Once again I log on to find a lot of hate threads on TR and how people 'should stay away!'  I don't normally stand up and back a game up but I feel obliged to on this occasion. 

TR isn't for everyone and even I would like the crafting system improved and have rpg elements to the game.  However out of my 5 subscriptions, TR has been taking up 80% of my gaming time for the past 6 months and I will tell you why:

* I can play the game on max settings, looks amazing and I still get 50 FPS in thick combat

* Community (EU) is the best I have come across for a long time.  Reminds me of Jumpgate days.  Mostly mature, helpful and really into the game and genre and general chat is very active.  What other MMO do you know where people log on and say hello in global chat and they get a response?

* I can play this game for 30 minutes and I get 30 minutes of combat.  No fuss, no running 20 minutes to get to spot.  I don't need a 5 hour window with a specific group at a specific level to have fun.

* Combat and movement is free and fluid.  People take for granted how good this is.  In TR I can jump off a cliff whilst reloading my weapon.  Land in a middle of a bane patrol, unleash hell, kick the guts out of one bane (critical hit), then using flying fist to hurl my body 40 metres to smack another bane in the face.   All this is done with fluid movements with the environment reacting quickly.  No other MMO I know does this....invisible walls anyone?

* My biggest wish list which TR answered was NPC's that interact to their surroundings.  I hate, really hate when I play MMO's and the story line says 'we are being invaded!' skeletons, ships whatever.  Whilst you are getting your arse handed to you on a platter the NPC's stand around staring into space.  TR is the opposite.  When a base is attacked or defended by AFS soldiers they all attack and defend. I see NPC's shooting from look out towers, getting chased by a horde of enemy and shooting their pistol at them.  AFS mech units firing rockets into the frey and turrets blasting away.  Getting chased by an enemy and you get close to an NPC then you get help and I have even been healed by an NPC solider.  Love this and TR is the only game I see with this kind of interaction.  Huge plus

* You don't need a group to play the game.  I know a lot of people complain that you can play this game without a group but for me its almost there for balance.  I have completed a large mission by myself but it was hard, slow and very tactical.  I played it again with a group and it was amazing.  So yes you can play on your own if a group is not available but the game is sooo much better in a group.

* TR has given me some of the best moments in any game I have played over the last 25 years of gaming.  Even last night I was amazed at how much fun I was having after 6 months.  4 of us held a large base against 50-60 bane attacking.  Complete and utter chaos with the real feeling of being swamped and overwhelmed.  I fired missile after missile into a huge horde hammering the forcefield.  Finally they broke through even though we had killed dozens.  We had to retreat to the back of the base whilst 40 bane chased us.  Our medic was healing like crazy.  I had my flamethrower out at this stage and was burning bane as fast as possible.  It was 'fking' unreal and something I don't get from other games.

* You play with players even though your not in a group.   The game is set up so you are all on the same side in a way.  Defending or attacking units or a base is shared easily and you have a feeling of community.

* Combat is fun, for me and many others anyway.   At higher levels 25+  you have some very interesting attack options and all the characters play very differently and thats why I am playing 5 characters as well.  The graghics with some of the attack moves is just sublime and once again fluid.  E.g. my guardian can create an earthquake that hits all in its path. So much fun when you have an invasion force running towards you and you see them all go flying. 

* Not as important but the emotes are unbelievable.  The new reward 'breakdance, YMCA, Ballet' are hilarious and realistic.  The breakdance emote should get an award.

* Content being added.  After 6 months the game has been improved a lot and lots of content added.  Coming up is the arena with a bar to hang out, Mech units, clan owned bases and more missions.  The game runs so well and that is 80% of my issues with most games, so no problems there.

* Population - I read recently from Eurogamer that there is none.  I have no fking idea when they were playing but the population has been steadily increasing and there are players everywhere.  There are 4 servers and at 'normal' hours, e.g. Sunday night all were on medium density.  I would like to see stats but for someone who has played from launch I have seen a lot of people in the last month.

* GMs - I had a mission that didnt complete on saturday.  I sent a petition and 10 minutes later they sorted it for me and sent me a private message.  Can't complain and I was surprised at how fast they got back.

* I love SCI-FI and the game is in this genre

So that is the end of why I still enjoy and will continue to enjoy TR.  For players out there who love SCI-FI, fast actioned game play with a very fluid movement system and are put off by the hate threads then I say give TR a go.  The game is cheaper now and with the lack of any big games being released (AoC already getting plenty of hate mail) at the very least you will take more than enough from TR to make it worth it.  I constantly see players who have joined saying they absolutely love the game and were put off by the press,  gamesites and how they regret not joining earlier.  So the game isn't dead, retracting or losing population and is now officially my 2nd longest played MMO and I am well fussy!!

How long have you been on DestinationGames/NCSoft's payroll? It's either that, or you have *really* low standards

TR has failed and continues to fail even harder each patch

Its potential has been sadly wasted by a development team with their heads so firmly up each other's asses that they cannot hear the screams of their customers for the shit in their ears

Originally posted by abhaigh

How long have you been on DestinationGames/NCSoft's payroll? It's either that, or you have *really* low standards

TR has failed and continues to fail even harder each patch

Its potential has been sadly wasted by a development team with their heads so firmly up each other's asses that they cannot hear the screams of their customers for the shit in their ears

 

Giving new meaning to the word Anal-ogy.

Viral Marketing.  The OP's post reads almost exactly like an advertisement...

Viral Marketin.

How could someone possibly stand up for a game that offers NOTHING?

OP: what server do you play on? I would love to get to know you. Your post was OUTSTANDING!

One of the things I really enjoyed while learning the game was that you were almost forced to back up your fellow man if you see them getting overwhelmed, you get this sense of urgency to rush over and keep them alive, next thing you know you guys are following each other, helping each other out, even if theres no chatting the /cheer command gets every impression across.

And I agree with you on the NPC side of things, I've been having lots of fun defending/assaulting bases, the NPC's run around, the medics heal. They usually all die if I'm alone, and just when things look like they're about to go to shit, 2 dropships fly in and you have backup.

The game's mechanics when fighting reminds me of a see-saw on crack times a billion.

It's awesome.

Originally posted by Thunderous

Viral Marketing.  The OP's post reads almost exactly like an advertisement...

Viral Marketin.

 

 

How could someone possibly stand up for a game that offers NOTHING?

No.

AOC is not worth trying. Playing the beta almost forced me to start playing TR again. If AoC is supposed to be the end all be all of MMO gaming, then there will be a lot of dissapointed players.

The true innovation came from TR, and while the nay sayers will always troll the forums, the players will be playing the game.

AoC isn't offering anything that elder scrolls doesn't offer. Instead it's Elder Scrolls multiplayer, without all the cool elder scrolls crap.

...almost any positive review is going to sound like an ad.

Originally posted by pixeldogmeat

 

Originally posted by Thunderous

Viral Marketing.  The OP's post reads almost exactly like an advertisement...

Viral Marketin.

 

 

How could someone possibly stand up for a game that offers NOTHING?

 

No.

AOC is not worth trying. Playing the beta almost forced me to start playing TR again. If AoC is supposed to be the end all be all of MMO gaming, then there will be a lot of dissapointed players.

The true innovation came from TR, and while the nay sayers will always troll the forums, the players will be playing the game.

AoC isn't offering anything that elder scrolls doesn't offer. Instead it's Elder Scrolls multiplayer, without all the cool elder scrolls crap.

No way that AoC is as good as Elder Scrolls.  If there were an Elder Scrolls MMO up and running right now it would more than likely be the best MMO on the market.  I was so addicted to that game for 2 months that it nearly cost me my marriage.

My 2 cents is that it is a fun game (although their recent tool changes pissed off lots of people).

Fun in the same way single player games or fps games are fun.. perhaps not so much if you finish the game then sit around waiting for something to happen though.  But play the game for the sake of the fun of playing the game and not grinding to endlevel without doing any of the content, and this game will be fun.

If you just want to grind to max level then mess around.. perhaps you should skip the grind and go play an FPS, that will accomplish the same thing.

so i have the collectors edition, and I watched the "making of" dvd that came with it. Basically, they designed the game to play like a FPS with MASSIVE map levels that are pretty complex. That, with having any # of players on a map makes it a MMO. I would consider it a MMOFPS.

Originally posted by pixeldogmeat

so i have the collectors edition, and I watched the "making of" dvd that came with it. Basically, they designed the game to play like a FPS with MASSIVE map levels that are pretty complex. That, with having any # of players on a map makes it a MMO. I would consider it a MMOFPS.

You obviously haven't seen or played through TR's craptacular life. I've been playing from early beta a year ago (literally) and not much has changed since then. If you give all your hope into TR that it's the second coming of Christ or something, you are blind or haven't played a lot of MMOs before.

I'm not blind and I've been playing MMO type games since MUD days.

Name a graphical MMO and I've either played it, tried it, tried and played, betad, whatever.

I also used to work in the industry and am a freelance game designer ( as a hobby now ) working with a company on some flash type stuff.

None of this means I'm qualified to judge TR.

Regardless, I LIKE TR :)

And I will talk it up.

The second I don't like it. I won't play it. And do something more productive with my time, instead of spreading negativity on a forum.