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Attention: This game went bankrupt in 2003 for a reason.. (read on)
Zvorak
Member Posts: 234
Greetings,
Many of the people here are newbs to the MMORPG community and are unaware of the past practices of Dave Bowman and Artifact Entertainment (Tulga).
There is a reason why Horizons was a flop back in 2003... the game sucked and the company who produced it didn't care about the player base... just their money. Horizons beta was littered with trouble wich in-and-of-itself is not a problem... but the constant berating the player base took from the dev team saying that it will be fixed and "they know"... yet when the game went live those problems were in the game and even 7 months later when they filed for bankruptcy..!
I can go on-and-on about how that company was run... or the little swindle in the courts to keep the game alive and Dave Bowman leaving Artifact to start Tulga, then buy the game leaving the original investors empty handed, but there more to why and how Horizons is runned.
Simple to say that those running the company now are the same as before under a new guise, but are simply way in the back ground and hoping most of the player base isnt aware of their past practices.
Errant game code and memory leaks plagued Horizons... and still do today. The game itself is broken but don't take my word for it... play for 2 months. Or just save yourself the $60 and wait for another MMORPG in prod and soon to come out.
Comments
Memory leaks? Hm. Mabye thats why I can only play the game for an hour and a half before it crashes.
Yes .. yes .. we all know Horizons wasn't ready for release even though it was released anyways. Why? Because they was out of money! So what did they do ... they released the game anyways thinking that they could finish it up in the next several months. Wrong, very bad mistake as the launch was horrid and to much damage was done to perform any kind of quick recovery. As for the way they handled the bankrupcty, thats open to ethical opinion .. nothing more. Admittely, this game continued to spiral downhill throughout 2004 and into the begining of 2005. Dark depressing uncertain times indeed.
I realize this is all vague short story telling of the actual events, but the truth is .. everyone has their own version of it to tell and its been hashed out many many times. Personally, I don't think anyone really gives a crap anymore, and for those that are still dwelling over it .. by all means have at it; but thats just my opinion of course. I know I sure the heck don't.
However, today, the truth is the devs and staff at Tulga do care and listen to their players. They are working very hard to finish what they originally set out to do - make a game worth playing that many many peple will enjoy. Horizons has improved much over the last several months and looks as though it will continue to do so far into the future. Don't get me wrong, the game is still plagued with many problems, most notably performance, but for once in its almost 2 year life its moving forward and in a positive direction. That much is for certain.
Btw .. not for sure why it would cost anyone $60 to try it out for 2 months when the game is free for 14 days and then the monthly fee is $12.95 there after?
ROFL. All I needed to see, right there. $60? What tree did you just drop out of? The game is free to download, and you pay a monthly fee.
I've been playing since launch. I've seen the bad times and the good times. Frankly, no one cares anymore about the history of HZ. So sorry, you missed getting in on the bus by about a year or so, and are only beating one very dead horse.
Guys, it probably is another Dozer clone. Another from MI, low post count, after the last account got banned.
Talk about serious issues.
Move on already.
I mean, stalking a game, how sad.
ROFL. All I needed to see, right there. $60? What tree did you just drop out of? The game is free to download, and you pay a monthly fee.
I've been playing since launch. I've seen the bad times and the good times. Frankly, no one cares anymore about the history of HZ. So sorry, you missed getting in on the bus by about a year or so, and are only beating one very dead horse.
People don't care...?
Yes, people do care and there's been many posts about HZ and some people think for their $12/month they are getting professional service from a whole company... they are NOT !
Furthermore, past practices indicate how future practices will be handled... The game code is still broken after 3 years of testing/playing. YES, they have fixed numerous things, but fixing a dent on the fender of a car when the engine is broken doesnt do anyone any good..!!
Horizons is kewl and the world is nifty to explore... but you don't pay $$/month for that. You cannot use the excuse thats it's free to download and that it's a work in progress as an argument to support how bad Horizons is ..!
Perhaps if Horizons was $4.95/month there would be no argument and it would also indicate to the player base that it's not a professional company running or re-building the game. Tulga was created the day before Artifact entertainment went Bankrupt... they have no prior record or development team, they basically are a holding company trying to keep a dead game afloat. Most of the code is basicaly an open source "fix-it" by internships..etc. You pay $12/month for WoW, EQ2 and many other MMORPG's... they have a full customer support and a full development team... not a few people working at their companies like Tulga does.
This game is a flop... not because I've suggested it, but because the MMORPG community has already spoken and the majority of those playing HZ are newbs to this community and Tulga snookered them into trying/playing/buying this game. Hence the reason for my post.
-Zvorak
Zvorak
As not only an avid player of Horizons for a year and a half, but as a player who is involved in the forums and chats on Horizons, I can tell you a very different story.
You say the game and the professionalism of its staff and developers aren't worth $12 per month, but subscriptions say something different. The game has vastly improved, and subscriptions have increased for the past three months.
It is true that players were promised things from the beginning, and that those promises were broken several times throughout the history of the game. Today's development team is now meeting those promises, the last of which (dragon lairs and confectioner school updrages) being nearly complete.
You suggest that Horizons has poor support. But since early this year, the support situation has improved so drastically that whenever I send in a support issue, I always get a response within two business days, usually one, and sometimes within an hour.
The developers today listen to the players, and make tangible adjustments to their plans based on player input. The most recent of these being the increase to the bonuses that Ancient dragons get compared to what was originally intended. This happened just a couple of weeks ago.
You say that performance is broken. And while I will agree that performance is not nearly as good as some other MMORPGS, this situation, too, is improving. The last major update to the game included a fix to a performance problem that plagued the game since it was launched, causing a tangible increase in performance after extended periods of play for many players and a tangible decrease in performance-related crashes.
You say that the developers and the staff are unprofessional, but I have spoken personally through chat and support cases with several of the developers, and I can tell you that they are the most friendly, responsive, player-oriented development team that I have ever had the privelage to speak to. Do they tell the players what they want to know and give players what they want all the time? No, but that's part of developing a game. They handle themselves very well, considering what they do and what they have to work with. A couple of weeks ago, my roommate pointed out an issue with Horizons. I mentioned it to one of the developpers, and already, the issue has been fixed on the test server.
It's true that they have (at least one) intern. I have spoken with him myself through chat. He has done a lot of good, tangible work for Horizons in his short tenure. I don't see any problem with this situation.
Please, get to know the game, and the people who run the game just a little better before you make rash judgements. I don't claim to speak for the developpers in any of this. Everything I've said here is my personal opinion gleaned from long experience with this game. And I'm not claiming that the game perfect. Far from it. It has a long way to go, there is a lot of work left to be done, but it has come very far since the fiasco of launch and bankrupcy. I would be hard-pressed to leave the game for any reason.
-Kepesk Dawnfyre of the Order server of Horizons: Empire of Istaria
Your friendly neighborhood stripey dragon
Lol !
This LoZeR-clone is pretty pathetic, isn't she?
This LoZeR-clone is pretty pathetic, isn't she?
Yeah.. but the fact you have no clue speaks volumns of your brevity and short sighteness..... perhaps you might want to take a look deeper into my previous posts or google my name. I'm certinaly vocal within the over-all community.
I've beta'ed 16 games and been playing MMORPG's since meridian59, my first beta was back in 96' with Ultima Online... I've played ALOT of games and have a broad perspective within the community. I certianly don't take the miopic approach that you have teken... beleiving Horizons is berift of flaws and then calling anyone who points them out a "clone" of another who may have in the past done the same.
The laugh is on you... your paying for a defunct game that will ineviably fold within the year 2006. The fact there is only 10 post on this forum points or illistrates how "has-been" Horizons is... it was a flop in 2003 and it still is today.
-Zvorak
Typical, it's what I expected.
You cannot defend/argue whats been written so you feebly attack my character, then when I debunk your character assasiation your only retort is this tritely canned post...!!! Similiar (in fact) to your last 3 posts.
This has no longer turned into a debate about Horizons.. you've dragged it down into a troll thread. Which coincidentally was probably your intent. In either case I will discuss/debate Horizons with anyone... but I will not feed the trolls.
/ignor Khoal
"You cannot defend/argue whats been written so you feebly attack my character, then when I debunk your character assasiation your only retort is this tritely canned post...!!! Similiar (in fact) to your last 3 posts."
Its surely not because we can't "defend/argue" on this topic ... its just that .. well .. we chose not to because its been done already a million times over the last 2 years. But of course you already know that I'm sure. I said all that I wanted/needed to say in my first post.
So hey .. if it makes you feel as though your protecting the innocent gamers and helps you sleep better at night .. by all means have at it and continue on in your crusade and continue to predict the game's downfall just as others have in the past and failed ... you never know you may get luycky and get it right. Myself, I'm done here because this thread has already lost its initial amusement for me. Done.
Zarcharien
Update:
You are not Dozer. We ran an IP through your account and your fine. I apologize for assuming you are. Many people (including me) thought you were a member, Dozer as he posted literally the same exact things as you do.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.