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04-16-08
Duration of ownership: 4 Weeks
Strengths: - Sci-Fi MMO- Innovative Cloning system- Plenty of character slots- Good graphics and sound- Immersive fps combat
Weaknesses:- Limited "newbie" walk-thru- Poor crafting design (currently)- "Too" soloable. Limited grouping.- The worse general chat I've ever encountered.
Overall Evaluation: Let me preface by saying I've been into MMO's for the last 8 years (was hooked by EQ1 and have played pretty much all of the major MMO's for some duration since). I basically invest a lot of time into the MMO I play, but I focus more on content and character experimentation than end game (i.e. I'll have the max allowed number of characters all mid to high level) I wanted to be hooked by this game. After years of Fantasy Rpg dominated MMo's, when I saw that TR was to be a Sci-Fi Fps with epic story by Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) I was excited. Unfortunately, my excitement turned to disappointment the more I played. Character creation was pretty standard. You start with Human unlocked and there are a couple of other races you can gain via in game quests. You have some control over face, hair, body size etc, but not has much as some other MMos. TR uses a Class Tree approach for character development. Every character starts as a Recruit and at levels 5, 15, and 30 you choose between a different branch. Ultimately, by level 30, there are 8 different classes that you could have become. These give you the standard Tank, Stealth, Range, Pet Classes etc but with a Sci-Fi context. The newbie quest line gets you started on the store arc, but, for me, did not provide much guidance to many of the game play decisions I needed as I leveled. What I really like is the innovative cloning ability. Basically, your character is given a cloning token at 5 and at each of the branch decisions. This allows you to create a copy of your character but choose to experiment both branches without having to start from level 1 again (Tip: Save your Lvl 5 token until just before lvl 15 to make a clone as it is relatively easy to get to 15 and it gives you an extra clone token to work with) I should mention, that the Surname you choose for your 1st character is used by ALL your characters (cloned or created from scratch). Your characters only differ by 1st name. The pro of this is that chat etc is driven off Surname. The con of this is that it doesn't really allow you to have "private" characters. At each level, you are given points to invest in Attributes (Body, Mind Spirit) and Skills (class specifc, logos or crafting). As others have mentioned, Logos is pretty cool (it's like magic in rpg) and nicely integrated into the story. But because crafting requires you use these very valuable skill points, it's best to create a clone for crafting only and then using Footlockers (i.e. in game banks shared by all your clones) to craft. I really don't like this as it takes away from my character immersion. There are some other issues with crafting, which the devs are currently looking at, but as it stands, I'm not a fan. Gameplay is pretty fun. You definitely feel immersed in a combat zone! Environment affects combat (i.e. you can reduce damage by hiding behind rocks, trees, hills, etc) and different weapons have different effectiveness with different mobs (lasers, physical, Emp, etc). Another nice feature is that the more mobs you kill in the same timeframe, the higher you XP bonus becomes. This allows leveling via quest lines and "grind". But on the flip side, leveling was almost too easy and fast. I also found that it didn't do much to encounrage grouping (with the exception of some boss mobs and some instances..which are probably the most fun). Planetside (an older FPS MMo) was much more combat addictive for me, but that may be due to the fact it was PvP oriented, whereas TR is more PvE. I should also mention that (to me anyway) the point of an MMO is interaction with others in a virtual world (why pay $15 per month to play a solo game). I have to say that the General chat is the worse I have encountered in any MMO. For those that know WoW, Barrens chat seems like a sophisticated discussion to the drivel that goes on in TR. And yes, you can mute the chat, but again, why pay $15 a month to play solo. All and all, TR can be purchased for a very low price (indicative to me at how disappointing sales must be as it has only been out for about 8 months I think) and it includes 30 days. After that, it's $15 per month. I for one, found no reason to subscribe.
04-06-08
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: Engaging Storyline and game play stylePlayers feel like they are really involved in something bigWeapon and Logo Powers are well designed, and give a good feel to gameplay
Weaknesses:NCSoft doesn't seem to be taking this game seriously, although there have been big improvements lately. More of a focus on fluff features than getting the core of the game debugged and solid.
Overall Evaluation: Garriott and the team at NCSoft have done a great job of creating an engaging game that gets users excited to play and get involved, and that feeling really shines through while playing the game. I played this game through the Beta, and having not played since release until this past week, i am pleasantly surprised at the changes they have made (I mean debugging) in attempt to make this an enjoyable experience. like i said, the feel and idea of the game really get you pumped up to play, and the depth in which you as a player feel involved in this battle provide an addictive feel to the game. During beta this game was riddled with bugs - and I remember getting a global message from the admins a week before launch saying "We are watching a memory leak on the servers, and are actually surprised the game is still up - after the crash we will be applying a temporary fix" needless to say, the end of beta came too soon - My friends and i didn't see a point in playing after launch with all the problems that should have been fixed during Beta (or even internal testing) Since playing the full version this week and last, I have to say I am pumped up to play for many more hours to come. Although there are still hitches here and there, NCSoft seems to be working hard to fix things as fast as they can (multiple page patch notes are a plus) yet they still continue to add seemingly useless fluff features, like Friday Night Fights that are a great idea, but better saved for when the game is much more solid. I do recommend this game, at least a 30 day play through - my hope is that when my 30 day time card runs out, i will be impressed enough to continue after that - but either way, it is a game I want to see succeed.
04-01-08
Duration of ownership:
Strengths: The game has really fun game play and plays well both solo or with friends, the character cloning system is genius and saves a lot of time.
Weaknesses:Has some of the highest system requirements seen on a MMO and relatively little to show for it. Feels incomplete at higher levels and is too easy at times. Also the PvP system is completely useless.
Overall Evaluation: Overall the game has great promise, but feels as though it was rushed to completion. Maybe in a few months and a few more patches it will be worth trying again, but for now very little has changed since beta.
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