[Column] Landmark: Water and Steam

SBFord · May 2014

Hi folks! I was down last week with an illness so I couldn’t get to making a column for last week, and it seems this week the folks at Sony Online Entertainment have wildfires and safety issues they need to contend with. Let’s wish them all well and hope they get through this time without any trouble.

Read more of Victor Barreiro Jr.'s Landmark: Water & Steam.

bcbully · May 2014

Perfect place for this game, steam. Right along with all the other alphas that are charging finished product price.

Be warned the game is nothing like minecraft. Even if they hit their new "blueprint" Landmark will not have all the awesome stuff you read in articles. When you read those glowing articles that say build your own mmo and talk about combat and pvp, think War Z, it's just not true, non of it is there.

They are selling this product on what it will/might have sometime in the distant future.

Sephastus · May 2014

Currently, Landmark is just a really high quality minecraft, without combat. When it is done, it WILL be a high quality minecraft. I couldn't stand the blocky texture of minecraft, but this is very doable to me.

Madimorga · May 2014

This game is definitely not a polished commercial beta for show. It's a real beta, tending more toward alpha. I've slowed down a bit with building for now, just paying my upkeep of copper. But I'm eager to see how it turns out and in spite of being severely architecturally challenged, I really have enjoyed the time I've spent with it. Got my $20 worth already and then some. I'm also in awe of what other, more creative and less spacially-challenged people have come up with. Don't worry, I have yet to have other players come by my claim just to mock it. Of course, being the sci fi geek I am, I'm anticipating the version that can interact with a giant 3d printer, so I can bring my ugly creations into the real world. Maybe by the time I'm a granny. I wonder what sort of housing codes I can violate? All of them, I hope. When doing something completely wrong, one should strive to be thorough.

SomeHuman · May 2014

Landmark is not yet as good as Minecraft. It's main disadvantages are 1) no threat or combat 2) no procedurally generated worlds to explore 3) no player servers 4) limitations on where you can build 5) simple mechanics.

I've played Minecraft for about a year. I've played Landmark since around January I think. Landmark feels more like something akin to a cross between Zbrush and Sketchup. It's has amazing potential for building 3D structures on plots and visiting other players' studios/claims. It doesn't feel like a game yet. I think that is the difference; Minecraft is a survival game where you explore and create; Landmark is a 3D environment where you create. Like Madimorga I'm interested to see how it evolves.

flizzer · May 2014

Just give SOE enough time and they will surely screw it up, so don't worry.

Allein · May 2014

Originally posted by bcbully
Perfect place for this game, steam. Right along with all the other alphas that are charging finished product price.

Be warned the game is nothing like minecraft. Even if they hit their new "blueprint" Landmark will not have all the awesome stuff you read in articles. When you read those glowing articles that say build your own mmo and talk about combat and pvp, think War Z, it's just not true, non of it is there.

They are selling this product on what it will/might have sometime in the distant future.

No offense, but this is a pretty dumb way to look at it. They are completely honest about where they are and where they are going. Roadmap clearly states when/where they plan to implement things. $20 buy in currently to participate in the developmental stage, but will be F2P eventually. I'm assuming they are still giving full refunds as well if you some how get "fooled" into believing it has features that it doesn't currently aka not spending 5 seconds looking into the game.

People are paying for what it currently is. Who is paying for what will be? Makes no sense. They don't need to reserve a paid copy or anything. Even the bonuses tossed in for paying now are pretty meaningless. If you can't afford $20 to play what is a decent builder currently, too bad I guess. I'm waiting on EQN, but still have access to Landmark and log in once in a while.

I've paid quite a bit more for a "finished" product to be surprised not only was I not getting what I was sold, but I couldn't get my money back either.

Statements like yours make no sense. Game is in development, regardless of what you associate with Alpha/Beta/Release. It isn't done. If you can't accept that, guess you just have issues. Now if it was being sold as finished and they said XYZ were all included, ya that would be a problem. But they aren't. Believe it or not, many people like being part of the process instead of just being handed a product that may or may not be what they expected.

ianicus · May 2014

it is repugnant to me that a company like SOE believes they should be crowdfunding thier games like any other indie developer. When I see a AAA game company crowdfunding one of thier new flagship titles, im sorry, but I get worries....seems like a money pit to me....but there is a sucker born every minute.

loulaki · May 2014

Originally posted by Madimorga
This game is definitely not a polished commercial beta for show. It's a real beta, tending more toward alpha. I've slowed down a bit with building for now, just paying my upkeep of copper. But I'm eager to see how it turns out and in spite of being severely architecturally challenged, I really have enjoyed the time I've spent with it. Got my $20 worth already and then some. I'm also in awe of what other, more creative and less spacially-challenged people have come up with. Don't worry, I have yet to have other players come by my claim just to mock it. Of course, being the sci fi geek I am, I'm anticipating the version that can interact with a giant 3d printer, so I can bring my ugly creations into the real world. Maybe by the time I'm a granny. I wonder what sort of housing codes I can violate? All of them, I hope. When doing something completely wrong, one should strive to be thorough.

actually they released it as a builder game, not a survival ...

if you want fights etc, will have to wait until EQNext ; )

Mavolence · May 2014

Originally posted by loulaki
Originally posted by Madimorga
This game is definitely not a polished commercial beta for show. It's a real beta, tending more toward alpha. I've slowed down a bit with building for now, just paying my upkeep of copper. But I'm eager to see how it turns out and in spite of being severely architecturally challenged, I really have enjoyed the time I've spent with it. Got my $20 worth already and then some. I'm also in awe of what other, more creative and less spacially-challenged people have come up with. Don't worry, I have yet to have other players come by my claim just to mock it. Of course, being the sci fi geek I am, I'm anticipating the version that can interact with a giant 3d printer, so I can bring my ugly creations into the real world. Maybe by the time I'm a granny. I wonder what sort of housing codes I can violate? All of them, I hope. When doing something completely wrong, one should strive to be thorough.

actually they released it as a builder game, not a survival ...

if you want fights etc, will have to wait until EQNext ; )

https://forums.station.sony.com/landmark/index.php?threads/eqnl-roadmap.18810/

Risk & Danger

Health: Yup…you can die now. But you can actually increase your health by finding increase items while adventuring through the world.
Death Penalty: Yes, death will have teeth. Try not to die.
Revive: Standing up after you fall down is always useful.
Graveyards: When you die, you’ll need a place to respawn unless you Revive.
BASIC combat: This is the first of many steps that will lead us to the eventual combat style we want. This first step is extremely basic as we prototype systems. But things will try to kill you.
Buffs: If you can die, there need to be ways to avoid that damage and death. You’ll be able to craft (or find) various mechanisms to make yourself tougher.

Oh yea?

Dreamo84 · May 2014

Amazing some people still don't realize Landmark will be more than just a builder.

Sulherok · May 2014

Landmark is just the systems test bed for EQN, gonna bet the crafting and gathering and the other systems you see in Landmark will be the same in EQN. Kinda smart actually they get players to test the systems to cut down development time.

Dreamo84 · May 2014

It's going to have a different overall focus than EQNext. It's not just a test bed.

Relgyros · May 2014

Originally posted by Sulherok
Landmark is just the systems test bed for EQN, gonna bet the crafting and gathering and the other systems you see in Landmark will be the same in EQN. Kinda smart actually they get players to test the systems to cut down development time.

This is a pretty good move on their part. I just hope they're actually simultaneously working on EQN. EQN info has gone rather stale over the past several weeks and with Live a few months on the horizon, I don't imagine getting too much from it being teased.

I'm not quite sure how they have their resources allocated, but from the looks of things, most of the faces you see in the videos are involved in both Landmark and EQN, so expect a lot of Landmark in the near future and not so much on the EQN front.

I gotta admit, I'm struggling a little bit. Fiending for EQN info and the Landmark stuff just doesn't quench. Even when they drop combat in, it's going to be different than EQN.

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[Column] Landmark: Water and Steam

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[Column] Landmark: Water and Steam

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