Done with WoW, what now?

[Venkman]

Yea, the guys behind PoTBS take a lot of inspiration from Eve, in fact are part of an Alliance there (though wouldn't tell me which one ;), though honestly, I didn't pry). 

It will be interesting to see if they can lower the barrier for casual players seeking game-directed experiences though. Eve doesn't do that very well. Based on the talk, Flying Lab Software is down the right path for appealing to a broader playerbase. But there's Talk and there's what I can install on my hard drive.

It'll also be very interesting to see if generic-pirates can stand up to generic-fantasy at a time when licensed pirates is coming too.

But that's why I also like AoC and TR. The former felt a bit more like SWG in Conan lore than anything else, but with a better combat system :) The latter (Tabula Rasa) is also a better combat system, for different reasons, trying to combine hybrid-twitch game play with the trappings of an RPG.

Three games, all equally compelling to me, for very different reasons. Should be an interesting '07.

[WayAbvPar]

Consider me quite skeptical of the Disney version of Pirates. I think there will be way too much interference and 'help' from the IP holder to get a decently gritty pirate game.

[damijin]

From what I've heard PoBS won't be a terribly gritty pirate game either. The focus is supposedly more on the national wars between Spain, Britain, and France, with a heavy focus on the actual ship-to-ship battles and economy... oh, and there's pirates around also.

It seems like the game will be borrowing heavily from the playerbases of EVE (game-design wise) and WWIIOL (historical people love history). I come from WWIIOL, and Lineage 2, so... It seems like it should be entertaining for a while to me. IMO, it's the quintessential indie MMO. It doesn't seem to be overstepping it's bounds, and they're taking their time to make sure that the goals are met. Could be really cool.

Certainly isn't going to be for everyone though.

[WayAbvPar]

It seems like the game will be borrowing heavily from the playerbases of EVE (game-design wise) and WWIIOL (historical people love history).

Heh. The only 2 games I have ever subscribed to for more than 6 months at a time. No wonder I am a drooling fanboi.

[Draive]

Betrayal at Krondor

Wow, totally forgot about that game. One of the greatest open ended rpgs of all time for sure. After seeing this, I did a quick Google and came up with a link where you can DL the game (apparently Sierra made it freeware).

http://www.alt-tab.net/games/betrayal-at-krondor/download/

Tempting.

[Akkori]

I haven't been a part of an MMO since maybe May (?) when I joined ATitD3. That didn't last any longer than it took for me to see they didn't add anything interesting. I'm waiting around till someone puts in a game that meets or exceeds the "potential" SWG never achived. Anyone know whats up with the Star Trek game?

[Rodent]

Betrayal at Krondor

Wow, totally forgot about that game. One of the greatest open ended rpgs of all time for sure. After seeing this, I did a quick Google and came up with a link where you can DL the game (apparently Sierra made it freeware).

http://www.alt-tab.net/games/betrayal-at-krondor/download/

Tempting.

It's a damn shame the sequel was horrible.

[Soln]

yup know the what of PotBS that was a "WHEN??".  I think any new MMO that doesn't look seriously at what Eve has done with a few things is bound to be lumped in that room with the rest of the cheap 6 month NCSoft knockoffs. 

[Telemediocrity]

Which sequel was horrible - Return to Krondor, or Betrayal at Antara?  I didn't get too far into Antara, but I remember it being really devious and filled with interesting puzzles and sidequests.

[WayAbvPar]

I must have missed the charm of Betrayal at Krondor. I loved Feist's books and world, but I really hated the game. Given, I only played it for a couple of hours, but it just wasn't my bag, baby. I wish I could remember what I found so annoying, but it has been far too long. Was it one of the first to go for real time combat v turn-based? That may have been it if so.

[Rasix]

Which sequel was horrible - Return to Krondor, or Betrayal at Antara?  I didn't get too far into Antara, but I remember it being really devious and filled with interesting puzzles and sidequests.

It sucked. I've played worse games in my time, but it was pretty terrible.

[Rodent]

Which sequel was horrible - Return to Krondor, or Betrayal at Antara?  I didn't get too far into Antara, but I remember it being really devious and filled with interesting puzzles and sidequests.

Both, Antara was a replica that lacked the charm of Krondor, and Return to Krondor featured horible mechanics and from what I remember a very short and incomplete story.

[geldonyetich]

The story in BoK couldn't have been that short, because I remembered sinking days to go through multiple chapters and not quite completing it.   Maybe it's because I was completing sidequests and whatnot.

From what I recall, the best thing the game managed to do was the storytelling.  The interface was awkward, but one can get used to it.  These days, I'm not sure I'd bother playing it unless I feel like giving DosBox a good test.

Interesting bit of trivia, apparently Tanarus and the original EverQuest client used the same graphic engine.

[Morat20]

The story in BoK couldn't have been that short, because I remembered sinking days to go through multiple chapters and not quite completing it.   Maybe it's because I was completing sidequests and whatnot.

From what I recall, the best thing the game managed to do was the storytelling.  The interface was awkward, but one can get used to it.  These days, I'm not sure I'd bother playing it unless I feel like giving DosBox a good test.

Interesting bit of trivia, apparently Tanarus and the original EverQuest client used the same graphic engine.

I loved BoK -- mainly it was the design. 8 or 9 "chapters" -- but all these subquests available whenever the hell you wanted to do them. I think I spent forever on the first chapter, because I wandered all the hell over instead of going to Krondor or whatnot like I was supposed to. Spoiled me for a lot of later RPGs, and was probably once of the best franchised games I've ever played. It really was a good game for the time.

Return to Krondor sucked. Never tried the other Betrayal game.

[Telemediocrity]

Antara is perhaps a bit 'dry', but IMHO it does have some of the ol' Krondor magic.  Worth trying for a little bit, at least.

Also, yes to wandering around Chapter 1 forever just doing all the shit there was to do.