pc rpg

[glockjs]

im contemplating between Guild Wars and City of Heros...they both look really cool. any opinions on either one of these?

need somethin to kill time, bars are costin too much

[Faustus]

Well I played City of Heroes for a few months then quit. Not because the game sucks but for the same reason I quit EQ, basicly I just dont have the time for that type of game.

If you do have the time City of Heroes is an AWESOME game.

[rallynavvie]

Are those MMORPGs like EQ though? Personally I still have a lot of fun dusting off NWN and its expansions for a run-through with a different class of character.

[Faustus]

Are those MMORPGs like EQ though? Personally I still have a lot of fun dusting off NWN and its expansions for a run-through with a different class of character.

Yup MMOs.

[rallynavvie]

It's too bad more folks don't try persistent worlds online with NWN. The game engine is so great (not to mention uses 3rd edition almost verbatim) plus the GM-run quests are a lot of fun. Rather than have some programmed quests like on AC or EQ there are actual people running the quests on many nights. They come up with new ones almost every week. Downside is there aren't very many players still playing on those servers and GM-run quests are usually only at certain times so you'd have to schedule time for them rather than just at your own leisure. The in-game quests aren't so bad though and GMs add more of those every week and since they're NPC-run you can do them whenever.

[yoda313]

Hello,

AC, EQ, MMORGP, NPC, GM???

Man look at those abbreviations! I don't have broadband and my pc isn't new enough to run those huge multiplayer games. Otherwise some of them look like a lot of fun.

Kevin

[glockjs]

guild wars looks really really cool, not out yet but i havnt got to play the demo. i guess its limited. the one thing i was looking at is you dont have to pay to play. i think city of heros you do. im just looking for a good rpg that theres no pay-to-play

[Faustus]

guild wars looks really really cool, not out yet but i havnt got to play the demo. i guess its limited. the one thing i was looking at is you dont have to pay to play. i think city of heros you do. im just looking for a good rpg that theres no pay-to-play

Yeah city of heroes cost to play, and it cost a few dollars more then some of the others at that. Of course you also get the monthly City of Heroes comic book in the mail with your subscription.

[glockjs]

one thing i didnt realize is how long its gonna be until guild wars comes out(early 05). BUT, the game looks awesome...guildwars.com.....looks like they are trying to create something epic...looks really cool and there is going to be NO monthly charge

[Doramius]

I'm into FPS (First Person Shooter) and Strategy (IE: WarCraft, StarCraft, Command&Conquer, Total Annihilation, Civilizations, Age of Empire, etc.) games. I used to play RPG, but lately they've gotten really sucky IMHO. I like Diablo and Baldur's Gate, but many others just are crap.

[glockjs]

im into first person shooters too..ut2004 is the shizzy..thats all i usually play. been kinda interested in the massive online rpg's lately though. only prob is that all the cool ones it looks like you have to pay to play. example final fantasy xi. i know i would love that game, im a huge fan of FF series. but the pay to play thing makes no sense to me. specially since a game like ut2004 has plenty of help as far as web help and servers and there's no fee. so im not gonna pay 10 bucks a month just to play a stupid game when there are plenty no-pay-to-play games out there. i got my pre order for guild wars last night for 10 bucks and i know this game is gonna be hella cool just lookin at everything. and there's gonna be no monthly fee. comes out feb 1st though i was just lookin for a cool game in the mean time to hold me over but not charge per month

[Faustus]

glockjs:

Welcome to the future. MMORPGs are just that Massive, less servers, often the "servers" are actually server farms located in locations around the country. They are owned and maintained by the game manufactuer.

They have to pay the hosting cost, the BW cost, the support staff for the servers, the support staff for the in game help., ect ect.... this is quite a bit different then some dudes with a colo starting up a game server. And its a very good thing. With this good thing however comes the charge, it not only pays those fees but encourages the game designers to continue to work on expantions and updates/bug fixes.

[glockjs]

yeah but most hardcore game sites are willing to give up serverage(is that a word? im meaning server resources) just for the love of the game. take ut2004, there is a very long list of web sites giving up the space at no charge to the gamer

[Faustus]

yeah but most hardcore game sites are willing to give up serverage(is that a word? im meaning server resources) just for the love of the game. take ut2004, there is a very long list of web sites giving up the space at no charge to the gamer

Your missing the point still. If I make a game and have a fat pipe or a colo it takes all of 10min to setup a server and just let it run. With an MMORPG there is maintance and stuff that happens on a daily basis. Its multible servers and there are NO, NONE, ZERO public servers because 1) the server software requires server clusters and 2) maintaining control prevents rampant cheating because everythign is centralized.

There is a difference between throwing a decent pc on a pipe and running a server and running the server farm for a modern MMORPG, and the difference is huge.

When you buy a MMO your not just paying for the devlopement of the game, but that and all the equpment NEEDED to make the game work. Your monthy fees help pay for the upkeep and upgrades to those severs so that things continue to run well. Fees are needed with MMOs, its not gonna change, and thought it does make them alot of money its not an idea they dreamed up just to make cash but more a side effect of the type of game they wanted to create.

I played EQ for a number of years and I'll say this and mean every word of it. If every joe schmo ran their own EQ server it would ruin the point and suck. It must be kept internet for these games to work, therefore you pay. I'm sure they "love the game" afterall they spent YEARS making them.

Ask youself this? If you go see a movie that just came out one evening how much do you pay? 6-8 dollars? Lets say $7. Seven dollars for maybe 2 hours of entertainment. Blockbuster rental? I think they are like $4 now. City of heroes is pretty expensive, if your gonna play the game alot though how much does it cost? $15 a month.

Stop worrying about the fee and accept its there for a reason, and instead of bitching about the specific price stop and think about its value and if your a big gamer MMOs are a good value for your entertainment dollar.

And remember this, most of those game server you talk about are not persistant. When they reboot or load a new map all is anew. Think of it as running a diablo 2 server, that saves all the itmes on the ground, all the levels and quest and everything. Oh yeah and the server is used by 1000+ people at a time. It doesn't work.

[glockjs]

i get your point. it all makes sense. but , what if im the type of person that plays more than just one game a month. would it make sense for me to pay $100 a month for 10 different games? i would deffinatley pay a fee if i could play more that just one game a month.

[Faustus]

Trust me, if your the type that only plays a game a month you do NOT want multible MMOs, they suck of time.

If you start one kiss any free time goodbye. Most MMOs assume you will put hours upon hours into them, its why I don't play any at the moment, because dont have the time and dedication to give to it.

[rallynavvie]

Or you've played them since beta and have slowly levelled your characters to the max with tons of items and a mansion to store it all in and kick up your feet. I amassed a lot of wealth over the years in AC and still have my old accounts. I even have a groundskeeper who logs me in once a month to pay my upkeeps on things, in return he gets the use of my storage space and a place of his own. It's like being a feudal lord

However the most fascinating aspect of MMORPGs in particular is the social dynamics of it all. Having (often) ideal avatars of yourself incarnated in a fantasy world interacting with other avatars of real people role-playing something else is intriguing at the very least. Some of our group even got together out at Lake Tahoe once (one of our members has a lake home there ). I didn't go but I saw pictures and everyone had fun being out on the lake and away from the computers. I just think it's such an interesting subculture and one of the greatest reasons I've stuck with it.

[Doramius]

There's nothing wrong with that, and you're right that it gets very interesting and cool. However, the cost is too much and time, to some, is worth so much more than to be playing MMORPG. I play RTCW which is a FPS. The boards are timed and you move on to another. It allows you to play many other people and different points in time. The drawbacks are, you don't get your own avatar/character, The boards aren't interconnected, you can't keep what you've earned from one board and play with it in another board. There are several others, but you have to make a cut or sacrifice somewhere. I pay nothing to get on a server and I can play anytime I want. I even have the ablity to create my own server and have anyone come and play on it. It's a bit more difficult to do the with the MMORPG.