I think some will play it and enjoy it for me though with 5-6 push backs, a ton of hype and a lot of promises I think it is going to be a real let down. If you are honest and have followed MMOs WAR is going to be the biggest release since WoW. With 600,000 people signed up for beta, the awards and the RvR centric set up its what people want.
Open Beta is worthless in many many cases... why? Because people don't actually test, they just play and comment on everything. How many people actually take the time to write a proper bug?
...... That's right... not many
At least the closed beta, there's some control and people seem to take the time to write bugs instead of complaining.
Every open beta ends up with the following:
- The game is not ready for release
- OMG, it's soooo unbalanced!
- LAGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!
- This game sucks
So why waste time on an open beta if all you'll hear is the obvious? Might as well keep it in closed beta and work with quality people.
After being burnt a few times i am not holding my breathe. An MMO can fail in so many areas, graphics, content, stability, population etc....
I dont think it logical to expect big things from anything until they come and out and prove me wrong. However who is so logical that they don't get carried away by the hype, not me i am afraid
If it doesn't fail in population, it hasn't really failed at all though, has it?
As you mention, it's about getting carried away by the hype. Hyping, or "product promotion", is what marketing people do. It's their job. People buying into it just shows that those guys are good at it. Looking behind the hype, at the game itself, is something one learns with experience - or of course by being very sceptical by nature.
Open Beta is worthless in many many cases... why? Because people don't actually test, they just play and comment on everything. How many people actually take the time to write a proper bug?
Open beta is a marketing tool, not a testing tool. It's there to give a small taste of the game that makes you want more. One more reason to have a game that is polished and easy to get into and enjoy from the first minute. WoW did this really well. Some other games really didn't.
- The regular $50 deal but if you place a pre-order you get a war mammoth that has its own 8 slot pack and a art book.
- The Collectors edition that gives you both of the above items AND a drinking cape to get free drinks in taverns in this virtual world of Conan, a ring that gives you +2% exp and +3% stamina or something, a leather map instead of a paper one, some bonus DVD, a soundtrack of the game music, and a "cool" box I guess.
Hmmm, $40 for a little leather map my two year old would probably play with and spill kool-aid on, a ring that you'd prolly use until about lvl 10 and found a better one, a soundtrack that I can almost guarantee that I'd NEVER listen to, and some bonus DVD, prolly of how they made the game or something. Oh yes, and a drinking cape. Well, I don't spend a lot of time getting "drunk" in the video games. I'd much rather drink a REAL beer while I play the game. So the value to me off all this extra stuff is about 15 cents. My value of everything extra is 15 cents which is nowhere near the extra $40 that they want, so I decided on just the regular old edition.
It BETTER NOT get postponed again or I can guarantee you that I'll prolly just call EBGames and tell them to put this $50 on Warhammer instead. Heh.
I've had a singular approach to new games that has served me well for years. I know almost nothing about them. I know the name, and I know some general features (whether it's PVP-centric, PVE-centric, etc...) but I try to pay no attention to anything else. What this does for me is to ensure that when the game arrives I have an opportunity to be objective and see how I feel about the game experience. I rarely get hyped about any game and that means I don't have unreal expectations that no game can live up to. I do listen a little to what beta testers have to say...not so much the content of their comments as the tone and quantity of comments. If almost everyone says the game sucks, I am a bit wary. But if I see a mix of "love it" and "hate it" (which is about the best any game will ever get) then I know it's a solid candidate for some fun. I recommend it to anyone.
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion." -Edmund Burke
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" (Psalm 94:16)
Right. If you are developing a game you should start at square one and state what you want to create. "A persistant online role playing game centered around player versus player combat" in Conan's case. Once you abbreviate that as MMORPG everyone thinks "Oh, it's like WoW but..."
It's alot easier to think in those terms I guess but there is nothing that says you need levels, classes, stats or XP to have an RPG and in a PvP focused game I think you'd be much better off eliminating levels all together. Hearing Conan has 80 levels, and what sounds like a pretty standard advancement system along with end-game raiding put me in the I'll wait till a month or two after release to hear if it's fun or not category.
AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
It's also not "almost here". Delayed again, for the 5th time now, until May. Also dropping 2 classes from the roster. Hey though, NPC's get drunk and urinate in the ocean and it has bewbs...so it must be good
Originally posted by Sroek AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
Compared to what? As an 87% killer, I am happy to know that I will be able to fight opponents on nearly even ground. The whole PK era died of lameness. Or are you whining that it's not a grindfest?
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
Compared to what? As an 87% killer, I am happy to know that I will be able to fight opponents on nearly even ground. The whole PK era died of lameness. Or are you whining that it's not a grindfest?
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
You actually believe in that MMO player-type percentage BS? PK is a carebear term. As is PvP even. A true MMO would allow anybody to attack anybody, anywhere, any time by default and not categorize itself as a "PvP" game. Calling an MMO a "PvP" game simply because it allows you to interact with other players in the form of combat is an understatement. It's simply an MMO, with "PvP" as a default element..The only reason the typical MMO doesn't follow that concept is because they want to appeal to the largest possible audience, so all those mainstream MMORPGs like WoW are just made for corporate interests.
And I fail to see how I'm "whining that it's not a grindfest", did you just make that up or something?
AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
Compared to what? As an 87% killer, I am happy to know that I will be able to fight opponents on nearly even ground. The whole PK era died of lameness. Or are you whining that it's not a grindfest?
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
by that logic, why not just condense all the class powers into two professions....
Whatever, the more classes you put in the better. Thats why I cant play WoW.
Originally posted by Sroek Originally posted by Souldrainer
Originally posted by Sroek AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
Compared to what? As an 87% killer, I am happy to know that I will be able to fight opponents on nearly even ground. The whole PK era died of lameness. Or are you whining that it's not a grindfest?
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
You actually believe in that MMO player-type percentage BS? PK is a carebear term. As is PvP even. A true MMO would allow anybody to attack anybody, anywhere, any time by default and not categorize itself as a "PvP" game. Calling an MMO a "PvP" game simply because it allows you to interact with other players in the form of combat is an understatement. It's simply an MMO, with "PvP" as a default element..The only reason the typical MMO doesn't follow that concept is because they want to appeal to the largest possible audience, so all those mainstream MMORPGs like WoW are just made for corporate interests. And I fail to see how I'm "whining that it's not a grindfest", did you just make that up or something? Go enjoy UO man. It is the only game that fits what you described, for a reason. Anybody killing anybody would be fine and dandy if I didn't have to play with home schooled 12 year olds who play 24/7 and use every exploit in the book against my 10hr/week characters.
Your ideas suck because people who actually pay for their own subs with money from real jobs don't have time to do anything enjoyable in that environment.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
by that logic, why not just condense all the class powers into two professions.... Whatever, the more classes you put in the better. Thats why I cant play WoW.
It's funny that you bring logic into a discussion in which you are not applying any logic at all. I could easily use your own warped mentality to counter by saying you won't be satisfied with anything less than 300 classes. Would this be true? I would hope not. I'm a firm believer that Quality > Quantity.
Having more classes is cool, to a point. 15 and 20 classes make the game cumbersome for both players and devs IMO.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
My god, so many moronic conspiracy theories in this thread.
They aren't keeping the worlds best MMO secret from all the MMO players. They aren't trying to suprise unsuspecting gamers who buy this game by accident with marvellous innovations. They aren't keeping their innovations a secret from the competition who would simply incorporate them into their own existing titles faster than AOC can launch. Aliens didn't kidnap Kennedy. The moon landings were real. George Bush was not the architect of 9/11.
We could all go on imagining fantastic logics for why there is no open beta, but in the end it boils down to one of two things.
There is no open beta because the game either isn't good enough to show off or because the programmers are behind schedule.
Eitherway, it's a bad omen for the games development, not a good one. Sorry to be the one to break it you, if that's not what you wanted to hear.
There is no open beta because the game either isn't good enough to show off or because the programmers are behind schedule. Eitherway, it's a bad omen for the games development, not a good one. Sorry to be the one to break it you, if that's not what you wanted to hear.
or both.
It's now on it's FIFTH delay for release, and with this delay the only thing new is the game got smaller with the elimination of 2 classes all together.
Anyone who can excuse this as "good news" is hanging on to a thread of hope so thin they're just setting themselves up for heartbreak.
folks around here hype everything up... It's no surpirse that every game dissapoints them when they are finally released. This site advertises more than the companies themselves.. Those who ride the hype machine are often dissapointed by what they find, because they just plain expected too much..
Its like buying a lottery scratch ticket tht claims that you have a 50% chance of winning big money 7 times, and when you scratch it, you find that you have lost them all...
These games I think deserve a fair chance, all of them, hype or no hype, because "MMO's are like a box of chocolate... You never know which one your gonna get"
Everyone needs to give any new MMO some time to mature. In some cases, the game is just beyond fixing like Vanguard but that is a rare case.
AoC will not be as polished as WoW when it is launched because it is a new game. The key will be to determine if it has a strong foundation to build on.
You actually believe in that MMO player-type percentage BS? PK is a carebear term. As is PvP even. A true MMO would allow anybody to attack anybody, anywhere, any time by default and not categorize itself as a "PvP" game. Calling an MMO a "PvP" game simply because it allows you to interact with other players in the form of combat is an understatement. It's simply an MMO, with "PvP" as a default element..The only reason the typical MMO doesn't follow that concept is because they want to appeal to the largest possible audience, so all those mainstream MMORPGs like WoW are just made for corporate interests. And I fail to see how I'm "whining that it's not a grindfest", did you just make that up or something?
Over the past several years, games have evolved a little. A lot of the big titles no longer completely seperate PVE and PVP. Gameplay has opened up and become a mixture of both. They may still offer PVP servers, but even the PVE servers will contain PVP. AoC is one of these games. If you go into this game expecting only FFA PVP, you will be disappointed. The game will probably have certain areas for FFA PVP (eventually), but I think the days of anytime or anywhere is gone from anything but niche games.
A true MMO would also have true consequences to actions. If you behaved like a psychopath, you would be treated as one. There would be no more repairing of faction or switching to an alt in order to escape the consequences. If you were "caught" by a faction that hated you (or a bounty hunter), you would be imprisoned. Developers modify the rules of PVP becuase a lot of people would refuse to pay such harsh consequences (no matter how just they are). Because a lot of players refuse to act in an appropriate manner, they have to make a players freedom to PVP end where another players freedom not to PVP begins.
"Those who dislike things based only on the fact that they are popular are just as shallow and superficial as those who only like them for the same reason."
AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
AOC is overvalued. the combat is not very intense and varied, its more like a typical hack and slay game. the only difference is the combo system, but at the end you just hitting keys - it is not very tactical. for example: there is only a little "line of sight", often you are striking through the air but you still hitting the enemy. arrows shooting through the environment like through butter, etc..
most in time you running from A to B to kill some, not very intelligent, enemys, after that back to town, if you are lucky you pass some loading screens under 5-10 minutes loading time (2 gig system). there are two sepperate time settings: one at the daytime, one at the nighttime. there are also different quests at this times but there are also much more loading screens..
funcom still continue deleting classes and they are still not able to hold several release dates.. i dont know what the final version of this game including, but it cant be very much.
Open Beta is worthless in many many cases... why? Because people don't actually test, they just play and comment on everything. How many people actually take the time to write a proper bug?
Open beta is a marketing tool, not a testing tool. It's there to give a small taste of the game that makes you want more. One more reason to have a game that is polished and easy to get into and enjoy from the first minute. WoW did this really well. Some other games really didn't.
I agree completely. I firmly believe that wow's stress test betas and the open beta (with a million people in open!) was a key qualifier to the mass success of wow. Of course, as you mentioned, the developer needs to have a polished game for open beta otherwise it has the opposite effect of driving potential customers away.
Blizzard is not only a spectacular game studio, but they also have keen insight on marketing to the masses. These factors are why wow is a success and nearly every other game is a flop.
Ofcourse we are just speculating. And I take no joy in taking a cynical view here, believe me, because I love the IP and because up until today I was very hyped about the game. The following are more my personal fears for the game rather than actual predictions.
This game will be yet another mediocre release. It's success will be stymied by a number of factors.
1) Steep hardware demands will make entry into the game prohibitive for many. Ofcourse, you will be able to play the game at lower settings but then the game will look like garbage, decreasing one of it's most appealing aspects.
2) Despite even having top of the line hardware, many gamers will still find the game performs poorly due to an inadequate game engine. This will make core aspects of the game difficult to enjoy for many.
3) Lots of zones and instances will not appeal to a significant crowd. Freeze ups and disconnects at loading screens will aggravate many. The world will feel small, claustrophobic, and gated, thus diminishing immersion and the overall feeling of being in another world.
4) An innovative combat system fails to be fun, and instead is percieved as unresponsive, awkward and buggy.
5) No one niche will be happy. PVP will be frustrated by zoning and horrific lag, especially in large conflicts. PVE will be frustrated by the raid system. Crafters will be frustrated by the fact that they can't just work up a crafting profession without fighting. Hardcore people will be angry there is not a stiff enough death penalty and the lack of corpse looting. Casuals will be upset because they can not pvp all day or raid all day, hence they will be discouraged from the competitive pvp arena and the time intensive raid system.
6) A lack of open beta will encourage a significant number of cynical players to take a wait and see approach, which will in turn diminish box sales at launch. Still, they will sell a respectable number of boxes due to prelaunch hype, but six months after the release the game will be in a steady decline. Lack of population, buggy gameplay, poor performance and game mechanics which are just not fun ultimately spell it's doom.
There you have it. Not a prediction mind you, just my fears of what will happen. I hope I am proven wrong on each and every count.
Comments
I think some will play it and enjoy it for me though with 5-6 push backs, a ton of hype and a lot of promises I think it is going to be a real let down. If you are honest and have followed MMOs WAR is going to be the biggest release since WoW. With 600,000 people signed up for beta, the awards and the RvR centric set up its what people want.
Sig by WhiskeyJack1
Open Beta is worthless in many many cases... why? Because people don't actually test, they just play and comment on everything. How many people actually take the time to write a proper bug?
...... That's right... not many
At least the closed beta, there's some control and people seem to take the time to write bugs instead of complaining.
Every open beta ends up with the following:
- The game is not ready for release
- OMG, it's soooo unbalanced!
- LAGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!
- This game sucks
So why waste time on an open beta if all you'll hear is the obvious? Might as well keep it in closed beta and work with quality people.
As you mention, it's about getting carried away by the hype. Hyping, or "product promotion", is what marketing people do. It's their job. People buying into it just shows that those guys are good at it. Looking behind the hype, at the game itself, is something one learns with experience - or of course by being very sceptical by nature.
Open beta is a marketing tool, not a testing tool. It's there to give a small taste of the game that makes you want more. One more reason to have a game that is polished and easy to get into and enjoy from the first minute. WoW did this really well. Some other games really didn't.
Just ordered it from EBGames.com
They have 2 versions..
- The regular $50 deal but if you place a pre-order you get a war mammoth that has its own 8 slot pack and a art book.
- The Collectors edition that gives you both of the above items AND a drinking cape to get free drinks in taverns in this virtual world of Conan, a ring that gives you +2% exp and +3% stamina or something, a leather map instead of a paper one, some bonus DVD, a soundtrack of the game music, and a "cool" box I guess.
Hmmm, $40 for a little leather map my two year old would probably play with and spill kool-aid on, a ring that you'd prolly use until about lvl 10 and found a better one, a soundtrack that I can almost guarantee that I'd NEVER listen to, and some bonus DVD, prolly of how they made the game or something. Oh yes, and a drinking cape. Well, I don't spend a lot of time getting "drunk" in the video games. I'd much rather drink a REAL beer while I play the game. So the value to me off all this extra stuff is about 15 cents. My value of everything extra is 15 cents which is nowhere near the extra $40 that they want, so I decided on just the regular old edition.
It BETTER NOT get postponed again or I can guarantee you that I'll prolly just call EBGames and tell them to put this $50 on Warhammer instead. Heh.
- Zaxx
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion." -Edmund Burke
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?"
(Psalm 94:16)
Right. If you are developing a game you should start at square one and state what you want to create. "A persistant online role playing game centered around player versus player combat" in Conan's case. Once you abbreviate that as MMORPG everyone thinks "Oh, it's like WoW but..."
It's alot easier to think in those terms I guess but there is nothing that says you need levels, classes, stats or XP to have an RPG and in a PvP focused game I think you'd be much better off eliminating levels all together. Hearing Conan has 80 levels, and what sounds like a pretty standard advancement system along with end-game raiding put me in the I'll wait till a month or two after release to hear if it's fun or not category.
AoC is not hardcore at all. Its combat is pseudo-twitch. The environment is broken up into zones with restrictions and limited PvP. There are classes and levels. There are no sandbox dynamics or player-driven elements. AoC is nothing more than a casual carebear MMO posing as a "hardcore" MMO.
It's also not "almost here". Delayed again, for the 5th time now, until May. Also dropping 2 classes from the roster. Hey though, NPC's get drunk and urinate in the ocean and it has bewbs...so it must be good
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
Compared to what? As an 87% killer, I am happy to know that I will be able to fight opponents on nearly even ground. The whole PK era died of lameness. Or are you whining that it's not a grindfest?Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
You actually believe in that MMO player-type percentage BS? PK is a carebear term. As is PvP even. A true MMO would allow anybody to attack anybody, anywhere, any time by default and not categorize itself as a "PvP" game. Calling an MMO a "PvP" game simply because it allows you to interact with other players in the form of combat is an understatement. It's simply an MMO, with "PvP" as a default element..The only reason the typical MMO doesn't follow that concept is because they want to appeal to the largest possible audience, so all those mainstream MMORPGs like WoW are just made for corporate interests.
And I fail to see how I'm "whining that it's not a grindfest", did you just make that up or something?
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
by that logic, why not just condense all the class powers into two professions....Whatever, the more classes you put in the better. Thats why I cant play WoW.
Anyway, I would rather see Conan delayed than see a crappy launch. Also, I have no idea why people complain about them "deleting" classes. All of those powers are staying in the game via other classes.
You actually believe in that MMO player-type percentage BS? PK is a carebear term. As is PvP even. A true MMO would allow anybody to attack anybody, anywhere, any time by default and not categorize itself as a "PvP" game. Calling an MMO a "PvP" game simply because it allows you to interact with other players in the form of combat is an understatement. It's simply an MMO, with "PvP" as a default element..The only reason the typical MMO doesn't follow that concept is because they want to appeal to the largest possible audience, so all those mainstream MMORPGs like WoW are just made for corporate interests.
And I fail to see how I'm "whining that it's not a grindfest", did you just make that up or something?
Go enjoy UO man. It is the only game that fits what you described, for a reason. Anybody killing anybody would be fine and dandy if I didn't have to play with home schooled 12 year olds who play 24/7 and use every exploit in the book against my 10hr/week characters.
Your ideas suck because people who actually pay for their own subs with money from real jobs don't have time to do anything enjoyable in that environment.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
It's funny that you bring logic into a discussion in which you are not applying any logic at all. I could easily use your own warped mentality to counter by saying you won't be satisfied with anything less than 300 classes. Would this be true? I would hope not. I'm a firm believer that Quality > Quantity.
Having more classes is cool, to a point. 15 and 20 classes make the game cumbersome for both players and devs IMO.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
My god, so many moronic conspiracy theories in this thread.
They aren't keeping the worlds best MMO secret from all the MMO players. They aren't trying to suprise unsuspecting gamers who buy this game by accident with marvellous innovations. They aren't keeping their innovations a secret from the competition who would simply incorporate them into their own existing titles faster than AOC can launch. Aliens didn't kidnap Kennedy. The moon landings were real. George Bush was not the architect of 9/11.
We could all go on imagining fantastic logics for why there is no open beta, but in the end it boils down to one of two things.
There is no open beta because the game either isn't good enough to show off or because the programmers are behind schedule.
Eitherway, it's a bad omen for the games development, not a good one. Sorry to be the one to break it you, if that's not what you wanted to hear.
or both.
It's now on it's FIFTH delay for release, and with this delay the only thing new is the game got smaller with the elimination of 2 classes all together.
Anyone who can excuse this as "good news" is hanging on to a thread of hope so thin they're just setting themselves up for heartbreak.
folks around here hype everything up... It's no surpirse that every game dissapoints them when they are finally released. This site advertises more than the companies themselves.. Those who ride the hype machine are often dissapointed by what they find, because they just plain expected too much..
Its like buying a lottery scratch ticket tht claims that you have a 50% chance of winning big money 7 times, and when you scratch it, you find that you have lost them all...
These games I think deserve a fair chance, all of them, hype or no hype, because "MMO's are like a box of chocolate... You never know which one your gonna get"
Everyone needs to give any new MMO some time to mature. In some cases, the game is just beyond fixing like Vanguard but that is a rare case.
AoC will not be as polished as WoW when it is launched because it is a new game. The key will be to determine if it has a strong foundation to build on.
A true MMO would also have true consequences to actions. If you behaved like a psychopath, you would be treated as one. There would be no more repairing of faction or switching to an alt in order to escape the consequences. If you were "caught" by a faction that hated you (or a bounty hunter), you would be imprisoned. Developers modify the rules of PVP becuase a lot of people would refuse to pay such harsh consequences (no matter how just they are). Because a lot of players refuse to act in an appropriate manner, they have to make a players freedom to PVP end where another players freedom not to PVP begins.
"Those who dislike things based only on the fact that they are popular are just as shallow and superficial as those who only like them for the same reason."
AOC is overvalued. the combat is not very intense and varied, its more like a typical hack and slay game. the only difference is the combo system, but at the end you just hitting keys - it is not very tactical. for example: there is only a little "line of sight", often you are striking through the air but you still hitting the enemy. arrows shooting through the environment like through butter, etc..
most in time you running from A to B to kill some, not very intelligent, enemys, after that back to town, if you are lucky you pass some loading screens under 5-10 minutes loading time (2 gig system). there are two sepperate time settings: one at the daytime, one at the nighttime. there are also different quests at this times but there are also much more loading screens..
funcom still continue deleting classes and they are still not able to hold several release dates.. i dont know what the final version of this game including, but it cant be very much.
Open beta is a marketing tool, not a testing tool. It's there to give a small taste of the game that makes you want more. One more reason to have a game that is polished and easy to get into and enjoy from the first minute. WoW did this really well. Some other games really didn't.
I agree completely. I firmly believe that wow's stress test betas and the open beta (with a million people in open!) was a key qualifier to the mass success of wow. Of course, as you mentioned, the developer needs to have a polished game for open beta otherwise it has the opposite effect of driving potential customers away.
Blizzard is not only a spectacular game studio, but they also have keen insight on marketing to the masses. These factors are why wow is a success and nearly every other game is a flop.
Ofcourse we are just speculating. And I take no joy in taking a cynical view here, believe me, because I love the IP and because up until today I was very hyped about the game. The following are more my personal fears for the game rather than actual predictions.
This game will be yet another mediocre release. It's success will be stymied by a number of factors.
1) Steep hardware demands will make entry into the game prohibitive for many. Ofcourse, you will be able to play the game at lower settings but then the game will look like garbage, decreasing one of it's most appealing aspects.
2) Despite even having top of the line hardware, many gamers will still find the game performs poorly due to an inadequate game engine. This will make core aspects of the game difficult to enjoy for many.
3) Lots of zones and instances will not appeal to a significant crowd. Freeze ups and disconnects at loading screens will aggravate many. The world will feel small, claustrophobic, and gated, thus diminishing immersion and the overall feeling of being in another world.
4) An innovative combat system fails to be fun, and instead is percieved as unresponsive, awkward and buggy.
5) No one niche will be happy. PVP will be frustrated by zoning and horrific lag, especially in large conflicts. PVE will be frustrated by the raid system. Crafters will be frustrated by the fact that they can't just work up a crafting profession without fighting. Hardcore people will be angry there is not a stiff enough death penalty and the lack of corpse looting. Casuals will be upset because they can not pvp all day or raid all day, hence they will be discouraged from the competitive pvp arena and the time intensive raid system.
6) A lack of open beta will encourage a significant number of cynical players to take a wait and see approach, which will in turn diminish box sales at launch. Still, they will sell a respectable number of boxes due to prelaunch hype, but six months after the release the game will be in a steady decline. Lack of population, buggy gameplay, poor performance and game mechanics which are just not fun ultimately spell it's doom.
There you have it. Not a prediction mind you, just my fears of what will happen. I hope I am proven wrong on each and every count.