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Oberon · 01-31-2002, 12:51 PM

I'm rather a fan of MMORPGs, I played UO when it first came out, since then, I've played most of the other ones, in beta if not retail (other than Anarchy online, where the beta was too buggy to play even)

Eq is ver slow paced, DAOC is faster paced, but it really starts slowing back down around level 10 or so. On the other hand, the realm warfare is a nice way to keep the upper levels interesting. Both of these games are similar, but you can see where Camelot really learned a lot of how to build its game based on what people disliked about EQ.

On the other hand, you may want to try your hand at Asheron's Call. In my opinion its the best MMORPG out there. Every time I try something new, I eventually wander back to AC. Large areas to explore, and its very different and more fast paced than EQ or Camelot. A combat in AC is determined by a lot of things, and quick reactions to a situation, and careful maneuvering are important. Movement is real, one of my biggest problems with EQ and Camelot is that the average character moves very slow, and outrunning monsters is hard. In AC, the whole pace of movement is quite a bit quicker. Another favorable point for AC is that wilderness hunting is viable, camping is very rare except on brand new quests (and the timers are usually very short, 15 minutes or less anyhow). And finally, solo questing is possible and viable on all but the hardest of quests. On the downside, getting a group together on the fly is tougher to do unless you get in with a group of people that tend to adventure together (A guild, except they are called allegences in AC and theres quite a bit more to them than normal guilds).

Advancement isn't very hard for a new player, and they recently redid all the beginner areas so as to make them more interesting (they really sucked before around september). A dedicated player can make level 20-30 fairly quickly, and even at higher levels, it isn't impossible to make a level with a bit of solid effort. The minus side here is that the game is growing more high-level all the time. Level 20 was the bar for a decent level at one point, now its probably more like 30-40, and growing.

Character creation is also more interactive than in EQ or Camelot. When you make your character, you dont pick a class, you get 50 'skill points' to spend how you want, with a weapon skill costing between 4 (dagger) and 8 (sword), to 10 (for melee) to 12 (for magic) in defense skills. And magic skills costing between 8 (item) and 16 (war). You also get 330 stat points to spend on your attributes (of which there are 6). This system allows for incredible diversity, and lets you make any character you want. On the other hand, if you aren't careful, its easy to make a really crappy character, they give you templates to work with, and a new player shouldnt deviate far from them to start. You also dont really have any real race choices, since all three races available are more of heritage groups than real races and are all human, just with different starting skills.

When you kill things you get experience points, you can put them freely into any skill you have (and every few levels you get skill points to train new abilitys that help you round out your character or correct mistakes in creation)

New content comes out, at no extra charge, every month, keeping the story interesting, housing is available, and grief play tends to seem more limited than other games, somewhat due to the way the game plays.

I guess, in all AC is the fastest paced MMORPG, and for me thats enough to keep me coming back [img]smile.gif[/img]

Give it a try, you ~$20 you should be able to find the 'Dark Majesty' expansion, which contains the whole original game, and comes with the standard one month free play. If you dont like it, your not out much, but I think you will like it.

If you have any more specific questions about it, or one of the other games I play or played, let me know [img]smile.gif[/img]

-Oberon

(look for corwin on the leafcull server if you want a helping hand)

01-31-2002, 12:51 PM	#4
Oberon Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: January 22, 2002 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 15	I'm rather a fan of MMORPGs, I played UO when it first came out, since then, I've played most of the other ones, in beta if not retail (other than Anarchy online, where the beta was too buggy to play even) Eq is ver slow paced, DAOC is faster paced, but it really starts slowing back down around level 10 or so. On the other hand, the realm warfare is a nice way to keep the upper levels interesting. Both of these games are similar, but you can see where Camelot really learned a lot of how to build its game based on what people disliked about EQ. On the other hand, you may want to try your hand at Asheron's Call. In my opinion its the best MMORPG out there. Every time I try something new, I eventually wander back to AC. Large areas to explore, and its very different and more fast paced than EQ or Camelot. A combat in AC is determined by a lot of things, and quick reactions to a situation, and careful maneuvering are important. Movement is real, one of my biggest problems with EQ and Camelot is that the average character moves very slow, and outrunning monsters is hard. In AC, the whole pace of movement is quite a bit quicker. Another favorable point for AC is that wilderness hunting is viable, camping is very rare except on brand new quests (and the timers are usually very short, 15 minutes or less anyhow). And finally, solo questing is possible and viable on all but the hardest of quests. On the downside, getting a group together on the fly is tougher to do unless you get in with a group of people that tend to adventure together (A guild, except they are called allegences in AC and theres quite a bit more to them than normal guilds). Advancement isn't very hard for a new player, and they recently redid all the beginner areas so as to make them more interesting (they really sucked before around september). A dedicated player can make level 20-30 fairly quickly, and even at higher levels, it isn't impossible to make a level with a bit of solid effort. The minus side here is that the game is growing more high-level all the time. Level 20 was the bar for a decent level at one point, now its probably more like 30-40, and growing. Character creation is also more interactive than in EQ or Camelot. When you make your character, you dont pick a class, you get 50 'skill points' to spend how you want, with a weapon skill costing between 4 (dagger) and 8 (sword), to 10 (for melee) to 12 (for magic) in defense skills. And magic skills costing between 8 (item) and 16 (war). You also get 330 stat points to spend on your attributes (of which there are 6). This system allows for incredible diversity, and lets you make any character you want. On the other hand, if you aren't careful, its easy to make a really crappy character, they give you templates to work with, and a new player shouldnt deviate far from them to start. You also dont really have any real race choices, since all three races available are more of heritage groups than real races and are all human, just with different starting skills. When you kill things you get experience points, you can put them freely into any skill you have (and every few levels you get skill points to train new abilitys that help you round out your character or correct mistakes in creation) New content comes out, at no extra charge, every month, keeping the story interesting, housing is available, and grief play tends to seem more limited than other games, somewhat due to the way the game plays. I guess, in all AC is the fastest paced MMORPG, and for me thats enough to keep me coming back [img]smile.gif[/img] Give it a try, you ~$20 you should be able to find the 'Dark Majesty' expansion, which contains the whole original game, and comes with the standard one month free play. If you dont like it, your not out much, but I think you will like it. If you have any more specific questions about it, or one of the other games I play or played, let me know [img]smile.gif[/img] -Oberon (look for corwin on the leafcull server if you want a helping hand)