All Posts by Xasapis

The fantasy setting is currently overused and overplayed. Sure thing, people like fantasy. But there is little variety at the moment, which is something that doesn't seem to be bound to change any time soon.

Fable was a great single player experience, but that does not automatically translates to a good MMO that has enough uniqueness and variety to stand up among the rest of the current and close to be released titles.

The first 20 levels were originally meant to be a single player experience. This is no longer the case. A good 2/3 or more of your time will be spent in the company of others.

But those 20 levels are enough to place you in the universe. Give you an identity and a role. And explain in the process certain things that would normally be impossible (like the ressurecting).

Those who thoroughly enjoy the RPG aspect will (in my opinion) enjoy the trip for sure.

Azdel's approach ... dream zone hehe (yes, I'm a bit drunk atm, sorry to say)

Originally posted by Elsabolts

No open beta YET, and the closed beta NDA is not being lifted. inquireing minds wonder.

Fixed for you. See you in the open beta. You'll certainly feel the wrath of Mitra ;)

Actually the storytelling is a strong aspect of what makes MMORPGs, well, RPGs.

LOTRO had this as well and I thought it was a nice introduction to the game.

Their approach solves (well, sort of) a lore issue regarding a world where people generally stay dead when they die. I agree that they could be more vague about how many people were marooned after the *spoiler*, but given a server's population, even that holds little credibility.

Bottom line, I think I can afford a suspension of disbelief at that particular point in order to enjoy the engaging story telling. Whether others can do the same is something that people have to answer for themselves.

It means that you better wait for people's actual impressions with the game before posting your own assumptions about it. At this point anyone can claim that is in the beta. The funniest part is that only a true beta tester can tell whether those who claim to be, are really in it, or at which point they decided to leave and start a moaning spree. All betas have bugs and issues and at any given time some issues are more prevailing than others.

Lets see how the release build is before we jump into conclusions from an unfinished product. The game may end up bug ridden and unplayable at release. We can call it flop right there. We can't call it flop when somebody decides he has seen enough of the beta (if he was actually there at all) and decides to bash the game due to the unfinished form.

One thing is certain, people don't like to be proven wrong. Even if the game is released in a good state and is fun to play, we'll still see the "told you so" doomsayers trying to defend their negative view of ... well, just about anything. LOTRO stellar release is a good example of a good game being buried by the doomsayers.

And by the way, lag is by definition network related. People may not have enough computer memory or decent hard drives. This may cause stalls in any MMO that's not 5+ years old. They are not however network related. And before people start bashing the developers about the "unplayble graphics", you need to realise that the game was designed with good graphics in mind. It's up to the people to consider if the lack of a good machine will deter from the gameplay. If so, they should probably stick to something more forgiving in the graphics department.

There is nothing wrong with a pure healing class in a game that has good grouping and healing is a requirement. You have however to realise that the majority of players will not play a pure healer. Only a minority enjoys this aspect with a few people being forced in the position for the better good of a guild.

If a game does implement pure healers, they will need to back them up with a real necessity to be there. Else noone will play anything more than a healer hybrid. And exactly because of the rarity, people may have to wait some long hours for a trinity group (tank, healer, dps).

Bottom line,if pure healers are implemented, they will become a necessity. And if they become a necessity, expect yourself to warship them, due to their rarity.

www.thenoobcomic.com/headquarters/comics/00297.jpg

• The Aquilonians have the best taverns ...
• The Cimmerians got the best wine ...
• The Stygians got the most willing "companions" ...

I wonder which one you'll choose to hang around ...

[I'm just trying to be funny. Nothing mentioned above has to do with actual in-game footage. Besides nipples. And taverns. And wine ... ]

As mentioned above, it's quest related that becomes available at level 10.

Is AO stealth vs perception related to proximity between the people involved? I don't remember this bit.

Rogue classes will have some openers from stealth, but the normal combat will be done with everyone visible. It would be too unbalanced to do it in any other way. Apart from that, rogue classes will have some more interesting benefits from stealth as opposed to the rest.

The screenshots look very nice. I can't see how people can comment on animation from looking at the screenshots. Even for idle animation, it's a bit hard to tell.

In any case, I'm looking forward to play the game when it's out.

They move a lot faster than that in a 1min = 1 hour in-game circle.

A 6 hours day/night cicle would mean 15 mins = 1 hour in-game.

A 3 hours day/night cicle would mean roughly 7 mins = 1 hour in-game.

Maybe 5 mins = 1 hour in-game is the best.

The only issue with fast day/night circle I can think of is the max detailed shadows moving too fast. Which is not a real issue.

You and your guild is defending your keep. It's 30 or so minutes before the expected attack commences so everyone is nervous. You look outside but you see noone except some non guilded people running around, curious themselves about the upcoming siege.

How can this be? Where is the arch-enemy guild that threatened with a full out attack earlier this week?

• You know they are out there somewhere, but you don't know exactly where.
• You know they are gathering forces, but you don't know how many and which other guilds are helping them.
• You don't know from which side they will concentrate their attack.

You order your rangers to run out and scout the whole territory for hostiles. The one that went south reported being attacked and killed by assassins. He couldn't tell however if they were part of a bigger force or just lurkers. You decide to send a team with a couple soldiers and a healer to investigate further.

It's almost time ...

Will you manage to hold the keep this week?

Actually the game has gone gold since a few days back.

I think you're confusing invisible walls with natural world borders.

Look at my post history for the answer you need ;)

 

A Few Words on Open Beta

Looks like there was a miscommunication/misunderstanding at the show.

We are planning to have an open beta for the game as we get closer to launch, however, it will be through specific partners and require an application/registration process, much like most of the other betas for most other games.

We will be limiting the number of keys we release to a manageable number at any given time, rather than subjecting people to queues and loading screens and so on. By "a manageable number," we mean tens of thousands, not just a handful.

We’re also ramping up some of our tech test betas, and, of course, we’ll be doing key giveaways, inviting forum veterans, and inviting more people to the current, closed stage of beta as we ramp up for launch.

So, yes, there will be a wider-scale open beta, but it will require an application/registration process and won’t be as simple as “press button, get key,” which is what we wanted to say.

__________________

www.gametrailers.com/player/31264.html

That's part of the OP link in HD format.

There will be an open beta, with some way of verifying age (or at least attempt to). At that point everyone will have a pretty good picture on how the game plays and if they like the concept or not. Before that, and it's just trash talk about work in progress.

The NDA is not there to protect a bad game but to protect work in progress and ideas leaking to other games (especially other games with tons more resources). Bashing an unfinished product is the easiest thing in the world, but also most unfair. It's like bashing a car engine before it receives any optimisation. Of course it will suck. Testing the optimised engine however and finding issues with it is another ball game.

If you're unsure about this game and whether you like the concept, don't pre-order. Pre-orders are for those that are certain and for those who can afford and don't mind experimenting. Once in a while I will buy a game I won't like, it happened and it'll happen, it's not the end of the world.

We're about a month from being able to see for ourselves. No need to believe second hand opinions, when we can have first hand knowledge.

It was pretty generic with little substance and no actual facts. It could have been written for any game in the development list with just the title changed and it would still be valid, that's how much generic it was. And you could still have people falling for it.

In the post-Vanguard age, it's a lot easier to be a doom-sayer and have people believe what you say as the gospel truth.