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General impression from a casual gamer
Aoeprotia
Member Posts: 2
I've been playing about a week. My wife and i both picked up lifetime subscriptions from the get go based on what we read About the game. So far most of my time has been spent in Kingsmouth on Solomon island. But i have visited the savage coast, all three cities and Fusang pvp area.
A little history about me, I've been gaming for about 20 years, have two kids work on a post grad degree and work fulltime, my wife is similar. So i typically play 1-3 hours at a time 3-5 days a week. My gaming history starts at Atari, nes, snes, n64, ps, ps2, wii, xbox 360, blackberry, windows mobile, Android, iPhone, and of course pc throughout it all. I've played all genres of games, but prefer mmorpgs as my staple, though on pc i have played anything from doom to worms to muds and mucks, to flight simulators to rpgs to mmorpgs. In the mmorpg realm i have played, Eq, ultima, wow, gw, lotro, warhammer online, atlantica, tsw, (diablo 2 and 3 if you count those) extensively, other games i have trialed or played at a friends house but not extensively enough to talk about. Most of these i played 8 hours or more daily for months or years and went through multiple patches, expansions and updates.
Ok so that's the perspective I'm coming from....
So for my impressions so far...
Tsw is an amazingly rich game that brings a lot of great ideas to the genera. The story is absolutely fabulous and the presentation superb. Questing is much improved over other games I've played it doesn't feel like grinding at all. The skill wheel and character progression is very unique and so far i like it, i am one of those people that progresses slower in games because i go alt happy, in tsw i don't see a need to go alt happy, well except maybe to have a toon on a rpg server and one from each faction (but really there is no need for a second toon). Quests are approached in ways that I've never seen them before and sometimes require research to discover the answers, i suppose you could look up the answers but then why did you buy a game? Combat feels more free form because you are constantly mobile and the skills used are unique to you, it lacks the cookie cutter feel in other games where there is just a few awesome specs for each character, and the ideal spec often depends on what your gear level is. In tsw its different because you can change rolesor play styles very easily and quickly. I like the way movement to and from distant places occurs, most games its either long runs or flights or instant teleleports. One is boring the other is illogical. In tsw its close to teleport speed but it makes sense within the story how it is done. Overall my general impression is that this is a very strong game with a ton of potential. Unfortunately some things defiantly need improvemt...pvp cough cough....there are other things also but many are small and I'm sure with time will get ironed out.
Also worth noting....this is the first funcom game that i have played, the payment was a pain in the butt for me due to the international transactions...my wife had no issues with this part, i on the other hand had to deal with funcoms live chat and email customer service extensively. The staff were eager to assist me and very patient and polite and helpful. I probably spent 4-6 hours dealing with them to resolve this (just in the one on one live chat) but ultimately got everything resolved satisfactorily.
Scores:
Customer service 10 of 10
Game over all 8-9 of 10
Graphics 9.5
Audio 9.0
Questing 9.5
Pvp 4 Chat interface, cannot evaluate as not enough experience with it
Dungeons cannot rate
Endgame cannot rate
Character progression 9.0
Enjoyability 8.5
edited because the fomatting on my android phone sucked, hopefully this is better
Comments
My background is very similar to yours, other than having 3 children instead of 2.
Althought I agree with what you said about the questing in TSW, I feel that it is almost the only good thing in it.
I had to cancel my subscription for the following reasons:
1- Animation was subpar, especially the characters. I want to feel my character's movement and how he navigates the terrain and positions himself in a fight. Sadly, TSW feels like a 90s shooter in terms of animation.
2- Lack of things to do. I advanced to Egypt after spending 2 weeks in Kingsmouth, and all this time all I do is search for quests and repeat a few I've already done. Their is no crafting worthwhile, no dynamic public events, no reason to explore, no housing, and no good pvp just to name a few.
3- Combat felt very awkward to me and didn't feel realistic. I shoot like 50 bullets with my assault rifle just to kill one single mob, and I never run out of bullets lol. Combat takes so long I do my best to avoid fights. Also, I would've loved to be able to purchase and throw a grenade or 2 instead of making them an ability you have to spend APs to gain. Also, why can't I shoot at a mob I can clearly see in front of me just because it is 20.1 meters away? That is unrealistic. Not to mention there is no collision detection. I hate games that let my pass through mobs like they were ghosts.
4- Character development is lacking. All you can do is spend SPs to gain very little enhancemet and APs to purchase week abilites which you will mist likely never use but have to get them to gain the abilities you do want. I like games which concentrate on using certain attributes like strength, dexteriety, intellegence etc... All your skills and abilities are effected by them, and you do your best to enhance them.
There is so much more I could say, but I think I've said enough about TSW already.
The game a dream of is a game which provides an immersive environment, intellegent and realistic combat with collision detection and friendly fire, hundreds of skills to work with and enhance, a reputation system that lhas an impact on your abilities, a vast world full of secrets to uncover while riding a buggy you personally built and cutomized, dynamic events which occur everywhere in the world (imagine running into an overgrown titanic robot while gathering materials for your new car, or a gang that just setup camp on the road and tried to rob you), being able to build structures of any shape, size and purpose, the ability to play as a merchant or a politician instead of a fighter, etc.... I'm eagerly waiting for such game (and no Fallen Earth is not that game sadly).
My gaming background is also similar, though I am not married and have no kids, unless you count my dog...
I went witha six-month subscription. I am waiting for more content and more depth.
By content I mean more zones. I am enjoying Kingsmouth and all. So much I want to see more.
By depth: I want to see housing and a real crafting system. I would love to see alchemists and gunsmiths and workbenches and laboratories, beauticians and tailors. It would be cool to be able to switch factions, or gain enough repution with one to make friends and alliances, more weapon systems with more skills.
I fully understand the comments about the weapon play. I barely accept the anima-explanation for why firearms are so silly. And though I know how absolutely ridiculous dual-wielding-pistols really is, I still am ashamed that I enjoy fighting with them. Compared to all the other MMOs I've played, I've found this combat and skill system quite enjoyable, though some of the fights turn into drawn out damage races.
My biggest problem with the game is that my girlfriend prefers flowers-and-bunnies fantasy lands. We play EQ2, LotRO and now GW2 together. TSW is my "boys night out" game.
TSW, LotRO, EQ2, SWTOR, GW2, V:SoH, Neverwinter, ArchAge, EQ, UO, DAoC, WAR, DDO, AoC, MO, BDO, SotA, B&S, ESO,
BUT
the endgame is all geared to hardcore grinding types, I.e. younger people with no kids and lots of spare time.
If only they had gone for their original plans for both pvp, being leveless and having an inverse gear progression curve.
I blame the hand of ea. I was in closed beta for both warhammer and tsw. Both games seemed to get an infusion of ADD MORE WOW around the time ea got involved