Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
I just deleted my account and uninstalled the client.
phybre
Member Posts: 10
Perhaps this game will eventually be worth playing, and perhaps some time after that it will eventually be worth paying for.
It is currently neither of those things. If the developers seriously think they can get this released in 2005, they are living in a dream world. My impression of the game is that it's still in very, very, very early beta, and needs a massive overhaul for it to be presentable.
After playing it, I am not especially interested in tracking its progress. It seems to me that it wants to be an MMOFPS version of Neocron or even System Shock 2 (which both look identical in visual and play style).
The current game dynamics, faction system, economy, and combat system are all total garbage. This development team is not ready to play with the big boys. The interface is total garbage, with a lot of the text being totally unreadable because they've apparently never heard of "contrast" when picking foreground and background colors.
Their map layouts are thoughtless and EXCESSIVELY LARGE. No thought has been put into proximity of spawning locations to market and transport locations. They are all vaguely scattered throughout the map, often on opposite sides. NO MAPS EXIST IN-GAME, so finding your way around is mostly trial and error. The only exception is that some regions actually do have maps of themselves as textures on the walls. Most do not. You can't buy maps, there is no waypoint system, there is no cartography interface, or any other way to provide directions in-game beyond leading people around personally. The maps are designed to have way too much empty corridor space, as if the developers are expecting a thousand people to be on a map at once. Meanwhile there are only enough terminals for several dozen (perhaps even a hundred) people, at best.
The economy was designed in such a way that you are reasonably capable of making a 5% profit on something you manufacture, assuming you harvested the resource in the largest possible quantity. Harvesting resources costs a great deal of money, and since there are no stats, skills, or levels, it is to your benefit to simply delete your character and create another one when you run out of money, and ask someone to hold your equipment in the mean time. That is the easiest way to make money in the game, by far. It should not cost 3000 to make something that you can't sell for more than 3010. Especially when you made it *and* manufactured it from scratch. Obviously the developers had to choose between programming and economics in college.
In conclusion, this is a game with an identity crisis. Apparently a straight FPS isn't cool enough for the devs, so they try to add RPG elements into this game, and fail at it miserably. It might make a good FPS, but then they'd actually have to create a story, which they haven't done so far, except a vague notion of "aliens are about to attack! spooky!".
If this game is really aiming for a release date in 6 days, they have another thing coming. Try 6 months, guys. But even that might be pushing it.
I give the game 5 pukes. That means negative 5, on a scale from 0-10.
Comments
Although alot of what you say is true my reaction to you is "Good".
You're playing a beta, you are supposed to be helping develop a game (and boy does it need it) you are not at any point of the process "playing" a game for enjoyment. You do not say "I don't like this" and uninstall it, you take part in the development process and help it get fixed. If you aren't willing to do this then you shouldn't be playing a beta.
Congratulations on being one of the reasons that MMOs are always so damned buggy on release.
And of course a straight FPS isn't good enough for the Devs, when you can play every FPS in your collection online for free why would you sign up for an MMO if it is just an FPS????
A good wife deserves more than half the praise, just as a bad one deserves more than half the blame. - Tacitus
There's no free trial to find out if you would like to beta test it or not, so your comments are pretty far off the mark. Took me a whole 2 hrs to get this beta off my hard drive, counting the time it took to install it in the first place.
We're making space for those who might like to test it. In the meantime, I have better things to do with my time than "beta" test a pre-alpha proof-of-concept quality game.
This thing felt so slapped together and contrived that I couldn't stand another minute. I posted my opinion on their forums (politely), and then left.
Beta testers are voluntary, and can leave at any time if it suits them.
Habit is not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed down the stairs one step at a time. - Mark Twain
If they want professional-level QA, let them pay for it. It's not the job of beta testers to point out to devs that the systems they have implemented are COMPLETELY UNWORKABLE. They should have figured that out for themselves. As a beta tester, it is my job to find bad code. Not bad concepts. To intentionally break the game, not to run around in a game that's broken by design. To play to lose, yes. But in this game everyone is playing to lose, since there's no alternative.
The reason MMOs are always so damned buggy on release is that they never have a real beta test before they are released. The current rationale with game developers is "Why bother waiting for a beta test when we can make them PAY us to beta test it? GENIUS!"
So yes, you see my point exactly. Why sign up for this game when it's just a retarded FPS?
However a 2 minute browse through these forums or the official forums would have told you all you needed to know, bearing in mind that nobody is saying anything new now. If you are just going to blindly install every piece of beta material you find then well..........
Yep what people in the mmo industry don't seem to grasp is that FPS is just a different style of playing a game it isn't a game in itself. Just because a game is an FPS doesn't mean you approach it in any different way as a developer the differences are all technical, the content is identical.
A good wife deserves more than half the praise, just as a bad one deserves more than half the blame. - Tacitus
First of all, I want to introduce you to my friend: ,
That's Mr. Comma. He wants to be your friend, too.
Second, I don't know who told you that, but I know quite a few game developers, and am an aspiring coder myself. What you said is total crap. There is a big difference between the two, both technically and content-wise. Why are you apologizing for a game that is total crap? Why are you apologizing for your ignorant opinion about what a beta tester's job is? Do you get paid to develop games? Do you get paid to be a QA analyst? Perhaps you get paid to defend the manifold shortcomings of FoM?
Based on your post count and your obvious disconnection from reality, I'll assume you are a troll until you prove me wrong, and not reply to anything you write from now on. Cheers.
Ive been in the beta for 2 days now. I have played a total of maybe 6 hours. I cant say im either impressed or disapointed mainly because at this stage all I have done is wander around trying to work out what the hell to do LOL
Every zone I goto I either get shot at or told to leave because Im about to get shot at. I tried some mining and blew all my money on it because the interface was so hard to work out I didnt realise I spent all my cash the first time I hit the button.
On the positive side : Graphics are great in some places, play areas feel pretty huge and the overall universe size seems quite amazing. Concept is good and could be great with the right polishing. Faction system is nice and adds a lot to the excitement, storyline also supports it well. Complexity is a positive too provided its accompanied by good explanations. Lots of potential for something special if it makes it that far.
On the negative side : Seriously needs better explanations of stuff and things like moseover help for all the buttons. The usual lag, characters disapearing etc etc of all MMO's in this stage of develpment. New player introduction needs a lot of work to counter the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the stuff at the start. Needs some safe zones for new players.
Other than that I feel the game has the potential for greatness but its a long way from completion. Releasing it in anything less than a few months would be the same as not bothering to release it at all because in its current state no one will play it. Very few MMOs live up to their potential unfortunately so I wont be holding my breath for this one.
Nice to see an honest, genuine open beta as opposed to pay to play beta and endless broken promises of release dates like some other titles I could name.
I hope it gets tidier coz it could be a lot of fun. I will stick around for a few weeks and see how it goes
+-+-+-+-+-+
"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
-+-+-+-+-+-+
"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
Picking somebody up on punctuation and then misusing the comma is rather foolish.
I presume we mean different things by content. I meant 'written' content, storyline, layout etc.
I'm not. In your opinion it is crap while in my opinion it needs alot of work. You must find life depressing with that negative outlook.
I'm not. My opinion on the beta testers job was perfectly correct. A Beta tester tests code, content, feel, interfaces and pretty much anything else they are needed to. If you don't like it you leave after posting your opinions on the devs forums, hitting a 3rd party forum to complain is just plain ignorant.
Obviously or very few people would do it. However I know a number of projects where people haven't been paid until after launch.
Not always, I usually only do things like that to pad my Resume.
Nope. I'm as aware of the shortcomings much as you are and have said as much. You are complaining about them on a 3rd party board rather than on the dev's site though, and indeed joined this site just to do so.
Erm I've had less than a hundred posts in knocking on for 8 months??? You hit this board and with your first post started a thread that has been covered repeatedly already........don't think I'm the troll.
Also why ask questions if you are going to ignore the answers??? I would patronise you because I figure you must be younger than me, but I don't think I really need to.
A good wife deserves more than half the praise, just as a bad one deserves more than half the blame. - Tacitus
Damn Dirk...did you have to own him that hard?
First of all, I want to introduce you to my friend: ,
That's Mr. Comma. He wants to be your friend, too.
Second, I don't know who told you that, but I know quite a few game developers, and am an aspiring coder myself. What you said is total crap. There is a big difference between the two, both technically and content-wise. Why are you apologizing for a game that is total crap? Why are you apologizing for your ignorant opinion about what a beta tester's job is? Do you get paid to develop games? Do you get paid to be a QA analyst? Perhaps you get paid to defend the manifold shortcomings of FoM?
Based on your post count and your obvious disconnection from reality, I'll assume you are a troll until you prove me wrong, and not reply to anything you write from now on. Cheers.
CENTER]
Take the Hecatomb TCG What Is Your Doom? quiz.[/CENTER]
don't click this link...
Member of the Phoenix Alliance Guild
in Vendetta Online
www.vendetta-online.com
?
this was like 3months ago.....what are you talkin about? if you have something new to say about the game, say it.....
cuz its obvious we all have opinions, and back in feb and march, we came to the conclusion that this shit was alpha and we werent getting paid enuff to test it... any improvement on that?