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Does anyone play this game
David_RR
Member Posts: 134
I have tried logging in and giving this game another try, but I have not been able to log in. Does the game even exist anymore?
Comments
The game still exists. And, since they made it free, a few more people are drifting in to take a look.
It still only hasabout 50% of what they advertised it would have a year ago. There are still some bugs, (nothing game-breaking, but irritating). Their FPS is very poor 8-10 in 'busy' areas, though some say as low as 4-5. In the vast empty expanses it may be in the teens.
The UI and controls are very user-unfriendly. You *really* have to do some searching and experimenting to find how to do things and move things around. Likewise, the game manuel is only of basic use. The people who are on are friendly and helpful, though most are new to the game also.
The starting Baronies for each side are pretty much finished and operating fairly well. The character models, armor and weapon models, etc, are about on par with those of DAoC, but 2-4 years behind the front-line games.
After the newbie areas, things are not as polished or laid out. There are PvE MOBs of all levels throughout the game now, but the game (really) was supposed to be the first to present '3rd generation' MMO features. Virtually none of those features are in the game as yet.
They do have some unique and fun features such as gliders, parachutes and snowboards, and you can build the low level forts and holdings.
The world itself is, well, simply huge. The public transportaion works as it was intended to work (it didn't right at release last summer), but it does now.
But other than killing MOBs for FXP and some crafting drops, there really is not much else to do.
They hold GM events on a fairly regular basis, and there is *some* PvP that does go on, but mostly with those guilds that stayed the course over the last year; and there are not too many of those.
The single server idea is one I like, but it does present some definite language problems.
The game was envisioned as a 'Realm vs. Realm' PvP system similar to DAoC or WoW, but played out over a vast area. The vast area is there. The 'Realm vs. Realm' structure is there, but the players are missing. So really, outside the starting areas, it is a lonely world.
It still has a glimmer of life left. Snail Games is going to release it in China, and that *might* serve to revitalize it a bit in the West.
The level of bitterness that many ex-players feel about the shoddy state of the game when it was released, and the truly abyssmal customer service and billing is rivalled in the MMORPG community only by the ex-SWG players (pre-NGE)!
Account activation, patching and log-in issues are still a problem for many players.
My advice would be to try a download and log-in (it is free). If it goes smoothly, (cross your fingers), then run around for a week or so. That will be sufficient time to have many of the issues exposed to you, and will let you decide whether or not you wish to invest any more time and effort with it.
Other than what the other person explained above, just avoid giving them any information on a credit card or payment method. Considering it's free you shouldn't have to worry about that, but this company has been known to bill people that have cancelled, refunded and quit. Farlan claimed it was the company handling the billing, which was Click and Buy. Click and Buy in turn blamed Farlan. Considering Click and Buy is supposedly out of the picture, you shouldn't have to worry about that either.
Just words of warning, not trying to flame or discredit.
Just to make sure nobody passes up your post, or dismisses it as one person's experience....they have charged people that have given up their CC info to these theives. I pre-ordered the game, then promptly cancelled when I realized how much of a fraud/vaporware/crap this 'game' was. I got my refund, never got sent a copy, CD, or key to the game. But wait, there's more. They tried to charge me a year later! I take it back, they didn't try, they DID charge me.
I have since had Click and Buy refund my money, remove my information from their databases, filed complaints to several internet fraud/BBB locations, and told Farlan where they can shove it.
Farlan's excuse? I think they said that there was a 'database error in accounting'. Now, even if you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, do you want to give your CC info or play a game that's run by a company that has those kind of problems??
agh50 pretty much hit the nail right on the head; it's like the architecture is in place but the furnishings (content) are almost completely missing.
There are quests in each major population center, but they are far from numerous. Without a decent population, the player-generated content (fort building, nation-building, player-driven economy, etc) dynamic fails.
I didn't seem to have the issues with the GUI that agh50 did, but that may be because I am a button-pusher; if there's a button there, I'm going to press it and find out what it does. The GUI itself is pretty clear-cut and except for layout differences, it's WoW-like in its simplicity. There is a central hot bar when you first enter the game that pre-slots buttons for attacks, your skills page, inventory, etc. It really only takes a few moments of clicking to figure out what does what.
agh50 is right on the mark though as far as a lack of documentation for specific items, such as skill point assignments; the GUI doesn't really explain how to make your choices or what those choices entail, although again, for a button-pusher, I clicked on the skills and voila! I added points to the major concentrations and received skills for those concentrations.
The skill point system is good in that it doesn't force you to follow one line. You can assign points to fighting, healing or spellcasting as you see fit and gain those benefits when you need them. You also have the ability to subtract points and reassign them whenever you like, so the points aren't locked in.
The vendor interface, on the other hand, is pretty poorly constructed. It took me a bit to figure out exactly how to go about selling and buying something. The crafting interface is a little confusing as well, but there were actual directions in the beginner craft quests that at least pointed you in the right direction.
The biggest issues besides the lack of content would have to be the pitiful FPS and the patcher. When I first tried/reviewed the game, the FPS was actually good and the game ran very smoothly even at high resolutions. In nearly every instance after my initial review when I have played, the FPS has dropped significantly. Could be something as simple as a lack of server maintenance or it could be the result of increased player traffic (the last time I logged in, last night, I actually saw players and player groups running around with much more frequency than before).
The patcher just plain doesn't work as it should. It polls your files and compares them to updates for download. It then downloads another application for the actual file patching and tells you to quit the launcher in order to patch. The problem is, for many players the patcher doesn't patch. It either fails to work outright or it runs and corrupts your installation so that you have to reinstall.
Another strange issue cropped up for me recently, where my level 9 character was getting killed by level 5 and 7 mobs doing upwards of 75 pts of damage in one hit. In my initial review, I was easily handling mobs my level and up to two levels higher. The last few times I've played, my character was getting stomped by mobs three and four levels below me. At first I thought it was a repair issue, but I've kept all of my equipment in good repair, so that doesn't seem to be the issue.
Anyone who has played the game can tell you that actual money from mobs is hard to come by, particularly at low levels. Normally you quarter a corpse and sell whatever you get (horns, skins, etc). So losing 25 "goths" or more every time you die can be pretty debilitating for a low level character, particularly if you are losing them for no apparent reason (like getting killed by something 3 or 4 levels lower than you).
Anyway, although my early experiences were good, the game lately has become unplayable for me due primarily to FPS issues. It's possible that more recent patches could fix that, but since I am basically reduced to reinstalling the entire client in order to patch, it just isn't worth it.
At this time, you don't have to provide any personal information at all to play the game; all you have to do is create a forum account (unless something has changed recently). So for the grand price of nothing, it's worth a personal review. It's entirely possible that your results will be better (or worse) than mine, or other players.
I will definitely echo the other posters on this board, however; if and when Farlan starts asking for credit card information, close that page down. The game isn't worth any expenditure of funds whatsoever in its current state.
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Everquest / Everquest 2
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Just to make sure nobody passes up your post, or dismisses it as one person's experience....they have charged people that have given up their CC info to these theives. I pre-ordered the game, then promptly cancelled when I realized how much of a fraud/vaporware/crap this 'game' was. I got my refund, never got sent a copy, CD, or key to the game. But wait, there's more. They tried to charge me a year later! I take it back, they didn't try, they DID charge me.
I have since had Click and Buy refund my money, remove my information from their databases, filed complaints to several internet fraud/BBB locations, and told Farlan where they can shove it.
Farlan's excuse? I think they said that there was a 'database error in accounting'. Now, even if you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, do you want to give your CC info or play a game that's run by a company that has those kind of problems??
Just popped in here to see how this game was fairing as id just got an email teling me I owe some £130 for subs, crazy really as I cancelled after 3 days. So the above posters are not the only ones outt there with problems.
I honestly would give this game a wide wide berth there plenty of better out there without putting time into something that is so broken and with such poor service