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Deep and Exciting or just fluff ?
Hadesprime
Member Posts: 303
Played Horizons since December 12th. I am a crafter at heart always have been from UO to EQ ( I tried there but just couldnt stomach it ) and DAOC.
Now Horizons.
Last I checked I had over 600 levels into crafting.... all in one character..... so I am more than qualified to comment.
When I first started playing crafting kept me interested. The combat system was terrible and still even today it doesnt compare to games like DAOC or even EQ.
So crafting is where its at for Horizons and AE knows it.
But after 600 levels and falling alseep so many times gathering resources ( up to that point I had NEVER EVER fallen asleep playing any MMO and that included camping the FBSS in EQ ). That its all fluff and you realize as I did after I made and deconstructed my ten millionth fine dirk that its all hype with not much substance. If you go by whats on istaria.com I'm sorry you will be sorely disappointed and my overall conclusion is that HZ's crafting system is more like data entry than anything else. It has no epic feeling to it and one weapon is just as good as another made someone else. I remember some guy seeking congrats for reaching level 100 weaponsmith and called himself grandmaster weaponsmith. What the poor sap didn't realize that my 85 levels of weaponsmith was just as good as his 100 levels and all that time he put in from getting from 80 to 100 was a complete waste of time. At level 85 my weaponsmith trade can make just as good as a weapon as the and I qoute " grandmaster" weaponsmith. Which really made me appreciate the Quality level system of DAOC where the title of the crafter ACTUALLY means something. I'm sorry some will argue you can customise the look of a weapon.... yes but the combinations are in the single digits not Milllions like Istaria.com says and really the functionality of the weapon is no different. So the weapon tricking system gets old very very fast.
My conclusion is thus. I was happy crafting like an ignorant fool in HZ till I reached level 70 in weaponsmith where I realized there was no point. So I went and got levels in other crafting schools and realized different trade different items same grind. Before that I didn't think Crafting could be made into a grind. But AE has succeeded in doing so make no mistake.
If anything I learned so how very simple people are in being amused by such unimaginative and dull grinds. No feeling no epicness no real oopmh to HZ crafting system. Which in the end WILL not be enough to carry HZ.
Perhaps the game will one day realize the potential it once had and now no longer does. You never do miracles do indeed happen. I actually do hope the game I read about and followed does indeed happen. But right now stick to the free download. Keeping an eye on this one thats for sure no matter how disappointed I am in it at this time.
Hows that for a review Darkentrees ? I can do much better if you like.
Comments
While we're on the topic of things that they mention on the main page, when's the last time you saw a tier 5 or 6 resource? You mentioned that 80 to 100 was a waste of time, but at this point, levelling up to 100 actually hurts you if you plan on multiclassing. Once you pass around 80 (78 to 82 depending on gear and buffs, or around 93 if you're taking generalist classes, such as blacksmith or scholar) you're just lowering the XP you get from using the same skills. That's just one more aspect of the game that's poorly designed.
Hadesprime, out of curiosity, how high did you get your craft rating up to?
Do they still have no decay on weapons and armor ? I tried Horizons for about 2 months and found that to be the single biggest mistake in-game. Not to mention only allowing 5 items per vendor.
This game reminded me of SWG, so much potential but ultimately fails to deliver.
Tier V and VI resources will be introduced through way of up-coming events. Personally I think it's a great way to add content in, the only people who missed these resources were those who played in beta. I'm not one of them so I'm looking forward to 'new' content, including any quests related to their introduction.
Consigners now hold 10 items, though there's work underway to allow up to 100 items to be put up for sale on player-owned consigners. Did I mention that there's way more storage space now through the addition of silos and vault quests for upgrades? Storage for houses and other structures is on its way too now that silos are done.
Crafting can sometimes be dull, however the community I play alongside on my shard are great, and I'm still having a blast playing. AE have certainly shown that they're able to keep the patches coming with fixes, new features, complete overhauls, and of course the hotfixes if something goes wrong. Unlike some game companies, it's nice to see such dedication from the developers of the games we play.
umm dedication ?
you missed the 3 weeks of no patchs after E3 huh ?
AE does try somewhat I must admit. But they have at most 3 to 4 people working on the game total. Thats all they can afford as they are for sure less than 30K total subscribers probably more around 15K to 20K total.
Funcome was dedicated you knew they were working hard. Many times its like the great abyss of silence from AE. But I now attribute that to a total lack of resources to develop this game successfully.
3 weeks without patches? That's nothing compared to some mmo developers who go without patches for 3 months or more and leave their games broken and stagnant
Not sure what press releases and the likes you're basing subscriber figures on (I'm not arguing with them) so I am not convinced there are so few people working on the game. Guess it's hard to say for sure, I'd reckon there's 3 or 4 people working on coding alone, the design team, tech support, then you've got worldmasters (2 shards per worldmaster isn't it?), and it goes on...
Give us some background on those figures for folks working on the game and I'll shut up!
Oh and tier V items are available in limited quantities and for huge prices now, rejoice enchanters because we're the only way to make the resources so far
Enchanters are the only way to make Tier 5 resources? I assume you're talking about transmuting, and several other classes, including tinkerers and dragon crafters (typically much higher level than the enchanters) get transmutation. I've seen transmutated tier 5 resources for awhile now (and tier 5 clay, which is actually dropped as a bonus resource for some reason), but the formulas were never in game for the resources to be of any use. Note: I didn't play the beta, so I didn't feel as though I missed out on Tier V resources from that, but for reading the FAQs on their site before the game came out.
There's a world of difference between three weeks without patches in a mature game and one that came out relatively recently. The first four months was almost entirely bug fixes with a slow trickle of new content. It wasn't until a month or two ago that they were really addressing most of the memory leak problems. The expansion of 5 to 10 items on consigners was something that should have been fixed much earlier than the 5th month. They said in a press release that it was a cap they put in during the beta to prevent people from flooding the market, and that they just never got around to correcting it.
I have pretty much backed off playing since Tier V is not in the game. Even with some tier V resources, without formula's it is pretty much worthless.
Resur
As previously mentioned, tier 5 (expert) formulas were added a few weeks back -- and nearly all materials can be transmuted to tier 5. They also recently added a new journeyman transmute formula (transmute tannin) so that expert leather could be made. (Note that there is no way to transmute sap, so the expert backpacks cannot be made yet at this time -- just tannin)
With AE's recent downsizing, most of us figured the game was going down the tubes. Yet since then:
- The remainder of the expert formulas were added (there are a couple missing yet -- that's being worked on).
- The interaction between developers and those of us that play on Blight is at a record, all-time high. I've had more interaction with developers in the last two weeks than the previous six months. And they're actively soliciting help from players to find and fix bugs -- totally different attitude from pre-downsizing.
- A new event was started this past week (sandstorms in tazoon desert). Looks like it will be slowly rolled out -- may be due to them adding more content as it gets done, may be just to keep us interested. Either way, it looks to be an interesting event.
- And lastly, a number of developers have started COMMUNICATING. Not just 'we care' nonsense -- serious posts discussing what they are currently working on, and more importantly, what they have planned for the future. Look at the recent post on tier 1-6 community structures and what they have planned for housing, guildhouses, silos, etc. Once that is rolled out, all those crafting levels above 75 are gonna be important if you want a top-end structure!!!
I'm sure some of you will think 'oh great, another fanboi' but I've been pretty aggressive about pointing out shortcomings in the game -- as well as bugs (I chose to play on Blight because I wanted to see the game improve!). And for the first time since January, I'm actually pretty optimistic about Horizons. Things are improving. And more importantly, the game is still fun. I guess, in the end, that's what matters most -- to me and my friends, at least.
Salazar, Blight Server
hmmmm ... since when where mainstream players for Horizon interested in bashing?
For me the game always held its appeal for the social and craft system.
What finaly drove me from the game was the time I spend just harvesting resources to make some decent items. And as pointed out above the lack of epic feeling for a crafter.
The game has still some potential and from time to time I check in with some friends still playing around to see how it goes. So far HZ isn't dead but sometimes they seem to consider the option
'till swords meet again!
V.
'till swords meet again!
V.
Now say a weapon has a damage range of 20 points (1-20) Depending on the skill, stamina, strength of each crafter they should all vary in degrees of that range. And weapons should wear out! They break, they chip,they rust, they dull from useage. But Horizons believe a weapon is a magical thing and once made is impervious to all harm. Now come on anyone ever see anyhting real made of bronze?? Nuff Said.
They hyped about the ability to alter weapons and make designs creating different looks. Well after many many hours foraging, smelting and crafting the reality of that customization finally sunk in. Theres practically no customization and I lost interest in crafting anymore. Then Uh Oh! bankruptcy looming on the Horizons (Pun Intended) they merged the worlds and the poor people of the world lost the ever bloomin minds. They find a spot for ore and instead of common sense saying let set up shop here they all of a sudden said "you know what?? We whould carry this stuff for miles and make stuff out of it" Make things worse now the areas for ore are one with monsters.
Well nuff said now I am getting off the crafting topic and ready to complain about the lack of apeal the game has anymore. Ah well, i've seen my friends leave while I hung onto a dying game. Now waiting for EQII and Mourning to see what I can find to keep me around there. Is it my 7 years role-playing in a mud that makes me have a hard time accepting flash and dazzle for real content? Maybe, or maybe it's i've yet to find a game with real content.
Fluff, utter fluff. To get to lvl 100 spellcrafter or mason in the shortest time, you don't make spells or keystones, you make stone tools lots of them. The number of lvl 100 crafters that get there by just deconstructing tools is shocking and no one bats an eyelid, then there is a huge outcry when the machines are removed. There is not enough player to player trading and that stinks. Most crafters rely on the pawnbroker to make money. This game is dying, it took me a while to realise it, but now I have escaped to another mmorpg I feel happier as I am now having fun again. Worst grind ever. It's not fun to craft. Few, if any, mmorpgs survive on the crafting system alone and its oh so customisable interface, "hey I play Horizons because I can customise my interface!", are you kidding me? Less than 500 play on Unity, 500! More people play AC2 for crying out loud lol. Snap out of the spell you are under, Horizons is dull!
I tried the free trial and though crafting was just a tedious grind. I would set the character to harvesting resources and would leave the room to do something productive instead of just watching it swing an axe.
This game just seems to be one long grind - the populations on the islands always seem to be very minimal, and no one seems to want to explain how anything in the game works.
I could not even last the whole week before I gave up - the game is just too boring.
Crafting is a two sided blade. It can be fun if you find it appealing, but most of us cant do it for hours and hours on end. One way to break the monotony is to chat. Another is to take up apprenticeship under a higher level crafter. Roleplaying is another way to keep things entertaining.
There are tons of people who will help you with any problems you might have. However........do the tutorial first. Its what its there for. To help you learn. Sorry to hear you left, maybe you'll find what your looking for elsewhere.
Sure crafting is not for everyone -- it takes dedication and patience (and some find this just too boring).
If you are only interested in levelling a crafter class fast there are horribly boring and unfulfilling tasks you can do (creating stuff and salvaging some material when destroying it, doing it again and again and again)... Well in my opinion levelling a crafters class fast is not the point. The point of crafting is ... crafting!
The very first time that you can fabricate a better weapon or armor or spell than you could before, the delight you can bring to others when you present them with an improved lamp or when you make a tree sprout on their plot -- thats the fun in crafting. Not becoming the