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VERY unfriendly and deterring experience for new players.
brihtwulf
Member UncommonPosts: 975
I recently spent some time trying this game out, as the idea of open crafting, politics, war,.. all sounded good to me. A rather sandbox style game. However, after having played it for a few days, and speaking to players who were online, I have decided it's not worth playing (for a number of reasons).
1. The tutorial video doesn't really provide a real look at how the game is going to be when you get in. There are some objectives available for you to complete, or you can just randomly walk off and start mining/crafting/fighting... But really, you can't. Everyone around is likely more powerful than you, so if you try to near an enemy city, you're going to be dead the moment your feet touch their soil. I was even given 3 of my starting 5 objectives telling me to head to a KoS city where I had no chance to survival. I wasn't even given a weapon in my backpack to start.
2. People are out there to gank new players just to irritate them. It's pretty clear when you're wearing one of the starter outfits and wandering around one of the city hubs. I was browsing the market terminal in Paris, and was shot in the back and killed. There's no safety anywhere, and no one around to help or prevent it from happening.
3. The game is a ghost town. I only visually saw players occassionally, and even the faction chat was very limited. They seemed willing to answer my basic questions, but no one was willing to help me, mentor me, or get me going in the right direction.
4. The political system doesn't involve all the players. Hell, the new players aren't even told what's going on with the political system, so I wouldn't be surprised if I met whoever is in charge and spit in his face. It seems like new players aren't important to the developers. There's nothing for them to do. Can I sit there and grind out 1,000 medkits over and over to make some money? Maybe, if I didn't get shot in the back. Maybe I could call the police! Wait, nope, none of those.
5. Did I forget to mention I didn't see any NPC's either?
Overall this game didn't seem to have anything to offer. No way to advance (apparently you need another player to promote you?) Unless I had some friends already playing this game, I was pretty much out of luck. So, I can't recommend this game to anyone without a group of people you know already in the game. You'll just end up getting nowhere.
Comments
1. Nobody is more powerful than you, there's no levels. Anyone can use armor and guns. Objectives do suck sometimes though, and if a faction guy is on with the ability to change them then you can ask over faction-chat.
2. Yep, but it's usually a bunch of LED cops or FDC grunts. Also, Paris and Tokyo are barren, the only people going there *would* be there to kill you. They might even have an objective telling them to.
3. Again, find out what faction you are and check your main base. Nobody goes to Paris or Tokyo.
4. The political system sucks, but you seem to have issues with player-ranking anyway if you would "spit in the leaders face" just because. If you really wanted to be big-boss-man then expect to make this game a second job - if you have no intention to do that, then why care? My experience was fine because I had no need to get past rank 1. (rank is not levels btw, it just gives faction permissions)
5. There is no NPCs, thought you knew. That's one of the first things your told about this game.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
1. Like said in the other post, your power is equal to the others. Combat is completly dependant on skill. If you manage to handle a certain weapon well, it doesn't matter what kind of gear you or your opponent has if your skill is good enough. (Ofcourse, gear will help you.) Also, I am not sure if this is stated somewhere in the tutorials, but the first thing you should do is contact your faction members in the faction tab of your chat window. Most of the time they can provide you with much better objectives and even supply you with some gear if you tell them you are new. I will admit this is dependant on the faction you join. (For example, MotB is very newbie unfriendly)
2. Again, help from your faction is essential here. Also you are wrong when it comes to no safe places, during your first 24 hours of playtime you can visit New York City - Training Grounds. Here you can explore the game's mechanics without risking to be killed. (Weapons can't be used here)
3. Contact with your faction is required again. Also, I will admit the game is very dependant on the time you are online. (When I log in during the morning, it is hard to find any players, especially not at the less popular colonies)
4. When you link your forum account, you get access to the Player Forums. Your faction forum and the stickied "Faction Leaders" thread in the Public Faction Forums should give a good overview of who leads every faction. And you can be as important as you want to be, but this requires spending quite some time on the game and a lot of social skills/charisma. You need to get others to respect, like or (when it is in your favor) hate you. It's for exactly that reason why the community often calls the game a "Social experiment". But you can also decide to stay unimportant and just follow your faction's orders, which can also bring a lot of fun.
5. Nope, the only NPCs we have are aliens which aren't always around. (And will only appear at Necars Field) More NPCs are on the To-Do list, but it is still unsure what those will add to the game.
I can't agree with your opinion on the game. As this game is very open and depends on so many factors (mainly your own skills) I will admit this game has a big learning curve, but if you overcome this you will actually love this game. It's just a matter of contacting the right people in the end.
I took the offer on fileplanet, later i realized it was the same than in the official site. It's a pity i didnt like the game. The graphics were fine. Once I created my character and started playing I realized there was no skills to level up so I could be a medic from the start, I managed to find the auction system and bought a weapon, ammunition and some medikits. I didnt cared to make contact with any clan or character i just wanted tp wander around. I tried to learn to heal and i think I did got it right, after some time someone thought I was an easy prey and he killed me. I didnt cared to respond fire becouse I was already boring. No skills to level up sounds good at the start but i like having something to level up.
I dont think the game is very unfriendly, the game is as unfriendly as any other mmorpg. If you walk into a dangerouse place you die, maybe letting people go there from the start is bad design but I dint think is tat unfriendly. I'm sure if you join a clan or guild from the start the game changes a lot and this unfriendly feeling goes away since you can ask all this stuff.
What I see as a bad desing is the lack of skills to level up, but i understand they wanted a game in wich you could just start and be competitive so they adopted this idea. Do i like it?, No. It's a good idea? Depends and what you want your game to be. I think they wanted an FPS shooter with persistent world, so they made it right, just I dont like it.
In my opinon they could add a short time spawn, for example a week, in wich you can't be attacked as a newbie, and 2 weeks of leveling to take you skills max. Say you have a bunch of skills amd you select and you can 2 or 3 to maximize, after 15 days of using them they max out and you are as competitive like any other. If you get bored of them you can respec them and grind them for another 15 days.
From what I read this probably ain't the right game for you indeed
At least, most players of Face of Mankind don't seem to mind there is no leveling system and even like it because of this fact.
Regarding the quoted statement, the developers are aware of the fact that newbies are easy prey and should deserve protection for this. Therefore they are already working on a solution to give them some kind of implant/drug from the start which makes it harder to kill them. This is on the to-do list, so no clue how this is exactly going to work out.
So, no levelling or advancing, aside from getting promoted by another player...
Or, you can make money, which would assumably make you more "powerful" (much like real life).
You can attack your enemies cities, and I believe I read they can be taken control of. But again, the only benefit gained would be... money.
There's combat, but there doesn't seem to be much of it (aside from getting ganked).
This sounds rather like Second Life, with guns.
What's the point to playing if your character always stays the same? You might as well play Battlefield 2 (you get ranks there too).
I only go to New York, Aureilia and Ceres Delta. Every other city is a waste and like the OP said -- Empty.
true, this game might be empty, only NYC, DSS Yukon, CD and Aurelia is filled
but unfrienly? i dont think so
have u played as FDC ? i think they have the best community, they're very active, and they are very deep in their RP, which is very rare to see in even the RP MMO of today
yea, FoM might be a shallow game, but it's backed by its RP community which makes you feel the game is fun, even if it's just mostly about the same stuff every day ( patrols, mining, guarding, etc )
ganking is relative, as a FDC, i rarely gets ganked, i dont know about the other faction
because FDC always move in a platoon, so maybe that is the reason BoS rarely attack us, and plus, the only place you will likely to get gank is either in Tokyo and Paris
because i can almost guarantee you, BoS or gankers wont survive LED and FDC in NYC
So What Now?
Thank you.
I've been telling people over and over that they only say that they want a grindless game. When actually confronted with one you find even less to do. FoM has it's good points, and obviously it's bad ones, but it's has good lessons to learn about what you really look for in a game.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
First things first... the OP:
1. For starters, you contradict yourself here. You say everyones more powerful then you, but complain about the lack of leveling? Since there is no leveling and you start off with enough cash to buy any weapon in the game you are level with the most veteran player the second you set foot in the game, so complaints of other being more powerful are void. If you were having such a hard time getting started did it ever occure to you that you should try a different faction? Some are in fact not a good destination for noobs, and that might explain some of your problems. Now I can't speak for most factions since Ive been LED for most of my time in FoM, but the LED is pretty well organized and most people would be more then willing to help you get going... not to mention none of your objectives would be in KoS cities since the LED is never KoS on earth. Right there that seems to take care of most of your complaints so far.
As for a starter weapon, as I mentioned, your given $20,000 in game dollars to start. The most expensive weapons are normally around 5k, with a ton of cheaper ones.... so a lack of weapon is simply your fault for expecting the game to do everything for you. You have cash, and no weapon? Well buy a damn weapon and dont complain you weren't given one.
2. A few points to be made here. First of all, FoM is not like other games. It has balls and is a very dangerous world. Thats the name of the game, and the developers have done something almost no MMO has done since the early UO days... forced PVP at all times. Wander around by yourself and you very well might get attacked. It has nothing to do with the fact your new, but the fact your alone.
With that said there are plenty of safe places. First of all open your mouth a bit in faction chat, and you can learn how to hook up with members of your faction and they will more then likely protect you and get you on your feet. Then there is the Training Grounds, which is a no-weapon zone where newer players can go to shop and craft without fear of attack. Or, you can go to New York (where there are always a lot of ppl btw) and be safe in the knowledge that there are almost always more LED/FDC there then other factions combined, making for a relativly safe area. Sure there are shootings, and random grenade attacks from time to time, but again thats the nature of a game like FoM. Its not a game that you will EVER feel totally safe, and thats part of the design.
And finally... there are no "noob" outfits. Unless your a subsciber your stuck with the cloths you start with forever. The only thing that makes you look any different is armor... and again, you could have gone strait to the Training Grounds and bought the best armor possible with your starting cash and you would have looked like a veteran. This is again, your fault for not going shopping.
3. As for the world being empty, parts of it are in fact dead. Paris is almost always dead, and Tokyo only has people occasionaly. The big hangout is New York. At pretty much any given time (other then perhaps 5AM) there are a ton of people in NYC. Im not totally sure about off-world locations but I do run into groups on Necars Fields (alien filled planet) quite often, and I know at least a couple of the other worlds have a steady population. With that said the population is growing and growing every day... the game has only been out for a couple months after all.
As for no one really helping you too seriously in faction chat.... again, try a different faction. Its very possible you picked a non-noob friendly faction.
4. Idk much about the political system becuase I never cared to. Im LED (the police... there are plenty of us btw, we just don't patrol Paris too often because its dead. Craft in NYC and you'll be safer) and its not much of my concern. However, if you want to find out whats going on you can go on the forums and the information is there. If its a big deal put a slight bit of effort into it and you will find what your looking for.
5. Nope, no NPCs other then the aliens on Necars Fields. But who needs them? All items are player made so theres no need for shops, and missions are given out automaticlly. What else would we need NPCs for? And even with that the devs are in fact going to add in NPCs in the future.
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Face of Mankind is not suppose to be like every other MMO thats in your sig... and thats almost certainly why you don't like it. None of your complaints actually highlight faults in the game, but rather are errors on your part (not gearing up when you had more then enough cash), or you simply not likeing the dangerous, open PVP, player run world. Its truely not for the faint of heart, or the "please hold my hand for everything" WoW crowd... it for thoes who want something different thats not like every other game out there.bYour entitled to not like it of course, and FoM does have its issues (non of the true issues were covered by you oddly enough... telling me you probably played for a total of 10 minutes), but its dangerous to act as tho you have played for an extended period of time and make recommendations to others not to play it. When in fact you have compleatly miss represented the game in your statements.
Oh and no, you don't need a group of friends playing. I started playing a few weeks ago without knowing one person in the game. Sure, I had some previous experience with the game from years ago, but the re-release is quite different and not a whole lot is the same. Still I was geared up and ready to rock within the first 20 minutes I was in the game... and by the end of the nigh I was in a player led LED patrol in NYC, keeping the city safe. You just have to try and figure some things out for yourself.
I didn't find it all that hard hell I made 24K in 24 hours just screwing around with the crafting system, Which is VERY easy to figure out... theres just not alot you can make, Just sell illigal drugs and ammo good to go.
The bad part is the only factions allowed to take part in PVP are the good guy types which naturally attract pricks.
The other problem is that its coded in a crappy way. They can pretty much arrest anybody for any reason imagined or real.
So your either crafting, getting arrested or Law enforecement.
my first time in the game was lastnight and was alot of fun.
the tutorial was easy and i was able to buy armor weapon ammo and med kits.
as soon as i left training grounds i went to new york city. i saw some good action there and a few ppl tried to kill me and i killed them all.
that really started the fun for me, so i went looking to gank some ppl, i walked up to a few ppl and started chatting,
"Hi, how are you?" Then i would pull my gun out and blast em. Then i would loot their stuff and go put it in my storage and sell it on the market.
Then i started to get into the game more - i went to my faction city and joined a group like 20 of us. We fought off mercs for hours will defending our market and chemical factory all the time - mining producing and selling , and geting credits and xp.
Very fun to be able to jump right into a game and get an end game mmo experience in a matter of minutes!
The developers have seen to it that this is pretty much all FoM is now -- one giant ganking paradise. It's team death match on a map that never ends. Role-players need not apply.
did you read the rest of my post? I said then i got into the game more.
The ganking was goin on in NYC, and i later found out that ppl go there to gank. Did i have to goto NYC after the training grounds? NO.
That lasted all but 30 min. 3 hours of role play after that was awesome gameplay. Defending our city against mercs who were contracted to attack. We even had someone from Eurocore using our facilities for that time. we didnt gank him. a Cop came down and hung out for awhile, and we told him we would only kill him if he tried to scan or arrest us.
i was amazed at how heavy the role play is in this game.
Basically, saying how i was able to fend off gankers easily within minutes of being in the game was to show that your not helpless like in other skill / lvl based mmo's
And now the game has NPC's and a safe zone for tutorial. with enuff starting creds to gear up within minutes of starting.
From a new players experience it was not unfriendly or deterring. some good advice would be to read the faction descriptions and choose what fits your play style, cuz thats gonna determine the role you play.
The first faction i chose didnt really fit my play style, but as soon as i logged in someone from the faction sent me a letter welcoming me and asked if i need help.
I went to the account manage webpage and deleted my char and started a new one and picked the faction that best supports the role i wanted to play.
My first time with the game lastnight gave me the same experience you get after months and months of grinding away at other mmos to get that end game experience
No offence, but you sound like a shill. If you're not, let me break it down for you -- My 4 months of game time vs. your 3.5 hours means you don't have much of a clue. The game is all about ganking now. Period.
Sorry i dont know what a shill is.
What is your definition of gank? attacking and killing someone unprovoked? yes that is ingame, just like its in all mmo pvp.
The game is ALL about ganking now. Period?
is a 20 vs 20 fight considered by u ganking?
i witnessed a massive group fight between factions, and even fought in another, just in my limited time as a new player.