Turbine the only "honest" MMO Devs?

Diamedes

With Blizzard constantly milking its customers and giving little in return, complete failures like AoC and possibly WAR in the coming months it seems like Turbine is the only MMO company that gives steady content patches and in addition to that is about to release its first expansion. I know a lot of the hardcore crowd blew through the content and wasn't satisfied but for the average player they seem to be the 1 and only company right now giving us players their moneys worth. Agree, disagree?

Morrigan7

Originally posted by Diamedes


With Blizzard constantly milking its customers and giving little in return, complete failures like AoC and possibly WAR in the coming months it seems like Turbine is the only MMO company that gives steady content patches and in addition to that is about to release its first expansion. I know a lot of the hardcore crowd blew through the content and wasn't satisfied but for the average player they seem to be the 1 and only company right now giving us players their moneys worth. Agree, disagree?

 

Nevermind content, Turbine is the king of putting out quantity, but not quality. I played DnD and LoTRO, both left me yawning after a few days. I'm done with Turbine.

DeserttFoxx

ncsoft has been giving lineage 2, and city of hero and villians steady patches from teh beginig. People hate on ncsoft because they are a korean company, hence all korean grinders. But they have fully free expansions for all of their games, except guild wars but that is a special case.

Diamedes

L2 is another game I haven't tried yet mainly because you hear its the worst grind in any MMO and is full of bots because of that grind, I would love to try it but FFXI was too much for me so if L2 is even worse I don't think I have the time.

DeserttFoxx

Originally posted by Diamedes


L2 is another game I haven't tried yet mainly because you hear its the worst grind in any MMO and is full of bots because of that grind, I would love to try it but FFXI was too much for me so if L2 is even worse I don't think I have the time.

 

Then how can you even say turbine is the best, if you cant honeslty say you havent played everything.   I have 6 characters above 60 in lineage,, ive never botted. People bot in lineage, people bot in everygame, I fail to see how somebody botting affects you in anyway.

 

Lineage 2 is old school grind, final fantasy is just hardcore partying. 2 games worth playing, if oyu havent played it before.

deckatre

City of heroes and City of villians do a good job i think better then turbine but that was already said. I don't know though if you should say "HONEST" no comapny is honest, if theres an honest comapny that actually tells us whats going on please tell me. Now i played lotro great game as a matter of fact i played in the closed beta and the problem people were having with turbine is that they were being burned out. There was no endgame besides PvP and PvP isn't enough. The only thing they had left was new items and raids for the elitists. Turbine might be good at not screwing games up like SoE but they, in my opinion, was slow on the upkeep on its members.

Kurush

Originally posted by Diamedes


With Blizzard constantly milking its customers and giving little in return, complete failures like AoC and possibly WAR in the coming months it seems like Turbine is the only MMO company that gives steady content patches and in addition to that is about to release its first expansion. I know a lot of the hardcore crowd blew through the content and wasn't satisfied but for the average player they seem to be the 1 and only company right now giving us players their moneys worth. Agree, disagree?

 

Useless post.

First off, Mythic announced massive cuts in content rather than trying to hide it like the shifty guys at Funcom.  They also went ahead and answered everybody's questions about them.  WAR definitely won't be the messiah for bored WoW players, but it will be a solid game to those who like it for what it is.

Second, WoW constantly releases content updates.  They may all be geared toward arena and raiding, but honestly, if you're playing WoW for the world PvP, you're probably in the wrong game.

Third, CoX has as good a record with releasing massive, free content patches as Turbine.  In fact, I'd say CoX is a little bit better in this regard.

The only outright liars right now in the market are Funcom.  Their game box has lies on it.  They deliberately lied in videos detailing features that weren't in.

Turbine definitely is up there in a lot of ways.  Polish, content patches, etc.  That doesn't mean everybody else is shit.

Kyleran

Nonsense, Blizzard/WOW is a good value for the people who enjoy the games playstyle, and EVE is quite possibly one of the best games out there atm.  (free expansions all the time).

Lots of good devs out there besides Turbine.

 

xxlilDevilxx

In my opinion, Blizzard did a great job on all their titles (I dont like wow tho), and who can say they played Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo and say those game are bad. Turbine on the other hand, is decent, they learn their mistakes and keep showing they care about their customers. From AC2 to Lotro, there are huge improvement in the company.

NCsoft is another company that had totally different path, their games are decent but too many paid to get stuff out there. Examples being extra slots for character creations, skills / recipe that you can buy...etc

Still, having said that, those are the company you can think " hey, they have another game coming out, maybe I should try that." other than SOE/Failcom " hey, they have another game coming out, maybe I should ignore it"

Dethnoble

Turbine is just as bad as Funcom.  If I was to order them from worse to best overall here is how I'd order them (Of the top game developers):

1. Turbine

2. Funcom

--> Far third <--

3. Sony

If you guys think Turbine is a symbol of truth and integrity you should take a look at Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny, what they did to the players and the promises they broke plus you should look at Asheron's Call 2: Legions expansion which was released and within a couple months AC 2's cancellation was announced.

Plus, Turbine tried to get away with a Guild Wars type MMO model with a premium level $14.95 subscription fee in DDO.  Furthermore, I highly suspect that Turbine paid for several of their reviews plus I'm willing to stake money on it that they at least paid of VN boards to highly police their LoTRO and DDO forums. 

Also, Turbine made the statement that "LoTRO has the second highest subscription of any MMORPG" or something along that line then later added an * with the following "developed in North America."  Misleading, and on the same level as Funcom's misleading financial statements.  Heck, Turbine touts how successful their LoTRO game is yet hasn't released a game sales number (which strengthens the argument that they may not have even sold 500k copies which is a milestone in sales for PC games).

I could go into more depth on some of the lies and deceit when it comes to Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny (development) and how they deceitfully raised the price from $9.95 to $12.95 and how the price shouldn't still be that.

 

Mysk

Turbine is definitely not an honest company.

Turbine released an expansion for Asheron's Call 2 at a point when they knew that the MMO was going to close.  Obviously, the closure of AC2 had not yet been publicly announced.

When they were asked why they done this, the PR more-or-less admitted that they were getting as much money out of it as the could before they shut off the servers.

As far as I'm concerned, Turbine is one of the worse companies in the genre.

edit:  Dethnoble gives the name of the expansion above.  I really should be in bed, so I missed that.. that's what I get for skimming when I'm this tired..

JustBe

Yeh they made mediocre games outta possibly the 2 potential biggest mmo franchises, Turbine are soooo great

Cavadus

Originally posted by xxlilDevilxx


 ...and who can say they played Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo and say those game are bad.

 

The games you mentioned are bad.  Maybe not bad per se but they're also not particularly good or special.  WarCraft and StarCraft are exactly the same game with different art assets and both are blatant rip offs of what Westwood Studios pioneered (and did way better).  Diablo is again a complete ripoff of a mid 90s game series that was called Dragon something or other.  WoW is nothing but a slightly refined EQ with better graphics.

Sorry, but Blizzard are the undisputed kings of ripping off PC gaming's real visionaries and innovators and what's patently pathetic about their whole operation is that they've been milking the same three franchises for over a decade and that people are still buying the tired dribble they keep reconstituting every three to five years.

Blizzard is the biggest scam in gaming history.

Airspell

Personally I think Lotro is the only quality game Turbine ever made.  Asheron's Call 1 was very VERY mediocre and it's relative popularity was only due to there being only 2 other games on the market.  One of them was UO, whose golden days have already passed. So it was basically an alternative to EQ.  Asheron's Call 2 was just plain awful.  Lotro is a great PvE game , a great recreation of Lotr and that is all it is meant to be. 

arcenemy

a new type of fanboi has arrived, just now for turbine...amazing

 

just looking at what happened with UO and DAOC, opossed to AC, will tell you if Mythic is worse than turbine,and if WAR will be like DDO,or a good game.

 

 

Lobotomist

Agreed completely.

Turbines LOTRO is shining example of how things should be done

NCsoft is another great MMO company , that gives good value to their players

Zyllos

Originally posted by Kurush

Originally posted by Diamedes


With Blizzard constantly milking its customers and giving little in return, complete failures like AoC and possibly WAR in the coming months it seems like Turbine is the only MMO company that gives steady content patches and in addition to that is about to release its first expansion. I know a lot of the hardcore crowd blew through the content and wasn't satisfied but for the average player they seem to be the 1 and only company right now giving us players their moneys worth. Agree, disagree?

 

Useless post.

First off, Mythic announced massive cuts in content rather than trying to hide it like the shifty guys at Funcom.  They also went ahead and answered everybody's questions about them.  WAR definitely won't be the messiah for bored WoW players, but it will be a solid game to those who like it for what it is.

Second, WoW constantly releases content updates.  They may all be geared toward arena and raiding, but honestly, if you're playing WoW for the world PvP, you're probably in the wrong game.

Third, CoX has as good a record with releasing massive, free content patches as Turbine.  In fact, I'd say CoX is a little bit better in this regard.

The only outright liars right now in the market are Funcom.  Their game box has lies on it.  They deliberately lied in videos detailing features that weren't in.

Turbine definitely is up there in a lot of ways.  Polish, content patches, etc.  That doesn't mean everybody else is shit.

 

Ya, this is why I quit WoW. I played for the world PvP. Reached max level, found none, end of story. Ya, with Funcom, that game was so much hyped...and I so bought into it...I have a Collector's Edition sitting right next to me. Really, my next big games I am looking foward to right now are Saga of Ryzom (maybe, it is so different) and The Chronicles of Spellborn.

ElgarL

I was a Turbine customer for seven years (Asheron's Call). An amazing game, but so mis-managed.

Turbine today is NOT the Turbine of old. Today I'd not trust Turbine with my credit card details.

About 5-6 months after I quit AC (objected to stupid and pointless changes to the game [similar to SOE]), Turbine billed my credit card for subscriptions. They then sent out an email a few days later, after some people complained, explaing there had been a billing error. They said to contact xxxx email address if you had any problems.

They did credit my card back (a few days later), but I never received the full amount due to exchange rate changes. They also held onto my money and accrued interest for the few days they had it.

I emailed them REPEATEDLY, but they ignored every single mail. I ended up being forced to goto my bank to contest the charges and recover my money. To this day they have never replied to ANY of my mails.

Appauling management and a company I swore I'd never trust with my money again.

 

PS, billing errros are not a uncommon occurance with Turbine either. Many of my friends and fellow gamers have told me of their nightmare phantom billing problems with Turbines games.

Mahlo

How do Blizzard give little in return? I hardly think they'd have 10 million + subs if that were the case. Blizzard produce a very polished game, that looks good on any spec of machine (I'm talking quality not style), unlike most other MMOs you can play it on a Mac, it appeals to new MMO players looking for an easy introduction with immediate rewards as well as appealing to hardcore gamers who raid hours a day. I suppose Blizzard get stick because WoW is so popular.

Oh, and I'm not a fanboy. I don't even currently play WoW.

As for Turbine, I think they're lucky in that with LotRO they have the most easy to please and uncritical playerbase. And mature too. So there's not so much petty whinging going on. WoW forums are awful. That's the problem with having mass appeal I suppose.

Tecknic

I'd personally give Cryptic as much credit as NCSoft for the regular updates to CoX.

DeserttFoxx

I cant give blizzard credit as a good devoloper. they make the most money out of all the companies yet they still insist on charging for every new expansion, when companies like turbine and ncsoft have proven you can provide expansions and quality content without nickle and diming your customer base.

 

Which shows you blizzard is about profit, and myhtic will follow the same path, and funcom as well.

xenogias

Originally posted by Diamedes


With Blizzard constantly milking its customers and giving little in return, complete failures like AoC and possibly WAR in the coming months it seems like Turbine is the only MMO company that gives steady content patches and in addition to that is about to release its first expansion. I know a lot of the hardcore crowd blew through the content and wasn't satisfied but for the average player they seem to be the 1 and only company right now giving us players their moneys worth. Agree, disagree?

 

You title your thread the most "Honest" and then continue to talk about expansions and content. There is a big diffrence between honesty and content. You also toss WAR into the complete failure catagory along with AoC. How can you possibly toss WAR into that? Mythic has been more upfront and honest about there game that even Turbine is about LOTRO. I like Turbine. Asherons Call was my first MMO and still the best IMO. But if you want to really talk honesty then no, Turbine isnt the most honest. When LOTRO first started getting hype part of that hype was them saying "We arent doing raids. This is a PvE game for non raiders" Now they havent added alot of raids but the best gear is from raids or PvMP (mostly, I know there is good gear here and there from crafting or 6man instances). Mythic on the other hand has been completely upfront about what they are doing with there game. As others have said, NCsoft while maybe they give grinders have never really lied about there games that I can remember.

If you want to talk aobut most content, back in the AC days where there was monthly content updates I would agree, with LOTRO? nah not really. Other than the evendim patch most of the others have been mediocre in content at best. Evendim you could even argue concidering over half the land mass in that patch was water that you cant even do anything in.

xenogias

Originally posted by DeserttFoxx


I cant give blizzard credit as a good devoloper. they make the most money out of all the companies yet they still insist on charging for every new expansion, when companies like turbine and ncsoft have proven you can provide expansions and quality content without nickle and diming your customer base.
 
Which shows you blizzard is about profit, and myhtic will follow the same path, and funcom as well.

 

Charging for expansions has nothing to do with being a good developer or not.  Its a busness and if they can make money they are going to. If you think Turbine and NCsoft arent all about profit then you really have no clue what running a busness is all about.

 I hate to tell you but Turbine has not given expansion quality content updates for free. I'm sorry but giving a "Month of xxx-class" to give them skills that should have been in AT LAUNCH. Giving land masses that are 75% water. Adding in rep grind that any idiot can see the rewards where not well thought out, rather just tossed in there. I played LOTRO for about 6months and enjoyed my time there alot. But saying there content updates are expansion quality is a joke at best.

EbonHawk

Originally posted by xenogias

Originally posted by Diamedes


With Blizzard constantly milking its customers and giving little in return, complete failures like AoC and possibly WAR in the coming months it seems like Turbine is the only MMO company that gives steady content patches and in addition to that is about to release its first expansion. I know a lot of the hardcore crowd blew through the content and wasn't satisfied but for the average player they seem to be the 1 and only company right now giving us players their moneys worth. Agree, disagree?

 

 Evendim you could even argue concidering over half the land mass in that patch was water that you cant even do anything in.

 

What the hell are you smokin'?

While I'll agree with you about the water thing, there are 150+ quests in Evendim alone!  Plenty to do there...

Airspell

Considering that Lotro and CoV aren't on top of the industry shows us one thing. Never give people anything for free !!!  It's like with free housing. No one appreciates it, instead they let it fall apart.  If you give people free content they will not be grateful and go off to play WoW

DeserttFoxx

Originally posted by xenogias

Originally posted by DeserttFoxx


I cant give blizzard credit as a good devoloper. they make the most money out of all the companies yet they still insist on charging for every new expansion, when companies like turbine and ncsoft have proven you can provide expansions and quality content without nickle and diming your customer base.
 
Which shows you blizzard is about profit, and myhtic will follow the same path, and funcom as well.

 

Charging for expansions has nothing to do with being a good developer or not.  Its a busness and if they can make money they are going to. If you think Turbine and NCsoft arent all about profit then you really have no clue what running a busness is all about.

 I hate to tell you but Turbine has not given expansion quality content updates for free. I'm sorry but giving a "Month of xxx-class" to give them skills that should have been in AT LAUNCH. Giving land masses that are 75% water. Adding in rep grind that any idiot can see the rewards where not well thought out, rather just tossed in there. I played LOTRO for about 6months and enjoyed my time there alot. But saying there content updates are expansion quality is a joke at best.

I dont play any turbine games, but lineage has added not only land masses, but classes, skills, level cap expansions, class revisions in both lineage 2 and city of heroes. So while you can bash turbine to high hell, you cant do the same too ncsoft.

And we arent talking about business we are talking about better companies in general, so try and stay focused and wave that turbine bashing banner somewhere else. Just because the content wasnt to your liking doesnt mean it wasnt a good addition.

 

Originally posted by Airspell


Considering that Lotro and CoV aren't on top of the industry shows us one thing. Never give people anything for free !!!  It's like with free housing. No one appreciates it, instead they let it fall apart.  If you give people free content they will not be grateful and go off to play WoW

That isnt the reason why CoX isnt on top, CoX isjust a niche genre, not many people go for the super hero thing. And Lotro is just a rehash of WoW, why leave wow to play another wow clone in a different world.

 

What kind of logic is that, free is bad.