Semjaza

I actually picked up Age of Conan today. So far all I have to say is this has been the world's longest game install... and I've not even started patching yet. EDIT: OK, be prepared for about a 60 minute plus install then around 700 MBs in patches. Anyway, the game is a lot of fun. I'm only level 7 so I'm not terribly far into it, but it's been very enjoyable. I'm actually liking the "instanced island" aspect. Essentially, the first 19/20 levels take place on this island and you move off of it once you complete a certain quest line. This takes place at night, but you can talk to anyone to shift back to day time where you'll run into other players. I thought it would be jarring and bizarre, but it really allows you to get used to the game's mechanics (which will similar to other MMORPGs, are still definitely more rooted in action games). It also allows you to get better acquainted with the game's universe and the storyline. To help with this, there are actual dialog choice when talking to important NPCs, much like you'd see a traditional computer RPG. The NPCs are fully voiced, although honestly it's still obvious this is a MMORPG... there's no realistic facial movements or anything. The game is also pretty gorgeous. I have a Radeon 3870 HD, which runs Direct X 10.1 and it definitely takes advantage of it. Lord of the Rings Online has DX10 support, although it was added later and is still not horribly smooth (although it adds really nice shadows from everything, including tree leaves)... but this is the first game I've personally played that really takes advantage of it (I've not played Crysis lol). I'm impressed by how well it runs. Of course, I realize not everyone has my card... the game recommends at least a Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX, but it will run on a GeForce 6600 or better. I started out as a Necromancer, so I can summon monsters and cast spells. It's been fun. Most of this plays out like in other MMORPGs, although the game's combat is more action-based. You attack straight, left or right based upon cues that appear around enemies. Hitting them at the right times in the right spots deals increased damage. It's minor, but it's interesting. Anyway, if anyone has any specific questions about it let me know.

There have been a few "every mmorpg coming up!" threads here... even those have only gotten a few posts at most. I think it's safe to say that most people here simply don't even play them. And unfortunately those of us that do seem to play entirely different games or have radically different playtime schedules. I've not been able to meet up with [I]anyone[/I] from here since FFXI was new. I was in the Age of Conan stress test, but I didn't even get to log in during it. I wound up deleting the game entirely after the [I]second [/I]5 GB patch (and this is after an almost 10 GB download) because I couldn't even get the game to load the title screen at that point (and it's definitely not that my computer is underpowered, it's not). That and Funcom apparently didn't want to let me into the general beta. Of course, the next day I get a message saying I (and all stress test testers) would be allowed to play in the general beta. Oh well. The game looks promising in various ways. The combat sounds fun and the game certainly looks good. My main concern is that I'm just not sure how the instanced "newbie" zone will work out in the scheme of things. Essentially the first 20 levels are so are almost entirely played within a main quest line that's single player. You can leave this to access the main MMORPG with towns, shops, crafting and so forth... but the juxtaposition of it is odd, to say the least. It almost makes me wonder why I should have to pay a fee to access that portion of the game. And it also makes me wonder how many players will find the transition from what is essentially a single player RPG to a MMORPG incredibly jarring, as well as how many will never want to make the move to begin with... but then again, who knows why they'd be buying a MMORPG in that case lol. Warhammer is way too far off for me to make any real comments. It does look really similar to WoW at this point, but I'm [I]****ing tired of WoW[/I]. I finally just gave my account to my brothers. Like you said, a lot of WoW fans could potentially move to it, which is ironic since they ***** about wanting something "new" when all they want is something [I]just like WoW[/I]. I don't know how that works. I signed up for the beta on that one too, but I doubt I'll hear much about it again until the release nears. Last I heard it wasn't hitting until October. In the meantime I'm still completely happy with Lord of the Rings Online and the only MMORPG-related thing I'm 100% buying is its expansion, The Mines of Moria, which is supposed to come out in the Fall.

I think Yuko winds up being one of the more interesting ones, honestly. By the way, the FES additions to the main game have been great. The new Personas are cool, there's new test questions and dialog, some small additions that make things come together a little better, etc. I enjoyed the little excursion I had with [spoiler]Elizabeth[/spoiler].

By the way, this is a LOT easier to find than the last one. Places are carrying it that didn't carry the original Persona 3 whatsoever. I picked my copy up at Best Buy.

[url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014CN2H6?ie=UTF8[/url] FES is in stores now. For $30 you get a package of the original game and the new FES expansion with hours and hours of completely new content. [B] Thirty dollars.[/B] If you like console RPGs (or even if you don't, it's arguably the most interesting one in many years) and you don't buy this then there's just something wrong with you.

In Perfect Drug you mean? I think that was a nice touch, it gives the guitar player a bit more to do in an otherwise rather dull stretch. I picked that up and March of the Pigs. I [I]can't stand[/I] The Collector, so I didn't bother. I also picked up El Scorcho. Whenever Harmonix FINALLY gets around to full album releases (where the hell is Who's Next?), I really hope Pinkerton gets added.

I definitely understand that mindset. I think with pay-for MMORPGs you have to just be sure to find ones that make it worth the investment. The sheer amount of work that goes into WoW can help ease the blow I think... but on top of this, the users receive regular updates to the game. Not just bug fixes, but new options, quests, areas, etc. WoW might be $15 a month, but even before the expansion pack it had increased significantly in content, modes and the sheer amount of places to go. The same is true of LotRO. They've added player housing, refined the raids, adding player costume options, tons of quests, new enemies, massive new areas. I bought the game for $20 and I really just don't mind paying $30 every three months for all of it. By the time I add it up, it's the cost of two or three games, which I feel pretty much equals out with the sheer amount of things that get added to these titles. Of course, some are significantly more lazy. FFXI has had like four additional expansion packs at like $30 apiece, some containing things that WoW or LotRO would have arguably done for free for paying subscribers. You just have to be careful.

Guild Wars was quite awesome when it came out and I don't think you can underestimate the appeal of free online play... but I re-installed it last month and I was just amazed by how dated and uninteresting it seemed. GW is really MMORPG-Lite in so many ways. From character customization, to actual ability usage, to challenge. Really, it barely fits into the MMORPG genre to begin with in many ways since every single area outside of hub towns (which could basically just be called a lobby since they offer little of importance beyond a clear meeting place) is instanced. Instances are generally very small components in other MMORPGs. That's a tangent, I apologize. There's been a couple of threads on MMORPGs similar in nature to this recently. They mostly concerned themselves with upcoming MMORPGs and there's a few of those that look pretty interesting. Currently, I've tried several on the market now. Several free and free beta ones have come and gone (particularly Korean ones), but I always find myself completely turned off by them within 15 minutes for one reason or another. Guild Wars, as I mentioned early, is completely drained of its appeal for me. Tabula Rasa was a good concept, but it hasn't been capitalized on yet. There's been some decent updates since its release, but it has a long, long way to go. I'd go so far as to call it a complete failure at this point. The world is uninteresting, there's little reason to want to advance. MMORPGs have to have a solid structure upon release. WoW had this, LotRO had this, Everquest had this, EVE Online had this and so on. Tabula Rasa really just did not and I don't see it recovering. The interesting combat components can only go so far. World of Warcraft I don't play anymore. I keep trying to get into it and have been trying to since I bought the original version years ago. It's an excellent game and it's been tweaked so much since release that it's really pretty amazing. There's no shortage of people to group with, for obvious reasons (there's over 8,000,000 subscribers, a total anomaly in this genre). My interest in it finally died somewhat recently. I was running around as a Blood Elf, trying to get 8 Lynx Pelts. Over two dozen dead lynxes later I had three. THREE. This had happened so much over the course of my playing this game over the years that I just decided enough was enough. Blizzard have become the kings of artificially extending the life of MMORPGs, something that seems completely unnecessary given the sheer amount of quests in the game and how many characters you can possibly create that can be almost completely different. Dungeons and Dragons Online has some interesting concepts. Its menu systems are almost completely different from the traditional MMORPG designs. Unfortunately, not many people play it anymore... although its following seems devoted. Personally I play Lord of the Rings Online. You can get the game for as little as $10 now, which helps immensely, obviously.I just think the game is fun, progression is rewarding and the story is integrated into the main game play in a way that's generally unheard of in MMORPGs. You don't have to be a Tolkien freak to get into it (I sure am not), which is also a plus. There's a thread here on this game if anyone has more specific questions about it. The main thing I love about it is that the WoW-style 100 kills for 10 animal parts is almost completely nonexistent. Every so often I run into a quest where the drop is maybe 80% instead of 100%, but even that's barely comparable. If it seems bad, chances are you're in the wrong area. There's trials of all of these (except maybe Tabula Rasa). I think the best thing to do is to find someone to play with in each of them and give them a try for a week. It's the only way to figure out which one suits you.

Every night at midnight something known as the Shadow Hour begins. Basically, at this point, monsters known as Shadows attack the surrounding areas. Most people are transmogrified into crystallized coffins, but those who are able to summon Persona remain fully conscious. Most of them just wind up being killed, but a special group of kids (their main difference being that they know how to summon Personas at will) at a local High School have formed a force with the help of the the head of extracurricular activities. Their mission is to find the source of the Shadow and defeat it. It gets far deeper than this (tons of turns, hidden connections, additional enemies that have their own motives, etc), but it's a very entertaining story and the character development is excellent. I can't see anyone being disappointed with it, particularly given how dull console RPG stories usually are. [B]PS, this game is being re-released [I]with [/I]the Fes expansion pack (two new stories, about 30 hours of gameplay) in the US for $29.99. If you have a PS2/PS3 and don't buy this, you're officially going to be thrown off a cliff.[/B]

In his defense, Kaim did have hundreds of years in which to become angst-y. I'm not entirely sure that Cloud's excuse compares lol. :animeknow

I half expected (OK, way more than half) this to be yet another game just like Disgaea from these guys. I actually checked it out and it looks pretty interesting. I actually had never even heard of it before, although I've completely turned off my PS2 radar aside from the hope of a Persona 3: Fes release in the US. I'll have to look into trying this one.