All Posts by Stradden

Originally posted by Obee

Originally posted by Unicorns_Pwn

 

• Ship Combat (Pirates of the Burning Sea) Awesome, now my virtual avatar is a boat, I have never played a boat before /sarcasm. Nothing but a cosmetic change to essentially more of the same ol'
  

 

 

I completely agree with that.  PotBS's ship combat is not much different that normal MMO game combat, it just has ships instead of a humanoid avatar.  Hell, if you want to claim having a ship instead of the usual MMO type avatar is innovative, EVE has had ship combat since it launced several years ago.  Even SWG, for all its flaws (and those flaws greatly outweigh any good points that waste of an MMO has), has had ship to ship combat since the JtL expansion, which is actually different than anything found in any other MMO.

The ship combat in PotBS is in no way innovative, not even cosmetically.

 

Have you played the game, or even read the article describing why it was different? Did you read my earlier post in this thread discussing how it was different? I'll grant you, you use WSAD, but the last time I checked, you don't have to worry about whether your avatar is broadside or face on, you don't generally need to worry about how the wind direction is going to effect your foot based avatar...

Seriously, maybe reading before posting a scathing criticism is in order as this matter has been addressed several times both in the article and WITHIN THIS THREAD. Just saying.

Originally posted by nekollx

i pretymuch just snored through all of these. not are really inovative.

 

If i had to pic a inovation their really only one game that comes to mind City of heroes (and later champions Onlines) Character Creation Sytem. No other MMO comes close to that level of customizbility

I think you're missng the 2008 part... Champions han't launched yet and CoH's customization system was implemented a long time ago...

Originally posted by damian7

some of us aren't that easily impressed.

 you can't just look at a piece without considering the whole.  when is the last time you were looking to buy a car and said "man, that's one sweet driver's side seat"?  do you only watch cable/satellite for the local news channel?

Actually, you might, if you were concerned with the ways that front sdeats operate. Maybe the front seat has a butt warnmer in it, maybe it adjusts to fit the driver... In this case, we're only looking at specific pieces of the car... you'll have your chance to vote for best overall car later on.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

I don't think any of these game concepts are really that innovative.  I guess if I had to pick one, it would probably be the public quests in Warhammer.

I think the entire industry reeks of a lack of innovation.  All I see is one copycat game after another.

Age of Conan combat combo is most certainly not innovative, it has been done before in other games.  As to ship combat, how is that different than ship combat in Eve?  I think the jury is still out on the Council of Stellar Management in Eve, it seems more a marketing ploy than anything helpful to date.

I think we have to look to the indy developers for a company to take a chance on something truely innovative, the major ones seem to avoid that lately.

I have to respectfully completely disagree:

I honestly can't remember ever seeing Age of Conan-style combat in another MMO.  I'm not saying I'm king of all knowledge or anything, but to the best of my recollection, or that of anyone else that I have spoken to, we've not seen it in another MMO.

Have you played Pirates of the Burning Sea? I can't recall the last time that wind direction and strength played a role in EVE Online... given there's no wind in space. I'm not knocking EVE's combat, I'm just saying.. it's different.

The Council of Stellar Management has already made a number of differences in the direction of EVE. I wouldn't say it's any more of a marketing thing than any other feature of an MMO. when there's news about it, they send out a release. Take a look at this interview.

Honestly, and please don't take this personally, but I think you might be confused as to the meaning of the word innovation.

Invention is the creation of something completely and wholly new, while innovation is taking something that already exists and somehow changing it (generally to improve upon it).

Communities have always contributed to development decisions, The CSM takes a new spin on that and formalizes it via elections

Quests have always existed in MMOs, PQs present them in a different way, encouraging people to work together without requiring grouping

ship to ship combat has always existed, but PotBS used what they knew of nautical age of sail combat and integrated functions to replicate it.

MMOs have almost always used single key attacks, Age of Conan added a new layer to that by requiring combos to activate certain abilities.

These are all innovative features. I'm not saying they're all great, and we're not asking you what the best feature is. You don't have to like something for it to be innovative. Inf act, innovation often results in the opposite.

Innovation is the key to the long-term success of any genre. Innovation keeps things interesting and fun, giving us new and interesting features. How a game builds upon and changes the ideas put forward in the games that came before it can mean the difference between a long-term hit and "just another copy".

• Council of Stellar Management (EVE)
• Combo Combat (Age of Conan)
• Public Quests (Warhammer Online)
• Ship Combat (Pirates of the Burning Sea)

Check out the Most Innovative Feature nominees and vote!

MMORPG.com Lord of the Rings Online Correspondent Jim Braner writes this overview of the music system in Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.

If you have spent any time running around Middle Earth with your speakers on, you have heard the various tunes and kinds of music around. The Shire with its warm Celtic feel, the Lone Lands with its... well I can't actually remember what kind of music it has. Memorable or not, you can make music too! We have all seen Minstrels with their lutes and harps in battle and various players in seemingly random spots playing away. Besides the lute and harp there is also the theorbo, clarinet, horn, cow bell, drum, flute, and bagpipes. Each class has passive skills purchasable from their trainer for two of those instruments; except Minstrels who can purchase passive skills for them all. Each passive instrument skill will cost you 2 silver and 50 copper.

After you purchase the passive skill, you need the instrument that goes with it. Head to any Bard for that. The Bard in the Prancing Pony in Bree is easy enough to get to if you don't happen to remember where any others are.

Read The Sound of Music in LotRO

MMORPG.com Atlantica Online Correspondent Matt Plourde writes this overview of the mall system in NDoors' Atlantica Online

Nothing's ever free - right? Maybe the internet is changing the availability on some stuff nowadays (Wikipedia killed the encyclopedia business), but there's nothing inexpensive about developing an MMORPG in today's market. So, "Free to Play" (F2P) MMORPGs are never totally free. You may have to look at a banner (Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Dungeon Runners), or parts of the game may be inaccessible (see previous), and/or the game may have a cash item shop (Flyff, Maple Story, Perfect World). Each method has its drawbacks and advantages, but I know I am thankful for these mostly free games!

Read The Mall of Atlantica Online

MMORPG.com Warhammer Online guru John Lisenby writes this guide to the early quests for the Chaos race in Mythic's RvR game. The guide gives information on quests, givers, rewards, locations and more.

Here is a guide for some of the starting area of the Chaos. You will find co-ordinates, notes, and other things that will lead you from Sturvall (the Unshakled Host) to Wolfing (Sorcerer's Axiom). These are listed by the quest giver and in no particular order. But they are in the order you will find the quest givers. To save space no storyline from any quest was listed. Though the storyline is great and I suggest you read them. You will also find some Tome Unlocks listed as you should run into them. Though the main focus of this guide are the quests.

Read the Chaos Early Quest Guide

Resident StarQuest Online expert Allen Richardon writes this handy guide to getting started in the sci-fi MMORPG StarQuest Online.

All right, so you read my original review of the game and registered for a trial. Now what? The game has a small player base, and a very steep learning curve. The UI seemed basic, and in some cases hard to use. I got a lot of comments on these issues, and so decided to help out where I could.

The admins over at StarQuest Online put upgrading the UI on the top of their list due to the new players’ complaints from my last review. On the 12th, they released the updated UI. They got so many different suggestions on how to upgrade the controls, that they decided to let you decide! The UI is now customizable from the Options menu. There are five different settings that you choose. You can turn on/off rotating the view by clicking and dragging with the mouse, turn on/off dragging items between inventories, choose one of three functions the mouse wheel can have (zoom, rotate view, rotate avatar), and switch the left and right mouse button functions. All of the hotkeys can be changed to whatever you want. They let me know that even more upgrades are on the way that will allow us to customize it even more!

Read Getting Started in SQO, Part One

Today, with the end of year looming, MMORPG.com kicks off their 2008 Reader's Choice Awards by asking preaders what they felt was the biggest news story of the year.

• Tabula Rasa Closure
• Activision / Blizzard Merger
• Age of Conan Directorial Change
• Bioware Announces The Old Republic
• Star Trek Online Re-Announcement
• WAR Ditches Cities and Careers

Check out the nominees and vote!

MMORPG.com Final Fantasy XI Correspondent Herbie Grate write this third installment of his beginner's guide to Vana’diel

So you’ve unlocked your sub-jobs and you’ve leveled through the Valkurm Dunes in the jobs you wish to carry on with? Then it’s time to move on to the next areas. The previous part of this guide was focused on getting yourself acquainted with the partying and leveling system, unlocking sub-jobs, and generally getting used to the activities that you’ll be immersing yourself in for the rest of your life here in Vana’diel. This final installment will be focused on moving on to the different leveling areas, and should inform on the things one needs to do until they reach level 30, and many new doors are opened to you in the form of over a dozen new advanced jobs!

Read the Beginner Guide Part Three

The folks at The Chronicles of Spellborn have produced a new tailer for their game as their European and North American launch dates loom closer.

Watch the Spellborn Launch Video

MMORPG.com Final Fantasy XI Correspondent Wesley Bond writes this overview of the Dark Knight class in Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI.

the Dark Knight from the Kingdom Baron. Though found in previous games like Leon (Leonhart in JP version) of FF II, Final Fantasy IV made the class front and center in the series. Since then it has been a popular class known for its mix of melee and dark arts. In Final Fantasy XI, the class carries on that tradition by filling a pure damage dealing role. Dark Knights are usually easy to spot with their black spiky chaos armor and grim scythe. It’s a testament to the havoc they wreak in the midst of combat. They stand in stark contrast to the Paladin. The Dark Knight class posts impressive damage numbers at the sake of all else including defense, health and sometimes life itself. I think the appropriate quote for the job is “I’ve seen the face of death and wear it always” by John Wick, and sums up what the job is all about. It’s about learning to walk the fine line between pouring out all fury upon a mob so as to lead to its untimely demise and not pulling so much aggro as to lead to your own. In a worse case scenario, poor judgment can create a domino effect that can wipe out an entire party. An exuberant Dark Knight drops the hammer too heavily, generating so much enmity that the tank cannot regain control. Then the healer, in desperation, pours all their mp into futilely trying to save your hide yet you die anyway. Now the party is facing a mob with no mp for healing, a mob on the loose striking casters in the back and your damage dealing skills dead, to be quickly followed by the rest of the party. The Dark Knight can be the hero or the villain of a party and it’s all based on the judgment of the player.

Read A Look at the Dark Knight

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood recently took part in a hands-on experience with the Chronicles of Spellborn beta. Today, he reports back with what he experienced and a few opinions as well.

Last week, I wrote about character customization in The Chronicales of Spellborn. Today, I’m going to give some of my impressions from the rather limited gameplay that I recently experienced.

Overall Look

First, I should say that the game looks great. While it’s not at the forefront of graphics technology, The Chronicles of Spellborn does a great job of capturing you and bringing you into the game world with their art direction. I don’t really know how to describe the general visual style of the game other than to tell you that it reminded me a little bit of a toned down Tim Burton style with its slightly curved buildings and exaggerated characters.

Still, you didn’t click on this article to read me waxing poetic about something that you can see for yourself in a screenshot, you wanted to read a little something about the game mechanics:

Read A Beta Look at Spellborn

MMORPG.com EVE Online Correspondent Andrew Wallace writes this article giving players some tips to playing with the Interceptor class ship in EVE.

Interceptors are about speed and finesse. They are about precision and winning a fight in structure. They are about understanding the limitations of your ship and the limitations of your opponent. I suppose the latter would be true of any ship in EVE, but I think it applies to the interceptor most of all.

Amongst the most fragile of all the combat ships in the game, a simple mistake can see you sitting in a pod in a matter of seconds. Skill, and even a bit of luck, can make a massive difference in a pinch. At the time of writing, the Quantum Rise speed changes have been on the server for less than a week, but it's clear that the interceptors are relatively untouched, if not better. They may not reach the utterly ludicrous speeds they did before, but they are now completely unchallenged as the fastest ship class in the game. The new bonus that reduces the signature penalty of an active Microwarpdrive makes interceptors the only class that can effectively speed-tank while using one; even medium sized gun are going to struggle to hit them now.

Read A Guide to Interceptors

MMORPG.com World of Warcraft Correspondent James Wood writes this article outlining the assassination tree for Rogues in Blizzard's World of Warcraft.

Combat is about… Combat. You go in; you smash or slash face and kill them first before it goes the other way. But seriously, Combat is the tree meant for Rogues who don’t want to take the path of the Dagger. It also happens to be the tree with the highest energy regeneration to make up for its few damage-upgrading talents this tree has and improves on a number of your interrupt skills, granting them length or giving them interrupts, making this a suitable tree against casters, though it offers some support against melee classes.

Tier 0
Improved Gouge
Ranks: 3
Effect: Increases effect duration of Gouge by (0.5/1.0/1.5) seconds.

5 seconds is how long you need to avoid hitting and being hit to get out of combat and reenter stealth. Gouge only gives you 4 seconds. Improved Gouge is 5.5. That’s half a second or more to react and reenter stealth to get away or use another opening move. But only go for it if you have spare talent points.

Read Rogue Talent Tree Part Two: Combat

MMORPG.com Runescape Correspondent Faisal Baig writes this guide to making money in Runescape.

Have you ever had trouble making money in RuneScape? This is a guide for old players or new players, members or non members, or even if you haven’t started playing yet. I have compiled information from surveys, polls, and a bit of research to get you the most reliable and up-to-date RuneScape money making guide. Whether you are an experienced player or not, this guide will help you make lots of money. Many websites guarantee you money and wealth for signing up, but the truth is that the best way to make money is to train hard. By the way, there are no ways to get free Runescape money or any rare items for that matter.

Read the