It took me less than 24 hours into my trial to fall in love with this game and upgrade to a full subscription.  The game gave me that same feeling I got when EQ first came out and I was thrilled!  However, things change in games and unfortunately, my enjoyment of the game faltered significantly.

What did it for me was the lack of content.  I was bored and the grind for factions was tedious. Crafting, though intricate in a way, was also very limited in that everyone could make the same stuff, and I mean, identical. There was no way to "crit" a crafted item to make something special or any way to color items to make outfits match.

The final nail in the coffin?  Patch 1.4.  I enjoyed the flexibility and diversity of people's characters. You could put in the extra effort and find every extra AP in the game in order to open more skills or mutations and really round out a character.  However, with 1.4 they completely changed how buffs and temporary buffs worked and for me, it was a completely different game, not what I had paid for.  Of course, this is just MY opinion and it is MY reason for leaving Fallen Earth.

To the OP, you should have also had an option for the 1.4 patch driving people away.  Just my thoughts.

P.S. To those who still love the game, I'm very happy for you.  As an MMO player, I never want to see other players without a game they can enjoy.  So, continue to enjoy FE, I wish I could enjoy it still as well.

Servers are set like this now:

Set PvE

• Ironspine
• Damballah
• Bardisattva
• Dagoth
• Derketo
• Hanuman

Wiccana PvE

• Gwahlur
• Mannanan
• Ajujo
• Thog
• Zug
• Omm

Tyranny PvP

• Scourge
• Bluesteel
• Stormrage
• Deathwhisper
• Doomsayer
• Shadowblade

Cimmeria RP PvP

• Bloodspire
• Agony
• Bane
• Hyperborea

The bold server names are the current servers available.  All of the others have been merged into the correlating server.

There is also an unlimited free trial now for the Tortage Island portion of the game for levels 1-20.  There is quite a bit of ganking in the PvP enabled areas for Tyranny, but as you know, there are plenty of quests available for you to do without worrying about the open areas with PvP.

Not sure if I answered your questions very well, but hope the above information is found to be somewhat helpful.

EQ1 with AoC or FE graphics, I'd be sold.

I miss the community of EQ... back in the day, if you were a jerk, you either rerolled or became a loner because people wouldn't tolerate you.  People respected other players for the most part. People took pride in their guild and their accomplishments. And to think, all of this before Team Speak or Vent... 100 man raids and no voice communications, imagine that...

I swore I'd never come back to AoC.  I was so mad at the state of the game at release and the following couple of months, that I thought it would never recover.  Saw the server merges and decided again, the game was a failure, barely making it in the market.

Well, a bunch of my MMO friends are trying it again.  So, I put my pride aside and downloaded the unlimited trial.  Feels the same for Tortage, but I honestly haven't done a lot there yet to find many differences or changes.  BUT! There was this one spot, inside the city gate, on the wood planking that you would get stuck on... I litereally spent 15 minutes running over this very spot the other night, thrilled that you no longer got stuck there!  I know, I'm pathetic... but what it comes down to is some of the simple things that drove me nuts appear to be potentially fixed.  This gives me enough confidence to really check AoC out again.

Besides, the free, unlimited trial for Tortage... doesn't hurt, so why not?

I am looking forward to more information on the expansion due out very soon.  I'm holding off on resubbing my main account until there are more concrete reviews.

Just my small contribution to the topic at hand....

Originally posted by MudHekket

There are no pure combat characters are there?  Everyone is a crafter, right?

 

What are the best factions for:

A melee DPS specialist?

A tank?

A rifleman?

A pistoleer?

You don't have to craft a single thing if you don't want to.  However, you will be spending a lot of chips (currency in game) to have proper armor and weapons.  Not only that, but there are many quests that require items and if you're buying from NPCs or the AH, it's going to get expensive.

I recommend looking up Globaltech Atlas and checking their character build tools.  You can see suggestions based on fighting types or faction types.

Help channel is for help.  They tell you what's acceptable and what's not.  Follow the rules or face the consequences.

To begin a post complaining about the GMs is ridiculous.  You claim that you weren't personally reprimanded, yet you make a post about it... why?  Are you seeking attention?  Do you have nothing better to do with your time?

The GMs in FE are great.  I have found a few quests that were bugged and sent a tell to a GM - usually within 2 minutes, the issue is resolved.  This means a GM actually took the time to read what I sent, responded that they were taking care of it, and for me, spawned the mob I needed for a quest.  All of this in 2 minutes or less.

There are announcements all the time regarding the purpose of the channels in the game. They also announce which GMs are online for those who may need help. I honestly can't think of a more helpful and responsive GM team from any game I've ever played.  BTW, I started with Meridian 59 and went on to EQ and a ton of others over the years.  This is the first game since M59 & EQ where your reputation does mean something and being a jerk will cost you with the online community.

Again to the OP, why did you even make this topic?  Think about it...

Nice to see my new "wait for a game to be out for a week or two before buying" let's me sit back, relax and laugh.  No interest in this game, but had heard today was the big day.

Honestly, I'm sorry y'all are having trouble getting in.  It totally sucks!  Good luck to all of you!

Instead of always blaming these game companies when you screw up (or when others screw up) and get hacked, apeal the government to set standards for internet security.  Push our lawmakers to put something in place to go after these people who use phishing scams and key logger programs.  Demand that they find a way to trace, track, arrest, extrodite and put these offenders on trial.

That should put a stop to a lot of phishing/hacking careers.

BUT this is all dependent on the online gaming community asking for more to be done.  Finding ways to have laws put in place to protect us.

Yes, I know... this is all wishful thinking.  But, one can dream.

Originally posted by Thillian

Based on Xfire - the game went from 90000 hours played daily to 18000, which is an 80% drop of activity.

Using Xfire as a source for subscription numbers = complete fail.  IMO Anyone who uses Xfire numbers to say how a game is doing, loses all credibility.  Now, if you were using the Xfire numbers simply as one aspect of user/player decline, that's cool, it is a form of data, just no where near properly accurate.

On a side note, I agree that the subscriptions are declining.  My sub was cancelled and ended just last week.  However, I'm not an Xfire user so my account would not have been considered in their numbers anyway!

Originally posted by DeadlyHomie

 The game is stil in the sorry ass state just like it was during the launch. Cities still cause major fps drop, pvp is still meaningless and the game still caters to casuals and noob pve carebears who love their zomg 1000 levels.

I completely disagree with your statements.

They have done some major improvements to the graphics and lag issues.  Sure, there is still a drop in FPS in cities, but not nearly as bad as it used to be.  The graphic improvements have also done a lot to enhance the visual effects of the game.

PvP is gaining more meaning and the developers have already stated more changes are coming to encourage being more selective with your factions.  So, in a way you are correct regarding this, but it's not a complete waste of time.  Some people do enjoy PvP just to PvP.

IMO There are more players who are enjoying the wide variety available to them in the game, not just to level to cap.

If you don't like the game, please give real points that make it as bad as you claim it is.

I just replied to another person looking for a F2P game.  Here's the link to their post: www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/267334/Lf-Pve-F2P-Mmo.html

I somewhat compared two F2P games that I personally played.  I would say Perfect World has the larger community of the two suggested.

Good luck in your search!

F2P Fantasy games... I'll throw out the two I have played in the past:  Runes of Magic and Perfect World International.

Runes of Magic

• Dual Class System, you level your primary class and then can switch the other to the primary and level that up
• Many quests for regular rewards as well as daily quests for tokens used for specialty items
• Cash Shop - very dependent on this IMO, almost too much so.
• Graphics style is on par with WoW
• Customizable gear, you can transfer stats from one piece to another, great for that individual style/look

Perfect World International

• Single Class System, you have classes to choose from based on what race you play
• Many quests for regular rewards and daily quests for bonus experience at higher levels
• Cash Shop - not necessary, only a few CS items are bound, the rest you can get from other players who did spend money in the CS
• Graphics style is more anime
• Customizable looks by using the appearance slots

Both games have their good sides and yet both have bad aspects.  Overall, you can enjoy both of these games tremendously, they do have a good amount to offer, especially for F2P.

Best of luck in your search!

LotRO is great, but for gamers like me, it gets boring after a short time.  The Tolkien books are amazing, the movies are great, the MMO based off of them is ok.  I mean, if you're going to read all of the quests and really follow the storyline, I suppose you'll enjoy it.  However, an MMO is an MMO - you do quests and level your character.  There are still a lot of people playing the game, new players join all the time and old players roll alts.  You will find people to play with at any given level, some servers will of course be better than others.  Being that you're European, I can't really comment... I only have knowledge of US based servers.

• Meh looking characters
• Beautiful world
• New Legendary Weapons with Mines of Moria to level
• Raids for higher levels, there is gear gating, so be prepared to do intances/raids multiple times to advance to the next
• Overall solid community, good opportunities to find role players

Fallen Earth is a great game as well.  It's newer, only out for about four months now.  Has some bugs, but the developers are well aware of them and working on them as fast as they can.  A very mature community, on par with LotRO.  Again though, it's an MMO so it has the usual quests to advance your character.  Everything you need/want in the game can be crafted by you or you can get items as drops, quest rewards, purchase from NPCs or off of the Auction House - a lot of ways to gear yourself.

• Customizable characters, they are on par with the graphic qualities of the world
• Desert atmosphere, so it is rather bland, but the graphics are good with improvements since release
• Variety of ways to level, questing, killing, crafting, harvesting - they all give you XP and AP
• PvP areas that you can go into, or avoid if it's not your thing
• Overall solid community, have seen some role players, but not my thing, so haven't paid much attention

Hope that helps you a little bit.  Overall both have really solid and mature communities.  Other than that, they are two very different games.  My favorite at this point is Fallen Earth, and that is the game I personally would recommend.

Good luck!

Originally posted by deugemiet

If people say this is the best mmo arround then they don't know better. Probably they lack experience with playing mmo's in general because if u read all the comments 1 thing is pretty clear....at lvl 45 the game is over... They should improve the game to pull people into pvp. Maybe they should look at how pvp is arranged in Dark Ages of Camelot (best pvp-game imo).

And people who say others lack experience with playing MMOs because they enjoy Fallen Earth are naive.

If you really want to know how the game is going, do the trial.  It's free, requires no CC information and hey, did I mention it's free?  Also, I highly recommend you visit the official forums for Fallen Earth and see what the developers are saying about the game.  There is a lot coming in, level increase, new sector and overall, more content.

There is a Help channel for the beginning levels in which players and GMs are always willing to give advice and suggestions in.  There are GMs on 24/7 for any in game issues players may have, as well as making sure players get the help they need when starting out.  The forums are the same, moderators and developers are constantly communicating with the community regarding suggestions, upcoming changes to the game and in general, fun chat.

There are some bugs with the game, then again, for a game that's been out for 4 or 5 months now, it is what it is.  By the players submitting bug reports, the company is working diligently to resolve game issues.  Customer service is great from what I've encountered and many others have posted on these forums what a great experience they've had as well.

Hope to see more new faces in game!

There are a lot of threads here about people looking for a new game.  Some great suggestions in them as well.  I don't see many sci-fi games in your list, but I'll throw Fallen Earth out there for you.  10 day free trial that doesn't require any CC info.  In the Fallen Earth forums here, some great guides have been posted recently that will give you an idea of how the game plays as well as screenshots to check out.

Best of luck in your search!

Originally posted by Muridan

Don't play this game.

Try the trial for yourself, people reading these forums should be able to make their own decisions about what game to play.  OP, please save yourself some grief and flames by keeping blunt statements like this out of your posts.  Try instead "I don't recomend this game".

I recently played through a trial, with high hopes, only to be let down.

Ah yes, the usual "high hopes" people have for games.  It took many years of playing MMORPGs for me to finally realize if I'm hyped up, I'm going to be disappointed with something in a new game.  It seems inevitable.  You put yourself in the position to be let down, learn from your mistake.

First of all, even with the graphics cranked all the way up, this game looks unfinished and very poorly done.

Could you reference what other games have better polish or finished looks?  Actually, let's pull an exact example, please tell us a game that has blades of grass vs the usual flat "clump" grass for landscape, I'd like to see which game has better or equal, again, let's pick one thing, the grass, ok?

Gameplay is clunky, the controls and interface are awkward at best, and keymapping doesn't allow enough freedom of customization to allow you to make up for the poor design. I can see what they were trying to do, they just went about it all wrong.

Please define how it was clunky.  Was it the "crosshair" type of combat?  I know we are all used to obtaining a target and then spamming skills/spells, this game isn't like that, you actually have to keep moving your mouse to hit the target.  It can be frustrating, like melee trying to hit ranged who like to keep moving away, but you do get used to it.

The thing I had the biggest problem with is that they allow the GM's to play the game. On it's own that's not a horrible thing, except that those GM's are allowed to act like...well, GM's while they are playing. I'm sorry but in my opinion there is a serious ethical isue with allowing a GM to use his GM authority while he/she is supposed to be just another paying customer. I witnessed an example of the problem during my trial play, at one point a GM "Carlin" threatened to shut down the entire chat because he wasn't happy with the fact that there was soo much chatter in the help chat...really?

As others have stated, the GMs don't play the game as GMs.  They are there only to monitor the game and make sure things are going right.  They are also one of the best assets this game has... there are GMs on 24/7, ready to assist whenever needed.  You obviously totally exaggerated the "shut down the entire chat", or have taken it completely out of context for something extreme that was happening in chat.  If you can't provide a screenshot of the GM saying this, I have a very hard time believing you at all.  And remember, /help is for help, not any other chat.  Follow the rules, everyone's happy.

The game's one saving grace is the crafting system (stolen from EVE, and not improved apon at all, in fact it's not as well done.) but it isn't enough to save this beta quality game.

The crafting in this game is great for a few reasons, you can craft anywhere, anytime, online, offline, in a facility or out hunting.  You can craft everything your character will need or use in the game, food, drink, weapons, armor, vehicles.  The system, though like the one in another game, is it's own style.  To claim it was stolen from another game, well, sorry, other than Meridian 59 or UO and EQ, basically everything in every MMO is stolen from some other game.

I had very high hopes for this game, I loved the IP, and was into the backstory, but they failed to deliver a first tier product, I've played several of the free-to-play games that are better done than Fallen Earth.

Again, you set yourself up to be disappointed, lesson learned.  There is a great backstory, questlines have some great humor as well as tie into the other towns nicely.  IMO this is a first tier, A-List game - it's different than the majority of MMOs out there, hence some people who dislike it, they just don't "get" how to play it.  It is YOUR opinion that this game fails, and really, it failed due to your mindset and expectations.

(My responses in yellow)

To have people continuously claim FE is a bad game, has gotten very old.  I respect those who list out specific issues with a game.  For those who just complain to complain, well, I'm sorry, go back to the "great game" you played that was so much better.  This is one game where IMO it's the type of interface for combat that throws people off, they just can't get past it - and it's a shame.

• Check your video settings.
• Ensure you indeed have the most up to date drivers for your graphics card.
• Find a bug?  Report it so the staff knows about it and can fix it.
• Need help, use the /help channel and keep it to help issues only, it's not a global chat, follow the simple rules.
• Still hate the game?  Give specific reasons, and keep them factual.

Yes, I've bad mouthed a game or two.  However, all of my complaining or recommendations to avoid a game are backed with facts, links to moderator/developer discussions and sites that list out specifically what I'm talking about.  I will add my opinions, but always state, they are just my opinion.  If more people "hate posting" would follow some simple restraint, I think even people who disagree with a "hater" will engage in a civil conversation, no matter the game.

Those who hate FE, I really do hope you find the right game for yourself.  When you do find it, please, feel free to share that information with others, even us FE players.  Many of us like to keep our options open and are more than willing to check out a game someone has suggested.

Go to their main site and check out the options, they just released a new way to DL the client/trial.

Link to news release on torrent file: www.fallenearth.com/node/364

Also, if you can't do the trial now because of a previous signup, maybe use a different email address.

Originally posted by MadeForWar

So I finished my free trial of fallen earth today. I am shocked at how bad this game is and how high its rated.

It has a high rating due to players who enjoy the game, rating it as such from their game experiences. 

Before this game I had been playing darkfall and loved it but wanted to give FE a try.

Darkfall isn't for everyone, glad to hear you're one of the ones who like it. I never even bothered with it, so wont comment at all on Darkfall itself.

FE quests are mediocre at best they are a lot of kill 10 of these gather 15 of this etc.

Every MMO I have played has quests like this, not sure why you'd expect these types of quests to NOT be in a game.  There are also track and kill quests, craft x number of items quests and talk to other NPC quests to help you get aquainted with a town.

The PVP is absolutely terrible no one is in the PVP zones and there is no reason to PVP, If you kill someone you stand to gain nothing.

As a trial player, you were limited to a level 10 cap.  This in itself limits what you will encounter in the game, and honestly, most players 10 and under are focusing on building their character as well as still discovering all that the game has to offer.

The game has mobs that chase you to no end and will keep hitting you as you run away for huge distances and even hit you when they seem to be 100 feet away.

As another stated, ranged mobs will hit you from a great distance, they are ranged after all.  If you're dying that quickly, you got too close and/or were too low level to be around that area as it is.  Better planning and being a bit more cautious would benefit your future gaming experiences.

The game has loot glitches that occur when you attempt to loot a corpse your character is frozen for a few minutes.

I have heard of this issue happening to a few players.  Definitely a sync or lag issue which you should be able to fix by adjusting your settings, verifying your internet connection, possibly rebooting your modem/router/hub/whatever. Also, if this was happening on a consistent basis, making an effort to contact a GM for in game support may have helped you fix things. If the support people aren't aware of your issue, they can't fix it!

The graphics and world is not impressive at all.

With the recent graphics updates, IMO, the world is just fine.  No, it's not LotRO landscapes, but it's the Grand Canyon... a desert, what would you like to see in it?  The grass has blades of grass, not clumps like a lot of other games try to do.  Again though, could be something with your settings, I don't know.

Basically this game is horrible I can't find one thing going for it even the fighting system is weak and uneventful.

The game is not horrible.  Perhaps it's not your style of game and with issues your system had running it along with your personal taste in games, made a combination that caused you to not enjoy the game.  Regarding the fighting system, it does need some work, but it is by no means uneventful... you have to keep the mob in the crosshairs/ring or you don't hit them.  I'd say it actually takes a little skill to attack things vs other games where you get a target and just start spamming skills.

The only positive I hear people really talking about in game is the crafting system but I found it boring.

Boring, perhaps, but it's useful. Everything your character is going to use in game (armor, weapons, food, drink, buffs, vehicles/mounts, etc.) are craftable.  You can also craft while out hunting or offline.  You also have the option to sit in the proper facility for what you're making to cut down on the craft time to make an item.  Again, may not really be "fun" but extremely useful and easy system to use.

I am going back to darkfall get some actual pvp

(Responses to points OP made are in yellow within the quoted area)

Good luck to you in Darkfall.  It's just a shame you had to make an account to slam Fallen Earth in this manner.  Many of the things you listed were simply something on your end that most likely could have been resolved with a little searching on forums or asking in chat while in game.

Crafting in FE is useful.  You are not hindered by it either, meaning, you can craft while out questing/hunting/gathering and even while you're offline.  Everything you'd use in the game for your character(s) can be crafted... to me, this is much more important than a mini-game to make an item, while sitting in a crafting facility...

If I want to sit in a specialty area to craft an item, I can.  But, I can also log off and do some RL stuff... or better yet, go out and get some experience in the game.  All this while my useful item is being made.

Mini-games or entertaining crafting may be what some want, and that's great, more power to you.  FE will not fall in that catagory, so you have a couple of options, play the game for the other great parts you like, or go play something else with a crafting system you like more.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Very nice review of Fallen Earth!  You hit on a lot of things, but totally skipped crafting.  Any chance you can give details in your eloquent style for the readers here?  I'd write up some information, but honestly, I've commented in so many threads and talked about the crafting previously, my fingers get tired!

Also, another thanks for including current screenshots of the game.  Many will play a game based on graphics and these are pretty good representations of the game.

Awesome job!  Look forward to seeing more information from you on other aspects of the game.