Profile: jakin
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• • Saga of Ryzom is comin back...

  • Originally posted by Gilgameesh
    

    About people not playing a 4 years old server, 

     ...

    Anyway, it's up to your decision. I can be wrong of course, but, if you are a sandbox lover, with skills and no classes, with total freedom to do whatever you want, with pvp but without the stupid  ganking (PK) behaviour (that can be still done in certain areas) you'll play it, old or new.

     

    
     

    It's a question of perception not reality.

    There are simply not enough veteran Ryzom players left to sustain development and profit on the game as it is / was.  If there were then it wouldn't have closed doors in the first place.

    If they don't do a complete reset and relaunch then the new developers are pretty much signing up for failure again.  Many players do not want to enter into an old game with old players.  Doesn't matter if the reality is different - if the server is new the perception is that everyone starts on an even playing field.

    Frankly I'm not so certain that Ryzom will work out this time either without a fair few compromises in the basic game design.  Time will tell though.

  • Posted: 7/01/08 9:29 PM
    The Saga of Ryzom
• • How fast do you want to kill mobs per minute?

  • IF fighting a mob was challenging, and IF the encounter was tricky, and IF the AI + game engine was up to the task then fewer fights with harder mobs would be the most interesting approach for me.

    The problem is that currently MMO's treat PvE as an XP piñata moreso than anything else.  Just a big bag of hitpoints that takes a while to grind down.  That's the biggest reason why you have all these people talking about DPS vs HPS, speed specs and so on.  PvE combat in MMOs is so simple it can be reduced down to one set of figures - if you put out more damage than you take in a given unit time, you win.  No question about it.

    By rights the player should be no tougher than the mobs they fight.  I get really tired from an immersion stand-point when I see my PC mowing through dozens and hundreds of orcs / pirates / miscellaneous NPCs.  It's pretty ridiculous. 

    In an ideal world a "dungeon" would have a relatively small amount of opponents on average (excepting the odd "swarm" encounter) where each fight would demand a lot of player skill and ability - not simply watching cool down timers to optimize your DPS.  (actually the whole idea of hitpoints and damage per second would be out the window were it up to me).

  • Posted: 6/26/08 9:56 AM
    General Discussion
• • I really think Funcom is trying to improve

  • AoC seems to be doing a few things I wouldn't expect at this stage of a game's release.

     

    I signed up for the AoC forums and beta ages ago but wasn't in beta (computer specs too low).   Just last night I got an email basically asking why I wasn't subscribed yet.  Pretty informative too - indicating there was a digital download for those that couldn't find physical copies, etc.

     

    Struck me as an unusual move for a game just a month into release - usually don't see the emails until later in the cycle.  Perhaps a sharp marketing department?

  • Posted: 6/25/08 2:57 PM
    Age of Conan
• • The truth to having a sucessful MMORPG.

  • Humans also love to make sweeping generalizations about what other humans like / are like.

  • Posted: 6/18/08 9:59 PM
    General Discussion
• • so I got the 14day trial

  • Originally posted by dannicus
    

    Last MMO i played was WoW from it's released before that EQ stopped shortly after Omens of War expansion.

    So far in LotR I have a level 6 guardian and level 4 minstrel. The game seems pretty good but is this a real MMO? I was kinda disappointed that after I finished my newbie quest that i was sent to an instance which was okay then sent back to the same map of the gaming world but it's a different zone or instance. In a way it's cool because it makes it seem as the gaming world is involving but on the other hand so far it seems i haven't been in a real MMO gaming world and despite a few people i passed on the way when doing Quest this game has a very single player feel to it.

    grant it i'm only level 6.

    Also compared to WoW the combat animation isn't that good it's almost identical to EQ and the fights take too long, i mean how many slashes and stabs can a piglet take before it kills over? apparently about 50. the graphic engine is about the same or maybe a little more advance then WoW but the artwork fails in comparison.

    With that said pls remember i'm only lev 6 in the game. So where will this game take me? I had a sparring match which was fun is there any decent pvp down the road? Raiding, grouping, the economy, what's the level cap?

    Overall i know i gave this game some crappy reviews but it still holding my interest so it cant be all that bad.

    
    As said - there is a short single player tutorial, then a newbie zone separate from the rest of the game world, and finally you are out in the main game world which is the same as a traditional MMO.

    It is fully possible to solo to max level by questing - so you may not see a lot of groups forming all the time, but that said - strict soloists will miss some interesting group dungeons (about every 10 levels there is one).

    Perhaps on the lowest settings WoW and Lotro are similar, but realistically LOTRO is much more detailed and smooth.  Take a careful look at high settings screenshots from both side-by-side and you should see the differences.  The art style might be what you're seeing - where WoW is very cartoon-like (bright colours, etc) LOTRO tries for a more realistic palette (as does EQ2).

    PvP in the game is strictly kept to one zone where free peoples (your main character) fight against monster players (essentially alt characters of other free peoples).  There is no PvP between free people outside of duels.  Whether it's decent PvP is a matter of conjecture - but generally hard-core PvP players don't like it much.

    Level cap is currently 50, rising to 60 with an expansion near the end of the year.  There are a number of high-level instances (for groups of 3-6) and two raids for groups of 24 (I think I've got that right anyway).  They're also not for the hard-core - it's not a raiding game really.

    The economy is dubious.  There is crafting and some of the stuff is in demand, but more of it is bettered by items you get from questing.  It's a side game for the most part - but enjoyed by some.

    Basically - the game is enjoyable as long as you stay behind the dev team's development curve.  For those that cap out it generally loses some enjoyment value as there is less to do.  As long as you approach the game from a casual mindset it's pretty interesting and well-put-together.

    If you're by nature a hard-core player (up to you to decide if you are) I'd suggest having LOTRO as a secondary MMO that you don't play all the time, but one where you "vacation" when tired of your main MMO.

  • Posted: 6/08/08 11:34 AM
    Lord of the Rings Online