The reason it's not truly casual is that the casual content ends at 60. Anything worthwhile doing is not casual. It either requires massive amounts of people, massive amounts of time, or both.
Difficult but short 5 man instances would be casual. 40-man raids are NOT casual.
Molten Core - Many players don't have 6 hours to sit down and game. Let alone getting that block of time to conincide for a group of 40. NOT CASUAL. Onyxia is better to an extent because the encounter is short, but what about the damn key quest? Or gearing up?
WoW tried to cater to both and pleased neither. The hardcore are upset because it's too easy to level, and the casual are upset because there's no endgame content for them.
Even though it's generally accepted as such, anything requiring coordination of 20 people is NOT casual. WoW really needed more endgame 5-man instances.
From what I've read of Dungeons and Dragons Online, they are focusing on small group dungeon crawls. It could be quite interesting...
Eve Online for instance seems to be a game for the purpose of displaying their 'fog' technology.
I've played Eve for almost two years, and honestly don't know what you're referring to here.
Eve is actually a very good attempt to break out of the 'standard MMO' mold. The game is focused on complex player interaction. The skill system defeats power-levelling completely, and has diminishing returns build in. (still time based though) The only real grind is financial, but if you're a smart player with a little luck you can avoid it.
Unfortunately, the games complexity leads to a VERY steep learning curve, and mistakes can be costly. Add in the non-consentual PvP and the game ends up being pretty hardcore. Probably a little too hardcore for the casual gamer.
Personally, I like the challenge presented and the risk involved. It makes ingame success much more rewarding.
It is if you've specialized in large beams instead of missiles. Or Amarr ships and never trained Caldari. Having to train up a set of skills simply to match the flavor of the month is no different than re-rolling a stunlock rogue in WoW.
Eve has balance issues just like everyone else. They're just more complex because of the nature of the game.
Theres actually a good reason they didn't get co-op over network. They couldn't get the Xbox to coordinate all the NPC data between two boxes without massive lag and desynchs. Theres a heck of alot more going on in the campaign maps then multiplayer. Especially the AI.
You know, you probably didn't pay much attention to the plot if you think it sucked. There are a lot of little details that make things much more interesting.
Now if you want a REALLY good plot in a FPS, buy a Mac and play the Marathon series. (also by Bungie) You'll probably have a greater appreciation for Halo after that.
Of course, if you don't have a Mac, just check out marathon.bungie.org and halo.bungie.org and read up on their story discussions. Then you'll start to realize the depth that Bungie has backing these game up.
I'm not sure why so many people bag on 'I, Robot' so much. Yeah, it was stock summer blockbuster fare, but at least it didn't screw up the point Asimov was trying to make with the three laws. Considering how many different stories he wrote concerning that key point, whats so bad about a new story that does the same thing?
They got the most important thing about the original work right, and that should count for something.
Slashdot Mirror
It was on N64 I believe.
I can't figure out what you're trying to say here. Did you leave out key words or something?
NWN - no server upkeep as it's all player run. Easy to have no recurring charges then.
Guild Wars - ArenaNet is hoping that more box sales will make up for the lack of recurring income. Time will tell.
The reason it's not truly casual is that the casual content ends at 60. Anything worthwhile doing is not casual. It either requires massive amounts of people, massive amounts of time, or both.
Difficult but short 5 man instances would be casual. 40-man raids are NOT casual.
Molten Core - Many players don't have 6 hours to sit down and game. Let alone getting that block of time to conincide for a group of 40. NOT CASUAL. Onyxia is better to an extent because the encounter is short, but what about the damn key quest? Or gearing up?
WoW tried to cater to both and pleased neither. The hardcore are upset because it's too easy to level, and the casual are upset because there's no endgame content for them.
Even though it's generally accepted as such, anything requiring coordination of 20 people is NOT casual. WoW really needed more endgame 5-man instances.
From what I've read of Dungeons and Dragons Online, they are focusing on small group dungeon crawls. It could be quite interesting...
In the MMO industry, 20 players for 2 hours *IS* casual. We can thank Everquest for that...
Questionable content aside, GTA has excellent gameplay and design.
Eve is actually a very good attempt to break out of the 'standard MMO' mold. The game is focused on complex player interaction. The skill system defeats power-levelling completely, and has diminishing returns build in. (still time based though) The only real grind is financial, but if you're a smart player with a little luck you can avoid it.
Unfortunately, the games complexity leads to a VERY steep learning curve, and mistakes can be costly. Add in the non-consentual PvP and the game ends up being pretty hardcore. Probably a little too hardcore for the casual gamer.
Personally, I like the challenge presented and the risk involved. It makes ingame success much more rewarding.
Myst has an engine? I thought it was all still images of pre-rendered scenes with FMV overlay.
Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller.
REALLY needs to be made into a movie...
Bulletproof vest. Why do you think he wears a big yellow target on his chest?
It is if you've specialized in large beams instead of missiles. Or Amarr ships and never trained Caldari. Having to train up a set of skills simply to match the flavor of the month is no different than re-rolling a stunlock rogue in WoW.
Eve has balance issues just like everyone else. They're just more complex because of the nature of the game.
Heh, Eve has balance issues just like all other games. Just look at everyone flying their 'flavor of the month' Ravens.
ooo... (goes googling)
Theres actually a good reason they didn't get co-op over network. They couldn't get the Xbox to coordinate all the NPC data between two boxes without massive lag and desynchs. Theres a heck of alot more going on in the campaign maps then multiplayer. Especially the AI.
Yup. Bunny-hopping all over the place is an effective combat tactic. I'll have to ask my roommate if they covered that in basic.
I will be very happy when jumping is REMOVED from FPS's.
I'm waiting for the novel based on Halo: The Movie: The Game: The Official Guide: The Collectors Edition
You know, you probably didn't pay much attention to the plot if you think it sucked. There are a lot of little details that make things much more interesting.
Now if you want a REALLY good plot in a FPS, buy a Mac and play the Marathon series. (also by Bungie) You'll probably have a greater appreciation for Halo after that.
Of course, if you don't have a Mac, just check out marathon.bungie.org and halo.bungie.org and read up on their story discussions. Then you'll start to realize the depth that Bungie has backing these game up.
I'm not sure why so many people bag on 'I, Robot' so much. Yeah, it was stock summer blockbuster fare, but at least it didn't screw up the point Asimov was trying to make with the three laws. Considering how many different stories he wrote concerning that key point, whats so bad about a new story that does the same thing?
They got the most important thing about the original work right, and that should count for something.
Holy flamebait batman.
I just dropped you a CD-key. Hopefully you'll like the game. Very steep learning curve tho, so I advise paying attention to the newbie chat channel.
But the crates are not ON the pallets. NOT realistic!
Finally, we can reach levels of crate-realism that are impossible with current knowledge.
The level of detail and accuracy on these crates will re-define gaming as we know it!
At least HL 2 had pallets all over the place. however, the crates were not ON the pallets, so they still made no sense...
Wow, you really don't know what you're talking about. PSP eliminated Nintendo's handheld market? Can I have some of what you're smoking?
Sony sells more systems than Nintendo.
Nintendo turns more profit per system than Sony.
Given the profit numbers (Nintendo made double the profit of Sony) I'd say Nintendo is playing it pretty smart.