Slashdot Mirror
SOE Station Pass Reviewed
Geldonyetich, at Grimwell.com, has reviewed the pile of games that makes up the SOE All-Access Station Pass. The pass includes SWG, EQ, EQ2, Planetside, and the "Station" games Tanarus, Infantry, and Cosmic Rift. From the article: "In the interest of having a complete review, I installed and took a good look at each of the individual PC game offerings under the Station Access subscription. I didn't have the necessary broadband PS2 hardware to try out EverQuest Online Adventures nor the Apple hardware to run EverQuest: Macintosh Edition. Just because I didn't include them doesn't mean they aren't part of the subscription plan. Chances are if you're considering the Station Access subscription you are a PC gamer anyway, as otherwise you've only access to one or two of the games."
Theres a lot of fun to be had in PlanetSide. Unfortunately, after a few days it wears off. There's no long term progression in PlanetSide like traditional RPGS. And as anyone who has played DOAC knows, it sucks not being able to choose your teammates... In fact having morons on your team regularly worse than not having them at all. Planetside is one game that gives me hope for the future of MMOGS. Its not something I'd want to pay monthly for, because it has some fundamental flaws, and the strategy is normally just zerging. Its something more for having personal fun, trying to go Rambo against the enemy without caring about the main objectives.
God spoke to me.
EQ2 isn't dying.. I will admit. It's a very new game and will keep going for a few years I'm sure. But you have to be realistic about the other games in the package. EQ has been dying for years, and while it will probably keep going for another 4+ years, it's just not the same as the early years. Planetside is only good for a week or two, and then you may only want to login about once a month or once every two months, just to remind yourself why it's not fun. Star Wars Galaxies is simply not up to par with the other games, and while you may personally enjoy it, it's not a game for most people. There's just something wrong about it that can't keep the average gamer interested. I won't even go into the other 3 games - they aren't worth mentioning. Long story short: EQ2 is probably the best game for this deal, but the others are dying. If you are into EQ and EQ2 heavily, then sure, this deal is great, but it's pretty much required that you be into the games before this package.
rellix
I doubt that it will increase it tenfold in the slightest, and what mmo realisitically doesn't have forced grouping? There will be solo content after all, so you won't have to always be grouped. Tradeskills can be done with multiple people *but will not always require it*. The original EQ didn't have these "mistakes" you speak of. It wasn't until these creators were gone that EQ became the waste of time and effort it is today. The creators of Vanguard are making a 3rd generation game. They know what worked and what didn't in EQ1, EQ2, and WoW. They have this view that will allow them to create such a strong game that I promise, you will be stunned.
rellix
I'd honestly love to see your proof that he was behind the failure of EQ, or did you forget that the game was at it's peak during the Kunark/Velious era. After Brad left, the game only went downward and is left in it's current status: death.
rellix
EQ was only a hit because it was the best game of it's time. It's only alive now because of station pass and people that don't want to leave behind years of work.
This has nothing to do with Brad leaving, the next generation was improved on EQ and took players away while expanding the audience (wow has toped 2 mill players, eq toped out at around half a mill). Heck EQ left such a bad taste in peoples mouth that EQ2 is having problems because people equate EQ2=EQ=pain in the ass, despite eq2 having learned the lesions of EQ better than Wow (esp. with the more recent changes to EQ2 to make it even friendlier than when it launched). These pains in the ass elements were in the game from the start and are in Vanguard, the difference is gamers don't have to put up with them anymore.
Vanguard will be good for one thing, it'll take the people bitching that EQ2/WoW are too 'casual' and put them on a game I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole
>Excuse me? Your comment here makes no sense. How could you possible determine that thing game isn't meant for you based on this fact?
:)
i like options when playing a game, EQ really limited what you could do solo so if i couldn't get a group together (or was only going to be on an hour or so) then i was stuck mob grinding with little reason other than to move that xp bar. The fact that the lack of soloing potion in eq is the reason I quit makes me know that I won't enjoy a game that brags about modeling it's soloing on EQ.
>There should be some sort of punishment for dying
yes some but i don't want to return to the days of naked corpse runs.
>Will this require groups at all times? Prove it.
i'm sure they won't require it at all times but assuming they follow the 'eq model' of soloing it will be tedious and boring to harvest solo.
>Examples and proof please.
read the vanguard FAQ, most of it shows how they are going back to doing things the 'EQ way. This will get them the hardcore EQ crowd but that's not enough (as eq2 showed, casual gamers left the game in droves after the first 3 months and now seem to be coming back after changes).
i guess this is going to be modded troll isn't it
Regardless of the reason EQ became so popular, its longevity does not rely solely on the station pass, in fact, the station pass barely effects it. Of the guild I was in before quitting EQ(about a year ago) after 4.5 years, I would say that even today, only about 15% at most use the station pass. People play that game because it's damn good, and while it may be past its prime, it's still a good game. Friendships are made and many things are accomplished. You're right that many people play because of the effort they put in but hell, that's the same with other MMO's too, so you can't single EQ out on that fact. WoW reached 2 million players because it was launched in a different era of gaming. Online gaming was still a new and unexplored environment back in 1999 when EQ was released, and only those that ventured into the area on their own really knew about EQ. The game was under-advertised before it was released and even during the first year or two people had never heard of it. Fast-forward to 2004. Millions upon millions more people have internet connections - many have now upgraded to broadband and computer gaming is becoming "cool" among the younger generation. Half of advertising is word of mouth, and it doesn't surpise me that even with all of their advertisements in the magazines and on websites, WoW, a lot of their subscribers come from recommendations. It also helped that WoW had 3 extremely popular games beforehand - as opposed to EQ's 0. It's obvious to me that you looked in Vanguard's FAQ for reasons to *not* play. Sure, there are a few features that you may personally hate, but there's a hell of a lot more things that you'd love. You don't want to play the game? Fine, but don't concentrate on the negative without considering the positive.
rellix
If you want some strict subscriber information, you can check out http://www.mmogchart.com/ - if you look at a few trends, EQ is slowly declining in subscribers. SWG was never that popular and has been declining as well.
EQ in the last few months combined their servers and got rid of at least half (I believe), which is more than enough proof for me that they are losing players.
rellix
I played PlanetSide for about 6 months solid before giving up my subscription.
Great idea, and MMO FPS games are definitely an exciting direction to be going in. However notable flaws:
1. Pricing - full price for the game and then a full-price subscription fee? I paid it, but I didn't like it. On top of that, paying another full-price for the expansion to the game? No thanks. That's about the time I quit playing, when the Core Combat expansion was released.
2. There's no victory - You take bases, while losing bases elsewhere. Perpetually. Eventually, highly frustrating. Especially after putting a few months of effort into the game to discover this.
3. System requirements are ridiculous - you actually do need 1Gb of ram to get the game to run acceptably, and even then, you're still going to choke in big firefights
But put all that aside. Sony are playing the Social blackmail game because they hold the keys to some of the best online social dynamics available. Gaming alongside friends and making new ones as you go along is a tight experience. I'll probably subscribe again in future.