This is a first impressions based on the game - a review is in the works but not enough time has elapsed to get a real grasp on things yet. As a site that concerns itself with all things MMORPG we can't censor our opinions incase we might make a game fail, that isn't good journalism or good sense. These are my first feelings of the game and what immediatley sprung to mind is "this cost X and this isn't up to standard". I'm aware that launches are difficult but Earthrise is exceptionaly unstable and the gameplay doesn't initially make up for its shortcomings. It is a heavy decision to trash a small indie developer but we can't as critics of the genre let this influence our opinions - we are reporting whether it is good or bad, nothing more.
after i read in december 2010, that ER will launch in february 2011 all of a sudden, without a real open beta, i thought by myself: it might be, that somebody needs to make some money, before they have to close the doors.
after i have read this and other reviews, i feel fully reconfirmed. it makes a lot of sense to wait and see, if this game will still exist in May. and then read some articles again.
I am a longtime Darkfall and SWG player.. I am grateful for this review being I was looking into buying this game. I was already aprehensive with the rushed launch and no type of beta or trial. Looks like either a "get rich quick scheme" or just poor planning. Either way they wont see my money until i see improvements.
Why are companies allowed to release games in this state and make a profit. I think its bad business. While the game looks cool on paper, im all for it being a sandbox full on pvp like DF but at least wait until its ready.
If companies wouldn't be allowed to do this, we wouldn't have any competition and therefore would be stuck in ( crappy ) games from EA and Activision. It got way to expensive to develop a game and therefore small companies don't have money for fix every single issue and develop the game for 10 years.
I just want to point out that this is not a "review" - both articles to this point are just first looks. We don't like to review games until they have been out for a few months and the writer assigned has had time to run the game through its paces.
Our competition seems to roll out reviews in days and a lot of our readers want this - so as a compromise we decided to do these "first look" articles just to let the community know what the thought of the game shortly after launch.
I do agree that having two people do the first look is a cool idea. Everyone has different opinions and after all, a review/first look is just one persons opinion after all.
I just wanted to say thank you for the first looks. They give you fair warning on the state of the game and promise of a full review of the clean up or lack there of. /3 cheers
I played WOW when it was first released and it was just as buggy. As much as I hate what Blizzard has done to WOW recently (and will never go back because of it), I recognized at the time what a huge project it was and gave it time. Blizzard cleaned up the game after a few months. I miss the first three years of WOW.
I don't feel like living through another beta release (ER is a beta release IMHO), but I'll patiently wait for your review and everybodies comments before I lay ER to rest in the heap of failed MMOs.
Why are companies allowed to release games in this state and make a profit. I think its bad business. While the game looks cool on paper, im all for it being a sandbox full on pvp like DF but at least wait until its ready.
If companies wouldn't be allowed to do this, we wouldn't have any competition and therefore would be stuck in ( crappy ) games from EA and Activision. It got way to expensive to develop a game and therefore small companies don't have money for fix every single issue and develop the game for 10 years.
Oh you can be sure that ER's not serving as competition against any MMO considering it has no chance of making a dent in any Tri A MMO's player base.
Well I haven't seen any improvement since beta. I feel like they really robbed me of my $50. I played a lot of games that had terrible launches, but dang ER takes the cake. People keep saying well it just launched but I haven't seen the devs do anything yet to try to resolve the issues. I still have the same performance issues (on a fairly high end machine) that I had back in beta if not worse. I still run into Invisi-mobs and people that /unstuck.
I am to where I have no desire at this point to even try to give the game any longer. Just mark it off as fifty bucks spent on a beta.
-------------------------------- Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
These indie companies are starting to really piss me off. being a vet of MO and playing that game for a long time, just quit a month ago. I bought into the " don't worry it will get better crapola". MO was a piece of junk at release and 8 months later it is a piece of junk.
Now we have ER which sounds like another MO. I wish there was some standards MMOS have to abide by before release. It seems latley with MO and now ER, as long as people can somewhat log into the game lets release this turd. I do not want to play a game that has "potential" I want to play a game that is fun. If I wanted to use my imagination to make a game fun instead of actual playability, I would dust off my D@D books and pull out the dice and call some friends over.
I just want to point out that this is not a "review" - both articles to this point are just first looks. We don't like to review games until they have been out for a few months and the writer assigned has had time to run the game through its paces.
Our competition seems to roll out reviews in days and a lot of our readers want this - so as a compromise we decided to do these "first look" articles just to let the community know what the thought of the game shortly after launch.
I do agree that having two people do the first look is a cool idea. Everyone has different opinions and after all, a review/first look is just one persons opinion after all.
I just wanted to say thank you for the first looks. They give you fair warning on the state of the game and promise of a full review of the clean up or lack there of. /3 cheers
I played WOW when it was first released and it was just as buggy. As much as I hate what Blizzard has done to WOW recently (and will never go back because of it), I recognized at the time what a huge project it was and gave it time. Blizzard cleaned up the game after a few months. I miss the first three years of WOW.
I don't feel like living through another beta release (ER is a beta release IMHO), but I'll patiently wait for your review and everybodies comments before I lay ER to rest in the heap of failed MMOs.
The problem with this is, unlike WoW, which was run by a company that had more money than 90% of the companies in the gaming market, is that Blizzard through hundreds of thousands of dollar-hours into fixing it. Companies like the one that made Earthrise, dont have that luxury.
Why are companies allowed to release games in this state and make a profit.
Because if they don't they wont be releasing it at all because they will go bust. Personally i blame the would be subscribers for this, without their insane demands of to much to do, the devs would have an easier time creating a really really good game right of the bat, and then slowly work their way towards greatnes. But as long as ppl demands a full experience, content included, this is what will happen, every single time a new game release. Stop whining and blame yourself i say.
So after that very long rant, I completely agree with this article. I certainly appreciate everyone sharing their opinions on this forum and I like to think I respect differing opinions when I hear them. Unfortunately, I really don't see how anyone can give anything but bad feedback on this game. To blindly follow a game with so many issues baffles me. For those of you who are playing, I wish the game well so that your loyalty is rewarded. For those of you on the fence, don't waste your money.
You didn't buy ER and you still give some opinion on the product, that is a really informed opinion, LOL.
Why are companies allowed to release games in this state and make a profit. I think its bad business.
Because people are still willing to buy them,either from hype, simply not knowing beforehand, or being a fan and willing to accept mediocrity. If you could get people to not buy the product when games are released in such a state, companies would get the message very quickly (it would also give them a bit of ammo in dealing with investors or publishers who keep pushing for games to be launched too early).
Don't hold your breath on that happening though; there are far too many people willing to purchase a shoddy game because it has 'potential' or that after X amount of time, the Devs will be able to turn it into a spectacular game. The latter claim usually is bundled in with the false claim that all MMOs are/were launched this way.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
they need to post the exact specs and software they are making the game work on somewhere.
my machine meets required specs and i cant even download it.
guess ill lose my month i paid for and wait till summer when they start getting it together if the money dont run out again . at which time SWTOR or something will start up and oh well forget it . another dead sandbox... i hope not cause this game has potential.
Why are companies allowed to release games in this state and make a profit. I think its bad business. While the game looks cool on paper, im all for it being a sandbox full on pvp like DF but at least wait until its ready.
becouse the law about selling defect products dont cover software, as long as the method of delivery is working, meaning CD/DVD/download, then by law you have no rights to refunde becouse it is not working.
Why do you think the is so many scam software sellers on the internet? becouse as long as their deliver the product, you cant sue them for the program not working.
software is the same as any video/audio product, as long as their deliver the content, you cant complain about what the content is.
A remark on what the author had mentioned as an "elitism" - for those people who come off Eve Online, you really sound like a whining carebear coming from WOW, no offence meant.
I've been playing Eve for over 4 years and what we were used to back in the times is at least a 20-30 seconds lag in any given fleet fight if it gets big enought. Mass pvp was plagued by lag and server node crashes, and those crashes were even used by some player factions - get enough people in one place to crash a specific server and cut off a specific region by making nearest routes unreachable. We were paying 14,99$ per month for that but everyone were cool.
I assume people are just trying to see past the issues to what the game's potential really is.
I also assume that all of these problems are there because Masthead grew short on funds and couldn't postpone the release more, also probably they used some cheap datacenter hosting and that's where the lag is coming from.
I hope that when Masthead gets some "live money" from initial sales they'll be able to fix the server problems, or this would be a true shame. I've been waiting for this game for several years!
I really want to try this game, but I don't want to put money down on something that is headed for the deep end. The world looked nice and gameplay seemed good sans the animation/sounds of stuff and the lag I hear about. I told myself I should wait a year before purchasing any games from game company's I never heard of and that might go out of business because lack of funds.
Comments
This is a first impressions based on the game - a review is in the works but not enough time has elapsed to get a real grasp on things yet. As a site that concerns itself with all things MMORPG we can't censor our opinions incase we might make a game fail, that isn't good journalism or good sense. These are my first feelings of the game and what immediatley sprung to mind is "this cost X and this isn't up to standard". I'm aware that launches are difficult but Earthrise is exceptionaly unstable and the gameplay doesn't initially make up for its shortcomings. It is a heavy decision to trash a small indie developer but we can't as critics of the genre let this influence our opinions - we are reporting whether it is good or bad, nothing more.
after i read in december 2010, that ER will launch in february 2011 all of a sudden, without a real open beta, i thought by myself: it might be, that somebody needs to make some money, before they have to close the doors.
after i have read this and other reviews, i feel fully reconfirmed. it makes a lot of sense to wait and see, if this game will still exist in May. and then read some articles again.
played: Everquest I (6 years), EVE (3 years)
months: EQII, Vanguard, Siedler Online, SWTOR, Guild Wars 2
weeks: WoW, Shaiya, Darkfall, Florensia, Entropia, Aion, Lotro, Fallen Earth, Uncharted Waters
days: DDO, RoM, FFXIV, STO, Atlantica, PotBS, Maestia, WAR, AoC, Gods&Heroes, Cultures, RIFT, Forsaken World, Allodds
I am a longtime Darkfall and SWG player.. I am grateful for this review being I was looking into buying this game. I was already aprehensive with the rushed launch and no type of beta or trial. Looks like either a "get rich quick scheme" or just poor planning. Either way they wont see my money until i see improvements.
If companies wouldn't be allowed to do this, we wouldn't have any competition and therefore would be stuck in ( crappy ) games from EA and Activision. It got way to expensive to develop a game and therefore small companies don't have money for fix every single issue and develop the game for 10 years.
Again with all these games calling themselves "Open world sandboxes", when they are only a open world PVP game.
So much crap, so little quality.
I just wanted to say thank you for the first looks. They give you fair warning on the state of the game and promise of a full review of the clean up or lack there of. /3 cheers
I played WOW when it was first released and it was just as buggy. As much as I hate what Blizzard has done to WOW recently (and will never go back because of it), I recognized at the time what a huge project it was and gave it time. Blizzard cleaned up the game after a few months. I miss the first three years of WOW.
I don't feel like living through another beta release (ER is a beta release IMHO), but I'll patiently wait for your review and everybodies comments before I lay ER to rest in the heap of failed MMOs.
Oh you can be sure that ER's not serving as competition against any MMO considering it has no chance of making a dent in any Tri A MMO's player base.
Well I haven't seen any improvement since beta. I feel like they really robbed me of my $50. I played a lot of games that had terrible launches, but dang ER takes the cake. People keep saying well it just launched but I haven't seen the devs do anything yet to try to resolve the issues. I still have the same performance issues (on a fairly high end machine) that I had back in beta if not worse. I still run into Invisi-mobs and people that /unstuck.
I am to where I have no desire at this point to even try to give the game any longer. Just mark it off as fifty bucks spent on a beta.
--------------------------------
Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile
Quit: Eden Eternal, Wakfu, DDO, STO, DCUO, Sword 2, Atlantica Online, LOTRO, SWTOR, RIFT, Earthrise, FFXIV, RoM, Allods Online, GA,WAR,CO,V:SoH,POTBS,TR,COH/COV, WOW, DDO,AL, EQ, Eve, L2, AA, Mx0, SWG, SoR, AO, RFO, DAoC, and others.
www.twitter.com/mlwhitt
www.michaelwhitt.com
These indie companies are starting to really piss me off. being a vet of MO and playing that game for a long time, just quit a month ago. I bought into the " don't worry it will get better crapola". MO was a piece of junk at release and 8 months later it is a piece of junk.
Now we have ER which sounds like another MO. I wish there was some standards MMOS have to abide by before release. It seems latley with MO and now ER, as long as people can somewhat log into the game lets release this turd. I do not want to play a game that has "potential" I want to play a game that is fun. If I wanted to use my imagination to make a game fun instead of actual playability, I would dust off my D@D books and pull out the dice and call some friends over.
The problem with this is, unlike WoW, which was run by a company that had more money than 90% of the companies in the gaming market, is that Blizzard through hundreds of thousands of dollar-hours into fixing it. Companies like the one that made Earthrise, dont have that luxury.
So much crap, so little quality.
Because if they don't they wont be releasing it at all because they will go bust. Personally i blame the would be subscribers for this, without their insane demands of to much to do, the devs would have an easier time creating a really really good game right of the bat, and then slowly work their way towards greatnes. But as long as ppl demands a full experience, content included, this is what will happen, every single time a new game release. Stop whining and blame yourself i say.
Does the game have some rough edges, yep, but that was well known beforehand unless you run around with blinders on.
If you thought to see something different in this review, you are certainly highly optimistic.
The game has lots of potential, we will just have to wait and see if the developers can deliever that potential.
"You didn't buy ER and you still give some opinion on the product, that is a really informed opinion, LOL."
I figured people who read my comment would understand I played the beta, but apparently not everyone on this forum is a rocket scientist.
Because people are still willing to buy them,either from hype, simply not knowing beforehand, or being a fan and willing to accept mediocrity. If you could get people to not buy the product when games are released in such a state, companies would get the message very quickly (it would also give them a bit of ammo in dealing with investors or publishers who keep pushing for games to be launched too early).
Don't hold your breath on that happening though; there are far too many people willing to purchase a shoddy game because it has 'potential' or that after X amount of time, the Devs will be able to turn it into a spectacular game. The latter claim usually is bundled in with the false claim that all MMOs are/were launched this way.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Well Eve turned out pretty well and the game released in pretty rough shape. It all depends on the developers.
I think some of you revel in lambasting indie games even though everyone knows they almost always release in shaky circumstances.
Some people are willing to put up with problems rather than play another Wow clone.
Personally, it would be good for the genre if they get the problems resolved and the game continues.
they need to post the exact specs and software they are making the game work on somewhere.
my machine meets required specs and i cant even download it.
guess ill lose my month i paid for and wait till summer when they start getting it together if the money dont run out again . at which time SWTOR or something will start up and oh well forget it . another dead sandbox... i hope not cause this game has potential.
Thanks for the honest review. I am currently trying to get a refund for that buggy excuse for a game.
Current Games: WOW, EVE Online
becouse the law about selling defect products dont cover software, as long as the method of delivery is working, meaning CD/DVD/download, then by law you have no rights to refunde becouse it is not working.
Why do you think the is so many scam software sellers on the internet? becouse as long as their deliver the product, you cant sue them for the program not working.
software is the same as any video/audio product, as long as their deliver the content, you cant complain about what the content is.
A remark on what the author had mentioned as an "elitism" - for those people who come off Eve Online, you really sound like a whining carebear coming from WOW, no offence meant.
I've been playing Eve for over 4 years and what we were used to back in the times is at least a 20-30 seconds lag in any given fleet fight if it gets big enought. Mass pvp was plagued by lag and server node crashes, and those crashes were even used by some player factions - get enough people in one place to crash a specific server and cut off a specific region by making nearest routes unreachable. We were paying 14,99$ per month for that but everyone were cool.
I assume people are just trying to see past the issues to what the game's potential really is.
I also assume that all of these problems are there because Masthead grew short on funds and couldn't postpone the release more, also probably they used some cheap datacenter hosting and that's where the lag is coming from.
I hope that when Masthead gets some "live money" from initial sales they'll be able to fix the server problems, or this would be a true shame. I've been waiting for this game for several years!
Online Games in Girl's Eyes
http://chickgeekgames.blogspot.com
I really want to try this game, but I don't want to put money down on something that is headed for the deep end. The world looked nice and gameplay seemed good sans the animation/sounds of stuff and the lag I hear about. I told myself I should wait a year before purchasing any games from game company's I never heard of and that might go out of business because lack of funds.