Profile: Blackhound
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• • Citadel of Sorcery: An Introduction to CoS: Part One

  • Sounds great. Unfortunately, as a matter of habit, I will compare all games to something else I have played. As far as open-ended games go, I always compare things that claim to be open-ended to Shadowbane. Shadowbane let you create and run empires, act as a diplomat, a general, a spy, an artisan, or an explorer. What you did was up to you and your own ability.

    Horizons also had that example, of cities being attacked, destroyed, rebuilt, the only difference is it was entirely up to players whether they chose to defend or rebuild the cities, NPCs didn't play a role as buildings were handcrafted by individuals.

    People can say their game is like nothing else, but I've got news for developers: Chances are whatever you can think of has already been done in a video game.

    That being the truth, don't try to claim something new that already exists. Let people have some comparisons with games and titles they already love.

  • Posted: 3/25/08 2:48 AM
    General Discussion
• • PlanetSide: At A Glance: Introduction to Planetside

  • Speaking of snipers and BFRs, two snipers can quickly cripple a BFR and destroy all it's ammunition, as well as disable all it's systems, slow it down, blind it, and damage it's weapons into uselessness.

    As the reviewer said, the game has complexities so deep they can never all be taken into consideration by a single player. I'm sure the devs themselves are constantly forgetting functions and features - for example: the Lashers had their lash range set to activate after 5 feet of flight to avoid friendly fire that was continually occurring. Friendly fire was eventually entirely removed from the lash effect of Lashers, but the lash range was never put back to activation on exiting the barrel, leaving the Lasher in a reduced capability for close quarters combat.

    For all the negative things being said, the game continues to see every facet exploited as all sorts of players and people repeatedly discover and rediscover new ways to play the game. With considerations such as damage degradation and weapon lethality in a given situation, ammunition availability, resource management, supply chains, base maintenance and upkeep, enemy influence detection range, electronic and counter-electronic warfare, and too many more things to post without creating a massive and long-winded list, there is a lot for strategists, commanders, and the regular G.I. to take in and process, allowing each player to contribute to the battle in ways that their enemies may not foresee.

    A single person can change the entire flow of a battle by sneaking behind enemy lines and capturing facilities and vehicles, suddenly allowing their entire army to spawn in the center of a contested base. One well placed clip from a Beamer pistol on AP can slay a wounded MAX that has already taken 15 lives, or even in standard mode eliminate the engineer who is repairing that and several other MAX units that have created an impenetrable wall of firepower. In the big scheme of things the heroes are the little gears that make the war machine move and there are few MMOs, let alone FPS games, which rely so heavily on the individual rather than the masses.

    It may not immediately be so clear to a random onlooker who is gripped by a sense of doom, but when five BattleFrame Robotics come stomping over the horizon and begin laying down a hailstorm of death on a base, the two anonymous soldiers with Anti-Vehicular weaponry who resolutely stand firm against the wall of lead, aided by brave airmen in Reavers and Mosquitos overhead, and the not-so-sane but very skilled Fury bikers who rev forward and underfoot, all have an unsaid understanding that they will send those giant stomping machines home crying to their mamas. They will do it by working in concert with no communication what-so-ever, save the screaming rockets and crackling beams of light they let loose in their own storm of death. The BFR crews will be left wishing they never marched so boldly into sight.
    
    No one in that base will know just who all was in that concert, but they will hear the crescendo of force and the thundering explosions as limbs are shorn away from those metal giants that many needlessly fear. Five people stand against the five machines of destruction and save the lives of hundreds.

    That's quality game play.

    (Edit: Reduced font size.)

  • Posted: 2/27/08 2:31 AM
    General Discussion
• • PlanetSide: At A Glance: Introduction to Planetside

  • I still have my Alpha development logs.

    I've played Planetside since one of the first stable builds. I still am playing it. I still enjoy it.

    The population is quite a bit less than it used to be, but everyone who pretends the game is a ghost town is lying outright - You should never have a hard time finding a fight, especially using the Instant Action (typing /ia into chat will do this) feature.

    The game has relatively new and quite active developers, while they are inexperienced with the engine and it's capabilities, they are doing far better than most of the replacements that have worked on the game since the original team was pulled to SOE's other projects. They have implemented what the previous teams were too lazy to finish, they have created new content, and are dedicated to continuing the growth and expansion of the game with new game types and introducing new vehicles and certifications. They have fixed bugs that have existed for over 4 years.

    Many people have a lot of negative things to say about this game, but take it from the subscribers who are still enjoying it - give it a try if you havent, there's trial keys to be had. Give it a try if you quit a number of years ago, you may enjoy yourself again.

  • Posted: 2/25/08 3:14 AM
    General Discussion
• • How about social clothing

  • Clothing customization used to be in, but for some reason they removed it. Some of my characters still have red and black undies.

  • Posted: 2/21/08 1:57 AM
    Everquest II