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My Impression of the game, so far.
Mabinogi first of all is a very very veerrry well made game. Beautiful graphics and very intuitive with resolution options. I am not a "Hardcore Gamer" just a casual few hours out of the day player. So far as of right now i've progressed to lvl 17 since Open Beta has opened for North America. But even in the begining there are still lots of stuff that are presented and features i have not even scrated yet. so imma just give you the features i've used so far and what features i've seen availble. Feel Free to voice any opinions and responses.
1- Unique battling interface: Basically what you do to battle is click the monster with your mouse pointer and hope you dont die, in auto battle mode. There is also another mode that you can toggle to that is quite in depth and requires timing, skills learned in the game, and clicking ablities.
2- Very well made Maps and Graphics: The maps are amazing in this game. You get a full 3D view meaning ( your character can move forward backwards side to side, and get a 360 degree view horizontally and almost vertically.) Graphics can be slightly improved if you turn on the movie type shading, anti-aliasing (if your computer supports it), and dither motion blur (dither makes a small differnce but not much). Even with defult settings the graphics are still pretty good.
3- Many Many differnt Skills: Okay, you can learn alot of differnt skills that protain to many differnt aspects of the game (Combat, Life, Magic). Skills i've learn so far and are probably the noob skills are; Smash (combat), Defend (combat), Counter Atk (combat), Resting (life), Campfire building(life), Product Making(life), & theres a skill you need to know to learn magic skills too but i cant really remember what its called exactly. But there are many many other skills you can learn as you progress further and probably faster than i am in the game.
4- The Grind: the lvl grinding isnt too bad so far. I've hear that it isnt too bad once you get up higher but doing quests are probably the best and fastest way to lvl up.
5- Part time jobs: Yes you get part time jobs but they only last a day(in the game). and you can only do one part time job at a time. but it definately gives you a break from the grind and questing by letting you do small repitive tasks for an NPC.
6- Immersive: this game is pretty good at making you feel immursed in the game. you get nice sounds though some of the soundtracks for differnt parts of the map can be annoying but it does good by making alot of the travling by foot and by keeping the scenery not too repetitive. You can tell the map designers worked hard. Also you get titles kinna like achievements on the xbox live. Which gives you a nice since of pride when you play the game and get a nice title after your name.
The Bad: My complaints are the cursor is too small, along with loot items(makes it difficult to loot somtimes). The camera controlls can be a bit frustrating. Along with character controlling, i get stuck in corners alot but maybe thats just me. Also i get this weird repeat of motion lag, might be my connection, but it happens a few times too many for me. So many skills to learn that it might become confusing and ultimatly frustrating.
Overall: The game has minor fualts that will probably be fixed up in a few patches or just one nice big one. It is still in beta testing so there is lots of time to improve.
Comments
Very nice review...I am downloading it right now.
press and hold down alt to target items better
p.s. yeah movement and camra could be improved and more heroics needed
I also forgot to add that the download time is kinna long. the file size that is downloaded is about 800 MB and it took me about 1-1.5hrs to complete the download and installation, most of the time was to download.
Right on review, besides the minor issues of the game, which undoubtabIy will be looked over, I believe within time this will be the number one f2p game available, for me it's what has been lacking in other mmo in the past.
My thoughts:
[FYI: I was able to download the game from the Nexon website in about 10 minutes.]
(1) I think this is an "at first glance" game. At first glance, it looks really, really neat. Skill-based, no classes, endless customization of abilities. I'm not sure that feeling lasts much past the first few days of game playing, however. Or maybe it's just me. The game feels a lot like a typical Korean MMO grind after you stop getting new quests from the birds. That's an impression after a week of playing (as a complete newbie), however, so maybe it won't bear true in the long run.
(2) I'm having trouble forming a cogent opinion of the game because it's missing key components. Towns to which characters naturally progress haven't been introduced yet (e.g., you can't break the seal to Bangor or Emain Macha because the developers haven't yet put those towns in). The store, and its Nexon $'s, hasn't been opened yet. Certain skills, like the life skill Fishing, haven't been implemented yet.
On the other hand, I do find the game kinda fun, though I notice my play sessions are much shorter than in other MMOs. In Everquest2, for example, I would play 4-8 hours a day whenever I could. For Mabinogi, I'm only playing 30-60 minutes tops before I'm kind of ready to do something else with my time.
(3) The community is very, very young. This is not a criticism, just an observation. As a mid-30s adult, I feel very out of place.
(4) The combat system is fascinating. It's unlike any MMO I've ever played.
(5) The graphics are rudimentary in some contexts, and fantastic in others.
(6) I hate the UI. It's unfamiliar to me. Change is bad, mmkay?
(7) Picking up items is silly hard.
The limitations like, lack of quests, the seals to the next towns, and the skills that have been promised but not yet deliver'd are more than likely because that the game is still in beta testing so you cannot really bash on the game simply because its not done yet ( and im not saying that you are bashing the game, you obviously have vaild points ).
And as for the being mid 30's is going to be generally feel awkward because most players are comming from Maple Story and im sure just one glance at their graphics (which are quite nice for a 2D) you can tell its gonna have teens and pre-teens alike playing and dominating the community for a while. i myself am 19, so yeah.
I play just because i like the classes setup. and how there is so much potential for this game to be great F2P
So far I've been playing for 4 days and enjoying myself. It does have a charm. However the limited view range (you can only see a few feet around you, then it fades to a 2d background) is a bit annoying.
1. I want to be able to click into the distance and have my toon run not have to use the minimap like an RTS becase it only renders whats immediatly around me.
2. There's really no way to duel-class in some aspects. Like I can't pull with a bow and switch to melee. Even when the creature gets into melee range my character auto-ranges each attack. Hitting W to swap to my melee set dosn't seem to work. Its a bit of a let down. Best way seems to either rush with smash or use ice bolt to pull.
3. I invested some AP earlier on into some skills I wish I hadent' as I didn't then realize that the skills got more AP expensive as they raised in rank, plus leveling was so fast the AP was flooding in. Then I seemed to hit a wall where I couldn't kill mobs above a certain type. I didn't know where to go next or why I was getting owned by 1 mob and could breeze through another. This might just be class/mob balance so it's not a big deal. But money seems to come slowly and noobie armor is really expensive.
4. There is ALOT of clicking, even talking to 1 NPC they chop every bit of into into 12 pages of text I need to click through. I just want to advance the quest but I had to click through 20 pages during the magic lession quest. Yeesh. I'd rather have more text per page for less clicking.
5. The UI is very spartan, and limited to 10 hotkeys. Balance issues aside (like heal kits healing you for 1HP, woot). It is a charming game, just seems very raw still.
(On a side note I dunno what the OP is so jazzed about the terrain for, it's a low-rez tile system just like diablo2 but on a low-rez height field. Many of the terrain textures have obvious seems which make the ground look tiley. This is par for the asian MMO course, simmilarly found in Flyff, PrisonTale and other asian MMO's of that same calibur.)
Side note, I don't see any motion blurr or anti-aliasing options in the UI settings. There's dither but it dosn't create any sort of motion blurr effect as far as I can tell. All the models are very very low rez so it runs well on low-end systems as is common for asian games (lots of PC's in asia but many are 4-6 years older then todays standards, so to have a big user base the game companies over there tend to target lower specs).
Arioc Murkwood
Environment Artist
Sad but true.
played this game for a few days now. my impression/comments so far:
1 - for an f2p, it is a very neat game. compared to other f2p out there.
2 - a first glance, it looked like it is a sandbox mmo, but it's not. it does have some traits of a sandbox mmo though.
3 - as stated before, combat system is unique. but i wonder how it works in pvp?
4 - this game is stil in OB, thus there are a few bugs. eg. if you're using defence skill you're movement is hampered. but this doesnt apply on mobs (those damn wolves).
5 - dungeon exploring is fun, either you're doing solo or party (at least i'm enjoying it). but sometimes i question the purpose of it, just another grindfest or do you actually get something out of it.
After Taking a really really close look at the graphics and toggling between them all
the dither does make a small differnce it makes your character move slightly smoother.
as for the motion blur i probably miss read that one in the options. my mistake, i am going edit that part out of my original post.
and i've never really noticed how limited the view range is even with the range option turned on to far. It is limited.
as for the Anti-alias, there is an options for that its called "full screen anti-aliasing" but mines is not activated for reasons i do not know, i assume it is because my graphics card doesnt support it.
As for reasons why i am so hyped on the graphics, its because i notice the small detail they put into specific things and areas. and i appriciate their work, mainly cuz i am in school learning the same trade. Makeing a 3D map is much harder than it looks especailly when your trying not to eat up everyone ones RAM. and make it so that lower end graphics cards can support too. and its a beta, they're not gonna go allllll out for everything. bugs will be noticed
and yes talking to NPC's is dragged out process, but i think the makers where trying to give a sense of being involved with their conversation so they break up the text and give you little bits of emotion? i guess idono, i actually find it redundent. but its an effort on their part to get the gamer immursed.
(Totally Offsubject here so ignore me if yer not into MMO art)
There's two differant types of height field types. One is called image atlasing, which creates tilesheets of tiles which are used on a grid to create blocky curves and pieces which fit together to create the illusion of no grid. Best example of this is in the War3 or Starcraft map editors. They have a tileset with several "corner" pieces as well as length pieces and blends. When painting the map the brush randomly picks 1 of 4 blend tiles to use to go from dirt/grass and grass/rock. Etc... This method is very low requirments as you only load the atlas into ram and source from it. Each ZONE in Mabinogi has 1 or 2 atlas sheets based on the zones pallet.
The other type is called alpha masks, where you have a height field which is again broken into tiles but when painting it's more like photoshop layers. You are usualy limited to 4 layers per tile (depending how fine the tiles are chopped up, and how far out the programmers allow you to view) so it dosn't hurt performance with too many maps. Each texture is a color map, and each tile has it's own alpha mask. You ignore the tiles and just paint freehand, later going back to make sure you didn't accidentally paint into the edge of a tile with a 5th texture needlessly.
An example of this is World of Warcraft, notice that if the road runs by rocks, a common texture like the accent grass or something drops away in that tile. This is to maintain the 4 texture limit per tile for performance reasons.
Since you're i class for this stuff OP I thought you might find this interesting, it has nothing to do with the topic.
Arioc Murkwood
Environment Artist
Sad but true.
i understood about haaalf of that, mainly cuz i am familiar with the grid system. But yeah, im more of an animator/modler kinna guy.
What software are you talking about though? I've used Strata CX, Poser 6, Blender, and right now im working with Lightwave 8 converting to 9.
Are you a map designer or some other occupation that deals with games? or just a really close follower of the War3 map editing system? (not calling you out or n e thing, just curious cuz im trying to get as much knowledge as i can about 3D graphics/animation/modeling)
Back on topic.... =p
While I like the concept of the game, I doubt that I'll really stick around to play it.
It sorta reminds me of some old-school rpgs I used to play on Sega when I was like 10.
One aspect is the amount of text they have, describing every NPC and how his hair is waving in the breeze, etc. I don't mind reading, in fact, I'm an avid reader in RL, averaging about 1-2 books a week. However, I haven't encountered so much reading in an MMO.... ever. It's so out of the ordinary that I'd say it subtracts from the immersion, not adds to it.
Back in the 90s they didn't have the graphic capabilities they do now, so the relied a lot more on text to tell the story. But with the introduction of x-box, ps2, etc., we saw less text and more action. The use of text in this game makes me think that they were trying to cover up the fact that they won't/can't show you what they're describing. (Why do I need to know that his hair is flapping? Just program his hair to flap!)
Another aspect of the game that reminds me of the old-school RPGs is the music. It even sounds like the midi music you heard on the nintendo and sega genesis. Granted, I've not explored a whole lot yet so maybe it gets better in other areas.
Don't take me wrong, I really enjoyed those old-school RPGs. In fact, Shining Force 1 & 2 were some of my favorite games ever, I think I played each of them at least 2-3 times all the way through. But I guess at this point, 15 years later, seeing some of those same elements in a game makes me think that the game isn't as well developed as other current generation games.
My last concern is the population. I'm 25, not exactly an old fogey yet, but I really got the impression that a majority of the players were like... 12. I have no problem with younger people playing games.... I just don't want to play w/ a bunch of 11-14 year olds.
Anyway, I haven't spent a whole lot of time in game yet, these are just my first impressions. They may change as I play more. (If I play more... I'm not really hooked atm.)
Wait until it's 5am and it sucks your soul out, or when you start accomplishing everyday tasks in real life and you start hearing chimes go off. lol
I made it to level 18 and hit a wall. Grey wolves go down in 3 hits. Yet white wolves and thusly dire anything are a fight that near kills me. There's no middle ground. Often I'll use a skill such as counter-attack only to have the mob stay at a distance also sitting in counterattack till one of ours fades or our stamina runs out.
I guess I find the combat too erratic, either the AI rushes you and you can use skills stratigicly, or you are being owned by the AI who is countering every skill you use. I've spoken with other melee players who echo my sentiments. Also there's no way to tell how hard a mob is without engaging it, and having it kill you in 2 hits. It seems like every mob even a weak spiderling knocks you down. And with EXP loss on death that's not too cool. I've run from mobs and they never break chase untill I zone into a house or into another zone. I really liked the game and it's sandbox feel at first but the wall of slow exp and no quests I can accomplish till 20, lack of cash comming in unless I grind the same 10 scroll quest over and over so I can't get any armor.. lets just say I'm thinikin of uninstalling. Or deleting and going magic user or archer. Melee seems to be pretty broked.
Arioc Murkwood
Environment Artist
Sad but true.
Well here's some things Arioc that might sound strange for a fighter. Have you been eating right? Is your character muscular or skinny, how old is he etc.. it might sound funny but in this game all those things matter. The older characters are better because they are more grown and can take more punishment the younger ones need to still develop physically. Having every piece of armor on helps too from shield to helmet. Also I read somewhere that fat characters can take a little more punishment, and then there is the weapon, some weapons are more likely to make you fall more often because of their "balance rating" so take all that into consideration.
I've taken quite a beating from some monsters so these are all things I've learned and observed.
This game is alot more Fantasy life simulation than it appears at first and as it's tagline mentions so all those things are important.
In the end it might that you really are more suited to a mage or archer or a combination of some as you think and mention, I guess you'll find out, goodluck.
yeah i've hit that block too at lvl 18 im about 30% on exp.
Im not too annoyed with the grind or grinding. i play games to pass/kill time so grinding is pretty much what i really do outta the game.
BUT, If your like me (very very casual gamer) and are in no rush to be a high level player, i would recomend making a mental game out of how my part-time jobs you can complete before they day is out. lol.
so far mines is 3 jobs. i've done the Healer, Sheapher (or how ever you spell it), and the Grocery store ones. and IMO i think that doing part-time jobs on a basis is probably the most steady amount of cash flow and a just below average amont of exp you can get outta the game.
The reason you are dying is merely because, honestly. The AI has outsmarted you in combat.
You need to learn what they do and what you can do to counter it. Your stats mean nothing if you do not fight well. Player skill is important. Practice and you'll get better, thats all I can say.
This is not a typical MMO where you can just get the best gear and rock on. A skilled level ten player, can wipe a dire white wolf easily. A ten year old character that is level ten, at that.
I have killed kobold bandits with a lv 19 10 year old, they give better exp as they are a higher lv
Yeah, you can take down a monster that will kill you in like 3 hits and never get toushed or you could end up dead just on skill use
the red spiders in the grave yard show this alot you see and 10 year old run up and kill it and then a 17 year old run and die as they dont use their skills or use them too late
p.s. if you lag in this game your dead
I notice a lot of people saying that if you lag, you die..Not quite true. I sometimes lag HORRIBLY because of my connection. If you know what you're doing well enough, you'll pull through. The problem is when the lag locks you up for a good 30 seconds, or just at a very crucial wrong moment.
There are some erroneous details that I would like to settle in this thread. For example, Bangor is already in the game, you just need someone to break the seal. I think two of the three servers have broken it so far. So please be a little more educated about the game before you post something wrong.
As for the wall that people are hitting in the game, I recently hit that as well. Ciar dungeon is a great way to get pass this wall. Pick up the beginner pass from the guy outside the school. I get about a 20% jump in exp each run (without fighting the golem, which is the boss, at the end) and a lot of gold. Hope this helps....
Also, the last server Tarlach (I think that's it) Seems to have a bit more of a mature player base. Just an observation...
I'm from Mari. And I think the playerbase is just as mature as any other server, the problem is the flood of MapleStory players. But if you look around you can find mature players as well.
If you want help to kill the little golem [which spawns in Ciar beginner as the boss]
Use icebolt or smash to start the battle. Then defend and walk away constantly while you are defending. He will eventually come after you with a normal attack. Hit him back after this with your combo, then defend and walk away again. Do this until he grows. When he grows, just rush at him with your normal attack and keep that up constantly. I use a two hander, which is slow..at most he hits me twice at this stage. usually only once. I have killed him with this exact method, with a BROKEN bast-ard sword.
Lil update on my gaming experience with Mabinogi.
So far i have worked my way to becoming level 22 at age 20 (IG) when i started at age 17. Im pretty sure i am making slow but steady progress.
Some complaints i have:
1. the grind between lvl 18 till you hit 20 is rather long and every un-eventful. But i still got past lvl 20. when you reach lvl 20 you get a decent amount of bonus exp so when you get there your already at 25% exp and from there its pretty nice.
2. The quest are hard and repetive. I've been stuck on the same 4 quests for a long time mainly because its very dificult to do solo. when attempting the "kill 5 black dire wolf" and the "kill 5 white dire wolfs" quests. i HIGHLY recomend you do it in at least in party of 2. Perferably some thats a range attacker and a melee attacker. the range attacker would use a Magnum shot and shoot from as far as you can without missing and the meleer would wait till the wolf gets about half way from where he got shot and just beat the rest of the HP out of the wolf with the assist of the Range character.
3. LAG... there is a lag. its pretty bad sometimes. It occurs mostly while hunting on a slighty busy channel or highly populated area character and mob wise. I really really hope they fix this soon because it kind of becomes frustrating especially if your trying to hunt.
My experience with the community has been good. Most players are nice and will Rez someone who has fallen just because. The only bad thing is the slew of maple story players and anime crazy "azn" pride users. I normally don't bash on specific people but really, i have come across some of the most stereo typical names like "aznnguyen" or "azn leaf" azn azn azn.... okay it was cool in the 90's to have AZN attached to everything but common, i thought that died with the 90's.
Other than the dumb names for characters and guilds ( babypunchers?)... the maturaty level is okay most players are nice and helpful. I do believe this game has LOTS of potential. and that i hope with the next patch they will fix the lag issues and maybe add the rest of the skills that the mabinogi promises along with the release of new races.
The lag can get bad. I kind of wish I started on the less populated servers. The community to me seem a bit too young for me. I feel out of place at times, even though I still consider myself a young guy. Just turned 23 irl. :-) I also notice the stupid character and guild names around too, like Pedophiles and Undiepatrol, etc.
Anyways, I'm enjoying the game. I started out playing around 30 minutes a day but now I'm thoroughly hooked. I'm 12 years old and lvl 25. I regret spending my ability points on some useless skills but I'm getting by so far.
What I like; gameplay and combat. Age system. skill based. How quests are given to you on the fly. the death penalty (exp loss/debt, the chance of your equipment dropping, if you don't bless them.)
What I don't like; community is iffy, too anime-ish for my taste, point and click (which I usually don't complain about but the pathfinding is a problem and you get stuck too often.)
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2
Yup I saw one person in my whole time there that had that name azn something I thought exactly the same thing the 90's lol..
And that guild name I seen it too, but it more like just made me think how wacky people can be in this game and then I just laughed.
I can't wait for Thursday, live!!
I've seen way too many people with the AZN thing attatched to their IGN. it doesnt bother me. but like, i am of asian ethnic, so to me its like..."oh come'on, no one cares if your asian...doesnt make you any stronger faster or better at the game and its nothing to be proud of, there are over billions and billions of asians out there they dont need spokes person."