Dark Days Are Coming - New Funcom Project

[Falconeer]

Probably off topic but what's all the fuss about livestreams these days and especially people like that Total Biscuit or Yogscast? I think they are beyond obnoxious and annoying. Is it just me? Why would anyone want to listen to their bull?

[Dark_MadMax]

So Played a bit more

- Really digging their writing. Whole thing is pretty damn original and interesting to hear/read. voice acting pretty good too

- Game is very stable  (very "unFuncom" like) - no crashes, very few bugs and glitches. Performance is decent  and 100% playable ( I still remember 1.5 fps in AOC open beta and every 10 minutes crashes and insane lag in AO)

-PvP is a train wreck. Completely unbalanced ( 1 shot builds)  and being only one boring  BG  type  instance ( 2 others in the works)- Basically if you count on pvp as any sort of activity -dont. It has absolutely nothing good in this area. AoC as broken as it was had some fun world pvp, this has none.


It seems it can be good to play once to see the content. If the level of details/quality of content persists past Kingsmouth.  It reminds me of Fallen Earth - original game with great setting and quality content. Unfortunately no real gameplay options once you level to cap

[Mrbloodworth]

60 seconds of footage showing various locations in the weekend beta event. Personally I do think it looks good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zybmNQh2U

Looks kinda like MXO.

[Rasix]

I saw the number of folks popping out of Agartha and.. I'll just wait until Monday.      The raven quest must be a giant grief fest at the moment. Hell, that quest was nearly impossible with only one random retard f'ing it up.

[tmp]

-PvP is a train wreck. Completely unbalanced ( 1 shot builds)

It's not just builds, but also --if i'm not mistaken-- there's only one bracket for everyone, and the power growth from equipment isn't exactly small -- while you have ~1.5k hp with gear of 'level 1' the same character decked in 'level 10' will have ~10k hp. Damage output scales too, though i think to lesser extent.

[trias_e]

Here's a nice intro vid (illiumunati) from one of the better game 'streamers' (or whatever) out there.  50 minutes, quickly takes you through the introduction.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzsCwNw6VSw

[trias_e]

Oh, and jaguar tripping:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqGDv0KCJl8

[tmp]

Well, today's patch bumped the game version from 0.9 to 1.0  Guess it's good to go

[Falconeer]

You know, launch is in two weeks. Early access starts in ten days.

[luckton]

Still don't understand their desire to make this game subscription-based.  If it's not working out for SWTOR, what chance does this have?

[Brogarn]

You know, launch is in two weeks. Early access starts in ten days.

That's unfortunate. It's not ready.

[Miasma]

Anyone tried the dungeons this weekend?  How are they?

[Riggswolfe]

You know, launch is in two weeks. Early access starts in ten days.

That's unfortunate. It's not ready.

I don't know if this is a good criteria but it is more ready than either AO or AOC were before launch. It has some missing features (bank, auction house) but its stable and reportedly has all the content all the way through and the features that are there are great. Also, I can tell a big, big difference in combat between this beta weekend and the last one.

[Lantyssa]

Getting to play after updating my video drivers.  I'm finding it surprisingly enjoyable.  I'll get it once they lose the subscription.

[Falconeer]

It has some missing features (bank, auction house)

As far as I know, they are in now.

[tmp]

It's still bug-ridden unfortunately, and these vary from just cosmetic, to annoying, to nearly game breaking. The funniest part is, that last category is kind of come and go with every patch, as they manage to fix one thing from previous build only to break another in the process.

Mostly the question now which of the game systems will happen to be messed up when the launch comes.

[Rasix]

It's comforting to know that there's another AO 12.6 patch just waiting to get let loose.  Yah, it's amazing how quickly they can completely break shit.  That patch with the no cooldown on monster abilities was a frightening display of incompetence.

If this were releasing in another 3 months, I'd feel a lot better about it.  Right now, I think you're looking a rough launch.  It'll probably be pretty technically solid (because I think their sales numbers will underwhelm), but they will break things constantly.  I expect micro patches to fix major fuckups every 2 days.

[UnSub]

Still don't understand their desire to make this game subscription-based.  If it's not working out for SWTOR, what chance does this have?

If I was cynical and assume that Funcom isn't pig ignorant, you'd do it so that you got the box sale revenue. Then three months on announce the F2P option but list a lot of bonuses for the $15 a month sub crowd. TSW already has a cash shop, so it won't be as big a shock as some other games in making the conversion.

[luckton]

Still don't understand their desire to make this game subscription-based.  If it's not working out for SWTOR, what chance does this have?

If I was cynical and assume that Funcom isn't pig ignorant, you'd do it so that you got the box sale revenue. Then three months on announce the F2P option but list a lot of bonuses for the $15 a month sub crowd. TSW already has a cash shop, so it won't be as big a shock as some other games in making the conversion.

Perhaps, but do we really need to have the "First impressions are everything" talk again? 

[Dark_MadMax]

It's still bug-ridden unfortunately, and these vary from just cosmetic, to annoying, to nearly game breaking. The funniest part is, that last category is kind of come and go with every patch, as they manage to fix one thing from previous build only to break another in the process.

Mostly the question now which of the game systems will happen to be messed up when the launch comes.

 It has some annoying bugs and glitches, but really I wouldn't call them game-breaking. Games is perfectly stable and playable. A glitched quest here and there, and whacky skill trees still do not preclude you from playing. Now AO and AoC at release were completely fubar - lag  and crashes were galore. Servers went down like every few hours.

 MMO crowds these days lol...- have a few glitches and they will cry foul! In  my age we were happy if we able to  play after a month of release :)

[Falconeer]

I hear they are patching every single day in the closed beta right now. Every single day.

[tmp]

It has some annoying bugs and glitches, but really I wouldn't call them game-breaking.

Like Rasix mentioned few posts up, two or three days ago a patch broke NPCs game-wide, making them spam their special skills without any cooldown (bonus was some of the mobs literally locking you from being able to use any of your skills at all, even after fight with them ended)  This was fixed by a patch which instead broke another basic function -- resource-building skills would either no longer build resources for both equipped weapons, or would build them at double rate, with behaviour changing without rhyme and reason with each gear swap and/or relog. The mobs also became way more strict/confused about their pathing, with entire groups getting stuck in 'exploit' mode which made them evade/mitigate bulk of incoming damage, while they were hitting you just fine.

Believe me, if i say 'nearly game breaking' then i don't mean any random quest glitch.

[Dark_MadMax]

Like Rasix mentioned few posts up, two or three days ago a patch broke NPCs game-wide, making them spam their special skills without any cooldown (bonus was some of the mobs literally locking you from being able to use any of your skills at all, even after fight with them ended)  This was fixed by a patch which instead broke another basic function -- resource-building skills would either no longer build resources for both equipped weapons, or would build them at double rate, with behaviour changing without rhyme and reason with each gear swap and/or relog. The mobs also became way more strict/confused about their pathing, with entire groups getting stuck in 'exploit' mode which made them evade/mitigate bulk of incoming damage, while they were hitting you just fine.

Believe me, if i say 'nearly game breaking' then i don't mean any random quest glitch.

Look I  am in same beta Rasix is and resource building bug is a minor annoyance. I havent seen " no  NPC cd bug" ,so cant comment on that. I know some quests and mobs are broken every so often. But again this is does not equal  broken game as a whole - you can still progress and play just fine

[tmp]

Look I  am in same beta Rasix is and resource building bug is a minor annoyance.

Really, bugging the core mechanic behind one of game cornerstones that's synnergy between your equipped gear is 'minor annoyance'?

It's like saying having your damage output halved is but a minor annoyance (as opposed to game balance going out of whack) because "you can still progress and play fine". For a very generous definition of "fine", maybe.

[Falconeer]

It is certainly not-reassuring to know they can break everything from one day to the next, but they fixed everything in a few hours so it's more like the general instability and roughness of the crunch-time patches than an overall fragility of the code. Judging from the patch notes it doesn't seem to me they patch every day to fix the previous day mess-ups. More like a conscious choice that has to do with some iterative process I can't imagine cause I don't produce MMORPGs.
Because of that daily patches are not as stable or bulletproof as you are used to in an open beta, this is CLOSED beta. So while I agree there are lots of things that might benefit from some more months of development, the PVE part of the game is perfectly enjoyable as it is now, and it has been for a several weeks already.

PVP, that's a different story. Balance is hell in such an open system, so for the time being you have to be as obsessed as me to dabble with that and stomach the bullshit.

[Surlyboi]

I've got a spare closed beta buddy key, PM me if you want it.

[tmp]

It is certainly not-reassuring to know they can break everything from one day to the next, but they fixed everything in a few hours so it's more like the general instability and roughness of the crunch-time patches than an overall fragility of the code.

Well, the resource building bug is still there so dunno. While the closed beta argument does work to some extent, at the same time the fact this sort of bugs makes it past internal test stage to any beta at all and that they can happen mere weeks before the launch... well. Like i said, it creates strong impression it's not a question if something will be seriously fucked up at launch, but rather which parts it's gonna be.

(granted, "lol, Funcom" so it's not exactly an unexpected development... so, just sayin')

[Phred]

Anyone tried the dungeons this weekend?  How are they?

I tried one. While there are no levels in this game the tank got ripped to shreds so I supposed we were underleveled. Also, heals seem pathetic for this kind of game.

[Falconeer]

There are no levels but the Dungeons are meant for an approximate  QL level, either of your weapons or your amulets and talisman.

For those who have no idea what I am talking about, the skill wheel is one thing. You can proceed to buy all the skills you want out of the 525 totals, as if they were M:tG cards, and you pay them in AP (Ability Points).

THEN, you can and should buy levels for your weapons and Talismans and Amulets. You can buy up to 10 levels (QL), and the function of these levels is to unlock a tier of items that you could not otherwise wear. Since you do not gain health or attack power when you level up, the only way to increase your attack power, defensive power, healing power and most importantly HP is through weapon levels and amulet and talisman levels, from 1 to 10. In order to equip better items you have to invest points in the afore mentioned QL (levels). So, the bottom line is that Dungeons have a nominal QL requirement to be tackled properly by a full group. for example the first one, the Polaris in Kingsmouth, should not be attempted unless the group already has QL 2-3 weapons and talisman/amulets. Also, healing is very important but as many other things in this game it takes a lot of readjusting and forgetting other MMOs habits.

Hope this helps to get a better idea of the no-level system works in gauging your theoretical power against mobs. That said, QLs can do nothing for you if your deck/build sucks.

[Dark_MadMax]

Anyone tried the dungeons this weekend?  How are they?

I tried one. While there are no levels in this game the tank got ripped to shreds so I supposed we were underleveled. Also, heals seem pathetic for this kind of game.

I ran 3 of them .They kinda require that your group is familiar with basics (e.g. knows how to use wheel and abilities properly , particularly for tanks and healers). Mechanics are the usual MMO "tank, spank and dance". Some dances are quite intense (the instance in the 3d zone for example).  I ran 2 instances severely under-leveled and undergeared  but that because our tank and healer were over-leveled (had ql7-8 pieces and tons of AP), I basically got carried and got one shotted a couple of times in last instance

Overall they are just like instances in any other MMO. The overall difficulty of the game is higher than average(and so are instances) but nothing really one cant do after 1-2 days of playing and learning.

[Falconeer]

A nice clarification from a Dev that might help with deck-building, and gives a good idea of what it's like to create your build with about 65 abilities to choose from for each weapon.

_Each weapon_ has 6 cells (each cell having about 8 abilities) in the outer wheel. Going clockwise - the first 3 cells (1,2,3) are the DPS role. The next 3 cells (4,5,6) are the secondary role (survivability, healing, support). Cell 1 and 4 are single target, cell 3 and 6 are AoE. Cells 2 and 5 (the ones with the elite passives) are what we refer to as utility cells. All of their effects live outside the builder/consumer mechanic of the game and generally rely on longer cooldowns to balance them.

In addition you have the 3 Misc cells which we consider utility. One is for PvE survivability/tanking. One is for PvE dps. One is for PvP.

EDIT: I have another invite if anyone is interested. PM me. First come first served.

[HaemishM]

I've probably put almost 10 hours into this game through the various betas and never have I been given any indication that the QL on a weapon can be leveled or raised. They really do a pisspoor job of explaining that sort of thing in game.

[tmp]

I've probably put almost 10 hours into this game through the various betas and never have I been given any indication that the QL on a weapon can be leveled or raised. They really do a pisspoor job of explaining that sort of thing in game.

Well, the very first weapon you receive is one with white name and text "quality level: 0" in the tooltip. Then practically first quest you do when you arrive to Kingsmouth gives you a weapon reward with green name and "quality level: 1" in the tooltip, along with attribute increase also pointed out in the tooltip. Same for pretty much all other quests which grant you various items as rewards, as well as the items which drop from the killed mobs.

I really don't think the game is being any more cryptic about its gear quality mechanics than any diku out there.

[HaemishM]

No, I got that there is GEAR QUALITY. What I didn't get was that I could do anything about the gear's quality itself - i.e. the weapons I got, I wasn't aware that I could upgrade them in any way.

[Rasix]

Uhh, you can? News to me.

I think you're misunderstanding some of the information being presented here.  Or I am.

Spending SP doesn't increase the QL of your weapon, just the QL of the weapon or other gear that you can equip.