World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

[TCrouch]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

Sounds like it might be worth a download. I love the Battlefront Series and need something to replace the Battlefield 1942 Mod Galactic Conquest. If the new SWG is at least as fun as those I will probably enjoy it.

What is the class balance like?

Are there a tons of BH's running around like I remember from the original? Or are there millions of Jedi about?

I should say that it's NOT like a Battlefield 1942 or Battlefront directly. I just mean physically having to aim at your target with a weapon makes it more active than most MMO's.

As far as BH's vs Jedi and all that, well....there's a ton of both. When you cut it down to 9 professions, BH is the primary ranged and Jedi is the primary melee profession (oh yeah and Jedi is a starter profession now. Click and go), you're going to have an abundance of that class. Not to mention 90% of the population thinks of a Jedi when they think of Star Wars, so that's the class that LucasArts has been working the most on lately. On the good side, there are varying robes and cloaks now so not every Jedi looks alike. You have light side Padawan and Initiate Robes, but at level 40 you end up being able to loot "Dark" Acolyte Robes, Apprentice Robes at level 60, Knight at 80, etc. There are also Elder robes that have the outer cloak and the robe combined for the Pre-NGE Jedi.

Short version (too late for that), you see a ton of BH and Jedi running around. It's not as free form and hectic as BF1942 unless you hit CL90 and go Special Forces 100% of the time (where you can attack other players of the Rebellion/Empire etc). You can be a Combatant now, and engage in the Civil War with NPC's only, which is pretty cool. Or you can be on Leave and just PvE on missions/hunting groups.

It is definitely NOT a "shooter" since you can't actually shoot anywhere you want (your gun only fires if you hit the LMB while the cursor is over a target), so you can't lay down suppression fire and just spray wildly. If your cursor is over it and you shoot, you will hit it. It does the leading and aiming for you...but it's still not that easy to keep the cursor centered on something in ranged combat from 30 meters with it running side to side, and you running side to side as well (since you get a 50% chance of avoiding the blaster fire if moving). Still has more interaction than "click-hit autoattack-hit macro, repeat".

[TCrouch]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

Oh, and on Class Balance: nobody really knows yet. You have to take most posts on the SWG boards with a grain of salt, since most of them are from a very limited perspective. The NGE has only been live since Nov 15th, and for the most part was unplayable until a week or two ago because the server lag made it impossible to play as a melee character...and Jedi had no defenses. A level 80 Jedi would be ripped to shreds by 3 level 50 mobs.

Recently they put innate "Force Protection" into the various level robes and crap, so now you'll see 'X' class screaming "Jedi is overpowered, good job SOE!!!" nonstop. At the same time the Jedi are screaming "we need protection from this" etc etc.

Bottom line, nobody knows what imbalances there are yet. There hasn't been big PvP battles on most servers because the population dwindled so much with the NGE Publish. I did see one with about 20 or 30 guys mix it up the other day, and a Commando absolutely trashed almost everybody. Commandos have such a huge crowd control damage ability that he'd just wade in, start lobbing plasma grenades, root them in place, toss in frags and just mow people down. Add in his other 10 or 12 teammates and it was pretty much a slaughter.

A Jedi in PvP is pretty much crap currently since any decent PvPer can kite you all day long and you're just hoping to saber throw and snare him, get in close and hit with a big shot. Saber block is pretty nasty though (30 second complete invulnerability to blaster fire on a 2 1/2 minute timer or something like that).

[Bacardi151]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

Oh, and on Class Balance: nobody really knows yet. You have to take most posts on the SWG boards with a grain of salt, since most of them are from a very limited perspective. The NGE has only been live since Nov 15th, and for the most part was unplayable until a week or two ago because the server lag made it impossible to play as a melee character...and Jedi had no defenses. A level 80 Jedi would be ripped to shreds by 3 level 50 mobs.

Recently they put innate "Force Protection" into the various level robes and crap, so now you'll see 'X' class screaming "Jedi is overpowered, good job SOE!!!" nonstop. At the same time the Jedi are screaming "we need protection from this" etc etc.

Bottom line, nobody knows what imbalances there are yet. There hasn't been big PvP battles on most servers because the population dwindled so much with the NGE Publish. I did see one with about 20 or 30 guys mix it up the other day, and a Commando absolutely trashed almost everybody. Commandos have such a huge crowd control damage ability that he'd just wade in, start lobbing plasma grenades, root them in place, toss in frags and just mow people down. Add in his other 10 or 12 teammates and it was pretty much a slaughter.

A Jedi in PvP is pretty much crap currently since any decent PvPer can kite you all day long and you're just hoping to saber throw and snare him, get in close and hit with a big shot. Saber block is pretty nasty though (30 second complete invulnerability to blaster fire on a 2 1/2 minute timer or something like that).

I remember trying swg with you originally after the CU, and after a few months, just got sick of it. Game was not fun for me, though initially i was excited. EQ2 was the exact opposite; started slow for me, but the game kept getting better and better with every bug fix/patch/change they made.

I have read some of the posts and things happening with the NGE, and I agree with some of the complaints. You cant keep redesigning the game and expect people who have invested some time and money to stay.

But i also dont understand why SOE/LA is expecting customers to pay to beta test this update, when they have specifically said that it still needs alot of work. Would i try it again? i dont know. Game is no fun is there is no community or at least friends to play with.

[TCrouch]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

That's the big question. Everything in an MMO hinges on community. There's no way to tell how it will pan out 3, 4 months from now. But the type of game is completely different. I agree that they can't just change everything over and over again without alienating a lot of people (yet they continue to do so).

But personally, I originally quit playing SWG when I had the epiphany that it was always WORK. It was never really fun grinding nonstop just to grind some more. There are a lot of quirks and weird things with the NGE, but it's finally fun for me. Whether that fun remains (I'm only level 41 right now with a new guy) in the long haul is anybody's guess. Whether the new influx of players actually comes or not is the biggest question.

[Casino]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

my WOW trial ended yesterday. i get payed next week. after reading the last few posts, i dont know what i want.

im actually thinking of paying to play but i still dont want to which only leaves me with guild wars as an option. i already know i like WOW, and EQ2 sounds good. i have the original SWG and i agree. it wasnt fun. it got boring running from place to place for 30min+ and scanning and digging for resources. towards the end i just started making medics and kicked it in the hospitals and healed people. got more credits doing that that actually playing the game. i hear SWG is alot better now though. still dont feel like going back.

im probably gonna end up being a cheap *** and going with guild wars.

[Casino]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

i downloaded the EQ2 trial. didnt play much of it yet but i like the charater models. nothing has jumped out at me yet. ive only played about 30min though.

[TCrouch]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

EQ2 was just so slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww for me. Never really grabbed me.

[Bacardi151]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

i downloaded the EQ2 trial. didnt play much of it yet but i like the charater models. nothing has jumped out at me yet. ive only played about 30min though.

I feel the demo does not do the game justice. You really dont see the depth of the game on the starter isle. I dont even know if you can switch between the SOGA models and the regular eq2 models. In any case, others feel the exact opposite way, so best bet is to give it a shot and see if you think spending 20 bucks on the retail version is justified.

[Skerik]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

I've tried EQ1, EQ2, WoW, CoH, CoV, AO, SWG, and GW. And some others I'm probably forgetting.

And even though I said I'd never do it, I just recently came back to the game I've had the most fun with of any I've ever played, DAoC. I feel shame. But despite its many problems, not the least of which is its player community, it remains the most enjoyable PvP experience I've ever had and nothing that's come out since has changed that for me. Oh well.

I will say though, I found the WoW community to be generally awful....

[Bacardi151]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

I've tried EQ1, EQ2, WoW, CoH, CoV, AO, SWG, and GW. And some others I'm probably forgetting.

And even though I said I'd never do it, I just recently came back to the game I've had the most fun with of any I've ever played, DAoC. I feel shame. But despite its many problems, not the least of which is its player community, it remains the most enjoyable PvP experience I've ever had and nothing that's come out since has changed that for me. Oh well.

I will say though, I found the WoW community to be generally awful....

I agree. Blizzard screwed up with the their pvp implementation. I have friends who did the same thing and went back to DAOC. The wow community is aweful, to the point where its ranked right up their as the worst MMO community to date. You could say that this is because the player base is so large ( 5 mill and counting) but still horrible.

EQ2, on the other hand, has an incredible community, and part of the reasn i enjoy it so much. Make no mistake though, playing wow with friends is fantastic.

[TCrouch]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

How do you deal with the slow pace of the grind, Eddie?

I took a guy (barely anywhere) to a level 20 Paladin, got my plate and was already bored. The pace is so slow to do practically anything that I was bored to tears. I just can't see how it would suddenly pick up steam and become this juggernaut of a game if it didn't do anything for the first 20 levels. I really wanted to like EQ2 (was looking forward to it far more than WoW, for sure) but it just never sank its hooks into me.

DAoC, though, was my first MMO. Played that for well over 2 years with my wife. I agree, RvR was the shiznit.

[Bacardi151]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

How do you deal with the slow pace of the grind, Eddie?

I took a guy (barely anywhere) to a level 20 Paladin, got my plate and was already bored. The pace is so slow to do practically anything that I was bored to tears. I just can't see how it would suddenly pick up steam and become this juggernaut of a game if it didn't do anything for the first 20 levels. I really wanted to like EQ2 (was looking forward to it far more than WoW, for sure) but it just never sank its hooks into me.

DAoC, though, was my first MMO. Played that for well over 2 years with my wife. I agree, RvR was the shiznit.

Not sure man. I seriously thought i was going to stop playing. But the game just became a blast once i hit 15 or so. I think the biggest hurdle was trying to stop comparing it to WOW. They made leveling faster, which i think helpsa bit. And you feel so much more powerful even at the mini dings ( every 10 percent). Have a good guild to work with which also helps. and there is just so much to do, so much i am sometimes overwhelmed at the options you are given. Now eq2 has it owns share of problems; needing a good rig to experiece good graphics; the customization is lacking for weapons and armor, which they are supposedly trying to fix. And the world, while a beatiful site, seems a bit sterile at times. But once you get past antonica and playing in the thundering steppes or Nektulos forest, its like a whole different world.

I also enjoy dungeon crawls. EQ2 has excellent dungeon crawls( and alot of them), which you can find lots of loot and have a blast with friends.

Playing as a berserker, i can actually tank, maintain aggro, and deal good dps at the same time( yes i am still bitter about my paladin in wow, and what blizzard has done to them). But in order to enjoy the game, you have to get away from the wow mentality, and learn the lore, which is fasinating.

I would definitely try it again if only to see the changes thay have made since you last played Terry.

[Casino]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

what is DAoC?



im pretty sure im gonna go buy guild wars today.

[Bacardi151]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

what is DAoC?



im pretty sure im gonna go buy guild wars today.

Dark age of camelot.

[Casino]

Re: World of Warcraft and other MMORPG....who plays?

oh




i picked up GWs. i like it so far. i beta tested it but it feels different.