These are concept peices.

So has there been any information on the common area or main starting city? I know its so called story driven but if its an MMO it will have the usual rally area where players can all meet up to go on their story driven adventure? I picture a city with around 2K players all looking for groups to do the story driven adventure. Because the alternative is a server lobby listing activve games and active players that you can log in and join. If thats the case its not an MMO anymore than counterstrike is an MMO.

Its an MMOFPS.

The absolute nessesity to play as a team if you want to overcome more than 50% of the content. The extremely limited solo play. The challenge of fighting your way in, for hours, deep down into a dungeon. 3 day long raids. Quests that really made you try hard, and that you realy feel like you had accomplished something when you finished it. The drastic level curve...and the feeling of accomplishment that you obtaineded when you passed a "hell level". Under water raids/fights with no underwater breathing items...so that the caster had to keep "EB" on you at all times. The need to fight like hell and pay extra close attention to EVERY single fight because the risk of dieing meant that you loose exp, and may even loose all of your equipment (pre graveyards). The challenge of playing an old school mmorpg.

Should they ever bring the graphics up to date on EQ1 I will play it again, but until then I just cant look at 32 colour, 15 frame animations all night long. Yeeech.

I would't say sad. Sad is a word I use for stronger more important emotions. However I know what you are talking about. There is a certain forlorn silence that is felt when you play an older game. The same feeling that you get when you entre an abandoned building, or when you finally finish a long series of books (eg: Song of Ice and Fire, or whatever). It's a muted sense of loss or a gentle haunting perse. For me this feeling is a classic trademark of a well realized story or environment. So no your not alone in this; you will find me and many others walking the lonely halls of the worlds of yesterday musing at things come to pass.

DRAGON AGE IS NOT AN MMORPG.

www.mmorpg.com is becomming less and less about mmorpg's and more and more about advertising for any video game with a sword and a dragon in their theme. It underscores a poor journalistic/editorial focus IMHO. MMORPG used to be specialists on MMORPG's and used to be the go-to place for MMORPG info. Now they are starting to muddy the waters and in turn muddy their own specialization...

Thats not to say that Dragon Age is a bad game because it isn't. After all it was given great reviews at a real multiplatform site www.gametrailers.com who specialize in cross platform gaming.

And yes I do realize that one of the reason for interest in Dragon Age by www.mmorpg.com is because Dragon Age uses what some call traditional MMORPG combat mechanics. Fine and well... but so does Fable, Gothic, Witcher etc... what we are actually talking about here is RPG mechanics not mmorpg mechanics. The MMORPG industry learned ALL of their tricks from the standard RPG platform games (not as if its a big head to head face off or anything). Its just a historical trajectory. Games with an RPG element will inspire each other...golly go figure. Hardly news...and definitively not explicitly mmorpg news.

Dragon Age is NOT an MMORPG...

If you guys are interested in other games than MMORPG's you should check out: www.shacknews.com or www.bluesnews.com or www.gametrailers.com . They have great communities dedicated to all types of video games and great discussion communities to boot. Enjoy.

A great game in its time. Aside from EQ it was the only other real 3D mmorpg running for some time. Then DAOC pried open the doors a bit wider and then all hell broke loose there after.

I beta tested AC1 (and AC2) and loved it dearly, but it just never managed to pry me away from EQ. The magic sytem will always remind me of dozens of nights with trial and error before the help files came out. I think AC was the first game to do themed nights (eg: Halloween) as it used to have a highly envolved GM base. I used to love the sky clouds and moon in this game (fond memories). To bad about AC2. It had good ideas too but just failed to cary the spirit over from its predecesor. Maybe someday Acheron will once again raise its head from the ashes.

Good on ya AC1 Team, congratulations! .

Cheers!

If SW:TOR is an MMORPG then so is Fable 2...

I know this is the so called return of the free trial but... it is still to little to late.

A free trial MUST start at the same time as initial release if it is to work. The whole point is to give them a taste of what your new product has to offer, to prove your concept, to give them a chance to play your NEW product hopefully pulling them away from their current game. And thats not going to happen months after the initial rush of players have come and left...

Too double the dumb they released their new trial just after a huge title like Aion just came out...they think they are going to steal people away from a new huge game that just started?

To little to late...waaaaay to late, sorry.

One more thing: a 7 day trial? Try 14 maybe more... 7 days is hardly enough to get anywhere in the game (and really that is why it is so short). CO is such a small game that 14 days would be nearing end game.

I'll stop bitching when they give my 60 bucks back. And that goes solid for CO and all these other half @ss3d attempts at MMORPG's that keep coming out. Cheap hacks! For me I wont play a game anymore until I have played a demo. And I wont play a demo half a year after the game has gone silent. These weak and cheap gaming companies are single handedly ruining the MMORPG industry by creating an atmosphere of mistrust between companies and gamers. Do us all a favor and liquidate.

Wish we had a date for release. With so many other games just starting up right now, and my current game subs I'd consider not resubing or not joining the new games if I knew that Mirkwood was coming sooner than later: say in September or Early October and not say December 20th...the last day of fall.

Originally posted by Regnevanz

That new website - A game with bugger all bugs?

I can't think of any other game this polished with such good community functions at launch?

That's like saying "when WoW European servers launched it was the most polished game ever" . Well yeah... because the game was already out somewhere else in the world and has already been played for a good long time.

All the Aion team did was translate and fix the English language and grammar of the games linguistic content and then re-release in the west. Big deal no real accomplishment there.

Not saying its a bad game...but its certainly not to be remembered as a clean release compared to other games. Besides "polished" is subjective. For instance: WoW was polished compared to EQ1, and Vanguard was polished compared to Shadowbane... you do the conceptual math.

No I wont be. Because of the number of times I have been burned by the MMORPG industry releasing broken or unfinished games I always wait a few months to purchase and will almost never buy unless there is a free trial. So basically they have to prove that they are legit before they get my coin. Is that so much to ask?

Journalism is no place for the jaded. Just because the RP community wouldn’t accept you is no reason to run around belittling the honour system that RP communities rely on. As you grow up you will find that not everything in life is quantifiable. Some things rely more on unwritten rules, than on hard and fast expectations. Your inability to see and comprehend the subtle nuances of online culture is outstanding.

And I'm not even a roleplayer...

Exploration is great. One of my favorite things to do. In games or otherwise.

TOR however is on rails. It is highly limited in geographic scope. Not an explorable environment... Unfotunatly.

As far as a great Staw Wars MMO, TOR is just not it.... we will just have to keep waiting (another couple of years I guess).

RTM/Microtransactions are for softcore gamers. Wimps.

Pfft, IF they had the ability/know-how to make "wow in space" then TOR might actually be a great MMO instead of the 'over hyped co-op on rails rehash of KOTOR' that it is looking more and more likely to be. This not an MMORPG it is an MORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). Theres absolutely nothing massive about it.  ~IMHO.

Final Fantasy has always been aimed at the casual gamers. Why would they change pace now? I just hope they make the class/race/customization more diverse than FFX! was.

Originally posted by Puuk

Then be prepared to give Netdevil a big, sloppy kiss.

 

universe.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx

Dang! They stole my idea THAT FAST? Sheesh. What an industry (wink).

Thanks (smirk)!