What I learned in 15 minutes

[Shiz]

This is about a game in beta that some peope here are interested in.

1) Don't even try to download this on dialup. The game folder is 22 gigs right now. Took 6 hours to download the initial path on a cable modem.

2) The small dusty corner of the gameworld my monk started in looked good on high detail. The Settings button didn't do anything so I couldn't play with them.

3) Getting ahead of myself. Character creation is standard but the level of body and facial customization is high. I just hit random a bunch of times for each option until I got something that looked good.

4) First two quests: kill 8 and gather 6. Both resulted in 3 equipment options (for the same slot), one of which was not applicable to my monk.

5) Dinged level 2 after completing the two quests and then killing 3 more newbie mobs.

6) Combat was similar to EQ2: hit autoattack and then hit my one special attack every time it recharged.

7) Performance sucked. My system is 3.4GHz P4 2G RAM, 6800GT vid card and having other PC/NPC characters on the screen dropped framerate down to bad levels - worse that Qeynos Harbor in EQ2. Granted, I think the graphics settings default to maximum detail because the floral and ground textures were impressive but I cannot run EQ2 at that detail level. I didn't notice any complex shading/shadows that might explain the slow framerate.

[Sir Rubi]

Not much of this surprises me. #6 doesn't sound at all like it's "revolutionary" or "reactive," though that might still be ahead in further Beta...

It IS good to see better customization, but that should already be a standard and, frankly, isn't a selling point if the gameplay and storyflow is poor. The Devs in charge of this project of ANYONE should know better, based on their... length of experience. Eyecandy only goes so far to retention, guys... Oy.

I'll be interested to see movies released, to get an idea of what it looks like. Not that I'm at all interested in playing, but more for a morbid curiosity factor.

And based on the performance of your machine, I'd be interested to see what kind of machines they used in Alpha and what the Devs use...

[Shiz]

On the combat, there were some slots for chain attacks but as far as I could tell, I had nothing at level 2 that would go there.

The other good news is that while Spliff Mancy was rejected by the name filter, Shiz Nitz was not! EQ2 rejected Shiz, if you recall. You enter a first and surname at character creation.

[Sylvene]

The other good news is that while Spliff Mancy was rejected by the name filter, Shiz Nitz was not!

/ROFL

[deepfred]

fyi they are touting their "revolutionary combat" as being something more akin to EQ2's heroic abilities, where things are contingent on other classes grouped with you - so you may get no idea of what that is till you group.

that and diplomacy, whatever that might might be =p (think Magic cards).

[Shiz]

I had no opportunity to try Diplomacy (if it is even in the game yet.) In fact, clicking the inventory icon did nothing. I couldn't open character screen at all.

[Sagar]

Inventory and Diplomacy are the OTHER 22 gig download :tongue:

[Zyzzyx]

Unnecessary eye candy.
Sluggish and unresponsive.
Incomplete build.
Extremely bloated size.


Sounds like Microsoft Vista. ;)



Actually, while I'm not so sure I'd be playing, I am interested in what this game ends up like.

[Shiz]

Also like Vista: scheduled for a January 2007 launch!

[leng]

Unnecessary eye candy.
Sluggish and unresponsive.
Incomplete build.
Extremely bloated size.


Sounds like Microsoft Vista. ;)

Wow, Zyz, you are really working on your linux-bigot rep!

I'm proud of you, man.

[Zyzzyx]

Wow, Zyz, you are really working on your linux-bigot rep!

I'm proud of you, man.
Well, it has developed. But I must admit, those comments would've come even before my swap to Linux.

[Gaelrond]

Diplomacy IS in. You get your first combat chain at level 6 IIRC. Solo combat is essentially the same as EQ2; I believe group combat is where the 'next-gen' type junk comes in. I've yet to try grouping, so I can't say for certain. Yes, performance is ****e atm, but none of the areas have been optimized as yet. Game world is gorgeous, I was unimpressed with character customization, but that's just me.

I'm assuming we're talking about the same game ;)

[Zyzzyx]

Yeah, the next version of Solitaire, right? Or was this Minesweeper, I forget.

[Asharad]

We should refer to this game as The Bagle until it is safe to do otherwise.

[Shiz]

I sampled the bagel some more last night. The settings button worked so I moved to Low from Medium quality Performance improved a lot and the world still looked good. I explored an empty tower and found a quest NPC at the top. I found my trainer but nothing to train at level 2 apparently. I fought some scorpions.

Combat feels a lot like EQ2. The damage numbers that appear in combat are HUGE and there are less particle effects than EQ2.

[noptov52]

Friday afternoon, I received a beta invite to a game that I, and several others here, are looking forward to much more than the bagel. For now I shall dub the new game "Rum". The game install is roughly five GB, but because of the quirky installer it took longer to download then I would normally anticipate with my fiber optic connection (fios from Verizon). After install and registering in the needed places on the beta site, I was unable to launch the game due to an error. Fortunately, the brief error message led me to think it was a directX issue and after reinstalling Direct X 9.0c, I was able to get to the server login screen. I can't go any further at this point, because the beta servers are not up 24/7, only running at certain dates and times. Saturday afternoon is the next scheduled time and I am eagerly awaiting trying Rum out. So much so that I am having trouble getting to sleep (as you might guess from the time this message was posted at).

I will probably add my initial (in-game) experiances later this weekend.