level 15 on 3 toons and still feels like WoW with better graphics. yes, the graphics are superrior to WoW. an unexpected supprise considering the dismal screen shots on the web site.
game play - very WoW style solo advancement. havent recieved a quest yet i couldnt complete without a group. the mobs take mabe 1/3 as long to kill as EQ2, about the same as WoW. downtime is little to none. no experience penalty for death but a stat penalty that stacks for each death. have to pay a small fee to a healer to get rid of. the fee is nominal compared to the coin you get from drops.
the actual fighting is very EQ2 ish. button smashing no matter what class. the only differance between melee and casters or ranged the distance you can start attacking from. every thing after that is exactly the same reguardless of class. smash the button, wait for it to refresh. the end. will get boaring fast. has been boaring for several years already.
crowd controll. 10 second snares or roots that drop as soon as mob is damaged. pretty much useless considering the 10 to 20 second refresh rate to do it again. there is no meaningfull crowd controll. so the ONLY differance in fighting styles is the distance at which you can start the attack. they al end the same. the mob in your face beating on your head while you wait for gee wiz buttons to refresh so you can spam then again. doesnt matter what class you play.
graphics. very good infact. better than WoW or EQ1, but not as good as EQ2, AoC.
world. very well done. they made differant starting areas for each race with their own intergrated tutorial. the atmosphere is unique for each race.
what i dont like. you cant swim under the water. all buildings are non-interactive except the ones that have quests involved. no just for fun stuff like invis, levitate, shrink, illusions, etc etc.
no diversity in fighting style, nor any thought involved no matter what class you play.
no body does casters like EQ1. i guess no one ever will again.
over all, a great game so far. ganking hasnt been a big problem, and pvp has been volentary for the most part. you know whenyou are in a contested area.
well worth the money.
-----------------------------------------------------------
some more info.
they did something unique with grouping.
you can have a traditional group, or, if you want, you can expand it into a mini raid with more players with just a click.
they also added, and something i think is unique to this industry, OPEN groups. whenever you go into an area, you get a message telling you how many open groups are in that area. all you have to do is find an open group and invite yourself. no shouting. no waiting. click, click and your in a group in the area your fighting in.
as a side note, this ability while i think it is good and unique, just further exposes what we have all learned about MMOs. 90 percent of players are not interested in grouping.
another good thing they did with groups are "public quests". it is like a mini raid type event where anyone in the area grouped or not is a participant. EVERYONE gets xp while it is going on. you can walk into the middle of one and participate grouped or not and get XP. rewards are randomed with your damage giving you a modifier. so anyone participating could end up with a reward.
great ideas, a couple that would have made EQ1, EQ2, Vanguard a whole lot more time friendly to play.......for people interested in grouping that is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
pvp. mostly volentary.
there are contested areas that are pvp, but you are warned with a message as soon as you enter one. there are also WoW type pvp events you sign up for and get launched into once enough players sign up. typical capture the flag type stuff.
they did some good things here. what they didnt do though is make fighting any more interesting. infact, it is seriously lacking. especially their casters. there is no style, no differant tactics, no diversity at all. you toss something at the mob, spell, arrow, gun, thrown item, them the mob runs to you and you swap red stuff while spamming gee wiz buttons and waiting for them to refresh.
all classes. exactly the same.
EQ1 and D&D online were the only two games that even tried giving you a choice or make you use your head a little bit. its too bad some of that couldnt have been brought into the newer games. it is sadder still no one is even making the attempt.
cool world, cool graphics, many differant starting areas. the lower levels are great. but i would drop them all like a rock of SOE would pull their head out of their **** and rewrite EQ1 with WoW type solo play in mind.
Edited, Oct 3rd 2008 4:09pm by shadowrelm