I cant agree with you more. I am playing tcos and although the game world is great it does feel like a 1 player game with a chat room and a bad chat room at that being on the international PvP server. It enough to put me off but i shall continue for now as it is a intresting game .
As a player who started in SWG in the glory days i truly miss grouping with 20 others and all getting missions and running around like and getting crazy xp . It was FUN! and made so many friends doing so , the only game since i found that rewarded group play is Vanguard .. hmmm wonder how thats doing nowadays ..
hmm, i would strongly disagree with the idea of tcos being a 1player game. there is very little you can solo to be quite honest. you can complete a lot of quests solo, but that does not mean you are free to run around and explore the world on your own. if you do that you will be killed quickly.
not trying to trash your review, i think you're right in the sense that the npc/quest system is the most archaic aspect of spellborn. but it is by no means the only way of leveling up, or limited to 1player.
i do a lot of questing with at least 1 other person if not 2, in most cases it is more efficient.
i also know that the later in the game you get the more difficult instances and dungeons become, so do expect to be exploring in parties.
i also think the EU servers are a sorry excuse for an MMO, they really do look like a single player RPG because they only have a handful (literally less than 100) people per server. when acclaim launches spellborn i certainly hope to see crowded servers :P
Gameplay: In a word, SIGH. This is where the fun ends /facepalm. I see people debating the 2 sides of questing. One side is against the unmarked quest tracking (WoW style) and one side is for it (EQ style). The ludicrously ironic part for me is that people are debating the wrong thing in the first place. What you SHOULD be debating is the fact that is just another 1P QUEST GRIND. Uggghhhh. How many more MMOGs do I have to endure where the main way of leveling is running around satisfying quest NPCs? Tragically, the golden age of camaraderie seems to be officially over. No more grouping with 7 other like minded people to explore the wild and find challenging camps that yield rare drops. No more socializing for hours with said group, having the time of your life coordinating strategies on pulls, BAF mobs and named mobs. No more discussions on what brings in the best yielded xp, what abilties you're looking forward to, what area can we move to next as a GROUP. Alone, alone, alone...you feel so alone in these 1P quest grinders. And even though you CAN grind in any MMOG, including this one...first, the game is not designed for it and second, nobody in their right mind would group with you anyway when they are running around by themselves content with their endless quest grind.
You took one leap of logic here that I didn't quite follow at first. How is questing preventing people from grouping? There really is nothing stopping you from finding 7 other like minded people to grind MOB's with. Its like complaining about gas prices when you don't own a car.
But I see where you're coming from. Quests offer an easier path of advancement and people generally take the path of least resistance. The same thing happened in WAR with scenarios offering PvE experience. It essentially killed the PvE zones. I was actually thinking that I would go back to WAR if they offered a server with no scenarios. Open world PvP mixed with PvE is what I wanted with that game, not scenario queues.
But really, if you're familiar with the Bartles player types, then your real issue is that most MMOG's appeal to the acheiver player type. Most people are focused on mechanics and advancement. There is something about TCoS that brings out the explorer in me. Maybe its the relaxing natural environments. I don't know, but I never felt like I was in a rush to complete quests like I normally do in WoW and the clones. I'd spend a little more time to stop and smell the roses.
I normally look at the types of gamers each game attracts. Darkfall will obviously attract the Killers. WoW, the Acheivers. Second Life, the Socializers. LotRO, the Explorers. What types do you think TaCOS will attract?
Just say this game did a dozen steps backwards due to the torn apart European Playerbase with these stupid IP blocks!
I am sure the German and French servers will be doing fine, as these people have been used to having their own servers.
But the International EU servers are just plain dead right now! During EU Peak time there are litterly only a handful of players online on the PVE server!
There are only 2-3 people talking in chat most of the time.... sometimes 4-5 if you are lucky lol.
It's a real shame tho as I really wanted to try this game out.... but I am seriously not interested in playing and paying for an MMO with dead servers.
Compaired to Vanguard right now.... then Vanguard has at least a population. *sigh*
I guess we knew this would be the downfall of TCOS the moment they announced the splitting up of European countries and IP blocking.
I think the key is just to take things slowly. I've found that quest-based games aren't near as bad when I actually make an effort to read quests, understanding why it is I've been asked to do something and then do it with a passion. I've actually learnt to enjoy questing quite a bit.
Aganazer, this is exactly what I tried do last night... Me: Anyone want to form a group and take on the cutthroat camp? *crickets" 2 minutes later.. "jeh i need boss u help me" "where do i find rabid dog???" Me: behind the farm, roaming along wall. Anyone LFG? Want to try this BAF camp? It will be fun, I promise. *crickets* There is one pair of Rune Mages that strictly AE grinded after level 12 and started a thread about it since they wer having a blast and not doing one single quest. They are in their 40s I think? The point is, all the following posts were "grats on missing the whole point of the game, the quests and their rewards" or "grats on missing the entire story". I found it amusing.
Hopefully the NA servers will be better for this sort of thing. I am almost always grouped with my wife and best friend, so I never really considered the difficulties of finding a group. I don't think I would have enjoyed any of the newer MMOG's without my group.
Any time we have ever let a stranger join our group they inevitable end up doing the most boneheaded things imaginable. The best person we ever had join our group was a Chinese farmer in AoC. They never said a word (nor a complaint) and played their class perfectly. They never went AFK or bailed on the group and they were always prepared. It never bothered them that the rest of us were on vent chatting away leaving the group text silent.
EDIT: Also, I wouldn't worry about not finding a group on that server. The pop is too low and the level spread in the newbie zone is too wide. Give is a shot after release and see what happens. I bet it will be a fine game for small groups (ie. 4 player groups).
Spellborn has designed the game around running tasks because that's where most of the experience is earned. You earn very little experience aka fame for killing mobs.
The task system is boring. It's a typical linear, handheld, led by the nose system, similar to WoW- LoTRO etc.
I soloed most everything. Each task is rated with a lvl of difficulty and if the mob is too difficult to finish at one lvl, just wait a few levels and you will be able to solo it.
Spellborn doesn't foster grouping beyond a temporary pick up group to finish a task involving killing a higher lvl mob. It's just like WoW and LoTRO in that regard. The community suffers because of it. In classic EQ where most experience came from hunting mobs, people would group and spend hours with each other talking and socializing. I miss that type of community building.
yeah man, the twitch combat is exactly as you said, "endless bliss"
its so much fun to just find fights and take on high level mobs. the best quests are the ones that make you find 3 other people and fight 30 mobs. just imho.
I have been following TCoS from the day it was announced. The first thing that immediately made an impact were the first few screenshots. It was refreshing to see an art style different from the hundreds of Asian anime clones and to a lesser extent, the realism of some Western MMOGs. The highly exaggerated character models and surreal environments kept me interested in keeping this game on my radar. Flash forward several years, here is my review after my first session with TCoS. Graphics: In a word, stunning. After playing a dozen Asian F2Ps this year with the same carbon copy anime models and craptacular environments, this is like a gift from Heaven. It's oozing with originality and substance. The character models are spectatcular. Every time I see a fatty wobbling around, I can't but help to chuckle. The char create was perfect. Even without sliders, you are able to make a truly unique char. Environment, mobs, weapon models, armor, towns...all rendered in an abstract fashion that really pleases the eye. The fishbowl view is the cherry on top. It's not overdone and perfectly compliments the overall art direction of the game. Never have I felt so relaxed and peaceful in a game. Simply unreal. Music: In a word, epic. Every time the music popped up while I was questing, I just stood still while rotating the camera and soaking up the moment. Sweeping and melodic, they nailed it. Combat: In a word, revolutionary. I haven't had this much fun in years. The rotating skill deck is pure genius. Love it, love it, love it. Gameplay: In a word, SIGH. This is where the fun ends /facepalm. I see people debating the 2 sides of questing. One side is against the unmarked quest tracking (WoW style) and one side is for it (EQ style). The ludicrously ironic part for me is that people are debating the wrong thing in the first place. What you SHOULD be debating is the fact that is just another 1P QUEST GRIND. Uggghhhh. How many more MMOGs do I have to endure where the main way of leveling is running around satisfying quest NPCs? Tragically, the golden age of camaraderie seems to be officially over. No more grouping with 7 other like minded people to explore the wild and find challenging camps that yield rare drops. No more socializing for hours with said group, having the time of your life coordinating strategies on pulls, BAF mobs and named mobs. No more discussions on what brings in the best yielded xp, what abilties you're looking forward to, what area can we move to next as a GROUP. Alone, alone, alone...you feel so alone in these 1P quest grinders. And even though you CAN grind in any MMOG, including this one...first, the game is not designed for it and second, nobody in their right mind would group with you anyway when they are running around by themselves content with their endless quest grind. It's such a shame that every MMOG I've tried since WoW is nothing more than a 1P console game. The "massively" is just a front and the concept of doing anything besides questing is lost, forever. I'm talking PvE here, PvP is a whole other topic that treads into radically different territory. I will continue to search for a MMOG that brings the dynamic of group hunting. If I want to do quests, there are hundreds of 1P games to fill that need. Good luck with TCoS, the shell is ultimately there and it had so, so much potential to be something else besides a lonely quest game.
Honestly.... check out The Saga of Ryzom. They are under new ownership and still letting people play for free till the end of the year. Great game! Great community! Soloing that game is very tough, it was designed for group hunts.
Because there aren't enough games that require you to get a group to do things but don't give you the means to do so, so that you spend a large chunk of your time looking for a group rather than doing something interesting?
Aganazer, this is exactly what I tried do last night... Me: Anyone want to form a group and take on the cutthroat camp? *crickets" 2 minutes later.. "jeh i need boss u help me" "where do i find rabid dog???" Me: behind the farm, roaming along wall. Anyone LFG? Want to try this BAF camp? It will be fun, I promise. *crickets* There is one pair of Rune Mages that strictly AE grinded after level 12 and started a thread about it since they wer having a blast and not doing one single quest. They are in their 40s I think? The point is, all the following posts were "grats on missing the whole point of the game, the quests and their rewards" or "grats on missing the entire story". I found it amusing.
I agree 101% with the OP. The one thing I always complained about in beta, was spellborns questing system, or no real alternative content which gave fame. And most importantly, there is no alternative questing routes! Try starting an alt and do it all over again
The biggest problem is see for grouping in spellborn is the LONG quest chains, which is super content for a solo player, but is the most irritating thing for a group player, simply because the "group quests" are almost always in the end of a long solo quest chain.
Many times in the Beta chat when I was "complaining" people asked me, whats stopping your from grouping? I always gave the same answer; Nothing, I am playing in group right now, but I want group content! Nothing is more boring than doing fedex quests in a group - a big caravan of messengers hehe.
I will see how this game develops in the next six months and maybe ill come back. I want to come back because I really love the PvP in spellborn, but as it is now, I cant see myself leveling another character in the current content.
I think its more of a issue with players then with the game design because you hear the same problem it nearly every game theses days.
I ask why did you wait until you need a group to get one started?
Me when I play a mmorpg one of the first things I do is make friend ask people for help, see if the need help. Just chatting away with people early on. Its Networking. you never wait until you need a job to start networking. You do it when you already have one. You do it when you are still in training and don't require one.
That way when you need a group you already have a list of people to call on. A lot of the time they will call you first.
Sure a low pop can make it hard but there is no reason not to try and set up connections with anyone you see even if its just one person.
More often then not people have this"I can do it all myself I don't need you" attitude when soloing because everything is within their grasp. As soon as they come along a challenge that is more then they can handle alone they want a group but can't find one so they get upset.
Which to a point they have a right to be. How ever if you wait until the last minute to start looking you can't really get upset if you can't find one. Even if you are new to the game you know at some point your going to need a group sooner or later so why wait until later to get one?
I played some yesterday with the intention of not questing. All I wanted to do was explore some of that first zone.
I killed off a whole camp of humanoids. Even with +2 levels on them it was mildly challenging. A group would have been nice. A few minutes later I ran by a quest NPC and he gave me a quest to go do the exact same thing. He recommended a group for the task.
Then I found that big hole in the ground with a ladder guarded by some more humanoids. I had no quest for this cave and I'm not sure if there is one. Again with +2 levels is was very challenging. A group would have been perfect for this. I finally got some adds that I couldn't handle. Leaving wasn't an option because a ladder was the only way out. I ran for it. Deep into the cave. I'm not sure how far I got, but the place looks big. I ran into a room with a large pool of water and about 15 MOB's. They cut me down.
I also found a named MOB called something like Old Wilbur. I couldn't kill him alone.
Now I feel like I have some good incentives to group. I don't want forced grouping 100% of the time like EQ. That's why I quit that game. I felt too dependent on others to do anything. But I do want to have some nice challenges for when I am grouped. I was successful in finding some.
I wish I didn't have plans for tonight. I'd like to put a group together and explore the rest of the cave. Anyone want to hit up that cave sometime next week?
I killed off a whole camp of humanoids. Even with +2 levels on them it was mildly challenging. A group would have been nice.
Did the same exact thing last night. I spent about 2 hours just circling the camp and carefully pulling 3 packs to a safe distance. A few times, I decided to be a little bold and fight closer to the camp. New groups would pop right on top of me which forced me to retreat back to the road. I tried numerous times to get a group together, but I only saw like 2 other people the whole night anyway, hence why chat was completely empty. The humanoid camps are actually decent, definitely don't have the polish of an EQ/DAoC camp. Nonetheless, a group of 3 or more would be never ending fun plowing through these camps.
The NA servers can't come soon enough. I can't wait to see this game with a few hundred people running around.
Ehhh..completed tons of quests getting my third char to 7 and hated every second of it. Deliver this, deliver that. Go to hell.
A tad off topic, but what happened to the region locking? If I download the free client from the TCoS website will I be able to play (from South Africa)?
I agree 101% with the OP. The one thing I always complained about in beta, was spellborns questing system, or no real alternative content which gave fame. And most importantly, there is no alternative questing routes! Try starting an alt and do it all over again The biggest problem is see for grouping in spellborn is the LONG quest chains, which is super content for a solo player, but is the most irritating thing for a group player, simply because the "group quests" are almost always in the end of a long solo quest chain. Many times in the Beta chat when I was "complaining" people asked me, whats stopping your from grouping? I always gave the same answer; Nothing, I am playing in group right now, but I want group content! Nothing is more boring than doing fedex quests in a group - a big caravan of messengers hehe. I will see how this game develops in the next six months and maybe ill come back. I want to come back because I really love the PvP in spellborn, but as it is now, I cant see myself leveling another character in the current content. Bes
Exactly. The entire game was designed around quests, whether you are grouped or not. In fact at one point in development, they were going to give you ZERO XP for mob kills. The only XP they were going to give was from quests.
If I decide to sub, only thing I'd be interested in is AE grinding it to 50 to see what kind of PvP endgame they offer. I hear there is not much PvE endgame content anyway.
well i disagree a bit and call it 1 step forwared, many steps yet to come
as i see that your main point of complain is about the lack of social/grouping content i feel you are judging the game to early.
i share with you the love of the combat system wich for me, coupled with the great atmosphere set by graphics, sound and world design. also the tcos launch was really smooth and within days the devs worked on the little quirks that needed to be ironed out.
for me this is the solid basis i missed in many games lately like aoc and even war.
so i do believe that with a growing community the game will develope into more of a group play game.
i base this on these toughts:
1. the untypical character setups allow for open grouping without having to wait for that precious healer, buffer or tank
2. they alreaddy introduced a group instance just days ago and i think many more will follow
3. with their concept of the high houses they just need to slap on a "high house channel" and youll easily find people with the same goals and motive to do group quests
4. the whole shard theme screams for exploration
so rather then seeing your points as steps backward i see them as untapped potential of a game that hopefully will be here to stay
if your bored, visit my blog at: http://craylon.wordpress.com/ dealing with the look of mmos with the nvidia 3d vision glasses
Acidworm I couldn`t agree with you more, I have been ranting lately about MMOs not having enough MM and im gonna continue here lol. I love TCoS, love the enviorments, combat system, graphics aren`t bad, and you can climb ladders, how cool is that lol. But the servers are dead and it`s like a depressing alone feeling lol. Im playing on an international EU PVE server, and I rarely see other people playing, I hope the population eventually picks up because this game is awesome, except for it`s population size lol. It would be a shame if this MMO just dropped off the radar because it has a lot of pontentiial, if given a bigger population. I hope it goes better for the NA servers, but I will be jelouse if the EU servers stay the same lol.
PS. Grouping is mandatory in FFXI, leveling is extremely slow without it, have you played FFXI, if not you should definitey give it a try if your into grouping MMOs.
PS. Grouping is mandatory in FFXI, leveling is extremely slow without it, have you played FFXI, if not you should definitey give it a try if your into grouping MMOs.
Yes, I played NA release day on Ifrit. I solo'd monk/warr to 25 grinding sheep mostly, people thought I was insane to solo past 20 as it became EXTRMELY grindy without group, but nobody from NA was anywhere near 20 so I grinded away for like 48 straight hours..lawl. Then I stopped leveling and did some crafting/exploring and waited for others to catch up. Finally started grouping and it was a blast. Thing is, I can't ever get used to super model orcs and anime elves, it burns my eyes. I think I got into CoH beta and cancelled my account. The grouping was amazing though. I had macros for all my special moves with the whistle sound, stupid thing like "GO GO Thunder kick!" When we were able to pull of combo chain it was a beautiful thing I will never forget.
Honestly.... check out The Saga of Ryzom. They are under new ownership and still letting people play for free till the end of the year. Great game! Great community! Soloing that game is very tough, it was designed for group hunts. http://www.ryzom.com
Nice game, but I could never find anyone around. The combat was not that great from what I remember.. I tried it when they offered that design program bundled with the DL. It was like they let you design your own zones, place mobs where you want and other stuff. I had more fun with that then in-game. How's the pop these days?
Comments
I cant agree with you more. I am playing tcos and although the game world is great it does feel like a 1 player game with a chat room and a bad chat room at that being on the international PvP server. It enough to put me off but i shall continue for now as it is a intresting game .
As a player who started in SWG in the glory days i truly miss grouping with 20 others and all getting missions and running around like and getting crazy xp . It was FUN! and made so many friends doing so , the only game since i found that rewarded group play is Vanguard .. hmmm wonder how thats doing nowadays ..
hmm, i would strongly disagree with the idea of tcos being a 1player game. there is very little you can solo to be quite honest. you can complete a lot of quests solo, but that does not mean you are free to run around and explore the world on your own. if you do that you will be killed quickly.
not trying to trash your review, i think you're right in the sense that the npc/quest system is the most archaic aspect of spellborn. but it is by no means the only way of leveling up, or limited to 1player.
i do a lot of questing with at least 1 other person if not 2, in most cases it is more efficient.
i also know that the later in the game you get the more difficult instances and dungeons become, so do expect to be exploring in parties.
i also think the EU servers are a sorry excuse for an MMO, they really do look like a single player RPG because they only have a handful (literally less than 100) people per server. when acclaim launches spellborn i certainly hope to see crowded servers :P
You took one leap of logic here that I didn't quite follow at first. How is questing preventing people from grouping? There really is nothing stopping you from finding 7 other like minded people to grind MOB's with. Its like complaining about gas prices when you don't own a car.
But I see where you're coming from. Quests offer an easier path of advancement and people generally take the path of least resistance. The same thing happened in WAR with scenarios offering PvE experience. It essentially killed the PvE zones. I was actually thinking that I would go back to WAR if they offered a server with no scenarios. Open world PvP mixed with PvE is what I wanted with that game, not scenario queues.
But really, if you're familiar with the Bartles player types, then your real issue is that most MMOG's appeal to the acheiver player type. Most people are focused on mechanics and advancement. There is something about TCoS that brings out the explorer in me. Maybe its the relaxing natural environments. I don't know, but I never felt like I was in a rush to complete quests like I normally do in WoW and the clones. I'd spend a little more time to stop and smell the roses.
I normally look at the types of gamers each game attracts. Darkfall will obviously attract the Killers. WoW, the Acheivers. Second Life, the Socializers. LotRO, the Explorers. What types do you think TaCOS will attract?
Just say this game did a dozen steps backwards due to the torn apart European Playerbase with these stupid IP blocks!
I am sure the German and French servers will be doing fine, as these people have been used to having their own servers.
But the International EU servers are just plain dead right now! During EU Peak time there are litterly only a handful of players online on the PVE server!
There are only 2-3 people talking in chat most of the time.... sometimes 4-5 if you are lucky lol.
It's a real shame tho as I really wanted to try this game out.... but I am seriously not interested in playing and paying for an MMO with dead servers.
Compaired to Vanguard right now.... then Vanguard has at least a population. *sigh*
I guess we knew this would be the downfall of TCOS the moment they announced the splitting up of European countries and IP blocking.
Cheers
I think the key is just to take things slowly. I've found that quest-based games aren't near as bad when I actually make an effort to read quests, understanding why it is I've been asked to do something and then do it with a passion. I've actually learnt to enjoy questing quite a bit.
This message was edited on 8/16/15 at 5:30:00 AM
Hopefully the NA servers will be better for this sort of thing. I am almost always grouped with my wife and best friend, so I never really considered the difficulties of finding a group. I don't think I would have enjoyed any of the newer MMOG's without my group.
Any time we have ever let a stranger join our group they inevitable end up doing the most boneheaded things imaginable. The best person we ever had join our group was a Chinese farmer in AoC. They never said a word (nor a complaint) and played their class perfectly. They never went AFK or bailed on the group and they were always prepared. It never bothered them that the rest of us were on vent chatting away leaving the group text silent.
EDIT: Also, I wouldn't worry about not finding a group on that server. The pop is too low and the level spread in the newbie zone is too wide. Give is a shot after release and see what happens. I bet it will be a fine game for small groups (ie. 4 player groups).
Spellborn has designed the game around running tasks because that's where most of the experience is earned. You earn very little experience aka fame for killing mobs.
The task system is boring. It's a typical linear, handheld, led by the nose system, similar to WoW- LoTRO etc.
I soloed most everything. Each task is rated with a lvl of difficulty and if the mob is too difficult to finish at one lvl, just wait a few levels and you will be able to solo it.
Spellborn doesn't foster grouping beyond a temporary pick up group to finish a task involving killing a higher lvl mob. It's just like WoW and LoTRO in that regard. The community suffers because of it. In classic EQ where most experience came from hunting mobs, people would group and spend hours with each other talking and socializing. I miss that type of community building.
yeah man, the twitch combat is exactly as you said, "endless bliss"
its so much fun to just find fights and take on high level mobs. the best quests are the ones that make you find 3 other people and fight 30 mobs. just imho.
Honestly.... check out The Saga of Ryzom. They are under new ownership and still letting people play for free till the end of the year. Great game! Great community! Soloing that game is very tough, it was designed for group hunts.
http://www.ryzom.com
Because there aren't enough games that require you to get a group to do things but don't give you the means to do so, so that you spend a large chunk of your time looking for a group rather than doing something interesting?
It may be a location thing.
I agree 101% with the OP. The one thing I always complained about in beta, was spellborns questing system, or no real alternative content which gave fame. And most importantly, there is no alternative questing routes! Try starting an alt and do it all over again
The biggest problem is see for grouping in spellborn is the LONG quest chains, which is super content for a solo player, but is the most irritating thing for a group player, simply because the "group quests" are almost always in the end of a long solo quest chain.
Many times in the Beta chat when I was "complaining" people asked me, whats stopping your from grouping? I always gave the same answer; Nothing, I am playing in group right now, but I want group content! Nothing is more boring than doing fedex quests in a group - a big caravan of messengers hehe.
I will see how this game develops in the next six months and maybe ill come back. I want to come back because I really love the PvP in spellborn, but as it is now, I cant see myself leveling another character in the current content.
Bes
I think its more of a issue with players then with the game design because you hear the same problem it nearly every game theses days.
I ask why did you wait until you need a group to get one started?
Me when I play a mmorpg one of the first things I do is make friend ask people for help, see if the need help. Just chatting away with people early on. Its Networking. you never wait until you need a job to start networking. You do it when you already have one. You do it when you are still in training and don't require one.
That way when you need a group you already have a list of people to call on. A lot of the time they will call you first.
Sure a low pop can make it hard but there is no reason not to try and set up connections with anyone you see even if its just one person.
More often then not people have this"I can do it all myself I don't need you" attitude when soloing because everything is within their grasp. As soon as they come along a challenge that is more then they can handle alone they want a group but can't find one so they get upset.
Which to a point they have a right to be. How ever if you wait until the last minute to start looking you can't really get upset if you can't find one. Even if you are new to the game you know at some point your going to need a group sooner or later so why wait until later to get one?
I played some yesterday with the intention of not questing. All I wanted to do was explore some of that first zone.
I killed off a whole camp of humanoids. Even with +2 levels on them it was mildly challenging. A group would have been nice. A few minutes later I ran by a quest NPC and he gave me a quest to go do the exact same thing. He recommended a group for the task.
Then I found that big hole in the ground with a ladder guarded by some more humanoids. I had no quest for this cave and I'm not sure if there is one. Again with +2 levels is was very challenging. A group would have been perfect for this. I finally got some adds that I couldn't handle. Leaving wasn't an option because a ladder was the only way out. I ran for it. Deep into the cave. I'm not sure how far I got, but the place looks big. I ran into a room with a large pool of water and about 15 MOB's. They cut me down.
I also found a named MOB called something like Old Wilbur. I couldn't kill him alone.
Now I feel like I have some good incentives to group. I don't want forced grouping 100% of the time like EQ. That's why I quit that game. I felt too dependent on others to do anything. But I do want to have some nice challenges for when I am grouped. I was successful in finding some.
I wish I didn't have plans for tonight. I'd like to put a group together and explore the rest of the cave. Anyone want to hit up that cave sometime next week?
Did the same exact thing last night. I spent about 2 hours just circling the camp and carefully pulling 3 packs to a safe distance. A few times, I decided to be a little bold and fight closer to the camp. New groups would pop right on top of me which forced me to retreat back to the road. I tried numerous times to get a group together, but I only saw like 2 other people the whole night anyway, hence why chat was completely empty. The humanoid camps are actually decent, definitely don't have the polish of an EQ/DAoC camp. Nonetheless, a group of 3 or more would be never ending fun plowing through these camps.
The NA servers can't come soon enough. I can't wait to see this game with a few hundred people running around.
Ehhh..completed tons of quests getting my third char to 7 and hated every second of it. Deliver this, deliver that. Go to hell.
A tad off topic, but what happened to the region locking? If I download the free client from the TCoS website will I be able to play (from South Africa)?
Exactly. The entire game was designed around quests, whether you are grouped or not. In fact at one point in development, they were going to give you ZERO XP for mob kills. The only XP they were going to give was from quests.
If I decide to sub, only thing I'd be interested in is AE grinding it to 50 to see what kind of PvP endgame they offer. I hear there is not much PvE endgame content anyway.
well i disagree a bit and call it 1 step forwared, many steps yet to come
as i see that your main point of complain is about the lack of social/grouping content i feel you are judging the game to early.
i share with you the love of the combat system wich for me, coupled with the great atmosphere set by graphics, sound and world design. also the tcos launch was really smooth and within days the devs worked on the little quirks that needed to be ironed out.
for me this is the solid basis i missed in many games lately like aoc and even war.
so i do believe that with a growing community the game will develope into more of a group play game.
i base this on these toughts:
1. the untypical character setups allow for open grouping without having to wait for that precious healer, buffer or tank
2. they alreaddy introduced a group instance just days ago and i think many more will follow
3. with their concept of the high houses they just need to slap on a "high house channel" and youll easily find people with the same goals and motive to do group quests
4. the whole shard theme screams for exploration
so rather then seeing your points as steps backward i see them as untapped potential of a game that hopefully will be here to stay
if your bored, visit my blog at:
http://craylon.wordpress.com/ dealing with the look of mmos with the nvidia 3d vision glasses
Acidworm I couldn`t agree with you more, I have been ranting lately about MMOs not having enough MM and im gonna continue here lol. I love TCoS, love the enviorments, combat system, graphics aren`t bad, and you can climb ladders, how cool is that lol. But the servers are dead and it`s like a depressing alone feeling lol. Im playing on an international EU PVE server, and I rarely see other people playing, I hope the population eventually picks up because this game is awesome, except for it`s population size lol. It would be a shame if this MMO just dropped off the radar because it has a lot of pontentiial, if given a bigger population. I hope it goes better for the NA servers, but I will be jelouse if the EU servers stay the same lol.
PS. Grouping is mandatory in FFXI, leveling is extremely slow without it, have you played FFXI, if not you should definitey give it a try if your into grouping MMOs.
Yes, I played NA release day on Ifrit. I solo'd monk/warr to 25 grinding sheep mostly, people thought I was insane to solo past 20 as it became EXTRMELY grindy without group, but nobody from NA was anywhere near 20 so I grinded away for like 48 straight hours..lawl. Then I stopped leveling and did some crafting/exploring and waited for others to catch up. Finally started grouping and it was a blast. Thing is, I can't ever get used to super model orcs and anime elves, it burns my eyes. I think I got into CoH beta and cancelled my account. The grouping was amazing though. I had macros for all my special moves with the whistle sound, stupid thing like "GO GO Thunder kick!" When we were able to pull of combo chain it was a beautiful thing I will never forget.
Nice game, but I could never find anyone around. The combat was not that great from what I remember.. I tried it when they offered that design program bundled with the DL. It was like they let you design your own zones, place mobs where you want and other stuff. I had more fun with that then in-game. How's the pop these days?