*Sigh* Ok so I've read the prerequisite F2P bashing. Now who can name an above average MMO other than CoX that offers excellent customization. So let's see the vast majority of the vaunted top selling MMO's have... No challenge / themepark =Yes Laughable / dated Graphics =Yes Solo Friendly =Yes to the point most can't function in a group context understand aggro, parking mobs etc.
Actually Age of Conan has a decent facial customizing system, too bad they removed a lot of the body customization before release.
Just wondering about the game itself - I value character customization both pre and post character creation but how's the game? Is it a grindfest? Boring/repetative quests? Is it solo friendly enough to allow for a fun time without needing to group up to finish something? Just kind of wondering - thanks.
Its basically a grindfest yes. For a F2P grindfest they try to make decend quest stories, save my daughter who is poisoned, but its still "kill 10 cobras" for it.
The world is VAST. I was flying over it with my Winged Elf, it has some HUGE citities, flying castles. The size of the world is all free to roam, if you can see it you can get there, no load screens or limits. its close to Vanguard in that, and the landscape is visually on top of the F2P and even surpasses a lot of MMOs with a monthly fee in terms of graphics.
Still, its mostly a grinder. So far I could solo everything. Level dont come too fast, it was some work to get level 10, maybe on the Lineage 2 way. So definitely not that kind of MMO were levels are given for free. But sure, the grind-part is the huge downside of the game. If they had a PVE quest system like a western fee-MMO, gawd this game would be king of the hill!
The lesson I take from it is important, even tho its just a gap filler for me:
a) detailled character customization is POSSIBLE and not so difficult and expensive than big companies make us believe
b) vast open world still looking beautiful is the same: its possible, but devs must WANT it
For me it was an eye opener. Try it out, even tho the grind part will drive you away. Try it, make a Winged Elf, play him to level 10 and take the time to fly over the world. It will show you what is possible and put to shame many big companies who spent 50+ million dollars and all we get is clone characters and loadscreen tunnel-worlds.
No doubt: the grind part makes it something for very few, thats not the point. Its what they manage to accomplish what companies told us was too difficult or too expensive, and this game proofs those smartass devs all wrong.
I totally agree with the TS. Character customization is one of the things that are decisive when I'm playing a MMORPG. Yes, I've quit several MMORPGs before because they didn't really give a damn to this factor, and I think that it is of extreme importance. Heck, I can't stand walking and seeing everyone looking exactly like me, it just bothers me, it is so unrealistic. We are all different in real life, VERY different, we should have the option to have uniqueness in every single character made. There are games that basically live on this factor (such as CoH/CoV), so it is more than clear that it is of extreme importance.
I have to disagree here. I think item shops are simply new means of getting more money from players, barely adding anything constructive to the game. A lot of people play pay-to-play games simply because they won't have to deal with uber extra expenses just to be able to reach a tolerable level of gameplay, or they just believe that they should have access to the whole game, as they are already paying. I don't see monthly fees as communism, as communism is a complete equalty in every economics aspects. Monthly fees create a situation of equalty of opportunities, so those who seek wealth will have it, whereas those who don't have enough willpower to do so won't get to be as rich. This is not possible in communism, and it is pretty much the main objective of social policies nowadays.
Governments nowadays don't want everyone to be equal, but they want everyone to be capable of reaching a sustainable level of wealth on their own, which is not exactly our reality today. Item shops simply go against the principle of equalty of opportunities, as some are naturally superior in economic aspects and are most likely to be way richer than the rest. I don't totally hate micro-payment games because all companies in the end seek more profit, and this is obviously more profitable than monthly fees. I do believe, however, that most of the times the micro-payment system will go beyond character customization and add features that directly impact the gameplay of players, resulting in an unfair situation for most. As much as your argument is based on games in which this is not true, we have to face the fact that this is true in basically 99% of the F2P MMORPGs today. And most micro-payment MMORPGs that still don't sell EXP items or such are going to adopt this, it is unavoidable. People are willing to pay to be stronger, and no beautiful principles will go any higher than the one which says that in capitalism everyone is willing to maximize their gains and minimize their losses, on the heads of such companies.
Also as much as a game still sticks to such principles, it is still unrealistic for those "unique" ones that are capable of affording cash shop items to see the majority of the population of the game having the same physical features. In the end, F2P players won't be nearly as diverse as their non-F2P counterparts. As much as cash shop users try to deny it, their outfit is a mere way to have them shine among everyone else, which makes them feel more special, pretty much like any sort of unique piece of equipment. The uniqueness I'm talking about is not being able to shine by having money in your purse, but shining on the creativity used when designing your own character just as it happens in CoH/CoV. It is a fact that everyone loves individualism, and having the huge liberty of being unique is definitely an appealing feature for any sort of game.
I guess I kind of extrapolated what you meant with communism and some other concepts, but well, I just felt like saying this. =/ I guess I'm not a big fan of F2P games.
Sorry but when i read about PW i was really looking forward to playing it.I found NOTHING in the game to warrant my sticking around past day one.I do not really rememeber the customization,but i am quite sure it would have stuck in my head if it was anything good.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I think Perfect World is a good F2P in general. And yes the customization is quite good for a F2P and better than a lot of pay to play games (is that P2P?).
What is the big deal with faces? If someone likes designing and custumizing their character rather than playing the MMO, I advice them to play sims 2 instead. MMOs strength lies not in asthetic faces but the actual game itself. Take for example atlantica online. The game only have limited of 4 faces and about 5 haircuts but the strength of the game is its turn-based battle system, guild master's ability to govern towns and create nation, and real in-game economics that stimulates real supply and demand. Who would keep playing some MMO who does excellently well in character customization but lacks the depth and playability of good MMOs? What the point? Go play sims 2, if you care more about your in-game appearance. lolz.
There is more to character customization than choosing what you look like naked. There's also the type of armor you wear and the abilities you use in combat. I've found that most MMO's, unless they are sandbox MMO's or MMO's with a multi-class system, do not have good character customization. So your face looks different than others, big deal when your armor looks the same and every Warrior out there is using the same abilities as you.
So how is character customization really in Perfect World? Does it stop at the character creation screen, or does the game actually offer you the ability to customize your entire look and feel of your character throughout the whole game.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
While the number of customization options in PW might seem good, there are several problems that I noticed when using it. First and foremost, it is sadly user unfriendly. It is just not as easy as it should be to use. IF you want to create a character to look specifically like someone, you have to use a whole bunch of "advanced" sliders. This wouldn't be such a problem if the graphics where better, but when you cant tell what a slider does because your character's face isn't properly shaded.... As far as graphics goes. The draw distance is utterly horrid for player characters. Unless you zoom right into another player, you really can't identify any features because of this.
Those two downers out of the way, the system isn't bad, the variety of hairstyles as well as the fairly robust number of variables means that the system could have been something completely different and far superior. As it stands, the relatively poor character drawing takes away from this feature.
NOTE: PW has great art direction and pretty good landscape texturing for a F2P game.
It's almost 2010, and I am just not wiling to tolerate clunky graphics while being told that "gameplay is more important than graphics". That excuse won't wash with me any more. I expect my games to have both good graphics and good gameplay. -Quote Isoke(VN boards)
If you want customization in a F2P, Runes of Magic has over 125 billion different combinations at character creation. If you run into someone that is the same as you, wow must be a popular choice
Just wondering about the game itself - I value character customization both pre and post character creation but how's the game? Is it a grindfest? Boring/repetative quests? Is it solo friendly enough to allow for a fun time without needing to group up to finish something? Just kind of wondering - thanks.
Grindfest = yes
repetative = mostly
solo friendly = only up to lvl 40 then best to party
What stayontarget is saying here is true to a point but having played this game a while ago for about 6 months (in the Myalasian version) I thought I'd extrapolate on what he said.
Grindfest = Yes and no... The game starts off playing much like WoW in there are lots of quests and they effectively hide the grind. This continues until you hit the mid 30's or so. After that it becomes a major grindfest that puts lineage II to shame. The only way to lessen the huge grind is to spend lots of money on Items from the item shop.
Repetative = Again yes and no for the same reasons listed above. In the lower levels the quests keep you moving from place to place so you don't get bored. At higher levels however you'll find yourself grinding on the same mobs for days or even weeks.
Solo friendly = Like stayontarget said... yes until 40 and then it's best to party.
Edit: The character customization is second to none in this game that is for sure. I would only recommend this game however if you are looking for a short term diversion. The game is great until level 34 or so but after that it really isn't worth bothering with.
Well since you like to pay for games, this game called APB is great! I got my hands on it and the detail is amazing. If you want to see the character customization you have to go to the site which I will give directions to. I can't give a direct link because the site is age verified.
I dont' understand why people want to have unique faces. When you put on a helm, you cant even see your face. And you charecter has his back to you, so you dont see his face anyway.
I would much rather have unique skills
My sentiments exactly. I invariably just click "randomize" a couple of times and settle for whatever comes up. I might be just a quirk of mine, but I don't have much interest in how my character looks in any case, plus, as you describe, armour and camera viewpoint makes it largely irrelevant.
i shall defend Perfect World. great custumization. plenty of fun ingame. yes its f2p and it has a item mall. but guess what u can sell anything from the item mall to other players. You can buy mall points using ingame money from the AH. which mean's every1 is even-even in this game. why? because whether ur wallets fat or ur poor like me. You can get all the same great stuff as the fat wallet fella can. When i reccomend MMO's this 1 is the first to come to mind because they arent milking you instead u can earn ingame money and get wat ya need. to me: that is awsome. PWI is growing and has alot of potential.
and yet, u forget the game is Pay-To-Win and yes u can go around it by farming gold and selling it for money but the u'll be wasting ur whole time just grinding endlessly( like L2) all over again.
last time i check most MMO's out their that have a skill system is nothing but a grind. SO a f2p game the allow you to use ingame money to buy their mall points without u spending a penny. Is actually very nice. And if you wanna talk about a REAL grind. then by all means visit playrequiem.com Requiem: Momento Mori. worst grind in any game ever. Dont beleave me? go try it out the real long haul starts at lvl 70. So for me PW has a very small grind to it compaired to most ive played.
My point is: if such a customization is doable by a small F2P company, WHY do we have nothing like that in any of the expensive AAA titles? My answer is: its not difficult, as they CLAIM, they just didnt think of it. Thats what I hope will change, that those AAA titles we all love ADD character customization like in Perfect World. Its doable, its easy to implement and this game proofs it. Anything else you read into my post.
As for item shop games or monthly pay, I dont cate tbh. I love complex games like EQ2 or SWG or VG, but I played them long enough. My mission here is to those new games: Add character customization! I just hate those fugly clone chars they all cater.
Your so called small F2P company made 300 million dollar last year. Have a large potentical asia player to back it up. And have cheap labour due to their location.
Comments
Actually Age of Conan has a decent facial customizing system, too bad they removed a lot of the body customization before release.
Its basically a grindfest yes. For a F2P grindfest they try to make decend quest stories, save my daughter who is poisoned, but its still "kill 10 cobras" for it.
The world is VAST. I was flying over it with my Winged Elf, it has some HUGE citities, flying castles. The size of the world is all free to roam, if you can see it you can get there, no load screens or limits. its close to Vanguard in that, and the landscape is visually on top of the F2P and even surpasses a lot of MMOs with a monthly fee in terms of graphics.
Still, its mostly a grinder. So far I could solo everything. Level dont come too fast, it was some work to get level 10, maybe on the Lineage 2 way. So definitely not that kind of MMO were levels are given for free. But sure, the grind-part is the huge downside of the game. If they had a PVE quest system like a western fee-MMO, gawd this game would be king of the hill!
The lesson I take from it is important, even tho its just a gap filler for me:
a) detailled character customization is POSSIBLE and not so difficult and expensive than big companies make us believe
b) vast open world still looking beautiful is the same: its possible, but devs must WANT it
For me it was an eye opener. Try it out, even tho the grind part will drive you away. Try it, make a Winged Elf, play him to level 10 and take the time to fly over the world. It will show you what is possible and put to shame many big companies who spent 50+ million dollars and all we get is clone characters and loadscreen tunnel-worlds.
No doubt: the grind part makes it something for very few, thats not the point. Its what they manage to accomplish what companies told us was too difficult or too expensive, and this game proofs those smartass devs all wrong.
I totally agree with the TS. Character customization is one of the things that are decisive when I'm playing a MMORPG. Yes, I've quit several MMORPGs before because they didn't really give a damn to this factor, and I think that it is of extreme importance. Heck, I can't stand walking and seeing everyone looking exactly like me, it just bothers me, it is so unrealistic. We are all different in real life, VERY different, we should have the option to have uniqueness in every single character made. There are games that basically live on this factor (such as CoH/CoV), so it is more than clear that it is of extreme importance.
Isn't Perfect World's item shop purely for cosmetic purposes?
I have to disagree here. I think item shops are simply new means of getting more money from players, barely adding anything constructive to the game. A lot of people play pay-to-play games simply because they won't have to deal with uber extra expenses just to be able to reach a tolerable level of gameplay, or they just believe that they should have access to the whole game, as they are already paying. I don't see monthly fees as communism, as communism is a complete equalty in every economics aspects. Monthly fees create a situation of equalty of opportunities, so those who seek wealth will have it, whereas those who don't have enough willpower to do so won't get to be as rich. This is not possible in communism, and it is pretty much the main objective of social policies nowadays.
Governments nowadays don't want everyone to be equal, but they want everyone to be capable of reaching a sustainable level of wealth on their own, which is not exactly our reality today. Item shops simply go against the principle of equalty of opportunities, as some are naturally superior in economic aspects and are most likely to be way richer than the rest. I don't totally hate micro-payment games because all companies in the end seek more profit, and this is obviously more profitable than monthly fees. I do believe, however, that most of the times the micro-payment system will go beyond character customization and add features that directly impact the gameplay of players, resulting in an unfair situation for most. As much as your argument is based on games in which this is not true, we have to face the fact that this is true in basically 99% of the F2P MMORPGs today. And most micro-payment MMORPGs that still don't sell EXP items or such are going to adopt this, it is unavoidable. People are willing to pay to be stronger, and no beautiful principles will go any higher than the one which says that in capitalism everyone is willing to maximize their gains and minimize their losses, on the heads of such companies.
Also as much as a game still sticks to such principles, it is still unrealistic for those "unique" ones that are capable of affording cash shop items to see the majority of the population of the game having the same physical features. In the end, F2P players won't be nearly as diverse as their non-F2P counterparts. As much as cash shop users try to deny it, their outfit is a mere way to have them shine among everyone else, which makes them feel more special, pretty much like any sort of unique piece of equipment. The uniqueness I'm talking about is not being able to shine by having money in your purse, but shining on the creativity used when designing your own character just as it happens in CoH/CoV. It is a fact that everyone loves individualism, and having the huge liberty of being unique is definitely an appealing feature for any sort of game.
I guess I kind of extrapolated what you meant with communism and some other concepts, but well, I just felt like saying this. =/ I guess I'm not a big fan of F2P games.
Sorry but when i read about PW i was really looking forward to playing it.I found NOTHING in the game to warrant my sticking around past day one.I do not really rememeber the customization,but i am quite sure it would have stuck in my head if it was anything good.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I think Perfect World is a good F2P in general. And yes the customization is quite good for a F2P and better than a lot of pay to play games (is that P2P?).
What is the big deal with faces? If someone likes designing and custumizing their character rather than playing the MMO, I advice them to play sims 2 instead. MMOs strength lies not in asthetic faces but the actual game itself. Take for example atlantica online. The game only have limited of 4 faces and about 5 haircuts but the strength of the game is its turn-based battle system, guild master's ability to govern towns and create nation, and real in-game economics that stimulates real supply and demand. Who would keep playing some MMO who does excellently well in character customization but lacks the depth and playability of good MMOs? What the point? Go play sims 2, if you care more about your in-game appearance. lolz.
There is more to character customization than choosing what you look like naked. There's also the type of armor you wear and the abilities you use in combat. I've found that most MMO's, unless they are sandbox MMO's or MMO's with a multi-class system, do not have good character customization. So your face looks different than others, big deal when your armor looks the same and every Warrior out there is using the same abilities as you.
So how is character customization really in Perfect World? Does it stop at the character creation screen, or does the game actually offer you the ability to customize your entire look and feel of your character throughout the whole game.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
While the number of customization options in PW might seem good, there are several problems that I noticed when using it. First and foremost, it is sadly user unfriendly. It is just not as easy as it should be to use. IF you want to create a character to look specifically like someone, you have to use a whole bunch of "advanced" sliders. This wouldn't be such a problem if the graphics where better, but when you cant tell what a slider does because your character's face isn't properly shaded.... As far as graphics goes. The draw distance is utterly horrid for player characters. Unless you zoom right into another player, you really can't identify any features because of this.
Those two downers out of the way, the system isn't bad, the variety of hairstyles as well as the fairly robust number of variables means that the system could have been something completely different and far superior. As it stands, the relatively poor character drawing takes away from this feature.
NOTE: PW has great art direction and pretty good landscape texturing for a F2P game.
It's almost 2010, and I am just not wiling to tolerate clunky graphics while being told that "gameplay is more important than graphics". That excuse won't wash with me any more. I expect my games to have both good graphics and good gameplay.
-Quote Isoke(VN boards)
If you want customization in a F2P, Runes of Magic has over 125 billion different combinations at character creation. If you run into someone that is the same as you, wow must be a popular choice
Grindfest = yes
repetative = mostly
solo friendly = only up to lvl 40 then best to party
What stayontarget is saying here is true to a point but having played this game a while ago for about 6 months (in the Myalasian version) I thought I'd extrapolate on what he said.
Grindfest = Yes and no... The game starts off playing much like WoW in there are lots of quests and they effectively hide the grind. This continues until you hit the mid 30's or so. After that it becomes a major grindfest that puts lineage II to shame. The only way to lessen the huge grind is to spend lots of money on Items from the item shop.
Repetative = Again yes and no for the same reasons listed above. In the lower levels the quests keep you moving from place to place so you don't get bored. At higher levels however you'll find yourself grinding on the same mobs for days or even weeks.
Solo friendly = Like stayontarget said... yes until 40 and then it's best to party.
Edit: The character customization is second to none in this game that is for sure. I would only recommend this game however if you are looking for a short term diversion. The game is great until level 34 or so but after that it really isn't worth bothering with.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
Well since you like to pay for games, this game called APB is great! I got my hands on it and the detail is amazing. If you want to see the character customization you have to go to the site which I will give directions to. I can't give a direct link because the site is age verified.
First go here: APB: All Points Bulletin
Then verify your age (you cant enter the site if your under age ~ and no there isn't anything sexually there -.-)
Then on the left of the screen there is a tab guide.
Under "Media" you will see videos.
Click on videos.
Then watch the character customization video:
"APB: All Points Bulletin features cutting-edge character customization capabilities."
Hope you like it
I sure do.
___________________________
O_O why are you looking at me like that 0.o
I know I know, cause I shot you in the head xD
Now lets be friends... it was only a game :P
My sentiments exactly. I invariably just click "randomize" a couple of times and settle for whatever comes up. I might be just a quirk of mine, but I don't have much interest in how my character looks in any case, plus, as you describe, armour and camera viewpoint makes it largely irrelevant.
i shall defend Perfect World. great custumization. plenty of fun ingame. yes its f2p and it has a item mall. but guess what u can sell anything from the item mall to other players. You can buy mall points using ingame money from the AH. which mean's every1 is even-even in this game. why? because whether ur wallets fat or ur poor like me. You can get all the same great stuff as the fat wallet fella can. When i reccomend MMO's this 1 is the first to come to mind because they arent milking you instead u can earn ingame money and get wat ya need. to me: that is awsome. PWI is growing and has alot of potential.
and yet, u forget the game is Pay-To-Win and yes u can go around it by farming gold and selling it for money but the u'll be wasting ur whole time just grinding endlessly( like L2) all over again.
last time i check most MMO's out their that have a skill system is nothing but a grind. SO a f2p game the allow you to use ingame money to buy their mall points without u spending a penny. Is actually very nice. And if you wanna talk about a REAL grind. then by all means visit playrequiem.com Requiem: Momento Mori. worst grind in any game ever. Dont beleave me? go try it out the real long haul starts at lvl 70. So for me PW has a very small grind to it compaired to most ive played.
Your so called small F2P company made 300 million dollar last year. Have a large potentical asia player to back it up. And have cheap labour due to their location.
This is a super old thread.
Ack, I still don't see the appeal to Perfect World. It's so boooorrrrinng
Total MMOs played: 274|Enjoyed: 9. >:|