Phasing has been around since wrath.... unless there is a new phasing being implemented?

Turbine certainly seems to have gotten the right idea as far as f2p is concerned.  Have been enjoying my time back personally, although the deed grinds still suck, and only get worse as you go higher lol.

This is merely a continuation of the dumbing down that occured in the late 90's.  Most of the games you mention as being highwater marks were some of the worst excuses for games that have ever been produced in any generation.  But, that is my personal opinion, much like everything you list is your personal opinion.

First of all it is not up to you nor I to determine the legitimacy of another persons value assessment.  Believe it or not, most people have their own ideas, opinions, values, etc.  And because someone thinks that a sub fee is a waste of money does not make them poor, children, unemployed, or anything of that nature.  It simply means that they feel that they do not want to throw an additional $15 a month down the toilet.  Does it make you feel better to categorize those individuals who do not want to pay a sub fee as something lesser than yourself?

Next, the rest of what you have to say holds absolutely no water.  People do and have been complaining about the rising cost of games, the shortness of games, the box price of mmo's, and everything you have said they do not bitch about, they have done, currently do, and will for the unforseeable future.

Everything sounds great apart from the offline crap.  Hate any form of offline leveling apart from rested xp.  Should take more to level or advance in a game than just paying a sub fee.  Its my biggest gripe about Eve, and now AOC since they adopted this sort of a model.

Are these games so weak, so pathetic that, in order to make up for the lack of quality gameplay,  they must give people a gift for just maintaining a subscription?  What skill, what intellect does it take to let your character advance while you are offline?

So sad, I think this is one of the reasons that already settled gaming IPs make for HORRIBLE mmos.  While Tabletop gaming has one set of rules, and pnp rpgs have their own sets, when mmo devs get their hands on these ips they just bastardize the hell out of them, and all for the sake of "gameplay" or "balance".  In Warhammer Online's case I would wager its more about the dev team not having the time, funding, or talent to install a second race for the order side.

It seems mythic is just a fading shadow of what it once was.  And I have to say it started when they threw Imperium out the window and decided that they needed to fall on a solid IP to get good numbers.  And hey, its impossible to prove a negative, but I have the feeling that if they had first gone with someone far better than Tzeench, and secondly if they actually stuck to the core of what Warhammer is about, this game would be doing far better than it currently is. 

Originally posted by cyphers

There was also some more information released, in a Massively article and dev comments on the official forum.

Nice consolidation, thanks!  Sounds like the most aggressive system mechanic change, as a whole, that I have seen in MMO's in a long while.  Will be interesting to see it in action.

Originally posted by eagle4x4

"which is a combination of wanting crafting, but we don't want to make your character mundane"

Ok, solution; Don't make crafting mundane.

IT CAN BE DONE!!  See pre-cu SWG.....

Resources with dynamic stats, experimentation and product customization = not mundane.

And to be successful thats all you did.  While it was for some people the end all be all of the game a whole lot of us never touched it until the hologrind came about.  Because of the amount of work that being a successful crafter took (seeing as how you had 1 character per server pre-jedi about half of the CRAFTERS I knew had 2 accounts one for what they really enjoyed and the other to go blow off steam or do the resource gathering for em).  And remember how SOE felt about it?  "No one wants to be Uncle Owen or Aunt Beru, everyone wants to be Luke Skywalker."

This way you get to have one of your minions or all of em be Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru while you go off to do the heroic stuff.  OMG, I figured it out!!!  Its Don Quixote in Star Wars!!!!!!!  We get to tilt at the windmills while our minions do the real work lol.  Nice.

Originally posted by twrule

I'm not sure how I feel about my companions going off on their own missions and playing the game without me...

And the whole iconic/heroic theme in this game is really starting to take on this ultra-egoistic element that is frankly kind of creepy.  "I can't be bothered to do anything remotely mundane - I'm far too busy doing epic heroic things 100% of the time - do it for me, minions."

I can imagine a Sith character turning his companions into lackeys and having them shine his boots for him...but a jedi having that attitude?

Well it's not like the jedi actually produce anything.  They make their own sabers and I imagine their robes.  What else?  In kotor the jedi seemed to have servants doing all of the grunt work on dantooine while they sat back in their little base talking.  They are a religious order that doesn't preach or hold sermons, but sit there pondering the mysteries of the force, or go out to try and kill people with a different viewpoint than themselves.... which would lead me to believe that they are no better than a dark age chantry, maybe a little worse because at least the monks worked in their fields.  Maybe thats what the younglings are for? :D

Originally posted by Vantras

Found it to be an odd article since the general consenus seems to be that we are at a low point in the MMO genre with the last batch of AAA releases- The "innovations" and maturation the author sites can best be found in AoC, Warhammer, Aion, Final Fantasy, and other games like Runes of Magic, STO etc.  Most/many of which would be considered huge failures-not a single one of which met or exceeded expecations.

Kind of like eating at McDonalds every day and then writing an article about how food has "advanced" from having to wait for an actual server, for stuff to be cooked to order, and prepared just for you-to being handed a bag of pre cooked fries and burgers-and calling it an improvement/innovation or maturation.

Oddly disconected article .

 

Very nice points

Meh, the shift from tactical combat to "action-y" is a step backwards imo.  Communities become more like xbox live than an MMO community because of the kind of person that it attracts.  Its the difference between the person that prefers Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment on one side, and the diablo kiddies on the other (yes there is some overlap, and they are not mutually exclusive.  As someone that enjoys one style can still enjoy the other.  Its the preference that matters).

As you point out the controller being your preferred method of interaction with Champions, a not surprisingly mediocre game like AOC.

The problem is is that the games in general have become watered down clones of each other.  They all want to attract the casual facebook mouthbreathing crowd that is more interested in playing barbie dress up.  Now, there is nothing wrong with that if its your cup of tea, but the fact that it is sinking its incidious claws into everything is pathetic.

Far from maturation the genre is sinking to a lower common denominator as there are fewer and fewer games for those of us that have actually been playing since the dawn of multiplayer gaming.  The games take away far more than they have brought to the table. 

Want to know why they are trying to shift to your action-y bullcrap?  Now you need no thought, can play multiple mmo's at the same time, hell 2 people can run 20 man raids in WOW, controlling 10 characters each.  I know i run 3 characters in Lotro by myself.  The only way they can hide that their games are directed to the IQ deficient crowd is by "immersing you in never before seen action packed combat".

Want to know how awesome your actiony combat is?   Go to the first group of mouthbreathers that introduced it to us.  Chris Cao, John Smedley and Jeff Freeman.  YAY THE NGE! *cough* sorry, I think I puked a little saying that statement.

Originally posted by StevieHmself

Originally posted by Ramonski7

Originally posted by StevieHmself

its called EVE online

EVE is the space above the sandbox.....nothing tangible to hold in your little pixelated hands or stand on with your pixelated little feet. Nothing but a cold void to float around in....a giant fishbowl.

OK fine :P SWG was the successor, because they are both based on planets. And then EVE can be the successor to SWG because they are both Science Fiction and SWG had some space elements right? 

Therefor EVE is the 2nd Successor to UO i gess. Is that Better?

SWG was the spiritual successor to UO because the vision behind the game's core systems came directly from the people that made UO.  Individuals like Koster and Vogel, Helios, and others.  Some of whom make up the core of The Old Republic's dev team.  So, the next successor to UO, actually, would be TOR.  Granted they have moved in a different direction lol, but it is being "fathered" basically by the same people.

I think Eve has more in common with STO than it does to SWG or UO.  But then again eve is.... well its eve lol.

The way some of these people are, seriously, I wouldn't really want to play an mmo where there was permadeath because some ticked off unbalanced antisocial type might end up knocking on my door with ill intentions lol.

lol, the first half of the article didn't sound like an opinion piece, but more like something Cao's marketing minions gave you to post :P

So let me see if I understand this right.  You go along making your hero kind of the way you want to, then you are supposed to work (raid or somesuch?) so that you can look like the motards running around in Dark Knight with hockey pads?   How long does it take for Batman to show up, string you up like a stuck pig, and share a quick laugh with Scarecrow?  How long after you dress up like superman does it take for the Wondertwins to show up and wet themselves laughing at the poseur?

If you get the invisible man outfit, be very careful, especially if Wonderwoman asks you out....

Meh, just more leaked beta footage.  Wish these folks would spend their time actually testing the game than to be sitting there taking video to earn some sort of leaker rep points or some nonsense.  Doing no one any favors by wasting the testing spot.  But I guess it makes the leakers feel special...

Pretty much the worst class I have ever played in any mmo is the priestly class.  Far too fragile for being the core of the groups healing.  D&D did it right, heavy armor, mace/hammer wielding foe of all that is evil and corrupt.  Turning skeletons into dust with a glance and making demons scream in fear on the trip back to the underworld.  A Templar based priest, not this psuedo mage with none of hte offence and a pretty pathetic defense.

Opinions are to a$$holes what sh!t is to a mouth.  Especially where reviews and previews over vidiot games are concerned.

Originally posted by Rockgod99

Originally posted by mmonooblet

Originally posted by Rockgod99

Originally posted by mmonooblet

Originally posted by Ceridith

CCP.

I get the feeling they could pull off making a very convincing, in depth, and enjoyable Star Wars universe. In addition, they already have the whole space engine from Eve to draw off of. A combination of Eve's space gameplay with a star wars flavor, tied in with a decent ground game would be exactly what the SWG vets have been pining for.

Sorry, the CCP koolaid has an odd smell...

Eve sucks.  Sorry, but that's the way it is.  It caters to a tiny number of people.  BioWare's game will bring in millions of players.

350 thousand is a tiny amount of people? this isnt including the thousands of people constantly running trials and the millions of people that were subbed at one point and just arent in the game right now (probably waiting for Incarna lol)...

I would never consider a game that that freaking many people enjoyed bad.

Even if i disliked the game myself.

 

Addition: OP, Bioware will be fine with TOR... they're making a themepark mmo after all. which is basically just a single player rpg anyway. Its going to be epic no worries.

Compared to what BioWare is planning/expecting, yes it is a very small, insigificant amount.

Im telling you this right now... They would be extremely happy having 350 thousand subscribers after seven years of operation.

My only question to you and to the other Eve fanatics is this:

If you think Eve and CCP is such hot sh** then why the fu** are you in another game's forums?  I know that I don't go mucking around in games forums that I have zero interest in.  When I am happy in a game I can care less what other ones are coming out.  So, based solely on personal experience, I can only assume that Eve really isn't all that great because of how many of you troll EVERY SINGLE OTHER GAME.  Go back to being a little worker ant, I am sure there is an asteroid out there calling your name.

Star Wars as an IP has been around most of my life.  There have been hundreds if not thousands of books written, comics, dozens of video games by everyone from the biggies like EA to little nobody companies.  Out of all that very very very little ever is accepted by George Lucas as being worthy of becoming part of the official story line.

You know who has created content that Lucas thought was so bad ass he made it "canon"?  BioWare.

There is no one but BioWare who can pull this off.  Whether or not they can overcome the curse of the Star Wars IP is a completely seperate matter.

Really? lol.  DarthShredKing should have originally read what has already been stated.  It was at E3 that it was stated quite clearly that class quests were unique to the individual classes and that there would be overlap in the world quests.  Seriously, it is not that difficult to just think for one second.  They say there are no stupid questions, congratulations for proving that old adage as wrong.  Yes there are stupid questions, those ones that have been answered over and over again for anyone that can be bothered to pay attention.

And why should something like this, that has already been discussed up one side, down the other, and inside out should warrant a Friday feature?  I would prefer new information instead of rehashing everything over and over again for those who just cannot be bothered to actually read for themselves.

I swear, some of you folks make the MTV generation look like Rhodes Scholars.