Hmm. Its worth mentioning that GameSpot was one of the last review sites to post a review for Hellgate: London, which also received sub-par scores. I wonder if the publishers of HG:L (Electronic Arts) called for a review delay due to the amount of advertising dollars spent on the game, as GameSpot ran numerous stories/previews/video demos on the game prior to launch (much like K&L) to hype it up, and even skinned the site on launch day (also like K&L).
I remember back in college at Florida when I used to get together with friends for a semi-regular Monopoly game, and the Civil Engineer in the group recommended we give calculators a try to track the money. While skeptical at first, I ended up being rather amazed at how much faster the game played, and from there we never looked back.
I'll be eager to see how this pans out, but from the graphics it looks like this is a European edition. Who knows if it will ever see light of day in the US...
This isn't to "expand play opportunities across factions", its to ease the burden on the designers of having to constantly tweak existing content for two separate play dynamics, not to mention this constant cry by the player-base to balance the Paladin against the Shaman.
The ugliness will begin when the loot tables for both sets are turned on, and guilds that do MC/BWL content start seeing drops wasted by a month or more of Paladin loot for the Horde, or Shaman loot for the Alliance, before the classes are of the appropriate level to raid.
I wonder if their future patch plans include the creation of a sort of online marketplace for paid add-on content for the PC similar to what is offered via Xbox Live.
Now granted this may not appeal strongly to those of us in the community that can go out and get our own free content, it could certainly be of some benefit to a standard, non-power user.
Anyway, I'd be interested to see what this company may try and do to bridge the gap and bring in additional incremental revenue.
I've known guildmates and guildmasters who've maintained logs of "interesting" Ventrillo communications with fellow members/officers using the "Record Conversation" feature.
which only came about because the initial comments weren't properly analyzed before sending a warning
Right... like the GM's in World of Warcraft have everything they state to players reviewed constantly to ensure accuracy. "GM's for GM's?"
This looks to me like another example where the corporation (Blizzard) has screwed up, and rather then accept responsibility for its mistakes has decided to place the blame on the front-end, and thus easily replaceable, customer service team.
Assuming you have a class that is capable of farming, how many hours of time and effort will it take you to farm 500 gold? Let's say at an aggressive rate of 50g an hour, it will take 10 hours to achieve your goal. This is already on top of a raiding schedule, work, school, or whatever.
It really all boils down to: a.) how much gold can you farm an hour on your own per hour b.) how long does it take to achieve whatever goal you set c.) does the prospective buyer have enough disposable income to support the purchase d.) is it time effective to make said purchase
For those that raid extensively 5-7 days a week, and work full-time jobs, purchasing gold is arguably an effective use of time/money/resources to handling repair costs.
Can you describe the current customer service model used to service the many servers in WoW?
What steps are being taken to improve communication flow between GM's and players, improve response times, and resolve in-game issues that require immediate attention, i.e. cross-faction outdoor raiding boss disputes?
Expecting people to pay what they could reasonably expect to pay in the stores, is a non-starter as far as I'm concerned. Norton / Symantec do something similar.
I think the key benefit here is that this method of software distribution supports someone who seeks instant gratification.
The other day I needed a copy of Norton AntiVirus, so I went to the Symantec website, purchased, and had it up in running in less time then it would take for me to drive to the store and back.
While doing the same thing with Half-Life 2 might be a bit more challenging due to bandwidth constraints, the same general idea applies.
Paladin/Hunter talents haven't been put in the game yet. Other classes have had talents for a while and have had time to test/rebalance... Pally/Hunter will be thrown in and then instantly nerfed at retail because of no time for testing.
One would have thought Paladin talents would have been implemented by now as the class was one of the first to be activated back in Friends and Family days. From what I've seen it still had major issues with keeping agro, and providing overall group use.
Warlock pets aren't finalized yet.
It has, however, been announced that the two remaining pets, "Felhound" and "Infernal" will be pushed out with the Open Beta push roughly Monday of next week. But, then expect several weeks after that for tuning and "balance".
Hero classes have yet to be put in as well, and blizzard won't give any information on them.
The idea here is to provide players with some incentive for playing the game after its released. The same thing applies to raid content, with only one actual raid "Onyxia" being implemented prior to release.
I'm largely concerned that raid content will be of the same quality of EQ's last two expansions, i.e. full of bugs.
Racial traits aren't in yet
Well, partially implemented. Undead qualities are in, which is a major reason there will be a stupid number of undead players on the PvP server. Being immune to fear is good stuff.
I imagine the rest of it will trickle in.
Tradeskills aren't complete yet
With the exception of Enchanting past 280, I'd say everything is largely there. They may add specializations later at some point, akin to what they've done with Blacksmithing, but we'll see.
Horde lacks quests and content, especially high level content
I've always felt the Horde starting areas are largely undeveloped compared to the Alliance lands. The goal it seems at higher levels is consolidation of quest paths. Folks move from their racial specific areas into "contested areas" then into "neutral" territory run by goblins.
All of the high end areas I've seen fit this profile, i.e. Winterspring, Felwood, Plaguelands, etc.
Numerous quests still missing rewards/are bugged
It was announced on the forums that the Open Beta push will see the removal of all and flags. Guess we'll see if that holds up.
Personally, I think the big thing to be concerned with is the quality of the Blizzard downloader, which seems to be based on a rather poor implementation of BitTorrent.
The game is more of a top down action sort of title with roleplaying elements splashed in here and there. The title seems to plan to be a humor-laden action game.
Gone are the 3D related dungeon, the party of characters, and the town of Skara Brae.
If you are looking for a game that recreates the classic Bard's Tale feel, try doing a web search for "Devil Whiskey."
Don't forget that in the past Steam has allowed you to input the CD key of a retail boxed copy so that if you lose the information you can later download it from their service.
(B) diverting the Internet browser of the computer, or similar program of the computer used to access and navigate the Internet, away from the site the user intended to view, to one or more other Web pages, such that the user is prevented from viewing the content at the intended Web page;
This is absolutely despicable behavior, and the folks doing this should be fined or imprisoned.
That this is even possible seems to suggest that either the "secure" system needs to be re-examined and perhaps re-implemented, or there needs to be strong controls put in place on the technology.
When its your money, or information on the line, sometimes we need regulation to make sure we aren't getting scammed by the next "popup camera" business.
Slashdot Mirror
He used the benefit of his data trove to know this post was going to be made on Slashdot...
Hmm. Its worth mentioning that GameSpot was one of the last review sites to post a review for Hellgate: London, which also received sub-par scores. I wonder if the publishers of HG:L (Electronic Arts) called for a review delay due to the amount of advertising dollars spent on the game, as GameSpot ran numerous stories/previews/video demos on the game prior to launch (much like K&L) to hype it up, and even skinned the site on launch day (also like K&L).
More specifically, the 'classic' package will come with no cars or tracks
Yeah, I bought the 'classic' package for the loading screen, menu, and the manual, not to mention the catchy theme music!
I remember back in college at Florida when I used to get together with friends for a semi-regular Monopoly game, and the Civil Engineer in the group recommended we give calculators a try to track the money. While skeptical at first, I ended up being rather amazed at how much faster the game played, and from there we never looked back.
I'll be eager to see how this pans out, but from the graphics it looks like this is a European edition. Who knows if it will ever see light of day in the US...
This isn't to "expand play opportunities across factions", its to ease the burden on the designers of having to constantly tweak existing content for two separate play dynamics, not to mention this constant cry by the player-base to balance the Paladin against the Shaman.
The ugliness will begin when the loot tables for both sets are turned on, and guilds that do MC/BWL content start seeing drops wasted by a month or more of Paladin loot for the Horde, or Shaman loot for the Alliance, before the classes are of the appropriate level to raid.
First there is a high price point, and now there are rumors of stringent license/pricing restrictions on software.
Sounds like this console is not being guided in a positive direction...
I wonder if their future patch plans include the creation of a sort of online marketplace for paid add-on content for the PC similar to what is offered via Xbox Live.
Now granted this may not appeal strongly to those of us in the community that can go out and get our own free content, it could certainly be of some benefit to a standard, non-power user.
Anyway, I'd be interested to see what this company may try and do to bridge the gap and bring in additional incremental revenue.
I've known guildmates and guildmasters who've maintained logs of "interesting" Ventrillo communications with fellow members/officers using the "Record Conversation" feature.
Always pays to watch what you say.
which only came about because the initial comments weren't properly analyzed before sending a warning
Right... like the GM's in World of Warcraft have everything they state to players reviewed constantly to ensure accuracy. "GM's for GM's?"
This looks to me like another example where the corporation (Blizzard) has screwed up, and rather then accept responsibility for its mistakes has decided to place the blame on the front-end, and thus easily replaceable, customer service team.
Assuming you have a class that is capable of farming, how many hours of time and effort will it take you to farm 500 gold? Let's say at an aggressive rate of 50g an hour, it will take 10 hours to achieve your goal. This is already on top of a raiding schedule, work, school, or whatever.
It really all boils down to:
a.) how much gold can you farm an hour on your own per hour
b.) how long does it take to achieve whatever goal you set
c.) does the prospective buyer have enough disposable income to support the purchase
d.) is it time effective to make said purchase
For those that raid extensively 5-7 days a week, and work full-time jobs, purchasing gold is arguably an effective use of time/money/resources to handling repair costs.
I can see this on conventional servers. Guessing on a RP server you Roleplay with said people. "Doth thou have a plot of land for mine hotel?"
Or perhaps on a PvP server you kill said people. "This is for taking the last cup of coffee punk!"
Inadequately tested, and likely unfinished, upon release. Initial MC, BWL, and 40 man AQ instance anyone?
Can you describe the current customer service model used to service the many servers in WoW?
What steps are being taken to improve communication flow between GM's and players, improve response times, and resolve in-game issues that require immediate attention, i.e. cross-faction outdoor raiding boss disputes?
Isn't it 11111001111?
...In SWG you can build a house...
The Sims is that a way. -->
Expecting people to pay what they could reasonably expect to pay in the stores, is a non-starter as far as I'm concerned. Norton / Symantec do something similar.
I think the key benefit here is that this method of software distribution supports someone who seeks instant gratification.
The other day I needed a copy of Norton AntiVirus, so I went to the Symantec website, purchased, and had it up in running in less time then it would take for me to drive to the store and back.
While doing the same thing with Half-Life 2 might be a bit more challenging due to bandwidth constraints, the same general idea applies.
Priced the same, for time convenience.
One would have thought Paladin talents would have been implemented by now as the class was one of the first to be activated back in Friends and Family days. From what I've seen it still had major issues with keeping agro, and providing overall group use.
It has, however, been announced that the two remaining pets, "Felhound" and "Infernal" will be pushed out with the Open Beta push roughly Monday of next week. But, then expect several weeks after that for tuning and "balance".
The idea here is to provide players with some incentive for playing the game after its released. The same thing applies to raid content, with only one actual raid "Onyxia" being implemented prior to release.
I'm largely concerned that raid content will be of the same quality of EQ's last two expansions, i.e. full of bugs.
Well, partially implemented. Undead qualities are in, which is a major reason there will be a stupid number of undead players on the PvP server. Being immune to fear is good stuff.
I imagine the rest of it will trickle in.
With the exception of Enchanting past 280, I'd say everything is largely there. They may add specializations later at some point, akin to what they've done with Blacksmithing, but we'll see.
I've always felt the Horde starting areas are largely undeveloped compared to the Alliance lands. The goal it seems at higher levels is consolidation of quest paths. Folks move from their racial specific areas into "contested areas" then into "neutral" territory run by goblins.
All of the high end areas I've seen fit this profile, i.e. Winterspring, Felwood, Plaguelands, etc.
It was announced on the forums that the Open Beta push will see the removal of all and flags. Guess we'll see if that holds up.
Personally, I think the big thing to be concerned with is the quality of the Blizzard downloader, which seems to be based on a rather poor implementation of BitTorrent.
And there isn't a single gnome to be seen in the intro movie. Cooincidence? Or perhaps he was punted!
The game is more of a top down action sort of title with roleplaying elements splashed in here and there. The title seems to plan to be a humor-laden action game.
Gone are the 3D related dungeon, the party of characters, and the town of Skara Brae.
If you are looking for a game that recreates the classic Bard's Tale feel, try doing a web search for "Devil Whiskey."
Don't forget that in the past Steam has allowed you to input the CD key of a retail boxed copy so that if you lose the information you can later download it from their service.
I hope this isn't like the hand-cramping size of the Game Boy Advance SP, clearly designed with smaller fingers in mind.
So proxy servers are now illegal spyware tools?
This is absolutely despicable behavior, and the folks doing this should be fined or imprisoned.
That this is even possible seems to suggest that either the "secure" system needs to be re-examined and perhaps re-implemented, or there needs to be strong controls put in place on the technology.
When its your money, or information on the line, sometimes we need regulation to make sure we aren't getting scammed by the next "popup camera" business.
Does anyone else think that SCO is falling deeper and deeper into their unreality sphere these days?
I find your lack of faith disturbing...