95 replies to this topic

[Ichigo27]

atari, on June 12th 2006, 02:23 PM, said:

Wasn´t their a Star Trek based one coming out in 2006?

There is a game in development but it's slated for 2007.

[atari]

Ichigo27, on June 12th 2006, 09:31 PM, said:

There is a game in development but it's slated for 2007.

Thanks! Found it already.
Windows only of course..........

[Huntn]

Joe M., on June 12th 2006, 02:06 PM, said:

i thought i was done with MMOs. i was sure of it. i had that monkey straight off my back and into its cage.

then i downloaded the EQ2 trial. one word:

fire truck

(sorry to those with virgin ears, this is distressing)
edit: okay, that's one seriously awesome filter. thanks IMG rofl

So this means you really really like EQ2, eh? So is the monkey out of the cage?

[Joe M.]

Huntn, on June 12th 2006, 08:41 PM, said:

So this means you really really like EQ2, eh? So is the monkey out of the cage?

Unfortunately, yes. From what I heard back at release, EQ2 was an incomplete game and turned off a LOT of people. Now it seems after 3 adventure packs and 2 expansion packs and a lot of patches, the game's improved a tremendously. I wouldn't know because I only recently started playing! But that's what I hear, and IMO it's a very newb friendly game now... a friend of mine who's playing with me tells me that it used to be a horror finding quests, you had to click on EVERY npc because there was no quest indicator. Now questies are clearly indicated so it's easy to get started.

There are two draws for me here:

1.) endless solo and small group content
2.) absolutely incredible graphics

The first one is a no brainer. After a year of hardcore raiding all  I want to do is casually make my way through the game. I've found the questing to be varied, fun and ultimately a decent way to advance my character. The rewards for questing actually seem like rewards, whereas in WoW you'd get some awful green with stats that would make you cry.

And the graphics are just... wow. I am awestruck by the spell animations, by the environmental detail, the time they put into all the monsters out there.  Things look and act like animals whether they be bears, armadillos, snakes, elephants, or the more fearsome monsters that lurk in the shadows. And don't get me started on how realistic water looks.

[Huntn]

Joe M., on June 15th 2006, 02:41 PM, said:

There are two draws for me here:

1.) endless solo and small group content
2.) absolutely incredible graphics

I must admit that No. 1 perked the antennas. How about crafting? I remember reading that the recipes were god awful in that they require a large number of items to make things.

Do you care to make a more detailed comparison with WoW game-play and environments? One thing the bowled me over about WoW when I first started were places like Teldrassil, Dark Shore, Feralas, Ungoro, Felwood, Ashenvale, Tanaris, Alterac, Arathi, Hinterlands, Swamp of Sorrows- they were all winners. I would have loved to set up a tree house in Feralas and whiled away the days... What they should have done is make each zone as large as one of the continents. It did not take that long to explore a place like Ungoro in all of it's prehistoric goodness. I think I'm getting teary eyed. Maybe one day they will come out with a new WoW focused on exploration, small party groups and dare I say it- a dynamic world.
Thanks!

-Hunt'n

[Joe M.]

Huntn, on June 15th 2006, 02:24 PM, said:

I must admit that No. 1 perked the antennas. How about crafting? I remember reading that the recipes were god awful in that they require a large number of items to make things.

Do you care to make a more detailed comparison with WoW game-play and environments? One thing the bowled me over about WoW when I first started were places like Teldrassil, Dark Shore, Feralas, Ungoro, Felwood, Ashenvale, Tanaris, Alterac, Arathi, Hinterlands, Swamp of Sorrows- they were all winners. I would have loved to set up a tree house in Feralas and whiled away the days... What they should have done is make each zone as large as one of the continents. It did not take that long to explore a place like Ungoro in all of it's prehistoric goodness. I think I'm getting teary eyed. Maybe one day they will come out with a new WoW focused on exploration, small party groups and dare I say it- a dynamic world.
Thanks!

-Hunt'n

I haven't gotten into a lot of crafting quite yet mainly because I've been running here and there questing and trying to assimilate all the lore that's being thrown at me. I read in the latest patch notes that they've removed several steps required to make items: whereas before you'd have to perform steps A B and C just to begin crafting item X, you can now craft item X directly if you have the raw components. I'm pretty sure most crafting does require a substantial amount of harvesting, though I have no experience with it one way or the other... maybe that'll be my task for tonight.

I don't want to imply that WoW's graphics are necessarily bad, I just feel more immersed in the EQ2 world. I hate to say EQs graphics are more realistic because you're running around as an elf or ogre or whatever, so I mean...yeah, there's a limit to realism there. However, EQ2s engine is a V8 to WoW's 4 cylinder, and because of the enhanced graphical detail I feel like I'm more into the game.

It's hard for me to quantify that sort of thing, but I will say this: I could watch these spell animations all day long. They are really leaps and bounds ahead of WoW in that department. This doesn't mean EQ2 is a perfect game, I've run into a few things I wish they did differently (like the whole market/broker thing  makes me long for one simple  Auction House). On the whole, though, I am enjoying exploring the game at my pace with a multitude of quests available to me... I'm midway through level 15 with a full quest book and so many places yet to check out. Contrast this with having just enough quests to level up if you didn't skip anything in WoW.

Un'goro was definitely one of my favorite zones, too. I remember thinking OMG DINOSAURS. And the first time I ran into a Devilsaur?

[Huntn]

Joe M., thanks much.

Does anyone know about EQ2's end game as it compares to WoW? No or yes to 40 player raids?

[Joe M.]

Huntn, on June 15th 2006, 10:21 PM, said:

Joe M., thanks much.

Does anyone know about EQ2's end game as it compares to WoW? No or yes to 40 player raids?

I have no firsthand experience with the end game as of yet, but try this link. This seemed the most relevant quote:

Quote

You don't have to wait exclusively for the endgame to raid in EQ2. There are raids starting at level 25 (limited, but they exist).

You can start doing T5 raid content at level 45. Each Tier from T5 onward has a lot of raid content. So you can either start raiding T5 content at level 45, or you can wait until level 60 and raid T6/T7. It's up to you.

There are probably a half dozen raid encounters for folks below level 45 (Drakotas in Commonlands and Antonica, Torig, Cove of Decay and maybe a couple others I missed).

It is not like WoW where it is solo to 60 and then raid all the time. It is much more balanced in EQ2, and you don't have to raid if you don't want to. There's PLENTY to do at the higher levels. I've already got way more on my own plate than I can handle...

[Huntn]

Joe M., on June 16th 2006, 02:40 PM, said:

I have no firsthand experience with the end game as of yet, but try this link. This seemed the most relevant quote:

Thanks for the link! Interesting comments. In WoW, I felt compelled to raid. I see there is raiding in EQ2, but are you forced to raid? Is there equal emphasis on solo and small party content at the cap?- just throwing that out to anyone. People in the linked thread were saying yes there was more to do then raid (I think).

[Huntn]

GamesRadar.com Vanguard MMORPG feature. Good race info and some screens. Be sure to return to the original link for different days of this report. Reported to be solo friendly and no instanced space (don't quote me). Projected release date sometime in 06.

[Dark uk]

Vanguard looks pretty promising!

[XBRoughneck]

Huntn, on June 1st 2006, 09:47 AM, said:

I find these MMOs of high interest. Odds are low that Mac versions will be created. Any others?

Hero's Journey

Pirates of the Burning Sea

Warhammer Online

Vanguard-Saga of Heroes

Huxley
---Huxley E3 2006 Preview

MMORPG.com-Good Source of MMO info.

And the most anticipated should be Lord of the Rings Online

A game that I've followed since late 1997, which I surprisingly learned about from another Macintosh gaming site.



I just felt I should register to let you guys know about it.  It's currently in BETA.

[Huntn]

XBRoughneck, on October 16th 2006, 04:33 PM, said:

And the most anticipated should be Lord of the Rings Online

A game that I've followed since late 1997, which I surprisingly learned about from another Macintosh gaming site.



I just felt I should register to let you guys know about it.  It's currently in BETA.

Thanks! I've thought it might be interesting to adventure in Middle Earth. The screen shots look interesting. Do you know how it is planned to be from the standpoint of free-roaming vs instanced space? Ability to solo vs requiring groups? Dynamic quests?  I assume you can play for the good or bad guys...

Idle chatter-
Recently I've been looking at Saga of Ryzom and although I probably won't be sticking with it, I love how the animals in that game act. They move in herds, they react to you, they don't necessarily attack on sight, they act more like animals and they are far superior to how animals act in WoW.

[Huntn]

Added some links to original thread including RPGs.

[XBRoughneck]

Huntn, on October 16th 2006, 02:45 PM, said:

Thanks! I've thought it might be interesting to adventure in Middle Earth. The screen shots look interesting. Do you know how it is planned to be from the standpoint of free-roaming vs instanced space? Ability to solo vs requiring groups? Dynamic quests?  I assume you can play for the good or bad guys...

LOTRO is a mixture of systems.  It has instanced areas (like the intro quest), but it also has about 80% wide open area.  The instanced areas are used to drive the tale and really give the game a Middle Earth feel.

Yes, you can solo...but if you plan on taking on a Balrog with less than a fellowship of 7 players then you're crazy.


FYI.  Yes, the game runs PERFECTLY on an Intel based Mac through bootcamp.    

Don't ask me how I know.

[Huntn]

XBRoughneck, on November 6th 2006, 04:42 PM, said:

LOTRO is a mixture of systems.  It has instanced areas (like the intro quest), but it also has about 80% wide open area.  The instanced areas are used to drive the tale and really give the game a Middle Earth feel.

Yes, you can solo...but if you plan on taking on a Balrog with less than a fellowship of 7 players then you're crazy.
FYI.  Yes, the game runs PERFECTLY on an Intel based Mac through bootcamp.    

Don't ask me how I know.

Thanks for the info! I'm thinking about adding a list of games that are reported to run on Boot Camp as related to specific hardware on the Windows Gaming on a Mac FAQ. Does anyone think this would be worthwhile?

[johnwillo]

Dont forget Age of Conan:

http://www.ageofcona...n/en/index.html


Windows only.  Solo (as in not an MMO) only for the first few levels, then on to juicy Hyborian MMO goodness as you progress.  Looks good to me.

[Huntn]

johnwillo, on November 10th 2006, 05:57 PM, said:

Dont forget Age of Conan:

http://www.ageofcona...n/en/index.html
Windows only.  Solo (as in not an MMO) only for the first few levels, then on to juicy Hyborian MMO goodness as you progress.  Looks good to me.

Got it added John, thanks!   Some sweet screenshots.

[johnwillo]

Here're some others:

Tabula Rasa, SF MMO:
http://eu.playtr.com/eu/

Warhammer Online, Age of Reckoning:
http://www.warhammer.../home/index.php

Here's a pretty good article on these and some other upcoming MMO's:
http://www.bit-tech....g_mmorpg/1.html

[Huntn]

johnwillo, on November 10th 2006, 06:30 PM, said:

Here's a pretty good article on these and some other upcoming MMO's:
http://www.bit-tech....g_mmorpg/1.html

Outstanding article! If anyone sees a good new RPGs in development article, please post a link!
Thanks!