I do not know shipmates, I was going to give this one a run but I am the kind of player that holds performance over pretty. So tell me, is there anyone who has not gotten bad lag? Is this a standard, bad lag that is, of what I may or may not be spending my hard earned money on?
Anyways good article and I hope alot of people try Earthrise and support it as we need more scifi sandboxes to play in.
Playing: PO, EVE Waiting for: WoD Favourite MMOs: VG, EVE, FE and DDO Any person who expresses rage and loathing for an MMO is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.
I know that when I've reviewed games in the past, either professionally or for my own personal friends, I've tried to keep in mind what Anton Ego said in the Disney flick, "Ratatouille":
In many ways,the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.
We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.
But there are times when a critic truly risks something and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.
This is by far one of my most favorite movie quotes of all time, and I agree with it.
Though I haven't had the chance to try Earthrise, it is something I am willing to try, and basing an entire article on what is wrong with the game can easily overshadow what is right.
Too many people here focus on the negative aspects of games based on how they perceive it. Rarely will they take into consideration that someone else's opinion may differ, as well as that person experience.
While performance issues with games such as these is expected, at the end of the day, (well, end of the patch cycle) all that will be left will be the underlying game mechanics, the feel of the world, and the speed and scope of the game.
While it didn't pique my interest any more than what I already had, I feel it was adequate enough for me to not lose interest on it, so I deem the article a smash success. Before I "try it" though (without a free trial), I'd be happy to read the review and see what the end result score was.
It was really fun. It actually builded the community interactions and had real persistant consequences if you ignored alien raids. You were loosing acces to dropship LZs ( a fast travel option ), crafting stations and quest NPCs.
How about melee combat which animations didn't look like a guy shitted his pants:
Have I mentioned that the game actually felt as it was a warzone and constant struggle against invading aliens ? Not saying that the combat felt far more dynamic then ER:
I wish ER would actually borrow some of TR features like mobs raiding Outposts, public group quests ( raids if you like ) which were providing you with atmospheric introduction to the game story, UI and intuitive controls and few more.
This would have been my AO2 but it failed... The FPS and Performance issues in that game are rediculous, it was nowhere near ready for release.. Big let down!
Xsyon here I come!
so you saying its performance issues at launch isnt harsh enough for you?
What many don't mention are the shortcomings in the game play as it stands now. I have no doubt that will improve too but to me it is also far too far in its infancy.
I think a lot of the people that are happy to play are similar to those who played MO & DF at launch. I have a hunch that one of the main reasons that they are prepared to endure a pretty ragged game is to get a leg up in a PVP world where late starters will always be at a disadvantage.
I just wanted to thank the people commenting here about this game. I read the article and thought it sounded good and was considering getting it today. Now, based upon the comments, I am planing on waiting it out a bit to see that things get cleaned up first. Thank to the community for their input, I never would have known this game was anything but great from the article.
I don't knwo what game the OP has played there tbh.
People are not friendly at all there, but gank the hell out of your sorrow arse once you leave newbie-island.
There's no content to play around with but some mandatory quests you've to grind for 2 or 3 days just to be able to craft a single piece of armor or to insure your items.
And choices? There's no choices to be made there. you either grind missions or you won't have any money to do anything.
Forget about actually playing the game with the server-client issues and the inflexibility of the UI or key-bindings.
The hopes where high, but the fall is much deeper there.
Sorry to say, but recommending this to people with a "TRY IT-button" is close to sending them to Guantanamo for a free ride in the torture-park.
I just wanted to thank the people commenting here about this game. I read the article and thought it sounded good and was considering getting it today. Now, based upon the comments, I am planing on waiting it out a bit to see that things get cleaned up first. Thank to the community for their input, I never would have known this game was anything but great from the article.
Hence why I made such a big deal about it and why I come to these sites to begin with. To get a fair and un-biased view but as you pointed out, get the community view as well, which is what I always do these days.
It is important to note that the MMO community is extremely picky and comments for any game are overwhelmingly negative, especially if there is a low barrier of entry.
I wish the game well, as there are far too few Sci-fi MMOs in the genre and even a "less polished" attempt is better than no attempt at all. Same goes for 1st impression articles
In the future I hope to see the detailed aspects of the game and a some time in between now & then, to see if some issues have been addressed.
Kudos
PS. "Try it", "Might be worth it" and "Get the trial first" are hardly steadfast endorsements to run out and buy the game :P Though I'm sure those who got burnt are not too happy in seeing any positive feedback.
First, Suzie (Sbford) was speaking for herself and not for the overall policies of the site regarding first impressions. The editorial staff (me) doesn't give writers any kind of mandate to be "nice" in their reviews / previews / first impressions.
Second, this wasn't a review. this was a general first impressions article detailing the writer's early experiences with the game. I will say it again: This is not a review and should not be read or referred to as such.
Agree with it or disagree with it, these are the bare bones of the author's early experiences with the game.
{Mod Edit} I know it is pretty tough to compare ER to Rift to a Tale in the Dessert. I also know that this is a preview as opposed to a review, however the more consistency you can bring to your coverage the better.
ER is in a very ragged state and it isn't just technical issues.
It is important to note that the MMO community is extremely picky and comments for any game are overwhelmingly negative, especially if there is a low barrier of entry.
But in this case it's very warranted. VERY!
The game is in no way nor in any shape (yet) to be recommended and to shell out "premium" cash for.
Seeing the shady business practices they already employing right now (by pulling people's first subscription month already, before the 30 days are even up). Which points all towards them being flatout broke and desperate for cash.
Then there is the constant lying and false promisses about the "big improvement" patch that has been delayed over and over and over and over again.
Not to mention that the game hardly runs properly, even on most very high end systems.
How in earth can that be completely ignored and not being mentioned in this so called first impression article? Unless the staff writer had somehow access to one of NASA's super computers to test this game?
Even worse.... how can you say this is a positive and recommend people to go out and buy the game for "premium" price?
I am sorry... but in this case people are right to be extremely picky and negative about this one.
do not buy this game. I myself have suffered through some horrible launchs to get at the dirty gold nugget at the center of a game i was really behind. only if you have been following earthrise for a long time and are super excited to get invovled in it should you buy this game. If not, dont bother. Its horrible and will take months of "beta" (live game) to straighten out. If you want a broke game with potential go buy FFXVI (no, please dont..pre-order Rift or get one of about half a dozen great free to plays out there). Lots of politics and money in MMO launches and they probably were forced to get this out the door as is(go read historys on launches like SoEs Vanguard)
It's a very hard position for MMO writers to be in when talking about newly launched games. Anyone with an unbiased and neutral position will find it very difficult to balance actually talking about gameplay and offsetting this with the various bugs and trappings that come with a launch. What this article does is give an impression of gameplay and I feel Garrett has not mentioned too much about the launch state because it could change within a days time or even as long as six months - the fact is though, the bugs, glitches, lag, all the rest of it will be sorted out at some point. Does MMORPG.com slam a small-time indie game because of its lack of polish at launch or do we take a balanced view and say "yes its not perfect but let's concentrate on what really matters and that is gameplay".
Seriously, unless you own a very high end computer, stay away from this game, it will be unplayable for you. There are so many problems with this game I am suprised that some people are even supporting it. While the game concept might not be bad, it is a majorly unfinished game. There are so many features they have planned to put into this game that should have been there at launch, I just don't see how an "indie" company would be able to add them in a reasonable amount of time. I got to play about 20 hours of this game five days before release, was kind of shocked they were releasing the game. I don't think I have experienced a worse performing game on my computer, and I have played A LOT of games.
There isn't even things like a friends list. There is no ignore feature either. There are almost no game settings to speak of, and the ones that are there do not even do anything. There is no way to edit keybindings unless you edit the .lua file. There was also a large number of people who couldn't even get game keys and without a game key you can't even register for their forums. I have read about people still waiting to even play the game they bought on release day, because they still don't have a key. I read that some people emailed support to get a valid game key, and recieved it quickly, while some people doing the same thing have waited over a day. They claimed that they were going to have new servers on release and that they would be located in the east coast. Turns out the servers are located in Los Angeles and they kept their login server in Bulgaria. I have not read a single person stating that the latency is ok. Many people reporting insane latency problems, massive desync issues....well I could go on. I don't know how they expect to have a MMOFPS hybrid with constant 300-800ms latency. This is all from their forums.
I don't have anything against the game or the company, but it was silly to release a game in this state, it has really turned me off of it. I will check back in three months and see if it is playable for me, but I am not holding my breath.
Most of the features in this game are exactly what I am looking for in an MMO. However based on my experiances with the beta just a scant week before game release (other posters have done a good job listing the most glaring issues, I see no reason to list them twice), I made the decision to steer clear of this game until they get it into a state I find worthy of my patronage.
If you are a gamer who is willing to put up with a few headaches in order to play a game that is different from most of the main stream ones, then you would probably enjoy this title.
If however game glitches, some of them fairly serious, will kill your game enjoyment, I say give Masthead a couple of months to get the bugs worked out.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I'd like to thank all from their honest opinions of the game's current status. I was really close on buying the game and I usually don't mind about few bugs etc. but if a game really is in a condition that only angers the player... *sigh*
Being indie company isn't an excuse. I wouldn't buy a bicycle with only one tire either, just because it was made in small workshop.
I can not stress enough how bad this game is. I really hope people take a note and avoid at all costs.
Anyone compairing this to SWGs is very very wrong. SWGs had an amazing character creation system and a good looking game. Earthrise has neither you get a few choices of face and a couple of hair styles. Then logging on the movement is horrible and the controls are even worse. Its some kind of mouse qwe effect. |Not good. And then combat for a fps you don't even get additional damage for hitting a head. This is going to be heading the way of APB I just don't think it will last that long.
Everyone that has bought this trash should be given a refund as the game isn't as advertised and it is almost unplayable.
yeeeeah I played the beta as well, the FPS issues alone are enough to keep me from playing it. I can run almost everything out there at thier highest settings and get very playable framerates, this game? nope, poorly optimized engine, thanks but no thanks.
"Well let me just quote the late-great Colonel Sanders, who said…’I’m too drunk to taste this chicken." - Ricky Bobby
"The interface is tricky to figure out. Having to switch from explore mode to combat mode in order to get the fight going just seems like a hurdle that is not needed. If I have a gun I should not have to click to enter combat and then click to use it. Perhaps in the future they will fix the speed in which you can go into combat. For now, it limits the player."
Why the hell do developers do stupid things like this? Is there a valid rationale for making pulling a gun and firing it, slower and clunkier than it needs to be? You should be able to slip into combat simply by shooting at something, not by having some sort of declarative action to switch from one mode of play to another. I mean, why does exploring and fighting need to be mutually exclusive? I think the average PvPer can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Arbitrary speed bumps are never a good idea, especially in a game that highlights PvP.
Comments
I do not know shipmates, I was going to give this one a run but I am the kind of player that holds performance over pretty. So tell me, is there anyone who has not gotten bad lag? Is this a standard, bad lag that is, of what I may or may not be spending my hard earned money on?
[mod edit]
Anyways good article and I hope alot of people try Earthrise and support it as we need more scifi sandboxes to play in.
Playing: PO, EVE
Waiting for: WoD
Favourite MMOs: VG, EVE, FE and DDO
Any person who expresses rage and loathing for an MMO is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.
This is by far one of my most favorite movie quotes of all time, and I agree with it.
Though I haven't had the chance to try Earthrise, it is something I am willing to try, and basing an entire article on what is wrong with the game can easily overshadow what is right.
Too many people here focus on the negative aspects of games based on how they perceive it. Rarely will they take into consideration that someone else's opinion may differ, as well as that person experience.
While performance issues with games such as these is expected, at the end of the day, (well, end of the patch cycle) all that will be left will be the underlying game mechanics, the feel of the world, and the speed and scope of the game.
While it didn't pique my interest any more than what I already had, I feel it was adequate enough for me to not lose interest on it, so I deem the article a smash success. Before I "try it" though (without a free trial), I'd be happy to read the review and see what the end result score was.
With all respect I was in Tabula Rasa beta and the game was 1000 times more polished and fun then ER.
Does anyone remember Outpost dynamic defence and assaults ? Here is a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnqJD4EPJVw&feature=related
It was really fun. It actually builded the community interactions and had real persistant consequences if you ignored alien raids. You were loosing acces to dropship LZs ( a fast travel option ), crafting stations and quest NPCs.
How about melee combat which animations didn't look like a guy shitted his pants:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxr6aNBTaQc&feature=related
Have I mentioned that the game actually felt as it was a warzone and constant struggle against invading aliens ? Not saying that the combat felt far more dynamic then ER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nZ7eca_vRA&feature=related
I wish ER would actually borrow some of TR features like mobs raiding Outposts, public group quests ( raids if you like ) which were providing you with atmospheric introduction to the game story, UI and intuitive controls and few more.
Again guys, off-topic posts are going to be removed and infractions will be issued. Stay on topic.
great article! can't wait to try it out! zonks!
What many don't mention are the shortcomings in the game play as it stands now. I have no doubt that will improve too but to me it is also far too far in its infancy.
I think a lot of the people that are happy to play are similar to those who played MO & DF at launch. I have a hunch that one of the main reasons that they are prepared to endure a pretty ragged game is to get a leg up in a PVP world where late starters will always be at a disadvantage.
I just wanted to thank the people commenting here about this game. I read the article and thought it sounded good and was considering getting it today. Now, based upon the comments, I am planing on waiting it out a bit to see that things get cleaned up first. Thank to the community for their input, I never would have known this game was anything but great from the article.
I don't knwo what game the OP has played there tbh.
People are not friendly at all there, but gank the hell out of your sorrow arse once you leave newbie-island.
There's no content to play around with but some mandatory quests you've to grind for 2 or 3 days just to be able to craft a single piece of armor or to insure your items.
And choices? There's no choices to be made there. you either grind missions or you won't have any money to do anything.
Forget about actually playing the game with the server-client issues and the inflexibility of the UI or key-bindings.
The hopes where high, but the fall is much deeper there.
Sorry to say, but recommending this to people with a "TRY IT-button" is close to sending them to Guantanamo for a free ride in the torture-park.
{Mod Edit}
Hence why I made such a big deal about it and why I come to these sites to begin with. To get a fair and un-biased view but as you pointed out, get the community view as well, which is what I always do these days.
My gaming blog
Look What I Did - melodic mathcore band from Nashville, TN, see music videos from new record Atlas Drugged
I wish the game well, as there are far too few Sci-fi MMOs in the genre and even a "less polished" attempt is better than no attempt at all. Same goes for 1st impression articles
In the future I hope to see the detailed aspects of the game and a some time in between now & then, to see if some issues have been addressed.
Kudos
PS. "Try it", "Might be worth it" and "Get the trial first" are hardly steadfast endorsements to run out and buy the game :P Though I'm sure those who got burnt are not too happy in seeing any positive feedback.
{Mod Edit} I know it is pretty tough to compare ER to Rift to a Tale in the Dessert. I also know that this is a preview as opposed to a review, however the more consistency you can bring to your coverage the better.
ER is in a very ragged state and it isn't just technical issues.
But in this case it's very warranted. VERY!
The game is in no way nor in any shape (yet) to be recommended and to shell out "premium" cash for.
Seeing the shady business practices they already employing right now (by pulling people's first subscription month already, before the 30 days are even up). Which points all towards them being flatout broke and desperate for cash.
Then there is the constant lying and false promisses about the "big improvement" patch that has been delayed over and over and over and over again.
Not to mention that the game hardly runs properly, even on most very high end systems.
How in earth can that be completely ignored and not being mentioned in this so called first impression article? Unless the staff writer had somehow access to one of NASA's super computers to test this game?
Even worse.... how can you say this is a positive and recommend people to go out and buy the game for "premium" price?
I am sorry... but in this case people are right to be extremely picky and negative about this one.
here is my first impressions, on topic.
do not buy this game. I myself have suffered through some horrible launchs to get at the dirty gold nugget at the center of a game i was really behind. only if you have been following earthrise for a long time and are super excited to get invovled in it should you buy this game. If not, dont bother. Its horrible and will take months of "beta" (live game) to straighten out. If you want a broke game with potential go buy FFXVI (no, please dont..pre-order Rift or get one of about half a dozen great free to plays out there). Lots of politics and money in MMO launches and they probably were forced to get this out the door as is(go read historys on launches like SoEs Vanguard)
{Mod edit}
It's a very hard position for MMO writers to be in when talking about newly launched games. Anyone with an unbiased and neutral position will find it very difficult to balance actually talking about gameplay and offsetting this with the various bugs and trappings that come with a launch. What this article does is give an impression of gameplay and I feel Garrett has not mentioned too much about the launch state because it could change within a days time or even as long as six months - the fact is though, the bugs, glitches, lag, all the rest of it will be sorted out at some point. Does MMORPG.com slam a small-time indie game because of its lack of polish at launch or do we take a balanced view and say "yes its not perfect but let's concentrate on what really matters and that is gameplay".
Seriously, unless you own a very high end computer, stay away from this game, it will be unplayable for you. There are so many problems with this game I am suprised that some people are even supporting it. While the game concept might not be bad, it is a majorly unfinished game. There are so many features they have planned to put into this game that should have been there at launch, I just don't see how an "indie" company would be able to add them in a reasonable amount of time. I got to play about 20 hours of this game five days before release, was kind of shocked they were releasing the game. I don't think I have experienced a worse performing game on my computer, and I have played A LOT of games.
There isn't even things like a friends list. There is no ignore feature either. There are almost no game settings to speak of, and the ones that are there do not even do anything. There is no way to edit keybindings unless you edit the .lua file. There was also a large number of people who couldn't even get game keys and without a game key you can't even register for their forums. I have read about people still waiting to even play the game they bought on release day, because they still don't have a key. I read that some people emailed support to get a valid game key, and recieved it quickly, while some people doing the same thing have waited over a day. They claimed that they were going to have new servers on release and that they would be located in the east coast. Turns out the servers are located in Los Angeles and they kept their login server in Bulgaria. I have not read a single person stating that the latency is ok. Many people reporting insane latency problems, massive desync issues....well I could go on. I don't know how they expect to have a MMOFPS hybrid with constant 300-800ms latency. This is all from their forums.
I don't have anything against the game or the company, but it was silly to release a game in this state, it has really turned me off of it. I will check back in three months and see if it is playable for me, but I am not holding my breath.
Most of the features in this game are exactly what I am looking for in an MMO. However based on my experiances with the beta just a scant week before game release (other posters have done a good job listing the most glaring issues, I see no reason to list them twice), I made the decision to steer clear of this game until they get it into a state I find worthy of my patronage.
If you are a gamer who is willing to put up with a few headaches in order to play a game that is different from most of the main stream ones, then you would probably enjoy this title.
If however game glitches, some of them fairly serious, will kill your game enjoyment, I say give Masthead a couple of months to get the bugs worked out.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I'd like to thank all from their honest opinions of the game's current status. I was really close on buying the game and I usually don't mind about few bugs etc. but if a game really is in a condition that only angers the player... *sigh*
Being indie company isn't an excuse. I wouldn't buy a bicycle with only one tire either, just because it was made in small workshop.
{Mod edit}
this released with that in any other industry would be downright unlawful to ship a product in such a sorry state.
After playing beta my decision is clear: avoid at all cost.
"The game is worth trying out"
... in a few months he forgot to write.
palmiarnia.info
I can not stress enough how bad this game is. I really hope people take a note and avoid at all costs.
Anyone compairing this to SWGs is very very wrong. SWGs had an amazing character creation system and a good looking game. Earthrise has neither you get a few choices of face and a couple of hair styles. Then logging on the movement is horrible and the controls are even worse. Its some kind of mouse qwe effect. |Not good. And then combat for a fps you don't even get additional damage for hitting a head. This is going to be heading the way of APB I just don't think it will last that long.
Everyone that has bought this trash should be given a refund as the game isn't as advertised and it is almost unplayable.
yeeeeah I played the beta as well, the FPS issues alone are enough to keep me from playing it. I can run almost everything out there at thier highest settings and get very playable framerates, this game? nope, poorly optimized engine, thanks but no thanks.
"The interface is tricky to figure out. Having to switch from explore mode to combat mode in order to get the fight going just seems like a hurdle that is not needed. If I have a gun I should not have to click to enter combat and then click to use it. Perhaps in the future they will fix the speed in which you can go into combat. For now, it limits the player."
Why the hell do developers do stupid things like this? Is there a valid rationale for making pulling a gun and firing it, slower and clunkier than it needs to be? You should be able to slip into combat simply by shooting at something, not by having some sort of declarative action to switch from one mode of play to another. I mean, why does exploring and fighting need to be mutually exclusive? I think the average PvPer can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Arbitrary speed bumps are never a good idea, especially in a game that highlights PvP.
I don't see the potential everyone is talking about.,it's a theme park grindfest.
You want to craft something? grind 500 mobs.
You want to lvl up? grind 500 mobs or do 100 "kill 10x" quests.
What's so innovative about this game?
And don't even try to buy it in 3 months (if it's still alive),you will NEVER catch up,this game is more gear based than Aion!
If you want a game with potential,play FFXIV,not this scam.