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Xsyon Earth 2012: Prelude Review: The Official Review - Edit
6.8
| Pros |
 Community driven Crafting is extensive Great building tools |
| Cons |
 Combat is uninspired Is there an actual game here? Most aspects are underdeveloped |
Post-apocalyptic settings are all the rage these days. There is nothing better than a pandemic or assured nuclear destruction to really get our brain boxes into gear. We salivate about the possibilities of scrounging for the last can of processed meat or watching a loved one give birth in an abandoned “slip ‘n’ slide”. Yes, the gaming community is hot for all things human extinction and Xsyon is another such title to give more food for thought about future possibilities.
Developed by relative newcomers Notorious Games, Xsyon: Earth 2012 – The Prelude (to give it its proper title) is a sandbox, build-‘em-up, open world PvPer with lashings of crafting and a hefty side-order of community. Taking apparent influence from likewise genre titles such as (the vastly underrated) A Tale in the Desert, Wurm Online, and even Minecraft – Xsyon can conjure hours of entertainment and tales of survival.
It is not all positives however, while the title certainly has oodles of creativity and unique gaming, it is also mired with indecision and ultimately a lack of what could be termed as actual gameplay. What should be a ground-breaking MMORPG is something that with the right care and attention could be great, but at the moment sadly falls a distance away from the mark.
Cataclysm
The world is wiped clean by an unknown maelstrom, the only known survivors are huddled around and about Lake Tahoe; enduring by living off the land and picking up the remains of human civilization that has apparently emulsified into brown piles of plastics, metals, and cloths. This is where you come into it all.
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Character creation is common faire, an avatar must be sculpted and the normal array of beards and shaggy hairstyles are on offer – Notorious have even added an age range so the ability to play both old and young hermit are options. After completing an on-screen presence, the next step is picking which abilities to begin with: these can range from logging, hiding, fishing and so on. Basically these starting skills dictate what tools/weapons are in your inventory to begin.
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The biggest problem I found with the aforementioned system is that Xsyon is at heart a complex game. A newcomer who simply gets excited at the prospect of selecting a shaggy beard will be stumped at which skills to initially go with. I restarted characters countless times because I was so unsure of which skills to pick, and as the items you receive are so important if you wish to “go it alone” for any length of time, the right tools are essential to the experience.
And this is the worst feature of Xsyon. Aside from searching forums, the game offers no real guidance. There is no hint toward a proper tutorial system or slight helping hand. Those who have not been involved in the online community side of things will simply have no idea how to progress away from wandering the land in search of answers. Most people will find themselves pawing at the opportunity of a “tribe” and help from others, and while this encourages the sense of socialising most online games now sorely miss, it does make the game feel a little too dependent on others.
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So after searching far and wide for the type of skills and inventory you desire, it is time to begin your adventure. Choosing from a number of starting locations, players will find themselves thrown out into Lake Tahoe with none of the helpful “!” signs or nudges telling you that you "are all special and about the change the world". Refreshing ‘aint it?.
A lot of gamers will love the non-linear atmosphere to Xsyon, and why not, but for anyone looking for a structured game, Xsyon isn’t going to be your first port of call. Essentially Notorious have taken the mantle of “sandbox” so entirely seriously that players can start to shift and mould the world in any way they see fit, and if this is your type of thing, this is where the real fun starts to begin.
The Virtual Sandbox
Xsyon is all about building and crafting. Everything that exists aside from natural resources are generally crafted by players and this can span from weapons and clothing to buildings and manmade mountains. The world is your oyster to create and let your imagination run rampant, and the tools on offer make this fairly easy to accomplish.
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Like any MMORPG, the game centres on certain skills. To build a small tent a player will need proficiency in “architecture” along with certain building materials. To maximise the number of things that can be built within the skill sub-category, players need to engage in that certain activity - so a pretty standard formula of grind. The greatest success of Xsyon is that the amount of skills on offer are not limited by a traditional class system, so you could effectively become a combat fisherman if you felt a divine calling for such a vocation.
The creating aspect of the game is fairly impressive in itself. The aforementioned skills such as “architecture” allow players to place fully persistent objects upon the world and with “terraforming” it is possible to sculpt the land around you: resulting in moats, manmade rivers, and so on.
The building portion of the game is Xsyon's most developed aspect and major draw. Most people playing will spend hours at a time trying to flatten a small patch of tribal land or even creating a small fort in which to house their storage baskets. The only real problem with this is something that comes back time and time again within Xsyon: just what is the point?
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As the game is open PvP, there is a certain element of sticking to others for safety, but the game's guild system of tribes is based around the notion that tribal land is exempt from being ganked by other players. While this is a welcome relief, the idea that players are building huge military compounds surrounded by moats is an odd one- they will never be needed or used.
It is apparent that most of the content within Xsyon is mostly unstructured busy work. The creating element is fun, but there is no progression or advancement above and beyond creating buildings and sculpting land. It is a neat idea but at the moment Notorious haven’t got enough content to have wandering traders, mass-tribal warfare or any other little cool game play elements. It seems as though very isn't really a "game" in Xsyon, rather just a nice set of building tools with a post-it note attached marked “potential for greatness”.
is there an actual what? on the cons
I'm really surprised to read this review after all of the previously glowing things that MMORPG staff had to say about this game...
"Is there an actual "game" to Xsyon?"
I've tried this game and it's yet another game released (had to buy the game to try) but not complete. Listed features are unavailable or not in game such as roof/floors and cooking. WURM online with it's 80's graphics is far better.
I wish WURM and FE would merge.
Man, FE would have been the ultimate, had they gone the sandboxy route.. so sad.
Well one reason that people are buidling elaberate fortresses with moats and what-not is that there will, in the future, be the ability to attack tribal lands;
Tribes can either tag themselves as peaceful or warring, warring tribes can have their town raided and raid other warring towns and peaceful tribes will not be able to take part in the tribe vs tribe pvp.
Also it has been talked abotu that when you get farther away from the starting areas that those areas MAY be free for all PVP (aka all tribes in those areas will be warring, similar to EVEs zero space)
Truthfully this is a great game if you are motivated to make the gameplay yourself you will have fun; if not you wont.
It is a sandbox in the truest set of the words and 80% of players are not going to be accustomed to that style.
If you are missing early SWG (minus npc mobs) or UO then at least give it a try.
I would wait at least 3 months from now for anyone to really try it to let a bit more content seep in; as even for a sandbox there is relatively little.
It was absolutely obvious that Xsyon in its present form would be a game that might have some nice ideas, but is years away from being a publishable/playable game.
But you should have seen those forum-vultures flame on me, when I dared to (carefully) address this problem.
Well, another game that'll die before ever really coming to life.
I agree with the review they have a great idea but I played it the game is no where near finished at this point, but it is a game I think will get a much better review when they re-review it.
{mod edit}
Second , they mentioned that they will remove the so called safe zones as the game progresses
And third , from reading your review i can not help but sense u sir have a wow player mentality.
It's like all u did in the game was look for the bad things...
I canceled my preorder due to the game not being finished yes but this review is total bs sorry.
Are you seriously bashing the reviewer because he didn't go google online to learn how to play the game? That's just silly. You shouldn't have to go scour the internet looking for some sort of guide to learn how to play the game you just shelled out money for.
I don't know about his WoW player mentality, but this is the same guy who also spent a fair amount of time in Darkfall and Mortal Online.
I seriously can't tell if your serious or if that's some sort of troll post.
Review is a bit skewed towards mainstream games we have on the markete now, I guess the reviewer is too spoiled by current mmos. But some things he mentiones are spot on and I think that 6.8 is just fine for the state the game is in.
After reading the Xsyon survivor articles( which were very entertaining btw :) ), I kind of expected a review like this. It was already reflected in those articles.
"Xsyon really fills me with confusing emotions. On the one hand it is a game which is easy to love, the graphics have a certain charm, it is immersive, the crafting elements are sublime - but on the other I really question just if there is an actual "game" to it all."
Welcome to the wonderful world of the proverbial sandbox. This is what everyone wants supposedly. Make your own "game".
6.8?!!
For reference, thats tenths of a point away from Age of Conan (quite a good launch tbh) and far higher than both Darkfall (few tenths of a point away from Darkfall- 2 years later) and Earthrise releases.
Sounds like its either a pretty high score!
This is a really high score for a game with no direction.
For those of you who think the safe zones will be removed ( unless Jordy has changed directions, Again) the developers have stated very clearly that there will always be safe zones for those who wish them. As a tribe you will be required to turn your safe zone off if you wish to engage in tribe to tribe warfare ( when its implemented). Tribes that do not wish to ever fight amongst other tribes will ALWAYS have their safe zones. Granted stepping out of the tribal area is a virtual arena pit.
The review was very fair ... his lack of direction at the begining is symptomatic of the design direction they took the game. Several times the Devs stated they wanted the players to figure things out I.E : Stats , skills , recipes , resource uses , resource respawns, etc etc .. This direction in information flow to the player base might have been a hit, until you find out that the real reason nothing was clearly outlined is because the Developers themselves didn't know where everything fit. Stats are still mostly a nonworking joke, resource respawns are just now begining to be work on.
The game has alot of potential .... but its truely only for the die hards right now.
This game deserves a Much lower review. With the amount of bugs and weak systems, This game is in Alpha state.
U can't launch a game with 4 monster types almost exstinct, and NO ranged combat.
Id have given it a 5.5. Then maybe re-review it in a Year.
Theres no way u can review this higher than Darkfall. This website just gets worst and worst
The review is ok, but the final score is ridiculous.
6.8 is extremely high compared to some other MMORPG.com reviews. Like Stekky said Darkfall and Earthrise, which are much better games than this joke Xsyon got lower scores and Age of Conan is light years ahead of that thing called game and yet, its score is close. This is sad, very sad.
You need to review your score policy, something is very very wrong.
6.8 is far too generous a score for this Alpha stage shell.
I see this game as work in progress and I bought it knowing exactly what I'm getting into - I'm not "buying a product", instead I'm playing the role of "a patron of the arts".
That being said, a bit more astute readers will notice scenes of fierce zombie bashing in the screenshots presented in the review. If you take a minute to read the designers manifesto on their website there is a lot of talk about "gods" "demons" "monsters" which spells PvE to me. Imo this is one feature which will upgrade Xsyon to the level of "a game". Another one mentioned by other posters is lifting of PvP limitations.
Those two features have to go hand-in-hand. If they lift PvP limitations now, while PvE component is obviously not ready to provide necessary counterbalance to PvP territorial warfare Xsyon will turn into new Darkfall - and imo this is not the devs intention. Decision to go to war should never be taken lightly. "Do we bunch up and fight the zombie horde together or do we choose to take advantage of the situation and stab our neighbors in the back, risking we all perish?" - That's the kind of dilemma I'd like to see in a "true" MMORPG.
So, I'm patient with this title. I'm not playing it at the moment but I'm paying the sub (crazy, crazy man!!). If they manage to hold on and start fleshing out other major features they have planned for the game (some of them probably quite close to release as eveident by the zombie screenshots) this will be a hugely entertaining game. I'm willing to support that. But it's just me. And I'm crazy. "Patron of the arts" lol.
I really wish that the philosphy espoused here: http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/5141/Grinds-My-Gears-An-Unfinished-State-of-Being.html would actually start to become reflected in the reviews...
to be able to review a sandbox game first you must know what the hell is a sandbox game, you cant judge a sandbox game with themepark standarts.
what a bs review.
Jon should have reviewed this game. Adam seems a little wishy washy with his scoring.
What the hell are you talking about? Yes, AOC was a themepark. Sure, it took them a few weeks to grapple with the million plus people who bought the game (very normal). Yes,it was quite a linear game. The fact is though, AOC probably more-so failed in living up to the enormous hype behind it even though they built a polished and beautiful game with cookie-cutter gameplay. I was really looking forward to AoC before it came out and a troll after it did. Looking back though. I had a good experience up to lvl 40. Much more-so than I will give any of the indy dev games of late.
Since then the only MMO's I've purchased have been Darkfall, Mortal Online, Xsyon and EVE. To this day I only subscribe to EVE, and Xsyon is the only game that I have EVER gotten a refund on. Its not ready, even by "indy" standards.
I agree with the score, and find it more than adequate. I enjoy my time in game, but again.. not much of a game, still needs some work and polish, but definitely an experience that was worth my money.
I don't think it's a matter of hatred for indy studios. Honestly, I think most of us want them to succeed so they can bring fresh ideas to the MMO market. But the fact remains that money is being charged for a product and that product needs to justify the price tag. A game's potential for greatness should never, ever influence a review, only what it has currently achieved. Fortune telling is for previews, not reviews.
That being said, haven't the developers been pretty up front about the state of the game? I don't think they've been trying to pass it off as a finished product, so anyone that buys it right now should know that they are basically making an investment in the future. That sounds pretty reasonable. But then again, I've only heard things in passing and I may be wrong about that.
Either way, the review should focus on what is being delivered, not what might be delivered later. From the sounds of it, a low score is quite justified for an alpha stage game. I'm sure perennial powehouses like WoW and EVE would have scored likewise had their developers elected to release them to the public a couple of years early. At least we should be grateful that it's not being passed off as a finished product, unlike some other contemporary titles.
Which indy MMO does pass off their game as complete anymore? Its quite the norm now to say "Oh, we aren't done!".
If the indy devs want the credit you're talking about, a trial a week or two after launch would be included.
In general I think it is in a better state then DF was. The only huge difference and maybe it's doom is that there is no real purpose yet to the game like the reviewer said. It nice to build up your small community. Grind up your skills, but at the end fo the day there is no reason to do it then just to do it.
I gave it a try and came away very disappointed. There is so little content. I completely agree with the reviewer, the game is just pointless at the moment. It has potential, but not in the near future, it just lacks most of the things that make a game fun. The game reminds me of a puzzle palace, you can spend hours figuring out how to do one simple task. Combat is really dumb, it is basically an afterthought and looks the part.
I'll give it another look when its got actual content instead of just potential.
+1 for giving me a refund thou.
"Is there an actual game here?" My thoughts exactly after "playing" for one month after release.
Playing Rift now, Xsyon killed my last hope for sandboxes...
best cons ever
Xsyon seems to me a lot like some combination of A Tale in the Desert and the first year of Eve Online. The combat currently sucks, and one assumes it will get better, but the tribal structure is cognate to the corp and player driven world/economy in Eve. Eve's first year had...rocky bits. Very few people remember them as being a few guys in Iceland that were so indy that their prospects seemed dim at best.
The difference between CCP or ATITD's eGenesis and Notorious Games is that both CCP and eGenesis have a level of community/dev openness nearly unmatched in the industry . Notorious seems to have it backwards -- the worse things are running, the quieter and less transparent they get.
This is my major worry on this game -- the player generated content could be ace if they'd develop a real sense of community with the dev process. If they don't grow some transparency, a lot of folks will not renew, even among the believers.
This...this this this. (refer to my post made today...here: http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/6603-Question-for-Everyone
If they don't get back to pre-launch communication, what is left of the believer faction is going to disappear.
Agreed...
Xsyon has a "lot of potential", but all of it is based on the proposed "Feature List". Sadly, none of that potential can be motivated by the design and implementation of the game as it currently stands.
The "Feature List" for Xsyon paints a picture of a vastly complex and interrelated game world, once all the features are implemented. But implementing that feature list with a tiny team will be the stuff of miracles. Very slow miracles, at that.
For the last year, Xsyon has been developed by 2 programmers. A 3rd programmer was recently hired (to work on combat), along with a "server expert" to deal with technical issues.
Essentially, Xsyon is the vision of one man. The problem is that the vision is somewhat fluid. He has stated that he would adapt the game design according to what the players want. A recipe for disaster, if ever I saw one.
At the moment, the "basic systems" are all implemented, sort of. That is the easy part. You can craft, fight and explore. There are no NPC's at all, and animals only appear after server resets. Once the few animals are all killed, none appear until the next server reset.
None of the complex interrelations actually work yet, because that is the hard stuff to do. The complex systems like animal respawns and resource respawns will be added later, during the coming 6-9 months. This period is known as the "Prelude", which to all intents and purposes is an open beta with paid subscription at standard MMO monthly rates.
Mortal Online has taken a year to reach the point where they are ready to add some content to their game, and they have a far larger development team than Xsyon. Or at least they had :)
I considered actually subscribing to the game even though I would probably not be playing it in the next 6 months, to help the devs to possibly deliver some of the "potential" in the design. But then I had a really hard look at the reality of the situation, and I came to the conclusion that the tiny dev team will not be able to deliver the complex design they are aspiring to.
I hope I'm wrong and Xsyon becomes the next "EVE" of indie games. The MMO community sorely needs it.
Note to the Reviewer:
Posting screenshots that contain content not currently in the game could be considered misleading by some readers !
I bought the game but quit after a month. I work 9-10 hours a day in RL and when I get home and log into this game, it feels like work again. To me, the bottom line is, it just isnt fun. I cancelled my sub. I turned to RIFT and now I am having fun again.
I think his score of the game is too high.
UO is a sandbox also and I really enjoyed it when I played.
Open world PvP was all I needed to seel. No thank you. By BY!
Can people stop using stock screenshots for every article for this game, seeing as almost all the screenshot has something which isn't even implemented in the current version of the game... You can view the game positively or negatively, but those screenshots just bother me
A generous review.
Game is half done. But, its neat how the world changes as it gets closer to finished. Im impressed with the little details.
This game is played more for the experience over time and memories it helps create. Maybe boring for a week, then suck ass all day. then for an hour you have a better time than you had in the last 5 mmos you tried combined. You judge this game experience over weeks or months, instead of minutes and hours.
I cant even remember the last MMO i played besides DF. One of them clones. the memories made in this game will last a long long time.
Different kind of experience atm. equal value.
These unique games are the rarest of the rare. The chances of this kind of unique simulation game coming again in your gaming life are slim. If you are worried about some feature that you refuse to even try the game, In my opinion, a unique game experience is all we can demand. You're missing out on something that wont come again anytime soon. Your choice. Just offering another viewpoint. It's horrible that's the way it is.
Dont get me wrong, people looking for content to occupy their current game session, look anywhere else at all, not here.
This game is also incomplete. If you seek out an easy target for you low caliber trolls, well maybe this is the game for you. You could have a field day.
It is refreshing not being treated like you are 8 with the childish quests and shiny rewards. Being herded and manipulated on a predifined experience that ends in a numb sleepy feeling. But i finially got me magic boots of joy when i hit max level. An npc just gave em to me lol.
C,mon already. Xyson isnt much better, in fact it's not, but wtf are with the alternatives. Gettin ya some loot working for NPCs? Paying customer should be at least be equals to NPC's right? Probably should be sending NPC's out to quest for you instead. Sounds more like a hero and less like a slave to me.
Ill take crappy unfinished game i enjoy that offers a unique experience over the alternatives. Maybe I shouldnt but i dont care.
I play Xsyon, Lone wolf style and I can not find a single point to argue whit in this Review.
The building tools are great and its known this is just the start, whitin a few weeks we will see some very intresting things.
but combat is shit, we known it, reviewers know it and the developers know it. thats why they hired a developer just for a compleet combat redesign.
Due to the lack of combat or pve content there is little to do in the game, no trade,no combat, you build your home whit the tools we have now and then grind up some craft skills and well.sit around.
as the reviewer said , it got this nice post-it on it but it just aint there yet. In a few months the game will be a actual game, now its just a fun umm mess around thingy.
sounds like a interesting game. some of the review negatives are actually positives for me. but it does sound like the game needs some more work. think i may keep an eye on this one.
Xsyon isnt a 'game', no.
It's a toy.
Really, I wish reviewers would start to understand what true sandbox really means.
Notorious Games should Partner with Icarus Studios.
Those comments were enough for me to make a decision not to buy it because I just wasn't interested in being an investor and paying tester rather than a player. No trial was necessary. The official statements were enough for me to make an informed decision. Clearly I made the correct one. Anyone else could have as well.
Would that require reviewers understand what themeparks are as well?
They're neither MMO or RPG.
Game and toy cant be the same thing?
And I think the correct term atm would be incomplete PC 3d virtual simulation game. Game as in we compete in the simulation, but it's for fun. I bet Im wrong too huh?
Pretty much.
Well everything is true in the review.
But I always considered the Prelude to be building and not really anything more.
I played beta a few weeks before the first launch and within a week I had been more satisfied than I had been playing 60 dollar console games. I don't play that much now because I'm at the point where I'm ready for the new or turned on content, but I don't feel cheated or anything.
The game isn't finished, and they actually flat out said that it wasn't.
If you're on the fence right now, don't by the game until fall, when prelud is finished, or after there is a second review (or when the devs actually start PR). The only people that are getting the most of their money are the pre-order people that have bonus play time.
But hell...
If you're tired of paying 60 bucks and finding out you just paid for the 8th run-of-the-mill FPS, why not try something that's not run-of-the-mill?
As a fan of bashing Mr. Tingle for his occasionally naff review, I have to say after reading this one, I was indeed impressed. Not by Xsyon, but by the fact this is a review that simply tells it like it is.
Considering he's been hard at work playing this game solid for the past month or so, I think he's in a good position to make a comment on it. This time round, it's a fantastic review.
Only thing really missing is some commentary about the monthly fee, the state of the community and also how popular Xsyon really is..
I was gonna get this game but i'am glad i passed ultimatley.. It was hyped up for a few weeks, but after the failed launch it sort of just died down.. That's what made me pass.. The game is in alpha but they are trying to collect money from you already.. I learned my lesson after Mortal Online.. But ill check back in a year to see if all the features on the games website are actually implemented, because if they are then this game really will be a kick butt sandbox.
without early support it will never become that 'kick butt' game.
Indie MMOs need more faith, patience, and early support from those that want what it is aiming for to thrive, but that demands a certain level of awareness of the big picture and maturity on the part of the gamer, which ofc these forums arnt famed for.
Its worse and worse.
I bought the game and played it for three days then emailed them and asked for my money back and they refunded it without any trouble at all. I told them if they did not refund me then I would take legal, but they told me no need to threaten them they just refunded me in full no questions asked...This is by far the worst game I have ever played in my life, boring, bland and totally unplayable full stop.
DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ALPHA...
I thought the given score was very generous. There's tons of potential with this project, but us gamer's can't play potential until its realised.
Game is in 100% alpha stage. I just hope it survives long enough for the planned features to go in. Quite ironic really since this is a survival MMO lol
~Wolf
A more then fair review. Game has promise, but lacks substance atm. Looking forward to what could happen in 3-6 months.
I just bought the game about a week ago, at first i found it really interesting with the ability to change in game landscape etc, but basically all there si to do atm is drop your totem, grind crafting skills which is a terrible grind from wha ti can tell so far and hardly interesting, i love the terraforming and architecture skills but they are very hard to skill up and from what ive heard all skills outside your chosen craft made upon character creation are found..., maybe buy i spent about 8 hrs totally scavenging for new recipes and i found....1 for a should pad vis leathetcraft at skill 70....
I am still playing the game but my time spent is decreasing rapidly, i want to love the game due to what it can eventually achive but atm its a monthly fee to basically craft....no pve andpvp is horrible, well almost no pve youll come across the occasional racoon that i could not figure out how to attack wityh my blade.
Xyson atm basically shows us what the game is based on, and everything else if it survives will come much later.
Did you even glance at that paragraph before you hit the post button?
I like the concept of free building, and I wish my current MMO offered it (darkfall), sadly, I won't be trying this game untill it is a bit more developed. I'll keep an eye on it, though.
Good review, with most of the pros and cons listed, score a bit on the generous side.
And yes, basically it's a paid beta. That's just how it is, there's a reason the game in it's current state is called "Prelude" and there's a reason that prelude is scheduled to last for 6 to 9 months. Whether they'll have a complete game after that time is far from certain, what type of game it will be is far from certain too.
I pre-ordered, am still playing and consider it to be good value for my money. YMMV. :)
Why does the review score list a 6.8 as Mediocre? A 6.8 is above the median average on a 10 point scale, so labeling a 6.8 as mediocre makes no sense....I'd expect such a score to be a 4.8 maybe, or 3.8. A 6.8 says "above average" and based on the review it sounds like this game is closer to a 4.8.
I'd give Fallen Earth a 6.8, for example.
Are they advertisers on MMORPG or something?
Now I'm curious to look through other review scores here and see if they're skewed to the 4-point scale as well.
If you aren't supposed to scour google to play, why should the game tell you how to?.. Isn't part of the experience figuring out how to play a game?
-Just asking and pointing out the review and your obvious mistake.
This game was never intended to be a finished product. It is supposed to evolve as time passes by, by means of the development team and the player base.
I'll go as far as saying the reviewer hasn't read the About and FAQ properly (I was aware of all that he pin pointed as cons.)
Last of all.. The game is you, you create your fun. That is what a sandbox is. Seems way too many gamers haven't realized this yet.
- This game isn't centered on killing, stop effing comparing the low density of mobs to other games. It is about surviving the world. Not go out, kill 5 bears and return WoW/Rift shit (sorry for swearing and being condescendant towards WoW/Rift but most of you sounds like that is what you'd pick as a PERFECT game..)
And without an edit button this'll just have to go in below.
I have no intention of defending this game, honestly I get where most of you are coming from.
Problem is, what seems to be most of your problems is LACK OF IMAGINATION.. The game isn't supposed to be anything but the platform at which you can load of your ideas.
- First and foremost. You are supposed to socialize. Not necessarily Guild/Tribe up with people, but you are supposed to trade and even though you have all skills at your disposal you are not supposed to be able to master them all. They released them all for you effing solo players that kept whining (sorry) about not being able to learn new skills. Effectively that killed the whole 'Learn' feature.
- If you want to be able to do more crafts, you have the ability to chat with people OMG you can write "Anyone online that has xxx I can trade with xxx" etc.
- If you want to create a dungeon, then do so. You are entitled to do it. Talk with guides and have them spawn mobs in it, advertise about your dungeon on the boards.
- If you want boss mobs, don't kill certain monsters.. Let them grow in age, experience and power.
Seems to me that the major problem with Xsyon is people and their lack of imagination, lack of trying/failing/learning and the necessity for everything to be instant-gratification orientated.
Quoting this because it is priceless.
I play and very much enjoy Xsyon as it is and look forward to what it will become in the future. It's not for everyone, and that's fine.
The reviewer is perfectly fair in letting people know that starting out solo is tough because it is, and starting out without browsing the forum would make it ten times harder. One of the biggest issues for new solo players is the tools or baskets dilemma. You will have to trade for baskets if you start as a toolcrafter and tools if you start out with basketry, assuming you do start out with the other as your skill (and if you're going solo, it would be wise to start with toolcrafting or basketry, but you can't have both).
On the plus side, the third hurdle to a soloer really getting their legs under them, the rarity of saws, is less of an issue, because saw blades are easier to find than they were prelaunch-though you still have to get your scavenging skill up over many hours to find one-and mostly because lots of players will now trade them to you for less than your lifeblood and firstborn.
Again, anyone thinking of checking Xsyon out should say hi on the forum first and nose around for either a tribe or a friendly sector with active players willing to trade for baskets, tools, a saw, or whatever else the player does not want to have to make for themselves right away.
In the case of baskets, by the way, unlike tools, you can never make them if you don't start with basketry. Tool recipes are fairly common, too, so if you do decide to go it completely lone wolf, I'd advise starting with basketry, then expect to drop a totem near a junk pile and scavenge on that pile (and anywhere else you want to, since the skill goes up whether you are on a pile or not, you just find more things on the pile) until your skill is high enough to start finding tool recipes. Even so, you'll find that you need to trade for at least one tool in order to make other tools. It is possible to scavenge tools, but they are rare. Again, best to hit the forum. If you won't go to the forum, ask in regular chat, it carries across your zone and all zones connected to your zone, and people are usually pretty nice and will help new players for something a new player can acquire, such as twigs, rocks, or grass.
There is also far less luring of hapless new players into an area and ganking them going on than in most open pvp games. The community is generally much better in Xsyon than it is in MO, Earthrise, or Darkfall. However, if you don't want to risk losing all of your worldly goods and having to reroll while on a hunt for tools, baskets, or other supplies, you can choose the location you want to live in, put down your totem, take everything except your clothing off (yes, you can lose your clothes, but they are easy to replace, you will suffer no penalty for going naked yet, and if you do go naked, people may mistake you for a pker, as many pkers run around naked), put everything in your backpack, drag your backpack off, and drop it by your totem.
As long as you can find your way back to your totem and your backpack is set to private or tribe (right click pack when it's on the ground and make sure that it is), your belongings are safe from theft and you are free to explore and trade with anyone helpful enough to overlook the fact that, lacking a pack, you can trade only what you can carry on your back (4 pieces of junk, or four bundles of grass, or four bundles of branches, or four bundles of twigs). Also, some helpful players, especially when you tell them you are new, will come to you with some starting items to trade.
If you decide you ain't going to take no stinkin charity, you can still play, but expect to spend many hours scavenging for tool recipes and tools to make the tools from the recipes, and abandon all hope if you expect to find a basket recipe anytime before the real apocolypse is upon us.
I'd give it a shot if there were a trial, but I get the feeling this might be one of those games where they'd lose money if they let people give it a try, instead of buying it sight unseen.. which is why I don't think I'll risk it. I am curious, though. Maybe in a few months than they've made as much as they can on impulse buys, and ironed a few issues out...
"It is apparent that most of the content within Xsyon is mostly unstructured busy work. The creating element is fun, but there is no progression or advancement above and beyond creating buildings and sculpting land. It is a neat idea but at the moment Notorious haven’t got enough content to have wandering traders, mass-tribal warfare or any other little cool game play elements. It seems as though very isn't really a "game" in Xsyon, rather just a nice set of building tools with a post-it note attached marked “potential for greatness”.
QFT
Also, where the heck do they get these screen shots? The game looks nothing like that.
lol
I have currently stoped playing games,, The reason there are none on the market I am interested in
I was greatly looking foward to star trek online but it turned out to be an insulting joke
I played champions table game where you crafted your powers, the online version wasnt much more than a city of heros reskin
age of conan was yet another huge dissapointment being the same ol hack and slash and having very predictiable combat and quests.
EVE is nice and complex but is generic and the free for all PVP left me bitter.
I generally love the concepts for WURM and XSYON but the are like a game built by some highschool kids with major missing or uninteresting gameplay and 40$ come on! REALLY??? thats just a flat our theft for a game that has so little pourpose and polish.
So after reading this I guess I am still a homeless nomad
What am I looking for in a game?
I want a sandbox world to step into that means weather climate seasons
I want interesting craft skills that have useful pourpose
I want idealized reality where you get thursty or cold and it hinders you but generally wont kill you
mortal wounds that can be recovered from, diseases plagues, natural diasters
I would like things like skills and crafts based on a base plus bonus so a warmonger can grow a basic crop and a farmer gets better yealds or higher quality for the added time and resource comitment.
where PVP is optional where villages can be besieged and over run and public structures can be damaged or distroyed and private structures can only be damaged.
where limited thieveing is possible but is kept in check so as not to become a griefing problem
rafts up to sailing ships caravans
localized resources meaning that some resources are not everywhere and have value in other regions to promote trade and economy.
different possible buildings based on climate and local resources including "hobbit holes" and underground mines , races with equil but different advantages and dissadvantages.
plenty of unique and interesting forrageables and decent methods for storing them
charactors with plenty of different slots like for hip pouches or boot knife or backpacks
a magid or combat system where you craft your action from basic building blocks is your fireball blue or red?
smart mobs and NPCs that recognise you and your reputation and react acortingly (you might come into town and are a stranger but after a while they get to know you and give you a deal or tell you about a quest or rumor.
ways to besiege an enemy but you have to gather weapons and supplies for so that an invasion is a huge undertaking.
I know this seems like alot but I have said nothing that couldnt be done using a fallen earth style engine.
i hope these game makers will finally wake up and develope some truely immersive and organic worlds that are fun! and not keep rehashing the same old everquest game model.
I just wanted to give my opinon on the game. No, its not complete but they make that clear when you order it. It's kept me entertained for about a week now, and still continues. You don't have to google the how to play, they have devs and helpful players online willing to anwser your questions. They update rather quickly and new things are added to the game. I, personally think its like RuneScape in the way the skills work, just with better graphics, a cooler skill system, and a nicer community.
Excuses aside. this was a great concept, that was exceptionally poorly implemented. I think the die-hard defenders out there are trying desperately to hope that this game will become the sandbox messiah many sandbox loving mmoplayers (myself included) dream of. Unfortunetly it isn't the case, nor will it be the case.