So, I signed up for the beta for the kicks of it. Awesomely enough, since I'm, and I quote, "a long and thrustworthy participant in our community" (yes, thrustworthy....Ha ha, sword/phallic jokes), I've received a special gift, a drinking cape for free booze ingame. Just one problem.....I don't have a beta account. Way to go, AoC!!
Lol. The game has actually been out for a couple of days. I got the same email. I even pre-ordered a collector's edition like as soon as it became available. Luckily Gamestop wasn't going to charge me for it until it actually shipped, because about a week before it came out, I realized that AoC is going to suck like (almost) all other MMOs and I canceled it. Long and thrustworthy...
Well...talk about copying and pasting WoW. God I love how MMO's try to depose WoW from its high horse
Judging by your posts, MMOs come out just as regularly as other types of games (I'm not too familiar with the gaming industry). My question is, who has that insane amount of free time needed to try titles as they come out? Clearly MMOs get more immersive and enjoyable later in the game (better items, stronger opponents and abilities, etc.), also true for regular RPGs. So either you don't get a chance to see the best parts of the game, which means you have no right to review it in a fair way, or you have no life at all. This is not directed at Fenix, more like a general question I don't know the answer to.
It's actually kinda different, the combat system is more action-y, not point and click. Takes some skill, especially in PvP, at least from the vids I've seen. And Kuvasz, even though that's not directed at me, I'll try to answer it. With MMO's and RPG's, it's good if it keeps your attention long enough to get that that place. Storyline, graphics, combat system, stuff like that is what, for me anyway, what makes me play it past the first 30 minutes. I couldn't care less about what uber-powerful spells there are, or that this certain sword has 2.5 attack more than that, but whether or not it's FUN. That's just me though.
Okay I don't mean to hijack your thread but here's my take on RPG games, because I don't have experience in MMO but from the looks of it, they're pretty similar. I have played a total of 3 RPGs so far, and some of them can be evaluated on the basis of what you're saying, but some can't. Diablo II: I found the monsters unimaginative and repetitive with all the 'reskinning' going on. The items were OK, but nothing big there either. However, the skills were very diverse and spectacular, which remains a key attribute of the game. The story was easy to follow, but doing the exact same thing three times is just not my stuff. Diablo II is fun at the beginning but quickly loses its magic. Sacred: Kind of a Diablo II feel to it with the perspective and stuff, but the monsters... MAN! Insane diversity from molluscs through goblins to centipedes, upto dragons 50 times the size of your character. The items were very shiny and imaginative, with innumerable ways to modify not just the attributes, but also the appearance of your character to a great extent. The big downside of it is the boring skills of the characters (I even read up on them on the internet and they didn't even try to make them sound interesting). I didn't spend as much time with Sacred as with Diablo, so the story didn't quite come through, but I'm thick anyway. As I progressed through the game I became more and more immersed with all the items and magic and stuff, so spending time with it definitely increased the 'wow factor'. Titan Quest: The frickin ladybirds I brushed off the tall grass had ragdoll effects @_@ Graphics and animation are top of the notch, along with monster selection, though not as diverse as the ones found in Sacred, but overall Titan Quest is more 'realistic' so it's understandable. The skills are appaling. They sound like you can destroy the world with it but then all you get is a puff of smoke from your magical palms. Most of the skills are cross-character global ones and are very boring not just storywise, but also visually. They do kill though if you concentrate your points. The story was elaborate and went well with the Greek stting, but I can't say I didn't get bored with the game as I progressed, mostly because of the boring skills. For me, Sacred wins from the three simply because I could see that it continuously gets better, even though at first it was a bit hard to get used to the damage types and the needed protection against them. So, while first impressions and general mechanics do count, there are games which become better over time, and are often overlooked because of not spending enough time with them, which is what I hinted at in my previous post.
Thank you for that kuvasz. It feels like maybe it's time for me to actually open my copy of Sacred and install it now...
