All Posts by markyturnip

Very sloppy; although I am not surprised that a company that has spent years on one game uses many of those features for the next game.

Its often a question whether you want to update something pre-existing or start from scratch. Both have their pros and cons.

But to allow this to get into the game really bespeaks of insufficient thoroughness.

I suspect that fundamentally the problem is a lack of quality control checks, insufficient staff, and poor management systems.

This at first sight looks like it will even up the situation between casters and melee.

No instant one shot death through charge for casters; but melee have more options to stop casters from casting.

Originally posted by Krogan

I guess the people that are left in AoC now are the people that don't mind it no matter how big the stick Funcom is shoving up their ass is. Each is its own I guess.

You must be a very unpleasant person to write things like that about people you don't know, simply because they are playing a game you don't enjoy.

If I were you, I would have a good hard think about the kind of human being you are, and how you act in a public setting.

Some people here really need a little perspective in their life.

If you feel so moved to take action against iniquity, may I recommend the following site:

www.avaaz.org

But isn't this the normal way every community functions for a game? First a whole bunch of people is trying out the game. Then comes the selection process where each player decides if the game suits him or not. He can see the general direction the game goes and he should be able to see which feature could get tweaked and which feature is here to stay. After a few months you are left with those players that agree with the general idea of the game. Call them fanboys or whatever, but they are the core of a game community. They will be loud and vocal when it comes to changes in the game. But in general they agree with the core philosphy. of it. Over time the community will grow again (if the game is good enough) and new people will join the community, as well as there will always be the ones that will leave the game due to a number of reasons.

At least I've never seen it any different with any game I've played so far: First you have a huge number of people playing, then the population will shrink quite a bit and then it will either stay like it is or, most probably, it will rise again for some time until the lifecycle of the game is more or less over. Then you will see a steady decline of players until the big doomsday.

Exactly.

Now... Like I said - ppl are allowed to have their opinions.  You have not given any opinion on the 75 silver from 2 gold so I dont even know if you have got a character to 40.   Or even if you agree with me that giving ppl the ability to ride a mount at lvl 40 and then litterlally pushing them into goldbuying (if they wanted mount before lvl 60) is not the best way to get rid of goldfarmers ?    All ppl with tiny bit of brain capasity could see this.  But Funcom....   Nope it took them a month.  And at that time they probably spent more effort in dealing and banning goldsellers and farmers  than actually fixing the game  -  JUST because they dont know the basics of supply and demand.  But hey - what can you expect when the game has no economy system.  

Not that it matters much, but I am level 70.

Fixed prices are always difficult to judge in a game like this in early stages.

Personally, I had expected more money to be flowing earlier in the legitimate economy, but the broken traders etc made that not so. For a long while, even once the traders were half fixed (pre gems etc being viewable), prices remained very low... most stuff could be bought for a couple of copper.

So the monetary gains one might have expected people to make, the sources of inflation, were lower because of a range of unpredictable issues. Plus due to a lack of 80s earlier on the overall cash supply was limited.

Therefore, people did not have the money to buy a mount at 40... and after a while (because knee jerk monetary and financial policy is often unwise) Funcom came to the conclusion that this was to a degree structural and lowered the price. Sounds like a smart move. But acting too early would not have been a smart move.

If this game evolves as some expect, soon enough the place will be awash with cash , and 2g at 40 might not seems to bad.

I remember my first mount in wow - the price felt astronomical.

When I levelled my second character, a few months into the game, the price was far more achievable.

Today, the price is essentially trivial. So the big outlay was shifted to epic flying mounts... point is, economies evolve, and static money drains will always be a blunt instrument of monetary supply control.

As to gold farmers, they infest every game. I am irritated that my mail is awash with spam, but I don't think that the horse issue is a major deal. As long as there are things that people want that are not immediately achievable but that can be bought for cash, gold farmers will thrive.

The only way to stop gold farmers entirely (beyond very complicated technical solutions) is to remove all demand for quick cash, by making the cash cost of items trivial. Personally, I prefer a game where the cash cost of items is not entirely trivial... although I am wary of them being astronomical also, if those astronomically priced items give significant gameplay advantage in pvp.

My major question is why on earth do vendors sell useless white items? Does anyone ever buy a white item past 20 or 30? I doubt it.  Personally, I would remove those white items and replace with one or two perhaps rare (only spawn intermittently) blue items. There will be a price issue of course.

A FAR more attractive thing to buy at vendors would be dye for armor, haircuts, tatoos and all that goodness.

If you made that something only NPCs could sell, you would have an excellent money drain right there - but a money drain that is essentially for vanity and does not affect gameplay.

Originally posted by Sabradin

 

a community of losers is not exciting. though since i am one i cant complain

Indeed.

Who is the 'loser'?

The people enjoying themselves? Or the person who considers them all "losers" and yet continues to hang around that community?

Originally posted by Vato26

Originally posted by markyturnip

Originally posted by urbanmonkey

Do YOU trust Funcom? I surely don't and by the looks of it, they have no idea what they want or where they are going.

 

Trust is not the issue.

The issue is: are you enjoying yourself?

 

You are not part of the solution.  Trust in a company is key.  If a company hasn't shown the ability to actually listen to their customers or learn from their past mistakes (Funcom) then they don't deserve trust.  People, like you, are the reason why MMORPG companies attempt to walk all over the players.  Therefore, you are part of the problem.

What problem? I pay for what I enjoy, and pay more for things I enjoy more.

Right now I find that overall computer games are in a true golden era, with an extraordinary array of fantastic experiences on offer. And they are getting better.

The games on offer to me today are amazing. Some are more amazing than others.

There are many problems out there, and in my life. Gaming is not one of them. By contrast, it offers me great pleasure for relatively small financial outlay.

Funcom is not walking all over me - how ridiculous. It is offering me a service I can choose to pay for or not. In this case, currently, I see a service I am enjoying and therefore choosing pay for it. If you don't see a service you want to pay for, what's the problem? Do something else. Start your own company and make your own game. Whatever.

I take my hat off to the developers. They have done extraordinary things in recent years, and I have enjoyed them immensely.

To those who feel angry and aggrieved by the game, go for it - you have the right.

What makes no sense is for you to try to correct my assertion that I feel the community is improving.

Now, this does not mean that the community runs around kisisng each other and preaching peace and love all the time. (On an aside, not sure how that sanctum experience is a mark against AoC - it sounds no different from similar nerd flip outs on any other game)

What it does mean is a living community is steadily evolving where friends and enemies are being made, people are sharing experiences, and reputations are evolving.

That's happening, bit by bit. And it is making the experience more fulfilling for those of us playing the game.

No idea what the pop numbers are. May have dropped, but on Cimmeria there are still plenty of people to mess around with.

Yep, many problems remain and I am tired as everyone else of bugs and lag spikes etc.

But the most important aspect of any MMO is coming on in leaps and bounds - at least on my server: the community.

As more people leave, those that are left are beginning to get to know each other. There is less bitching, and a greater preponderance of people who are interested in enjoying themselves with what's out there.

Guilds are forming allies and enemies. Battles are being had. (PVP server here... not sure about PVE)

So, give or take, any time I log on I find a bit of entertainment, and expect that as PVP system and what not start to kick in, that that entertainment shall continue - at least for a while.

So there ya go. If you are hating the game and left - great! That means a greater concentration of people  who are enjoying themselves.

Originally posted by grimland

I have reached lv 50 and couldn't take it anymore. You all know the reasons. i won't repeat them. so what now? I'm waiting for War or any good , fun and polished MMO. I have tried a bit of mass effect. it's cool. Doing end game with my lv70 mage but got nothing to do other than raids.

Hope you enjoy yourself.

For what it's worth, I am convinced there is fun to be had between 50-80 in AoC, because I am having it. But if you were not enjoying it, and would enjoy WoW, well props to you.

Originally posted by urbanmonkey

Do YOU trust Funcom? I surely don't and by the looks of it, they have no idea what they want or where they are going.

Trust is not the issue.

The issue is: are you enjoying yourself?

If you don't, highlight the issues you face, hope they will be fixed, or leave.

If you are, highlight the issues you would like to see improved, and stay.

Not sure what all this 'trust' yada yada is about.

Simple choice - do you judge this to be a service worth paying for or not. The answer is an individual choice.

I get a little confused versus the different damage components of an item.

Say my sword does 100 average damage per swing, and contains a plus 10 damage effect.

How does that compare to a sword which does 110 dps?

I understand if you have a 2HE sword, and it has plus 10 fire damage... this makes sense as the fire damage is treated differently for the purposes of invulnerabilities etc.

But what if you have a 2HE sword, that does an average 100 damage per swing, plus 10 general melee damage. What is the difference between that an a 2HE sword that does an average 110 damage per swing?

Thanks

The more irritating childish players that get banned the better IMO.

I would love for this game to be culled of all these sociopaths, so the rest of us can enjoy a great pvp game - once the bugs are all worked out.

I have swung up, down, then up on this game.

I swung up after good early patches. I swung down when new patches broke everything. I am now swinging up because I feel the new patches are finally hitting the issues I want them to hit - and because if all these idiots on the boards really do quit, AoC will be a much nicer place to spend time.

If the person in this case actually got banned for killing someone ten times (which I question), it would be rather extreme. I suspect, however, that he is one of the foul mouthed brats who feel so empowered by the consequence-free environment of an MMO.

Good riddance to the lot of them I say.

The more I see of this, and the more I see unpleasant quit posts from unpleasant people, the more I think there is hope for this game.

These notes have elicited the usual storm of outrage, but in my opinion they offer some excellent changes.

I am not sure why so many people think they benefit casters so much... as a HoX I look at this and think great; I can really work with this - not least, I can use LOS to stop casters from hitting me, and can interrupt them more effectively now when up close.

Combat

* Combos and all other actions will be aborted when you start to charge.
* The combo chain will now be stopped when you begin a charge.
* You can no longer start combos in the middle of a charge.
* Dismembering fatalities should now show appropriate visual effects.
* You can now abort multihit combos without all the damage being rolled back.
* Aborting multihit combos will not make the target's health become desynced from the client/server anymore.
* Fizzle and immunity rolls have been moved to the end of your spellcast. If your target becomes immune after you start your spellcast but before it deals damage, your target will resist the spell.
* Stealth is checked again at the end of your spellcast. If your target hides before you land the spell, your spellcast will fail.
* The distance to your target while casting a spell is checked again at the end of your spellcast, with a 25% bonus to your range.
* Line of sight to your target is checked again at the end of your spellcast.
* Combo finishers (the last attack in the combo chain) now have 25% extra range, making them easier to land in PvP.
* Mobs will keep you in combat from further away now.
* Aborting unarmed attacks (using a knockback, for example) will now properly cause the damage not to be dealt.
* Active Blocking now displays a buff in the debuff GUI indicating the effect.
* Active Blocking now has an initial stamina cost upon activation.
* Active Blocking has been modified to increase the player's shielding bonus rather than evade chance.
* Attacks and heals performed while in Active Blocking will now have reduced effect.
* Clickable abilities with instant effects will not be queued after your attack anymore, but executed right away.
* You cannot use abilities while jumping or falling anymore.
* Dying while knockbacking NPCs will not cause the npc to become stuck in combat mode anymore.
* For each attack in the combo chain that you do without a valid target, your end damage (on the combo finisher) is reduced 15% per miss.
* Attack animation speed should be more balanced between genders.
* Combat music has been tweaked so that tension music will be area specific, rather than random.

It is certainly curious that early patches were very effective in improving gameplay, but that later patches appeared to break things all over again, and send performance in a downward direction.

Which said, this latest patch IMO was pretty good - it started to fix fundamental issues (like skills not working) and put in place mechanics that helped reduce powerlevelling.

Originally posted by gurugeorge

 a good whine meme.

Love the concept of a "whine meme"

That said, my post was not meant as a whine, nor as PC/console elitism (I own both of course)

And I am perfectly willing to be corrected if it is true that there is no crossover between the PC and Xbox version -  that both games are essentially different, with different code and mechanics etc And that any similarity is only superficial.

Just struck me that if there were any sense in which testing a PC game could help perfect a game in time for Xbox 360, this PC paid beta to Xbox gold idea seems to be an interesting one, which takes advantages of the particular character of PC gaming. We may come to see more of it, especially if there is a future for MMORPGs on the Xbox.

It is seems pretty clear that PC players are currently paying to test this game before it is released on XBox 360. It seems not such a bad idea - why?

a) because PC players are more tech savvy, so are more likely to be able to cope with difficulties and find solutions

b) PC players more patient about dealing with bugs (despite what you read in forums)

c) PC players probably have more disposable income, so don't mind paying to beta test so much

d) PC players are willing to pay for mid beta level quality, in return for playing before console players

e) there is less of a brand risk to bad PC games... if XBOx messes up, it hurts XBox as a whole; if a PC game messes up, the developer takes a bit of a knock but no-one else really bears any consequences

f) PC players will test out many configurations and craft their own mods and uis, which Funcom can adopt, and use to improve the game pre XBox

any other thoughts?