All Posts by Koltrane

Runescape is number 2 from a population standpoint.  This page lists Habbo Hotel as #2, but that's not a traditional MMO.   The list is from June and likely hasn't changed much.

After playing DDO & this game, I ran screaming back to WoW.  I really wanted it to succeed, but there's just so much wrong with it that is endemic, i.e. not fixable.  If it makes it to summer 2007, I'll be surprised.

Blizzard proved that the MMO player base is expandable, but I still think there are only so many MMO players out there.  The limiting factor is time.  As much time as it takes to develop a character, level it, etc., most people don't have time to play more than one game. 

A game like Auto Assault has a much tougher time now than it would have say 3 years ago, mainly because of the competition.  I honestly thought AA would distinguish itself because of its unusual premise, but I guess people really aren't tired of sword & sorcery games.

I don't know how AA recovers.  I mean it, I really don't see how it bounces back after such a poor launch.  I hope it does.  I would enjoy playing if there were some people to play with, but that's just not the case.

Ya know, I had a lot of fun playing this game.  It was fast paced and well thought out.  There were a few drawbacks, but in general it was/is a solid title.  However, I just canceled my account after two months, and there's really only one reason:  Lack of players.

Even at the low levels I never saw more than 10 or so other players (I played Bio on Apoc) and at the mid 30s, I could play for 5 hours and see nary a soul in towns or in the wasteland.  I can't really say what is wrong with the game, but there's just something missing and no other players is a big part of it.

I don't mind soloing, but I like to have some contact with others.  I joined a guild, but there were never more than 4 of us on at a time.  I logged in for one last time yesterday and did a /who * * *, and it showed 47 people in all of Biomek on that server.  That means 200 at best on the entire server.  Between the 4 servers, I think NetDevil is lucky to see 1000 players.

I went back to EQ at the behest of some friends and playerd on the Combine server.  The first night there were 300 players in Nektulos, 500 in GFay.  EC maintains 200+ on average.  I am having a ball and it reminds me that the "massive multiplayer" part of MMORPG is essential.  No one wants to feel like he's the only player in a huge world.

I tip my hat to NetDevil and NCSoft, because the game they delivered is a good one, but it just didn't resonate with the players.  I can't say whether they'll fold or be able to scrap out a niche following like EVE, but I won't be playing. 

So long, Auto Assault.  It was fun while it lasted.

I quit playing in May, so it's been about 2 months and the server pops were dropping like a rock then.  I'm just curious as to how the pops are now?  Is anyone still playing this game?

I figured that those who didn't like it dumped already and those who love it have hit level 10 a couple of times already.  So is there still a healthy population or is the pool of players dwindling?  Anyone know?

300 players in Nek last night on Combine.  I don't think the other servers see 300 people in Nektulos in a month!  I ran around for 15 minutes before I killed anything because everything was getting killed the second it popped.  Lag was bad, but expected.  It was generally a fun experience.  I'm looking forward to this!

Unbelievable.  It's amazing to me that people on the forums act that way.  You'd think they'd want Turbine to hear the constructive criticism this guy offered so it would improve the game, but instead they just attack the messenger.

It's one thing to attack a troll who's just trying to get a rise out of the community, but this guy was obviously a player who wanted to like the game and offered his criticisms in a calm, dignified manner.  If so many people are saying the same thing, there has to be something there.  50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong.

If the truth be known, they probably know the guy is right (and may even agree), but they just can't bring themselves to face the truth that there is something definitely wrong with this game, and all the denial and flamebaiting and griping at those who speak their mind isn't going to change that.

I was not very excited about AA when it was released.  I had played it before and it seemed to me to be just another driving game in a multiplayer persistent world.  Of course, I was only playing a demo that showed the driving mechanics, but I just didn't see much for this game.

I missed the big picture in a huge way.

My brother convinced me to give AA a try, even going so far as to buy me the game on the promise that I would pay him back if I stuck with it.  I paid him back before the trial was up.  It's been a long time since I was just completely swept up in a game right from the outset.  With so many MMOs, you have to kill snakes and rats for a week before you get any good weapons or loot, but in AA you start out right in the action.

I recommend it highly.  There are a people who will come here bashing it, but no game is going to appeal to everyone and MMOs in particular draw both rabid fans and vehement opponents.  Try it for yourself.  It's a blast!

Character Name:  Elvisaron
Vehicle Name:  BlackGoldDiscoMusicMachine
Server:  Apocalypse
Faction:  Biomek
Class:  Terminator
Clan: Dark Wave

I had this dissussion the other day and even posted about it here.  My argument was that MMO designers/publishers have decided that the "EverQuest Model" (for lack of a better term) works, and that adding new features or changing the dynamic radically does not do much to bring in new players.

I also think that the pool of players who will subscribe and stick with a MMO is not unlimited, so all the games out there are fighting for ways to lure existing MMO players away from their favorite game and, possibly, bring in new players who have never played a MMO before.

So how are they doing this?  Well one way is through franchise gaming (as you call it).  There are pros and cons to this.  The biggest pro is that it brings a lot of players who loved the original property (D&D, LOTR, The Matrix) to the game.  The biggest con is that the "rabid fan" is the most likely player to be disappointed because Frodo's cloak is not the exact shade of grey they imagined.

I don't think this has been a giant success (other that World of Warcraft).  Think about games like MxO and DDO, which are struggling.  Think about games based on previously successful MMOs like AC2 and EQ2, one of which is canceled and the other of which is holding its own, but is not the runaway success of its parent game.

It will be interesting to see how this trend goes.  I don't mind a game with a well-known property attached to it, but I think hoping that license will appease players in a game where gameplay and fun are lacking (DDO, anyone?) is folly.

Try Auto Assault.  It's different from the typical MMO, but it's fast-paced and fun and offers all the standard MMO features (grouping, crafting, housing, pvp, etc.)  Also, DAoC is a good, solid game run by a team (Mythic) that is very responsive to the player community, particularly if you are looking for a traditional sword & sorcery game.

No real opinion on free games, but there is a sticky at the top of the forum that lists a bunch of free titles.

Anarchyart said it well.  I also like the big game world and the smooth animation.  For an online game, there is extremely fast movement and the game doesn't suffer from lag due to the engine. 

Oh, and jumping is a blast, as is tearing up a Pike town.

Cons would be that there is a seemingly low population right now.  Everything I log on, my server's pop is "very low".  Also, I would like more high-level opponents that require groups to kill, but I'm only lev 20, so there may be more of that ahead.

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Originally posted by FaYkE

One im not sure how this would even work in AA. Not sure how a car would "heal" another car. Anothing thing is i dont know how the targeting system works in this game, if you click someone and you have them targeted or if its more FPS oriented.
So how bout it? Is there a healing class?

(Psst.... i need a buddy triaaaallll i wanna tryyyeeeet!! stryfe77@hotmail.com)

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You have to enter a CC# at signup, even though they don't charge for the 1st month.  If you wanted to sell the game to a friend, you could alter your account settings and input his card.  I know there are probably other ways to transfer accounts, but I'm not all that familiar with Turbine's billing system.

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Originally posted by Cheeseman162
/off topic
Wow Koltrane, I haven't seen you post in awhile, it's good to see you again
/off topic

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I really don't see a lot of future for this game, fanboys notwithstanding.  If we can all put our biases aside and take an objective look at the basic design, then it just doesn't hold up.

Elnator gave a list of things this game doesn't have, and there are probably even more.  In fact, the only thing this game does have going for it is the Dungeons & Dragons name.  If you took the D&D name off the game and retitled it, "Kobold Attack!" (or something), no one would know it was D&D (even with the references to Eberron) and no one would play it.

DDO is like a subset of other MMOs.  It's like Turbine said, "Let's take the basic MMO formula, strip away everything except set dungeon crawls and grouping, and slap the Dungeons & Dragons name on it. 

Seriously, I just don't understand who the long-term (or even the short-term, for that matter) audience is.

People may say that WoW is better in certain areas, or EQ2 has nicer so and so, but there is NO game that has an equivalent to the sheer fun of destroying the environment.  When I top a hill and see a Scav town or a TemperNet base, it's PARTY TIME!  I barrel in the and blast away, destroying people, buildings, walls, etc. and picking up valuable crafting components in the process.

I've been on for about 10 days and am still loving it!.  If you decide to play, join Bios or Mutants.  Just like Albs in DAoC or Alliance in WoW, the Humans are overpopulated.

Oh, and I finally got my jumping bean medal with a 5.1 sec jump today.  Too much fun!

Auto Assault is officially released.  It is out of beta.  There will not be a server rollback or an end-of-beta wipe.

Having played DDO for a couple of months, I'm not a fan, but I'm not here to bash it either.  I do have a question that I would like the forum's opinion on:  Who is the target audience for this game?

DDO qualifies as a MMORPG under the broadest of definitions, but it is so limited in many ways that I don't see the traditional MMO crowd going for it in a big way.  DDO has nice graphics and good teamplay, but it is lacking in free exploration, crafting, PvP, solo/small team options, discovery, and a decent economy, among other things...all of which traditional MMO gamers love.

I've heard PnP RPGers say that this is not the game they hoped for, even AD&D guys.  Most of them seem to be awaiting NWN2 which will allow them to be more creative without a monthly fee.

The casual computer gamer is not served well by DDO, because there is no option for a short session.  If you count the time it takes to log on, find a group, select a mission, run and complete a crawl, and turn it in, your talking a minimum of an hour - and that's if everything goes well.  I could play DAoC for 20 mins and accomplish a couple of quests or kill some mobs for exp.  That's almost impossible to do in DDO.

The worst thing going against DDO (imho) is that there is almost no replayability.  I've said it before and I'll say it again...why on earth pay a monthly fee for a game that has no alternate path?  All players, regardless of race or class, run the same missions that never change.  The normal version of a quest differs from the hard and elite versions only by the toughness of the opponents and, ostensibly, better loot.  The thing that truly made me want to quit DDO was when I logged on, got a group, and all they wanted to do were the same three quests I had run in my previous 4 or 5 sessions.

I know it sounds like I'm bashing, but I'm truly curious.  Who is the genral audience Turbine is shooting for?  I hate to say it, but I think they're about to find out that their target market is extremely limited.  If they have 30,000 subs in 6 months, I'll be surprised.

The issue with archers is that the only way to be effective is to stand across a gap that the mobs can't cross so they stay at a distance, but there are only a few places like that.  In 90+% of the dungeon environments the kobolds (is there any other type of mob in this game?) will come charging at you en masse and will engage the archers at melee range.  It doesn't matter if you have a tank or two to hold them.  There's no taunt command to keep them on the tank, so they change targets at whim.

Another place where Turbine totally screwed the archer class is by not allowing them to fire through gates.  For example, if a party is walking down a hallway and the two front guys trip a switch where a gate drops, the archers can't shoot through the gate.  These are not solid wooden gates, they are iron bars with gaps that allow those outside to see what's going on.  In a PnP DD game, they could assist, so why not here?  They should at least be allowed to assist from outside, but no...they have to be inside the gate, where the kobolds will again rush up to them forcing them to switch to the melee weapon.

Archer classes have it rough in DDO.  No doubt.