All Posts by Rabiator

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Originally posted by Edgtho

As for assorted inventory, why not have it determined by both size AND weight? A cardbox box doesn't weigh much, but it's not reasonable for someone to pick it up and watch it disappear like they would in other games. I'd like to see players have to think about how they're getting that 30 pound piece of valuable technology out of the ruins and back to their camp. Why not have them carry it? Put it in a bag and sling it over their shoulders?

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I like the idea, particularly for a size-limited inventory system. But it also could be fitted into a weight-limited system, where a few kinds of large items simply won't fit into the backpack.
In both cases, the char could carry one oversized item over the shoulder. There would be one special "carry" slot on the char, and the item there would not count against the space in the backpack. It could also be visible on the char.
Of course, using the special "carry" slot shoult have some drawback. Something like reduced agility and the inability to use two-handed weapons. After all, you need one hand to hold the item.

For the weight system, Neocron would make a reasonable example. In that game, carrying lots of stuff will slow you down and also reduce your jump height. That can make it impossible to get over an obstacle. I think that system works pretty well (yes I play NC).
Of course, one can debate how much total weight should be allowed. I think carrying your own weight should slow you down to a trot and exhaust you pretty fast, forcing your speed down to a walk. Those who have tried using the fireman's carry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireman%27s_carry
should know what I'm talking about. As an absolute weight limit, I would suggest 100kg for an average char and walk only at that load, no more jumping.

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Originally posted by ironore
I propose that a truly PvE game would NOT have monsters that simply spawn at the same point with random items and then wait to be killed by players. A dynamic monster behavior would have them group together, go out and find their own needs and actively seek to destroy those they perceive to be enemies. Towns could be threatened and destroyed by NPC's and players would either have to fight against these forces or have their game world drastically altered. Supply lines could be threatened, mining operations put in jeopardy, areas of new settlement would first have to be cleared of dangerous creatures.

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I fully agree, and it should be technically possible. In the last years we have seen the beginnings of more intelligent enemy behaviour in single player games. MMORPGs, hovever, still are somewhat behind. Maybe this is due to less available processing power per player, as they tend to have less than one CPU per logged in player in their clusters.
But even so, I hope that with more powerful servers the monsters in MMORPGs will also catch up.

I'm still playing Neocron, and probably will until either FE or anothe FPS-ish MMORPG comes along. I think NC does many things right, but also has a lot of flaws. Let me give a list of both:

1. Pro: At least halfway FPS-like gameplay. I think it could be even more FPS-ish but that's a matter of taste. Anyway, no other MMORPG I've tried so far has that amount of action.
2. Pro: Dark and gritty atmosphere, the post-apocalyptic feeling is well captured here despite somewhat dated graphics.
3. Pro: Appartments you can furnish yourself. A pretty cool feature :)
4. Con: Some Tradeskills take a lot of patience to get to a level where they are worthwile. Especially crafters should have it easier to build low-level items in good quality
5. Con: Too much lag for a FPS-like game.
6. Con: Mobs are stupid and mostly slow. PvE could use a boost in this department.
7. Con: PVP is somewhat unbalanced, especially the combination aggressive/passive Psi Monk is too efficient. Makes bringing other chars to an OP-fight sopmewhat pointless.
8. Con: Still has various bugs, years after release.

I don't think the advantages of genetic manipulation should be completely balanced by disadvantages. Otherwise, acquiring upgrades would be useless and nobody would bother, thus making genetic manipulation the most unused skill in the game.
A better idea would be giving the Vistas exclusive access to some valuable ressources. Like genetically untainted herbs to make valuable medicine from.

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Originally posted by drycat
Females tend to prefer creative, puzzle solving games.(they obviously didn't talk to my sister )

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Originally posted by drycat

Originally posted by sinoth
The FPS/RPG element is really not a new idea. Those of you who are afraid it won't work, or don't know how it will work, should play the first Deus Ex. Damn that game was great.... anyway, it is a perfect example of FPS/RPG. Give it a shot if you can get a hold of it.

I know what you are talking about, but the only thing I don't like about those FPS/RPG's is they have no 3rd person veiw. But, I know that you like the 3rd person for role-playing, which is really all I am worried about
I just can't get attached to a game that's all FPS. I never get to see my toon !

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Originally posted by pirrg
I would strongly advise against handing out your credit card info to shady companies like reakktor.

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Their payment service Click2Pay has a somewhat shady reputation. But in reality, they too seem to be incompetent rather than shady. In the official forums, you see a lot of complaints on how Click2Pay was unable to handle payment. But I cannot recall a single user who claimed outright fraud by Click2Pay.

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Originally posted by dekron

What I find interesting is that you say that you do not believe in the political heiarchy of the church, yet you claim yourself to be a christian. If you do not believe in the organization that backs your faith, then you are not a member of that religion. Being an "outlaw" or "rogue" in your religion sets you apart from that religion. It's like any political organization. You cannot denounce a government and still claim to be a citizen.

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First, there is not the ONE christian church. There are Catholics, Protestants and members of the eastern Orthodox churches, to name only the major branches. Those branches of Christianity do not share one hierarchy. So if one does not believe in the hierarchy of a certain brand of Christianity, it does not mean he is not a Christian. At worst, he cannot remain a member of that particular branch.

Second, it is debatable if rejecting the leadership makes you a non-member of your religious community. It would depend on how strongly the community beliefs in hierarchic leadership.
Talking about the Catholic Church, you might be correct because the leading role of the Pope is part of the creed. You cannot reject that and remain fully catholic.
In other churches, the hierarchy may be a less essential part of the common belief and being a dissident might not automatically disqualify you as a member.

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Originally posted by Marauder
Of course, a big bang that results in all the planets and life forming isn't magical....here's my question: Where did the big bang come from? Like I said, evolution takes just as much belief as believing in God. Calling it science doesn't make it any less of a belief system.
[...]
The whole using religion to explain unknowns....isn't that exactly what science attempts to do? Once again, calling it science does not mean it does not require a belief.

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A somewhat late answer, but I think it is important:
No, reputable scientists do not claim to have final, irrevocable truth.
It will, however, sometimes appear that way, because a theory is supported by abundant proof. Like gravity, which meshes so well with observations in real life that you will find it hard to convince a pysicist that it is wrong.
But a good scientist would be willing to reconsider if you show him a river that is running up the hill or something similar. In things that are not supported by much evidence, a good scientist will not claim certainty in the first place.
And this is the fundamental difference:
Science is for people who can live with ambiguity. If you desire security in your beliefs, the "bleeding edge" of science is not a good place for you. Because it means going into the unknown and sometimes having to reconsider what you thought you know for sure.

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Originally posted by Cthulhuvong
I think you've got some good ideas here Rabiator. You could have caravans leaving/going to major towns and areas every 10 minutes or so. From there you could just hire people (NPC or PC) to protect you out to your corpse.

Definately agree with the log off idea.

They did mention the ability to revive people, though they didn't mention whether everyone would get it or just those in the healing field.

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<modest mode> All of those exist in various MMORPGs or RPGs. I'm just collecting </modest mode>

• Public travel: Morrowind (Siltstrider), Project Entropia (Teleporters), Neocron (Teleport aka Genrep, in some cases with access privileges, those can be captured by clans)
• LogOff: Project Entopia. In that case, it was 30 seconds vulnerability IIRC after logout. Adjust for speed of combat in your MMORPG (logout whoring should fail in PVP)
• Revive: Guild Wars, Neocron

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Originally posted by drycat

Who wants to play in a post-apocolyptic era with swords, bows and arrows? I mean, I can see that to an extent, but come on, there are plenty of fantasy MMO's out there for that,.

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Make swords, bows and arrows easily obtainable newbie weapons
Guns should be somwhat more demanding to build and get the ressources for. That will give the crafter types somthing to achieve. In the long run, guns will of course become commonplace. But like others have said, that would just be the logical progress of the storyline.

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Originally posted by adrir

While your opinions and proposed solutions are perfectly valid, I still disagree that this mechanism is suitable for Fallen Earth. Within the wider context, it is a step in the wrong direction. It is a tiedious and annoying death penalty. It consumes their limited playing time. It absorbs resources. It serves only to frustrate and disillusion.

• Why should you walk for ten-twenty minutes in a vain attempt to recover some items? Veihcles are an option but are rare and wont be available until later in the game. How do you propose to survive in the wilderness without your weapons and armor? That creature camping your corpse doesn't look to friendly!
• In the morning you login. You have been cloned! Having found your corpse you discover that your equipment has been stolen! Whining to customer services is an option but they will claim it was perfectly legit!
• Enjoy your evening of corpse running after you get killed a dozen times! This task becomes so frequent for our less talented friends that we should rename the game Fallen Corpses!

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• Why should you walk for ten-twenty minutes in a vain attempt to recover some items? A valid point. Maybe this could be alleviated by some public transportation that can drop you off near most popular hunting grounds. Be careful keep this balanced, however, else player vehicles will become unattractive.
• In the morning you login. You have been cloned! Having found your corpse you discover that your equipment has been stolen! Death should not happen without the player knowing it. And unless you log of in the midst of battle, it will not happen (frequently) with most MMORPGs. A good design would be to keep the player vulnerable for, say, 15 seconds after logoff but then remove him from the map. That would discourage logging off to escape a losing battle, but make logging off in normal situations reasonably secure.
• Enjoy your evening of corpse running after you get killed a dozen times! Don't take on too powerful enemies Also, a healer skill that allows you to revive people could remove the problem for groups. Take a medic along, and you will be much safer.

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Originally posted by Marauder
There is no such thing as atheism. Everyone believes in a god. Whether they believe in the Christian God or they claim to be atheistic, they still believe in a god. Atheism is just a way for a person to say that they believe humanity, themselves, money, or some other personal value to be god. Your god, in truth, is something you believe in and are faithful to over anything else.

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Wrong. I consider myself an agnostic. That means I think the existence of God is neither proven nor refuted.
Science does not claim to have a proof either way.
Religious people occasionally try to prove God exists, but so far they have failed to convince me. Usually, their argumentation breaks down when I ask "and where came God from?". Because if I assume that God just exists, without further proof, I might as well accept without proof that the universe just exists.
Religion is just a way of explaining projecting the unknown with some magical entity that is not further explained. A comfortable way of sweeping all that unanswered questions under the rug where they are no longer visible.

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Originally posted by drycat
The way I see it, leave FPS and 3-rd person as an option for the players to make after they install the game. I want to see my toon opening up on a mutant with his weapons, and I want to pan around and take screenies of him doing it too! In his weathered black leather jacket, btw... well, you get the picture.

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That should not be too difficult. Even good old Duke Nukem had the ability to switch between FPS and 3-rd person in game. Of course, it will be some extra work for the developers to come up with a good system for the camera perspective, but I think it is worth it.

A few thoughts about melee combat:
What about giving the player the opportunity to control angle and exact point of attack?
As in, click while you draw your crosshairs across the target, and the swing of your axe/sword follows the path of the crosshairs. This way, it would actually be possible to target specific body parts and choose an angle of attack where no armor is in the way.
Stab-only weapons like a rapier would simply hit at the point where you clicked.

Of course, I do not know if FE has a detailed enough armor/damage model to support this. But I think it would be fun and innovative. At least, I don't know any games that have done this before.

For me, it is one of three candidates that could replace good (and sometimes not so good) old Neocron.
I'm looking for something that is as FPS-ish as Neocron or more, but with the gameplay depth of a MMORPG. Exploring, collecting ressources, roleplay, crafting...

Tabula Rasa could be the one, but Fallen Earth and Twilight War are also in the running. And I don't think I will play multiple games in parallel. At some point, I will choose one and that's it.

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Originally posted by chromdom

Conversely, there's a very experienced character (are they using levels? Anyone know?) who is killed deep in a mine far from the town where he's being cloned. He can either hike through the wastelands nekkid, and hope to make it back to his corpse and grab his gear, or pay 10% of his cash to have all his stuff brought to him. If he's managed to save up $1,000,000, then 10% would be $100,000. That may be worth it, to not have to try to cross the world weaponless. Or, if he's got that much money, he can choose to forget about that equipment, and just buy new stuff.

Just kinda thinking out loud here. What do you think?

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I see an opportunity for more player cooperation here:
Hire a few guys as bodyguards for $50,000, payable when they get you to your gear alive. I think it would add a bit ov variety to the game

For a good example of using a stamina bar, look at Day Of Defeat. The stamina is sufficient to sprint across an alley or jump twice in short sucession, but then you need to recover.
I'm playing that game a lot, and the amount of stamina feels just right. You have enough reserves for short dashes, but not enough to allow lots of bunny hopping. Also, you cannot shoot while doing a bunny hop, so it is not really attractive.

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Originally posted by NigtFall
And what's the name of this marvelous game?

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The Jan Borkenhagen game?

Dark Destiny, the website is http://www.itg-media.de/

Unfortunately, they seem to be badly behind their schedule. You will only find a single page on that website, which hints at a company that is still far from release.