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Allods Online: Open Beta Impressions
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy is in the Allods Online open beta test and today shares with us his initial impressions of the upcoming game.
WoW-clone is a pretty derogatory term these days. It symbolizes a lack of innovation, a blatant copying of concepts, and in general is used to associate a game with a player's angst toward the genre they love and hate. And while there's little doubt that Allods Online will be called a WoW-clone, my early impression of the game is that it's quite well-done, with a style all its own, and the potential to become the best F2P game available. Of course this is just an early impression after a few hours spent in-game, and who knows what issues more time playing will bring to light. But so far I just have an urge to get back to playing.
Now if you don't fancy Blizzard's mega-hit or games along the same line of content, I would steer clear of Allods. It's very much a traditional MMORPG, even if it is highly polished and playable. If you're tired of this type of game or just plain avoid titles like it, you can probably stop reading here. Still with me? Good. Allods Online is definitely deserving of a download and trial, and since it's free, you've got nothing to lose except time.
;)
Read the Open Beta Impressions.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
gezz...honestly why write a IMPRESSION of the first like...2 hours? of gameplay...play some time at least 3 days or 15+ hours and write something!!! i didnt play a game that wasnt fun for at least 1 hour...fuck, this game is great... the bad thing comes when u find out u need some really good cash to really enjoy it ...so thatg maybe is at 30'ish and this review just give u wrong feel/perception of the game...is what the company want...u will love the game...and will feel forced to pay something to keep playing it....as a silly i may sound is true
gpotato ruined allods...is a expensive game if u really wanna play it at 100%
a) this isn't a review. It's clearly listed as a preview. He's reporting on his earliest experiences in the game.
b) you're assuming that this is the last article he's writing on his experiences. Keep a look out for part two down the road a bit.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
I've come to be sick to death of this kind of linear solo quest-grinding mob slaughter game but i like Allod's art style so much i'm enjoying it anyway.
The skill system is very good also allowing a lot of scope to customize your character. Adding more freedom here partially makes up for the linear quest path and is a lesson other game makers could learn from and copy imo.
ok i use the word review and i was wrong,still why make a impression if u just taste the game a few hours?...i know is just the first part but i challenge u to find a review/impression/look/opinion or whatever u feel like put in that space, that have more views on 2nd or 3rd part than 1st...still the open beta dont gonna be like a few weeks...it will be long...so imho this impression is not very usefull and feel a litte rushed ...and i will edit my post and change review for impression
The whole point is the experience in the first couple of hours, i suggest you look up the definition of what a first/initial impression is.
Some people are interested in the initial feelings when coming into a game, people like reading experiences from others, everyone sees things in a slightly different way.
Just because you want to flame and dont think its useful, doesnt mean others think the same....
is not flame...belive me i want this game to be the wow killer(yeah thats impossible right now) i waited for the game to become open beta for weeks and before that i make a very decent research on the game...i even wait t 2 days so i will not be feel all lagged on the noob wave on the first days...and then i get the item shop news...if u wanna call me a flamer...or troll...be my guest...but i dont really want this game broke some players dreams as they find out the dark and greedy truth about the game...and the reality is this ga,me have some high expectations and i bet gpotato take that as advantage and rise the item shop prices at a dumb scale...have a more decent now but still the FoD penalthy is very stupid and some change the new patches have make the game a little more unbalanced...is a open beta..i cant expect perfection...but i really think gpotatop ruined the game "launch" as open beta on f2p are usually very long and sometimes feels like the launch of the game
i know this forums are full of hate and negative posts...and i feel bad as i become one of those...but...why all the greed???...who the hell gonna paid 40$ for a game monthly(cointing if u buy enough perfumes and the backpack only)...f2p never is really free biut shouldnt be more expensive as a p2p
As for first impression that was my first impression to, when i started Close Beta... Since then, I've been hanging on a very wobbly game...
1/3 of players have already quite and more and more do everyday... Bad rumors on the forum has well as on the zone chat makes ppl rethink if they really want to invest the time to lvl a toon. And if that's not enough there's a big number of ''speed hackers'' that infested the game...
So all in all this is a wait and see game it was supposed to be F2P game of the year. It now look's like uncertain game of the year... i guess we only have to wait and see if the dev's have balls or not.
The impression and preview is pretty much spot on:
The initial race select screen caught me off guard at first. It's barely worth mentioning, but the artwork here is akin to something from a loading screen, and it took me a few minutes to realize each of the drawings of the game's different races were selectable. This is neither here nor there, but really serves as just a warning if you're a little brain-dead like me.
I had the same issue. I sat there waiting for the loading screen to pass and after a long while couldn't understand what was happening. If it wasn't for me moving my mouse around to see if hte game froze I would never have "accidentally" moved it over the drawing only to see various parts of the picture light up.
And to me the art style was what sucked me in. Even though it can be a little cutsey. The game runs exceptionally smooth.
I have to admit that the issues with the cash shop put me off though. If I'm in a contested area, die and have to use these perfume things a lot that could get expensive. I realize you can get them in game but I was a bit leary of spending a lot of time on a character only to realize that going forth might require a dip into my wallet more times than I was willing to do. Hopefully they will get that sorted in a way that players feel comfortable with.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I'm playing this now as well. My first impressions is this is one VERY expensive free-to-play MMORPG, it shows in the quality and depth. I've seen a few bugs (empty dialogs, z-buffer fighting, etc) but overall it runs and plays quite well. We even did a raid with a bunch of level 5's. It was SOOOO cute!
On the other side, this game rides on rails. For some people, this is going to feel very restricting. From what I can see there are only 2 start towns (1 per faction), and gameplay is so linear that unless you complete the required quests you cannot even move to the next zone(?). Please don't flame me for saying so, but WoW is far more freedom oriented by allowing you to choose from multiple starting areas and quest zones (like Barrens vs Silverpine Forest).
When I was on it was jammed, and the servers held up nicely. You could see some rubber-banding and abrupt location corrections, but nothing game breaking.
I did get a kick out of the gold-spammers having already started. The ignore system needs improvement.
If nothing else, this gives ROM some competition.
Ken
Frontier - Paladin
Guild: Arcanum
www.ActionMMORPG.com
One man, a small pile of money, and the screwball idea of a DIY Indie MMORPG? Yep, that's him. ~sigh~
The fact Allods is such a high-production values game & is quite polished, well presented & performance is very decent are all parts of why the fanbase has become so passionate, it IS a quality game which is the exception rather than the rule in the F2P genre, & is a big part of why there was such an uproar at the item shop prices, players love the game & saw the item shop as what it was, a huge dis-incentive to game adoption.
Hopefully GPotato/GalaNet can pile on enough pressure to Mail.RU (the real power behind the scenes) to get them to see reason.
I have serious doubts though.
Grow up dude, last time I checked this is an MMORPG site, this is what they do. Dont like it? Dont read it!
As for the article I agree with him 100% its exactly how I feel about the game.
I seem to have a problem with the game though, The preformance I get on my gaming PC is abysmal I dont get over 20 fps. Even lowering all the video options to the lowest possible settings nets me no improvement. I have a core i7 2.9ghz, gtx 285, 6 gigs ddr3 ram, vista 64bit, on the other hand my crappy laptop runs the game much better. I was informed that ddr3 ram may have bad memory leak, I havnt had time to research that yet. If I quit this game it will be because of the preformance issue.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
The game itself is a great game. It looks good. The gameplay is fun. The instances aren't zerg fests like WoW. You actually have to do some CC if you want to get through it. I was impressed with the majority of the classes. All and all it really can be something special, but the two companies involved with the game (NA and Gpotato) are going to ruin the game. The cash shop debacle is well known and they are going to tone prices. That is all well and good, but now we have the developers of the game (NA) bringing us patches soon that will force us to deal with Fear of Death and the fact we MUST BUY perfume from the cash shop just to end game raid. This is a gamebreaker for many of us. NO game should force you to buy things from their CS just to compete in the game. They have lied to their customers. They said before that no one would have to use the cash shop to stay on even par with those that do. They said we would not be required to buy things from the cash shop to end game raid or pvp, but they are reneging on that and are making it so.
I truly cannot fathom why they cannot wake up and see what they have in front of their faces. They have a game that can truly compete with P2P MMO's. If they used their cash shop wisely instead of forcing people to use it to just play their game at higher levels then this game would be probably the best F2P MMO to date. Instead, they seem to not be able to get past their desire to make as much money off people as possible or they have a contract with NA that is so hardcore that they cannot make changes unless NA agrees and NA doesn't want to change things. The new patches coming from Russia will ruin things when implemented. Huge nerfs to almost every class, Fear of Death that can last up to 2 hrs. Perfumes are required to raid and pvp and only last for 30 minutes at a time. I just don't get the companies behind the game. It's either arrogance or stupidity. Maybe both.
as someone who has been playing this game for a few weeks now and still keep getting chars to 10 and go ok what else do i want to play since i enjoy all the classes so far , yes i know wow 10 right but since im a flexabel player able to do any class better then most i just cant pick one yet since i like i said i enjoy all the classes . yes the quests are your basic go here get this and yes the FoD i hear sucks badly (wouldnt know havent gone pvp yet). as for the strain of the cash shop its insane right now way over board on the pricing 20 buck for 6 more slots for your bag...
but with that said all items that are on the CS are in game able to be quested for just dont expect it to be done in a few hours or a day maybe two or more depending on what it is , like for instance the bag that has 6 more slots ive notice ppl complaining about killing at least 600 mites and getting only 1 of the 3 mite shells while other seem to get them faster , not sure what the % rate would be on it just seams to be very very high.
as for a wow clone ive been around long enough in the mmo community to see wow had cloned other games and threw on a easy color by numbers paint job ( yes i know it was to keep system req down) other games had skill trees other games had two sides , so wowfanboys im sorry to say wow is a clone of many games just all threw in the same pot oh and if you want to know if i played yes i did for 5 years till my last friend stopped and so did i didnt even do any raids anymore just gave a helpin hand to others since wow made raiding something that kills friendships . so when i do hit end game here i hope the daily quest id have to do to be able to get in raid instances are worth it and dont blow up guilds and friends left and right
there is one major thing that i don't like about the game - and that is the length of combat. it takes "ages" to kill the most simplistic beast, at least at lower levels. never managed any char past lv8 or so, i just got too bored. Guess I am a victim of more fast paced combat.
oh, and as all freebees, the female characters tend to have less clothing resulting in more armor value.... interesting even, that if you choose to not display armor, some female races have stay-ups .... not that I mind being a guy, but really, what's the point.
another interesting small fact: anyone notice how both new gpotato titles start with an A, hence ending up on top of many game-listings.... clever. Not just them I guess. Aion, Aika, Allods, Alganon.
One of my biggest quirks is also one of the game's greatest qualities. What I'm talking about is the "Talent" system, which has you choose skills using talent points, rather than learning skills via a trainer. These skill choices are permanent, and while they offer a greater degree of control over your character, you don't get access to many of the skills needed to make leveling easier. This makes sense for pure DPS classes such as the trickster, which would be stupid OP with both melee and ranged skills, but as a healer, you can only go straight support with virtually no offense, or pure offense, with virtually no support, making leveling as the latter much more interesting than the former. Simply level as pure DPS and use the item shop to respec stats and talents.
People such as myself who would prefer to level as pure heals will find leveling slow and tedious and will be stuck in groups for leveling. Not necessarily a bad thing, but there are often times I don't want to group.
Danubus said, "and the fact we MUST BUY perfume from the cash shop just to end game raid"
So you want to be able to play the game in it's entirity without paying the publisher/producer a single dime? I agree some criticism is needed here, but the target of that criticism is in real question.
- it's supposedly a free-to-play, where you have the option of never paying
- Gpotato's officials assured you would be able to play without the CS.
Yes, yes, all f2p are designed to strongly encouraged you to buy. But they don't force, as in, there are other, slower ways to get the most-needed items than the cash shops.
It's the old trade-off of investment in time vs investment in money. Yes, even the strongest CS-"opponent" that gets all his "rez potions" (or any equivalent in your f2p of choice), will sometimes crack and buy them because it's faster. But he isn't forced to pay to play; that would be the definition of a p2p/suscription game.
Bottom line is, if you advertise your game as a f2p, yes, players should be able to play the full game forever without giving you a dime. Otherwise that's bad publicity and bad marketing.
According to your definition of "clone", all games are clones of "Tic-Tac-Toe". You need to narrow down your definition of "clone".
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
im using the word "clone" just like trolls do as unrelated to the topic as can be, ppl throw the word clone around like its water and every thing is on fire , and for you to quote all i said im sorry if i up set you by callin out the wowfanboys but 9 times out of 10 it just some random wow player off to play something that looks like wow or has something in common with wow a wow clone even tho the word clone means and exact copy of a original so for anything to be a wow clone it would have to be a EXACT match to wow , most ppl would have taken what i said as my personal opinion with sarcasm in it
Honestly, while everything said here is true (though I do think you could have gone a bit more into the considerable differences between WoW and Allods) I don't think you can really make impressions like this without addressing the cash shop issue, and more importantly the potentially game rupturing RU patch coming along in a month or so.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
b) you're assuming that this is the last article he's writing on his experiences. Keep a look out for part two down the road a bit.
I never stop being amazed at how patient you are with some people. At any rate, I am interested in this game on principle, though not really because I want to play it. I am curious to hear about what it is like, and to see how all this plays out.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
WTF? No subscription fee?
Allods Online is in "Open Beta," meaning the game isn't finished enough to be considered release material. So I have some questions regarding the game, as I don't usually pay attention to the F2P sub-genre. However, this game has attracted some attention, so I'll go ahead and ask:
1. If the game is in Open Beta, why is there a cash shop already? Don't games typically wait until release to start charging their customers?
2. I'm assuming that since there's already a cash shop, that the open beta is really the release version, so there won't be any character wipes come the actual "release." Is this true or false.
3. Nowadays, I refuse to play a game during beta, especially a game that revolves around doing quests, because doing a multitude of quests burn me out since I actually read them. So since I read the quests, I don't like to repeat content. So I never play closed or open beta's anymore. I just wait until release, buy headstart if available, and begin the game when I know my character will be permanent. In beta's, your characters get wiped once the game officially releases. I also only play a game if I can get in at release, because the main body of people start at release and advance at a steady pace. Being behind the main body of people isn't fun, because you find less groups and those ahead write guides and spoil the rest of the game for those that haven't experienced it yet. So I start at release and experience everything for the first time with everyone else...mostly (always those powergamers who I won't ever keep up with, nor do I care to.)
4. I'm happily playing STO right now, so I'm not keeping close tabs on Allods. Since this game is in open beta, I figured I have a bit until it officially releases, at which time I'll probably be done with STO and will be ready for Allods. The problem is the controversy with the cash shop. I'm the type of person who won't play a game if I can't experience 100% of the content. I'm also the type that will not pay more than $15/mo for a MMO, especially a F2P MMO. So will I be able to experience 100% of the content around the same time as most people without spending more than $15/mo in the cash shop? I'm hearing nasty things about things costing in the hundreds or thousands for those wanting to participate in the end game content.
Thank you so much for this sneak peek!
I'm immediately booting my wife PC to let her try it and if she loves it, I'm in too!
RMT / Cash Shop = no thanks , i have played in games like this before where some people spend 26000 Euro on a weapon, so how does the normal gamer compete with that?.
- it's supposedly a free-to-play, where you have the option of never paying
- Gpotato's officials assured you would be able to play without the CS.
Yes, yes, all f2p are designed to strongly encouraged you to buy. But they don't force, as in, there are other, slower ways to get the most-needed items than the cash shops.
It's the old trade-off of investment in time vs investment in money. Yes, even the strongest CS-"opponent" that gets all his "rez potions" (or any equivalent in your f2p of choice), will sometimes crack and buy them because it's faster. But he isn't forced to pay to play; that would be the definition of a p2p/suscription game.
Bottom line is, if you advertise your game as a f2p, yes, players should be able to play the full game forever without giving you a dime. Otherwise that's bad publicity and bad marketing.
Doesn't the open beta already have "fear of death" effect, you get it at lvl 15 when you die and the time for it to wear off increases at every level but I remember seeing perfumes on sale for 1g 90s at the Servant of Light. 2 gold pieces shouldn't really be a problem for a lvl 40 player.