As someone who has played Turbine games since AC1 beta, I would have to pick them. AC1 was, by far, the better game between that and EQ1. Turbine understood what made your charcters feel like heroes. AC2 was, as well, an innovative game, with classes like the Tactician and Hivekeeper. Both of the AC games were held back by the complete lack of interest shown by the publisher, Microsoft.
With DDO, Turbine once again broke away from MMO conventions and made a game that didn't fit the EQ/WoW mold. It may not have been a commercial smash, but I admire Turbine for sticking with it.
And Moria is an amazing expansion to the LOTRO universe. The sheer scope of the caverns dwarfs (pardon the pun) any dungeon attempted in an MMO before.
Anotehr Turbine vote here. Although I had some issues with Moria when it initialy released they patched in most if not all of the fixes in about a weeks time. Now that was some good service.
I don't think i've ever posted on these forums, but Turbine is most definitely worth the time to post and vote!
I've played SOE, NCSoft, Mythic, and Turbine games primarily - and Turbine's customer involvement and constant listening and high-quality delivery are second to none.
I've play almost all the major MMOs since DAoC including at least one title from each of the studios on the list and Turbine has impressed me the most by far.
DDO is a unique take on the MMO genre and succeeds in being different but fun in today's "copy me" MMO space. Lotro is quite simply the best, most polished, fun, casual friendly, and story-driven solo/small-group PvE experience on the market.
Couple this with their constant presence in the company-provided forums, their true willingness to listen to and engage the community, and their unequaled pace of releasing new content, they are the clear favorite.
Voted for Blizzard, they're truly a great company and know how to run an MMO. I may be sick of playing that MMO and its tediousness but I don't know of other games who give you free play time if the servers are down for an extended period of time or release such major content patches for free.
I also have to give a nod up to CCP for their innovative design on EVE.
Not sure how this is even a contest... How could you vote for company that makes you pay for your expansions when you are paying them, every month. on this list CCP would be the only choice
How could you vote for a company who's flagship title is a better cure for insomnia than it is a game?
Well, Turbine did give players the option of buying a lifetime subscription.to Lotro. My husband and i both did, and we haven't regretted it. Two hundred clams up front isn't cheap, but when you consider that LotRO is contracted to continue through the middle of the next decade and, optionally, further than that, it comes down to a few cents an hour....
I've been pleased to see so many posters saying, in effect, "I've played every game there is and I voted for Turbine." I voted for Turbine too, but I don't have the wide experience of the other posters. I got hooked on Asheron's Call in 1998 and I've never looked elsewhere. Somebody told me once that Turbine, unlike most other companies that were founded by suits who said "Hey, there's money in these silly games, let's publish one," was founded by gamers. I don't know if it's true but it sure sounds likely.
Stradden: " Some have lost our trust or confidence entirely, while others have impressed us and gained our loyalty. "
NCSoft's President of Publishing, David Reid, 24 Sep 2008: "and we see improvement happening in Tabula Rasa. We're encouraged by it. ....It is a game that is very much in the wheelhouse of what NC West and NCsoft globally are all about"
NCSoft 21 Nov 2008: " So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009."
Yup, that just makes me gush with loyalty. Come on now be honest, you knew if you would have put SOE in the list the SWG Vets would come in with their alts and spam the living crap out of the board, so to bypass those boils you just dropped them. For all the glowing reports you all write on EQ2, The Agency and DC Online regularly, offers more variety in generes under a unique payment plan system like no other company, a company that incorporates Trading Card games into their MMO's or can be played seperately, how does the studio not impress you all?
Honestly, I'm really curious here.
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
Having played MMOs since 2000 (see my sig for a list), I've found Turbine to be my favorite MMO Studio. There's genuine concern for customers, something quite refreshing after my horrible experiences with SOE.
The free content delivered in Turbine games is rivaled by only a few MMOs. With the success of LOTRO, they could just sit back and ride the money wave (like Blizzard), but they don't; they're working hard to make the LOTRO experience even more fun and entertaining.
_____________________________ Currently Playing: LOTRO; DDO Played: AC2, AO, Auto Assault, CoX, DAoC, DDO, Earth&Beyond, EQ1, EQ2, EVE, Fallen Earth, Jumpgate, Roma Victor, Second Life, SWG, V:SoH, WoW, World War II Online.
Games I'm watching: Infinity: The Quest for Earth, Force of Arms.
Stradden: " Some have lost our trust or confidence entirely, while others have impressed us and gained our loyalty. " NCSoft's President of Publishing, David Reid, 24 Sep 2008: "and we see improvement happening in Tabula Rasa. We're encouraged by it. ....It is a game that is very much in the wheelhouse of what NC West and NCsoft globally are all about" NCSoft 21 Nov 2008: " So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009." Yup, that just makes me gush with loyalty. Come on now be honest, you knew if you would have put SOE in the list the SWG Vets would come in with their alts and spam the living crap out of the board, so to bypass those boils you just dropped them. For all the glowing reports you all write on EQ2, The Agency and DC Online regularly, offers more variety in generes under a unique payment plan system like no other company, a company that incorporates Trading Card games into their MMO's or can be played seperately, how does the studio not impress you all? Honestly, I'm really curious here.
We wanted to narrow it down to six nominees. We talked about SOE, but in the end, we decided to go with NCsoft instead. The cancellation of Tabula Rasa aside, they are currently running two games that our readers tend to enjoy (GW and CoH) and have a big gun on the way with Aion. They have engendered a lot of loyalty from some folks and deserved to be on the list.
I'm not saying that there aren't arguments to be made for SOE's presence here, and I'm not trashing them, but in the end we decided to go with NCsoft.
The only MMO developer who "gets it" with respect to what a MMORPG should be, and what a player wants.
And they have been handsomley rewarded with 300K subs, which btw is more than anyone has in the EU/US for a single game outside WOW.
Worst: SOE. They have the inverse midas touch. Midas could turn things to gold. SOE turns things (even games they themselves developed such as the Pre-CU SWG) into sh-t.
Being a "lifer" with LotRO, I had to vote for TURBINE !
I have played under all the other nominees [been gaming (online) since UO back in the day] and hands-down TURBINE is the best I have expierenced. The devs, the community moderators, the in-game GMs, customer support, the design teams...every aspect of TURBINE and LotRO have far exceeded my hopes and expectations of an MMORPG provider.
Stradden: " Some have lost our trust or confidence entirely, while others have impressed us and gained our loyalty. " NCSoft's President of Publishing, David Reid, 24 Sep 2008: "and we see improvement happening in Tabula Rasa. We're encouraged by it. ....It is a game that is very much in the wheelhouse of what NC West and NCsoft globally are all about" NCSoft 21 Nov 2008: " So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009." Yup, that just makes me gush with loyalty. Come on now be honest, you knew if you would have put SOE in the list the SWG Vets would come in with their alts and spam the living crap out of the board, so to bypass those boils you just dropped them. For all the glowing reports you all write on EQ2, The Agency and DC Online regularly, offers more variety in generes under a unique payment plan system like no other company, a company that incorporates Trading Card games into their MMO's or can be played seperately, how does the studio not impress you all? Honestly, I'm really curious here.
I agree with you 100% on the invoking trust and loyalty. NCSoft has proven many times that they are in this to make money first too many times in our market and they do stink for that. They are on my poop list as well and although I wasn't hyped about Aion, I'm probably going to avoid it now.
However, one thing they have shown is they are not afraid (at least in the past) to try something new. It doesn't always work out....but at least they went out ona limb and tried NOT to bring us another WoW reskinned with Elves and Dwarves killing Rats and Orcs...like everyone else. The concepts of AA and TR where very good, its to bad they didn't work out. It would have been nice to have a "Car Wars" style MMO and a "Mechanoid Invasion" style MMO that thrived so we had some unique games to chose from.
I think one of SOE primary barriers and issues is technical quality. Everything they launch has some fairly major issues for about a year or 2. I think EQII was their only game to survive that and it had some pretty big problems at launch. Just recently look at Vanguard and PotBS. Both games were launch disasters.
The other thing IMHO that drives people to dispise SOE is their constaint tinkering with core mechanics years after launch. SWG is the best known but EQII went through some major revamps that had some very profound impact ingame. Nothing annoys a player more then changing to trivializing something they worked to achieve. Sometimes their changes are for the better but a lot of times it just angers the current players and fails to have any impact on bringing in new subs.
The changes to SWG which put SOE in the "company to hate" spotlight was just amplified by the unsuccessful launch of Vanguard and PotBS.
NCSoft on the other hand, well their primary market is Asia (the US/EU only account for less then 19% of their revenues) and they enjoy "rockstar" status there and it looks like they hit gold with Aion. They broke all Lineage 2's launch numbers. What happens here in our market, well NC is pretty calus to that. When we start marking them some money maybe they will be a bit more concerned but so far we have been nothing but a money pit to them as "Lord Brit" swallowed up tens of millions of their dollars on knothead ideas and half realized games.
Comments
Turbine gets my vote hands down!
As someone who has played Turbine games since AC1 beta, I would have to pick them. AC1 was, by far, the better game between that and EQ1. Turbine understood what made your charcters feel like heroes. AC2 was, as well, an innovative game, with classes like the Tactician and Hivekeeper. Both of the AC games were held back by the complete lack of interest shown by the publisher, Microsoft.
With DDO, Turbine once again broke away from MMO conventions and made a game that didn't fit the EQ/WoW mold. It may not have been a commercial smash, but I admire Turbine for sticking with it.
And Moria is an amazing expansion to the LOTRO universe. The sheer scope of the caverns dwarfs (pardon the pun) any dungeon attempted in an MMO before.
Turbine, but if I had to chose a 2nd place I would pick SOE too, I can't believe they didn't make the list.
Turbine. I have to say I am very impressed with them thus far (after 2-3 months of LotRO).
Turbine rocks!!!!
Anotehr Turbine vote here. Although I had some issues with Moria when it initialy released they patched in most if not all of the fixes in about a weeks time. Now that was some good service.
I miss DAoC
I don't think i've ever posted on these forums, but Turbine is most definitely worth the time to post and vote!
I've played SOE, NCSoft, Mythic, and Turbine games primarily - and Turbine's customer involvement and constant listening and high-quality delivery are second to none.
They're the messiah of MMO gaming..
okay, maybe that went a little too far
X
GO TURBINE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Turbine, hands down.
I've actively played games by all six studios and there is just no competition for Turbine's ability to continually impress me with their MMOs.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Another vote for Turbine here.
I've play almost all the major MMOs since DAoC including at least one title from each of the studios on the list and Turbine has impressed me the most by far.
DDO is a unique take on the MMO genre and succeeds in being different but fun in today's "copy me" MMO space. Lotro is quite simply the best, most polished, fun, casual friendly, and story-driven solo/small-group PvE experience on the market.
Couple this with their constant presence in the company-provided forums, their true willingness to listen to and engage the community, and their unequaled pace of releasing new content, they are the clear favorite.
Voted for Blizzard, they're truly a great company and know how to run an MMO. I may be sick of playing that MMO and its tediousness but I don't know of other games who give you free play time if the servers are down for an extended period of time or release such major content patches for free.
I also have to give a nod up to CCP for their innovative design on EVE.
Why isnt $OE on the list?
I am sure it wont get a vote but as far as I know its a major MMO studio as well...
Another vote for Turbine here!
Lotro is by far the best PvE MMO out there!
Not sure how this is even a contest...
How could you vote for company that makes you pay for your expansions when you are paying them, every month.
on this list CCP would be the only choice
How could you vote for a company who's flagship title is a better cure for insomnia than it is a game?
Anyway, I couldn't vote, SOE wasn't on the list.
Well, Turbine did give players the option of buying a lifetime subscription.to Lotro. My husband and i both did, and we haven't regretted it. Two hundred clams up front isn't cheap, but when you consider that LotRO is contracted to continue through the middle of the next decade and, optionally, further than that, it comes down to a few cents an hour....
I've been pleased to see so many posters saying, in effect, "I've played every game there is and I voted for Turbine." I voted for Turbine too, but I don't have the wide experience of the other posters. I got hooked on Asheron's Call in 1998 and I've never looked elsewhere. Somebody told me once that Turbine, unlike most other companies that were founded by suits who said "Hey, there's money in these silly games, let's publish one," was founded by gamers. I don't know if it's true but it sure sounds likely.
Turbine gets my vote, but I wish I could also vote for CCP!
Stradden: " Some have lost our trust or confidence entirely, while others have impressed us and gained our loyalty. "
NCSoft's President of Publishing, David Reid, 24 Sep 2008: "and we see improvement happening in Tabula Rasa. We're encouraged by it. ....It is a game that is very much in the wheelhouse of what NC West and NCsoft globally are all about"
NCSoft 21 Nov 2008: " So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009."
Yup, that just makes me gush with loyalty. Come on now be honest, you knew if you would have put SOE in the list the SWG Vets would come in with their alts and spam the living crap out of the board, so to bypass those boils you just dropped them. For all the glowing reports you all write on EQ2, The Agency and DC Online regularly, offers more variety in generes under a unique payment plan system like no other company, a company that incorporates Trading Card games into their MMO's or can be played seperately, how does the studio not impress you all?
Honestly, I'm really curious here.
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
Having played MMOs since 2000 (see my sig for a list), I've found Turbine to be my favorite MMO Studio. There's genuine concern for customers, something quite refreshing after my horrible experiences with SOE.
The free content delivered in Turbine games is rivaled by only a few MMOs. With the success of LOTRO, they could just sit back and ride the money wave (like Blizzard), but they don't; they're working hard to make the LOTRO experience even more fun and entertaining.
_____________________________
Currently Playing: LOTRO; DDO
Played: AC2, AO, Auto Assault, CoX, DAoC, DDO, Earth&Beyond, EQ1, EQ2, EVE, Fallen Earth, Jumpgate, Roma Victor, Second Life, SWG, V:SoH, WoW, World War II Online.
Games I'm watching: Infinity: The Quest for Earth, Force of Arms.
Find the Truth: http://www.factcheck.org/
We wanted to narrow it down to six nominees. We talked about SOE, but in the end, we decided to go with NCsoft instead. The cancellation of Tabula Rasa aside, they are currently running two games that our readers tend to enjoy (GW and CoH) and have a big gun on the way with Aion. They have engendered a lot of loyalty from some folks and deserved to be on the list.
I'm not saying that there aren't arguments to be made for SOE's presence here, and I'm not trashing them, but in the end we decided to go with NCsoft.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
C C P.
The only MMO developer who "gets it" with respect to what a MMORPG should be, and what a player wants.
And they have been handsomley rewarded with 300K subs, which btw is more than anyone has in the EU/US for a single game outside WOW.
Worst: SOE. They have the inverse midas touch. Midas could turn things to gold. SOE turns things (even games they themselves developed such as the Pre-CU SWG) into sh-t.
Being a "lifer" with LotRO, I had to vote for TURBINE !
I have played under all the other nominees [been gaming (online) since UO back in the day] and hands-down TURBINE is the best I have expierenced. The devs, the community moderators, the in-game GMs, customer support, the design teams...every aspect of TURBINE and LotRO have far exceeded my hopes and expectations of an MMORPG provider.
Botemedel Bedrovelse~Level 50 LM~Firefoot
I agree with you 100% on the invoking trust and loyalty. NCSoft has proven many times that they are in this to make money first too many times in our market and they do stink for that. They are on my poop list as well and although I wasn't hyped about Aion, I'm probably going to avoid it now.
However, one thing they have shown is they are not afraid (at least in the past) to try something new. It doesn't always work out....but at least they went out ona limb and tried NOT to bring us another WoW reskinned with Elves and Dwarves killing Rats and Orcs...like everyone else. The concepts of AA and TR where very good, its to bad they didn't work out. It would have been nice to have a "Car Wars" style MMO and a "Mechanoid Invasion" style MMO that thrived so we had some unique games to chose from.
I think one of SOE primary barriers and issues is technical quality. Everything they launch has some fairly major issues for about a year or 2. I think EQII was their only game to survive that and it had some pretty big problems at launch. Just recently look at Vanguard and PotBS. Both games were launch disasters.
The other thing IMHO that drives people to dispise SOE is their constaint tinkering with core mechanics years after launch. SWG is the best known but EQII went through some major revamps that had some very profound impact ingame. Nothing annoys a player more then changing to trivializing something they worked to achieve. Sometimes their changes are for the better but a lot of times it just angers the current players and fails to have any impact on bringing in new subs.
The changes to SWG which put SOE in the "company to hate" spotlight was just amplified by the unsuccessful launch of Vanguard and PotBS.
NCSoft on the other hand, well their primary market is Asia (the US/EU only account for less then 19% of their revenues) and they enjoy "rockstar" status there and it looks like they hit gold with Aion. They broke all Lineage 2's launch numbers. What happens here in our market, well NC is pretty calus to that. When we start marking them some money maybe they will be a bit more concerned but so far we have been nothing but a money pit to them as "Lord Brit" swallowed up tens of millions of their dollars on knothead ideas and half realized games.
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