All Posts by rhinok

Originally posted by zaxtor99

 

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Originally posted by berniebear

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Originally posted by zaxtor99

 

That's great. They have a fixed camera where you can't see shit and don't want to make it adjustable at all, so somehow this is now a good thing.
Yep. I can see just a tad bit of bias in this review. {insert sarcasm}
Next this reviewer will tell us all that the game freezing up and crashing your PC is a good thing, because it means that every player has an even chance of standing there letting a player get revenge on his avatar who is stuck standing there helpless in the game while his previous victims come up and attack and kill him freely.
{sighs}
Sounds like a sales pitch of an unfinished, broken game to me. But yes, I am happy as hell this review isn't biased at all or anything! lmao.

- Zaxx

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The infinite tears of a troll

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Call me as you wish. But just stop and think for a minute here. A "fixed" camera that cannot be adjusted. How fantastic will this work? First we have to assume that we actually ever play this game. So here we are with the camera fixed in a position that shows us an angle that works fine and shows what we want to see right in front of us. Cool.

Then we start to move and move up or down a slope. Now imagine this un-adjustable camera in its fixed position either showing us the sky or the ground and we cannot adjust it to see anything. Not anything behind us, nor anything in front of us. Truly advanced alright. Sounds like great fun, I can hardly wait to play now!

- Zaxx

1)  Gianna's comments seemed pretty fair, actually.  You're putting words in her mouth, especially the words "good" and "advanced", neither of which appeared in Part 2. 

2)  She expressed concen about how much of the surroundings once can see, especially for tall characters fighting shorter opponents. Likewise, she expressed concern that shorter races  may have an advantage when fighting taller opponents.

3)  There appears to be a veritcal camera axis.  How else would you be able to aim up or down?  As such, your concerns about the view while running up a hill seem unfounded.  That being said, I, too, would like to know how they address this issue.  Is it as simple as adjusting the camera automatically to changes in the terrain?  Some games do this today. 

Here are some pertinent quotes:

In 3rd person view the camera is pretty close to your character and it’s fixed, so you can’t mousewheel back until your character is tiny and you can see for twenty yards behind you. Your chance to spot other people is to actually turn and look. Period.

This is not all, though. If you happen to be a tall guy, like my ork, and you’re fighting someone shorter, like a goblin, you have to aim DOWN at the little fucker while he runs figure eights around you, which means that you have even less awareness of your surroundings. This particular thing is something that I dislike, just because it might give an advantage to dwarves and alfars - who can hack away at big guys’ ankles while enjoying the view at the same time. On the other hand, it would probably look strange if you could hit someone who barely reaches your chest by swinging at the air over his head, so I guess it makes sense the way it is now, it’s just that I find it annoying.

 ~Ripper

Originally posted by altairzq

Bet he is going to talk about the smart goblin AI in the second part.

Ah well. great first an obscure italian website and now a fanboi making a review...

You lost that bet.  I especially liked how she called them little "fuckers" and thought it was interesting that you have to look down on them due to the camera view and angle.

There wasn't a ton of info, but there were some more screens and some nice tidbits :

• Information about the camera and angles, especially between opponents of different heights
• Combat noise
• No floaty names
• Tough to see enemies at times

It's also nice to see that her "tone" is pretty irreverent and that her experience hasn't been glowingly positive (note the comments on sounds in the game).

~Ripper

Originally posted by berniebear

Originally posted by rhinok

Originally posted by DarthRaiden

Does it mean we get rid of you here ? that would be superb news IMO.

Really hope we get rid of anyone who thought the video was  "silly", "crap" or that like.. that would be amazing IMO.

DarkFall need to get rid of the burden of too much following,. Anything that helps to get rid of the unwanted is welcome IMO.

small playerbase ftw

 

Pretentious elitism FTL.

Personally, I'm pretty new to the Darkfall thing.  It sounds promising, but there's very little actual news about a product that's allegedly going live this month.  I was hoping to see something really cool in the video, but didn't.  Frankly, what I saw was the Seinfeld of game videos - a video about "nothing".  It's disappointing to somebody who wants to see more and know more.  Yes, I know it was created and edited by a third party, but it showed so little that it was essentially worthless.  Why did they bother to put it out at all

~Ripper

Trolls thirst can never be quenched
 

I'm sorry, but are you calling me a troll?  If so, based on what criteria?

~Ripper

For one, Warhammer 40k online does not have it's own website.  All it has is a blurb on a page for Vigil Games.  There isn't any media for it other than a logo.  It's a game about which very little is known, other than the name of the development studio making it. Basically, it's too early in the development process for it to warrant it's own spot on the list, IMO.

~Ripper

Originally posted by DarthRaiden

Does it mean we get rid of you here ? that would be superb news IMO.

Really hope we get rid of anyone who thought the video was  "silly", "crap" or that like.. that would be amazing IMO.

DarkFall need to get rid of the burden of too much following,. Anything that helps to get rid of the unwanted is welcome IMO.

small playerbase ftw

Pretentious elitism FTL.

Personally, I'm pretty new to the Darkfall thing.  It sounds promising, but there's very little actual news about a product that's allegedly going live this month.  I was hoping to see something really cool in the video, but didn't.  Frankly, what I saw was the Seinfeld of game videos - a video about "nothing".  It's disappointing to somebody who wants to see more and know more.  Yes, I know it was created and edited by a third party, but it showed so little that it was essentially worthless.  Why did they bother to put it out at all?

~Ripper

 Something else that can happen is that malware can be installed from a completely extraneous source.  There was a case last year where USB Digitial Photo frames were infected with malware designed for stealing WoW login information.  No bull...

In general, here are some good tips for avoiding problems:

• Use good firewall and AV software - a hardware firewall is better, but very few people have them, so use a good software firewall, at minimum. Btw, no - the Windows firewall is NOT a good firewall...
• Don't surf porn/warez sites
• Don't  be fooled into downloading that ZOMGWTFBBQSAUCE add-on that promises to give you invulnerability or one-shot PvP wins - seriously, don't be a chump
• If you get a pop-up on your system telling you your "PC is at risk" or some such nonsense, ignore it.  Don't just install whatever piece of crap they're pushing, because chances are it's designed to actually cause the problem it allegedy fixes...

~Ripper

Originally posted by Shadowoak

Originally posted by rhinok

Originally posted by Shadowoak

Originally posted by rhinok

I was hoping to see something to get excited about, but that was a really disappointing video for a number of reasons:

1. It was too short
2. it didn't show much at all, other than ass, running and a much too quick shot of a battle. It doesn't show:
   • Character creation
   • Interaction with any other player characters - true pvp would have been cool to see
   • Interaction with any NPCs other than the goblin battle
   • Questing
   • Crafting
   • Looting
   • Pretty much anything....
3. The character animation while running is horrible and stiff - reminded me of a cartoon where the character's legs move, but the upper body doesn't.

The game did seem to run smoothly, but that *should* be expected in a game world with nobody else in it...

~Ripper

 

 

While I will agree with your points, you're last remark is utter rubish. It's an anti-conclusion. I believe something to be true, so every thing must adhere to my belief. It's exactly what most of the (heavy) skeptics are accusing the fanboys, which they always do themselves though, whithout wanting to admit to.

 

I'm confused.  What's rubbish about it?  Gameplay shouldn't be smooth in an empty world?  Should I be impressed by smooth game play in an empty world?  The world certainly seemed empty. At minimum, there weren't any other PCs in close proximity.  Show me how smoothly it runs with tons of players online or in a common area with a lot of other players nearby and I'll be impressed.  Until then, it's just window dressing...

~Ripper

 

Sorry, misread your post.

Well never mind then:)  No harm, no foul.

~Ripper

Originally posted by Shadowoak

Originally posted by rhinok

I was hoping to see something to get excited about, but that was a really disappointing video for a number of reasons:

1. It was too short
2. it didn't show much at all, other than ass, running and a much too quick shot of a battle. It doesn't show:
   • Character creation
   • Interaction with any other player characters - true pvp would have been cool to see
   • Interaction with any NPCs other than the goblin battle
   • Questing
   • Crafting
   • Looting
   • Pretty much anything....
3. The character animation while running is horrible and stiff - reminded me of a cartoon where the character's legs move, but the upper body doesn't.

The game did seem to run smoothly, but that *should* be expected in a game world with nobody else in it...

~Ripper

 

 

While I will agree with your points, you're last remark is utter rubish. It's an anti-conclusion. I believe something to be true, so every thing must adhere to my belief. It's exactly what most of the (heavy) skeptics are accusing the fanboys, which they always do themselves though, whithout wanting to admit to.

I'm confused.  What's rubbish about it?  Gameplay shouldn't be smooth in an empty world?  Should I be impressed by smooth game play in an empty world?  The world certainly seemed empty. At minimum, there weren't any other PCs in close proximity.  Show me how smoothly it runs with tons of players online or in a common area with a lot of other players nearby and I'll be impressed.  Until then, it's just window dressing...

~Ripper

Originally posted by daarco

Sometimes i wonder if developers shouldent show anything froma game before release. So many cant understand that its still work in prgress. And thats not about DF....its about all MMOs in development.

And if a anamtion is the only thing to complain about.......then we have a good game at out hands : )

Three things regarding your comments:

1. When a game is this close to release they should have a solid release candidate.  As such, it's much less a "work in progress" than it is an "almost ready for primetime" product.  That being said, all MMOs are a work in progress, even after they launch.
2. If Darkfall is close to release, as it allegedly is, then this is the point in time when Aventurine should ramp up their marketing efforts, which should include previews.
3. Your statement about the animations being the only thing to complain about is ridiculous. It implies that the rest of the game is solid.  The problem with that statement is the video didn't really show anything other than running animation through an empty world (except for a very brief fight scene), therefore there's nothing else to critique or admire.

All-in-all, I'm pretty excited about what the game allegedly has to offer.  I want to see more and I'm disappointed that the video didn't show it.

~Ripper

I was hoping to see something to get excited about, but that was a really disappointing video for a number of reasons:

1. It was too short
2. it didn't show much at all, other than ass, running and a much too quick shot of a battle. It doesn't show:
   • Character creation
   • Interaction with any other player characters - true pvp would have been cool to see
   • Interaction with any NPCs other than the goblin battle
   • Questing
   • Crafting
   • Looting
   • Pretty much anything....
3. The character animation while running is horrible and stiff - reminded me of a cartoon where the character's legs move, but the upper body doesn't.

The game did seem to run smoothly, but that *should* be expected in a game world with nobody else in it...

~Ripper

 Personally, I have a license for a tool called SnagIt (49.9), because I use it for work.  It's a great tool that lets you create a profile where you can specifiy what you want to save, the format of the saved file and where you want to save it.  That being said, it's a commercial prodcut, so it costs $.

You might try an open source screen capture tool, however, like Greenshot ,which might give you the same functionality.  Btw, I installed and tested Greenshot this morning.  It's in a beta phase, so it's funcionality is pretty limited, but it does what you need it to do, which is capture a screen and save it to a file automatically (just just have to set the preferences to do so).  It takes about 40MB of memory, which is a little high, IMO, but once again, it's an open source beta application.

~Ripper

Originally posted by Woopin

Originally posted by tastethegold

now mmorpg is supporting kiddie games that support botting, brilliant.

 

Taken from the RoC.

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3rd Pary Programs

* MMORPG.com does not allow forum discussion concerning programs that go against a game's EULA. This includes, but is not limited to, third party programs to automate gameplay or gain an unfair advantage over other players. Please check with your specific game's EULA for more details on what is or isn't allowed.
 

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If the game supports botting that is upto them. MMORPG.com supports all kinda of games for adults and kids I do not see how this is a problem. Why should MMORPG.com report on only one kind of market?

With all due respect, Woopin, I think you completely missed the point.  tastethegold was obviously trolling and attacking the game with unsubstantiated statements.  Per the RoC:

Game Attacks

* Unsubstantiated comments about specific or general games will be penalized in nearly the same way attacks against people will. The exception is that you can say mean things about games provided you back it up with reasons.
Example: "Game X sucks." is not a legitimate comment. "Game X sucks, because..." is acceptable.

Your excerpt from the EULA in regards to 3rd Party Programs is irrelevant.  It would apply if he had posted something like "check out this cool program for setting up a bot" or "does anybody know where I can download a botting program for this game?".  Both would be clear violations of the rule you posted.

Regardless, Wizard101 doesn't support botting.  I doubt any bots exist for it, anyway, due to it's style of play, which doesn't lend itself towards automation.

As for mmorpg.com supporting kids games?  I agree with you. If they're MMOs, why not?  Even if this particular game is "kids" game, numerous reviewers and raters have stated how much fun it is for adults, too.  I just wish you'd supported it earlier on!

~Ripper

 The best Diabloesque MMO, in my opinion, is Dungeon Runners.  It has all the hack-n-slash fun of a Diablo-like title, but doesnt' take itself seriously.  Think of Dungeon Runners as the bastard stepchild of Diablo who grew up and staged a coup on the family business.

Check it out.  it's f2p for the entire game unless you want to pop for some extra goodies (more gold drops, faster xp and a 100% chance to use item drops instead of % chances).  It's a great, casual MMO.

~Ripper

  The basis for this post stems from the following rating comments from Vestas (emphasis mine) on Wizard101. Please note, this post isn't specific to Wizard101, it just uses it as an example. Also, I'm not trying to "call out" Vestas. He's entitled to his opinion. I just want to discuss the overall topic:

Vestas(posted Sat Nov 22 2008)
Definately sub-par graphics stylized in a WoW fashion at lower details. Like WoW though it runs on anything, even integrated graphics cards. Gameplay is, believe it or not, entertaining and character development is highly customizeable. Relatively simple gameplay based on common trading card game motifs. Nails the mark as an MMO the whole family can enjoy without risking exposure to bad apples on the internet. Targeted for the pre/early teen years it's actually fun for adults too, if not very deep. There are better games out there however few have the parental controls and ease of use for young family members that can have their parents play with them.

Overall, his comments seem positive, but that one line stands out. What does "sup-par graphics" really mean? This statement is both incredibly broad and emphatically negative, but it begs the question "What do players expect in terms of graphics and are their expectations appropriate for the product?" I've seen players post negative comments about the "graphics" for almost every game I've looked at. Frankly, some players seem like graphics snobs. Nothing will ever be good enough for them. 

Personally, I think it's important when reviewing and/or rating a game's graphics to distinguish between style and technology.

Style:

In the case of Wizard101, the style is definitely colorful and "cartoony" as opposed to "realistic", but I consider this to be completely appropriate to both the game and it's audience. As such, I don't consider the graphics style to be "sub-par". Had this same style been applied to WAR, AoC or LotR, then it would be completely inappropriate to those games and their audiences, IMO. All of those titles and their lore demand grittier, more reaslistic graphics (unless you consider the 1977 TV Version of "The Hobbit" to be the quintessential art style for MIddle Earth).

Technology:

There are a lot of factors here, including the engine, is it Open GL or DirectX, shader technologies, specular lighting, shadows, particle effects, textures, etc... Are animations included under the broad category of "graphics"?

In the case of Wizard101, KingsIsle doesn't appear to be using very many high-tech features, but they do make use of particle effects and bloom as well as limited use of specular lighting and shadows. As the rater noted, however, the game runs well on almost any system, which is appropriate for the game's demographic (kids/tweens) who probably don't have high-powered PCs. As such, are the graphics really "sub-par"? Based on what criteria?

That same question, "Based on what criteria?" applies to every other game's graphics. Just scroll through the games in the list and you'll see complaints about each of their "graphics", but very few reasonable discussions on what makes them so "bad".   If a game doesn't use all of the new, cool, "shiny" features available with the latest graphics technology, but still doesn't perform as expected, then I think concerns are justified.  Likewise, personal prefererence towards or against a game's style are justified if they're presented as "opinions", such as "I'm not a big fan of X's graphical style" as opposed to factual statements, such as "X's graphics suck!  They're worse than 1999 EQ graphics!".  The problem, however, is that few people seem to be able to articulate those issues/concerns/opinions well.

~Ripper

 ArsTechnica has a nice system guide they update on a regular basis.  Check it the most recent edition:

LInky...

~Ripper

Originally posted by TenSpotting

They said open beta will end in early Dec. Correct?

I am kind of confused really.

Isn't the whole point of having an open beta to allow anyone in?  i.e.  "open" beta?

Or does open Beta start in early Dec?

Some of Aventurine's statements are inconsistent and confusing.  Per Tasos, on October 31st, 2008 (Emphasis mine):

October 31st Update Part 1

Catching you up with our activities to date - in this post a brief recap of our activities surrounding the first official presentation for Darkfall during the Athens Digital Week.

...

The announcement during ADW was that the open beta phase is scheduled to end early in December. More importantly this means that the game will be ready to release at that point. Marketing consideration kept us from just announcing a release date. The game will be ready for release, and the launch may follow directly, or shortly after, depending on the marketing landscape at the time. Obviously the earlier the better for us, but there are a lot of things needing coordination for the launch, internal and external. So our side of things (meaning the development end) will be ready.

11 days later, per  Tasos, on the official site:

Update November 11, 2008

A very quick update:

We sent out the second batch of beta invites last night and we’re going to continue inviting people as needed by our testing process. There’s no ETA to the invites, we’re moving along based solely on our needs. We might invite more people in as early as tonight, and as frequently as every day. The testers are under strict NDA and it would be very unfortunate if we had to ban people and/or to modify our testing - so we would like to ask everyone to respect our process and procedures, even those of you not yet in the beta.

If you’re not in the beta yet, please don’t take this personally, it’s likely you don’t fit our immediate testing needs. There are a lot of criteria, but it can be as simple as hardware, location, time zone etc. We appreciate your understanding as we're trying to get Darkfall ready, we take this process very seriously.

Another thing: We mentioned this before bu