- The rush is on…
And so it begins…
So begins the mad rush to enter the new worlds – fresh new vista’s to explore.
Whether it be Aladdin’s cave or Pandora’s Box that will be opened, both Aion Online, and Fallen Earth will begin their official launch tomorrow. Both, of course, are in their “early start” phase. As for me and my household, our pre-ordered copies of Aion Online will arrive today: Just on time to miss the early start but such is life.
Not everyone will venture forth to the “Tower of Eternity” or post apocalyptic Arizona with joy in their heart. In fact, a scant few will not venture forth at all. Throughout beta, having played either game for all of 10 minutes, we have been treated to often provocative and usually pejorative reviews of literary giants who graced us all with their well thought out reviews: “this game sucks”.
Yet there are still many of us who have not put the cart before the proverbial horse and actually wish to play the fully released game through.
For me, a bit of the polish is off the apple, having participated in the closed beta for both games. Having already sampled the wares of Icarus Studios and NC Soft there won’t quite be the virtual equivalent of the “new car smell”. Yes, there is nothing quite like that “new game smell”. The first time I stood in front of the doors of Ironforge in World of Warcraft (WoW) I was awestruck. After all, believe it or not, they are what first attracted me to the game.
Still, it is true that not everyone will take their time and bask in the glory that is the developer’s artistic achievement.
Some have not come to play the game but rather to conquer it. These are the players that will make the mad rush to the level cap (or the equivalent of it in Fallen Earth) and sit around scratching their heads saying “and now what”. These are the players who will yo-yo right back to WoW. With each release of a new MMO the good folks at Activision/Blizzard count on such behavior. In fact they often say so – loudly (remember the release of Warhammer Online?)
Some come not to conquer the Tower of Eternity, but rather to bury it.
I am always amazed at the gamers who seemingly play any given game just to have something to bitch about. These are the players for whom the glass is not just “half empty”, but the other half is full of toxic waste. It may be true, as Scott Hartsman said on an earlier No Prisoners, No Mercy (NPNM) show, that there is “no magic patch” that fixes all of a game’s problems between open beta and release. It is also true that developers (and in particular their marketing departments) cause some of their own problems by promising gamers “the sun, the moon and the stars to go with it.” There are devs who have placed their game on a pedestal that is so high that they are sure to fall off no matter how good the game is.
Such is not the case with Fallen Earth nor with Aion Online.
Any time a game hits the shelves at full release it is a crap shoot at best. Just the number of servers at release can be a boulder that even Sisyphus would have refused to roll up hill. Guess too high and players will complain that the population is too low (especially important in both of these pvp-centric games). Guess too low and there will be a wait to get in that would try the patience of a saint.
Mind you, there are two sides to this particular coin.
My grandfather, had he lived long enough to see the advent of the internet, would have said simply “I don’t wait in line anywhere to spend my money” (he would have made a lousy gamer anyway – other than poker). The other side of the issue is one that Saylah (the artist formerly known as Saylah from Mystic Worlds) talked about with us on a NPNM show. If there is a wait to get online, she told us, she will happily sit through it. That tells her that there will always be people online to quest with and pvp with. Considering the state of Warhammer Online, about a year later, that is an important issue indeed.
As for me and my household, we come not to bury the tower eternity but to conquer it! We come to struggle valiantly against all that is bright and sunny and just too cute to live (I will be playing on the Asmodian side).
See you online,
Julie Whitefeather
Have no fear, I am one of the rare people that doesn’t even need to play a game to bitch about it
Aion looks good, but I really don’t want to pay for an MMO currently when I have DDO and TCoS completely free of charge currently.
FE is just garbage and is a niche of a niche. It will hopefully stick around, because the MMO market needs variety, but it shouldn’t be held up as high as it is currently.
If Fallen Earth is addressed toward a niche market, as we have all seen with Eve Online, niche markets can pay the bills just fine thank you. Not only that, considering the wildly popular success of the Fallen Earth series, it is likely to be an incredibly big niche at that.
I will certainly agree that “Free to play” games (although not always free) may indeed be strong competitors in the near future (especially ddo).
As far as bitching about games is concerned, I used to work for an nco (non-commissioned officer) who was wont to say “if a soldier couldn’t complain she wouldn’t be happy”. I, for one, am looking forward to Aion Online and I will be picking up my copy this evening.
Sounds like half the NCOs I know (and as an NCO myself, I agree with the statement).
Anyways, Free Realms is a niche of a niche in my book. I would have loved the game if it just dropped me into a sandbox and said “go to f**king town brother”, but it didn’t. It put me on rails and separated me from the other players and lost my interest in the first hour of play.
Err Fallen Earth, not Free Realms.
And when I say a niche of a niche, I mean its a sandbox MMO (niche) set in a post apocalyptic setting (niche).
Okay… I’m not usually the one jumping into some debates regularly, but the “Fallen Earth is garbage” thing inspired me to speak on this.
I don’t think Fallen Earth is garbage at all (and I’m not saying that because I tend to automatically gravitate to the post-apoc games). In fact, FE is one of the first games where I’ve found myself having a new experience in an MMO for quite a while. Where most games have the typical treadmill, I’ve found this game to be opposite in quite a few places. The skill-based system, the fact that nearly EVERY item is crafted (as it should be in a PA-themed world), and the combat system… all of it together… this is what I WANTED in a PA game. I’m having fun. And it’s been a while since I said that.
That said, I think that’s where most people don’t “get it”. They are approaching this game from the typical MMO standpoint and they miss the point, or they momentarily played the beta and didn’t get really SEE why the game shines. Too often I hear “so now where’s the next set of quests” or “now where do I level”. They’ve taken the game on the first 5 minute face-value. They don’t understand that this game focuses more like a sandbox like EveOnline where the best way to play it is imagine you’re there and decide what you would do: You need more ammo, so what could you do to make some, or make money to buy some from someone else? Will that guy over there barter for something you can make for him? Maybe he’ll trade some ammo for that gasoline you just produced, since he owns a vehicle.
These aren’t decisions I usually make in a typical MMO (except for Eve, which I love for that reason). It’s more about the journey and less about the level-cap. Alot of people haven’t realized that yet. And boy they get ancy when they blow through the ammo in 2 seconds and can’t just run to the NPC to buy everything. Some people may not like that. To that I say “why are you playing a post-apocalyptic game then?”
Is it garbage because of game issues? Sure it’s had bugs and issues. It’s a fairly indie-company doing the best they can with a fairly small budget. But they’ve done a remarkable job listening to the community and fixing the bugs. The game now is night and day compared to a month ago. More than most MMO’s do when they drop the beta veil, call it “good for now/fix later” and dump everything in marketing.
I guess my point is, to call it garbage seems pretty shallow. Maybe it’s not your kind of game. Maybe there are things about it you don’t enjoy. But I am. And I’m having a riot.
Don’t get me wrong. No offense intended or anything, and most of this is my opinion as well. But to call this game a niche of a niche? Tell that to Bethesda.
Ah, I’m seeing a little better what you were meaning. My post was actually written before your other 2 responses, so it’s making more sense now.
One thing I totally agree with in FE is the need to have reason to group. There needs to be more to a team and faction than just the typical group xp…in a PA world, especially. I’m hoping this is something they address soon (and frankly, they MUST). One thing about Icarus is they’ve been very one-on-one with the community, and the “grouping needs” are something I’ve spoken to them about.
The fact that throw you right into the wasteland in FE and leave you to it, I actually enjoyed personally. It added to the feeling of the world and the need to scavenge and survive. In a world like that, that’s how it would be. One could argue that maybe that’s not a wise game design choice and alienates a big chunk of potential players, but I think the die-hard PA fans love it.
Overall, I think FE will be game that will have a smaller dedicated fanbase like Eve. If anything, given the genre, it’ll be fun to watch it evolve.
All this has prompted me to write an article for Virgin Worlds called “One Hell of a Nice”
Here is an excerpt:
“In fact the word ‘niche’ seems to be applied by the commenter as if it were a dirty word. But consider the ramifications here. To begin with, why on earth would someone willingly attempt to go ‘head to head’ with the 800 pound Activision/Blizzard gorilla? Very few people, at present at least, are in a place to get in a crap flinging contest with Bobby Kotick’s regime and win. ” – Julie Whitefeather in an upcoming article for Virgin Worlds.
If Fallen Earth address a “niche” market that can be a very very good thing.
One persons trash is another person’s post apocalyptic treasure.
Julie