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Initial thoughts
My experience
Discount the low post count and check my registration date. I have been around a while and have had the opportunity to beta a few games:
AC, AC2, AO, DAoC, EQ2, Earth and Beyond, Eve, DnL, EQ2, WoW, Shadowbane, SWG. That is just a quick off the top of my head list.
I am also involved in 6 current betas listed in the "Games in Development" section of this website although I am not going to list them.
Preface
I have spent roughly 10 hours playing this game and have leveled to 19. I know it is just the beginning, but it is also a point at which I have been exposed to a large part of the game dynamics. Can I draw sweeping assumptions about the game's future? Not really, but I can see patterns that are going to reemain a part of game play.
I was quite excited to see the graphics and find a game that combined both Sci-Fi and Fantasy settings. I was also happy to see a game that featured both PvP and a solo oriented game style.
Pros
Graphics - The graphics are great. I picked up a launcher on my ranger and was amazed by the explosion effects. Mobs and player models are great. There seems to be a bit of diversity compared to games like AC2.
Soloing - It is easy to solo and still feel like you are progressing. I have mixed thoughts on potions. They are a requirement to solo and remove downtime, although they do seem a bit cheesy. I can go to the Charger and purchase 300 health potions before a hunting trip. There is a minimal timer on potions, so it is possible to spam them while fighting.
Cons
Content - There is minimal content in the game. Every time that you level you get automatically sent a quest that has you go kill 10 or 20 of XXXXX. The quests are received generally 2 to 4 levels before you can reasonably complete them. This leads to a lot of grinding. Apart from the token quest, there is nothing of interest. No lore, no NPCs to watch or chat with, nothing. In addition all characters basically look identical. Every level 16 ranger is going to be using a launcher and wearing level 16 armor and they both look the same.
Community - Since the game is solo oriented there is very little motivation to group. Spawn areas are also packed with players leading to a shoot first mentality. Instead of motivating the players to cooperate it alienated them. Most areas are full of "KSer" spam. More players than spawns = fighting.
Character development - My ranger gets 3 skills from 1 to 20. One is a special attack and 2 buffs. The buffs last roughly a minute. I am constantly forced to insure that my buffs are still up and then start shooting. At higher levels I get 3 more skills. Then 10 levels later 3 or so more. There is very little to look forward to as your character develops. You get to look forward to new weapons and armor every 2 or 3 levels, but they are simply upgrades to things you have had since level 1. Apart from the motivation to dominate PvP, there is very little motivation to actually level.
Combat - Combat is beautiful from a graphics perspective. It is not interactive unless you consider potion spam interactive. For my ranger, i buff, hit auto attack, and spam potions when i have take more than 500 damage. I could spam additional potions to use skills more frequently, but the fact is that spamming potions does not make combat more challenging. If i can spam potions faster than you are taking damage you can kill anything.
Summary
The game is pretty and was fun for a couple hours. Once that I got past the thinly veiled eye candy and saw the true nonrewarding grind, I lost interest. This is a game that will draw players, but will have serious issues retaining them after the first couple of months. The game reminds me of a mix between Planetside and Anarchy Online. You have your capture the tower PvP game, but only after you spend countless hours grinding to be marginally competitive.
I have tried to be subjective in my thoughts and I am aware that not all will agree. So enjoy the game, I just strongly suggest going to GameSpot and dropping $5 on the preorder to get a sample of beta. It is refundable and should be enough for you to form your own impressions. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Vanven
Comments
This actually already gave away your conclusion: Its an unrewarding Grind.
Most People who like Western MMO's won't enjoy Korean MMORPG's.
I, for one, feel much more "free" in korean MMO's. I can go hunt mobs where I want, not being restricted by Quests or lower profit because of those quests.
I also find Korean mmorpg's much more rewarding. tough you probably did not experience it, because leveling goes really fast at the beginning of RFO, around lvl 40 exp really starts to slow down. I had the same with Lineage 2, when I level up, I FEEL like I leveled up.I worked hard for it. I completely miss this feeling in Western mmo's.
your review was excellent for people who enjoy western MMO's and have intrest in Korean MMO's.
one last thing I would like to add. Please don't say things like "Its going to have a hard time keeping his players etc"
(Reffering to:"This is a game that will draw players, but will have serious issues retaining them after the first couple of months")
Lineage 2, Ragnarok Online, ROSE and FFXI (tough its japanese) are all Asian mmo's and people said the same about them. their all running fine. no, their not the huge cash cows like WoW but their not doing bad at all and are making quite some profit.
This actually already gave away your conclusion: Its an unrewarding Grind.
Most People who like Western MMO's won't enjoy Korean MMORPG's.
I, for one, feel much more "free" in korean MMO's. I can go hunt mobs where I want, not being restricted by Quests or lower profit because of those quests.
I also find Korean mmorpg's much more rewarding. tough you probably did not experience it, because leveling goes really fast at the beginning of RFO, around lvl 40 exp really starts to slow down. I had the same with Lineage 2, when I level up, I FEEL like I leveled up.I worked hard for it. I completely miss this feeling in Western mmo's.
your review was excellent for people who enjoy western MMO's and have intrest in Korean MMO's.
This is something that I am having a hard time articulating without sounding like a fan of other games. If you are a gamer who has cut his teeth on western MMO's like WoW, RFO will get old very fast. You cant level on quests, there is no rested EXP bonus, there is nothing but grinding. RFO does make some concessions to the gamer by making the first chunk of levels go by quickly, but there is simply no hiding the fact that leveling from 19 to 20 is still going to force the gamer to spend 2 hours killing 500ish Tepists (or insert random mob) with no other option. If you enjoy camping mobs and you get giddy every kill in anticipation of the loot, this game may well suffice.
This is a straight Korean MMO port. There is no Americanization for the casual gamer. There is no concession made to the ADD driven US gamer. It is a straight open-ended grind with very little frill.
There was a point in time several years ago that I would grab a soda, my can of Skoal, and a magazine, knowing that I was going to spend the next few hours camping XXXXX to get to level XX in Everquest. The current generation of American MMOs have progressed past this point in most cases.
Vanven
i havent personally played this game yet but from what is sounds it is right up my alley. I get very bored with games that is it so easy to lvl a good grind never hurt anyone and im sure if there is not a lot of content atm they are prolly working on that. I really want to try to get into beta i love beta testing games only done a few betas but it is nice to play a gain in its infant form where everyone is just starting out and you arent labled noob cause everyone is a noob. Gonna do a lot more research on this game.
Hmm sounds like Lineage II in a new setting with beefed up graphics to me. Thanks for the info. I`ll stay away from this.
I would class myself as being somewhat a power gamer and from the first week of play i am still enjoying grinding which is a first.
Graphics are good, characters look good, gameplay is good, very easy to understand once you have spent an hour or so learning the system and UI and the fact that every 2 lvls you get new items which also gives it abit more fun when you see your character change very fast.
I have an average spec computer and the game runs fine with max settings.. Never needed to turn down even in mass PvP - hundred people in a fairly small area or so. It is a pot spaming game no doubt, PvP is also quite good but 1v1 same lvl characters is a big no no as you could be there 30mins and still be fighting. Mass PvP is good, Pots have like 1-2 sec cooldown so if a couple people focus on 1 target... they die fast. Guess its a little bit more tatical than sending 3 shamans or 3 warriors to 'Own' the whole 10 opposite race in wsg hehe.
Not only do you train your lvls up but you also train your PT which is increased as you lvl and depending on your class, some will increase more than others. It is similar to the skill system in WoW where your max defense goes up 5 per lvl.. only in Rf its usualy 1-2. Your also not as much limited to what wepons you can use. Even warriors can train Range skills such as bow/guns to improve range which allows you to use range amour which can be better than warrior armour in some aspects blah blah. Good game, new aspects.
Grinding is a big part of it like all mmorpgs.. and personaly i love the grinds, but lots of people cry about it. Im always bored after a few days of hiting the cap lvl on any game. Ive played many mmorpgs including wow, i was a big wow fan boy but after a year.. it just doesnt appeal to me any more and RF opens some new doors.
Overall this game has alot of potential, the only worries are, CM dont actualy have game editing rights so new content and so worth would be needed from the orgianal development... so my only worries are if it goes down hill in PhRF or whatever, then what will this mean for us? no more game changes would make this game very very unappealing after some time of play.
This is the part that is steering me away from the game. CM is calling it a beta, but in all actuallity it appears to be a simple port and stress test. Beta testers are ther to check spelling. The game has been in production in non-US markets for a year. New content wasn't exactly flooding into the game in production. Expect the same here.
Vanven
There is a misconception that I keep seeing, that was also mentioned in this post. It involves the grouping dynamic. There is a HUGE incentive to group post level 20, and it's almost a necessity post 25. With a team, you can tackle mobs that would easily kill you solo, and in using this method you gain exp levels MUCH faster than solo. If you are looking to exp post 25, a group is THE most efficient way to do it, and many are just beginning to realize this, hence the misconceptions I think.
HOWEVER, this game is to me, incredibly boring nonetheless. I have now officially played my 26 levels, I have participated in the RvRvR chip wars, I have mined the most robust areas in the game, and there is very little to keep me entertained. I find the combat, and particularily the PvP, to be very mindless. It is simply a zergfest back and forth, and even though my team has been on a winning streak lately, I find myself more bored than ever.
The "reward" for winning is an 8 hour jaunt in oresville, where you can spend your time mining afk. AFK. You can then sell this ore for lots of money, or refine it looking for talics to upgrade your equipment, but that is the entire point. That is all there is. Levels, and then numbers are the only real deciding factors in PvP. If you have even a slight advantage in both of these, you do not need any type of military strategy to win. Your own personal skill is nonexistant, as it all revolves around buffing yourself up and spamming potions. The only place where skill would matter is your ability to look for and target the same enemy as someone else. A chimpanzee could attain the maximum skill required to PvP in a matter of hours.
I will admit that the PvE has some addictive qualities too it at the beginning. It's very fast paced, and twitchy with little to no downtime. This kept the action going, but in the end it's just not enough to warrant paying monthly for this game, considering how shallow is the rest of the content. The bottom line is that the game can be engaging at first with its fast gameplay, and flashy graphical effects, but ultimately it's a snoozefest. With or without the grind (which I didn't find bad at all), there's just no point to the RvRvR, and that's supposedly this games draw. Save yourself $50 and let this one pass you by. If you're into the Eastern MMO's there are plenty of free ones out there that I hear are just as good.
Edit: I forgot to mention that Codemasters already said this game will constantly receive level cap increases. They do not, nor ever plan to have an "endgame" where all players can cap, and then fight against each other on even footing. There will always be someone higher level than you, there will always be a grind, and ultimately this was another reason I returned my preorder.
You hit the nail on head. Great post.
Caveat Emptor
Where is the potential ? The game has been running in asia for a while and i am afraid you are living in ignorant bliss if you think that the game will evolve into something to rival the greats of the genre if it is substantially relying on players expectations of its potential rather than its current content and playability for success.
you would have to design this game from the ground up to meet the potential of its initial wrapper appeal and marketing skill.
I have a marketing background and i can tell you know that no amount of marketing will turn this game into the game you hope it will become AND the marketing guys involved in this know it.
Caveat Emptor
HO HO HO.
There is imo a difference between grinding in a pleasant and challenging environment and grinding just so that you can say that you have outlasted everyone else and are the last one to turn the lights out.
I cut my teeth on Legend of mir 2 and 3 - and thats a grind and it is an asian developed game however LOM had and still has an awful lot more going for it than this game - and that is saying something in 2006 !
If you really wanted to get into BETA for RFO why didnt you just pop over to fileplanet ? Or were you grinding somewhere else and forgot to do it ?
Caveat Emptor
If a major point of the game is to combine your character into a "fusion or hybrid class" doesnt every player end up fused into being exactly the same as every other player ?
If almost anything you pick up from a monster is something you can use, cant everyone else do that and doesnt this make the whole concept of classes nothing but a meaningless gloss ?
Caveat Emptor
Every class is a hybrid to some extent thanks to potion spam. It is simlpy a matter of deciding whether you want 5 major melee skills or ranged skills at the end of your 3 month grind. There is no cooperation as far as healing and buffs. Everyone heals themselves via potion spam.
The skill system in this game is a novel idea but is very poorly implimented. I can level a ranger up to 20 and never touch melee skills. By the time I decide they need to be raised I get to do the grind all over again to raise a second set of skills. Oh joy!!!!
At least GameStop gave me my $5 back for preordering so at this point my investment is purely wasted hours.
Vanven