f13.net

I'm thinking of picking this up to play on a limited basis. I want something completely different that doesn't require much thought while playing. Anyone have any experience or whatever they'd like to mention, or why I should stay far, far away?

Hell, Tetris would fit this description! Of course, I am pretty sure you have to have a vagina to really enjoy Tetris. My wife and all her friends love it, while all my friends (save one, who I tease mercilessly) think it is insipid.

I play Arkanoid to kill time at the moment. But I'd like something a little more involved and persistant. CoH required my eyes be on it all the time.

ATITD is very highly soloable, but it has a lot of time sinks. Travel is the worst. It takes forever to get anywhere and the world is too large and there aren't really enough people, which makes socializing in the game hard if you're not a very social person. On the other hand, you do have to cooperate with others on some projects, so you can be working with other people but still do most of your play solo.

It's fun though and there's some great social stuff once you do know people like beetle and plant breeding or wine and beer tasting.

I think there's a free trial isn't there?

Yea, but I don't want to get into it unless it's worth the time. I need a virtual world right now, so bad that I'm almost willing to resub SWG. Unfortunately my entire guild moved to another server and I'm not grinding to get to where my main is again.

I've heard Eve allows you to play while reading a good book.

That's not QUITE what I meant.

I did play ATITD for a little while.  It doesn't take much thought or attention to play in the sense that if you wander off, you'll be able to come back a few hours later with no harm done to your character.  However, when actually playing, I found that there was always something that needed doing.  Either making more boards/bricks, growing more flax or veggies, or getting more wood/grass/thorns.  Many of the tasks do require you to pay (close) attention to what is going on on-screen.

It really depends on what you mean by not much thought.

Puzzlepirates?

Played it. You HAVE to pay attention at all moments.

This is not an easy answer to come up with, I'd know, I've played most of the stuff on the market. What virtual worlds there are, are heavily flawed. SWG has been azzrapzored by player cities and flawed game design, ATITD seemed like a certain kind of hell where little tasks never stop, Toontown is for children - no two ways about it, Puzzlepirates is a glorified Yahoo! gaming parlor.

Sigh. If "There" were still around I might have checked that out. But, I refuse to play Second Life. Bleh.

schild,

The game is a free download and comes with 24h of online time to mess around.  I recommend that beyond anything anyone says, that you give it a try.  You're out nothing and might have some fun.  Feel free to contact me in game as I have recently gone back and can help you get acquainted with the interface.  Here (http://www.gamergod.com/ATITD/Article/atitd.htm) is a good article that summarizes the game from someone that has also started recently. Now, for my editorial...

I played this game at release as a solo player and found it to be a nice combination of social interaction with some puzzle solving mixed in.  In the low tech game (early on), it is very easy to start and finish things as you feel in the mood to dabble with them.  When you increase your technology, the systems become more complex and it become much more cerebral.  I loved this, but not everyone likes to study systems and take notes in a game.  One thing that I would warn you of is that things begin to steamroll after you have developed a camp of some size.  

I will give you two viewpoints to be fair... I love what this game is trying to do and have even gone back to see if things had improved.  I'll start with the bad (Why I left the game after playing solo for 3 months) and finish with what I've noticed going back.

Why I quit:

1) Chores.  I found myself logging on at odd hours to feed livestock, check my vineyard, harvest mushrooms, etc.  It started to feel more like a time commitment than a game... so I left.  

2) There are some tasks early in the tech tree that require multiple people to accomplish.  Dependance on others coupled to a sparce population made for a difficult trading situation.  

3) In the early game, the large guilds controlled the economy.  This was so much like every other game that it made me nuts... especially when some of them would charge outrageous prices for goods because they knew that they either had little competition or that you wouldn't want to run for 3 hours to make a trade.

4) Some of the tasks got to be mundane to the point that the world became full of macro drones (not a good sign).

Why I went back:

1) Some of the best people I've ever met in an mmog.  Most are intelligent and eager to help... if you can find them.  Current subscription base is around 1300 with many being mule accounts and the world is huge.  If you can ever find people to chat with, chances are that they are outstanding.

2) There are no foozles to whack.  The game is about building, trading, and social interaction.  It's refreshing.

3) How much of a time commitment you want to set is entirely up to you.  People complain about treadmills in the game and they do exist, but YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.  Log on and do stuff until you don't want to anymore... there's no commitment to stay beyond the self-imposed.

4) Everytime you log on, you can accomplish something... even if it's small.  You can log on for 10 mins or 10 hours.  It's all up to what you feel like doing.  

5) I went back with a group of friends and this has made a HUGE difference.  Now, we split up the mundane "chores" and have much more time to focus on interesting/fun activities.  We also have no limits on what we can do since we have enough of us to accomplish any task.  

6) To see how it ends.  That's right... the game ENDS and it's going to end within the next month or two.

I'll end the diatribe there... the game has its positives and negatives for sure but it's a fresh step in a new direction.

Well, Eve is pretty and doesn't really require you to do much while playing, not to mention you can make "progress" while offline, sort of.

Eve is a game?  Damn, I thought it was a screensaver!

I wouldn't recommend ATITD for casual play.

The game positively requires you to actively work with very large numbers of people to get much done, and it very much requires large spreadsheets of recipies and so on to work out how exactly you make purple paint, or establish the mating preferences of sheep, or hunt mushrooms.

The game really is in the complexity of the community efforts, the action of playing the game itself can get rarther tiresome.

To be fair, the 24hr trial is worth it just to see how crafting *should* be done. But it's unlikely you'll want to stay beyond that unless you really want to get into the community stuff around the game in all it's catass glory.

I have to wonder why you're looking for a game that doesn't involve much thought to begin with.   But then, I've been pushing for more involving games for awhile.

Here's my MMORPG gaming life over the past few years:

So you can see where my logical train of thought is going at about this point.   You want a *Less involving* mmorpg?   Install one of the half dozen or so MMORPGs which had that exact problem - maybe give Anarchy Online a spin, for example.    Or maybe read a book or install a screensaver.

Progressquest. IN. SPACE!

Damn, I was hoping for a link somewhere in there.

PROGRESSQUEST! IN SPACE! (http://www.eve-online.com/)

Hey, I occasionally had to hit buttons while playing Eve.  

Actually, I thought it was a pretty well made and interesting game.  The travel times were just atrocious though.  I think that's where most of the arguments for the game being a virtual screen saver come from.  Sure the combat was less twitch based than people would have liked, but it was engaging and did actually somewhat rely on player skill and strategy.

And I did finish most of the three books in A Song of Fire and Ice while playing.  That has to count for something.  

If Eve could find a way to make travel times less lengthy, get people into capital ships sooner, and speed up some skill gain, I think it'd make a fine game and one I'd actually pay to play.

Edit: So I think one major takeaway for the industry as a whole from Eve and ATITD is: long travel times across mostly baren landscape is not fun.

ATITD sounds like the exact opposite of CoH, heh.

Anyways, I got a week and a half long break between when finals end (6/9) and when my summer school/work begins (6/21) and could use another timesink in between when CoH gets repetetive.  How would I go about contacting you peeps in game?

Teamspeak? I'll make a ATITD room.

Hah, if others give it a free trial, I'll try again.

I think we all need to start in the same area. I remember the map being rather large.

Thanks.  I'll see you guys there next week.

Downloading it now. Teamspeak info is stickied in the City of Heroes forum. Nebu said above the game ends in a few weeks or so. If it restarts after that and we enjoy it, maybe we'll make a group to actually get shit done. Let's see if its fun first though.

You could wait for the sequel. (http://www.stratics.com/content/contests/atitdbeta.php)

I was really considering resubbing to Shadowbane, but now I'm in console heaven. Hopefully that will quell the addiction until WoW, Darkfall, or hell, even MO comes out. If I had to pick though, SB is most enjoyable of the bunch (not to say it still isn't shitty).

I subbed to ATiTD, there is a wipe at the end of the month, I won't feel bad about it if I don't like it. $12.95, game ending with a wipe, if I want to sub in the sequel i can. Works for me.

I enjoyed what little time I had in ATiTD.  I just felt very overwhelmed, and never had a large group of people to play with.  I played at the very beginning for a couple months, and actually resubbed earlier this year.  I cancelled again when I started playing....EVE! lol  Now that I am selling my EVE accounts, I am thinking of making a return to ATiTD now that people I know will be playing on a regular basis, or at least trying to.

I've already resubbed my AC account in anticipation of the new server, a new beginning in ATiTD could be really fun as well.

Excuse me while I continue to ramble on to myself...

When does the new AC server open?

Edit - Nm, found out it opens June 9th.  :)

Greetings!  You have been invited to join us for the launch of our new Asheron's Call world, Verdantine!  Please consult our schedule of events, provided below:

8:00 AM EST:   Tea and cookies.
9:00 AM EST:   A speech from our founder.
10:00 AM EST: Verdantine comes online.
10:01 AM EST:  Complete fucking anarchy.
10:02 AM EST:  Server crash.
11:25 AM EST:  Server back online.
11:26 AM EST:  Login server crash.
11:27 AM EST:  Wailing / gnashing of teeth.
12:43 PM EST:  Completely unrelated billing snafu.
1:00 PM EST:    Lunch.


Hope to see you there!

Luckily for me, I'll actually be working that day, and the following day is my anniversary. So I won't actually be able to PLAY on the new server until about 2:00am Friday morning.

In ATITD news, I started a new trial, my in game name is LaceratedSky.  I'm not even off newbie island yet, but it won't be long now.

Pig Destroyer,

I played this game a while, left, and have recently returned.  Send me a chat if you have any questions. I'd be happy to help you get acquainted with the interface or give you a few supplies to help get off to a decent start.

Nebu

Our little camp isn't doing too bad.  Would always welcome more people to the fold as the game just gets better with more people involved.

This is a pretty good little game. I'm hoping the second telling improves on some of the game's glaring weaknesses (and it looks to).

Am I the only one here who doesn't know what the fuck ATIDIDDTDDT or whatever even IS?


/begin internet search

edit:  Found it.  blah.

You're at the "OMG no combat suxxors" point, perhaps.  

Please catch up.

No, I pretty much already knew about that game, I'd just forgotten the completely retarded way of abbreviating it that somehow people find acceptable even here.  Or perhaps the retardedness of the acronym is meant to be a direct irony at the retardedness of the game itself.  I tend to believe it's more of a reflection of the people who use it, however.  Perhaps I am missing the bigger picture, and the world is a snow cone.  I think I would have gone with TD because a, i(n), t(he) do not belong in an acroynym.  We don't call the FBI "TFBOI".  Or the ATF "TBOATAF".  Not to mention, to start something with "ATI" on a computer gamers' message board is inherently confusing.  Please, everyone take their asshats off.

See, but TFBOI would be so much more fun to say... I think you actually made the opposite point than what you intended. Plus, ATITD has the word tit in it. How fun is that? "Look! A tit, D!" ;)

Yet another reason it is unacceptable.  Such foul language and vulgar references should be refrained from at all times on a classy website such as this.  Besides, it's not exactly a novel thing to create a word within a word.  In fact, in the previous sentence, I can count at least half a dozen such instances.  And in my previous post, I mentioned the lunacy of calling the ATF "TBOATAF."  Did I git all stiff and moist because it has the word "boat" inside it?  No.  Do I care that you you do when you see the world "tit"?  No.  Do I need caffeine right now?  Yes.

So much hate~

And no, I don't get a stiffy from the word "tit". I was being facetious this morning. Perhaps you were as well? ;)

(too lazy to code it)

"I was being facetious this morning. Perhaps you were as well? ;)"

Such insight at such a young age.  You will truly be the next Miss Cleo if you continue with such bold assumptions.

(not too lazy to click the Quote button)

Assumptions have nothing to do with it.

You people are driving me to the brink of insanity with your confusing posts!

Anyway, I might be very good at this game.  It is very much like doing housework.

I've been a lurker / ghost on the waterthread boards for awhile.

I've decided to pick up ATITD as well and Rasix guilded me yesterday as an initiate.

Delim

I was kind of liking this game, but when you phrase it that way, I have to wonder what kind of sick bastard I am.[/quote]

I'll stick with CoH myself.  If I wanted to grind trade skills online all day on a giant economic environment with little to no thought to the combat implementation, I've already invested $50 on Star Wars Galaxies.

You can call that me not giving a homegrown garage game like ATITD the credit it deserves.   I call it once bitten, twice shy.

First, you better be careful of the acronym police... if Kenrick thinks ATITD is screwed, he's going to blow a capillary over CoH.  (note: he'll probably also hate DAoC, EQ (everquest is one word), and a few others).

Second, it's all a matter of taste... that's why atitd is a niche game.  If you like puzzle solving and tech driven economies in a social environment, atitd is about the best there is.  If you like playing whack-a-mole in tights, there's no beating CoH.  Both games are very good at what they do, they just choose to focus on a very small gameplay aspect.

Personally, I have fun playing both games... it's just a very different type of fun.

Actually there isn't that much skill grinding.  Most everything is a mini-game.

Hmm.. skill grinding bad.  Mini-games good.  I didn't even realize ATITD had mini-games - from what I read it was mostly cooperation based.  I may yet have to give it a spin because I can't resist a gander at a MMORPG that tries to tie in mini games.    I.e. Puzzle Pirates.

You get skills immediately at universities that have researched them, and you can buy other skills at schools. People can teach you any skill as well, though it may take a while.

The mini games aren't like puzzle pirates. They are more intuition based than logic based, well that and puzzle pirates games are all just versions of tetris or bejeweled.

A tale in the Desert, while an improvement in the building/crafting genre, still has some horrible flaws (see my comments earlier in this thread).

A few...

1. Travel is a pain... and can become a nightmare.
2. Some crafting can become tedius until you reach a high enough technology level (making thousands of bricks, boards, and straw can suck!)
3. Trade is tough since the world is huge and the player base small.

The game is ending soon so if you're even remotely interested you can download the game for free and test it for 24h of online time.  Also check the boards for some recent comments on the second telling - the "new and improved" version of the game. HERE (http://www.stratics.com/content/interviews/atitd/interviews/june2004.php) is a review on the second telling.  It's from Stratics, so take the source with a grain of salt.

I hadn't read that article yet, second telling sounds good. Anyway, I'm about to sticky something at the top, so anyone who is interested in ATITD should read it.

Try playing one of the contested, Tetris-style games and you might change your opinion.

Except travel, which is probably the most annoying grind in the history of the genre.

Think of travel times equivalent to EvE, but using the point-and-click-on-floor-tile interface. Argh.

Also, while the skills don't involve much grinding, the large projects most certainly do. Though to be fair, a lot of preparation and thought has to go into arranging everything for the almighty grind that finishes off something like a pyramid build. (site selection [big issue with aforementioned travel], material supply negotiation, kicthen management etc)

Travel sucked, on the plus side you could zoom all the way out and click on a point about a mile or so off.  The Stratics interview indicates that they're making some changes so that travel will be less painful.  Not painless though.

How does ATITD deal with the competitive trials these days?

I played during months 1 and 2, and eventually started the 1st trial of the Body, where you have to annoint shrines. Finding them in remote locations was an explorers wet dream, but then...

Every RL-day, the 5 (I think) players with the most annointed shrines got a "trial point", of which you needed 7. A shrine counted for you until 3 more players annointed it. So, basically, I spent 14 consecutive hours of constant running around to have a "build up" of shrines, and the next day to refresh them. I got one trial point, couldn't keep the pace up because of work, and kinda smacked myself for what I was doing anyway :P

We then formed a cooperative with a seekrit shrine database and the committment to have only 2 members "run shrines", to reduce competition and "shrine overriding". I left shortly after that.

It was definitvely interesting. The law-making, the cooperative playstyle, the great players, the devs (I mean, Andrew gives you his cellphone number, how's that for bravery!)... but ultimately it was Teh Grind for me. Maybe I was just unlucky with the trial path I started.

Good to hear that ATITD was financially successful enough to start another telling.

The only thing that keeps me from trying it again is the wipe.
To accomplish everything in ATITD you have to ut a good effort and, sometimes, you need more than a bit of patience.
Thinking about starting again, gathering 500 thorns again to get the first point in Navigation skill, spending hours AGAIN to find my first iron vein for my first mine... no sorry.. I already did my part =)

BTW I can confirm that the game is really fun and intersting and the lawmaking feature is unpairable

Boobies.

Yes? (http://www.webcamerapics.com/web-cam-cleavage/web-cam-cleavage-0007.jpg)

My company's sonicwall filter has pwned your link. /sadf

gosh, and it was actually quite a tame shot.  lamesadf

To be honest, I think this is another of the biggest downfalls of this game.  Having to garner votes to pass tests make many of them more of a homecoming queen contest than a test of accomplishment.  If you know people or place your item/device/building in the proper traffic, you will pass tests at a higher rate than solo/rural players.  I really hope that this gets fixed to some more objective form in the next telling or some of the tests will continue to be a joke and even cause some in-fighting.

Teppy seems to be interested in what the players have to say... whether he acts on their suggestions is another matter.  I'll play the second telling because I think the early tech struggle is the most interesting part of the game.  If some of the core elements are still broken... expect the second telling to have as high a turnover rate as the first.

Sounds like it's working fine to me.   That's Politics at it's core.

They are supposed to cause the in-fighting, that's the whole point of the game.

The whole premise is community vs stranger.

The stranger (the character who the lore says sets the tests) is supposed to be out to prove that MMOG players are a bunch of self absorbed fucktards who wouldn't know what a community was if it bit them on the arse. The tests are supposed to be divisive, that's what they are for.

That said, the tests are childs play when compared to incidents like the magnesium mines, or clearcutting.

It is of course, a miracle worthly of Hoyle, that the stranger has not, thus far, been shown to be entirely correct.