All Posts by rsreston

I too wanted this game to succeed - we need more sci-fi mmogs - good ones.

My main complaint was the interface. Seemed too few intuitive, practical.

And combat wasn't thrilling...

I also tried FFXI - didn't get past lvl 10, mainly due to lost exp... Anyway, by what I read, FFXI seems to be a group/grind-oriented game. So you get together with other ppl and start killing things. Through it you get to know the so much talked-about 'wonderful' story of FFXI.

Even though I'm a seasoned player from CoX, I thought this article too shallow.

Come on, Correspondent! Go deeper into the matter; separate Tanks from Brutes - they're quite different, which makes CoH and CoV groups' mechanics too different and particular; talk about a Tank/Brute functions by lvl range... These are a few ideas that your could explore in a future review of the "tanker" role in a CoX team.

I REALLY gave FFXI a try. Even though my other MMOGs seemed much more attractive during all my time experiencing FFXI, I resisted the urge and kept myself trying it.

Don't gimme that crap about "guides on the internet" - they're supposed to make your life easier. I expect a game for itself to teach me how to play it. Even when tutorials didn't exist (when I started playing the Sega Master System years ago) the game's manual would teach.

After years of FFXI, Square-Enix creating tutorial NPCs for the game only mean they are worried about the renewal of their playerbase. Sure, for the veterans its a wonderful game  but when you have games with good tutorials (WoW), excellent tutorials and easy gameplay (City of Heroes) or a GREAT community (SWG), you have to make your game more accessible to the newbies. I found none of those in FFXI (half the people there could only answer me "I don't speak English", even though the communication tool was quite efficient and broad in subjects).

I'm not a hater though - I'm open to retry it again (though reinstalling what I think is the most complicated launcher I've ever seen is not an attractive task) after those new tutorial's are in place - though not while I'm having fun with my other MMOGs.Even so, I'm still intrigued by all the veterans say that makes this game so "addictive".

Could this whole "R. Garriot in space" be more useless a subject??

Ground-game wise, Starsider IS a heavy populated server.

X-Wing and Tie-Fighter games were better in almost single aspect, compared to JtLS - except for the graphics but the why is obvious.

I loved the article - the in-character start of it, the space-game focus, it being an interview - good job!

Good article.

I'd recommend another couple ones focusing on the differences of groups in CoH and in CoV. And perhaps others about peculiar teams, like the ones without Tanks or composed of specific builds (of course, not for everyone, but for friends or close guildmates who wanna build duos or trios [or whatever] based on specific powersets/archetypes).

Cool! Suddenyl I wish I had been playing TR for a while now...

Great idea having a free2play area - no need for trials!

Interesting review which left some things out:

Player cities: placing your house in a player city is good because you'll be near a shuttle - but that's pretty much it (and nowadays you even have the Rattletrap ITV to make things easier). No more Player city raiding, no need for a city militia. And like someone said, these cities are a mess - "As you can't level the ground and there are many objects that doesn't let you to build on top of them. No roads, no streets, no grass, no walls, no fences... so 99% of the cities looks like a messy gathering of non matching structures."

The same person also said "[The] Space system [is] worse than X-wing" "Bad UI, poor flight dynamics, low ship energy management." It's beautiful alright but it's not that challenging, like good old Tie Fighter.

No PVP? Restuss may be dull but defending Empire/Alliance ground outposts is fun and if you flag your aligned character, you can target and be target of oposite faction PCs and NPCs. Besides, it's the only mmog where you can be a Bounty Hunter, hunting individuals accross many worlds, disguising yourself, surprising them...

The trade system may be severely affected by loot drops but the best weaponry and armor in the game can only be made by traders.

One problem with the game is the end of middle lvl content. If you're a lowbie you've got the first part of the Legacy quest, which is fun but soon you'll find yourself wanting for more - but there's nothing. Only when you reach lvl 90 you can join your friends for Heroics. Meatlumps themepark has added more to the lvling experience but it's still too little.

But highlighting some points:

Role-play int the RP servers is really a beautiful thing to see.

Player community is awesome! Better than most other games outthere.

Graphics are great.

Voice chat has a higher-than-averange quality.

For the role-player interested in sci-fi/Star Wars, it's a great game. For the casual gamer interested in something different, the Entertainer can be very interesting. For the PVPer it may be interesting (specially if you roll a Bounty Hunter, it's gonna be a unique experience). But for those looking for regular PVE, if you're not a fan of SW, look somewhere else.

Great article, specially for a newbie (though I'd like to have seen more tips for lowbies)!