So I'll admit, I only read the first paragraph. But there is something very fundamental that this game has wrong (and many of it's cousin games have wrong as well). When you remove NPCs from your MMO, your game will be very very lonely.
In a perfect world, players will drive the "life" into the world. You will see people and towns as you pass through the game world. But in reality, this never pans out.
Darkfall, for instance, was a beautiful game that was actually a heck of alot of fun to play. But when the only people you ever see in the world want to kill you, and even at that, you only see other players every "once in a while", the game just feels like a shell with no depth.
I'm all for removing quests, allowing players to just "experience" the game instead of being led through it. But in order to experience the world in the game, there has to be a world to actually experience. It can't just be a glorified height map. Any elementary 3D modeler could make that, it doesn't make for an intriguing MMORPG.
So to sum that up: if your world feels dead, I will not be a paying customer.
^this
I know I say it all the time, but there is more to an mmorpg than players. The game has to be fun without pvp to be fun with it. You have to actually build a virtual world that looks, feels and operates like a world, even in the absence of players. Otherwise you're left with a lifeless fantasy backdrop for an fps with elves. Content is king, and progression is what keeps people logging in. If you have nothing else to achieve other than pvp and land ownership, the game will get boring quick.
Originally posted by ReallyNow10 Okay. Now, do this in 3D and in PVE-mode (instead of hardcore PVP) .... like folks have been asking for, for the past TEN YEARS!
I was really excited about this game while reading your article until you said that the conquest of a zone is based on 5v5 areas...
That absolute ruins the game for me, you can't claim to be a open world conquest mmo, and have the center of the game's conquest system be based on instanced arenas.
Ah well, at least you saved me the time of ever playing this garbage, at least there are plenty more like it in development, one of which should at least get it right.
I admit that 5x5 arenas does fix the zerg problem quite nicely but overall I'd have to say that seems kinda... lousy.
My biggest enjoyment in guild vs guild warfare in various MMOs was being able to fight alongside my entire guild against others' entire guild. 5x5 is so... small.
In addition to that, in a 5x5 arena, it basically means every other guild member but the 5 selected champions just twiddle their thumbs (and maybe pray) when it comes to guild warfare. That's gotta suck.
Still, depending on how gear-dependent the game is and how hard it is to get high end gear, there could be advantages to being in a big guild anyways if only because the 5 champions will be more geared to the teeth. Still seems kinda lame though. (and you'd better make sure the opposition never loots that gear!)
This worries me, it sounded like it's gonna be an elitist game.
i've come to the point now in my life where i cannot play games with this kinda art-style, but thats just me, another thing is the combat system, its point and click and im a WASD whore and when it comes to the movement system it seems like characters aren't really moving like you would think they should, they are move like sliding and of course then there is the player looting which was never my thing, can't get myself to gather / craft for hours just to loose it next time i die.
im not dissing the people who wanna play this game, by all means, do IT, but im simply stating what i dont like about it.
Originally posted by mikeb0817 Fans of Ultima Online rejoyce! Looking forward to trying this when it is further along in development!
Do some research, this game is nothing like UO in any shape or form. The design of the game insures it will be a gank fest which UO never was.
Secondly, F2P means bots and spammers unlimited, which along with the cheaters, they will sink this game fast.
Worse than a gank fest but a complete Zerg fest... and while I know they are trying to put in Zerg countermeasures in the game When you throw 20 or so people at a small group no countermeasure will stand a chance.
I also fear for Oz's second cencern with the bots/spammers and just overall fodder of tourists and those who have no vested interest in the game other then to troll the game like so many other F2P games.
I think the better bet would be "Shards Online" which has the option of several custom rule sets.
Perhaps this game may eveolve into something decent after the chaff dies down and the server normalizes.
The combat in this game is bad, has very low skill ceiling, and offers no spells with counters, only basic crowd control. Group pvp comes down to calling a target, and the best team at focus firing their target wins. No strategy, no ways to have fought better. It's such a simple, cut down game it's amazing this is being made in 2015, except for the fact its made for peoples phones and tablets.
I said exactly these points in another forum post about albion, and one of the devs responded to me and agreed with all these points and said their current combat is a placeholder and they are not happy with it. Yet they are more than happy to sell you an alpha with this bad combat for a game that will be f2p.
Regardless of what ive said, and the current state of the game anyone paying for alpha of a free game has more money than sense and should stop. You are ruining it for everyone else supporting devs that charge you to do them a favor and test their unfinished product.
A PvP game with a cash shop, full loot, and character skills / abilities dependent upon your equipped, lootable gear?
Nope, can't see any possible way that could go wrong...
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
This is one of the first new games coming out that I am completely enthralled with . I have tried just about every new game coming out since WoW (started playing MMO's with UO/EQ).
This gives me that old school UO feel. I CAN'T WAIT for it to be full release so I can go balls deep.
I was really excited about this game while reading your article until you said that the conquest of a zone is based on 5v5 areas...
That absolute ruins the game for me, you can't claim to be a open world conquest mmo, and have the center of the game's conquest system be based on instanced arenas.
Ah well, at least you saved me the time of ever playing this garbage, at least there are plenty more like it in development, one of which should at least get it right.
I admit that 5x5 arenas does fix the zerg problem quite nicely but overall I'd have to say that seems kinda... lousy.
My biggest enjoyment in guild vs guild warfare in various MMOs was being able to fight alongside my entire guild against others' entire guild. 5x5 is so... small.
In addition to that, in a 5x5 arena, it basically means every other guild member but the 5 selected champions just twiddle their thumbs (and maybe pray) when it comes to guild warfare. That's gotta suck.
Still, depending on how gear-dependent the game is and how hard it is to get high end gear, there could be advantages to being in a big guild anyways if only because the 5 champions will be more geared to the teeth. Still seems kinda lame though. (and you'd better make sure the opposition never loots that gear!)
This worries me, it sounded like it's gonna be an elitist game.
It already is.
I think the devs had good intentions but everything fell together to become a massive time sink and the most hardcore 8 hr a day gamer guy and his buddies will dominate the game.
Originally posted by mikeb0817 Fans of Ultima Online rejoyce! Looking forward to trying this when it is further along in development!
Do some research, this game is nothing like UO in any shape or form. The design of the game insures it will be a gank fest which UO never was.
Secondly, F2P means bots and spammers unlimited, which along with the cheaters, they will sink this game fast.
You never played UO Pre Ultima Online: Renaissance then, before there was Trammel. That just on Ganking part.
But from look at the game it looks like it borrows from UO and from Runescape without being like ether.
Sic semper tyrannis "Democracy broke down, not when the Union ceased to be agreeable to all its constituent States, but when it was upheld, like any other Empire, by force of arms."
Originally posted by mikeb0817 Fans of Ultima Online rejoyce! Looking forward to trying this when it is further along in development!
Do some research, this game is nothing like UO in any shape or form. The design of the game insures it will be a gank fest which UO never was.
Secondly, F2P means bots and spammers unlimited, which along with the cheaters, they will sink this game fast.
I haven't been keeping up with Albion Online that much. Is it really so gank-festeriffic that even pre-Reputation system UO doesn't qualify as a gank fest compared to it?
Pre-Reputation UO is before Pre-Trammel (the safe PvP-less mirror world) UO for those that don't remember. UO's days before the Reputation system came out were so ridicously PK-erriffic that it was... well, ridiculous. Then the Reputation system came out giving VERY harsh penalties to murderors/PKers and... it was still ridiculous, but significantly less so. If Albion is truly THAT much worse than pre-reputation system Ultima Online that you think Ultima Online was "never a gank fest", that must be insane Oo ...if that's actually the case, of course.
I suppose one major difference I'm seeing already is that houses aren't safe in Albion Online (in old-school UO, houses themselves were safe. Your house keys, on the other hand... but those were safe as long as they stayed in the bank at least)
Another major difference I was aware of but forgot was that in Albion Online, "You are what you wear". That's the equivalent of people being able to loot your maxed out magery or swordsmanship skill in Ultima Online.
....seems a bit too harsh to me but I guess we'll see how it goes.
If you read the post above you will notice, it has no npcs, so you can only intereact with others who most probably will want to kill you. UO had tons of NPCs, they made the world alive. I played UO way before Trammel and never noticed any gank fest. Of course the secret to UO was not to solo, but go in groups.
I said Pre-Reputation, not Pre-Trammel... (which a lot of what I'm hearing about Albion reminds me of)
Also, I never really interacted with NPCs in UO either for the most part (maybe some Vendor Sells and reagents, oh, and stabling my pets, but that's about it.
I do agree that without those NPCs the world would have looked crazy empty, though (although in other cases it was funny how... off the spawns were, like times where you'd get tons of healer NPCs on the same screen or whatever else)
Oh, right, I did interact with healer NPCs sometimes, I guess. Kinda miss how those guys aren't in any other MMOs.
On a separate topic in this thread, I wonder what they'll sell in the cash shop anyways. Not sure the graphics of this game lends itself very well to a cash shop that sells cosmetics, that's for sure. If it's anything like the cosmetics you got for the founders' pack, no one's going to use them cause they'll just get looted from you without providing any tactical benefit. If anything, wearing cosmetics will make you a bigger target. I still say making cosmetics lootable was stupid. The preview column here thanks someone else for "the founder's horse" they looted from that guy. I bet that guy is regretting spending money on that horse now. One of the first things UO did when it introduced microtransactions was make it clear that they were unlootable. That's tacked on to the description of every item they've ever sold or given out as a veteran reward just to hammer it into the players' face. Guess Albion isn't learning from that lesson.
- The crafting is fun at start (but it may be... boring after a while... alto, this happens with most MMORPGs).
The bad:
- The main difference I see with UO (pre and post trammel) and this game is that in UO no one could loot your skils. In here, they can. That is silly, imho. But it is how its designed.
- For what I had been able to experienced the combat is simple (way to simple).
- Zerging will happen (And alto I experienced pre-trammel UO... this seems to be really a zerg fest uber party for everyone that even eclipsed UO in that... sadly).
I support this game. I think it has almost everything going in the right direction. And I feel like a broken record, but the combat is dull and uninspired. I've played through the last two alpha tests.
Comments
some are jumping of joy
^this
I know I say it all the time, but there is more to an mmorpg than players. The game has to be fun without pvp to be fun with it. You have to actually build a virtual world that looks, feels and operates like a world, even in the absence of players. Otherwise you're left with a lifeless fantasy backdrop for an fps with elves. Content is king, and progression is what keeps people logging in. If you have nothing else to achieve other than pvp and land ownership, the game will get boring quick.
Sure there is toss in F2P.
I wholeheartedly endorse this view.
+12That might be a harsh way to put alpha games, but it definitely nails it.
This worries me, it sounded like it's gonna be an elitist game.
i've come to the point now in my life where i cannot play games with this kinda art-style, but thats just me, another thing is the combat system, its point and click and im a WASD whore and when it comes to the movement system it seems like characters aren't really moving like you would think they should, they are move like sliding and of course then there is the player looting which was never my thing, can't get myself to gather / craft for hours just to loose it next time i die.
im not dissing the people who wanna play this game, by all means, do IT, but im simply stating what i dont like about it.
Worse than a gank fest but a complete Zerg fest... and while I know they are trying to put in Zerg countermeasures in the game When you throw 20 or so people at a small group no countermeasure will stand a chance.
I also fear for Oz's second cencern with the bots/spammers and just overall fodder of tourists and those who have no vested interest in the game other then to troll the game like so many other F2P games.
I think the better bet would be "Shards Online" which has the option of several custom rule sets.
Perhaps this game may eveolve into something decent after the chaff dies down and the server normalizes.
What are your other Hobbies?
Gaming is Dirt Cheap compared to this...
The combat in this game is bad, has very low skill ceiling, and offers no spells with counters, only basic crowd control. Group pvp comes down to calling a target, and the best team at focus firing their target wins. No strategy, no ways to have fought better. It's such a simple, cut down game it's amazing this is being made in 2015, except for the fact its made for peoples phones and tablets.
I said exactly these points in another forum post about albion, and one of the devs responded to me and agreed with all these points and said their current combat is a placeholder and they are not happy with it. Yet they are more than happy to sell you an alpha with this bad combat for a game that will be f2p.
Regardless of what ive said, and the current state of the game anyone paying for alpha of a free game has more money than sense and should stop. You are ruining it for everyone else supporting devs that charge you to do them a favor and test their unfinished product.
A PvP game with a cash shop, full loot, and character skills / abilities dependent upon your equipped, lootable gear?
Nope, can't see any possible way that could go wrong...
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
This is one of the first new games coming out that I am completely enthralled with . I have tried just about every new game coming out since WoW (started playing MMO's with UO/EQ).
This gives me that old school UO feel. I CAN'T WAIT for it to be full release so I can go balls deep.
It already is.
I think the devs had good intentions but everything fell together to become a massive time sink and the most hardcore 8 hr a day gamer guy and his buddies will dominate the game.
You never played UO Pre Ultima Online: Renaissance then, before there was Trammel. That just on Ganking part.
But from look at the game it looks like it borrows from UO and from Runescape without being like ether.
Sic semper tyrannis "Democracy broke down, not when the Union
ceased to be agreeable to all its constituent States, but when it was upheld, like any other Empire, by force of arms."
So What Now?
Released as F2P with no NPCs and full loot PvP? If that doesnt spell full on pay to win type cash shop I dont know what does.
Cant believe anyone is giving this game any sort of notice.
I said Pre-Reputation, not Pre-Trammel... (which a lot of what I'm hearing about Albion reminds me of)
Also, I never really interacted with NPCs in UO either for the most part (maybe some Vendor Sells and reagents, oh, and stabling my pets, but that's about it.
I do agree that without those NPCs the world would have looked crazy empty, though (although in other cases it was funny how... off the spawns were, like times where you'd get tons of healer NPCs on the same screen or whatever else)
Oh, right, I did interact with healer NPCs sometimes, I guess. Kinda miss how those guys aren't in any other MMOs.
On a separate topic in this thread, I wonder what they'll sell in the cash shop anyways. Not sure the graphics of this game lends itself very well to a cash shop that sells cosmetics, that's for sure. If it's anything like the cosmetics you got for the founders' pack, no one's going to use them cause they'll just get looted from you without providing any tactical benefit. If anything, wearing cosmetics will make you a bigger target. I still say making cosmetics lootable was stupid. The preview column here thanks someone else for "the founder's horse" they looted from that guy. I bet that guy is regretting spending money on that horse now. One of the first things UO did when it introduced microtransactions was make it clear that they were unlootable. That's tacked on to the description of every item they've ever sold or given out as a veteran reward just to hammer it into the players' face. Guess Albion isn't learning from that lesson.
Th good:
- It does has a feeling ala UO.
- The crafting is fun at start (but it may be... boring after a while... alto, this happens with most MMORPGs).
The bad:
- The main difference I see with UO (pre and post trammel) and this game is that in UO no one could loot your skils. In here, they can. That is silly, imho. But it is how its designed.
- For what I had been able to experienced the combat is simple (way to simple).
- Zerging will happen (And alto I experienced pre-trammel UO... this seems to be really a zerg fest uber party for everyone that even eclipsed UO in that... sadly).
Gaming since 1985; Online gaming since 1995; No End in Sight! My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8POVoJ8fdOseuJ4U1ZX-oA
will only play or test it when that free to play for REAL !!!
curently that in ALPHA LIMITED TIME BUY TO PAY,and a realy high price for only some week before new beta new year
total rip off and im not giving my money to any dev anymore who try to scam and rip off poor customer, im now talking with my wallet !!
you shall not have what inside my wallet !!!!