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Posted by: boggo2300
« on: August 19, 2012, 06:01:55 PM »

And now recently started The Secret World with Paul. That one is interresting. Quests so far have been very unique and well thought out, it's defenitely not 'slay 20 zombies, return, slay another 20 zombies..). especially the investigation ones..   having to note down a substitute alphabet, searching youtube and wikipedia, finding morse translators etc... much fun. and we're only on the starting isle after 2 months.. so much to look foreward. and the landscaping is awesome, very realistic.

There is a really nice quest in Transylvania, where you have to Kill a Boar, just as a hat ip to the whole grind beasties schtick (though only one boar, and it's for a specific reason)
Posted by: Starslayer_D
« on: August 19, 2012, 06:35:54 AM »

Well, I played STO, then took a second peek when it went FTP, but I refuse to grind ike mad just to unlock my next ship.
Shame, the space combat system defenitely was fun.

CoX is feeding my altitis .. so many combinations... and fun to play, how do they play out, how do they deliver...

LOTRO .. by now I start to see the grind for traits as slowly getting to me..  I dunno. Great landscape, classes play nice, but having to kill 450 critters so your zeal trait gets better by 1 level.. (and that was step 4 of 10 possible .. HELP!).

I'm still putering around in EVE.. combat there is still interresting, the sandbox too, the general gank behavior instead more balanced fights outside of a few exceptions like Red vs Blue though.. hmm.. that game with the liberties it allows in terms of ehavior versus others defenitely shows the drawbacks of people able to hide behind anonymity.

And now recently started The Secret World with Paul. That one is interresting. Quests so far have been very unique and well thought out, it's defenitely not 'slay 20 zombies, return, slay another 20 zombies..). especially the investigation ones..   having to note down a substitute alphabet, searching youtube and wikipedia, finding morse translators etc... much fun. and we're only on the starting isle after 2 months.. so much to look foreward. and the landscaping is awesome, very realistic.
Posted by: ollobrains
« on: February 20, 2012, 04:43:57 PM »

STO bored me to death same i got capped out and went mmm this it and just cancelled the account
Posted by: Erik L
« on: February 20, 2012, 04:01:02 PM »

My biggest issue with STO is the levelling. Less than a week after I created a character, I was level capped. Got through maybe 2/3 of the Romulan series, and all the Klingon. Lots more to do, but why?
Posted by: TheDeadlyShoe
« on: February 20, 2012, 02:19:35 PM »

Games like Aurora tend to be hopelessly exploitable. Online games simply require a lot more structure than singleplayer games.  If you're playing with a small group, that can be done by a game master - but any true MMOG has to nail things down to prevent things going out of control.   

I should note that Star Trek ONline is running a featured episode series right now, for the first time in a long time. Is nice.

Posted by: ardem
« on: February 20, 2012, 12:25:00 AM »

I stopped playing MMORPG seriously after playing DAOC (Dark Ages of Camelot) 3am in the morning needing to go to work the next day and here I am with my little pixel character hitting other pixel creatures.

At this point I had a matrix moment and say the mathematics behind it and thought what the hell am I doing. I went cold turkey and stop the crack. If I play a mmprog now it is free and only to have a look around and explore after that it gets deleted, there just is never enough to sink my teeth into especially since most are designed for 8-10 year kids with learning diffficulties.

Give me a Multiplayer Aurora with that level of complexity then I know the crack will be too much to refuse.
Posted by: Paul M
« on: February 19, 2012, 06:42:19 AM »

I was involved in play by post at the battletech boards, it is just a lot of work.  And our GM got busy.

I don't think of MMO's as RPGs...to me they are MMOG (massive multi-player online games).  I role play in them but...well role players are not common even on Role Playing servers.  And a lot of it ends up in the Mary Sue and God Modeing catagories but I persist.  I still think the best way to do it online is in a NWNx PW.  I used to DM on one, it was great, it is just a lot of time and effort.  Not that DMing in PnP is any different but it is a lot easier to set the scene with words then to make up a full encounter area.

I actually wish they would drop the RP from the game title since it is isn't about role playing anyway (for 99.9% of the people) and in the case of a single player CRPG ...that is an oxymoron at the best.  The best you can do is maintain a consistent character concept, it is impossible to roleplay inside of the constraints of a single player game (your character may want to do option 4 but it isn't available...you can't even decide what you say...only pick the option that is closest to what you want etc).  I probably role play more in a starfire campaign then I do in most computer "rpgs".

As you say its all stat based and about getting phattlootz or whatever...or worse "raiding"...gah...the point to that escapes me...you are like constantly repeating the same encounter to get stuff to do the same at a slightly different encounter...and you put up with all the garbage like loot councils and people telling you how to play and develop your character exactly why?  oh so you can get stuff to do the whole thing again next week...so someone else can get the stuff they need?  Right...don't call me, I'l call you.
Posted by: Owen Quillion
« on: February 17, 2012, 05:52:29 PM »

Unfortunately, as you noted, the 'RP' in 'MMORPG' tends to use the 'stat-based and experience/loot hoarding' meaning as in Monty Haul campaigns or console roleplaying games ala Final Fantasy and such. Even smaller, niche-er MMOs tend to attract the gamist types rather than anyone interested in playing a role.

On the subject of 'pen and paper' games online, my virtual tabletop of choice (when I do manage to scare up a group willing to commit to a real-time campaign) is Maptools, which is free and highly customizable. Of course there's a learning curve and it can be a bit finicky, but hey, this is the Aurora forums, heh. There's also plenty of community-made add-ons and such that provide a framework for playing anything from GURPS to the Warhammer 40k RPGs.

Those with a time and the will to do so can also use programs like IRC, Skype, and the numerous white-board services out there to run a game as well; I even use Google spreadsheets as a rough tactical map for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I run.

Another option for scratching the roleplaying itch is play-by-post where games are run via forums; obviously supports a different pace than face-to-face or real time interactions, but for those who like to write it can be fun in and of itself. The folks at Paizo have a thriving community (where people also recruit for virtual tabletops), although there is an obvious bias towards their own Pathfinder RPG. That said the community is filled with folks of all stripes and I've seen Warhammer, D20 Modern, Call of Cthulhu (the basic roleplaying version), Star Wars SAGA and all sorts of other systems played. Similar sites are Myth Weavers and D&D Online Games.

The main downside is that a lot of folk think they're more interested in it than they really are so the attrition rate is quite high, but if you can get a group of strangers who're willing to pretend they're dwarves (or elves or orcs Eldar or vulcans or Jedi...) for a few minutes a day it can be a rewarding exercise.

Posted by: Paul M
« on: February 17, 2012, 07:32:04 AM »

It may well be.  Depends on how you look at it.  I am not there to listen to people randomly discuss whatever, I am there to role play in a star trek universe.  So for me that occurs in "local" which doesn't exist in the game.  I quit playing because there was no roleplaying in the game.  I have nothing negative to say about the game beyond that, as I was not displeased with the mechanics of the game and enjoyed the missions and so forth but at the end of the day it didn't satisfy me as someone who was huge fan of the old PnP Star Trek the role playing game by FASA.
Posted by: TheDeadlyShoe
« on: February 16, 2012, 07:00:39 PM »

I dunno it seems kind of silly to mute chat then complain noone talks.  Zone is where people talk in STO.
Posted by: ardem
« on: February 16, 2012, 09:54:06 AM »

VTT stands for virtual table top, it the same as the old tabletop days of D&D, Shadowrun, CoC etc etc. Except you have some computerised tools to help you. Dice that roll virutally, skype, sharing of images, computer character sheets and combat tracking.

But it still 90% come back to the imagination and quality of the player and DM.

http://www.fantasygrounds.com/

That has some pictures about it, but it allowed me to return to those college years. (However never went to college) But that age when I was able to eat pizza, drink beer and have a good laugh. Ecept now I do it from home while my 3 year old and wife sleeps
Posted by: Tregonsee
« on: February 16, 2012, 09:08:49 AM »

Can you say more about VTT?  Is it like Vassal but for other games?
Posted by: ardem
« on: February 16, 2012, 08:16:34 AM »

For RPGing I gone back to tabletop, I come to the conclusion that there is no market for what I am after in an MMO. NWN got the closest however I would of prefered a proper FPS 3D world.

How do you tabletop without being in college and having kids I can hear you say. I recently got involved in VTT Virtual Tabletop games and I am now getting closer to the thrill I desired. I am using Fantasy Grounds to do a rolemaster campaign.

For me I given up on MMO remaking the same model for the same type of people, I want to live and breath in a world. I don't want it to be a highway of tasks.
Posted by: Paul M
« on: February 16, 2012, 07:52:04 AM »

In reality the first thing I disable is such things.  I am a role player, I don't need or want to hear about banana's used as sex toys (this in AoC made me search for the way to disable general chat) and all the other rubbish the generic chat channel is full of.  I turn it on only if I am doing a "looking for group" call for a flashpoint in SWTOR or specific mission and even then I re-disable it as soon as possible.  If I can't hear it in local I am generally uninterested in it.

But I am in these games to role play* with other people.  And STO had none that I ever encountered.  So, no matter how good the game is (and I will say nothing against it as I thought it well done) it is not something I'm going to invest time into.

*role playing in MMO's always has a limitation to it...and it tends to promote Mary Sue's and God Modeing but if you can get the right group can be very fun.  If you want to really role play online you have to be on a NWNx Persitant World with a DM around, then it approaches to a high degree what you can have sitting around a table (and is in many ways superior).  MMO's lack that DM...and so end up...a bit other.
Posted by: TheDeadlyShoe
« on: February 16, 2012, 06:31:51 AM »

You turn zone chat on right? Heh.