Yes, I'm in the beta. Actually, I was in the beta just after it came out of Alpha, so was part of the second group to get in. Stepping back a few months, however....
When news came out that a Lord of the Rings MMO was in development, if you put a group of fantasy MMO fans in a room and told them that, you could have visually measured the excitement levels.
If you then told them that Turbine was doing the developing, you could almost watch them deflate with disappointment. After all, it was Turbine that had two MMOs go south in a hurry, with Asheron's Call 2 growing stagnant then dying less than two years after going live, and then the much-awaited Dungeons and Dragons Online opening to tepid reviews, especially as the power gamers hit max level (of 10) within a week of the game hitting shelves. No PVP (at the time, now fixed), no crafting, nothing to do but (for the most part) dungeon crawl over and over and over again..
Well, I have some good news for everyone. Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar is more of what Turbine was when Asheron's Call was new, as opposed to what they seemed when D&D Online went live. The game, quite simply, rocks.
You have four base races: Dwarf, Elf, Hobbit and Man (broken into I believe three different groups based on where in Middle Earth you're from (I recall Dalelands, Gondor and the Horselords off the top of my head). Each race has its own classes: Champion (DPS Deluxe), Captain (Alt tank / party buffs), Guardian (Main tank), Hunter (ranged attack / debuff), Minstrel (buff/debuff), Burgler (debuff and stealth, DoT), and Lore-Master (pet class / DD spells / stuns).
As with any post-WoW game, LOTR Online has a metric crapton of quests, both standard ones (denoted by a golden ring above the target's head) and Main Storyline quests (which have the One Ring above).
The game also features PvP, of a sort, as players can play as monsters (once they reach level 10). Granted, the monsters are rather limited as of yet, but generally are made to challenge higher level PCs. There's a lot of tradeskilling in the game, but each group of tradeskills is very heavily dependent upon the other groups in order to make their items.
The game also allows for player music, with the keyboard acting as the keys (or strings) of the instrument you play, with every class capable of learning at least one musical instrument. In the beta forums, there's a heavy thread on how to import actual songs into the game, which is really quite nice. The controls are complex enough that it allows for two-note chords, which is really nice.
Also one of the interesting things is Achievements, which is similar to EQ2's system, except it's quite a bit more advanced. You also have a Virtue system, which allows you to slot extra abilities that you can gain along the way.
Want more? How about Kinships, where you can actually adopt other characters as your children, as far down as 20 generations? Marriage, also, is in the game.
I'll be doing a preview for Gaming Trend here in a few weeks, but really, the only thing that can really kill LOTR right now is the pre-order package, which allows players to get into the Open Beta, and keep their characters when the game goes live, as long as they pay for the retail game within 30 days of launch.
Specifically, the problem with this is that the uber guilds will all pre-order, be max level by the time the game comes out....and then that's that.
But....give it a shot when open beta comes around, you might just find something worth playing for a good while.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Everquest Online Adventures Turns Four
Proof that many MMOs just never seem to die.
Sony Online Entertainment celebrates the fourth anniversary of EQOA with treasured gifts and special in game quests for all adventurers! Rejoice in the fourth year of the EQOA adventure by claiming your anniversary present today. Characters, level 15 and over, can claim an Anniversary Certificate, which will allow a second reset of their path abilities. Satisfied with your current path? Find a seller for this rare and unique item on auction or give it as a gift because it’s tradable. For those that haven’t quite made it to level 15, other unique and exciting gifts will be granted during the celebration to aide you along the adventure!
This anniversary also presents the prospect of peace in the land of Norrath…almost!
Assistance is needed to fight against invading forces storming the gates of Freeport, Halas, Forkwatch, Klick`Anon, Hazinak, and Misty Thicket. Quest in the name of Norrath and help these cities! Join the battle and you will be handsomely rewarded!
Commemorate the anniversary, collect exciting new rewards and embark on the new fast-action questing adventures that you have come to love, waiting for you in EQOA!
Okay, does anyone still even play EQ:OA? I remember beta testing it, and finding it to be a very ugly game, and the reliance on using the PS2's memory card was really a pain, especially if you only had one memory card. The controls were clunky, the gameplay was average at best...and when the beta was over, I never looked back.
While one expansion was released (Everquest Online Adventures: Frontiers), neither the original nor the expansion are in stock at many stores.
Seriously. Anyone playing this? Drop me a line, and let me know how it's running now? Oh, and happy anniversary...
Sony Online Entertainment celebrates the fourth anniversary of EQOA with treasured gifts and special in game quests for all adventurers! Rejoice in the fourth year of the EQOA adventure by claiming your anniversary present today. Characters, level 15 and over, can claim an Anniversary Certificate, which will allow a second reset of their path abilities. Satisfied with your current path? Find a seller for this rare and unique item on auction or give it as a gift because it’s tradable. For those that haven’t quite made it to level 15, other unique and exciting gifts will be granted during the celebration to aide you along the adventure!
This anniversary also presents the prospect of peace in the land of Norrath…almost!
Assistance is needed to fight against invading forces storming the gates of Freeport, Halas, Forkwatch, Klick`Anon, Hazinak, and Misty Thicket. Quest in the name of Norrath and help these cities! Join the battle and you will be handsomely rewarded!
Commemorate the anniversary, collect exciting new rewards and embark on the new fast-action questing adventures that you have come to love, waiting for you in EQOA!
Okay, does anyone still even play EQ:OA? I remember beta testing it, and finding it to be a very ugly game, and the reliance on using the PS2's memory card was really a pain, especially if you only had one memory card. The controls were clunky, the gameplay was average at best...and when the beta was over, I never looked back.
While one expansion was released (Everquest Online Adventures: Frontiers), neither the original nor the expansion are in stock at many stores.
Seriously. Anyone playing this? Drop me a line, and let me know how it's running now? Oh, and happy anniversary...
Friday, February 2, 2007
Burning Crusade kills World of Warcraft. Loots [Your Life] x1
First off, go read this article over on CNet. Go ahead, I'll wait.
Okay, now that you've read it, let me point out exactly how stupid this 'news' article is, and how obviously slanted it is.
First off, the author wonders why Blizzard would tinker with the success of World of Warcraft, given that it's got over 8 million subscribers world wide. The reason? Well, the scads of players sitting at level 60, who have been doing nothing but running the same instances over and over for the past year or so while grinding the various Tier equipment. Actually, this is the same reason that any MMO developer has created an expansion for their game: give the players something more to do, that the catasses will plow through within a month of it coming out, no matter what the developers might think about how long it should take.
So what happens? The level 60s complain that it's "not the same thing" and it "ruined the original game". Maybe it has something to do with the green items dropping off level 62-65 mobs that are better than purple level 60 gear? Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise. As you level in WoW, you commonly replace more rare gear with higher level gear that has better stats, whether it's as rare or not. And it's only a vocal minority, although the news article buries that in one half-sentence, admitting that most are satisfied with the game.
One veteran player even claimed that Blizzard deliberately killed WoW, that the original game is dead. Um. Excuse me? Then why was I (a level 26 warrior) not out in Outland killing? Oh. Wait. Because the ORIGINAL GAME is where I'm SUPPOSED to be. What, did these people think that BC would be exactly the same as the last 12 months of their lives where they could go and do the same stuff over and over, and their level 60 gear would last them forever, and they would always be King Catass of Catass Mountain? Guess they never played any expansions before...like maybe Ruins of Kunark (which sucked the high levels out of Vox and Nagafen in EQ, letting the lower levels and non-catassing population get a crack at them eventually).
The main gripe is that the raiding guilds are having to put their raiding lives on hold while they level from 60 to 70. The horror! Isn't that, y'know, what the expansion was there for? Weren't these the same people who were complaining rather vocally about having nothing to do once they hit 60?
Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan basically just said the same thing I did above, but probably a lot nicer, in that BC was meant to ... oh.... expand World of Warcraft. After all, that's what expansions do. And Blizzard wouldn't try to kill off their game, since it's making them metric asstons of money by the month.
Another player complains that BC doesn't have 40-man raids, limiting things instead to 25. Um. Okay, so if you miss the 40-man raids so much...just stay level 60, don't buy Burning Crusade...and raid your little heart out. What? Your guild went without you? Oh well.
Here's a couple quotes from a catasser which really shows the mentality of the people involved here: "There is absolutely zero reason for players to ever go back to (the original game) because the rewards available in (BC) are better and, for the most part, easier to obtain."
"These days, Ironforge is a ghost town. Just about everyone is in Outland (a main region in the expansion), and I can't imagine that any of the old capitals will ever experience the bustle that they had pre-BC."
Riiiiiiiiight.
Absolutely zero reason for people to go back from BC to the original game? Wrong. What about the rather large amount of people that created Blood Elves and Draenai when BC came out? The original game is all about them. The newbie areas for them in BC are basically for levels 1-20. Not 1-60. Not 1-70. 1-20. From 20 on? They're right in the original game with the rest of us.
Ironforge is a ghost town? Maybe of the level 60s. The levels 1-57? No, they're right there, spamming the chat windows, auctioning everything they can, and tradeskilling their little hearts out.
See, here's the thing. It's been said before that WoW is essentially two games: Levels 1-59 or so, and Level 60. Now, it's Levels 1-57 and 58-70. If you're 58 and up? That's Burning Crusade. If you're.... the rest of the game's population, you've still got reason to play.
For the record, though, I don't even own Burning Crusade, because I simply refuse to pay $40 for an expansion that, beyond the new races, I have no use for for quite a while.
C'mon, CNet. Try talking to everyone instead of going, "OMG, WoW ARE DOOMED AND BLIZZARD TOO!!!!!111!!!!!1!"
And to the catassers, I say this: quit yer bitchin'. You got exactly what you wanted in the first place, and within six months to a year, you'll all be level 70 and doing exactly what you did before BC came out: raiding your little catasses off, PVPing other level 70s, and twinking your alts.
Until then, suck it up and play like everyone else.
Okay, now that you've read it, let me point out exactly how stupid this 'news' article is, and how obviously slanted it is.
First off, the author wonders why Blizzard would tinker with the success of World of Warcraft, given that it's got over 8 million subscribers world wide. The reason? Well, the scads of players sitting at level 60, who have been doing nothing but running the same instances over and over for the past year or so while grinding the various Tier equipment. Actually, this is the same reason that any MMO developer has created an expansion for their game: give the players something more to do, that the catasses will plow through within a month of it coming out, no matter what the developers might think about how long it should take.
So what happens? The level 60s complain that it's "not the same thing" and it "ruined the original game". Maybe it has something to do with the green items dropping off level 62-65 mobs that are better than purple level 60 gear? Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise. As you level in WoW, you commonly replace more rare gear with higher level gear that has better stats, whether it's as rare or not. And it's only a vocal minority, although the news article buries that in one half-sentence, admitting that most are satisfied with the game.
One veteran player even claimed that Blizzard deliberately killed WoW, that the original game is dead. Um. Excuse me? Then why was I (a level 26 warrior) not out in Outland killing? Oh. Wait. Because the ORIGINAL GAME is where I'm SUPPOSED to be. What, did these people think that BC would be exactly the same as the last 12 months of their lives where they could go and do the same stuff over and over, and their level 60 gear would last them forever, and they would always be King Catass of Catass Mountain? Guess they never played any expansions before...like maybe Ruins of Kunark (which sucked the high levels out of Vox and Nagafen in EQ, letting the lower levels and non-catassing population get a crack at them eventually).
The main gripe is that the raiding guilds are having to put their raiding lives on hold while they level from 60 to 70. The horror! Isn't that, y'know, what the expansion was there for? Weren't these the same people who were complaining rather vocally about having nothing to do once they hit 60?
Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan basically just said the same thing I did above, but probably a lot nicer, in that BC was meant to ... oh.... expand World of Warcraft. After all, that's what expansions do. And Blizzard wouldn't try to kill off their game, since it's making them metric asstons of money by the month.
Another player complains that BC doesn't have 40-man raids, limiting things instead to 25. Um. Okay, so if you miss the 40-man raids so much...just stay level 60, don't buy Burning Crusade...and raid your little heart out. What? Your guild went without you? Oh well.
Here's a couple quotes from a catasser which really shows the mentality of the people involved here: "There is absolutely zero reason for players to ever go back to (the original game) because the rewards available in (BC) are better and, for the most part, easier to obtain."
"These days, Ironforge is a ghost town. Just about everyone is in Outland (a main region in the expansion), and I can't imagine that any of the old capitals will ever experience the bustle that they had pre-BC."
Riiiiiiiiight.
Absolutely zero reason for people to go back from BC to the original game? Wrong. What about the rather large amount of people that created Blood Elves and Draenai when BC came out? The original game is all about them. The newbie areas for them in BC are basically for levels 1-20. Not 1-60. Not 1-70. 1-20. From 20 on? They're right in the original game with the rest of us.
Ironforge is a ghost town? Maybe of the level 60s. The levels 1-57? No, they're right there, spamming the chat windows, auctioning everything they can, and tradeskilling their little hearts out.
See, here's the thing. It's been said before that WoW is essentially two games: Levels 1-59 or so, and Level 60. Now, it's Levels 1-57 and 58-70. If you're 58 and up? That's Burning Crusade. If you're.... the rest of the game's population, you've still got reason to play.
For the record, though, I don't even own Burning Crusade, because I simply refuse to pay $40 for an expansion that, beyond the new races, I have no use for for quite a while.
C'mon, CNet. Try talking to everyone instead of going, "OMG, WoW ARE DOOMED AND BLIZZARD TOO!!!!!111!!!!!1!"
And to the catassers, I say this: quit yer bitchin'. You got exactly what you wanted in the first place, and within six months to a year, you'll all be level 70 and doing exactly what you did before BC came out: raiding your little catasses off, PVPing other level 70s, and twinking your alts.
Until then, suck it up and play like everyone else.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Everquest II Live Update #31
The new update for Everquest II is out, and it's a pretty snazzy one, from the look at it. You've got class hats for Furies, Necromancers, Wardens and Warlocks, a fair number of tweaks and zone modifications, and a slew of PVP and tradeskill changes.
The big content addition though is Erollisi Day which is EQ2's version of Valentines. Much as they did for Christmas, it'll open up a new instance with new quests, tradeskill stuff and quite a bit of fun.
Keep an eye out, I'll work on some screenshots soon. Also, my review should be ready soon as well, once I finish the other two reviews for next week.
Here are the full patch notes.
The big content addition though is Erollisi Day which is EQ2's version of Valentines. Much as they did for Christmas, it'll open up a new instance with new quests, tradeskill stuff and quite a bit of fun.
Keep an eye out, I'll work on some screenshots soon. Also, my review should be ready soon as well, once I finish the other two reviews for next week.
Here are the full patch notes.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Ebay Bans RMT?
Thanks to my daily scan of Lum the Mad's blog, we have word (albeit somewhat rumored yet) that Ebay is going to be banning RMT (or sales of MMO items/characters/money) wholesale, with the MMO in question being Ultima Online (which does allow RMT).
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, RMT is one of the hot button topics in MMOs. In fact, at the 2005 Austin Game Conference, it spawned its own panel, which I attended. Many people are against it, quite a few people (especially IGE) are for it, and some people just don't care.
Personally, my opinion is that if RMT is going to survive, it's going to have to be internal to the game, much as SOE has done with Everquest 2 and their Station Exchange program. And let's be honest. If anyone's going to be making money off of what's in the MMOs, it should be the MMO developers themselves. I mean, heck, I'd rather pay Blizzard $5 for a Sword of Glowy Smashings than pay some Chinese gold farmer for one. Same goes for any MMO, for that matter.
And let's be honest again, it's not like you're ever going to successfully ban the practice. When (and if) Ebay bans RMT (which won't be 100% successful, just look at their bans of bootleg music and other media), that'll just push people more towards IGE and various other gold and power leveling services. Historically, any time that you attempt to outlaw something, it just goes underground. RMT going underground will do nothing but make the possibility of fraud and other shady activities become much more common. If the MMO developers enfold RMT into their games, then at least then there's some accountability.
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, RMT is one of the hot button topics in MMOs. In fact, at the 2005 Austin Game Conference, it spawned its own panel, which I attended. Many people are against it, quite a few people (especially IGE) are for it, and some people just don't care.
Personally, my opinion is that if RMT is going to survive, it's going to have to be internal to the game, much as SOE has done with Everquest 2 and their Station Exchange program. And let's be honest. If anyone's going to be making money off of what's in the MMOs, it should be the MMO developers themselves. I mean, heck, I'd rather pay Blizzard $5 for a Sword of Glowy Smashings than pay some Chinese gold farmer for one. Same goes for any MMO, for that matter.
And let's be honest again, it's not like you're ever going to successfully ban the practice. When (and if) Ebay bans RMT (which won't be 100% successful, just look at their bans of bootleg music and other media), that'll just push people more towards IGE and various other gold and power leveling services. Historically, any time that you attempt to outlaw something, it just goes underground. RMT going underground will do nothing but make the possibility of fraud and other shady activities become much more common. If the MMO developers enfold RMT into their games, then at least then there's some accountability.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Lord of the Rings Online Pre-Orders
Well, as we just posted over on Gaming Trend, Midway and Turbine have just announed their pre-order program. The press release is on the main site, but I wanted to talk about a few of the things I'm thinking on reading this.
First off, I'm in the beta (and have been since they went from alpha to beta), but haven't been in much lately due to other things. This'll change, and soon, especially when the NDA drops. Speaking of, also, I've got a key still for this weekend's stress test. No one's emailed. So...is no one reading, or does no one want it? :)
Anyway, here's the list of what you get for pre-ordering:
It really makes you wonder if either Turbine is having money issues, or if Midway is seriously pushing for this game to Hurry Up And Get Out. Not that the game looks bad (which is all I'm saying right now, understand), it's just what jumped into my head on reading the press release. Still, locking in a $10 subscription rate for what's aiming to be a AAA title....isn't a bad deal. And the $200, if LOTRO goes for 5-7 years, that's a sweet deal, but if it only lasts a year....ow.
The Open Beta and Character Rollover really catch the attention. For those not paying attention, this means that if you pre-order and purchase the game (within 30 days of launch), you effectively get a month's head start. You can believe that the UBAR guilds will be all over this one, since it lets them grind grind grind to their hearts content and unlock as many things as possible before the game even launches. Look for a large number of strategy websites and such to hit pre-launch. Also, look for a crapload of patching and nerfing to happen Launch Day.
Honestly, though, if you're even remotely interested in LOTRO, it's worth the pre-order (which many places is only like $5) just to get into the open beta, and then if you like what you see, buy the game and get the $10 subscription fee and keep your same character.
More on LOTRO when the NDA drops, which will probably be within the next few weeks.
First off, I'm in the beta (and have been since they went from alpha to beta), but haven't been in much lately due to other things. This'll change, and soon, especially when the NDA drops. Speaking of, also, I've got a key still for this weekend's stress test. No one's emailed. So...is no one reading, or does no one want it? :)
Anyway, here's the list of what you get for pre-ordering:
So. The big thing here is the pricing. $14.99 (presumably) for subscription, or, if you pre-order, either $9.99 or a one-time fee of $199.99. There is a catch on the $9.99, which is if you cancel, presumably it knocks you to $14.99 or whatever. It's interesting to see a flat fee for a lifetime subscription. On one hand, it's aimed at getting as many boxes in the hands of players Day One as possible for that quick influx of money. On the other hand, the $200 lifetime membership gives the same message, but much, much more strongly.The Lord of the Rings Online Founder's Program(a) offers players two different membership options:
Only $9.99 per month subscription price! OR
Just $199 for a Lifetime Membership! In addition to these special pricing options, The Lord of the Rings Online Founders receive:
- Open Beta: Guaranteed access provides Founders the first opportunity to create a character and enter Middle-earth currently planned for March 30, 2007
- Character Roll-Over: Moves the character that you created during the Open Beta into the live service --along with the stats, levels, items, and experience that character earned prior to launch!
- Bonus Items: Two special in-game items that are only available to those who pre-order:
-- Enchanted Cloak of Regeneration
-- Ring of Agility
It really makes you wonder if either Turbine is having money issues, or if Midway is seriously pushing for this game to Hurry Up And Get Out. Not that the game looks bad (which is all I'm saying right now, understand), it's just what jumped into my head on reading the press release. Still, locking in a $10 subscription rate for what's aiming to be a AAA title....isn't a bad deal. And the $200, if LOTRO goes for 5-7 years, that's a sweet deal, but if it only lasts a year....ow.
The Open Beta and Character Rollover really catch the attention. For those not paying attention, this means that if you pre-order and purchase the game (within 30 days of launch), you effectively get a month's head start. You can believe that the UBAR guilds will be all over this one, since it lets them grind grind grind to their hearts content and unlock as many things as possible before the game even launches. Look for a large number of strategy websites and such to hit pre-launch. Also, look for a crapload of patching and nerfing to happen Launch Day.
Honestly, though, if you're even remotely interested in LOTRO, it's worth the pre-order (which many places is only like $5) just to get into the open beta, and then if you like what you see, buy the game and get the $10 subscription fee and keep your same character.
More on LOTRO when the NDA drops, which will probably be within the next few weeks.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Lord of the Rings Online Stress Test
I have word through various sources that a stress test scheduled this weekend for Lord of the Rings Online .
Me, I have a key for said stress test. (Not anymore!)
First person to email me at ballew@gamingtrend.com can have it with one condition: post impressions in a comment to this thread next week, please.
Enjoy!
Me, I have a key for said stress test. (Not anymore!)
First person to email me at ballew@gamingtrend.com can have it with one condition: post impressions in a comment to this thread next week, please.
Enjoy!
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