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Fair Warning
Mazarn
Member Posts: 4
All Points Bulletin has problems. There is no way around that statement. If you have yet to purchase this game, you are the person I am targeting in this post.
First, APB is entirely PvP. There is no PvE. If you are looking for a game where you can play against AI, do not purchase this game. There are no missions against NPC's.
Second, there is a matchmaking system for APB. The matchmaking system is ancient. It does not discriminate. You WILL be paired up against higher level players with a much stronger and larger arsenal. You WILL be paired up against MORE players than you have if your notoriety is 4 (see below). Which means if you are solo as a criminal with four notoriety, the matchmaking system will be ALLOWED to find two enforcers. The same goes for if you are in a group with another criminal and both of you have 4 notoriety, the matchmaking will be ALLOWED to pair you against four enforcers. This works vice-versa.
Third, there is a "notoriety" system in this game. There are five levels of notoriety. Below four, you will not receive full rewards for anything you do. At four you will be considered as deadly as two players. At five, a bounty is placed on your head and anyone can kill you for it, even if you're in a mission. As a criminal, when you commit crimes (which can just be knocking over boxes on the side of the street) you raise your notoriety. It goes up very fast, and does not decay easily. As an enforcer, it's name is changed to "prestige" and, the opposite of criminals, you LOSE prestige for commiting crimes, and GAIN prestige for stopping them (which can only be done when inside of a mission).
Fourth, gear. Everyone loves it. I like getting a new weapon, don't you? Well, in All Points Bulletin you WILL NOT have access to the best weapons available in the game unless you join one of the top clans/guilds/organizations. I'm talking the top three. Because the rest don't matter, see? Only the top three are the ones who will receive rewards, based on a weekly/monthly schedule.
So there you have it. Those are not all of my qualms with this game, but those are the largest four that I believe new players should know about before purchasing the game.
Comments
You forgot to mention the blatant hacking and exploits that goes on constant. I'm not the best player out there but when I'm moving about there is no way I can be hit with every bullet and at the extreme range of a sub-machine gun. With this and the crappy matchmaking these fun components are completely removed from the game.
The gun fights and general mayhem are enjoyable for a short time but if you're after a shooter there are many better on the market, and if you're after a mmorpg, this isn't one.
I've dont about as much research for this game as I could without actually purchasing APB.
As so far all i've seen in video's/comments/threads is how garbage it is.
I don't think i'll be wasting any money on this.
wow, all i gotta say is I am definately glad I did not purchase this game. I can play crysis for free if i want, and I already have crysis.
I've posted my opinion point by point on this game in the past so need to rehash them all. I've put a ton of time in on this game. Personally I have to agree with the current negativity about this game, but I am certainly hoping the development team takes the initiative to improve upon them. I also have to throw the unnatural feel of driving in there. Before the counters to this argument start: 1) I can drive just fine in this game it took time to get the controls down, but that's completely normal for any game, not really my point here, 2) I get great fps, holds steady at 70fps almost all the time and is never lower than 50. The driving for me just does not feel right. Sure I can pull off hair pin turns, use e brake, etc. but it's just a gut thing that's hard to put into words that doesn't work for me. I would think I was all alone in this feeling, but others seem to share it as well. Not trying to bash this title, there is a great concept here as well as great potential if the developers are able to capitalize on it. For my money, I would not buy the title at this time. I'd just wait and see what fixes and tweaks they make before taking the plunge.
Steam: Neph
It does very well being a PvP game. There can be constant action for PvP if you want it and sometimes if you do not want it. For those of us that love PvP, this is a great game.
I have been matched against higher and lower level players. I would say that it has been 50% both ways. When I am against higher level players I have to make sure I use tactics and be prepared for the worst. It can be hard and frustrating but it is fun. When I am matched against lower players I enjoy the turn around and take care of business. I would like to note that 95% of the time I am in a group with my clan. We do what we must to win.
You also gain prestige when you witness a criminal. What I can say is that the criminals have a hard time staying out of being matched against other players. But it is all about PvP. Those that just want to finish missions without the PvP get smaller faction and contact points. So even if you lost when you are in PvP, you get much more faction and contact points for being in a PvP match. It is just worth it no matter if you are criminal or enforcer.
This is not entirely true. Our clan has gotten number 2 and number 3 daily league rewards and so far a number 2 weekly reward. The weekly reward was a new jeep with some extra mods on it. The daily rewards have been mediocre weapons that no one in our clan uses. We all simply sell them to the vendor or try to sell them on the market. The real rewards comes from your contacts. The best weapons can only be gained through contacts. In beta, you got awesome league rewards, they changed this for the live game because it was truly unfair for others who were not in the top clans. As long as you stick with a contact until you reach lvl 3 and 6 with them, you will get better weapons and that does not matter which clan you are in.[/quote]
I understand your frustration with the game but I felt I needed to bring some balance. I have enjoyed the game and I haven't even unlocked all the best weapons yet.
I know that all 70plus members of my clan are having a blast and so are so many others in game. The ones that are not having fun are usually the ones who do not take the time to learn tactics and progress to get the better weapons.
It is a very fun game.
"I don't give a sh*t what other people say. I play what I like and I'll pay to do it too!" - SerialMMOist
you may be trying to add balance to it but fact of the matter is you already admitted to frustration. What the OP is doing is warning by the time 1 month goes by after release there will be a huge margin between vet and new players so much so that it might discourage new players from going far. The game should be fun and balanced in all aspects, something such as a degrade on weapons/upgrades when a higher lvl goes against a lower level should be taken into account, notoriety/prestige should go up much slower I mean hell I get notoriety one from hitting a stop sign with my car, wow i'm so notorious I hit the stop sign in the corner of xanadu and lawerence. simple things can fix issues I honestly hate the upgrades I think if anything they should be useful and team oriented like the mobile supply, however these are all just my views and opinion's
MAtch making is not MMO.
What i mean is, mmo is suppose to be about freedom. I should not always be forced to wait for a mission in order to play the fucking game. Its a mmo right? IF i want to solo, i should be able to kill who ever i want in the fucking game even if the player is in a mission or not.
GTA 4 free roam online is 100 time more MMO then APB. Il explain:
GTA 4, 16 players online. anyone can kill anyone any where they want. Once you kill a player, you can take his weapon(Loot in term of mmorpg) You get drop into the city of GTA 4 with no goal, but you can set your own like killing all players in the server one by one.
APB 80 players in one district. You cannot kill grey players, you can only kill red players. Because of that, you have to wait for a mission. Once you have a mission, you get put in a 4 vs 4 mission. While doing the mission, you cannot kill players who are not include in the mission that are represented as grey players. You can only kill red players.
My point, GTA4 got that mmo feeling. APB is 0% mmo. Progression system do not equal mmo. MMO stand for massive multiplayer online for god sake. APB is multiplayer and online, but not Massive at all. So lets title it MO instead.
So please, remove APB from mmorpg.com and replace it with GTA 4 free roam instead.
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so, do you not like the game? or you do? I'm currently confused at the moment. was this just a short review informing new players?
www.roxstudiodesigns.com
lol.......... you again? All right, lets break this down like in the old days shall we?
You say APB should be removed because an MMO is about freedom? APB has as much freedom as pretty much any other MMO and more so than most. I can make my toon however I want, drive any car in the game, use any weapon in the game, I can go where I want (No level restrictions), I can do missions if I want, I can run criminals off the road and box them in to so that that have to get out of there car and then I can turn that stolen car in for some cash, I can sit around and witness crimes, now granted criminals have a lot more freedom because they can steal any NPC car and turn it in for cash, ram stores and steal the loot, do missions, break into some buildings, etc.
But......... thats not what your getting at. Your trying to say that freedom means FFA PVP and since it doesn't have FFA PVP then it should be removed? Well that is the majority of the MMO's on this site. So you would end up with maybe 10 MMO's total?
If your complaining about the instances........ well then AoC, WoW, CO, STO, and a fair amount of others need to be removed as well. Granted AoC, CO and STO are the worst offenders. I can forgive it in APB, because well....... I'm simply ecstatic that it's the first PvP MMO I've ever found.
MO = PvE and harshly punishes you for PvP'ing.
DFO = Massive PvE grind
EvE actually fits in with a PvP MMO but it's just not my thing.
In APB every enemy is a player, we aren't confined to some small map with an arena type feel to it.
PvP in APB is by far the best PvP I've probably every come across. It requires a bit of skill, tactics and strategy. The world and the mechanics available make the PvP the most interesting by far.
In any case....... if you haven't noticed...... instances seem to be all the rage with many MMO's. They all do it in different ways to varying degrees. Don't like it..... well don't play MMO's with instances. Large seamless worlds don't come along to often in MMO's.
A very sad note though, due to the sheer amount of freedom I have in APB it's the first MMO to come along and truly remind me of my old UO days. DFO and MO both promised that feeling and failed to deliver.
The reason thats a sad note ......... is because I was hoping to get that feeling from a fantasy themed FFA PvP game.
One thing that should brighten your day though, unless of course your trolling, is that chaos district is coming and thats the will be FFA PvP.
About the matchmaking system......... it doesn't go off of notoriety......... it goes off of threat level. The more you win and the better you are the higher your threat rating. The higher your threat rating the more challenging your opponents become.
A high threat player is likely to be out numbered a good bit. You could end up in a 4 vs. 6+ battle because of your threat rating. It will take and pair you up against a bunch of lower threat players if no adequate threats are available.
Low threat players have no fear of being out numbered unless they are grouped with a high threat player.
Again not notoriety, it's threat level.
I know that to an exclusively MMO playing person, APB might provide a nice hybrid experience. For a real hardcore shooter fan such as myself, however, APB is a huge waste of money. Anyone who wants a fully populated, inexpensive shooter should go on Steam and get Counterstrike: Source.
Amongst third person shooters, APB is the worst of them all. For Creating stuff its one of the best but I'd hardly call that a reason to play a shooting game. And the driving sucks.
Overall disappointment, but whatever it wasn't like I ever expect a game to meet the hype anymore.
I've never played and I don't really have any interest in APB, just reading the forums.
BUT, does APB have a persistent world, besides cities?
? Yes - It's an MMO
? No - It's not an MMO
Guild Wars is a good example. It is not an MMO and NCSoft does not claim it to be.
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If by persistent you mean non-instanced then I agree to this. At the bare minimum, for a game to be classified as an MMOG, it needs a persistant, non-instanced world.
Guild Wars is a good example of a game that is not an MMOG. Another one is Star Trek Online and the reason is that virtually the entire "world" is instanced.
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I'm sorry, I should have clarified.
This post was to inform users of the potentially frustrating and game breaking mechanics of APB before they purchased it.
I enjoy playing APB. There are many ways they could improve but as with most MMO's it needs some polishing. I just hope realtime doesn't bail on us before they do or charge us for it.
Having not played you probably don't realize just how large the districts are. They open up a good bit once you realize you can enter a good number of buildings and other area's, and once you realize that you aren't limited to the ground. You can go up on roof tops in you so desire.
So, considering the Cities in APB are a combination of the wilds and the cities in a traditional MMO. No, there is no persistent world outside of the game areas. Just like there isn't one if you remove the game areas in any other MMO.
I'm not sure what your question was asking though? Clarify for me a bit and I will re-answer.
no its not an MMO. It shouldnt really be on this website.
Even if you could technically say its an MMO, its definatly NOT an RPG. unless the term MMORPG is lost on you.
The only warning I can give you, love it or hate it, your in for an emotional roller coaster.
Exactly where i try to get at. IF Guild war 1 was not an mmo, how can APB can be more of an mmo?
Its not because APB is not AFK that it is not an mmo, its because just like wow, you have 2 faction. In wow, when ever you see an enemy faction, you can kil him when ever you want in a pvp server without restriction. In a pve server, there is an option to toggle pvp or remove. In APB, its not like that at all. All players are grey, you have to wait for a mission in order to find action that only include 4 vs 4.
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Sedrick, mmo and mmorpg are different type. Just remove the RPG and you have an mmo. Take battlefield for example. Turn it into an mmo. Thats mean, persistent world. No need quest, no need of npc's to kill, they can keep it player vs player only. 2 faction, americans vs russian. Once you log out, you should be able to log back in where you was the last time with your latest items. It should be ffa. If you kill your own faction, you should have a huge penalty like going to jail or simply being a mercenary teal you regain your innocent status. A russian should never, but never see an american in grey simply because he is in a mission. Thats just plain stupid.
MMO stand for massive multiplayer online. APB is not massive because they removed all the massive feature that a mmorpg have.
Take WW2 for example. Go check a pvp action on youtube. Its not a mmorpg, but its sandbox mmo.
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This is retarded. RTW never called it an MMO, players and websited did.
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
No.
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
look, its doesnt matter what you call it!
You can call it the king of the underpants gnomes if you wanted, it doesnt alter the fact that its incredibly addictive!
For me all APB, GA, GW arent MMOS at all.
I dont get where does it came from that this game was labbeled as MMO?
Besides its simply a bad shooter, even devs admit by saying this game got problems (almost whole game) to be fixed :-P
EvE doors
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Or its a great shooter that your bad at :P
MMORPG.com will review anything these days, and the devs simply meant that the reviews will be bad because it will be compared to an mmo, not that the game itself is bad.
I didnt try it, as ive read enough info about the imbalanced and broken stuff and there for knew it wouldnt be fun for me.
If you quote me then quote my whole sentence, dont rip it apart from its meaning.
See that is a good sample how you can rip a sentence apart from its meaning ;-)
And anyway when i read what devs told "bla bla bla the expectation of the players where to high bla bla bla" .... no comment.
Dont hype if you dont want expectations. EA got anyway big problems about hyping. So far every game of them were far to overhyped compared to delivered product.
EvE doors
See the best doors on EvE-on!
The game itself is bad BTW. FPS fans either compar with with Battlefield or GTA 4 to say how bad it is and mmorpg fans have invalid argument so we can already call them out.
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