ATITD

[Mesozoic]

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.

[Kenrick]

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.

[Soukyan]

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!" ;)

[Kenrick]

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.

[Soukyan]

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? ;)

[Kenrick]

(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.

[Soukyan]

(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.

[Signe]

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.

[Delim]

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

[Delim]

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

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]

[geldonyetich]

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.

[Nebu]

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.

[daveNYC]

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

[geldonyetich]

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.

[schild]

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.

[Nebu]

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 is a review on the second telling.  It's from Stratics, so take the source with a grain of salt.

[schild]

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.

[Arnold]

I want something completely different that doesn't require much thought while playing.

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.

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

[eldaec]

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

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)

[daveNYC]

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.

[bignatz]

HERE is a review on the second telling.  It's from Stratics, so take the source with a grain of salt.

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.

[Mantees]

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

[HaemishM]

Such foul language and vulgar references should be refrained from at all times on a classy website such as this.

Boobies.

[Kenrick]

Such foul language and vulgar references should be refrained from at all times on a classy website such as this.

Boobies.

Yes?

[HaemishM]

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

[Kenrick]

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

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

[Nebu]

How does ATITD deal with the competitive trials these days?

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.

[geldonyetich]

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.

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

[eldaec]

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.

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.