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My review.
taoofjester
Member Posts: 19
First off I will state that I played this game till level seven. It took me about two weeks to reach that level (I am not a hardcore gamer by any means).
I know that people will state that the game does not begin till such and such level or that I cannot have an opinion about the game until I reach a certain amount of play time. I am sorry, but that is total crap. I play games to have fun. That means from level 1 on. If level 1 is not fun and I do not see any hint that level 2 will be any better than level 1 why should I keep playing till level 15 to see if it is fun? It is a game, not a job.
My overall score for Fallen Earth is 7/10. Above average, but not one that I am going to sub to. Hopefully I will be able to explain what holds this game back and what you can expect from playing it.
Character creation - Fantastic! I rate this easily a 9/10. Lots of interesting choices, great hair styles, interesting tattoos. The only downfall is that all of my awesome tattoos are hidden as soon as I put on clothes. Why have leg tattoos if I am going to run around in pants?
Crafting - 6/10. It starts out overwhelming. Yes, you can craft pretty much everything. This is both good and bad. To craft all of these neat things you need supplies. Trying to find the supplies is a pain. Trying to organize all of the supplies is worse. Trying to fit all of those supplies in your bank and inventory is nearly impossible. I found myself hording everything because I was worried that I might need it for some item down the road and did not want to have to search for it.
Immersion - 4/10. I personally do not really care about being immersed in a game. I realize it is a game and an escape. I do not need to feel like I am actually there. That being said, I did not have a vested interest in my character. Couple that with the fact I am a "special clone" like the thousand other "special clones" made the game a bit cheesey. I thought about the mission and how I am suppose to be unique. I wondered if the lady telling me that put out a mass email to every single clone or is secretly laughing at all of us idiots for thinking we are special.
Graphics - 7/10. I set all the grahpics to high. At first I was pretty excited with how things looked and how scary those damn Prairie Chickens are. Then after wandering around for a few hours I became really bored with the desolute hell hole that is Fallen Earth. I know it is suppose to be after an apocalypse, so lush greenness I did not expect. Yet wandering outside of a city off the beaten path showed me 30 minutes of repeating land with nothing unique. There was no eye popping "wow!" or moments where I paused and thought "damn, that is neat."
World - 6/10. By world I mean what is populated in the world. Monsters, resources and things to do. Monsters and resources are plentiful if you are near roads and cities. Wander too far away from those main areas and you can run in a straight line for ten to fifteen minutes without seeing anything.
Combat - 5/10. I will admit I am not great at twitched based combat. Trying to keep my targeting system on a creature that is running around is not easy. It is made even more difficult by lag issues and weird pathing problems. A creature will run ten feet sideways (after I shoot it) then suddenly stop and start charging towards me for no particular reason. Then it may overshoot only to stop and reappear in front of me. I died. A lot.
PvP - 6/10. I seriously wanted to love PvP in this game. I am a huge PvPer. I grew up on full loot muds. There is nothing in Fallen Earth that made me really excited. Sure getting killed by someone with a rifle that I never saw was kinda neat. The first time. Then it became annoying. It became even more annoying when I shoot someone ten or so times with my pistol only to have them turn around and one hit me with a melee weapon. Or a rifle. And no they were not that much higher level than me.
Community - 9/10. Most of the people were really nice, helpful and willing to teach me. Even getting destroyed in PvP was ok because the people destroying me were willing to say how they did it or how I could become better at PvP. The guilds, though, seemed fairly randomly put together and sometimes incredibly immature. But it is a young MMO, so I did not really worry about the guild system.
Grind - 6/10. At first it was not horrible. Quests are fairly easy to find, they gave decent exp and even though leveling took a bit the AP system keep me from getting too annoyed. But the quests become fairly boring, mostly the same from town to town and APs did not really seem to improve my character all that much.
I believe this game has potential. I do not see it being like WAR that starts out great, then dies quickly. The company listens to their customer base and makes improvements. It is just too new to be really fun at the moment. I believe it will go the route of EVE and slowly grow. I just really have no desire to grow with it.
Comments
Oh look,.....another review from a NEW account. Who would of thunk it? Now I'm not gunna say your review is bad, nor am I gunna say it's good. Those of us who are playing the game already know how the game plays and we can tell the difference between fact, fiction and opinion. But seriously,.....why would you even bother? Yes we are all entitled to our opinions, I mean but seriously? Just post on your main next time (<----- friendly advice)
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
Well I'd argue you went low on some numbers and high on others, but in the end its a personal opinion.
Come back after the housing/secter 4 patches and you'll prob get into it again.
This is my main. I just created it today. I made this thread as a new player because I know that there are other players out there looking at this game. I read the forums, checked the game site and looked at videos before deciding to play the game. More information is good, more reviews and opinions are good as long as they are constructive.
My review is not a troll or a flame. It is an honest opinion with the facts as I perceive them. You may perceive the game differently. You may believe I am wrong and that is fine.
I very well may return after player housing is put in. I am merely not ready to commit the money per month for a game that is not really captivating. I was truly hoping to get into a game just as it starts so that I could build a reputation, a guild and stories that I will fondly remember later. Fallen Earth did not do that for me. I hope it does it for you, but I think it will not for many people.
Well its not for you, let the "many people" figure it out for themselves.
That is the point of the post. To help them figure it out for themselves. They can read this and figure out it is not for them and save 50 dollars. Or they can say I still like it and try it out. But they will go in knowing some of the issues and that there are other players that grinded to the max level and some of us that decided level 7 was enough.
More information for that new player to work with will provide a better community base/
I'd say they are. Anyone who has been around this site for more than 6 months knows how pessimistic the majority (myself included) of its members are. With that in mind, looking at the majority of the positive responses on this forum, and adding to that the amount of other sites who rated the game a "7.0" or higher, coming out of the first month after launch FE is looking strong and steady. It's not setting any subscription records. We know that. The developers have stated that isn't their goal, no matter how many detractors that want to try to use against them. They gave us their goal, whether the detractors want to acknowledge it or not. 50K subs. And as there have been no rumors of worry, it looks like they've gotten that number, or very close to it.
When I hear "many people", I hear the voice of someone who speaking from a WoW outlook. Someone speaking from a base of having hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers. Well, sorry, that's not their goal. I'm sure they'd be more than happy if it happened, but again, they've already stated 50K is their goal (successful), and 100K would make them financially "very successful).
But I agree, opinions are good, and if there weren't any negative opinions (expressed constructively and acknowledging that it is indeed only an opinion and not universal fact) that should send up warning signs. No game is perfect. Someone will always not like a game, even if it has millions of subs.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
That is why I stated it will go the EVE route. Slow and steady. It has some neat ideas to build upon. Crafting can turn into something amazing. PvP will not be for everyone, but it does add chance into the kills. There is a chance a level 7 can gun down a level 12 if the level 7 is really good and pays attention, The community seems fairly solid as well.
In a year or so, this may be a very solid game that I will want to put a lot of time into.
I didn't have much issue with anything you wrote until now. Sorry, we aren't "grinding to max level. Don't try to pass that off as a fact. No one gets to define what is or is not a grind for another person.
Stating that you don't like the way they did character progression is fine. But don't try to define mine and others gameplay as a grind. I certainly don't see it that way and there are quite a few others who feel the same. If you're going to use such words, especially if trying to label others enjoyment of gameplay, it'd be best to put down a detailed definition of what you mean by the word. Assuming everyone uses your definition kills any constructive debate and devolves it into petty arguing fast.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Hey OP, I truly appreciate your review. Thank you. Don't worry about the others fretting on this being your new account and/or your first post. I see that being irrevelant. At least you pitch in the mmorpg.com community and share your opinion(s).
Well we love to fight over the little gristly bits.
Actually not trying to slam Taoo and didn't mean it to come off like that. I think the FE fanbois(proud member) are a little jumpy after the strange attacks starting on 10/28. A little trigger happer on the flames.
I think Taoo overrated FE pvp its not as good as he said imho and immersian was underrated.
Repetitive grind in this game would be the Y quest that asks you to kill X monster.
The Y quest in another town asking you to kill X other monthers and then it is recyclable for more exp. The kill mutliple creates over and over again to gain EXP.
Most all games are a grind. Some grinds are fun. Others are not. I did not enjoy this games grind. If the devs would want to make this more interesting and less of a grind use some of eves tactics. Have AP points on a timer. 15 seconds you get 1. 20 seconds you get the next 1. So on and so forth, allowing you to level up your kills and stats. Yet your max level will dictate that max skills or stats you can have.
Quests can reward AP points, shave time off of how long before your next AP point or give money. This would encourage more exploration of wide open areas, rely less on quests for gaining the ultimate level and put a balance between players that log on ten hours a day versus players like me that get an hour here and there.
Just goes to show doesn't it, how different people are.
For example, I would rate the immersion in this game the best I've experienced in any mmo and yet the OP gives it 4/10. When in combat, the FPS gameplay draws me in like nothing else, and when not fighting I find the setting, the factions and the open world almost as immersive. I have not decided on a faction and this whole question as to in what should humanity place its hopes now, is a very thoughtful one in my opinion.
You gave a score for grind? That was definitely the worst part of your post. I wish people would bloody grow up and stop doing things they find dull and repetitive so they get some perceived carrot. It is just so lame. Especially in FE it makes zero sense.
I've read similar comments about the standard of the quests. I'd have to say it is a bit unfair. I like the tracking quests, which I'd not seen before in an mmo. I also like the frequency with which quest lines update on-the-spot. So far, that feeling of running back and forth and back and forth has been practically absent for me. I'm enjoying the bankers and riders faction quests.
In fact, my only complaint is I wish I had more time to play.
If they made the skill up system like Eve's, I wouldn't play it. I have a feeling a lot of others wouldn't either. The funny thing is, I too only play about 1-2 hours a night. I'm in no hurry to get to max level, nor do I feel I need to race there to be competitive with those that play 10 hours a day. Hell I have spent the last three weeks in S1 smelling the cactus roses and digging in every pile of trash I come across in my travels. Almost anything you do in this game gives you experience, so I have yet to see a grind. In fact I'm only level 20 and I bet 2-3 of those levels are easily from all the crafting and scavenging I have done while riding to different towns. I have seen that you have brought up EVE already a couple of times so I assume you have at least played it. If you are truly a new member to mmorpg.com then I encourage you to go check their forums. You will see a lot of what people say are negatives and shortcomings of FE mirrored in the threads about EVE. And you know what most of the die hard EVE players say when someone says something negative about their game? They say either the person doesn't "get it" or they are playing it wrong. I used to think that was pretty snobbish, but I'm starting to understand why they say that now.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
I just don't understand how people can defend Fallen Earth's combat.
The AI is almost nonexistant. 10 year old FPS games have better enemy AI! They just stand around and wait for you to shoot, they don't use cover or lean or use tactics. It's basically shooting a pinata.
Borderlands is a great example of how to do FPS combat with RPG systems involved. Don't say AI takes too much server performance. They could clear out the massive fields of hundreds of braindead mobs and replace them with 10x less more capable mobs that use 10x more CPU power for AI routines.
There is no excuse to make an FPS focused game and neglect the enemy AI. And no, it doesn't get much better at high levels either.
Comparing 1-4 player game to an MMO is apples and oranges. Nice try though. By the way, the only MMO that I have seen that had mobs dynamically appear in the game world (the ones that weren't not standing around waiting to be killed) and used cover was Tabula Rasa. I'm not saying that was the game's downfall, but where is it now?
I guess I'm playing a different version of FE than you, because the mobs I have come up against go prone or try to kite if they have ranged weapons. I have been poisoned, irradiated, diseased, knocked down and bled from special attacks the mobs did. If it's a melee mob, it will stay toe-to-toe with me until either I or it dies which is standard in pretty much every mmo. The agro radius on the mobs seems pretty standard too. The AI isn't revolutionary in this game, but it's not bad like a few claim. It's just standard fair in what you would see in any mmo.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
To the OP,i rated each area you did almost the exact same,there is only one area i disagree and that is the character creation.
I am not some noob that thinks playing with sliders is "the" customization,that is like 5-10 minutes of interaction,that has no bearing on the game and will never matter from then on after.Customization is something that revolves around the whole game.Now the OP does mention "creation" not customization,i feel that is such a superficial aspect of the game,the real definition of the player ,should be the customization.Heck George Jetson hair dos and decals don't do anything for me anyhow.
Now even in saying that,if i ONLY took the beginning screen part of customization into account as the OP did,i would give it a 5-6/10 no way was it close to a 9/10.There is more customization done on the opening screen in 20 year old games ,being able to choose your starting abilities several areas for stats,several race choices ect ect.
The TRUE customization is what happens after that screen.Now to be honest,you can do pretty much anything you want to your player equipment wise and yes you can put some numbers into a few other stats.I still felt like there was something missing,although i could equip anything ,that was crafting that did that not customization,although they sort of work together.
This is how i feel the customization comes out....You gear yourself and put stats pretty much in a linear fashion to achieve the player you want,that is pretty much it.Mutations is sort of the bread and butter of FE customization,and it is done i would say properly or very good,i never got to encounter it in game play ,so i can't give a full opinion,but on paper it looks good.
I guess when you look around at other games,unless you include FFXI and it's sub class system and end game customization,most games have VERY little going for them.Sooooooo to be fair if i rated FFXI customization as a 8/10 FE deserves a 7/10.It lacks the class structure of FFXI and the end game abilities of FFXI customization but it beats that game in a couple other areas.Being able to add a sub class is sort of the same as mutating,because you give your player several different options,depending on your sub class,it is actually more flexible than FE's mutation.
So opening screen 5-6/10 as compared to other games.
overall customization 7/10. as compared to other games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Ah, well, I guess this is where we'll disagree. I don't like the idea of being handed AP for just having an active account, which is what your depiction boils down to for me. That's part of the reason why, for all of it's good parts, it was easy for me to give up Eve for FE. I like having some influence over the actual earning of my advancement. Logging in and going and having to do something in order to get that carrot, as opposed to the act of signing up for an account and just waiting being the only necessary action.
There are incentives to explore in FE, like collecting the books for the Omnibus (which you would not have gotten to yet at level 7 I don't think - Those nodes start in the Kingman area) whose nodes are most often way out in world.
As for the balance item you mention, I understand where you are coming from and your point, I just don't agree with it. The idea of someone who doesn't spend as much time in game being on equal or near equal footing as someone who does has never sat right with me. That's not to say that I think the person spending less time shouldn't have a rewarding experience. It is saying, however, that someone who plays longer should benefit from more experiences and rewards than someone who plays 1/10th the time.
If a game only required 1 hour a day of play to remain equal with everyone else, well, with the current state of development there'd be no other reason to play more than that 1 hour. If everyone is equal in all things...well, to me that sounds kind of boring. Seeing people with nicer things than I have is a part of what motivates me to continue playing and having someone pm me asking about something I have that they think is cool is a nice, non-necessary kudos that makes me enjoy my efforts a tad bit more.
Different strokes for different folks, though. I like FE's foundation mechanics wise and like the direction Icarus is taking it. Que sera.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Hehe, seriously giving PVP a rating at lvl 7 just doesn't fly.
This is no WAR where you can jump into the action right after character creation, pvp in this game only becomes increasingly prevalent from lvl 20 onwards.
Better not to use marks at all if you want your 'review' to have any kind of credibility after only two weeks / lvl 7.
p.s. Crafting a 6? ... you lost me right there.
My brand new bloggity blog.
You just discredited everything you have written with this serious act of hippocrisy. Only strengthened by you being a new reg.
Sorry.
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
Wait, what? Crafting is bad because you need to collect stuff? Twitched combad is bad because you suck at it? Really 'nice' 'review'.
Read the entire point before attempting to make me look stupid.
FPS in Fallen Earth is not bad because I suck at it. It is bad because it is coupled with horrible pathing issues and lag. I also did not mention the annoying problem when dual wielding pistols and reloading.
Crafting is not bad because I have to gather things. It is bad because there is no simple way of gathering one item. No way of containing all the different crafting materials. And not everything you can craft is something you will ever want to craft. It is more or less filler to make the crafting experience look huge and amazing. Plus it is not exactly a process that you will feel invested in. Gather X, hit button, wait for it to create.
I mentioned "grind" because all games have it. Some it is less noticable than others. Old SWG and EQ had a horrible grind to them (my opinion anyways) whereas AOC does not seem to have a huge grind factor. Could also be because AOC was really easy to level in. Fallen Earth is in the middle of those two. It is not bad, but it is not great.
The AP skill system I explained would require you to level via killing mobs or quests. It would cap out at each level. IE level 1 you can only spend (totally random number) 100 AP. Increased to 200 at level 2.
There is plenty of PVP at level 7. Perhaps you were too busy rushing through the game and missed it. In two weeks I spent one day PVPing. I was shot in the head by a guy with a rifle in the prone position (kinda funny). I ran up on a person with a rifle with my pistols and managed to hit him six or seven times before he killed me. I was destroyed by a person that had five levels on me three or four times before I stopped trying to attack her. I was stalked by a person wtih a rifle while I was attempting to get closer to his friend that had pistols.
There is an abundance of PVP at lower levels. You may not have all the neat gear and spiffy skills, but it will still give you a general idea of what it is like. And as I said before, if I have to play till level 30 before it gets fun it sounds more like a job than a game. I already have a job, I do not want another one.
I believe the game is worth while. I am not making fun of anyone that enjoys it. I merely do not think it is a game for everyone at this point. I hope that continues to improve and grow, but at this point I would tell my friends not to play and to wait.
Ok, you must be playing different game then.
I play from East Europe and lag is bearable (imho quite fine considering my location). I'm playing pure crafter and I'm viable in PvP. Killing some guy couple of levels above me is doable and done it many times.
You mentioned in first point that being unable to get one particular thing is bad for game. This is not single player game, you know. Checked Auction house? Asked around? This is normal in any game with at least reasonable economy (my fav is EVE online).
You have level 7 and already lost with reagents. Guess what: there are 4 tiers of most items and I'm managing 3 of them quite easy. You must be doing something terrible wrong.
As for another point. I'm wearing only what I crafted. Levelling mainly doing some ingredients for other items (Refine xxxx) and I'm quite happy with crafting.
Grind is acceptable for me although I generally really don't like it. It's matter of taste.
You get 20 AP per level + you can have many more from quests - I have around 145 bonus points from different missions. You need any kind of advance system in MMORPG. Show me one without any (and no, Counter Strike is not MMORPG).
Ohh and also:
THERE IS NO ABUNDANCE OF PVP AT LEVEL 7. Come on... Ever heard of conflict towns with faction quests for AP or faction standings increase? There is PvP and it starts in S2. S1 is noob place to get you familiar with game.
I absolutely respect this review, eventhough I do not agree with all of it. 7/10 isn't a bad score by any means, especially when pretty much saying straight out that the twitch based combat wasn't for them, when combat is a large part of the gameplay (especially in PvP) and the PvP at level 7... well as most fallen earthers know, not a good idea... but FE devs did say you can PvP from the get go, so I don't hold it against the reviewer for trying it.
Altogether I respect the opinions in this review, and applaud the OP for knowing that what he posted was opinion instead of all the other 1 hit reviews that express their opinions as fact. Good review OP.
I respect your review dont agree with it, but respect it.
At least you didnt complain about the horrid lag then spout off computer specs like
"im have 512 MB corsair ram running windows vista 64 bit"
The following statement is false
The previous statement is true
I also thought the AI was a little off. The crafting was ok. It did seem as though you had to craft and as such everyone was a crafter so really the only point to crafting was for your own use. That might change at the higher levels, but that doesn't make it any better for those leveling up. I do wish they had a skill system like EVE. I got to 20 and realized I screwed up my build and the lack of no respec kinda sucked. Since you get points based off level and since there is a level cap it is possible to screw up your character. I know they were adament about not allowing respec's, but were also considering something like a once or twice a year respec. Maybe if they just gave everyone a 1 time chance at level 20, that way it gives you some time to figure out your build so you aren't screwed. Hell I would still be playing that game if that were the case.