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What exactly is....FoM?

TorakTorak Member Posts: 4,905

OK, I've read some of the post here and looked at some of the info. I'm unclear on a few things.

First, is there open PvP? I'm not sure if I am correct on this but I'm guessing yes?

I gather its mainly RP. (which is fitting since its an MMORPG) What sort of features does the game include? Housing? Vehicles? What type of devices? IS there crafting or engineering of some sort? Skill system?

No Kill task???? What???? How can this be???? What will everyone do without an NPC to tell you what to do next????? (todays MMO players are nothing more then NPC deployed drones)

Please, if someone doesn't mind, describe what the environment and general gameplay session is like.

Is there space travel at all? Are there open explorable worlds? I noticed someone saying something about leading troops, what is that about? Aliens of some sort?

It sounds very interesting to say the least. No levels, wow........I've been babbling about this sort of thing for months...... How large is this game? (population and scope - number of worlds - how big are the worlds?) All the gritty details.

This game is in rough condition from what I'm reading here? How so, if so, or is it just haters trolling around?

Players, spill your guts if you don't mind.  

(If you plan on just flaming the game, save yourself the time and don't post, not interested in flames, constructive critizisms, yes...babbling flames, no) 

Comments

  • VeustuhVeustuh Member Posts: 45


    Originally posted by Torak

    First, is there open PvP? I'm not sure if I am correct on this but I'm guessing yes?

    Yes, Face of Mankind runs on a free for all PvP system to which even your own faction can turn on each other.  The only gating system used in Face of Mankind is that each faction has their own home locations to which only those who are in the same faction can travel to.  This does cut down on possible places for action; however, it also helps prevent ganking new players who have just joined the game.  (** It doesn't prevent same faction players from ganking new players)

    I gather its mainly RP. (which is fitting since its an MMORPG) What sort of features does the game include? Housing? Vehicles? What type of devices? IS there crafting or engineering of some sort? Skill system?

    While Face of Mankind bares some kind of RPG to its title most of the roleplaying action happens on the forums of all places.  Many times it's a kill on sight (or bored mindless kills) when meeting other factions so the chances for roleplaying in game can be slim to none at times.  Few in all factions will attempt to roleplay when confronted and/or give potential victims time to respond to roleplay opportunities; however, most engagements allow for as much roleplay opportunities as any FPS (i.e. Counterstrike and Battlefield... how often do you find roleplay happening there?)

    All housing systems work basically the same as in your character can purchase apartments in various locations as well as higher priced living accommodations and even penthouses for monthly fees.  These fees are automatically deducted from the player's bank each in-game month to which if the player doesn't have the funds to cover the space they relinqish ownership.  Additionally, all planets have set storage locations to which players can store limited amounts of items in.  These storage facilities do not interact with other storage locations (i.e. Ground Zero's banks cannot see Moon Base banks) but players are given an option to ship items between banks for a fee.

    Currently there are no vehicles for ground nor space so everything is done by foot.  This isn't really an issue as all locations are about the size of most 64 player maps found in a good FPS.  This limits a lot of potential yet at the same time keeps the action focused in contained areas.  Currently this isn't too much of an issue with the player base size though if active subscriptions were to increase ten-fold maps would become crowded adding/taking away from the overall experience depending upon the situation.

    Face of Mankind does offer a crafting system open to all (traders get a discount) though it's as basic as they come in the sense that all one does to mine/manufacture is stand at a terminal.  There are a few settings (usually power and temperature) that the player can interact with though messing with them results in costing more money to harvest/produce then anything else.  Keeping the settings at the lower levels pays off in the long run cost wise since the more mine/produce the cheaper it costs; however, this will take a long time (both game and real life) to complete certain tasks.  Furthermore, anything harvested/produced on a planet/location stays in that area's storage unit until it's retrieved by the player and/or shipped to a different location.  Be prepared for a lot of back and forth travel if you're wanted to check on your production or ship resources.

    One of the more unique parts of Face of Mankind is the skill system, or lack there of.  Players don't gain levels with the game nor can they spend accrued experience on items either so basically everybody is essentially equal in terms of skill set.  The only defining parts of Face of Mankind's combat system is what quality equipment each profession can use in addition to an individual's connection and ability to fight in circle around opponents.  Combatants can generally use all levels of gear found within Face of Mankind where as Medics and Traders are usually capped at low to mid range gear.  Difference in protection from Level 7 (max) armor verses Level 3 (trader max) as well as QLIII rifles verses QLI are huge thus making being anything but a combatant in Face of Mankind pointless.  The lack of balance in this system comes to light when a skilled non-primary combatant faces off with a mediocre combatant.  Regardless of how great the non-combatant is at the game the person who has the highest quality items will almost always win.*

    (* This is one of several main killing points for Face of Mankind.  Why offer 4 different classes if only one has a chance in hell of competing?  All players regardless of profession can mine and produce; why hamper yourself for moderate discounts as a Trader when you will hopelessly get waxed in every fight against a combatant?  Why be a Medic when a Trader can make the same exact medical components at cheaper prices and a Combatant can make the same things as well?  Why be a Commander when only Rank 4 players and higher can make missions?  Add to this why would anybody take any profession that doesn't allow them to compete on a level playing ground when one class can do all?)

    No Kill task???? What???? How can this be???? What will everyone do without an NPC to tell you what to do next????? (todays MMO players are nothing more then NPC deployed drones)

    While not having to rely upon NPCs and game generated mission terminals for things to do in an MMO, relying upon a fellow player can be worse to which Face of Mankind amplifies this.  Currently only Trader missions can be generated by the game system; however, for the time spent doing the mission along with out of pocket expenses and low experience/coin return there's little incentive to running these mission.  Player generated missions could offer so much if implemented under the right circumstances such as allowing the game system to generate missions in accordance to other factions.**  Unfortunately only Rank 4 or higher faction members can generate missions for players to select.  In an ideal environment it would work as there would typically be about a 30 to 1 ratio in which for every 10 non-Rank 4 players there's at least one on who can generate missions.  With 10,000 people in one faction on that would give 300+ who could generate missions for all their faction allies to run.

    Right now there are hours where nobody can generate missions for players of certain factions thus making the game extremely boring since it's dependant upon the player created mission system.  This is where the traditional MMO model works best at in which players can run random quests as well as interact with terminals/npcs in order to do things while friends aren't on and/or the active player base is low.  Basically imagine the MMO you play now without any quests, NPC missions, no interactive items in which to gain some sort of adventure from and you have Face of Mankind's mission system when no Rank 4+ players are around.

    This also leads into another problem with the game as in if the faction you choose doesn't support its players and/or plays favorites it can be near impossible for any newcomer to excel in the game.  Everything costs money to which the only way to make money is with missions.  Sure players can kill others for gear to sell on the market; however, the best amounts of cash will always come from mission payouts.  No missions, no money and every bullet costs money as does losing condition on armor.  Figure in apartment costs, clone costs if you don't want your character to perma-die as well as any traveling fees and it can be near impossible to do anything if missions are void hence why other MMOs run quests, npcs and other game generated missions.

    (** This is another issue to which hampers Face of Mankind's potential into the MMO market as depending solely upon the player pool to generate missions has been and will be the death of the game.  If not enough mission creators are on to create missions then those who play during off hours will have nothing to do.  Additionally if the only mission creator is running a mission then those who are on at the time cannot have a mission created for them.  Also, many of the combat missions are set to defending areas to which nobody can be found at leaving a player standing around for 30+ minutes doing nothing.  Why pay for a game in which there is nothing to do because nobody is around to make missions or the mission system lacks depth?

    One of the suggestions I've mentioned is allowing the game system to create counter missions to player generated missions.  These counter missions would occur when other factions created missions for defend/attacks in areas that can be contested.  The game system could base this off as soon as the mission for the player created side starts the mission or be generated by NPC presence.  For example LED runs a mission on Euro Corp territory and has 5 people running around Epsilon.  After passing 4 NPCs a mission is created by the game system for Euro Corp that says intruders have breeched Epsilon thus giving Euro Corp players something to do and LED the chance to find hostile activities.

    Building on this the game system could also allow the NPCs to recognize player factions and report activities to protective factions.  In this instance say a group of FDC are roaming through some of the Brotherhood's turf looking for people to kill.  After enough players are viewed by npcs a system mission is generated in which Brotherhood players are dispatched to the location where the FDC were last seen at.  This could even work its way into branching off and having NPCs report updates as to where the enemy is at.  (best example would be bounty hunter droids in SW:G pre-CU)  Once again this improvement wouldn't remove player generated missions from being the main stay of the game but would give players more to do than wait 45+ minutes for missions.)

    Is there space travel at all? Are there open explorable worlds? I noticed someone saying something about leading troops, what is that about? Aliens of some sort?

    Space travel isn't found in Face of Mankind though a Vortex system will instantly zone players into various locations.  Everything in the game is ground based which limits the games overall potential.  Before retail release there were aliens; however, they have yet to be reimplemented.


    It sounds very interesting to say the least. No levels, wow........I've been babbling about this sort of thing for months...... How large is this game? (population and scope - number of worlds - how big are the worlds?) All the gritty details.

    This game is in rough condition from what I'm reading here? How so, if so, or is it just haters trolling around?

    Players, spill your guts if you don't mind.  

    (If you plan on just flaming the game, save yourself the time and don't post, not interested in flames, constructive critizisms, yes...babbling flames, no) 



    Honestly, giving the game a try is about the best way to determine if you're going to enjoy Face of Mankind or not.  It's a free download and trial not to mention that they're only charging $10 US a month to play.  Population will vary depending upon your play time as well as faction for some factions have more active players than others while some have more players active at odd hours.  Best advice is enter into the game with an open mind.  As for all the huge sway in opinions, Face of Mankind is one of those games either you really like it or you're appalled by it and it's safe to say that the responses reflect the feelings of both sides adequately.

  • GoldenKillerGoldenKiller Member Posts: 26


    Originally posted by Veustuh

    Originally posted by Torak

    First, is there open PvP? I'm not sure if I am correct on this but I'm guessing yes?
    Yes, Face of Mankind runs on a free for all PvP system to which even your own faction can turn on each other.  The only gating system used in Face of Mankind is that each faction has their own home locations to which only those who are in the same faction can travel to.  This does cut down on possible places for action; however, it also helps prevent ganking new players who have just joined the game.  (** It doesn't prevent same faction players from ganking new players)
    What he said :P



    I gather its mainly RP. (which is fitting since its an MMORPG) What sort of features does the game include? Housing? Vehicles? What type of devices? IS there crafting or engineering of some sort? Skill system?
    While Face of Mankind bares some kind of RPG to its title most of the roleplaying action happens on the forums of all places.  Many times it's a kill on sight (or bored mindless kills) when meeting other factions so the chances for roleplaying in game can be slim to none at times.  Few in all factions will attempt to roleplay when confronted and/or give potential victims time to respond to roleplay opportunities; however, most engagements allow for as much roleplay opportunities as any FPS (i.e. Counterstrike and Battlefield... how often do you find roleplay happening there?)

    That is unfair, i have been playing the game since the second month of beta, and i have found that you do not only kill people, if all you want to do is kill people, then yes, Face Of Mankind is a waste of your time, you must first talk to people and learn not to just kill people out of the blue...

    All housing systems work basically the same as in your character can purchase apartments in various locations as well as higher priced living accommodations and even penthouses for monthly fees.  These fees are automatically deducted from the player's bank each in-game month to which if the player doesn't have the funds to cover the space they relinqish ownership.  Additionally, all planets have set storage locations to which players can store limited amounts of items in.  These storage facilities do not interact with other storage locations (i.e. Ground Zero's banks cannot see Moon Base banks) but players are given an option to ship items between banks for a fee.

    Houses are'nt for monthly fee's, you buy them full price right away (your faction buys your first house)

    Currently there are no vehicles for ground nor space so everything is done by foot.  This isn't really an issue as all locations are about the size of most 64 player maps found in a good FPS.  This limits a lot of potential yet at the same time keeps the action focused in contained areas.  Currently this isn't too much of an issue with the player base size though if active subscriptions were to increase ten-fold maps would become crowded adding/taking away from the overall experience depending upon the situation.
    Face of Mankind does offer a crafting system open to all (traders get a discount) though it's as basic as they come in the sense that all one does to mine/manufacture is stand at a terminal.  There are a few settings (usually power and temperature) that the player can interact with though messing with them results in costing more money to harvest/produce then anything else.  Keeping the settings at the lower levels pays off in the long run cost wise since the more mine/produce the cheaper it costs; however, this will take a long time (both game and real life) to complete certain tasks.  Furthermore, anything harvested/produced on a planet/location stays in that area's storage unit until it's retrieved by the player and/or shipped to a different location.  Be prepared for a lot of back and forth travel if you're wanted to check on your production or ship resources.

    One of the more unique parts of Face of Mankind is the skill system, or lack there of.  Players don't gain levels with the game nor can they spend accrued experience on items either so basically everybody is essentially equal in terms of skill set.  The only defining parts of Face of Mankind's combat system is what quality equipment each profession can use in addition to an individual's connection and ability to fight in circle around opponents.  Combatants can generally use all levels of gear found within Face of Mankind where as Medics and Traders are usually capped at low to mid range gear.  Difference in protection from Level 7 (max) armor verses Level 3 (trader max) as well as QLIII rifles verses QLI are huge thus making being anything but a combatant in Face of Mankind pointless.  The lack of balance in this system comes to light when a skilled non-primary combatant faces off with a mediocre combatant.  Regardless of how great the non-combatant is at the game the person who has the highest quality items will almost always win.*

    A Balance has been implemented, Commanders are more or less Equal with combatants now, medics are still worse, but that is because they are a SUPPORT ROLE, not someone whose going into the middle of a battle to win it...and traders are the crafters, who only need weapons to defend themselves.
    (* This is one of several main killing points for Face of Mankind.  Why offer 4 different classes if only one has a chance in hell of competing?  All players regardless of profession can mine and produce; why hamper yourself for moderate discounts as a Trader when you will hopelessly get waxed in every fight against a combatant?  Why be a Medic when a Trader can make the same exact medical components at cheaper prices and a Combatant can make the same things as well?  Why be a Commander when only Rank 4 players and higher can make missions?  Add to this why would anybody take any profession that doesn't allow them to compete on a level playing ground when one class can do all?)


    No Kill task???? What???? How can this be???? What will everyone do without an NPC to tell you what to do next????? (todays MMO players are nothing more then NPC deployed drones)
    While not having to rely upon NPCs and game generated mission terminals for things to do in an MMO, relying upon a fellow player can be worse to which Face of Mankind amplifies this.  Currently only Trader missions can be generated by the game system; however, for the time spent doing the mission along with out of pocket expenses and low experience/coin return there's little incentive to running these mission.  Player generated missions could offer so much if implemented under the right circumstances such as allowing the game system to generate missions in accordance to other factions.**  Unfortunately only Rank 4 or higher faction members can generate missions for players to select.  In an ideal environment it would work as there would typically be about a 30 to 1 ratio in which for every 10 non-Rank 4 players there's at least one on who can generate missions.  With 10,000 people in one faction on that would give 300+ who could generate missions for all their faction allies to run.

    If you look at the to do list they are planning on implementing a automated combat mission systems,also you dont need to do trader missions out of pocket, i know, im currently a R5 trader of a corporation.
    They dont let lower ranked people create missions because they could potentially screw up a factions politics, also, since it is a closed economy it could screw up a factions income.

    Right now there are hours where nobody can generate missions for players of certain factions thus making the game extremely boring since it's dependant upon the player created mission system.  This is where the traditional MMO model works best at in which players can run random quests as well as interact with terminals/npcs in order to do things while friends aren't on and/or the active player base is low.  Basically imagine the MMO you play now without any quests, NPC missions, no interactive items in which to gain some sort of adventure from and you have Face of Mankind's mission system when no Rank 4+ players are around.
    This also leads into another problem with the game as in if the faction you choose doesn't support its players and/or plays favorites it can be near impossible for any newcomer to excel in the game.  Everything costs money to which the only way to make money is with missions.  Sure players can kill others for gear to sell on the market; however, the best amounts of cash will always come from mission payouts.  No missions, no money and every bullet costs money as does losing condition on armor.  Figure in apartment costs, clone costs if you don't want your character to perma-die as well as any traveling fees and it can be near impossible to do anything if missions are void hence why other MMOs run quests, npcs and other game generated missions.

    Combatants, medics, and commanders rely on missions for income, yes, but they arent SUPPOSED to be rich, they are the fighters, the ones who protect/ make a faction richer...also with auto-generated combat missions coming soon....

    (** This is another issue to which hampers Face of Mankind's potential into the MMO market as depending solely upon the player pool to generate missions has been and will be the death of the game.  If not enough mission creators are on to create missions then those who play during off hours will have nothing to do.  Additionally if the only mission creator is running a mission then those who are on at the time cannot have a mission created for them.  Also, many of the combat missions are set to defending areas to which nobody can be found at leaving a player standing around for 30+ minutes doing nothing.  Why pay for a game in which there is nothing to do because nobody is around to make missions or the mission system lacks depth?
    One of the suggestions I've mentioned is allowing the game system to create counter missions to player generated missions.  These counter missions would occur when other factions created missions for defend/attacks in areas that can be contested.  The game system could base this off as soon as the mission for the player created side starts the mission or be generated by NPC presence.  For example LED runs a mission on Euro Corp territory and has 5 people running around Epsilon.  After passing 4 NPCs a mission is created by the game system for Euro Corp that says intruders have breeched Epsilon thus giving Euro Corp players something to do and LED the chance to find hostile activities.
    Building on this the game system could also allow the NPCs to recognize player factions and report activities to protective factions.  In this instance say a group of FDC are roaming through some of the Brotherhood's turf looking for people to kill.  After enough players are viewed by npcs a system mission is generated in which Brotherhood players are dispatched to the location where the FDC were last seen at.  This could even work its way into branching off and having NPCs report updates as to where the enemy is at.  (best example would be bounty hunter droids in SW:G pre-CU)  Once again this improvement wouldn't remove player generated missions from being the main stay of the game but would give players more to do than wait 45+ minutes for missions.)


    Is there space travel at all? Are there open explorable worlds? I noticed someone saying something about leading troops, what is that about? Aliens of some sort?
    Space travel isn't found in Face of Mankind though a Vortex system will instantly zone players into various locations.  Everything in the game is ground based which limits the games overall potential.  Before retail release there were aliens; however, they have yet to be reimplemented.




    It sounds very interesting to say the least. No levels, wow........I've been babbling about this sort of thing for months...... How large is this game? (population and scope - number of worlds - how big are the worlds?) All the gritty details.



    This game is in rough condition from what I'm reading here? How so, if so, or is it just haters trolling around?
    Players, spill your guts if you don't mind.  
    (If you plan on just flaming the game, save yourself the time and don't post, not interested in flames, constructive critizisms, yes...babbling flames, no) 


    Honestly, giving the game a try is about the best way to determine if you're going to enjoy Face of Mankind or not.  It's a free download and trial not to mention that they're only charging $10 US a month to play.  Population will vary depending upon your play time as well as faction for some factions have more active players than others while some have more players active at odd hours.  Best advice is enter into the game with an open mind.  As for all the huge sway in opinions, Face of Mankind is one of those games either you really like it or you're appalled by it and it's safe to say that the responses reflect the feelings of both sides adequately.



  • Nero_JinousNero_Jinous Member Posts: 32
    Got professions a little wrong

    Trader the discount is very important. 30% off of 100k mining is a great amount and decides if someone will buy your product as you can sell lower.

    medics can use xl med kits, which heal a lot and faster, they can also heal other players, they are more likely to survive with the greater healing, but do less damage. Remember it isn't all run and kill you need tactics, set up a med station area in your back row that people run to and heal not just have a giant group of buff fighters.


  • ComanComan Member UncommonPosts: 2,178
    Short:

    Medics rocks


  • ServerKingServerKing Member Posts: 14
    I tried to like this game but I just couldnt get into it.
  • MalfMalf Member Posts: 1


    What exactly is....FoM?

    Shit.
  • MrAceMrAce Member Posts: 32


    Originally posted by ServerKing
    I tried to like this game but I just couldnt get into it.

    Ask around, that is all you'll have to do around FoM for starters....and a whole new world will be revealed to you.

    Yakuza fo life....Jack T Katsumoto/James Ace

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