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My experience with Horizons
lilreap2k3
Member UncommonPosts: 353
I bought Horizons not long after it was released. I played it on a 2.5ghz Celeron, 512 ram, 128 bit ati video card, and it was smooth sailing. Yes I did have to turn down a few things to medium or so but nothing too major. The only reason I left the game was because my friends were playing other games, and playing alone isn't that fun. I don't understand why people are saying the graphics suck when they look back at it. I actually think the graphics are still pretty good compared to the newer games out there.
What I am failing to understand is why people are saying the performance is getting better gradually. I went back to check out Hz a few months ago and it was 100 times worse than when I first played. I turned all the settings down as low as they can go and still couldn't see half the mobs on the map, much less move my character. Fighting invisible mobs is not my idea of a good time by the way. This is with the exact same setup I had when I first started playing. (Yes my computer is old as hell now and needs a major upgrade.)
I actually liked Horizons when I first played it. If they would fix the performance issues I would ditch WoW right now. This coming from a guy who loves to pvp. Sad I know. 
Playing - Minecraft, 7 Days To Die, Darkfall:ROA, Path of Exile
Waiting for -
Comments
There could be some software issues with your computer.I play it on an almost similar system and it runs quite smoothly in 1600x1200 window/full screen mode.
And yes,Horizons is a better game than many mmorpgs with much greater success.I'm not an old player of it,but things are pretty clear.
Hope that they work on their advertising and public info so that they attract more players.
I played for 9 months before I got bored of grinding kills. When I went back 8 monhts or so later, during a free trial, I was stunned how poor the game looked, and how badly it ran.
I could run it on higher settings, but get very low FPS, or low settings for great FPS but the game looked bland and uninteresting. With low quality textures, no ground objects, low terrain detail, minimum view distance, no shadows... I could play the game, but it just looked crap.
Apart from the character textures, which were never implemented, WISH had far better graphics than HZ, and that was constantly slated. WoW and EQ2 have vastly better graphics, in different ways. WoW uses color and effects to create detailed, varied landscapes, many different types of forest, plain, mountain, snowy regions. Beams of light lancing down through trees, waving fauna and flora, excellent use of color, shades of blues, purples, greens....
EQ2 is different. More realistic looking stone, rock, brick, castle walls, lamps, torches, trees, wood grain, and ofcourse, the water effects. WoWs character textures are too cartoony, too low detail, but at least varied in style and design, EQ2s are far better, more detailed, realistic, using bump mapping for leather or cloth, good use of reflections, shadows, ambient light sources, although perhaps less varied.
In HZ every ringmail suit, or plate, looked the same, regardless of tier, but for the color. In late '04 HZ looked could, but it's showing it's age now.
I have to agree with you everything you stated.That's exactly how i saw the game.The textures look pastel ,WOW textures are alot the same.Horizons has poor performance and is deffinately very old looking.The game is past its prime.It has become very apparent to me that so many players defend the game they play ,because they refuse to believe all there time and effort was not in waste[they just can't let go].Personally i do not follow that passive stance,as i believe my money is hard earned and worthy of nothing but a top quality game with very few bugs.If you are passive and don't expect a better product,the game companies will leech millions of dollars off you and laugh about it.Only your demand on a better product WILL force them to step it up or lose money.
I might add that the game population is 90% dragons [lol] .It seems the players couldn't care less about the product as long as they get there dragon to play.Some players are traditional but most are just hanging out admiring there dragon.Even the players admit the dragons are there selling point and without them the game would prolly die.Every flaw is defended by the homie players,that make every excuse in the book to get around them.Players like these are what weak games feed off ,i'm sorry but these players deserve alot of criticism for feeding poor quality.This game is a 4/10.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Wizardry, were you in New Player Assistance chat on Chaos last night? We had a fellow play the game for an hour & quit, saying almost the exact same thing you just posted. The line about the textures being pastels and just like WoW's was what caught my eye.
Now, the guy last night couldn't follow clear directions for 200m using a map and specific location coordinates. He also made a big deal out of how high his standards are for the money he spent. He felt that his subscription fee entitled him to instant access to any location or NPC he needed - his time was too valuable to be spent looking for anything. I suppose DDO might appeal to him for that reason.
Anyway, sorry you didn't care for Horizons. Best of luck finding a game that measures up to your standards - and I mean that sincerly, because I'm not sure such a game exists. If you set your demands and expectations too high, nothing will ever have a realistic chance of meeting them. It sets you up for a lifetime of bitterness and disappointment.
Guildleader, Mithril Council, Chaos