It's NOT an open-skill system. Some people are confusing the fact that you can have all skills as meaning you can use any combination you like, but that's not the case. You need to have a weapon equipped for the specific type of skill you want to use (I.e., Blood Magic requires books, Elemental Magic requires talisman). You can have 2 weapons equipped at once. So, unless you want to be in and out of your skill list constantly between battles, changing what you're equiping and changing your actual equipment afterward, it's not that open. You'll need to plan ahead the skill set you want. That's not a bad thing, mind you, but that's what it is.
Still, I wouldn't mind access to more skills. I didn't think I'd mind 7 skills, but it did get to me after a bit, mostly because I wanted to be able to both support people and solo in one build. It's doable just switching around with decks mind you, it's just an added unnecessary step, IMO. All that aside, I did really like the skill wheel. I love having a ton of skills to "unlock", definitely adds replayability for me.
Also, "floaty combat" is a great way to describe it. The words for it were eluding me, but that works well. That's exactly how it felt, like nothing had any real impact and the combat itself was a spam-fast of the first few skills over and over, especially since you couldn't set even the basic attack to auto (that I knew of, at least). GW1 (yes, 1, not comparing it to 2 since 2 has more skills you can equip at once) had a similarly small skill bar, but the skill combinations available were far more synergetic. Though, in fairness, we only had access to the first tier of skills, so I'm trying to keep an open-mind about what skills we might still be waiting to use.
With all the issues TSW has, I want a game to play alongside GW2 so I can go back and forth and avoid burnout (since the latter has no sub fee), and sadly there's nothing better available. Looking forward to Torchlight 2 but I'm not an item grinder, so once I beat it, I'll pretty much be done with it. That and, I'll take a brilliant storyline and interesting quests, over "KTX till you die" gameplay anyway, even with the floaty combat. If good combat was all we needed to hide the repetitiveness of gameplay, we'd all be addicted to Vindictus.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I wont comment on others comments, just the review here. With that said , as a growing fan of TSW (not a fanboy, just a fan).. I like the review.
I like that with the negatives you gave reasons as such and stating that the actual "game" itself is stellar, which it is. Once they work on animations and character creation ( again, two things they ARE working on and will have soon ).. this game will find a good community, which I can not wait to join. Thank you for a review that showed both positive and negatives and ways to look at them both that were informative.
As for character creation, why they felt it was a good idea to limit it (if that is indeed what they have done) for the BWEs is baffling to me.
You would think that they want people to have the best impression possible of the game, yet the first thing you see is the crap character creation options.
A creative person is motivated by the desire to achieve, not the desire to beat others.
I wont comment on others comments, just the review here. With that said , as a growing fan of TSW (not a fanboy, just a fan).. I like the review.
I like that with the negatives you gave reasons as such and stating that the actual "game" itself is stellar, which it is. Once they work on animations and character creation ( again, two things they ARE working on and will have soon ).. this game will find a good community, which I can not wait to join. Thank you for a review that showed both positive and negatives and ways to look at them both that were informative.
The animations in game RIGHT NOW are the animations the game will have AT LAUNCH. Dont believe me? just search these forums for the thread that has the link to comments from one of the TSW devs stating it is the case.
As for character creation, why they felt it was a good idea to limit it (if that is indeed what they have done) for the BWEs is baffling to me.
You would think that they want people to have the best impression possible of the game, yet the first thing you see is the crap character creation options.
You might be correct about annimations but...The TSW dev the OP quotes cannot be found in a list of developers for the game, the OP provided no link to the quote, no one else can find the quote, no one can find ANY other posts by the dev, the OP made 1 post then deleted his account....and you trust him?
This game is not ready for release and I will tell you why.
It is completely broken an unplayable. I don't want to hear the excuses that this is a closed beta. This can't be a closed beta because this has a month before it's released into store. There are missions where you are given information that you need to click on and if you don't memorize it when it's given to you.. you lose it forever.
The missions are skewed there are times for the main mission in kingsmouth is so broken it's not even funny. Some missions have markers and some don't even give you a clue where to go. It's a good idea but it is excuted rather poorly.
Some missions that don't have marker do have clues where to go, you just have to work out what the clues are. You need to pay attention to everyhing...cut scene dialogue, mission text, your surroundings, other quests dialogue and text, lore...just about anything can possibly give you directions to quest destinations.
An example, one quest talks about bees and trees....a conversation given in agartha with the station master mentions bees...but unless you spoke to the station master and listened to what he says and actually remember it so that later down the line you remember it will seem like there are no clues...
The game is not for everyone and is certainly not for people who want carrot on a stick gameplay.
I wont comment on others comments, just the review here. With that said , as a growing fan of TSW (not a fanboy, just a fan).. I like the review.
I like that with the negatives you gave reasons as such and stating that the actual "game" itself is stellar, which it is. Once they work on animations and character creation ( again, two things they ARE working on and will have soon ).. this game will find a good community, which I can not wait to join. Thank you for a review that showed both positive and negatives and ways to look at them both that were informative.
The animations in game RIGHT NOW are the animations the game will have AT LAUNCH. Dont believe me? just search these forums for the thread that has the link to comments from one of the TSW devs stating it is the case.
As for character creation, why they felt it was a good idea to limit it (if that is indeed what they have done) for the BWEs is baffling to me.
You would think that they want people to have the best impression possible of the game, yet the first thing you see is the crap character creation options.
You might be correct about annimations but...The TSW dev the OP quotes cannot be found in a list of developers for the game, the OP provided no link to the quote, no one else can find the quote, no one can find ANY other posts by the dev, the OP made 1 post then deleted his account....and you trust him?
Here's a link for you. Ultimately it means little if they don't actually act upon it, but the lead designer mentions that some of the animations are placeholders:
Have to say i agree...my main worry is replayability...i absolutely love the game..but when its story orientated i think it maybe a case of i may pass rolling alts..but either way i think funcom have done a remarkable job on this game..what gets me is people have been crying out for something different ,well here it is..it may not be your cup of tea but i have to say this game is for me and most definately i,m buying.
Also if i may add,this game ran really smooth,i do remember conan and the release,memory leeks etc.this game is way more polished imo.bugs wise i only come across a couple and never crashed,unlike conan .the game itself looks fantastic,apart from char models and npc's.but i never let gfx get in the way of a good game..
It may not get wow numbers but it will find its own audience and i will be one of them.people can dislike this game all they like and thats there choice but to me its a breath of fresh air..roll on june.
Persons crying for something different is minority, and different doesn't always go over well..
Human nature hate changing something that works, for the fear that they may end up with worse than they have...
The quests and the story is amazing, cuz no "wow style boredom" quests but i missing something. I miss the "build your own story" the way to chose a path. It's ok to do all quest, finish the game once but what next? Doing all the quests again with other char? No other way, no one will be do the game again. Only a few quests in the starting areas and i think the second, third, etc. areas are similar to the other factions.
I wont comment on others comments, just the review here. With that said , as a growing fan of TSW (not a fanboy, just a fan).. I like the review.
I like that with the negatives you gave reasons as such and stating that the actual "game" itself is stellar, which it is. Once they work on animations and character creation ( again, two things they ARE working on and will have soon ).. this game will find a good community, which I can not wait to join. Thank you for a review that showed both positive and negatives and ways to look at them both that were informative.
As for character creation, why they felt it was a good idea to limit it (if that is indeed what they have done) for the BWEs is baffling to me.
You would think that they want people to have the best impression possible of the game, yet the first thing you see is the crap character creation options.
From various posters in that linked thread that asked the OP of that thread for the link to the quote he posted, it becomes clear that that comment isn't being found on the official forums nor being said by a dev.
Since the OP of that thread created an account merely to post that thread, that quote is nowhere to be found on any other forum by any dev except in his own thread, and he didn't even return nor provide a source link when posters asked, that OP quote seems a highly suspicious bogus post.
Until the OP of that thread or another poster can come up with the actual source, shouldn't be that hard; so far that seems highly, highly unlikely.
Common sense puts more value in the game notes and statements of another FC guy who stated that the animations were placeholders than in the supposed quote of a so far imaginary other dev who said differently. I'll be interested to see if I'll be proven wrong.
I think it was quite a vague statement to just say ALL Funcom games are the best when comes to this topic.Using AOC as an example arguably their best looking game the cities are actually quite generic boxed out designs,nothing is well done in cities.However outside the cities the zones do look very good,i enjoyed my time outside the cities.
Skill Wheel
The argument here was one sided as it points directly at pvp.When stating the skill system works because it allows a vet or noob to play against each other ir over looking the pve aspect of team work and players working together.It doesn't always have to be about working against each other.I think the more accurate statement was when mentioning the skill system on a whole is really nothing different than a leveling system and i have found that to be almsot 100% true except in one game i played.
Questing
Here i do not mind the same old killing stuff but as this author pointed out,how they are presented can make a difference.I actually commented on this in another thread if devs are willing to put in some actual effort there is a LOT that can be done to even the most generic quests.
The BAD
Combat
This is the part that hits true to my heart as i feel combat is the most important part of a game,it is what keeps players coming back be it pve or pvp.The problem is that this topic alone needs a full page of some depth to give an argument either way.There was nothing but vagueness on this topic so the references wre meaningless.
Animations
This part has me baffled ,i guess the author does not understand animations o he/she could not give us the actual insight information we need.I just do not understand what was meant by the upper and lower body part.The way the author presented this topic it makes it sopund like the characters have two separate body parts and ALL the animations are tied ONLY top the upper body,it not only makes no sense but would be a dumb idea or i guess a lazy design idea.
Character Creation
This part has been overblown in every game,ONLY becuase of what MOST people want from this aspect of gaming.What most want is the looks hwen in reality character creation SHOULD go way beyond looks.Example race/stats/class/starting area differences perhaps even gender differences,i mean all it takes is effort and we SHOULD expect effort.The VISUAL aspect of creation is imo meaningless,EVERY single player ends up within the first day of playing covering up 90% of their player with gear/armor so why the fuss over visual?
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
This game is not ready for release and I will tell you why.
It is completely broken an unplayable. I don't want to hear the excuses that this is a closed beta. This can't be a closed beta because this has a month before it's released into store. There are missions where you are given information that you need to click on and if you don't memorize it when it's given to you.. you lose it forever.
The missions are skewed there are times for the main mission in kingsmouth is so broken it's not even funny. Some missions have markers and some don't even give you a clue where to go. It's a good idea but it is excuted rather poorly.
Some missions that don't have marker do have clues where to go, you just have to work out what the clues are. You need to pay attention to everyhing...cut scene dialogue, mission text, your surroundings, other quests dialogue and text, lore...just about anything can possibly give you directions to quest destinations.
An example, one quest talks about bees and trees....a conversation given in agartha with the station master mentions bees...but unless you spoke to the station master and listened to what he says and actually remember it so that later down the line you remember it will seem like there are no clues...
The game is not for everyone and is certainly not for people who want carrot on a stick gameplay.
A few other points to clarify - for missions where you're shown, for example, a picture - you should be able to pull up the mission log, find the tier you're on and have a link you can click to view the clue.
I never came across a mission that couldn't with some thought give me an idea where to go. Yes, some of them took me a long time to deciper (see picture, above) and involved a lot of ARG-style research and thought but the clues are there - some much easier than others ("Your journey will start at the tip of the pyramid..." - hmmm, wonder if she means that place on the map called Pyramid Point).
The puzzles and the fact that often you need to as Maelwydd says, think about dialogue, think about where you are and what you've been asked to do, mean it's not going to be for everyone. Most likely not the instant-gratification purple-pixels-on-a-silver-spoon types. But it works for me.
edit: for context, the mission in the link above took me an hour and a half to solve with the only killing I did being a bunch of random mobs that were in my way on the route to one of the clues - and it was one of the most gratifying experiences I've had in an MMORPG in a long time once I'd finished.
Fundementally my largest problem with the game is that the combat is as dry and grindy as ever. Funcom did a good job of improving the RPG aspects of the industry but took a huge step backwards interms of the Action Adventure aspects of modern MMORPGS.
I also felt cheated that this game was hyped around doing away completely with the old level system but its just not true. Just because they dont stick a number above my head doesnt change the fact that i have to get a fixed amount of xp and then ding you level... I mean ding you got a new skill point.
I played the weekend beta and loved it. The story was awsome the setting was amazing the mobs detail was better then anything out there. A side comment to those that said anything in swtor was better then anything in TSW well that says all we need to know about you.
I liked the combat but yes I agree that something felt off buuuuuuut considering we're in the area that would be 1-10 zone you can not really expect to have the cool skills. I thonk some of the problem is the slight soupy feeling ya get but thats normal in betas with all the stuff funcom has going on in the background.
OMG the skill wheel is awsome yes theres limitations but far more freedom, even UO had limitations like you only had 700 points to use(when it was good). Even though your actives are restricted to your two weapons your passives are not you can take 7 passives from 7 dif trees and use them in a way thats effective for you 7 actives. I'd say thats a hell of alot of freedom just from the combos I was able to come up with in the area that would be a 1-10 zone in a lvl system mmo
I'd give TSW a 8 out of 10 as it is now in beta with some small adjustments it could be a 10 at release and I've played almost everything since UO till now even tried most f2ps and I've never given anything that high of a score except UO(up until AoS) and SWG(pre-nge)
I wont comment on others comments, just the review here. With that said , as a growing fan of TSW (not a fanboy, just a fan).. I like the review.
I like that with the negatives you gave reasons as such and stating that the actual "game" itself is stellar, which it is. Once they work on animations and character creation ( again, two things they ARE working on and will have soon ).. this game will find a good community, which I can not wait to join. Thank you for a review that showed both positive and negatives and ways to look at them both that were informative.
The animations in game RIGHT NOW are the animations the game will have AT LAUNCH. Dont believe me? just search these forums for the thread that has the link to comments from one of the TSW devs stating it is the case.
As for character creation, why they felt it was a good idea to limit it (if that is indeed what they have done) for the BWEs is baffling to me.
You would think that they want people to have the best impression possible of the game, yet the first thing you see is the crap character creation options.
You might be correct about annimations but...The TSW dev the OP quotes cannot be found in a list of developers for the game, the OP provided no link to the quote, no one else can find the quote, no one can find ANY other posts by the dev, the OP made 1 post then deleted his account....and you trust him?
Read the thread, the OP posted a shot from the CB forums proving the statement , many saw it before mods took it down I guess.
The current animations are what you get for the most part , per the dev post.
Apparently they rather not have the general public know that before retail sales , wonder why.
I'm not sure why jumping over cars or large fences is that big of a deal. I mean come on, your character can teleport and knock zombies that are much larger than vehicles smooth on their ass. I'm pretty sure jumping a car or fence is no problem for a character with those abilities... so much hat
...because the theme of this game puts you as a protagonist in a horror movie/lovecraft/poe story. I have never seen the heroes jumping SUVs and 1 story fences in those books/films. Most of the skills are physical weapons. There are some magic segments on the skill tree because there are mages or mystic protagonists in those stories as well..who also do not leap from rooftop to rooftop ..at least in any book I've read. We are playing humans with a magical edge , talent for combat or both....not superheros. When I can traverse the neighborhood in bounds I begin to feel like I'm playing CoH.
The one line that was spoken to my character at the beginning of game actually sold it to me ..to paraphrase.... I was told I " have been chosen but I'm not the Chosen One." Thought that was great in light of the fact that that's exactly how most MMOs try to make you feel...like a saviour of some kind or The Chosen One.
In this game's open beta my character felt like a "means to an end" instead of the "end all be all ".
The Best: World feels alive.....The areas we have seen so far are well done.....Lots of skills and variety
The Worst: The combat and animations......Too many cutscenes.....Too story driven with no choices for the player
My biggest problem with TSW is it feels like a single player game, like Im playing Dragon Age again without any choices...Sure there are other players, but most of hte time they are an annoyance as they get in the way of quest mobs and other things......Theres very little interaction with each other, if at all......The 3 factions all feel the same..Its the same character creator for all 3, the same clothing options, just nothing to make each one feel unique.....At least in fantasy games we can tell the difference between an orc and a Human.
I agree with each of your points, pros and cons. Unfortunately for me the lackluster combat and animations overshadow the pros enough to where I don't plan on purchasing TSW.
This game may not be for everyone as it has depth. That is something the WoW generation may reject. The combat is lackluster and animations are awkward, especially jumping, but it's still one of the best games in a long time. It may need some fine tuning but Tera's stupid mouse clicking combat is a terrible example. They need to keep the "thinking man's MMO" label, and kiddie console influenced combat would kill that.
In the past i had been critical of this website doing fluff reviews i participated in this last weekends beta and frankly the combat sucks and with GW2 right around the corner they better fix it or they are screwed........i don't see a flop as bad as AOC but if they don't delay this game and fix the issues mentioned in this article they are in trouble......thank you for doing an honest review and pointing out the elephants in the room that need fixing.
The only "bad" I would add to the List is this: we didn't had a decent in game gist about the PVP other than a map. I really hope this changes on the next upcoming beta weekend.
Said that, TSW really made me remember the feeling i had some decades ago, when playing adventure games mainly from Sierra or the infamous and hugely fun Maniac Mansion and Zak Mckracken from Lucas Arts:
And the feeling was "i am not eating until i solve just this one more, damnit!" or similar. That felt good :P
Really hope PVP will be added to the mix on this beta
Featherbeans
______________________________ "I am the Masterloot Masterphu0k3r" *Fargon* ------------------------------
I felt a little disappointed by this game but will reserve judgment until I try another beta because I didnt have much time to play this weekend, certainly not enough time to make a judgment on whether it's worth playing in my opinion.
I'm quoting you because you spelled judgment correctly, which RARELY happens on these forums, so thank you. It's nice to read a post that doesn't make me feel like I'm going blind.
Sorry for the off topic, but I had to read the thread as I'm researching TSW. To buy or not to buy, that is the question. I, so far, have come to the conclusion that I'll probably wait a few months. I'm still excited about it though.
For me, the biggest drawback of TSW are it's creators, few years of playing AoC taught me to stay clear of Funcom games. No matter how fantastic the product is, Funcom somehow manages to turn it into disaster, by completely ignoring players.
I played this weekend's beta only, so I don't know if there has been any changes during the week.
I didn't mind the character creation too much. There were limited options, but I was able to make one whose appearance I liked. There was a limit to clothing, and I didn't receive any clothes as quest rewards, but AFAIK that will be in-game and that is ok.
The few issues I had was combat. The first four hours I played in Kingsmouth I felt invincible. Wielding my Hammer, no zombie was close to touching me, and there seemed to be no need to team up, so everyone seemed to run around solo. Eventually, I came across some mobs that proved to be tough, which leaves me hope that other parts of the world will provide challenges where we have to group up. I never came close to the final mission, but from what I have seen grouping is neccesary there.
I have seen the crafting video, so I had an idea how it works, but it seems like I will need to have a crafting guide close by. The system is not self-explanatory nor simple.
I thought some of the first cut-scenes were a bit long, but after a few hours I realized that it ties together. I have heard Funcom say this often, but suddenly it dawned upon me that I have to pay attention to everything.
One thing about the combat that got to me was the firehouse zombies and their arched attack. I was able to slug them a couple of times and slip out of the arch before they swung their axes. Letting the zombies attack while they build up their special attack, and maybe make the outline of their arc less visible might make them a bit more troublesome.
I haven't quite understood why they had to slice animations in two in order to allow movement in combat. Why not just make two animations, one for when the character moves and another for when he stands still. I can see this being a bit tricky if a characters decides to begin moving in the middle of a spell, and the animation has to change, but I still think this might be doable. The jumping was also surprisingly effective, but not a deal breaker. The comment about parkour-moves for jumps was awesome.
Comments
It's NOT an open-skill system. Some people are confusing the fact that you can have all skills as meaning you can use any combination you like, but that's not the case. You need to have a weapon equipped for the specific type of skill you want to use (I.e., Blood Magic requires books, Elemental Magic requires talisman). You can have 2 weapons equipped at once. So, unless you want to be in and out of your skill list constantly between battles, changing what you're equiping and changing your actual equipment afterward, it's not that open. You'll need to plan ahead the skill set you want. That's not a bad thing, mind you, but that's what it is.
Still, I wouldn't mind access to more skills. I didn't think I'd mind 7 skills, but it did get to me after a bit, mostly because I wanted to be able to both support people and solo in one build. It's doable just switching around with decks mind you, it's just an added unnecessary step, IMO. All that aside, I did really like the skill wheel. I love having a ton of skills to "unlock", definitely adds replayability for me.
Also, "floaty combat" is a great way to describe it. The words for it were eluding me, but that works well. That's exactly how it felt, like nothing had any real impact and the combat itself was a spam-fast of the first few skills over and over, especially since you couldn't set even the basic attack to auto (that I knew of, at least). GW1 (yes, 1, not comparing it to 2 since 2 has more skills you can equip at once) had a similarly small skill bar, but the skill combinations available were far more synergetic. Though, in fairness, we only had access to the first tier of skills, so I'm trying to keep an open-mind about what skills we might still be waiting to use.
With all the issues TSW has, I want a game to play alongside GW2 so I can go back and forth and avoid burnout (since the latter has no sub fee), and sadly there's nothing better available. Looking forward to Torchlight 2 but I'm not an item grinder, so once I beat it, I'll pretty much be done with it. That and, I'll take a brilliant storyline and interesting quests, over "KTX till you die" gameplay anyway, even with the floaty combat. If good combat was all we needed to hide the repetitiveness of gameplay, we'd all be addicted to Vindictus.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
The animations in game now are it for the long term.
As for character creation, why they felt it was a good idea to limit it (if that is indeed what they have done) for the BWEs is baffling to me.
You would think that they want people to have the best impression possible of the game, yet the first thing you see is the crap character creation options.
A creative person is motivated by the desire to achieve, not the desire to beat others.
You might be correct about annimations but...The TSW dev the OP quotes cannot be found in a list of developers for the game, the OP provided no link to the quote, no one else can find the quote, no one can find ANY other posts by the dev, the OP made 1 post then deleted his account....and you trust him?
unless the animations are dramatically overhauled before launch its not something I will be playing.
Some missions that don't have marker do have clues where to go, you just have to work out what the clues are. You need to pay attention to everyhing...cut scene dialogue, mission text, your surroundings, other quests dialogue and text, lore...just about anything can possibly give you directions to quest destinations.
An example, one quest talks about bees and trees....a conversation given in agartha with the station master mentions bees...but unless you spoke to the station master and listened to what he says and actually remember it so that later down the line you remember it will seem like there are no clues...
The game is not for everyone and is certainly not for people who want carrot on a stick gameplay.
Here's a link for you. Ultimately it means little if they don't actually act upon it, but the lead designer mentions that some of the animations are placeholders:
http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/showpost.php?p=725953&postcount=6
Persons crying for something different is minority, and different doesn't always go over well..
Human nature hate changing something that works, for the fear that they may end up with worse than they have...
The quests and the story is amazing, cuz no "wow style boredom" quests but i missing something. I miss the "build your own story" the way to chose a path. It's ok to do all quest, finish the game once but what next? Doing all the quests again with other char? No other way, no one will be do the game again. Only a few quests in the starting areas and i think the second, third, etc. areas are similar to the other factions.
From various posters in that linked thread that asked the OP of that thread for the link to the quote he posted, it becomes clear that that comment isn't being found on the official forums nor being said by a dev.
Since the OP of that thread created an account merely to post that thread, that quote is nowhere to be found on any other forum by any dev except in his own thread, and he didn't even return nor provide a source link when posters asked, that OP quote seems a highly suspicious bogus post.
Until the OP of that thread or another poster can come up with the actual source, shouldn't be that hard; so far that seems highly, highly unlikely.
Common sense puts more value in the game notes and statements of another FC guy who stated that the animations were placeholders than in the supposed quote of a so far imaginary other dev who said differently. I'll be interested to see if I'll be proven wrong.
My take on the topics discussed...
The GOOD
Setting
I think it was quite a vague statement to just say ALL Funcom games are the best when comes to this topic.Using AOC as an example arguably their best looking game the cities are actually quite generic boxed out designs,nothing is well done in cities.However outside the cities the zones do look very good,i enjoyed my time outside the cities.
Skill Wheel
The argument here was one sided as it points directly at pvp.When stating the skill system works because it allows a vet or noob to play against each other ir over looking the pve aspect of team work and players working together.It doesn't always have to be about working against each other.I think the more accurate statement was when mentioning the skill system on a whole is really nothing different than a leveling system and i have found that to be almsot 100% true except in one game i played.
Questing
Here i do not mind the same old killing stuff but as this author pointed out,how they are presented can make a difference.I actually commented on this in another thread if devs are willing to put in some actual effort there is a LOT that can be done to even the most generic quests.
The BAD
Combat
This is the part that hits true to my heart as i feel combat is the most important part of a game,it is what keeps players coming back be it pve or pvp.The problem is that this topic alone needs a full page of some depth to give an argument either way.There was nothing but vagueness on this topic so the references wre meaningless.
Animations
This part has me baffled ,i guess the author does not understand animations o he/she could not give us the actual insight information we need.I just do not understand what was meant by the upper and lower body part.The way the author presented this topic it makes it sopund like the characters have two separate body parts and ALL the animations are tied ONLY top the upper body,it not only makes no sense but would be a dumb idea or i guess a lazy design idea.
Character Creation
This part has been overblown in every game,ONLY becuase of what MOST people want from this aspect of gaming.What most want is the looks hwen in reality character creation SHOULD go way beyond looks.Example race/stats/class/starting area differences perhaps even gender differences,i mean all it takes is effort and we SHOULD expect effort.The VISUAL aspect of creation is imo meaningless,EVERY single player ends up within the first day of playing covering up 90% of their player with gear/armor so why the fuss over visual?
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
A few other points to clarify - for missions where you're shown, for example, a picture - you should be able to pull up the mission log, find the tier you're on and have a link you can click to view the clue.
I never came across a mission that couldn't with some thought give me an idea where to go. Yes, some of them took me a long time to deciper (see picture, above) and involved a lot of ARG-style research and thought but the clues are there - some much easier than others ("Your journey will start at the tip of the pyramid..." - hmmm, wonder if she means that place on the map called Pyramid Point).
The puzzles and the fact that often you need to as Maelwydd says, think about dialogue, think about where you are and what you've been asked to do, mean it's not going to be for everyone. Most likely not the instant-gratification purple-pixels-on-a-silver-spoon types. But it works for me.
edit: for context, the mission in the link above took me an hour and a half to solve with the only killing I did being a bunch of random mobs that were in my way on the route to one of the clues - and it was one of the most gratifying experiences I've had in an MMORPG in a long time once I'd finished.
~ Hobyah Press ~ Wyldlands Celtic & Iron Age RPG ~
Fundementally my largest problem with the game is that the combat is as dry and grindy as ever. Funcom did a good job of improving the RPG aspects of the industry but took a huge step backwards interms of the Action Adventure aspects of modern MMORPGS.
I also felt cheated that this game was hyped around doing away completely with the old level system but its just not true. Just because they dont stick a number above my head doesnt change the fact that i have to get a fixed amount of xp and then ding you level... I mean ding you got a new skill point.
I played the weekend beta and loved it. The story was awsome the setting was amazing the mobs detail was better then anything out there. A side comment to those that said anything in swtor was better then anything in TSW well that says all we need to know about you.
I liked the combat but yes I agree that something felt off buuuuuuut considering we're in the area that would be 1-10 zone you can not really expect to have the cool skills. I thonk some of the problem is the slight soupy feeling ya get but thats normal in betas with all the stuff funcom has going on in the background.
OMG the skill wheel is awsome yes theres limitations but far more freedom, even UO had limitations like you only had 700 points to use(when it was good). Even though your actives are restricted to your two weapons your passives are not you can take 7 passives from 7 dif trees and use them in a way thats effective for you 7 actives. I'd say thats a hell of alot of freedom just from the combos I was able to come up with in the area that would be a 1-10 zone in a lvl system mmo
I'd give TSW a 8 out of 10 as it is now in beta with some small adjustments it could be a 10 at release and I've played almost everything since UO till now even tried most f2ps and I've never given anything that high of a score except UO(up until AoS) and SWG(pre-nge)
Read the thread, the OP posted a shot from the CB forums proving the statement , many saw it before mods took it down I guess.
The current animations are what you get for the most part , per the dev post.
Apparently they rather not have the general public know that before retail sales , wonder why.
...because the theme of this game puts you as a protagonist in a horror movie/lovecraft/poe story. I have never seen the heroes jumping SUVs and 1 story fences in those books/films. Most of the skills are physical weapons. There are some magic segments on the skill tree because there are mages or mystic protagonists in those stories as well..who also do not leap from rooftop to rooftop ..at least in any book I've read. We are playing humans with a magical edge , talent for combat or both....not superheros. When I can traverse the neighborhood in bounds I begin to feel like I'm playing CoH.
The one line that was spoken to my character at the beginning of game actually sold it to me ..to paraphrase.... I was told I " have been chosen but I'm not the Chosen One." Thought that was great in light of the fact that that's exactly how most MMOs try to make you feel...like a saviour of some kind or The Chosen One.
In this game's open beta my character felt like a "means to an end" instead of the "end all be all ".
The Best: World feels alive.....The areas we have seen so far are well done.....Lots of skills and variety
The Worst: The combat and animations......Too many cutscenes.....Too story driven with no choices for the player
My biggest problem with TSW is it feels like a single player game, like Im playing Dragon Age again without any choices...Sure there are other players, but most of hte time they are an annoyance as they get in the way of quest mobs and other things......Theres very little interaction with each other, if at all......The 3 factions all feel the same..Its the same character creator for all 3, the same clothing options, just nothing to make each one feel unique.....At least in fantasy games we can tell the difference between an orc and a Human.
In the past i had been critical of this website doing fluff reviews i participated in this last weekends beta and frankly the combat sucks and with GW2 right around the corner they better fix it or they are screwed........i don't see a flop as bad as AOC but if they don't delay this game and fix the issues mentioned in this article they are in trouble......thank you for doing an honest review and pointing out the elephants in the room that need fixing.
The only "bad" I would add to the List is this: we didn't had a decent in game gist about the PVP other than a map. I really hope this changes on the next upcoming beta weekend.
Said that, TSW really made me remember the feeling i had some decades ago, when playing adventure games mainly from Sierra or the infamous and hugely fun Maniac Mansion and Zak Mckracken from Lucas Arts:
And the feeling was "i am not eating until i solve just this one more, damnit!" or similar. That felt good :P
Really hope PVP will be added to the mix on this beta
Featherbeans
______________________________
"I am
the Masterloot Masterphu0k3r"
*Fargon*
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Lawyered!!!
For me, the biggest drawback of TSW are it's creators, few years of playing AoC taught me to stay clear of Funcom games. No matter how fantastic the product is, Funcom somehow manages to turn it into disaster, by completely ignoring players.
I played this weekend's beta only, so I don't know if there has been any changes during the week.
I didn't mind the character creation too much. There were limited options, but I was able to make one whose appearance I liked. There was a limit to clothing, and I didn't receive any clothes as quest rewards, but AFAIK that will be in-game and that is ok.
The few issues I had was combat. The first four hours I played in Kingsmouth I felt invincible. Wielding my Hammer, no zombie was close to touching me, and there seemed to be no need to team up, so everyone seemed to run around solo. Eventually, I came across some mobs that proved to be tough, which leaves me hope that other parts of the world will provide challenges where we have to group up. I never came close to the final mission, but from what I have seen grouping is neccesary there.
I have seen the crafting video, so I had an idea how it works, but it seems like I will need to have a crafting guide close by. The system is not self-explanatory nor simple.
I thought some of the first cut-scenes were a bit long, but after a few hours I realized that it ties together. I have heard Funcom say this often, but suddenly it dawned upon me that I have to pay attention to everything.
One thing about the combat that got to me was the firehouse zombies and their arched attack. I was able to slug them a couple of times and slip out of the arch before they swung their axes. Letting the zombies attack while they build up their special attack, and maybe make the outline of their arc less visible might make them a bit more troublesome.
I haven't quite understood why they had to slice animations in two in order to allow movement in combat. Why not just make two animations, one for when the character moves and another for when he stands still. I can see this being a bit tricky if a characters decides to begin moving in the middle of a spell, and the animation has to change, but I still think this might be doable. The jumping was also surprisingly effective, but not a deal breaker. The comment about parkour-moves for jumps was awesome.