MMORPG: Eve Online or Planetside (or something else)?

[Jon Brittan]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a MMORPG to steal pretty much all of my spare time, unlike the previous post I'm not looking for a free game, but I only want one which will hold my attention. I have no real preference for FPSs, Space sims or any other type of game, I simply like competition with other real players around the world.

So, which would you pick, or do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Jon.

[Malo]

I have quite a few friends whom seem to be enjoying Eve as of late. With some of the latest changes and patches they have made, it is turning out to be a solid game already with some new implementations which are refining the gameplay. Very pretty graphics and geared more toward interaction with other players via Corporations. Just expect to spend a lot of time mining :-)

[Saem]

I have friends who LOVE Planetside.

[Tim Murray]

1. Eve. Lots of guys I know love it, but it is definitely still early in its life. Lag is still there, bugs are still there in force, balance changes all the time, and it's crazy.

2. Planetside--almost universal disdain for it because of a lack of a point. You fight repeatedly for no real reason. So, I'd say avoid it.

3. Dark Horse SWG. You love it or you hate it. If you love it, you REALLY love it. If you hate it, you REALLY hate it. But hell, I have no idea.

[Jon Brittan]

Okay, let's expand just a little...

I like to interact with other people directly, a lot. There are a lot of multiplayer games where your only interaction with other players seems to be to almost facelessly attack them to further your own short-term needs and that's it. I want something with the team interaction of something like say UT2003 CTF/Bombing-run etc. (but not necessarily FPS, I simply use that as an example of team-play) but where there is the opportunity for in-game advancement as well.

What I've seen of Planetside there seems to be lots of opportunity for people to form teams, I haven't seen enough of Eve yet to know what the interation side of it is like, whether there's real player bonding or whether you just happen to knock into players you'll chat to once in a while...

In some ways, given that these are practically pay-to-play games, they should give the game for free download with a free months connection and you then pay for continued play, then people could see what they liked, asking for ~£40 to buy the game and then a subscription cost on top makes it a pretty hit-or-big miss type affair IMO.

[Saem]

one can say life is pointless. You just persist to exist but big deal? You find meaning.

IN planetside, you find meaning by wokring with your squad and so on.

It's nuts when you see some of them crazy stuff aircraft in formation, large squads coordinating assaults.

[saf1]

I'll take a stab at it...for those I know anyway.

1. DaOC w/ Shrouded Isle expansion pack.
Fantasy based - Created by Mythic Entertainment. Been out now for about a year - year and a half. Give or take. Its claim to fame is large scale battles in what they call RvR (Realm vs. Realm warfare).

You start out with nothing and have to kill things to gain experience and/or levels. There are 50 levels in the game. Exp is harder and more dangerous as you gain in the levels. During this time, you can do quests for items, money, or exp. You can join a guild or go solo. No matter. Although grouping with people and getting to know people in guilds makes it somewhat faster and fun.

3 realms to choose from. Each with some what unique classes. Caster/spells vs pure melee/fighter types and some with a combination of both hybrids so to speak. Melee and caster.

I've played over a year now - started out great fun as nothing like it. EQ, etc didn't have the realm warfare. However, over time, patches, and class changes, well - it is getting old...

Still has one of the best features if you ask - and that is realm warfare. However, it is sort of broke right now - lots of zergs with nothing but ganking the smaller groups. Solo - forget it. Unless you are a assassin/stealth type...

Bottom line - level/exp treadmill. Can be fun if you pick the right toon. Has one of the better fighting systems if you ask me. The game does support casual player - but as with all games, power gamers will win in the end. And, you do need people to help you with your epic quests.

Shadowbane - has a lot of potential. However, graphics set it back somewhat. They missed that department. However, large scale battles here as well. I only played a month as they had issues (or ATI) with my video card. ATI's latest driver release fixed it - but by then I was done.

Think always player vs player here. However, their character creation process is pretty sweet how they do it. Strong suite if you ask me. Up to lvl 20 is pretty easy. However, after that you have to join a nation. Nations is like a guild. Nations then attack other nations, etc. Can be fun but I never got that far.

My thought - it has a huge potential - they just need work in the graphics department.

Planetside - Great game if you like FPS. However, I get that when I play Unreal Tournament - so I exited the beta and moved on. My son loves it... I just find it too much like UT2003 so I couldn't get past it.

Nice graphics though - Sony has it dialed in.

SWG - Star Wars Galaxies. Huge learning curve. If you like graphics - this will be the game to get. Best out of them all if you have a card that can drive it.

I'm still new to it, but I'll say this. Huge learning curve. Get into groups as fast as you can. Seek the people who have "helper" flagged, and ask a lot of questions.

Seems somewhat buggy - but they are on top of it with a lot of updates and patches. Good sign. No exp / level per say - but you skill up instead. If you screw up a training point, just unlearn it and move it where you wanted. DaOC and EQ you can't do that. Very nice feature.

Bottom line is this. If you are a casual gamer - it can be done - but will go slow. If you have more time or more friendly than I :) - then it will move along rapidly.

Lots of options and the game is a lot like shadowbane - has a lot of potential which forces the people to interact. In fact, the economy is pretty much run by the players and what they make/craft and/or smuggle.

I don't understand the faction deal yet. Like you either join the rebels or the empire. Once you do - and announce overt - then you can be killed by the oposing forces.

No Jedi's yet so to speak. Everybody how has a character created - when they create the character - it randomly creates the steps needed to unlock a force sensitive slot. You do not know what these steps are, just know that they are there.

The developers and lucas did not want everyone and their mother to be Jedi's. They are way powerful and highly unbalanced when you look at the grand scheme of things. THe game sort of takes place between the first and second movie. Only two dark Jedi's - Darth Vader and the Emperor.

Good Jedis are rare - so thus the reason to make them harder than hell to created :)

Best feature of the game - "IF" you get a force sensitive slot. And if you can train to become a jedi. You get what they call a permadeath. If you die, you have to start that character over... that is it. Restart your training all over again.

But lets face it, a Jedi dieing is not going to be a easy thing. And, the biggest challenge is to unlock that slot...

Long winded - PM me if you need anything. I'm a casual gamer and spend most my time in DaOC/SI. I just started SWG and really enjoy it.

I'd read up on them and see what perks your interest.

Regards. Sorry for typo's, etc. I'm beat from moving 12 yards of dirt...

[cthellis42]

Judging by your second post, Jon, it seems like SWG would be the bag you're looking for.

The first thing you have to do is decide if you want "FPS" over "RPG". Make no mistake, Planetside's playstyle is MUCH different than the typical MMORPGs, so that's the easiest thing to tack down. If you want to utilize more active skill than tactical-but-simple-button-pressing, you'll be leaning towards Planetside. True it doesn't have much "purpose" to it right now, but that's only for people who don't KNOW what the "purpose" is... combat. The format for it right now is pretty good, and there is suitable (but not overly huge) differences between the factions. People are getting to the point of pulling of IMPRESSIVE maneuvers, and group tactics will be what MAKES the game. I'm sure they'll get to staging different events and adding new playstyles, but for right now it's up to the players to coordinate and challenge themselves. Meanwhile, whether you want to really devote time to it or simply putz around once in a while, Planetside is easy to get to and has a playstyle you can fit in.

But on the MMORPG side, there is NO game I see as more social and more intertwining than SWG. The economy is player-based, the professions broader yet linked, and there are aspects that keep cities as the central hub of player life. (One can heal MOST wounds on the field--even by ones self--but Battle Fatigue will eventually get the best of even the most stalwart adventurer, and they will have to head to a cantina to relax a bit.) The players are more unique both visually and ability-wise, and are able to fit almost any lifestyle they choose, and can't be lumped into "Category X or Y". There are many game facets that encourage the player base to work with each other (the depth and complexity of the crafting system, for one, the necessity for players to actually train other players to get the experience needed to master their full professions, for another example), and a social environment that is just plain fun, and FUNCTIONAL, rather than feeling like an add-on. And while grouping with others is not "necessary" a la Everquest for taking down uber-mobs, you'll end up getting more experience overall and moving faster and better when you have others to hunt with and fill up ability lacks, or just add the extra punch.

So basically your first choice would be what KIND of game you want to play (and lord knows you can always play both ;) ), but after that the choice should be easy. ^_^

[Tim Murray]

Actually, I'd say wait about two weeks before deciding. Give SWG and Planetside (and Eve, to a lesser extent) time to differentiate themselves, and you might just find a keeper.

[saf1]

It would be great if they let you try them out before you shell out the cash. However, they don't :(

I'll second the comment made above about social and SWG. Was out in the middle of nowhere. Along comes a gal named Ann Jolly - lol. Anyway - healed me up real good. Then offered to make me some cloths, etc. All free - of course, tips are welcome. She made a camp - which actually looks like a old fashioned camp ground, and so it went.

I must say though - SWG, well, not sure if I'd let my kids play. This gal's clothing didn't leave much to the imagination - lol.

Read up on the others though. Eve may offer a free trial. Earth and Beyond does I believe. About a 800 MB download though.

[RussSchultz]

(One can heal MOST wounds on the field--even by ones self--but Battle Fatigue will eventually get the best of even the most stalwart adventurer, and they will have to head to a cantina to relax a bit.)
I dislike this. Why do I have to sit and watch furries entertain themselves so that I can play my game?

OH yeah, so Sony/LucasArts keeps people online more and slows the game down. :)

[saf1]

All of the games that have been mentioned in this thread slow you down one way or another. Thus forcing you to yield to the slow/grind or downtime.

Sony just happened to make a entertainer class - which this is one way for them to get/gain skill points. To be honest, one probably does not have to visit a cantina. I know I have not yet...

Each has a vice which forces time. Time is money in these types of game...

[cthellis42]

(One can heal MOST wounds on the field--even by ones self--but Battle Fatigue will eventually get the best of even the most stalwart adventurer, and they will have to head to a cantina to relax a bit.)
I dislike this. Why do I have to sit and watch furries entertain themselves so that I can play my game?

OH yeah, so Sony/LucasArts keeps people online more and slows the game down. :)

It takes long time of hunting to build up enough Battle Fatigue to be seriously impacting (and even then one can usually ride through it--you're just hunting less effectively and slowing down. Not to mention it doesn't take all that long to heal with decent performers around--you just have to stop by a cantina or theater to watch a performance for a bit.

You CAN, meanwhile, be entirely self-sufficient, even to the point of healing your own fatigue so you're not dependant on other people, but you'll still have to do it AT a cantina or theater, as it's a game mechanic that draws people back to town. There are many OTHER mechanics that bring you back to town as well, since you can only carry two missions at the same time, and the terminals or NPCs you get them from are primarily based in the cities. If you possess no medicals skills on your own or can't make campsites to heal yourself in the field you'll have to stop by the Medical Center in town to heal your other wounds. Banking and primary commerce is based out of the cities... They are of central importance, and a way to keep the people together and interacting. Healing Battle Fatigue at the cantina is simply one more stop, and hardly an earth-shattering one.

Considering the rest of the game is concentrating on being constantly evolving--NPC spawns can be depleted and pop up elsewhere, resources can be depleted making one hunt down more, missions always have different target areas--it hardly seems like an inconvenience. You're always on the move ANYway--there's little to no advantage to sitting on your butt in one location waiting for one thing to show up anyway.

In the meanwhile, it adds a huge social element to the game that makes them USEFUL rather than completely arbitrary, and sure it might impact on your particular gameplay desires some, but since when is ANY game crafted just for your tastes? :wink:

When player-owned cities start cropping up and mounts/vehicles are in, it will be a lot less inconvenient and take shorter amounts of time to do the whole "town trip" anyway. But I'm pretty sure you'll find yourself there ALL THE TIME regardless, so it's not out of the way. And if you don't want to be beholden to others for healing your wounds... just learn to dance! :lol:

[Jon Brittan]

Well, I wanted to pick up Star Wars Galaxies, but then discovered that we Brits aren't yet deemed worthy of being allowed to purchase said game, so I picked up a copy of Planetside that I found going cheap.

I'm going to be playing this now until SWG turns up, so....

Are there any other Planetside players out there?
What server are you on and what's your character name?

I'm on whatever the European server is called, fighting for the New Conglomerate and my characters called KalJericho, I've only just started out, so for the time being he's a sniper who is also going to specialise in hacking and infiltration to allow me to check out situations from afar, take out any sentries and then move in for building takeovers.

[RussSchultz]

I've been playing EVE for the past 3 weeks and I'm probably not going to keep it.

-The game has zero content at the moment.
-You can do NPC "missions" but they're all stupid things like "ferry these trade goods", "get me some ore" and there's no story line. I can't even fool myself into thinking it's anything but a way to do busy work. If they did something like: we're working on something secret, get me X. Thanks, now take y to Z, and return with P. And eventually reveal the item. Maybe give you one at the end of the long chain of missions.
-The bugs are rampant. One of my missions is stuck because the item I'm supposed to return won't drop. I've petitioned to have it looked at 5 days ago. Still no resolution.
-The lag seems to be gone. It does come back occasionally, but it helps to quit the client and restart it.


There's constant promises of content coming soon, and maybe it is. I'll check back in a few months, but so far the universe is sterile. Some of the die hard fans keep pointing me to this wonderful storyline that's on the web, and they don't seem to get it when I point out that its a nice story but has zero effect on what I'm doing in the game.

[John Reynolds]

Got sucked into Asheron's Call 2 since I cancelled my DAoC account last month. I've only played about 4-5 hours, but so far I like the character generation and development. Most of the servers are quite underpopulated, though, and not sure if the game is going to die on the vine by year's end (I can see MS pulling its plug if the current subscription rate continues). It's a beautiful game, though, with graphics that rival anything else out there.

Also, a free 15-day trial version can be d/l here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4e15edcf-9bd1-4afa-b824-47f3eaab4697&DisplayLang=en

[Tim Murray]

I think I'm going to break down and buy SWG later tonight.

At the least, it will be very interesting to benchmark (well, that's true of most online games, but meh). There's probably no way to super-optimize drivers for online games (for example, the UT2003 thing) since they're patched so regularly (and so the check methods for the game would fail).

Plus, I know about 20 people who love the game. Here's hoping...

[saf1]

I think I'm going to break down and buy SWG later tonight.

At the least, it will be very interesting to benchmark (well, that's true of most online games, but meh). There's probably no way to super-optimize drivers for online games (for example, the UT2003 thing) since they're patched so regularly (and so the check methods for the game would fail).

Plus, I know about 20 people who love the game. Here's hoping...

Baron,

I do not think there is a way to benchmark SWG. In fact, it appears that the client does its best to stay at 30 fps. I read about, but have not looked, at a client side cfg file that forces this. You could search Sony's forums in the dev section.

I run on a 9500 Pro - max all options, and it runs fine. Even with 100 people doing tuscan raiders at their fort.

Anyway - it is a fun game. Some content issues, but then again, I'm going slow vs the power gamers. Best character creation I've seen to day. In regards to how you create your characters looks, size, et all. Pretty damn nice.

I'm going slow as I still play DaOC. Seems my Thane is regulated to PL'ing all the new level 30's that our server landed :) Oh well, PvE is not too bad.

Keep an open mind when you start - steep learning curve. But after a couple hours you are ready to rock.

[Tim Murray]

Cool. You wouldn't happen to be on Eclipse or Valcyn would you? Those are the two I'm looking at due to a number of friends on each.

[PatrickL]

As an old EQ player, it seems than most of us are playing for now the open beta testing of Lineage 2 ( Nice graphics, strange gameplay, Huge guilds vs guilds) and waiting the World of Warcraft Beta test in Q4 (hopefully).

Not a lot went to SWG as with EQ we know very well how sony acts with customers and we knew the game was not really ready to launch and is still missing a lot of the advertising features.

Sometimes in 2004 i hope to see exactly what the ex-Verant guys that created EQ and are now Sigil games will produce.


I beta tested Eve-online but did not buy it at official launch in mmay due to the lack of content and huge bugs still going on at release (imho that game needed six month more before release but they needed to release it to get cash and go on).

[saf1]

Cool. You wouldn't happen to be on Eclipse or Valcyn would you? Those are the two I'm looking at due to a number of friends on each.

Baron,

No - I'm not. I'm on Ahazi. Just sort of picked one out at random - lol. I highly recommend hitting the server with your friends though. It makes it a lot easier to get started.

Have a good weekend.

[Tim Murray]

Well, so much for SWG--have to RMA my PSU and motherboard (damnit, this NF7-S was a month old and it just *died*! stupid PSU.).

So I guess I'll hold off on SWG for a week or so... heh.

[Mingus]

On Fileplanet they have a free 7 day trial for Planetside, it used to be available only to paying subscribers but they opened it up the non paying ones. I'm gonna d/l it and check it out.

[Rockman]

I've been playing EVE for the past 3 weeks and I'm probably not going to keep it.

-The game has zero content at the moment.
-You can do NPC "missions" but they're all stupid things like "ferry these trade goods", "get me some ore" and there's no story line. I can't even fool myself into thinking it's anything but a way to do busy work. If they did something like: we're working on something secret, get me X. Thanks, now take y to Z, and return with P. And eventually reveal the item. Maybe give you one at the end of the long chain of missions.
-The bugs are rampant. One of my missions is stuck because the item I'm supposed to return won't drop. I've petitioned to have it looked at 5 days ago. Still no resolution.
-The lag seems to be gone. It does come back occasionally, but it helps to quit the client and restart it.


There's constant promises of content coming soon, and maybe it is. I'll check back in a few months, but so far the universe is sterile. Some of the die hard fans keep pointing me to this wonderful storyline that's on the web, and they don't seem to get it when I point out that its a nice story but has zero effect on what I'm doing in the game.I beta test that game it simply wasn't ready when they released I vowed not to buy it

[PVR_Extremist]

On Fileplanet they have a free 7 day trial for Planetside, it used to be available only to paying subscribers but they opened it up the non paying ones. I'm gonna d/l it and check it out.


I downloaded it and am enjoying the trial

Its a 1.47Gb download though so watch out :shock: