Well, I've tried the game again and frankly, I'm disappointed with it.
The character generation area is definately one of the neatest I've ever seen in an mmo, but the graphics are in need of an update. The load time first for the chargen then again for the actual game world, left a little to be desired, but that's not a big deal. When I actually got into the game though, it took the client a minute or two to actually figure out where I was, and load myself and the things around me. The tutorial help is okay, but could be better. I logged out for a moment and when I logged back in, the client actually warped me a few places before it figured out where I was supposed to be again. Of course, then the game crashed on me whenever I tried to cast a spell, ain't that wonderful?
I'm sure they added lots of new stuff to the game, but my experience just going through the tutorial again soured me on the game once more. This is perhaps the way it should have been 18 months ago, but right now, it just can't compete with today's MMOs really. I know I won't be reactivating my account unless they offer another free period for previous subscribers and I can try the game with my original characters. It's an MMO skipped forward in time.
IMO, to compete with todays games, they need another year or so of work, but at that point, they won't be able to compete with the games then. It's like they're constantly trying to catch-up to where the game should be, but time won't stand still for them to get there.
Sorry to say, but they'll have to offer something pretty nice to entice me to look at the game again.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
Originally posted by Lepidus Yes, this article is based 90% on an interview with David. As I have said before, we are planning a full critical re-review of the game, but those things take time (if you want the author to actually experience the game). This article was intended to take a basic look at what is going on, based on the word of the developers, and a quick look in the game itself. With those two experiences, I felt more than comfortable suggesting people give the free trial a try. I never said give them your money. The developers said the game is finally at the state they wanted it to be. Given the amount of hype and disappointment many, myself included, experienced way back when - that to me indicates it is worth at the least a download and a free trial. The second phase will be a re-review where we give it a fresh try on a clean slate, but in a critical article. For future articles, I will be more clear to include where the article comes from. Progress Reports and Editorial marked articles are usually based on interviews and limited play experience. Given I write one a day, you cannot really expect me to spend the necessary time to do a critical review. That is why I typically do not write critical reviews, I cover too many games to invest the time to give them a fair shake.
Trols have found their way in this community as they do to so many other instances.
Its clear and evident that sonmeone does not want this game on its feet. I personaly do not believe this game itself was the target or any of the individuals in that team, the target seems to be anything that goes forward by independent thinking and has no ties with the big corps that today saturate the market forcing down the troat of their consumers what they "consider" online entertainment. Basicaly from the begining it seems that this games dubious investors did not have in mind something healthy and viable which is realy strange indeed. Somewhere along the lines I also heard the name of NCSoft trying to infulence things. I wonder who control the initial investors of Horizons, I mean what part of the globe and what countries these investors favor with their actions.
Might be that the problem is mostly political and just Horizons was something that sliped through the cracks and had a little bit of success where other ventures were stoped dead on their tracks from the begining? whos responsible on what here. I try to be more clever here than to get involved with name calling on certain now "reknowned" individuals. Those I believe are only the puppets but where are the puppeteers?
Again the only outcome of this thread was to troll a specific independend venture which is Horizon, so no one dares to host any future review about it anymore? I wonder. I would like for once see more questioning for the products from the large corps instead of bashing and trolling of smal corporations. I for once am going to try it.
For MMORPG.com:
Once the larger corps have it "their" way in the market they will not have any use for pages like MMORPG.com and we customers no choice but to get all their useless products with fake and paid reviews forced down on our throats. So stay inmdependent, dare to endure any hard criticism on the reviews you take and go on like nothing haoppened. Players eventualy will apreciate it no matter how much initial trolling any future reviews might generate.
Originally posted by Blurr Well, I've tried the game again and frankly, I'm disappointed with it. The character generation area is definately one of the neatest I've ever seen in an mmo, but the graphics are in need of an update. The load time first for the chargen then again for the actual game world, left a little to be desired, but that's not a big deal. When I actually got into the game though, it took the client a minute or two to actually figure out where I was, and load myself and the things around me. The tutorial help is okay, but could be better. I logged out for a moment and when I logged back in, the client actually warped me a few places before it figured out where I was supposed to be again. Of course, then the game crashed on me whenever I tried to cast a spell, ain't that wonderful? I'm sure they added lots of new stuff to the game, but my experience just going through the tutorial again soured me on the game once more. This is perhaps the way it should have been 18 months ago, but right now, it just can't compete with today's MMOs really. I know I won't be reactivating my account unless they offer another free period for previous subscribers and I can try the game with my original characters. It's an MMO skipped forward in time. IMO, to compete with todays games, they need another year or so of work, but at that point, they won't be able to compete with the games then. It's like they're constantly trying to catch-up to where the game should be, but time won't stand still for them to get there. Sorry to say, but they'll have to offer something pretty nice to entice me to look at the game again.
I'm sorry you had that experience but this game in particular you have to get the settings right before it will perform properly. Once I got my settings just right, the game performed pefectly. Theres a tendancy with this game to put the settings up to high because people think their system can handle it. The textures in this game are amazingly detailed and if you set them too high even a system with the best video card and 2 gigs of ram will get clobbered. But as I said once my settings were just right the game looks great! I had no lag and no glitches and this game has really amazing character. It has all the personality games like WoW and Guild Wars do not. It's not perfect for sure, but after 2 days of this game I love it. The textures are unique and out of this world. The crafting system rocks too not so time consuming but you still make all the right decisions. Ive played maybe 6 hours total but I'll be playing for a long time to come. I love the community; every single person seems willing to help at any moment. I feel so bad for the people who followed this game from the start and got their hearts broken, but I hope they can find it in their hearts to play the game. The game is the game, not David Bowman's love child. You wont run into him in the game. Just an amazing world with tons of character, gorgeous scenery and a community that truly rocks. The moon at night will wow you hehe I would stop and stare up at it after every kill. First person is perfect in this game as the camera seems to swivel just behind your head so you get a really non-claustrophobic look at the world. It's really a priceless experience. I saw a level 100 dragon and it blew me away. It was a big dark purple dragon and the graphics just rock its hard to describe but the texture of it looked like you could reach out and touch it. Some amazing artists worked on this game you can tell, and the music is SPELLBINDING you won't find better music in a MMO and this game actually has that RPG feel to it. It's amazing. I'm so glad of the soap opera surrounding this game: while I feel for the people who were so let down by it, I wouldnt have had it brought to my attention otherwise and have found a game that makes me so happy. And it's a game people, forget the freakin drama and give it a chance: I mean a real chance; get the settings just right for your computer really take some time, also get the controls right you can get them to be just like whatever game your used to playing ( I have mine set up like WoW hehe) if you do you might just love it. It has a very particular look your either gonna love it or hate it. I love it
Originally posted by Blurr Well, I've tried the game again and frankly, I'm disappointed with it. The character generation area is definately one of the neatest I've ever seen in an mmo, but the graphics are in need of an update. The load time first for the chargen then again for the actual game world, left a little to be desired, but that's not a big deal. When I actually got into the game though, it took the client a minute or two to actually figure out where I was, and load myself and the things around me. The tutorial help is okay, but could be better. I logged out for a moment and when I logged back in, the client actually warped me a few places before it figured out where I was supposed to be again. Of course, then the game crashed on me whenever I tried to cast a spell, ain't that wonderful? I'm sure they added lots of new stuff to the game, but my experience just going through the tutorial again soured me on the game once more. This is perhaps the way it should have been 18 months ago, but right now, it just can't compete with today's MMOs really. I know I won't be reactivating my account unless they offer another free period for previous subscribers and I can try the game with my original characters. It's an MMO skipped forward in time. IMO, to compete with todays games, they need another year or so of work, but at that point, they won't be able to compete with the games then. It's like they're constantly trying to catch-up to where the game should be, but time won't stand still for them to get there. Sorry to say, but they'll have to offer something pretty nice to entice me to look at the game again.
I'm sorry you had that experience but this game in particular you have to get the settings right before it will perform properly. Once I got my settings just right, the game performed pefectly. Theres a tendancy with this game to put the settings up to high because people think their system can handle it. The textures in this game are amazingly detailed and if you set them too high even a system with the best video card and 2 gigs of ram will get clobbered. But as I said once my settings were just right the game looks great! I had no lag and no glitches and this game has really amazing character. It has all the personality games like WoW and Guild Wars do not. It's not perfect for sure, but after 2 days of this game I love it. The textures are unique and out of this world. The crafting system rocks too not so time consuming but you still make all the right decisions. Ive played maybe 6 hours total but I'll be playing for a long time to come. I love the community; every single person seems willing to help at any moment. I feel so bad for the people who followed this game from the start and got their hearts broken, but I hope they can find it in their hearts to play the game. The game is the game, not David Bowman's love child. You wont run into him in the game. Just an amazing world with tons of character, gorgeous scenery and a community that truly rocks. The moon at night will wow you hehe I would stop and stare up at it after every kill. First person is perfect in this game as the camera seems to swivel just behind your head so you get a really non-claustrophobic look at the world. It's really a priceless experience. I saw a level 100 dragon and it blew me away. It was a big dark purple dragon and the graphics just rock its hard to describe but the texture of it looked like you could reach out and touch it. Some amazing artists worked on this game you can tell, and the music is SPELLBINDING you won't find better music in a MMO and this game actually has that RPG feel to it. It's amazing. I'm so glad of the soap opera surrounding this game: while I feel for the people who were so let down by it, I wouldnt have had it brought to my attention otherwise and have found a game that makes me so happy. And it's a game people, forget the freakin drama and give it a chance: I mean a real chance; get the settings just right for your computer really take some time, also get the controls right you can get them to be just like whatever game your used to playing ( I have mine set up like WoW hehe) if you do you might just love it. It has a very particular look your either gonna love it or hate it. I love it
Paragraphs are your friends. I got a headache attempting to read that.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against. Bruce Lee
Just for the record Wish was great. Man i miss that game so much i wish we could be talking about the return of wish and not horizons cause really wish in beta is 10 times the mmorpg most other titles claim to be. A lot of horizons people were looking at wish too cause it had such awesome crafting skills that were combat independant aswell and a great model for a player driven economy the constant live events and story the cool quests Huge world. Everything about wish was awesome its cancellation was the worst thing to ever happen to me in mmo history.
Originally posted by anarchyart I'm sorry you had that experience but this game in particular you have to get the settings right before it will perform properly. Once I got my settings just right, the game performed pefectly. Theres a tendancy with this game to put the settings up to high because people think their system can handle it. The textures in this game are amazingly detailed and if you set them too high even a system with the best video card and 2 gigs of ram will get clobbered. But as I said once my settings were just right the game looks great! I had no lag and no glitches and this game has really amazing character. It has all the personality games like WoW and Guild Wars do not. It's not perfect for sure, but after 2 days of this game I love it. The textures are unique and out of this world. The crafting system rocks too not so time consuming but you still make all the right decisions. Ive played maybe 6 hours total but I'll be playing for a long time to come. I love the community; every single person seems willing to help at any moment. I feel so bad for the people who followed this game from the start and got their hearts broken, but I hope they can find it in their hearts to play the game. The game is the game, not David Bowman's love child. You wont run into him in the game. Just an amazing world with tons of character, gorgeous scenery and a community that truly rocks. The moon at night will wow you hehe I would stop and stare up at it after every kill. First person is perfect in this game as the camera seems to swivel just behind your head so you get a really non-claustrophobic look at the world. It's really a priceless experience. I saw a level 100 dragon and it blew me away. It was a big dark purple dragon and the graphics just rock its hard to describe but the texture of it looked like you could reach out and touch it. Some amazing artists worked on this game you can tell, and the music is SPELLBINDING you won't find better music in a MMO and this game actually has that RPG feel to it. It's amazing. I'm so glad of the soap opera surrounding this game: while I feel for the people who were so let down by it, I wouldnt have had it brought to my attention otherwise and have found a game that makes me so happy. And it's a game people, forget the freakin drama and give it a chance: I mean a real chance; get the settings just right for your computer really take some time, also get the controls right you can get them to be just like whatever game your used to playing ( I have mine set up like WoW hehe) if you do you might just love it. It has a very particular look your either gonna love it or hate it. I love it
You are either David Bowman, or you sleep with him.
Yes, I created an account just to respond in this thread. Sue me.
A few things:
1) Even though I understand the article is an editorial, the article placement and wording makes it difficult to tell. 2) Alongside a review, I would suggest doing interviews with random old-timer players. 3) Since I was quoted here, I just wanted to clarify that I had no idea that Dana was a male, so I have updated my post on the Community site to reflect that. 4) Also, as I posted on the Community forums, editorials are, for the most part, opinion pieces, especially when they are one-sided. I think the article could have been a little more indicative of this, and it would have proactively deflected a lot of ridicule.
I look forward to the "re-review". If it is as fluffy and rosy as the "editorial" here, I will definitely be posting a response to it.
Ok, first of all I want to say that Horizons was the one game I was expecting to rule them all, I looked foward to this games release for a VERY long time and was constantly going to the website everyday to check for updates and news.
I played the game a bit in beta and sadly I must say I was INCREDIBLY dissapointed, but! I was not going to give up. I waited for release, tried it again, and the lag was a little better and the game a bit smooter but every possible concept of the game I thought there was going to be, just wasn't there. There were supposed to be lots of unique races which the majority of them were missing but that was ok as you guys promised they would be in the game later. Well, after 6 months of playing, I was dissapointed to say that only the satyr was in the game and I think dryad might have been in the game before I left also. I will admit i was completely bored to the point of wanting to die with the crafting system, IT IS AN INSANELY AWESOME CRAFTING SYSTEM don't get me wrong, but that is absolutely all the game was.
There was definatly no monster drops other than stupid materials for MORE CRAFTING, I wanted so badly just to be able to kill something and find something cool that i could immediatly use and be proud of myself for killing so and so to get that item, but that never happened, not once. Man, I like crafting, but jesus christ please give me something different. There really needed to be alot more dropped immediatly usable items like swords/armor/trinkets and what not, ALOT more, because there was none at all.
Now for combat, it was to basic and there needed to be more to it, the skills needed more visual effects for the people out there that are hungry for eye candy and there needed to be more skills for melee characters period. Spells were horrible, holy crap, I dreaded learning spells, you have to....CRAFT THEM!?!?!?!?!? WHA?!!? *brain malfunction*.... The spell system was just way to hard... first of all you had to be lucky enough to come across the spell you needed, and then you had to go through the labor of crafting it, thats cool and all but it was just WAY WAY WAY to complicated. Why not just stick a magic academy or something for easy access spell learning with a grand master wizard in it. Maybe you could do a quest for them instead of crafting them. It was just overall weird as you have to craft every little aspect of everything your character uses. OVERALL on this subject: combat needs big improvement for melee and magic users. (forgot to add spells needed more to their visual effects also, alot of them anyway)
Next thing, dragons. The first time I read there were going to be dragons in Horizons I leaped with excitement, Breathing fire, flying through the air, aging, and just flat out being able to live a dragon's life from youth to being an ancient. OH! and collecting a hoard! what fun. Now to age you have to go through months of crafting , have a hoard the size of a small country, and be a complete mindless crafting zombie, wait...what? YES! you heard me, crafting is back again for a vengeance....as always.=/ One question, why? Why would you have to craft and have a massive hoard to age. Before the game came out the idea was that everyone would age, well that got totally laid off for bipeds but I can understand that as it would probably take some hardcore programming. It was supposed to be based off time your character existed in order to age and nothing else I believe, BUT there was a downside, you couldnt just let your character sit and age or he would be gimp because your skills would be inccredibly low and youd have no power, that seemed pretty solid to me , but i guess *hurdles that idea off a very high cliff and puts a mining pick and an ore resource in place of it*. Everything can't be crafting guys come on. Anyway i got a little off the subject there. Dragons are cool but they also had the same skill/combat/crafting problem as bipeds which made them really no different to me other than the fact they could breathe a little fire and fly. They still had to craft their scales and all that mess. same old same old:(
Needed to be more unique monsters, boss mobs, sub-bosses. I was just killing basic mobs over and over for materials:P, and a level here and there. There were a few unique mobs i saw, but no special drops. There just needed to be alot more, "hey look thats something completely crazy lets get a group together and try to take it down, I WONDER WHAT WE'LL GET FROM IT!!!!!!!!."
As for land, there should have been dungeons, and just basically alot more cool places, i do admit you guys did great on the blighted lands as it gave me a major feel of I shouldn't be here this isn't where i belong and it made me feel like i was going into a place where there was going to be excitement around every corner. But as for dungeons there needed to be alot more of that kind of stuff. Like places in the history of the game or something that you could go to and explore and get something amazing from it and maybe a few unexpected twists in the middle of you and your parties dungeon crawlings like physical obstacles and puzzles or something to put more excitement into the exploring category. (referring to what i said about plague lands, there wasnt excitement around every corner, sorry)
Anyway, I could honestly ramble on forever on more aspects of the game and i would be happy to if asked, my e-mail is doozify100@hotmail.com. Theres just alot of big let downs i discovered when i played. Nevertheless, You ain't fought me off yet.
Guys, regardless of all this, i would give this game a million more tries just for the hope that it might be the game i really dreamed of in the first place. I have no doubt in my mind that you guys are aware of all these problems and are trying to fix as stated in the article i read. I won't give up on you and I will never forget about Horizons and will probably always be thinking until you get these things fixed, "Hey i wonder what the progress on Horizons is nowadays, have they made things the way they were supposed to be."
This is no doubt the game I looked foward to the most out of any release and if you can just go back and build the game according to the original ideas you guys had this game will be #1 on my list and i'm positive #1 on hundreds of thousands maybe even millions of other peoples lists. Keep working at it guys and I will FOR SURE give the game another try and many tries after that. Good luck and best wishes to all the team.
Originally posted by Jd1680a dozer, you dont know what you are talking about. Have you tried horizons again recently? have anyone on the UV vault tried horizons recently too? People who are still in Horizons would most likely be in support not against so I dont believe you. the author of the article was sure was pleased with the changes made with Horizons. Tulga games sure have been talking large steps to fix the problems and turn the game around. Ive just scrolled down a few posts on this thread and everyone too seem to be impressed with the changes Tulga games have made to Horizons, all expect for you. nobody have lied about anything, i was there for a year and start on december 03, and it was obiviously released too early. Bowman was exactly right about that, he also admitted that were lacking funds to continue to develop the game for another year. It takes alot of money to make a game, the $18 million AE got to develop Horizons wasnt obiviously enough. What if AE got another two million, and waited for another year to fix all the problems, bugs and added content. Im sure it would have been a great game. Its really a fact that games now a days could cost as much as a movie. So its not cheap.
Weird I wonder why some of the devs that were fired when game went retail by DB all because they decided against DB the game shouldn't be released. I remember clearly it was DB that said when the game would be released. Also not DA but DB that went through 18 million dollars and you have to wonder when looking at game where that cash went.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against. Bruce Lee
Originally posted by Pharcellus Yes, I created an account just to respond in this thread. Sue me. A few things: 1) Even though I understand the article is an editorial, the article placement and wording makes it difficult to tell. 2) Alongside a review, I would suggest doing interviews with random old-timer players. 3) Since I was quoted here, I just wanted to clarify that I had no idea that Dana was a male, so I have updated my post on the Community site to reflect that.
4) Also, as I posted on the Community forums, editorials are, for the most part, opinion pieces, especially when they are one-sided. I think the article could have been a little more indicative of this, and it would have proactively deflected a lot of ridicule. I look forward to the "re-review". If it is as fluffy and rosy as the "editorial" here, I will definitely be posting a response to it.
dazuria:
[quote]You are either David Bowman, or you sleep with him. [/quote]
And I am David Bowman too!
Cause I really felt like he says, and for the most part he is right!
Game definatelly has a character, its not a clone period!
So glad I tryed it now instead of its BETA or release or it would have ruined it for me.
I was ready to go back to Ryzom after I saw that Dark and Light will be late and pretty much might share the fate of Ryzom and that Auto Assault might look like GW with cars.All that after I got bored with Lineage II which changed with WoW. So glad I saw this interview and didn't have to torture myself with Ryzom again. What you know.. they applying a major patch right now and I am anxious to see those changes.
Originally posted by Lepidus It has been eighteen months of Drama for Tulga Games (formerly Artifact Entertainment). The makers of Horizons have been through a lot, but now they claim their game is finally where it should have been when it launched.
does that mean they are reimbursing everyone they ripped off in those 18 months, if it is just now getting to where it should have been at launch?
Had I known that David Bowman was such a deceitful prick I would NEVER have bought this game, which sucks anyway. 1000's of new mobs? NO. Same mobs just with different colours/stats/levels and name, there are only about 50 monster models in game. I'll tell you why this game is even still running, because David Bowman has used his skills of deception to screw the legal system to bail his sorry arse out of millions of debt.
Originally posted by Hashman I'll tell you why this game is even still running, because David Bowman has used his skills of deception to screw the legal system to bail his sorry arse out of millions of debt.
Oh, please. The whole point of Ch. 11 is to allow companies to survive financial difficulties and get back on their feet. There was nothing unusual about AE's filing and nothing odd or improper about Tulga buying them out. Other companies have been bought out by shell corporations formed by their own employees; the secured creditors, their lawyers, and the judge examined the deal and found nothing improper or illegal.
Hate to break it to you, but the system is functioning as designed.
Originally posted by Hashman I'll tell you why this game is even still running, because David Bowman has used his skills of deception to screw the legal system to bail his sorry arse out of millions of debt.
Oh, please. The whole point of Ch. 11 is to allow companies to survive financial difficulties and get back on their feet. There was nothing unusual about AE's filing and nothing odd or improper about Tulga buying them out. Other companies have been bought out by shell corporations formed by their own employees; the secured creditors, their lawyers, and the judge examined the deal and found nothing improper or illegal.
Hate to break it to you, but the system is functioning as designed.
Yep but he still ripped off everyone from Verio, IGN, and the landlord. People like DB don't care about that. Some of us do. It also shows the true side of DB and how ripping off people isn't a big concern of his. Ergo the double billing, triple billing, and the bad game he has coded. Some people just can't see the trees before the forest.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against. Bruce Lee
Originally posted by Lepidus I greatly enjoy that no matter what we write - someone paid us. If I wrote an article about how much I dislike a specific game, someone would explain how a competitor had paid me. If I write a positive article - clearly that company paid me. Seriously, there is such a thing as too cynical.
Well, I wouldn't say someone paid you. Maybe a % was taking off the advertising fees for Tulga/AE. In any case, it's quite obvious the a "press release" envelope was handed to whoever wrote that review (oohh.. I mean editorial). Whoever wrote it, didn't played the game more then a few days after the changes, if at all. Everything in the article sounds like something DB would say. I've read enough of his PR spin to know better.
Apparently the concept of an interview is new to you then... Yes, this sounds like things David said because the article (as it says in the article) is based off an interview with David.
Strange how that works.
Dana Massey Formerly of MMORPG.com Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Originally posted by sleepyguyftl To be honest I didn't read all of that drama that was posted nor am I going to. The article had one message, try Horizons. So I'm going to try it. It certainly can't have any less content than Saga of Ryzom and I wasted a year on that.
Want to bet. There isn't much content in Horizons and what's there isn't anything special. There are still people playing, but these are the people who said they got bored with EQ2 and WoW after the first month. Go figure. I suggest you try Guild Wars instead. There's a new title that does a few things differently and is actually fun to play, and requires some skill and thought.
Originally posted by Jd1680a dozer, you dont know what you are talking about. Have you tried horizons again recently? have anyone on the UV vault tried horizons recently too? People who are still in Horizons would most likely be in support not against so I dont believe you. the author of the article was sure was pleased with the changes made with Horizons. Tulga games sure have been talking large steps to fix the problems and turn the game around. Ive just scrolled down a few posts on this thread and everyone too seem to be impressed with the changes Tulga games have made to Horizons, all expect for you. nobody have lied about anything, i was there for a year and start on december 03, and it was obiviously released too early. Bowman was exactly right about that, he also admitted that were lacking funds to continue to develop the game for another year. It takes alot of money to make a game, the $18 million AE got to develop Horizons wasnt obiviously enough. What if AE got another two million, and waited for another year to fix all the problems, bugs and added content. Im sure it would have been a great game. Its really a fact that games now a days could cost as much as a movie. So its not cheap.
Aahhh.. your clueless my friend. Dozer knows what he's talking about. DB has lied so many times that he could touch his nose to his feet. AE/Tulga could care less about what their subscribers think. As long as they are forking over their harded earn dollar to play their crappy game. AE/Tulga has been begging and pleading for people to return and try their game for the past 5 months. Just about everyone who has return has said the game still SUCKS!!
You need to scroll through these posts again as the majority of the people are saying it's not worth going back and trying that boring awful game called Horizons. There are people on here who have played it longer then you, so they know what they are talking about. It should have cost no more then 3-6 million for AE/Tulga to produce Horizons. I'm sure 1/2 those funds went to DB's personal expenses, like a house and new car, instead of paying for decent developers. No one will ever trust D. Bowman again.
Originally posted by Lepidus Yes it does. As I said, they are new monster types in that they have different stats, abilities, etc. They are NOT all new art assets. The later being purley visual, while the former actually impacts gameplay. Obviously it would be nice, but not realistic (nor would you like the size of your client) to do that many models and animations - especially for a small company. The fact that they took the time to do that many monster types though is nothing but positive for gameplay.
Sorry, but no it doesn't. The type of mob has nothing to do with attributes, color or level. It has to do with the model, shape and look of it. So if you have a model of a wolf that's ONE TYPE. Even if the wolf was larger, smaller, purple, blue, level 3 or level 50. It's still ONE TYPE of mob (model). Many MMORPG developers use the same model and just change the name, color and level of the mob to save them time and to try to keep the client running smoothly. FFXI, AC2 and even WoW does this. Now if you have another Wolf where the model is complete different and animated in other ways, then that would be a 2nd Model. I don't believe Horizons is using 8 different model and animation for each of their wolves.
Originally posted by Hashman I'll tell you why this game is even still running, because David Bowman has used his skills of deception to screw the legal system to bail his sorry arse out of millions of debt.
Oh, please. The whole point of Ch. 11 is to allow companies to survive financial difficulties and get back on their feet. There was nothing unusual about AE's filing and nothing odd or improper about Tulga buying them out. Other companies have been bought out by shell corporations formed by their own employees; the secured creditors, their lawyers, and the judge examined the deal and found nothing improper or illegal.
Hate to break it to you, but the system is functioning as designed.
Yep but he still ripped off everyone from Verio, IGN, and the landlord. People like DB don't care about that. Some of us do. It also shows the true side of DB and how ripping off people isn't a big concern of his. Ergo the double billing, triple billing, and the bad game he has coded. Some people just can't see the trees before the forest.
Some people can't see the TREES while they are in the FOREST.
Originally posted by XanderZane AE/Tulga has been begging and pleading for people to return and try their game for the past 5 months.
That's true. Can't forget DB's e-mail around October 2004 (return and enjoy the 7 day trial), then Chris T's Mithril Giveaway (a free month of game play from mid March to mid April). Opps, Chris T followed that with one of two buy 1 month get a free month programs - "Friends and Family" and one for new players - in May.
Oh, and Horizons is that rare game that still offers a free 7 day trial since release (credit card needed I heard). That has to be some record and impressive, in its own way.
So the feature, an attempt to give DB's words some legitimacy, is more like, "Take a third look" - accounting for trying any of the 7 day free trials and the Mithril Giveaway. The review, though, will be a second critical look and certainly a better read.
Comments
Hmmm...Strong emotions around...pefect time for...
*start training pickpocket on everyone around and talking*
*Make sure the forgery letter say something like: Steal from everyone, awesome rewards and put a small ''Dana'' at the end in case I am caught*
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Well, I've tried the game again and frankly, I'm disappointed with it.
The character generation area is definately one of the neatest I've ever seen in an mmo, but the graphics are in need of an update. The load time first for the chargen then again for the actual game world, left a little to be desired, but that's not a big deal. When I actually got into the game though, it took the client a minute or two to actually figure out where I was, and load myself and the things around me. The tutorial help is okay, but could be better. I logged out for a moment and when I logged back in, the client actually warped me a few places before it figured out where I was supposed to be again. Of course, then the game crashed on me whenever I tried to cast a spell, ain't that wonderful?
I'm sure they added lots of new stuff to the game, but my experience just going through the tutorial again soured me on the game once more. This is perhaps the way it should have been 18 months ago, but right now, it just can't compete with today's MMOs really. I know I won't be reactivating my account unless they offer another free period for previous subscribers and I can try the game with my original characters. It's an MMO skipped forward in time.
IMO, to compete with todays games, they need another year or so of work, but at that point, they won't be able to compete with the games then. It's like they're constantly trying to catch-up to where the game should be, but time won't stand still for them to get there.
Sorry to say, but they'll have to offer something pretty nice to entice me to look at the game again.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
Trols have found their way in this community as they do to so many other instances.
Its clear and evident that sonmeone does not want this game on its feet. I personaly do not believe this game itself was the target or any of the individuals in that team, the target seems to be anything that goes forward by independent thinking and has no ties with the big corps that today saturate the market forcing down the troat of their consumers what they "consider" online entertainment. Basicaly from the begining it seems that this games dubious investors did not have in mind something healthy and viable which is realy strange indeed. Somewhere along the lines I also heard the name of NCSoft trying to infulence things. I wonder who control the initial investors of Horizons, I mean what part of the globe and what countries these investors favor with their actions.
Might be that the problem is mostly political and just Horizons was something that sliped through the cracks and had a little bit of success where other ventures were stoped dead on their tracks from the begining? whos responsible on what here. I try to be more clever here than to get involved with name calling on certain now "reknowned" individuals. Those I believe are only the puppets but where are the puppeteers?
Again the only outcome of this thread was to troll a specific independend venture which is Horizon, so no one dares to host any future review about it anymore? I wonder. I would like for once see more questioning for the products from the large corps instead of bashing and trolling of smal corporations.
I for once am going to try it.
For MMORPG.com:
Once the larger corps have it "their" way in the market they will not have any use for pages like MMORPG.com and we customers no choice but to get all their useless products with fake and paid reviews forced down on our throats. So stay inmdependent, dare to endure any hard criticism on the reviews you take and go on like nothing haoppened. Players eventualy will apreciate it no matter how much initial trolling any future reviews might generate.
Tried it again, and it still feels boring and pointless.
Paragraphs are your friends. I got a headache attempting to read that.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
----ITS A TRAP!!!----
You are either David Bowman, or you sleep with him.
Yes, I created an account just to respond in this thread. Sue me.
A few things:
1) Even though I understand the article is an editorial, the article placement and wording makes it difficult to tell.
2) Alongside a review, I would suggest doing interviews with random old-timer players.
3) Since I was quoted here, I just wanted to clarify that I had no idea that Dana was a male, so I have updated my post on the Community site to reflect that.
4) Also, as I posted on the Community forums, editorials are, for the most part, opinion pieces, especially when they are one-sided. I think the article could have been a little more indicative of this, and it would have proactively deflected a lot of ridicule.
I look forward to the "re-review". If it is as fluffy and rosy as the "editorial" here, I will definitely be posting a response to it.
Imagine how I felt
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Ok, first of all I want to say that Horizons was the one game I was expecting to rule them all, I looked foward to this games release for a VERY long time and was constantly going to the website everyday to check for updates and news.
I played the game a bit in beta and sadly I must say I was INCREDIBLY dissapointed, but! I was not going to give up. I waited for release, tried it again, and the lag was a little better and the game a bit smooter but every possible concept of the game I thought there was going to be, just wasn't there. There were supposed to be lots of unique races which the majority of them were missing but that was ok as you guys promised they would be in the game later. Well, after 6 months of playing, I was dissapointed to say that only the satyr was in the game and I think dryad might have been in the game before I left also. I will admit i was completely bored to the point of wanting to die with the crafting system, IT IS AN INSANELY AWESOME CRAFTING SYSTEM don't get me wrong, but that is absolutely all the game was.
There was definatly no monster drops other than stupid materials for MORE CRAFTING, I wanted so badly just to be able to kill something and find something cool that i could immediatly use and be proud of myself for killing so and so to get that item, but that never happened, not once. Man, I like crafting, but jesus christ please give me something different. There really needed to be alot more dropped immediatly usable items like swords/armor/trinkets and what not, ALOT more, because there was none at all.
Now for combat, it was to basic and there needed to be more to it, the skills needed more visual effects for the people out there that are hungry for eye candy and there needed to be more skills for melee characters period. Spells were horrible, holy crap, I dreaded learning spells, you have to....CRAFT THEM!?!?!?!?!? WHA?!!? *brain malfunction*
.... The spell system was just way to hard... first of all you had to be lucky enough to come across the spell you needed, and then you had to go through the labor of crafting it, thats cool and all but it was just WAY WAY WAY to complicated. Why not just stick a magic academy or something for easy access spell learning with a grand master wizard in it. Maybe you could do a quest for them instead of crafting them. It was just overall weird as you have to craft every little aspect of everything your character uses. OVERALL on this subject: combat needs big improvement for melee and magic users. (forgot to add spells needed more to their visual effects also, alot of them anyway)
Next thing, dragons. The first time I read there were going to be dragons in Horizons I leaped with excitement, Breathing fire, flying through the air, aging, and just flat out being able to live a dragon's life from youth to being an ancient. OH! and collecting a hoard! what fun. Now to age you have to go through months of crafting , have a hoard the size of a small country, and be a complete mindless crafting zombie, wait...what? YES! you heard me, crafting is back again for a vengeance....as always.=/ One question, why? Why would you have to craft and have a massive hoard to age. Before the game came out the idea was that everyone would age, well that got totally laid off for bipeds but I can understand that as it would probably take some hardcore programming. It was supposed to be based off time your character existed in order to age and nothing else I believe, BUT there was a downside, you couldnt just let your character sit and age or he would be gimp because your skills would be inccredibly low and youd have no power, that seemed pretty solid to me , but i guess *hurdles that idea off a very high cliff and puts a mining pick and an ore resource in place of it*. Everything can't be crafting guys come on. Anyway i got a little off the subject there. Dragons are cool but they also had the same skill/combat/crafting problem as bipeds which made them really no different to me other than the fact they could breathe a little fire and fly. They still had to craft their scales and all that mess. same old same old:(
Needed to be more unique monsters, boss mobs, sub-bosses. I was just killing basic mobs over and over for materials:P, and a level here and there. There were a few unique mobs i saw, but no special drops. There just needed to be alot more, "hey look thats something completely crazy lets get a group together and try to take it down, I WONDER WHAT WE'LL GET FROM IT!!!!!!!!."
As for land, there should have been dungeons, and just basically alot more cool places, i do admit you guys did great on the blighted lands as it gave me a major feel of I shouldn't be here this isn't where i belong and it made me feel like i was going into a place where there was going to be excitement around every corner. But as for dungeons there needed to be alot more of that kind of stuff. Like places in the history of the game or something that you could go to and explore and get something amazing from it and maybe a few unexpected twists in the middle of you and your parties dungeon crawlings like physical obstacles and puzzles or something to put more excitement into the exploring category. (referring to what i said about plague lands, there wasnt excitement around every corner, sorry
)
Anyway, I could honestly ramble on forever on more aspects of the game and i would be happy to if asked, my e-mail is doozify100@hotmail.com. Theres just alot of big let downs i discovered when i played. Nevertheless, You ain't fought me off yet.
Guys, regardless of all this, i would give this game a million more tries just for the hope that it might be the game i really dreamed of in the first place. I have no doubt in my mind that you guys are aware of all these problems and are trying to fix as stated in the article i read. I won't give up on you and I will never forget about Horizons and will probably always be thinking until you get these things fixed, "Hey i wonder what the progress on Horizons is nowadays, have they made things the way they were supposed to be."
This is no doubt the game I looked foward to the most out of any release and if you can just go back and build the game according to the original ideas you guys had this game will be #1 on my list and i'm positive #1 on hundreds of thousands maybe even millions of other peoples lists. Keep working at it guys and I will FOR SURE give the game another try and many tries after that. Good luck and best wishes to all the team.
sucks
Weird I wonder why some of the devs that were fired when game went retail by DB all because they decided against DB the game shouldn't be released. I remember clearly it was DB that said when the game would be released. Also not DA but DB that went through 18 million dollars and you have to wonder when looking at game where that cash went.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
dazuria:
[quote]You are either David Bowman, or you sleep with him. [/quote]
And I am David Bowman too!
Cause I really felt like he says, and for the most part he is right!
Game definatelly has a character, its not a clone period!
So glad I tryed it now instead of its BETA or release or it would have ruined it for me.
I was ready to go back to Ryzom after I saw that Dark and Light will be late and pretty much might share the fate of Ryzom and that Auto Assault might look like GW with cars.All that after I got bored with Lineage II which changed with WoW. So glad I saw this interview and didn't have to torture myself with Ryzom again.
What you know.. they applying a major patch right now and I am anxious to see those changes.
does that mean they are reimbursing everyone they ripped off in those 18 months, if it is just now getting to where it should have been at launch?
Had I known that David Bowman was such a deceitful prick I would NEVER have bought this game, which sucks anyway. 1000's of new mobs? NO. Same mobs just with different colours/stats/levels and name, there are only about 50 monster models in game. I'll tell you why this game is even still running, because David Bowman has used his skills of deception to screw the legal system to bail his sorry arse out of millions of debt.
Do not support this con artist!
Oh, please. The whole point of Ch. 11 is to allow companies to survive financial difficulties and get back on their feet. There was nothing unusual about AE's filing and nothing odd or improper about Tulga buying them out. Other companies have been bought out by shell corporations formed by their own employees; the secured creditors, their lawyers, and the judge examined the deal and found nothing improper or illegal.
Hate to break it to you, but the system is functioning as designed.
Guildleader, Mithril Council, Chaos
Oh, please. The whole point of Ch. 11 is to allow companies to survive financial difficulties and get back on their feet. There was nothing unusual about AE's filing and nothing odd or improper about Tulga buying them out. Other companies have been bought out by shell corporations formed by their own employees; the secured creditors, their lawyers, and the judge examined the deal and found nothing improper or illegal.
Hate to break it to you, but the system is functioning as designed.
Yep but he still ripped off everyone from Verio, IGN, and the landlord. People like DB don't care about that. Some of us do. It also shows the true side of DB and how ripping off people isn't a big concern of his. Ergo the double billing, triple billing, and the bad game he has coded. Some people just can't see the trees before the forest.
Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
Bruce Lee
Guys, debate the game all you want, but please refrain from personal attacks.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Well, I wouldn't say someone paid you. Maybe a % was taking off the advertising fees for Tulga/AE. In any case, it's quite obvious the a "press release" envelope was handed to whoever wrote that review (oohh.. I mean editorial).
Whoever wrote it, didn't played the game more then a few days after the changes, if at all. Everything in the article sounds like something DB would say. I've read enough of his PR spin to know better.
Xander
Apparently the concept of an interview is new to you then... Yes, this sounds like things David said because the article (as it says in the article) is based off an interview with David.
Strange how that works.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Xander
Aahhh.. your clueless my friend. Dozer knows what he's talking about. DB has lied so many times that he could touch his nose to his feet. AE/Tulga could care less about what their subscribers think. As long as they are forking over their harded earn dollar to play their crappy game. AE/Tulga has been begging and pleading for people to return and try their game for the past 5 months. Just about everyone who has return has said the game still SUCKS!!
You need to scroll through these posts again as the majority of the people are saying it's not worth going back and trying that boring awful game called Horizons. There are people on here who have played it longer then you, so they know what they are talking about. It should have cost no more then 3-6 million for AE/Tulga to produce Horizons. I'm sure 1/2 those funds went to DB's personal expenses, like a house and new car, instead of paying for decent developers. No one will ever trust D. Bowman again.
Xander
Xander
Oh, please. The whole point of Ch. 11 is to allow companies to survive financial difficulties and get back on their feet. There was nothing unusual about AE's filing and nothing odd or improper about Tulga buying them out. Other companies have been bought out by shell corporations formed by their own employees; the secured creditors, their lawyers, and the judge examined the deal and found nothing improper or illegal.
Hate to break it to you, but the system is functioning as designed.
Yep but he still ripped off everyone from Verio, IGN, and the landlord. People like DB don't care about that. Some of us do. It also shows the true side of DB and how ripping off people isn't a big concern of his. Ergo the double billing, triple billing, and the bad game he has coded. Some people just can't see the trees before the forest.
Some people can't see the TREES while they are in the FOREST.
Xander
That's true. Can't forget DB's e-mail around October 2004 (return and enjoy the 7 day trial), then Chris T's Mithril Giveaway (a free month of game play from mid March to mid April). Opps, Chris T followed that with one of two buy 1 month get a free month programs - "Friends and Family" and one for new players - in May.
Oh, and Horizons is that rare game that still offers a free 7 day trial since release (credit card needed I heard). That has to be some record and impressive, in its own way.
So the feature, an attempt to give DB's words some legitimacy, is more like, "Take a third look" - accounting for trying any of the 7 day free trials and the Mithril Giveaway. The review, though, will be a second critical look and certainly a better read.