Spellborn Open Beta Update!

[AcidCat]

Too bad that in the two newbie zones you have access to all the humanoid mobs are in camps and agro together, making them group content.

They also need to lower the agro ranges. Ugh, I couldn't go anywhere, even sticking to the roads, without having 2-3 mobs chasing after me and nipping at my heels. I was never in any danger of being killed, it  just annoyed the hell out of me.

There seem to be too many aggro mobs in general in the newbie area ... which after a night of playing is really my only complaint. I like it overall so far, I really dig the aesthetic and character of the game, and I'm enjoying the change of pace the skillbar and manual targeting bring to the experience. After a couple hours with TCOS I uninstalled Runes of Magic, which I had lost all desire to play after about a week. After finally quitting WoW about three months ago I need something that feels at least a little different, and TCOS does.

[DLRiley]

Its been two weeks since I subbed for spellborn. I was level 7 when I subbed, I'm level 29 and that level was attained through several hours worth of follow the quest chain pve with some 1 minute burst of pvp every 6 hours pve. No I did not play casually, this game is grindy as fuck.

This game takes two steps forward. Then it digs a hole and puts all its achievements in it and places a whole bunch of standard mmo bullshit on top that you can find for the same level of polish in a free to play game. Ultimately this game will either have to go free to play or close all its servers, because ultimately this game makes the guys who made Tabla Rasa and ran it to the ground look like fucking geniuses.

[Bzalthek]

It digs a whole what?

[AcidCat]

Then it digs a hole and puts all its achievements in it and places a whole bunch of standard mmo bullshit on top

Well why don't you say in plain English exactly what you mean?

[DLRiley]

Ok basically.

1. Deck Based Combat System  = Good + 10
2. No gear dependency = Good + 7

Theres the good.

Now let me list the bad.

1. Grindy piece of shit = Bad  - 9
2. Travel time = Bad - 5
3. The entire mob system =  Bad - 3
4.  No real Quest pointer or guidance system besides red dot on the mini map when really close to npc's..... = Bad - 5
5.  No exp for PVP kills or a pvp system to speak of = - 10
6.  Uncustomizable point allocation system and 1 skill point per level, after level 20 its a skill point every 2 levels.... = Bad - 7


So lets do the math.
Bad shit = - 39
Good shit = + 17

[squirrel]

So lets do the math.
Bad shit = - 29
Good shit = + 17

Your math is wrong. Bad should = -39.

[Arrrgh]

Ok basically.

1. Deck Based Combat System  = Good + 10
2. No gear dependency = Good + 7

Theres the good.

Now let me list the bad.

1. Grindy piece of shit = Bad  - 9
2. Travel time = Bad - 5
3. The entire mob system =  Bad - 3
4.  No real Quest pointer or guidance system besides red dot on the mini map when really close to npc's..... = Bad - 5
5.  No exp for PVP kills or a pvp system to speak of = - 10
6.  Uncustomizable point allocation system and 1 skill point per level, after level 20 its a skill point every 2 levels.... = Bad - 7


So lets do the math.
Bad shit = - 29
Good shit = + 17

What's sort of sad is that that was a better written review than I see on most websites.

[AcidCat]

Now let me list the bad.

1. Grindy piece of shit = Bad  - 9
2. Travel time = Bad - 5
3. The entire mob system =  Bad - 3
4.  No real Quest pointer or guidance system besides red dot on the mini map when really close to npc's..... = Bad - 5
5.  No exp for PVP kills or a pvp system to speak of = - 10
6.  Uncustomizable point allocation system and 1 skill point per level, after level 20 its a skill point every 2 levels.... = Bad - 7

I'm still trying to decipher you. By "grindy" do you mean it eventually takes too long to level - or do you run out of quests and have to grind on mobs to advance?

Travel time - bad because there's too much or bad because there's not enough? I like travel time, I like the sense of scale it gives.

How is the "entire mob system" bad? Though I'm only level 7 I have no idea what you could mean here.

And again - only level 7 - but so far I've had no quest that didn't describe where to go and what to do accurately. The dots on the map have been all the help I've needed.

Don't care too much about pvp.

It does seem the only points you allocate are into the three main schools of damage, or whatever they are. I really haven't played enough to comment on whether advancement is satisfying or not.

[DLRiley]

So lets do the math.
Bad shit = - 29
Good shit = + 17

Your math is wrong. Bad should = -39.

opps forgot the -10 for pvp.

[DLRiley]

Now let me list the bad.

1. Grindy piece of shit = Bad  - 9
2. Travel time = Bad - 5
3. The entire mob system =  Bad - 3
4.  No real Quest pointer or guidance system besides red dot on the mini map when really close to npc's..... = Bad - 5
5.  No exp for PVP kills or a pvp system to speak of = - 10
6.  Uncustomizable point allocation system and 1 skill point per level, after level 20 its a skill point every 2 levels.... = Bad - 7

I'm still trying to decipher you. By "grindy" do you mean it eventually takes too long to level - or do you run out of quests and have to grind on mobs to advance?

Travel time - bad because there's too much or bad because there's not enough? I like travel time, I like the sense of scale it gives.

How is the "entire mob system" bad? Though I'm only level 7 I have no idea what you could mean here.

And again - only level 7 - but so far I've had no quest that didn't describe where to go and what to do accurately. The dots on the map have been all the help I've needed.

Don't care too much about pvp.

It does seem the only points you allocate are into the three main schools of damage, or whatever they are. I really haven't played enough to comment on whether advancement is satisfying or not.

Grindy because casually (3-4 hours...) you level once a day. Even AION which is suppose to be LINEAGE 2 CLONED, has a better hour/advancement ratio. And that my friend is fucking sad.

The travel time is pretty arcane it takes way too long to get from one place to another, combined that with fedex quest that lead you from one part of the shard to another, I feel ready to log off due to shear boredom of watching a running animation for 20 minutes and still consider that in some pseudo way playing.

The point allocation system for skills and attributes are  permanent. This leaves literally no room for experimentation, which in real skill based system is counter productive. You can permanently fuck up your character in ways you can't change or until you get more skill points, which means...god fucking damn am I back in 2003? I mean god damn is that a bait and switch with a kick in the balls for the lol's.

Your going to get annoyed at the mob system, which in a sad way is a step backward with only a little step forward (you can't aggro mobs that aren't facing you unless you get too close) once you get above level 7. Or wait till you leave the first shard. 

[Draegan]

Even AION which is suppose to be LINEAGE 2 CLONED

Just here to say you're wrong.  But please continue.

Also the game was released today in NA apparently.

Los Angeles, CA (April 23, 2009) - Acclaim Games is pleased to announce the official release of The Chronicles of Spellborn MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). To celebrate the official launch, Acclaim will offer all players a free 2 week premium subscription, along with the introduction of a new credit card payment option for added convenience. With the official release, players are invited to join the fun in one of the most innovative MMORPG's on the market featuring a unique real-time combat system that truly sets the game apart!

[AcidCat]

I was surprised at how little you can do with the free trial.

There are definitely things I like about the game but it's nowhere near worth a $ 14.99/mo subscription.

[DLRiley]

Oh please draegon, we all know Korean = Grindy Piece of Shit, and the guys who made Lineage 2, queen mother of grindy pieces of shit, also made Aion. What else am I'm going to expect of Aion till it launches? A fun game? Its like expecting Funcom not to screw over a mildly decent idea. Your just asking for it.

[Draegan]

Oh please draegon, we all know Korean = Grindy Piece of Shit, and the guys who made Lineage 2, queen mother of grindy pieces of shit, also made Aion. What else am I'm going to expect of Aion till it launches? A fun game? Its like expecting Funcom not to screw over a mildly decent idea. Your just asking for it.

Carry on, but you're still wrong.

[DLRiley]

So you really thought Aion will turn out to be a great game 

[Draegan]

So you really thought think Aion will turn out to be a great game 

Yes.  I've played up to level 20 of 50.  I have a friend that played up to 24ish.  I know someone who played the Korean release until max level.  It's very similar to the level curve of WOW when it first released, or so I'm told.

[gryeyes]

What else am I'm going to expect of Aion till it launches? A fun game? Its like expecting Funcom not to screw over a mildly decent idea. Your just asking for it.

I dunno you could maybe have played the fucking game like most of the other people in this thread who are commenting on it? Or you could continue to spew endless streams of unsupported nonsense.

[DLRiley]

Oh yeah I should be in a rush to play the Chinese version of a game made by the lineage 2 guys 

[Zzulo]

 

[Draegan]

I can't decide who is more worthless, you or chargerrich.

[Falconeer]

DLRiley, you make me hate myself thinking I spent words in another thread to reply you. Yes, you and chargerrich are good at stealing people's time.

[Draegan]

This is an interesting game.

1. Deck Based Combat System  = Good + 10
2. No gear dependency = Good + 7

Theres the good.

Now let me list the bad.

1. Grindy piece of shit = Bad  - 9
2. Travel time = Bad - 5
3. The entire mob system =  Bad - 3
4.  No real Quest pointer or guidance system besides red dot on the mini map when really close to npc's..... = Bad - 5
5.  No exp for PVP kills or a pvp system to speak of = - 10
6.  Uncustomizable point allocation system and 1 skill point per level, after level 20 its a skill point every 2 levels.... = Bad - 7

Your Good.
1.  Interesting concept.  The control needs some getting used to.  It's like Guildwars with a twist.
2.  Gear dependent?  No.  Sigils?  Yea.  Just like gear, not sure how much they add, but I'm assuming they adds something.  Never saw one in the early levels.

Your Bad.
1.  Grind is normal I guess. You're not "killing stuff over and over" but you're doing quests and getting experience.  It's slow. 
2.  Travel time isn't bad, it's standard.  If you actually read your quests and piece together where you need to be you can get an efficient route together.  There isn't a large area you're traveling around.
3.  No idea what you mean by mob system?  Mobs act like normal MMOG mobs and they con normally I suppose.
4.  There is no guidance system like... WAR?  AOC?  Shrug.  I never had an issue.  They quest text gives you a pretty good explanation on where to go.
5.  Didn't get into PVP.
6.  There are three "stats".  You get a few points per level to allocate.  ?  I don't get the customizable part.  I don't know if they are permanent choices though.  Also you get a skill selection each level.  So you can "customize" your skill progression.  Skills are in groups called sets.  First 4 levels you pick from set 1, then at 5 you open up set 2 goes on from there I suppose.

Character customization is a poor man's CoX.  It's somewhat interesting at first but options are limited.

You pick between 3 classes.  At level 5 you can choose between 3 subclasses. 

The whole aiming thing is interesting.  It's almost fps, but not quite.  Lag and reaction is pretty good.  Animations are nice, UI is minimalistic.   Not much is UI customization though.  Can't resize the chat window, can't move around some of the frames.

It's worth checking out since you can for free.

[rk47]

the  :

[Hawkbit]

I'd play the game casual-like if it was a traditional pricing structure.  It's a shame, really. 

[DLRiley]

This is an interesting game.

1. Deck Based Combat System  = Good + 10
2. No gear dependency = Good + 7

Theres the good.

Now let me list the bad.

1. Grindy piece of shit = Bad  - 9
2. Travel time = Bad - 5
3. The entire mob system =  Bad - 3
4.  No real Quest pointer or guidance system besides red dot on the mini map when really close to npc's..... = Bad - 5
5.  No exp for PVP kills or a pvp system to speak of = - 10
6.  Uncustomizable point allocation system and 1 skill point per level, after level 20 its a skill point every 2 levels.... = Bad - 7

Your Good.
1.  Interesting concept.  The control needs some getting used to.  It's like Guildwars with a twist.
2.  Gear dependent?  No.  Sigils?  Yea.  Just like gear, not sure how much they add, but I'm assuming they adds something.  Never saw one in the early levels.

Your Bad.
1.  Grind is normal I guess. You're not "killing stuff over and over" but you're doing quests and getting experience.  It's slow. 
2.  Travel time isn't bad, it's standard.  If you actually read your quests and piece together where you need to be you can get an efficient route together.  There isn't a large area you're traveling around.
3.  No idea what you mean by mob system?  Mobs act like normal MMOG mobs and they con normally I suppose.
4.  There is no guidance system like... WAR?  AOC?  Shrug.  I never had an issue.  They quest text gives you a pretty good explanation on where to go.
5.  Didn't get into PVP.
6.  There are three "stats".  You get a few points per level to allocate.  ?  I don't get the customizable part.  I don't know if they are permanent choices though.  Also you get a skill selection each level.  So you can "customize" your skill progression.  Skills are in groups called sets.  First 4 levels you pick from set 1, then at 5 you open up set 2 goes on from there I suppose.

Character customization is a poor man's CoX.  It's somewhat interesting at first but options are limited.

You pick between 3 classes.  At level 5 you can choose between 3 subclasses. 

The whole aiming thing is interesting.  It's almost fps, but not quite.  Lag and reaction is pretty good.  Animations are nice, UI is minimalistic.   Not much is UI customization though.  Can't resize the chat window, can't move around some of the frames.

It's worth checking out since you can for free.

1. When I was 13 and thought maple story was fun since an online side scroller with a class system sounded like a good idea, getting a quarter of a level before I logged off was exciting. 2 years of college later, while a side-scroller with a class system still sounds like a good idea, 4 hours of gameplay for 1 level will never be considered normal for a game that I'm actually paying for. I could have gotten 200 kills in tf2 in those same 4 hours, would have had 4000x more fun doing it AND kept my fucking money.
2. Don't know how you don't notice moving at the pace of a snail but ok.
3. The mobs are unremarkable, even common sense like giving more exp for mobs in groups vs solo creatures seems to be lacking. i give it a minus cause it does nothing to ease the grind and really adds nothing to the game.
4. I'm starting to wonder how far in level are you. But no I haven't met a high level player who hasn't openly admitted to using the online spellborn data base to do quest 90%. The old days of playing with your client and browser up at the same time is not refreshing.
6. The three stats are permanent stats as far as i know don't reset and if they do you have to be level 50 first to do so. Which is another homage to the old days of hunting on the forums for the proper build order because other wise a few points in the wrong places mean you do 400 less damage then everyone else your class. The skill system is the same. Since you can't test your skills and if you try to unlock skills as soon as you get skill points your going to either delete that character or uninstall spellborn due to utter frustration of having to wait a few levels before you correct your character. You can always save your skill points and only use them carefully to avoid picking the wrong skills, and if you do do that you will have plenty of points come 50, but honestly the only possible way I can see anyone being impressed by this system is if they didn't play Guild Wars. And if you did and your still impressed, this game deserves your $15 a month.

All in all the grind makes the only shiny feature this game have repetitive and unremarkable. And having no real way to break away from the fedex quest, like for example exp giving pvp, further drives a nail into a game that I even considered worth the attention. My level 29 character in limbo and my desire to resub is zero. Honestly if I wanted to spend 20 hours on a game for marginal progress at best, I would play maple story again or try out runes of magic.

[Hawkbit]

I don't understand how people get hung up on levels.  It's as if the ding is more important than the game. 

Someone make a game with 10,000 levels for people so they ding every two kills, just space out the actual upgrades every 150 levels or so. 

[DLRiley]

I don't understand how people get hung up on levels.  It's as if the ding is more important than the game. 

Someone make a game with 10,000 levels for people so they ding every two kills, just space out the actual upgrades every 150 levels or so. 

It's called maple story and its free.

[rk47]

I don't understand how people get hung up on levels.  It's as if the ding is more important than the game. 

Someone make a game with 10,000 levels for people so they ding every two kills, just space out the actual upgrades every 150 levels or so. 

If most of the game content is locked solely based on level, it's normal for people to be frustrated when they are faced with repeated quest killings that usually proceed with you hitting the DoT attack, followed with 1 high dmg attack, 1 medium attack and then a self heal after the fight ends. No matter what different mob types you throw at them if all you had are the same four attacks for 3 hours, you're bound to get bored. Granting players new toys or moves to play with every 1-2 hours of first 12 hours played is key to keeping them motivated in 'staying on'.

[FatuousTwat]

I don't understand how people get hung up on levels.  It's as if the ding is more important than the game. 

Someone make a game with 10,000 levels for people so they ding every two kills, just space out the actual upgrades every 150 levels or so. 

Why every 150 levels or so? Why not every single level, and just keep scaling the "difficulty" (hp and damage of mobs) up? Or does it just become harder and harder to balance?

[Goreschach]

I don't understand how people get hung up on levels.  It's as if the ding is more important than the game. 

Someone make a game with 10,000 levels for people so they ding every two kills, just space out the actual upgrades every 150 levels or so. 

It's the same as lab rats being fed pellets of food through a test mechanism. If you make it too fast and easy, then the rats won't feel rewarded. They'll just eat their fill, and piss off. If it's something that takes awhile, making the rats feel rewarded, they'll eat until they explode.

[Draegan]

1. When I was 13 and thought maple story was fun since an online side scroller with a class system sounded like a good idea, getting a quarter of a level before I logged off was exciting. 2 years of college later, while a side-scroller with a class system still sounds like a good idea, 4 hours of gameplay for 1 level will never be considered normal for a game that I'm actually paying for. I could have gotten 200 kills in tf2 in those same 4 hours, would have had 4000x more fun doing it AND kept my fucking money.
2. Don't know how you don't notice moving at the pace of a snail but ok.
3. The mobs are unremarkable, even common sense like giving more exp for mobs in groups vs solo creatures seems to be lacking. i give it a minus cause it does nothing to ease the grind and really adds nothing to the game.
4. I'm starting to wonder how far in level are you. But no I haven't met a high level player who hasn't openly admitted to using the online spellborn data base to do quest 90%. The old days of playing with your client and browser up at the same time is not refreshing.
6. The three stats are permanent stats as far as i know don't reset and if they do you have to be level 50 first to do so. Which is another homage to the old days of hunting on the forums for the proper build order because other wise a few points in the wrong places mean you do 400 less damage then everyone else your class. The skill system is the same. Since you can't test your skills and if you try to unlock skills as soon as you get skill points your going to either delete that character or uninstall spellborn due to utter frustration of having to wait a few levels before you correct your character. You can always save your skill points and only use them carefully to avoid picking the wrong skills, and if you do do that you will have plenty of points come 50, but honestly the only possible way I can see anyone being impressed by this system is if they didn't play Guild Wars. And if you did and your still impressed, this game deserves your $15 a month.

All in all the grind makes the only shiny feature this game have repetitive and unremarkable. And having no real way to break away from the fedex quest, like for example exp giving pvp, further drives a nail into a game that I even considered worth the attention. My level 29 character in limbo and my desire to resub is zero. Honestly if I wanted to spend 20 hours on a game for marginal progress at best, I would play maple story again or try out runes of magic.

I didn't play as high level as you.  I played around with three different classes all day so I didn't spend as much time as you.  I also said it was slow.  The experience you get from quests seems random.  One quest will give me 1000 experience(fame) and another will give me 300 and both are marked the same level.  It's slow, but you're not sitting in the same spot killing mobs constantly.  At least you're always moving and going somewhere different.  Mob kill quests in the newbie area never exceeded 5 or 6.

3.  I guess you're talking about less experience if your grouped up vs. killing solo?  Or are you talking about mobs in bunches?  I never noticed in any other game other than maybe EQ2 that gave more experience for mobs in groups rather than solo ones.

4.  I didn't spend a long time with the game.  The newbie quests up to level 6 or 7 were all standard MMOG fare.  I was able to do them easily.  I guess the quality gets worse on the top end.

5.  I guess you don't like the number 5.

6.  I agree with you here if this is the case.  Permanent skill/stat allocation makes people reroll and/or quit in rage.  I found myself saving stat points because I had no idea what I was doing with them other than seeing X skill is based on Y stat.

--

It was a fun little game.  I can see where the leveling speed is Slooooooooow.  If it was a typical DIKU I'd uninstalled it right away.  But the aiming/fps element and the spelldeck thing kept me interested enough not to uninstall it right away.

[DLRiley]

Well you haven't PvP'ed so number 5 doesn't matter. It gives no exp, and there is no real way to always get a match within the first 3 minutes of logging on. It is equally nothing special lots of circle strafing and bunny hopping. In a sad in a way despite all the special abilities on each and every skill, it lacks depth simply due to the "can't touch this" nature of the combat system that allows you to win 9/10 matches without even having to know what your opponent is doing 90% of the time. Well unless your fighting a warrior which is by far the strongest class in the game. 

[Signe]

Wait.  That's a fair debate tactic?  When forgetting something, such as number 5, simply tell the other person they wouldn't have liked it anyway?  Maybe I'll start reading politics.

[Draegan]

Just for reference:

I played a Warrior which I subclassed into a Bloodwarrior (Terrible soloer, he appears to be a MT).  I played a rogue which I turned into a Trickster, yay Gadgets!  And I played a Mage which I turned into a Void Seer which seems to be a healer.  My Void Seer seemed to kick some ass too.

Edit to add:
You can now pay like any other normal MMOG via CC.  No more coins.

$14.99 for 30 days
$41.97 for 90 days
$77.94 for 180 days

[DLRiley]

Wait.  That's a fair debate tactic?  When forgetting something, such as number 5, simply tell the other person they wouldn't have liked it anyway?  Maybe I'll start reading politics.

He didn't address it and so I didn't know he wanted me to address it originally.