, so there! ;-p

Travel times. I want to play a mmo game, not an aboriginal walkabout simulation. Cut them the f#$k down & stop wasting our time & money! :)

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Originally posted by Death1942
your no2 is a given.
 
Every game that has ever released has had to deal with other games coming out at/around the same time.  Due to the traditional release times (pre Christmas - Nov/Dec, Post Christmas Feb/march, Midyear July/sep) most games tend to get clumped together with at least 1 other game similar to it.  You could say 2010 is a bad time to release too because of a whole host of games coming out.
 
The point is saying that a game should not release in X year or Y month because Z game is coming out is pointless.

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I think you're underestimating the behemoth that is Blizzard. That's not to say that I'm a fan or like their games in any way, but it is what it is. 2, possibly 3, major releases by the #1 game development studio out there at around the same time as anyone else's games go to market? Not a good idea by anyone's standards, even Bioware's. Other games/studios are neither here nor there, as they can't complete in the sqame league. It is entirely on point actually. They practically destroyed several other mmos with WoW alone over the first couple years, so I think it's a case of 'ignore at your own peril' Bioware.

Anyway, as much of a SW fan as I am, I've equally become a Bioware anti-fan since NWN probably, & have no love lost for Blizzard either, so could care less. I may try Sw:ToR when it launches, I may not (I didn't even try SWG until last year). So, I have no vested interest in saying what I did, but I think it's clearly a very relevant marketing point which I'm sure Bioware will take into consideration.

You'll all forgotten 2 very important points:

1. It still might be a half-developed, buggy mess if & when they release it in 2011 (they might not even have workable game code this year lol!)
2. It may compete against the likes of D3 & SC2 in 2011 - very bad release strategy if so :)

Why not float it as open source to the fan base/community & see where it goes? Assuming someone else hasn't bought it out from you PC & is going to make another run at it. OS hasn't hurt a lot of systems & apps at all, to say the least. Once you get volume interest, you'll get advertisers & investors back in droves. Just a thought.