I actually really like this game. I think it is the best game to come along in years. 

The wait alone was enough to kill the game then the IP ban combined with really no advertising and now this. It's like how to shoot yourself in the foot 101. I see why so many are against Acclaim. To bad spellborn NV could not get a better publisher.

I am glad I read this before I decided to sub. Really my only other reason not to sub is the lack of population. The pop is not a big deal for me but the last company I had this type of issue with was Horizon's. Those guys billed me many many months after my sub was cancelled. I am therby fearful that I will like this game even more and in a few months it will be a graveyard.

Bugs eventually get fixed and polish comes in time with any MMO. I love to play but hard to see a future with this game and the way they keep pushing people away. 1 by 1 people will vote with their feet.

I re-read thru the new "update" and obviously a North American release is not a part of their 2009 plans

WHEN DO WE GET TO PLAY IN NORTH AMERICA?????? enough silence already.

This is a load of crap to tell me about a game I should be playing already. Completely unimportant information to me. I want to play yesterday. I want to see beyond lvl 7.8. I remember once upon a time reading that release for NA was today. The game is up and stable. Why is this taking so bloody long?

I also registered by proxy. I have played every subclass except Bloodwarrior to 7+.  I have my favorites for sure and do think the game is very fun and quite polished for a new release. Hopefully it survives long enough to flesh out. My biggest concern is that I remember reading that US release was slated for Jan. 9, 2009. I have yet to hear a peep from Acclaim/Spellborn NV. My concern is on the 8th hearing about a push back to release. At this point some information would be better than total silence. One might think there would be some inkling of a voice about the expectation of release from Acclaim or Spellborn NV?

Also, I have been on recently and I do usually see some people on the Int'l server depending upon the time I get on. I have not seen much population lately and hope it is mostly my time zone and/or a combination of that and people that out grew the starter areas. West coast USA is eight hours behind.

I hope I can buy/play on the 9th. I am more than ready. I hope that some people will give it a try even though you may not be able to play with your friends due to IP block issues. You can at least get a good taste to see if you like it for FREE. It never hurts to make more friends!

Things I would like to hear:  

Someone to confirm that there is a decent current population.

Something about NA release.

Will NA box purchases get 90 days free?

I really like the combat system. To me it is nothing like WoW. Unless you are a fps veteran it will take much much more than 2 hours of time to get good at combat. Personally I like to select with my mousewheel as well as aim with the mouse and dodge/attack with the keyboard. This has taken some time to learn and I love getting better as the backstabs can hurt as well as you can keep away from being hit. No dice rolls for iht or miss. Timing and distance is everything on melees. Mages are a bit different and I like a challenge.

Quests are not spoon fed to me but after playing and actually searching I figured them out pretty easy. I am glad I was not spoon fed to the NPC/quest goal. Also, the starting area is not really that big so IMO one does not have to look far to figure it out. In Hawksmouth if you pull up the map and scroll over the map it tells you the in town places of interest and you are an arrow on screen. To me it was very easy to find stuff in town. I liked this about the game, I like to explore. I am not so interested in hitting cap in 2 weeks.

The UI needs some polish and so does the game but not very much. Most games only get better only time will tell. I am sure there is much more in store as the devs are very committed to that end.

Plenty of people not happy with the quests content. Not a problem here. I have quested in many an mmo and I am not sure any that I played were more or less different. WoW, VG, AC, LoTRO, GW, HZ. You run an errand, kill a guy for someone else, gather resources, go to a new zone and talk to so and so, etc... How different or immersive can you make that once you have done that in other mmo's? You have the option of not questing too. PeP is great :-)

I seem to see more hate/negative on these boards that hype too. So I do not think it is overhyped but I could be wrong. You will definately need some time to get the hang of combat. Once you get good the game shines. I like feeling powerful ala my AC days

There are stats to modify but not the usual stats that you get used to in most mmo's. There are NO attack or defense modifiers. You and only you hit or miss based on how good you can aim with mouse look. Anyway, I prefer to use mouse look and aim with my right hand and dodge with my left hand on the keyboard.  To mitigate damage you Again need to eveade and only you can evade by using your keyboard and learning when the mob/player is attacking. So while there are no attack mods, defense mods or armor mods there are plenty of ways to buff your other stats with sigils. These sigils happen to fit into your weapon/armor. There are also shields in the game but they are purely for show as again armor class is not a part of Spellborn.  Also, all the subclasses are hybrids. Mages can tank, warriors can dps, rogues can heal.

So, armor/weapons are far from worthless as you can add sigils to them and buff your main stats: Body mind and focus.  There are other stats that are influenced by those 3 main stats as well as influenced by personal experience points or PeP. Some of those secondary stats are phyisique (movement speed), morale (damage output) concentration (attack speed as in how fast the skill deck revolves). Sigils will buff this and more and I did not even mention resistances which again are not a dice roll. Thank you Spellborn

That is just the tip of the iceberg. So far after OB and F2P I am really getting the hang of the game and deciding on what classes to play once US release hits. There are a few things that ned polish but the combat is very unique and takes some practice. Some of my impressions have been that the UI could be a bit better (bigger radar). the world could be more interactive. And some are not so happy with the quests but they work well for me. Hey newb quests are just that and some people catch on faster than others. Also, some like the graphics and some do not. Gameplay is far more important to me than looks.

I hope this helped a bit with this mostly off topic thread 

I love this game.  I am lucky to have tested CB and OB. I like that i coukld not figure things out and was not SPOON fed everything I need to know. You have to use you r firggin brain. I like that I can log into maggie the jack cat and get a spoiler (Although some spoilers will pop up). I alos need to learn to be better at touch keyboarding.

THANK GOD THIS IS NOT A WoW CLONE!!!!

I really had a great time almost as much fun as my first mmo. The only game that seems this ambitous is darkfall.

USE your brain and stop being spoon fed quest info and learm to use your keyboard. This is really a great game and will only get better. The people that made this game care about their product. This style will not please everyone but WoW does not please everyone.

I do wish that the EU players will be able to play on servers that their friends are on. This does stink but as I lack information as to why this is happening (real behind the scenes truth) You will be able to play and .... OMG make new friends!!!! yes you should not get divided from other EU countries but that should not stop your enjoyment. I am in N.A. and will be lucky to play by January.

I will be soooo happy to give my money to TCoS. I already think this is a winner. Sad that many won't see this as there previous or first mmo will not allow then to think uotside the box. No game will be perfect for all players but this definitely make strides where others have only mimmiced the FoTM mmo.

Give it a try it will be F2P till lvl 7?  and do not expect to be spoon fed, expect to have to actually use your keyboard and brain. I am pleased at what is yet to come.

can't wait for spellborn. Everything else IMO s a WoW clone. unsubbes LoTRO a month ago and it was not even average at best. not even remotely interested in AoC, WoW xp, War or DF.

According to my unofficial count and the rules. 49 people have missed thier opportunity to recive a beta key. That should open up those slots for deserving and hungry to help people. <<<<<<<

Also, those that wait patiently are waiting longer due to the non responsive winners. I hope they get tosed in the loser pool and some of us that watch the boards every few hours get a break, 49 people is way too many. What were they thinking? Have they even heard about this game? would they play even if let in? hmmm, begs so many more questions.

btw, congrats to the winners that confirmed.

They have been in closed beta for a long long time. I hope they release on 11/27/08 as they have pushed back time and time again. I also hope that those keys get you in game within 24 hours due to the rapidly approaching release date and no info on an open beta period. Open beta would defeat the purpose of keys anyway.

Despite many naysayers, once this game hits it could very well be the sleeper hit of the year.

Asheron's Call. Played many others since but for the better part of 6 years that was the game for me. To this day it is the number one reason that graphics (IMO) are so completely over-rated in the new mmo's. Gameplay and great loot tables will keep me around a long time. A great community helps too.

This is great news. I hope that with this extra time they have a smooth and relatively error free release.

I have also read about beta testing from TCoS forums and it sounds like they are asking the beta testers to do specific things and all be in a specific area at the same time to test for lag and server load stuff. It makes me wonder how much "freeplay" they give the beta testers. That might be what they are looking for in a tester, the ability to follow directions and stay quiet. So my two cents is they are using the beta test phase much to the advantage of building a better game at release. I am sure this would impress a publisher after seeing a product working well but not quite there yet.

I think a lot of TCoS fans are looking for three wishes. Published. Released. and a speedy next 6 months or so to Play.

Martie, great question. I looked at Pyroxenite's original post and it does not seem to match the title to the thread and then things degenerated into a discussion on mmo's and what mmo reminds you of, or is better than X other mmo.  Perhaps the topic is there is no topic? maybe the OP has a better answer?

I do agree tho. This is a very difficult thread to follow. My guess is that WAR being pushed back will help TCoS. Might if TCoS comes out first. I do not think that looks like it will happen, def not in the US. So? perhaps a post, like mine, is way off topic. Forgive me. I was more following a conversation rather than the point of the orginal post.

I had similar experiences and found that on a few occasions that. Since i did not come over to VG with a guild from a diff game it was real hard to get in and or fit in with a bunch of people that new each other for years in an diff mmo.

Also, grouping could be done but some nights I just logged out after 30-45 mins of lfg. I really liked the game but was not in love with it. Might still be playing with more friendly feelings from encounters with others. My experience prompted me to roll several lower lvl toons and before I quit for good I had a cleric at 24, bard at 20 monk at 18 and a few others over 10. Maybe that was not what others experienced? I am think many that are still playing have many in game friends and came over with them via a guild of a different mmo? Seemed hard for some reason to make friends. i did make friends and even still talk to 1 of them who also quit. Only she went back to WoW. Not an option for me, lol.

So it does not surprise me as I would think that there are less people now than in the first 4 months of the game. Same experience and less people = not good. Community, or lack there of can kill a game, even a good game that is really fun.

I miss you guys. Just wondering and would think sombodys got to be around. I am Tiru from HG. Was sworn to Jynxed for a long long time. Was recently trying to reach her and I am sure she is deeply in to WoW.

Say Hi and what are you playing now?

Burtzum, You are quite correct. I am lucky that I never got scammed in 6+ years. We seemed to learn about the scams like the trade window trick and tell everyone in the guild to not show strangers your gear in a trade window. I also knew most of the people I played with and could go knock on there door in person.

There were griefers for sure. and thieves. Sorry your PPGSA was ripped. I can only imagine your anger.

I loved the small little guild of MUG's. Most Unorganized Group. We ended up being a tight knit bunch and everyone in the guild really gave and helped with what ever was needed. sadly tho I do remember the spam and grief of thefts. also, there was some manipulation for vassals in the beginning that made for some uncomfortable relationships. That passed by in time though.

Hopefully other games realized this and made better trade windows as that seemed to be the main way to steal. Also had a few FFA players that got a rep in game and we just let them bull in a china shop till they got there drop or we moved on to other areas. I still see peolpe loosing alot of sleep over others actions. Even last night on Skype my friend spent a good 30 minutes in game explaining the frustration of the hunters in her guild being asked to NEVER have pet on any other raid again. Oh the drama. I laughed at her and wondered if they would just get rid of hunters in that guild? I will hear more tonight.

Thanks for the reminder that all was not perfect and pleasant. There was some A**holes that still did not ruin (for me) the best mmo so far.  Forgive my sentimental nonsense as I really miss and made some great friends in AC1. My Ex-wife (wife at the time) could not stand AC and I got her son hooked on it too :)

I hope TCoS comes close. I might not even bother with anything else until maybe I can get in on a EU server.

At the TCoS site they had some hype about being the game of the week here at mmorpg.com. Not sure what week that was? or will be? because I really did not see much here more than usual. Maybe it is still an upcomming week?? kind of sad.

A few thoughts being on the outside and not being in closed beta or working for TCoS. We lack information. Also, NDA is around and nobody wants to blow it or give info that could be changed. Somewhere along the line tho they (TCoS/Frogster) are going to need to market more aggressively, or just plain market. Seeing as how there is no date for EU release they might not want to market today and hype a game and have to also say "be patient".  Also, no US publisher. Short of a gun to their heads you wont really get a date for release. Even then release is subject to change.

Stuff along those lines makes me get the feeling that in the US we will be lucky to see the game by christmas. I am with you. I think TCoS will be an entirely new and fun player combat driven mmo. I also think that when the owners/publishers do market more we will be closer to playing. To do that many months out might backfire. Too many have waited for years and there is some energy about the delay in many posts. So I may play something else in the mean time. I am sure the hype will come, and hopefully the game not long after.

I can wait for AoC. I do think that even if they bump it back another month or so it will still need some work after release. What game doesn't. Expect some bugs delayed again or not. The impression I get after reading other dev chat is that no date is set in stone. Yeah that was from WAR but it has to be true if we trust the dev's to do their job and learn from the process of beta testing anywhere.

I am with you though on that sinking feeling that a delay is inevitable.

Hands down AC1 is the best game ever. I have tried many others and none had the community at all. i remeber asking total strangers to help me retrieve a corpse and 99% of the time they would and not only that they would gladly give you back your items!!  The trust was great. The game play was great. The people that played were even better. I can not believe that a game could restore your faith in mankind. I have not experienced anything even remotely close to the fun of AC1. I am hoping that TCoS could fill that void and I will probably try AoC.

Once you have dodged a ranged attack/spell it seems retarded to not be able to do that.

I think I will have fun in AoC and mainly I want the sense of community. I really do think TCoS will be niche and that could make for a great game despite the negativity as far as it being a "twitch" fps. TCoS will take more than twitch from what I have read. Time will tell on that tho.

So far for me AC1 is king but I hope something will come along that will keep me around for more than 6-9 months.

Good choices so far. If you wait long enough you might even consider Age of Conan. funcom is a good company and is one of the original mmo creators with Anarchy Online. AoC is just over 6 weeks out but that could give you plenty of time to read up on what is known as the NDA is still in effect. Tons of info on it right here.

If you are really immersed in WoW you may just want to go out and see the sun and do some real life activities. Most people that fall in love with an mmo have a hard time trying other's as you can not help but compare and expect a similar (hope for a better) experience. I think change is great and you will not like/like certain things about other games you try, but do try them. Also, i think you can try LoTRO free for 2 weeks? can't go wrong with a free peek.  Good luck!