Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:55 am
My son and his friends are playing, and he begged me to play. So, I am. I'm not a happy player.
No looting. Blah. I kill someone, they keep their stuff. yawn.
3rd fucking person. I've often said, but had no real life experience, that 3rd and first person views do NOT belong in an RPG. I have real life experience now. It fuuuuckinnnnnng sucks. Do NOT try to do anything in a cave. Camera is shoved so far up your ass you can't see anything. You just hit tab to get a target and start killing. Fighting in the woods? Nice view of the tops of the trees while your getting your ass kicked. Zoom in to get under them, and it's like fighting with one eye closed and the other one looking through a paper towel tube. You can only see what is DIRECTLY in front of you. People who play WoW may be better at dealing with this shit than I am. But I keep cursing the game and wishing I could zoom out further. This is my biggest problem with the game. By far. REALLY far.
I die, I still have my stuff. I lose nothing. Nada. Worst part about dying is that you end up in town and have to run back to where you were. Oh no.
Mother fucking son of bitch whore shit. It's fucking EA. Oh the things parents must endure for their children.
No player economy. There is an auction system. But, so far, from what I know, there is no player crafting to any great degree. No player market. Etc. You quest, get prizes, move on. You can trade directly with people. So, if you get something cool, you can spam chat that you have it. Maybe one of the 7 or so people in your area will want it. Probably not though. They are running the same missions, getting the same prizes.
Good stuff about the game. Yes, there is some good stuff.
Quests - While very easy, they make leveling up fast. And who doesn't like to level up fast. I have done about 50, and have yet to repeat one. I'm not even sure if you ever do repeat any. I don't mind this system at all. Even if I was leveling up slower with them, they are still entertaining enough that I would do them. There are basic "Go talk to this person" missions that turn into "Now go do this stuff in this area." In most cases, you are going out and killing stuff. But the missions make you explore new areas of the world and intro you to different things. So, even though they are all the standard "Go kill shit", it SEEMS different enough each time. These missions beat the shit out of Eve's missions. If for no other reason than you see different shit on the way to the mission. Things like:
Public quests: These are small, team based missions. Unless you are leveled up pretty high, and in a low level area running missions, you will always need help. Running low level missions as an upper level character doesn't help you gain experience, so, no one does it. You come upon these in different areas. They are all basically "Kill x number of these things" Now "kill this harder stuff". Now, "Here's the boss". Again, each one is pretty much the same idea, but the monsters/creatures vary enough that they seem different. Sometimes the things you have to kill are annoying an NPC character. Sometimes, they are holding an area and you have to beat them down, others, they are doing something else. So, they feel different enough that you want to see how each one plays out. The prize at the end of the public quest is, I think, random. Based on how much damage you did during the mission, you will have, it seems, tickets in a hat. The more damage you did, the more tickets. Then, the system draws a ticket for the highest prize. Then the next highest, etc. I have never won a prize on a higher tier than I have earned, but I have won lower. In other words, of all the PQs I've done, I would be 3rd or 4th damage dealer and would win a 3rd or 4th tier prize respectively. The last one I did, I was the 5th damage dealer, and received a 6th tier. So, I'm guessing the system works as I described above. Plus, there are other messages that lead me to believe it's something like that. But I often run into these on my way to a solo quest, and get side tracked and play in the public quests.
I'm to a level now that many of my solo quest take me closer to enemy territory. So, I have been PKed. And, I've managed to PK a couple times. Again, no looting of there stuff. But, the game does generate some random thing that you can use and you can pull it from their body. Ya hoo. not. It's mostly worthless shit, and it wasn't theirs. But, at least he's not where he wanted to be any more. . . But anyway, you do run into other people out in the wilderness.
Leveling up allows you to buy better skills. They are very similar to the moves you would earn in Star Wars galaxy. While in combat, you click a button and it allows you do perform a special attack. These attacks cost . . . I don't remember what it's called, we'll call it mana. So, when you are out of mana, you can't do any more special attacks. The mana regenerates pretty quickly though. So, if you pause for about 15 - 20 seconds, it's all back. At least, at my level. Maybe it takes longer if you have more. There are other things that go into level up, but I haven't seen them yet. They start at level 11. I'm level 8 right now. Out of 40 levels.
There's two other levels of combat as well. One is very similar to TF2. You tell the game you want to play in one. You get zapped to that instance with other players and you battle. Two sides, and you capture points, pushing your enemy back. Your team scores points for kills/damage as well as holding points. First team to 500, wins. Then you get zapped back to where you were. I don't remember any prizes here, but you get mad experience points and something call . . . shit, don't remember again. Some like 'influence' points. Not sure what that gets you yet.
Lastly, there's realm warfare. This is supposed to be 'epic'. Maybe epic in a no risk carebear kind of way. . . but, whatever. Major battles raging on for hours at a time to control the map. I'm not sure what caturing an area does to the other team. But, it's suppose to be bad and affect your side's abilities to run quests and stuff. I don't know. Haven't been affected yet. That I know of.
Over all, I'm not blown away. I'm enjoying the game, for what it is. But, it's not a UO killer. FUCK I miss that game. If you like WoW, from what I understand, this is a direct competitor. So, you might like this. If you like mashing through stuff and leveling up with little to no risk and playing dress up with your online character, you'd like this. If you like hard core PvP where you can actually influence the life of another player, move along, there's nothing to see here.
Maybe, when I get to realm warfare, upper levels and stuff, things might be different. Maybe realm warfare hurts the other team in some way that makes all your efforts worthwhile. I don't know. If that happens, I'll let you know. But so far, it only seems that your teams tag is on the map instead of theirs. And, maybe there's a hidden player economy that I haven't found yet. You can learn trade skills. . . but I have tried them and don't know what they do. So, lots to discover yet. But, I have a feeling I'm playing a massive carebear game.
I wonder if anyone read that whole thing.
No looting. Blah. I kill someone, they keep their stuff. yawn.
3rd fucking person. I've often said, but had no real life experience, that 3rd and first person views do NOT belong in an RPG. I have real life experience now. It fuuuuckinnnnnng sucks. Do NOT try to do anything in a cave. Camera is shoved so far up your ass you can't see anything. You just hit tab to get a target and start killing. Fighting in the woods? Nice view of the tops of the trees while your getting your ass kicked. Zoom in to get under them, and it's like fighting with one eye closed and the other one looking through a paper towel tube. You can only see what is DIRECTLY in front of you. People who play WoW may be better at dealing with this shit than I am. But I keep cursing the game and wishing I could zoom out further. This is my biggest problem with the game. By far. REALLY far.
I die, I still have my stuff. I lose nothing. Nada. Worst part about dying is that you end up in town and have to run back to where you were. Oh no.
Mother fucking son of bitch whore shit. It's fucking EA. Oh the things parents must endure for their children.
No player economy. There is an auction system. But, so far, from what I know, there is no player crafting to any great degree. No player market. Etc. You quest, get prizes, move on. You can trade directly with people. So, if you get something cool, you can spam chat that you have it. Maybe one of the 7 or so people in your area will want it. Probably not though. They are running the same missions, getting the same prizes.
Good stuff about the game. Yes, there is some good stuff.
Quests - While very easy, they make leveling up fast. And who doesn't like to level up fast. I have done about 50, and have yet to repeat one. I'm not even sure if you ever do repeat any. I don't mind this system at all. Even if I was leveling up slower with them, they are still entertaining enough that I would do them. There are basic "Go talk to this person" missions that turn into "Now go do this stuff in this area." In most cases, you are going out and killing stuff. But the missions make you explore new areas of the world and intro you to different things. So, even though they are all the standard "Go kill shit", it SEEMS different enough each time. These missions beat the shit out of Eve's missions. If for no other reason than you see different shit on the way to the mission. Things like:
Public quests: These are small, team based missions. Unless you are leveled up pretty high, and in a low level area running missions, you will always need help. Running low level missions as an upper level character doesn't help you gain experience, so, no one does it. You come upon these in different areas. They are all basically "Kill x number of these things" Now "kill this harder stuff". Now, "Here's the boss". Again, each one is pretty much the same idea, but the monsters/creatures vary enough that they seem different. Sometimes the things you have to kill are annoying an NPC character. Sometimes, they are holding an area and you have to beat them down, others, they are doing something else. So, they feel different enough that you want to see how each one plays out. The prize at the end of the public quest is, I think, random. Based on how much damage you did during the mission, you will have, it seems, tickets in a hat. The more damage you did, the more tickets. Then, the system draws a ticket for the highest prize. Then the next highest, etc. I have never won a prize on a higher tier than I have earned, but I have won lower. In other words, of all the PQs I've done, I would be 3rd or 4th damage dealer and would win a 3rd or 4th tier prize respectively. The last one I did, I was the 5th damage dealer, and received a 6th tier. So, I'm guessing the system works as I described above. Plus, there are other messages that lead me to believe it's something like that. But I often run into these on my way to a solo quest, and get side tracked and play in the public quests.
I'm to a level now that many of my solo quest take me closer to enemy territory. So, I have been PKed. And, I've managed to PK a couple times. Again, no looting of there stuff. But, the game does generate some random thing that you can use and you can pull it from their body. Ya hoo. not. It's mostly worthless shit, and it wasn't theirs. But, at least he's not where he wanted to be any more. . . But anyway, you do run into other people out in the wilderness.
Leveling up allows you to buy better skills. They are very similar to the moves you would earn in Star Wars galaxy. While in combat, you click a button and it allows you do perform a special attack. These attacks cost . . . I don't remember what it's called, we'll call it mana. So, when you are out of mana, you can't do any more special attacks. The mana regenerates pretty quickly though. So, if you pause for about 15 - 20 seconds, it's all back. At least, at my level. Maybe it takes longer if you have more. There are other things that go into level up, but I haven't seen them yet. They start at level 11. I'm level 8 right now. Out of 40 levels.
There's two other levels of combat as well. One is very similar to TF2. You tell the game you want to play in one. You get zapped to that instance with other players and you battle. Two sides, and you capture points, pushing your enemy back. Your team scores points for kills/damage as well as holding points. First team to 500, wins. Then you get zapped back to where you were. I don't remember any prizes here, but you get mad experience points and something call . . . shit, don't remember again. Some like 'influence' points. Not sure what that gets you yet.
Lastly, there's realm warfare. This is supposed to be 'epic'. Maybe epic in a no risk carebear kind of way. . . but, whatever. Major battles raging on for hours at a time to control the map. I'm not sure what caturing an area does to the other team. But, it's suppose to be bad and affect your side's abilities to run quests and stuff. I don't know. Haven't been affected yet. That I know of.
Over all, I'm not blown away. I'm enjoying the game, for what it is. But, it's not a UO killer. FUCK I miss that game. If you like WoW, from what I understand, this is a direct competitor. So, you might like this. If you like mashing through stuff and leveling up with little to no risk and playing dress up with your online character, you'd like this. If you like hard core PvP where you can actually influence the life of another player, move along, there's nothing to see here.
Maybe, when I get to realm warfare, upper levels and stuff, things might be different. Maybe realm warfare hurts the other team in some way that makes all your efforts worthwhile. I don't know. If that happens, I'll let you know. But so far, it only seems that your teams tag is on the map instead of theirs. And, maybe there's a hidden player economy that I haven't found yet. You can learn trade skills. . . but I have tried them and don't know what they do. So, lots to discover yet. But, I have a feeling I'm playing a massive carebear game.
I wonder if anyone read that whole thing.